At first, Pei Liang thought the chancellor was referring to the Pei family.
She could only reply helplessly, “It’s not that I wanted this. I simply couldn’t avoid it. Rather than dealing with endless trouble later, I figured it was better to make my position clear from the start.”
Her stance was already plain enough: she had shown that she was willing to resort to force if necessary.
The Pei family and the original owner of this body were not enemies locked in a life-or-death feud. To Pei Liang, they had nothing to do with her at all, so there was no need to cut ties with them completely right from the beginning.
But as for how the Pei family would react next—whether they would think like politicians, with Elder Uncle Pei at the helm, pursuing profit and avoiding harm, or whether they would prove insatiably greedy and stop at nothing—that would depend on their attitude.
Pei Liang was not afraid of them. Ever since her life before this one, she had always been on the receiving end of covetous gazes.
It was the fate of anyone who possessed immense value. There was no such thing as a peaceful, carefree life. Pei Liang had long since grown accustomed to being surrounded by the greed of petty people, and she even enjoyed it.
Not a single lifetime had been an exception—not one.
But she had clearly misunderstood Richter’s meaning, because at her words, his brows drew together even more tightly.
He looked at Pei Liang as though he found her slowness difficult to understand.
“I wasn’t talking about the Pei family. Of course, they’re not qualified to stand alongside you either.”
“A political family like that will only hold you back in the end, trapping talents that are more than capable of being recorded in history in meaningless struggles over personal gain. I’m relieved to see that you have a clear understanding of your own family, Student Pei Liang.”
Pei Liang looked at him with a faintly mocking smile. “Chancellor, isn’t that a bit too personal for how little we know each other? Or have we already become that close in your eyes?”
Richter gave a derisive chuckle. “When a relationship is shallow, there’s no need to weigh one’s words so carefully. I’m simply telling you the truth.”
Pei Liang nodded. “That’s true enough. I’ll take your advice to heart, Chancellor.”
Her attitude was flippant, but when it came to her view of the Pei family, it was clear that she and Richter saw things with astonishingly similar eyes.
That only made Richter feel more frustrated. He thought she was deliberately changing the subject.
So he continued, “Originally, these matters were your private affairs, and I shouldn’t have interfered.”
“But I’ve seen too many Alphas with limitless prospects become carried away once they achieve fame, especially after enjoying the attention they never received when they were obscure and unknown. For example…”
“Those Omegas.”
Pei Liang still wore a somewhat bewildered expression. Seeing that she was continuing to play dumb, Richter decided not to meddle any further.
The Imperial Military Academy was strictly managed, after all. If Pei Liang dared to neglect her proper duties because she was indulging in a life of pleasure, he had plenty of ways to discipline her.
Instead, he reached out and tapped her on the left shoulder. The scent was strongest there, and the cheap Omega pheromone fragrance was impossible to conceal.
Who knew which shameless, low-grade Omega had been so eager to seduce an outstanding student of the Imperial Military Academy?
Pei Liang glanced at the spot Richter had touched and immediately remembered how, while she had been fooling around with the little stray, his head had been buried there for quite some time.
He had sprayed himself with a great deal of fake Omega pheromone perfume. Pei Liang had only just climbed off him, so naturally, quite a bit of the scent had rubbed off on her.
She had spent too long dealing with the Pei family and completely forgotten about it.
Someone as fastidious and self-disciplined as Richter could detect even the slightest trace of Omega pheromones.
Pei Liang grinned and casually explained, “Did the chancellor assume that I rushed off to find an Omega and indulge in a life of debauchery the moment I left the arena?”
“Hahaha, it wouldn’t be that easy to find an Omega that casual, anyway. It’s only fake Omega pheromone perfume. Someone made a fool of themselves and accidentally got it on me.”
Richter’s expression froze slightly. He suddenly pulled Pei Liang toward him and lowered his head to sniff carefully at her neck.
It was indeed different from genuine Omega pheromones. Aside from the weaker stimulation that caused an Alpha’s heart to race, there was also the scent of various mixed fragrances.
Before this, he had assumed it was because the other person’s genes were inferior. So it was actually because this was mass-produced perfume?
That thought, however, was one only people from great noble families could have. Omega pheromone perfume was not something that could be mass-produced just anywhere.
Its price and rarity were comparable even to ready-to-wear from the finest luxury brands.
Only guests staying in the luxury suites of the Imperial Capital’s hotels had access to special shopping channels. Outside, it was not necessarily something one could buy even with money.
Seeing this, Richter felt a genuine lightening of his mood, whether it was because of the chancellor’s expectations for his student or because of certain unspoken reasons.
His expression became unusually tolerant as well.
He even revealed a smile he himself failed to notice. “Is that so? Good.”
“You’re still young. I hope you’ll devote your energy to improving yourself. You may well become the strongest warrior in the history of the Empire. Don’t let people who aren’t worthy of standing beside you obstruct your path forward.”
He had barely finished speaking when Pei Liang picked up where he left off. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. I could never become some useless person obsessed with pheromones.”
“I wouldn’t get involved with an Omega for that very reason. It would be too much trouble.”
Richter was even more satisfied by her answer—until she suddenly added, “So I only play with Alphas.”
“…”
The words Richter had been about to say caught in his throat. His immediate thought was that she simply had not yet reached the stage where she was interested in Omegas. Compared with curiosity about Omegas, she preferred competing with powerful Alpha companions.
Just like the competitive spirit she had displayed in front of him at the very beginning.
That was a good thing. And yet, instinctively, Richter felt that something was wrong.
It seemed that what she meant was not the same as what he wanted to understand.
Richter looked at Pei Liang, his eyes filled with hesitation.
But she gazed back at him calmly, a smile on her face.
It was clearly a non-aggressive posture, yet for a fleeting moment, Richter felt a shiver of excitement course through his body. His pupils contracted sharply.
Richter was a true soldier who had fought countless insectoids on the front lines. He had absolute faith in his instincts.
Just now, this woman had definitely released some kind of extraordinary signal—one his logical mind had failed to detect.
But his bodily experience and his instinct for danger had reacted first.
Richter suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of embarrassment, one that existed on a purely mental level.
For once, he was the one to withdraw his gaze first. He gestured for Pei Liang to look toward the several transparent containers ahead.
“These were mutated parasitic insectoids brought back from the arena. We don’t know how many of them still exist on the competition planet. The planet was originally supposed to undergo comprehensive development after the competition, but now it can only be sealed off.”
Once sealed, no one knew when the original plan could be put into motion again. Although a common native herb capable of restraining these insectoids had been discovered there, humanity still did not dare take the risk.
After all, the planet had now become akin to a virus-ridden world. If even a single one escaped and was brought into human society, the consequences would be incalculable.
Of course, the losses were considerable as well. The investors who had funded the development of this planet had undoubtedly been hit hard.
Pei Liang leaned closer to the glass dish. Most of the parasites inside still retained a certain degree of vitality.
However, the moment Pei Liang moved closer, one of the slime-like Zerg suddenly slammed into the glass, clearly displaying an unusual hostility toward her.
Richter pressed a button beside him, and a stream of green gas was injected into the dish. The slime’s exterior slowly corroded. It writhed frantically in pain, and within moments, its entire body had shrunk by a noticeable amount.
Richter’s voice came from beside her, laden with meaning. “They seem to be paying you exceptional attention.”
“During the competition, my people analyzed their movements and tactical logic. We discovered that, apart from those who hid themselves near the end of the match and attempted to sneak out of the arena, the ultimate objective of every Zerg that made a move was to eliminate you.”
“Of course, the group that tried to escape the arena can only be excluded because they were captured before revealing their purpose. So in reality, we can’t rule out the possibility that their objective was different from the others’.”
Pei Liang naturally knew that all these creatures had come for her.
These Zerg could not easily take the lives of anyone except her—the player. Escaping the arena was most likely an attempt to kill her more efficiently and with greater unpredictability amid the complexities of human society.
Pei Liang looked at the projected image of the arena planet. The planet’s original developmental trajectory had been delayed because of this incident.
Even if no one had been killed, she wondered whether the resulting karma would be attributed to someone.
But that was not what she needed to worry about right now. What mattered was that, although Richter did not know the underlying cause-and-effect, he had already inferred a portion of the truth from the results.
Richter was watching Pei Liang intently, without shifting his attention for even a moment.
Yet she merely said, as though nothing were out of the ordinary, “It’s not surprising. I’m worth that kind of treatment.”
“If the Zerg Queen is even half as formidable as the military reports claim, then she should indeed eliminate anyone who might pose a serious threat to her in the future before they have the chance to fully mature.”
Richter’s gaze deepened, but he had no way to refute Pei Liang’s claim.
She did possess that kind of potential. The only question was—
How much of that potential she could bring to bear, or rather, how much she would be permitted to bring to bear, remained unknown.
At the thought, a wave of irritation and disgust suddenly rose in Richter’s heart.
He forcibly suppressed it and continued, “Every one of these unfamiliar Zerg fears an ordinary plant found on the arena planet.”
“But after dissecting them, we found no common structure in their bodies that would cause a reaction to that plant.”
“And look.” Richter led Pei Liang to a smaller glass dish.
Inside lay a dead, slime-like Zerg. He dripped a drop of the plant’s sap onto it, but the slime showed no reaction whatsoever.
“This Zerg was killed by your internal energy. You saw it just now—the sap has an extremely powerful corrosive effect on its body. If that’s the case, then even as a corpse, it should still undergo the same chemical reaction.”
“But it doesn’t, as if—”
Pei Liang finished his sentence for him. “As if someone crudely and uniformly assigned these bugs a natural enemy.”
“Just as their intelligence and population ratio violate the principles governing life in the universe, this violates biological principles as well.”
Richter nodded.
Pei Liang, of course, knew exactly what was going on. These creatures had to have some ordinary, ubiquitous natural enemy.
Once they died, their corpses were no longer foreign organisms forcibly inserted into this world—intruders that needed to be rejected by its rules. Naturally, they no longer had to obey the artificially imposed rule of having a natural enemy to make their existence seem more plausible.
Moreover, given how crude and simplistic the disguise was, Pei Liang suspected that these insects might not be able to survive in this world for very long in the first place.
They had violated the laws of this world, and their disguise was so perfunctory. Sooner or later, they would be exposed and eliminated.
Whoever was behind this really did look down on her.
After hearing Pei Liang’s answer, Richter looked at her and asked directly, “Do you know something?”
“I have a few suspicions, but I don’t dare draw any conclusions.”
As she spoke, Pei Liang smiled at Richter. “But Chancellor, you don’t need to worry too much about humanity’s future.”
“After all, I’m standing on humanity’s side.”
Richter had never in his life met anyone who could speak with such shameless self-assurance.
Arguing with someone so excessively self-important would simply be a waste of time.
And so Pei Liang was promptly kicked out of the laboratory. Richter reminded her, “Even if you enjoy playing around with Alphas, I still hope you’ll carefully choose the people you associate with.”
“With all due respect, Student Pei Liang, your former social circle—”
He left the final sentence unfinished, though its meaning was perfectly clear.
Richter made no effort to conceal his contempt for the weak. In his eyes, weakness was itself a disgrace.
Fortunately, Pei Liang had no interest in continuing to maintain the original owner’s old social circle either.
From what she could gather from her memories, aside from acting as everyone’s designated sucker, the original owner had no other particularly notable qualities.
Still, after leaving the arena, quite a few emails and calls had come in.
There were congratulations and good wishes, as well as eager invitations to meet. Pei Liang barely glanced at any of them before having her AI dump them all into the trash.
There were three days of rest between the first and second matches, and Pei Liang planned to spend them relaxing.
The next day, because she had arranged a meeting with Lancelot in advance, she got up early and went to meet the mother and her two sons.
Sure enough, Mr. Valen was there as well.
Pei Liang smiled and greeted him. “Yo, Old Wang—no, Mr. Valen.”
Mr. Valen smiled. “You should call me Dad now. The legal documents have already changed your guardian.”
Pei Liang laughed. “Calling you Dad sounds too formal. I’ll stick with Old Wang.”
Mr. Valen thought about it, then actually nodded in agreement. “That’s true. Using the title Pei’s father used to call me would still be too formal.”
“After all, we’re one happy family. Let’s just go with Old Wang.”
Because of his relationship with Pei Liang’s mother, Valen naturally knew about the jokes that had arisen from Eastern languages and social relationships.
This shameless man felt that being called Old Wang was the greatest acknowledgment a child could give their father.
Lancelot was rendered speechless by his audacity.
Then, when he heard that his sister was now his legal daughter, he was even more shocked and practically exploded. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re joking, right?”
Pei Liang spread her hands. “Not at all. Your sister is too amazing, so all sorts of people have been fighting to claim her. It’s become incredibly annoying.”
“It’s much quieter if we just use Old Wang and Mother’s names as a shield.”
Pei Liang’s mother smiled, her expression tinged with disdain. “How many people from the Pei family came back yesterday?”
“Almost the entire main branch. The heads of most of the noteworthy families from the collateral branches came too.”
The contempt on Pei Liang’s mother’s face grew even stronger. “They weren’t worried that too many mouths would make the house unbearable?”
Then she nodded and added, “It’s fine for you to pin the matter on me.”
“My mother’s family has no Alpha heir. With all your decision-making authority vested in me, no one can gain an advantage. It’ll also keep the people outside from making trouble by keeping one another in check.”
“However, it would be best to void Valen’s adoption agreement. I may trust him—”
Mother Pei glanced at Valen. “But I don’t trust his family.”
Valen hurriedly smiled. “I don’t mind. As long as the child acknowledges me as his dad, contracts and agreements are all just material things.”
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Lancelot, the implication perfectly clear.
See? Your sister has already acknowledged me as her dad. You can do the same—
But Lancelot was different from Pei Liang. He worshipped his biological father immensely.
Seeing this, he let out a cold laugh. “That’s right, Old Wang.”
“Hey!” Valen exclaimed, looking as though a long-lost son had finally agreed to acknowledge him as his father.
Lancelot: “…”
Pei Liang burst out laughing, and even Mother Pei couldn’t help smiling at the scene.
Although Lancelot was bristling and throwing a fit, to outsiders they unquestionably looked like a happy, harmonious family.
At least it was far more comfortable than the constant calculations over interests at the Pei family home.
It was no wonder that anyone with even a little sense preferred Mother Pei.
She might be a lousy mother, but while she refused to take responsibility, she also never coveted her children’s interests.
Whenever her children had trouble, as long as it didn’t involve the patience and prolonged companionship that raising a child required, she was decisive and unwavering.
She would even put herself in harm’s way for them.
The four of them discussed over their meal how to handle the documents concerning Pei Liang’s guardianship.
They needed to ensure that, once Valen relinquished his claim, the Pei family wouldn’t be able to take it back.
Fortunately, Pei Liang was already an adult. It was only because she was a military academy student, with a special career ahead of her, that she needed a nominal guardian.
Mother Pei therefore decided to divorce Pei Liang’s father first. Obtaining guardianship from Valen would be far easier than fighting the Pei family for it.
It would also allow Valen’s family to lower their guard for the time being and let them take the lead in confronting the Pei family.
Listening to the two of them exchange one suggestion after another, even Pei Liang had to sigh inwardly.
Truly, like father, like son.
Pei Liang turned to Valen and asked, “Old Wang, if you screw over your family like this, won’t they break your legs?”
Valen laughed heartily. “It’s fine. Unlike before, there’s no one in the family who can break Dad’s legs anymore.”
Pei Liang: “…”
So this wasn’t even the first time this guy had screwed over his family?
Still, Pei Liang could understand Valen’s logic. Someone with his temperament could become close friends with someone like Richter only if they agreed on certain matters.
At their level, people who weren’t on the same path would never end up together in the first place.
So this Old Wang—
Pei Liang was lost in thought when Lancelot bumped her arm. “What are you thinking about?”
Pei Liang smiled. “Nothing. I was thinking about where to take you tomorrow.”
“Or we could just go to my place. I’ll cook, and you can eat?”
Lancelot’s eyes lit up at once. His whole face looked soft and rosy, though he then tried to put on an air of nonchalance. “If it tastes bad, I’m not going to praise you against my conscience.”
The neighbor, Old Wang, immediately exposed him. “I seem to remember that during the competition, you said the fruit your sister picked for you—even though you didn’t like it—was delicious.”
“You talk too much,” Lancelot said. “Are you getting carried away just because you heard my mom is getting divorced?”
“Even if my mom stayed single her whole life, she’d never give you a title.”
Old Wang was struck right in the heart. He fell silent and poked at his plate, looking like a wounded father lamenting his rebellious son.
The sight made Lancelot deeply uncomfortable.
All in all, the family had a pleasant day together. Afterwards, Lancelot went straight back to Pei Liang’s place with her.
Pei Liang had originally thought she could spend the three days taking things easy, but in the end her schedule had turned out to be rather packed.
Early on the third morning, Hill called again. He said he had finished dealing with some matters in the city and had also met with the assistant who had been arranged for him.
He was returning to the slums today, and it would probably be a while before they could meet again. He hoped to see her one more time before he left.
The little stray had an instinctive talent for pleasing his benefactor. The suggestive implications in his words were impossible to miss.
Pei Liang had finally gotten back in the game, so naturally she intended to have a few more bites.
Thus, she heartlessly left her little brother at home and went to see the little stray.
Lancelot was somewhat displeased. “Weren’t you the one who asked me to come to your place?”
Pei Liang stroked his chin as she changed clothes. “It’ll only take half a day. I’ll spend the rest of the time with you.”
“Why don’t you transfer to Imperial Military Academy? Poseidon’s school culture really doesn’t suit you.”
Lancelot was a man of principles. His family had always revered the spirit of chivalry, whereas Poseidon’s school culture went somewhat against it.
And setting that aside, having Lancelot closer to her would make it easier for her to teach him martial arts in person.
“Don’t you want to learn what I can do?”
Lancelot hesitated. Neptune was his home, and Poseidon was the first choice for the residents of Neptune.
He had no particular attachment to Imperial Military Academy, viewing it only as a rival institution.
But his sister was here, and it offered him an excellent environment in which to train.
Pei Liang didn’t force him to give her an answer right away. She merely patted him on the shoulder. “Talk it over with Mother.”
Lancelot watched his sister leave. A few minutes later, he followed her out.
Did she think he hadn’t noticed? There had clearly been something strange about those few lines of conversation, and her expression had been so gentle and indulgent, as though she had an endless supply of patience.
As far as he knew, his sister didn’t have any close friends. So who was worth abandoning him for?
Had she found another dog outside—no, another little brother?
Lancelot didn’t dare follow too closely. With his sister’s abilities, she would probably catch him and haul him out in an instant.
But he didn’t need to get close. The terminals belonging to the siblings had location tracking enabled. She had arranged it because she was afraid they might get separated while wandering around the enormous Imperial capital.
Before she had received the call, Lancelot had been testing the function. His attention had been interrupted midway, and he guessed she had forgotten about it and never turned it off.
Lancelot followed from a distance and discovered that she had gone to the plaza in the city center.
The central plaza of the Imperial capital star was naturally enormous, and it was famous throughout the entire universe.
It contained the most prosperous and advanced shopping center in the universe, with countless options for leisure, entertainment, dining, and games. Visitors could even experience the customs and specialties of countless planets at once.
Lancelot gritted his teeth. She certainly knew how to enjoy herself. He hadn’t even been brought here yet.
He casually bought a hat and pulled it low over his face, then spotted his sister in the distance.
She seemed to sense something and glanced back. Lancelot hurriedly turned around and hid.
Unfortunately, he collided with someone.
“Hey, watch where you’re going.” The voice sounded vaguely familiar.
Lancelot looked up.
What were the odds? It was Arnold and Teresa.
Arnold looked at him. “You? Why are you sneaking around like that? Are you—”
Before he could finish, he followed Lancelot’s line of sight and spotted Pei Liang in the distance. He then gave Lancelot a mocking smile.
“Oh, I see. The little kid got scared all by himself and ran out to find his sister.”
Lancelot gave a cold laugh. “That’s right, Fourth Place.”
Arnold’s face darkened. “I just had bad luck at rock-paper-scissors, that’s all.”
“Sure. Fourth place. I totally understand—fourth place.”
“You little—”
Before he could finish, Teresa’s puzzled voice came from nearby. “Who’s the person next to Pei Liang? He’s not a military academy student, is he?”
The two stopped arguing and looked over, only to see a blue-haired guy standing in front of Pei Liang.
The two of them were clearly quite close—and not in the casually affectionate way friends were. After all, there was none of that awkward, coy feeling between Alphas.
Of course, that didn’t apply to Pei Liang. He looked open and carefree, clearly taking the lead as he slung an arm around the other man’s shoulders.
What was strange was the blue-haired guy. They were both Alphas, so what was the big deal about putting an arm around someone’s shoulders? Why the hell was he blushing?
At that moment, Arnold and Teresa still hadn’t caught on.
But in the next second, they remembered the things Pei Liang had repeatedly emphasized.
Because they saw the two of them begin kissing passionately in public, completely oblivious to everyone around them.
Two Alphas, kissing passionately in the middle of the street.
The three who had just been arguing were all dumbfounded.
