Their existence was like the mermaids of Mingxi's previous life.

Imagine if mermaids truly existed on Earth, they would inevitably become targets for human hunters.

Rare, beautiful, and precious.

Possessing both collection value and research value, how could they escape the grasp of ambitious people's greed?

This was precisely the situation of the Tulan people in this world.

If the Karman Empire on Yunhai Star hadn't produced an extremely wise emperor with upright moral values, who strictly forbade any individual or organization from harming or imprisoning the Tulan people under any name, this race would likely have been extinguished long ago.

Although the Tulan race cannot awaken, they are naturally extremely long-lived.

While ordinary people can live over 200 years with the support of technology and advanced methods, they can live four or five hundred years without relying on technology and modern medicine.

And Yulanka, when translated into the Tulan Ancient Language, means 'King,' representing the most revered existence of the Tulan race.

Therefore, the Yunbing Auction House was currently auctioning a Tulan King.

"A Tulan Yulanka?"

"Interesting!"

The largest private box in the center of the venue's top floor.

The curtains were tightly drawn, but several guards in black uniforms, wearing silver flying bird badges, stood nearby.

This was the symbol of the Shadow Raven Family. They were a powerful local intelligence and security organization in Zetarem, who were already local overlords before the energy leak occurred on Zeta Star.

They controlled the resources of two major districts at the time.

It is said that this family is backed by the Royal Family of the Nibiru Kingdom on Yunhai Star.

The Shadow Raven Family is entangled with various forces and can be described as deeply rooted and powerful in the current Zetarem.

And this box was exclusive to the Shadow Raven Family.

Only important figures of Shadow Raven could enter.

"We shall now officially begin the auction for this Tulan Yulanka!"

The auctioneer's voice was deliberately raised.

A metal staff appeared in his hand.

Its tip carried a hint of blasphemy as it reached in from outside the cage, attempting to touch the noble and handsome youth within.

'He,' who had been like a frozen statue, moved.

He slightly tilted his head, and his eyes looked up.

The color of his pupils resembled the dark blue sky before a storm, the deepest abyss.

Scanned by those eyes, the noisy venue suddenly fell silent for a moment.

'He' showed no anger, no fear, not even emotion; he simply looked at the auctioneer and at every face twisted by desire below the stage with a gaze so calm it was chilling.

The metal staff stopped an inch from 'his' neck, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.

The auctioneer's hand froze in mid-air, and cold sweat uncontrollably beaded on his temples.

'He' did nothing, yet everyone felt that the one being violated was not 'him,' but them!

In the silence, only breathing could be heard.

Immediately, 'he' curved his lips slightly. That face, which seemed to have been sculpted by the Creator with immense effort, became even more handsome.

The perverts below seemed greatly stimulated, their breathing growing heavy, like snorting bulls.

Pairs of eyes—like small worms, like tiny fish—became bloodshot and enraged.

This aura of a king, yet the status of a slave.

So thrilling!

So exciting!

Men, women, and those in between were all agitated.

"Master, please restrain your divine power. I'm genuinely afraid you'll actually be sent to some man's bed."

Guangguang was resigned to its master, who was increasingly fond of causing trouble.

In other families, the pet beast is influenced by the Beastmaster, but in theirs, it's the opposite—the Beastmaster is influenced by the pet beast.

"It's my first time being a man, and such a beautiful and handsome one at that. I can't help but want to show off my personal charm."

"You yourself are very beautiful, yet I've never seen you show off your personal charm."

"That's different."

Guangguang really wanted to sneer.

How is it different?!

If it's not her own appearance, she just messes around.

That person is truly miserable.

But the stunned auctioneer was quite satisfied with this effect.

Waving the metal staff in his hand, he regained his composure.

His voice was full of incitement.

"Silence! Silence! Distinguished guests! As you can see, this noble Yulanka is absolutely the most unique auction item since our Yunbing Auction House was established."

"According to the intelligence gathered by our auction house, this Yulanka, named Keyi, possesses the purest bloodline in the history of the Tulan race, the closest to Gengjin Tianyou."

He deliberately prolonged his tone, building up anticipation: "He is highly likely to be capable of being contracted by a human Beastmaster!"

The entire venue erupted in an uproar again.

No one present was unaware of the Tulan race's unique nature.

If a half-human pet beast were truly born, whether he was powerful or not wouldn't matter; he would definitely bring unimaginable benefits.

Moreover, this Yulanka was such a beauty.

Below the stage, various gazes focused on the man in the cage.

Greed, scrutiny, lust, curiosity... like countless tentacles.

In an upper-level box on the left, the representative of a certain resource giant stroked his chin and whispered to his companion.

"A Tulan Race Yulanka? If he can really be contracted, he certainly holds special research value..."

"Mm."

In the middle-level box on the right, hidden by curtains, silence reigned for a moment before a cold voice emerged from behind a voice changer.

"Stop the nonsense, start the auction quickly!"

The auctioneer was clearly wary of the person in this box, and he hurriedly responded.

The auction began.

The starting bid was 5 million star coins.

"8 million."

Someone below the stage immediately skipped past the starting price.

"8.5 million!"

Aimanide, who had peculiar fetishes, couldn't wait.

Although this Tulan Yulanka wasn't a muscular man, he was handsome, wild, and noble enough.

He wasn't entirely unacceptable.

"9 million!"

In another direction, a young man, dressed extravagantly and pale-faced, immediately raised his hand.

Several similar-looking young boys and girls nestled close to him.

The look he gave the youth in the cage held no lust, but was filled with the eagerness of collecting a rare specimen.

The auctioneer became excited.

"9 million star coins! Guest number 13 bids 9 million star coins! Is there anything higher? Think about it—a Tulan who can be both a person and a pet beast! He could be the most dazzling pearl in your collection room! Or perhaps your most capable and special assistant. Aren't you tempted?"

Mingxi, who was currently the Tulan Yulanka Keyi.

Stood expressionlessly in the center of the iron cage, his dark blue pupils calmly sweeping over the faces of the crowd below.

That gaze held no fear, no pleading, only a detached indifference, even carrying a faint, subtle trace of mockery.

This serenity, in the midst of the noisy auction house, appeared even more striking and attractive.

"10 million!" The pervert Kylone couldn't resist entering the fray either.

"I, Kylone, must have this man! He will become the most beautiful corpse in my bed!"

His arrogance did not arouse antipathy from others.

On this planet, the most common thing was perverts.

Everyone was the same; no one could discriminate against anyone else.

"11 million!" The pale youth showed no weakness.

The price quickly climbed.

The main participants were Aimanide, Kylone, several boxes upstairs, the pale youth with a collecting fetish, and two other anonymous buyers who appeared financially robust.

The bidding gradually became deadlocked.

"35 million!" shouted the pale youth, his face flushed with excitement.

"36 million." The right-side box remained indifferent.

"37 million!"

"..."

"59 million!"

The price approached the 60 million star coins mark, which had already broken the highest transaction record for slave auctions at the Yunbing Auction House.

It was even higher than the price paid last month for a Legendary Transcendent creature, the Yuri Weasel-Cat cub!

The auctioneer's face glowed: "59 million star coins!

Any higher?

The guest in Box 3 bids 59 million!

59 million, going once!

59 million, going twice!

59 million..."

Just then, the curtain of the central box, belonging to the Shadow Raven Family, was slightly lifted at one corner.

A lazy yet clear voice emerged from the silver-haired, heterochromatic-eyed girl. It wasn't loud, but it instantly overpowered the noise in the venue.

"100 million."

The entire venue went silent.

She skipped the slow bidding process and directly raised the price to the high figure of 100 million!

Madness!

The right-side box fell silent, the curtain subtly moving, apparently weighing the options.

The pale youth opened his mouth, but was eventually pulled down by his companion and sat down resentfully.

Perverts like Kylone and Aimanide also silently suppressed their desires and remained quiet.

They could not afford to offend the people of the Shadow Raven Family.

Especially since this was the Shadow Raven Family's most tyrannical young mistress, Verina Shadowsong.

The auctioneer's voice trembled with excitement: "100 million! Miss Shadowsong bids 100 million star coins! 100 million, going once!"

"100 million, going twice!"

"100 million! Sold!"

"Congratulations, Miss Shadowsong, on acquiring our Item KT-73, the Tulan Yulanka Keyi!" The auctioneer's excitement caused his voice to crack.

The spotlight focused on Mingxi again. She remained expressionless, only her gaze seemed unintentionally to sweep toward the central ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ box.

In the depths of her starry, profound pupils, a subtle, almost imperceptible dark glint flashed and vanished.

The Shadow Raven Family?

Hopefully, they could bring her a surprise.

The handover process was swift and quiet.

Mingxi was fitted with a new collar.

The material was more advanced, inlaid with tiny dark purple crystals. Besides basic location tracking and restriction, it seemed to be an item with more complex monitoring functions.

She was led to the dedicated passage behind the auction house.

There, Mr. An, Verina Shadowsong's exclusive butler, had been waiting for a long time.

An was a taciturn old man, his gray hair meticulously combed, wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit, his aura heavy like an ancient well.

He appraised Mingxi with eyes sharp as an eagle's, but said little, only bowing slightly: "Your Excellency Yulanka, please follow me."

He did not shout orders like he would at an ordinary slave, but instead used the honorific "Your Excellency," although his tone was very flat.

But at least this attitude did not cause discomfort.

Leaving the auction house, she boarded the Shadow Raven Family's signature, streamlined black hovercar.

Outside the window was the perpetually shifting, strange streetscape of Zetarem.

Mingxi sat inside the car. The crystal on the collar flickered slightly, but she could feel that the restrictive effect of this item... was just mediocre.

Right, it also had the function of energy suppression.

That is, the inability to summon the Pet Beast Space or use items.

Quite cautious.

Is this because they don't believe she isn't a Beastmaster?

But it wasn't a big problem.

Because, apart from Red Jade, all eight Golden Ingots had already been released by her.

Even without the Golden Ingots, she could destroy this item using pure brute force.

It just wasn't the right time yet.

Mingxi was taken to the Shadow Raven Family's stronghold in the Shattered Bone Market.

A fortress built around a massive, non-operational Gravity Anchor Engine.

The internal structure was complex in a way Mingxi found hard to comprehend.

It was somewhat similar to a mix of Gothic and Steampunk styles.

She was led to a room that was quite comfortable, even luxurious, instead of a dark cell. Soft carpets, walls hung with ornate tapestries, and even a coffee table displaying fresh fruit.

"Your Excellency, this will be your exclusive room from now on. If you need anything, you can press the call button here, and a maid will come to serve you."

After bringing the person in and giving a brief explanation, An left.

Mingxi had no intention of keeping him, and she hadn't uttered a sound the entire time.

She was now an arrogant king reduced to a slave, prone to fits of temper, possessing a terrible personality, and feeling very unhappy.

For several days in a row, Mingxi ate, slept, and ate again, living the happy life of a pig.

She rarely saw anyone, and apart from having extremely picky and fastidious requirements for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she had almost no other demands.

Despite this, no one would ignore her presence.

However, Verina Shadowsong had never appeared, as if she had bought her simply to throw money around lavishly.

Although she had already learned about Verina Shadowsong from Guangguang.

"Master, are you just going to wait like this? We've been on Zetarem Star for six days now!"

"Why rush? If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move."

"You might not be in a hurry, living the good life of fattening up, with plenty of good food and drink, but Mo Fengyi probably can't wait too long."

Mingxi's expression didn't change: "Don't worry. If Uncle Mo isn't dead yet, he won't die anytime soon. At most, he'll suffer a bit more hardship.

However, we need to find the Jinhui Group and the Silver Wing Group teams quickly."

Based on her shallow understanding of the Advent Organization, after Uncle Mo went missing, he was either immediately eliminated the day he was exposed, or they kept him alive to use him to achieve other goals.

For example, luring the meat bun to voluntarily fight the dog.

So rushing now is pointless; it might just lead to stepping into a trap specially designed by others.

However, the situation for the members of the Jinhui Group and the Silver Wing Group would be a bit more dangerous.

"By the way, Guangguang, have you found out the relationship between Shadow Raven and the Advent Organization?"

Guangguang was about to answer.

The room door slid open, and a petite figure slowly walked in, followed by the expressionless butler An.

"Sleeping Prince, do you need me, the princess, to kiss you awake?"

The bed sank, and his chin was grasped by a soft, smooth hand.

The next second, the girl's cold, yet teasing voice echoed in the room.

Mingxi didn't want to have a Lily Blossom relationship with a girl.

Although she was a man right now. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

She opened her eyes and looked at the girl leaning over and gazing at her.

Verina Shadowsong.

The Thirteenth Young Miss of the Shadow Raven Family, she was the illegitimate daughter of the current Shadow Raven Family head, Darian Shadowsong.

Her status as an illegitimate daughter was no secret in Zetarem, but what was intriguing was that the resources, freedom, and obvious favoritism she enjoyed within the family far surpassed those of the legitimate children.

It is said that this was because her mother was Darian's White Moonlight, and Darian, out of love for the mother, treated this daughter better than all his other offspring.

If she asked for the stars, he wouldn't give her the moon.

If she asked for a man, he wouldn't give her a woman.