Upon hearing the other's words, Lu Qingxue glanced at Mu Fan.
"You two talk, I'm going to head up to the spaceship first."
With a casual wave of his hand, Mu Fan continued walking forward, boarding the spaceship under the expressionless gaze of the two butlers.
The two elders were still unaware of what had happened inside the Space Station, simply catching a hint of sulfur when Mu Fan passed between them.
On the desolate space corridor of the Space Station, two slender figures stood facing each other.
Watching Mu Fan's receding figure, Lu Qingyu's gaze was complex.
"Does he know the significance of this exchange and your appearance?"
"I don't know," Lu Qingxue replied, twirling a lock of hair by her ear.
"Then will you tell him?"
"I won't."
Lu Qingxue shook her head, her expression cool and detached.
Hearing her sister's response, Lu Qingyu's eyes held an indescribable complexity:
"From birth, we of the Snow Clan understand our mission. At the same time, family rules grant each Snow Clan girl the right, once in a lifetime, to genuinely choose her other half. By formally bringing a stranger by your side, you have declared your forfeiture of the chance to join the honored family, which will enrage the elder council."
Lu Qingxue watched as Mu Fan's figure disappeared into the spaceship entrance, a fleeting tenderness crossing her eyes before being replaced once again by iciness.
"In our family, every girl born within our generation has been indoctrinated from a young age to be loyal to someone from the great world—a mighty man who can protect the family. Every girl is instilled with the goal of striving to grow and become his wife. But that is not what I want."
"A stranger from the Mirror Universe, I neither know him nor wish to know him."
Hearing her sister's words, Lu Qingyu muttered softly, "So this is how you want to inform the clan's elder council."
"Um."
"And he who was chosen is still unaware?"
"Um."
"You're insane."
Lu Qingyu shook her head, feeling utterly unable to understand Lu Qingxue's actions.
"I've made up my mind; one must do something for one's dreams in a lifetime," Lu Qingxue said with determination in her eyes.
"Would you rather be jestingly lonely for life than serve the future guardian of the family?"
"A jest? I don't think so."
"During these past few years at Dingchuan Academy, I don't know what you've gone through, but it's clear you're no longer the figure clothed in countless honors whom I respected daily. I will report this truthfully to the elder council, and if the family suffers an attack from the Night Teeth Team in the future, you cannot escape blame," Lu Qingyu said, her gaze piercing as she looked firmly at Lu Qingxue.
"I will bear it alone."
Finally, Lu Qingxue turned and boarded the spaceship, their conversation appearing particularly merciless under the strict family regulations.
However, if it weren't for Mu Fan's display of overwhelming power, which indirectly absolved Lu Qingyu of responsibility, she probably would never have had such a conversation with Lu Qingxue in her entire life.
From now on, I shall be the hope of the Lu family's revival, surely becoming the wife of a loyalist from the great world.
In this way, I should thank you for giving me the opportunity, dear sister.
A slight curve touched Lu Qingyu's lips as she turned and walked toward her own spaceship on the other side.
…
Two white-painted spaceships ascended simultaneously, one flying toward the deep space universe, the other toward the vast and azure Blue Capital Star.
Smedley looked at the holographic screen handed to him by his subordinate, his eyes betraying a sense of fear.
"We've provoked the Night Teeth Team."
Minutes later, a message began to rapidly spread throughout the Dark World.
"Have you heard? The Deputy Captain of the Night Teeth Team has been killed."
"By whom?"
"Don't know. There are plenty of ruthless people in this universe."
"Hmph, it's normal to die in this line of work, isn't it? Do they think the Night Teeth Team is invincible or something?"
Good news stays at home, bad news travels a thousand miles. The Night Teeth Team, which has always touted itself as the pinnacle of the Dark World's mercenary groups, may very well become the talk of countless people today.
On Grey Forest Star, 14 light-years away from Blue Capital Star at the edge of the third Administrative Star Region.
An area beyond the control of any jurisdiction, adjacent to the Hinchlo Business Alliance and the Outer Domain Galaxy, it was a gathering hub for countless extremely brutal individuals and myriad mercenary group strongholds.
In the near-Earth orbit of Grey Forest Star floated a heavily modified Escort Ship turned warship, its dusky shell emblazoned with all sorts of strange symbols.
Inside this warship, a hideous-faced giant, who stood even taller than Li Dou by half a head, stood inside the spacious cargo hold. Under the bright light, this giant's exposed skin shimmered with a metallic luster.
At the moment, however, this giant was standing respectfully behind a man of about 1.75 meters in height.
This man, compared to the metallic giant, was much thinner, but a wide gray cloak enveloped his frame, not revealing his body entirely. A head of untidy curly hair shielded his eyes, obscuring his face from view.
"Captain, news just came in that on the Federation's fourth Star District's administrative planet, Sayar is dead," the giant began, his voice ringing with a metallic timbre.
"A vendetta?"
"No, Sayar had taken Li Dou to an outpost of the Alliance Mutual Assistance Association outside Blue Capital Star. They were originally looking for the elder princess of the Snow Clan's Lu Family, but to their surprise, she was accompanied by a man who suddenly exerted his power..."
"And he was killed?"
The figure shrouded in the cloak with curly hair asked indifferently.
"Mhm." The metallic giant replied in a deep voice.
"What a waste, making him Deputy Captain was for him to quietly gather intelligence. Hmm, let Light Demon Saka take over Sayar's troops. Oh, who brought the message?"
"The Alliance Mutual Assistance Association's Deputy Director, a dwarf," said the short-haired metallic giant in a deep voice.
"Find out the details of the man who killed Sayar, and then send him a Blood Teeth." The man in the cloak with the disheveled hair extended a finger behind him, flicking out a blood-colored fang.
The metallic giant reached out his palm, allowing the blood-colored fang to land in it.
"When should the Death Order start?"
"Now. Kay, see who's willing to make a trip on your side."
"Understood, I'll arrange it."
"By the way, when you have time, look into the Lu Family of the Snow Clan, to see exactly what this woman has done to cause Sayar to lose his life?"
The mass of curly hair lifted, revealing a pair of terrifying all-white eyes from beneath.
Five minutes later, as someone was refreshing the mercenary information bulletin board, they suddenly noticed that in the [Important Announcement] section, a blood-red title had been pinned to the top.
[Blood Teeth: Number 127]
"It's been half a year, yet we're seeing another Death Order from the Night Teeth Team, and it's been publicly posted on Grey Forest Star. This is going to be interesting."
"Blood Teeth deadline 60 days? Heh, there's only one organization that sets the deadline for someone's death. What a group of twisted freaks, both psychologically and physically mutated."
Many others scoffed at this information, after all, the Night Teeth Team wasn't targeting them. In their line of work, people died every day.