Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After a frantic search, Huainan finally found the message left on her terminal.

"Phew—"

Huainan patted her chest, genuinely relieved. Given the urgency and the absence of outsiders, she had moved Thor outside the door to avoid any potential explosions. Clearly, she needed to be more careful in the future.

Now that she knew Thor was safe, Huainan grabbed her belongings and dashed towards the deck, her footsteps echoing loudly through the corridor.

Thanks to Ansel’s earlier instructions, no one blocked her path.

Upon reaching the deck, she was surprised to find the starship’s skylight open. The sky outside was perfectly still, with glittering clusters of stars forming galaxies of all shapes and sizes. Countless stars emitted radiant glows of varying intensities, their brilliance stretching across the vast expanse of the cosmos. She even caught a glimpse of a meteor streaking past, its long, ghostly blue tail vanishing in an instant.

So beautiful.

Huainan slowed her pace.

Hearing the commotion, Thor paused mid-motion, then slid down and sprinted towards his sister.

Huainan smiled, stashed her belongings at her waist, and bent down to scoop him up, settling him onto her arm. She rubbed her cheek against his, tickling him until he squirmed.

Unbeknownst to Thor, Ansel’s fingers curled slightly at the sight of his closeness to Huainan, a brief flash of disappointment crossing his expression.

After a long while, Thor had gotten enough affection and even offered the pink pastry in his hand to Huainan’s lips.

"It’s fragrant. And sweet."

Huainan could smell it—this was definitely something Thor hadn’t tasted before, a fact evident from his simple description.

By the time she responded, Ansel had already composed himself. His long, overlapping robe draped softly over his frame, and even with the additional crimson outer layer, the slightly loose collar gave him a lazy, charming look.

"Thor held onto it the whole time but only smelled it."

At this, Huainan paused. She understood exactly what that meant and took a small bite from the corner.

"It’s fragrant and sweet. Go ahead and eat, Thor."

Only after seeing his sister take a bite did Thor reveal his little white teeth, chewing carefully. Despite his efforts to pace himself, his left cheek soon puffed up.

"Take your time. There’s plenty more."

Nearby, Bernard, who had been leaning against a metal panel, abandoned all pretense of dignity upon Huainan’s arrival and waved like a lazy fish.

"Huainan, come try this! It’s a pastry recreated using a recipe thousands of years old."

"And what were you doing in that room earlier? I thought you were making a bomb. Let me tell you, this starship belongs to Ansel’s family. If you blew it up, you’d be working for him forever..."

"This thing’s expensive, but Ansel really likes little Thor. Why don’t you both come with us to his place? His family’s estate is huge—"

"Opus."

A cool voice cut off the chatterbox. Realizing he’d said too much, Bernard covered his face with a hand in surrender.

Huainan patted Thor’s back. She knew Senior Bernard was just trying to lighten the mood, and compared to when they’d first met, he seemed to be showing his true colors more and more...

But business came first. Her amazing luck today had allowed her to exceed expectations on a project, easing some of her guilt.

She set Thor down on a chair and pulled out a crystal-clear short blade from behind her. Since they weren’t used to calling it an "iron ruler," she had adopted their term for it—after all, the transformed weapon looked completely different now.

The short blade in Huainan’s palm had transformed into something as dazzling as a gemstone, its form sleeker and more compact. The extensions on either side had shortened, and the energy stone in the hilt emitted an eerie blue glow before everyone’s eyes.

The previous runic engravings no longer adorned the surface but were instead embedded within the hilt, glowing with silver light.

"Uh... Hey junior, you didn’t accidentally blow up the rune and hand in a piece of art, did you?"

Bernard leaned in close, his tall nose nearly touching the blade.

As he’d said before, attempting runecrafting without formal training—let alone boasting about upgrading it to five stars—was basically spitting in the face of all the prestigious academies on the home planet!

In response, Huainan gave a small smile and presented the weapon to Ansel with both hands.

"Senior Ansel, Huainan has completed her mission—and gone beyond expectations!"

Ansel was genuinely surprised. He had never seen a short blade like this before, and the sight of this usually reserved alpha now practically sparkling with excitement piqued his curiosity.

Thor, seeing his sister pull out something shiny, got curious too. Over the years, he’d only ever seen her tinker with bones and insect shells.

Ansel’s pale fingers lightly turned the blade over, finding it perfectly balanced in his grip. Then, with his other hand, he brushed along the sharp edges—only to accidentally nick himself, leaving a thin red cut.

"Ah, Ansel, be careful!"

"Ansel brother, wipe it."

Ignoring their worry, Ansel casually wiped away the blood, then gripped the blade firmly and let the tip drop downward.

With a soft *thunk*, it pierced straight through the nearby metal wall as easily as cutting through butter.

"Whoa!"

Bernard's jaw dropped. He hadn’t expected it to be this sharp!

"Is this made from fourth-grade silver-streaked titanium ore? That was way too smooth—is this thing really five stars?"

"And Ansel, only you would treat your own family’s starship like this. Just stabbing walls without thinking—must be nice to be rich."

"Here, let me see what happens when you power up the energy stone!"

With that, Bernard grabbed the blade from him.

Bernard held the short blade and activated the energy stone with his mental power. In an instant, a ghostly blue radiance enveloped the entire blade. The high-frequency vibrating luminescence instantly extended the weapon's length, containing the violently swelling energy within a few inches in the blink of an eye.

By now, the short blade had transformed into a lightblade, its original crystal-like form now hidden within the radiant glow.

*Swish, swish, swish!*

Several streaks of light danced around Bernard’s hand, their butterfly-quick movements almost forming an orb of light. The energy currents carried by the lightblade accidentally brushed against the metal table, melting a section in mere moments...

Bernard’s jaw tightened as he stared at the lightblade. To his senses, this weapon had surpassed the inherent quality of its materials, reaching 6 stars. Currently, there were no more than ten 6-star Runesmiths in the Federation’s capital world! Even if it were just 5 stars, with craftsmanship like this, Huainan could undoubtedly make her mark in the capital world!

At this thought, Bernard couldn’t help but take another look at his junior, his intense gaze making her nervous.

But his seriousness lasted only a second before he bolted over to them.

"Junior! Let me ride your coattails! I’m not asking for 6 stars—5 stars will do! Money's no object!"

Seeing her senior so excited, Huainan quickly became modest.

"The 6-star result was an accident this time, but 5 stars should be doable..."

"As long as you don’t mind, Senior."

Ansel also joined their conversation at a leisurely pace, casually running fingers through Thor’s black hair as he tilted his head slightly.

"Junior Huainan, you’re amazing."

"With skills like this, you could start taking weapon commissions as soon as you return to the capital world."

Receiving recognition and praise from both seniors, Huainan tried to stay composed but couldn’t help breaking into a radiant smile. Now that her grandfather and Thor’s future were secured, and she was working hard to repay her seniors’ help, life was gradually improving—how could she not be happy?

Seeing Huainan so elated, Ansel’s expression was illuminated softly. His thin lips parted slightly, his long lashes framing his mesmerizing emerald eyes as he chuckled and made his request.

"Junior Huainan, may we have a word?"

Huh?

Confused, Huainan still agreed.

Meanwhile, Bernard had the short blade taken from him by Ansel and was assigned to look after Thor, while Ansel led Huainan back into that familiar bedroom.

The moment she stepped inside, Huainan—still not fully in control of herself—uncontrollably recalled Senior Ansel’s heart-stoppingly seductive expression from that day. Her face flushed, and her gaze began darting about...

Ansel hitched up his slightly slipping robe, then turned to find Huainan frozen like a statue in the center. The sight reminded him of something.

"Ah, I haven’t thanked you yet for your help, junior."

Hearing this, Huainan waved her hands in panic, as if too embarrassed to continue.

"N-no, it was my fault for not wearing a suppressor ring..."

Noticing the faint blush spreading across Huainan’s face, Ansel realized she was embarrassed. His eyes instantly flared with an intensity that made her heart race as he gracefully advanced on her with slow, deliberate steps...

Backed into a corner by his approach, a helpless Huainan could only retreat while emphasizing,

"Senior, your heat cycle just ended!"

As the increasingly potent pheromones washed over her, instantly bringing back vivid memories, Huainan threw up her hands defensively.

Ansel, whose stunning looks had once captivated the capital world, quirked his crimson lips slightly. His luminous emerald eyes drinking in her fluster. Casually lifting Huainan’s chin, his allure remained potent even by the scars across his face.

"I despise the instincts of an omega, yet I also need the abilities they grant me—"

"So, Junior Huainan, could you do this senior a small favor...?"

"...What?!"

Ansel couldn’t help but chuckle at her shock, feigning nonchalance as he replied,

"Help ease this poor omega, just a little..."

With that, he grasped Huainan’s fingers, feeling the slight roughness of her palm, and guided them toward his own neck, closing the distance between them further.

Huh?

Huainan’s fingertips rested on Senior Ansel’s scent gland, the skin beneath warm and soft to the touch. A spark of electricity shot through them, making both of them shiver simultaneously!

At this moment, Huainan could clearly see Ansel’s dark, feathery lashes trembling faintly, his usually pale cheeks now tinged with pink.

His closed eyelids concealed the gathering wetness brought on by his physiological reaction—and the sudden darkening of his gaze. His husky voice murmured low in Huainan’s ear...

Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for your support! I’ll keep working hard!