"I would never!"

Mu Tangfeng retorted instinctively. Shi Lan continued to gently persuade him. "Okay, let’s say you wouldn’t do that because we know each other. But what if someone else did the same as you and criticized my appearance?"

"Think about it. Wouldn’t I be very sad to hear something like that?"

"Who would dare? I’ll get revenge for you!"

The mere thought of someone insulting Shi Lan behind his back sent Mu Tangfeng into a rage; he wanted to flay them alive. It wasn’t just him, either. The other men in the prison felt a dull ache in their chests at the hypothetical situation, and it was an unpleasant feeling.

Without even realizing it, they had already taken Shi Lan under their protective wing.

Shi Lan heard the protectiveness in his voice and smiled, her tone softening. "So, we can’t judge people by their appearance, understand?"

As she reasoned with him, word by word, the deep sense of grievance and resistance in Mu Tangfeng’s eyes finally began to fade.

But he couldn’t help asking one more question. "If I apologize, will you not leave?"

Hearing this, the hearts of the other men leaped into their throats as well.

Shi Lan didn’t quite understand what he meant, but she had to attend her graduation ceremony, and she absolutely had to go to her original host’s best friend’s wedding.

She shook her head with a hint of resignation. "Lord Mu, I have important things to take care of, so I have to leave for a bit."

He Hanshi’s eyes flickered. "You’re only leaving temporarily?"

Mu Tangfeng, who had been about to explode again, paused. He swallowed the words rising in his throat and stared intently at Shi Lan, waiting for her answer.

Shi Lan nodded. "Yes, I’ve taken five days of leave. Chen Xiong is here as a temporary worker to take my place and look after you. So if you need anything during this time, remember to communicate with him."

At these words, the tension that had been building in the prison finally dissipated. The five men imperceptibly breathed a sigh of relief.

He Hanshi’s expression softened. "Alright. We’ll wait for you."

"Mhm."

After getting a definitive answer from Shi Lan and knowing that she wasn’t quitting or being replaced, but just taking a temporary leave, Mu Tangfeng finally calmed down. At the very least, he stopped glaring at Chen Xiong with such extreme prejudice.

Although he still thought the Beastman was big, boorish, and a bit ugly, for Shi Lan’s sake, he reluctantly spoke. "Sorry."

Staring at this dramatic scene, Chen Xiong’s mouth fell open in shock behind his covering hand.

’No, that can’t be right? Did... did I mishear something?’

’Young Master Mu actually apologized?’

’This female spoke to him like that, and he had such a good attitude and didn’t even curse at her?’

If he told his friends about this, they would probably think he was telling some kind of tall tale.

Of course, as the person involved, he felt like he was in a dream. He was dazed for a while, and only after pinching himself and feeling a sharp pain did he stammer, "It’s... it’s fine."

Mu Tangfeng shot him a glance and his mouth moved, but thinking about how Shi Lan had just gotten angry over this very issue, he forced himself to swallow the nasty words he was about to spit out and turned his head away.

After the incident with Mu Tangfeng, Shi Lan’s subsequent introductions went much more smoothly, mainly because they all knew she was only leaving temporarily.

And over the next little while, Chen Xiong was frequently struck by a sense of unreality.

Before signing up for the temporary job, he only knew that the Eldest Prince and Vice Admiral He were in Black Ming Star Prison. He had come here for his idols. But who knew that besides these two great figures, every single person in the prison was extraordinary?

The most untouchable Young Master Mu from the Empire’s Mu Family was here. The Second Young Master Jiang of the Empire’s Jiang Family, a man whose name was known but whose face was never seen, was also here. Even Yan Huoshui, the former leader of the most rampant Star Thieves in the interstellar and later the chief military instructor at the Imperial Capital School, was here.

The vast and remote Black Star had gathered nearly all of the most famous and powerful figures in the current Empire.

And now, they had all been temporarily sent here due to the collapse of their high-level spiritual power. No wonder the Empire had set up a special prison on such a remote star. Any single person here had spiritual power of 2S or higher. If one of them had a spiritual power collapse out in the open, they could wipe out half a planet’s population—let alone five of them!

Just thinking about it was enough to make Chen Xiong shudder. His gaze towards Shi Lan was filled with deep respect.

’Such a powerful female, and she’s not scared at all!!’

In truth, if you were talking about fear, Shi Lan had been terrified when she first arrived. But at that time, the death described in the plot was fast approaching. She felt that compared to being eaten by the Insect Clan until only her head remained, nothing could be more terrifying.

Back then, she even had nightmares for a long time because of that part of the plot.

You could say that what she feared was a horrific death, not these famous and powerful figures. Of course, it could also be because she had transmigrated into the book and didn’t have the same deep-seated reverence for them as a native of this world would. Besides, after interacting with them these past days, she found their overall temperaments to be much better than she had imagined. She didn’t find them scary.

While Chen Xiong was trembling and wondering if he should just quit this temporary job, Shi Lan finally finished the tour and all the introductions.

She looked at Chen Xiong and smiled. "I’ll be counting on you, then."

Chen Xiong looked down at the female before him. She looked as fragile as if a gust of wind could blow her over, yet she dared to look so many powerful figures in the eye so calmly. ’If she can do it, then I, a proud and mighty male, can’t show weakness either.’

Thinking this, Chen Xiong nodded firmly.

Seeing this, Shi Lan could finally leave without worry. After getting off work on time, she immediately packed her things to prepare for her trip the next day.

Shi Lan’s interstellar flight was at eight in the morning.

「The next day」

She got up early, ate breakfast in the kitchen, packed herself a lunch, and then headed to the boarding gate.

The starship had to stop at different planets to wait for various passengers. Unlike Leo’s private Teleportation Spaceship, it took Shi Lan over ten hours to reach Capital Star.

After getting off the ship, she rubbed her hungry stomach and decided to find a place to eat first before heading back to school.

Although she hadn’t been to Capital Star in months, she had spent her first few days here right after she transmigrated. So, Shi Lan felt a sense of familiarity, like a young bird returning to its nest.

She took a deep breath, filled her stomach at a restaurant, and then took a public Hovercar to the Imperial Capital School.

In consideration of the graduation ceremony, the Imperial Capital School had arranged a week’s worth of accommodations for every returning student.

After entering the school via a retinal scan, Shi Lan followed the arrangement information on her communicator to find her lodgings.

The Imperial Capital School certainly lived up to its name as a top-tier institution. It offered many privileges to females, and even the dorms were luxurious one-bedroom apartments with comfortable and elegant furnishings.

She nodded in satisfaction and quickly, with practiced ease, began the basic task of making the bed.

After the long starship journey, Shi Lan washed up and, without much thought, went to bed early.

The graduation ceremony was the day after tomorrow. With a day to spare, Shi Lan was wandering around the school grounds out of boredom when someone suddenly tapped her on the back.

She turned around to see a stunningly beautiful woman with fox-like eyes and bright red lips.

Jiang Yan hadn’t seen Shi Lan in a while. Seeing her staring blankly, she couldn’t help but wave a hand. "Shi Lan, what are you spacing out for?"

"It hasn’t been that long, you haven’t forgotten who I am, have you?"

Shi Lan snapped back to reality at the sound of her voice and smiled. "Of course I know you, Jiang Yan. Long time no see."