Bernard was actually extremely uneasy inside.

He was gambling, gambling that the other party might be interested in this matter.

Fortunately... luck seemed to favor him once again.

The moment he finished that sentence, the other person’s previously careless gaze changed in an instant.

Bernard knew—

He had won the bet.

His empress really had been his goddess of fortune.

So many years after her death, what she had left behind was still saving his life at the final moment.

Bernard trembled as he tried to pick up that moon brooch, but he had overestimated his current condition. He no longer had any strength left.

In the end, the brooch slipped from his hand, hit the floor, and shattered into pieces.

It was as if it were offering a silent mockery of the sentiment Bernard had just expressed.

He had treated her like a goddess of fortune, yet had never considered that Xi Yuelin would rather die than continue staying in the palace, much less maintain that marriage built on calculation and betrayal.

Dan saw Bernard’s movement. A trace of ridicule flashed through his eyes, but he said nothing about it. He only asked, “How do I know what you’re saying is true, instead of some random scrap of information you picked up somewhere and brought here to trick me with?”

But Bernard was not frightened off by that line. Looking at the broken pieces on the floor, his mind was calmer than it had ever been.

“You must already know what Xi Yuelin was researching while she was alive.”

Before Bernard pursued Xi Yuelin, what he valued was her beauty and her connection to Xi Shixiao.

Only later did he realize that Xi Yuelin was not the sort of woman who possessed beauty and nothing else, as he had first imagined.

On the contrary, Xi Yuelin had been outstanding. She had grown up on a remote, backward planet, yet at a young age had been exceptionally admitted into the Empire’s Academy of Sciences to pursue advanced study there.

Compared to her, Bernard looked noble as a prince, but aside from that title, he had had very little worth mentioning.

Xi Yuelin, meanwhile, had been the youngest researcher in the Academy of Sciences, and the direction of her research had always been related to mental power.

Xi Yuelin had always wanted to solve the problem of mental-power disorder through research.

She believed that mental power was one direction of biological evolution. It was just that for a long time, people had understood too little about mental power, and on top of that, the culture among the various races of competing over strength drove mental-power users to abuse drugs or even take extreme measures to stimulate the mental sea in order to increase their power, which was what caused mental-power disorder to occur so frequently.

But Xi Yuelin also knew very well that she alone could not stop that trend.

So after leaving the Academy of Sciences, she founded the Polaris Life Research Institute.

The purpose of Polaris at its founding was to help patients troubled by mental-power disorder and develop a drug that could treat it.

At the time, Polaris had gathered nearly all of the interstellar world’s leading experts in mental-power research, and they worked together on developing the treatment drug.

At first, the research progressed smoothly. But little by little, as it advanced, some people began to develop other intentions.

Some saw money. Once such a drug was developed, there was no need to think about how frenzied mental-power users would become for it. They saw the enormous profit in it.

Others, meanwhile, did not want the drug to spread at all.

They did not care whether lower-level mental-power users lived or died. They only wanted to concentrate the drug in the hands of a small group of people, so they could use it to make more mental-power users work for them.

With everyone harboring their own agendas, the drug’s development ground to a halt.

That was something Xi Yuelin had never expected. She had thought her research could help many people, but clearly, whether it was Bernard or the others who knew about Polaris, they all wanted Polaris and Xi Yuelin to become tools they could use to seize power and profit.

Even under those circumstances, Xi Yuelin did not give up. She continued her research in secret.

No one knew whether Xi Yuelin had actually produced any results in the end.

But everyone knew that the materials in Xi Yuelin’s hands had to be immensely valuable.

What Dan had always wanted to find was precisely the research material Xi Yuelin had produced later on.

Because they had received a piece of information saying that Xi Yuelin might already have developed a drug capable of treating mental-power disorder.

And Bernard clearly knew more than they did. “That drug wasn’t some universal medicine. I think you understand what I mean. Later on, she also had contact with the Saint Clan.”

Saint Clan... drug...

Combined with what Bernard had said earlier about healing ability, Dan’s pupils grew brighter and brighter, and his breathing became visibly more hurried.

“An ancient and great bloodline. Yes... yes! How did I not think of it...”

No wonder his teacher had said Xi Yuelin was a genius so brilliant that even he felt inferior to her. If it was true... this would be the most extraordinary miracle...

When he looked at Bernard again, Dan said mercilessly, “Xi Yuelin marrying you was probably the stupidest decision she ever made in her life. And you, the man who killed Xi Yuelin, are without question the stupidest person I’ve ever seen.”

If Xi Yuelin had not died, then how could things have ended up like this?

If Xi Yuelin had not died, matters would have been entirely different.

Unfortunately, Bernard was not only stupid, but shortsighted. The moment his foundations stabilized, he immediately wanted to eliminate the support that had once helped him ascend to the throne.

Bernard’s expression was ugly.

No one would feel good being insulted so directly, much less Bernard, who had held imperial power for years and had always been the unquestioned authority within the Empire, honored by everyone.

Yet in consideration of Dan’s identity, Bernard forcibly swallowed the fury he wanted to unleash.

“I’ve already told you my information. You should give me an answer now.”

Dan smiled, his smile very gentle.

“I can say that you made an incomparably correct decision.”

As he spoke, Dan slowly stepped forward. Looking down from above at Bernard lying in bed, relying on various machines just to stay alive, he said under Bernard’s wary gaze, “I have something that can let you keep living. Not only keep living, but let you cast off this aged shell. You’ll have a brand-new body, a younger life.”

“Just think about it. A strong body. Great power. Isn’t that exactly what you long for most right now?”

With every sentence Dan spoke, Bernard’s breathing grew heavier.

By the time Dan finished those few lines, Bernard’s face was already flushed red with excitement.

“Y-you’re telling the truth?”

“Of course I am. Haven’t you always been curious about the force behind me?” Dan said with a smile, clapping his hands lightly.

“Come out. Let His Majesty the Emperor have a look at you.”

There had clearly been no third person in the room.

But after Dan’s voice fell, Bernard heard the faint sound of footsteps.

Then a figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

It was someone wearing a cloak.

When the figure lowered the hood, it revealed a face that was unnaturally pale, and a strip of white silk was tightly wrapped over the eyes.

But Bernard’s attention was not on the covered eyes. His gaze fell on the person’s head.

If he had not seen wrong...

That person had a head of silver hair smooth as satin.

...

Wen Yuzhi sat at the dining table with a plate piled full of meat in front of him.

Unlike before, when even a single thornfruit had needed to be cut into tiny little pieces, Wen Yuzhi could now eat a full big plate of meat.

And his teeth were finally no longer those tiny baby teeth that could not even bite through a chunk of meat.

Mu Luo gave Wen Yuzhi a careful checkup every day, and naturally his teeth had not been overlooked.

After confirming that the cub’s teeth were perfectly healthy, Mu Luo suggested that Wen Yuzhi could start eating some meat in moderation.

Otherwise, with him eating nothing but fruit and milk every day, anyone who did not know better would think the Saint Clan were raising their cub like some little fairy.

Wen Yuzhi also liked this kind of meat. The meat of the Lulu beast was especially tender and juicy, and with the Gumu’s cooking, it had practically become one of his favorite foods lately.

But while eating today, Wen Yuzhi noticed that his hair seemed to have grown a little ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) longer again. Hair that long was somewhat inconvenient when eating.

So he went to find Mond.

Mond brought over a rubber band. Reaching out carefully, he gathered Wen Yuzhi’s hair together and tied it into a cute little sprout at the back of his head.

As soon as the little sprout was tied, Wen Yuzhi, still unaccustomed to it, gave his head a small shake.

Mond quickly stopped him. “Your Highness, gently. Be careful not to fling the band off.”

The moment Wen Yuzhi heard that, he immediately stopped shaking.

But as soon as he lowered his head, the little sprout at the back of his head showed itself right away.

And that scene was faithfully recorded by the diligent little bee robot nearby.

If nothing unexpected happened, the cub’s new hairstyle was probably going to set off another fresh wave of commotion within the Saint Clan.

But at that moment, Wen Yuzhi was already heading out wearing his new hairstyle.

Today, for once, Wen Yuzhi did not go to the supervision center in the military department.

The effect of the recorded video had turned out even better than he had imagined, especially the part he said at the end. It had almost struck straight into the heart of every Saint Clan member.

As they watched the butterflies flying toward them, it was as if they were beams of light, tearing open the darkness that had shrouded them.

At the moment, the atmosphere on Dark Tower Star was already much better than that previous oppressive gloom.

All those Saint Clan members who had long grown weary and numb looked at the vivid, warm little prince in the video. Their faces remained cold, but inside, something was quietly changing.

The change was not obvious, but it gave those Saint Clan members, who had long since given up, the desire to keep living once more.

Wen Yuzhi knew nothing about any of this. He only knew that thanks to the effect the video had brought, he finally had a little time to rest now.

For example, right now he was getting ready to water all his little saplings.

Wen Yuzhi had deliberately changed into a set of overalls that made it easier to work, put on a little straw hat, and carried his small watering can.

Before going out, he also sent Mansendis a video call.

...

Behind Mansendis was still the deep, silent cosmic river of stars.

The warship was still in flight. The silver-haired ruler stood inside the command room, and at that moment the enormous command room was so quiet it felt almost frightening.

All the Saint Clan members were moving with great care, trying their utmost not to make the slightest sound.

And inside the command room, besides these Saint Clan members, there were also several men bound hand and foot.

All of them were star pirates.

They had never expected their luck to be this terrible.

They had also heard that the Saint Clan had sealed off the Ninth Star Sector, but these star pirates had planned it nicely. They only intended to circle around the outer edge of the Ninth Star Sector, casually snap a few photos, record some data, then leave and resell it on the black market for a tidy sum.

Unfortunately for them, they had not known that Mansendis had happened to be patrolling the outer edge of the Ninth Star Sector during this period.

The result was that the moment their starship sneaked close to the Ninth Star Sector, it was immediately discovered by the nearby Thanatos.

In the end, those star pirates failed to escape. Saint Clan soldiers bound them up and dragged them all the way to Mansendis.

Mansendis had personally come to patrol the outer edge of the Ninth Star Sector precisely because he was not entirely at ease. He wanted to see for himself which places might be vulnerable to oversights or gaps.

And along the way, it really had been peaceful. The Saint Clan’s terrible reputation preceded them, and in the eyes of the other races, the Ninth Star Sector was hardly any different from a forbidden land occupied by savage beasts. Even merchant fleets would rather take a detour than pass this way.

Yet just as they were about to head back, a few star pirates happened to blunder right into them.

Because the cub was not by his side, Mansendis’s mood lately had not been very good either.

When he saw those star pirates, he remained standing where he was, motionless, while the bone spines behind him drifted forward toward them.

One of them wrapped tightly around one of the star pirates.

Crack. Crack.

It was the sound of bones being twisted apart.

That star pirate did not even manage to let out a scream before dying alive from the pain.

At the sight, the courage of the other star pirates immediately broke. Before the Saint Clan even began questioning them, they had already spilled out their purpose in a rapid rush.

“W-we’re from the Fire Wolf Star Pirate Crew!”

Star pirates liked giving themselves loud, impressive titles when they were out and about. It made it easier to spread their reputation, and also gave star pirates a stronger sense of honor and belonging among themselves.

And since the starship they were riding in was called the Fire Wolf, they had given themselves the title Fire Wolf Star Pirate Crew.

But no matter how impressive the name sounded, they were only a small star pirate crew of fewer than ten people. Usually, they got by selling bits of information and intelligence.

Now, as the rumor that the cub egg was Saint Clan royal blood grew hotter and hotter across StarNet, the bounty placed on that cub egg in the underground black market had continued to break higher and higher.

Money could move anyone’s heart. Faced with that enormous profit, plenty of desperadoes were still tempted, even though they might end up provoking the Saint Clan.

Because of that, some people had even specifically posted bounties to investigate the Saint Clan’s current situation.

The bounty the Fire Wolf Star Pirate Crew had taken was exactly that sort.

All they had needed to do was snap a few photos and bring them back, and they could make a fortune. If they managed to photograph a Saint Clan patrol warship, the price would be even higher.

After all, any information about the Saint Clan was the most valuable thing on the black market right now.

What they had not expected was that they would run into the Saint Clan’s largest destroyer-class warship—and worse, fall straight into the hands of the Saint Clan’s tyrant himself.