Royal Academy, Temporary Dormitory.

Song Jin flipped through the intelligence reports sent by his subordinates and watched the interrogation video of Wan Wen, while idly dangling a small cookie between his lips.

It was almost midnight, and that old man surnamed Li had already entered Danse territory. He hadn’t even sent a message to confirm his safety; he clearly didn’t have Song Jin in his eyes at all.

Inadvertently, Song Jin caught sight of the jar of spicy cookies. The image of Li Xiao eating them with such enjoyment flashed before his eyes. On a whim, Song Jin picked one up, but after just one bite, he was scorched by the heat; he had no desire for a second.

Cookies should be sweet! Even if Li Xiao likes them, they absolutely must be sweet!

The spiciness stung his taste buds, his mouth burning with pain, reminding him over and over that the person who made these cookies had really just walked away and left him behind.

Song Jin switched to his terminal’s personal info, staring blankly at the “Marital Status” column. Automatic annulment? Did I agree to that?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He found Qian Xun’s number in his contacts and dialed. When she picked up, he launched into a barrage: “The application to deregister Li Xiao’s temporary status is denied.”

Qian Xun’s voice dripped with impatience: “…Do you know what time it is?”

Song Jin replied dismissively: “Aren’t you the queen of the nightlife?”

Qian Xun: “I don’t handle work matters during off-hours.”

Song Jin said leisurely: “Does Qian San know that you and your husband are going out clubbing together without taking him?”

On the other end of the line, Qian Xun’s low, sultry voice instantly shifted into a gentle, honeyed tone: “Understood, Your Highness. You can rest assured that I will take care of it.”

After hanging up, Song Jin couldn’t focus on the intelligence reports anymore, so he simply washed up and went to sleep. Just as he sat up, his terminal vibrated—it was the shadow guard’s exclusive line. At this hour, if it wasn’t an emergency, the shadow guard would post to the group, not disturb him directly.

Song Jin answered: “What is it?”

The voice on the other end was urgent: “Your Highness, the starship escorting the exchange students has just been attacked! The hull was bombed; we cannot currently determine the number of casualties!”

Song Jin’s expression shifted, his cold voice laced with suppressed volatility: “Where did they get hit?!”

The other end: “On the border of the Nanming Constellation near the NH1930 space station. The enemy has twenty-eight medium-sized modified starships. Tech is currently analyzing the enemy’s identity, but we preliminarily judge them to be star pirates active on the border!”

NH1930… that’s very close to N1926.

Song Jin narrowed his eyes, striding out of the dormitory: “Keep monitoring!”

“Yes!”

After hanging up, Song Jin turned around and contacted the Royal Academy’s Security Department, urgently calling for warships to be deployed to the border.

Head of Security: “We can depart within thirty minutes.”

Song Jin opened the door of his hover-car, powered it up, and slammed his foot on the accelerator: “Within ten minutes. I want the fastest model, and load it with full ammunition.”

The head of security was startled but hastily complied. After hanging up, Song Jin sent a video call to Li Xiao, but the virtual screen repeatedly prompted that the number was outside the service area. Song Jin smashed his fist against the steering wheel, his mood plummeting to the extreme.

“You better be okay!”

By the time Jiao Bai rushed over, Song Jin was already at the Royal Academy’s military tarmac.

“Boss, just received news: enemy numbers are detected at thirty-six medium modified starships. The Danse starship is currently hijacked, the southern cabin is damaged, and there is a risk of disintegration.”

Song Jin strode through the metal corridor and entered the warship’s command cabin.

“Notify the nearest military base; prepare for rescue.”

Jiao Bai hesitated: “The incident is in the disputed zone of the Nanming Constellation border; deploying the military might be inappropriate.”

For years, Danse and Shengya had tacitly agreed to abandon the management of the disputed zone. Tonight’s incident involved the Danse royal family; if they deployed troops rashly, they would likely be bitten back by Danse. Song Jin knew all this, of course, but he couldn’t care less right now.

“Pass the order down. I will take responsibility for all consequences.”

Seeing Jiao Bai still hesitating, Song Jin looked at him coldly: “If we leave them to kill Li Xiao, our problems will be far greater than those right in front of us.”

Jiao Bai was shaken by Song Jin’s overbearing aura and hastily complied, ordering his subordinates to coordinate rescue preparations with all parties. Song Jin had 07 send a video call to Li Xiao every fifteen seconds, standing before the monitor, coordinating with the Foreign Ministry and Rong Mian, who was responsible for the escort.

“Attacked?” Rong Mian was surprised. “There was no sign of anything unusual while we were at Tianqi.”

Song Jin: “Did Li Xiao imply anything at the time?”

Rong Mian thought for a moment: “He didn’t say anything, but the Danse staff’s attitude toward Li Xiao… it didn’t feel respectful.”

A black-clad beta came to report: “Your Highness, just received word from the Tianqi transfer station—the Danse starship docked for an hour and a half before departing after receiving the students.”

Rong Mian, on the virtual screen, was thoughtful. “The timing and location of the attack are very subtle.”

At this hour, the starship Shengya had escorted was more than halfway through its return, unable to return in time for rescue, and the site of the attack was a “no-man’s-land” where it would take more time for any party to mobilize troops.

Song Jin frowned, his complexion terrible. Li Xiao had been attacked several times while in Shengya; tonight might well be a trap set by Danse itself. He hadn’t considered that aspect at the time since it was a Danse royal ship, but he had been too careless.

Rong Mian: “I will return immediately.”

“No need,” Song Jin refused. “You aren’t as fast as I am.”

The speed of this warship was more than five times that of a regular starship; it could reach the Nanming Constellation in less than an hour.

Rong Mian: “Deploying troops without communicating with Danse—if something goes wrong, aren’t you afraid they’ll shift the blame?”

Song Jin said coldly: “They won’t deploy troops.”

Li Xiao hadn’t entered Danse territory yet. Regardless of whether Shengya took action, Danse would cast the blame on them anyway. It would solve the thorn in their side that was Li Xiao, and also smear Shengya to reap benefits. It was a clear-cut “killing two birds with one stone.”

Nanming Constellation, Danse Royal Starship.

The damage to the hull had compromised the balance of the ship, causing it to rock sporadically.

On the seventh floor, Meng Tao and the others were nearly knocked unconscious by the earlier violent jolts. A group of students contacted the team-leading staff in the group chat, but the reply was always to “wait patiently in the rest cabin.”

The vibrations were too intense, far exceeding normal parameters. The students panicked. Seeing some people gathering at Meng Tao’s rest cabin, others followed suit. The small cabin was packed, and even Lin Zhou, who had gotten word, rushed over from the medical bay.

Surrounded by the crowd, Meng Tao felt his vanity immensely satisfied by the way they looked to him for guidance.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ve already contacted the cockpit; it will be fine once we pass the dense meteor area.”

No sooner had he finished speaking, a fierce, boyish voice rang out over the voice control system:

【The ship is being attacked by external enemies. If you want to live, find a place to hide.】

“What the hell!”

“External enemies? Could Shengya be launching a sneak attack?!”

“Was that vibration earlier an explosion? I knew something was wrong!”

The rest cabin was in chaos. Only Meng Tao remained calm; his lips curled upward into a smile of satisfied treachery.

“Don’t panic!” Meng Tao raised his volume and gestured for silence. “Hiding here is the safest. Running out rashly is more dangerous.”

As he finished speaking, a loud bang echoed outside the door, followed by the faint sound of gunfire. The door to the rest cabin was violently burst open, and a group of armed men in black rushed in.

“Don’t move! Everyone put your hands on your heads and squat!” The alpha leading them was masked, his voice rough; he fired a volley into the ceiling. “If you don’t listen, we’ll kill you!”

“AH—!”

Under the gunfire, the students screamed in terror, scrambling desperately into the corners. Students who had the ability to fight back were crowded and unable to move, forced to raise their hands and squat down.

Lin Zhou glared at Meng Tao in confusion, questioning him with his eyes: Didn’t you say they wouldn’t attack us?!

Meng Tao’s face shifted; he was momentarily confused. Is this just part of the act to make it look realistic? Why is this different from the intel?

The lead black-clad alpha signaled his underling to toss over a box of shackles: “Shackle each other’s hands and feet! You have one minute; anyone not shackled by then gets shot on the spot!”

“Hurry up!” The underling kicked the bed frame impatiently, shouting sharply.

Even though they were military academy students, they were only eighteen or nineteen years old; where had they ever seen this kind of scene? Terrified of being killed, they scrambled to rummage through the box, shackling each other.

Meng Tao grew increasingly suspicious, his heart racing: “Who are you people? What do you want?!”

The black-clad alpha stepped onto a metal chair, looking down at them arrogantly: “You haven’t heard of the universe’s strongest star pirates, the ‘Fierce Tigers’?! It’s your lucky day to have run into us!”

Hearing “Fierce Tigers,” Meng Tao let out a sharp breath of relief. Then it’s fine. He subtly signaled to Lin Zhou and the others to keep calm.

The others were nearly scared out of their minds. To run into star pirates on a royal ship—how absurd is this?! Have all the soldiers on the ship been killed? How did they break in so easily!

“Don’t dally! Move!” The alpha roared, signaling them to walk out of the cabin with their hands over their heads.

In the emergency passage, the three of them—Li Xiao, Jiang Hao, and Da Bei—had just reached the eighth floor when they heard chaotic footsteps behind them, and two black-clad men jumped down.

Li Xiao and the men raised their guns almost simultaneously.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots rang out; the men were hit and rolled down the stairs.

09: 【Your marksmanship is accurate and fast. I like you.】

“Hm.” Li Xiao threw 09 out: “You block the way here.”

09: 【…】

In the blink of an eye, the black-clad men behind caught up. The air gun in the air rotated, instantly deploying and extending across the entire passage, sealing the path downward completely.

Jiang Hao’s eyes widened: “What is this?”

Li Xiao: “The ship’s defense system. Let’s go.”

Da Bei’s nerves were pulled taut; his mind was entirely focused on escaping with Li Xiao. He sprinted to the seventh floor, but just as he stepped out of the emergency exit, he saw a group of black-clad men in the corridor and turned around, pushing Li Xiao back to hide in cold terror.

“Someone’s there!”

Li Xiao peeked past the doorframe, signaling Jiang Hao. Jiang Hao took a glance and nodded; the gun in his hand “accidentally” knocked against the wall, making a crisp sound that was incredibly distinct in the metal corridor.

“There’s noise over there!”

The black-clad men in the corridor rushed toward it. Da Bei held his breath, tears nearly welling up. Oh Jiang, my brother, how could you drop the ball at a critical moment!

With no other choice, Da Bei signaled for them to move toward the sixth floor. Misfortune never comes alone—as Li Xiao turned, the muzzle of the gun in his hand “accidentally” bumped against Da Bei’s gun. Da Bei’s weapon slipped from his grip and flew down the stairs.

Da Bei: “……!!!”

“Hisss—!” Jiang Hao suddenly grabbed his thigh, leaning against the wall.

Da Bei asked in a panic: “You were hit?!”

Jiang Hao: “I accidentally pulled a muscle on the inside of my thigh. It hurts.”

Da Bei: “……” Are you kidding me, brother?!

The sound of people kicking down a door approached; several men rushed in with guns. “Don’t move! Drop your guns!”

The air in the stairwell froze. A black-clad alpha followed, narrowing his eyes as he looked them up and down: “Trying to run? Hah, no prey has ever escaped the hands of our Fierce Tigers—don’t struggle!”

Li Xiao hesitated for a moment with a grim face, then tossed his gun aside. Seeing this, Jiang Hao gritted his teeth and, with a look of humiliation, threw his gun as well.

Seeing the men come over to shackle them, Da Bei said unwillingly: “Whatever you want, I can help you negotiate it. Please, don’t hurt us!”

The black-clad alpha said roughly: “As long as you cooperate, everything is negotiable. Take them away!”

In the corridor, Meng Tao watched the men run out and quickly bring Li Xiao and his two friends back; he could barely suppress his laughter. Success. Now, even if the King of Heaven came, Li Xiao couldn’t be saved!

Li Xiao looked over calmly: “You seem very happy to see us captured?”

Da Bei and the group of students looked at Meng Tao. Meng Tao’s lips tightened, trying hard to pretend he was angry, but the tone of his voice carried a trace of pleasure: “You still have the mood to talk nonsense at a time like this?”

Li Xiao walked forward with the group: “You can still laugh; what a great mindset. How did you cultivate it? Share it so everyone can learn.”

Meng Tao snorted, feeling even more comforted at the thought of Li Xiao being executed soon. “Small scene, what’s there to panic about?”

The black-clad man next to them smashed a gun butt into him: “Did I let you chat?! If you don’t shut up, I’ll sew your mouth shut!”

“Ugh—!” Meng Tao stumbled from the blow, looking at the man in disbelief, glaring at him fiercely.

Man: “What are you glaring at?! One more look and I’ll dig your eyeballs out!”

Meng Tao roared: “He spoke too! Why punish only me?!”

“Still want your companion to suffer punishment with you?” Jiang Hao said slowly. “To think there’s really someone like you who loves selling out teammates—how shameless.”

The other students shriveled their necks and didn’t dare to speak, but inwardly, they felt Jiang Hao was right. Meng Tao’s words were truly unkind.

The students were shackled and quickly led through the metal corridor, taken off the ship from a fifth-floor docking port, and shoved into a large, empty warehouse. All their terminals were confiscated.

Meng Tao looked at Li Xiao, who was sitting on the ground without a word, and signaled the black-clad alpha: “If you want to negotiate terms with Danse, I can be your hostage. Don’t touch the others.”

Li Xiao was already in their hands; he had no need to stay here and suffer. The students who had just thought Meng Tao was going too far were now moved to tears. They hadn’t expected Meng Tao to be willing to take the risk to protect them—truly worthy of being a member of the Meng family.

“You?” The black-clad alpha looked Meng Tao up and down and sneered: “What kind of thing are you? Are you worthy?”

Meng Tao’s brows twitched, thinking he hadn’t made his hint clear enough, and continued: “I have the highest pedigree here.”

Alpha: “You’re sharp-mouthed and monkey-cheeked, looking like a treacherous ghost. Don’t lie to me, sit down!”

Meng Tao was brimming with anger; he swallowed it again and again.

The metal door opened, and a black-clad underling ran in. “Boss, the starship system is malfunctioning; our guys don’t know how to fix it!”

“Huh?!” The black-clad alpha scanned the group of students: “Who knows how to fix it?”

Meng Tao thought his hint had finally landed and raised his hand: “I do.”

“You talk too much.” The alpha signaled his underling to go over: “Tape his mouth shut for me—he just won’t stop yapping.”

Meng Tao was slapped with a piece of heavy-duty tape while struggling; he was stunned. What do these hooligans want?! Don’t they recognize me?!

The alpha tapped the wall with his gun, saying impatiently: “Whoever can fix it for me, not only will I give food, but I also guarantee I won’t kill you. But if you can’t fix it—every ten minutes, I’ll kill one!”

“Don’t kill us!” Hearing this death threat, some students burst into tears on the spot.

Li Xiao stood up and looked over calmly: “I’ll try.”

“Brother!” Da Bei wanted to stop Li Xiao, but it was too late. Everyone stared. They hadn’t expected Li Xiao to have such courage, standing up at a time like this.

Jiang Hao raised his hand: “I also know a little; I can help.”

The alpha looked at them: “You two look handsome, you should be smart enough. Then it’s you two.”

“Then I’ll—” Before Da Bei could finish, Li Xiao silenced him with a look.

Li Xiao lowered his voice: “Wait for my signal here. Don’t do anything reckless.”

Da Bei’s eyes were red: “But I—”

“I’m here,” Jiang Hao said. “I won’t let the Boss get hurt.”

Under the worried gazes of the crowd, Li Xiao and Jiang Hao were taken away. The metal door opened and closed, and the empty warehouse fell into a deathly silence. Meng Tao’s mind was in turmoil, but thinking of Li Xiao being taken away, he trembled with excitement. After such a long time, it’s finally successfully resolved.

Once the metal door closed, the black-clad alpha turned and hugged Jiang Hao, cooing and acting like a spoiled child.

“Hao-hao, I missed you to death! You’ve even put on weight since we last saw each other.”

Jiang Hao patted his own brother: “Eating well lately.”

Li Xiao couldn’t bear to watch. As he turned, he saw 09 flying over from the end of the corridor.

“They’ve retreated?”

09: 【Still looking for people.】

As it spoke, many monitoring screens popped up above 09. On every metal corridor, black-clad men with guns were searching frantically. Li Xiao motioned for Jiang Chi to head to the cockpit: “Let’s catch up later. Things aren’t over yet.”

Jiang Chi tore off his face mask, breathed a sigh of relief, and led Li Xiao toward the cockpit: “When I got your message, I thought you were joking. Who would dare hijack a royal starship? To think it was real! Days like these are getting more and more surreal.”

Li Xiao: “How many starships did you bring?”

Jiang Chi: “Just this one. The other models didn’t match the Fierce Tigers, so it wasn’t easy to blend in.”

Reaching the cockpit, Li Xiao stood before the monitor. The radar showed all nearby targets—dense, packed with dozens of starships. When he heard Da Bei mention the route at the Royal Academy, Li Xiao knew there would be trouble on the way home, so he immediately messaged Jiang Chi to stand by near NH1930.

Those people had specifically arranged him in the rest cabin on the ninth floor, southeast corner, far away from other students; the target was obvious. So he had Jiang Chi blend in during the Fierce Tigers’ invasion, take people to the seventh floor to control the exchange students first, and then meet up. This effectively avoided a direct clash with the “Fierce Tigers” and allowed him to borrow their name to take everyone away.

“We have to leave the attack zone before they notice.” Li Xiao beckoned for the virtual screen to lower and drew three routes on it.

Jiang Hao: “Should we contact the Danse security department?”

Li Xiao shook his head. The Nanming Constellation was in the hands of the Meng family; no matter which department he contacted, it would end up being the Meng family army nearest to here. If the Meng family army came, they would truly be unable to leave.

Jiang Hao thought: “Then Shengya?”

Song Jin’s face flashed before Li Xiao’s eyes. Tonight was very troublesome, and he wasn’t sure if Shengya would be willing to intervene.

Li Xiao: “They will retreat soon. Let’s just break out of the encirclement first.”

At the same time, the Danse royal palace.

It was noon here. Li Ji was eating while listening to Old Liu’s report. Thinking that Li Xiao had returned safely, he couldn’t help but drink another bowl of soup.

A beta intelligence agent ran in hurriedly, reporting in a panic: “Your Majesty, just received news: the starship escorting the exchange students has been attacked by star pirates at the border!”

Li Ji froze, then flew into a rage the next moment: “WHAT?!”

Old Liu’s expression shifted: “What happened to the people on the ship?!”

Agent: “The ship was forcibly docked and invaded by star pirates. The rest cabin where the Second Prince was staying was bombed; his survival is unknown, and the other exchange students have been taken away!”

Li Ji’s ears hummed, the hand holding the spoon white at the knuckles.

Old Liu roared: “What were so many people on the ship doing?! How could it be attacked by pirates so easily?!”

The agent lowered his head: “Specific reasons are unknown.”

Pushed to the extreme limit, Li Ji instead became calm.

“Notify Chancellor Meng to deploy troops immediately. If any exchange student suffers any injury, I will make him pay the price.”

Old Liu was shocked: “Yes!”

After the person left, Li Ji immediately dialed Li Xiao’s number; the prompt said it was out of the service area. He supported his forehead, his head splitting with pain, his hand on the table clenching until it creaked.

Why did you come back? You shouldn’t have come back.

Nanming Constellation. The scheduled retreat time had passed, but the Fierce Tigers still hadn’t found anyone.

In the cockpit of a certain starship, an underling ran to the middle-aged alpha leading the team: “Boss, a contact from over there.”

The other side of the comms was pitch black; there was only a voice that had been distorted by a modulator.

“How is it?”

The middle-aged alpha scratched his hair in frustration: “Don’t know where they hid, can’t find a single person!”

The other side: “Did you not make the cockpit cooperate?”

Alpha: “Their efficiency is too slow! It takes half a day just to pull up a monitor!”

The other side: “What about Li Xiao?”

Alpha: “I blew up his rest cabin. If he survived that, I’ll kneel down and call him my ancestor!”

The other side was silent for a moment: “There is pressure from above; we need to deploy troops here. You prepare to retreat.”

The alpha complied and told his men to pass the word.

An underling at the control desk said “Eh?” and asked the middle-aged alpha: “Boss, we brought forty starships this time, right?”

Alpha: “Yeah.”

The underling zoomed in on the screen: “But now, besides the target starship, there are forty-one!”

The alpha was startled, shoved the underling aside to look, slapped the control panel, and pointed at the extra one, roaring: “Damn his grandfather! Someone must have taken them away. CHASE!”

Underling: “Yes!”

On the Snow Leopard starship, Jiang Chi saw that the Fierce Tigers were truly starting to retreat: “You called it. They don’t dare stay longer when they can’t find anyone.”

Li Xiao looked at the radar expressionlessly, observing the movements of the Fierce Tigers to change the retreat route at any time. Predicting the actions of the Fierce Tigers was easy; even roughly when the Meng family army would arrive, he was crystal clear on.

“They’re chasing us!” Jiang Hao pointed at the screen. “Have we been discovered?”

“Damn!” Jiang Chi rushed to the control panel to direct his men personally: “Which direction are we going?”

Li Xiao: “Don’t leave the border for now.”

Jiang Chi: “They dare fire cannons!” He waved his hand: “Load the ammunition we grabbed earlier and let them have it!”

The starship navigated through dense fire; one misstep and it could be blown apart. The underlings were sweating in terror: “I can’t see it all!”

Li Xiao heard this, sat before the control panel, and took over the primary flight authority.

He navigated the starship nimbly through the encirclement while firing counter-intercept munitions, precisely avoiding the blast waves; the constantly rocking ship instantly steadied.

Seeing Li Xiao so unhurried, Jiang Chi stared wide-eyed at Jiang Hao: “He can even fly a starship?”

Jiang Hao: “I just found out, too.”

09: 【Testing Master’s starship piloting skills—】

09: 【Testing Master’s reaction speed—】

09: 【Confirmation complete: No need for me to step in.】

Li Xiao asked casually: “You can fly a starship too?”

09: 【I can’t, but I can hijack the underlings to help me fly it.】

Li Xiao: “…”

Very well. That’s very direct.

The starships behind were chasing tight; because the models were similar, the speed was roughly the same, making it difficult to shake them off. If this dragged on, the ammunition on the ship would run out sooner or later.

09: 【Detected Shengya military approaching!】

A radar page popped up above the metal sphere.

“Shengya deployed troops?” Jiang Chi watched the dense pack of red dots coming from two directions: “It must be the local garrison, but how come they got here faster than Danse?!”

Li Xiao did not hesitate; he turned the starship around and headed toward the Shengya troops.

When the Shengya garrison arrived, it was a full-scale bombing scene. They didn’t know if the Danse exchange students were in the hands of the star pirates or still on the original starship; they didn’t dare fire indiscriminately, so they could only contain all the pirate ships within a certain area, then gradually shrink the range.

In front of the military, the Fierce Tigers’ fleet of forty ships didn’t look like much; all the munitions they fired were intercepted by the Shengya military.

Li Xiao simply circled around, attempting to contact the Shengya officer in charge.

09: 【Detected 07! Shall I interface with the other party?】

Li Xiao’s eyes flashed: “Interface.”

09: 【Interfacing—the other party has accepted the request—】

A video window popped up automatically. In the picture appeared Song Jin’s cold, stern face.

Li Xiao: “Why did you come?”

“Where are you?” Song Jin sat in the command seat, resting his chin on his hand, asking coldly.

Li Xiao changed the signal emitted by the starship and told Song Jin the frequency band: “All the exchange students are with me.”

“That makes it easy.” Song Jin had 07 send the location: “Come here.”

The Fierce Tigers were driven crazy by the Shengya military, vacillating between retreating and pursuing.

“They’re retreating!” an underling shouted. “That ship is running away!”

Fierce Tigers Boss: “CHASE ME!”

Li Xiao piloted the ship through the Shengya troops. Not long after flying out, a heavy warship traversed a jump point, its massive hull slowly appearing in front of the starship. Compared to the warship, the starship was like an ant at the foot of an elephant, vulnerable.

“Damn!” Jiang Chi looked at the target that occupied nearly the entire screen and clutched his heart, which was pounding: “No, I have megalophobia.”

Jiang Hao: “…” Pull yourself together, don’t be so cowardly.

Watching the small red dots on the radar circle to the right side of the warship, Song Jin ordered the cabin door opened, the murderous intent in his eyes nearly materializing: “Destroy all the rest.”

Accompanying officer: “Yes!”

In an instant, the warship locked onto all targets and fired plasma cannons. The Fierce Tigers, seeing the warship, realized the situation was wrong and immediately turned around. But the attack range of the warship was immense; they couldn’t run at all.

“Hurry to the escape pods!”

The middle-aged alpha, along with his underlings, abandoned everything, scrambling frantically for the escape pods. A moment later, all the starships turned into cosmic dust.

In the warship’s hangar, the starship docked steadily. Everyone in the cockpit let out a long sigh of relief, their foreheads covered in cold sweat. They had played a huge game today; they had enough material to brag for a lifetime.

Li Xiao didn’t linger for a second, walking toward the exit.

“Hey brother, where are you going?” Jiang Chi hurried to follow, “What do we do about those students? You’re not really going to make me go ask the Danse royal family for money, are you? I don’t dare.”

Jiang Hao: “…”

Li Xiao ignored him, hurried off the starship, and saw the elevator door open from a distance. Song Jin’s long, straight legs stepped out. He stood there, meeting his gaze across the space.

He had thought Shengya might deploy troops, but he never thought Song Jin would come in person. His beautiful eyes were sharper than usual; he looked very angry.

The two walked close. Before Li Xiao could speak, he was hit squarely by Song Jin’s fist.

“If something happens, you don’t know how to call for help?” Song Jin grabbed Li Xiao’s collar: “From departure until now, you refused to send a single message. Do I deserve so little trust?”

Li Xiao: “Distant water cannot put out a fire nearby.”

“You just focus on calling for help!”

Song Jin said almost word for word, “Whether or not I can save you isn’t for you to decide.”

Li Xiao looked at him deeply and answered in a low voice: “Fine.”

Song Jin forcefully pulled Li Xiao into his arms: “There better not be a next time.”

Enveloped by Song Jin’s scent, Li Xiao realized abruptly that he liked this scent, regardless of whether it was alpha or omega.

“You’re being a bit overbearing, aren’t you?”

Song Jin tightened his arms: “We’re not divorced yet; you’re still mine.”

Li Xiao’s fingertips twitched; he raised both hands and was just about to embrace him back when he heard Song Jin threaten him by his ear: “Before I get tired of your cookies, you’d better watch yourself.”

Li Xiao: “…”

The cookies are the focus?