《Transmigrating from a zombie world to become the mecha kings wife》


 Chapter 1 In The Beginning

    ?First came the pungent smell of rotten eggs in the already dusty smoke filled air, followed by the rough growls of ''uhhhhgggggghhh'' continuously, andstly the slow dragging of feet, one at a time. In such times, when these three things were noticed, it was wise for one to run and hide or prepare to fight because it only pointed to one thing, zombies!!!


    Unfortunately for Su Yan today, she could do neither one of those three things because her legs would not let her.


    It was unbelievable that she, the greatest and proudest chi blocker on an earth infested zombie world had been betrayed by her own team led by the man she had loved for ten years. When they came foraging for supplies, they had ended up in an unmarked zombie nest and to escape, her own fianc?? shot her multiple times in the legs before escaping with two others.


    "You have no superpower Su Yan; you can only be my sacrifice at this time. Do it as thest proof of your love for me." He said shamelessly before escaping.


    With disbelief in her eyes, she watched thest bit of his shadow fade away as she was bleeding out on the cold dirt floor of a semi empty mall, listening to the sounds of hungry mindless zombiese closer and closer until atst they were upon her, ripping her apart for dinner before she could even take herst breath.


    Herst thought was ''This is not fair, but at least; I won''t have to fight every day or live in fear anymore."


    Death was not always a bad thing, it was the end of misery often times and Su Yan expected peace from hers. However, the line to the gates of the afterlife moved really slowly. When she opened her eyes and found herself in this line, she had been quite befuddled.


    Thousands of people were ahead of her, each one waiting to go through the gates. Most of them reminded her of the mindless zombies from earth; they moved in synchronicity and never seemed to be bothered by the length of the line unlike her.


    She was impatient; waiting for her turn was driving her insane. Bureaucracy, it seemed was a nightmare that could not be escaped in life and the afterlife.


    Since she seemed to be the only one that was aware of what was happening, Su Yan decided to do the easy thing and cut the line.


    "Sorry, excuse me." She overtook one person first. She was testing the waters first to see if there were consequences for what she was doing.


    When nothing happened, she overtook another and another and another for what seemed to be like months until she finally got close to the gates.


    She would have kept going but the entrance to therge white misty cloud like portal gates was manned by scary looking men and women in long ck robes.


    Besides, an old man was sitting in front of a massive grey like wall library that appeared to be endless. It was filled with small cubes containing scrolls.


    When one reached the man, they would take a seat, something would be exined to them, and then they took a sip of whatever was in the small porcin cup before them before proceeding to enter the misty gates.


    She could not tell what was behind the gates, whether it was heaven, hell or reincarnation she had no idea. From a distance, she had not noticed other smaller portals in the columns of the library.  They were swirling energetically in an anti-clockwise manner, and each of them glowed with a different color. She wondered briefly where those led to but her attention was quickly drawn back to the old man.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Is he Yan Wang?" she asked herself. Yan Wang was the mythical deity of the afterlife. It was not ridiculous for her to imagine that perhaps this was him.


    From where she was, she could hear the old man with a long white beard talking to a very pale younger man wearing a long ck robe who was standing before him with his head bowed in subservience.


    "It''s getting worse, more and more souls from different worlds are escaping because we have a shortage of grim reapers. All the worlds are suffering for it and I am taking all the me but what am I supposed to do? I cannot force an unwilling strong soul to take on the job of a reaper if it doesn''t wish to. Look at this long line, there is no strong soul, they are all moving just as Imand."


    Su Yan who had not moved asmanded almost coughed and gave herself away. "So everyone is moving in one line perfectly because of amand. She had received no suchmand. Was she a strong soul?" she wondered.


    The old man was continuing his rant, "Just look at the gateways, to all these worlds, they have perfect bodies waiting to host strong souls. If I see one strong soul right now, I will offer them this contract immediately willing or not and send them through one of the gateways, to a wonderful world like the one behind the blue gate."


    Su Yan''s brain, once she heard Yan Wang''s words started calcting. From his words, these swirling portals were gateways to other worlds. So there were other worlds beyond earth, all those fictional novels were actually slightly nonfiction.


    If she went through one of those gateways, specifically the blue one she could live again in a wonderful world. A new bubbling hope brewed inside of her. She could live again.


    "Do it." A voice in head whispered so temptingly.


    A part of her thought about the contract the old man mentioned. If she signed it, she would be a grim reaper.


    "Just jump through the portal while the old man is still ranting." The voice said.


    Su Yan was unsure and for a few seconds she was filled with doubt. What if she ended up in another zombie filled world?


    "Being alive is better than being dead, what if you end up in a good world, in the body of a wealthy young woman. You would never have to worry about food or money. You would simplyy back and enjoy yourself like a salted fish. You heard the old man; the blue gateway leads to a wonderful world. Aren''t you tempted to see that wonderful world? Do it, jump through it." That tempting voice encouraged and pushed her.


    All reason and doubts were pushed out by the tempting voice. All she could think about was the wonderful life that was waiting behind the portal. The deity had said so himself.


    As if she was mindless, Su Yan found herself running with all of her strength and leaping into a blue gateway.

 Chapter 2 Interstellar World!

    ?"Wooohooo," Su Yan screamed jubntly as the force of the gateway pushed her out eventually into a whole new world.


    "I have done it." She thought to herself. "I got a ticket to a new wonderful life; I Su Yan will live the life of a salted fish from now on. Hahaha...that bastard ex fianc?? can have the zombies, I amughing in a new world."


    She tried to open her eyes and see this wonderful new world that the old man had spoken of. She wanted to explore and understand where she was as soon as possible. However, as much as she tried to blink or move she seemed to be stuck as if she was being weighed down by heavy rocks.


    "What''s going on?" she asked herself as she struggled and panic set in.


    She heard a chuckle in her mind and then she felt herself being lifted up in the air and her eyes finally opened. She was met by a horrifying sight of the same old man that had been at the gates to the afterlife.


    "You!" she said in shock.


    Even more shocking to her was the fact that she was floating around in the air like a ghost. She did not inhabit any live human body like she assumed.


    "What''s going on?" she asked in fear.


    "You humans are really amusing, did you not stop even once to ask yourself whose voice was convincing you to go through the blue gate?" the old man asked in a mocking tone.


    Her eyes widened in shock.


    "Yes," the old man said with his hands spread out widely and proudly. "It was none other than yours truly. Did you think that I did not know that there was a strong soul in my realm that was cutting through the line wantonly?" he brought his face close and it spun around, exposing a face on each side like a monster.


    Even though she had seen zombies, this was something akin to a monster and she screamed.


    "Hahahaaa," the old manughed. "You humans scare easily, but if you are going to be a reaper, you need to steel your heart."


    "When did I agree to be a reaper?" she thought to herself.


    "The minute you threw yourself into the portal you sealed your fate. You see, right now you are an anomaly in this world, you have no body hence you will inevitably be a wondering ghost until eventually you are captured by a reaper and sent to the underworld for escaping judgment."


    His words frightened her and she could not help cursing herself for having been so foolish that she was easily seduced by this con man. Also, he was able to hear her thoughts which freaked her out more.


    "Con man," the old man said with a light chuckle while rubbing his beard. "Hmm, I have not been called that before."


    "You tricked me intoing here, if you had not put those thoughts into my head I would not have jumped through the gate."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I only called out your desire. You died an unfair death and you longed for a second chance at life. As a grim reaper you will get to live as a normal human being who just has an extra job. I did not lie to you about the wealth part; all the hosts of grim reapers are incredibly wealthy and good looking. There is no such thing as an ugly or poor grim reaper." The old man answered nonchntly.


    As seductive as his words were, she had no desire to be an employee. That was not what a salted fish did.


    "I have already lived an exhausting life on earth, all I wanted to do was rx." She mumbled.


    "You can rx after delivering a wandering soul; it''s not a full time job. Besides the body you are trying to inhabit needs the powers of a grim reaper the most, it''s fragile, useless, powerless and weak. In this world, if you have no mental strength you are at the bottom of the food chain. This body is the bottom of the bottom, it''s trash. Take a look at the world you are standing in." the old man flew her in the air and she observed her surroundings.


    This world had flying cars so it was more advanced than earth. The buildings were luxurious and tall as if they could pierce the heavens. There were shuttles, mechas and aircrafts that werending in space ports that were in space. She even saw flying cars!!! Some were simr to images she had once read in manga before the zombie outbreak.


    "It''s an interster world!" she gasped.


    "It''s a technologically advanced world where humans live long and have no concept of gods or religion. While it enabled them to advance technologically it also created a problem. These people have no faith in anything other than their machines so when they die, their souls hung around in limbo. All the deities cater to those who worshipped them in life first in death. These people have no deity. Somehow, a crack was formed through which they have started escaping and causing chaos in other worlds. The old man said in an exasperated voice. "We keep mending the crack but another one opened in another ce. It''s the vtile energy of the trapped souls which is creating a problem that will destroy this entire world."


    Su Yan was barely listening; she had already been seduced by the beauty of this world. It was like a world straight out of a science fiction movie. There were no zombies, no smoke in the air and most importantly the oxygen was uncontaminated. She would dly live here and embrace this new world. She would sit in those flying cars and scream loudly with happiness. Collecting souls was no challenge in exchange for all this.


    "I will do it." She said eagerly.


    The old man wasted no time in bringing a contract out of thin air and having her sign it.


    "Can I inhabit the body now?" she asked excitedly.


    The old man pursed his lips and said, "About that...I may have left some things out about your host''s actual situation."


    To Su Yan, he looked just like a con man who had led with the good parts about what he was selling and left out the bad parts for when your money was already in his pocket.


    "What did you not tell me?" she asked in a small furious voice.


    "Hehe," the old man scratched his back, "You see, while this ce is beautiful you don''t exactly live here, there ares in this world, and some are more beautiful than others."


    With a snap of his fingers, she found herself on a dirty with a very nasty stench.


    "Old deity, what are you ying at?" she asked with dread in her heart.

 Chapter 3 Storage Space

    ?Once she called him old, he transformed himself into a young handsome man that she would be drooling over if she had no will power.


    "This is better, right?" he twirled around for her.


    She was less interested in his handsomeness and more worried about what her circumstances in this world would be. "Just tell me what you have left out."


    The deity smiled and said rapidly as if he was rapping or like the part in amercial where you are warned about the side effects of a product , "In a world of mental strength you have zero, you own a destitute and your husband does not want you. Now here are the tools you will be using as a reaper, a magical gourd where souls can be kept, a rope that binds them to you as you deliver them to the afterlife, a soul cultivation method and an open line ofmunication with other reapers in different worlds. I urge you to be kind to that child. Thank you for your willingness to serve the immortal world, good luck and good bye." He vanished before she could make sense of half of the things he had just told her.


    "I was conned and what child is he referring to?" was herst thought before she felt her body being pulled downwards and her mind weakened along with the pull.


    When her senses returned, the first voice she heard was of a woman saying, "Scarlet Su, you are so good at ying the victim. Do you think that I have not seen your finger moving? How long are you going to keep pretending that you are heavily injured? Let me tell you, if you want you can stay in this med bed for two hundred years but the general will not be bothered toe and see you."


    ''So my name is Scarlet Su,'' she thought. ''Who is the general she is talking about?''


    As she was asking herself all this, the memories slowly came to her; she was Scarlet Su, the daughter of a poor baron. Four years ago she was working in a bar when the dark general,mander of the death thunder army and one of the greatest mecha warriors in their empire came in alone for a drink. She that had dreams of splendor and wealth used a strong drug from the ck market to drug and sleep with him.


    Because what she did was illegal and punishable by death, she went into hiding only to resurface a yearter with the general''s son. She went public on star with ims that the general and she were lovers and had a child together that he had abandoned which created a scandal.


    Because the general was the emperor''s cousin, she was swooped off to the capital, a test was done confirming paternity and the general was forced to marry her to stop the narrative that he had abandoned his child.


    But everyone in the royal family knew what she had done and they disliked her and her son. Her dreams of living in splendor were crushed when the general and royal family refused to give a single star coin. When she went online on star and made a fuss about how she was being mistreated, she was thrown to this with her family. Two maids were assigned to watch over one of whom was saying all these words about how unwanted she was right now.


    ''No wonder that old deity did not tell me the truth, wealthy youngdy my ass!''


    She is nothing more than a scheming abandoned woman that injured herself when she was trying to escape this to go and look for the general. She barely cared about her child because he was a reminder of her failure to fulfill her ambitions.


    Her family which was also dropped on this was not helpful; all her mother did was cry and reproduce. She had eight siblings and counting since her mother was pregnant again!!


    All of her siblings had be unruly and they hated her rightfully because it was her fault that they were here in the first ce.


    Her oldest brother Adler had been on track to join the death thunder army but he was thrown out. Her second brother Beord that was working as an intergcticmunications analyst expert was also fired. Her sister Carolyn, a nurse also had the same thing happen to her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    All of her siblings that had aplished something had been reduced to nothing and the ones in school did not escape this harsh fate. The royal family had set out to get rid of the Su family from the capital of the empire and they seeded.


    "I can''t believe that you are this determined to keep pretending, have it your way then." The maid who was named Riana said.


    She opened her eyes and slowly turned head in the direction of Riana with a very angry look in her eyes and a cold demeanor.


    Riana was still by the med bed and for a moment when she looked into Scarlet''s open eyes, she shivered with fear. She must have remembered however that Scarlet had no mental strength hence she could not harm her so she sneered and said, "You are finally done pretending."


    Scarlet opened her mouth to respond and she felt an itch in her throat. She cleared her throat by coughing three times.


    Then she looked at Riana and said, "If you disrespect me one more time, you will pay a heavy price for it."  The cold aura around her did not diminish, it doubled in fact and even she could not exin the reason behind it.


    "Get me a ss of water," she ordered Riana.


    The maid hesitated and Scarlet could see the calctions in her eyes. She was probably angry and wondering why Scarlet was daring to order her around. The answer was simple; she was the new Scarlet, not the old one who allowed disrespect to fly around.


    "Now." she said sternly.


    The med bed had deactivated itself automatically when it detected that the user had regained consciousness so she stepped out of it. When her feet touched the floor, she looked down and realized that her feet were bare. There was no trace of any shoe or slipper in sight making her wonder if she should just roam around barefoot.


    She also remembered her biggest secret back on earth, everyone assumed that she had no superpower but they were wrong. She had awakened a space power, however her space was ordinary. All it could do was store items and keep them in stasis.


    Over the years, she had collected useless things in the zombie apocalypse which no one cared about like gold, jewelry, clothes, seeds, kitchen ware, vehicles, etc.


    She was going to tell her fianc?? about it after the marriage but he left her to die and she died with her secret.


    "I wish I had my space with me, I collected hundreds of shoes back then." She said with a disappointed sigh. "That old deity really scammed me. As the female lead, shouldn''t I have some sort of cheat?"


    She felt herself bing dizzy and she stumbled. She had to hold on to the med bed to steady herself, just as she was about to curse the old deity again, she realized that she was suddenly seeing her space.

 Chapter 4 Where Is My Son?

    ?The sight before her was as vivid as day and she could not help butugh softly at this miracle. The mountain of items she had secretly collected over the years looked exactly as she hadst seen it. That deity had done something worthy of her praise after all.


    "Thank you old deity." She brought her hands together in a prayer formation and said.


    "You are wee, and stop calling me old." The deity''s voice rung in her mind.


    "And stop eavesdropping on my thoughts." Sheined.


    When she heard no response, she essed her space, and found a pair of dusty but new brown boots. She also got herself a pair of jeans and an oversized t. shirt. Since she had been made aware that she had zero mental strength hence no protection against anyone that could attack her mind, she went old school and hid an ordinary pistol and a dagger from earth in her waistband.


    Riana had been gone for a while now and she probably had no ns to return with that water any time soon.  She was angry but she had bottles of fresh water stacked up in her space. She took one, ripped thebel off in case anybody wanted to observe it too closely and then she left the room.


    On this, her father had spent ny percent of his savings on fixing up this oldrge house. It was nted in some areas, the floor tiles were brown. Ether they were dirty or the lowest quality tiles in existence.  There were no decorations, the lights were flickering on and off and all the utensils she saw were old or broken.


    "Scarlet Su, you really screwed up life for your family." She said softly to herself.


    As she observed the house further, her heart grew heavier. Her mind recalled the beautiful buildings she had seen in the capital and she sighed.


    At least she had her space; she could use the materials in there to spruce up the ce a little bit at a time.


    Her stomach growled, reminding her that she needed to eat and she took some beef jerky from her space and munched on it as she walked.


    Following the old Scarlet''s memories she found the living room and it was just as disappointing as the rest of the house. The chairs were id and ratty; one would think that she hade to a very deste world instead of an interster one.


    Her mother was sitting in there, watching someone sing on the television screen while rubbing her belly.


    She coughed twice to notify her of her presence.


    Her mother, Mega Su turned around and saw her. Then she put on a tentative smile on her face and said, "Scarlet, you are awake."


    The way she said it was so casual that one would think she had been sleeping in bed normally rather than being in aa for some time.


    "Hello mother," she greeted her without emotions, she abounded like a robot in a way. "Have you seen  Justin?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Justin was her son, the son Scarlet ignored because he was useless to her. The old deity had said, ''be kind to that child.'' She could only assume that Justin was that child and go looking for him.


    Mega Su was surprised and it could not be hidden that she was surprised Scarlet was asking after Justin.


    "He went to the garbage collection station with your siblings to see if they can find some things to fix up and sell on star for money."


    A moment of awkward silence between mother and daughter followed. Mega was waiting for Scarlet to say something. Ever since they arrived on this, Scarlet''s tempers fluctuated between rage and insanity.


    They all gave her wide berth when they saw hering because you knew who would take the brunt of her anger on any given day. Once she was done with the rage, tears would follow. Mega did not know how to get along with her daughter anymore.


    Scarlet smiled and said, "Okay, thank you, I will go and find him."


    As she walking away Mega whispered to herself, "Did she just thank me and smile? Is she nning something nefarious? I have to warn the others." She used the terminal on her hand to call her oldest son and warn him.


    Scarlet on the other hand was grateful to be out of the house and away from Mega. Even though she had upied the body of the original Scarlet and had her memories, she did not automatically inherit the familial love and closeness.


    Maybe it was because the original Scarlet looked down on her family and she had no love for them. To her, they were like logs weighing her down and preventing her from achieving sess. Scarlet believed she should have been born a princess in the royal family. If not, then maybe to a duke or a viscount. Higher nobility to her was the only nobility that mattered; her father a baron was nothing special. No matter what her family did to aid or pleases her, she was unappreciative and condescending towards them. No wonder they gave up on her!


    As the new Scarlet, she could not help but judge the old one. "She really was a terrible person."


    Although she had much damage to do, the warm feeling of the sun hitting her face and the fresh air drew a smile from her. Greedily, her nostrils sucked the oxygen in as if it would escape from her anytime soon.


    She got a juice box from her space, the kind of juice box which used to be popr among children before the world went to shit. With passion, she sucked juice from the box through a straw without caring about anybody seeing her.


    This was her; she could do whatever she wanted. The royal family had imed that it was a wedding gift to her and her husband to cover up for the fact that they had banished her. She did however have to pay taxes to the empire just like every other in the empire.


    The Sun star empire controlled nines and this blue star was one of the nine. The Central where the royal family lived was the capital city of the empire.


    The blue star was a garbage dump for the excess garbage of others. The upants were few and poor. It had a poption of about two hundred thousand people and half of them worked in garbage recycling.


    Scarlet had one question in mind, how was she supposed to pay taxes like this?

 Chapter 5 Garbage

    ?The garbage dump was just five minutes away from the house and soon she found herself face to face with a mountain of what could only be described as metallic scrap. The garbage being dumped on the blue star was old useless mechas that had no cores and no use.


    Could anything be sold from all this junk?


    "Adler, over here." She heard someone shout and she was attracted to that direction.


    Adler was Scarlet''s oldest brother, the first born of their family and so far, the bravest among all her siblings. He was also her son Justin''s self-appointed protector. Wherever he was, it was a guarantee that Justin was not far.


    Just as she started to move, before her eyes appeared a human, the first she had seen on this little walk to the garbage dump. He was looking at her in what she could only define as a creepy stare but she chose to be friendly.


    When in a new ce, it was always best to blend in with the locals.


    "Hello." She nodded politely even though she had quite a few questions like why he looked abnormal.


    The person in front of her was a semitransparent man, he looked middle aged and for some reason there was a ck gas emanating from him. It reminded her of the contaminated air from earth.


    "Is the air on this contaminated as well?" she mumbled to herself.


    "You can see me." The man responded in a strained voice with a question. Scarlet looked around her because his question puzzled her. He was human; of course she could see him. Was there a special reason why he was not meant to be seen?


    She could feel a rattling within her body, it was annoying.


    "What is going on is my space trying to escape?" She was worried and partially panicked because if it disappeared she would have no emergency supplies.


    She heard the old deity''s voice in her head saying, "You have just met your first soul, the rattling of your soul trapping gourd is a warning to you. Take the gourd out, open it and the rest will take care of itself."


    She felt really stupid for not having realized sooner that this was no human, of course, no human was almost transparent, not even in the interster.


    "How do I take the soul gourd out?" she was no doubt in confusion.


    "Just call for it." She said.


    She held her out and said, "Soul gourd."


    The brown soul gourd appeared in her hand magically and she found herself bing excited and giddy.


    She opened the lid and the soul in front of her was pulled inside forcefully by an unknown force.  It was such a magical shocking sight that sheughed softly. If only she had such a power back on earth! How may zombies would she have dragged into the soul gourd?


    "Seal the lid." The old deity''s voice said.


    She did as he instructed and then looked around to see if anybody had seen what she had just done.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The tools of your trade are invisible to everyone but you and your fellow reapers. You could suck a soul in front of a crowd of a million people and nobody would be the wiser." The deity exined.


    This brought a sense of relief to her; she could go around sucking up as many souls as she wanted without a worry.


    "What do I do next? How do I deliver him to the underworld?" she asked.


    "At night, when you go to sleep, your soul will travel to this realm with the souls you have captured. If any soul tries to escape capture simply pull out your soul binding rope and whip them. It will simultaneously bring unspeakable pain upon that soul while binding them at the same time. When you are in the realm, open the soul gourd and release the souls, it''s that simple."


    "I understand." She replied. She was grateful for the old deity taking time to exin all this to her personally.


    "If you have any other questions, refer to the underworld chat and trading tform. You can see both the tform and chat by calling them out just as you do your tools.


    Every time you deliver a soul, you will receive soul crystals which provide power that you can cultivate and strengthen yourself. You will not be hearing my voice again unless it''s an emergency. You need to figure some of these things out and walk the grim reaper path on your own. You need to discover what kind of reaper you want to be and do it soon. Are you a guardian reaper or a warrior reaper?"


    "Wait," she called out because she heard a truck load of questions now that needed answers. She got no response from him however.


    No matter how many times she said con man, old man or ugly man, the old deity retained his silence.


    "I guess I will figure things out on my own tonight. For now, I need to figure out how I am going to survive in this world and raise a child when I am broke."


    ording to the bracelet on her arm which was also her personalputer terminal with ess to her star ount and bank ount, she was broke.


    She sighed and finally moved in the direction where Adler was. This side of the garbage pile was much different from the one where she was. A group of people who were dressed in metal suits of some kind were wading through the garbage. These metallic suits had oxygen tanks at the back and long bird beak like structure masks at the front


    If she had seen someone dressed like this back on earth before the zombies came, she would have gone running and screaming ''help'' at the top of her voice because the metal suit was disturbing and it gave off a scary vibe from appearance.


    There was a make shift factory of sorts with smoke being emitted from its shiny roof and people were carrying metallic items that were handed down by the ones in the suits to the factory.


    These metallic objects were heavy, or they appeared to be heavy. Some of the transporters were hunched over and appeared to be under incredible strain as they struggled to carry the metals.


    Sadly, there was no age limit to the number of people working on this garbage dump because she could see little kids in the crowd.


    Her heart clenched slightly at the thought that Justin could be any one of these children. She wondered how the great mecha king could allow his son to live on such a world and suffer such tribtions over a crime had had no hand in.


    Even if he hated the mother, he could at least have made an effort to make sure that his son was well raised and taken care of properly. And the royal family too!!!! Justin was rted to them. Did they have to abandon him because of his mother''s unscrupulous morals?


    Extremely angry in the heat of the moment, she touched her bracelet and opened Scarlet Su''s star ount. ''The mecha King''s bride,'' it was named. Scarlet Su was really obsessed with the mecha king; nothing mattered to her but him. It was time to change this obsession, her new obsession would be her son and making money.


    She scoffed and smiled a devil before changing her user name to; ''I hate the mecha king.''

 Chapter 6 Her First Apology

    ?"Look who decided to grace us with her presence, if it isn''t her royal highness Scarlet Su, the rich noble woman." A voiceced with bitter sarcasm drew her attention away from her bracelet and she looked up.


    The one talking and eyeing her with a mocking gaze was none other than her third sister Carolyn Su. Carolyn held a big grudge against Scarlet for causing her to lose her job, boyfriend, their current circumstances and looking down on their family. Scarlet and Carolyn had never had the easiest rtionship, she was clever, blonde and beautiful, something which the scheming, ck haired, less beautiful and dark hearted Scarlet was always jealous of. The only thing the two of them had inmon was their grey eyes. All of Baron Dorian Su''s children had his grey eyes.


    While the old Scarlet would respond to Carolyn with an insult, the new Scarlet chose to respond with politeness. She had bumped her head and gone into aa. A near death experience was the perfect excuse to use if anybody doubted her personality changes. She would take advantage of this to fully rectify all of Scarlet''s mistakes.


    "Older sister, hello." She responded with a small smile on her face.


    Carolyn steeped back away from Scarlet with shock and worry on her face. "What are you nning on doing now Scarlet? We don''t have any money to give you if that''s why you are here. And if you do anything stupid that pushes our family into the abyss any further I will end you." Carolyn threatened her angrily.


    Scarlet waved her hands around while saying, "Older sister I am not nning anything I simply came to see where you all work and spend some time with Justin."


    Carolyn''s eyes widened and she shouted, "Adlerrrrr....." calling him loudly like a young child that needed protection from a bully and he or she was calling for a stronger older sibling.


    All Scarlet saw was a shadow of something flying and then a metallic man dropped in between Carolyn and her.


    Reacting by instinct, Scarlet assumed a fighting stance and brought her dagger out from her jeans, ready to defend herself.


    The metallic figure took its head off like someone taking off a helmet and underneath the metal suit, her oldest brother Adler revealed himself. He was very tall and handsome even though his ck hair was spiked like the back of a porcupine.


    His eyes moved to Scarlet''s stance and dagger then he looked at her unsurely. "You are finally awake." He said.


    "Yes, I woke up a few hours ago." Scarlet answered as she put the dagger back into the pocket of her jeans.


    "How are you feeling?" he asked. His eyes held a bit of concern and some tenderness.


    Scarlet was surprised at his concern because out of everyone that had a reason to hate her in this family, Adler was supposed to be at the top of the list.


    "I.I.I am fine." She responded unsurely.


    Carolyn who was behind Adler stepped out and stood by his side only to shout, "Of course she is fine, she never thinks about the consequences of her actions. Her selfishness will be the end of this family; we should sell her to the Red star and be done with her already."


    "Carolyn!!!!" Adler called her in a stern warning voice.


    Scarlet shivered at Carolyn''s harsh words, the Red star was a with a whole lot of minerals, harsh weather conditions and mutated beasts. Prisoners were sent to those mines and most of them died before serving out their sentence. Scarlet was not a good person but sending her to the Red star was cruel, it was a death sentence.


    "After everything she has done, you are still defending her." Carolyn answered Adler in a disappointed voice.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "She is our family." Adler emphasized the word family.


    "Yes I am your family." Scarlet added in as an extra reminder. "I am sorry okay, I have been a terrible sister and daughter but selling me to the Red star, how does that make you a better sister Carolyn? It makes you no different from me."


    Her apology shocked both of her older siblings but herst words brought a sneer to Carolyn''s face. "I will never be like you Scarlet, you are a leech. I worked for everything I had before I lost it all because of you. You on the other hand chose to live a fakevish lifestyle andmit a crime for which we are all paying."


    Carolyn looked at Adler and said, "She wants to see Justin, I don''t care how you handle it." She turned and walked away.


    Scarlet would not be stopped from proving that she had changed, "I am sorry Carolyn, I am really sorry. I will prove to you all that I have changed, make sure that you give me a chance."


    Carolyn looked back onest time and then she left.


    Adler''s icy grey eyes turned to Scarlet and he asked. "Why are you looking for Justin? Are you nning to hit him again because if you do, I will agree to Carolyn''s proposal and sell you to the Red star?"


    No wonder Carolyn called Adler when she showed up asking for Justin, not only was she a bad mother, she was also an abusive one!!!


    It was a miracle that this family had not barbequed Scarlet over a fire and fed her to the wolves. Had she, Su Yan offended somebody in her past that of all the bodies she could have ended up in, she ended up in this one?


    "I have no intentions ofying a hand on Justin; I want to make things right with him brother. This near death experience made me return to my senses. I have lived a bad life, a foolish one in so many ways. Every decision that I have made has been out of pure selfishness. But I am a changed woman now, I know you will not believe me but I am going to prove it to you all.


    I will work hard to make you all forgive me. I will also work hard to make this situation better for our family; it was my entire fault that we ended up here after all."


    She looked down and said, "I am sorry Adler, your dreams were shattered because of me. Will you ever forgive me?"


    To her shock and his, tears seemed to be spilling down her face. She was crying for herself as the dead Su Yan and for the little boy who had suffered at Scarlet''s hands.


    Her heart was heavy with sadness that had somehow managed to overwhelmed her suddenly.


    "Don''t cry." Adler said to her. "You are not the only one to me in this situation, I should have checked in on you more and corrected you when you started going down the wrong path. I failed you as your oldest brother. If you are genuinely sorry and willing to make amends, I will not stand in your way but you should understand that it''s not going to be easy. You have broken everyone''s heart Scarlet so if they push you away, you should not react angrily but be patient and polite."


    He surprised her by hugging her.


    Once she was all cried out, Adler surprised her more by saying, "You might as welle out Justin, I saw your silver hair already."


    Scarlet stepped out of Adler''s embrace to see the boy who was now her child and when she did see him, she gasped.

 Chapter 7 Mother And Son

    ?He was a scrawny little thing with long hair the color of silver. This was the scrawniness that was a result of starvation and poor feeding. He reminded her of those children in the zombie apocalypse who had no family to fend for them or strength to fend for themselves so their bodies became skin and bones because of starvation until when they eventually died of hunger.


    There was a time when cannibalism was on the rise during the zombie apocalypse and children like that fell victim to greedy adults. Looking at Justin in front of her, her heart was almost breaking. The biggest feature on his face was hisrge grey eyes which were simr to hers.


    He was a handsome boy probably because his father was a very handsome man. All he needed was some good feeding to fatten him up.


    He was wearing some kind of improvised mecha that was attached to his back and arms; it was probably an aid to help him carry out the metallic trash.


    Su Yan had never been a mother but before her entire family died at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, she was a big sister. Perhaps that''s why there was a tug at her heart as she looked at this poor sweet boy.


    Justin run to Adler and hid behind him while holding one of his legs.


    Adler squatted down in front of the boy and ruffled his hair yfully. "Did you hear everything that we said?"


    Justin nodded his head.


    "Then you know that your mother wants to make amends and build a better rtionship with you." Adler told him. "What do you think about it?"


    Justin peeped at her once more briefly and when she met his gaze, he quickly looked away from her and shook his head. It seemed like he had been terrorized by Scarlet to a point of being so afraid of her.


    "You are scared, right?" Adler asked him.


    Justin nodded in agreement with Adler.


    "Me too buddy," Adler told him, "But I will be watching over you the whole time. If it will make you feel better, the two of you can only walk around here or sit under that tall thorny tree. She is your mother; I think you should give her a chance."


    Su Yan was amazed by the Adler''srge heart. Here he was helping her to mend the rtionship which Scarlet had ripped apart with both eyes wide open. Was he really so understanding or was he baiting her and then he would throw her to the wolvester.


    "No," she thought to herself. "I cannot doubt the only person who is on my side for the moment."


    If she refused Adler''s help because of doubt, she would be left standing alone and Adler never did or said anything hurtful to Scarlet after all she did. ording to her memories, even after they were forced toe to the blue star, he simply told Scarlet to get her head on straight and remember her priorities. Scarlet of course called him a fool for not minding his own business.


    After being convinced by his uncle for ten minutes or so, Justin tentatively came closer to Scarlet and stared at her shyly.


    She too was nervous, so she waved at him and said, "Hi," as if they were strangers being introduced by a mutual friend for the first time.


    "I am going to give the two of you some privacy, I will be watching from above." Adriel pointed to the top most point of the mountain of garbage.


    He flew up as mother and son slowly walked to the thorny tree. These trees were quitemon on the Blue star, they were very tall and their fruits were covered in thorns which is why the trees were named thorny trees. The fruit was inedible; many people on the Blue star had attempted to eat them out of desperation created by hunger.


    There were no seats beneath the tree, only a couple ofrge stones which the workers would sit on asionally when they were taking a break.


    "Uhm, do you want to sit?" she asked Justin.


    He nodded and sat his little ass down on a small rock. She sat on therger rock closest to his and the two of them nervously retained their silence.


    After a while of this ufortable silence, she asked him, "Are you hungry?"


    Justin touched his stomach and nodded, but then a sad look appeared on his face and he said, "No," in a small voice.


    She that had been eager to give him a snack was confused, was she hungry or not?


    "You agreed first, why are you changing your mind?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Uncle Adler says that we need to eat less in order for the nutrient shake tost." He answered.


    The nutrient shake he was talking about was a thick porridge like drink which most of the citizens of the Sun star empire drunk. The nutrient shake also had different qualities and the more money one had, the better tasting and higher in value nutrient shake they could afford.


    Food was avable too but it was nd and only found in the capital. Even then it was avable in small portions because the war with mutated beasts destroyed eighty percent of the edible nts. Even the little food that remained was only avable to the rich.


    The Su family was surviving on low quality nutrient shakes.


    With the millions of snacks, drinks and supplies in her storage space, she would never have to worry about hunger. Moreover, she had more than enough seeds of all types and varieties to grow her own food.


    Perhaps these seeds would resurrect this dead and bring it back to life. This would be her path to wealth in this world.


    She looked at Justin, grabbed his arms and said, "Justin, with mummy here, you will never have to worry about food. I know that I have not been the best mother to you in the past but that''s because mother was sick and when I banged my head, the sickness left my mind. Now, I am all better and I promise that I am going to take better care of you."


    "Really?" Justin asked her with so much hope in his eyes. He was only a four year old child who saw his father once a year and his mother ignored him. Justin had always longed for his love and he was struggling to believe that his longing could be satisfied.


    "Yes, mummy will prove it to you every day but you have to trust me a little bit. If you reject me, my heart will ache and maybe the sickness will return."


    Justin shook his head like a scared littlemb.


    "To keep the sickness far away, you have to allow mummy to love you so much. Will that be possible?" she was lying to him but she wanted to mend the rift between them as fast as she could.


    Justinunched herself into her arms and she sighed in relief.


    "Can mummy give you something to eat now?"


    Even though he had just epted her, she noticed that he was still a little hesitant to eat something she was giving.


    Did Scarlet once attempt to poison her son?


    She touched her pocket and brought a small packet of milk biscuits which she ripped open and started eating one by one.


    Justin could smell the sweet scent of the biscuits and he swallowed greedily.


    She passed him one and he asked, "What''s this?" He had never seen food like this before.


    "Something sweet it''s called a biscuit, if you like it let''s go home together and prepare more for the rest of the family."


    Like most children, Justin could not resist the sweetness of the biscuit and he munched happily as he followed her back to the house.


    "Are you really allowing her to be alone with him?" Carolyn asked Adler as they watched Justin follow Scarlet.


    "You have A and I have an S level of mental strength. I am sure you have heard every word that they have discussed. She apologized to him and fed him. You may not like or trust her but she is Justin''s mother. The boy needs his mother, if she has truly changed then it''s a cause to be happy and relieved.


    What did she give him to eat by the way, I have never seen anything like it?" he asked as an afterthought.


    "How should I know?" Carolyn fired back but she was curious as well. "Is she really going to prepare whatever it is for the rest of us?"


    "How should I know?" Adler repeated her question. "Let''s just get back to work and don''t worry about Justin, I have told Elroy to keep an eye on them."

 Chapter 8 Live Broadcast

    ?As soon as they arrived back at the house they went straight to the kitchen which to her surprise was quite well stockedpared to the rest of the house. The avable equipment was old but good enough to be used.


    "Justin, can you bring me some water from outside in this..." she looked around for something that could carry water, "This bowl."  Her eyes located a medium sized bowl which she handed off to him.


    "Okay." Justin responded and run outside quickly.


    The moment his little body disappeared, she scanned her storage space and brought out two baskets of potatoes, some salt and ketchup. Her reason for going for potatoes was that they were already avable in the capital.


    She could im to have bought them from a ck market dealer and she could nt them first as a trial.


    Still, she was desperate for money because their living conditions were not the best. ording to Scarlet''s memory, every four months mutated beasts would attack them. Each time it happened, lives were lost. A crumbling house like this one could not provide proper security in the long run.


    Some mechas served as houses however their family was not allowed to keep a single working mecha when they were forced to leave the Sun star.


    She searched the star for ''quick ways to make money.''


    Most of the answers in this world were simr to those from earth, like being a musician, an actor or actress. Bing a mecha warrior or mecha fighter, Mecha warriors served in the army while mecha fighters were like professional wrestlers back on earth. She could not help equating them to robot fights only in this case, people were controlling the robots from the inside.


    Other ways to make quick money were investing, starting a business, volunteering to mine on the Red star.


    All of these were not going to work for her because she had no means to even begin and the Red star was a death trap. Just as she was about to give up, the veryst text at the bottom of this post caught her eye.


    ''Live broadcasting'' it said. And just like magic, something clicked in her mind, Scarlet Su may be a hated woman in the empire but she had five million followers on her star ount. Granted, all of them were anti-fans but if she carefully exploited this angle, anti-fans could be turned into fans. If it didn''t work she could look for n B, hopefully she would not have to resort to ckmail like the original Scarlet.


    She had no fancy camera broadcasting equipment but she could set her bracelet up for now. She found the best angle to do it and set it up.


    She used an old mirror from her storage to tidy herself up, apply some lipstick and a little make up. Good looks and beauty usually contributed to the sess of an online celebrity.


    She essed her star online ount; I hate the mecha king and started a live broadcast.  Not even thirty seconds passed andments started pouring in, most of them awful of course.


    A fewments were made by people asking her why she had changed her name to ''I hate the mecha king.''


    She ignored them, and smiled, "Hey guys, this is Scarlet from the Blue star and I am trying something very different today. I know that my usual content is pictures or videos of the father of my child but I will not be doing that anymore."


    Several questions followed her announcement but she ignored them again.


    "I will not be answering any questions but if you give me a generous gift, I might decide to satisfy some of your curiosity."


    She would not be giving out the details of her life for free, if they wanted to know what was going on in her life, they had to make her wallet happy.


    Five golden castles with fireworks filled her screen and sheughed. Those were at least five thousand star coins, Scarlet was really famous. She was famous in a bad way but still, famous.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Thank you very much for the generous gift dear fan, I will answer your question now." she made her voice adorable.


    [Are you getting a divorce?]


    She paused for a moment, then she blinked and said, "I am not getting a divorce at the moment however if I decide to do so, I will announce it on my live broadcast. If you want to keep up with Scarlet, follow my page, watch my broadcasts and donate generously."


    [I knew she was not getting a divorce.]


    [What a pretender, she is just trying to get the mecha king''s attention.]


    [We hate you Scarlet, go and kill yourself.]


    [Where did you buy your outfit from? The bottom pants lookfy.]


    She ignored the uglyments and replied to the one who wanted to know about her bottom pants.


    "These are called jeans, they are indeedfy, easy to wear and go with almost anything. I am selling them but the stock is very limited, I have only made ten pairs of jeans for now so if you want to snap them up, do so as soon I establish my online shop."


    She had around a million or more jeans in her space, it was like arge mall and it had over fifteen years'' worth of goods that she collected. However, the art of the sale was in the rarity of an item.


    She heard Justin''s little steps running into the kitchen so she turned around and took the little bowl of water from him. There were little beads of sweat on his forehead and he was slightly flushed red in the face and heaving. She could conclusively judge that he had gone a long way to bring this little bit of water.


    "Are you tired?" she asked.


    He shook his little head and she ruffled his hair. "Drink some juice." She gave him a bottle of orange juice whosebel she had ripped off already.


    Justin sipped it and smiled happily while licking his mouth. "It''s sweet." He dered.


    "What do you say when mummy gives you a snack?"


    "Thank you." He replied and giggled.


    [He is so cute and adorable; his hair is the same silver shade as his father''s.]


    [Is that the mecha king''s son?]


    [What is he drinking, I don''t care about anything else just tell me what he is drinking?]

 Chapter 9 Scarlet Out!

    ?Ignoringments again, she said, "I am going to teach you how to prepare fries. What are fries, you ask. They are a snack prepared from potatoes."


    She held a potato to the camera and said, "I am sure that some of you have seen this potato in the capital and some of you have not. If you haven''t this is what they look like."


    [I have seen potatoes, but I cannot afford them.]


    [We have potatoes at home but no knowledge on what to do with them.]


    [Are you going to be a food anchor?]


    She continued to exin. "I was also lucky to get a few and I experimented with them. I am also going to introduce a new rare product called oil.


    I discovered a nt here on the blue star and spent time researching it before discovering that it could be squeezed to produce this oil.


    She had poured oil into a bowl and she brought it closer to the camera for observation.


    "First, we are going to peel our potatoes. I am using an old dagger but if you have a potato peeler, you can use it. When we are finished peeling the potatoes, we slice them carefully into this shape and wash them.


    Some people like to add salt to their fries before frying and others like to add it after. Those of you who do not know what salt is can send a request to my inbox and I will upload a video exining salt and teaching you how to make it.


    We are going to add our oil to a heated pan; I turned this on a while ago. You should be careful because hot oil burns and even though the med bed will cure youpletely, you will feel immense pain from the burn".


    While Scarlet was exining the steps to follow in the preparation of fries, her live broadcast had caught the eye of numerous people.


    For starters, Adler and Carolyn who would be notified every time Scarlet''s name popped up online were watching the broadcast in shock. They werepletely shocked that they stopped working and sat under a thorn tree because they could not describe what was going on.


    When did Scarlet learn how to cook and when did she start considering divorcing the mecha king her number one obsession.


    The broadcast was so rming that the rest of the siblings and their father all came looking for Adler to see if he could exin this abnormality.


    The second person to be shocked was Esong Wu, the mecha king who was currently situated on the Red delivering a group of dangerous fugitives.


    When his secretary Dez Miao showed him the video, he dismissed it as another attention seeking scam by Scarlet but she surprised him by proving to be knowledgeable. She was not like her usual arrogant stupid self.


    He was satisfied to see that his son was being taken care of, thest time he saw the boy, he had begged to follow him but of what use was a child to him on a space ship? He travelled from one dangerous to another fighting beasts, space pirates and dissidents so having the child with him was not wise.


    "The boy looks skinny." General Esong also known as the mecha king said. "Tell my sister to raise the monthly deposit of five million to ten million coins to Scarlet''s ount."


    "Yes general." Dez replied.


    He watched the video for about five minutes more minutes before switching it off to resume his duties.


    Another group of people who were alerted every time Scarlet''s name popped up online were members of the royal family in the capital.


    Some of them were princes, others princesses, others duchesses, etc. They usually gathered to discuss political affairs, fashion, celebrities, rtionships and anything else. They were discussing an uing marriage of a duke when someone came in and said Scarlet was doing a live broadcast.


    They all loathed Scarlet and started watching it out of curiosity waiting to see her make a fool of herself but somehow they stayed for the rest of it whilementing about various things.


    [I can''t believe that she has said she will announce a divorce when she is ready?]


    [She is lying, after everything she did to marry Esong there is no way she will divorce him.]


    [Who cares about their divorce, if she can really cook tasty potatoes we won''t have to keep throwing them away because they keep rotting.]


    The third princess called a chef and told him to note down the save the recipe and try it when the broadcast was done.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [She is taking the fries out of the oil, they look crispy.]


    In her kitchen, Scarlet was indeed taking out the first bunch of finished fries from the oil.


    "You can all see our finished product, right? It has the perfect color and it probably tastes just as sweet. I wish you could all taste this with us."


    [Turn on the sensor.] Ament apanied by one silver castle passed by.


    She recalled that these bracelets have sensors which allowed the viewers watching a live broadcast to taste, feel, smell and hear whatever their anchor was eating, holding or listening to.


    She turned it on, allowing them to smell the fries and taste them.


    [They smell better than I imagined.]


    [I can''t wait to taste them, please eat something already, I beg you.]


    "We are all going to taste the fries together, but first I am going to add some ketchup. Those of you who have questions about ketchup I will answer themter."


    She dipped the first fry in ketchup and gave it to Justin who opened his small mouth and gobbled it up greedily.


    "Yummy." He said after swallowing.


    "Do you want more?" she asked him.


    He nodded and she gave him half of the fries. "Eat slowly, don''t burn yourself."


    "Thank you mummy." He nodded and stuffed his mouth like a starving wolf.


    She ate one fry, allowing the viewers to taste it. "Now, I am going to dip one in ketchup."


    [Such an amazing taste, I will migrate to the blue star just for the fries.]


    [I am offering you one thousand coins for one handful of fries with ketchup.]


    [I am offering double.]


    Someone sent ten golden castles. [One te for ten thousand coins.]


    "Since we have few potatoes for now, I will be rewarding one serving of fries with ketchup to this viewer called ten thousand rich men. I will be ending the live broadcast for now, thank you for watching, see you all next time, Scarlet out."


    She made the peace sign and decided to use a catch phrase at thest moment. Maybe if it caught on she could sell t-shirts with a peace sign or the phrase Scarlet out.


    Under the thorny tree, the family members could not believe what they had just experienced.


    "I knew Scarlet had secrets but food!!! how did she afford food?" Carolyn asked.


    " She seems to be calmer and happier. What is happening to her?" Baron Su asked Adler.


    Adler shrugged and said, "Maybe she was not lying to Justin and she really was sick before. We should go home and ask her these questions."


    "Yes, let''s go home." Baron said eagerly.


    All of their eyes were shining, hoping they would taste those fries.

 Chapter 10 Her Explanation

    ?When she closed the live broadcast, she was sure that she would get at least half of the coins which she had made. The rest would definitely go to star unless she signed a contract with one of theirpanies as a verified anchor.


    This money would not be enough but for now, at least she was not totally broke anymore. This little money could be used to take care of some of the family''s immediate needs.


    She prepared more fries and decided to mix some powdered orange juice for the rest of the family in arge bottle. Seeing that both maids were conveniently absent, she carried the fries and the juice to the dining table all on her own.


    Everywhere she went, Justin followed her like her a tail.


    She sat at the table with Justin and one by one, family members arrived. Her mother was the first to sit at the table since she had been attracted by the smell of the fries long before but she was feeling awkward about asking Scarlet for a bite.


    Her brothers, sisters and father all showed up and she finally had the chance to observe them. Her father was a tall,rge man with a stocky build, ck hair and grey eyes.


    Scarlet had inherited the hair and eyes from him, there were no doubt about it. Her mother was blonde and slender. She had inherited her physique from her. Her eyes were drawn to her mother''srge protruding tummy, It was a good thing that med beds existed in the interster otherwise she could not understand how this small woman survived giving birth to eight children and she still looked sexy and young.


    Moreover, she was about to give birth to another one!!


    Her parents really needed a lesson in sex education and birth control otherwise they were on a mission to repopte the blue star since it was now their home and sparsely popted.


    "Scarlet, do you have anything to say to us?" her father directly asked.


    Boldly, she looked around, refusing to quiver the inquisitive and harsh nces being sent her way by some of her siblings.


    "I want to apologize to everyone for my past actions; I was very sick and disturbed, it''s not an excuse but it''s an exnation for most of my erratic behavior. I met an old doctor at the edge of the blue forest a few months ago who secretly gave me treatment. He said my uncontrolled rage and outbursts of anger were a result of an untreated childhood illness caused by blockage of my chi points. He unblocked them and I am still in the process of recovery so my mental strength is going to return slowly overtime.


    He also gave me a lot of things like food, seeds, books and others. I was not trying to get my husband''s attention by fleeing this before I was injured; I wanted to tell him about the things the old doctor had given me.


    Now, I realize that I was foolish; these things are going to be used to develop our new home not to impress a man. We cannot keep depending on garbage collection to make money; we will stay backward if we stay the course.


    I think it''s time for us toe out of our shells and take our fate into our own hands. Just because our old dreams are dead does not mean we cannot start over and find new dreams. All of you can think about it and if you agree with me, we will discuss it tomorrow. That''s all I have to say for now."


    She was done talking and exining her change in behavior and she hoped that they would not be asking about the changes in her personality anymore. She hade up with this wild tale when she recalled that Scarlet often went to the edge of the blue forest in some hopeless effort to find a mutated beast. If she did find one, she would send word to Esong and he woulde to fight the beasts then she could use the opportunity to seduce him.


    Scarlet''s foolish actions had for the second time today proved useful to her.


    Her family was silent, probably bubbling with dozens of questions and most of them ready to poke holes into her story but she chose to remain nonchnt about it all.


    Instead, she started serving fries while Justin her little assistant helped her push the tes around around.


    "You were ill, are you not spinning some kind of ludicrous story to dig yourself out of a hole?" Carolyn asked inquisitively in a doubting voice.


    "If you have any questions for me sister, please wait until after dinner." Scarlet replied. "I am sure that all of you are starving after a long day of hard work."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She could see the burning curiosity in all of their eyes but the smell of fries and colorful juice distracted them.


    "Sister Scarlet what is this juice?" her youngest sister Halley asked after taking one sip of the delicious orange juice.


    Scarlet smiled at the adorable little girl who was only a year older than Justin and said, "Hmm, a refreshing drink. Do you like it?"


    "We can''t shut down the garbage dump, how will we make money." Elroy, the younger brother who was born after her suddenly blurted.


    "Eat your food." Adler ordered Elroy. "If you don''t want it, give it to me."


    Elroy guarded his te as if Adler was a thief and he looked around nervously at the rest of his siblings. The older ones in particr were eating so fast that soon they would eat up all the extra food.


    After dinner Carolyn surprised her by helping her clean the table and wash the tes even though she was very much still slightly hostile to her.


    "Were you really ill?" she asked her.


    "Yes, " Scarlet replied, "Very ill. Being sent to this was the best thing to ever happen to me because if I met my savior here."


    "Can we meet this savior of yours?"


    "No," Scarlet replied and put on a very sad face, "He left but he said when I train myself and fully recover my mental strength I can go and look for him."


    "Hmph." Carolyn replied.


    Everyone was gathered in the living room, pretending to watch whatever it was that was ying but all along secretly peeping to catch a glimpse of Scarlet.


    She found them waiting for her as if she was a guest speaker for a function.


    "Sister, we all have questions for you." Beord her second brother said. "Like what you were doing at the edge of the blue forest and how the doctor treated you. We also want to know what you are suggesting we do once the garbage dump is shut down."


    Before she could answer, Mega also added, "Your father and I had no idea that you were ill Scarlet, if we did we would have sought treatment for you."


    "Your mother is speaking the truth." Her father said.


    "Mum, dad, I know this so you don''t need to apologize. I want to put it in the past along with all of mistakes. Everything that you all want to discuss can wait for tomorrow and the days which follow because I have to go and train. I also need to sleep, the doctor told me to sleep for at least eight hours a night in order for my body to mend faster."


    "Oh, okay then, go in and rest. I will put Justin to bed." Adler quickly responded before anyone could object.


    She kissed Justin on the cheek and left with a whole lot of curious eyes on her back.

 Chapter 11 Soul Delivery

    ?As soon as she was out of sight, Carolyn said loudly, "I don''t buy it, she is up to something."


    Adler who was sitting closest to her and carrying Justin in hisps frowned at Carolyn. Then he covered Justin''s ears and said, "Can you not say such things in front of Justin. Look at how happy he is right now because his mother is caring for him are you so eager to see him be miserable again?"


    Carolyn appeared to be wronged, "Brother, I am looking out for Justin in my own way." She exined. "Scarlet may be all apologies and smiles right now but what about tomorrow? What happens when we wake up and she has suddenly returned to her old ways? It''s too soon for us to be jubting about her miraculous turn around."


    Her words were like a wakeup call to all of them who had let down their guard so quickly.


    "I trust sister Scarlet." Halley''s small voice announced.


    "Your sister said that she was sick before and I believe her." Mega told all of her children. "There used to be this rage in her eyes but it''s gone. She is calm and her aura is warm. I am ashamed that none of us did a single thing to help her when she was suffering alone. All we did was judge and condemn her for her hateful behavior but we never once stopped to assume that she was sick.


    Let''s be honest, there are illnesses in the empire which to date the scientists are still struggling to cure to, like the darkness which can be suffered by all those with mental strength. If there is no exnation or cure for the darkness, why is Scarlet''s condition any different?"


    There was a look of shame on the faces of some of the people around the table. They all had mental strength so they knew about the darkness.


    It was a kind of mental illness that affected one in every one thousand mental strength users. The higher one''s mental strength was the more potential to be powerful in their society but it was also the higher the chance of one being affected by the darkness.


    The darkness would drive one to the brink of depression and insanity until when they eventually had to be euthanized ormit suicide because of the agony.


    "Do you think Scarlet was suffering from the darkness? She was manic and always angry." Elroy asked.


    "She has no mental strength; the darkness affects those with mental strength." Carolyn replied.


    "Wrong," Adler said, "She said her mental strength existed but her chi points were blocked. The doctor unblocked them and her mental strength is going to return slowly."


    "Then, does it mean there is a cure for the darkness?" Fey another sister who was born after Elroy asked curiously. "We can make a lot of money if we know how to cure the darkness."


    Her innocent eyes made the adults in the house look around wildly as if they were anticipating a spy within their midst.


    "Do not repeat these words to anyone, do you hear me?" Baron Dorian Su sternly warned all of his children.


    "But why father, this is a good thing if it''s true, it could be our ticket back to the capital." Beord asked in a small voice.


    Dorian Su scoffed and said, "A ticket? I think you mean a death sentence. What if it doesn''t work, then instead of being thrown back to this we will be sent to the Red or put to death!  Our lives have been troublesome enough; we don''t need to add any more trouble to them.


    Concentrate on what your sister said about changing yourselves and this because we are never returning to the capital. She is not the only one who thinks that garbage dump is a temporary solution to our problems; I think the same and so does your mother and Adler.  Scarlet was not always foolish, she used to be quite smart and creative in her childhood. Do not underestimate her."


    Scarlet that was being discussed spontaneously fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. The gift of instant sleep anytime anywhere wasmon among reapers because the high ranked reapers could deliver souls at any time of the day, not just in the night.


    While she slept, her soul appeared in the underworld. The realm was quite different to how it appeared when she was a soul. It was mostly dull, like that time of the morning when the darkness was almost fading but not yetpletely gone. It was also cold, not cold enough to make her break out in shivers but enough to make her wish her clothes were thicker.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She looked down at herself and observed that she was dressed simrly to the other reapers in a long ck robe. Her long ck hair was flying back as if someone was holding a fan which was blowing air directly in front of her face.


    "First time?" a female voice asked from behind and she spun around to see another female reaper who had five souls tied around her ck rope.


    "Yes," Scarlet answered, "I am new to this."


    "You should release your souls now, to save time release your rope as well and make sure that they can''t run."


    She opened her soul gourd and the one soul she had was released and a rope magically wrapped itself around it.


    "Just the one." The other said.


    "It was the only one I saw." She replied and rubbed one of her hands.


    "The more soul power you umte, the warmer you will be. They do this to make us work harder and capture more souls. Don''t just sit around and wait for souls toe to you, you must go looking for them. Souls like to hang around hospitals, temples, churches, mortuaries, grave yards and prisons.  You will find it easier if you pass by such ces."


    She was happy to receive this advice, "Thank you senior." She said and bowed.


    "Follow me and do what I do, the soul registrars don''t like being dyed. They also don''t like small talk so do not engage then unnecessarily, be brief and precise."


    She looked at the soul registrars who were sitting at their posts with books to keep records. They were dressed simrly to reapers but they wore ck hats.


    She followed the female reaper, observed what she said and did then when it was her turn, she copied it all.


    Soul registrar: Name?


    Her: "Scarlet."


    Soul registrar: "Number of souls."


    Her:"One"                                                                                Soul registrar: "Sign here and take two soul crystals."


    The procedure was easy and she finished quickly. She found the female reaper waiting for her at the arrival point which also served as the exit point.


    "See you around newbie." She said and disappeared.


    Scarlet smiled and disappeared.

 Chapter 12 Soul Cultivator

    ?She slept for only three hours before waking up in the middle of the night to start cultivating her soul. She essed the underworld trading tform for help and instructions in what to do.


    There were a variety of sses, videos, shops, pictures from other realms; it was like star but for the underworld.


    The first video she clicked was titled, "Are you a first time soul cultivator?"


    "Yes," she answered and clicked on it.


    A male reaper appeared like a teacher in a ssroom and he started talking, "If you have clicked on this video then you must be a first time cultivator. You have not yet chosen which path to follow as a reaper, whether to be a guardian or a warrior.


    The good thing is that you do not have to worry about that for a while because you need to be at level three to make that choice. You on the other hand are just starting out and what you need to do is collect and absorb energy from as many soul crystals as you can to move up a level.


    Moving up a level will require hundreds of crystals so you should prepare to spend many nights hunting for runaway souls. The more dangerous a soul you capture, the higher the quality of crystals you get. This doesn''t mean you should go around recklessly looking for dangerous souls because if you are weak, they will feed on your soul power and leave you drained like a corpse.


    This is why all grim reapers keep a pet by their side and store part of their soul power within these pets. If you are drained, as long as you can get to your pet in time, you have a strong chance of surviving. Don''t let all this scare you however; being a grim reaper is awesome. You will be strong, wealthy, good looking and you live forever so what''s not to love?


    Onto the business which has brought you here, the beginning stage of soul cultivation is infancy, your soul is basically an infant that needs to be fed and nourished. You should not only depend on soul crystals, things like purifying water, marrow cleansing pills and soul solidifying grass are very important to you. These items can be brought from different shops or traded for with other reapers."


    Scarlet was soaking all this knowledge in like a student about to sit for their final examinations which decide their fate.


    "Now, take your soul crystal in hand and follow my lead."


    She took one crystal in hand, absorbed its power like the instructor was saying and started cultivating. As her soul absorbed the power, in her body she felt as if there was a vortex circting a warmfortable feeling all through.


    She diverted some of the power to her mind, and suddenly she felt like a dry wilted leaf receiving a few drops of rain after a century long drought.


    For four hours, she sat with her legs crossed in the same position as if she was meditating. She only stopped when the warm feeling begun to fade. The crystal had beenpletely used up.She would absorb the second one tomorrow because the instructor had said beginner reapers could only cultivate one crystal at a time.


    She had sessfully broken through the beginning infancy stage, she was at level one. She would have to work harder to solidify it before moving on to the infancy stage two.


    She opened her eyes, yawned and fell asleep with a smile on her beautiful face.


    The sound of a duck being pursued or what sounded like a duck being pursued bothered her so much that she was forced to open her eyes and rise. To her shock, there was a little body in her bed; the little body had a pair of unruly feet which were almostnding in her mouth.


    She tapped the small body and her son Justin giggled.


    "There is a little bear in my bed, should I eat it for dinner?" she asked herself loudly but yfully.


    "Hihihi." Justin giggled. "I am not a bear." He replied and sat up.


    "Come here." She held her hands wide open and waited for him tounch himself into her body.


    As soon as he did, she hugged him and ruffled his hair. "How did you get in here?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The door was open, Uncle Adler told me to wake you up for breakfast before everyone goes to work."


    She assumed that the breakfast was probably those nasty ass low quality tasting shakes. No thank you!!!


    "Did you bathe and brush your teeth?" she asked him. Inspecting his little body like every proper mother does for her child. She even opened his mouth and checked his teeth for cavities.


    Justin was well kempt and very clean. Adler was a doing job in taking care of Justin. These maids who had been hired to take care of him did nothing. She was quite firm in her decision to fire them now.


    "Go and tell your uncle that mummy is going to have a quick bath ande prepare breakfast."


    "Okay." He quickly hurried off after hearing that there was food to be eaten.


    After taking a shower, she took some eggs, bacon and milk from her storage space and ced them in a basket before leaving the bedroom.


    As she walked through the hallway, she bumped into her siblings who were either dressed for work in old fixed up mecha suits or dressed in the mostmon outfit in the empire.


    Silver suit pants which were made out of material that looked and felt like leather but much tougher with a matching long sleeved shirt that had a cor.


    This outfit was so popr that it had a variety of colors like white, ck, red, yellow, green and blue. Scarlet thought only the ck outfit was worth it.


    Of course other clothes like dresses existed; most of them were light because the weather in the Sun star was mostly hot and sunny. In Scarlet''s opinion, it was perfect farming weather.


    The one thing most of the outfits in the empire had inmon was metallic bits here and there. You mostly had metallic breast tes and metallic arms or legs. To some it was fashion and to others it was for protection.


    She personally thought it was ridiculous.


    Anyway, aside from her judgmental thoughts about their outfits, she was happy to see them greeting her so warmly.


    She went to the kitchen and quickly prepared a breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and milk tea. Since the family wasrge, Fey offered to help and they worked together on preparing the breakfast.


    "Good morning dad, good morning mum." She cheerfully greeted her parents.


    "Good morning Scarlet," her father responded first. "You look lovely this morning."


    "Thank you." She responded.


    "Come and sit next to me." Her mother called her over eagerly.


    Scarlet noticed that the general attitude of everyone had changed. Even Carolyn was warmer to her which made her happier. She could get them on boardassist her in the developing of this easily now.


    Maybe she could start with domesticating that duck like creature which woke her up against her wish and selling its eggs.

 Chapter 13 The Edge Of The Forest

    ?"Sister Scarlet what is this food?" Halley asked.


    Halley was so adorable that she could not hold back from giving the little girl a smile. "It''s called eggs, bacon and the white drink is called milk. We get eggs and bacon from animals that have not mutated into beasts or beasts that are not poisonous.


    If we find some birds thaty eggs in the blue forest today, we will bring them back and raise them."


    "So we can eat eggs every day." Halley said very excitedly.


    "Yes." Scarlet responded.


    She had put it out there that they were going to the blue forest today so that everyone would eat while fully aware of her n.


    "You can''t go to the forest, it''s dangerous." Dorian Su looked at Scarlet as if she had lost her mind.


    "There is no risk without reward dad, you know this well and so does big brother Adler. Every day that we are here without protection or food we risk more. These low quality shakes are not doing anything for us. Moreover I own this, I have taxes to pay and I have citizens to take care of.


    My teacher spent decades in the forest studying the nts and animals. He taught me which ones were edible and which ones were poisonous. He showed me how to domesticate animals and process their meat into food. He asked me to use these skills to help the poor in our society ess better food at cheaper prices. We all know that low quality shakes are not healthy. Some of them are nothing more than toxic poison but the poor are too weak toin. They are just d to have anything to fill their stomachs.


    The blue has been blessed by the deities and we should take advantage of it. We will turn this into the paradise of the Sun star."


    She spoke with so much artiction and conviction that more than half of the people at the table were convinced. Halley even childishly apuded her.


    "I still maintain my stand, the forest is dangerous." Dorian Su insisted.


    "I agree with our father." Adler said.


    "I second that." Beord also made his opinion known.


    While they all insisted that the forest was dangerous, none of them was putting down their forks as they voraciously enjoyed the breakfast she prepared.


    The odd man out was Scarlet who was eating with chop sticks and dressed in a green camouge pants and a in ck shirt. Her long hair was tied behind in a ponytail and she had essorized by adding small diamond studs in her ears.


    "Scarlet can you reconsider you n of going into the blue forest?" her mother asked her in a very soft and worried voice.


    "I have been to the edge of the blue forest on my own before. If all you are afraid, I can still go on my own like I used to do."


    "No." Adler blurted out immediately very loudly. His loud startled those at the table including Scarlet.


    "Brother, I promised my teacher that I would not let the skills he taught me go to waste. I have to keep my word otherwise teacher will think I am an ingrate."


    Adler wiped his mouth and said, "I am not trying to stop you, I just mean that you cannot go on your own. Beord, Carolyn and I will go with you."


    "I want to go too." Elroy raised his hand.


    Adler shook his head and said, "Someone has to stay and help out. Since we are closing down the garbage dump, the scrap needs to be melted and sent to a storage pod until we can afford to pay for disposal services."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Fey can do it." Elroy mumbled.


    "She is younger than you, has a shy personality and barely looks strangers in the eye. How do you expect her to handle this momentous task? From what Scarlet is saying this will not be our first orst time in the forest. You can go another time." Adler insisted.


    "But..." Elroy mumbled once more.


    "You are staying." Mega Su said in a stern voice which left no room for any more arguments.


    Breakfast ended and the four siblings who were going to the blue forest set out. They took a mecha which Adler had fixed together with parts from different old mechas. It was shaped like a weird superrge robot bear which was walking on all fours and they were sitting inside the belly of this bear.


    The inside of the mecha had five small metallic seats, wires and small buttons. Adler was sitting in the pilot''s position and Beord was his co-pilot.


    Scarlet felt dizzy as the mecha increased its speed, shaking their bodies'' front and back as it sped off. "This thing needs some seat belts." She thought.


    She looked at the rest of her siblings and noticed that they were perfectly unbothered by the movement of the mecha. Only she who was riding a mecha for the first time was ufortable.


    Soon, they arrived at the edge of the forest and exited the mecha. Scarlet run outside and puked until her stomach felt empty. Alll the contents of what remained of her breakfast ended up on the parchment of purple grass in front of her.


    "Are you okay, is it your sickness?" Carolyn approached her and asked. Her eyes held a little bit of worry which surprised her.


    It seemed that she was growing on her elder sister.


    "I am okay," she answered.


    "Are you sure?" Adler too asked, "We can go back right now."


    Thinking about taking another ride in that cramped mecha brought forth the urge to make her vomit again.


    "I am sure," she assured Adler. "We should hurry and explore the outer area of the forest before it gets dark. With time, we will keep going deeper inside carefully."


    They needed to find food, minerals, fruits and anything else that could help in the development of the blue star.


    "Is this purple grass useful?" Beord asked.


    His question made her realize that she actually had little knowledge about the flora and fauna of this world. Scarlet had not paid much attention in school. She needed to set aside time to catch up on her knowledge of all things interster.


    "It''s not what we need right now, let''s keep looking." She replied.


    If they kept picking up random things and asking her if they were useful, she would soon run of excuses.


    While she was still thinking about what to do, her soul gourd rattled.

 Chapter 14 Mutated Ducks

    ?Anytime the soul gourd rattled, a soul was close by. This rattling today was quite stronger than the previous one so she guessed that perhaps there was more than one soul close by.


    She turned to her older siblings and said, "I think we should head in this direction, teacher told me that there was something but I can''t quite remember what it is."


    Adler came forward to lead the way even though he had no idea where he was going. He had a weapon in one hand which looked like a long battle axe. He was using it to cut down any tree branches and roots in the way.


    Carolyn and Beord were shielding her in the middle so that in case of an attack by a mutated beast, they could protect her better.


    Scarlet wanted to push her way through and go ahead of them but every time she did, she was pushed back by her older siblings.


    "I am not weak and helpless you know." She mentioned.


    "You have no mental strength." Beord replied in a rough voice. "We can defend ourselves physically while attacking any beast with our minds but you are defenseless."


    She rolled her eyes at him yfully. He was thergest of all her brothers in size; he was built like a quarter back, just like her father Dorian. She was beginning to notice that he also had a savior personality; he was prince charming who always battled the dragon to protect the princess. If you added his height in the equation, he was like a gentle giant although he was not actually gigantic.


    Any time something moved or shook, he would push her behind hisrge body and then pull out a veryrge metallic sword.


    "Why are all of their weapons extrarge?" she asked herself. They looked to be really heavy and yet they were swinging them around with ease. Was this one of the benefits of having mental strength?


    As the rattling became louder and more intense, she knew that they wereing closer.


    "Don''t move." Adler shouted and they all came to a standstill.


    As always, Beord pushed Scarlet behind his body and armed himself.


    "What do you see?" he asked Adler.


    Scarlet who was at the back kept craning her neck to see what Adler had just discovered but she was also disadvantaged when it came to height. She could see nothing all from where she was.


    "What''s there?" she asked.


    "Mutated ducks." Carolyn answered.


    Scarlet wanted to curse, how deadly could a duck be. Suddenly the ducks let out that terrible quack which had woken her up in the morning.


    Ducks were some of the most harmless creatures on earth, they never attacked unless they were attacked first and their ducklings were the cutest little things.


    Adler, Beord and Carolyn were making an attack n and she used this chance to tip toe away slightly and get one look at the ducks.ording to the forum of grim reapers, if something was dangerous, it would have ck smoke emitting from its body just like an overdue soul. The more the ck smoke, the more deadly the soul or creature was.


    She noticed however that these weird looking ck, blue and white ducks had not have even one bit of smoke around them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t kill them, they are harmless." She shouted. She raced from behind where she was supposed to stay and stood in front of the ducks.


    "What are you doing scarlet, move before those mutated ducks bite you." Carolyn shouted while all three of them run toward her.


    "No they won''t, look at them they are harmless. I think some beasts perhaps mutated only in color but are not deadly. There must be a way for you to differentiate the two types."


    "We cannot know for sure right now, it''s better to kill them than risk it." Adler suggested.


    Scarlet put on a fierce look and said "I thought you trusted me and that''s why you came with me. Does my opinion not count anymore? My teacher taught me how to spot the differences between a mutated deadly beast and a normal one. These ducks are very normal."


    She didn''t stop at exining she reached down and carried one of the ducks in her hands. The rest of them started quacking from down below.


    "Put it down." Beord barked sternly.


    "No," Scarlet replied stubbornly.


    "I knew this was a bad idea, she doesn''t listen to anyone." Beordined.


    Scarlet wanted to prove a point however her soul gourd was shaking as if it was running along a train track so she had no choice but to put the duck down.


    "We should take them with us." She told them. "Do you have any means of transporting them back?"


    She was so determined that Adler knew she would not be leaving without these ducks. He took out an oval shaped white from his mecha suit and said "We can put them in the storage pod, but they can''t be in there for more than five hours they will suffocate."


    Storage pods were used for transporting captured alive or dead mutated beasts to collection centers and from there, they would be sent to the starboratory in the capital where they would be studied. It was a requirement for everyone in the empire to carry a storage pod.


    The sizes of these pods varied because the empire provides pods which kept only five animals. Privatepanies sold pods which stored up to fifty animals. These were mostly used by beast hunters.


    The pod Adler was holding stored fifteen mutated animals and these were ten ducks. Scarlet did not forget to take their eggs as well.


    "Now can we leave?" Beord grumbled.


    "No." Scarlet responded. "We are almost at the location teacher told me about." She knew that if they take just ten more steps ahead, she will be where the souls are.


    Reluctantly, they followed her with Beord trying to pull her behind but she kept pping his hand away. In exactly ten steps, they found themselves in a field with overgrown green weeds that were almost covering a ck space ship.


    She saw around three souls moving around the space ship and she opened her soul gourd and sucked them in. Her soul gourd was still rattling and she curiously moved closer.


    "What the hell! Scarlet, stay back." Adler shouted and yanked her back with so much force that she felt as if her body was flying in the air.

 Chapter 15 They Are Just Bones

    ?Adler did not even realize that his armour suit wielded more strength inparison to his sister who was armour less. He almost tore her arm off trying to protect her needlessly right now.


    "You are going to break her Adler." Beord shouted.


    Adler looked at Scarlet who was dangling from his metallic arm like a leaf on a tree branch in the wind. He was shocked that he ended up dropping her ground like a hot potato.


    "Aw, that hurt." Sheined as she got up from the ground with Carolyn''s help.


    "Are you okay, sorry, I didn''t mean to grab you so hard." Adler apologized and reached his hand out to touch her but then he pulled it back because he was afraid he would hurt her again.


    "She has a bruise." Carolyn said.


    There was arge red bruise on her fair arm. It was actually as painful as it looked but she did not want Adler drowning in guilt any harder than he already was.


    "I am okay." Scarlet responded. "I will heal, let''s just keep going."


    Adler wanted to insist that they turn back but he noticed the very curious looks on the faces of all his three siblings. He could tell that they wanted to explore the abandoned space ship,Scarlet especially. He sighed and looked at it, hoping that it would bring them no danger.


    The space ship was circr in shape and ck in color. Its outer surface was glittering as if someone had been polishing it or it had been crafted from the most glistening of materials.


    "Who do you think abandoned it?" Beord asked curiously.


    "We should take it along with us, we have no space ships on this. If Adler can modify it, we won''t have to keep begging the transporters for rides off the." Carolyn suggested.


    The transporters were the people who flew to this to pick uprge quantity goods and send them to private buyers. Most of those goods were metals refined and reshaped from the scrap. The other transporters were those who came to dump garbage on this world and pay a small price in exchange.


    Adler and Carolyn would secretly give half of the star coins back and sneak away on the transporters'' ships to buy some little supplies on the green star which was close by and where their family was less likely to be recognized. If they had their own ship however, there would be no need to desperately beg transporters for help anymore, they could simply leave whenever they please as long as they were not discovered by the space guards.


    Space guards monitored the air space of every in the Sun star empire looking for fugitives, smugglers, flying ships or mechas in dangerous operating condition and contraband.


    The Su family was on the list of exiles so if they were caught outside the blue star, they would be arrested immediately. So far, they had been lucky not to get caught.


    "I think we should go back and return with our father, he may know what to do about the ship. We can''t just bring...." Adler was still talking when they heard the sound of something opening.


    They turned their eyes to the space ship to see Scarlet smiling like a hopeless fool.


    "Oops." She said andughed nervously. "I really pushed just one button, I had no idea this would happen."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She really did have no idea that it would open because she was trying to locate any souls that were lurking around.


    "Step away from the space ship Scarlet." Adler said in an exhausted voice.


    He wondered why his sister never sat still and just did as she was told. The three siblings who trusted their fighting power entered the ship first and looked around out of curiosity.


    "It''s empty." Adler said. "Even the flying controls have been damaged."


    "What model is this? It looks old." Carolynmented.


    Scarlet who had never studies space ships just looked around randomly and pushed another button which opened a pod and then she screamed.


    "Rope, rope." She shouted as she opened her soul gourd to trap the soul with red eyes and the thickest ck smoke she had seen so far.


    As she was doing so, her weapon wielding siblings rushed to her side and Beord dragged her behind his body.


    "What is it?" Adler asked as he shed the air.


    "Dead body." Scarlet squealed from behind.


    "Oh," Adler said and he rxed.


    They looked inside the pod to see a carefully preserved human skeleton. Carolyn and Beord looked at her and shook their heads.


    "They are just bones." Carolyn told Scarlet while chuckling. Even Beord was holding hisughter back and pretending to cough.


    "I know that." Scarlet retorted angrily, trying so hard to hide her shame. It was not the dead body which frightened her she had seen many dead bodies on earth, most of them in a very terrible condition at that. It was the soul which frightened her.


    Her self-appointed guardians rxed as Adler fussed over her like a mother hen, asking her if she was okay about five times in a row.Then he forced her to stick by his side so that she could touch nothing else in the ship.


    "Well there is nothing else here, the rest of the pods are empty. The good news is that they are all fifty mutant beast carriers. "Carolyn announced with joy.


    "Let''s take them and close the ship. It has been here for years so I am sure nobody wille and steal it when we are gone. We will return for it when she is safely back at home."


    Scarlet ignored thatment and her eyes shed, the grim reaper forum had a section where one could post pictures or videos of nts and animals for identification and trading. Since no one but her could see the forum, she activated the capture feature and started looking around. At this moment, her eyes were basically cameras.

 Chapter 16 New Discoveries

    ?Her soul gourd had stopped rattling and she was ready to identify anything useful or edible in this forest so when Adler pulled out of the space ship, she willingly followed him.


    "What type of soil is this?" she asked him.


    She had noticed that ck soil sticking to the bottom of the space ship earlier and she tried to scrape it off but it seemed to have hardened over time. It reminded of cement that had been mixed with water and stuck on something.


    As she looked at the soil she was reminded about the poor quality of their house and she wondered if this soil could be used to build a better house.


    "I don''t know." Adler answered, "Beord, do you know what type of soil this is?"


    "No." Beord answered with a shrug.


    Scarlet looked at her Carolyn and she shrugged so she squatted down and touched it. "We should take a sample." She suggested.


    They had three pods from the space ship; carrying back a bit of this soil could not possibly hurt.


    Beord sighed as he collected the soil sample. As he did so, Scarlet had already moved on to something else. There was something white sticking out from the ground and in the forum; it was identified as knotted garlic. It was included in the edible section.


    She decided to take it and check whether it was simr to the normal garlic. Her eyes continued darting around and she saw what looked like bamboo shoots.


    "This too." She told Beord.


    Beord used too much power and he cut some of the shoots into half. She red at him and he shrugged.


    As she was walking forward, something tripped her and she almost fell down but Adler caught her before she couldnd on the ground.


    "Be careful."


    "Thank you." She replied. Then she looked down to see what had tripped her and she saw some intertwined vines which she started pulling out but they stubbornly refused to budge.


    "I will do it." Beord said and before she could shout no, he dragged arge vine and pulled it out of the ground by its roots. Attached to the roots were two veryrge edible yams as identified in the forum.


    Very excited, she pped her hands and said, "Take these too, pull out every vine you see."


    "What the heck is this stuff?" Carolyn asked. Her face was wrinkled because of therge brown dirty things.


    "Food, teacher called them yams." She replied. "You will love them when I cook them for you."


    Scarlet jumped up and down, harvesting everything that could be edible at the edge of the forest and she would have wanted to go deeper if possible but her older siblings were unwilling to allow this.


    She was sad that she did not find any onions or tomatoes but she managed to find a chicken nest and she saved it before her siblings could slice them into half. There was only rooster and the rest were hens so for now, she would not eat any of them.


    "Can we leave now? It has been over four hours Scarlet. Our parents must be worried about you by now." Beordined impatiently.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "In addition to that you are all sweaty and your face is flushed. I think your sickness is acting up." Carolyn added.


    Scarlet wondered if these older siblings of hers had never seen an exhausted person before. She had been running around for hours, of course she was exhausted. But she still wanted to keep going.


    "Justin will be worried." Adler reminded her.


    She looked up at the sky and the sky was shining so brightly and it was getting hotter. Temperatures in this interster world were hotter than the temperatures on earth. Even if this body was used to it, mentally Scarlet was not. She was beginning to feel ufortable and she nned to use sunblock next time.


    "Let''s go back." She nodded in agreement. She did not want to keep Justin waiting plus her arm was beginning was also hurt.


    They walked back to the bear shaped mecha and she felt the urge to throw up again. In her storage she had cars, bicycles and motorcycles. If she pulled one of them out right now, would they freak out?


    Just then, her eyes captured the purple grass and the other smaller grasses around the area. In the forum, they were identified as purne and prune onions. Both were identified as edible.


    She forgot about leaving and excitedly started picking the wild vegetables. Carolyn had given her one of the pods and she started humming with happiness as she filled it.


    She saw Adler walking back toward her with a determined gaze. "What are you nning?" she asked him worriedly.


    Adler carried her and took her into the mecha against her wish. Just like that, the back and forth rocking returned and this time, the mecha was running at a faster speed than before.


    "Can''t this thing just warp or something?" she yelled.


    "This is a low levelnd transportation mecha, it has no warping capabilities." Carolyn exined.


    She had no choice but to endure the rough ride back to their home unhappily and just like at the edge of the blue forest, when she stepped out of the mecha, she vomited right on her father''s legs. She had not even noticed him standing outside and waiting for them.


    "Sorry," she covered her mouth and apologized. Her words were unclear that sorry sounded like ''shorry.''


    Her father wore a very worried expression on his face that was quite simr to Adler''s worried face. If Scarlet could see herself, she would understand why. She was pale, sweaty and throwing up, in every way, she looked to be terribly sick.


    "Why is your sister bruised and in such condition, you know that she is sick and poor at decision making. Have your decision making skills also be sockadaisical?" Dorian Su turned his anger on his three oldest children. "She is fragile you should have returned the minute she started showing signs of illness. We should hurry and put her in the med bed."


    He did not even give any of them the chance to exin that the fragile daughter in his hands defied their orders of returning home when they noticed that she was not in the best condition. If Adler had not forcefully carried her into the mecha, she would still be in the blue forest looking for more food.


    Nevertheless, they all followed Dorian and watched him ce Scarlet in the med bed; set the timer to ten minutes and sealed it.


    Med beds were transparent, one could see the patient inside clearly so they gathered around and observed as color returned to Scarlet''s face.


    "Next time, I am going with you, she is the only one of my children without mental strength and she has always worried me so much. I am happy she is back to her senses but she is pushing herself too much." Dorian said with a very serious look on his face.

 Chapter 17 Chicken Hunters

    ?When the med bed opened, Dorian Su carried Scarlet out despite her insistence to be put down. "There is a lot to do dad, if you keep carrying me around time will be wasted."


    "What is there to do, you should be resting not running around anymore."


    Scarlet shook her head and adamantly refused to rest. "I have to do a live broadcast and you have to prepare a shelter for the ducks and chicken. We have to find out what kind of soil we brought back and someone needs to go to the bitter waterke and bring back some water so that I can see if we can produce our own salt.


    Someone also has to prepare the chicken and duck feed; they can feed on the purne, the purple weed at the edge of the forest. Since I cannot go back and personally pick it someone else should do it."


    Dorian Su did not know what chickens or ducks were. However he recognized the purne because she called it a purple weed.


    "Dad, even if you carry me to my bedroom, I am just going to return outside. We need to make some progress before the cold season arrives and mutated beasts attack."


    Dorian Su sighed and ced her down unwillingly however he still cautioned her. "Do not over work yourself, if you need anything ask your siblings. No, ask me, I don''t have much to do anyway."


    "In that case, you should assist brothers Adler and Beord in retrieving the space ship we found in the forest. When you return, you can help me construct a shed for the chicken and ducks."


    "What space ship?" Dorian tuned his questioning eyes to his three oldest children.


    Scarlet used that opportunity to slip away and go to her bedroom briefly. When she came outside, she was carrying a load of potatoes, some spices and a few jars. She also had packets of seeds like tomatoes, oranges, strawberries peanuts and corn.


    She would experiment with these seeds first before trying other things like wheat and watermelons.


    The sweet potatoes in her storage space were not many, rather than eat them, she nned to nt them and see if they could produce a bountiful yield.


    If this first phase of nting was sessful, she wouldmence on phase two of turning this into a farming world. She could vividly remember the beautiful scenes of peach blossoms, peonies and grasnds on earth before the zombie epidemic.


    "Scarlet, do you need help?" her mother came waddling into the kitchen with her big stomach.


    "No mother, you are heavily pregnant, you should be resting."


    Mega Su waved her hands very unwillingly and she said, "All I do is rest and cry because of this pregnancy. This will be the veryst time I carry a child, I think our family is big enough now. But if I don''t do something to make myself useful around here I will lose my mind."


    "Can you help me chop these vegetables; I am going to prepare some pickled vegetables and mashed potatoes.


    She also set aside some chicken thighs, now that she had live chicken, the source of the thighs could easily be exined.


    "How do I cut this?" Mega asked. She had never handled a knife for anything other thanbat. Before marrying Dorian, she had moonlighted as a mutant beast hunter for two years.


    Scarlet showed her the right way to chop carrots, peppers and cauli flower. The blue forest wasrge and she had picked up a lot of weird looking things that her older siblings did not notice. Plus with her wild tale about having a master who left her special items and food, she could now get away with almost anything.


    She turned on her live broadcast and slowly ced ingredients on the table as the viewer count slowly went up.


    [What is she doing?]


    [Are you cooking again scarlet? Can you do a giveaway and select some lucky fans as winners pretty please. ]


    [Where is your son today?]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Is the pregnant woman in the background your mother?]


    "Hey guys, it''s me Chef Scarlet again from the blue star. I can see that today we are at six million viewers already and more are joining, thank you so much and I wee you all to my live broadcast. Since I have a busy day today I will jump straight into it. Let''s talk about pickled vegetables and drumsticks.


    Vegetables are the things that look like this, "she showed some carrots, onions, purne, cabbage and peppers.


    As she picked them up, she named them one by one.


    "Some of these vegetables are easy to find, while others are more difficult. For example, this purple purne is verymon here on the blue star. It''s amon growing weed but the garlic and peppers are more difficult to find. I almost tripped over a vine discovering it."


    [How do you know what all these vegetables are called?]


    For those of you who are wondering how I can identify these items it''s because when others were studing how to craft mechas, trap mutant beats and other preferred careers in the empire, I was drowning myself in books about the ancient world.


    There is an ignored section in most school libraries with two or three books that cover knowledge from the ancient world. The ancient world is the one that existed before mutated beasts attacked, destroyed everything and drove our species almost to extinction.


    I am getting distracted, back to my business here, I am teaching you how to make pickled vegetables. When making them, one can use vinegar or nched salt. I am still trying to figure out how to make vinegar but for now, we are going to use nched salt.


    Combine the ingredients for pickling liquid in a pan, heat them over a pan until ites to a boil, then simmer for two minutes."


    Carefully she exined every step until she finally put the vegetables into ss jars and poured the pickling liquid over them.


    "You can store these in your cold storage for a long time. I will be picking twenty lucky winners who will receive a ss of my pickled vegetables."


    Gifts started flying across her screen endlessly as soon as she mentioned a giveaway.


    "Now the fried chicken is quite easy to prepare, simply wash it marinate it in spices like garlic, onions, salt and pepper or boil it in these ingredients for fifteen minutes and then drop the chicken carefully in hot oil. You will know that it''s ready when it looks golden brown just like this."


    "Andst for today, are mashed potatoes. You already know what potatoes are so we will dive right in. Peel your potatoes and ce them in water, add some salt and a little bit of garlic. As our potatoes boil, I will show you what a live chicken looks like."


    Elroy handed her a chicken from the pad and she showed it to her viewers.


    [Is that a mutated beast?]


    [Are you daring to eat mutated beats, how savage?]


    "There is a difference among mutated beasts, some just mutate in color or shape without going wild and blood thirsty. This chicken is docile and it can be domesticated. Its eggs are tasty and so is it''s meat. I can prove it to you right now."


    She took a bite of the deep fried chicken and all of her viewers tasted it.Scarlet closed her eyes and chewed with relish that her mother gulped and swallowed saliva.


    [I want that mutated beast.]


    [Where are the beast hunters,e out and hunt for me a chicken.]


    [Chicken hunters for hire, I am offering one thousand coins per chicken. ]

 Chapter 18 What The Hell Is A Chicken?

    ?Scarlet who was broadcasting to make money for survival had no idea how much her live broadcast would soon impact many things in the empire. For starters every mutant beast hunting guild was suddenly receiving orders to hunt for chickens.


    "What the hell is a chicken?" master Shadow of the Shadow mutant beast hunting guild asked his subordinate.


    There on therge screen in their main office where orders whose payment had been delivered first were ced on the urgent list chicken was quickly moving to the number one position in the queue.


    "It looks like this master Shadow, it''s a bird." He was showed a picture that had been saved from the live broadcast.


    He was one of the the viewers of Scarlet''s broadcast. He started out as an anti fan but the taste of her food and her straightforwardness was quickly capturing his heart. This was not the same woman who spent all of her time online detailing al the ways in which General Esong Wu was the empire''s most handsome man and possessively threatening female mecha warriors to stay away from him.


    "What does it do? What are its special powers?" Mutated beasts had different types of strengths. Some could fly, some could breathe fire and some had the strength of ten men added together. What was so special about this bird that it was suddenly on demand?


    "It''s sweet." His subordinate deadpanned. He could not wait to find a chicken and try it out personally. If the taste was as delicious as the taste of what she prepared, he would eat nothing else in his life but chicken. He would be re-baptized as the empire''s greatest chicken hunter.


    Master shadow thought his subordinate who also doubled as his assistant was ying a joke on him.


    "Ruko, get the hell out of my office."


    After dismissing his assistant, master Shadow went on star and searched for ''chicken''


    In the royal pce, all the princes and princes were sending their hunting teams out to look for chicken and so were other nobles.


    Meanwhile, Scarlet was still exining what a chicken was to her audience. "This is the only chicken I know of so far whose flesh can be eaten so please do not eat any random beast that looks like a chicken. Like I said, mutations have varieties so be very careful.


    Apart from a chicken, duck meat and eggs can also be eaten; this is the duck I am talking about."


    Elroy handed her the duck and she showed it to the audience. "Next time, I will teach you one way of preparing duck meat."


    [These are lies; you will die if you eat mutant beasts.]


    [Scarlet should be banned for spreading lies.]


    "I can see some people calling me a liar and using me of spreading lies. I have already warned my viewers about the mutations and I have only rmended one type of duck and chicken. If anybody dares to eat what I have not rmended, it''s not on me. Another alternative is to take your chicken or duck to the center for mutant studies and have it checked out." The boiler beeped and she removed the potatoes from the water.


    "The potatoes are soft so all you have to do now is mash them like this and they are ready to go. Quite honestly, I feel like there is still somethingcking in this recipe so I will continue to experiment until I find the answers. The more ingredients I can find, the better my cooking will be. "


    She could not add milk or butter to the mashed potatoes online before finding cows. She decided to provide Adler a list of animals to be on the lookout for.


    She chose the lucky recipients of the giveaway, ny percent were those viewers who gave her gifts and she signed out by making the peace sign and saying, "Scarlet out."


    Just as she closed her live broadcast, Fey showed up apuding and pping excitedly. Right on her heels was Justin whounched himself into her arms.


    "Look at the most handsome baby in the world." Scarlet said before twirling him around. "Did you have fun ying around today?"


    Justin nodded his head eagerly. "We yed under the thorn trees and chased the mecha dogs around the garbage factory. There was no work today, I had so much fun."


    "And now you are hungry, right?" she asked because his grey eyes kept darting to the chicken on the kitchen counter.


    "Hmmm, do you want to eat now or see the ducks and chicken first?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Ducks and chicken, Fey said they can fly and poop everywhere." He replied. He even spread his arms wide when he said everywhere.


    Even though he was as choosing chicken and ducks, his stomach was grumbling and saying the opposite.


    So she decided to give him a little bit of food as she packed the giveaway prizes.


    "Sister can I help?" Fey eagerly asked.


    "Put two pieces of chicken and one pickled jar in each of the boxes."


    "What about the one you are packing with five pieces of chicken?" her mother asked curiously.


    "It''s for the silver wolf, the fan that sent me twenty five thousand coins. I don''t know who it is but they deserve this little food. I have to entice this rich fan and tie him or her to my broadcast. Imagine the things twenty five thousand coins can do for us?"


    For a family which was now broke, this money could do so much.


    "Mother make a list of the things weck, basic needs first. We can start purchasing a few online immediately. By the way, why is the tin of powdered orange juice half empty?"


    Her mother shook her head and came over to peep into the tin because she had not even seen what the powdered juice looked like.


    "It was Riana and Gia, I saw them sneaking around in the kitchen early in the morning and they hurried away with something." Fey whispered.


    Scarlet clenched her fist and fury filled her eyes, thesezy disobedient maids dared to steal from her. "I am going to fire those wretches today."


    "You are firing them!" her mother was shocked.


    "Yes, they don''t listen to me, they disrespect us and they have failed to take care of Justin which was their one simple job. It''s time to give them the boot, we are not allowed to leave the blue star but they are different, they can leave at any time."


    "I guess you are right about them, I support you." Her mother answered.


    "I don''t like Riana she pinches me." Justinined.


    "What! Show me where she pinched you right now."


    Mega and Scarlet almost undressed Justinpletely to check his body for injuries and on his back and buttocks were red marks. Some of the marks looked so fresh.


    "When did she do this to you?" Scarlet roared.


    "When you went out to the blue forest, she said that I am an unloved boy who deserves pain. She does it everyday." he whispered.


    "I am going to kill that bitch!!!" Scarlet roared.


    Mega was rmed to see her daughter so furious and for a minute she thought Scarlet''s rage had returned. But looking into her eyes, she saw that they were clear.


    Adler, Den, Beord and Carolyn returned to the house, following the smell of the fried chicken but when they arrived, Scarlet''s furious roar was what weed them.


    "What happened?" Adler asked.

 Chapter 19 Power Of Mental Strength

    ?The fear that Scarlet''s rage was a reversion back to her old ways was mutually felt by her mother, brother and siblings. For the first time in so many years their family was beginning to feel the mending of a crack which had been created by Scarlet. The smiles had returned to their faces but had they epted her change too quickly?


    "What is going on?" Dorian repeated the question Adler had paused but remained unanswered.


    "Scarlet''s maids have been abusing Justin." Mega told her husband with fury equal to that of Scarlet''s on her face.


    She lifted Justin''s shirt and showed them the red marks on his back. "Do you know how hard one has to pinch the skin to createsting marks like this?"


    "They are not my maids." Scarlet retorted. She then turned her gaze to Adler and said, "Big brother, help me." Her eyes were looking into his pitifully as if the maids had not only bullied Justin but also bullied her.


    "What do you need?" Adler asked her readily.


    "Find those little bitches and drag them here by the hair, I am going to deal with them personally."


    Adler vigorously took off as fast as he could as if he was running a race and Beord raced after him. Knowing Adler, he was going to do exactly as Scarlet said, drag the maids back by their hair. Someone had to make sure that their heads were left intact.


    Dorian Su ced down the two pods in his hands and carried Justin, taking care not to injure his back. "I am going to take him to the med bed. How did we all miss this?"


    "Justin insists on bathing and dressing himself that''s why we all missed it." Carolyn answered their father. "We should get the patrol officers involved."


    "This is not a patrol issue; it''s a Regional Gctic Bureau [RGB] issue. Children are precious in the empire, and Justin is the son of the mecha king. He is a general''s son; they need to receive the maximum penalty for child abuse." Mega shouted furiously.


    What she wanted to say was that Justin had royal blood and he was not just any othermon child. His abuse should be a big deal; moreover these two servants had been given to them by the royal family. They should be made aware that their trashy servants were trash indeed.


    "Good idea." Scarlet nodded at her mother in approval.


    Then before Dorian could walk away with Justin, she flipped his shirt open and took a picture of his back.


    "What are you going to do with that?" her father inquired.


    "I am sending it to his father, Justin has two parents. It''s bad enough that he only sees Justin once or twice a year but to bepletely uninvolved in all aspects of his life is too much. I should not be the only one who is furious that our child was harmed, he should feel my fury.


    What kind of father doesn''t even send allowances or child care? He can''t even send one high quality shake drink and he expects his son to grow up healthy, happy and strong."


    As she wasining, she was also typing on her bracelet.She was sending a message to her husband Esong.


    Dear husband,


    Mr. Mecha king, I know that I wronged you but your son is innocent. You may hate me but you are not allowed to be cold or uninvolved in Justin''s life. Take a look at what the wonderful maids your royal family gave me to take care of your son have been doing to him?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They pinched, beat and verbally insulted him. As if that was not enough, they stole the food I went to hard lengths to procure for him.


    As Justin''s mother, I am demanding justice for him. Also, not that I love your money because I have two hands and I can earn my own money but why haven''t you sent a single coin to me to take care of our son? Don''t you earn around five million star coins every month as a general of the empire?


    If you are not earning money, please tell me so that I can advise you on how to go about quitting your job and joining me here to farm. You will be closer to your son this way. I am not trying to get you here so that I can seduce you, if you doubt my words, we can get a divorce but I want full custody of my son if we do divorce. I will not be making any concessions as far as Justin''s custody is concerned.


    She was still reeling from fury that she did not even read through or think about her words. If she had, she would remember her mother reminding her yesterday that divorce was forbidden in the royal family. The only way for her to separate from her husband would be for her take his life.


    "What exactly have you sent to him Scarlet?" Mega curiously asked her daughter.


    "Just a few reminders." Scarlet answered. "I think I should start reminding him often that he has a son. I have not been a very good mother."


    As Mega, Carolyn, Fey and Elroy were pondering over what Scarlet meant by saying that she would remind General Esong often that he had a child, they wondered if she was going to be bothering him all the time like she previously did.


    Mega shook her head as if she was waking up from a dream and she said, "I have sent a report to the RGB, they are sending two officers to pick up the maids."


    That''s when Adler returned like an angel of vengeance in the sky falling down to earth with two captives in his hand. Just as Scarlet had request, he had a tight grip on the hair of both maids. He was pulling it so hard that she could see how much his grip was straining their scalps.


    She would have thought that they would be screaming from all the pain but their eyes were lifeless and they were bleeding from their nostrils.


    "Adler release them before you kill them." Beord roared shouted as hended next to Adler. He too fell from the sky.


    Scarlet thought that Beord meant the hair so she said, "Why should he release them, they should feel the pain my baby felt. Pulling their hair a little bit will not kill them."


    "I am not talking about the hair." Beord answered. "He is controlling their minds with his mental strength. The pressure he is applying is too much that''s why they are bleeding from the nose."


    "Adler!!!" Mega called sternly.


    Scarlet was still confused about what was going on, it''s not as if Adler was killing them. Was the power of his mental strength so scary? She wanted to observe some more for a few seconds but Adler released the maids suddenly and he tossed them onto the ground.


    The two maids held their heads and started screaming in a panic as they backed away from Adler as if he was a demon. However, as they crawled towards Scarlet, she released her soul binding rope and whipped them each once.


    She had read somewhere on the forum that ashing from that rope would cause spiritual pain to the one who wasshed until they repented and changed their evil ways.


    However it was not rmended for grim reapers whose soul power was still in the infant stage to use it because it drained a lot of energy.


    Bacsh from all the energy she had just expended caused her to suddenly cough up blood.

 Chapter 20 Time To Farm

    ?The moment the members of the Su family saw the red drops of blood hitting the brown soil, all thoughts of the maids were abandoned.


    "Scarlet," Mega screamed in rm, "Med bed... med bed." She repeated only two words but Beord and Adler could understand what she meant.


    She wanted them to carry Scarlet to a med bed immediately and Adler beat Beord to the race.


    "What''s happening?" Carolyn asked.


    There was total chaos and confusion as different hands tried to reach for Scarlet who was struggling against Adler''s hold.


    "Put me down." She insisted.


    "You are injured." Adler responded.


    "The med bed can''t help me." Scarlet retorted. "I know what''s wrong with my body, don''t you all think that if a med bed could cure me I would be healed already. I was inside of it just an hour ago."


    Her argument against being ced in the med bed again was valid and none of them could counter it.


    Scarlet shook her head, wondering why the med bed was always the first go to when the slightest injury urred.The rate at which she was using one was rming.


    "What can we do?" Mega held tightly onto Scarlet''s hands as she asked this question.


    "Nothing, but I will be fine by tomorrow." Scarlet responded. "We have to deal with them first, if they escape and hide how will we find them on this big?"


    She cared more about getting justice for Justin than anything else. Justin had to know that nobody would cause him harm and get away with it. He had to understand that he was a loveable boy who had a mother that would battle demons for him.


    He probably didn''t tell anyone about the abuse because his mother never cared, his uncles and aunts were trying to help the family survive and he barely knew his father.


    It was amazing that the little boy still had so much love for her in his heart that he readily epted her.


    The two maids were crying and beating the area over their hearts with their fists. They were in pain and they had no idea why.


    "The RGB is here." Mega announced.


    Right on cue after her announcement, arge blue and red spaceshipnded in an empty field next to the garbage dump.


    Men and women dressed in blue and white body hugging armors stepped out of the space ship. They looked like robotsnding on an unknownnd.


    "Over here." Mega Su shouted and waved.


    She made quite a scene as she was heavily pregnant but she was waving while jumping up and down as if the pregnancy weighed nothing.


    As the RGB officers marched toward them uniformly, they all naturally stepped aside and gave way to them, leaving the maids visually wide open.


    The RGB officers came to a stop and the shields on their heads came down. Of the two at the front, one was male and one was female.


    "Who made the report?" the man asked.


    "I did." Mega Su raised her hand. "Those are the criminals." She pointed at the maids.


    "Why do they look disheveled? Did you try to take thew into your own hands?" the female officer asked.


    "We would not dare do such a thing." Mega answered humbly.


    "Hmm." The female officer answered. It was in to see that she did not believe them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Can we see the victim?" the male officer asked.


    "Go and call your father." Mega Su told Fey.


    Scarlet stepped in and said, "There is no need to see the victim, this is a video recording and pictures of the injuries. Included also is his testimony about what was said when the abuse was urring."


    "We still need to talk to the victim." Another officer stepped out from behind the two who had been questioning them."I am from the Gctic bureau of child services [GBCS], my name is Mina."


    She was all bubbly, polite and joyful unlike her colleagues.


    She presumptuously grabbed Scarlet''s arm, "You are Scarlet, right? I am so happy to meet you; I am a fan of your cooking."


    She was like a little fan girl meeting her favorite celebrity. "You are not ugly at all; the anti-fans are spreading so many lies about you."


    "What is this, a fan meeting?" the other female officer questioned Mina sternly. "We are here on official business."


    "Sorry." Mina apologized with an embarrassed look on her face because her behavior was indeed unprofessional.


    Dorian Su showed up with Justin in his arms and Mina whisked him away for a private conversation whichsted for ten minutes before returning him back.


    "I think we have everything we need here." Mina announced.


    "I still think they did something to the maids, look at their conditions and she had blood on her weird clothing." The female officer who had been suspicious and unfriendly right from the get go persisted.


    She was acting high and mighty, looking at the family with contempt in her eyes as if she was somehow better than them.


    "Rona, we are done here." The male officer said to her.


    Mega Su was unwilling to allow the officers leave with such an ugly presumption. The story could easily turn into the Su family abused the maids instead of the maids abused her grandson.


    "Officers, my daughter Scarlet has been sick since childhood. The blood you see on her clothes was spat out from her mouth a few minutes ago. You can see how pale she is right now. Her condition is unrted to the maids."


    "Is mummy sick again?" Justin asked.


    Scarlet shook her head and said, "No baby, mummy is just releasing some toxins." She did not need Justin worrying about her condition.


    The female officer whose name was Rona stepped away and distanced herself from Scarlet.


    "Why didn''t you tell us earlier that she is sick? Is it contagious?"She looked very disgusted.


    "We would all be sick if it was contagious." Adler responded with anger in his voice. "You have what you need, you should all leave." He looked at his siblings and the rest of the family and he said, "We should head back inside, there is a lot to do."


    There was a fluttering in the sky and they all looked up, "The delivery drones have arrived." Fey announced in her small voice.


    Adler looked at the officers and he said, "Like I said, we have things to do."


    The case had been reported and she had personally punished the culprits so there was nothing left to do.


    "Wait, I need your contact just in case I have to follow up." Mina quickly exined.


    Mina and Scarlet exchanged contacts and the officers left with the maids who were in handcuffs.


    When the RGB spaceship left and the delivery drones left, Scarlet told her family, "It''s time to start farming."

 Chapter 21 Silver Wolf

    ?Meanwhile, on the Red a delivery dronended in the militarypound where Esong Wu was staying. His assistant received a message that the delivery had arrived and he picked it up.


    Delivery drones could travel from one to another in under five minutes using teleportation. And they always specificallynded at the address they were required to.


    General, your delivery is here."Assistant Dez went into Esong''s private room in hisrge space ship.


    Esong was resting on the bed with his eyes closed. His long silver hair was loose and flowing around the pillow carelessly.His senses were extremely sharp because the moment Dez touched his door, he opened his eyes, scanned around using his mental strength and closed his eyes again.


    When he noticed that Esong''s eyes were closed, Dez back tracked and tried to tip toe out of the room.


    "Put it down." Esong''s voice stopped Dez and he turned around.


    "Yes General." Dez smiled and ced the delivery down.


    He was so curious about what had been delivered that he hung around and pretended to be reorganizing files on the table next to the bed. He might have lookedpletely absorbed in his task however his eyes kept secretly peeping as Esong unwrapped the package.


    Esong in the meantime observed every aspect of this package. It was a box with some visible items at the top, three sses of pickled vegetables and a container. The container was made of some type of weak aluminum vacuum sk which was not used anymore in the empire.


    "Couldn''t she afford something better?" he asked aloud.


    He unsealed the vacuum sk and the inviting scent of its contents drew him in. Esong was surprised because he had watched Scarlet''s broadcast to catch a glimpse of his son. All he saw was Scarlet and her pregnant mother.


    He was ready to turn it off when he heard her promoting the eating of mutated beasts which caught his attention. She exined lot of details professionally and he was impressed with how knowledgeable she now appeared to be.


    She was different from the shrew he met in the past. When she fried the chicken which she imed was a product of the beast she called a chicken the enticing smell drew him in. He used his secret ount silver wolf to reward her heavily because her viewers said the more rewards you gave her, the higher your chances of obtaining her food.


    Now, he was bravely going to taste this beast and if it was not as tasty as she imed or harmless, he would personally throttle her before the RGB arrested her.


    "General do you need me to taste the food for you?" Dez''s voice came from behind.


    "No, I am the general; I should face danger first as your superior."Esong answered.


    Dez pursed his mouth unhappily. He too had seen the live broadcast and he knew what chicken was. He had tasted it!! Did the general think he was fooling a child?


    Dez watched sadly as Esong demolished one piece of chicken after another, the mashed potatoes and then one whole jar of pickled vegetables.


    When he was done, only the bones were left and even then, Esong was not sure if they could be eaten or not. They seemed to be soft and he was curious if they were chewable.


    "Dez, I think there is no danger in the chicken. You can have this one jar of pickled vegetables and contact the shadow guild. Tell them to hunt some chickens for me."


    Dez was wailing inside but he smiled like a good assistant and said, "Yes general."


    Esong was about to ask Dez to get rid of the box when he noticed that there was something else inside, a bright orange liquid in a bottle. He could remember his son happily drinking something that looked familiar to this.


    He ripped the bottle cap off and said, "How fragile," when it came off so easily. "This kind of material is not viable."


    "You are right general; I will get rid of it for you." Dez eagerly approached Esong to take the bottle of juice from his hands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Esong chugged the juice down before Dez could take it. With about one sip left, he handed the bottle to Dez and said "Do you want to have a taste."


    "Only if you are satisfied general."Dez replied with red eyes and a big smile on his face.


    Esong touched his stomach and he answered, "I think I will need three more of these to get satisfied." He drank the rest of the juice and threw the bottle inside the box.


    It hit something and made a sound so Esong looked inside and saw another bottle.


    "Oh, there is another one." He eximed.


    Esong was smiling because he could see Dez''s eyes looking at him so pitifully. He enjoyed teasing Dez asionally because he could be a cry baby at times.


    "Here, you can have it." He handed the bottle of juice to Dez.


    "Thank you general."


    "Get rid of the rubbish."


    "Immediately general, the GBCS called looking for you a few minutes ago. I think it has something to do with Justin, your son but they refused to share any information with me. The woman who called said she wants to speak directly to you so I forwarded her contact to you."


    Esong who was in an unusually happy mood suddenly frowned, the GBCS could only be calling a parent for one reason.


    "Damn you Scarlet." He cursed before he could understand what was happening. "Just when I was beginning to think that she was regaining her senses. Give me some privacy Dez."


    Dez was all too happy to grant Esong that privacy and Esong wasted no time to contact the woman who wanted to talk to him.


    He went with a video call rather than an audio one.


    "This is General Esong Wu; I was told that you wanted to speak to me regarding my son Justin."


    "Hello general, I am Mina Lang. I wanted to inform you about a case we are handling that concerns your son Justin. Allegations of abuse have been pressed by his mother against two of her maids Riana and Gia.


    The case is rock solid and the criminals will be presented before the tribunal to decide their sentence so we were told to notify you. Ibknow that you are busy however since the child has one sick parent who is also forbidden from traveling to the capital I thought you would want to be present at the sentencing."


    Esong Wu was suddenly filled with a lot of sudden rage. "What was done to my son?" he barked.


    Mina on the other end of the call quaked in fear as if she could feel his rage through the phone.


    "I will send you the file and the evidence general. I have other cases to look at please contact the RGB for more information."She hung up as fast as she could.


    Esong was left with so many questions. Rather than call the RGB, he called his cousin the seventh prince of the empire Markay Wu. He was not just a prince; he was the head of the RGB.


    After speaking to Markay and looking at the file Mina sent, he decided to contact Scarlet. That''s when he noticed that had received a message from her and after reading the contents, he frowned.

 Chapter 22 Lighting A Fire

    ?Back on the blue star, Scarlet was addressing a crowd of over one hundred thousand people that had been gathered rather quickly at a moment''s notice. These were most of the residents of the Blue star. Because it was 99% uninhabited, most of the upants of this lived close to the garbage dump. They did this because there was safety in numbers.


    When the cold season came and the mutated beasts arrived, you were safer being with others than on your own.


    Most of these residents gathered because for the first time ever, the governor of the Blue star wanted to address them. To them, the governor was a useless figure because she contributed noting to their welfare and yet rumors were going around that she intended to close down the garbage dump.


    None of them had gone to work today because the tiny factory was closed and a lot of them were confused, angry and desperate.


    "I know that I have never officially met or addressed any of you and I would like to apologize for that. Now I do not want us to waste time so I am going to be direct." Scarlet was using a megaphone to speak to the crowd. "From now on, we will not be epting garbage from the other stars. The Blue star is not their personal dumping ground. "


    A few grumbling voices went around.


    "We will starve." A loud booming voice came through the crowd and someone pushed their way through to the front. It was a strapping young man who had an angry look on his face. With him was an older man whose hand he was holding. "That garbage dump has been there long before your family moved here. We feed off the little earnings from what we scavenge. Maybe your noble family can afford to feed but the rest of us normal people are different."


    His words riled the crowd up and they chanted "No closing the dumping ground," unanimously.


    "Is this a demonstration?" Scarlet asked Adler who was standing close to her.


    Behind the make shift podium where the rest of the family was standing Justin''s bracelet vibrated. The little boy looked at wrist and realized that he was getting a call from someone who rarely contacted him. Even then he smiled and answered the video call.


    "Son." Esong said awkwardly.


    "Father." Justin responded equally awkward as well.


    "Are you well?" Esong asked.


    "Mmm." Justin nodded.


    "Next time somebody abuses you in any way you can report to me. I will deal with it if your mother cannot handle it."


    "Mother is sick." Justin answered.


    Esong went quiet, not knowing what to say next. He and Scarlet had no positivemunication in fact he had nomunication with her. Usually she called, emailed and texted but he never responded. If she was sick he had no idea what ailed her. Quite frankly he also had doubts about this so called illness which he had never heard about so he could not respond appropriately to his son at this moment. Luckily for him, Justin switched the video from himself to Scarlet who was addressing the crowd. Unwillingly, Esong watched her address.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Aren''t you all tired of living in abject poverty?" Scarlet asked the crowd and the loud protesting voices lowered.


    They were tired of living in poverty but what could they do about their situation? The royal family did not care about the Blue star and most of the upants were descendants of criminals who could not ever leave this forsaken.


    "Aren''t you tired of feeding your children on those poisonous shakes which have no value at all? Aren''t you tired of living like beasts? Aren''t you tired of being mocked by the other stars in this empire?"


    "Yes." The crowd answered.


    "Then follow my lead and I promise you that I will lead you all to a life that people in the capital will envy." Scarlet roared.


    She resembled a full blown politician on a campaign rally promising heaven and earth to the people.


    Dez who had returned to speak to Esong dropped the papers in his hands. Is Scarlet crazy? He wondered. The capital was the ce of dreams; it was the ce every citizen of every star longed to move to. How could she possibly make a promise like that?


    Scarlet on the other hand that was not aware that her husband was watching all of this continued on with her promises. "I have seen books that depicted the ancient world and it was beautiful. They may not have lived in sky scrapers of one thousand floors or driven flying cars and mechas but they lived prosperously.


    We don''t need buildings that have one thousand floors to be happy; we can live in buildings of one hundred floors. We don''t need their shakes which are highly nutritious we can get all of our nutrition from the ground, with real food.


    If we farm thend we will be wealthy, all of our children will go to school. We will have hospitals, amusement parks, beaches and everything in the world we could ever dream of. They will want to move here by the time we are done.


    I will buy all those expensive shields for us to protect our cities from the attacks of mutated beasts. We will never have to sleep with one eye open in fear of our lives.


    The blue star is our home, it is and of milk and honey that was blessed by the Gods and by not utilizing the resources we have been given we shame the Gods.


    I am asking you all to believe in me right now and do as I say and you will see miracles." She spoke so fervently and artictely that her words lit a fire among many in the crowd especially the youth.


    They hated their circumstances, they abhorred the poverty they were forced to live in and they had dreams and hopes which were so close to dying. However, Scarlet''s words and promises had dug those hopes out of whatever part of their body they had buried them under and brought them to the surface.


    So many in the crowd screamed and shouted energetically. The roaring was infectious that her family also joined in loudly. It reminded her of ser fans on earth rejoicing after the victory of their team. She asked them all to calm down however because she still had more to say.

 Chapter 23 Assigning Jobs

    ?"It''s not going to be easy; it''s going to be a long hard road. It might take us two, three or five years but we are going to get there.And don''t worry; you will not starve while we get there because from now until further notice as the governor of the Blue star I will be responsible for providing your food. Please know that this is temporary and when you start earning enough money you will have to start purchasing food.


    You will earn money by working for me and before you rejoice, I am not a wealthy woman so we have to start slowly. You have been earning two star coins a day working in the factory. I will be paying four star coins a day for now.


    Esong was surprised and he looked at Dez and asked, "Do people actually earn two star coins in this empire? Does anything even cost four star coins?"


    "Uhm, wooden kids toys." Dez answered.


    But even he was unsure because someone earning two or four star coins was simply ridiculous and unheard of.


    "It should be a crime to pay people such a meager amount of money forbour. " Esong mumbled.


    "It''s better than nothing." Dez whispered.


    Scarlet''s words shut down arguments from the few who were still advocating for the garbage dump to stay operational. Everyone of sound mind would definitely choose four star coins over two. The additional promise of food was incredible.


    Adler stepped forward and took over from Scarlet. "We need people for the following jobs, farming, construction, animal care takers, teachers, administrative work, security, cooks, cleaners, seamstresses'', hunters and gatherers.


    Those who work in security, administration, hunters and gatherers will be earning six to ten star coins. They have to earn more because they do the more dangerous work. As time goes on the wages earned by different people in different sectors will be different.


    We are going to set up temporary stations behind and you can all register where you want to work ording to your skills and knowledge. Food will be provided twice a day in the morning at ten and in the evening at six.


    If you are hungry between those times you will have to purchase your own food or feed off of your rations. Those of you are joining the farming team we are starting our work immediately so please walk over to governor Scarlet and she will lead you to your ce of work."


    There was confusion in the crowd as so many people did not know what farming was. The rest of the jobs were self-exnatory except for farming.


    "Why is none of you moving?" Adler asked.


    The young man who had questioned Scarlet before said, "We need this farming activity to be exined to us."


    "It''s the growing of food in the ground." Adler exined as best as he could from what Scarlet said to him before this assembly had been called.


    His exnation created more confusion because it too vague and short for most of them to understand.


    Adler groaned and he said, "Everyone that cannot participate in any of the other jobs please go and farm. Before you decide to be a hunter or a gatherer please know that these jobs require entering the Blue forest. Those who join security have to protect our small starter city when the cold season arrives. You have to fight mutated beasts and any other dangers we might face. Your training will be rigorous; it will be led by my father and me."


    This made things a little clearer and more movement was seen.


    Pretty soon, Scarlet was leading a group of twenty five people to the areas her father had suggested would be best to start farming from.She was hoping for a number bigger than this but these people would make do for now.Among these people the one who surprised her the most was the young man that had questioned her. Given his age and build, she thought he would be angling for the hunting team or the security team like others his age.


    "What''s your name?" she asked him.


    "Rodney Sinir." He replied."This is my father d Sinir." He introduced the older man who never seemed to be far away from him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Who else is in your family?" she asked out of curiosity.


    "It''s just the two of us." d responded.


    "How long have you lived on this star?" she asked him.


    "One hundred years." d responded.


    She would have been surprised was it not for the fact that people in the Sun star lived long lives. In this world, most people aged at around two hundred and lived to a maximum of three hundred years. Not only was it shocking to her but it was also unbelievable.


    With the attacks of mutated beasts and space pirates however, sudden death wasmon. Not everyone lived to the golden age of three hundred.


    Rodney looked responsible and d had lived on the blue star for many years, she could use their help.


    She looked at Rodney and said, "You are outspoken and the others seem to respect you. I want to put you in charge of all farming activities. I will teach you all the knowledge youck about farming and animal husbandry. Maybe in the future you could be our Minister of agriculture."


    d''s eyes it up and he pushed his son forward. "Do as you wish with him governor Scarlet."


    She smiled and then looked at the rest of the crowd, "Listen to me carefully and watch everything that I do. First of all, we have to clear the ground. There should be no rubbish, no metals, no bottles only the soil."


    She thought it would take an hour to clear three fields the size of arge football stadium each but it waspleted in forty minutes. She had forgotten how focused and quick people in the interster could be.


    Adler even lent her some of those mecha dogs and hey just sucked up everything like worm holes.


    "Next, we have to dig small holes in the ground and turn the soil." She announced


    "That''s easy." She had no idea where Beord came from because he was assigned elsewhere but he showed up and used a lot of strength to dig into the ground which hisrge sword.


    Right there in the ground in front of her was now a hole about twenty metres deep.


    "I said dig small holes Beord, not something leading to the center of the." She was exaggerating because the hole was not too deep but if he went around digging like this, these would be wells for collecting water not nting seeds.


    She supervised the workers and when she tried to dig personally, Adler would threaten to send her back to the house. They were acting as if she was not sick but weak and dying.


    When the sun was setting, corn seeds were sown and watered and in other fields, wheat and vegetables were grown.


    She would have loved to nt rice but it was not a possibility because it needed the creation of a paddy first.


    "Return to your homes and assemble in front of my house for food distribution. We will continue working tomorrow at eight in the morning.


    She had tons of maize flour in her space which was used to prepare porridge. She also took out part of her stock of bread. Those who joined the security and hunting teams got an extra boiled egg with their food.

 Chapter 24 Soul Eaters

    ?That night, when she went to sleep, she waspletely exhausted and still she traveled to the underworld to do her job as a reaper for the second time.


    "Hey you are here." Someone was waving at her.


    It was the female reaper she had metst night. She assumed that perhaps she would see her around but she never imagined the possibility of the reaper being so friendly to her. Most reapers ignored the newbies. Many of them walked past her as if she was invisible but Scarlet did not care anyway. All she wanted to do was hand in her souls, get her crystals and then leave.


    "Hey," she waved to the reaper. "Were you waiting for me?"


    "Yes, I wanted to see if you had taken my advice and caught more souls. And you are my only reaper friend."


    As someone who had no friend on the blue star, a friend from the underworld was very wee.


    "I am Scarlet." She eagerly introduced herself.


    "I am Ezrah." The female reaper answered. "Did you get more than one soul?"


    Scarlet released her soul binding rope and then the four souls she had trapped. Three of them were dull and mindless but the third with red eyes was skittish and it kept tugging at the rope in an attempt to get away.


    "Oh, you managed to capture a level one soul eater!!!!!" Ezrah screamed.


    "Is it the guy with red eyes?" Scarlet asked her.


    Ezrah nodded her head and she looked at Scarlet in wonder. "You are still in the infancy stage of soul cultivation, how did you capture a soul eater? I am at level one of the soul foundation stage and even I would struggle to capture a soul eater."


    Scarlet shrugged because she had no idea how she managed to aplish this feat. "I just screamed for my rope and opened my soul gourd and it was trapped."


    It happened exactly as Scarlet described but Ezrah appeared to be doubtful. Even Scarlet was doubting herself now because if a foundation level soul cultivator would struggle to trap a level one soul eater then how had she done it?


    She made it a point to go and read more about soul eaterster.


    "I am really telling the truth Ezrah, that''s all I did." Scarlet said truthfully. "I thought it was just a hostile soul, I had no idea it was a soul eater."


    Most of the lingo in the underworld was direct and she could easily understand it. Hostile souls were those ones which attacked reapers and humans for no reason other than hate and rage. Soul eaters were souls which ate other souls to grow their power.


    There were levels to soul eaters because the more souls eaten, the stronger the soul eater and the higher the level.


    Soul eaters were usually born from evil souls like those of murderers.Basically the more inhumane and evil you were in life, the higher your chance of bing a soul eater if you were not found and sent to the underworld immediately.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "How do evil souls know that they can eat other souls?" she asked Ezrah.


    "Evil always knows." Ezrah answered. "This one was only starting out, you are lucky that he did not harm you or drain you."


    "What happens to the souls of those he has eaten?" Scarlet asked Ezrah.


    "I heard that there is a way to separate them from the evil soul however even then, the innocent souls have already lost their energy. Most of them don''t get a chance to be reborn so they turn into energy whichter bears soul crystals."


    "How pitiful." Scarlet said in a small voice. Something crossed her mind so she asked Ezrah, "What do we do with the crystals when we finishing absorbing the energy from them?"


    "Use your power to dissolve it in water. That water will contain a small hint of spiritual power which is good for the skin and the body. Even nts and animals benefit greatly from water of dissolved crystals. It''s simr to purifying water but on a small scale because purifying water is extremely potent."


    Ezrah looked around wildly then she whispered to her, "Most reapers trade high quality energy crystals for purifying water because there is a rumor that it can bring a human back from the brink of death. I don''t know how true that is."


    Scarlet had so many questions but the ringing of a bell twice stopped her. This sound of the bell was hypnotizing like a choir of heavenly angels singing. Scarlet had never heard angels singing but she imagined that this was what they probably sounded like.


    Ezrah suddenly shoved her and pointed her forward.


    "What?" Scarlet asked.


    "The ringing of the bells urs when a soul eater is delivered. It informs others about the level of the soul eater and tells the guards and all reapers to be on alert in case the soul eater attempts to escape. Soul eaters are gluttons, no matter where they are, they will attempt to eat souls. This soul delivery area of the underworld is like a buffet to them. They are powerless here but it won''t stop them from trying to escape and eating a soul. You should deliver your souls now."


    "Okay." Scarlet nodded. In her mind she loud a booming voice say "Level one soul eater delivery."


    Other reapers made way for her and she went forward.


    She followed the usual procedure and delivered her souls. This time round, the soul registrars were slightly more weing or so she imagined. Capturing a soul eater created a big difference in treatment it seemed.


    She was given six medium quality energy crystals and twenty high quality energy crystals.As she was returning to where Ezrah was standing she noticed that a few reapers with scythes on their backs nodded at her respectfully.


    "You have gained the respect of some warrior reapers. They are the ones who hunt for soul eaters and hostile souls. Ho...When will gain their respect?" Ezrah whined and rubbed her head against Scarlet like a cat. When she was done whining, she said,"I have to go Scarlet, I will see you tomorrow."


    Scarlet had many other questions but she let Ezrah go. Now that she had some crystals, she wanted to buy a soul pet and some little purifying water to speed up her cultivation and the growth of the nts.


    As she was preparing to leave, she heard the whining of a dog and felt something rubbing against her feet so she stopped.

 Chapter 25 [Bonus ]

    ?It was dark outside and the two suns of the sun star empire had set. In the sky high above was one half moon and billions of stars which were twinkling and shining brightly.


    Normally, most people would be in their homes right now, bored out of their minds and trying to sleep as they desperately tried to ignore the pangs of hunger which gued them daily on the Blue star. But tonight was different however because nobody was inside their small crumbling houses or old homes forged from old mechas.


    All of them were outside, sitting andughing around a bon fire.


    One individual with a portable television which was powered with medium energy stones had brought it outside and it was ced in the center of the gathering.


    Some people were siting on the ground, others onrge stones and some on metal bits watching the evening news.


    These people all held bowls of porridge, and buns in their hands. As they satisfied themselves on the warm sweet meal, conversation andughter apanied them.


    There was a bon fire close to the cluster of the thorn trees and children were chasing each other around the fire.


    Some members of the Su family were outside too,ughing and conversing with others.


    Fey was going around taking pictures of all these scenes. Scarlet had told her that someday these pictures that they took which showed where they started would be in the history books of the Blue star.


    Dorian Su and two of his sons Adler the oldest and Gregor the youngest were squatting in front of one of the farnds. Gregor was squinting hard as if when he looked hard enough, he would be able to see the seeds sprouting.


    "How long do you think it will take them to mature?" Adler asked his father.


    "Your sister said that unless she finds a way of speeding the growth of the corn and wheat, it could take up to three months. The vegetables only need a month to mature."


    "But the mutated beasts will be here." Gregor said in a small voice.


    He was only ten years old and he already knew that when the mutated beasts attacked, they destroyed everything.


    "We will use a protective shield this time, don''t worry." Adlerforted Gregor.


    "Still, it will be best if they mature quicker than she anticipated. The cold season is hard on all of us, the protective shield may keep the mutated beasts out but the coldness itself is something else.


    We have only two med beds on the entire, we will be overwhelmed when the people fall victim to the frost."


    The cold season in this world was like winter on earth however the Sun star was faced with extremely harsh winters.


    When the harsh winters werebined with no food or inappropriate clothing andck of medicine and med beds, a sickness known as the frost set in.


    It caused one to freeze from the inside of their body, making the bones and organs so brittle that they broke apart.


    "I wonder how long the food your sister has willst. We used up a lot preparing porridge for all of the citizens of the Blue star. I am afraid that it won''tst a month."


    Scarlet who had tons on tons of food in her space was not worried about this but her father did not know.


    "Should we ask him for help, Esong Wu?" Adler asked his father.


    Dorian shook his head "He will never help, he hates us.


    They stood up and walked to join the others. Dorian''s ears caught one particr conversation between two men and one woman which peaked his interest.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I heard that the governor had a teacher who taught her how to identify foods and gave her an ancient book."


    "I heard he taught her how to identify mutated beasts that can be eaten."


    After the two men talking, the woman said. "Apparently she met that teacher in the Blue forest. I used to see her going in there all the time and I had no idea it was because she was meeting someone."


    Dorian was sure that this was a lie because Scarlet never went into the forest, she mostly stayed around the edges.


    "I heard that the teacher left the Blue star."


    The other man gasped and he said, "I thought nobody could leave the Blue star."


    "Are you stupid? Someone that can identify foods and mutated beasts cannot be ordinary." The woman said.


    The three people who were gossiping all nodded inplete agreement.


    "Who do you think the teacher is?"


    "Maybe it''s the old man who used to live at the edge of the bitter waterke. He used to keep to himself and he never spoke to anyone. His house is surrounded by those weird small gold leaves and he vanished three months ago.


    Most importantly, he survived the cold seasons and mutated beasts never attacked his ce even once."


    The woman gasped as if this was the most shocking thing she had ever heard.


    "Oh my God, so we all knew the governor''s teacher and ignored him."


    "If I had known how powerful he was, I would have approached him." one of the men said with regret in his voice.


    Dorian Su was quite sure that his daughter never met the old hermit they were speaking about. He had gone to see the old man three times to convince him to move and join the others for security reasons but he refused.


    When he insisted, the old man used his S level mental strength to overpower Dorian whose mental strength was at A level so he backed off. The old man had been living alone on the Blue star and surviving long before the Su''s came. They had nothing to offer him in form of food or protection.


    And also, the old man never vanished as they were assuming!! He died of natural causes.


    Dorian and Adler buried his body behind his old house but told no one.


    He knew that this wrong information would spread very quickly among the people.


    "Should we correct the narrative?" Adler asked his father.


    "No, this will cover all the gaps. Your sister''s mysterious teacher who cured her is now a dead man. Anybody thates looking for answers about where she got seeds and food from will be pointed in the direction of the dead old man.


    Tomorrow morning, bring some of those small gold leaves for your sister to look at.


    That old man had secrets, maybe it was one of them."

 Chapter 26 A Contract With The Hound Of Hell

    ?She squatted down and carefully petted the puppy. It had red eyes which should have unnerved her however it was small and looked adorable. She would have backed away but the little thing was whining so pitifully that it tugged at her heart strings. Only grim reapers, dead souls or deities could enter the underworld realm so she guessed that maybe this was the soul of a dead puppy.


    "Well hello there you tiny thing, what are you doing in the underworld?"


    She looked around and tried to see if there was an owner of this puppy nearby.


    "You have really soft fur, it''s too bad that you are dead. I would have loved to keep you as my pet, I have always wanted a dog. Maybe I should get a dog as my soul pet."


    The puppy whined and licked her hand. It felt ticklish and sheughed.


    "You are a good boy, or girl."she praised it and it wagged it''s tail.


    "Well I have to go but I hope you reincarnate in a really good world where you will get to eat all the meat, eggs, milk and the other wonderful foods life has to offer."


    She did not notice the dogs teeth elongating and all she felt was a sharp bite on her hand. It was hard enough to cause her a weird kind of pain. If this were her physical body, her blood would flowing like a small stream already.


    Just as sudden as the pain came, it disappeared and she looked at the puppy with a disappointed look. She was wrong to call it a good dog, it was a bad dog.


    Just before she could scold the puppy, it disappeared and she jumped back.


    "That''s it, I am going home." she muttered to herself.


    About thirty seconds after she disappeared, five warrior reapers who appeared frantic showed up just where she had been standing. One of them was sniffing the air like a dog.


    "It was here." he said.


    "There is nothing here." another one barked.


    "I am telling you it was here." the sniffer said with absolute confidence " I can still smell it."


    "Move." Another one told the rest. He was given space and he took some glittering dust out of a pouch and scattered it on the ground.


    Other grim reapers who were delivering souls kept a distance away from these one. They looked mean and they had scythes that glowed red.


    These were higher level grim reapers who frightened even the normal reapers because they were cold and merciless.


    "What are they looking for?" a reaper nearby asked another one close to him.


    "I don''t know." the other answered.


    "A contract was established here." the reaper who scattered the dust said. "A contract between a reaper and the hound."


    One of the reapers scoffed and shook his head, "That''s impossible, no reaper would want to contract a hound. They cannot be easily controlled and their loyalty is not easily earned. Feeding them is a nightmare because of their huge appetites and you have to be strong enough to earn the hound''s respect. That fuckin dog did not respect any of us and we are high level reapers. Only the gate keepers can beat us in terms of strength and even they do not contract hounds. There must be a mistake here. "


    "Yes, another one added. "Only one reaper has ever contracted a hound of hell. He is a legendary figure we all aspire to. No one hase close to doing what he did. We are sure of that because we know every high level reaper in the underworld."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Well someone has contracted it. We need to report this to the higher ups, it''s not our case to handle anymore." the reaper who scattered the dust put his pouch away.


    The high level reapers walked away as other low and medium level reapers whispered among themselves what they had overheard.


    The news soon hit the forum that a super powerful reaper had contracted a hound of hell.


    The reaper who had no idea that she was now a topic and a hero to many reapers was sleeping.


    At some point in the night, woken up as if by instinct she got up sat with her legs crossed in the meditation pose and started cultivating.


    She used up five crystals and managed to stabilize her soul at infant level two. She had three more levels of infancy to go before entering the foundation level.


    Early in the morning, she was once again woken by the sound of the ducks quaking. They were loud and irritating.


    To make it worse, the chicken were just as loud andpetitive as the ducks when it came to noise making.


    Unwillingly, she opened her eyes and kicked the covers off carelessly.


    "Watch it." a voice in her head said.


    Naturally she was irritated because she thought it was the old deity once again. His voice was deeper but since he could change his face, he could naturally change his voice.


    "What do you want old deity?" she asked.


    "Old deity, are you kidding me!!! get up and feed me. You said I would eat plenty of meat, milk and other wonderful things."


    She sat up quickly as her mind reyed the scene where she said those words to a puppy which then bit her and disappeared.


    At the foot of her bed, she saw the familiar ck puppy with red eyes staring at her with a very bored expression on it''s face. This puppy however was bigger than the one she imagined yesterday. It could not possibly be the same dog. Dogs don''t grow overnight.


    "Hahaha," sheughed, "I think I am going crazy. Maybe I am too exhausted."


    She fell back on the bed and closed her eyes.


    "I will bite your legs off if you don''t get up and feed me." the deep voice in her mind threatened.


    "Yes, go ahead and do as you please." she responded and close her eyes.


    She imagined what a good day it was going to be since she was nning to dissolve some crystals and water the crops.


    She suddenly felt something licking her foot and this prompted her to open her eyes, scream and jump up.

 Chapter 27 His Highness Severus

    ?The dog was really here and it had just licked her foot!!!! Her eyes were not deceiving her, this was no hallucination. Even the voice in her mind belonged to the dog.


    "How, What?" she struggled with the questions in her mind.


    "How am I here?" the dog asked.


    "Yes." she replied.


    "I am your newly contracted soul pet. I am not your ordinary type of pet by the way, I am Severus, a thirty first descendant of the king of hell hounds. Since we are not on friendly terms yet, you can call me His highness Severus."


    She was about to respond sarcastically when her door was kicked open very loudly and her brothers came rushing in.


    Adler was wielding a two sided battle axe which looked different from the one he had before.


    Just like then in the Blue forest, he was swinging at the air randomly.


    "What, what is it?" he asked. His head was moving left and right at a rapid pace.


    "Sister has a beast in her room." Gregor her youngest brother said loudly. His little fingers were pointing at Severus that was lyingzily on her bed without a care in the world.


    Adler''s axe swung down, aiming at the dog.


    "Stop." Scarlet yelled. "It''s no beast, it''s a gift from my master."


    At thest moment, the axe changed direction narrowly missing the dog and yet to the shock of those who were watching the dog did not flinch or move. It appeared to bepletely unaware of the danger.


    "How can a beast not have any self awareness?" Adler asked her.


    She heard Severus''s voice say, "Please!! As if that puny little weapon could break a single hair of this lord."


    She wondered if she should ry Severus''s words as he said to her but she would sound crazy so she chose to say something else.


    "He is a harmless pet as you can see. My master tamed him and gave him to me as a prize. He has been sleeping for months and he opened his eyes today morning and licked my foot which scared me." Scarlet exined.


    "Tame!!! Harmless!!! Are you insulting this great lord?" Severus asked her.


    He was quite serious but all the others heard was a puny vigorous bark.


    He is cute." Gregor said.


    "What kind of beast is he?" Elroy asked from where he was standing in the doorway.


    "A dog." she answered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "A dog!!!! You low level grim reaper. For your information I am a hound of hell that hunts for high level soul eaters that transcend realms and drag them back to the darkest pits of hell. If you are going to speak for me, do justice to my name."


    What Severus wanted her to say was absolutely impossible. She could not possibly tell them that he was a hound of hell which brutally dragged escaped soul eaters back to the underworld and that it had forcefully made a contract with her. Calling him a dog was easier for all of them.


    "Does he bite?" Gregor asked.


    She remembered a book which she read on earth that depicted what a hell hound looked like. It had the biggest and sharpest teeth she had ever seen.


    She shook her head however and said, "Not unless he is forced to so take care not to mess around with him. He is a gentle being otherwise." she lied.


    In her mind, she heard Severus say, "I have the strongest bite and sharpest teeth in the heavenly realm. I once tore a chimera to pieces with one bite."


    Sheughed nervously and pleaded with him to shut up.


    "I need to shower, I will see you all in a few minutes."She pushed them all out of her room, closed the door and slid down while leaning against it.


    A few beads of sweat were running down her back and her there was a significant increment in her heart beat.


    Why was this hound of hell here and putting her on tenterhooks?


    "Hey Severus, if you are so powerful why did you contract yourself to me? As a matter of fact, what exactly are you? You have said that you once tore a chimera to pieces with one bite but when I met youst night you were just a tiny puppy."


    "I needed a gullible grim reaper to help me escape and you are the most gullible of them all. Best of all, you said that you said that I deserved god food and youcked a soul pet. It''s a win-win situation for us both." he responded with pride in his voice.


    She almost foamed at the mouth in extreme shock because she was being despised by an animal.


    "I am gullible!!!" she said in shock. "What makes you think that I am gullible?"


    Severusughed and replied, "You jumped into a gateway of your own volition first of all. Only an idiot does that."


    Scarlet was reminded of her very embarrassing mistake which led her here.


    "Your picture is everywhere on the forum, you are being used as a tteaching aid on how to get strong souls to ept the mantle of bing grim reapers." He chuckled some more.


    She had no idea that Severus could ess the underworld forum.


    "I was going to continue running from those idiot reapers who can''t feed me the food i deserve and yet they keep expecting me to hunt for them when I saw you. An infant soul cultivator who captured a level one soul eater. My, my, my, you are quite something."


    "So you contracted yourself to me because of that?" she asked him.She knew that many reapers were impressed by what she aplished but she didn''t think it was that big a deal. It could be a one time thing unless she figured out how to do it again.


    Severus lifted his body off the bed and stretched. "I just thought that you are an odd ball. An interesting odd ball and being with you will be fun. Now give me some meat before I decide to hunt. Keep in mind that I am feelingzy so if I do decide to hunt, I will start with the little birds you keep in those poorly constructed cages outside."

 Chapter 28 Beef For Severus.

    ?"Are you crazy?'' her voice came out in a tiny squealing manner which surprised even her. She covered her mouth and cleared her throat. When she wasfortable, she pointed at Severus and warned him, "If you ever dare toy your paws on any of my chicken and ducks I will prepare dog stew that day. Guess who the main ingredient will be in that meal?"


    Severus looked at her with contempt in his eyes. He was clearly minimizing her because she was weaker than him.


    She realized that she needed to cultivate harder so that she could level up and beat him to a pulp. For now, she was forced to give in to him.


    She took a two minute shower, dissolved the soul crystals in five bottles of water and left the bathroom.


    "Follow me and behave yourself." she warned him.


    "I behave how I want." Severus responded and he infuriated her once again.


    She went directly to the kitchen but as she walked, she could smell the sweet aroma of porridge cooking in the air.


    "Something smells good." Severusmented.


    Images of the dog jumping into a pot of porridge crossed her mind and she giggled. But another image of him rising from the boiling hot porridge unharmed and freaking everyone out woke her up.


    She absolutely would not be letting anyone know that Severus was anything than a normal dog.


    "It''s not for you, I will prepare your food."


    "But I am already hungry and that smells like food. Why can''t you give me some of that?" he whined.


    His whining sounded more like the growling of an angry beast. If he continued this way, he would soon be attracting attention from a lot of people.


    "Why can''t you be patient? Have you spent a century without eating any food at all? If you eat porridge I will not give you any meat." she threatened him.


    All dogs loved meat after all. Given a choice between meat and porridge it was only logical that they choose meat.


    Severus trailed behind her in silence after that. She was grateful for the silence which allowed her to think.


    In the kitchen, she bumped into her mother who was already eating porridge from one of the bowls that was decorated with yellow ducks which she prepared for Justin.


    "Good morning mother."


    "Good morning Scarlet, how do you feel today? Has your sickness acted up again?"


    "No," she responded.


    "I rested, took some medicine which my teacher left me with and I feel like a brand new woman. Where has everyone gone?"


    "To work." her mother blew on the spoon three times before bringing the spoon to Scarlet''s mouth. "Taste this and tell me if you think it''s fine."


    Scarlet ate the porridge and slowly took in the taste.


    "Too much sugar." she said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I will tell them to reduce it." her mother left the kitchen and returned to supervising the team of twenty women who were in charge of meals.


    Of all her supplies, it was sugar that worried her most. The sugar in her storage would notst five months if she continued using it for all the citizens.


    As she took frozen beef, soy sauce and other spices out of her storage, she wondered how she could remedy the situation as soon as possible. There was no guarantee that somewhere in the Blue forest were sugar canes or beets. Was it possible to find some bees and produce honey on arge scale?


    She prepared an easy ssic beef stir fry which required noplicated ingredients or long preparatory procedure.


    Within forty minutes, Severus was head deep in a bowl of food.


    "I am not yet satisfied." heined when he was finished.


    She had prepared five sets hoping that her family could have some but the way Severus was eyeing them gluttonously, she knew that no one else would taste them today.


    "Must you eat it all? Do you have five stomachs?" she asked him with many unvoicedints in her eyes.


    "A good hunting hound is a satisfied hound." Severus answered. "You were right when you said that I deserve to eat wonderful foods. We shall have this meat daily." He dered like a king to his serf.


    She wanted to stab his mouth with the fork she was holding. Ever time he opened his mouth it was to say something infuriating. Where did he think she would get the meat from? She had not seen any cattle on this!!! Not even a boar or a rabbit.


    If he ate up all the meat in her storage, what was she going to do?


    She thought back on his words and they gave her an idea suddenly that she had not considered before. This whole time she had beenining about his sudden infringement in her life without seeing one of the upsides. He was a hunting dog!!!! If he wanted meat, he could hunt and she could cook.


    She took all the beef which was on arge tray and dangled it in front of Severus.


    "Severus" she said.


    "What?" he asked as his eyes followed the beef.


    "You like eating meat, right?"


    "Very much." he replied. "Now put it down before I eat you as well."


    She pulled the tray up and said, "Let''s not be too hasty, you see I don''t mind cooking for you but you need to do what you do best, hunt. If you hunt for animals that I can raise, I will cook for you every type of meat that I know.


    Do you know that there are more than one hundred ways to cook beef. And then there is pork, chicken, mutton. Mmm, mm, mm. So many tasty types of meat."


    She could see Severus drooling and panting with excitement. He looked less like a hound and more like a real dog.


    "Finish this meal and we can go hunting together for beasts, okay?"


    Severus agreed and she smiled victoriously. Trading one tter of beef for the skills of a natural hunting hound which could not be harmed by the most fierce of mutated beasts on this was a bonus.


    She went on to pet his head lovingly as he ate. "Severus, I think we are going to get along just fine."

 Chapter 29 Fake Bank Transactions

    ?Elsewhere on the Sunstar, a different meeting was going on early this morning. This meeting was between Esong, his secretary Dez and the head manager of the Capital city bank.


    Esong who was extremely furious wasgoing through bank transactions on a monitor screen of aputer.


    The manager of the bank that had been rudely awakened form bed in the morning to deal with the general was sweating through his clothes and down on his knees.


    "It was not our fault general." he struggled to say.


    Esong however ignored himpletely and kept on scrolling up and down with so much strength that a few cracks appeared on theputer screen.


    In a testy tone, Esong asked the bank manager "What did my assistant tell you do?"


    The bank manager fell to the marbled floor screeching like a pig being ughtered.He writhed and the sweat on his body increased to a point that one would think it was raining only around his body.


    Dez was worried because at this rate, the general would kill the manager using his mental strength. He had mental strength of SSS+ and he was not allowed to kill any citizen of the empire using this strength unless it was a dangerous situation.


    Mental strength in the Sun star empire was apanied by the power of telepathy. A telepath could kill one with the power of their mind so the higher one''s mental strength was, the more dangerous they were ssified. All individuals with SS mental strength and above were required to register with a special department which monitored them.


    Not even Esong the great general and mecha king could escape could escape the monitoring.


    "General, you might kill him." Dez said anxiously.


    "Why should I care?" Esong asked.


    "If he dies, what will happen to me? What about your wife and child? They will be children of a criminal."


    For Dez mentioning Scarlet and Justin was the equivalent of a Hail Mary. If the general was willing to eat food prepared by Scarlet perhaps mentioning her could get him to regain his sanity.


    For ten more seconds, Esong suppressed the bank manager and then he let him go.


    The manager gasped and ripped open the buttons of his shirt as he rubbed his neck as if someone had been strangling it.


    "Who did it?" Esong asked the manager, "Who tampered with my ount and faked my bank transactions? For the past one year I have been sending money to my wife so that she could take care of my son and now I am finding out that she has never received a coin of that money. And yet this shows that the money has been steadily flowing out and going to her ount.


    So not only did you tamper with my ount transactions but you also tampered with hers."


    Esong did not even realize that he had naturally called Scarlet his wife when previously he would refer to her as that woman.


    The manager replied in a frightened stutter "It..it..it was your mother."


    "My mother!"


    Esong was surprised to hear this response because of all reasons for this to happen, his mother did not cross his mind.


    "Exin things clearly or I will have another go at your mind." Esong threatened the manager.


    The manager got on his feet urgently and he exined, "The duchess said that we should transfer the money to a different ount. She said that we should never give a single coin of the Wu family''s money to Scarlet or else your family would transfer all their money and assets that we manage for them to another bank. We were left with no option general, the decision to do this came from upper management."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Esong turned theputer to the manager and he said, "ess the ount you have been sending my money to and drain itpletely. Send all of the money to my wife immediately."


    "But...but.." The manager wanted to say something but it seemed to be stuck in his throat.


    "Now." Esong barked.


    "Yes sir." the manager to scrambled to send the money to Scarlet''s ount as fast as his fingers could move.


    Once he confirmed that the money had been sessfully sent, he chased the manager out of the private room. This was one of the rooms reserved for serving VVIP customers.


    "Find me a new bank." Esong told Dez.


    Dez had an answer already. "The Intergctic bank has been trying to get you to open an ount with them should I contact them?"


    "Don''t just contact them, open an ount directly and send me it''s details. When you are done with that, change the banking information on my work application and every other business document."


    "Yes sir, will you be needing anything else?"


    "No. When you are done with your tasks go home and see your family. I am sure Ian, Folsom and Cedric are waiting for me outside the bank."


    As soon as Dez left, Esong decided to reply to Scarlet''s message and exin the situation. Rather than text, he sent an email.


    Dear wife, ¡­he deleted and changed it to Dear Scarlet.


    "Does this sound too personal?" he asked himself. He wondered why something like this was bothering him so much. When did he suddenly start caring about what she thought. She was the first to call him husband, would it be rude if he didn''t address her as wife? He changed his mind once again.


    "Dear wife,


    These bank transactions are proof that I have not been negligent of my financial duties toward you or Justin. I have been sending money monthly but ording to the bank it was sent to the wrong ount.


    All of the money which you had not received has been sent to you as a lumpsum. Spend it wisely."


    Esong Wu


    He paused and wondered what else he could say.Should he address the divorcements or ask about her sickness?


    "Should I ask about their well being?" he asked himself."Or should I tell her to send me food regrly? I am a part owner of the Blue star and her husband after all."


    So many thoughts went through Esong''s mind and in the end he decided to send the email the way it was.


    Ten minutester , Scarlet changed her star user name and he wilted.


    "What is wrong with her?" He asked himself.

 Chapter 30 Miss Pick Me.

    ?Scarlet received the email on her way into the Blue forest with her two older brothers and her father.At her side was her soul pet Severus. Since it was a slow walk as the hunting and gathering team hade with them, she had time to read the email the moment her bracelet vibrated with a notification.


    She was extremely happy to receive money and she checked the bnce in her bank ount eagerly.


    She had ten million and two hundred star coins.


    "I am rich." she thought and sheughed in her mind.


    She went back to see what he had written in the email and she saw that just after he informed her about the money, he went to tell her to spend it wisely.


    "What!!! she said loudly. "Does he think that I am a kid?"


    Did he see a little child when he looked at her that she needed such a reminder? Why did he want to dictate how she spent the money? Did he think she was a squanderer?


    The non existent rtionship between Esong and Scarlet bred distrust, doubt and suspicion between the two of them. To her, everything he said was a form of rebuke or dissatisfaction and to him everything she did was an attempt to seek his attention.


    Esong probably meant well when he cautioned Scarlet to spend the money wisely because of her greedy spendthrift nature which he was made aware of by the investigators who looked into her before he married her. But to Scarlet who was quick to judge, his intentions were to get a rise out of her.


    She went to her star ount and changed her username once again.


    ''The mecha king really really sucks.''


    [Great, rain more insults on your husband, are you proud of yourself?]


    She replied. [Yes I am.] Then she continued reading otherments.


    [Divorce him if you don''t want him, many of us are ready and willing to marry him.]


    [Will you be doing a live broadcast today?]


    [I got a chicken but I don''t have any oil. When are you going to set up your online shop?]


    A user that called herself Bejeweled Heiress with one hundred million followers said,


    [You don''t deserve the mecha king, general Esong is the pride of our Sun star. You will never be worthy of him. You will always be the same old useless, stupid Scarlet you have always been.]


    "Who is this clown?" Scarlet asked herself.She wondered if she should look into since she had many followers and appeared to be wealthy. But because Scarlet could be chaotic at times, she chose to be a troll on this day after all this woman had just insulted her.


    She replied to Bejeweled heiress, [Miss ''pick me'' heiress, my husband still won''t pick you.]


    She added an emoji of a mutated beast being shot in the head by a gun which produced smoke after firing the shot.


    "Scarlet," her father called.


    "Yes." she looked at him.


    "We are in a dangerous forest, put away your bracelet and watch your environment."


    She smiled and did as he requested.


    "Have you smelled anything yet Severus?" They had been moving for an hour gathering vegetables that she dered harmless food but no animals yet.


    "If I were you, I would open my soul gourd as I walk. I am a soul hunter you know. You seem to have forgotten my main power."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She listened to Severus and opened the soul gourd. Six stepster, two random souls were sucked inside.


    She did not need to wait for the soul gourd to rattle with Severus by her side and she collected seven souls with his fore warnings.


    "How many people have died in this forest?" she asked him.


    "More than you can handle. It will get worse the further deeper we go. I can smell souls that are as old as a thousand years."


    "Woah...dude that''s old."


    "Who is dude?" Severus asked her.


    She thought about exining to him that she was just channeling how people sometimes spoke in movies she had watched back on earth but she decided not to. He would probably have more questions for her.


    "You are my dude." she replied. "My friend, my buddy."


    "I told you that we are not on friendly terms. What we have is a mutual understanding." Severus responded and he grunted as if she was a joker.


    Scarlet opened her mouth and she silently mouthed curses at Severus.


    Her actions were seen by more than three people who were watching her. To these people, she was like a celebrity hanging out with the normal people.


    "What is the governor doing?" a woman on the gathering team asked another walking next to her.


    "I don''t know, maybe she is singing."


    "The governor can sing!" another woman jumped into the conversation without being invited in. "Wow, she is so talented."


    "I guess her teacher taught her many things." another woman added.


    "That old and was always humming like the governor. I knew that he could sing back then." A man said.


    The blue star was a thatcked fun activities so gossip was the number one source of entertainment among the people. Within a few minutes, the rumor that governor Scarlet was a talented singer made it''s way to Dorian''s ears.


    It was not just that she was a talented singer, a lot of spice had been added to the rumor and it was talented singer andposer who coulde up with a song within a few seconds.


    "Who ising up with these fake stories?" Dorian asked Adler.


    Adler shrugged because he had no idea. All he knew was that a lot of people were watching Scarlet''s lips as she mouthed something none of them could hear.


    With the way she asionally pointed at her dog however, Adler doubted that she was singing. To him, it looked more like she was berating it.


    "I smell something." Severus suddenly said. "Something strong." He paused and smirked, "Well strong by your standards, to me it''s weak."


    "Severus, not now." she said in a serious voice. If he wanted to shower himself with praises, he could do itter.


    She stopped moving and raised her hand which was the signal they had all agreed to. When she raised her hand, they would all stop because it meant possible danger ahead.


    "Everyone," Scarlet yelled "Arm yourselves but do not attack unless I say so."

 Chapter 31 A Good Hunt

    ?It was a given that a lot of tension and fear would follow her sudden request for everyone to hold and ready themselves for a fight. This was because most of the hunters and gatherers in the team had no previous fighting experience so while the journey had previously been all fun and conversations, it was now silent and dreaded.


    All of them had witnessed the brutality and strength of mutated beasts before. Some of the younger men were shaking and quaking with fear but they did not want to be cowards so they stayed on.


    "What is it?" Dorian asked his daughter as he scanned the area with his mental strength looking for danger.


    "Severus senses something." she replied.


    Severus suddenly dashed forward and he disappeared into the greenery of the forest. Naturally Scarlet went running after him and her father and Adler also went after her.


    "Hold your positions." Adler shouted at the rest of the team as he was following his family into unknown danger.


    Ahead of them, Scarlet was shouting at Severus in her mind to slow down but the only word the dog said back to her was ''meat.''


    "What have you found?" she asked him.


    She identally hit her toe against something and then she tripped and fell down. Shended face first on the ground and inhaled some dirt.


    She could feel some pain in her hands and when she looked at them she noticed that she had a few scratches and on them.


    "Are you okay?" her father quickly reached down and pulled her up.


    "I just scratched my hands on some stones but I am okay." She replied. "I think something tripped me."


    "Where is your dog?"


    She looked around for any sight of Severus. She could feel him through their bond which was established with the contract so she knew that he was fine and close by.


    "He is close." she answered. "But he is not moving, I think he has found something."


    She forgot about her hands and she once again took off running in the direction which her instincts said Severus was. Thankfully, within two minutes, she discovered him because of his loud growls.


    She found him growling at a group of weird looking animals. She thought them weird because while they looked like cattle but they had some fur on their bodies. Cattle did not have fur where she came from but if her eyes were not deceiving her, theserge four legged creatures were cattle.


    Did mutations create this effect? Did the extra cold season on this force cows and bulls to be hairy? Could they be a variation of mammoths? She observed the animals further, wanting to closer for a closer look.


    Their were about seven of them, five were adult and two were just calves. Of the adults, she assumed that the two extrarge ones were male and the three smaller ones were female.


    To be sure about what she was seeing, she sent a picture to the forum for confirmation and her assumption was true.


    She was so thankful for Severus because if he was not here, they probably would not have found these cattle.


    "Severus, are they dangerous?"


    "To you, yes, to me no." he replied.


    "Scarlet," she heard her father''s worried voice. "We should back away slowly. One stab from those horns of those beasts and not even a med bed will save you. You will bleed out faster than I can get you back. We need to move."


    "It''s good meat." Severus replied.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Not without them." Scarlet told her father upon Severus''s confirmation. "They are just seven, we can take them from here quite easily."


    Dorian Su hissed, "It''s more than seven, I can sense more of them back there behind the foliage. We have probably stumbled upon a migration."


    "What migration?" she asked.


    "The cold season will be upon us in three months. The less powerful animals go into hiding to avoid being killed by the stronger ones or the mutated beasts. The cold season is not just deadly for humans, it''s dangerous for animals too."


    Dorian who was anxious because the two bulls were furious and appeared to be ready for charge. He was also surprised that they had not yet charged but he knew that at any moment, they would.


    Unlike Dorian who was anxious, Scarlet was excited. More cows meant more milk and more food for the people. But how could she get all these animals back to the human habitat?


    "Severus, do you have anymore suggestions?"


    "Leave it to me." he replied arrogantly.


    Then he proceeded to let out the loudest growl she had ever heard. It was so strong that the she could feel tremors in the ground. It sounded like a threat of war and order to obey.


    The weird part was that nobody else but her seemed to have heard it. Dorian and Adler looked very normal.


    "Did you hear that?" she asked them.


    "Hear what?" Adler asked.


    "Severus''s growl."


    "His little barks, yeah we heard that." Adler replied. "They are not going to help us in this situation."


    Just as he was finishing his words, he saw the animals which were poised to attack calming down. All of a sudden they appeared to be less threatening. Other simr looking ones came out from behind the foliage, all behaving extremely docile.


    "What''s happening?" Adler asked.


    Scarlet smiled and squatted down, she patted Severus''s head and she kissed him suddenly. "Good boy."


    Happy to receive all the praise, Severus lifted his head looking as proud as a peacock.


    "Dad, these animals are called cattle. The male are called bulls and the female are called cows. Their children are calves. They are willing to follow us home."


    She was very happy today, if domesticating mutated beasts was as simple as having Severus roar, her life had just be easier.


    "Severus, I am going to prepare the best beef steak for you when we return home tonight. You deserve it so much."


    "Now, let''s go back now." Severus suggested. He broke into a leap and the animals followed him as if he was their new leader.


    "Wait." she shouted but he was too far gone.

 Chapter 32 [Bonus ]

    ?As Esong Wu was walking out of the capital bank, someone wrapped a hand around his shoulders. It was a man, simr in age and height to Esong. His hair was a light shade of green but it was just as long as Esong''s in length.


    "What do you want Folsom?" Esong shrugged the hand off.


    "I think you mean Admiral Folsom." the man responded.


    "I will call you admiral when you decide to take your duties seriously and stop following me around."


    Folsom chuckled as if Esong had just said something very funny. "We both know that I am an admiral in name only. I epted it to keep my father quiet, my loyalty lies with you one hundred percent."


    Esong grunted and quickened his steps. He navigated a small crowd outside was causing a bit of a ruckus because an actor had walked into the bank.


    "Wait for me." Folsom called eagerly.


    When Esong ignored him and kept walking, Folsom smirked and shouted, "General Esong Wu, the great mecha king, please wait for me."


    The crowd which was screaming for the actor turned their attention in Esong''s direction.


    "It''s the mecha king." someone screamed.


    "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhh." excited screams followed. The loudest screams were mostly female. A lot of people in the crowd started running in his direction.


    Esong cursed and took off running until he reached his mecha and locked himself inside. He vowed to beat Folsom ck and blue the moment he saw him.


    He turned on the screen to see the environment outside. His mecha was sitting in a well protected secure area but he would not put it past fanatical fans to try and get past security in order to get to him.


    His phone rung and he answered it. "You cane out now, It''s perfectly safe." his right hand man Ian told him.


    "And Folsom?" he asked.


    "Right here in Cedric''s arms."


    Esong evacuated the mecha and he lunged at Folsom as if they were natural enemies that could not stand the sight of one another.


    "I was trying to help." Folsomughed.


    "I am going to cut that ridiculous hair off today." Esong warned Folsom.


    Folsom replied sarcastically and dramatically, "No, not my beautiful hair. Oh what will I do without my hair?" Cedric ced his hand over Folsom''s mouth.


    Ian and Cedric were running interference, trying to keep Folsom and Esong separate.


    "Shut up before he sends you to mine energy stones." Cedric whispered to Folsom.


    Folsom grunted and replied, "I am an admiral now, he doesn''t scare me anymore."


    Cedric and Ian shared a look then Cedric let Folsom go. "Since he doesn''t scare you anymore, who are we to stop him from getting to you."


    It was not umon for Folsom to irritate Esong. It had always been this way since their days in the academy when they were learning to fly and fight in mechas.


    Esong was always number one in the academy and Folsom was number two which created a one sided rivalry from Folsom that Esong never responded to.


    After suffering dozens of defeats at Esong''s hands, Folsom gave up and he befriended Esong.


    Still, over the years Folsom did not stop poking Esong every time he got a chance. It always ended in an ass whooping for him. Folsom and Cedric were expecting nothing less right now.


    "This is gonna be so good." Ian said with a smile on his face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I would hold off on that joy if I were you, Esong''s attention is not on Folsom anymore. He is looking at his terminal."


    Folsom, Cedric and Ian looked at their bracelet terminals to see if there was any bad news in the empire. Was there an attack or threat of attack against the empire?


    There was no such news so they looked at Esong.


    Cedric came closer and he asked, "Esong, is something bothering you?"


    Esong looked at Cedric and he asked, "What''s wrong with women?"


    "Women!!!" Cedric repeated after Esong. "What is this about women?"


    Folsom and Ian drew closer with their ears wide open.


    "I heard something about women." Folsom said with a wide grin on his face. "Esong have you finally developed interest in the opposite sex?"


    Ian pped Folsom on the back or saying a stupid thing. "He has a child, I am pretty sure that the boat on his interest in the opposite sex has sailed."


    "Ohe on," Folsom winced and rubbed his back. "We know how that child came about."


    "His organ was able to work, isn''t that clear proof that he likes women?" Ian asked.


    "Both of you shut up," Cedric shouted at the two idiots to his side. They were arguing about a debate that had never been settled. What mattered more now was finding out what was bothering Esong. "Esong, what do you want to know?"


    "I sent her money and she changed her username on star to say that I suck very very much. What does that mean?" Esong appeared to be very befuddled.


    "It means you suck." Folsom said the word suck very loudly.


    Cedric red at Folsom and then he looked at Esong and he asked, "Which woman?"


    "Her, Scarlet, my wife." Esong replied.


    Folsom and Ian hissed.


    "You said her name!!" Ian was shocked.


    "And you didn''t regurgitate!!" Folsom said.


    Anytime Esong mentioned Scarlet''s name his face turned grey as if he was about to vomit. His eyes would bulge in anger and the veins in his neck would swell as if they would pop at any moment.


    "He called her his wife." Cedric added.


    "My God!!! the world ising to an end." Folsom said exaggeratedly.


    "She dared to mention a divorce to me in her text and she said she would keep my son." Esong continued on as if he had not heard their words or see their expressions.


    "Isn''t the divorce a good thing?" Ian asked.


    "You idiot, members of the royal family do not get divorced." Cedric reminded Ian.


    Esong looked at his unhelpful friends and he realized that none of them was actually in a rtionship, married or had a child. What could they understand about his situation?


    "Forget it, juste with me to the agricultural research bureau."

 Chapter 33 An Online Fight.

    ?Severus was rushing out without realizing that a herd of at least sixtyrge animals whose movement sounded and looked like a well coordinated attack would frighten the natives, especially those in the hunting and gathering team.


    If the animals randomly rushed into a crowd of people they would squash them to death.The animals too would be injured when the people tried to defend themselves.


    "Severus, take an alternative route, do not bump into the group of people we came with."


    "Why?" he asked.


    "Because you are able to control them somehow but the people out there cannot. If they head in that direction this might be a blood bath."


    "I want to eat twenty pounds of meat."


    "Are you kidding me?" She could not believe that he wanted to bargain right now.


    "I don''t kid." Severus answered.


    It seemed to Scarlet that this hell hound took advantage of every opportunity to gain the upper hand with her.


    "Deal."


    To her relief, the animals changed direction but this alone would not be enough. Someone had to go ahead of the animals and clear the new path.


    Since her father had already gone ahead of them, she called him and reminded him to do that. After that, all she had to do was run behind the animals to make sure that none was left behind or injured.


    It took them one hour and twenty five minutes to return home and settle the animals down. Still, they were restless because so many people had gathered to watch them. Just as she thought, the people had panicked when they saw the animals. Some of them thought mutated beasts had arrived and they run away to hide in their homes until she took her megaphone out and cleared the air. Most of the people went from fear to fascination.


    Their fascination resulted into chaos and loud noise which easily spooked that animals.


    "Everyone, step back and return to your duties." Scarlet announced.


    She had had enough of the spectators.


    A few people from the security team came and chased the spectators away. Only those who had chosen to work in the farming department were left behind.


    Scarlet took a bottle of the crystal water as she had named it and mixed it with ten gallons of normal water. Ezrah had said that it was good for both nts and animals so she hoped it would m them down.


    After watching the animals drink the water and rx, she went into the house directly to the kitchen because Severus kept biting her jeans and trying to get her into the house.


    On the way she bumped intoCarolyn who was carrying veryrge brown papers.


    "Hey Scarlet."


    "Hey Carolyn."


    "What are you carrying?''"


    Carolyn shook therge papers and replied, "These are maps. We formed a small team of mappers to draw and highlight every bit of the. It''s going to take us months or two whole years to get it done but it''s something that must be done."


    Scarlet knew the importance of the maps so she smiled.


    "Father said that since we are going to build a city we must know which parts of the are habitable and which ones to avoid."


    "That''s a great idea." she replied. "I don''t know if setting up the farms so close to the forest is such a great idea."


    Carolyn looked at Scarlet in surprise, "He said the same exact thing. Food is an important resource and when the mutated beastse out of the forest it will be the first thing they go for."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Not if we have a shield." Scarlet replied.


    "Can we afford one?"


    Scarlet essed her terminal and she showed Carolyn her bank bnce.


    "Wow, how did you earn millions, weren''t you broke just yesterday?"


    Scarlet shook her shoulders and she looked at Carolyn gleefully.


    "Out with it already." Carolyn insisted. "Is it a job I can also do?"


    "Not unless you marry my husband." Scarlet replied. "This is mostly child support."


    Carolyn rolled her eyes and she bumped into Scarlet yfully. "That is definitely not a job I can do. I gotta go, and you should deal with the fight you started online."


    "What fight?" Scarlet asked herself as she went into the kitchen.


    She checked star and saw that there were hundreds of posts with her username tagged. She was even trending for getting into a fight with bejeweled heiress so she checked to see what Bejeweled heiress was saying about her.


    Bejeweled heiress: [You are a loser Scarlet now and forever.]


    Bejeweled heiress: [You are so broke that''s why your son is as thin as a willow stick.]


    Bejeweled heiress: [The jewels I have on right now could feed you and your entire family for generations.]


    Bejeweled heiress: [You have run away like the coward you are, continue hiding useless bitch. ]


    Bejeweled heiress''s fans were egging her on and adding their own insults in the mix. Scarlet saw three or four people defending her in thements but they were overwhelmed.


    She replied.


    The mecha king really really sucks: [@Bejeweled heiress miss pick me, keep screaming like a banshee but I stand with what I said, my husband will not pick you. You could shit and fart jewels but he still won''t pick you. You want a man''s attention and you choose to abuse his child. Is your brain full of shit?]


    [What is a banshee?]


    [What is a pick me?]


    [Someone desperate to be noticed and chosen for a specific purpose. What Scarlet means is that Bejeweled heiress wants General Esong to pick her as a lover but he will not because he is still Scarlet''s husband.]


    [I may not like Scarlet but bringing her child into this is too much.]


    A new message popped up on her screen from Mina. She knew that it was Mina because she saved her contact.


    "Hello I just wanted to let you know that the maids who abused your son are going before the tribunal tomorrow. Your husband was contacted and he will be in attendance for the sentencing."


    Scarlet smiled happily, this was good news. Very good news that was worth celebrating.


    "Severus, you are going to eat more than meat today, you will taste some chicken and rice."


    She prepared a lot of ingredients that were required and set her bracelet up to begin the live broadcast. There was no better time for this than now when Bejeweled heiress was making her famous. Her broadcast would be full of viewers, haters and fans.

 Chapter 34 Your Favorite Chef

    ?"Hey guys, it''s your favorite chef Scarlet here to teach you how to cook some really delicious food. I have received very many requests asking me to prepare a chicken right from the beginning because most of you don''t know how to do it. I am going to do it right now so follow my steps carefully.If youck speed and require more time to learn, I will be uploading a video of the process on my star tube channel so make sure you subscribe, like and share."


    Star tube was like you tube from earth it was a ce for recording and sharing videos. It was Fey that showed it to her and taught her how to use it during dinnerst night. To her, the more money she could make, the better so she signed up immediately.


    "First you take a chicken, pluck some of it''s feathers from the neck and cut its head off right from this part."


    Right now, she was grateful for the two months she lived in the country side with her grandmother otherwise she would not know how to do this. Back then she was miserable and acted as if living in the countryside was a punishment but now, she wanted to find her grandmother and give her a hug.


    [Why am I feeling sorry for the chicken?]


    [So much blood spurting out, I don''t think I can do what she has just done.]


    [You are so broke that you need to kill chickens for a living. Why don''t you just be Bejeweld''s private chef.]


    Some gifts flew by on the screen but she was not paying attention to them.


    "After draining all the blood, you put the chicken in a pot of hot water. This will make the feathers soft and easily pluckable just like this. A better way to do this would be with a machine...let''s call it a defeathering machine. Unfortunately I do not have one so I have to use my hands."


    [Wow, they areing off so easily.]


    [This looks so simple, why did I not think about it?]


    [The movement of her hands is so fast that I can barely keep up with the plucking.]


    [She is a human defeathering machine...hahaha]


    "This is what a fully plucked chicken looks like, it''s body is pinkish white just like this."


    [Why does it have the body of a woman, is it a female chicken?"]


    She noticed that question and she replied, "Yes, this is a female chicken, it''s called a hen. Hensy eggs and more chicken are born from those eggs.


    After plucking, you cut this lower part right here and take out all the internal organs. Most of the internal organs like these intestines are thrown away but the gizzard and liver are good things."


    She took out all the internal organs and washed the chicken three times thoroughly.


    "Our chicken is now ready to be divided into eight pieces. If your family is small, you can cut bigger pieces. If your recipe needs chicken cubes or strips you can remove the bones of the chicken and cut the meat into small pieces."


    She cut the chicken into pieces with a very sharp knife that it easily passed through the bones as though they were made of soft butter.


    [The knife looks simple but it''s so sharp.]


    [How many energy stones does the knife use and what quality are they?]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Wow, this must a high energy hunter''s knife.]


    Scarlet knew that this was no energy using knife, it was a kitchen knife from earth. Did these interster dwellersck good eye sight?


    "Tada, just like that your chicken is ready for cooking. Instead of deep frying it today we are going to prepare a grilled chicken.


    I will be recording videos for every recipe that I have done so far and putting the videos on my star tube. So don''t forget to subscribe, hit that like icon and share.


    To prepare grilled chicken all we need is some salt, some pepper, garlic and a little bit of oil. I think more is needed to enhance the taste but I work with what I have and this is all I have for now."


    [I already know that the taste is going to be amazing.]


    [Ten golden castles from silver fox!!! wow.. this is a rich man.]


    She added spices to the chicken and put it over agrill that her father had put together. It amazed her to see a grill that used energy stones and not charcoal. She worried that the chicken would burn if she failed to control the heat and hoped that the timer worked perfectly.


    "I am going to show you how to grill a steak. I am sure that all of are wondering what a steak is."


    The food culture in the interster was Ny nine percent dead. Even those who had food did not know how to prepare it so she had to exin everything that she was doing as she did it.


    After exining steak, she exined what cattle were and how they could be identified.


    "It''s another mutated beast whose flesh can be eaten. We are trying to tame a few of them here on the Blue star. When they reproduce, we will be able to sell beef and milk all over the empire.


    The female is called a cow and it produces milk while the male is called a bull. Milk is very good and nutritious, it is especially good for growing children because it strengthens the bones and teeth."


    She had asked Fey to tell her father to bring one cow and one bull outside the kitchen window. This way she could show her viewers what the animals looked like.


    Just like she did with the chicken, she warned them not to go hunting any random animals that they mistook for cows or bulls.


    "If you do decide to hunt for them please know that they can be aggressive and they will fight back. Also note that the meat of the young ones of all these animals cannot be eaten because they barely have any flesh."


    As she was talking, she was turning the chicken over and testing it''s readiness. It was golden brown in color and the grill had turned itself off she could only hope that it was ready because eating half cooked chicken on a live broadcast would embarrass her.


    "The chicken is ready it seems so I am going to cut off a little bit and taste."


    She ced the eight pieces of chicken on a te and she used a knife and fork to slice a small piece from one of the chicken thighs.


    As she was about to put it in her mouth, a ck shadow leaped and gobbled up the other thigh very quickly.


    [What in the world is that?]

 Chapter 35 Panic!!!

    ?The shadow which shed past her and stole a chicken thigh was none other than Severus the greedy hell hound. Apparently he could not wait anymore for her to willingly feed him so he decided to help himself to some chicken.


    His speed and uracy was amazing but his presence shocked all the viewers in her live broadcast.


    [Beast, it''s a mutated beast.]


    [Someone call the mecha warriors, the blue has been invaded.]


    [It was nice knowing you Scarlet goodbye.]


    [Why is the beast feeding on the chicken and not on Scarlet?]


    There was a lot of chaos in herment section which was the result of silly Severus''s greed.


    There were over seventeen million people watching the live broadcast. The number of her viewers had increased significantly due to her online fight with Bejeweled heiress. Some of the viewers panicked and called the headquarters of the mecha warrior association to report an invasion of mutated beasts outside of the cold season.


    In the headquarters, a panicked officer pressed the code red button which alerted all the mecha warriors of the emergency situation.


    "What is going on?" Esong made a phone call to the headquarters the moment his own bracelet buzzed and the words code red appeared.


    "A mutated beast is attacking someone on live broadcast. It''s your wife general, what do you want us to do about the situation?" the panicked male officer replied.


    "Nothing." Esong replied.


    The officer was confused. It may have been widely known that General Esong did not love his wife but letting her get mauled to death by a mutated beast on live broadcast was surely not the solution to their marital problems.


    "Sir, a lot of eyes in the empire are watching." the officer responded cautiously.


    "Let them and cancel that code red immediately." Esong answered and he hung up.


    The other warrior association officers who had been listening to the open call and preparing to mobilize the troops were lost.


    "What do we do?" the officer who called Esong asked his colleagues.


    Most of them stared at him as if he was crazy, in their minds they were thinking, ''who is we?''


    "Do what he said." one of them answered.


    Others looked away and pretended not to be aware of his conundrum for usible deniability.


    The official gritted his teeth and searched for Scarlet''s live broadcast. He had tried his best to save her and failed, hopefully her death would be swift.


    What the officer had forgotten was that nobody had killed more mutated beasts in the empire than Esong. He was quick to judge what was dangerous and what was not.


    The little ck red eyed beast in Scarlet''s kitchen did not go for her and she did not scream. She appeared to be absolutelynonchnt about it''s presence.


    What kind of beast was this and why was it so tame?


    "Ian." he called.


    "Yes general."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We have a data base with a massive collection of information on mutated beasts and all of their characteristics, weaknesses and strengths. I don''t recall seeing this little creature. What do you suppose it is?"


    Ian bent his head slightly and he looked at Esong. The first question he wanted to ask why ''why are you watching that woman''s live broadcast?''


    "I don''t know what it is but I can ess the database and check."


    "Do it." Esong replied.


    His eyes had not left the screen once as he watched the live broadcast.


    When Ian turned around, he noticed Cedric and Folsom watching that same live broadcast on arge screen in the space ship.


    "You too."


    "We are trying to figure out why he seems to be interested in hertely." Folsom answered.


    "I must say that she is either brave or foolish to be petting a mutated beasts anyhow. Esong''s wife is an interesting woman." Ian said and he chuckled.


    Scarlet was indeed petting Severus and introducing him to her audience. She was carrying him in her arms and he was whining, trying to reach for the tter of chicken once again.


    "This is my pet dog Severus, he has been with me for quite a while. He is a good assistant when we go scavenging for foods in the Blue forest. Please don''t attempt to tame any animas randomly because it might kill you in the process. I got lucky with Severus. "


    If she didn''t warn them, some of these people would try to copy her and look for pets in mutated beasts. She did not want theming to im that she encouraged them to do so if they were injured or killed.


    "I have seen a lot of panic going around online about the invasion of mutated beasts on the Blue. It''s false news, there is no invasion here. If you do not trust me, I can take you on a tour of our starter so that you can see how at peace we are."


    She put Severus down and warned him that if he stole anymore chicken, his twenty pounds of beef would be ten.


    "I was just about to taste the grilled chicken when Severus rudely interrupted."


    She ate a small piece of chicken and chewed slowly.


    [I like it, it''s different from the deep fried one.]


    [How can one bird taste different just because it was cooked differently?]


    [I think I am going to try this out today as long as I can ess salt and pepper.]


    [I almost bit my tongue off, this is torture for us who can''t afford food. I hate you Scarlet.]


    [Those of you who tasted the deep fried chicken, what was it like?]


    [All of you seem to not realize that the luckiest one of us all is the pet dog Severus. He ate three pieces of the grilled chicken while we were panicking.]


    [I am forming an anti Severus fan group. Why should a beast eat better than humans?]


    Silver wolf did not waste time talking orining like other viewers, he sent ten more golden castles and ten space ships.


    On the space ship, three people turned their heads to look at Esong in wonder.

 Chapter 36 All For Food

    ?"Esong," Folsom said the name in a suspicious tone. "Do you know something that we don''t?"


    Esong pretended that he had not heard the question. His eyes remained glued to the screen. He sent ten more silver space ships and his friends jaws almost dropped to the ground.


    "Ho it is nice to be a rich man." Ianmented.


    "Are you in love with her?" Folsom asked. "You are behaving too suspiciously because of that woman."


    Esong refused to respond to any of thements. In his mind however, he was thinking, ''I am doing all this for food. You unlucky beings have no idea how much happiness the taste of food in the mouth evokes."


    "We have arrived at the agricultural research bureau." Cedric announced. "Should we disembark?"


    "I am still busy, we can wait for a while." Esong answered.


    Busy!!!!! his friends looked at one another and then at Esong. When did watching a live broadcast qualify as a busy activity?


    "Esong, I am really worried about you now. I think we should go to a hospital to get your brain checked out."


    "Shut up." Esong repliedzily.


    On the screen, Scarlet ced down the fork and removed everything to do with chicken. She brought over a five pound chunk of beef and ced it on a wooden chopping board.


    "This is the beef that I am going to turn into a grilled steak. For this steak, I am using only the nk which is part of the abdomen.So we can call it a nk steak.


    Because of muscle fiber, I have to cut this perpendicrly like this. The ingredients avable for use in my kitchen today are newly experimental products like soy sauce, ginger, chilli garlic sauce, oil and some brown sugar. All of the ingredients to make these thingse from the Blue forest. I showed you what garlic looked likest time so I will not exin the ingredients in detail.Now about the meat, the beef must be soaked in the vors first to marinate."


    [What is marinate?]


    [Exin marinate?]


    [When are you putting all these ingredients up for sell?]


    [I am a representative of the best mutant beast hunters guild in the empire. We are requesting for a license to hunt in your blue forest.]


    What I have discovered so far through experiments is that it''s best to marinate overnight twelve hours at least. This has only marinated for one hour.


    Those of you who are wondering what marinating is, it simply meansbining all ingredients in one bag or tightly locked dish and leaving this in a refrigerator for a specific period of time.


    When it''s taken out of the refrigerator just like this, we take it out of the marinade and ce it on a te. I ced mine on a chopping board.Don''t be like me, do the right thing."


    She joked andughed.


    "We add some sea salt and fresh pepper then the beef goes on a grill with high heat. Grill the steak for five minutes if it''s on high heat. You can do six to nine minutes if it''s medium heat. This five pound steak can ideally feed six or nine people depending on the size of the cuts."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The steak was soon ready, and she ced it on a te for tasting.


    "Have you all turned on your sensors because I am about to take the first bite of steak."


    [Ready.]


    [Hurry up.]


    [I see Severus the nasty dog moving into a lunging position. Hurry up before he steals the steak.]


    [I hope I don''t bite my tongue again.]


    She cut a small piece and chewed it ravishingly. The viewers in her live broadcast melted under the sweet taste of meat for the first time in their lives.


    [Please keep eating.]


    [The high quality shakes we have been drinking are garbagepared to real food,]


    [Keep eating mutated beasts and you will be poisoned.]


    [I will happily die on a mountain called meat.]


    [Call me meat, it''s my new name.]


    She ate half of the steak before stopping because Severus''s growls were getting louder.


    "Okay that''s all for cooking today. Before I say goodbye, I will address some of your questions and make some announcements.


    Those of you who are asking when the online shop will be opened, it will be up and running within one hour. As you know, I had to get a trading license before selling products in the interster. The license arrived one hour ago and preparations are underway to open the shop.


    Those who are requesting for licenses to hunt in the Blue forest I will consider it but most likely my answer will be negative because the Blue star needs it''s resources to develop so if you pige it and leave it dry then what do I tell the people I govern?


    One individual has asked me if I am epting immigrants on the Blue star. My answer is yes but it will start next month. We have rules to put in ce before allowing immigrants. The blue star is not as big as the Sun star or the Green star but it''s still arge and the current poption is sadly too small to fasten development so if you are willing to move here we will wee you.


    Thepanies which are trying to get me to move my live broadcast to their websites, please send your representatives to the blue star for negotiations. Keep in mind that anything less than an A level contract will not be considered. Some of you may think that I am magnifying my worth but keep in mind that I am a governor of a, I am a general''s wife, I am a chef with millions of followers and I am a trend setter.


    Bejeweled''s fans who are telling me to go and die because I said their pick me queen has a head that is full of shit , I am too tired to respond to you. I don''t even see you.


    Lastly, I will be picking thirty lucky winners who will receive one steak meal.


    Thank you for tuning in today, Scarlet out. "

 Chapter 37 Old McDonald

    ?She closed the live broadcast and grilled all of the steak that she had promised to prepare for Severus.


    When the hound was satisfied, it curled up in a corner of the kitchen and fell asleep. It''s small tummy was as round as a ball.


    "Sister, your pet is a glutton." Feymented. She had just watched Severus demolish a mountain of meat without stopping to breathe. Fey had seen anything eat like that in her entire life.


    "You are right Fey, it is a glutton." she replied.


    "Sister can I get a pet too?" she asked softly.Her gray eyes looked so hopeful and Scarlet pinched her cheek.


    "Maybe one that doesn''t eat so much. When we go back into the forest, I will try and find you one."


    Fey rushed to Scarlet and she hugged her. "I love you sister Scarlet."


    She did not get to reply to Fey''s deration of love because her son came running into the kitchen and he too threw himself on her.


    "Mummy, I love you too mummy." Justin dered.


    "Hehe, are you twopeting for my love now?" she asked lightly as a joke.


    "I love you more mummy." Justin dered.


    She patted his head and gave him a te of the small pieces of meat that she had chopped up and set aside for him. "Eat that while watching television, mummy is busy right now."


    Justin took the small te and he proceeded to tell her, "I am busy too mummy, I am supervising the seedlings. Grandpa said that if I sing to them they will grow faster. Mummy do you know which song makes seedlings grow faster?"


    Scarlet thought back to her memories on earth and the songs they used to sing in primary school. The easiest song she could recall was Old McDonald had a farm. That song however was not rted to the growth of seeds. It did not matter anyway, if Justin wanted her to sing a farm rted song, she would sing.


    He was working hard to oversee the growth of the seedlings.


    "In that case, mummy is going to sing a song while she packs the deliveries for the lucky winners."


    Her mother came waddling into the kitchen, "I am here to help too."


    As they packed the meat into disposable containers which she bought cheaply on star, she started singing.


    "Old MacDonald had a farm....."


    "Justin you must say Ee I ee I o after every line I sing."


    Justin nodded his head and she continued singing with him repeating his part perfectly.


    "With a moo moo here..."


    "Mother, the animals that the hunters found today make that sound." Justin cut into her singing and he informed her about the mooing of the cattle.


    "Excellent," she praised him.


    He had a very proud look on his face as if he was the only person on the to discover the sound made by a cow or a bull.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In ten minutes, the delivery drones arrived and carried all the thirty packages away. Just like before, Silver wolf had the biggest package. It contained chicken, beef and juice.


    "You are really ying favoritism." her mothermented.


    "Mother, I told you that I must hook this big fish right now. If Silver wolf runs away, I will incur a heart break. Since you are here, I am going to bring some of the spices and oil that teacher left with me and we sell them in the online shop."


    "Are you sure that you should be selling your teacher''s things?" Mega Su looked very unsure of her daughter''s actions. What if the teacher returned and demanded for payment.


    "Teacher told me to use these things to make a better life for us all. If I leave them to sit and waste away, he will disapprove."


    "Where do you even keep these things?" Mega asked curiously.


    Everyday her daughter came out of her bedroom with foods, spices, clothes and shoes which were unique. When she went in there to clean up today she could not see a single thing and this peaked her curiosity.


    "Teacher gave me a storage bracelet that he personally crafted." Scarlet answered.


    She had done research because she expected this question toe up one day and she needed to have the perfect answer. Storage bracelets were like the ones they used tomunicate and ess the inte but these ones had a storage space which could store items like the storage pods.


    Storage bracelets required thousands of high energy stones to function and retain stability which is why they were notmon. The mostmon ones could store only three items maximum.


    The real storage bracelets that everyone desired stored up to thousands of goods and they were only essible to the royal family, top level mecha warriors and extremely wealthy nobles.


    Mega Su gasped and Scarlet knew that she had picked the right answer.


    "Was your teacher a mecha craftsman?" Mega asked Scarlet. "My daughter, you really found an energy stone mine. What I mean is that your teacher was the equivalent of an energy stone mine.


    Mecha crating is the most prestigious job in the empire. The craftsmen go hand in hand with the warriors. because the quality of the mecha and the skills of the warrior decide the oue of the battle.


    No wonder your teacher is so mysterious, someone that can craft a mecha is no joke. Wait till your father hears this, he will die of envy."


    Seeing that her fib had worked perfectly, she stood up to leave. "Mother, I will bring the spices and oils now."


    "Okay, hurry back."


    She went to her bedroom and from her space, she took out salt, pepper, cooking oil, tomato sauce and chilli sauce. She had nted tomatoes and chilli peppers so she could sell some of this stuff without worry.


    Ever sinceshe redirected some of her soul power to her mind her mental strength had improved. She was probably at level F but it was good enough to help her removed all thebels from the bottles with speed.


    She was sweating immensely when she was finished and she had a five minute bath.


    "I need to find someone to remove all thesebels for me." she said to herself. Eventually she returned to the kitchen where her mother was sorting out the bottles in which the spices would go from the smallest size to thergest.


    These too had been ordered for on star and delivered yesterday.Scarlet dumped some of the items she had lugged all the way from her bathroom.


    "Should we begin?" Mega asked her.


    Just like that, an online shop called Ancient world opened.

 Chapter 38 You Have Been Eating Well

    ?Outside of the Agricultural researchbureau in the private parking area, a package was delivered which Esong personally picked up.


    While he was doing this, two people inside of the bureau were peeping down at the space ship through the transparent windows. These two were older men and both of them were senior researchers in the bureau. When they were told that General Esong wasing because he had some business with them at the bureau, they anxiously waited for him toe in but the space ship parked and that was it.


    "He has been here for over one hour but he is noting in, I don''t get it." one of the men said.


    "What do you suppose he wants?" the other one man asked.


    "To watch us sweat Bell, what else could it be?"


    The man whose name was Bell looked at his colleague and he said, "I don''t think so Oak, Esong Wu has better things to do with his time thane to the bureau to watch us sweat. Maybe he discovered a new species somewhere and he wants us to look at it."


    "Unless it''s rted to his wife, news circting everywhere is that she has discovered food in the Blue forest. We have been growing nts and trees for a hundred years with barely and progress.


    The things we grow either dry up or rot. he must be here regarding this."


    "Doesn''t he hate his wife?'' Bell asked.


    Oak snorted and replied, "Who knows what happens between a man and a woman behind closed doors? Esong Wu has nevere out to validate the rumor that he hates his wife."


    "He has note out to clear them up either." Bell retorted. "Look, we have seen hime out and pick up a package so we have confirmed that he is here on ground. We should get back to work, he wille in when he is ready."


    Reluctantly, Oak left the window and he walked back tob with Bell.


    Meanwhile, in the space ship Esong who had no idea that he had made the two researchers nervous was unboxing his package slowly. This time round, before studying the food container, he made sure that he took out everything from the package.


    He even shook the box to make sure that nothing was left inside the box.


    His four friends came closer and gathered around him curiously.


    "No wonder you give her gifts, brother, you have been feeding well." Folsom wrapped his arm around Esong''s shoulder.


    "Esong, how could you keep this big secret from us?" Ian asked.


    "Her live broadcast is public, which secret did I keep from any of you?" Esong replied.


    There was a small sneaky smile on his face because there was a handwritten note on top of the food container.


    "Thank you for your patronage." it read.


    "Hmmm." he mumbled.


    Then he opened the food containers, one at a time. One had two pieces of chicken and a colew sd. Two other containers were packed full of beef chopped into smaller pieces. All of the meals were still hot and beautifully golden brown.The two bottles of juice had different colors, one orange and one red.


    "Wow, she prepared a feast for you brother, It''s almost as if she knows that she is sending this to her husband." Folsommented.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He tried to steal a piece of meat but as if Esong had eyes in the back of his head, he caught Folsom''s hand.


    "Dammit!!!!" Folsom cursed.


    "Better luck next time." Cedric patted Folsom''s back and he too attempted to steal. He was aiming for a piece of chicken.


    Just like Folsom was stopped, Cedric too was stopped.


    Folsom decided to try another strategy. He looked pitifully at Esong and said, "Brother, after everything that we have been through, we should be able to share everything."


    Esong saw how eager they all were looking at him. He relented because this was too much food and he did not know whether it could be stored and eatenter.


    "Next time, get your own damn food." Esong growled.


    Then he gave them one container of meat and two pieces of chicken. "Share that."


    Cedric hurried to take away the food and he tapped Esong on the back. "Esong you are the best." he said.


    ''Yeah brother, you are the best." Ian concurred.


    On the other hand Folsom opened his mouth and said, "What about that colored drink?"


    Esong red at Folsom until he backed away. With some peace, he used the little stic fork in the packaging to take the first bite of meat. It was tender and juicy, there was some spiciness added to it and it evoked these feelings of happiness from him.


    While he was getting lost in the sweet taste of the meat, Folsom was screaming,


    "This is amazing, how did that woman discover such an amazing thing? Esong, how long have you known about this?"


    The three men ate like starving vultures and the little food Esong gave them was quickly depleted. Their eyes turned to Esong. They were like predators and the little containers in Esong''s hands were prey.


    "The three of you should go and scout the area ahead. I am ready for that meeting with the two researchers."


    Esong''s aim was to get the three men out of the space ship. After tasting the meat, he was unwilling to share and he thought that even this little meat would not be enough.


    "He-he, Esong, you can''t do this to us." Folsom replied confidently.


    "If you don''t move you will be on the first space ship to the Red as miners tomorrow. Even you Folsom, I was given authority over your cement."


    The three men observed Esong''s face for clues. It was always difficult to determine whether he was serious or joking sometimes.


    Esong looked at his most trusted men and he said, "This meeting is to secure seeds for Scarlet. I want to strike a deal with her to save a specific portion of her food for the mecha warriors. If you don''t want to enjoy the sweet taste of food again, keep dawdling."

 Chapter 39 The New City

    ?Back on the Blue star, about one kilometer away from theirfamily''s scrappy house. A team which was being led by Beord to put up a quick shelter for the many animals which were clearly unnned for.Scarlet had asked them to create a space foe three times as many animals just in case they found more of themter.


    Scarlet too was outside, walking with her father, two mappers and another team of builders.


    The further they walked, the more exhausted she felt. Scarlet made up her mind to use one of the bicycles in her storage space or the motorcycles.


    Aside from the Blue forest, the bitter waterke and a veryrge ocean which her father told her could be seen from the highernds, there was nothing much else to see on this deste.


    This was like taking a sight seeing tour in the desert under the hot blistering sun with no end in sight. Every once in a while the wind would blow by and some dust would rise and stick to her jeans and hands. It made Scarlet wish that rain would fall right at this moment.


    There was nock of bones, human and animal in this destend. It was quite a wonder to see that there were no vultures here. In the early months of the zombie apocalypse on earth the vultures were everywhere, feasting on bodies and guts until they died out slowly at a time as a resulting of eating poisonous flesh. Humans too turned around to prey on vultures when they run of food. Those were desperate days.


    Then again, Scarlet thought to herself, vultures followed flesh not dry bones.


    asionally, she came across random wandering souls which were easily sucked into the soul gourd with no struggle. Eventually, the exhaustion got to her and she felt as though she could not progress any further. This body really needed some fine tuning.


    "Dad, how much further do we have to go?"


    "Are you exhausted?" he looked at her worriedly.


    "Yes." she admitted.


    "Should we get into a mecha?"


    "No." she said very loudly.


    Walking was better than taking than horrendous mecha.


    Dorian suddenly stopped walking and he looked at her. Then bent down, exposing his back to her.


    "Hop on, I will carry you for the rest of journey."


    Scarlet was shocked and slightly embarrassed. "I am a grown woman dad, how can you carry me at my age?"


    Dorian answered, "You are my twenty eight year old daughter. In my eyes, you will forever be the little five year old girl that I carried around on my back when we went to watch the mecha fighters challenge. Now hop on or I will carry you forcefully."


    One of the mappers snickered and Scarlet felt even more embarrassed. She was the governor of the, this was embarrassing. She needed to save her dignity.


    "We are just ten minutes away from the site, I can hang on. You can carry me back." she lied to him.


    With so much determination in her eyes, she refused to climb onto his back.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Fine," Dorian said, "Take some water first."


    He too would not be moved and he insisted on watching her take half a bottle of water before they continued moving when he was satisfied.


    Ten minutester, they arrived at the site of what would be the new city. It was going to be the first developed city with offices, houses, good roads and other facilities.


    Every time she closed her eyes., she could picture it.


    She was standing on higher ground in an area that was backed by two high mountains with a dry valley between. The mountains were bare, there was nothing beautiful about them. Perhaps a little snow would have given the mountains a beautiful look but right now they were just tall, in and ugly.


    "The mountains will providesecurity for us. We can set up bases and secret passages in there. There is no name for the mountains so we call them twin peaks. The first one is sharper at the top like an arrow so we call it Ice peak and the second one is t topped so we call it t peak."


    "The second one is ideal for rock climbing activities." Scarlet said.


    She had never personally engaged in the activity but she watched a few live broadcasts of outdoor anchors who climbed mountains, hunted in the woods and frolicked in water bodies for money.


    She always found them to be incredibly courageous but she was too much of a coward to attempt those activities. It was not until the zombie apocalypse that she learned how to fight, block chi points and hunt. There was no room for cowardice in the apocalypse it was eat or be eaten.


    "Look at the view from over here," her father called from higher ground. "You can see actually see another water body. The only time I was here I did not appreciate the view but now that we are building the city here, I see it in an entirely different aspect."


    "I see it too." she replied.It was notrge enough to be ake, it looked more like a river to her.


    They could build around it like one of those cities in Rome with water canals. How many times had she nned to take a trip to that city but she never made it. Those old cities were hauntingly beautiful. Now that she had a chance, she would recreate every city from earth that she ever found beautiful.


    "What do you think?" her father asked her.


    It felt good to see her father deferring to her for opinions. He did not just take charge of everything because he was older than her or her parent. He actually respected her position as governor of the Blue star.


    The mappers ced therge maps which they had been carrying on their backs on the ground.


    Dorian started pointing to different areas for Scarlet, "We will start by building skyscrapers here, here, and here. The governor''s mansion which will be your abode will go here in the middle."


    "No," she disagreed. "I think we should build the house of ministers here in the middle. I want to live in a castle. I like this ce, from here I can look down on the entire city."


    "But governors and royalty live in the middle of the capital city, that''s how it''s done." her father exined.


    Scarlet still persisted, "We are not royalty father."

 Chapter 40 Esong Is Coming

    ?Dorian Su looked unsure over his daughter''s housing preferences. Even the nobles in the capital city were desperate to live in the center. It was usually the most developed, most beautiful and most protected area. Why did his daughter think otherwise?


    "Are you steadfast in this decision?" he asked her.


    "Yes father." she replied.


    Dorian sighed and said, "In that case, the rest of the important buildings will be brought closer to you."


    Again, Scarlet disagreed. "It''s not necessary father, my n is to turn the entire Blue star into a world others are desperate to visit because of it''s beauty and unique features. I want every city to have it''s unique features.


    In the cities we should have districts with each district having a reason for people to settle down there or simply tour. If all important buildings are moved here then someone who would pay money in many different areas of the will only pay money here in this one city, see everything in a day or two and then leave. Economically, that would not be a wise decision."


    Dorian looked at his daughter and then he looked at the maps. She seemed to have more money making and development schemes in her head than he did. Allowing her to take lead in this was the better choice.


    "So what do you want to do?" he asked her.


    "I want to build a governor''s castle instead of a mansion. It must have the outer ring and the inner ring. I will live in the inner ring while the outer ring will house castle servants quarters, stables, gardens and other tourism areas.


    It should also have some rooms for those who wish to experience a night in the castle.


    It should have bath houses like the ancient Roman ones...."


    "My dear daughter, you are going to have to show me a picture of this castle and exin what an ancient Roman bath house is because neither I nor any of these men know what that is. The good thing is that whatever you want constructed, I am positive that in two months it will be finished."


    Scarlet had already prepared pictures of castles which she plucked out of a book. that was in her storage space. Two of the pictures were from children''s animated books. The best and most detailed picture she had was of a castle in Spain.


    "Why are they all pointy shaped?" her father asked.


    "I don''t know, teacher did not exin that reason." she answered.


    "What kind of building materials did they use and why is this one so colorful and childish?" he asked her questions about each castle.


    The other builders had also gathered around and all of them were fascinated by the images. These were not structures any of them had ever seen.


    "Dad, the opposite end of the hignd should house a temple." she suggested.


    "What is a temple?" Dorian asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    While all this nning was going on, in a private three hundred level sky scrapper that was owned by the Carlzon family, two young men were on their knees in front of an older man. The older man had ckish grey hair and he was dressed in green armor. He was the current Duke Carlzon and the young men on their knees in front of him were his sons Tion and Fion.


    He could have been color coordinating because the seat he upied was simrly green in color to the shiny armor he adorned. In his hands was a sparkly ss with a red liquid which he was twirling around. There was a look of disappointment on his face as he looked down at the two young men.


    "Do you know how humiliating it will be when other nobles hear that two of my sons have chosen to move to the Blue star? I can understand Fion wanting to move there because all he does is wonder from one to the next but you Tion, I always assumed that you were wiser than your foolish brother."


    "I am sorry to disappoint you father." Tion replied.


    "Why do you want to leave?" Duke Carlzon addressed only Tion. He cared little about where Fion went.


    Tion looked at him and answered, "I was injured in the battle against the Luna Federation ten years ago. My mental strength has permanently regressed to a point where I can no longer operate a mecha.


    Everyone in this family knows this and that''s why I have been facing humiliations and mockerytely. I do not wish to stay in this ce anymore, I need to go before the darkness takes control of me."


    "Real men ovee such petty weaknesses, I never raised you to be a weakling." Duke Carlzon told Tion. "Both of you, leave my presence." he dismissed his sons.


    Tion and Fion bowed before leaving, "Be well father." Tion said.


    With very little luggage on their backs, the two brothers and their families ignored the scorning looks in the eyes of some members of theirrge extended family, they got into a space ship and left without looking back.


    Also leaving the Sun star and heading to the Blue star at that very moment was another space ship which was carrying two very excited agricultural researchers Otis and Bell. With them was Cedric, Ian , Folsom, Dez and leading the crew was none other than Esong Wu.


    Ast minute addition to this group was Markay Wu who wasing for the food and nothing but the food. Markay was sitting close to Esong and both of them were engaged in a game of chess.


    "Does she know that you areing brother?" Markay asked Esong.


    "Do I have to report my movements to her, the was gifted to both of us. I have as much ownership over it as she does." Esong answered.


    Markay looked at Esong and he smiled mischievously, "Maybe you should settle this age long debate for me. Do you hate your wife or not because from where I am standing you are trying to help her. That tells me you do not hate her."


    Esong smiled mysteriously and he refused to reply. Instead, he sent a message to Scarlet.


    "I aming."

 Chapter 41 Esong Is Here

    ?


    They were just wrapping up going over building ns when Scarlet received the message from Esong that he wasing.


    "I aming." it simply read. Three simple words and yet to her they sounded like the firing of a bullet. Why was heing? What did he want? What if he tried to take Justin away from her?


    In a panic, she told Dorian, "Dad, we have to go back right now."


    "Why, has something happened at home?"


    "Justin''s father has sent a message saying that he ising and I don''t know why. I need to find my son and keep him close just in case."


    Dorian knew that Esong''s mother had once threatened to take Justin away from Scarlet. If that family was not afraid of scandals, they probably would have done so already.


    And Esong did not like his daughter or his family moreover, it would be better for them to be present when he arrived.


    He gave authority to the leader of the building team tomence work and break ground on the foundation of the castle and two sky scrappers. He did not even request for Scarlet''s permission this time before lifting her up and forcefully bringing her into the mecha she hated. Swiftly, they headed back home.


    A journey of two and a half hours was covered in thirty minutes at maximum speed. Scarlet was retching like a pregnant woman when they arrived and she had to drink some crystal water to calm her stomach down.


    "Why are you back so soon?" Mega asked them. They were supposed to spend the rest of the day at the building site and returnte in the evening. In fact, if they had those high energymps construction could be done during the day and night with the builders taking shifts.


    "Esong Wu ising." Scarlet answered after gurgling warm water and spitting it into a sink.


    "Your husband ising!!!!" Mega Su screeched. "Why?"


    Scarlet shook her head because she had no idea. She was just as clueless as her mother was.


    "Is his familying along?" Mega asked.


    "I have no idea, I just need to find Justin right now and tie him to myself as if he is an extension of my body."


    "You can''t keep the boy away from his father." Adler said.


    Scarlet did not even know where he came from but he looking at her with disapproval in his face.


    "I don''t know what his intentions are. I am simply protecting my son." she replied stubbornly.


    "Then wait before you judge. Esong''s family may be afraid of a scandal but he is not. If he wanted full custody of Justin he would have petitioned the tribunal already and given how jaded your past is, he would have won the case.


    I am sure that the GBCS informed him about the abuse. He could be here to physically verify that Justin is in good shape." Adler exined. "My advise is that you prepare some food for him and try to be as cordial as possible for your sake and Justin''s."


    Scarlet stomped her foot childishly and she replied, "I will not give him my food."


    Adler was exasperated slightly at his sister''s irrational behavior in his point of view. "I thought you were maturing Scarlet. In case you have forgotten, you offended Esong Wu, it''s not the other way round. He can still chose to press charges against you for drugging him illegally."


    "And defiling his body." Carolyn added. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I didn''t defile him." she mumbled with a red face that was a sure sign of embarrassment and guilt.


    "Your four year old son begs to differ." Adler retorted.


    Scarlet stomped her foot once again and she huffed.


    "If I were you, I would kill Esong Wu with so much kindness." Adler added.


    All eyes were on Scarlet, most of them were waiting for her to decide what she would do. She could feel their curious eyes prating the small shield of self preservation that she had up. She was not the shameless Scarlet of old and she would rather not face the man she had offended.


    Scarlet had humiliated herself so much in front of Esong and in front of the empire for Esong. Knowing that he was out there was one thing but facing him physically was another.


    She was not ready for this moment at all.


    "It''s so weird seeing you be so conflicted about Esong Wu''s visit when back then you would be in your bathroom beautifying yourself to impress him with your looks." Carolyn suddenly said.


    "Well, that was then and this is now." she replied.


    "It doesn''t change the fact that he is your husband. You chose to marry him Scarlet, you practically ckmailed him into bing his wife. There is no such thing as divorce in the royal family.


    You have to live with your choices even though you made them in a moment of illness. Don''t be afraid though, we are all rallying behind you. " Adler assured her whole heartedly. "If he is here with negative intentions, I will fight him."


    "Me too, I will fight him." Gregor added in his small voice.


    It looked like the entire family had gathered here because of Esong Wu''s unnned visit.


    "I will help in the kitchen." Fey raised her hand.


    "I..I..." Mega Su started to say and then she surprised them by crying.


    Carolyn wiped her mother''s tears away but they just kepting. "I can''t believe that you are still going through this crying phase. Why didn''t you use an artificial incubator if you wanted one more child."


    "It''s simply unnatural." Mega replied as she sniveled and tried to hold herself together.


    Child birth in the Sun star empire could be done naturally or artificially. Only five percent of the women in this interster era chose to carry a pregnancy to full term. Most of them chose the artificial incubators to avoid the stress involved with natural pregnancies. At the end of the day, there was no difference in the child that was grown in a natural womb and an artificial one after all.


    To some women like Mega though, there was a difference so they endured all the difort that came with a natural pregnancy and the pain which came with child birth,


    Despite the distraction of a weepy Mega, the men of the family kept their eyes on Scarlet. "Have you made up your mind Scarlet?" Adler asked her.


    He knew that she could strong willed a lot of the time. He needed to make sure that she was on board with the ''all smiles all the time'' n during the duration of Esong''s visit.


    Dorian Su looked up at the sky and he said, "Time is up, Esong Wu''s space ship hasnded."

 Chapter 42 Warp Speed.

    ?


    Her father''s sudden announcement of Esong''s presence was like the sudden striking of lightning so close to her.


    For some reason, it brought a lot of unexpected panic to her. She thought she had hours to decide on how she wouldfortably handle his presence.


    "How can he get here so fast?" she wailed. She looked at the sky above to see what her father had seen but she could not find a single silhouette or trace of any space ship.


    "His space ship has warping capabilities." her father answered.


    "This is not a star wars movie, why is he warping?" she wailed again. She looked as though she would break down in tears at any moment. She had forgotten that nobody in this room had ever seen star wars before. They did not even understand a single thing that she said.


    They were looking at her as though she was losing her sanity.


    "Why do you look frightened?" Carolyn pushed Scarlet''s hair behind her ears and she asked her. "I thought you would be happy."


    Scarlet looked at Carolyn and she replied tearfully, "Big sis, you will not understand my conundrum."


    "Sister, you were brave enough to enter the Blue forest alone, you can conquer your fear of Esong Wu." Fey''s shy soft ever supportive voice added itself to the mix.


    "Right." Scarlet said. Fey had a point, she was no coward, she was a grim reaper that arrested souls of the dead. She had even captured a soul eater.


    How could Esong Wu be more scary than the old deity for example. She had resolved to take care of Justin and be his mother. She had to pull herself and her family out of poverty. How could a governor be timid?


    With a new resolve she made up her mind to face him. "I am going to take a quick bath and change my outfit. I cannot face him looking like this."


    There was a bit of dirt on her face and the entire bottom part of her jeans had turned brown due to the dust. If he saw her looking dirty wouldn''t he find her disgusting? She had to face him while portraying confidence, beauty and intelligence. He needed to see that she was not the old Scarlet, she was a better version.


    Version 2.0 because version 1 was dead and gone.


    "That''s the spirit." Dorian Su was relieved.


    "Sister Carolyn, send Justin to my room. I will give him a bath and dress him up nicely."


    "Do you need help with your hair?" her mother asked.


    "No." she replied.


    "What can we do then?" her mother asked.


    "Help me peel the potatoes in those boxes in the kitchen and chop some vegetables. When he arrives just bring him into the house and give him some refreshments. There is ready juice in the cold storage, I prepared it yesterday."


    "He is one minute out, we need to go and wee him." her father tapped Adler on the shoulder.


    When they were gone, Mega Su sighed as she looked in the direction of their sitting room. The old furniture stood out like a sore thumb.


    "I feel ¡­." she said but then she stopped.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sister, do we have any way of covering the old furniture? Mother must be worried about our family''s reputation."


    "Do we still have a reputation to save?" Elroy asked sarcastically.


    Mega Su pped Elroy on the butt. "How can you say that? This is your sister''s husband, we have to make your sister look good for the marriage to work. It''s hard enough knowing that our family does not equate to his but weing him to this....." she stopped and sighed.


    "I have some chairs that helped teacher make. They are soft and veryfortable, why don''t we rece the old furniture quickly?" Scarlet suggested this because she had enough furniture in her storage to furnish one hundred houses.


    Back then, people only cared about stuffing their bags with food. Things like sofas, tables, television and the like were not a priority. She had spent time disappearing all those things into her storage space.


    For once, Mega did not argue about her using her teacher''s things illegally. She weed the idea wholeheartedly.


    She took out one entire set of grey sectional sofas and two love seats. All of these had matching fluffy pillows. She also took out one coffee table that had been crafted out of marble.


    Beord carried all of this furniture one piece at a time from her room to the living room.


    For a final touch, she took out one ck soft fluffy carpet.


    Carolyn brought Justin to her as Beord was lugging the carpet out on his shoulders.


    She realized that she had been right to insist that the little boy take a bath before meeting his father because he was so dirty. He looked like he had been rolling around in a mud bath like a little piglet.


    "Yi," she said in shock, "What have you been up to you dirty little baby?" she asked as she guided Justin to the bathroom.


    Justin was all too happy to fill her in on his wonderful day.


    "I watered the fields with my friends and taught them the seedling growing song. It was so much fun, Koko slid and fell down on his bum in the field. It was so funny." he chuckled so carefreely and happily.


    "Did you say sorry to Koko when he hurt himself?" she asked.


    "Koko is a girl mummy." Justin told her and then he chuckled again.


    "Oh, mummy did not know that." she replied. "You should bring Koko over for a visit. Mummy would love to meet some of your friends."


    "Okay." he replied.


    She had taken off his clothes by this time, she asked him to close his eyes as she scrubbed the dirt out of his hair with some fruity smelling shampoo. She washed his entire body carefully with warm water.


    "Mummy this soap smells sweet." Justin said and then he stuck his little tongue out to lick the bubbles.


    She swatted him on the ass gently. "Don''t eat the soap." she said sternly. "It will make you sick."

 Chapter 43 Beauty Meets A Bigger Beauty

    ?


    After bathing Justin, she dressed him up,bed his hair and held it in a pony tail. Then she sat him down on the bed and gave him her brother''s old tablet from earth.


    It was the only personal item from home which survived the apocalypse with her. It was filled with cartoons, songs and so many animated and horror movies. She was the one that added the horror movies.


    Anytime she missed him, she would switch on the tab and watch one of these old animations. Looking at Justin''s enchanted look on the bed, she thought that maybe the tab had finally found a new owner.


    She took her own bath quickly and dressed in a white and yellow floral long sleeved sun dress. Her ck hair had been polished with hair wax. Her hair appeared to be thick and glossy.


    She wore white t slippers on her feet and a white pearly bracelet on her right hand.


    "Wow, mummy you look beautiful." Justin said happily when he saw her.


    "Really, how beautiful?" she responded.


    "Like the most beautiful mummy in the world." he answered.


    She pinched his cheek and replied, "And you are the most beautiful baby in the world."


    "Yes I am." he replied as he nodded his small head.


    Scarletughed because of how shameless Justin was. He epted herpliment without the slightest bit of hesitation. Although, she had to admit that his appearance today was superb.


    She had dressed him in a long ck denim dungaree with a red shirt, a small bow tie and white sneakers. He looked so adorable that she wanted to pepper his whole face with kisses.


    She could not hold back the gushing need to kiss his cheeks and she did so. Then she took his hand , "Let''s go and wee your father." she told him.


    Justin looked slightly hesitant.


    "You don''t want to go?" she asked.


    He nodded his head.


    "Are you afraid?" she asked gently.


    He nodded his head.


    She squatted down and looked into his eyes. "Does your father frighten you?" she asked him.


    He shook his head meaning no and she was puzzled. If he was not afraid of Esong then why was he hesitant?


    "You can tell mummy anything, I will protect you." she assured him.


    Justin''s eyes became teary and they drew out sadness in her heart. Just what is it that was frightening this four year old baby so much? Maybe it was best to leave him in here watching cartoons. It was better than forcing him to face his fears. She pulled him for a hug.


    Suddenly she heard him say, "When daddy goes away, you get mad. I don''t want you to get mad again mummy."


    His words shocked her because she did not fathom that she could be the cause of his fears. She had blocked out all of Scarlet''s past aggression towards him when she became his mother. That did not mean that Justin had done the same. Deep down, those fears were still present in his heart. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    What he meant to say was that every time Esong visited Justin Scarlet would attempt to seduce him and when she failed, she would go into a rage. She would break everything near her, scream like a ghost and call Justin ''useless''.


    She would deliberately seek him out, look at him maliciously and torment him with verbal insults. If Adler did not protect Justin, perhaps the little boy would have been killed by insane Scarlet.


    Maybe it would be for the best if she could hire a psychologist for Justin.


    "Listen to me baby," she said softly, "Do you remember that I told you mummy was sick. That was also a symptom of the sickness. Mummy is now fine and she promises that she will not be mad at all. Why don''t we do a pinky swear to make sure that mummy keeps her promise."


    "What is a pinky swear?" he asked.


    She took his pinky finger and exined, "This is your pinky finger and this is mine, we take our fingers and lock them together while making a promise. If one of us breaks the promise, we will be punished greatly. Like now, I promise not to be mad at Justin ever."


    Justin looked very doubtful because he had never heard about such a thing.


    "What kind of punishment?" he asked.


    "Uhm, if I lie, I will turn into a dog like Severus."


    "Hi-hi," Justin giggled "You can''t turn into a dog mummy."


    "Well I will if I break my promise. Will you trust me now?"


    "Okay." he answered.


    Having alleviated that crisis for now, mother and son left the bedroom and walked to the living room. It was where she was assuming that Esong was being hosted.


    Everywhere she passed, the sweet scent of her vani perfume remained. behind. A little butterfly followed the scent andnded on her shoulder without her noticing.


    She found a higher number of people than she had been expecting to see crammed into the small living room. She could easily discern the new faces in the room.


    From memory, she recognized Esong Wu. He was the one sitting dominantly in the center with all eyes on him as if he was the lord of this house. Looking at his pictures and videos was one thing but seeing him was a whole new world.


    Esong Wu could quite easily be the most handsome man she had ever seen in her two lives. His long silver hair was falling to his shoulders and it looked so unreal because it was denser and glossier than Justin''s. The pupils of his eyes were ck, too ck in her opinion. His jaw was sharp and strong as if it had been carefully carved and smoothly set.


    Why did his lips look soft!!!!!!..A general should have rough looks and maybe some scars. It was not fair for all this beauty to be monopolized by just one man. He was even more beautiful than she was!!!


    His physique was extremely eye catching for he was broad but not too broad.


    She thought that he probably had abs underneath all that armor. No wonder women in the Sun star empire hated Scarlet.


    He was looking at her and she found herself unnerved and fascinated too.


    She found herself blurting out, "If you look like this, I would love to see what your father looks like."

 Chapter 44 Captivation

    ?


    "What?" someone asked.


    To Scarlet''s dismay, a few chuckles went around in the room. More than one person had found her words funny. Not Esong Wu though, he neither smiled nor reacted.


    She assumed that he was thinking about throttling her because of her words.


    But she was dead wrong! Esong Wu was not furious at Scarlet and he never heard her words because he was smitten with her new looks. She looked extremely beautiful, modest and calm.


    Esong''s favorite ce in the world was at the side of an ocean. It was always calm, beautiful and steady. That is what she reminded him of, the ocean. At the same time, she was bright and glowing, he could onlypare her glow to one of the suns in the empire.


    When did woman change so much and what prompted this change? Did she realize that her old methods of seduction would not work so she found a new way?


    "No, get a grip of yourself, you can never allow this woman toe close to you."


    He reminded himself that he had seen more beautiful women and aside from being the mother of his son she was not special.


    He could hear the chucklesing from around him and his cousin Markay tapped him on the back.


    "You wife is very funny brother." he said.


    "Yes," he responded, "Very funny."


    He watched her touch her hair with her right hand and push it to the back of her ear.


    Such a small feminine action that she had done many times and yet today it was more captivating. The faint blush of embarrassment on her cheeks was alluring. He struggled to take his eyes away from her.


    "I am so sorry, what I meant to say was that Justin would you like to meet your father?" Scarlet said.


    She pushed him forward and sent him in Esong''s direction. While most of their eyes moved to Justin, she squeezed herself on the sofa next to Adler.


    "What did I miss?" she whispered to him?


    "He brought some people along but he has not introduced them yet." Adler told her.


    Carolyn was sitting on Adler''s other side and she whispered to them, "The cold juice is over. I think they came from a desert because they are dying of thirst."


    Scarlet chuckled as if that was so funny. When her eyes met her mother''s gaze, she stopped chuckling. Her mother was giving her a stern look that was warning her to behave.


    It was the same look that all mothers in every world and realm across all species gave their misbehaving children.


    She whispered to Adler, "Who is chairing this meeting?"


    "Our father." Adler whispered back.


    She leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes, essing the underworld forum with her mind. She went to the section of nts and sent in a question.


    "Is anyone selling sugar canes?"


    An instant reply came in, "Check Soul master 011''s shop."


    Apparently, even the underworld was capitalist because grim reapers could set up shops to sell their merchandise. The only currency epted was crystals, pure purifying water, pills, spiritual nts, rare nts and strong soul beasts.


    Almost every shop had the tag, ''No credit epted.'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She searched for Soul master O11 and checked his products. Most of them were normal nts and some spiritual nts. Almost all the nts she could recall from earth were avable here. The price differed for all the nts, and some specifically could only be purchased with high quality crystals.


    She could use three ordinary crystals to purchase three hundred sugarcanes. She put in the order immediately and three crystals vanished from her soul gourd.


    ''Your purchase has been sent to your soul gourd.''


    "Is the soul gourd some kind of storage space?" she asked herself. Weapons could be kept in there, pets could sleep in there, pills, crystals and herbs could be kept in there. It had to be a space of some sort.


    As her purchase had been sessful, she opened her eyes with a smile on her beautiful face. Looks like sugar would not be one of her challenges in this world. She would earn more crystals to purchase more of them, these three hundred were far from enough.


    Her eyes met Esong''s piercing intense gaze and she looked away.


    "Why is he staring at me like that? Even if he doesn''t like me, he should not make it so obvious. " She thought. "Where is that greedy Severus when I needed a distraction?"


    She could just pet his body and pretend without her eyes having to meet his every few seconds.


    "Severus." She called the hound.


    "What?" He repliedzily.


    "Come and sit with me." She said.


    "Too many humans, too chatty, what is that thing you said.....out, His highness Lord Severus out." He answered.


    She imagined herself rolling him up like dough and beating his ass.


    "Aren''t soul pets supposed to help soul cultivators? Why are you so difficult?"


    "I am a hound of hell not a silly pet like a double wed lizard."


    She wanted to argue some more but the guest sitting close to Esong cleared his throat and opened his mouth.


    "We are sorry for suddenly imposing ourselves on you without prior warning." He said gently.


    He was an equally handsome man, tall and on the slim side. He had these pale icy blue eyes that would unnerve you if he stared at you for too long. They held an usatory quality about them. In her mind, she recalled a zombie king who had such eyes. That zombie king wiped out thousands of humans before he was killed.


    "We are always happy to wee someone from the royal household seventh prince." Her father answered.


    She looked at him again when her father called him a prince. What could royalty be doing here? Was he here to take the back?


    "I am very d to hear you say that Baron Su. I know that we have not met before but I have heard good things about you." The seventh prince ttered Dorian Su.


    Dorianughed nervously, "Thank you seventh prince." he replied.


    Anyone in this room could easily tell this was ttery because aside from being a great family man, nothing else about Dorian Su was known. In that case, what possible good things could the seventh prince have heard.


    The seventh prince replied "Please call me Markay, we are family after all."


    Scarlet chortled, very loudly.

 Chapter 45 The Prince Of Death

    ?


    To chortle in the presence of Esong Wu and the seventh prince was not just embarrassing, it was frowned upon. The leader of those who were frowning was none other than her mother.


    In the battle of Scarlet vs proper decorum and social cues, thetter were losing.


    "Sorry, Adler''s elbow hit me in the ribs." she lied.


    "Oh," the Seventh prince replied, pretending that he was shocked. "That exins it. For a minute I was worried that you did not consider us family."


    He was speaking with a smile on his face but pale icy blue eyes were saying ''I dare you to defy me.''


    "That''s impossible." Mega came to her daughter''s rescue. "Scarlet is Esong''s wife and you are his brother so of course we are all family." She stood up and walked toward Scarlet and forced her to stand up. Then she looked at Markay and Esong and she said, "Which is why we should never allow our family to starve. We will be in the kitchen preparing dinner."


    "But I am the governor." Scarlet whispered.


    "And you will get us all beheaded with your little quips." her mother replied.


    "We could be beheaded!!" Scarlet whispered back but her voice came out as a squeal.


    "What do you think happens when you disrespect a member of the royal family in public?" her mother asked as she dragged Scarlet out of the living room by the arm.


    Mega had a tight grip on her as if Scarlet could escape at any moment.


    In the kitchen, she let her go and she lightly hit her back. "What is wrong with you?" she asked. "Are you trying to die?" she yelled at Scarlet.


    Stubbornly, Scarlet raised her hands in a ''what did I do manner?''


    "The seventh prince is known for being sweet, kind and understanding. He is also the most generous of all members of the royal house but he is also the most ruthless when you offend him.


    He is not known as the prince of death for nothing. Whatever jokes you want to make, please save them for when he is absent."


    Scarlet heard all that her mother had to say but she had a bigger question. "Why do they behead people in this day and age.? It''s so barbaric!! ''


    Even prisoners on earth were killed in more humane ways. The only things that were beheaded on earth were zombies.


    This was the interster world, they had advanced technology and she expected something different from them. Beheading was so eighteenth century.


    "Because nobody ever forgets the scene of a head falling from the neck with so much blood spurting out. It''s horrific but it serves the purpose of reminding us all to bew abiding citizens." Mega told Scarlet.


    Scarlet made a very disgusted face and Mega asked her, "Have you not seen scenes of mecha fighters in a war? I have seen creatures and humans be squashed to death like bugs beneath a mechas feet.


    I have seen them slice space pirates into two. You cannot imagine what it''s like to see blood, guts and body parts falling from the sky like rain."


    She wanted to say that she had witnessed worse scenes, like cannibalism but Scarlet had never seen such horror. So she made the disgusted face again and pretended that she wanted to vomit.


    "Let''s just prepare food for the guests. Let your father deal with them until your presence is necessary."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Why do you think they are here?"


    "If I have to guess, my answer is food. Either they want a part of the food we are growing or they want ess to the Blue forest."


    Scarlet was holding a knife in her hands and she pointed it at Mega. "I will slice anyone who dares to touch my nts."


    "Don''t point the knife at me." Mega turned Scarlet''s hand away from her face. "They will probably offer money for it." she said. "Money is a good thing, we need it to develop this and if you agree to share some food with them, we will also get the protection of the mecha warriors."


    "Do we need their protection?" Scarlet asked.


    "Of course we do. As soon as this develops, all sorts of riff raff will gather to try and somehow get a portion of it. Thosepanies which have monopolized the shake business will not stand by and idly watch as you poprize food in the empire. You will be taking money out of their pockets so they will either want to work with us or destroy us. The Luna federation will also not want to see another ruled by the Sun star growing in strength so they will try to destroy us.


    We need the protection of the royal family and the mecha warriors so my darling daughter, whatever you do, do not alienate your husband or his cousin."


    None of these things had crossed her mind before. All she considered as dangerous had been the mutated beasts. In this break down of the anger which was surrounding them her mother had not even mentioned them.


    If she was right, then this could be destroyed before it got the chance to rise.


    She made up her mind then, nting food and giving them a portion was not an issue. If they could protect this small world until it''s strength rivalled that of the Sun star, she would be contented.


    "It has to be a lot of money." she told her mother.


    "The mecha warriors are extremely wealthy." her mother responded. "Their association has shares in half of the businesses in the empire. Most of the mines in the empire belong to them too.


    Why do you think everyone''s dream is to be a mecha warrior?" her mother asked.


    "The glory." she replied.


    "The money." her mother answered.


    In Scarlet''s opinion, fame went hand in hand with money. There could not be one without the other in the case of the mecha warriors.


    She took the potatoes which had been peeled and ced them in water with some salt to boil.


    After telling her mother that she had a storage bracelet, she could now pull items out of thin airfortably. She took out rice, chicken, cream and other ingredients.


    Her mother and Fey watched on in fascination. Scarlet felt like a magician and she started pulling out even unnecessary items like bicycles, flowers, fruits and cutlery whileughing.


    "You actually have a storage bracelet." a deep male voice said.


    The small wooden toy horse in her hands fell down.

 Chapter 46 A Ridiculous Proposal.

    ?


    Scarlet preferred to fool herself for a moment. "Dad, is that you?" she asked in a hopeful voice,


    There was a small part of her that was hoping her father or even any of her brothers had just walked in and not Esong Wu.


    "No, I am not your father." he replied.


    Scarlet had to give herself a pep talk in her head. "It''s okay, you have your story straight, there is no need to panic."


    Her heart was beating fast but she put a stiff smile on her face and she spun around. She saw him standing in the entrance to the kitchen. His arms were folded against his chest and he looked ready to have a serious conversation.


    "So," she said in a voice that was as calm as she possibly manage, "What are you seeking for in the kitchen?"


    "I want to talk to you privately." he replied.


    Her mother and sister made themselves scarce without being asked.


    As soon as they left, Esong closed the door and suddenly it was just the two of them in the kitchen.


    The kitchen was not big but suddenly to Scarlet it felt as though it had shrunk ten ten times more. She was not nervous because she was in love with him, she was nervous because she was afraid that he would notice just how different she was from the old Scarlet.


    She was worried that her carefully crafted lies might not hold up in front of this man. Still, she held her ground and kept up her brave fa?ade.


    "Talk." she replied. "As long as you don''t mind me cooking while you do."


    She turned around and started rubbing spices on the chicken breasts.Her hands were shaking slightly and she had to breathe in and out as though she was meditating to remain steady.


    She could hear his steps approaching her slowly, and her breaths increased as though she was blowing air to increase a fire.


    "Stop." she spun around with the knife in her hands. "Don''te any closer, we can talk from where you are."she said loudly.


    He raised his hands up and backed away from her. There was this look of disbelief on his face. Since when did she want him to keep a distance away from her. Shouldn''t she be taking this opportunity tounch herself into his arms?


    Granted he would reject her if she did but this wishy washy behavior of hers was making him curious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I just want to talk, you don''t need to wield a weapon." He said to her.


    "Like this could do you any harm." she retorted. "We have never been on great terms Esong, you told me not to throw myself at you and I am simply respecting your wishes. Our rtionship will thrive as long as I respect the boundaries that you set."


    Esong silently chuckled, "You are respecting my wishes!!"


    "Yes." she replied. "I don''t need someone getting the wrong idea and sending word back to your mother that I am trying to seduce you again."


    They both knew how much Emory Wu hated her. If she got word that they were chummy she would be on the first flight to the Blue star to put Scarlet back in her ce. and attempt to take Justin away from her again


    "My mother does not control me." Esong replied.


    She threw the knife in her hand on the counter and it made a nking sound. "Your mother insulted me from the moment she firstid eyes on me. She tried to take my son and she painted me a whore in all of respectable society. You never once stepped in to stop her. Even if you hate me Esong I am still the mother of your child. How much do you think it hurts Justin to hear me being called names by your family?"


    He looked her with mockery in his eyes, "How could I defend you after what ¡­.."he stopped talking.He was furious with her because not even once had she genuinely apologized for her actions. All she used to say was that they should make the best of the situation and live as a true married couple. She was always undressing him with her eyes and hands whenever she saw him.


    Scarlet knew what he was referring to, it was the vile actions of the former Scarlet. These actions would always be hanging over head like a dark cloud. They were like allegations she could never escape no matter how fast she tried to outrun them.She was angry at the former Scarlet and Esong because their issues affected Justin. After what he said to her today, she wanted him to live a happy life with no scars and nightmares. This required not just her but Esong too.


    "So what should I do? Do you want me to apologize again," she answered angrily, "I am sorry." Is that enough I can apologize again, "I am sorry, I am so very sorry, I am extremely sorry. I will apologize ten thousand times if you want. I will do it on my knees if you wish." she was beating her chest as she said this.


    "You know what," she added suddenly, " if you want to bnce the scales then sleep me once."


    "What?" he asked.


    Scarlet suddenly realized what she had just said. ''Did I just say something as crazy as that....what''s wrong with my big mouth?''


    Esong had a smirk on his face as if he had always known it woulde to this and he was waiting for it. "If this is another attempt to seduce me I can assure you that it will not work."


    Scarlet rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Who said anything about seducing you? I am making an offer that will put all this to bed once and for all." Since she had already put it out there and she could not take it back, she decided to double down."I am giving you a free pass, one day or night of my life any time that you wish.After that night I never want to hear a word about how I defiled your body."

 Chapter 47 Being Short Sucked.

    ?


    When he first heard her words he thought that perhaps he could have misheard her but when she said it again, he looked into her eyes and realized that she was dead serious. "You are crazy." Esong said.


    "No, I am very sane and I regret noting to this decision a long time ago. You don''t need to give me an answer right now. Take your time and think about it, we can bargain and make concessions. Until youe to a decision, I want us to agree not to openly expose any animosity that may exist between the two of us. Ourck of a cordial rtionship is taking a toll on Justin''s psyche. I don''t need our four year old son worrying about our mental well being."


    "You are unbelievable." Esong said.


    "Yes, for our son I will be unbelievable, I will be crazy, I will be shameless and I will be every other thing that may cross your mind in the next few days. But like I said, you can take your time thinking about it. I have to cook right now so if you are interested in having a warm home cooked meal let''s talk about something lighter like the business proposal you have for me."


    She turned her back on him and resumed her cooking. To Esong this appeared exactly like a dismissal of a superior officer to a junior one. In this case he was the junior officer and she the senior.


    "Are you dismissing me?"


    "I am asking you to move on to a new subject." she answered. "Don''t you have any more requests to make of me concerning food or my space bracelet? It''s not illegal to own one you know, my teacher crafted it for me."


    He had no choice but to drop the subject which concerned their personal lives. He could not talk to himself after all. What she said about the storage bracelet also drew his attention.


    "Your teacher crafted it, was he a mecha craftsman?"


    "Yes." she replied.


    She shook the pearly bracelet on her arm. "Don''t bother asking to take a closer look, I will not let you."


    She added a little paprika and salt to the chicken breasts. Then she added two table spoons of butter into the pan and ced the chicken in. As it fried, she measured some rice and put in a rice cooker.


    "You have no mental strength." he stated.


    "That''s what you think." she replied.


    He grimaced because getting an answer out of her was like questioning themander of enemy forces. Every answer was cryptic and indirect. It was really exhausting. Had she always been like this? "So, you do have mental strength." he asked directly.


    "It''s recovering." she told him.


    She drained the water out of the potatoes and mashed them by hand and transferred them to a mixer. She turned on the mixer and added some milk. As the mixer whisked away, she added some butter.


    "I have heard of mental strength recovering after an injury but these cases are rare. You want to tell me that you are going from zero mental strength to some degree of mental strength."


    "Yes." she answered. As she exined to him how her teacher had cured her and taught her about nts and mutated beasts, she removed the chicken from the pan and ced it to the side.


    She discarded of the little butter left and chicken fat in the pan. She melted one table spoon of butter, added chopped garlic cloves, one cup of chicken broth, some heavy cream and parmesan. She squeezed juice out of a lemon and added it to the mixture. She added some thyme and chopped spinach leaves. .The chicken was added to all this and ced in an oven to bake.


    "What is all that stuff?" Esong asked her. All of the tins and containers werebeled by hand and he could not recognize any of those things except for the chicken. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Products created from nts." she answered.


    "Was that knowledge also passed to you by this mysterious teacher?"


    "My father knows where my teacher used to stay, you can ask him to show you around if you wish."


    "How did your teacher learn about edible nts and animals?" He sniffed the air after asking this question.


    She ced the mashed potatoes in a warmer to keep them warm and tasty till dinner time.


    "I don''t know, he never revealed his background to me."


    He scoffed and said, "So you followed a stranger into the forest just because. He could have been someone afflicted by the darkness or a space pirate. Even little children know not to follow strangers."


    "Yeah well, when you spend your entire life feeling ill and someone says they have the cure you jump on the option, trying is better than doing nothing. Look at me now, I am a much different woman from before. I don''t have dark thoughts, unexined sudden fits of rage, hysteria, mania , depression and panic. I am normal person and Justin finally has a normal mother."


    He took one step close to her suddenly, a second, and then a third step. Out of nowhere he increased his speed until he was standing in front of her and he suddenly ced his hand on her head.


    She was startled and for a whole minute she did nothing. She just stared up at him even though her eyes could only see his chin. It was hard enough being on the shorter side among the older siblings of the family but standing next to him made her feel like a dwarf.


    Being short was a nightmare!!!


    She ducked down away from him and stepped to the side. "What do you think you are doing? Didn''t we agree to have boundaries?"


    "What you just described sound like symptoms of the darkness." he said.


    "And you decided to touch me as what, a doctor?" she retorted.


    "I was just scanning your mind to see if you really are suffering from the darkness." he told her.


    She covered her head with both hands, "You jerk, the mind is a personal space. You cannot scan my mind without my permission. It''s a crime."


    "Under which penal code does that crime fall?" he reiterated


    As someone who had no answer because Scarlet barely paid attention in ss, her mind drew a nk and Esongughed at her.


    "Tsk, tsk, you should have paid more attention in ss."

 Chapter 48 Looking Out For Her

    ?


    She pursed her lips, extremely unhappy because he was mocking her with his voice, his eyes and his tone. Was it fun tough at someone more stupid than he was?


    "Hey," she shouted at him, "I know a lot of things that you don''t know."


    Esong chuckled again because for some reason her childishness when shouting at him was sort of adorable.


    "If youugh again you will not ever taste my food." she threatened.


    Esong raised his hands and smiled, "In that case I apologize. You are knowledgeable about many things I admit. Like these weird looking foods and the mutated beasts. In fact, I would like to request you to put together a record of all the beasts you havee into contact with, their characteristics, weaknesses and strengths. Also include which ones are edible and which ones are poisonous. The center for mutated beast studies has noticed that you are quite well learned when ites to these things and they wanted me to put in a request for them. They will pay you of course, one hundred star coins for each beast you record."


    "One hundred thousand." she made a counter offer.


    "I see that you still like money." hemented.


    The tone of his voice was neither mocking nor ttering. It was just t, like he was informing her about an observation he had made.


    "Do you know how dangerous it is to identify a deadly beast from one that is not deadly? If anyone could do it then the empire would be filled with butchers, ughter houses and pet shops at every corner. But that is not the situation because not everyone can go into dangerous areas to study mutated beasts." she had to make not only him but others the danger involved in the process of identifying the differences of mutated beasts.


    If she did not have the capabilities of a grim reaper for identifying the deadly beasts, the edible ones and the poisonous ones, she would not be anywhere near the Blue forest.


    If she allowed them to assume that it was so cheap and simple then who knows how many people would blindly fall into danger trying to be her?


    "Is it really that dangerous for you? If it is then why do it? I can provide for you and our son you do not to endanger your life." Esong told her. His brows were burrowed to make it look as if he was frowning but she was not sure. She decided to tease him a little bit.


    "Aww, are you worried about me?" she said in a childish voice.


    "I am just wondering why you make it look so easy." he answered. "But since it''s dangerous I will triple the amount of money you are asking for. It''s only fair that you demand for more."


    He actually surprised her. It appeared as though the great general was actually looking out for her.


    "How much are you going to ask for?"


    "One million per identification." he replied.


    If she knew how to whistle, she would be doing so right now.


    "What about nts? I thought the royal family would want this information first before everyone else."


    "Why else do you think Markay is here? The royal family wants to invest in the Blue star. They will offer you money for a portion of the food and what you earn when you start selling food to every star in the empire. A time is going toe when the eating habits of the citizens are revolutionized and the royal family wants to be involved right from the beginning. They also want somend, this development n of yours is intriguing. Your father has showed me some of the buildings you intend to construct, I think by the time you are done the empire will personally be tempted to move here."


    "Are you speaking on their behalf?" she asked him.


    "I am a member of the royal family Scarlet, I do not always need the emperor to sign off on what I think is good for the family. If you would prefer to speak to someone higher up on thedder then I am all too happy to get the emperor on a video call with you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The oven dinged, meaning that the lemon butter chicken was ready. The rice cooker had done the same thing two minutes ago. Because she opened the rice cooker and looked inside when it dinged, Esong presumptuously did the same thing for the oven.


    He opened it and stuck his head inside like a kid.


    "That smells wonderful." he said. "I would have loved to meet the teacher who taught you this. Do you have any idea how valuable this gift you have is?"


    She ignored his question and started cing food on the different tes.


    "I have not prepared a lot so none of you should be expecting to fill their bellies until they swell. If you are not satisfied there are porridge distribution points outside. Take a bowl and get some porridge."


    She carried two tes to deliver and he assisted her by carrying two more. All of the guests were thrilled to receive to see the steaming tes of food.


    "So this is the food that the general was talking about." Oak said. His nose was buried in his te.


    "It smells so good." Bell said.


    "I thought that the juice was the best thing in the world but I was wrong brother, there are better things." Oak said with augh.


    "It''s too bad that they have no nightmps otherwise we would go and look at the gardens right now." Bell said with a sad sigh.


    As the guests dug into the food with gusto, so did the members of the Su family.


    "Brother Adler," Folsom said jovially, "Your family is so lucky that you get to eat like this everyday."


    Members of the Su family wondered whether they should reveal the fact they had only just started eating food recently. This was their first time tasting these foods as well.


    "I think I am ready to migrate to the Blue now." Cedric said.


    Markay and Esong were the only ones in the living room who ate gracefully like the royalty they were. As for Scarlet, she ate little too quickly and excused herself.


    "She is going to sleep at this time, it''s still early." Markaymented.


    "It''s part of her treatment." Dorian told him.She goes to bed early every night and we do not wake her until she personallyes out of her bedroom in the morning. Honestly she works too hard during the day. Way more than she has to because sometimes she ends up pale, sweaty and asionally with nose bleeds."


    He was saying all this to ensure that the royal family did not attempt to force his daughter to be a full time worker growing nts and raring animals for them. The more sickly and pitiful she looked, the less they would push.


    Esong contemted on Dorian''s words, In his mind, he was fifty percent certain that if Scarlet was ill, it was the darkness. Was sleep the cure to that dreaded illness?


    By this time, Scarlet was already on her way to the underworld.

 Chapter 49 Conflict Among Reapers

    ?


    When she arrived in the underworld realm this night, she did not find Ezrah waiting for her so she straight away joined the line of grim reapers waiting to deliver their souls. She had brought thirteen souls this time round.


    She could hear a few small whispers here and there.


    "That''s her, the level one infant soul cultivator that caught a soul eater."


    "Oh my God!! she is really the reaper who jumped into the gate way of her own ord."


    "She looks young and weak."


    Scarlet ignored all of these words and looked ahead as if she could not see any of them.


    "Is that her soul pet, she chose a puppy of all creatures."


    "She received high level energy crystals. she could have chosen a griffin, a three wed dragon, the saber cat. There were so many good options."


    "Maybe that''s a two headed dog."


    "Show me the second head."


    At least these people did not recognize the hell hound or else they would create a fuss. Since Ezrah was not here she would be in and out with no disturbance.


    That''s what she thought however today was not Scarlet''s lucky day. As soon as her souls were delivered and registered, she was physically assaulted by someone. She felt this perception of danger but she had no idea where it wasing from. Before she could turn around, she was pushed down onto the ground by an energy force.


    "It''s the high level reapers." she heard someone whisper.


    With a burning fury in her eyes, she looked up and around to see her assant. All she saw was Severus who had grown to ten times his normal size holding a grim reaper down by the throat.


    Scarlet stood up and readied her soul bounding rope to fight back. In all the ces that she ever considered being attacked in her new life the underworld had never made her list. She always thought that this realm was peaceful and precise in it''s handling of things. How wrong she was!


    "What are you all doing?" a strong voice questioned them.


    She noticed a gorgeous female reaper in a red robe with waist long white hair and a thin jeweled crown with a big purple ruby on her head walking toward them. She was holding a staff in her hands, which looked like a walking stick even though she appeared to be physically fine with no sign of disability. Scarlet guessed that this staff was probably like the scythe held by other reapers. Behind her were two grim reapers also with staffs of their own. Hers glowed red at the top and theirs glowed yellow.


    As the woman in red walked, reapers stepped aside, even the high level reapers that wanted to attack her.


    When she arrived closer to Scarlet, she stopped. "Severus the thirty first, is this how your father taught you to behave?" the woman asked the hell hound.


    "My father taught me nothing Lythia. But I know he would not want me to stand by and watch as my reaper is attacked." Severus responded. "This high level scum dared to attack a low level reaper with his power. In which world does that equal an fair fight?"


    "Let him go and we can dissolve the disagreement right here and now." Lythia told Severus.


    Severus was unwilling and he pped the reaper in the face one more time with his paw before letting him go. The p must have been heavy because the reaper howled so loudly, as if he was experiencing untold pain. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You are still as obedient as ever I see." Lythia told Severus with a smile.


    Severus ignored her and he walked slowly toward Scarlet. "You are so weak." he said to her.


    She heard him directly in her mind, just as she was about to thank him for defending her. Normally she would be offended at being called weak. Her pride would be wounded and she would be seeking a painful retort. But today, after being attacked by another reaper, she willingly took in Severus''s words. Of course she was weak, she had only been cultivating her soul power for a few days. However, she was now resolved. The resolve with which she trained herself to fight, kill and survive in the zombie apocalypse would be the same resolve with which she would conquer the underworld.


    "I will work harder." she replied.


    The red robed woman Lythia looked at the leader of the the group of five high level reapers.


    "Jonas, why is one of your members attacking another reaper?" she asked with a smile on her face.


    Jonas shook his head, on his face was some frustration. "We just wanted to talk to her about the hell hound, Ulysses decided to attack her on his own."


    "Why did you want to talk about the hell hound?" Lythia asked him.


    "We fed the hound for a year, using our best resources. It turned around and escaped only to enter into a contract with a low level reaper. It''s an insult to us. He could have picked someone on our level and we would understand but her." Jonas looked at Scarlet with a disgusted look on his face as if she was waste and trash.


    Scarlet responded defensively, "He initiated the contract, I did not even know about it until the next day."


    Some people mumbled but she barely heard what they said.


    "Silence." Lythia said and all went quiet.


    "I want to challenge her to an Ummu." Ulysses said in a weak voice.


    She heard some gaspse from all around and more than a few whispers but since she did not know what Ummu meant, she was confused.


    "Say no right now." Severus said loudly to Scarlet.


    One of the reapers behind Lythia released a white looking energy that hit Ulysses who had just managed to stand up in the chest and he fell down again. howling as loudly as before.


    "You young reapers have no sense of respect." Lythiaughed, "I said silence and yet he chose not to do as I said. Jonas, your group seems to becking in discipline but I will remedy that on your behalf. For attacking a fellow reaper, causing a disturbance in the realm and forgetting the role of fate in our world, I find you five guilty. Send them all to the hall of wills, they should return to their senses in a few days.


    I am being very generous by the way, if this happens one more time I will strip you of your soul power and turn you into soul energy. We can never have too many soul crystals after all."


    A reaper standing behind Lythia opened a portal of sorts with his hands and the five reapers were sucked into it.


    They wailed as they went in and Scarlet shivered. Who was this red robed woman, why did she wield so much authority? Why were her servants strong and what was Ummu?

 Chapter 50 Exercising Together

    ?


    At around five in the morning, Esong Wu was wide awake when he heard the sound of of footsteps running a distance away. He closed his eyes and sharpened his senses, he could tell that the steps were heading into the blue forest.


    He roused himself and left his space ship without alerting the others. He along with Markay and the others that came along with him were sleeping in the space ship because there was no housing on the Blue star.


    "Good morning general." the Artificial intelligence of the space ship greeted him.


    "Good morning Jovi."


    "Should I ready the engines for departure?" Jovi the AI asked.


    "No." he responded.


    He stepped out and stretched his arms. The harsh cold early morning wind in the air did not faze him in the slightest. His eyes were focused in the direction of the footsteps and he raced over there with the speed of a cheetah chasing prey.


    In the forest, the person that was running was none other Scarlet. She had no intentions of furthering into the deeper areas of the forest because she was simply exercising. If she found something useful along the way during her run, good for her.


    She did not even realize that in the dark, there was a ring of gold around pupils of her eyes. All she knew was that as a grim reaper, she could see clearly in the dark as she did in the day.


    As she run, she caught up on underworld knowledge from the teacher Severus. Scarlet felt like a student that had gone back to school. She had to study about life in the underworld and life in the interster.


    "So Ummu refers to a fight for freedom. Whoever loses the fight has to serve as a servant for the winner for a year or give half of their collected souls to them everyday five years."


    "Yes, you can see why I told you say no. Souls are the key to strength in the underworld realm, you need every soul you can get. You are weak, if you had said yes to the fight both of us would be in big trouble. I know that arrogant reaper Ulysses will not hesitate to challenge you again. You have to keep saying no no matter how many times he taunts you or hurts your pride. Until I say that you ready to face him, focus on your training."


    "Yes teacher." she replied. "Are you still not going to tell me about Lythia?"


    "I told you all you need to know." Severus replied.


    "Yeah, yeah, she is the leader of the guardian reapers. They are the reapers that keep other reapers in line. In short, the internal affairs police officers of the underworld."


    "That''s all you need to know." he answered. "Although, guardian reapers do more than that. For example they are the little voice inside your head when you give up and try to end your life before your time is up. The deities do not like suicide, it''s like a deration that they created a defective person. They do not like that at all."


    "I thought it was guardian angels that do that." she responded.


    "You humans, everything is so ck and white with you. It''s all devils and angels, good vs evil. That''s not the way things work. Technically, grim reapers are qualified to be called angels."


    "Yeah, angels of death." she tried to make a joke out of it and expected Severus tough. He did not.


    "Someone ising, it''s your husband." he told her. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Earlier on in the day, she had bought some five ordinary cats and three puppies from a reaper on the forum. Those few animals were in her soul gourd.


    She brought them out, squatted down and then pretended as if she had just discovered them. Then she started cing them in a storage pod, one at a time. When Esong found her, she was left with only three kittens on the ground.


    She spun around when she heard his light footsteps and faked a look of shock. With her hand over her heart, she gasped.


    "It''s you." she yelped. "You scared me." she said.


    Esong was wearing an unreadable expression on his face. She did not know whether he had bought her little act or not.


    "What are you doing in these woods at this time? Do you know how dangerous it is out here?" he asked her.


    Her father said she was thest to rise from bed when the sun hade up. Why was she behaving contradictory to that information?


    "Exercising and rescuing some pitiful animals." she replied.


    She held one kitten toward his face and it ''meowed'' so pitifully.


    He pulled his head back and avoided the kitten. "It''s dark outside Scarlet, do you really think I will believe this wild tale you are spewing."


    "Why would I lie?" she asked.


    "I don''t know." he replied. "I also don''t know why a lone weak woman would be running through a forest at this time of the morning."


    She ced thest kittens in the pod and stood up, then she smiled at him. "I am not alone, I have Severus with me." she pointed at the dog with was looking at both of themzily. "I am going to continue my run, if you want you can join me or you can go back to bed."


    Without waiting for him to decide, she took off running through the woods. After running, her intention was to do some boxing before showering, having breakfast and going to work.


    Left behind like that, Esong gritted his teeth and followed her, matching her pace precisely.


    "You can run faster, I don''t mind." she told him.


    He turned his nose up a her. "I am simply here in case you run into something dangerous. I cannot allow the mother of my son to get killed just because she is foolish."


    She ignored his ''foolish''ment and concentrated on pacing herself. This body had never worked out for a single day and the pain in her calves was killing her. If she had not taken some crystal water before beginning the run she might have given up.


    "Keep going." Severus told her.

 Chapter 51 Smoothies

    ?


    When she wasing to the fortieth minute, her legs gave up and she crumbled. Esong had to help her out of the forest just as the sun wasing out.


    When they were leaving the forest, they bumped into her brother Adler and the group of young men that were part of the first Blue star military. They were just about to begin their training.


    Adler jumped away from the others and he approached them. He looked at Esong suspiciously and at Scarlet worriedly.


    "Why are youing out of the forest and why is my sister holding you like that?" He attempted to retrieve her from Esong''s arms.


    Esong spun her effortlessly to his other side, away from Adler.


    "Why do you care about how my wife is holding me?" he questioned Adler.


    Scarlet stretched her neck so that Adler could see her head. "I went out to exercise and he followed me."


    Adler frowned at his little sister who seemed to have no sense of self preservation. She was sweaty, her face was flushed and her outfit was disheveled. She was leaningzily in a mans arms. Even if this man was her husband she should be more careful about her appearance in public.


    "Wait," Adler said as if he wasing to a sudden realization. "You went out exercising alone in the woods!!!" he shouted. "Are you crazy?"


    "That''s what I said." Esong added. "Your sister has no sense of danger apparently."


    "Why didn''t you drag her out of the woods the moment youid eyes on her?" Adler asked Esong.


    "When has your sister ever taken my opinions in? Your family has raised her to do as she wishes whenever she wishes." he replied.


    Scarlet was feeling energized enough to push herself out of Esong''s arms.Standing up straight she dered, "I am neither a child nor an invalid. Both of you should stop treating me like that. I am a grown woman of sound mind and I had Severus with me."


    She huffed and walked away from the over protective men. She could understand why Adler was doing it but Esong!! Why was he behaving like that? Was it because he thought that if she was killed then it was bye bye to all of her knowledge about nts and mutant beasts identifications. It had to be it, nothing else could exin his bizarre actions.


    As she thought about this, she tied five punching bags on different parts of some low hanging branches on different thorn trees.


    "What are you doing?" Again, for the second time in the day, Esong sneaked up on her.


    "I am going to do some boxing." she replied.


    "On this puny thing." Esong hit one of the punching bags and his fist went straight through. The sand, rags, and other things it had been stuffed full of came pouring out.


    She red at him unhappily and he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at her with a guilty face.


    "Oops." he said.


    "Oops." she repeated in a questioning voice.


    "I told you that it was weak." he replied self righteously. "I am guilty of ruining it but the me is not entirely on me. What kind of punching machine is filled with soil?" he asked judgmentally.


    She rolled her eyes and replied, "One it''s not a machine, it''s a bag and two normal people box on this. Not everyone has abnormal strength like this. What kind of food did you grow up eating to possess such brutal strength?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She walked to a different punching bag took on the proper boxing stance and started punching.


    "Have you received training before?" Esong had followed her and he asked this from behind her back.


    She put her fists down and turned around to face him. "Are you stalking me or is it your aim to make me ufortable today?"


    Esong scoffed and chuckled. "Woman, a man like me does not need to stalk anyone."


    "Then why are you following me around?" she asked.


    Esong also did not know why he was following her around. He just found it interesting to be around her now. He found himself drawn to her and he could not exin it. He also wanted to observe her eyes a little more because the gold ring he had seen in her eyes earlier was fading the brighter the day became. But he would not tell her the truth and instead he said, "It''s a free, I can go anywhere I want. And in case you have forgotten I am part owner of this, your co-governor." he replied.


    "Hmph." she replied."If you will not go away them make yourself useful, hold the bag and please try not to distract me."


    Looking at his handsome face was distracting enough.


    "Breathe in and out then concentrate, ignore the distractions." Severus told her.


    She did as Severus said and for the next thirty minutes, there was nothing allowed to get in between her and the sand bag. She punched hard until her knuckles turned red.


    "Thank you." she told Esong when she was finished.


    "No time to waste, the two suns are emitting energy, now is the best time to harness it and absorb the little aura it gives off."


    She climbed up a few rocks and sat cross legged on top of thergest one and closed her eyes.


    In and out she slowly breathed, channeling the aura to her infant soul where it was absorbed into a whirlpool.She blocked everything out that she did not see the small crowd gathering or hear the whispers.


    "What is the governor doing?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Is she sleeping?"


    "That''s the smell of porridge, I should run, I don''t have time to watch the governor sleep. Our team has to start digging the path for roads today."


    Esong too was wondering what she was doing. Now more than enough after seeing her boxing stance he wanted to dig deeply into that mysterious teacher of hers.


    The crowd of on lookers stayed on until she opened her eyes, jumped up and stretched her arms.All of the soreness in her body was gone and she felt extremely good.


    "Time for smoothies." she said.

 Chapter 52 Star Tube

    ?


    For the first time in the day, she was without the shadow of Esong Wu. He chose not to follow her into the house but he joined Adler in training the soldiers. Scarlet admitted to herself that she was much morefortable when he was gone.


    In the kitchen, she released fruits like blue berries, mangoes, milk, apples and bananas from her storage. She did not have many of these because finding fresh food in the zombie apocalypse had been like finding water in the desert. It was impossible to find.


    For this reason, she could not distribute these fruits as they were since she had little in stock. She also could not use most of them for seeds and instead she had to buy the seeds from the underworld and grow them herself.


    Fey, the designated camera woman standing by and waiting for a cue to start recording. This would be Scarlet''s first tube mate video.


    "Are you ready?" Scarlet asked Fey.


    She nodded and started recording.


    "Hey guys, it''s your best chef Scarlet here. I just went for a morning run and the one thing I crave after my run is a smoothie. A smoothie is abination of fruits like this mango or banana. She named each fruit as she raised it to her audience. "I got my hands on one of these high quality shakes and I will be adding it to the mix just to see what it tastes like."


    She peeled the ripe yellow mango and put the cubes in the blender.


    "I am using a frozen banana for this recipe but fresh ones can also be used. Just always make sure that one of your fruits is frozen." She added pieces of banana, the milk and the thick high quality shake. She wanted to see if it could serve the same purpose as yoghurt because it was simr in texture to yoghurt. It mostly tasted like in yoghurt with half a spoon of sugar., there was barely any sweetness to it. She could hardly stomach the thing.


    She turned on the blender for thirty seconds and switched it off when the ingredients were creamy smooth. She poured the contents into a ss jar and ced a straw inside.


    "There you go, a sweet mango and shake smoothie."


    She made a blue berry smoothie as well and a straw berry smoothie. It was fun to look at the three ss jars each with a different vibrant color. Orange, blue and red.


    "She waved and said, "See you next time on Scarlet''s sweet treats."


    She had decided to post mostly desert and sweet recipes on star tube channel. The food recipes would stay in the live broadcasts. Star tube had already offered her a contract where she kept seventy percent of the earnings from her videos.


    Fey saved the recording and went to the living room where she could edit and then post it.


    Scarlet made more smoothies for other members of the family. Last night her mother had also chopped up some carrots that went unused when she was cooking. They had been preserved carefully and they still looked and tasted fresh so used them to bake a carrot cake quickly.


    She left the cake in the oven and had her bath, when she returned, it was ready for slicing.


    Outside, porridge was distributed to the citizens before they went off to work and inside the house members of the Su family and their guests ate carrot cake and drank smoothies. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Severus took three sses, one for each vor. He also ate two slices of cake, drank two cups of milk and ate the left over steak from the previous day before dering that he was satisfied.


    Folsom and Ian secretly joined the I hate Severus club online. It already had one hundred people who were dissatisfied about the fact that he got to eat food while they did not,


    It was time to work so, she packed some snacks in a bag for Justin to share with his friends and sent him off with Adler.


    "So, are we touring the farmnds now?" Oak asked eagerly.


    "Yes." Scarlet answered. "We have to check on the progress of the crops and we also have to see how the digging of the rice paddies is going."


    "Rice is that white grain which we atest night." Bell told Oak.


    "I know that." the other mumbled.


    "We also brought all of the seeds that we have in our bureau. Most of them were saved from the food bank which existed thousands of years ago. In order to stop them from rotting they are kept in special pods that keep them in a state of stasis. We hope to preserve them for as long as we can because they are thest hope for the empire growing edible nts ever again." Bell told Scarlet.


    "The Blue forest has some edible nts, they are not many of course. They cannot even feed the small poption here. They have to be grown on a wide scale carefully otherwise if they die out, I don''t know if we can find them again. Most of what I am doing is experimental because we don''t know what effects the soil itself will have on the nts. My worry is that there are factors that affect growth of nts like rain, the sun, the acidity of the soil and pests. You are experts and I am grateful for your presence." she answered him.


    They were moving in a group of at least ten. When they passed by, the people looked at the guests in awe. They were healthy good looking men from the capital. The clothes and armor on their bodies were clean and sparkly. Most of it looked expensive.


    Rumor had it that they hade with the great general Esong to aid the governor in growing food. Many people were excited because this was a sign that the royal family saw potential in what they were doing.


    On one of the field which was being opened, an elderly man wiped the sweat on his forehead. He had a wide gin on his face while he looked at the guests that were passing by.


    "Hey d," someone called, "Your son Rodney is walking with important people from the capital now. You must be feeling proud."


    Indeed, d was proud. The little cultivation of thend he had done had exhausted him, his back was also aching but he felt extremely joyful. They were doing important work, work that would affect the entire empire. Looking at his son that was associating with men of ss and power, heughed to himself.


    He said to the man who had mentioned that he should be feeling proud, "What''s there to feel proud about? It''s only natural that he works hard for the future of our Blue star. All of us should work hard because this is the legacy we will leave to our children."


    The man rolled his eyes. ''You think I haven''t seen you proudly grinning, keep on pretending'' he thought.

 Chapter 53 Rice Paddies

    ?


    They reached the field were the green vegetables had been nted.


    "This is where we have nted some vegetables like cabbages, onions, tomatoes, peppers and something called cucumber." Rodney introduced the specifics of the field to the guests. "Over there we nted carrots, spinach and purne and in the other field we have beans."


    Oak and Bell nodded. Bell even squatted down and observed the ground.


    "I can see little green leaves sprouting in four of the fields. Some are taller than others." Bell said.


    "Yes," Rodney nodded. "ording to the knowledge from the book the governor gave me it takes a month for most of these vegetables to grow. But there are special breeds and varieties mixed in which grow faster than others. It''s possible that in one or two weeks we might have some fully matured vegetables."


    Scarlet had personally added that information to the notes she gave Rodney on farming. She called them notes from her teacher''s observation on nt cycles. It was her way of preventing them from being shocked when nts that she grew with crystal water matured quickly or had special qualities. She could simply im that it was an unknown breed.


    "Is it possible for me to take a look at those notes?" Bell asked Rodney.


    He and Oak were looking at Rodney with greedy eyes. To them, this was the holy grail of knowledge.


    "I have to ask the governor." Rodney answered.


    "It''s not a problem." Scarlet waved the request away as something so simple. "The more knowledgeable people are about farming the better for us. Truth be told, right now we are understaffed in every way. The team which is recording changes in the nts is barely holding on because it also records what the gatherers have returned and their observations.


    They also have to record to the qualities of every newly discovered nt. It''s a lot of work for the team of five people. I will be happy if you can help them."


    "Why don''t you hire workers?" Cedric asked from the back. "The other stars are full of people looking for meaningful employment."


    He spoke as if it was the easiest problem in the world to solve.


    "I cannot afford it." Scarlet answered. "I am spending half of the little money I have paying my own citizens. she answered. "I also have to spend money hiring skilled fighters from guilds that are willing toe and protect the Blue star. Yesterday one of the gatherers was almost killed by some kind of snake beast. My people have no fighting skills or high levels of mental strength to defend themselves. Two of the gatherers quit and joined the construction team. If I can provide better security for them they will be more confident otherwise more of them are going to quit out of fear and I will have to go foraging in the Blue forest on my own once again." she sighed.


    They had no idea how much pressure she was under to bnce life in two worlds.


    "Do you have any idea how many unemployed former soldiers are living in the empire? Folsom asked her.


    "No." she answered. It had not crossed her mind.


    "Everyone sees being a mecha warrior as the fanciest job in the empire. It pays well and ites with fame for the strongest warriors. Few people think about what happens to the mecha warriors that are injured in battles. You do not see physical injuries because bodies are repaired in med beds and limbs are regrown but the mind cannot be healed by med beds. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Once your mental strength is affected and you regress, you are done. There is no cure for it, all that''s left is an empty space in your mind where your strength was and one day you wake and it''s filled with the darkness." Folsom was very grim as he told her this. "There are over thirty million soldiers living like that in the empire. No one will hire them because of the stigma associated with the darkness. Suicide rates have been increasing over the years among the mecha warriors. It''s being kept quiet but slowly by slowly, people are beginning to notice."


    Folsom''s words were like buckets of ice cold water being sshed on some of the people in this group especially Scarlet and Rodney who barely knew anything about mecha warriors.


    "That''s....." Scarlet started to say but she stopped and just shook her head.


    "Why doesn''t the empire create special...." Again she said something and she just stopped and shook her head.


    It sounded to her like most of these warriors suddenly lost their purpose and became depressed. Many people took their lives in the zombie apocalypse out of paranoia, depression and fear alone. Perhaps in this world depression was a literal void of darkness that could be felt or seen because of the telepathic abilities that came along with mental strength. It was like having an arm and one day it was ripped off and every time you looked at yourself, you would see the missing arm.


    The empire in her opinion should ce more emphasis on mental health among the mecha warriors. A little therapy could go a long way in saving lives. Top it off with jobs, entertainment and food. Maybe this would give those soldiers a new sense of purpose and fulfillment.


    "Are you willing to employ them?" Folsom asked her.


    "Well, as long as they are not a danger to the normal citizens then I don''t see a reason not to employ them. But I can only take on about one thousand for now because that''s all I can pay." she told him. Maybe she could find something in the underworld realm to help them recover. Severus did say that deities hated suicides.


    They had arrived at the fields which were going to be rice paddies in a few hours.


    "Mummy, I am here singing the rice sowing song." she heard her Justin''s cheerful little voice. She saw him and his little friends jumping around in the muddy puddles. She wondered how they got here.


    "You are nting those little white grains." Oak said in a questioning voice.


    "Yes," she nodded. "But teacher told me that rice is best grown in water logged areas. What we have done is construct canals that lead water from the river here to turn the fields into paddies. I think if this is done right, we could have rice in three months."


    Oak and Bell nodded.


    "The children look like they are having fun jumping around in the water and mud." Bell noted.


    He was looking at them with envy in his eyes. It made Scarlet wonder if anyone in the interster allowed themselves to have a little fun. All of their entertainment activities aside from music and movies were rted to fighting.


    Scarlet bent down and folded her jeans up. Then she jumped into the muddy puddle like a kid. She turned around and her eyes met Esong''s curious gaze. She had not seen him join the group. She was too happy to care about his arrival, she too had not jumped around in rice paddy in a very long time.


    "Don''t you want to join us?" she asked the men.

 Chapter 54 A Mud Fight.

    ?


    It was as if the spirit of her childhood had been reignited, she wasughing so carefreely. The men were still holding back on drynd, acting as if they were too sophisticated to engage in such childish behavior. She shrugged and kicked the water with her feet.


    "Mummye here." Justin called in his adorable voice.


    She turned her back on the men and went to join the children. Their mood matched hers perfectly and when she got there, she rolled a ball of mud and aimed it at Justin''s back. It hit him lightly and he squealed.


    The children suddenly had a brilliant idea, mud fight!!!!


    What followed next was the flinging of mud balls in every direction. Some of the workers that were standing on the sides of the trenches which were leading water to the paddies joined in on the game. Oak and Bell couldn''t take the temptation anymore and they joined in.


    Scarlet picked up Justin and she twirled him around while he screamed in joy. Just as she put him down, Severus jumped into the paddy with so much force that he sshed mud on her face.


    The children giggled because she had mud in the face. She chased after Severus and the children turned this into another game of ''who will catch the dog first?'' Luckily, Severus engaged the children by dodging their little hands, slowing down until they were close before setting off again and flinging mud at them his hind legs.


    "Mummy sing the rice sowing song." Justin urged her.


    "Yes governor Scarlet sing." the other children begged. They were nowfortable with her since she had yed with them. To them, the adult who yed with them was a good adult.


    Sheughed and asked the children, "Who wants to hear me sing?"


    All of their hands went up. There was a total of only twenty two children on the Blue star and all twenty two were here. It was as if she was she was in a little ssroom.


    She took a guitar out of her storage. Word was already out there that governor Scarlet had a storage bracelet. To the citizens of the Blue star this was not shocking. Many of them assumed that Esong Wu gave it to her. Others said it was her teacher but either way, they were not extremely shocked to see her pulling a the guitar out of thin air.


    "Do you know the words to the song?" she asked the children.


    "I know two."


    "I know some."


    Different answers came from different children. Justin had been singing a few lines from the ''Kawai Kenji Naaji no Uta'' song after watching just two episodes of Guardian of the spirit. All he cared about was that the children in the series sung ''nt the rice seeds, let them sprout.''


    She had been exhausted and she told him it was the rice sowing song. Ever since he sung ''old McDonald to the vegetable seedlings, he had recruited other children into singing for the nts.


    Today she had heard two adults singing the rhyme. She made all the children follow her out of the paddy and they sat down on the hard ground. Severusy down with his head in herps.


    "Okay, I will sing and if you know the next part sing along with me." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes." the children shouted.


    Luckily, her younger brother had been obsessed with that song for a while and she would sing it to him as she was putting him to bed. He even dressed as one of the main characters for Halloween once. Not many people knew who he was!!


    She started singing, "Kao Kao Hoi hoi...¡­"


    All the children knew that line at least. For the rest of the song, they were quiet until she got to the "Naaji Koi Koi." part.


    The rest of the guests had stopped moving when the games started so they found themselves standing to the side and enjoyed watching Scarlet singing with the children.


    "Your wife is really talented brother, I have to say that I am beginning to envy you a little bit." Markay whispered to Esong.


    Esong snorted.


    "I wonder why you hated her so much, I never met her back then and all I heard were terrible things but this is not a terrible woman. She is beautiful, hardworking and talented. Her biggest w is herck of mental strength.


    Again, Esong snorted. He did not tell his cousin that he had tried to scan her mind and he felt the fledglings of energy. She had pushed herself away from him before he could carefully understand what it was. If he head to guess, she truly was regaining her mental strength as she had vaguely said to him.


    He was feeling slightly irritated because of Markay''s words. What exactly was Markay thinking? Was he interested in this woman?


    For some reason he felt a small sense of panic and difort in his chest. He had not felt this way before. Actually, he realized that he had felt panic before when she drugged him and he could not fight back. He recalled how much he hated himself for having let his guard down andnding himself in such a situation. A sliver of anger went through his heart suddenly and he clenched his fists.


    "She is not who she appears to be." he replied.


    Scarlet appeared to have finished her singing and her enthralled audience was apuding her vigorously.


    "Mummy sing old McDonald now." Justin shouted.


    "No more singing." Esong yelled. "Don''t you all have school to attend?" he asked the children sternly.


    Watching this woman sing softly with that smile on his face was angering him. Was she doing this to seek Markay''s attention? He felt the senseless urge to take that musical instrument in her hands and smash it.


    Scarlet saw the happy smile on Justin''s face turn into a frown and she looked at Esong with fury burning in her eyes. "Why are you scaring the children?" she shouted at him just as he had done to them.


    Esong''s mind spun around as he thought about what answer would suit him best in this situation because this woman was spitting fire at him with her eyes. He found it and he touched his chest and put a solemn look on his face like a good actor. "Is it wrong of me to ask about their schooling? Some of them are as old as ten years. All of them should be in school, am I wrong? Is it so bad of me one of the empire''s generals and a member of the royal family to hope that these young clever children who are the future of our empire attend school instead of running around carefreely?" Esong replied defensively.

 Chapter 55 Their First Argument

    ?


    Scarlet opened her mouth three times and each time, she closed it because Esong was spouting bull shit and he knew it. When did children on the blue star start going to school?


    She had even requested for teachers when she was assigning jobs but no one stepped up. How could the children go to school when there were no teachers?


    She could be their teacher but she was busy and she was not the most knowledgeable individual to ask about Sunstar matters.


    "Wow, Esong Wu, did you hire teachers for these children? In fact, you have never even sent a teacher here for Justin. You are fully aware that your son is of school going age so why haven''t you hired a teacher for him?" Scarlet went all out since he had ripped the door open.


    One of the workers ushered the children away because it seemed as though an argument was about to break out between the governor and her husband.


    Esong''s mind spun around again. He had not anticipating this back firing on him.


    "He can go to school on the Sun star." he blurted.


    Cedric hurried to pinch Esong and he whispered, "Shut up shut up, shut up."


    Scarlet may have been angry in the beginning but now she was boiling with fury. "Are you trying to take my so away from me? Who is going to take care of him in the Sun star? Is this your mother''s idea?"


    Scarlet was on roll and she spun around and looked at him again. "It''s her right? Your mother put that idea in your head because it''s the only way she can legally have Justin brought to the Sun star. I am telling you right now Esong Wu that I will never allow my son to be taken away from me. You will have to kill me first in order for that to happen and even if I die, you will have to pry him from my cold stiff hands."


    "That''s disturbing." Folsom whispered.


    "I am his father, I have every right to take him to the capital if I wish. You don''t get to decide what you think his entire life should be." Esong responded equally as angry as she was.


    Scarlet groaned and she walked away from the group while stomping her feet and cursing Esong in her mind. She did not want to have this argument in front of these people. She could wait until they were alone.


    "Stupid man, idiot man, pig man." Some of her curses did not even make much sense but she was just saying anything that came to her mind.


    Watching her walk away, Markay suddenly said, "Well that was interesting. Your wife is quite feisty brother, she is packing quite a temper in her small frame. Somehow, this makes her more interesting than I thought."


    "Shut up." Esong replied.


    Bell looked at Esong and he shook his head. "You just had to mention sending her only child to the Sun star, if your fans knew how clueless their great mecha king can be when ites to women they would pity you."


    "Exactly," Oak concurred with Bell. "You have been married for what, three years and you still do not know that you cannot get in between a mother and her only child. Wait until she has had a few then you can send them anywhere you want. That''s what I did with my wife." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Happy wife, happy life." Bell said.


    "Exactly." Oak added.


    "If she does not get along with your mother then avoid getting in between that situation otherwise it will look like you are favoring one over the other." Bell advised.


    "Or just always agree with your wife, your mother will understand." Oak said.


    Esong was barely listening to them because he was analyzing his words to narrow down what exactly he had said that was wrong. In his opinion, the capital had some of the greatest schools in the gxy and all he wanted was for his son to have the best.


    Why was she holding onto him like a treasure? Boys needed to firm up and cut the attachment from their mothers. That''s what his own father taught him and he turned out just fine.


    Scarlet was thinking the opposite of what Esong was thinking. Her son was too young to venture out in the capital on his own. Who would cook for him, read him stories andfort him when he was scared.


    Emory Su would never do any of those things. In fact, she would use every opportunity she got to make Justin hate her. There was no way she was giving in on this issue.


    She sent a message to the only person who might be able to help, the social worker Mina.


    At this time, she was walking into the Blue forest with Severus running ahead of her. They were going hunting for souls because he knew where to find them.


    "You are slow, hurry up." Severusined.


    "I am moving at a perfect speed, you are the one that needs to slow down. I have to look for that snake like beast which attacked a gatherer and injured him."


    "That little lizard, I can smell him already. Use your soul energy to seek him out and your eyes if you focus them properly you will be able to find it."


    She focused her eyes so much for a minute that she felt a burn in the back of her eye balls. She had to blink twice and rub her eyes to ease the pain.


    "I don''t think I can do this much longer." she told him.


    "Direct some soul energy to the eyes, you can''t focus with your normal eyes, seek with your reaper eyes. You are not ordinary and you keep forgetting it. I think it''s because you are allowing your soul energy to sit idly. Be active in using your power in any way that you can, that''s how it will grow. Focus on your cultivation and not your petty rtionship troubles and weak energy like mental strength. A powerful reaper is a thousand times more powerful than anyone with this mind power."


    She focused and redirected her energy through her chi points the way Severus had taught her. She felt it flowing through her body like a warm wind and then she opened her eyes. They were glowing pure gold and suddenly, she could see things much clearer and much more different.

 Chapter 56 Scarlet The Hunter

    ?


    It was almost as if time had slowed down just for her. She could see the swaying of the tree branches just as the wind touched them. She could hear the chitters of the insects so clearly and when she looked down, she could see almost everything that moved.


    The crawling worms and fat mutated bags in the soil which she had never seen before were clear to her today. When she focused and looked further she could easily see ahead now. She saw a wild boar dashing through the trees and it disappeared into a cave.


    "Haha, look at what I have found." she said cheerfully.


    "Stop patting yourself on the shoulder and look for the lizard." Severus yelled at her.


    "Yes teacher." she replied reluctantly. She wanted to look for more live stock but the snake which Severus insisted on calling a lizard needed her attention urgently.


    She was sure that it was a snake because it had been described as a crawling beast. What else crawled apart from a snake?


    Slowly, she walked forward and listened for any hissing and looked for any caves or holes in the ground. She was already holding her soul binding rope in her hand in case it came for her.


    She heard a sound simr to a hissing out of a hole and she picked up a stick and poked it inside slowly. "Come out,e out little snakey." she said softly.


    She didn''t want to poke too hard and piss whatever was inside off.


    "Move on." Severus told her.


    That meant this was the wrong hole so she continued walking deeper into the woods. She heard something falling from above so she stepped back quickly and threw her rope out without ascertaining what it was.


    When she saw that it was a hairy round thing, she rxed. It looked like a coconut so heart med down.


    "It''s too soon to be relieved." Severus told her.


    She looked up with a focused gaze and she saw something purple slithering around the tree. It was silent and it barely made a sound. The slithering creature had ck eyes and scales that glittered.


    "Nice to meet you snakey." she said. She calmly waved her hand and said, "Why don''t youe down for a brief conversation?"


    There was a ck smoke around the snake and she knew it was a mutated beast immediately, not just mutated in size but also mentally. With the thickness of the ck snake she guessed that it was poisonous.


    The snake lunged before she could ready herself and she jumped out of the way. Severus had told her to use her soul energy more and she was practically leaping into the air while throwing out air punches filled with power just as she had seen other reapers do.


    The snake spat a dark liquid out of it''s mouth and once more, she jumped and darted away. The liquid fell on the ground and it simmered, turning the small surface were itnded ck. The little bit of grass and twigs were burnt. She had more information on the poison now, it was corrosive and it could not touch her skin.


    "Finish it." Severus told her.


    She fought the snake with her rope, it attacked with determination, without a fear but the minute the rope touched it head, it hissed in pain and turned around. Suddenly it was afraid of her.


    The rope wrapped itself around the tail of the snake , coiling all the way to it''s neck and she tightened it and pulled until the snake passed out.


    She was concentrating on the fight so much that she did not hear the panicked footsteps of someone approaching her.


    All she felt was her body being lifted up and she squealed. When she saw that it was Esong, she calmed down. But then she panicked again wondering if he had just seen most of what she had done. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What are you doing here? Are you following me again?" she asked him angrily.


    Esong threw her down like a piece of unwanted garbage and she hissed at him furiously. "Hey, that hurts, what kind of husband drops his wife on the ground?"


    Esong looked at her, her hair was flying free with little bits of leaves and grass but she looked wildly beautiful despite the traces of dirt on her face and clothes. She licked her lips and his eyes followed the movement of her tongue. For a second there, his thoughts went to a dangerous ce.


    Then suddenly he shook his head as if to wake himself up from a day dream. He reminded himself that he was furious at her because he had just seen her engage in a fight with a mutated beast.


    "What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted at her. "Are you nuts?" His eyes were wide and his jaw was clenched.


    He was extremely furious at her.


    "You are a mother for crying out loud and I don''t care about the little mental strength you have you are not strong enough to take a beast like this down."


    "And yet I have." she pointed at the unconscious beast. "I am not snow white and you are not my prince charming. I can handle myself perfectly well Esong."


    "Who is Snow white?" he asked her. He knew what prince charming meant because he had been referred to as the prince charming of many women in the empire. However she had also just said that he was not her prince charming.


    Was she saying that she did not find him attractive anymore? The more he thought, the more furious he became.


    "Never mind," Scarlet told him dismissively. "I have other things to do."


    She stood up and opened the storage pod to put the snake inside. She knew that the center for mutant beast studies would buy it and Esong was her connection to them but she was feeling too proud to beg at the moment.


    Her arm was suddenly grabbed by Esong and he pinned her against a tree.


    She looked at him with fury burning her eyes. First he dumped her on the ground like trash and then he grabbed her hand and forcefully pinned her against a tree and he would not let her go. Did he think that the could treat her any way that he wanted?


    This was some form of bullying, he was bullying her!! She struggled to get away from him but her pinned her against the tree with his lower body.


    "What are you doing?" she hissed at him.


    She could see his ck eyes looking at her with an unclear gaze and her heart suddenly started beating faster. What did he want?


    Esong was thinking about the number of times that Markay had praised her. He was also thinking about how she kept dismissing him as if he did not matter. Why did he not matter to her anymore? Had she fund another man to obsess over? He had this urge to hit something but instead, he found himself doing the unthinkable.


    He lifted his hand and gently ced it on her face. He could see the multiple questions in her eyes and the confusion mixed in with shyness and fear.


    "Y....you what?" she opened her mouth and stammered over her questions.


    "I think I have made a choice." he whispered softly.

 Chapter 57 More Than One Night

    ?


    Her mind whirled with countless thoughts and guesses about what choice he was talking about. Had he decided to take her up on that crazy offer which she made yesterday night?


    One that she was beginning to regret this day after seeing how unlikeable and infuriating he was.


    In her mind, she heard Severus say, "Wrap this up newbie, we have to collect souls." She had temporarily forgotten the major reason for theiring into the forest. For a small moment, she had lost track of her sensory faculty because of the way they were positioned.


    Did he even realize that with her back pinned against the tree, one of his legs in between hers with his eyes looking down into hers with that soft expression on his face and his hand gently touching her cheek they were practically reenacting a scene out of a romance movie.


    It looked as if they were about to kiss!!!!


    Suddenly she started to panic, and in a small voice she asked him, "What have you decided?"


    She gulped nervously as she waited for his answer.


    The wind blew by and a few unruly strands of her hair flew past her cheek. He touched them and tucked them behind her ear to her further shock. Most of all, Scarlet was wondering why he was not saying a word. There was much to do, maybe now was not the time to deal with whatever it was that was brewing between them.


    "Esong..."


    "I have decided." he said again. His words coincided with hers and she chose to wait and hear what he had to say. She watched as his head bent down further, and he looked directly into her eyes.


    His entire face was so close that she could feel his breath on hers. This increased the beating of her heart and the nerves inside of her twisted up into knots.


    "I will take you up on your offer," he said, "but you see I will not let you dictate how a physical rtionship between us will happen. You took a lot from me, not just my seed and that''s why I have decided that one night will not be enough to make up for what you did." He saw her eyes widen and he smirked.


    He knew that she was probably panicking now, she probably thought she would use him and dismiss him easily once again but he would not allow that to happen.


    He smiled viinously and whispered in her ear, "I want more than one night, I will take you when I want and how I want. I will decide when to end the physical rtionship. And don''t get it twisted Scarlet, I will not be making love to you, I will be fucking you."


    Scarlet squealed and clenched her jeans with her hands. Despite the weather being so hot outside, goose bumps broke out all over her arms.


    She had no idea that he would be this dominant when she made that proposal. She thought that she would be in charge of the situation but this was something elsepletely. Whatever it was, it was overwhelming her and slightly thrilling her.


    He lifted her face up by the chin, "I hope we have reached an understanding. Don''t bother bargaining, I will not be changing my mind."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He bit her cheek and chuckled, then he walked away with a swagger in his steps and he vanished among the trees.


    When he was safely away from her, he stopped moving and he walked around in circles as heughed loudly by himself. He could not get the wide eyed startled look on her face out his mind. For the first time over since hended here, he had the upper hand over Scarlet.


    He had no idea what possessed him to say those words and do what he had done but he was happy with himself. That hot ball of fury which had taken up residence in his body earlier in the day was gone. He was excited, more excited than he had been in a very long time.


    In fact, Esong thought and realized that all of his happinesstely was connected to her. He was happy when he ate the food cooked by her, he was happy when his son approached him without fear the way he used to. He was happy when he saw the little green seedlings growing out of the ground which meant that there was hope for a better future of the empire. Most of all, he was happy because after all these years since that night, he felt like he was in control of himself again thanks to this new deal that she proposed wantonly.


    As for Scarlet on her end, once again, she was alone just as she wanted to be but she found herself sliding against the tree until shended on the ground and sat down.


    In her mind, she asked herself what had just happened. Did she actually get excited because of his domineering nature? With trembling hands she touched the part of her cheek which he had just bitten.


    ''Come back to your senses Scarlet,'' she told herself. ''He said it has nothing to do with love. You cannot fall in love with this man.'' She had to remind herself that thest man she loved shot her and left her to be zombie feed. It was better to give all her love to Justin and work hard on bing wealthy so that they could live afortable life.


    Slowly, she stood up and held the tree for support. She breathed in and out for a minute before her stability returned.


    "If you are finished day dreaming, we best get a move on." Severus told her.


    "I have to get some of these coconuts." she told him. "And I have to take the sugar canes out of the soul gourd."


    She dumped a whole lot of sugar canes on the ground. Severus dashed up the trees with incredible speed and they collected around eighty coconuts.


    "You will send people for the restter." he told her.


    They moved forward and she collected ten souls easily. Severus topped moving and he suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.


    "What is it?" she asked him.


    "Level one soul eater." he told her. "This should be easy for you as you have done it before."

 Chapter 58 Another Harvest

    ?


    Scarlet almost vomited blood when he said that to her. Yes she captured a soul eater before but she had no idea how she did it and she had no idea what it was at the time or she would have turned tail and escaped as if she was the one being pursued by hounds of hell.


    Now was the time for honesty before she got the little soul energy she had cultivated sucked out of her.


    She chuckled nervously, "Ha-ha, Severus, my partner and friend, you see, there is something I have not told you."


    "That man is returning, move." Severus said sternly.


    Abruptly, she got a hup as she moved forward, the further they entered the woods, the closer they came to the cave she saw the wild boar disappearing into. Now she had two reasons to be tense, one was the soul eater and two was the boar.


    "Severus, maybe we cane back tomorrow, we should face one danger at time."


    "Do you think danger will think, ''ooh, she is a low level reaper, I will spare her today?''"


    She looked at him as he twisted his face in mockery of her.


    "Uhm, no." she replied. She reminded herself that she had made a resolve to be stronger. If she could do it once, she would be able to do twice. Why did the soul eater have to be inside the boars cave though? To make it worse, the inside of the cave was dark and slightly moist.


    She armed herself with the soul binding rope and she left the soul gourd open, then she went into the cave with her heart in her pants. She felt as if she would shit herself at any moment. Soul eaters were much more scary than zombies.


    "Oh fuck!" she said.


    She could hear more than one boar running in her direction, using her grim reaper vision, she saw three boarsing in her direction.


    "I will handle them." Severus told her.


    For one second, she was happy to hear this and just as another thought crossed her mind which made her want to ask him to wait, his loud earth shaking howl went through the cave.


    She could hear the echoes from every corner and she saw the boars fall on the ground and twist while squealing. But she was not looking for them, she was looking for the soul eater.


    It had to have heard Severus growl and prepared to flee. The howling of a hell hound was terrifying to soul eaters. Scarlet thought that it was simr to andlord knocking on your door when you did not have rent that month. All you wanted to do was escape through the nearest window ande back after thendlord was gone.


    Surely, the soul eater had to be going crazy right now. There was no better moment to capture it than right now when it was in panic mode.


    Scarlet forgot all of her fear and she run into the cave, stepping over the boars which were still writhing on the ground. She went deeper into the cave and she saw ck smoke rising toward a small hole at the top of the cave. She threw the rope up precisely and pulled the soul eater down. and used the power punch to push it into the soul gourd.


    Just like that, she was done. She jumped up and down while squealing, it had been so simple. She was jovially waving her hands in the air when she saw him approaching her quickly.


    "Behind you." Severus barked.


    She was wise enough to send out a power punch over her shoulders before turning around and when she did turn around, she aimed the soul gourd at the other soul eater that she had not seen and sucked it in. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This time round, she was wise enough not to celebrate prematurely, she searched the rest of the cave with her reaper vision. Fully satisfied that there was no other soul eater hiding here, she allowed herself to rx.


    She was sure however that Severus would chew her out for this careless mistake and she could not me him. His first words when he was training her to turn her energy into power punches was ''never let your guard down when hunting for souls.''


    She faced him and prepared herself for the berating she was about to receive. He was staring at her with azy look in his red eyes.


    "I know, I know, I was careless, I will do better next time." she decided to beat him to it.


    He snorted and said, "You have done well, you were at least sensible enough to punch before turning around. You caught that soul eater off guard, weakened it and captured it easily. Next time, I will not warn you though. I will let you dance your way into danger."


    She put on a silly look on her face andughed. She had received apliment from him at least and she was hauling back quite the harvest. Two level one soul reapers in addition to the ordinary souls.


    She packed away the three boars and three female sows in storage pods. The sows were all pregnant, it was no wonder the bars had been eager to attack her. She searched the rest of the cave for anything useful before leaving and nothing was found.


    "Can we return home now?" she asked Severus.


    "Lunch." Severus answered.


    She had known that Esong would not go far with her here alone. He had probably remained in the trees somewhere and kept an eye on the area. She was not surprised to find him squatting over the sugar canes and observing them.


    "You are still here." she said.


    He looked at her and replied tly, "I have to make sure that you remain alive and well so that I can be happy."


    There was no humor in his voice and it sounded like a fact that he was just passing on. She scoffed and bent down to put coconuts in the pod.


    "Is this a type of food too?" he asked her.


    "Yes." she answered.


    "It looks like a stick, a long and big green stick." he noted.


    "Just help me put them away so that we can leave, I still have a lot to do at home." she told him.


    When they were leaving the forest, he stopped walking, looked up and suddenly frowned.


    "Stay in the house." he told her.


    She watched in shock as he grew silver wings on his back and flew up to the sky.

 Chapter 59 Space Pirates.

    ?


    As she hurried home, she knew that something was wrong. The way Esong had looked up to the sky reminded her too much of the way her father had done the exact same thing when Esong''s space ship was arriving on the Blue star. Theck of a shield and a barrier was really inconvenient because anybody couldnd their space ship on the Blue star as they pleased. It was a miracle that space pirates had not yet descended upon them. Her biggest problem was that she could still not afford a good barrier or shield right now. The good ones started at fifty million star coins and went all they way to ten billion coins depending on how secure you wanted to be.


    "You know," Severus told her, "That husband of yours would have made a very powerful grim reaper. Not just a grim reaper, he could easily qualify to be a gate keeper."


    She looked at Severus and then she looked up. "Severus, what do you see when you look above in the clouds, my vision does not go so far."


    "Souls" Severus answered, "A lot of souls in agony. That is why I am training you like a gate keeper and not an ordinary reaper. This world is filled with too many agonized souls that have failed to move on. You have barely done anything to alleviate the situation because you are still so weak. At night, I will give you one drop of my my blood for refinement. It will cause you immense pain but you have to endure it. You need to quickly be powerful or this world will soon be struck by a catastrophe. I can sense another reaper in this world but he is probably just as weak as you are."


    It came to memory, she did recall the old deity saying something about another reaper on this world that was overwhelmed. Would she ever meet him?


    "Apart from the souls, what else do you see, I am referring to space ships and humans."


    "There is a fight above, it will end soon because your husband is just tearing through everything."


    When she looked up, even with her reaper vision all she saw was a haze and smoke. She sighed and dumped everything she had collected in the forest on the ground and and went into the house.


    Her n was to prepare some lunch for the children immediately. Whatever was going on in the sky would be handled by Esong. His friends were probably up there too, they were all mecha warriors after all.


    To quicken the process, she took out three other rice cookers from her storage space and in all of them, she boiled rice. Then she took out threerge sized packets of frozen meat balls, ced them in a microwave for defrosting.


    She cooked up a quick meal of rice and meatballs in tomato soup. She steamed some baby spinach to be added to the meal.


    Severus was the first to have his meal, a heap of rice and around ten meat balls filled his te. He refused to eat the steamed vegetables.


    She called Fey and asked her to gather all the children near the house and her mother helped her serve the food.


    This little action of feeding all of the children and not just her son won the hearts of many of the citizens of the Blue star. It was not news that the governor''s family fed on different foods and not just porridge. They also knew that she had very little of this food and she was mostly using it to promote the food they were growing. For her to take from her little supplies to feed the children for free without expecting anything in return, she had won their heartspletely. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    While the children were eating, her father called her and asked her to report to the designated space ship parking area because there was an emergency. She did not waste time thinking about what questions would be asked about how she acquired a car.


    She had about twenty five cars in her storage space but only the jeep was fully fueled. She had only used it once because she was afraid it would be confiscated by others in the apocalypse but here, she had no such fear.


    She drove her jeep to the parking area, ignoring all of the curious gazes of the citizens who were wondering how a car was avable on the Blue star. Many of them also wondered why it looked different from the cars they had seen.


    For one, it was noisier and it hadrge wheels. It was also overly big and box like in shape. Secondly, it was not flying and it had no outer wings on it''s roof or doors like the flying cars did.


    As she was approaching the parking area, she saw Esong forcing a few handcuffed people on to their knees. To the side where her father was, she could hear loud criesing from a woman that was holding what appeared to be an injured child in her arms.


    Close to the woman were other people that were trying tofort her. Most of them looked to be disheveled and shaken as if they had just encountered a fierce ordeal.


    Scarlet stopped the car and she stepped out.


    "Dad," she called as she walked toward him.


    Dorian heard his daughter''s voice and he looked at the weird vehicle behind her and then at her. He raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner and she shrugged.


    "What happened?" Scarlet asked him while her eyes observed the group of people close to him. It consisted of both males and females both adults and children.


    "They were attacked by space pirates on their way here. I think we should rush the injured child to the med bed before it''s toote but I do not have authority to permit them to go anywhere on the. Only you and your husband have that authority but as you can see he is busy."


    She had seen Esong dealing with the criminals so she understood that he was truly busy. She looked at the child that was bleeding from the abdomen in his mother''s arms and she felt pity for him. If this was her brother..... she stopped herself from thinking about the past. If this was Justin, she thought instead, she would hope that he be helped immediately.


    "We can take my car." she told the weeping woman. "Don''t worry, he will be fine."

 Chapter 60 The Carlzons

    ?


    Two women got into the back seat of the car and the mother of the child would not stop crying all through the short journey to the house. She was simply inconsble no matter what anyone said.


    Scarlet viewed the child through her grim reaper vision just in case she needed to reap the soul at any time. If this little child did not make it, she would not allow their soul to wander about in agony. So far, it looked like the child was still holding on.


    The child was rushed to the med bed immediately and ced inside and twenty minutester, the med bed was opened and a conscious little boy was taken out. Hisrge eyes were open but he appeared to be frightened.


    Scarlet could only attribute this fear to the fact that someone had probably stabbed him. What kind of animal tried to kill a child?This little boy was probably simr in age to Justin. Who had the heart to kill such an innocent soul? Were space pirates this heartless?


    The mother swooped him up and in a teary voice, she asked loudly, "Eden, are you okay? How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?"


    She observed his abdomen carefully and touched his face and hair, her blood covered hands left red marks on every part of the little boy''s body that she touched. The boy just sat there as stiff as a nail.


    "I am okay." Eden mumbled.


    The woman suddenly wailed louder that she had been doing in the car. These wails however were not those of a grieving mother but a relieved one. As she wailed, she embraced the child tightly and held on to him as if he would vanish from her sight at any moment.


    Scarlet used this opportunity to observe the two women, one was mature and the other one was younger. They were well dressed and even though they appeared to be disheveled they still had that unique element of havinge from luxuryby the way they conducted themselves. On the younger girl''s arm was a bracelet terminal that was blue with crystal swirls.


    She had seen it being advertised on star tube, it cost six million star coins and it was one of thetest models released by theSa telmunicationspany.The jewelry in her hair was also glittering and beautiful. It reminded her of the many gems that bejeweled woman liked draping over her entire body.


    All in all, Scarlet concluded that it was no wonder their ship was attacked. The space pirates must have known that the upants of the ship were fat sheep.


    Were theying to the Blue star or were they diverted here after the attack.


    "Excuse me," she called out to them. "Would you like something to drink?"After losing all that blood the boy surely had to be starving and dizzy.


    The younger woman looked at the older one and the older one stood up, wiped her tears but ended up smearing blood on her face.


    "You probably need to wash up too." she told them.


    The older woman looked at her hands and her dress, then she folded her hands and put on a respectful face.


    "Greetings madam governor, I am Grace Carlzon and this is my daughter Precious Carlzon.This is my son Eden Carlzon." she pointed to the young boy.


    Each of them bowed to Scarlet respectfully because she was the highest figure of authority on this. If she decided that they were not allowed to stay, they would be forced to look for another home.


    "Hello, uhm, it''s great to meet you I am Scarlet Su. I think introductions can wait for a while, you need to wash the blood off of your bodies and change your clothes. Follow me, I will show you to a room."


    "Thank you so much, we highly appreciate your care." Grace Carlzon responded.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She took them to the room where the maids used to sleep.


    "I will bring you some clothes to change into." she told them.


    She stepped out and returned with a few sun dresses. She had many of those in her storage space. She also brought a pair of shorts and shirts for the boy.


    She went outside the house and met her mother supervising some workers to cut the stems of the sugarcanes.All she had mentioned was that the stems were needed to grow sugar and her mother took charge.


    The workers chopping the stems were all women, they were sitting in a circle and they were gossiping about the newly arrived people.


    "Apparently they were attacked by space pirates on their way here.It''s a miracle that they are still alive." one woman said.


    "Space pirates are so brutal, when they attack they kill everyone and take everything. Anyone that survives is sold to the Luna federation as a ve." another woman said.


    "Really!!! I thought that was a rumor." another shouted.


    "Less gossip, more work."Mega Su shouted and they all silently resumed work.


    "Mother." Scarlet called. She stayed where she was and waited for her mother toe to her. "Have you heard anything else about them?" she asked as soon as her mother came close.


    "Your father said that they are requesting to move here. One of the men was a former mecha warrior and your husband is granting their request as we speak. Theye from a noble house, one that lives in the capital. They are from the duke Carlzon''s house, even his second wife hase. "


    Scarlet raised her head up so fast that she almost twisted her neck. "A second wife!!!" she screamed.


    Mega Su looked around and saw some of the women looking at them. Her daughter''s bbing was going to get them caught. She had just told them to stop gossiping and yet here she was gossiping.


    "Lower your voice." she told Scarlet.


    Scarlett nodded eagerly because she had not heard anything about second wives. Did this mean Esong could also get a second wife if he wanted? She wanted to know all the ins and outs of this issue.


    "Is it even legal to have a second wife?" she asked her mother.


    "It''s not exactly legal and it''s frowned upon but there is now that specifically condemns it.Frankly speaking second wives are more like mistresses who do not need to be hidden. It''s not widely practiced though and it''s forbidden in the royal family so you don''t have to worry about your husband doing such a thing."


    Scarlet saw the two womening and she shushed her mother. "Here theye." she whispered.


    They put on innocent faces as if they had been discussing something else entirely.

 Chapter 61 The First Immigrants

    ?


    Scarlet smiled at the two women and one child as they came out of the house. They were putting sundresses, the younger one chose the blue dress while the older one picked a brown dress with white small white circles around the arms. The little boy had changed too, he was wearing ck shorts and a red shirt.


    She noticed that they did not have their clothes on them and she wondered if they left them in the room or had storage bracelets.


    "How are you feeling now?" she asked when they approached her.


    "Much better governess." the older woman replied to Scarlet. "Thank you so much for the change of clothes, we appreciate this greatly, your grace towards us has been astonishing."


    She was so polite and well spoken like a woman that was raised in a noble house with teachers that taught her decorum.


    This was the way all nobles spoke and behaved, it was expected of them in the capital. The Su siblings on the other hand had less than desired decorum despite being noble. They were direct with their words and behaved like ordinary people.


    "Not governess please call me governor Scarlet. I think the title of governess will confine me to a specific subset that I do not desire to fall in." It reminded her too much of a teacher or the wife of a governor. She did not want people to see her as less than Esong or they would disrespect her.


    Grace Carlzon smiled softly and responded, "I understand."


    Scarlet tugged on her mother''s arm and pushed her forward, "This is my mother Mega Su."


    Mega and the Carlzon women smile, bowed and introduced themselves to each other. The daughter Precious even curtsied like a well trained young unmarried maiden.


    "Your daughter is very beautiful." Mega told Grace.


    As Grace appreciated the praise, Precious blushed and Scarlet could not help but think that with her pale skin, ginger hair and blushes the girl really was a fair maiden.


    "I am sure that young Eden here must be very hungry the other children are finishing up with lunch but it''s not toote for him to join them. If you are going to live with us he should meet the others. If you arefortable with it of course." She told Grace.


    "I told you they had food." Precious whispered to her mother but Scarlet heard it anyway and she smiled.


    "Mother, please take them and introduce them around. As they are our first immigrants I want them to see how we live so that they can decide if they will be able to cope. Everyone here works, they maye from a noble house but I expect them to contribute to our society. Meanwhile I have to make sure that these workers don''t cut the wrong parts of the sugarcanes. I noticed that more fields had been opened up that I anticipated. I think we can start nting the sugarcanes today if possible."


    Mega smiled happily, more nts meant more food and more money.


    Scarlet sat down on rock and all the women eagerly looked her way and tried hard to impress her with their knife skills.


    "Governor I am cutting them right, look here."


    "No governor I am cutting them better, see the one I am cutting is so good looking."


    As she looked over Scarlet wondered what exactly that one meant by good looking, sugarcanes were long green sticks. There was no beauty to them like flowers. But she smiled encouragingly at the women andplimented each of them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Governor what kind of food is this green stick?" someone finally had the guts to ask.


    She took a knife from he storage and showed the women how a sugarcane could be peeled. Then she gave one woman a taste.


    "Oh, it''s sweet." the woman eximed.


    She peeled some more and distributed little pieces to the other women around the room.


    "Each of you can take one home to your families. Do not throw the peels away, collect them and bring them to the garbage collection dump. I have other uses for them."


    The women cheered happily. All along they thought the green sticks were useless and it turns out they were wrong, extremely wrong.


    The women left for lunch and when they returned, they would finish up the rest of the job.


    Scarlet went inside the house to feed crystal water to the puppies and cats which she had bought for her siblings. She also pinched and fed them some of the left over meat balls from Severus''s share which she did not give him.


    She left them in the care of Gregor who had been having lunch with the other children before returning home for an afternoon nap.


    From there she went with Severus to check on the cattle. They had been settled in an open but isted area which was fenced off to ensure that they did not leap away and escape. The top of the shelter had been covered with iron sheets forged from the melted old mechas in the factory.


    She had decided not to close the factory when she realized that whatever was melted could be hardened and turned into something else. Why look for iron and other minerals when these old mechas that were made from special materials could do the job for now?


    The animals were ced in different square shaped sections to avoid over crowding and the pregnant females were separated from the bulls. The cows which could be milked were also separated from others and housed alone with their calves. She had asked for this to be done to ease the milking process since it had to be done manually.


    So far, none of the cows had been milked yet because she wanted them to get used to associating and living with humans. If she randomly sent in someone and they were kicked in the head how dangerous would that situation be?


    The workers in this department saw her and they stood up respectively.


    "Stay where you are she told them." She went around checking on the status of the animals and adding crystal water to the small cemented water ditches that had been dug for the animals to drink water with ease.


    Immediately, the animals all came to drink water as if they had been dying of thirst all along.


    The manager of this department saw the situation and he looked at her with panic on in his eyes, he came hurrying over. "Governor, we are very responsible workers, we give them water, I don''t know why they are behaving like this." he said.


    Therger bulls were pushing the smaller ones out of the way so that they could drink the water first. There was a lot of noise and grunts from the animals. It looked as if the animals were on the brink of a revolt and preparing for a stampede.

 Chapter 62 Another Talk With Esong

    ?


    She assured the manager of the live stock department that the animals were doing just fine and then she stayed around a while longer to ease his fears. Indeed, after every animal satisfied itself on the sweet refreshing water, they settled down quite easily.


    She went to the empty side of the barn and opened the storage pod where the boars and sows were. She let them out and the boars eyed her with hostility in their eyes. Thergest one that seemed to be the head of this small herd looked ready to pounce on her but one howl from Severus forced him to calm down and retreat.


    Just like on the end of the cattle, water ditches had been dug this side too and she asked one of the workers to bring release some water into the ditch. When he was gone, she added crystal water and the pigs could not resist it.


    The feeding areas had been separated from the winter drinking areas, she sighed and dumped cabbages and corn in the feeding ditches. On top of this food she dumped more concentrated crystal water to ensure that the pigs would eat. She had to speed up the growth of vegetables and corn further if the pigs were to grow healthy and multiply quickly.


    After leaving enough food for three days, she left the barn and toured other ces to see how work was fairing.


    In some ces workers were out for lunch and in others work was ongoing. Those who were on road construction duty were going strong under the hot sun. It seemed as though they werepletely unaffected by it.


    The roads were being built to amodate at least three cars in eachne. She had no ns to ept flying cars on the Blue star. All cars had to drive on the ground just like it was done on earth. She preferred the sky above to remain free and clear.


    She would also prefer it if the cars were locally manufactured. This needed a self sustaining economy and they could not just depend on food alone.


    She was looking up at the sky as she thought about this. There was not a single bird in sight which to her was so unusual and her mind traveled back to the old days on earth before everything went to shit. It was normal to see birds flying about in the sky. In fact, it was so ordinary that they expected it but here, it would probably attract everyone''s attention to see a bird in the sky. They would all think a mutated beast was attacking. It would even make the news all over the empire.


    ''Breaking news, bird seen flying in the sky.''


    She scoffed and thought that maybe if flying cars and one thousand level sky scrapers did not upy the skies, ordinary birds would have a chance to fly as they were naturally meant to. The ecology system of this empire waspletely unnatural and it needed to be set right.


    She went back home, got in her car and went looking for Esong. Along the way she momentarily fiddled with the radio to listen to music. Static was the only sound it made and she pped it lightly twice before it came to mind that earth and the Sunstar were on different frequencies.


    She drove on in silence having given up on music.


    When she finally saw Esong he was standing alone, looking above at the sky again.


    Those silver wings were standing still behind him. If she had not seen the metallic shimmer when he first released them she would have thought that they were actually part of him because they matched his hair perfectly.


    She parked the car and honked. He had probably seen hering but he cared more about what was up there.


    Was it space pirates again?


    The honking of the car caught his attention and he looked her way. The wings on his back retreated and he walked toward her.


    She leaned over and pushed the car door open.


    "Get in." She said.


    He knocked on the car door as he listened to the sound it made and then took one tentative step inside. "It''s not going to break apart like the punching bag, is it?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She rolled her eyes first before replying, "Try your best not punch my car."


    He closed the car door gently because he was afraid to break it.


    As she drove off in no particr direction she asked him, "Why were you looking up again?"


    "I asked Folsom to install a shield and a barrier for this. I should have done it the moment you moved here. What kind of car is this?"


    He was touching everything and pushing every small button he saw like a curious child.


    When the wipers moved he leaned back as if he had been startled. His fists were already in the air.


    "If you punch my car I will punch you." She threatened.


    "They look like flying bug beasts." Hemented. "Where are you taking me? Are you trying to kidnap me?"


    Sheughed and replied, "Hmm, I could get a lot of money for you if I sold you."


    They had been driving around for a while and she would have kept going if he did not ask her that. Frankly speaking she had no prenned destination in mind.


    When she saw a part of that river which was still unnamed she parked the car.


    Both of them remained cordially silent for a while with their eyes gazing at the flowing water.


    She was wondering if her words would make him furious and he was just rxed because he was sitting so close to water.


    He could hear the ripples it made as it travelled so clearly. He would have loved to spend the night here.


    "We should talk Esong, about that proposal which you made earlier. The one you made about having me anytime and in anyway you like."


    She was trying hard not to make visualisations about that statement.


    He turned his head toward her slowly, looked into her eyes and asked , "What about it?"


    As those ck eyes stared into hers, she wondered what was behind them. They were like that ckhole in space which just sucked everything in and she had no intention of bing the unlucky pilot of that ship today.When one went into a ckhole they did not survive and if they did, they came out battered and bruised.


    She took a deep breath and answered."I will not do it, not on those terms anyway."

 Chapter 63 Back To The Drawing Board

    ?


    She put it out there, whether he wanted to hear to hear it or not, she had to say it. Allowing herself to debased all in attempt to alleviate the guilt she was carrying over actions that were not of her own doing was not in line with what she wanted.


    She waited for him to ask her why but he didn''t and his silence caused a drop of unease to grow inside of her.


    His eyes were still on her, looking at her, studying her and digging into her like a sharp hoe digging into the ground. She felt the need to further exin herself and she did so eloquently.


    "I spontaneously made the decision to initiate the physical rtionship once because I wanted you to have your literal pound of flesh. I want you to stop hating me because if we cannot divorce then we are stuck with each other for life and in this world life is about three hundred years.


    That is a long time to spend hating someone. I cannot spend three hundred years of my life ying chicken with you and worrying that Justin will be hurt along the way. But I also cannot be just another warm cheap body that you use to relieve your sexual urges whenever you want and then thrown to the side as soon as you are finished."


    Bravely, she looked into his eyes and she told him, "I used to hate myself Esong, in the past. I hated myself and I was desperate for something that even I did not understand which is why that thing happened. But all that has changed, I have been treated and I am in a better ce right now and I can''t go back to the way I used to be. I am a better person, a better woman, daughter and mother. Our son is thriving now because of the person I have be. I cannot go back to being her Esong, that woman that sinned against you is dead and gone and she is nevering back. If you insist on doing things this way and I ept blindly then I am afraid that I might go back to that dark ce.


    For this reason and many others I need us to go back to the drawing table ande up with another solution. One that will make life better for the three of us. This is not just about me and you, we have to keep Justin in mind."


    She had to make sure that he understood because if he used her in every way that he wanted and then threw her away, then how long would it take before she really did start hating herself?


    This was her second chance at life and she intended to live happily. Her past life went to shit at the age of sixteen when the zombie apocalypse started and it ended at twenty eight at the hands of a man that she thought would marry her. It was a short life that was with a short lived happiness and then it was full of pain, sorrow and misery.


    She was determined to do better in this life but she was already married, with a child and her husband could barely stand her. As a matter of fact, he simply tolerated her. When she thought about existing like this for three hundred years she felt as if she was suffocating.


    She looked at him with a silent plea in her eyes.


    "Come with me." Esong said to her suddenly and he stepped out of the car.


    She was unsure about what he wanted to do but she stepped out of the car and walked to him with slow tentative steps. When she reached close enough to him, she stopped.


    He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her close to his body.


    Scarlet''s heart skipped a beat and she stared at him wildly. Esong said nothing but he got a helmet out of nowhere and ced it over her head. It covered her entire face but she could still see him through the visible thin ss like topyer of the helmet.


    Then he pulled close, so close that her body was lined up perfectly against his. He wrapped both of his hands around around her waist tightly. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In her mind, Scarlet wondered if this was supposed to be a romantic moment or something else.


    "Close your eyes." Esong told her.


    She did as he asked so when his wings emerged and engulfed them both, she did not see it. It was almost as if Esong''s armor had a life of it''s own, it engulfed herpletely that he too was decked up in bits of it.


    She felt her body rising and the curiosity got better of her, prompting her to open her eyes and then she screamed.


    They were flying!!! well, she was flying high in the sky and she was not in a space ship. Even though she had seen him do it, she was different from him.


    Was he going to drop her down and watch her body stter on the ground like a ripe tomato being squashed under a foot?


    "Esong, take me back." she screamed.


    "Not yet." he answered. "I need you to understand something. You have been talking about how you feel and I thought that perhaps you needed to understand how hard things were for me after what you did. The two of us need to go back to the drawing board and it should be perfectly fair for both of us."


    He pressed something on the helmet and she suddenly found herself transported somewhere else. She was alone in space without him and she could see hundreds of animals and birds of all shapes and size surrounding her on every side.


    The difference between these ones and normal animals was their size, the intelligence and the hostility in their eyes.


    "Mutated beasts." she said.


    Suddenly, out of nowhere she was decked in armor and she had weapons in her hands. Behind her were teammates whos also appeared out of nowhere.


    "General, what should we do? We are out numbered." one of the teammates told her.


    In the back of her mind she had it that this was not real because she was not a general and she had fought mutated beasts before. It had to be a simtion of some kind and yet it felt too real.


    But when the beasts attacked, she erased all doubt from her mind and she fought with all her might, leading her teammates into the battle fearlessly.

 Chapter 64 Virtual Reality

    ?


    She was very confident, feeling as if nothing could break or touch her. She sliced, punched, kicked and beat every beast that came her way. Not even the fire from the fire breathing beasts harmed her body because of the armor she donned. When her teammates were iling, she rescued them.


    It was an easy battle, one that she seemed to be so familiar with but just when she was on the brink of winning, a ck and green toad with ck liquids popping out of it''s skin approached her and squirted the ck liquid at her face.


    Sessfully, she dodged it but as she was about to fight it, she started questioning herself in a panic out of nowhere.


    "What is that liquid?"


    "Did it touch me anywhere?"


    "Am I injured?"


    "Am I hallucinating?"


    Her mind started spinning and she all these doubts filled her mind. One of her team mates was injured and the voices of doubt increased.


    "Maybe we should have fought inside of the mechas. Did I make a mistake by telling my men to fight physically?"


    "Why did I make such a decision?"


    "Am I losing my mind?"


    The more questions that assaulted her mind, the more she panicked. Her vision changed and she was suddenly surrounded by soul eaters and zombies.


    "Where did youe from?" she questioned them.


    She called for her soul gourd but it would note, she was weak and powerless. Not even the power punches were helping. Scarlet screamed as they all lunged at her at the same time draining the soul energy out of her until she felt herself bing as cold as ice. She called Esong''s name over and over again as she was losing strength.


    When she opened her eyes again, she looked around in panic and realized that they were back on the ground, inside the car. She sat up and touched the car seats, touched Esong''s head and chest and then she pped her own right cheek very hard.


    "Hey." Esong grabbed her hand to stop her from pping herself a second time. "What are you doing?" he asked her.


    She sunk into the seat and breathed in and out as two unwee tears slipped down her cheeks. Where they came from, she had no idea.


    Esong saw the tears and he frowned. He wondered if the simtion had gone to far. He had ended it as soon as she started screaming and calling for him. He had experienced it personally and studied it many times and he wondered which part had frightened her so much to bring tears to her eyes. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Unconsciously, he found himself raising his right hand and wiping the tears away with his thumb.


    "Shhh, it was just a virtual reality simtion of one of my battles. You don''t need to be so scared, it was not real."


    "It was not real." she repeated after him.


    She pped his hand away and drunk some water from a bottle that she had kept in the dashboard. Slowly, she regained her senses.


    "What the hell was that? Why did you do to me?"


    "Nothing." he replied. "I just sent you into what almost became myst battle back as a mecha warrior after you drugged me five years ago. Those doubts, the questions, the mistakes, the fear that you have experienced, I experienced all that everyday. It was one nightmare after another and I could not even find answers because you were nowhere to be found.


    You disappeared after drugging and sleeping with me. I was left struggling with questions about how you had managed to get a drop on me. How I was not able to see through your trickery.


    I yed the scene over and over in my head, obsessing over it night and day. Some of my friends and members of the family who knew what you had done theyughed as if it was something easily brushed off but not to me. To me, it was a sign of weakness, my mind had betrayed me.


    My mind is my sharpest tool, I trust it to lead myself and my men in battle. Every decision and calction that I make has to be the right one or death follows. In that battle Cotrin a young mecha warrior almost lost his life because I failed to kill that venom spewing toad. You have to understand that for a mecha warrior doubts in the mind lead to death on the battle field, an injury that you may never be able to recover from or being captured and sold into very.


    I let myself slip for just one second in that bar because I wanted to rx and it changed my whole life."


    He looked at her and he corrected himself, "You changed my whole life. After Cotrin, I did not lead my men into another battle for the next six months. I trained my mind like a mad man and just when I was beginning to regain my footing, you showed up again with a child in your arms. You told lies about me to the empire and forced your way into bing my wife. I could not even take my anger out on you so I channeled it all into eliminating space pirates. Hey, something good came out of it at least." he said the words sarcastically.


    Esong finally got the chance to say almost all of the things he had always wanted to say to her.


    He was angry when he talked about what he went through and she could not me him, especially not after she experienced that simtion personally. But at the same time, she was also unwilling to pay so heavily for a crime that was not hers. There had to be a better way.


    "Esong.." she started to say.


    "We are both damaged people Scarlet, the only difference between us is the fact that you are the one that damaged me." he cut her off, said this with a grim look on her face and then he got out of the car and mmed the door shut.


    She would not let him walk away however not like this. So she got out of the car and followed him. She cursed the woman whose body she upied a thousand times. If she met her soul here and recognized it, she would give it a seriousshing.


    "Is that all this is to you then a chance to have your revenge on me? I want to fix this Esong not widen the bridge between us further. You hate me now, and thenter I will hate you and the cycle will continue this way for years. We cannot hurt each other anymore, we need to co-exist. I refuse to live like this Esong ."

 Chapter 65 Compromise

    ?


    Esong walked closer to the flowing river and she followed him. She tried to get around him, hoping that he would look into her eyes and see her as she was now and not the woman that used to be there.


    As she tried to get around him, she slipped on a small trail of mud. Her left foot went out first, pulling the rest of her body with it and gravity did the rest because she almost fell down. She would have fallen into the water if he did not grab her by the back of her shirt and lift her up.


    While he did save her, Scarlet was not a fun of the way he was lifting her up. It was simr to a small kitten being carried in the mouth of it''s mother. Adler too had carried her this way once. Why did they keep lifting her up in the air with one arm as if she weighed nothing?


    "Be careful." Esong told her.


    "Hehe," sheughed, "Can you put me down now?" she asked him.


    She closed her eyes in anticipation of being tossed onto the ground like garbage. However, she felt herself gently being ced down and she opened her eyes. She looked up at him with surprise in her eyes.


    "You did not drop me this time." she said.


    "I did not intend to do so the first time either." he answered.


    His eyes were no longer on her, they were on the clear flowing water. It was so transparent that the little pebbles beneath were visible.


    She looked down into the water and wondered if this river had any fish or water creatures. To satisfy her curiosity she squatted down and run her hands through it, suddenly pping the water in the hopes of attracting the attention of anything.


    "What are you doing?" he asked her.


    She looked up and replied, "Looking for fish. It''s this creature that is shaped like this and it has a tail at the back. It only has two eyes which are usually white and ck and it dies pretty quickly when you take it out of the water. Have you evere across anything like that?"


    He was the general that led one of the fiercest armies to fight mutated beasts across thend and the seas. It was not far off for her to ask him if he had seen fish before.


    "I have seen that weighs about this much and it''s this long in the Lankan Ocean." he spread his arms out to estimate the size and height of the creature he had seen. "It had the strongest teeth I had ever seen on any creature that lives in the water and it crashed a mecha into two pieces with it''s bare teeth."


    "That could be a shark." she said. "Those ones are deadly even if they have not mutated because they eat anything that bleeds. They are excellent hunters and fast swimmers. If you evere across one, do your best to escape, as long as they cannot walk on the dry ground then we are all safe."


    The Blue star also had oceans and she was keeping her fingers closed that these sharks which could crush mechas with their teeth did not mutate to the extent of walking onnd or they were all dead.


    She looked down into the water and run a few droplets through her fingers, noticing that it was warm but sadly there were no fish. Did she have to buy them from someone on the forum and dump them in the water herself?


    "You can contact the center for marine life if you want to inquire about creatures that live in the water. They will have more information than I do." she heard Esong offering some good advise. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh, I will do that." she replied with a smile. "Thank you."


    For some reason in the back of her mind she was wondering how they had gone from shouting and being angry to bing calmer. She wondered if she would ruin this slightly harmonious environment by reintroducing the previous topic.


    ''Just let it go.'' her inner thoughts made it clear. But how could she let it go if his every visit was going to be apanied by tension and unease. Why couldn''t they find a way to be as calm and still as this river?


    Perhaps Esong was thinking along the same line as her because he suddenly sat down on the ground beside her and asked, "What kind ofpromise are you looking for?"


    She had been squatting but when he sat, she found herself copying his action and she sat down too.


    "I...." she said and paused, "I am not quite sure." she finished her sentence with a vulnerable look of worry, fear and helplessness on her face. "All I know is that I do not want my life to implode because of whatever we decide to do." she looked at him and she said, "Our lives, we are in this together after all."


    "And what if I don''t want topromise?" he asked her.


    Shey down on the ground and looked up at the sky. It was so ring and it caused her to switch to her grim reaper vision. Things were brighter but she could control the light when she was using it.


    When Esong looked down at her, he saw that same gold rim around the pupils of her eyes. He found himself raising his hand just like before, and he almost touched her face before pulling his hand back and clenching it into a fist.


    "Your eyes glow with shades of gold sometimes." he said to her.


    She turned her head to the side to the look at him. Was that apliment? she wondered.


    "Thank you." she replied with a shy smile.


    "Why do they do that? I have never seen anything like that before." he asked her.


    Blue eyes, green eyes, ck, grey, red, he had seen eyes of so many shades but never gold. And it wasn''tplete gold, it was a partial gold.


    "I don''t know, nature." she answered. "I could be the beloved daughter of the Gods, sent to this world to stop it from self destructing." It was a mixture of truth and lies but he would never know.


    "Whatever you are, I still intend to have you more than once." he leaned over and his face hovered hers as he said this suddenly. "I willpromise on whatever you want, but that one intention stays true. Come to my room tonight and we will discuss thosepromises you want."

 Chapter 66 Severuss First Bath

    ?


    Esong decided to drive them back home to test out the strength and speed of the car. On the way, he asked many questions about the car, the engine and energy source. He was quite surprised to hear that it did not run on energy stones but something called fuel.


    She kept wondering why he appeared to be so calm when they had just agreed to be maintain a physical rtionship for a period of one year. During this time, neither one of them was to maintain or entertain any kind of interest from the opposite sex.


    They would also not be sharing a bed except for those times when they spent the night together.


    He insisted on emphasizing that she could not take advantage of this rtionship to seek for benefits from the royal family or the general public.


    She insisted that he could not take advantage of it to acquire her food or any other of her resources cheaply for the mecha warriors.


    She also insisted that he pay a visit to the Blue star at least six times a month not for her but to spend time with their son.


    Esong''s most important issue was that she never attempted to drug him in any way ever again. If she did he would have her thrown on the Red star.


    Esong went as far as to draft an online contract which she signed and both of them stored it in their personal section of their emails. If any of them wanted to change or add something, they would negotiate and add or remove that thing from the contract.


    She kept stealing nces at him as he drove and when he caught her looking at him, she would look away and stare outside the window. Suddenly she remembered the one thing she wanted to discuss with him.


    "Esong, I wanted to tell you earlier that you cannot just allow anybody to migrate here randomly. I know that it''s your right since we both own the Blue star but unlike you thates over asionally I live here permanently. I trust your judgement in people but even then I would still love to made aware when you give refuge to someone here."


    "Noted." he told her. "For your information I epted the these Carlzon brothers because I know the older one. He is a former mecha warrior whose mental strength regressed after he was injured in a battle. They are both good men but the Carlzon family is one that values strength over family. I am not surprised that they chose to leave, what surprises me is that they chose to move here.


    The green star is more developed than this ce and so is the neon star, the yellow star....."


    "Oh my God, I get it." she said to him loudly. "Every other star would have been a better optionpared to us, sheesh!! you don''t have to emphasize it. But you know what all those stars don''t have?" she looked at him proudly.


    "Food." he answered.


    "Me!!!" she looked at him with a horrified look on her face as she pointed at herself. "I meant me and not food you dummy, I am the secret weapon of the blue star."


    "What is a dummy." he asked her.


    Dorian Su saw Scarlet and Esong when they returned. From a distance, they looked happier than he had ever seen them before. Esong said something to his daughter and sheughed loudly.


    "I think things might get even better for our daughter." his wife Mega that was standing next to him said this while wiping tears from her face.


    He passed her a handkerchief, one of the many that his daughter had given him because his wife cried four to six times a day and he had to wipe her tears andfort her whenever possible. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "All I want is for them to be to be a true married couple like us. Our daughter has suffered enough by carrying a big burden like that illness on her own. I think it''s time for her to enjoy her life." Dorian said this with a wistful look on his face.


    "Maybe we should pray to the Gods like those people in the stories she told us about." his wife suggested.


    Scarlet had started with indoctrinating her family into the fold of faith and religion by telling them stories which praised the greatness of different Gods. Her mother was already a believer.


    "We have no temple." he answered.


    They watched Esong say onest thing to Scarlet and then he went in the direction of the farms.


    Scarlet went into the house and she found Fey, Gregor and Halley were ying with the cats and puppies. One of the puppies was bravely climbing on top of Severus''s body and jumping around.


    She wondered if they could tell the difference between an ordinary dog like themselves and hell hound.


    "Sister, the shop is out of supplies, everything has been bought out. Messages ae flooding in requesting for more supplies. Also that bejeweled is still on your case online, she is calling you a coward for not engaging her."


    "We will restock the shop tomorrow and as for that bejeweled I have no desire to engage with her anymore. I am a governor with a to develop, there is no time for silly petty online fights and scrabbles that make no sense."


    "Sister are you going to do another live broadcast today?" Fey asked.


    "No, I am not in the mood to cook again but I can give Severus and all these other little pets a bath. Will you all help me?" she asked her siblings.


    "Yes." they answered.


    Severus lifted his head up and shook it. "I am a self cleansing dog, I don''t need a bath." he said.


    "You have mud all over your paws and body. You will have to start sleeping on the ground and not my bed if you insist on being filthy. Don''t worry, I will give you a warmfortable bath. You will love it."


    After convincing Severus, she brought out all thebs, shampoo, and small rubber duck toys. In different basins, the animals were ced inside and Scarlet smiled at her live audience.


    "Hey everyone, it''s your favorite chef Scarlet. Today, I will not be cooking but teaching you how to give your pet a bath. I know that most of you do not have pets but someday you will because our online shop will be selling some pets asionally. When that happens, you will need to care for your pet as if it''s your very own child.


    I will be giving Severus a bath and my siblings will be giving these little puppies and kittens their bath.


    Everyone, don''t these pets look cute?"

 Chapter 67 Refining Blood

    ?


    She received more gifts that she anticipated from this live broadcast, it seemed like more people were interested in the pets that she thought they would be. By the time the broadcast ended, she had received offers of up to fifty million star coins for just one kitten.


    If she had not brought these for her siblings Scarlet would have been tempted to sell them off. They were packing washing the things used to wash the pets and putting them away.


    "Sister, if we sell pets then we have to open up a different shop for them and sell thesebs, basins and toys too. The pet business and the food business should be separated. I also opened up a shop for the clothes but we don''t have a license to sell anything yet." Fey said to her.


    Scarlet''s attention was drawn to this little sister of hers that always managed to surprise her. She had a business savvy head on her shoulders surprisingly. On the other hand, she also wondered why so many licenses were required to sell in things online in the interster.


    Thews here were certainly more strict than those of earth.


    "Well, we can work on that slowly, start by filing paperwork for the pet shop and then we can go from there."


    "Sister, you also need to hire an assistant and workers that operate these online shops all day. I can''t manage them all on my own." Fey said this with a pout.


    Scarlet smiled and ruffled Fey''s hair. "Aiya, our little Fey is being worked to the bone."


    "I am not little." Fey pulled herself away from Scarlet and she reorganized her hair which had been ruffled. "If we had money, we could buy robot butlers from a mecha craftingpany but weck money to afford even the cheapest type." Fey sighed pitifully.


    Scarlet ruffled her sister''s hair again and she said, "One step at a time Fey, we have some former mecha warriors and their families moving here in a few days and if I see someone capable then I will appoint them to be your assistant." She pinched Fey''s cheek and kissed it. "I like how you are bing vocal Fey, you are slowlying out of your shell. It''s a good thing little sister."


    Fey blushed and her little cheeks turned rosy red like the rose flower itself and she run out of the house while covering both cheeks with her hands.


    Scarlet watched her little sister running away and she sighed, ''Looks like she is still a shy little thing.'' she thought. Scarlet looked at Elroy and Halley that were still ying with the pets. It seemed like these two would not be going anywhere anytime soon.


    "Elroy, when mother returns tell her that I will not be joining the family for dinner. I am exhausted, I have a little headache and I have gone to bed early."


    "Yes." Elroy replied.


    This was an excuse because what she was going to do was cultivate and refine Severus''s drop of blood. Since this was not a cultivation world the only excuse she could use was her mysterious illness.


    "Let''s go Severus." she told thezy dog that was dozing off in the corner where it wasying down on a soft dog bed after the rxing bath.


    Severus groaned, unwilling to move. Not only had he been given a warm bath and massaged, he had also been fed bacon strips. He was sofortable and rxed, a feeling he had not had for centuries. This was treatment a lord like him deserved.


    "Move it." Scarlet lightly spanked his ass with a kitchen towel. "If we do not do this now we will not have timeter."


    Severus let out a few unwilling yips from his mouth but eventually he got up under her insistence and because she threatened to feed him nothing but greens from now on. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You just want to spend the night with that man." Severus told her.


    "Don''t think that I did not realize you are the one who nted those images of soul eaters and zombies in my mind when I was in that virtual reality simtion. I know you want to train my body, mind and soul but you could have given me a heart attack." she retorted.


    Severus chortled as though what he had done was so funny.


    "Are youughing?" she asked him sternly.


    "You are a grim reaper, you cannot die." he replied.


    "It doesn''t stop me from being frightened or having nightmares." she answered.


    She locked the door behind them so that no one would interrupt and she took a five minute bath. When she came out of the bathroom, she was holding a sharp small army knife. "Let''s do this." she told Severus.


    Severus looked at the knife and then at Scarlet. He stepped back away from her warily, creating a small distance between the two of them.


    "Why are you holding the knife as if you are about to attack me?" he asked her.


    "You told me to refine a drop of your blood, the knife is meant to prick you on the preferred part of your body. How else am I going to extract the drop of blood?"


    Severus looked at her contemptuously, "Have you learned nothing from that forum? Honestly woman, do I have to teach you everything? Put the stupid knife away and sit on the bed with your legs crossed. Keep in mind that this is going to be painful but whatever you do, do not stop refining. Keep going as if your life depends on it because if you do stop, you just might die. Real death, not even being a grim reaper will save you."


    This time she was the one to eye him warily, "I don''t have much confidence in you anymore. A few minutes ago you said grim reapers can''t die and now you are saying that I could die. Which is it exactly?"


    Severus sted her with a powerful wind energy and she was pushed onto the bed. Then she crossed her legs and looked at Severus, still warily.


    "Close your eyes and open your mouth," he said. "And whatever you do, keep refining."


    Scarlet was frightened, beyond terrified and her heart was beating so fast. Many questions crossed her mind like whether this could be herst minute in this life. ''I should have eaten some dumplings'' she thought.


    "Stop thinking." Severus yelled at her.


    A liquid which tasted bitter and hot was poured down her throat and then Severus said, "Begin."

 Chapter 68 Skipping Levels.

    ?


    It was just as Severus had said, the pain was enormous and Scarlet felt as if her entire body was tearing itself apart and then being reshaped. Her soul felt as if it was being ripped from her body one piece at a time.


    The sheer volume of power being forced upon her was enough to break her apart so much that she would never be able to recover. Just as the process stopped and she sighed in relief, it would begin again, even more painfully than it had been before.


    When the temptation to give up became so strong, the name Ulysses rung in her mind and she pushed on. The words useless and stupid also rung in her mind and he just kept on pushing.


    In the middle of the night when all was silent , loud nightmarish screaming was heard in the houseing from Scarlet''s room. Dorian, Mega and Adler jumped out of their beds and raced to Scarlet''s room. Adler wasted no time in kicking the door open and Dorian pushed his way inside. They discovered Scarlet on the bed, sweat was dripping from every pore of her body, she was pale, burning up and there were traces of blood on her mouth.


    They were not the only ones to hear these screams, all the way from where he was, Esong heard them too because he was still awake, boiling with fury because Scarlet had deceived him. She was supposed toe to him tonight but he had waited for hours and not even her shadow had passed by his spaceship. When he heard the scream, he left the spaceship very quickly, and he pounded on the door of the Su family''s house.


    This loud pounding woke up the rest of the family members that were sleeping. Everyone knew that something had happened. In their house there were only two reasons for his possiblemotion, either Mega was going intobor or Scarlet was having a fit of rage again.


    It was Elroy that opened the door for Esong and when he entered, he saw Dorian carrying an unconscious Scarlet to the med bed.


    "Where is Justin?" Adler asked Elroy.


    "He is sleeping with Halley and the pets."


    "Go and stay with them, make sure that he does note out and see her like this." Adler grabbed Elroy''s shoulders and stared at him intensely as he said this.


    "Y...¡­Yes." Elroy replied nervous.


    Esong who had finally grown impatient grabbed Adler''s left hand from Elroy''s shoulder and he asked him sternly in a loud voice, "What happened?"


    "Keep your voice down." Adler told Esong. "You will wake your son and if he sees his mother in this condition he will be frightened. Just follow me to the treatment room."


    They walked with hurried steps and found Dorian, Mega and Carolyn hovering over the med bed with worried and grim expressions on their faces. Mega Su was already crying and she was holding Dorian''s arm tightly.


    Esong bent over and looked at Scarlet through the transparent casing of the med bed. Other than the blood on her mouth and her pale face, she looked peaceful. It was almost as if she was just sleeping. None of them even noticed that Severus had followed them and hey down beside the med bed.


    "What happened?" Esong asked in a deep voice. He did not take his eyes off the med bed even once. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "She must have overworked herself during the day." Dorian said.


    Mega let out a few small loud sobs, "I should have checked in on her when Elroy told me that she had a headache. What kind of mother does not do something as simple as that for her sick child?"


    Dorian squeezed her arm with his free hand. "It''s not your fault." He told his wife. "It''s not the first time that our daughter has gone to bed exhausted or saying that she doesn''t feel fine. She is going to be fine, this is just likest time when she whipped those maids with a rope and she spat out blood."


    "Fuck!!!I saw her whipping a beast in the forest today." Esong said. "I knew I should have dragged her out of there." His voice held a bit of self me.


    Adler red at Esong as if this was all his fault then. "You should have done something if you saw her fighting a beast, she is weak and stubborn but you are sensible, you should have known better. Or were you hoping that she dies so that you can remarry a woman your family approves of."


    "Adler, stop that." Dorian yelled.


    Esong and Adler were ring at each other from a distance. The air in the room was charged with hostility.


    "I was there to help where were you? Your little weak sister with the lowest level of mental strength is running around hunting for mutated beasts in the forest to make money and give you a better life. You should be ashamed of yourself." Esong retorted.


    Adler growled like an injured beast and he lunged at Esong but Dorian caught his son. "You are the reason why she is here on this cursed you son of a bitch, you and your fucking royal family condemned us to this ce. We have been working from morning to night to feed this family long before she met her teacher and returned to her senses. Which ck eye of yours saw me sending her to the forest to hunt for mutated beasts? If she is hunting for them to make money, the only one to me is you."


    He was struggling with all his might against his father so that he could just one punch on his sister''s ignorant husband''s jaw.


    While all this was going on Scarlet was unaware and she was smiling happily. She had managed to skip the establishment level and the foundation level thanks to Severus''s blood.


    It had burned her, tortured her and almost torn her apart but she had sessfully refined it and somehow her soul power increased so fast that she found herself on level two of soul cultivation at the beginning stage. One drop of Severus''s blood had saved her hundreds of crystals that she would have needed to use.


    Just before the sun came up, she delivered the many souls and two soul eaters that they had captured. She was thest reaper to deliver her souls so there were no other reapers around to notice that her level had gone up abnormally and she had delivered two soul eaters.


    Finally she purchased some pills and purifying water and when she did open her eyes, Esong''s fierce ck eyes were the first thing she saw.

 Chapter 69 Science Fiction

    ?


    "Oh crap." she thought. "I was supposed to go to himst night." Immediately when she saw that intense look in Esong''s eyes she assumed that he was furious because in his mind, she had probably stood him up. It was not as if she could exin to him that she was cultivating. What could she possibly tell him in this situation? It was best to just apologize and see where things went from there.


    "I am soooo sorry, I fell asleep." she said and then she yawned pretentiously. "What time is it?


    As she looked around, she had finally realized that she was on her bed, in her bedroom and Esong was inside her room. Her eyes inevitably moved down to her body and she sighed in relief when she realized that she was fully clothed.


    "What are you doing in my room? she looked at him with wide wary eyes and scampered away from him like prey escaping a predator. Did hee because she did not go to himst night? She was protectively holding her hands over her chest as if he was a leering pervert.


    Esong snorted and he stood up, she thought that he was going to approach her but then he left her bedroom without uttering a single word to her.


    When he was gone, she got to her feet and yawned, a real yawn this time. She looked outside and noticed that the day had already gone past her, the two suns were up and bright in the sky and the smell of breakfast was prominent in the air.


    "Severus," she called.


    "I am tired." the dog that was sleeping with one eye open in the corner of her room answered. "Do you know how hard I worked to keep you alivest night. When I rise, you better prepare two tters of food for me as a thank you. And I want another bath and massage." Severus closed his eyes and went back to sleep.


    She wanted to ask him questions about what happenedst night but she held off, she could ask someone else. Unless Esong was a ghost, someone had to have seen him entering her bedroom.


    She gave Severus onest look and saw the small yellow duck in his dog bed. ''Ho, so much for lord Severus being a tough dog, to think that he actually kept a toy.''


    What would those high high level reapers say when they saw him? Would they use her of spoiling him?


    She took a quick bath, dressed up in a green pleated skirt with a white shirt and slippers. Like yesterday, her hair was held in a pony tail. It was so refreshing that the blue star had arge supply of fresh water.


    One of the things that she missed so much in the zombie apocalypse was having a daily full body bath. Most of the water had been polluted or it was found in zombie infested cities. They barely had water to drink so how could they waste what little they had on taking baths?


    In due time, this had made people that had water rted super powers arrogant and valuable. As she briefly thought about those days, she shook her head and said, "God, I don''t miss them at all. Old deity, thank you for giving me the chance toe here."


    Things may not be rosy in this world but they were one hundred times better than the one she came from.


    Scarlet was struck by inspiration after thanking the old deity, she had those small Buddha gold statues in her storage space. She had been raised Buddhist by her mother even though they were not as devout as they wanted to be.


    Now that she knew the deities were real, she would do her best to serve them and encourage others to do so.


    She took the Buddha statue and looked for a ce in the living room that could be essible by everyone.


    "You are awake, What are you doing?" Adler found her looking around the room and rotating in circles like a child ying a spinning game. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Good morning." she greeted him cheerfully. "I want to find a ce for the Buddha statue, teacher came to in my dreamsst night and he was angry with me for not praying and making some offerings. The Gods gave me the knowledge, I should thank them for it."


    Adler gave her a very confused and doubtful look.


    "What?" she asked him.


    "You want to convince me that there is a powerful god in that small statue, I think your teacher was just telling you stories to inspire you to aim higher." he told her.


    All these stories that she had been telling them about gods and deities with supernatural powers were fiction to him. They were highly improbable.


    "Can you exin my sickness or my recovery?" she asked him?


    "No." he answered.


    "Has any scientist from any in the Sun star created a human being?" she asked him.


    "They have created clones and robots." he answered self righteously. He looked so smug when he said it.


    "I mean creating a human being from the head to the toe and breathing life into them, not cloning something that is already living. And cloning is illegal in the empire which means that even the royal family and the citizens don''t think it''s ethical." She retorted too, self righteously.


    This was the age old point of disagreement between believers in religion and believers in the sciences on earth.


    With this point, she had him cornered because he could not exin creation. As a grim reaper, she was far more knowledgeable and qualified that he was to discuss issues to do with creation and gods.


    She tapped him on the shoulder and spoke to him like an adult speaking to a child, "Just listen to me and make offerings asionally. It will not hurt you in any way to so. I am your beloved sister that only cares for your well being, I will never lead you astray, my teacher will never lead us astray."


    Adler looked at his little sister that was convincing him to believe in something that was akin to science fiction.


    "That is science fiction, but I will still find a ce for this thing because you might harm yourself trying to find a ce for it." he said.


    Scarlet''s upper lip trembled and sheughed. This world would be considered science fiction to someone that lived on earth and yet it existed. It was ironic how someone from this world was calling the mythical world science fiction.


    "By the way," he opened his hand and showed her something, "Father and I wanted to ask you what this is?"

 Chapter 70 Who Planted The Oats?

    ?


    The thing Adler was showing her was a long big grain, the color of gold. She sent a picture to the underworld forum and it was identified as oats.


    "Oats!!" she gasped and took the grain from his hand. This was food, and it was mature for harvesting. This would relieve the worry she was carrying around about running out of corn and wheat porridge before the newly nted crops could mature for harvesting.


    Even though she was excited, reality quickly put a damper on that excitement because one, she did not know what quantity was avable and two, even if she did she had never harvested or processed oats before.


    She put the buddha statue down on the table gently andid down some incense sticks which were not lit next to it.


    "Brother, I want you to take me where you found this grain right now. Tell me everything that you know like how much it is in quantity and are the grains all big like this also, who nted them or which part of the blue forest they are growing in" First she would see the quantity then she would think about the next steps.


    Adler led the way and he told her, "If anybody asks, tell them your teacher nted it."


    "My teacher." she replied in a confused voice.


    That was impossible because she had made up the story of the teacher, unless....


    "Are you talking about the mysterious old powerful man that died. The one you and father told me to acknowledge as my teacher if anybody asks?"


    Adler nodded. "We found about fourrge fields of this stuff behind his house. We wanted to tell you but other things kepting up and we forgot all about it." He stopped walking and held her shoulder suddenly.


    She looked at him in confusion, "What is it?" she asked. "Why did you stop walking."


    He had a pained look in his eyes when he answered her. "Last night," he said and he stopped talking, looking down at this feet and then he looked at her again.


    "Last night what?" she asked him. Did this have to do with Esong? she wondered.


    "Something happened to youst night , you screamed and we found you in bed with blood on your mouth. You were pale Scarlet, your temperature was high and you werepletely unconscious. I had no idea that you had gone hunting for that mutated beast which almost killed someone on your own. Why did you do such a thing on your own? You can''t be making careless mistakes with your life Scarlet, you have to think about Justin.


    About our parents, they feel guilty as it is for not knowing that you used to be ill. Heck, feel sorry for me, I raised you fifty percent of the time when our parents were busy or away. In a way I am like a second father to you and I worry about you a lot.


    I do not need you to hunt for beasts to feed the family, I can do that. Beord, Carolyn our father and even our mother when she is not pregnant. She is the best hunter in the family. I know that you used to go into the forest alone with your teacher but your teacher is no longer here."


    While he was exining, Scarlet just reached her arms out and she hugged him.


    The hug quickly shut Adler up and his shoulders which had been clenched tightly loosened up.


    "Thank you for worrying about me." she said.


    "I can''t help it." Adler replied in an emotional voice. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Thest time she hugged him like this she was only seven years old, before she started changing and bing someone elsepletely. Adler tightened the hug as his mind pictured her as that little girl.


    "I am not weak brother, my mental strength has recovered all the way to E level. I have to keep training for it to grow further, that''s what my teacher said."


    In shock about her revtion, he ced his hand on her head and tried to scan her mind the way Esong had done in the kitchen back then.


    "This is amazing." he said, "You are not going to listen to me, are you?" he asked her when he was finished scanning.


    "No," she replied instantly.


    "Can you at least tell me so that I can go along with you and protect you?" he asked.


    "No." she answered. "I will hire a personal guard from the former mecha warriors that are arriving tomorrow. In fact I will hire two guards if that will make youfortable. I need you helping me to run this not following me around."


    Adler sighed and he ruffled her hair.


    "Don''t disorganize my hair." sheined childishly.


    Scarlet had forgotten that was the same way she treated Fey each time she saw her.


    Adler let her go and they walked hand in hand to the fields where the oats had been nted. As they were leaving, neither one of them noticed Esong that was standing under a thorn tree with Markay a distance away.


    He had been looking at the hugging siblings with an unreadable look on his face. The ck pupils of his eyes had be even darker than usual.


    "Your eyes do that when you are about to head into a battle." Markay that had been observing Esongmented and when he got no answer, he said, "Isn''t it nice when siblings get along? The Su''s are so carefree and loving, there is nopetition or secret plotting over power or wealth. I wonder what it would be like to grow up in such a family."


    Esong snorted and said, "It''s inappropriate for a woman from a noble family to be caught expressing enthusiastic affection in public."


    "They are siblings, who cares?" Markey answered with the dismissive wave of a hand.


    In his opinion Esong was being unnecessarily uptight. What was wrong with a brother hugging a sister?


    Esong snorted and stormed off like a man heading into battle to confront an unknown enemy.


    "What is wrong with him?" Markay asked himself. "He has been grumpy since morning." His eyes followed Esong all the way to the punching bags tied on the branches of the thorn trees where a line of soldiers under training were waiting for their turns to show off their skills.


    "Oh those poor untrained and unsuspecting soldiers." Markay sighed. In that mood, whoever Esong picked to train was dead meat.

 Chapter 71 Jackpot.

    ?


    She had been expecting a reasonable harvest when her brother said four fields of oats had been nted by the old man but what he did not mention was the impressive size of the grains. The harvest from one field was double that of two field nted with normal oats.


    She had crystal water and purifying water to exin any changes in the size of nts that she nted but what excuse did the old mysterious man have? Was he a scientist or someone with a cheat of some kind?


    She looked around and tugged at Adler''s hand, urging him to bend down so that she could whisper to him.


    "Brother who exactly was this man?" she asked.


    Adler shrugged as response. "Why?" he asked.


    "Because these are vey good grains, they are so fat and healthy. These are good quality oats which can only be grown from extraordinary grains. As a matter of fact, if the people had known that this was food it would have been harvested a long time ago."


    Adler took one grain and put it in his mouth and tried to chew it but then he spat it out with a disgusted look on his face. He always carried around a bottle of juice and he took onerge sip to erase the weird taste in his mouth.


    "I don''t think so, that is not tasty at all." he said.


    She looked at him as if she was eyeing a daft younger sibling. "You tried to eat something with a husk on, of course it will be hard and weird. The oats are inside the husks, we have to separate them. And then we have to turn the oats into flour or process them so that they can be cooked as porridge or be used in baking bread."


    "I still think it will taste weird." Adler insisted. "Sweet things should be sweet right from the get go like the sugar canes. They look like sticks but they taste amazing."


    "Just add sugar to the oat porridge or whatever is being baked and you have a sweet taste. Oats are heathy, I for one am d that this old man has given us a surprise. I am going to look around his house and see what else I can find."


    "Wait for me." Adler called out as she walking away.


    She turned around and held her hands out, "No brother," she said, "You need to go ande with a machine that helps us harvest the oats while separating the husks from the useful oats. I think that rice harvester I asked you to make can do the same job. Go to the factory and see if even one machine has been finished."


    When she was worrying about how to harvest the oats it crossed her mind that the rice harvesters she had asked her brother to have manufactured in the tiny fracture could work after all oats and rice were all grains. They could not be so different.


    Her brother looked extremely hesitant and unwilling to leave. "But I don''t want to leave you here alone, what if something happens."


    She spun around slowly once. "Look around brother, it''s just me and the oats for miles. My husband already epassed sixty percent of our in a barrier and he added a shield, we don''t have to worry about mutant beasts or space pirates attacking suddenly. But if you are so worried then send someone toe after you leave. Our biggest emergency right now is the oats, they are already ripe and if we do not harvest they will go to waste. You know as well as I do that we cannot afford to waste any food."


    "I am sending someone." Adler told her. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do as you wish." she told him.


    She went into the old man''s house which she knew before hand was empty. Her brother had told her about how he and their father buried the old man behind the house.


    She thought that by looking around she could get an insight into the former upant of the house.


    It was basic however, solid metal and four walls. There was nothing at all in this house which was quite surprising since the old man had lived here for years. Her father and brother had not taken anything out so what happened to the old man''s properties?


    She decided to use her grim reaper vision to find what was hiding and s!! she saw a small beam of white smoke up above behind an arch like structure on the roof of the house. Right on cue, her soul gourd started rattling.


    ''So there is a soul in this house.'' she thought. ''Probably the old man''s soul.''


    But if soul eaters emitted ck smoke then what emitted white?


    Using her soul binding rope, she aimed at the white smoke and pulled down the soul. Unlike the usually silent souls, this one was one talking, just like a human. An angry soul that was extremely visible that she could almost touch it was ring at her. It was a man, an old angry man.


    "What the heck?" she said as she was surprised. "Severus, if you can hear me, wake up. I have a bit of a soul emergency."


    Severus was quiet, she had nothing back from him.


    "Get out of my house." the man yelled at her.


    He was tall and standing straight despite the sharp white beard and wrinkles. On his head was a thick mane of white hair . If he was jolly, with a round stomach, thicker beard and dressed in red, he would have made a good Santa us.


    Scarlet knew that she could not just rely on Severus for everything, a grim reaper should be able to face any type of soul. "I am afraid I can''t do that." she told him politely.


    She was quickly perusing the underworld forum for talking souls and souls with white smoke. The mostmon answer she found was ''strong soul'' and the words ''jackpot'' and ''congrattions.''


    She had just blindly stumbled upon a strong soul and she was officially going to join the ranks of the few wealthy reapers in the underworld. One strong soul was equal to ten million ordinary souls and one thousand soul eaters.


    She could not let go of him, he had to be delivered to the underworld so that she could be rewarded handsomely and he could either be a grim reaper in another world or be reincarnated. Whatever choice he made was up to him but either way, she was going to be rewarded.

 Chapter 72 The Old Mans Identity

    ?


    The old man frowned at her, his eyes bulged and he threatened her. "If you do not get out of my house right now I will destroy you."


    She politely answered, "Sir, I am afraid that you do not seem to realize the situation you are in right now. I am sorry to be the one to inform you that you are dead, you have been dead for months now. I am a grim reaper of the Sun star, my name is Scarlet. It is my duty to help you move on to the next phase of your life."


    The old man stared at her as if she was crazy. The sides of his lips were ticking as if he was about tough or scream at her at any moment.


    "Dead." he repeated after her.


    "Yes, dead, If you think that I am lying, feel free to step out and see if anybody else beside me can see you. My brother and father buried your body in the back, I can also take you there."


    She did not wait for him to answer but she touched his shoulder and appeared with him in one of the vegetable farms. Severus had told her that at level two, she could blink and appear in one ce or another at the snap of a finger. She could also turn herself invisible for as long as she did not wish to be seen.


    She could not wait to reach reach level three and finally get her own scythe.


    "Look around you and see, they cannot see you. You can scream, shout and yell if you want. You can even bang a stone against the metallic armor on your body but nothing will change."


    The old man''s soul floated around the fields, and she kept a very strict eye on it. She was being kind and polite because he was not like other souls, he still had an active consciousness.


    She wondered if a strong soul could be a soul eater. Could a soul like that one be easily stopped?


    When the old man was finished with his tour of the area, he returned to where she was and stood next to her.


    "Am I really dead?" he asked her.


    "Yes." she replied.


    The old man let out a few brokenughs from his mouth. "This is not what I thought death would be. I thought we just vanish into nothingness when we die, what is happening to me? Why am I here? Am I even here?"


    He was confused, and she could not me him. There were no teachings about the possibility of an after life in this world. People were told that if they died they just evaporated and turned into nothing. For a strong soul like this one that could see, hear and understand everything this had to be shocking.


    It was like leaving your home and being dropped on a new unfamiliar world with no guidelines. He had to be terrified right now because he was faced with many unknowns.


    "What''s your name?" she asked him.


    "Maddox," he said in a soft voice, "Maddox Varakas." After saying his name heughed. "I have not said my name out loud in a very long time, I have lived in hiding, waiting for the day when I could take my revenge and now I am dead. Why did I wait so long?"


    His voice was filled with pain and anguish, it was also filled with regrets, so many of them. Death with regrets was all toomon, almost everyone died with them.


    "I can''t go like this, I refuse to go." he said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Maddox." she tightened the soul binding rope around him just in case he tried to run "You cannot stay here, whatever business you have left unfinished leave it to the deities, go and plead your case with them. Someone like you is a valuable find in the underworld realm, when you get there, bargain for what you want."


    She did not know if it was in her ce to give him such advise or if the old deity would be mad at her but she wanted to stop him from spinning out.


    Maddox suddenly turned and looked at her with despair on his face. "You are alive, you walk among them. I saw you talking to that boy."


    "Yes, a grim reaper lives in both worlds." she answered. "It''s a reward for the work that we do."


    "Then can I be like you, I want to take revenge..."


    She cut him off, "I don''t think you will be allowed to be a reaper if your aim is to have vengeance. Like I said, the deities will deal with your enemies in their own way. You have to forget all about them now and say goodbye to what I perceive to have been an exhausting life for you. You lived alone, no friend or family. You carried all your anger and pain alone, it''s time to put it all down Maddox. You have a chance at a great new life, a good one, so take it. Do you think every dead person gets the chance that we got? We are the few lucky ones, you are lucky Maddox."


    As she was convincing him, she sounded like the old deity when he was convincing her to ept the role of a grim reaper.


    "If your enemies are in this world, I will do something about them. I may not kill them but I will do something that makes their lives hurt."


    "Why?'' he asked her.


    "Because I have borrowed your identity and I am using you as a shield. Everyone thinks that you are my teacher, I want to repay the favor you have unwillingly done me I guess."


    She blinked and they returned to his house, standing outside in front of the fields. As the wind blew they swayed, showing off their golden beauty.


    "Where did you find the grains that you nted?" she asked him. She had been itching with the need to know.


    Maddox was staring up at the sky, even if he could not feel the heat anymore, he could see the suns.


    "I will never be able to see those two suns again if I go, right?" he asked her.


    "You will see another sun or moon or five suns. I don''t really know because there are so many worlds out there. You will have to find out for yourself."


    "What are deities?" he asked her.


    "Gods, the creators of all the worlds." she answered. "I think it''s toote for me to give you a lesson on who they are or how powerful they are."


    "Up there, where you pulled me from is my storage bracelet. It contains everything about myself, my life, my research and my origins. I am ready to go now."

 Chapter 73 The Storage Bracelet

    ?


    After putting Maddox''s soul in the soul gourd she immediately went looking for the storage bracelet which he said was behind that arch.


    With her reaper vision she quickly found it, it was a brown colored bracelet with onerge blue square shaped gem that she could identify. There were marks and wordings carved into the gem that looked like runes to her.


    When she touched the gem, it sparked as if electricity was running through it.


    Try as much as he could, she could not find any way of essing the storage space so she brought Maddox''s soul out of the soul gourd.


    He appeared to be confused, one minute he was no longer here and now he was back.


    "Why am I still here?" he asked her.


    "How do I open this thing and how do I stop anybody else from opening it after me?"


    She dangled the bracelet in front of him.


    "Right, I did not give you any instructions. ce the blue gem in front of eyes, it will automatically open. I created it like a personal mecha, it can only be operated by a specific owner. It can only be operated by two people, me and you. Since I am dead, that leaves only your eyes as the way to open it."


    She did as he instructed and then ced the bracelet around her arm. It connected to her mind like aputer and she could see something about DNA coding. Her entire body was scanned from head to toe with weight and height being recorded.


    "Can I go away from this dastardly ce already. I want to to move on to my next life already."


    "Right." she mumbled and sucked his soul into the soul gourd again. She could not wait until night to deliver his soul, at this level as long she fell asleep, she would travel to the underworld realm but she had to use a sleeping aid.


    Searching the forum, she found instant sleeping pills, all with different times. Some could put you to sleep for five minutes, ten minutes, one hour, all night , one week and even one year and more.


    Who needed to sleep for one whole year? she wondered.


    She bought a twenty minute sleeping pill for one soul crystal. As she paid for it she grumbled over how expensive everything in the underworld realm was.


    She needed to set up her own shop in this realm, she just had no idea what to sell.


    She sat down in a corner and swallowed the small brown pill after sniffing it about three times. Scarlet did not even know how she fell asleep, she just found herself in the underworld realm.


    "That was quick." she mumbled. She looked around only to notice that the underworld realm was quite different to how it appeared in the night. She could now see trees, whose species were unidentifiable to her. On those trees were sleeping birds which she also could also not identify. Below the trees were ponds of water with lively fish jumping around and a small stream of water whose beginning and end she could not see.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was brighter, more colorful and the soul registrars were walking around and talking. These guys were so gloomy at night that she never imagined that they could smile. Scarlet had to rub her eyes and see if she was in the simr realm.


    This ce had all the makings of a paradise, little butterflies were flying around andnding on the flowers that were nted besides the ponds of water.


    Grim reapers were walking around with flowers, herbs and soul pets in their hands, chatting andughing. There was no single soul being delivered however. She could have sworn that she read somewhere that high level reapers could deliver souls at anytime. Where were they in that case?


    In her confusion, she turned to what was slightly familiar to her. She contacted the one who turned her into what she was. "Old deity, if you can hear me, I have a strong soul here that I am delivering but everything is so weird here. If you can hear me..."


    She had not yet finished her words when a sudden powerful swirling that was apanied by a strong wind in the ce where she was standing appeared and the old deity stepped through it.


    She would have thought that nothing more could shock her but today, everything she had seen had shocked her.


    "Scarlet, look at you," the old deity addressed her cheerfully as if she was his long lost daughter. He hade with that handsome face which he put on thest time she saw him.


    "Come here you," he forcibly pulled her in for a hug. "Being a grim reaper suits you dear. You even leveled up, you are at level two already and you have a hound of hell as your soul pet. I am so d that I saw the potential in you, I have excellent vision."


    The soul registrars, reapers and even the gate keepers around had mostly stopped what they were doing to stare at the sight before their eyes.


    Some of them who knew how pretentious the old deity was were feeling pity for her because she was about to scammed. He was already praising himself for her aplishments.


    Others were surprised to see the newbie grim reaper being so close with the all powerful deity of the underworld while others were shocked to hear that she had leveled up so quickly.


    Thest group of shocked people were those who did not know that she had a hell hound as a pet.


    "Old deity, you are squishing me." sheined. He was hugging her so tightly that her cheek that was pressed against his chest which felt as hard as iron was t like a pancake.


    The old deity let go of her and he looked at her expectantly while she coughed as if he had been strangling her.


    "Where is it? Bring it out already." The old deity cared less about her coughing and more about the strong soul.


    Bent over while holding her hands at her knees and wheezing like a patient with asthma, Scarlet extended her hand out.


    "Pay me first old man."

 Chapter 74 A Rich Little Woman

    ?


    As the wheezing calmed down and her breath normalized, she wondered just what the old deity had put in that hug to make her so breathless. She had felt like a bug being stepped on by an extrarge boot.


    He had to have done this deliberately, they were not close enough to go around hugging. The price she was about to ask for was going to be doubled.


    "I can hear your thoughts you know." the old deity told her. "Don''t you dare think about scamming me or I will embrace you all day." he threatened.


    Scarlet hissed and jumped away from him as if he was a devil.


    "You nasty old man," she mumbled.


    "One hug for the insult." the old deity warned.


    Scarlet squealed in horror and turned around to escape but her feet were stuck suddenly, as if they had been glued to the ground and she was forcefully hugged again.


    "Aren''t my hugs the best?" the old deity asked her. "Not everyone has had the privilege of being hugged me, just ask them all."


    The onlookers looked away and others hurried away to mind their own business. Who in the underworld did not know that this guy deliberately injected power into his hugs when he was holding a petty grudge against you. Many of them felt sorry for her, wondering what she had done to this deity. That hug was known as the ''sweet pain of an embrace'' in the underworld.


    s! once again she had to cough, wheeze and endure pain in her body.


    "On to serious business now." the old deity changed his tone, it was no longer yful. "Release the soul, there are many worlds out there that are suffering, there is no time to waste."


    Scarlet was wise this time round to keep her mouth shut and her thoughts clean. She decided to think about money and soul crystals.


    "I want double the normal price, this one is better than most strong souls. He is a top tier soul, he even emits white smoke, I read on the forum that this means his purity is high."


    The old deity''s eyes lit up.


    "Scarlet my dear, I should have hugged you more." he said.


    She waspletely befuddled, his hugs had terrorized her officially and if he mentioned hugging her again she would go crazy. But she did not want to give up on getting more benefits out of him.


    "Old deity, you should pity me, do you know how much I have to suffer living on that emptynd where you dropped me, fearful for my life while hunting for souls and then cultivating with meager resources. If you won''t increase the price at least top up the soul crystals with some purifying water, nourishing grass and.....uhm...." she suddenly realized that she could not speak anymore, her tongue was heavy and numb.


    "Of course dear, one million soul crystals, of which ten thousand are high level. Twenty liters of purifying water and one batch of nourishing grass." the deity said.


    Those items appeared out of thin air andnded at her feet. The small glistening mountain of soul crystals made others gasp, the tantalizing smell of purifying water made them envious and the nourishing grass topped off all that envy.


    "Now it''s your turn." the old deity told Scarlet.


    Scarlet wanted to hiss at him for curbing her tongue before she could demand more but she held back. She had been nning to ask for two million soul crystals but sensation had just returned to her tongue and she wanted to keep it that way. The old deity normally acted so normal with her that she had forgotten his real identity. She decided not to antagonize him, for her this was a lost battle. Hopefully Maddox would squeeze some things out of him.


    At the end of the day, with everything at her feet she was officially a rich little woman in the underworld.


    "Of course, she said with a smile." and she released Maddox''s soul while sending her newly acquired wealth into the soul gourd at the same time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Maddox''s soul caused gasps andmotion,


    "A strong soul."


    "It''s a strong soul."


    "It''s a pure soul, not just a strong soul."


    "No wonder he showed up in person."


    The news immediately started hitting the forum, "The newbie hit the jackpot, a strong pure soul."


    The soul registrars hurried toe forward and receive Maddox as if he was VIP in a night club.


    "We can work on him my lord." they all mored.


    Maddox was confused at all that was going on and so was Scarlet. She was a strong soul when she came to the underworld and she did not remember being given any VIP treatment. Nobody had mored over her eagerly like this.


    In fact, she did not remember how she got to the underworld realm or which reaper delivered her soul. It had not even crossed her mind before but now she had all these questions.


    She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked at it and then she looked at the old deity who was touching her shoulder. There was no pain this time in his touch.


    "Thank you Scarlet." the old deity said genuinely.


    She nodded stiffly, "You are wee, I already talked to him about bing a grim reaper and he epted."


    The old deity raised one eyebrow. "Really." he said.


    "Yes, but he has some things he wants, anyway I have done my part." she retrieved her rope which was still binding Maddox. Then she looked at Maddox and said, "The old," she stopped because he was not using an old mans face and she did not want to confuse Maddox. "this deity will take care of you. Good luck."


    Maddox nodded and he waved. "Thank you." he said.


    The old deity disappeared into the whirlpool which brought him with Maddox''s soul.


    She watched until it faded away and all was just as it had been. For some reason her heart suddenly felt slightly heavy, as if she had sent off her own child, a beloved family member or a close friend. Her hand moved to her chest, and she beat it two times, wondering why she felt like crying. The urge to cry was getting stronger with each passing second.


    "Why am I feeling this way?" she asked herself.


    "It''s the pure soul, it has that effect on those who stay around it for so long. Don''t fight the feeling, you are going to cry your heart out anyway." A soul registrar that was standing close to Scarlet exined to her.


    The sleeping pill wore off and she woke up and just started bawling like a child.

 Chapter 75 Their First Hug

    ?


    After unnecessarily brutalizing the less than qualified soldiers of the Blue star, Esong managed to catch sight of Adler returning alone from the fields of gold. His curiosity got the better of him and he wondered why he had left the sister who was so pitifully weak behind.


    Standing before Esong was a sixteen year old boy, so young and weak, trembling with a long metal energy powered rod that was probably too heavy in his arms. He was was supposed to spar next with this little boy!! The blue starcked capable grown soldiers that he was expected to spar with this boy!!


    One that had not even attended an academy of any kind. He was bbergasted and lost all interest in sparring.


    "Go home." Esong told the boy, then he dashed away in the direction of the oat fields.


    The boy that was left behind copsed on the ground, trembling as if he had a fever.


    "The general is so brutal." a woman that had been watching all this from a distance whispered to herself.


    As for Esong, when he finally traced Scarlet, it was by the sound of her heart broken sobs. Cautiously, he opened the door slowly and peeped inside. When he confirmed with his very eyes that she was the one crying, he quickly closed the door and looked around as if someone was watching him.


    Why was she crying alone? What had her brother done? Should he confront her brother or ask her what had happened?


    Esong opened the door again and this time round, he went inside. Slowly, he approached her and he coughed to alert her about his presence.


    Her head was bent down in between her knees and her body was rocking back and forth.


    She did not look up and he had no idea what to do so he sought answers from the one ce that had opinions on everything, the star.


    ''What do I do when my wife is crying?'' he typed.


    A variety of answers showed up and he perused through them quickly.


    [Apologize for your wrong doing and promise not to do whatever you have done again.]


    [Kiss her, my wife always calms down after I kiss her.]


    [Women are cry babies, sometimes you have to let them cry.]


    [Never underestimate the power of a hug. It''s the easiest way offorting anyone that is crying.]


    There were other answers but out of them all only the hug seemed most appropriate in this situation. So he lowered his body and sat down next to her, then he reached his arm over and draped it over her shoulder.


    "There, there." he said. "Everything is going to be okay?" he said awkwardly.


    He thought that perhaps she had not heard him but then she raised her head up and looked at him. Her eyes were swollen and red, she had been crying so hard that was a small trail of snoting from her nose.


    The tears were still dripping from her eyes like the water flowing continuously in that river which he had seen.


    "You.." he pointed at her nose. "You have something on your nose."


    To his dismay sheunched herself into his arms and bawled her heart out loudly.


    Esong was startled and he raised his hands in the air, "What are you doing?" he asked her.


    His armor was hard and piercing from the outside, he worried that it would injure her somehow. Her body was soft and her skin was smooth. He could smell the sweet scent being emitted from her hair and he did not want to harm her.


    He retracted his armor and for the first time since hended on the blue star, Esong was in a in military warriors ck and red uniform.


    He extended his arms out and hugged her tightly, squeezing her unnecessarily tightly. "Uhm, it''s going to be okay." he told her. He rubbed her back soothingly like he had seen her do for Justin and many other mothers doing for their children.


    They stayed that way for minutes, him holding her and her crying until the tears dried out she felt calmer.


    "Are you better now?" he asked her.


    She nodded, and sniveled a little bit. "I am okay." she answered. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Why were you crying?" he asked.


    Scarlet lifted her head, thinking about what possible answer she could give that he would believe.


    "I saw your brother leaving here quickly, did he do something to you?"


    Her brother, Adler had nothing to do with this at all. "I was just hungry." she blurted out.


    The hand which was moving up and down along her back stopped suddenly. Was she serious or joking? She had been crying like that because of hunger?


    The queen of food who named herself the best chef of the empire was crying because she was hungry!!


    "I have a high quality nutrient solution, the ones people call shakes."


    "No." she replied instantly. "I have snacks in my storage bracelet." she replied.


    "Then you should eat." he said.


    "I should." she answered.


    Despite saying this, she was stillfortably leaning her head on his shoulders and her arms were wrapped around him. He too was holding her, one arm around her waist and another at the top of her back.


    Their bodies were pressed closer together and she was inappropriately sitting on top of his body. They were hugging, this was their first embrace since ever.


    Both of them were beginning to sense just how awkward the situation was getting.


    "I should probably get up." she mumbled.


    "You should." he said. "You need to eat."


    She untangled herself from his body slowly as his hands fell away from her body.


    She tidied her skirt and stayed sitting down on the ground next to him. She patted her hair and when she had nothing else to do she twisted her fingers around.


    "Thank you." she said to cover up the awkward silence.


    "Sure." he answered. "You should eat."


    She chortled and scratched her ear. "It''s the third time you are saying that." She took a packet of chocte chip cookies out of her storage space and ripped it open.


    She took a bite of the first cookie and relished that sweet chocte taste.


    Esong saw her eating the dark colored thing and he leaned down to get a closer look.


    "Do you want some?" she extended the packet toward his face. "It''s a cookie."


    Esong did not try to refuse or hold himself back, he took one cookie and bit into it. His eyes lit up and he swallowed the rest of it in one bite.


    "This is so good, what did you say it''s called?" he took another one and another.


    "Cookie, it goes best with milk." she also brought two small sized in white milk boxes from her storage. She stabbed the straws into them and handed him one.


    Between the two of them one and a half packets of cookies were eaten and five packets of milk. Esong drunk three of those and he kept away the rest of the cookies.


    Both of them heard the roaring sound of a vehicle outside at the same time and they stood up.


    "Your brother is back." Esong told her.

 Chapter 76 The First Harvest On The Blue Star

    ?


    "Can you give me a minute to rearrange myself, I don''t want him to see me like this. He will assume that you did something to make me cry."


    "Alright." Esong nodded and he left the house. He made sure to close the door behind her so that she could have some privacy.


    She used this opportunity to do something on the underworld forum. She bought some red beans, soy beans, ck beans and wheat grains. She remembered that she needed fruits so she bought thousands of fresh ones in different varieties quantities and also seeds.


    As she wrapping up she recalled Severus mentioning something about a soul attracting stone so she put in a request for one on the forum. This would save her from having to go walking through forests daily just to look for souls.


    No shop on the forum sold ready clothes so she bought some cotton seeds.


    "Times up." she mumbled to herself.


    She covered her red eyes with a pair of shades, ced a buddha statue in the corner of the house, lit some incense and added some fruits. No one would throw a funeral for Maddox, she had to do it herself.


    "I hope you find peace." she said to herself.


    Scarlet then left the house, she gave the empty inside onest look and then she shut the door. Since she did not need to deliver souls every night now that she had leveled up, she would have time to read about his life and see everything that he left behind.


    She saw the two harvesters which had been made in the factory right here on the blue star. They were bigger than the ones she had seen on earth, there gigantic teeth were sweeping through the fields like angry monsters on a mission to destroy.


    Some of the oats were flying through the air and being carried away by the wind to further ces.


    "What kind of armor is that on the governor''s eyes?" someone asked.


    "Who cares, she looks cool." another person said.


    Scarlet heard this and she just smiled, she could have sworn that she heard Justin''s voice somewhere in the fields. She sharpened her hearing and heard his little voice singing.


    He had to be in one of the two harvesters, his naughty self could not resist wanting to have fun.


    She did not need to interfere with his fun, instead, she could promote the oats before harvesting and processing ended. She turned on her bracelet, opened her star ount and started her live broadcast.


    "Hello everyone, this is your favorite chef Scarlet broadcasting live from the blue star."


    [We have missed you.]


    [What are you cooking today?]


    [You look so beautiful, what kind or armor is that on your eyes?]


    [Where do you get your clothes?]


    "I see all of yourments and I am happy. Thank you for calling me beautiful but the things on my eyes are not armor. These are called shades, they help me protect my eyes from the ring light of the two suns. Today I want to take you on a trip of our blue star because we are officially harvesting our first crops." she squealed happily.


    She turned the camera to the fields and showed her online audience therge fields.


    [What is that?]


    [Is that food?]


    [If I want some of that food how can I buy it because I have not had any luck in your lotteries.]


    [Please put up more products in your shop, things run out quickly.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Turn on your dual viewer we want to see the front and the back.]


    She looked at the bracelet for the dual viewer, it was in the settings area and she turned it on. Now the audience could see her and the fields at the same time.


    [Just buy a drone if you are going to do arge scope live broadcast, I rmend the drones from Varakas starpany technology.]


    Thatpany name made her pause, Maddox was called Varakas. Was this a coincidence or was Varakas amon name on the Sunstar?


    "Huh." she said.


    [I hear singing, who is singing?]


    "The singing voices are from the children of our blue star, they like to sing songs when we are harvesting or nting crops in the field. Aren''t their little voices so sweet?"


    She took them around the field and showed them the harvesters even taking time to exin how harvesters worked.


    "The harvesters were made right here on the blue star our n is to be as self sufficient as possible."


    [Can the harvester be driven like a normal car?]


    [Can it be used in a mecha fight?]


    [It has really big teeth, I want to drive one. How much do you sell the harvesters for?]


    The audience was not the only ones that where fascinated, Esong, Markay, Folsom and Cedric were all lined up waiting for a chance to drive a harvester.


    People hade to watch as if this was an organized mecha fight, some of them were even cheering.


    She could not understand what they found fascinating about arge rice harvester when they lived in a world with mechas and flying cars.


    One of the harvesters filled up and someone from the farming team approached her.


    "Governor, what are we going to do with the oats in the back."


    "Bring those veryrge vats in the factory that were supposed to store the rice and use them to store the oats.


    She looked at the audience and said, "I will take you to have a closer look at the oats"


    While she did that Esong finally got a turn at the harvester and he drove like a mad man, just running it through the fields with no coordination.


    The harvester passed by the spot where she was standing and Esong''s face was clearly seen on the screen eliciting excitement from her viewers.


    [If my eyes are not deceiving me that''s the mecha king.]


    [Is that the mecha king?]


    [It''s General Esong, he is on the blue star?]


    [Why is the general on the blue star?]

 Chapter 77 Shameless Fans.

    ?


    For some reason the question what is Esong doing on the blue star irked her. Was it impossible or illegal for him to be here?


    "Those of you who are asking what general Esong is doing here are ridiculous, he has a wife and a child here. Isn''t it a given that he would visit?"


    [You are not his wife.]


    [His family has never acknowledged you.]


    [Stop talking and run after the mecha king we only want to see our prince charming.]


    She rolled her eyes and pointed at the screen, "Aren''t you too shameless to be calling my husband prince charming in front of me?"


    [What is shame in the face of such a handsome powerful man?]


    [I don''t know shame, I only the handsome mecha king.]


    Someone even sent three space ships to encourage her to run after Esong. This was beyond shameless, these women were going all out as if she did not exist.


    The more the news got out that Esong had been seen on the blue star, the crazier the livestream got and the number of viewers increased by leaps and bounds.


    She did not even know this but even the major newsworks had picked up the story and it was being reported.


    ''General Esong is living on the blue star''


    Entertainment bloggers and gossip sites went ahead to turn the entire thing into something else.


    ''The mecha king abandons the capital for the backward blue star''


    ''I am moving in with my wife,'' the mecha king says.


    ''Could love conquer all after all?'' the mecha king makes his choice.''


    ''The useless Scarlet manages to honey trap the mecha king again.''


    The news caught the eye of the Star daily, one of thergest newsworks in the empire. The director of the live streaming department a shrewd middle aged man named Rodney saw it and he rushed to show it to another executive director who sent the link to the president of thework.


    Thirty minutester, Rodney was on a space ship on his way to the blue star with a full team to sign Scarlet.


    Somewhere else in the capital still, Emory Wu saw the news and she told her daughter Emily to connect the live stream to the the big television so that she could watch it clearly.


    She was extremely furious because her son had been ignoring her phone calls and it was only now that she was finding out that shameless Scarlet Su had something to do with it.


    She would never allow Scarlet to sink her ws into her son again. She would protect him at all costs.


    "She certainly knows how to beautify herself, look at those clothes. They look soft and rich in color, where did she find them?" Emilymented loudly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There was no cotton on the Sun star hence clothes like Scarlet''s were rare. The clothes they wore were made from a special material and they could change color because of special technology but the design was the same.


    "I don''t see brother, maybe these are just rumors." Elon Wu, Esong''s younger brother that had returned from the academy two days ago for a short holiday said.


    The boy was only twelve years but he was a miniature version of Esong. If Elon and Justin stood together people would call Elon Esong''s biological son and Justin a step son.


    "Why does this all matter if he is there or not? Esong is a grown man that can make his own decisions." The grand elder of the Wu family Etienne Wu said gruffly.


    "He can''t be associated with her." Emorymented.


    "You raised him Emory, it does not mean you can control him." The grand elder''s wife Cecily Wu gave Emory an unimpressed sharp look that dared Emory to defy her.


    "Mother..." Emory said in disbelief.


    "Esong told me that she has changed, he also sent us pictures of Justin and the boy is doing fine. He is healthy physically and very happy, he can read and he sings songs adorably. He has a healthy appetite because she personally cooks for him. I have noints about her when ites to taking care of our great grandson and that''s why I told you to stay out of the mother-son rtionship.


    I don''t know why you insist on making things difficult for Esong, he doesn''t want toe home because from the moment he steps foot here you parade the daughters of your friends around him as if they are prized nutrient solutions.


    I am warning you now Emory, if this does not stop I will do something drastic."


    Cecily did not hold back from chastising Emory in front of the children, she was simply irritated with her daughter-inw for being the cause of this distance between herself and her only grandchild. Justin should have grown up here on the sun star in this family but Emory decided to file a custody suit which she lost and now Scarlet wanted nothing to do with the Wu family.


    The atmosphere in the living room on the top floor of this nine hundred ny nine level sky scraper was very tense now. Emory looked like she was about to cry and Cecily was angry.


    The grand elder Etienne had no intentions of stepping in because he agreed with his wife''s opinion but he just didn''t voice it openly.


    To break the silence and return some peace, Elon said, "What activity is going on in the back?"


    "They are harvesting food, she called it oats. It''s a grain that can be turned into real food." Emily exined.


    "Oh, I have heard rumors about food at the academy." Elon replied. "They say chicken is very tasty."


    "It is, I ate one at the house of the third princess two days ago and I cannot forget the taste. It''s too bad that the beast hunters associations are all booked and busy. The line of those waiting to buy chicken is so long in that one chicken is now being sold for fifty thousand coins on the dark market."


    "You ate and you did not bring something for me, what a good grand daughter you are." Cecilymented with a yful smile.


    Emily caught Cecily''s arm and wheedled, "Grandma it was only one piece. Why don''t we contact brother and tell him to send us some food?"


    "Your grandfather already did." Cecily whispered to Emily and they both giggled happily.


    On the screen, Scarlet told the shameless mecha king''s fans, "I am not going to run after your mecha king, I am a food anchor not a flower chaser."

 Chapter 78 Flower Chaser

    ?


    [What is a flower chaser?]


    [Shut up and follow the mecha king?]


    [If the space ships will not work I am sending tworge suns.]


    Therge suns were sent and thement section in her live stream became chaotic. The suns were big gifts, worth one million star coins each.


    [Who is this big hero?]


    [begging for some attention from this big hero?]


    Scarlet who was usually happy to receive big gifts frowned and unexpectedly said, "Thank you for your big gift star shine but I will not be epting it. I will ask the starwork to refund your money. Like I said before, I will not be chasing after the mecha king."


    She thought to herself that this must be one of Esong''s many female admirers. Did think Scarlet was a pimp selling out her husband for a few star coins?


    "Anyway, if you look behind us you will see that one whole field has been harvested already. Instead of waiting why don''t I take you to the kitchen so that we can bake some oat bread and tomorrow I will show you some to prepare some oat porridge."


    She moved her head from side to side like a bobble head while speaking in a sing song voice.


    "Follow me." she made ae signal with her hands. As she walked the viewers got to see more parts of the blue star, they saw a road being constructed and asked which materials were being used to construct it and why it was ck.


    The roads in the Sunstar were brown in color, mostly because everyone traveled in flying cars so the roads on the ground were not a priority. But here he roads she wanted would be simr to those from earth.


    "The blue star will not have any flying cars, the skies belong to the birds." she told her viewers.


    Once more, another piece of news was grabbed by the eager journalists in her livestream.


    "Birds are beasts that fly in the skies and build their homes in the trees. Most birds eat grains like oats, rice, corn, small insects or fish. Fish live in water and speaking of fish someone please put me in contact with the center for marine studies. I would love to know if they have some edible water creatures in their center. None of you should go off and eat anything just because I have mentioned that there are edible creatures in the water."


    She passed by a group of women that were chopping up sugar canes.


    [What are they doing?]


    "They are cutting up some of the sugarcanes which are not going to turned into sugar. You always ask me what sugar is and where ites from. Ites from these sugar canes, I am going to sell them in the online shop, that''s why they are being chopped up. If you want a taste I can give you one."


    She had asked them to cut the sugar canes into small chewable pieces and she picked one and ate it. Her sensory taster was always on so that the viewers could see, feel, hear and taste everything as she did.


    [It''s so sweet.]


    [Its smooth like water, where did you find it?]


    [I want to buy right now, now, now now, now]


    "The sugarcanes will be in the online shop by eveningtest please be patient."


    She picked two more pieces and she chewed them as she entered the house.


    She bumped into Carolyn that was exiting the house with Markay in tow. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Hey sis, your highness." she bowed and kept moving.


    [Seventh prince, it''s the seventh prince]


    [What is going on, why is the seventh prince on the blue star?]


    [Your sister is so beautiful]


    "The seventh prince is here apanying Esong to visit his son, nothing special is going on."


    [I don''t believe you.]


    [You stupid bitch, just seducing men everywhere.]


    "I think I will be needing to hire a moderator soon because I have seen more than enoughments from people insulting me. I have no desire to seduce the seventh prince or Esong Wu. I am living for myself now, I would advise some of you to do the same because your obsession with my husband is unnatural. Get a life."


    She found somewhere to ce the bracelet and then she arranged all of the equipment that she needed to bake oat bread.


    "Governor, these are the oats that you wanted." a man came in with a stic bucket full of unprocessed oats.


    "Thank you." she took the bucket and ced it next to the blender. "For this recipe I am going to use one cup of unprocessed oats, you have to blend them and turn them into a powder like this."


    She poured the them into a ss bowl. "Next you have to add these things in the quantities that I am specifying, if you do two cups of oats then you double the ingredients. First you add a pinch of salt, one tea spoon of baking soda and two table spoons of mixed nuts." She mixed them together. "Then you and add five table spoons of sugar, two hundred milliliters of high quality nutrient solution and one egg. For those who like living healthy and do not like sugar you can leave it out or rece the sugar with honey." She mixed it all together.


    "Lastly you add one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, mix it all onest time and pour the mixture into a baking pan. You can add some more mixed nuts for appearance, then this goes into the oven for thirty to thirty five minutes at a heat of one eighty degrees or three hundred sixty degrees."


    "As we wait for the bread to bake I will take you on a tour of our simple house as I answer some of your questions."


    She walked around slowly, going to the living room first. "This is where my family gathers for meals or just to talk and watch television together. It''s not as big as most of the ones I have seen online, but we are building bigger house on the blue star."


    [I love the furniture.]


    [What material are the chairs made from?]


    [Are you also selling chairs and those soft looking pillows?]


    [Why are the pets in your family sleeping on thosefortable chairs? I hate them as much as I hate Severus the greedy dog.]


    [The white cat on top of the grey chair is so cute.]


    [What is that golden fat man sitting up there?]


    Adler or someone had attached a metal panel to the wall and sat the statue close to the television up on the wall.


    "That is a statue of buddha, the deity of peace and wisdom, the deities are Gods, creators of the universe and our makers. There are many gods and many worlds out there, this is something that my teacher taught me. I can see many of your texts already calling me crazy so I will not delve into this matter right now. Let''s just go and taste the bread."


    While the audience fell in love with oat bread and she created a demand for the oats, scientists in the capital were already calling for her head on a spike.

 Chapter 79 A Family Picture

    ?


    Scarlet stayed in the kitchen, baking more oat meal bread with the rest of the oats in the bucket. When she was pulling thest loaf of bread out of the oven, Esong and Justin made a grand entrance, with Justin sitting on Esong''s shoulders.


    "Well this is a first." shemented.


    She had not seen father and son interacting intimately enough to have reached this point so quickly. Wasn''t he the one that said something about boys not being coddled?


    "What can I do you for?" she asked with a drawl in her voice, trying to sound like the people she had met on earth from ces like Texas.


    "Why are you talking like that?" Esong gave her a perplexed look.


    "Never mind, I was just trying something. What are you two doing in the house anyway? Are you done ying in the fields?"


    "I was not ying." Esong instantly replied.


    "I was working mummy." Justin added.


    Both of them held the simr defensive look on their faces while blinking continuously. She looked at father and then up at son and she sighed.


    "Sorry, my bad, you two must be here because you heard about the bread, right?"


    "Esong put Justin down and he widened his arms, "You can smell it all the way from everywhere mummy."


    "I don''t think it''s everywhere baby." she said. It was highly doubtful that the people at the rice paddies or those constructing the castle and other houses miles away could smell the bread.


    "But I smelled it everywhere." Justin insisted.


    "That''s because you were close to the house. You just had breakfast an hour or so ago, are you still hungry?"


    "All of my friends are hungry mummy, we sung to the nts and they are now as tall as my leg. He pulled put his foot forward to show her the height of some of the nts. Others have not grown tall though, they are just short and round, like a ¡­." he thought about what he couldpare with, "A pot, that pot in the movie." he said excitedly.


    Esong could not understand half of what his son was saying but he could see that she was following the conversation properly. If it were him listening, he would have asked the boy to speak artictely.


    "I think we need to open a school, you children cannot spend all your time ying around." she mumbled.


    "We don''t y mummy we work." Justin reminded her again.


    The little boy was even looking at her as if she was dumb.


    "Yes, you work so hard but children should not be working, they should be studying. Esong, you are going to have to find teachers that are willing to move to the blue star. We can negotiate about the sry when they arrive."


    She sliced one loaf of bread that was still soft and warm and she carefully arranged the slices on different trays.


    "I have someone working on it." he replied as his eyes followed the movement of her hand.


    She spun around, pointing that table knife at him, "I hope it''s not you know who." she reminded him.


    He raised one of his eyebrows questioningly.


    "You know, she whose name cannot be mentioned because I don''t want the little one to develop negative feelings."


    Who else could she be talking about besides his mother? The rtionship between the two of them was like fire and ice.


    "Understood." he answered. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Great." she smiled.


    A brand new ss jar of red jam appeared on the counter and she unsealed it. Then she applied jam to some of the bread slices and handed the tray to him.


    "Take this to the tables where the children eat from, please." she added at thest second.


    "Me too mummy I can carry." Justin raised his hand up.


    Five trays of sliced bread with jam were taken to the tables and the children were called to eat some bread. She thought about adding some milk as well but she did not want to waste what little she had so they were served in tea to go with the bread.


    She joined Esong and Justin at the table with her own cup of tea. The children were eating with smiles on their faces, a few of them she noticed were keeping away little pieces to probably share with their parentster.


    "Kids, is the oat bread tasty?" she asked.


    "Yes." their small voices replied.


    "Thank you governor." more than one child said. She found it extremely adorable when the youngest two year old said, "Fank you." instead of thank you.


    She was a tiny thing, with these big green eyes. Her skin which should have been smooth was rough and slightly yellow, probably as a result ofck of nutrition.


    She carried the little girl up and said "Aww, you are so cute baby that I want to keep you. Where is your mummy?"


    The little girl pointed in the direction of the women who were still cutting sugarcanes.


    "Should I ask her if I can keep you?" she asked the little girl and tickled her a bit.


    The girl giggled and rubbed her head against Scarlet''s chest.


    As she wasughing, Scarlet felt someone tugging at her skirt and she looked over to see Justin looking at her with a hurt look on his face. His grey eyes had welled up with tears which he was about to burst into at any moment.


    Scarlet put the little girl down, told her to go eat and she carried Justin on to herps. "What''s the matter baby?"


    Justin hid his face in her neck , "You can''t keep her, you are my mummy, I am your baby."


    Scarlet chuckled, "Is my baby jealous? I was not really going to keep her, she has her own mummy."


    "I am your only baby." Justin mumbled.


    "Yes, you are my only baby." she answered reassuringly.


    After spending years desperate for his mother''s love it was not shocking that now that he had it he had no interest in sharing it with anyone, probably not even his father.


    "Come on, mummy will personally feed you, hmm." she coaxed him.


    Just like that, the moment was over and the tears dried up. She personally pinched bread and fed Justin piece by piece. She also blew on his tea and fed it to him with a spoon as if she was feeding a one year old.


    Esong snorted, leaned closer and took a picture of the three of them in this position. He sent it to his grandmother.


    "Your grandson is so spoiled." he added.

 Chapter 80 The Emperors Troubles

    ?


    In the capital of the Sun star empire, the emperor King Wu who was meeting his advisors in the house of ministers to discuss important matters and current affairs was suddenly interrupted when his assistant whispered to something to him.


    "I am going to cut this meeting short briefly I have something urgent to do right away." he told the ministers.


    The ministers bowed and the emperor left. He was returned to the main pce swiftly to meet the representative of the scientific research center.


    "What is so important that you had to pull me out of the morning meeting?"


    "Your majesty it''s General Esong''s wife, she said some things in her live stream which could be considered treasonous." the representative said.


    "Treason, be careful representative Gordon or your head might end up on my nephew''s de. He is meeting with his wife to secure a brighter future for our empire and this royal family so whatever you say next should have been carefully weighed." the emperor warned the representative.


    Representative Gordon who had been brimming with confidence dimmed a little bit.


    "I..I..I am not the one insinuating this it''s the other other scientists." he nervously and quickly said.


    The emperor looked at his assistant and said with a frown, "Let me guess, it''s the words treason that prompted you all to unnecessarily call me. Do you even know how strong that word is? Treason is betraying the empire by selling out it''s secrets. Treason is tampering with the shields to let in the enemies of our state, treason is deliberately letting a mutant beast loose on one of the stars, treason is abandoning your fellow warriors or soldiers on the battle field. It''s trying to overthrow this royal seat or set off an explosion with the intention to kill the citizens of the empire." He gave the people in the room an irritated nce and he said, "I don''t think I need to define what treason is to anybody in this room because you are the best and brightest who have studied and know thews of our empire by heart."


    He said this in a loud stern voice.Some of the people in the throne room were his advisors with the exception of the crown prince.


    "Treason does not just affect an individual, sometimes their family goes down with them so before you randomly make an usation like that which will affect my cousin, the best general we have in this empire and the greatest mecha king of our time I want you to carefully think or your own head will meet the de."


    The emperor''s gaze was so fierce, burning and the power of his mental strength brought representative Gordon down to his knees.


    Representative Gordon was scared, sweating and beyond terrified and he crawled, trying to find the quickest way out of the throne room.


    "I shouldn''t havee." he thought.


    "Throw him out." the crown prince told the guards.


    Representative Gordon was grabbed and thrown out as the emperor cursed in a thousand ways and others looked down and pretended that they could not hear a word he was saying.


    "All of you leave us." the emperor sent out the advisors.


    "Sader, as the crown prince I expected much better from you, how could you allow yourself to be manipted by the whims of such old jealous men? You called me out of a meeting with the ministers over nothing? Some of them have shares in nutrient solution producingpanies, others have been calling themselves the leading experts on edible foods. I have invested billions of star coins in them and nothing hase out. And now out of nowhere someone is seeding where they have failed. You think that they don''t see Esong''s wife as a threat? Anything that she says will be used against her by them. Do you think that Markay does not keep me enlightened about all that she says and does? "


    The crown prince Sader in his head cursed too. He had been so rash in ordering his father''s assistant to make him aware of these usations.


    "Father," he said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You think I do not know that you are jealous and you fear Esong, you worry that his close rtionship with Markay will cause you to lose your ce as crown prince?"


    Sader fell to his knees, "It''s not like that father, I just wanted to protect the family."


    "The family does not need your protection, the citizens of this empire do. You need to be wise to be a leader but you are failing to disy all of the qualities of one. If you keep disappointing me Sader you will not have to worry about Esong or Markay because I will be the one to behead you."


    Sader was shaking just as the representative had been doing, the emperor''s assistant nodded at Sader''s guards, indicating that they should take him out.


    "No, no, wait.." Sader mumbled but his guards whisked him out speedily.


    "What a foolish boy?" the emperor screamed in anger, throwing things around the room with his mental power.


    "Your highness please calm down, the crown prince is tillcking but he can be corrected."his assistant said.


    "There is no correcting for that idiot." the emperor replied. They both knew that Sader would never rule this empire. He was too selfish, easily controlled, a coward and cruel. "I should have just strangled him in his crib."


    His assistant fell down to his knees , "Your royal majesty, please do not say such a thing."


    "Oh get off your knees Byron, I say it every time he does something foolish and you fall to your knees. We both know that I do not have it in me to murder my own blood, no matter how much he disappoints me."


    "Your majesty, the seventh prince has sent a a package, it includes unprocessed oats, oat bread, jam, milk, meat, potatoes and eggs. He has also sent other condiments which he got from Esong''s wife." Assistant Byron wisely changed the topic hoping to change the emperor''s mood.


    "Oooh," the emperor cheered up. "Has he boughtnd sessfully on the blue star for a royal pce?"


    "Yes your majesty. He has also sent me an image of what Esong''s wife is building after the old traditional castles of the ancient world. He asked you to choose your preference from the different castle designs."


    The images appeared before the emperor as holograms.


    King Wu scrolled and touched the different images before settling for one. I like how pointy this one is everywhere, we can nt gs of the empire on every tip.


    "Wonderful choice." your majesty. "The prince also says that you should try the oat bread as soon as possible and tell him if you want more because she intends on selling eighty percent of it on star."


    "Tell him to sign a contract with her that ensures she supplies bread to the royal pce regrly. I am the emperor, I cannotpete with the citizens online, I have an empire to run."


    "Your majesty the prince is also asking what your thoughts are on his intention to romantically pursue the oldest daughter of the Su house, Carolyn Su."


    The king was stunned, "Eh isn''t she older than him?"

 Chapter 81 The Prince Who Cannot Court

    ?


    "Stop following me around your highness people are going to notice and they will talk. You have no idea how small themunity on the blue star is, if they smell even the slightest whiff of gossip we will be a new source of entertainment." Carolyn was highly irritated and bbergasted by the behavior of the seventh prince.


    As the in charge of the factory she was a busy woman because her sister had given her a long list of kitchen equipment, farming tools, weapons and other things to make. She was already running out of money because the needs were many and the budget was tight. While she was contemting on how these problems could be sorted out, the seventh prince suddenly approached her and dered his interest in her.


    "I am going to court you." he dered.


    She hadughed, thinking that he was joking but he held noughter in his eyes, his pale icy blue eyes had stared into her as if they could see into her every fiber. It was nerve wrecking and she could not stand it. He was dead serious!!


    She made an excuse and went to hide in the house but he followed her and continued uttering the same ridiculous nonsense, changing his tone from hardcore deration to gentle derations but the essence of his message did not change.


    "Sister, I am the prince, gossiping about me is eptable, weed even in some cases." he responded.


    "Look, your highness."


    "Call me Markey."


    Carolyn stopped walking and she spun around and held both of her hands out. "Stop, I beg you, this impulsive whim.."


    "I never do anything on a whim sister, and call me Markey."


    "I am not going to say your name and don''t call me sister we are not rted." she said sternly.


    To her amazement, the eyes which rarely held a genuine smile and a hint of a grievance, he slightly replicated the cute look in the eyes of those pets at home when they were hungry. Carolyn always thought that she did not have a weakness buttely she was discovering that small pets, especially the soft cats were her weakness. Those eyes threw her off momentarily.


    "Do you dislike me because I am younger than you?" he asked curiously.


    "Of course not." she blurted.


    "Great from now on I am courting you, and since you do not want me to call you sister anymore I will call you baby." His eyes now held a sneaky amusement as if he wasughing because he tricked her and he turned around and speedily run away.


    "Baby!!!!! this kid is ying around because he is younger than me, who put him up to this joke? Did Scarlet do this?"


    It simply couldn''t be real and it was not funny, what kind of love was possible between a lowly baron''s daughter and a prince of the empire with a three year age gap between them moreover.


    ''Yes, it''s a joke.'' she convinced herself. ''The prince must be bored.''


    Scarlet was watching all this from a distance so she turned around and asked Fey, "What''s up with those two?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The prince does not know how to court a woman." Fey replied. "Tsk tsk, then again who can willingly throw themselves into the arms of the prince of death. I tremble just thinking about it."


    Scarlet asionally enjoyed gossip like any other person and her eyes glittered with desire to know more, "What!! she blurted, "The prince is courting elder sister? Isn''t he younger than her?"


    For some reason everyone''s mind went straight to the age gap the moment they heard about this news.


    "We age slowly, she could be ten years older than him and it will make no difference." Fey replied. "Anyway stop paying attention to their issue and concentrate on important things like the three hundred thousand people that are moving here tomorrow."


    "That''s a bigger number than we expected." she gasped.


    Fey nodded and showed her a hologram with names, images, history and information on the immigrants.


    "I got this from Admiral Folsom, he said that when the announcement was made to the retired mecha warriors more than one million applications were received. But because this is a trial only one hundred eighty thousand applications were approved, the rest of the poption includes their wives, children, and parents." Fey was very professional, like a trained secretary.


    "The admiral had the mecha warrior office divided them into categories ording to their skills so that when they arrive you can assign them to specific positions easily."


    "Oh...this might be a problem when ites to sry, I cannot pay them much for the moment." she frowned. "Even if I pay them ten star coins each for starters then the original citizens of the blue star are going to be unhappy because they earn four."


    "Don''t worry about that sister the admiral said that all those that areing have already been addressed on this issue and they are fine with it. Anybody that is dissatisfied is free to move back to the capital."


    Scarlet nodded in approval, liking what she was hearing. "How far has Beord gone with the identification and documentation of the original citizens. They have to be our first priority when ites to housing and other benefits."


    All the information Fey had was on a small hand sizedputer tablet which projected the image on its screen and she could touch the holograms, scroll, swipe and do whatever she wanted.


    "Eighty percent of the people have been documented, the rest will be done by tonight. We do not have an automated AI printer so physical identification cards are going to be a problem at the moment."


    Scarlet sighed and rolled her head around. "Most of my money has gone into the factory or construction, I have about four million star coins left." She realized that she might have to ask Esong for money or borrow it because she too proud to beg. "How much do we have on the shop ount?"


    Fey checked and Scarlet saw the bnce with her own eyes, "Fifteen million star coins!!" she gasped.


    Fey nodded proudly and she said, "You underestimate the love people in this empire have for food and new things. We have over priced everything that we are selling but they don''t care. A lot of people in the capital especially have a lot of money that they used to spend on changing cars monthly, bracelets weekly. I have even heard that open one high quality shake, take one sip and throw it out. There is nock of money in the empire, mostly ack of where to spend it."


    Scarlet immediately ordered for two automated AI printers that could print anything. They cost her five million but she paid happily with a smile.


    "Fey, get me some women that are fast learners right now, I am going to teach them how to make some easy snacks that we can sell in the shop."

 Chapter 82 Potato Chips Hit The Market

    ?


    A group of ten women was facing Scarlet in the public kitchen were breakfast and lunch were prepared from. When it was hastily put together it was built like amercial kitchen, extremelyrge because she knew that with time before proper buildings were constructed there would be more for her to cook and sell.


    "What I am teaching you is not for you to go and publicize, it''s a way for us to make money for the blue star. You have been picked because you have shown skill and responsibility. If what I teach you here gets out the ten of you will suffer grave consequences. Am I clear?"


    She injected spiritual power into her warning, and the women felt this unexinable fear descend on them.


    "Yes." governor they responded.


    "Good, nowe close and watch me. These automatic Potatoe peelers have been provided by the factory and if at any moment any of them ceases to work take them back for repair." she told them.


    These ones were better than the ones on earth because you ced the potatoes on top and as the machine spun the peels were removed.


    In one minute thirty potatoes could be peeled with one machine and they came out so clean that she did not need to wash them but for hygiene sake she washed them.


    "Follow what I do." she told the women.


    She had only three potato cutters in her storage and all of them were manual. This would take a long time, she needed another automatic machine to ease the cutting process. For now, she showed the women how to cut them into circr shape, pre-dry them for thirty minutes and then fry.


    "All the finished ones should be ced in thisrge metal container, another team will pack them.


    "Yes governor."


    "You," she pointed at one woman, "You are the mother of the little baby that I carried yesterday."


    The middle aged woman stepped forward with a broad smile for she was happy to be recognized by the governor.


    "Yes governor, I am Sia''s mother. My Sia and I are very big fans of yours, you are the most awesome woman alive."


    Word had gone around that when you got a chance to lick the governor''s boots, lick hard and maybe luck would follow your family like the Sinir''s.


    Scarlet chuckled at the woman''s open shameless thigh grabbing. "You will be the overall supervisor of the snacks department. This team will not make just crisps other snacks will be added in due time. As the work load and number of workers increases all of you will get the chance to head your own departments so work enthusiastically and carefully."


    "Yes governor." the rest of the women answered happily.


    When Fey Su came to request for ten women with quick hands to d another job some women had been reluctant, they simply wanted to farm and go home. They had riskeding over out of curiosity or hoping to make some extra money but they had struck an energy mine. This was good luck that hade out of nowhere.


    Start working, within one hour we have to start selling packed potato crisps.


    Scarlet hurried from there and she went to the factory to add more items to the list of desired equipment.


    "Scarlet, I am awake and I am hungry." Severus voice rung in her mind. "Come back and feed me."


    "There is food and milk for you in the corner of the kitchen that I covered up." she answered.


    She did not even hear a thank you from him, he blocked her out and went to eat.


    "Where are you going?" she bumped into Esong. He asked her this and he walked with her slowly.


    "Factory, I have more requests to make of them. By the way, as a co-governor of the blue star why don''t you make a small financial contribution to our struggle. It''s going to cost a lot to turn this into a paradise you know." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I was going to give you some money after the mecha warriors arrive. There is no way I am going to leave all this rebuilding to you, what kind of a man does this?"


    "How much are you giving me?" she looked at him. In her heart she hoped she hoped that he would offer her a multi million figure, maybe around fifty million.


    He held up one figure.


    "One million." she sighed pitifully. She should not have raised her hopes up.


    "One billion." he said.


    She squealed and pushed him down in surprise, too shocked toprehend what she had just said. One billion!!!!! how many zeros were those? Not even in her life on earth did shee close to one billion.


    "Sorry." she apologized quickly. "I was surprised." she extended her arm down to help him up.


    Esong pped her hand away and scoffed. "Ho, I should have said one million."


    Inside, he was feeling embarrassed for being pushed down to the ground by a weak little thing like her!! He looked around to make sure that Folsom had not seen this and he could not use it against him.


    "I am really sorry, I don''t know my own strength." she apologized genuinely.


    "Let''s just say that I tripped and fell." he said as he dusted the dirt from his hands.


    "Husband." she said coquettishly and shetched on to him by holding his arm tightly, "When should I expect the one billion?"


    Esong looked over his shoulder down at her and he saw her glittering eyes and pouty lips. She really looked eager to sink her ws into his wallet.


    "I will ask my assistant to make the transfer right now."


    "Eeeep!!." she squealed again. "Thank you, thank you thank you."


    "The money is for development of the blue star, you can also increase the sries of the citizens to at least thirty or fifty star coins. Do you know how embarrassing it will be when people find out that on a which I own people receive four star coins as a sry? So embarrassing!!"


    "Hooo! our mecha king is such a caring man. I will make sure that the people know about your good deeds." she bumped her shoulder into his arm yfully.


    "Do what you want." he mumbled. "Anyway, I am still expecting you tonight, if you do not show up tonight I wille and carry you out in the presence of all your family members."


    Even though he sounded as if he was threatening her the tips of his ears had turned interestingly red.


    Still, she found his actions and words to be somewhat stiff. Perhaps, she thought, what they needed was to know each other a little bit better. Even if this arrangement was not based on love nobody said friendship was off the table as well.


    "Maybe we should go on a date first." she suggested.


    "A date." he said.


    "Yes." she repeated, "Eat a meal together, talk a bit, watch a movie and then the rest of the festivities can follow."

 Chapter 83 Planning A Date

    ?


    Because of her suggestion to go on a date with him, Esong met his men in his space ship to sit down and strategize as if he was going for war. He had never taken any woman on a date before, he hadn''t the slightest clue how to act on one. Why had he said yes to this foolishness in the first ce?


    They were sitting in the centralmanding unit of the space ship and Ian was showing them a map of the blue star.


    "So, it''s your first date with your wife of two and a half years. I swear if the paparazzi get hold of this news it will be headlines by tomorrow." Ianmented. "Anyway this has some beautiful ces but I don''t think your wife''s idea of the date is being flown to any of them. She specified dinner and a movie."


    "Bah..women tend to mean the opposite of what they say. She asked for a date so my opinion is that he goes all out. We have one hour left to sundown, are we doing this or not?"


    Cedric gave Folsom a frustrated nce. "A date at the side of an ocean is not sensible."


    "Esong likes being next to water." Folsom insisted.


    "The date is not about him it''s about her." Cedric retorted."You could not even get Carolyn Su to agree to your courtship.."


    "It''s not me it''s Markey." Folsom quickly covered Cedric''s mouth but it was already out there.


    Ian, Cedric and Esong turned their eyes to Markey who was on talking to someone on his bracelet.


    "That kid!!!!" Cedric gasped. "I am so confused right now, you are the one who asked me for advise on how to court a woman Folsom, no wonder I found it to be so strange that the empire''s number one yboy wanted dating advice."


    "It''s not even dating, it''s courtship!! We all know that courtship of the daughter of a noble family is done with the intention to marry. I know the daughters of the Su family are impressive and people are beginning to notice but isn''t he younger than all of us? We are all single, shouldn''t we get a shot with her before he does?" Ian asked.


    "What is she, a ball that we must all get a turn?" Folsom snorted.


    "The royal family will not let it happen, he could be emperor some day." Cedric added his personal opinion.


    The friends that hade to see themselves as brothers looked at each other. This was not just Cedric''s opinion, deep down they all thought it. If Markey decided to make a y for the throne they would support him.The current crown prince could not be their emperor, his first order would be to send them all into exile on the Red star or have them killed in some shady way, especially Esong.


    "Maybe I should court her myself to stop the trouble which might befall the Su family. " Folsom said out loud.


    Cedric pped him over the head. "Idiot."


    "Can we get back to my issue now?" Esong banged his fist three times against his chair to draw their attention back to his problem. "You have wasted ten minutes discussing Markey and I have run out of time. Dinner and a movie it is, you all have storage bracelets where you carry your mechas, sleep in them tonight. I am bringing her back here for the movie and we are going to need privacy."


    "Ouuuuuh." Folsom said like an adolescent and he wiggled his eyebrows. "Dinner, huh."


    "Did she say that she wants to watch the movie alone maybe she wants to watch a movie in public, like in a movie theater." Cedric suggested.


    "Have you seen any movie theaters on this blue star?" Esong asked him.


    "Just use a one thousand sky view hologram projector. Isn''t that what they did five years for the screening of that actor Brent''s movie?" Ian could remember this because it was the first movie ever to be shown outdoor and not inside a theatre.


    It had been talked about for weeks and it started the trend of watching movies outdoor in the empire. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Arrange it." He told Ian.


    "What movie do you want to watch?"


    "Battleground." Cedric shouted.


    Ian pushed him aside, " A romance movie you idiot."


    "Dragan''sbat." Cedric shouted again.


    " I said romance." Ian almost bit Cedric''s head off. "Half of that movie was Dragan fighting for his life in an arena against expert murderous champions of different empire''s with a crowd of enthusiastic watchers. It was rated eighteen because of the violence involved in the fights. How is that romantic?"


    Esong could not watch them shout like this anymore, he stood up to shower and prepare for that date which she wanted.


    After the date he thought...


    "If you all don''t know what a romance movie is then check on star for answers."


    In the meantime, Scarlet too had not yet prepared for the date. She was working with the team which was packing potato chips into the newly manufactured reusable sealed colorful bags which had been printed from the new printing machines.


    Thank God for interster technology, she had thought. All she had to do was specify what she wanted, Carolyn made a sample and then the machine scanned the original and made copies.


    "Do not over fill the bags, it must be eighty percent chips and twenty percent air to fill up properly." She reminded the team.


    Carolyn giggled for the fifth time at this description.


    "I can''t believe something like this can be done, it should be considered illegal to sell such a product." She said.


    The whole packet was swollen like a balloon but it was not all chips. There would be more than a few disappointed gluttonous individuals.


    "Give it time, when the novelty wears off someone will eventuallyin." Beord was eating chips and licking his hands.


    "Stop eating the merchandise." Scarlet hissed at him. This was his third packet. "You have eaten twenty two star coins in one sitting."


    "I can''t help it, they are so good." He replied.


    " Two hundred twenty five packets governor. We have removed fifty that you requested for and forty which will be put in the supermarket here." Sia''s mother came over with a small tablet simr to Fey''s and told Scarlet.


    "Fey, put them in the shop. Sia''s mother, tomorrow morning the team should start working at eight sharp. I have to go I amte for my date."

 Chapter 84 The Date[1]

    ?


    She showered quickly, put on a blue dress with small white flowers and a pair of short ck boots. For jewelry she put on long silver thin earrings and her hair was maintained in the pony tail.


    "If it gets cold I will just add a jacket." she said to herself. "Hey Severus, how do I look?"


    The ck hound was sitting on her bed, watching her every move as she essorized and applied make up.


    "Like a grim reaper." he answered. "One who should be cultivating right now. Don''t get cocky just because you have gone up one level, you are still too weak."


    "I have to bnce my life as a human and a grim reaper. If I fail at one the other will be affected. Why don''t you go and eat some chips that I put out for you in your te. I have left you a bowl of milk cooked with crystal water and I even told Fey to roast some meat for you."


    Severus put his head down, hiding his nose in her nkets. "Her cooking is not like yours."


    "She is still learning."


    She sprayed some perfume on her wrists and in the air . "I think I am done, let''s go."


    Severus came down from the bed and walked ahead of her. "Be careful." he said .


    "I will."


    "Call me if you are in danger."


    "Yes your highness."


    "If you can collect any soul I will be highly pleased."


    "I will do my best."


    "Tomorrow you must personally cook for me, I am letting you off today."


    "Thank you your highness, carry your bed to Justin''s room and sleep in there tonight. I will feel better knowing that you are there with him."


    Severus went to the kitchen and she peeped into the living room. "Mother, father, I have gone." she shouted. She barely heard their response before leaving the house quickly to avoid any embarrassing questions, advise or lectures.


    By the time Dorian Su came to the door to give her the warnings and advise as she suspected, the headlights of her car were fading away.


    Mega joined her husband and they watched the car driving away. "That girl, why does she shout loudly every time she is going out? I think all of our daughters are forgetting that our family is nobility and they should behave in that way. Every time I see that Precious Carlzon acting graceful and I see my own Scarlet and Carolyn my heart aches. We should have hired a teacher that teaches grace and poise."


    Dorian smiled and put his arm around his wife''s shoulders.


    "Hey," his wife suddenly shouted Elroy who was stealing a bag of chips from the stock meant for the shop. "Come here you brat."


    As his wife went after his son, Dorian resisted the urge to tell her that she was leading by example. How could the daughters not yell when the mother yelled?


    But he loved their yelling though, it was when they were quiet that he worried. If his wife was too quiet she was plotting.


    Scarlet on her end drove her car to Esong''s space ship where she picked him up. He was dressed nicely she noticed, in all white with his silver hair flowing down his shoulders. It was looking slightly curled today. He opened the passenger side of the car and got in.


    "Hi." she said.


    "Hi." he answered. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You look good." shemented.


    "Thank you." he answered. He looked at her from head to toe, his ck eyes studying everything that she had on. "You look good too."


    ''This is really happening,'' she thought in the back of her mind. ''A friendly date'' she reminded herself.


    ''Oh, Folsom said, I mean this is for you.'' He handed her flowers, stic flowers.


    "Thank you." she smiled and did her best to hide the surprise in her eyes. When she turned around to put the flowers in the back seat she silently mouthed out ''Oh my God''


    How much had Esong''s arm been twisted to get him to agree into giving her flowers?


    "Where are we going?" he asked when she started driving in the direction of the river. He could vividly recall taking this same route thest time he got into her car.


    "On our friendly date, you like the water and I wanted us to have some privacy. As long as nothing rises out of the water and attempts to murder us then all will be well."


    With all the tales about mutated beasts who knew what was below the surface or in the water? The shields could not protect them if the beast was already inside.


    "But you said you wanted dinner and a movie." he said, extremely perplexed.


    "And we can do both of those things where we are going." She replied. "Do you want to listen to some music?"


    "I only have songs about wars, victory and military recruitment propaganda on my device." he answered.


    She had to briefly look at him twice because without any humor in his voice she was unsure whether he was joking or actually serious. In his eyes, there was absolutely no humor.


    "Oh, you are serious," she mumbled, "I have some music on my USB, I will y that." she opened the dash box removed a ck usb device and plugged it into the right spot.


    "USB..what''s that?"


    "A memory stick, thumb drive or...." she wondered what it was called in this world.


    "I have never seen a data storage device quite this big. Isn''t it a nuisance to carry around?" he said. Curiously, he was looking at it and he pulled it out. "Do you mind if I dismantle it?"


    She pulled it from him, "Yes I mind." she replied. What would happen to all of her music if he destroyed it?


    This was a small piece of earth, from the year 2030 when the zombie apocalypse started there were no new songs or movies on earth. Who had time for that when they were fighting for survival?


    This memory stick had music from the eighties, nies and two thousands. It had around three hundred songs from different countries and in differentnguages. In her pinion it should be sitting in a museum somewhere.


    "Who is singing?" he asked her.


    "Andrea Bocelli." she answered.


    "I don''t know who that is or what he is singing, but I like it." he replied. He was waving his hand around like a conductor of an orchestra.


    "Me too." she answered.


    For the rest of the journey Esong was silent, his eyes were closed but he was enjoying the music. ''Perhaps, she thought, this will not be so bad.

 Chapter 85 The Date [2]

    ?


    Just like that, in a mutual silently agreed on pleasant silence they arrived at the scene of their date. She stopped the car and parked it.


    "We are here." she told him.


    Esong opened his eye andzily tilted his head to look at her. "I could smell the water from a distance. Do you know that every water body in the empire has a distinct smell?"


    "No, I did not know that. How do you know?" she asked as she evacuated from the car. "Is your nose as urate as a dogs nose?"


    Stepping out of the car, Esong looked up and smelled the river. "You don''t smell it? It''s a unique smell of earth, dead thorn trees and something else that I can''t put my finger on."


    "Is it dead or alive?" she asked. If he could smell dead thorn trees in the river then his nose had to be as good as a dog''s nose.All she could smell was water, did water even have a scent? she wondered.


    "It could be either one of the two, somepanies in the capital sell submarines, sea ships, robot under water scanners and water vacuums. Perhaps we should buy some and see what''s beneath the river. It could be a mutual activity done with the center for marine studies, those people are obsessed with studying what lives in the water, how and why it lives there."As he exined, Esong''s eyes roamed over the spot for the date.


    There were no chairs, just a softrge nket on the ground. On the nket were two baskets and one portable cooling box.Someone had nted four poles on different sides and strings of shining lights were hanging from one end of the poles to another.


    He reached his hand out and touched one of the lights only to end up shattering it.


    "That is not my fault." he spun around and told Scarlet immediately. "I have seen better lights in the capital. Whoever sold you these defrauded you."


    "Are they beautiful?" she asked him. She had gone with a pic kind of setting for this date.


    "Well..." he looked at the lights, "They are appropriate, as long as they do what they were manufactured to do. But they are old fashioned, better lights hang in the air with maic..."


    "You have not even answered my question,"she pped her forehead. "Come on just take a seat on the nket."


    Esong looked at the nket and then at her, "No chairs." he said as if the absence of chairs was abnormal.


    "I thought it would be more ro...." she stopped talking because she realized that she was about to say something that would send him running for the hills. "More suited to the atmosphere." In her mind, she high fived herself for the nice timely save.


    "I have foldable titanium chairs in my storage bracelet." He brought out two chairs and they practically unfolded themselves like little robots being born out of a steel shell.


    "You sit on the chair and I will sit on the nket, This way we can both befortable where we are." she told him. "I guess you are going to be needing a table to eat so you should take out one as well."


    Esong was about to take her advise and bring out a foldable table when he recalled Folsom saying that if he wanted progress with her, he had to make it all about her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    No one knew more about women in their little group than Folsom.


    So, Esong wiped out the idea of the table and he turned his chair to face her. She was taking different foods and snacks out of her storage bracelet and cing them in the basket. Why? he wondered. The baskets in the Su house usually just held snacks or cooking ingredients.


    Were these specific baskets some type of cooking device?


    "What did you want to talk about?" he asked.


    To her, he sounded so straight forward, stiff and rigid as if this was a meeting with one of his underlings and not a get to know each other better friendly date with his wife.


    "Anything." she replied. She opened the cooling box which was a small portable refrigerator powered by energy stones. If this thing existed on earth, it would have been a hit on the market, especially for people that liked drinking beer or ice cream. Basically anyone that loved cold drinks would have purchased one or two. It was portable and efficient, two things that were necessary.


    "Anything covers everything from the history of the empire to the first lunar war or the recent invasion of the mutated water beasts in the year 4010. You are going to have to be specific." he answered.


    She popped the champagne open, she had three bottles of champagne in her storage space. Perhaps opening right now was a waste but hey, she had survived the zombie apocalypse by getting a new chance at life and she was yet to celebrate this achievement. She had also gone from level one to level two of soul cultivation in a matter of days and she was rich in the underworld realm.Not to forget finding herself in a loving family with an adorable son.


    There was a lot for Scarlet to celebrate, mostly, theck of zombies in this world. Hallelujah!!!


    So she poured champagne into the sses and handed him one.


    Esong''s first reaction was to p the ss out of her hands and it fell to the ground, the wine poured out and joined the water in the river.


    "Hey." she shouted angrily. "What are you doing? You are wasting good wine."She looked at him with exasperation anddisbelief.


    "Are you really going to pull this stunt again?" Esong shouted at her.He was looking at the ss of wine in her hands as if it was an enemy with a fully loaded weapon.


    Then she recalled, the original Scarlet had drugged him through wine. By handing him a ss of wine she had triggered him again apparently. But if she meekly held back then what next? Back to where they started? No way!


    "I thought we had gone past this slightly? she said to him. "I promised you that I would never attempt to drug you again, it''s in the contract for fucks sake Esong. I was also the one that proposed that we sleep together again to bnce the scales which you agreed to so why would I need to drug you?" She picked up the bottle of champagne and said, "Watch me directly drink from the bottle if you do not trust me."


    She practically chugged three sips of the wine in a few seconds just to prove her point.


    "There, I just drunk directly from the bottle and I am still wide awake and sober,do you trust me now?

 Chapter 86 The Date [3]

    ?


    He watched her drink the wine, feeling partially guilty for over reacting but also righteous for it was not he that was the genesis of this mess, she was the one. He barely drunk alcohol after those events. He could see her wide eyes shooting mes at him as she breathed in and out furiously. Was she expecting an apology from him?


    Why should he apologize for attempting to defend himself? Granted there was no danger but there could easily have been.


    "You should have said something before offering me wine." he blurted. "It''s your fault." Indeed, he thought self righteously, she should have said something. How could she just hand over the wine ss like that?


    It had brought a sh ck and for three small seconds he could smell that bar again? This wine did not even smell like the one served in the bar and yet he had mixed them up.


    Scarlet put down the wine bottle, debating with herself whether which option between forgiving him, ignoring it or punching that self righteous look off of his face would serve her best.


    "I think maybe we can leave the alcohol, I have juice in my storage." She chose to ignore it. His aversion to alcohol was not the hill she wanted to die on when the night had only just begun.


    But now, the mood was ruined, it was entirely awkward for she had no idea what to say next. She had been in a happy mood, a conversational mood and now she was in a crappy mood clouded by anger for some reason.


    ''Let''s jus eat she thought.''


    From her storage she brought out a dish and opened it, the smell of food was carried to Esong''s sharp nose, seducing his senses and his stomach grumbled.


    "Oh." he gasped. This was a new feeling, one he had never experienced before.


    When she saw the wild look of disbelief on his face after his stomach grumbled, she found herself giggling. It was as if he was discovering somethingpletely alien and abnormal.


    "What''s happening to me?" he asked.


    "You are hungry." she replied. "When did youst eat?"


    Esong had eaten a packet of Potatoe chips before leaving the space ship. If she was asking about real food then his answer would be the oat bread and tea. Usually he drunk two nutrient solutions a day and they kept him full for a while, he could even go two days without eating after that. Ever since hended on the blue star however food was all he ate.


    "Bread with you and Justin." he replied.


    "With all the energy you burn whatever you ate is not enough to satisfy you anyway. Your body is telling you that it needs fuel."


    "Fuel."


    "Food Esong, food can sometimes be referred to as fuel or energy."


    She had prepared asagna and some roasted carrots. "Here," she handed him a te with a very big serving. She had doubled what she was serving him after hearing his stomach growl.


    "Thank you." he mumbled. "You can drink your wine if you want." he added.


    That was probably the closest thing she was going to get closest to an apology tonight.


    "The juice is fine, I can save my wine for another asion." she answered.


    In silence, they ate their food, sitting so close but their thoughts were widely far. She was thinking about how awkward the atmosphere was now, like a bad date that you could not wait to end and go home, put on some yoga pants and watch a movie while eating ice cream. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was wondering about what had gone into thesagna to make it so tasty and how to talk about anything like she had said.


    When more than half of his food was gone, he suddenly said, "The cold season ising soon. Will your nts and animals survive?"


    Scarlet, had already finished her meal, she ate less than half of what he ate and she decided to eat that ice cream which she was thinking about.


    "I am trying to speed up the growth of as many nts as possible and the animals will be fine too. She had her crystal water and purifying water."


    He thought about what else to say so he said whatever came to his mind, "The historical society has proposed the scanning and excavation ofs in search of signs of ancient life."


    "Aah, they want to study early man." she responded.


    "Apparently ancient men and women did not have mental strength at all, it''s so weird."


    She frowned a bit and asked, "Aren''t there people today that have no mental strength?"


    "Those are few in number, anomalies. There is no couple which records zero mental strength among all the children. If they have two, and the anomaly happens then only one may not have mental strength." He showed the te with a proud smile on his face, "I have finished all my food."


    She took the te from his hands wondering why he sounded like a child informing a teacher or mother about a small achievement.


    "Uhm good boy." she answered unsurely.


    "What are we going to do next?" he asked.


    "I don''t know." she shrugged. "Maybe we watch the stars or a movie."


    When she mentioned a movie he left his seat and knelt down on the nket, "I have a wide selection of all thetest romance romance movies which women are said to enjoy."


    As he scrolled through them she asked, "Do you have anyedy or action movie?


    His finger paused and he looked at her with stunned eyes. "You want to watch an action movie!"


    "Is it abnormal?" she asked him.


    "No, no." he repeated the word twice. But he could recall the argument in the space ship between his friends about the choice of movie. "Have you ever watched Dragan''sbat?"


    "No, is it good?"


    Esong shook his head, no, he had big ns for the night, a movie filled with blood shed would not be the right option. "It''s all I have and it''s too violent, there are more interesting things I can show you. How about I give you a tour of my space ship? You have never been inside it."


    Scarlet figured there was no enjoying the date anymore, they had eaten and slightly conversed. She had learned a few things about him, and it was inevitable that she would go back to his private dwelling tonight.


    "I think I would love that."

 Chapter 87 The Night Life.

    ?


    The drive back to where Esong''s space ship was parked seemed to go by faster than she anticipated. Maybe it was because Esong was the one who drove the car and he was definitely speeding.


    When he parked and she got out of the car, she saw pictures moving in the air, the sound of talking and someughter. "Is that.." Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that outdoor movies in the interster could be projected on to a transparent screen that appeared to be almost non existent. For this reason, whatever was being viewed would appear as if it was just there, in the open space.


    "They are watching a movie, I guess they decided to invite all the citizens to the viewing. An outdoor movie viewing, it''s not trendy anymore but people do it on dates apparently." Esong told her.


    "Whose idea was it?" she asked.


    She could see the children and adults were having a good time. This was different from the usual norm of a bon fire, and watching soaps or news on personal terminals.


    There were few entertainment avenues on the blue star, in the blue star people had shopping malls, arenas where they watched mecha fights, virtual idols who held concerts almost everyday, gaming consoles which connected them to the starwork gaming world directly. Virtual reality was the best part because one could buy a gaming cabin and live in a virtual world, building an entire life in there.


    The night life in the capital was definitely alive, they had bars, night clubs, flying car races, underground fight clubs and top star warrior challenges. The capital had it all, the blue star had nothing.


    Ideally, nobody in their right mind would want to move to the blue star, it was boring, under developed and unattractive. Sometimes when she closed her eyes at night she could vividly recall the scenes from when she had just arrived in this world and seen it. It was breath taking!!


    She looked at the audience viewing the movie and saw her sister Carolyn sharing a table with prince Markey and she thought, "What are those two up to? Is she really going to date him, have they made progress already?"


    They were sharing a packet of potato crisps as they watched the movie. Others were eating their dinner or chewing something. At least she thought, they had real food and the capital did not. Then again, it was not as if they were starving over there.


    She sighed and followed into his space ship with her head bowed, looking down with a heavy heart. Would the day evere when the blue star was just as beautiful and developed?


    "Why are you downcast?" Esong asked her.


    "I am thinking about how far we have to go and how hard we have to work to turn the blue star into a rival of the capital in terms of development. When I think about the capital and Ipare it to our blue star I feel like an orphaned child, dressed in rags and begging for food along the side of the road. The capital is the rich child that lowers the car window and tosses a coin my way."


    Esong found her apt descriptions to be amusing. As he pulled her by the hand and sat her down in the captain''s seat he told her, "There are no beggars in the capital. The empire has a relief fund that is strictly managed by the proper authorities and every month they distribute supplies and star coins to the destitute."


    No one on the blue star has ever received that relief, she thought.


    "Wee back general." Jovi the ship AI greeted.


    "Thank you Jovi." Esong sat in the co-captain''s seat.


    "I see a new face on board general, should I scan and store her information?"


    "Yes please Jovi." Esong replied.


    Scarlet already knew that artificial intelligence existed in the interster world, they had mechas and robots so the talking voice in the space ship did not frighten her. It did make her curious however.


    "Scan your finger prints here." Esong told her."Your eyes here."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She did all that.


    "Raise your hands and stand here."


    He just kept moving her around like a doll until all of her features were scanned and recorded into the system. She even had to provide a hair sample for DNA. Just when she thought it was finished she had to walk so that her gait, posture and movements could be recorded.


    "Ho, the great general of our empire is really well guarded."shemented.


    "Cloning is forbidden but some people still do it. What if someone that looks like you is sent aboard the ship to assasinate me? All of this is a preemptive measure that helps to keep me and those on board safe."


    She sat down again in the captains seat and swung herself from side to side slowly. "Are there a lot of people that want you dead?"


    "The lunar federation, some noble families, space pirates, mecha warriors who want my spot, criminals I have arrested and once upon a time you."


    She opened her mouth in shock. " Me." she squealed in a high pitched voiceand pointed at herself. "Why ever would I want you dead?" she asked.


    Esong folded his arms and leaned back against his seat. "You want to tell me that in all of these years it has not crossed your mind even once. We both know that you have some grudges against me."


    "That''s because you are very unlikeable." she blurted.


    Now it was his turn to open his mouth in shock. "Now I know that you are lying because we are married as a result of your love for me."


    "It was not love, it was obsession." she corrected him. "And I have not worked it, besides you can actually love someone without liking them. Trust me, it happens."


    "So you love me but you don''t like me." he said in a confused voice.


    "I thought you said that there was no room for love in our rtionship, why are you bring this up anyway. We are talking about all the people that want you dead now. In my case you are my billion star coin providing sugar daddy and the father of my child, I want you to live for a very long time."


    He chuckled, "What is a sugar daddy?"


    "Someone that gives you things often in exchange for something. I give you food, you give me money."


    Esong tilted his head, "That doesn''t sound right to me."


    "It is what I say it is."she gave him a stubborn look, her eyes sparkling from this easy going banter.


    Esong was rxed and smiling. The atmosphere betweenit was just as it had been at the beginning of their date.


    Suddenly he asked her, "Do you want to see my bedroom?"

 Chapter 88 I Want You

    ?


    She was frozen in shock for some reason, she knew what was going to happen expecting it even but to put it out there directly was not something she expected.


    ''What was I expecting?'' she asked herself. He had made his intentions clear right from the start. Was she hoping for some kind of soft kiss, delicate touches and bliss.


    "I suppose I have to see it at some point tonight." she mumbled. "I have not seen much of the ship you know, all I have met is your AI Jovi."


    Esong stood up and extended his hand to her. "You are not here to see the space ship, you are here to spend time with me. We have a long night ahead of us and I would rather not waste what little time we have on chit chat."


    Scarlet''s breathing was slightly panicked, in and out she tried to pace it. When she envisioned what was going to happen, a part of rose with excitement, another part fear, she wanted to run out of the space ship and return to the safety of her bedroom.


    "Are you sure about this Esong?" she asked in a small voice.


    Esong saw her nervously clenching her hands and he grabbed both of her shoulders, pulling her up abruptly so that her body bumped into his. She used her hands to steady herself by holding on to his shoulders.


    He looked down at her and she up at him, a plethora of emotions overwhelmed them both. She ended up clenching the part of his shirt where her right hand was ced.


    "This whole night has been building up to this, I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I want you now Scarlet, I want to have you, no I need to have you."


    She smiled and nodded, his assurance had cleared up some of her doubts. He was looking into her eyes when he said it, he made no promises, just told her what she wanted. And she believed him.


    She slowly raised her feet and stood on the tips of her toes but despite this, she could not reach his face.


    "You are going to have bend down and meet me half way, before we go into the bedroom we should first find out if we have physical chemistry." She was worried because if she could not stomach his touch then how would she get through one entire year of being bedded by him.


    If she liked it, then she would at least enjoy it.


    "You want me to kiss you." He said.


    She licked her lips, making sure that her eyes were locked with his, "No" she responded softly. "I want to kiss you. I need to know if your kisses can make my world spin, I need to know if with your lips alone you can drive me mad with want..."


    His lips met hers swiftly, he did not say anything, no warning, he just took what she offered so willingly to him. His kiss was slightly gentle, hovering slightly. She had only meant to get a small kiss from him, just to see what it would be like but suddenly he took control, demanding more, urging her to open her mouth and give him what he sought. As the kiss deepened, his hands moved all over her back, causing her to tremble and shiver.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She found herself wrapping her arms around his shoulders, leaning more into his body and wildly moving her tongue to match his. He kissed her like he meant it, leaving no space for her to back track and God knows, she did not want to back track anymore. She wanted to give as much as he was.


    She could feel what little control and sanity she thought she had fading away and she pushed him away in a panic.


    She was breathing deeply, her chest was heaving as she looked at him. He was rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip with a smug look on his face.


    "You.." she said. She thought he was na?ve,cking in sexual experience perhaps but this was not the kiss of a man whocked experience. He was in control of everything that he was doing.


    "I think that physical chemistry is alive." he walked toward her as she walked backwards slowly as if to run away from him. "Remind me to reward you handsomely foring up with this suggestion. I think I am going to enjoy married life now."


    She was pressed against the table now, with nowhere left to go or hide. Esong chuckled and carried her, dashing to his bedroom as if he had an urgent mission to fulfil. The door automatically unlocked and shut behind them.


    "So," he said, "Are you ready to see my bedroom now?"


    She could hardly look around the bedroom considering that his hands were squeezing her waist tightly. She closed her eyes, on a mission to gather her witspletely but she could the steady fast paced beating of his heart.


    "You smell so good." she suddenly heard him say. Then he let her down and she stood on her feet but he made sure that she was facing him and there was no distance between them.


    He bent his head down and smelled her hair, her neck where he lingered and kissed.


    "You smell so fucking good, every time the wind blew past you tonight I could not help getting hard. Seeing you licking that spoon in such a seductive way as you looked at me with these big grey eyes made me want to fuck you right there under the stars.Ever since we decided on this little arrangement I have found myself getting inappropriate erections around you at the most awful of times. It bothered me so much that you on the other hand did not seem to be the least bit affected by me. But I was wrong right? You want me just as much as I want you."


    As he whispered these words into her ears she could feel his hands lingering on her back right on the zipper of her dress. She abruptly ced her hand on his.


    "Do you want me to take off your clothes or will you do it?"


    She could barely string her thoughts together because every time she started to think, he would overwhelm her.


    "Take off your clothes Scarlet." he whispered and bit on her neck softly.

 Chapter 89 Ready Or Not

    ?


    "Tu dum, tu dum." Scarlet could hear the loud beating of her own heart. She suddenly did not feel ready, granted that his kiss had aroused her she did not feel ready to act upon her deepest impulses. If she did this, there was no turning back. She was panicking and if she kept it up she would soon be hyperventting. What she needed to do was rx and think rationally about what was stopping her from going forward.


    Maybe, she thought it was theck of any kind of prior rtionship to this, as Su Yang she used to be a strong believer in love and giving herself to the one she loved. But the one she loved had betrayed her and her ideas on romance were now jaded. But if she gave herself to Esong without loving him, what did it mean for her?


    "Why are you hesitant?" Esong asked, his mouth was so close to ear that when he spoke his warm breath tickled her. "Why are you afraid to deny us both something that we both want." he asked persistently.


    "I am not ready." she blurted out. The beating of her heart was increasing and so was her breath. "I am sorry Esong but I do not feel ready, right now I feel like this is too much too soon." she added.


    He spun her around to look at him and she saw a me of anger in his eyes.


    "We have an agreement." he said.


    "I know." she said in a soft voice. "And I am not going to break it but I want ¡­.." she stopped talking. Even she did not know what she wanted at that moment.


    "What?" he raised his hand to her hair slowly and pulled the small ck hair tie that was holding her hair up. Her hair fell down to her back and he run his fingers through it slowly, drawing a few strands to his nose and he smelled them deeply. "What do you want Scarlet? More flowers, another date or more conversations where I talk about my childhood and school days. Should I talk about my adventures as a mecha warrior with you under the stars? Will that make you ready because I am ready."


    He grabbed her waist and pulled her roughly against his body so that she could feel just how ready he was.


    "I don''t understand you, we have already had sex once before and I am sure that you remember every little detail. What is it now that is making you hesitate?"


    "Shut up." she suddenly said to him.


    "Huh." he was perplexed.


    "I just need a minute to think and you keep touching me and whispering into my ears and kissing my neck and I cannot think right. I just....I need control Esong, I am afraid of what losing control with you will do to me so maybe we can start slow. Just kissing, let''s get a bit familiar andfortable with each other."


    "Comfortable is for lovers." he replied.


    "Which is what we are." she answered. "We are married but also not married in the sense that our marriage does not serve it''s purpose. We are also not friends, at best we are considered acquaintances. I want to request you for at least one week of kissing and a few more friendly dates. Our first date has been a disaster Esong, you may not know it because you have not taken anyone out on a date before but ours was a bad date."


    Esong looked at her and he snorted derisively. "Now you want more concessions." he said.


    "Yes." she stood her ground. "We agreed that we can add more terms to the contract."


    "The terms have to be agreed to by both parties." he responded.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Then agree to this."she said seriously.


    "That sounds like an order, you do not give me orders." he said sternly. He walked past her and sat own on his bed.


    "It''s not an order it''s a request." she turned around again to face his new position.


    "You did not say please." he responded." he looked at her with arrogance, waiting for those words to fall out of her mouth.


    "Should I get down on my knees while I am at it?" she challenged his angry gaze. There was a part of her that was boiling, she wanted to just shake him like a tree and take some of that pride and arrogance that had been carved into him out of his body.


    Esong could not believe that they had gone from almost ripping clothes to here. The problem, he thought was that her brain worked too much. She was always thinking and calcting, what she needed to do was shut it off for a while and just go with the flow.


    "Message from the RGB." a buzzing of his bracelet followed that mechanical voice. He looked at his bracelet, read the message and frowned.


    Scarlet was watching him and the brief interruption of him reading a message allowed her to calm down a bit. There was nowhere to sit in the bedroom so she sat down on his bed, next to his long legs.


    "Those maids have been sentenced they will serve five years on the Red in the mines."


    Scarlet remembered the maids, she just hadn''t followed up the case because she could not attend the trials. "Good, next time they will think twice beforeying a hand on any child. Why did you frown though, if that''s what the message is about then it''s good news."


    Esong crossed one leg over the other and he said, "Something else is bothering me, it''s mecha warrior business."


    She could not ask about mechs warrior business as she was not one.


    He sat up abruptly and quickly, as if there was a spring in the bed which had just tried to evict him. Then he looked at her and used his hand to turn her face so that she could look at him.


    "This is thest time we get to make concessions, I will not be giving in to your whims anymore."


    "They are not..."


    "I will not be giving in to your whims again, since you want one week of just kissing and more dates I will give it to you. But I have my own terms to add. One, our contract will be extended from one year to infinity."


    "What?" she looked at him with disbelief in her eyes.

 Chapter 90 Share My Bed, He Says.

    ?


    He saw the outraged look in her wide eyes and he continued on to say, "For you one year is simple to count but for me it''s a different scenario because I will be away a lot. I am a general and a mecha warrior, I am constantly on the move. That frown that you saw on my face is a reminder that I have to be in the capital before the cold season begins. Battles with mutated beasts are inevitable and I have to be there to lead my men. When the battles end we have to go around assisting to rebuild the cities which have been devastated while hunting down any other remaining beasts that survived and are hiding. The lunar federation is also sneaky because despite facing the same issue we do, they always attempt to attack one because that''s when we are vulnerable the most.


    Then you add the rampage of space pirates who attack the innocent civilians that are trying to escape to safers before the cold season arrives. I am a very busy man, when I leave you may not see me for four months. I have realized that a year is twelve months and if I only see you for one month or two in those twelve then this deal is extremely unfair to me. So, new concession, the time period is once again removed.


    Concession two is that you have to share my bed permanently for as long as I am around. You are very busy during the day, I can''t follow you around like one of your pets. You want us to be closer, let''s share a bed. Don''t worry, I will not force you to have sex with me when you do not want, I am not a beast."


    Scarlet ced the back of her left hand on her forehead, "Oh my God." she said softly, ''I should not have opened up the contract to new negotiations.''


    All of his points were logically articted, especially the one about the difference between time for her and him. But how she cultivate properly at night if they were sharing a bed. Then she had a brilliant idea.


    "What about Justin? Sometimes he sleeps with me." she countered.


    "He can sleep with us asionally, the bed is very big."


    "My parents." she uttered and pped. "They may not befortable with their daughter sleeping outside every night."


    "You are a married woman, they should worry more about why you are not sharing a bed with your husband."


    "The people," she used thest and weakest ammunition she had "they will gossip."


    "Nobody in the sun star is not aware of our marriage, this is going to happen Scarlet, stop looking for excuses."


    One major thought crossed her mind, ''Severus is kill me, he is going to chew me up and tear into me like a rug doll.'' She would have to set aside time and cultivate during the day in this case.


    "Esong..."


    "Don''t bother saying anything else, I have added those terms to the contract already. I gave you your dates and I have agreed to just kissing for one week. I am a good sugar daddy, I have given you something good. From now on no more concessions until next year."


    She looked at him from the side of her right eye, "That''s not even what sugar daddy means."


    "It is what I say it is." he borrowed her words. "Nowe here, it''s time for just kissing." He pulled her body toward himself as if it weighed no more than a drop of water.


    Was he still in the mood! shemented in her heart. Hermentations would not be heard by him as he sat her on top of his body and he leaned back against the shiny ck headboard of his bed with his arms crossed behind his head. He was looking at her expectantly as if waiting for her to make the next move.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Hi-hi." sheughed nervously. "What exactly do you want me to do?"


    "Kiss me." he told her. "I am giving you a chance to take control as you wanted."


    "Hi-hi." sheughed again.


    "What, are you afraid now?" he teased her.


    "I am not afraid." she blurted.


    "Then what are you waiting for? If you are scared, ask me nicely and I will take charge." there wasughter in his eyes.


    Scarlet wanted to shut him up, she also wanted to shift but he had made sure that she sat on a particr part of his body that was slowly beginning to rise. She was afraid to move because if she brushed up against it!!!!! She could feel it pressing it against her.


    "I..I am not afraid." she said said determinedly, bent over with her eyes closed and pouted her lips. Her n was to nt a kiss on his lips but with her eyes closed, her lipsnded on his nose.


    She opened her eyes and they darted around. ''Oh scarlet!!'' she thought. This was embarrassing for her. To make it look deliberate, she continued on, kissing his right cheek, his left cheek and his fore head.


    ''Great, now he won''t know about my fumble earlier.'' she thought.


    Esong chuckled, he chose to y along but she was too hesitant. "You are taking too long." he said softly. He brought her head down and his lips met hers. It started with one small quick kiss, then he went in for another one, just as quick as thest one. He made sure that he could into her eyes as he did this.


    She squeezed her eyes shut and he chuckled, his mouth met hers again and this time round he did not retreat. He kept going, pushing his tongue into her mouth and gripping her hair tightly with one hand. He wondered why her lips she tasted just as sweet as they did when he first kissed her. What had she smeared on them?


    He used one hand to pull her body that was hovering over his rising manhood and sit her down properly. It seemed as if she was afraid of it but he wanted her to feel it. With both of his arms, he trapped her body right where he wanted it and he sucked, licked and kissed her lips as he wanted.


    His kiss became more and more demanding and she just gave in, keeping her eyes closed while enjoying all the sensations he was awakening in her body. It felt as if they had been kissing foreverwhen she felt his lips moved from her lips to her neck, she gasped.


    "Just kissing." she said in a breathy tone.


    He pulled up so that her chest was pressed against his face and he smiled viinously,"You did not specify which parts of your body I could kiss."

 Chapter 91 The Past Is Never Truly Gone

    ?


    Up on a thorn tree, Carolyn Su was standing steadily on a branch. Under the cover of therge leaves and darkness, she was properly hidden away that only a few people with strong mental strength could tell where she was. In her hands was a pair of long range thermal binocrs which she was using to watch a space ship that was not so far from where she was hiding. Her frustration was that no matter how much she looked, the shield around the space ship could not be seen through. She could not see the figures inside the space ship at all and it bothered her. All she wanted was one look, one assurance that her sister who was in there was fine and she could walk away.


    She felt a massive gust of wind heading her way and someone lightlynded next to her. Without looking up, she knew who had joined her.


    "What are you doing here your highness?" She asked.


    "Checking on my baby." He answered. "I have to make sure that you are not arrested for something illegal like spying on a general of the empire. Why are you spying on him by the way?" He asked curiously. "I am more good looking than him, why don''t you spy on me?"


    She snorted and replied, "Who says that it''s him I am spying on? And how will people know that I spied on him unless you open your mouth and give me up? Why do you care anyway?"


    "I care because I am your baby." He answered.


    "Hey." She turned her head and shouted at him.


    "Shhh." He put a finger against his lips, asking her to be quiet.


    "I am sure that you have already activated a sound barrier around us so I do not need to be quiet. I can scream and nobody will hear a single thing."


    Markey put on an impressed look on his face. "Ooh, I love how you know everything that I do before I exin it to you. How did you even know that I was the one that hade?"


    She called him your highness immediately without even turning around. How did she know?


    "There is a saying among the people, when Esong Wu ising, everythinges to a stop and the starts shaking. Every step that he takes is as heavy as his mecha, leaving marks on the ground."


    Markey giggled and closed his eyes, finding her words so funny. "Ohe on you don''t believe that bull shit."


    "Go and look at the area where he trained today, you will find cracks in the ground." She told him. "Do you know what they say about you?"


    "Me?" He replied in a yful tone. "That I am the Prince of death."


    "Yes," she acknowledged "but they also say that when the Prince of death ising, the trees stop swaying and the wind picks up speed.You cannot see him with your eyes but you will see blood spilling. I knew that it was you because of the wind."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Pssh, they make me sound mysterious and cool. Baby, do you find me mysterious or cool?"


    She shook her head because his ability to go from serious to nonsensical in a heart beat was really amazing.


    "Do you n to spend all night here watching for your sister?" He asked her.


    "Yes." She replied. "So you can go because I don''t n to move anytime soon."


    Markey was curious about her actions for he had heard the stories about the family from the physical talkative socialwork of blue star citizens. Everyone assumed that he was touring when he walked around but he was listening and collecting information. ording to gossip she was the sibling that hated her younger sister the most but if that was true then she would not be here. Were the people wrong about the rtionship between the two sisters? His intention was to probe.


    "You seem to love your sister a lot more than you let on. Why do you allow people to think that you don''t?"


    "Because people take advantage of your weakness when they know what it is. I would rather not share my weakness with strangers." She answered coldly.


    Markey smiled deviously and he poked his cute face around, nting it in front of her binocrs. "You have shared it with me baby, I knew you did not treat me like a stranger."


    "Go away." She shoved his head. He had caught her in the act and she had to admit it. If she was not watching her sister then that would mean she was watching Esong Wu. The truth was better than allowing any other false narrative to prevail.


    "Baby, if you love your sister so much then why don''t you just tell her. You two still act distant, her rtionship with Fey is not simr to her rtionship with you."


    Anybody with eyes could see that with Fey Scarlet was allughter, yful, sweet but with Carolyn they were both business like. It was not a rtionship one would expect between two blood sisters. They rarely smiled orughed together let alone sitting down to have a conversation.


    "Because," Carolyn said, "She broke my heart once greatly and she does not even remember it. And I know that she was ill and that some of her memories from back then seem to be gone because she asks questions about obvious things that she knew in the past but there is a part of me that wants her to remember. Why can''t she just remember that one specific thing? If I bring it up then I will be the terrible big sister that has not forgiven her younger sister for her past actions despite all of her apologies so I will never say a word but I don''t think the rtionship between us will ever be truly fixed if she does not remember what she did that turned my life around. But she is my younger sister, we shared a bed until she was eight years old. We were best friends for the longest time, so I watch over her secretly because she is my only bestfriend despite what she did." She stopped talking andposed herself, taking in three deep breaths one after another. "You don''t have to stay here with me your highness I can watch over her on my own."


    She did not know why she told him something that she had told no one in the family. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying, not in front of him she thought.


    To her surprise, Markey sat down on the tree branch and said, "I will wait with you for the rest of our lives if that''s your intention. Better get used to me Carolyn Su, I am going nowhere."

 Chapter 92 A Walk Of Shame

    ?


    As early as four o''clock in the morning, Scarlet woke up to cultivate while Esong was sleeping. She managed to sessfully do so for one and a half hours before Esong''s rm went off and Jovi the AI announced that it was time to wake up. Waking up at five thirty daily!! She thought. Was it for training or because he had a lot of work to do?


    Esong opened his eyes and they darted left and right. He looked at around sharply and saw her before he rxed.


    "Let me guess." She said, "You forgot that I was sleeping here and you almost took my head off because a small part of you thought that I was an intruder."


    "I have no idea what you are talking about, I always wake up like this." He replied with very innocent look on his face.


    "You think I believe you." She replied, looking at him with disbelief and doubt. "Why do you wake up so early anyway?"


    "I could ask the same of you." He retorted.


    "To train my mind and body." She answered.


    "Me too." He replied.


    He stretched his arms and the soft thick nket that she had provided to cover them both fell away from his body, revealing his bare upper body. She had not had time to look at all of his muscles and big bicepsst night. She had not had the opportunity to drool over those perfectly chiseled abs because the man sucked her nipples so tenderly and amazingly that she orgasmed and passed out.


    When she thought about it her face turned red and she felt embarrassed. Who passes out and sleeps because of such thing? Why did this body have to be so sensitive?


    "You are thinking aboutst night, right?" His voice broke through her foggy thoughts.


    "No..no..no I am not I am not." She repeated her denial a little too much.


    Esong chuckled and tossed the rest of the nket away, revealing the rest of his naked body to her.


    She squealed and covered her eyes. "Cover it up, cover it right now."


    He was the most shameless man that she had ever met, he waspletely without morals.


    "You can''t even look at it!!!Did you somehow be a virgin again after giving birth to my son?" Her actions were cute, hrious and unbelievable to him. Never in his life did he expect this woman to be so shy, he had been expecting a wild vixen.


    When she opened her fingers slowly and peeped through the small gaps, he stood up right and she screamed and went running out of the bedroom, leaving him behind tough and wonder if he should run after her.


    "Oh, why is she like this?" He asked himself and heughed louder. "Hey, wait for me, we can exercise together." He got up and run after her.


    Esong had notughed this much in so many years. She envied life in the capital because of the development but to him that had lived there since his childhood, life on the Blue star was anything but boring. She made it really interesting for him.


    She was like a spy when it was time to step out of the space ship, looking around and tip toeing secretly. If she heard any little sound at this moment she would go back running into the space ship as if something was chasing her.


    "What are you doing?" He asked her.


    "Preparing for my walk of shame." She whined. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are we walking or running?" He asked. He also stretched his body extremelyfortably as he was dressed in green cargo pants and a very tight ck shirt that she provided. "These clothes are so soft."


    "Because they have to be washed, nobody on this washes their clothes with water."


    "Self cleaning clothes do not need washing but you should know that because you used to wear them too before you changed to these ones. Howeverfortable they are, they are a waste in my opinion, I have to change when I sweat." He exined her.


    She looked around onest time and dered the area free of any spectators and she started running.


    "Wait." he dragged her back by the arm briefly.


    "What?" she looked at the grip he had on her arm and then at him. "We are losing time."


    "I want a morning kiss." he demanded.


    "I have not even brushed my teeth and neither have you." she replied. "I am not a fun of trading morning breath."


    "That''s easy to solve." he produced a small white bottle in his hands and said, "Open your mouth."


    She did as he said.


    "Teeth first." he said. When she exposed her teeth, he sprayed a liquid from the bottle on them. "Now open." She opened her mouth and he sprayed some of that liquid inside her mouth. "Rinse and spit."


    There was not a lot of fluid and she spat out whatever little of it had umted in her mouth. Then she run her tongue over teeth, amazed at how smooth they felt. She put her hand in front of her mouth and exhaled, her breath smelled normal.


    "Oh, what a useful liquid." she said in surprise. Her teeth were clean as if she had already brushed them.This whole time she had been brushing her teeth with toothpaste from earth yet something like this existed. She really needed to go shopping on the star home shoppingwork. So many things were waiting for discovery.


    "How have you been cleaning your teeth?" he asked her.


    She showed touched her storage bracelet and showed him a tube of mint tooth paste. "This, I mixed some herbs and came up with this. We don''t have ess to things like what you have in the capital."She had also not searched the original Scarlet''s properties properly because she was bound to have that instant teeth cleaning fluid somewhere.


    "It smells good and tastes unique, what did you add." Esong had already opened the toothpaste tube and put a little bit in his mouth. Before she could tell him to spit it out, he swallowed it.


    "You are supposed to spit, not swallow and you put it on a toothbrush like this then you brush your teeth."With a toothbrush she showed him how teeth were supposed to be brushed.


    "How tiresome!!." he mumbled but he kept the toothbrush and toothpaste away in his own storage bracelet. "Nowe here." she pulled her closer, lowered his head and got his morning kiss.


    Somewhere up in a torn tree, Carolyn who was sleeping with her head on Markay''s shoulder missed this sight but Markay did not. He captured it with his bracelet terminal.


    "Baby," he tapped Carolyn, "You should wake up and go home now, your sister is is no danger."

 Chapter 93 The Gentle Giant Beord

    ?


    After one hour of running, thirty five minutes of meditating under the rising sun and one bath, Scarlet felt as fresh as a daisy and she was ready to conquer the day. There was much to do because they were expecting new immigrants, this would bring more life to the small poption of the blue star. So many things had been delivered in advance ahead of their arrival, like the transformable tents which provided shelter in the wild. Esong had acquired thousands of them at a discount from the mecha warriors sales department because they were mostly used by soldiers and mecha warriors. Those who did not want to sleep in tents would live and sleep in their mechas until the houses were ready for moving in.


    She had also been contacted by apany that wanted to sign her as an official live broadcaster for theirwork and in one or two hours they would be arriving. The fact that she had only been contacted by only onepany puzzled her because she was awesome at it and she had been expecting them toe knocking by the dozen but it seemed as if her content was either not attractive to them or they didn''t think she would aplish much with it. Perhaps they considered it to be a fad that would soon pass.


    As she walked through the house with materials of silk and cotton she contemted upon many things.


    "You have one new message." Her bracelet alerted her. This was a newer bracelet that Esong had formatted and tossed her way before they went in different directions.This one came with a virtual assistant, hologram projections and an AI that could speak to her through a very small wire device of sorts attached to her ear. The RGB officers that came to pick up the maids had such small devices connected to their ears but she had not known what they were.


    "Read it." She said.


    "Greetings Scarlet this is Cecily Wu, Esong''s grandmother. I am contacting you because I have some things I need to discuss with you, please don''t be scared off for Ie in good faith.I hope to hear from you soon"


    "Text over."


    Esong''s grandmother wanted to talk! What was it about? She looked for memories of the woman in her mind and she remembered the stern looking but kind elder who even though she disapproved of Scarlet had dotted on Justin and would say  word or two to her about how to raise a child. She had not been so terrible to her andmunicating with her could be good for Justin.


    "Good morning  sister." She run into Beord as she was leaving the house.


    "Goodmorning second brother." She replied.


    He took the clothing materials out of her hands and indicated with his head that she lead the way.


    "You did not sleep at homest night. " hemented.


    "I did not." She acknowledged.


    "Did you spend the night with your husband?"


    "I did."


    "Was he unkind to you?" Beord asked after ten seconds of silence. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I would havee running to you or Adler just as I used to do as a child if he dared to do harm me. You my brother are my gentle giant, one of my biggest protectors and one of the best men I have ever met. I know you would not hesitate to crush him for me." She saw him face turning slightly red and sheughed. Without hesitating, she pushed her hand through his and they walked at the same slow pace.


    "Is this going to be a regr thing? You spending time alone with him?" Beord asked her.


    "It''s good for Justin if his parents get along." She answered.


    "What about you little sister, what is good for you?" He asked with a frown. He noticed that she did not mention herself but rather her son. Would she allow herself to be unhappy for the rest of her life for his sake? If she wanted a divorce like she said once before he would support her.


    "I am a mother Beord." She said with a sigh. "When you have a child you stop thinking about yourself and you think about your child. I need to undo all the four years worth of emotional damage that I inflicted on him. I need him and his father to be on good terms which means I have to be on good terms with Esong too. I can''t divorce him and unless I n to murder him I am stuck with him forever. I am doing my best with what fate has handed to me." She smiled and looked up at him. "What about you second brother is there anyone special in your life?"


    "Hmph." He said and grunted. "Women fear me because of my size, I say ''hi'' and they go running as if I am about to pounce on them."


    "That''s because they are the wrong women. What would you do with a cowardly woman anyway? You need someone with a character like our mother''s." She told him. "You need a tamer of giants. I am sure she ising, destiny will send her your way."


    "You really believe in this fate and destiny thing." He said softly but highly disapproving and extremely doubtful.


    "Hey, I do not force anyone to belive what I believe, faith cannot be forced. Just like the temples I want built I will not force anyone to go and worship or make some desperate prayer before any deity. My faith is my own and yours is your own. We have free will after all."


    "If any reporter contacts you and asks for a quote that is exactly what you should say." He told her.


    "Noted." She replied. He used to work inmunications so he knew about these things better than she did. "This is it." She pointed at the veryrge tent where a shoddy wooden posterbeled clothes manufacturing department had been set up. "Today its a steel tent but someday it will berge beautiful buildings." She had a vision and one day that vision wille pass.


    "I believe you." He told her. "I was a small worker drone in amunications department of apany and today I am the Head ofmunications for an entire, dreamse true." He said andughed. She realised that he actually had a dimple in his right side cheek that made him look extremely adorable. Women should not be running from him, they should be running to him.


    Sheughed along with him and then bumped her arm against hisrge frame. "I will see youter brother."


    "I am waiting for oat porridge sister, hurry up."

 Chapter 94 The Oldest Person In The World.

    ?


    This department had around ten female employees that were working with three sowing machines that she had in her storage, three looms made out of wood from a sturdy tree in the forest and one machine made in the factory which was faster and more efficient at sewing clothes than the ten workers put together.


    "Governor Scarlet, we have been expecting you."the department head an elderly woman of two hundred twenty years weed her. The woman whose name was Sharon Ivy was one of the oldest people on the blue star. The first time that Scarlet met her she had been unable to take her eyes away from her not because she was incredibly beautiful or ugly but because of her age.


    Two hundred twenty years!!!! it was one thing to know that they could live long and another to see someone that had actually lived for so long. She was like a walking representation of history, a mammoth that had been unearthed.


    Once again, Scarlet''s eyes lingered a little too long on Sharon''s face and the woman smiled with amusement in her eyes. Scarlet''s eyes reminded her of the little children whenever they learned of her age. They would look at her as if she was the oldest person in the world, asking her questions about things that happened in the earliest years during the formation of the empire. One cheeky teenager even asked her if she had been alive at the unveiling of the first mecha which was ridiculous. In this case she was not the oldest person in the world but the oldest on the blue star. The recent registration of blue star citizens cemented this fact.


    "Governor," she called. "You have brought us new materials it seems."She waved two women over and the materials of silk and cotton were carried inside and stored in the back.


    "Haha." Scarletughed, extremely embarrassed by her actions once again. "Sorry."


    "Don''t worry." Sharon answered casually, "You are neither the first nor thest. At least you are not asking me if I shook the hand of the first emperor."


    Scarletughed, "People ask you that?"


    "You would be amazed by the quality of questions I have been asked. I have been asked about everything from the birth of the first man to the first attack of mutated beasts."


    The birth of the first man!! "Now that''s just ridiculous, the birth of the first man happened millions of centuries ago, what could you possibly know about it?"


    Sharonughed and said, "Wait until you hear what I say to them, I will tell you that some other time. Your little assistants havee to pick you up." she pointed at the open entrance.


    Scarlet turned around and saw Justin, Halley and Fey all staring at her with wide eyes. She spread her arms out and Justin run over and jumped into them.


    "Hello my puppy." she bounced him up and down.


    "Good morning mummy." he greeted he chirpily.He was smiling so much that all of his little teeth were exposed. "I have a shaking tooth mummy." he pointed at it.


    "Oh, that means the tooth fairy is going to pay a visit to our house tonight. Let''s go prepare breakfast as I tell you all about the tooth fairy." She looked down at her baby sister that was holding Fey''s hand dressed in a little pink adorable dress that came from her storage space. "Hey Halley belly." she greeted the girl.


    "Hello sister Scarlet." she replied shyly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Good morning Fey."


    "Goodmorning governor Scarlet." Fey replied so professionally.


    "Ho, have I gone from sister to governor?" she asked her.


    "I have to be professional when addressing you, I will call you sister when we are alone and governor when we are in public. Mother said that as the grows some people will watch us siblings and try to use us of taking advantage of our rtionship to pull strings, cut corners or be vastly wealthy so we must always strive to be more professional than others."Fey exined.


    "Mother has always been wise."Scarlet replied.


    With speed, they walked while she exined to Justin the job of a tooth fairy.


    "I lost all my teeth and they grew again, the tooth fairy did not give me money. Then you should write her a letter when this toothes out and put it under the pillow. I am sure the tooth fairy will pay you what she owes you."


    "M''kay." Justin replied absentmindedly. In his little head, he was counting how many star coins he was owed.


    In the kitchen she sat him down and discovered that Fey had already arranged the oats and milk because it was all Scarlet said was needed yesterday for the broadcast.


    Wasting no moment she started the live broadcast.


    "Hey everyone, it''s your favorite chef Scarlet and today is a busy day for me so I will not be taking any questions and I am straight away going to go into it. Many of you have already purchased oats from the online shop so you can follow along as I cook the porridge today.


    Add six hundred milliliters of warm water to your pan or whatever you are using to cook. I am aware that some of you are purchasing their cooking equipment from our online kitchen equipment shop so thank you for your patronage.Now if your water is not warm then allow it to boil a little bit until it heats up. Then we add some oats and allow them to boil on medium heat for ten to fifteen minutes. The choice depends on how thick you want your oats to be. Oat porridge is always thick and it makes you full pretty quickly.


    There are two types of people, those who add milk to their oat porridge and those who don''t. Milk can be added when they are boiling or after boiling the choice is entirely up to you. Remember to use cooked milk not raw milk.Milk is avable in the agricultural online store too, you can purchase it from there. " She added her milk which had been in the fridge during the cooking . "Our porridge is ready and you can add sugar and serve it up. I have no time to chit chat today my lovely viewers so I will be bidding you goodbye right now.


    Scarlet out."

 Chapter 95 A Mothers Love

    ?


    The descent of her loved ones and guests on the house the moment she closed the live broadcast was really amusing. It was if the school bell had rung, telling all the children that it was time for breakfast so the children run to the dining hall eagerly anticipating the wonderful meal they were going to have. In this case it was not  children but adults, including her father.


    "Why are you all showing up at the same time? I did not send anyone to call you." She said to her brothers.


    "We caught bits of your live broadcast on the outdoor screen. It has been connected to the star and it will stay on all day just showing news, music and the like." Beord answered.


    An idea crossed her mind, why use it to y music and distract the workers when it could be used for something more important.


    "Are there education channels, like a teacher in an empty ssroom teaching children that are being home schooled, e-learning."


    Adler checked the star for this information while Beord helped himself to arge bowl of oat porridge to which he added a lot of sugar.


    "Keep eating sugar like that and you will be stuffed like a Teddy bear." Scarlet warned him.


    "Please!!!" He replied arrogantly and flexed his biceps, "I work out for one hour daily and I spend half of my day at the construction site I am pretty sure that I am safe." He replied.


    She snorted and watched him leave. After serving three more bowls the porridge she prepared on the live broadcast was finished so she sent the hungry mob out of the kitchen and hallway, asking them to find somewhere else to sit and wait for ten minutes. There was another bigger pan of oat porridge that was boiling. She could hear the boisterousughter and conversationing from the dining and living rooms. Living with arge family was anything but quiet.


    "Fey when the rest of the porridge is ready distribute it in different bowls and have Elroy help you serve it. Do not forget Severus''s share, fill up his bowl and give him four handfuls of bacon to go with it."


    "Oh they are going to hate him even more." Feymented."Where are you going sister?"


    "Today is day one of milking the cows with that milking device so I want to make sure that they are not harmed. If idents happen the cows could be milked until bloodes out or the device could cause wounds on the udders. In case there is a sick cow it''s milk is off limits. I am going to take a look."


    "Mummy I want to see." Justin who was sitting on his small table and chair with Halley raised his hand.


    "Finish your breakfast first and then someone will send you to the barn. Make sure that you are wearing your safety boots and overalls." She kissed him on the cheek. Little shy Halley also presented her cheek and she kissed it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was after kissing Halley''s cheek that she recalled not having seen their mother all morning.


    "Fey, where is our mother?" She asked partly curious and partly worried.


    "In bed, the pregnancy is acting up or so I heard our father saying. Her feet are also swollen and the child keeps kicking. Normally she would be taken to a hospital but there is no hospital or doctor here."


    "The med bed can''t fix it?" Scarlet asked. It was supposed to be this medical miracle that fixed everything.


    "If med beds could fix everything then we would not need doctors, prosthetics or medicines." Fey answered her. She was both informative and irritated.


    Scarlet nodded and went straight away to the bedroom to check on her mother first. Knocking on the door three times, she heard the loud voice of her mother inviting her into the bedroom.


    She had never been inside of this bedroom before, not even the old Scarlet had. It was a very organised room with minimum clutter and devoid of any design. The walls were bare and cream in color. Aside from the bed the only visible piece of furniture she could see was a metallic table with an old ss vase that held three stic yellow flowers. For some unknown reason looking at it made Scarlet''s heart ache.


    "Hey dearie, what brings you here this morning, I would think that you are going to be extraordinary busy today. It is the day of the arrival of the first immigrants after all.Come and sit next to me." She patted a ce next to her on the big soft mattress that Scarlet had provided.


    She chose not to sit buty on the bed with he head on Mega''s chest. Maybe she was feeling emotional after looking at the pathetic yellow flowers or it was the realisation that apart from Justin, she had not yet fully epted this new family of hers. At times, she acted as if she was just a passer by in their lives. Her memories of her life as Su Yan were still so much alive and dominant at times making her reject almost everything to do with Scarlet, especially the ugly parts. But to them, she was their daughter, not Su Yan but Scarlet.They were so happy to have a daughter that was back to her senses that they had no idea that their real daughter had died and an impostor was in their midst. All the love they gave to her was genuine and unquestionable. This was her family now_ this was her mother and her mother was not okay.


    "What is wrong Scarlet? I can feel your nervousness in the air, it''s making me more anxious than the little one in my stomach at the moment."


    "I am worried because you are in bed feeling ill and you did not tell me." She replied.


    "Why would I tell you such a thing and make you worry? A mother''s love will never allow her to put her burdens and worries on her children. We keep them to ourselves and maybe discuss them with our husband''s. Speaking of husbands when did you start sleeping outside youngdy?"

 Chapter 96 Why Cant The Children Behave?

    ?


    At her mother''s question she kicked her feet andined like a child, "Oooh, mother!! why are you asking such a question."


    "Don''t mother me youngdy, you spent the night out without giving us so much as a heads up. I don''t care if you are married, if you are still living under my roof you must obediently follow the rules like a good child. You are my baby, if my baby sleeps out I must know."


    "Mother, I am not a baby." she answered.


    "No, you are still a baby." her mother insisted.


    She snorted and said, "Mother, prince Markay has been running around calling Carolyn baby, baby, everywhere. I think she officially owns the word baby now."


    Mega rubbed her stomach and winced which prompted Scarlet to raise her head and look at her mother worriedly. "Mother, what''s wrong?"


    "It''s all of you, I am being tortured by all my children. Adler and Beord are not married not to even talk about dating. Carolyn and Markay....that''s another headache. Then there is you, I was so worried that you would do or so say something that would make Esong twist your neck. Last on the list is this little one that has been kicking up a storm sincest night. I still have two months to go before giving birth but I am worried that I might have to induce in order for the two of us toe out of the pregnancy safely. Why can''t all of you just behave?" Mega Su asked Scarlet and then she sighed.


    Scarlet decide to touch the belly and send some spiritual energy to the child in her mother''s womb. Hopefully it would help the little one sleep and rx."Beord is trying to date but women are sacred off by his size. Adler...older brother is a puzzle to me. Maybe we should try matching him up with someone. With all the new people moving here we will not fail to find one woman that he will like. And as for me and Carolyn we will deal with our love lives. Just concentrate on your health and that of this little one."


    Mega Su listened to her daughter''s answers calmly and she felt even the little one in her womb settle down. The movements reduced and the burning reflex in her throat settled down. She felt as if she could breathe easier somehow.


    "I feel better all of a sudden." she said in a shocked voice.


    "See," Scarlet smiled, "Just rx and worry less. I have some mineral filled water which my teacher gave me. I am going to leave a bottle behind for you to drink, I think it will be good for both you and the child."


    It was ordinary water to which she had added one drop of purifying water. Most of it was going to be used in the fields where the fruits were to be nted but some of it she kept for the whole family to drink.


    The door opened and in came Dorian Su with a breakfast tray for his wife. He was pleasantly surprised to find his wife in thepany of his daughter.


    "Good morning Scarlet thank you for keeping your motherpany."


    "I brought the smile back on her face." Scarlet bragged.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Thank you." her father smiled.


    Scarlet pulled herself up so that she could leave and give her parents some privacy. But before leaving, she turned around and said,"Mother, you are so lucky that you have a husband that brings you breakfast in bed." she said cheekily and sheughed.


    She also took the stic flowers out of the vase, reced them with some white and blue ones that she had picked in the forest and kept in her space. To ensure that they would continue to bloom for a while she poured some of the crystal water in the vase before putting them in.She would find a way to fill this room with flowers of different colors to brighten it up.


    "Thank you daughter, I love them." she heard her mother shouting as she walked into the hallway.But then she found Elroy outside, so close to their room and making a gagging face.


    "What is wrong with you?" she asked him.


    "This is why our parents keep having children, our father acts like the most romantic man in the world. Don''t be surprised if mother is pregnant again in three years." he answered. His face was scrunched up as if the idea or thought of romance between their parents was extremely abnormal.


    "She said it''s theirst one." Scarlet told Elroy. "I think she means it this time, besides if she had stopped giving birth after me because I made this face that you are making you would not be here."


    "And they had three more after me and she is expecting another one. Even if you made this face I would still be born." he shook his head, wagged his finger and assured her just how wrong she was. "Anyway I was looking for you because I am done with breakfast and I have nothing to do."


    "Walk with me." she told him. "I am going to pay a visit to the barns, the pastures and then the new settlement."


    On the way to the barn she stopped walking suddenly and released ten cars from her storage space. "We mostly walk everywhere that I sometimes forget about these things."


    The cars were lined up in an orderly manner, all of them were of different sizes, designs and shapes with the exception of two white KIA vehicles.Among the cars were threerge pickups of different models but the most eye catching one was the silver colored one which Elroy could not look away from.


    "Can I have that one?" Elroy immediately asked.


    "Can you drive?" she asked him.Were driving permits a necessity in this world? She had been driving this whole time without thinking about all this.Once she perused through star she discovered that flying lessons were thepulsory ones but driving lessons were optional. She was not sure how it worked on the other stars but driving sses were going to be a must here.


    "Sister I can drive a mini mecha, it''s one of the very first things covered in all academies around the empire. I am an expert driver." he proudly answered. "I will show you right now." he run toward the vehicle as if it would be snatched away anytime soon.

 Chapter 97 Elroy The Bad Driver

    ?


    After bragging so much about his expertise in driving, Elroy almost crashed the car into a corn field and she had to intervene and be a driving instructor.


    "I will get better at this sister, one more lesson and I will be the best driver on the." he assured her.


    She looked at him as if she was spouting nothing but nonsense and asked him to park the car under her guidance. Never again would she take this braggart brother of hers at his word without evidence. It was her mistake in assuming that just because Esong drove her car effortlessly then all of them could do something simr. In fact, most of their cars probably had self driving technology and AI that did all the driving.


    "Sure." she replied sarcastically.


    "Why do I have the feeling that you are not believing me sister?" he asked her.


    ''Because I don''t.'' she thought."What are you talking about? I believe youpletely." she told him. "We should hurry up, there are less than two hours until the new citizens arrive."


    She did not even wait for him because she wanted to avoid anymore conversation about driving with him. Rushing into the barn she even forgot to change out of her shoes into gumboots.


    "Governor," the head of the live stock department saw her and he came running with a smile on his face. "We have been expecting you, it''s the first day we use the milking devices after all."


    "How is it going?" she asked him.


    "The process has been quite smooth so far, it''s much more efficient than milking with hands and we have not had any major problems as we expected . There has only been one incident with a worker that applied maximum pressure identally and the cow kicked him away. He was rushed to a med bed of course and the cow has not been touched since then."


    "I thought I said the maximum pressure that could be applied is medium, what was he thinking?" she asked sternly. "Mistake or not, do you know the kind of pain that the poor cow endured?"


    The department head knew that this little ident had made her unhappy. "What should I do governor?"


    "Transfer that employee to another department, something menial. If the mistake is repeated you will be the one to be transferred because the devices were already already set to medium pressure when they were delivered. I am aware of this because my sister runs the manufacturing department. Some of the workers here may be tempted to see what happens if they apply maximum pressure to the udders of a cow deliberately. I will not stand for sadists working in close contact with live animals."


    The department head was feeling uneasy and his stomach was churning. There was another employee that he had overheard saying to a friend that work would go faster if they applied maximum pressure. He marked that individual as another one who needed to go before causing trouble. The two of them in fact, he would transfer them out the moment the governor left.


    "Take me to the injured cow." she told him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes governor." the department head nodded his head eagerly. As they walked he pointed out the devices and how they were being used. He also made sure to mention that the animas were feeding as they were being milked. He also told her about all the hygiene and safety measurements that had been put in ce."Three more cows are pregnant governor, I have personally confirmed this fact. We will be able to wee calves when the cold season ends I think."


    There was still so much to learn like the gestation period of a cow, the birthing process, how long it took for a calf to be an adult.


    He was smiling so much that he looked like a proud father to be. He wondered where the pride wasing from. Was it pride for contributing to the blue star through hard work or because of the misguided belief that the cows got pregnant because of his extra care.


    "Here it is governor." he opened a stall where one cow wasying down on the ground with it''s stomach facing outward. The closer got, the clearer she could see the red color and the swelling of the udders.


    "Tsk, tsk, look at the damage that has been done?" she said angrily.


    "I am so sorry governor it will never happen again." the department head apologized again. The damage had not been this bad when hest saw the cow a few minutes ago. How had it worsened? Did someone elsee by and make it worse? "What should we do?"


    "I will treat it." she said in an obvious voice. As she approached the cow , it mooed pitifully and she felt sorry for it. "Don''t worry, the pain will be gone in no time." she said to it, spreading her spiritual power as she approached to make it calm down.Then she took some of the water which had been mixed with purifying water and poured it on the udders, massaging them gently.


    The department head was taking notes on his small terminal. "Do you need gloves governor?"One of the things she emphasized when it came to the cows was hygiene. No one could touch the udders with unclean hands because they could spread unknown viruses to the animals. Even she did not know this to be true but that''s what they learned in school.It was also in the book about animal husbandry which she had made a copy of and given to the department head to study. More copies would be given to the children when school started.The next generation would not fumble around as much as they had done.


    "I washed my hands already." she answered him.After putting it to sleep she went outside to look at therge pasture fields which had been nted and watered with crystal water. The grass was growing but it was still short. "I am going to send newer grass fertilizers and mineral water to be used in watering the fields. Increase the size of the fields continuously."she told him.


    These were about ten football fields but they were far from enough.


    "And find a way to enclose them before the cold season begins, I think the concept of a green house can be applied in this case. Talk to Mr. Bell, he should know about green houses."


    "Yes governor." the department head made more notes.


    "Sister, they have arrived." Elroy said and he pointed up at the sky.

 Chapter 98 A Strategy For Courtship

    ?


    As the blue star was dealing with it''s own affairs, so was the sun star. In the royal pce, in a strategy room whose walls were filled with maps the royal assistant to the emperor King Wu was presenting a very detailed report to the emperor.In this room what was usually discussed were war strategies, nting of spies, gathering of important information and other things all rted to the security and expansion of the empire. But that was not the case today for the main topic of discussion was none other than Carolyn Su. Carolyn Su who was working away in a factory on the blue star had no idea that she was now on the emperor''s board like a chess piece.


    "Tell me everything that you know about her so far, leave no detail out." the emperor put the documents down preferring for the information to be read to him .


    Byron the assistant presented the information on a hologram and started reading it while pointing to different pictures of Carolyn at different ages.


    "She is thirty two years old, the third among eight siblings so far."


    "So far?" the emperor questioned.


    Byron nodded assuring the emperor of his words, "The baroness Su is currently pregnant and she has given birth to eight children so far. She had one miscarriage ten years ago, it''s unknown whether she and her husband the baron intend to further grow their brood."


    "What are their political affiliations? Do they stand with the left or the right wing?"the emperor asked.In the Sun star politics existed just as it did in any other nation. The emperor had ministers who advised him regrly and these ministers belonged to the left or right wing as they were deemed the left and right hands of the emperor. Most ministers came from noble houses, they were highly educated and often wealthy. Most noble houses belonged to the left or right wing depending on their ideologies and the emperor personally appointed the ministers depending on where they belonged. Rmendations could be made from the royal office by different ministers on suitable candidates to represent them but choice fell to the emperor at the end of the day. In the Sun star, the emperor maintained ny percent of his power and there was aw which stopped the ministers from attempting to interfere with the affairs of the royal family.


    Thisw was so strict to the point that when an empress was chosen, her family would not participate in any political affairs for the next seven hundred years. This would stop the empress''s family from interfering with political affairs or using her power to amass their own. If they were discovered doing so, they would all be beheaded down to the veryst child.


    "Neither, they choose to be neutral as the Su family has never been interested in amassing power or wealth. Dorian Su was approached by the right wing and offered a rmendation for theposition of junior information minister after Esong married his daughter but he turned it down. The left did the same thing, offering him a rmendation for the position of senior disaster preparation minister but he turned them down as well."


    "Hmmm." the emperor replied.


    "She is the oldest daughter." Byron continued, "She attended the following schools.Bright star primary school from the age of six to eleven. During these years she was often at the top of the ss and she received many awards. After that she joined Shooting star middle school from the age of twelve to eighteen where she graduated second in her ss and gained admission to the Lumos Academy for mecha crafting where she learned how to craft mechas for two years.ording to her former teachersshe was on track to bing a sessful craftswoman, one of three women in her ssroom but she dropped out suddenly after being used of giarism on her final second year exam. The school kept the giarism charges quiet because such a scandal would tarnish their image. In return for keeping it quiet she voluntarily dropped out citing inability to pay school fees."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Have you done a fact check?" the emperor asked with a big frown on his face.


    "I am still trying to gather all the facts rted to this case your highness.ording to my source she cried and vehemently insisted on her innocence but she could not prove it. The other girl whose mecha she giarized is the daughter of the Viscount Marley''s family.She used to be mediocre but on that exam she suddenly shot to number three in the ssroom. Her grades also changed since then and she graduated among the best in her ss. There must be more to the story but I am treading carefully."


    "What did she do after leaving the academy?" the waved his hand dismissively.


    "She enrolled into the Skr college of medicine and became a sessful nurse for the rest of the years here. She has one ex boyfriend who ended the rtionship with her when the family was banished..."


    The emperor coughed and Byron corrected himself. "When the daughter of the Su family Scarlet Su was graciously gifted the blue star by none other than you your highness. You had the great foresight to see what the blue star could be cultivated into. Your vision is unlike..."


    "Alright, enough." the emperor stopped Byron from spewing more nonsense because the fact was that he banished the Su family to that. "Which family does the ex boyfriend belong to, we don''t need anymore Su family and royal family rted scandals. If Markay sessfully courts her I do not need him popping out of the clouds to make unpleasant ims."


    "I will take care of things and make sure that you do not ever hear his name and hers together in the same sentence your highness." Byron bowed respectfully. "These are the most recent images that the seventh prince has sent from the blue star. " Byron showed the emperor the pictures on a hologram. "These are cows being milked, that white liquid going into the transparent steamers is the milk."


    The emperor was fascinated with the video. "So that sweet milk whichI drink for breakfast dailyes from them?"


    "Yes your highness."


    "Fascinating." he said. "Give Markay every book that has been written on the strategies for courtship of a woman. He must seed."

 Chapter 99 The Landing Of Space Ships

    ?


    Scarlet looked at the time and then she frowned, it was early, over one hour was left until the scheduled time of arrival. There were a few arrangements left to make.


    "Why are they early?" she asked out loud.


    Her eyes were pinned up to the sky just as Elroy was, the shield which prevented the space ships fromnding was transparent so the space ships were clear as day. It appeared as if they were just hovering in the blue skies.


    "You are receiving a call from Adler Su, director of the defense department." the AI of her bracelet alerted her through the ear piece. "Do you want to receive it?"


    "Yes." she answered.


    "Hey sis...I mean governor, the space ships which are carrying the new immigrants have arrived before schedule. We are confirming their identities right now. Should we lower the shield after confirmation?"


    "Yes, do that." she answered.


    On every star the governor was the highest figure of authority and shields or barriers allowing outside ships inside could not be lowered without their say so.This was the case on every apart from the Sun star capital where the emperor gave the order.


    If she said no right now, the space ships would be forced to turn back and return to their point of origin.


    "Let''s go Elroy and this time I am driving." she took the car keys from her brother who pouted like a petnt child.


    In the factory meanwhile, Carolyn was ring harshly at all the workers that dared to try and sneak out so that they could go outside and peep at the space ships. One person hade in screaming with excitement, "They are here, they are here." and this excited the normally calm workers. More than ten people stood up at once to go and stare idly. It took her barking at them sternly for them to sit back down and get back to work.


    "The next person that dares to leave should not bothering back. We are the busiest industry on this and onlyone hundred in number with a workload meant for five hundred people. Every second of our time is valuable, which is why the governor has increased our wages to forty star coins a month."


    All the interest in the new arrivals vanished as excitement set in and the vigor of the workers increased.


    "Long live the governor." A man shouted.


    "We love you director Carolyn." a woman shouted.The cheering in the factory went on for more than five minutes because the word kept getting passed around to those in different sectors.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Some sectors manufactured cooking equipment others kitchen ware, farming equipment, harvesting vehicles, household furniture and more. It was true when Carolyn said the number of workers in the factory was smallpared to the work they were doing.


    But as the cheering and enthusiasm became louder in different sections Carolyn smiled, this was what her sister called the stick and carrot method. They had gone from mumbling to turning into more efficient workers.


    Her industry was not the only one to be affected by the curiosity about the new immigrants, it was the same among the farmers, the construction workers, the hunters, and the gatherers. Even the children whose first day it was to sit in front of a big screen with personal tablets provided by the governor to study for the first time ever on the blue star were drawn in by the excitement.


    A lot of eyes were on the skies where more than twenty space ships were hovering.Such a sight had never before been seen on the blue star. They all knew what was to happen on this day but some of the toddlers who could hardly understand cried and hid behind the older ones. Even little Halley was tightly holding Justin''s hand and sniveling.


    Mega Su that was supervising the children''s ss saw this and she told the children to move to the dining area. The roof was sealed off to shield the children from the sun, today it would also shield them from viewing what was in the sky.


    Scarlet arrived in time at the designated space ship port which was not yet properly constructed. She saw the shield retract like little blue translucent spider webs separating.It looked so beautiful but so fragile, she could not imagine that something like that was capable of protecting them from invasion.


    One by one, the shipsnded and she realized that they were farrger than they appeared to be when they were high up in the sky.


    "Warrior space ships." Elroy said. His voice held a hint of wonder, probably because of how fierce they looked. Rectangr in shape withgs of the empire attached to the back, they had spiralswith sharp tips on the side which rotated in a circr manner as they flew. If anything identally bumped into them it was getting shredded into millions of little pieces.As theynded, the ground vibrated a little bit, and then it shook as if an earthquake was urring afterrge deep bellow was emitted out of one of them. If enemies were here, they would go hiding deep in the ground when the space ships arrived.


    "They certainly know how to make their presence felt." she heard Severus''s voice in her head and his bark clearlying from below, next to her feet.


    She looked down and saw him standing between herself and Elroy, looking at the space ships. "When did you get here?"


    "I was walking with your soul gourd casually collecting souls for you when I smelled fear, a lot of fear. I thought you were in danger so I blinked and appeared here." he exined. "Is this what''s causing the fear? Why are human ships using the roar of a sand worm to announce their presence?"


    "A sand worm, is it scary?"Worms were tiny and icky but were they dangerous?


    "It''s a desert worm whose one roar can sink a small city, nasty bastards that are almost extinct. The presence of one sandworm alone will result in the creation of multitudes of souls. They are moving earthquakes, everywhere they pass death is inevitable. If there is one in this world you should work harder on your cultivation because you will need a bigger soul gourd. You should also warn those humans, while the roar of a sandworm is good for striking fear in the heart of one''s enemy it''s also a calling card. They are very dominant bastards, a roar from one is considered a challenge to another and they fight to death. That''s why they are almost extinct, they have killed each other over the centuries. If you humans keep using the roar, eventually one will make it''s way to you and the consequences will be devastating."

 Chapter 100 It Could Not Be Ignored.

    ?


    Severus''s words of caution made her want to pee herself!! If the roar of one sandworm could sink a city then what about the roars of two sandworms that were fighting for dominance? Wouldn''t they take down an entire?


    "This is a minimal roar though, the effect has been reduced by arge margin. Still caution is the best way to go because this small earthquake is ignorable but the meaning of the roar is not." Severus added.


    "Call director Adler." she instructed her bracelet AI.


    Elroy at her side was excited meanwhile, "That''s the first bellow sis, they do it three times and then the space ship doors open like gigantic wings."


    "Governor.." Adler started to say but she would not allow him to finish his words.


    "Tell them not to do that bellow again or they can turn back right now." she shouted an order.


    "Sis.." Adler changed from governor to sister really quickly.


    "Now." she said sternly.


    The second bellow was just starting, the roar was even louder than the first one and the ground shook much more than it had done the first time. Scarlet worried about her Justin and the rest of the children. Maybe the others had measures in ce to safeguard against earthquakes but they did not.


    "Idiots!!!" Scarlet looked in the direction of the space ship as she held on to the side of the car.


    "Don''t worry sis, we all wear shoes with gravity stabilization soles. No matter what changes happen to the ground we stay perfectly in ce."


    Good for them! she thought while gritting her teeth. She was wearing ordinary shoes from earth, if the ground shook any harder she would find herself face down on the ground. And her cars!! she thought, they were ordinary cars from earth as well. Were they going to be destroyed just like this?


    The silver pick up was shaking as if it would overturn at any moment, she had to find a way to get both herself and Elroy far away from it lest it crush them but the bellow stopped suddenly before she could say anything.


    "Is it over?" she asked herself.


    "One more bellow to go." Elroy said chirpily.


    "Not on my watch." Scarlet mumbled. "Adler, warn them again, if they I hear that bellow one more time I am going to have them arrested."


    "Wait, what!" Elroy said in shock.


    "You are on the line with the captain of this mission governor, he would like t know why you are forbidding the standard three bellow roar."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "My, my rules." she answered. "If you want to know moree and meet me right now, I am going to the watch tower to meet general Esong. In the meantime, open the space ships and let the people disembark, a weingmittee will take it from there." she looked at Elroy and told him "Go and find our father I am sure that he will find something for you to do.Better yet, go home and check on Justin and the other children. The earthquake must have scared them. If anything has copsed, you send word to me immediately." When she was about to walk away something else crossed her mind and she gasped,"The farms!!! check on the nts too."


    "Can I take the car?" he asked hopefully.


    "No." she answered. "But you can check on the other cars and if they are still in one piece drive one away, one of the white ones." she tossed a car key at him.


    From there, she drove the pick up to the watchtower which was a long white tube with an elevator inside that sent her five hundred forty meters up to a well constructed medium sized round building at the very top.The watchtower was something that Esong and his men installed, it came already built and all they did was dig, install it with a machine and power it up.She had not been inside of it once.


    Esong was waiting for her in here, he was using binocrs to observe the scene below ofpeople disembarking from the ships and heading to themunications department temporary tent.


    "Hi, we need to talk about that bellow or roar, whatever you want to call it." she said immediately.


    "Good to see you too." he answered. "Please do exin why you stopped the standard three bellow roar which is akin to a salute for the mecha warriors and threatened to have my men arrested?"he looked unhappy with her actions. To him, she was looking down on the authority of the mecha warrior army. That bellow was a symbol of authority for them, it warned the enemies and calmed the hearts of the citizens by reassuring them that the liberators, their army had arrived.


    "Do you know what makes that roar?" she asked him. Whatever significance it held to them, in her opinion it was much more dangerous.


    He put the binocrs down and turned around to look at her. "Do tell." he said seriously.


    Somebody else chose that moment to join them, a very tall man in the standard mecha warrior uniform. He had themonest ck hair as most of the people in the empire did. His height and the scar on his cheek were the most eye catching things about him.


    "Captain Jacks." Esong said with a smile.


    "General Esong," the man replied and the two of them hugged. "It''s so good to see you, I thought you were on a mission but you were busy ying house with your wife."


    "Try getting married and talk to meter." Esong answered and they bothughed. "This is my wife." he introduced Scarlet to Captain Jacks. "This is the craziest mecha pilot in the empire, if you ever get involved in a fight with him, anything goes."


    "I don''t fight women." Captain Jacks held his hands back andughed.


    "I fight men." Scarlet answered. "And I am pretty good at it." she assured him.


    "Believe her." Esong said, "She is a good boxer, and she was about to give me more information on that bellow. I thought it was aputer generated battle cry passed down for centuries but she says different. I guess it''s the roar of a mutated beast of some sort."


    "A sandworm." she said and captain Jacks pissed her off byughing at her words.

 Chapter 101 Welcome To The Blue Star

    ?


    "What''s so funny Mr. Jacks?" She asked unhappily. On her face was a very big frown and her gaze intensely locked on to the man who wasughing at her expense.


    Scarlet hated beingughed at because it made her feel stupid, as if she was less.


    She clenched her fists resisting the urge to throw her fist out and punch this man across the jaw.


    Esong was learning all of Scarlet''s expressions slowly over time. He knew that the frown which caused her upper lip to tremble meant she was angry. It was usually apanied by an angry intense gaze as if she was trying to set you on fire right where you were standing. He also thought that he would not be a very good husband if he did not stand up for his wife right now.


    "Apologize to my wife Jacks." He ordered the man.


    "Ohe on Esong." Captain Jack''s whined.


    "Now Jacks." Esong said sternly.


    Jack''s had known Esong for a long time and he knew when to draw the line because if you went too far, the consequences would be painful.


    "I am sorry." He turned to Scarlet and said." My actions are very unbing and embarrassing."


    "You should be." She said. Then she looked at Esong and said, "Anyway, the roar is of mutated beast called a Sand worm. I have personally never seen it but my teacher said that the ancient people used to write warnings about them. The sand worm prefers deserted ces but it travels so it ends up anywhere when it''s on the move. When it roars, buildings and entire cities sink into the earth. That''s why the earth shakes ur when the space ships belt out that roar. Normally the roar would be negligible but the danger is that sand worms roar to challenge other sand worms to a fight for dominance. Basically every time the space ships roar they are sending out an invitation to any sand worm that could be nearby toe and fight. One sand worm roaring can sink a city so imagine what two sand worms roaring and fighting can do?" She was not one to let go of her grudges easily and she looked at Captain Jacks. "I don''t care what you do on your travels but on my that roar is forbidden. I will not risk the lives of my people or everything that we are trying to build for anything."


    She looked Esong in the eye and said to him, "Whether you believe me or not I believe that you have the duty pass on the warning to other mecha warriors, the emperor, defense ministry or whoever is in charge. And thank you for making him apologize." she pointed at captain Jacks when she said ''him'' through clenched teeth and then she left the tower.


    "Wow," Jacks said as soon as she was gone, "Your wife packs quite the temper, I don''t think she has forgiven me."


    "My wife can hold grudges, be careful not to end up on her wrong side or you might not be wee on the blue star anymore. I saw your name on the list of mecha warriors that want to move here, why?" Esong responded to Jacks with both a warning and a question.


    "The capital is not for me Esong, we both know why I am always on the move. Where else can Iy down my roots except for this ce?"


    "Avoiding your stepmother." Esong said.


    "May she be torn apart by a mutated beast someday." Jacks answered and he saluted.


    As for Scarlet she drove herself to themunications tent and joined the weingitte. She could see that the immigrants were just as nervous as the original citizens of the blue star about this move. Some of them were clutching their luggage tightly as if it was theirst lifeline.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This luggage had to go through a scanner just as it was done at the airport to stop all those that could be bringing contraband to the blue star. It had been set up by Folsom and she was thankful because this too had not crossed her mind. Just because they were moving here did not mean that their intentions were good.


    Once one''s luggage was dered clear, they would go through a full body scanner, give a sample of blood for DNA storage, a scan of their biometrics and then they would be driven to a new settlement by the simplified transportation mechas. These in this case were provided by Esong when preparations for the immigrants were being made. ording to her father they were now using mechas at the construction sites too and the building pace had increased. By October which was now two months away they would be moving into properly constructed buildings and she would be moving into her castle.


    The few immigrants who had made it to the new settlement so far were neither happy or unhappy. They had not been expecting anything extravagant because they had been fully briefed on the conditions of the blue star. It was as in as they had been told, sparsely popted, ugly, no flying vehicles in the sky and no proper houses.


    One teenage girl was looking up at the sky and she said "Daddy did you know that the sky could be so clear and blue?"


    Her father looked up and replied, "That''s because flying vehicles are not allowed on this."


    "So how do they go around? Is this why you sold our car?" she replied. Her eyes were wide and she was in shock as if the aspect of not having a flying car was unthinkable.


    "They walk Sidora,." her mother replied.


    "I don''t want to walk." the girl whined as if walking was the worst thing that could happen to her.


    "Wait until she discovers that we are going to be sleeping in these tents for a while." the wife whispered to her husband and the couple looked at each other with a secretive smile on their faces.


    At that moment, a few women that were dressed in simr white cotton pants and t-shirts came over with self driving mechanicalrge carts and distributed some warm milk in sk cups and oat bread to every one with smiles on their faces.


    "Wee to the blue star." they would say as they handed the refreshments over.


    The new immigrants smiled back, happy to feel weed and feeling more at ease.


    "Daddy, it''s really true what you said, there is food on this." the girl that had been whining about walking suddenly had a smile on her face. "I am going to take a picture and send it to all my friends that were mocking us for moving here."


    Back in themunications tent Scarlet heard the voice of the braceletAIsaying, "You are receiving a call from director Adler of the defense.."


    "Let it through." she said.

 Chapter 102 Official Star Daily Contract

    ?


    "There is another unidentified flying space ship approaching us, the pilot has identified herself as an employee of the star daily. She says that they scheduled a meeting with you." Adler exined to Scarlet his reasons for calling her again.


    "Let them through after the proper security checks." she answered.


    Since they were not part of the immigrants, for them the process of going through security was much quicker and soon the star daily team was with Scarlet. Her presence was not required here anymore so she drove Mr. Rodney as he identified himself, his pilot and the two assistants that came with him to her family''s home.


    On the ride, Mr. Rodney was already pitching the benefits of Scarlet signing with the star daily live stream department to her.


    "We will give you full autonomy over your live streams, I am aware that you are a governor and a busy one so we do not expect you to broadcast everyday but if you want to grow your audience it''s advisable that you do one broad cast a day. Even if it''s not cooking but just showing the viewers your daily life, your harvesting broadcast for example brought in a lot of viewers. The video is still pinned on the star official website as one of the most viewed videos this month and the views are still climbing."


    "It could be because they caught a glimpse of Esong Wu in the video." she retorted. She could still vividly recall the excitement of her female viewers when he passed by.


    "Maybe or maybe not, the five second view of general Esong does not ount for the continuous trending of the video. The most searched questions on the star and hottest topics include , ''what is a chicken?'', ''How much does a chicken cost?'', ''Chips are the best food in the world'', ''Scarlet Su''s sun sses, Scarlet Su''s dress, Scarlet Su''s fashion, Harvesting oats, oat bread and milk vs oat bread and in tea.


    Every month, the thirty trending and hottest topics are listed andworks such as ours see how we can use those topics to our advantage. You and the things rted to you have upied ten spots alone this month which shows how influential you are. But this alone does not grow your brand because because despite all this you are still stuck at twenty two million followers on the star and thirty percent of the followers are anti fans." he showed her the data that had been collected, analyzed andpiled.


    "Wow," she said as she parked as the car. "You have done so much research."


    "I am good at what I do governor Scarlet," he assured her, "I see the potential in what you are trying to do, building the blue star alone and transforming it will bring you more viewers than an idol at a concert because it''s new and fresh. The star daily has a viewership of over one billion, with us you can go far. My aim is make you the number one in the empire. If the star is connected to other gxies after the peace talks of next year then I will work hard to make you number one in their gxies too."he spoke sonorously and convincingly like a motivational speaker.


    They had arrived in front of the house so she parked the car and they all disembarked. As she walked them to the wide and open dining hall where people usually sat in their free time just to hold conversations and eat something leisurely, she reminded him, "Mr. Rodney may I remind you of the type of contract I told the entire world I wanted? I am still standing by it , I believe in myself as much as you believe in me and I am confident that even if I am not yet the best I will be the best eventually.You say that I am stuck at twenty million followers but when I started I did not even have half of that number and all I had were anti fans. In a matter of weeks I have done something that somebody with a full team and the backing of awork cannot do."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I am aware of the kind of contract you want and it is what I offer, a three year S contract that gives you fifty percent of all your earnings. On top of that we will pay you three million star coins a month. As your influence grows we will up the level of contract, sry, exposure and benefits." He added eagerly. "Because you are a busy person thepany is willing to offer you a full time assistant, a make up team and a set of broadcasting equipment like drones, cameras, An AI audio and video editing software, one robot bodyguard and tickets to every live event you wish to attend in the empire."


    Anybody else that was being offered all of these things would jump at the opportunity and beg to sign the contract immediately. Some singers, actors and live streamers had been in the industry for years but they never received such a contract or perks.


    "My family is still banned from leaving the blue star right now Mr. Rodney so the tickets are useless to me. I do not need a make up team and the assistant is only useful if she or he is loyal to me and not thepany. I also cannot sign a three year contract because I do not trust you well enough. What happens when you try to force me to do or say things I do not desire? With ess to my ount on yourwork it''s easy to block me, ckmail me, threaten me or smear my name. You have the upper hand and I do not like it."


    Mr. Rodney could feel his back perspiring, what he thought would be simple was not as he imagined. Despite being new to the streaming world, Scarlet was educated on how it operated. Where were all the people that called her stupid online? They shoulde out and prove this stupidity to him right now.


    One of the female assistants that came with him saw him nervously shaking his right foot at a fast pace and she tapped his leg. He stopped shaking it and crossed his right leg over the left one.


    "What length of time do you want?" he asked Scarlet.


    "One year." she said.


    "That will be hard to sell to my bosses." he said.


    "I will renew the contract every year as long the star daily does not betray me, this can be put in the contract. I also want to maintain full control over my ounts. You have two days to think and decide, in the meantime you are free to enjoy your time our blue star."


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 103 The Leaderboard.

    ?


    Thisrge number of people could not move without it being noticed by others so of course the mass exodus was reported on the news. It was the biggest headline of the day.


    ''The blue star wees it''s first immigrants.''


    ''Could the blue star be on the rise?''


    ''What could the move of former mecha warriors from the capital to the blue star mean?''


    ''Could this sudden move of mecha warriors that have lost their former glory to the blue star have a secret motive?''


    ''We will pay you to live here," the governor of the blue star says.


    Some of the headlines were positive and genuinely reported the truth but others were maliciously written with the intention to smear the blue star or just in click bait. But the new immigrants did not care because they were busy touring their new home.


    A few eloquent people had volunteered to act as guides for the new ones. Therge screen which yed outdoor movies was ying a video on loop of Scarlet addressing and weing the new immigrants.


    The volunteers made sure to pass by the so that everyone watched the video. Some of the volunteers were teenagers and others were the beautiful and cute little children of the blue star, Justin inclusive. The touring groups visited different sections at different times so as not to causemotion.


    Justin was showing a group of thirty people the rice paddies, "We sometimes y here and yesterday we saw these creatures, my mummy said they are called rice field frogs."He run around, trying to catch one of the little frogs but it jumped away from him. The frog eggs and two adult frogs were dumped into the rice field by Scarlet in her attempt to change the ecology of the blue star. Her n was to do it slowly, one animal at a time.


    Most of the people were smiling because Justin was taking every opportunity to mention ''my mummy'' over and over. It was almost as if if he did not specify that the governor was his mother somebody else would im her.


    The mummy he was talking about had locked herself in the bedroom for thirty minutes and swallowed a sleeping pill at Severus''s insistence. She delivered souls and when she was about to exit the underworld, Severus stopped her.


    "Why do you want us to stay longer?" she asked him.


    "Just follow me." Severus said to her.


    She followed slowly behind Severus, her eyes wondering around from side to side. She would smile and nod at every grim reaper that passed her way and they did the same to her.


    "Everyone is friendly." she told Severus.


    "That''s because you have be quite a bit of a celebrity in the underworld. Everything about you has be a source of entertainment, even the deities have picked interest in you. Reapers are betting soul crystals on how quickly you will level up next, how many souls you deliver per week, whether you will ever deliver another strong soul, how wealthy you are and how strong you are.Someone also raised the question about why you are not on the leaderboard."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What''s the leaderboard?" she asked.


    They came to a arge hall with wide doors, it had the picture of a hound whose fangs were wide open. Severus tapped the gong and the doors opened. Inside, she saw what was a coliseum whose seats moved from the ground, all the way up to the ceiling of the hall. Some of the seats were upied by grim reapers that were cheering orughing. In the middle of the coliseum was an obvious fighting ring because two grim reapers were fighting inside of it.


    Four other elderly reapers floated in the air like ghosts, around the ring. This was a very professional setting which includedrge foggy screens in the air andmentators.


    "What''s this?" she asked Severus, "WWE reapers." she said and chuckled as if her words were funny.


    "I put you down for the next fight so I wouldugh less if I were you and observe." Severus said.


    "You did what!!" she screamed at him loudly.


    "Keep it down." someone shouted.


    "Sorry." she mumbled an apology. Then she turned to Severus and looked at him with fury in her eyes. "Why, Why would you do such a thing without asking me first?"


    Severus looked at her with a serious expression on his face and said, "Because you are bing too upied with your human life and not concentrating enough on the underworld. You have to realize that this is a world where the strong are respected, what Ulysses did to you was a small sample. Every year one deity opens up a small world filled with resources that nurture reapers, sends out invitations and reapers enter the small world. Do you want to guess who gets the most resources?"


    "The strong ones." she mumbled.


    "Yes." Severus said, "The strong ones and it''s not just that, in the small world reapers are armed with devices which allow them to take the soul strength of other reapers. One can go in at level five and exist at level three or infancy. Then you have to restart your cultivation from the bottom which can be humiliating. You are not ready to participate in these small worldpetitions yet but you have to start from the leaderboard."


    "Oh boy." she said. She was partly worried but also kind of excited to engage in these fights but she did not feel the slightest bit ready.


    "Are you interested?" Severus asked her.


    "Uhm, yes." she replied after a two second hesitation. This was her reality that she could not escape, better to face it head on. She had fought zombies and survived, fighting other reapers in a controlled environment would not be the thing that frightened her.


    "Great, but I lied you start next month not now, you need to watch the fights, learn and train. Every time you lose a fight you must pay a given number of soul crystals. This is the leaderboard," he pointed at arge scroll that had names which constantly kept rotating. The name at the top was highlighted in gold, the second silver and the third tinum. Beside the names were images to match the owners, the top ten she noticed appeared to be quite cocky in the pictures."The top ten has not changed for two years now."Severus said. "Do you have what it takes to enter their ranks?"

 Chapter 104 The Favor.

    ?


    After having a long talk with Severus and figuring out what she needed to do next, they formted a n, one that would put her on name on the leaderboard after her very first fight. She was the only other grim reaper with a hell hound as a soul pet, she had a lot to prove.


    "Choose your weapons, every reaper has weapons that they are mostfortable with."


    "A whip." she said. In the zombie world she had these sharp whips which had spikes that could rip the head of a zombie off with one strong strike. She had trained with those whips, learning how to bnce them, bleeding until her fingers got wounds and calluses but she never stopped until they became a part of her. That''s why it was so simple for her to wield the soul binding rope.


    She and Severus were shopping for training materials on the underworld forum.


    "Can you use two whips?" he asked her.


    "Perfectly." she answered.


    "There is a pair of whips that were forged from the tongue of fire death serpent." He scrolled through the forum as he spoke. "The forger does not want soul crystals which is why they have been on the market for hundreds of years now."


    "What does the forger want?" she had no idea what a fire death serpent was but she could always find out.


    "A favor, but in this world a favor is something too big to owe anyone because they could ask for a bit of soul strength and nobody wants to trade their strength. They could ask for your invitation to a small world but it''s an opportunity thates once in a century to every reaper except for special cases. All in all, nobody has any favors to give."


    She looked at him with questions in her eyes. "Are you wondering why I am willing to allow us owe him that favor?"


    "Yes, maybe it''s not worth it." she answered. Of the two things he mentioned she too did not want to give up any of them.


    "Don''t worry, that guy is the type to tell you what favor he wants immediately. We will decide after speaking to him."


    He tapped on the whips before she could get a closer at them and five secondster, a man''s face appeared like a floating head in the air.


    "Someone is finally willing to buy my whips, are you brave or just stupid?" the floating head asked.


    "Look at me Halder, not her. I want the whips for my reaper, what will it take?"


    The head floated down to Severus and smiled all knowingly, "Aah, Severus the thirty first. The greediest of his fathers sons, I heard that you contractedyourself to a puny low level soul cultivator. We have soul emperors, soul martials, soul overlords and you chose her!! I gotta say buddy I am quite disappointed in you. As interesting as she seems I do not think she is worth it."


    Scarlet clenched her fists and her jaw, someday she would prove them all wrong.


    "Shut up, it''s none of your business, just say what you want for the whips." Severus answered angrily.


    "Favors can go a long time without being collected." Halder said.


    "Your whips have also gone a long time without being touched. We both know that nobody wants to owe someone a favor in our world. This is your one chance to get rid of them."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I heard that the girl collected a pure strong soul." Halder said.


    At the side, Scarlet was extremely angry at the way this Halder individual was so dismissive of her as if she did not exist. He did not address her directly, choosing to speak only to Severus.


    "Call her by her name, she is called Scarlet. How would you like me to address you as boy since you are younger than me?"


    "We are friends Severus."


    "She is my partner." Severus answered. "If I have to kill you to protect her let''s not pretend that I will not do it."


    Scarlet smiled slowly loving how protective Severus was of her.


    "Sheesh, you are such a bastard." Halder told Severus. "Anyway since she can find one strong soul once odds are she might find another one someday. I want her to give the next strong soul shees across to me. "


    "Halder, are you crazy? Do you think strong souls are everywhere like soul crystals ready for picking?"


    "I don''t care if it takes her the next one thousand years it''s the price I want for the whips. And before you decide that it''s not worth it keep in mind that these whips can be used to tame mes, they can be used in an ordinary fight against other human beings and so many other ways that the wielder will have to find out. I am not boasting but of all the weapons I have created they are my second greatest work. That''s why I am demanding too much, but you already know that Severus otherwise you would not be here." Halder was both arrogant and proud of his creations. "So what''s it going to be old friend?"


    "Throw in some armor and you have a deal. A strong soul is worth more than one pair of whips." Severus answered.


    Scarlet thought about stopping Severus but he looked determined and she thought it would be best for her not to interfere because he knew more about this world than she did. But she also wondered what would happen if she never found another strong soul again. Would he take the whips back or ask for something else?


    "Deal." Halder said.


    "We also need a ready training ground one that can work in the physical world." Severus added.


    "You are on a shopping spree old friend, are you aiming to get her on the leaderboard?"


    "I am aiming to get her in the top ten in one year." Severus answered.


    "You aim high Severus, then again you have always been the greediest of them all and not just food."


    "Less yapping and more packing." Severus said looking very displeased.


    "What more do you need? I am happy to receive your crystals in fact let me show you everything that I have craftedtely and you can choose what catches your fancy. I am looking forward to seeing the name Scarlet on the leaderboard, in fact I will be betting on her since I know that you will be training her."

 Chapter 105 Snakes And Ladders

    ?


    In the evening, just before dinner Mega Su mentioned how bored she was and Scarlet gave her a game of snakes anddders. Who knew that when her mother suddenly yed the game outside it would attract the attention of many others and now people were looking at Scarlet with expectations in their eyes.


    "Hey Carolyn, can the machines replicate the game? I have only one left and all of you are looking at me gluttonously."


    "Let me see what can be done." Her sister said. She answered eagerly because she too wanted to try her hand at the game. None of them had ever seen a game like this, one that was simple to y. If Carolyn could say it out loud she would say that it was fun and silly.


    "Has everyone gathered?" She asked Beord. She wanted to address the new poption along with the old ones because it was expected of her as the governor.


    "Yes madam governor." he replied.


    "Did you have to dress up so fancily just to address the people?" Fey asked her.


    "Of course she does, have you ever seen the emperor address the citizens of the empire with an ungroomed appearance?" Their father responded.


    "Why does she need gloves?" Fey asked.


    Scarlet smiled, very much in love with her appearance. She was dressed in a long ck dress, around her neck were ck pearls and on her hands were white gloves. Her hair was tied up in a perfectly bound bun and she looked extremely beautiful.


    "Attention sister, don''t I look good?" She asked Fey proudly. By the time she was finished with her speech the gloves and her look would be trending on star.


    "You look more than beautiful, aren''t d that you took after me? "her father asked and this brought smiles, guffaws andughter to the siblings.


    Mega Su hissed at her husband unhappily. "Why would you say that your daughter? Which girl wants to look like a man?" She asked him.


    "Men can be beautiful too, what''s wrong with my daughter looking like me? She is mine after all." Dorian answered proudly.


    Adler stood up and extended his hand to Scarlet. "It''s time for your speech sister, make it as memorable as thest one."


    "Break a leg." Elroy said.


    "You silly boy." Mega pped Elroy her ymate in snakes anddders on the head. "Why do you want your sister to break her leg?"


    "She said it means good luck." Elroy exined in a whiny voice with a very aggrieved look on his face.


    Mega looked at her husband and he shrugged, both parents were very confused. Someone needed to exin to them how breaking a leg made one lucky.


    "Let''s go and watch her give her speech." Dorian pulled his wife up. To the dismay of the siblings who were waiting for a turn at the game, she rose with it and walked out of the house.


    "Does she have to guard it like that?" Elroy asked.


    "One might think that we are thieves, unbelievable, mother is simply unbelievable." Beordmented.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Outside, the screen was ying a propaganda video which showed the achievements of the blue star so far. The fields of green, however little it was were vividly clear on the screen. The buildings whose construction was ongoing, the factories, the animals, the pastures , the oat harvest, pets and even Scarlet''s car had made it to the video. The view of therge ocean, the blue forest and the valleys were also included. Scarlet''s female voice was borating on all these things but she was quite certain that she had not lent her voice in the production of the video.


    "Where did thise from?" She asked Adler.


    "Your husband, his ship AI can do almost anything." He whispered back.


    "Oh, okay." She nodded her head. Esong was working hard for the growth and development of the blue star in his own way. She was d not to bear some of the burdens on her own.


    On stage, d that had been appointed the official speaker of the blue star presented Scarlet and Esong. The old man looked dashing in the ck and white suit which had been tailored to fit him.


    "Citizens of the blue star, I present to you your governors Scarlet Su and Esong Wu."


    A loud apuse followed his announced as Scarlet walked up to the stage a lot less dramatically than Esong whonded on the stage while floating down slowly. The silver wings of his armor were spread out and he was holding his broad sword in his hands.


    The audience loved it, screaming loudly as if they were witnessing the descent of a God.


    When his feet touched the steel floor of the stage, the wings retracted the sword was put away, he reached his right hand out, held Scarlet''s and raised their united hands in the air. The women screamed so loudly that a few men had to cover their ears. What did the women find so exciting about this they wondered. It was just hand holding for crying out loud!!.


    "This has you Folsom written all over it." Markaymented as he shook his head with a smile. Esong was like an entirely different man up there, so smooth and certainly dramatic.


    "My PR skills are certified." Folsom said proudly. "You give the people what they want Markay, always give them something to talk about and always leave them wanting more."


    Mr. Rodney was in the audience observing this and he took a picture and sent it to his higher ups. "Keep recording he told his assistant, this is still news for us."


    "Good evening people of the blue star." Scarlet said into the small microphone and the audience cheered while others loudly or silently greeted her back.


    "How are you all feeling tonight beautiful people?" She asked. She asked this with an additional energy as if she was a host at a concert.


    More cheering ensued, especially from women.


    Esong took over from there and he said "As the forever General of all the newly arrived men here that have selflessly served and sacrificed for the empire, I wee you to the blue star. This lovely of ours is not yet developed and its stillcking but it will not be this way always."


    A lot of hand pping interrupted his speech and he paused.


    "My wife and I are working hard to give every citizen of this a good home and we promise that someday you will be proud to call the blue star home. What I want from you all right now is a promise that you will work hand in hand with us. Do I have your promise?"


    Chants of yes, yes, I promise and I love you were heard from the audience.


    "To wee you all, tonight we feast." Scarlet announced and the people cheered extremely excited.

 Chapter 106 You Said Men!!

    ?


    The family ate their dinner outside in the outdoor dining hall where the children usually sat. They also ate the same meal that everyone was having, Rice, meat, picked vegetables and juice. This was intentionally done for the people, especially the new citizens to see that their was no segregation on the blue star. What they ate, the noble governor''s family, the general, the mecha warriors and the wealthy prince also ate. In the capital the nobles had ess to high quality nutrient solutions while themoners drunk the low quality ones. It was the way things were done after all themoners could hardly afford high quality nutrient solutions. This small act of eating with the people also touched their hearts. Some people however cared more about the fact that Esong Wu was ravishingly eating this same meal.


    Sidora the teenage girl who hated to walk for example took a picture and sent it to her friends in the capital, "I am eating the same meal as the mecha king."


    Pictures of Esong Wu eating food quickly trended, alongside his little speech, holding Scarlet''s hand and Scarlet''s outfit. Everything to do with this night was dissected by the media in the capital and viewed by millions of people on the other stars.


    At the table, Scarlet suddenly put her chopsticks, she was the only one in the family that used them. Everyone else ate with forks, ''like normal people'' Elroy had said.


    "You said men." she told Esong.


    "What?" he guzzled down his second ss of juice for the night after asking.


    "When you were addressing the crowd, you specifically mentioned the men, your mecha warriors that have sacrificed themselves for the empire. Why didn''t you mention women?"


    "There are no female mecha warriors." Elroy mentioned.


    When she was about to ask why, someone else added to Elroy''s statement. "Because women are not very good at excelling as mecha warriors." Folsom said.


    Carolyn was the first to re at him, followed by Mega, Scarlet and Fey. On seeing that all the women in the family were staring at this uncle, little Halley did the same. Now Folsom was being red at by four pissed off women.


    "I am just saying the truth.'' he raised his hands defensively. "We train everyday for an entire year, we spend months away from home, we fight battles where our lives hang between life and death, we chase after dangerous criminals and we venture into unknownnds. This is not the kind of life women want to live, it requires great strength and sacrifice."


    "So you think women are weak and selfish." Scarlet said dryly.


    "I did not say that." Folsom looked around wildly, "I really didn''t say that, I just said that women are not suitable for this line of work."


    Carolyn snorted and rolled her eyes. "Before Aida Grant women were not suitable for mecha crafting or designing. Before Jackeline Mya women were not suitable to be mecha fighters, Before Gilly Saint women were not suitable to pilot space ships, in fact my sister here is the first and only female governor of a star. My pregnant mother is one of the best mutated beast hunters. Women can do anything, you men are just sexist."


    "Woo." the women cheered and pped.


    "Oooh." the men groaned loudly and this drew the attention of some people who took more pictures, uploading them on star.


    "Here we go with the sexist theory." Folsom sighed and he raised his hands because this was an argument he had heard one too many times.. "If any of you here is willing to be a mecha warrior please contact me, I will be willing to train you personally but I guarantee that you will not make it. The truth is that it''s brutal and dangerous what we do, there is now that is stopping women from joining us but when they do, they drop out within two weeks. Personally as a man I would not want a wife that is a mecha warrior, I mean she would be gone for half of the year, risking her life everyday. When do we start a family if I never see you? What if my pregnant wife insists on going into battle?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    When he brought out the family angle most of the men at the table nodded which Scarlet found to be hypocritical. Women that were married to mecha warriors were burdened with the task of raising their children alone most of the time. What about them? It was undeniable that mecha warriors were greatly needed in the empire but this went two ways in her opinion. Both the men and women were affected.


    "What about iremont, she was a married female mecha warrior." Fey asked. "She made it past those two weeks and she thrived."


    Folsom grunted and banged his fist on the table, "She was a glory hog and she almost got her entire team kill..."


    "Folsom." Esong barked and red at him.


    Folsom shook his head and said, "Look, we have female soldiers and female RGB officers.That line of work is also sometimes dangerous and nobody is saying that women can''t do those jobs. In fact women are encouraged to sign up for those them,all I am saying is that when ites to mecha warriors specifically, it''s hard for women to keep up."


    "Boo, sexist." Carolyn shouted with her hand raised up and the thumb facing down and the womenughed. Folsom shook his head and gave up, there was no winning in this argument.


    Scarlet shook her head and said, "You see this is what happens when women grow up being told that they are not good at certain things, they do not bother to attempt them. Little Halley here could have the great potential to be a great mecha warrior but when she listens to uncle Folsom speaking, she is discouraged."


    "Uncle!!" Folsom was shaken.


    The men, his friendsughed, Esong inclusive.


    "He doesn''t want to be seen as an uncle, Folsom thinks it makes him look old." Esong exined to Scarlet and she joined in on theughter.


    "For today''s lesson I think we should all watch a movie prepared by me called Mn. I want the women especially to learn something from it." Scarlet stood up, gave her tab to Beord after she selected the movie, he sent it to hisputer before connecting to therge screen and it started ying. Because it was on therge screen everyone from every corner with the exception of those whose backs were turned to the screen could see it.


    Esong pushed his chair closer to Scarlet''s, ensuring that there was no gap between them and he held her hand. She smiled and leaned her head against his arm. Markay attempted to do the same with Carolyn but she pped his hand and he pouted.


    Whatever software Beord had run it through, the movie was much clearer than the version from earth, the vivid pictures appeared so bright and life like as though it had only been shot yesterday.Scarlet was very much impressed and she decided that movie nights could perhaps be a daily activity.


    "Oh God, it''s cartoons." Folsom groaned.


    "You need to watch it the most." she told him.

 Chapter 107 The History Of House Varakas

    ?


    The sun rose everyday and it set, five days passed by with each passing second bringing Scarlet closer and closer to the beginning of a day that she could not push away any further. This morning she pushed the thought back as she toured her slowly, taking in the beautiful scenery of this once innd. Today was another day of harvest, the tomatoes were ripe, the cabbages were fat and green, the garlic was white, it''s smell so rich and potent. The onions, green, yellow and red papers, peanuts and even the rice had sprung. It had not yet grown ears but in two days she guessed it would. Diluted purified water had brought many changes to the blue star. As soon as these crops were harvested more would be nted to keep the cycle going.


    She was walking with Justin in her arms, listening to his chatter about this and that. Mostly he was telling her about the cool things Jovi Esong''s AI could do.


    "Are we going to see the animals mummy?" He asked her.


    "Yes, they are going to be released to graze on the pasture today. But you can only stay for ten minutes or you will bete for school again." Justin had trouble waking up for school in the morning. He would roll around in bed, wrapping himself in the nkets like a roll of sushi and then wriggle away from her like a caterpir. It had be Scarlet or Esong''s routine to chase after the wriggling caterpir for five minutes every morning before snatching him up and giving him a bath. The little boy who attended school from 8 a.m. to 1p.m missed the carefree days he used to spend running in the fields and ying all day. ording to him, school was not fun because all they did was read and write all day.


    When they reached the barns the animals were being released and they got to see how the excited cattle run around the pasture, letting out excited sounds before munching on the green grass.


    "I should have recorded this." Scarlet said to herself after a moments realization. She had not been able to do her daily live broadcasts because she spent her morning hours training for the underworld fights. Her trainer was a very strict and merciless hound.


    "The baby fell down mummy." Justin pointed to a calf on the field that was trailing slowly behind its mother.


    "It''s called a calf Justin, it probably doesn''t want to go to school like you." She replied.


    Justin crinkled his nose and looked at her doubtfully. "Animals don''t go to school mummy, we don''t sit with them in ss. Miss Pounds said that if we bring another frog to ss again she will put us in a timeout. Billy has got four time outs so far, he has to face the wall."


    "Be a good boy and do not get any time outs." She told him.


    "I am the bestest boy mummy." He giggled.


    "Are you sure about that my brave little caterpir?" She asked him as they walked back to the car and set off for school immediately.


    "Music, let''s sing old McDonald mummy." He pestered her endlessly. Scarlet thought that if she sung old McDonald one more time she would turn into one of the animals on his farm. She sung it on day one of school and somehow it became routine with the song repeated a total of three times during the five minute car ride.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What if I teach you a new song today?" She asked him.


    "But I like old McDonald mummy, it teaches us animal sounds."


    "The new song teaches you something too, let me teach you and you can teach your friends at school."


    "Okay." He smiled eagerly. Scarlet smiled because she knew he loved appearing smart and knowledgeable to his friends just as his father did.


    "Row, Row, Row your boat....." she sung cheerfully. The song was simple and easy to learn by the time she dropped him off at the school he was singing along expertly. She smiled fondly as she watched him running off to meet the teachers and his friends. He stopped to talk to the warriors that guarded the entrance to the school, probably mentioning the song. She could easily see how the rest of the day was going to go, her baby worked faster than any press or media.


    She waved to the warriors who bowed respectfully and then she drove off, looking for an isted area where she parked and watched the online virtual fights for the next one hour. These fights were as popr as the real life fights, with a lot ofpetition, skills, spectators and money to be made. These fights just like her training ground were the perfect ce to hone her fighting skills and signing up for them had been Severus''s idea, her first fight was at around noon, only a few hours away.


    When she was finished with watching, analyzing and saving interesting parts of the videos, she decided to read Maddox''s journals for the first time. These journals were not physical copies but soft copies saved in a hidden software that only she could ess.


    "Read to me." She told the storage bracelet AI.


    "My name is Maddox Varakas, I am the third son and only remaining true child of house Varakas. A once proud and strong noble house, now diminished and destroyed because we trusted the wrong people. My father was Igor Varakas and my mother Lenora Varakas. They had three children, my older brother Sven, my sister Elora and me, Maddox, our family was a small but happy one. My father spent his days researching and expanding the star continuing the work his father and grandfather did while my mother crafted the strongest mechas and ships to ever exist. My siblings and I learned from them, being taught that our skills were of utmost desire to the empire. My family was one of the first of the first noble houses on the Sun star empire, having escaped from the Lunar federation in 1365. My father says that our family came with nothing but the clothes on our backs, the gift in our minds and the skills of our hands. Everything that house Varakas owns, my ancestors earned with their very hands. The Sun star was different back then, it could not bepared to the Lunar federation for it was small and backward, a with only one star which was about to be conquered by the Lunar federation until my family changed things."


    "Stop reading," she instructed the AI. "Is the search engine secure?"


    "Incredibly." The storage bracelet AI answered. "I work off an independent server hidden....." it exined terminologies she could barely grasp.


    "Search for history of the house Varakas."

 Chapter 108 Sir Tion The Unsmiling.

    ?


    "Negative," the bracelet replied, "There is no reference to the house of Varakas on the star."


    Scarlet pursed her lips and her fingers drummed against the wheel of the car. Was it really possible for a family that Maddox imed to have changed things for the Sun star not to exist on the star?


    "How long has the star been in existence?" she asked the AI.


    "Since the year 1599."


    This made her all the more sure that records of the Varakas family should be in existence unless they were deliberately wiped out from the system. Who had the authority to wipe out an entire history of a family like that?


    "How much information is on the star about noble families, starting from the very first ones?" she asked.


    "There are more than sixteen million records of information about noble families dating back to 1475."


    "Categorize them into houses whose history traces back to the expansion of the empire, the introduction of the star. Make another category for noble houses that do not exist anymore and those that lost their titles. Also add another category of which families rose to power after the unfortunate fall of another." Those were the categories she could think about, if they were not mentioned in Maddox''s journals then she would find them herself using logical deductions."


    "Anything else master?" the AI asked.


    "Yes, I have decided to name you Alex." she replied.For a while now the AI was calling her master. It had probably been programmed this way by Maddox.


    "Thank you master." Alex the AI answered.


    "Before I forget, send me information on amunicationspany called Varakas. I want to know who owns it, when it was formed and what they do."


    "Yes master."


    She was looked at the time, she had two hours to go before her fight so she leaned back against her seat, preparing to read more about the house of Varakas herself. This was interrupted by a knock on the car window which prompted her to turn her head to the side and look at the person knocking. When she saw who it was, she smiled and lowered the window.


    "You found me again Tion." she said.


    "You are not that difficult to find governor." he answered. "Even though you do your best to avoid me. I am the head of your personal guards and you leaving your home without me makes me redundant. It also makes my job ten times harder because then I have to run around looking for you." heined. His face was stiff and jaw muscles clenched, probably from all the stress of running around to look for her.


    She poked her head out of the window and said, "You don''t smile much do you? Maybe I should call you Sir Tion the unsmiling." Ever since he started working for her three days ago he spoke respectfully, smiled little and did not say much.


    She epted him because Esong vouched for him and five other men that were now the governor''s personal guards. She picked him to lead them because his daughter Precious was such a sweet little angel and she was working with Fey as her second assistant. Most importantly, Esong showed her footage of the man in a battle against mutated beasts and he was extremely fierce.


    "I will smile when you tell me where you are going next time, your secretary says that you have a meeting with the newly appointed city hall officials, after the meeting you have your very first virtual fight. Will you be training before the fight?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I also have a meeting with your brother but you have not mentioned it." she said.


    "My brother''s business is his to manage, mine is to protect you." he said.


    "Tsk, tsk, Fion will be heartbroken to hear you say this. has he told you about his ns to be a monk and dedicate his life to Buddhism?" The temporary temple which was abination of tworge tents had been one of her regr stops daily. People became curious about what she did inthere and some of them started following her inside. All she did was burn some incense sticks, offer some flowers asionally and say a brief prayer on her knees.


    Fion had asked her once why she did it so she gave him a book about Buddhism and told him some of the stories her grandmother used to tell her. Yesterday he sent word to her that he was interested in bing a monk because he had found peace and a calling.


    "My brother has constantly beenon the move, he never settles down in one ce for more than two to three months. Whatever he asks of you I would advise you to first put him on trial or you risk being disappointed a few monthster."


    "Thank you for the advise." she replied. "Now get in, let''s go and attend that meeting."


    Tion grunted and he looked at the driver''s seat. "I am driving." she told him.


    "You should be in the back seat." he told her.


    "Starting tomorrow." she lied. She enjoyed driving so much so why would she give it up?


    However unwilling he was, he could not force her to anything so he sat in the passenger seat and they drove off to the temporary city hall.


    The five officials that had been appointed through a vote between her and Esong. Three of the officials were men and two were women, all were chosen because of their abilities. They were already sitting around a round table when she arrived. Striding in confidently, she took the center seat while Tion stood behind her with arge energy sword in his hands, it''s sheathed tip stable on the ground.


    "Goodmorning, it''s so good to see you all." she greeted them.


    "Good morning governor they answered simultaneously."


    "Let''s begin." she told them. "What else do you want to talk to me about today besides opening up the to tourists? I am still going to say no to thatdies and gentlemen."


    At the same this meeting was beginning the new game of snakes anddders was hitting the open market, ready for purchase by the citizens of the Sun star. This version of the game was different from the one Scarlet provided because thedders and snakes could move at any time which made it more interesting and fun. Carolyn had done this to make the game more challenging.


    She looked at thousands of the game boards being packed and sent out of the factory with a proud smile on her face.


    "Director," her new assistant a bubbly man named Aron tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I think we should make a separate department for anything to do with games because we are behind schedule."


    "You are right, I will head that department too." she said and Aron frowned in dismay. He made a mental note to remind the city hall and ounts departments to start considering overtime for the factory workers.

 Chapter 109 I Have Received My Calling.

    ?


    Her meeting ended after forty three minutes and then Fion came to see her. Fion Carlzon was not like his brother, where Tion was intense he was easy going. Tion was bulky and strong but Fion was leaner and smaller in size. She could not call him weak for she had no idea what level of strength or abilities he possessed. He was reported to be an excellent space ship pilot however, even the mecha warriors association and different hunters guilds tried to recruit him but he turned them all down. Were it not for his feet that were always on the move he would be a very sessful pilot.


    "Greetings governor Scarlet." He bowed before her humbly. Fion was very soft spoken, his voice was soft and tender and his mouth naturally curled up to give him a hint of a smile on his face all the time.


    "Greetings Fion, please take a seat. You can tell me if you want your brother to give us some privacy."


    "I don''t mind him being here after all my family will be affected in a way by the decision I take today." He answered. "But I am not going to be changing my mind. I am a well traveled man and this is not my first timeing into contact with the information about deities or having a higher purpose. There is a temple on the high mountain in a vige on the yellow star, it is funded and built by the actor Ramslin. I visited once after hearing about the rumors from the citizens about it. The temple is well built, very beautiful and its slopes are filled with colorful flowers and streams of water. There is a statue of a female goddess named Rai in the temple. The people there called her the goddess of fertility and prosperity. It is said that the day the temple was finished on that same night an emerald mine was discovered in the vige. Rumor also has it that the vige with a poption of three million people had not produced a mecha warrior for over five hundred years. No child had awakened mental strength above a ''C'' level. I don''t know if it was out of desperation or curiosity but some people, women especially flocked the temple to pray. Last year three children in that vige were born with ''S'' ss levels of mental strength. One man from their vige was given a job in the city hall of the capital. Some other changes have taken ce but all of them have been positive. I stayed in the temple for one night and it was the best sleep of my life, I felt peace, light and love.


    I wanted to stay permanently so my n was to apply and be a priest but the goddess Rai is served only by women. I tried to meet Ramslin and plead my case but he is a famous actor who has no time for someone like me, not even the Carlzon name could get me a meeting with him. After failing to meet him three times I gave up and continued wandering around the Sun star from ce to ce in search of something simr. Imagine my surprise when I saw a statue, simr ways of praying and an environment that gave me the same feeling here. I will not give up on my calling, I have found what I seek."


    ''That actor Ramslin must be the other grim reaper.'' She thought. Would their paths ever cross?


    "I hear everything that you say Fion however you should understand that to be a priest of this deity is no walk in the park. It''s a life that requires sacrifice. You will have to bepletely hairless from head to toe. You will be required to bepletely celibate, you cannot engage sexually with a woman, you cannot think lewdly about any woman, touch her in any way with or without desire. You will have to give up on eating meat and you can only eat vegetables and grains. You will have to conduct yourself with utmost respect, be pure in mind, body and soul. You must study hard, learn the scriptures and teach them to others. You will not be able to have your own children even though you can adopt and raise some orphans in the temple. Your time will be spent in prayers, learning the scriptures, helping the poor, sick and others on whom ill fortune has fallen. Are you willing to do all these and more?"


    "I am pure of mind and body because I have never sexually entangled with any woman or man." Fion answered. "Meat is new to me so giving it up is not a problem. You have said that I can raise orphans and to me any child I can raise is considered my own."


    "You cannot be a priest just because you are impotent." She retorted. He seemed to be so ready to give it all up without thinking twice. Was he a virgin because he could not function like a normal man?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I am not impotent, my manhood is perfectly capable of functioning. I simply have no desire to explore another person''s body. If you need assurance then you can have me examined."


    She looked at Tion who was looking forward and silent as if this conversation did not bother or rte to himpletely. Could he hear all the things that his brother was willing to give up?


    She sighed and said, "You seem to have given this a lot of thought."


    "I have." He nodded.


    "Have you spoken to your mother about it?" Not every mother would be pleased to learn that her son was cutting the lineage short by not giving her grandchildren.


    "I will inform her tonight." He assured her. "But I will not be changing my mind."


    Scarlet folded her arms and looked at Fion for a few seconds in silence before standing up. "If you are still determined, then tomorrow you can start a trial period of two months. The deities are not cruel, if a priest no longer wishes to serve they can always walk away so if after two months you wish to walk away I will not me you. But if you are determined to go through with it then I will ordain you personally and give you all that you need to be an excellent priest."


    She was going to tap him on the shoulder but he bent away slightly, avoiding her touch. She chuckled and walked out of the tents, it was almost time for her fight.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 110 Knowledge Will Take Us Far.

    ?


    The days of idleness on the Blue star for all children of school going age were over. Those teenagers in particr that hade along with their parents and received some initial education from proper schools did not even get the chance to experience that idleness because Esong Wu created a rigorous schedule for them.


    In the morning they took history, geography, Literacy, mathematics, astronomy, mutated beast anatomy, and science sses, after lunch they had mecha crafting, piloting, physical education,bat, mental strength training and farming.


    It was not just the children who had to go to ss even the adults on the Blue star were required to take some of these sses for the purpose of general knowledge. Those that had grown up on the Blue star hardly had any practical or theoretical knowledge of anything. Some of the parents hadined that the subjects were to many but Esong has simply said that knowledge would take them far. To make it easier on the children, schedules were given and they were assigned to different sses so that one student could study around four subjects a day. The content of study for primary, middle and different academy levels was different even though some of the subjects were continuous.


    To speed things up, for the duration of their time here Esong, his men and even the Prince Markay all had sses that they taught through the day.


    The men all met after the irritating ringing of the bell which Scarlet had insisted on installing iming that it was the standard school bell. It sounded like the rattling of loud metals at a high pitch which they all hated.


    "There goes that darn bell again." Folsomined. "I hear it even in my sleep you know, why does your wife have to be stubborn about everything?" He red at Esong.


    "You will adjust to it." Esong answered. "None of us isining anymore, not even the kids. Look how excited they are."


    Ian shook his head vehemently very much in disagreement with Esong''s words. "They are excited because they have two hours off. Whose suggestion was it for everyone to gather and watch your wife take part in the virtual mecha fights?"


    Esong pointed at Folsom and Folsom pointed at Markay.


    "She is the governor and the first citizen of the blue star to take part in the fights. I think it''s amazing and it''s an event worth the support of everyone. She has been working hard in training although I do not understand her armor or weapons, they are nothing like I have ever seen before." Markaymented.


    "Did you also ry this to the emperor?" Esong asked him.


    Markay''s eyes darted back and forth, not expecting that his spying had been caught on already.


    Cedric giggled and said, "You send your father every little product that is produced on the Blue star. Heck your family has been taking away fifty packets of potato chips daily. A drone camera captured a picture of the emperor ying snakes anddders with the third princess in the house of ministers. They were eating the new chilli potato crisps which are not yet avable on the online shop or supermarket here." Cedric tsked and shook his head. "You may be able to fool the farmers but you cannot fool us with that charming smile."


    "I just ry basic information." Markay said defensively. "I could never harm the Su''s, I am Carolyn''s future husband."


    Folsom snorted and Markay red at him. "I overheard you both yesterday buddy." Folsomughed. "You tried to get her to take a walk with you and she said "I am busy your highness, so please stop bothering me, please please please."


    "How many times did she say please?" Ian asked.


    "Three, I counted." Folsom said childishly, raised three fingers up and heughed just as the others wereughing. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Markay was notughing but he was feeling rather embarrassed that his close friend had been around to witness this scene. Courting Carolyn Su was no easy job because something she was soft and other times hard. She also worked too hard in his opinion, it was as if she was trying to prove something. Perhaps he needed to have a conversation with Esong''s wife about this.


    "Think about this way," Ian said. "If he courts and marries her a movie will written, shot and produced basing on their courtship. It will change the meaning of the word please among women."


    "Go away please." Folsom said.


    "Leave me alone please." Cedric added.


    "You are irritating me please." Esong wrapped an arm around Markay''s shoulder as they allughed and joked.


    "Shut up, please." Markay was seriously pleading with his friends. They were the irritating ones. "You are one to talk, you have been taking your wife on daily dates every evening Esong."


    "You have said it perfectly, wife, my wife...you on the other hand are still on the outside." Esong boasted.


    "No I am not, we shares secrets." Markay blurted.


    Four heads looked in his direction, all of them curious about these secrets. "Secrets!" Esong said cautiously. "Brother I know that some men lose their heads in pleasure houses over women and reveal national secrets but I hope you are not one of them."


    Markay was extremely offended by Esong''s words and he looked at him with disbelief in his eyes. He even shrugged Esong''s arm away from his shoulder. "Hey, do you take me for a crazy guy? I am the king of the spying game, our secrets are personal things. Like things she likes and things I hate. Or people that have wronged us and forgotten about their wrong doings without apologizing."


    Folsom grunted and said "You want us to believe that someone wronged the prince of death, did not apologize and still lives? No way!"


    "Maybe that person is crippled, is he or she crippled?" Ian asked.


    "They could also be on the Red star, is that it?" Cedric raised an eyebrow curiously.


    Two teenage boys that wereughing and running bumped into Folsom at that moment. Cutting the unwee interrogation of Markay short.


    "Sorry teacher Folsom." they apologized and run away.


    "Tsk, they did not even wait for me to respond, these little brats are unruly. By the way, has anyone else noticed that Esong''s academybat ss is full of female students?"

 Chapter 111 Name: The Hound.

    ?


    There were two ways for one to partake in the virtual mecha fights as a viewer, one could directly enter the virtual world and watch from there after paying a small fee to the host of the fights which was an immersive and very life like experience or one could simply watch the fight on a television or through a mini hologram projected from their bracelet terminals. Most people preferred to enter the virtual world. At this moment so many people on the Blue star had already connected to the virtualwork, entered the world and found seats after paying five star coins. Even those who could not afford had been sponsored by his highness the Prince Markay.


    The fights were divided into three divisions, division one was for amateur fighters, those that were just beginning and rarely had any special skills which made it cheap and unappealing to those that were in it for the money. It was unusual to find a wealthy person watching a division one fight because it was hardly extraordinary. Division two was slightly better because the fighters had honed their skills, the fightssted longer and this was where potential could be spotted. If one had potential thenpanies, guilds, nobles and wealthy families woulde knocking to make offers that would change one''s life. Even members of the royal family engaged in this madness, offering special privilegesto those fighters that caught their eye. The mecha fights could turn one into an overnight sensation and often make one rich in an instant. This is one of the reasons why they were so popr among themon people. It was a ticket out of poverty and thousands of people tried their hand at it every year, but out of the thousands, not more than thirty made a mark on the world of mecha fighting.Thest and the most coveted of them all was division three, this was where the expert fighters cemented their names on the list of the greats and finally moved from the virtual world to the real one. To conquer division three as the number one fighter was almost equal to being a topcelebrity in this world, it would earn one fame, wealth, sponsorships and many other perks. But it was not an easy task to do or position to keep because one was constantly being challenged, everyone wanted to be number one. The longest reining number one hadsted a period of three years, it was so unbelievable, that man went on to form his own guild which was among the top ten guilds in the empire, the shadow guild.


    Scarlet knew all of this knowledge by heart now because she had researched it all and learned the rules of the fights by heart. She even went as far as to study Shadow''s old fights to see what he did different that had kept him at the top.


    Tion had said that it was simple, Shadow was swift and ruthless. Within the first one minute of the fight he would gage his opponent learning their weakness and then he would use it to take out the opponent quickly by knocking them to a point of unconsciousness or sending them into the oblivion portal which was behind on every end of the ring. Once one was pushed into the ck oblivion portal then the fight was over instantly. The oblivion portal was not dangerous, it simply disconnected one from the virtual world. So not only did one have to watch out for the opponent, they also had to watch out for the portal.


    Scarlet was fully prepared for her fight she was just feeling slightly nervous and she paced around slowly, breathing in and out. The helmet which connected her to the virtual world was already on her head but not yet activated.She was inside a room on the old space ship which they discovered in the woods. It had been upgraded by Beord theputer expert and now functioned like any modern space ship. The spacious rooms on the inside had been turned into cargo hold areas, bedrooms, offices and argemunications center where some members of themunications department worked. It had basically been turned into a movable office of sorts. Right now, three of the ten screens in the space ship were being used to monitor Scarlet''s heartbeat, neuro pathways and motor skills. Every move she made was reflected on the screens. Virtual mecha fights were not like games where one''s character did the fighting, in these fights she would have to make all the moves physically herself. It was why one needed skill to engage in these fights. If you proved your skills in the virtual world then you could participate in the fights in the real world.


    "Rx." Beord told her. "You might pass out before the fight begins."


    "I can''t rx" she replied, "Tion says the only way to make my mark is by breaking one of the records. To break any record I have to go all out but In the specific division one group where I am ced only fighters with armor and weapons are allowed, no mechas. Which is good for me because I do not know how to pilot a mecha yet. However not only are the fighters extremely skilled but also the moment my armor fails to protect me I will be injured and pain from there is actually felt here in real life. I can''t help but be nervous."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I have seen you train with those whips and let me say that I would not pick to fight you. How many heads of your training partners have you sliced off?" he responded.


    He was speaking about the training ground which she bought from Severus''s friend that sold her the whips. Since it could be used in the physical world to train everyone had seen her training behind the house where she set it up. It was a ring with a virtual screen where she could choose level of difficulty, type of opponent she wanted, challenging weather conditions, mutated beasts, underworld beasts, harsh terrain and other factors. It was a necessary training tool for anybody that would someday go into the small world Severus told her about. The opponents Beord spoke of were all grim reapers but nobody here would ever know.


    "What kind of record are you aiming to break anyway?" he asked her."Enter your username here." he told pointed to her ount on theputer screen.


    ''The hound.'' she wrote.


    "Winning three fights in thirty minutes." she answered.


    "Shadow''s record!!" Beord gasped.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 112 The Hound Vs The Southern Paladin.

    ?


    "It''s time." Beord told her. She activated the helmet and appeared in the virtual world directly in the inside of the ring. The information had been right when it said that every fight had those that were attracted to it. A division one fight like this was full of spectators. This arena of fifty thousand viewers was almost filled to the brim. She could see thousands of spectators that were cheering as they watched reruns of the best fights on therge screens.Despite the situation, her mind calcted how much money the host was making from the fight. Fifty thousand viewers paying five coins each was two hundred fifty thousand star coins on a fight which would take no more than one hour!! Good Lord!! Even if if these five star coins gave one twenty four hour ess only that was over one million star coins per month for viewers in the virtual world. Even the ones who watched on television had to pay a fee so it was more than one million.


    "Stop thinking about money." She heard Severus''s voice.


    "You are here!!" she said in shock.


    "Of course I am, I go wherever you go. Anyway I acquired a helmet from the excess ones and paid with your ount so I am also in the audience." She raised her head to look around, this ring was on a tform so high up that those who sat at the bottom were probably disadvantaged.


    "Stop looking for me, look at your opponent with the eyes of a grim reaper. You will be able to see everything clearly."


    "Isn''t that cheating?" she asked him.


    "You are a grim reaper, it''s only natural that you use your abilities. Feel sorry for your opponentster but keep in mind that this is a training session for you. Be merciless and brutal, they won''t die after all." Severus had activated trainer mode.


    "Alright." she agreed.


    The ring around her eyes turned slightly gold, in the audience her face was brought closer and Esong sat up straighter.


    "Why are her eyes colored red?" Markay asked.


    "It''s creepy, like those horror movies about mutated beats and people." Ian made a shivering movement with his hands.


    "Maybe it''s part of her armor." Cedric said.


    "A ck robe with an image of a dog with strong sharp teeth and red eyes together with the use of the name hound which she said was another name for her dog. It''s probably something she has done deliberately." Folsom agreed with Cedric.


    But Esong highly disagreed in his mind, her eyes were not red, they were gold. Why couldn''t the others see it?


    A host that was fully dressed in red red armor appeared on the stage as a hologram and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, wee to the first fight of the day, as always the challenger enters the ring first and the challengedesst. Are you ready to meet the challenged?"


    The audience cheered loudly.


    They wanted to see who this neer was challenging because one hundred thirty fighters were on the champions roll and she would either be sending one off or failing in her pursuit.


    "Wee to the stage, the Southern pdin, standing at number eighty on the division one virtual champions roll, he is the man in white, the healer of insanity, the Pdin."the host said these words dramatically, drawing energetic cheering from the audience.The new challenger was insane, she was aiming high.


    "Number eighty!" Adler gasped, "I thought she was starting with the veryst one?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I can''t watch this." Mega covered her eyes.


    "Healer of insanity, what kind of unnecessary tag line is that?" Esong mumbled.


    "What is your wife''s tag line?" Folsom asked him.


    "I don''t know yet."


    The pdin appeared on stage, dressed in all white armor including the hair on his head, swinging a white staff, powered by energy stones from it''s glow and it reminded her of a weapon from a game she used to y.


    "The challenger, newly arrived and filled with guts, with no position on the virtual roll, She is the woman in ck, she will drag you to hell, the hound." The blue star citizens cheered loudly.


    Folsom looked at Esong, waiting for hisments on Scarlet''s tag line but Esong said nothing, he just pped his hands like every other citizen of the Blue star.


    "Nothing, really?" Folsommented.


    "I am a supportive husband."Esong replied.


    It was quite a contrast on stage between Scarlet that was in all ck and the pdin who was in all white. Someone took a picture and shared it on their ount on the star. ''This division one mecha fight is aesthetically pleasing.''


    "Remember the rules at all times, first one to knock out the other unconsciously or push them into the oblivion portal wins."the host reminded them.


    A referee dropped a red g, it disappeared in mes and the fight officially started.


    Scarlet''s whips came out and her robepletely covered her, leaving only her eyes exposed.Immediately, sheshed one out in the direction of the pdin but he dodged and jumped into the air like a swift monkey. She pulled it back and attacked him head on, using mental strength, sending out a power punch. Again, the pdin jumped up high, rolling and avoiding the punch.Every move she made the pdin avoided by jumping into the air in different positions which entertained the audience greatly. He was perfectly fine not engaging in a physical fight oring close to her.


    "You are a jumper," Scarlet mumbled. "Two can y that game."She jumped up, sending out three power kicks and one of themnded on the pdin. As he was falling, he sent a st of wind towards her with his staff, it was so strong that she would have been sent flying into the oblivion portal but she spun around in the opposite direction, nullifying the energy of the wind st.


    "It''s a failuredies and gentlemen, for the first time the Southern pdin''s wind st has failed to work."


    "Ten more seconds." Severus told Scarlet. She threw out her whip again, and as the pdin prepared to jumped, the whip grew in length, turning into a rope and wrapping itself around on of his legs. She pulled him down, spinning around to avoid his constant wind sts and she banged his body down over and over.


    As the spinning became faster, she could barely be seen, even the closest viewers felt the cold wind of her spins and when she stopped, the Sothern pdin was unconscious on the ground.

 Chapter 113 The Hound Wins Again.

    ?


    First, there was a moment of stunned silence, and then a loud cheering followed. Many of the viewers, including citizens of the blue star themselves had doubted the possibility of Scarlet winning this fight. First of all she was a newer to the fights and secondly she challenged someone that had beaten many others to sit in the number eighty spot. She had not even dered the winner yet but everyone was energetically vibrating with excitement.


    Mega Su heard her husband''s cheering and she looked up. "Goodness gracious, she won, my daughter won!!!"she cheered. "Hey," she shouted at her husband, "Why didn''t you tell me that she was winning?"


    "I was enjoying the fight." her husband replied. "Why didn''t you have faith in her?"


    On stage, the Southern pdin was confirmedto be passed out and the host appeared in the middle of the stage. "It''s unbelievabledies and gentlemen, newly arrived to the fights and participating in her very first fight, the hound has dragged the Southern pdin to hell. The hound wins."the host announced loudly and raised Scarlet''s hand.


    "You did not flinch even once through the entire fight." Markay said to Esong. "Were you sure that she would win?"


    "Of course, whose wife is she after all?" Esong answered. On his face was a very big smirk and pride which his friends found annoying. Truly, Esong had not doubted for a single second that she would win. He had been sparring her in the mornings, she took her training extremely seriously. After sparring with him she would rx for a while and then go to her training ground. At night before they went to bed she would watch videos of various mecha fights, taking notes seriously.


    "I hate you so much."Folsom said.


    Esong shrugged and smiled, "That is entirely up to you."


    The virtual mecha fights champions roll appeared in the middle of the ring and the names of division one fighters appeared. A new name in position eighty appeared, The hound. Just like the leader board in the underworld a picture of the fighter was added. Scarlet''s picture was of her face fully covered by the robe and red eyes. She liked it very much.


    "The hound once againdies and gentlemen." the host turned his attention to her when the champions rolls disappeared and he raised her hand once more.


    "I want to keep going, as the Victor of this fight I am allowed to issue another challenge."


    The host looked at the audience and he said excitedly, "She wants to keep goingdies and gentlemen, the hound is not here to y."


    Some people in the audience started waving the red g which was representative of the mecha fights. "Who will be dragged to hell next?" The host asked, the champions roll appeared once again and highlighted the fighters that were active at the moment.


    "Her." She pointed to number seventy.


    "The machine, the hound chooses to challenge the machine." The host announced.


    Scarlet went to her corner and waited for the challenged to appear.


    "Introducing the challenged, she is the woman of steel, the breaker of bones, the machine."


    All the excitement and screaming from the audience did not excite her anymore for she had been through it once. The machine appeared in the ring, she had punk like hair that was spiked and colored green and pink. She was short but physically she possessed great strength. Her entire body was wrapped in armor of steel that had spikes. Her preferred style of fighting was physicalbat, and her weapons were circr spinning rings that could cut through almost anything. During the fight, she always broke an arm or a leg of her opponent.


    She looked at Scarlet and made a throat slitting gesture but Scarlet shrugged and smirked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A red g disappeared in mes and the fight ensued, the machine attacked with no hesitation with the aim of overwhelming Scarlet and dominating her but Scarlet dodged her, employing the Southern pdin''s strategy of jumping and avoiding. Her rings of steel were like boomerangs, she would throw them out, Scarlet would dodge them and they would return to the machine.


    "Her weakness is her hands, her wrists are weak." Severus said.


    "I know." She replied. So far all she had done was run around the ring and avoid the machine''s weapons.


    "Are we running or fighting?" The machine stopped chasing and taunted her.


    Once again, in the audience Mega hid her face in the crook of her husband''s neck.


    "Fight." Scarlet replied and a scythe appeared in her hand.


    "The hound pulls out her new weapon, a long battle axe." the host announced.


    "Axe!!!" She heard Severus say in a displeased tone.


    Scarlet charged at the machine, when she was close she rolled down and sliced a part of the machine''s armor, right below her arms which were out in the open to beat her body. She jumped up and sliced another part on the back


    The machine groaned angrily and she sent out her rings continuously with her mental strength but Scarlet kept hitting them away with her weapon and dodging them flexibly that the audience shouted. It was as if they were watching her perform a special dance.


    Sessfully she cut off bits of amour around the hands, then she threw her whips out trapping the machine''s hands. She then jumped up powerfully and power kicked the machine into the oblivion portal with mental strength power kick. Since her hands were trapped by the whips the machine could not quickly enough steady herself and into the portal she went.


    The audience stood up and cheered powerfully, this victory did not need to be announced by the host because everyone knew it was a win instantly.


    "Unbelievabledies and gentlemen, the hound does it again, defeating number seventy on the champions roll. The machine I regret to say has been dragged to hell."


    More red gs were waved wildly by the audience as the screens reyed the kick which defeated the machine.


    Once more, the host raised Scarlet''s hand and the crowd went wild, including Severus who howled. Esong''s eyes traced the unusual sound and he saw the dog which looked fascinatingly like his wife''s dog. It was prancing around and barking. If he did not know every inch of that dog he would think that someone had chosen to appear like a dog in the virtual world. Taking on different appearances was an option in this world after all.


    Folsom followed his eyes and he saw it too. "Is that your wife''s dog?"


    "I think so." He replied.


    "She bought a virtual helmet for her dog and connected it to the virtual world!!!! She is crazy." Folsom said in disbelief.

 Chapter 114 One Proud Happy Family

    ?


    Victoriously, Scarlet logged out of the virtual world and returned to the reality. The minute she took the helmet off, she jumped up and down victoriously, she even somersaulted twice to celebrate.


    "Yes, yes, yes." She kept chanting. She run out of the room and saw her brother Beord and out of happiness she screamed andunched herself into his arms.


    "I won." She screamed. "Big brother I won."


    "I saw." He replied and he ced her on top of his shoulders just as Adler and himself used to do when she was a little girl. "I believed in you right from the beginning." He dered boisterously.


    "Aaaaaah, haha." She screamed andughed, raising her hands in the air. Even though this was conduct unbing of a governor she did not care. She may not have broken any special records today but her name was out there. It would not be long before she climbed her way to the top of the champion roll in division one and then she would enter division two. Someday, she vowed in her heart, she would stand at the top of division three and be crowned queen of the mecha fights.


    As the citizens left the virtual world more and more, the loud noise of joy echoed from many corners. The original citizens of the blue star were proud because their governor had not put them to shame. Even if this was just division one, she had put the blue star on the virtual mecha fights map. Nobody on this had ever tried to do so before. The new citizens were equally proud, the blue star was their home now and the governor''s victory was their victory.


    "That was so cool." One girl in a group of female teenagers said.


    "Did you see that awesome power kick?"


    "It should be called a wind st kick." Another said. They screamed and jumped around in a circle while holding hands.


    As for the boys, they were discussing the same issue while trying hard to look cool. "The hound is a cool name." One boy said. His hands were in the pockets of his trousers.


    "Yeah, the dog on the back of her robe armor is cool too, it has big fierce teeth." Another said.


    "Her moves were pretty sweet, it was especially awesome when she was fighting the machine. She sliced the amour in many ces, the machine must be pretty pissed."


    "Who do you think she will challenge next?" Another asked.


    "I don''t know but I can''t wait, next time I will take my allowance and bet on the governor. I heard that the supermarket is expanding and there will be more things to buy soon. I feel so broke over here than I ever did in the capital."


    Adler was listening to the young girls and girls discuss the fight as she hurriedly walked by to find his amazing little sister. That little girl had given him quite a surprise that was unexpected. Her husband was doing a great job in training her.


    He saw her on top of Beord''s shoulders, she was smiling with an innocent face like one of those kittens in the house after drinking some milk, just before they went to sleep.


    "Hey champion." He yelled and flew over to meet her. She screamed andunched herself at him, almost missing his arms and falling down. "Be careful." He said. "You have more fights to win."


    She nodded so eagerly that he worried she would break her neck. He chuckled at her carefree but slightly careless actions.


    "Congrattions." He said. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Thank you." She replied with a smile so wide that her front teeth were all exposed. Then she opened her mouth and screamed "Daddy, over here."


    Dorian Su came running and he took her from Adler''s arms and hugged her. "Oh my baby girl, you made me so proud." He said. She could hear tears in his voice and she lifted her head up to see if he was actually crying. She caught him wiping the corners of his eyes with one of his mother''s handkerchiefs.


    "Father, are you crying?" She asked him.


    "I am feeling proud of you, you have aplished so much this year. I want to meet your teacher so much and thank him. I will even get on my knees if that''s what he wants" Dorian Su was feeling extremely emotional.


    "Move, I want to hug my daughter too." Mega pushed her husband away and she hugged Scarlet. "I was so worried that you would be injured." She said. "You can still feel the pain from the fights you know."


    Carolyn came and so did Elroy and Fey. Scarlet was passed around like a doll from one person''s arms to another.


    "Give me your weapons they don''t have energy stones and that could be dangerouster on. The higher you climb the more difficult things will get. We need to find a way to ess high quality energy stones to make appropriate changes especially to the battle axe. I don''t know if I can do anything for the whips but I will see."


    Even though she knew that they were perfect, Scarlet was still touched that her sister wanted to sharpen her weapons for her.


    "Big sister." She said in a childish voice and she hugged Carolyn again. "Thank you for caring about me." They never discussed anything personal, hung out together or even shared a meal but Carolyn always came through when she needed her to do something.


    "Stop being a baby." Carolyn tried to push Scarlet off her body but Scarlet refused to let go.


    "Big sister, after husband leaves for the capital I wille back and sleep in your bed asionally. You have tob my hair and sing to me like you used to do when we were children."


    Carolyn knocked on Scarlet''s head with her knuckles.


    "Aww." Scarlet looked up at her and pouted.


    " Go and share mother''s bed." Carolyn said. "I don''t have time."


    Elroy shuffled close and said, "Our father will chase her out with a shoe in his hand, he is possessive when ites to his wife."


    Elroy too was knocked on the head by an embarrassed Dorian. "Shut up you brat."


    Many people were watching this with much interest, their eyes never Scarlet, including her husband.

 Chapter 115 Who Is The Hound?

    ?


    Scarlet''s victory was picked up by different media houses in the Sun star empire, as little clips were shared on the star by some viewers that saved the fights more people picked interest in the fight. Like lightning, articles were quickly written by sharp witted journalists who did not even attend the fight describing it in picturesque and grandeur ways.


    Majority of the first articles that went up had one question, "Who is the hound?"


    "The appearance of a new division one star, the hound, who is she?"


    "The birth of a new female mecha fighter, who is the hound?"


    "Will the hound go far or was this just beginner''s luck?"


    "She started with eighty on the champion roll and now she is at seventy, is the hounding for sixty next?"


    Rodney who was yetto return to the capital sent a message to the president of the star daily to make onest plea for them to offer Scarlet the contract she wanted. The female president of star daily picked up her phone and replied in a dry tone.


    "Mr. Rodney as an employee of the star daily your duty is to find deals that are beneficial to thepany. I don''t care if she is a governor or the only cook in the empire, if she wants to sign with us she has to obey our terms.What kind of ridiculous terms is she asking for, an assistant that works for her, a one year contract, liberty to broadcast at her will. We might as well carry the entirepany and hand it to her, the more the food culture spreads the more people will attempt to cook, we find someone else."


    Rodney felt extremely frustrated, the president of thepany was arrogant and she simply refused to see the vision he saw.


    "She is Esong Wu''s wife, just now she defeated..."


    "I told you no." the president said sternly and she hung up.


    Rodney sat down and huffed his cheeks, feeling extremely frustrated.If the president was saying no then he might as well tell the governor then pack up and return to the capital. There was nothing else for him to do here after all.


    Right now, he could see that the governor was celebrating with her family so he figured he could talk to her about it tomorrow.


    In the capital, Cecily Wu and her husband had watched the fight in the privacy of their bedroom. When their grandson told them about it they did not have much interest in the fight but out of curiosity because of her rtionship with their grandson they watched it and found themselves being pleasantly surprised.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "She is quite talented but her skills are not refined." her husbandmented.


    "She needs a good teacher." Cecily replied. "Maybe I should take her in as my student, I have not passed my skills on. In case you need a reminder in my youthful days I was the one of only five women that have ever held the title of queen of the mecha fights."


    "I remember," her husband said. "I fell in love with you when you were just a division one fighter, you were so magnificent.He closed his eyes and remembered the memories of those days. The magnificence of his wife in the ring was unmatched back then. To him even to date nobody could match his Cecily''s brilliance in the ring. "Dozens of families have brought their daughters here begging you to take them in and teach them your skills but you turned them down. I wonder how they will react if they find out that you are choosing to teach her, I mean she has never been to anybat academy. It''s amazing that she has any fighting skills at all."


    "She has not called me back though, I reached out to her and told her that I want us to speak but it''s been days. I am not sure if I should be patient or offended by her actions."


    "Esong did say that she has been extremely busy between work, training and family things. The development of the cannot be dyed, they need to move into proper housing before the cold season begins. The heat from the sun is dropping everyday, my sources in the academy say that the cold season might be on us faster this year than before. Perhaps we should go to the Blue star and help the children a bit."


    "You think so." Cecily cheered up. "Will I finally be able to see my grandbaby. I will put him to bed and send him to school every morning, Esong also said that they are now selling clothes on their so I can buy him as many clothes as he wants. Tomorrow, let''s leave tomorrow."she urged him. She was desperate to give all the love and affection she had left to her grandson.


    "What about Esong''s father, our son?" her husband asked her.


    "He is a minister with duties, why are you bringing him up?" she gave him a puzzled look. Their grown up son could take care of himself but their four year old grandson was different.


    "You are right, tell the maids, our guards and assistants to begin packing. We should also take robot butlers and gaming equipment, young children like games. What else should we take?"


    All of these ns were made outside of Esong''s knowledge, he was facing his wife after all the festivities and celebrations ended. Their son had fallen asleep because of the excitement and Adler took him to the house. Right now, he and a giddy Scarlet were facing alone in the control room of the space ship.


    She was vibrating with so much energy and it looked like she had no idea what to do with all of it. He would have thought that she would be too exhausted and perhaps fall asleep soon but she was humming and watching clips of otherpetitors she would fight in the future.


    "Do you want to go out for a run?" he asked her.


    "No," she put the hologram away."I want to celebrate in another way, I have made a few realizations today, no more waiting."

 Chapter 116 Kiss Me Back.

    ?


    Slowly but steadily she walked toward him until she was standing directly in front of him and her eyes looked down into his. He was sitting with his legs parted widely, his head was leaning back against his hands that were folded. Sometimes she wondered if he did this deliberately because he noticed how often her eyes gazed at them. Either that or it was his favorite and mostfortable position.


    She stood between his parted legs and said, "I do not want you to consider my next words as a spontaneous deration of love."


    "I consider nothing about you to be spontaneous," he replied smugly. "If you were we would not be talking right now."


    She held her hand out and said, "Just shut up and listen. In thest few days you have supported her without any sort of expectation whatsoever. You trained me when you did not have to, you came to all of my private training sessions and gave me pointers. On the nights when I stayed upte studying fight videos you stayed up too. You told me that I would win even before I set foot in that ring, you believed in me. "


    "I am just being a responsible. husband, you bear the title of my wife if you had lost..."


    She covered his mouth with her hand because fifty percent of the time when he opened his mouth what he said served no purpose but to anger her. "I said shut up and listen."


    He nodded but her hand stayed where it was.


    "Allow me to simply say that I appreciate all that you have done for me." He had not even kissed her in thest few days, allowing her to train, study and work without putting any pressure on her. Sometimes he could be a bit of a rogue but he had curbed his roguish ways for her. It was not as if his desire for her had reduced, in fact every time he watched her train his eyes looked possessed. Not just possessed but also consumed, it both ttered and frightened her.


    This sexual tension between them had been silently building, the little touches on her body during training which made shiver, quickening the beating of her heart,the way he would look at her lips when she was speaking when they were alone,the way he would press up against her at night in bed and do nothing but breathe intensely and groan before turning away from her as if he was in pain.


    He had been holding himself back greatly to give her time to concentrate and she wanted to celebrate this victory with him in many sinful ways.


    Slowly, she bent down closer to him, "I know that you have been holding back, Esong, but I am releasing you from it. You don''t have to wait anymore, no concessions no hesitation. Just me and you, taking what we need from each other."


    He heard her words and he looked into her eyes, he wondered if she was saying this because she noticed how much she affected him. Did she know that many times it had taken everything in him not tothrow her down in the middle of that ring and fuck her.


    Did she know how tempting she looked when she was training in that tight little ck shirt she called a vest. The darn thing was supposed to be a cloth but to him it hardly covered her shapely breasts. They were always pushed up, peaking and teasing him when his mind was supposed to be on the fight. As she breathed in and out intensely, they would follow, beckoning him to touch them with his lips.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Did she do it deliberately because she noticed that he was always staring? And there were those moments after training when her hair cascaded down her shoulders and sheughed, it was mesmerizing.


    "You can''t take it back." he said. He was going to consume her, burn her with his touch and own her.


    She felt his hand snaking it''s way around her back and he pulled her down slowly, sitting her on hisps.


    She felt her heart pounding louder as he pressed her against his chest, he had hardly done anything but her thighs were clenched tightly around his He brought his hand forth and touched her cheek slowly, running his thumb over her bottom lip.


    "If I kiss you, will you kiss me back?" he asked her in voice that was harsher than his usual one.


    "Yes." she whispered. Her eyes were closed and she licked the tip of his thumb with her tongue. "Kiss me Esong, I have been waiting for days." she told him.


    His lips met hers in an inviting kiss, one that was not gentle right from the start. He was not careful, sweet or gentle, just demanding and all of the tension and desire in him that had been building up for days was poured into his kiss. His tongue swooped inside with ease and he moved in with greed and desperation, tasting her, enjoying her and loving every second of it.


    He tightened the grip of his hands around her waist and she the hold of her hands around his neck, holding on as if for dear life. Out of her mouth came a little moan and inside, he relished it, deepening his kiss and teasing her.


    She wanted him desperately, he could feel it in the movement of her body, the little sounds she was making, the clenching of her thighs around him. She desired him with a depth that even she herself did not understand. But he knew, he it too well and he loved it.He would not waste time tonight, he would have her.


    Her heart pounded harder and she moved against him, his hands gripped her thighs and he lifted her up, walking them both to the bedroom. With every few steps that he took, he would pause and push her up against the wall, kissing the breath out of her until she panted. It could have been his ego but he loved to see it, to see her so out of breath, flushed and panting not because she was training but because of him.


    Heughed, excited by how much she wanted him. His hand found it''s way inside of the flimsy shirt that she was wearing. Skimming their way along her rib cage, he slowly pushed his hand up until it touched the bra that covered her breasts.

 Chapter 117 A Strong Desire, [PG 18.]

    ?


    "Esong," she whispered.


    "Not now, not tonight." he thought. If she started thinking straight for even one second he would lose his mind.


    "Just kiss me," he murmured against her lips. If she was kissing him, she would not be thinking. His tongue delved into her mouth again, and his hand that was on her breast squeezed gently. He did not want to squeeze too hard, afraid that he could cause her pain. As he felt it''s weight in his hand andmitted it to memory, he pushed the upper part of her bra lower and his hands finally grazed over her nipple.


    She moaned into his mouth and her breathing became faster, his heart pounded because her reaction excited him,he became bolder and he squeezed the nipple.


    Her grip on his shoulders tightened and she moaned again.He knew what he wanted, it was to see her her like this, naked, to peel away all her clothes and take her nipples into his mouth, introducing her to pleasures he was sure she did not know.He removed his hand from breast and took it out of her shirt.


    She opened her eyes in shock, they looked at him with a naked desire, "Esong?" she whispered a question. Why had he stopped?


    He simply lifted her, taking her into the bedroom and the shut shut itself behind them.There was a finality to the little sound of it locking itself shut. She kept her eyes on him and she watched him take off his shirt, so her hands moved to her own shirt, ready to unbutton it.


    "No," his hands stopped her. "I want to do it." he said.


    She looked up at him, at his lips begging for him to kiss her with her grey eyes. Begging him to do wicked things, and she had so many of those that she wanted him to do to her. Many deliciously wicked things that she wanted to do to with him.


    "Don''t look at me like that woman." he said in a husky voice. "I may forget all about taking it slow and just fuck you."


    She swallowed and felt herself clenching tight between her legs. ''Yes,'' she almost said, ''Just do that.''


    He ced his hands on her waist, lifted her up so that she could stand on the bed and they could finally be on equal height. He then brushed his lips against hers, pulling back slightly when she opened her mouth. He returned and did it again, applying just enough pressure to make her desperate. As he teased her and tickled her with his tongue, his hands undid the buttons of her shirt. She did not know how he did it but her bra snapped open without himying a hand on it and it fell on the bed.


    Her eyes widened in shock and heughed, his mouth found hers again, no more teasing but a real kiss, slow and sweet as he tasted her. She always tasted sweet he thought, never had he kissed her and she was not sweet. He deepened the kiss, and his hands slid along her smoothly curved back. It felt so soft and his hands felt every inch of it, one hand moved to the curve of her bottom and he pulled her against him, making her feel the rise and hardness of his manhood.


    "Do you feel it?" he asked her. He hand touched her butt and he squeezed it hard, "Feel it." he said. taking one of her hands, and cing it on his erection. "I have been sleeping like this for so long, hard, pulsing and desperate, but only for you."


    Scarlet swallowed and squeezed it, gripping it tightly, and making him moan loudly. "Oh fuck!, do that again." he said.


    His lips moved to her ear and they slid down to her neck., "Do you like this?" he asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She nodded and he smiled. from her neck he finally arrived at her breasts, and his mouth over one of them. "Do you want my mouth on them?"he asked. He blew air on the nipple and she shivered.


    "Yes." she said desperately, grabbing his head and pulling it to her breast. The first lick of his tongue made her moan, it was like the soothing feeling of an ice cube on her body after a long hot day.


    "You''ll like this even better." he chuckled and caught the nipple between his teeth. His other hand touched her other breast, palming over it, pinching it, rolling and tweaking it any way she wanted. Her moans of pleasure went from soft to loud as she clutched his shoulders and leaned in to his touch frantically.


    Hetook turns, going from one breast to another, taking his time to drive her crazy until she was heaving and pulsating with need of him.


    "Esong," she cried out his name and dragged his hand from her breast, pushing it down and cing it between her legs. "I need you," she said.


    "Slow," he whispered.


    "No..." she pushed herself up against his hand, "No slow." she pleaded. She had not wanted a man like this in so long, he was her husband, she did not feel guilty about wanting him to take her.


    He pushed her down on the bed, and roughly pulled her jeans off, all that was separating him from her now were her weak panties, made ofce covering. If he used his hands to rip them apart, they would surely not stand a chance.


    "Oh my." he said. "What do we have here?"He raised her legs up and pulled them off.


    Her heart raced so fast, faster than it did when in battle and she clenched her legs tightly together.


    "Nope." he said and he pulled them apart, "You can''t hide anything from me, you wanted to go faster, I will give you faster."


    For some reason, being on disy like this for him made her so embarrassed and shy that she covered her eyes. She could not stand watching him look at her this way, as if he was about to eat her. The only time he looked at something else with this much desire was when he was holding a packet of chocte chip cookies.


    The stupid thought made her giggle, it was the wrong situation to giggle in.


    "If you areughing, then I must not be doing a very good job," he said. "I should remedy that."


    She thought about exining why she had giggled but his lips kissed her inner thigh and his fingers trailed slowly over the part of her which was heated, wet and pulsing so she gulped and squeaked

 Chapter 118 Good Girl[PG 18]

    ?


    Instinct was something she could not fight because when his hand touched her there, on her inner most private part, she pulled her thighs together and clenched tightly, trapping his hand that persistently kept feeling around, just over the top.


    He smiled, his eyes had this look she had seen many times before. The look of a predator!! "Don''t be sacred baby," he whispered in her ears , his voice, this deep baritone timbre that made her clench them again, tighter as if she was closing a portal to another world. "I will take good care of you." he said and he kissed her neck.


    When had his bodye so close to hers? she wondered.


    "Let go." he nibbled her ear, his tongue licked the top of that same ear, feeling ticklish sheughed softly and loosened her thighs. "That''s it." he said. Her thighs were once more wide open, "Good girl." Esong said, and he flicked her clit.


    She gasped and clenched the nket tightly.


    Another flick produced a loud slow breath from her mouth, and when he pressed his thumb down massaging it slowly, applying just the right amount of pressure, she closed her eyes and pushed her body toward him, begging for more. It felt so good, extremely good.


    His face was close to hers, his eyes wide open studying her reactions to everything that he did. His middle finger slid down slowly and he trailed it over her opening.


    "You are so wet, so fucking wet for me." he whispered.


    She turned her face away, ashamed and thrilled by his boldness, his openness which was the opposite of her. She could hardly bring herself to lookhis penis or call it what it was. In her mind, she thought about it as a thing or an it.


    He pushed that finger inside of her slowly and she moaned, "Esong," she said his name, her hands went from clutching at the nket to finding his face and pulling him in for a kiss. HIs finger continued it''s slowly but steady torture inside of her, all she could do wasy there, and take it.


    He deepened the kiss suddenly and she felt more pressure suddenly invading her.


    "Mmm," she mumbled and scratched his back.


    "Rx," he whispered, "it''s just two fingers, I had no idea you were this tight, it''s going to be okay." he assured her, "Just breathe and rx."


    He knew from investigations and from the tightness inside of her, she had only been with him. Even after giving birth to Justin, she did not sleep with another man. He was also self aware and proud of his own size and girth, his organ was not small. If she was to take him, he needed to loosen her up or she woulde to dread his touch.


    His fingers alternated, between sliding in and out of her and petting her, flicking her clit and teasing her. It did not take long for her to start writhing on the bed and asking for more. His own breath fastened as he watched here alive with desperation to be filled by him.


    "You like that?" he asked her as he quickened his pace.


    "Yes," she replied in quick breaths, grabbing his hand when he tried to pull it out.


    "It''s okay, one more finger." he said. and he struggled a bit to push three fingers inside of her and she held her breath as if she was under water. Little beads of sweat formed on her forehead and he wiped them away, distracting her again with another kiss. His other hand moved to her breast, flicking her nipple and rolling it between his fingers.


    It took a few tries, but he was able to slide the fingers inside, as she unclenched and rxed, so did he. She was not the only one that was tense, so was he.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You are warming up again." he whispered to her. "Do you feel it baby? You are bing wet and needy. I am going to fuck you now, are you ready baby?"


    "I...it''s, ¡­I.." Scarlet could not hardly respond to his words, she was getting lost in the sensations. This was the most pleasure she had ever felt in her life, she thought. He was like a maestro, pulling all the right strings and saying all the right words. With her eyes closed, she did not even see him take off his pants.


    He moved suddenly, positioning himself perfectly over her, his fingers withdrew from her and she felt their loss, whimpering unhappily. But just as soon as they left, something else reced them and she opened her eyes. It was bigger than the fingers, she was startled and she in her breath.


    "Esong," she whispered his name, looking vulnerable and scared.


    "It''s okay, rx." he assured her as he slowly entered her, his intention was not to scare her or hurt her. But a it would hurt in the beginning he knew, she was still tight.


    Scarlet tried to rx but Esong''s tight face despite of the reassuring words from his mouth said otherwise. She drew in short breaths and she felt him push inside again, slowly not going all the way, wanting her to adjust to his size.


    When she showed signs that she was beginning to enjoy his movement, he pushed in further, a little bit at a time, giving her time to enjoy the feel and pressure of him.


    "See, you are going to love it." he assured her and pushed further inside as she he felt her rx, the deeper he went thrusting slowly, the better it became and soon she wrapped her hands around him, egging him on.With one final thrust, he prated her fully so suddenly and she said, "Oh," quite loudly. He did not move, he justy above her patiently, struggling to hold back because all he wanted to do was thrust into her mercilessly.


    "Is it okay now?" he asked after about forty or so seconds. He could feel her push her body upward, slowly moving her waist and taking her own pleasure.


    "I think so." she answered.


    It was as if all shackles holding him back, had been released and he started to move, his mind was asking him to move slowly but his body had other ns. Therhythm of his movements became faster and less controlled. Every little sound she made drew him in deeper, the wing of her nails on his back was like her plea that she wanted more and he gave more, moving faster and bing more demanding.


    She wrapped her legs around him and he felt himself slip deeper inside her her. Her fingers grasped his shoulders and she moaned his name over and over.


    "Esong, Oh God, Esong," she moaned.


    He needed her to stop talking because the more she called his name, the faster he felt himself approaching the finish line. He could not get there before she did, he needed to feel her shuddering and screaming with pleasure before he could allow himself to finish. Desperately, he covered her moth with his, initiating a brutal kiss, he slipped his fingers between their bodies and rubbed her clit with all the finesse and expertise he had.


    His desperation worked because the pleasure overwhelmed her and gripped his body tightly, sinking her teeth into neck as she screamed her way to an orgasm.


    He loved it so much, the feeling of her teeth on his neck, her desperate screaming of his name he bit his lower lip to stop himself from yelling out his own cries of pleasure and he finally exploded. His body twitched as he released his semen into her, it felt as if he had dumped a bucket full of it inside of her.


    "Oh God," she moaned as he rolled his body off her. "That was...."She was breathing was fast and her heart was pounding so loudly. "I...."


    "I know." he said and heughed. "I think I have one more in me." he dered and sheughed.

 Chapter 119 A Conspiracy In The Darkness

    ?


    That same night in the capital city of the empire, while everyone went to bed and slept, a conspiracy was brewing. There was a building in the capital, it was built in the shape of a triangle, at the highest point of the building, on it''s tip, was a statue of a mecha warrior ying a mutated nine tailed wolf beast. In his free hand he held an old model can_, old to the standards of the interster anyway. In that can was a nutrition solution. Day or night the walls of this building projected images of different types of nutrient solutions, advertisements of nutrient solutions by the hottest celebrities of the moment, endorsements from respected members of society. All day long, these images were yed. This building was known to many people in the empire, one for its ingenuity in design and two it was the first and originalpany to gut, research and synthesize the good parts of mutated beasts to create the nutrient solutions. In the entire Sun star, nobody young or adult did not know about thispany whose name was Origin nutrients. In school it was mentioned in the history and science sses, it was also mentioned in mutated beast anatomy. The founding family of thepany Origin nutrients, the Rogan family was one of the wealthiest families through the years. Their wealth rivalled that of the royal family itself.There was a saying among the ambitious mothers ofmoners, If my child cannot marry a prince or noble, they should marry a Rogan.That was how popr,influential and admired they were by themoners.


    Inside of this building, a meeting of twenty men and women was being held in a room at the veryst floor where only a few people had ess to. The topic of discussion in this group was none other than food, matured and grown from the soil and it''s effects on their business. The meeting was being championed by the current president of Origin nutrients Samael Rogan.


    At the age of One hundred sixty eight, he was hailed for being a shrewd business man. He grew thepany to twice what it was today by creating a new nutrient solution that was termed as a luxury and beauty solution. He got the most beautiful celebrities to endorse it andunched a massive campaign that cost twenty million star coins to promote it. Drinking it could rejuvenate, repair and keep the skin beautiful and smooth. At the time, many had called him a fool and doubted his vision but women from noble families, people in the entertainment business, the royal family , wealthymoners and even citizens of other empires loved this nutrient solution so much. It was the most expensive nutrient solution in the empire but it was also the best seller. The twenty million turned into two hundred million and Samael went from being called a fool to being hailed as a visionary. So when the visionary sent out an invite to the neen other presidents of nutrient solutionpanies, they all came quickly. Some of them hoped that this invitation was in the interest of a new business from which they would receive a little piece.


    "Gentlemen," Samael who looked very distinguished in green and white addressed them. "You must all be wondering why I have called you here right now. Many of you are very surprised to see each other here because you thought that this was going to be a private meeting. I apologize for not including the details of the invitation but I did it for good reason."


    The men and women were all sitting around a long table and Samael was sitting at the very center. Even though they did not work for him, it felt as if they were all his employees with the way he was lording over them.


    "That''s not an issue Mr. Samael, we are happy that you considered our Falin nutrients for whatever you need." One overly eager man at the table said.


    A few people thought to themselves, ''What a kiss ass!!'' Not everybody revered Samael or was happy to be here after all. Some of them were smiling but inside, they felt a differentplethora of emotions likehatred, envy, greed, anger, and jealousy toward Samael. They only came because of his influence and power.


    "I have gathered you all here because we are all in the same line line of business and right now, we are facing a very big threat. The blue star and it''s food."he said.


    These people looked at each other, all of them trying to guess what the other was thinking. All of them had tasted food and they were interested in it, they were all aware that if the food culture spread, the market for nutrient solutions might dwindle and they did not like it.


    "I know that you are all aware about this food!" he said the word food with great disdain on his face, his jaw was clenched as if the thought of food existing was so horrendous and unholy. "We are businessmen, our businessese first, some people on the star have been talking about the benefits of real food outweighing nutrient solutions. That blue star governor mentions these health benefits in her broadcasts all the time. A perfect example is her mentioning that milk provides calcium to the body which strengthens bones and teeth. Suddenly mothers are buying up milk and making videos of their children drinking milk with smiles. They are saying things like ''thanks to milk my baby will grow up to be strong and healthy.'' This kind of thinking is going to push the nutrient solutions which we make for children out of the market. And how long will it take before it goes from children to adults''?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Some of the business owners nodded in agreement with his words but others remained stoic, not expressing anything at all. It was difficult for Samael to determine if they were with him or against him. But it was impossible for them not to stand with him, he thought. Their businesses were their livelihood, if food took over they would be faced with poverty.


    "We have toe together and stop this infringement on our businesses. We should be willing to whatever it takes to safe guard our interests." Samael spoke so inspirationally and valiantly. He was like a captain of troops, leading them into a war and those men followed him with the belief that he would protect them. This could be seen in the words of some people at the table.


    "Yes,"


    "They must be stopped."


    "Down with food."


    The enthusiasm of some business owners was really massive, one would think that an uprising against an oppressor was being nned in this building. But not everyone here was stupid enough to believe that Samael would protect them if things went side ways. First of all, one picture of the emperor and third princess eating food had gone viral. This clearly meant that the royal family was strongly standing behind the food explosion.


    Secondly the seventh prince was on the blue star where food originated, he was not there to rx and have fun. The blue star, they all knew was a deserted ce with little to no buildings or development. It had been their dumping ground for years. the second prince was probably there at the behest of the emperor.


    Thirdly the was owned by a general, not just any general but Esong Wu, a nephew of the emperor. No matter how much Samael huffed and puffed, the Rogan family was not royalty or nobility. If the emperor discovered that they were putting their hands in his interests, there was no telling what he would do. It was not abnormal for an entire family to be wiped out for being seen as a threat to the crown. Samael Rogan was treading on very thin ice here and the wise business men knew that these fools that were chanting down with food would be the first victims of this little war.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 120 Chocolate Chip Cookies

    ?


    "No training today?" Adler''s voice surprised Scarlet and she gasped and clutched her heart.


    "Did I scare you?" He asked her.


    She rearranged the things on the kitchen counter slowly and arranged the freshly baked cookies on a tray. "Yes." She replied. "You almost gave me a heart attack."


    "That''s because you have been lost in thoughts for five long minutes. I have been standing here for a while but you did not even notice. What is running through your mind little sister?"


    Scarlet blushed, the smooth white skin of her face turned red and it warmed up slightly. She was thinking about what had possessed her to bake chocte chip cookies today. She could hardly concentrate all morning because the memories of the previous night were running through her mind continuously. Even something as regr as the brush of the wind against her skin had her thinking about the brushing of Esong''s hands along her skin.


    "Hey." Adler snapped his fingers and touched her forehead. "Are you ill again? Do you require a visit to the med bed?"


    "No." She replied and pushed his hand away. "I am in perfectly good health, I am just thinking about my training schedule and some of the moves I want to adjust." She picked up the tray of three dozen cookies with the intention of carrying it outside to the children.


    "Beord mentioned that you want to break Shadow''s record."


    "I am considering it."


    "You have to be patient." Adler put his hand on her arm and held her back. She knew the look on his face, it was his ''I am going to give you some advice'' face. "These fights are not just physical, they are also mental. Not all of your opponents will rely on simple weapons, some will go directly for your mind and try to break you from the inside."


    "Isn''t that illegal?" She asked him.


    "No," he shook his head and sighed, "As long as one does not take it beyond the necessary limits it can be done. I knew a boy once who trained his mind to project very life like hallucinations on the minds of others. One minute you were in a ssroom and the next you would find yourself in the middle of a field, it would be raining heavily, lightning and thunder everywhere and you would be surrounded by mutated beasts. Naturally in that moment your fight or flight instinct would set in, most of us would choose to run, but how can one outrun a mutated beast unless you are inside a mecha. You would lose the race and the beasts would pounce on you, their big razor sharp teeth ready to sink into your flesh and just when you were about to lose your mind from the intense fear he would stop and you would be back in the ssroom. It was freaky and many of us avoided and disliked him but no matter how many reports were made to the principal or the RGB we would receive the same answer, it was not a crime."


    "Huh," she responded, "You have just given me a brilliant idea. I should train my mind to induce a scary hallucination. It could be useful the higher up on the roll I go after all my mental strength is stillcking."


    Adler pped his forehead gently, this was not what he was going for. His aim was to encourage her to slow down before taking on more challenges not give her an idea which would push her to go after those in higher positions. "How are you getting along with your husbandtely by the way? Is he being kind to you?" She had not been sleeping at home for over a week now, she was going on dates, smiling a lot and he was training her. They were spending a lot of time together which made them all think that the worst was over when it came to the rtionship between her and Esong.


    "He is hospitable, we are getting along like bread and jam." She answered.


    "That good, huh!" He teased, bumping into her slowly as she always did with him.


    "Older brother." She looked up at him with a stiff face, "You will make me drop the cookies on the ground and then you will have to exin to the kids why there are no cookies to eat."


    He took one cookie from the tray and slowly chewed on it, this was the first time she had ever tried to bake chocte chip cookies in her life. Thank God that she had themon sense to keep all kinds of books in her storage space. She had about twenty cook books in there.


    "How is it?" She asked him.


    "A bit bitter." He replied,cking the insides of his mouth with his tongue. "I think there is something you added a little too much of." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In Scarlet''s mind she thought that it was probably the cocoa powder, next time she would do better.


    "But it''s still tasty, good job little sister." He snatched another cookie and raised his thumb at her. "Will these cookies be in the supermarket?"


    She nodded her head in response to his question. Therge supermarket was set to open today, as a matter of fact its where she was heading after distributing the cookies.


    "Kids, the governor is here." Teacher Penny who supervised the below five children during their break called for their attention. "And she has brought snacks, what do we say to that?"


    "Thank you for the snacks." They said collectively.


    "You are wee little ones." She replied with a big smile and gave the tray to teacher Penny. While the children collected two cookies each and a small cup of milk, she spoke to teacher Penny briefly. "The children received school uniforms, why are they stilling to ss in in clothes?"


    "Principal Stash said that it will be better if the uniforms are worn starting on Monday. Today is Friday, it''s thest day of school in the week, all they have on their schedule is story time, reading, one hour in the experimental farm and physical education. I think it''s going to be your Justin''s favorite day of school."


    Both Scarlet and teacher Pennyughed as they looked in Justin''s direction.


    "Which ss does he hate the most?"She asked her.


    "That will be writing and reading. All the children that are originally from the blue star are a little bit behind than the ones that came from the capital in this aspect. It has caused some few issues here and there because the ones that are excelling at it like to boast about it and it has resulted in a few fights among the children but we are handling it well."


    Scarlet frowned as she imagined the original little kids from the blue star being stigmatized because of something that was no fault of theirs, especially the ones with parents that were born here and had lived here all their lives.


    "Justin is a bit different of course, he was taught by someone so he is notpletelycking. He has not been involved in any of the fights too" Teacher Penny hurried to say. When she saw Scarlet''s frown, she assumed that it was because the governor thought someone was maybe picking on her son.


    "Is separating them into two different sses feasible?" Scarlet asked the teacher.


    "It can be done but it''s not advisable, assimtion needs to ur so the children must learn to ept and help each other. Whether the child was born here or simply moved here now they belong to the same and must learn to exist together harmoniously. Separating them will do more harm than good."


    "That''s wise." Scarlet smiled, " I guess I should leave education to the experts and stick to politics and economics."


    "You can trust us governor, we will do our best. In two months all the children will be friends and no child will begging behind." Teacher Penny assured her.


    Scarlet saw Tion approaching her and she knew it was time to go. "Alright then, thank you for your hard work." She shook the teachers hand and left.


    Teacher Penny was so excited and she sent a message in the group chat for the teachers, ''I shook the governor''s hand, she is so nice and she gave me a cookie.''

 Chapter 121 The First Building.

    ?


    Tion drove her to the site of the new city which Scarlet did not bother to be creative about when naming. Since this was the blue star and this here would be its central city she simply named it the Blue city. Today was the official unveiling of their first finished building, arge supermarket of six floors that was mostly empty right now. It was not the most important or urgently needed building but it waspleted quickly because the floors were few, it had an open space on the inside with no need for walls, partitions or otherplicated fixtures.


    Despite thisck of heavy importance, it was special because it was the first officially finished and habitable building on the Blue star. It''s unveiling had attracted the attention of the citizens who were idle and some of them walked to the site. When she saw many of them walking Scarlet thought that it was time to introduce bicycles and motorcycles to the blue star. She wondered if this special unveiling was also worth all of the fuss. The citizens of other stars would probablyugh at them when they heard about this.


    "What do you think Tion? Are we overly attaching importance to the unveiling of a building as if its something special?"


    "You are the governor, you can do as you please." He replied.


    She grunted and said, " That is not an answer Tion, just be honest with me. I trust you with my life, I need you to be an advisor at times, a confidant and a friend asionally."


    In the back of her mind she wondered if mentioning the friend bit was too stupid. It was hard to admit but she had no friends here, her sisters were her only friends.


    "I think there is a better use of your time than smiling in front of a building, one is that is not even special. However this is a historical moment on the Blue star so you must be there. But my advise is that you don''t make it a habit otherwise you will end up attending the unveiling of a public toilet eventually."


    "Ah," her mouth dropped wide open and her eyes slightly widened, "A public toilet!!, really Tion?"


    "You asked for my advice governor and I have given it to you." he said. He replied. His eyes were fully focused on the new road which the car had stepped on. It was also the first properly constructed road on the blue star. It was a wide road, divided into sixnes, allowing for six cars to move, three on each side.


    "You are driving in the wrong line, stick to this side." she told him.Driving lessons should begin soon, one person that learned could teach another and that one could also teach.Slowly, they would learn the rules of driving on the ground and not in the air.


    One thing she was notfortable was the second car filled with her personal guards which followed them on Tion''s insistence. The cars were already few but one extra one was used for her alone. Soon, someone would grumble about this she was sure.


    On arrival at the supermarket, she realized that the crowd was bigger than she anticipated, even her husband was here right at the front with her father. The two were smiling as they talked with their heads closely huddled together.


    Elroy too had made it, and in his arms was a kitten that he was petting gently. Why had all these peoplee? The supermarket itself was empty and they were going to be disappointed if their n was to do some shopping immediately.


    Her car door was opened and she stepped out slowly, immediately, the crowd started apuding. The big VIP they were waiting on had finally arrived. As her personal guard, Tion made sure that no one approached her while she walked to the front and joined her father and husband. The moment Esong took her hand, she blushed profusely and a few women that noticedughed while others cheered.


    "Oh I envy her so much." one woman in the crowd said.


    "He is so gentle with her, every time I see them he is holding her hand."


    "The empire''s prince charming is truly charming." a married woman sighed. Standing next to her was her husband that looked at in shock. "I am standing right next to you." he said. "Do you not see me?"He grabbed her hand and held it.


    "Oh," someone said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Your husband is also charming." another said.


    Theughter is different parts of the crowd was contagious, life on the blue star was simple and beautiful.For now, the littlest of things had the ability to make them happy.


    d the speaker of the Blue star did his job, with a mega phone in his hands that Scarlet gave him, he called for order. When silence followed, he gave it to Scarlet.


    "Greetings everyone." she said into the megaphone.The responses to her greeting were a mixture different things.


    "I love you hound."


    ''You look beautiful governor."


    "Kiss the mecha king."


    "Marry me." One teenage boy screamed and his mother pped him on the head as his friendsughed at him.


    "I see that you are all excited to be here today, you are not alone, I am excited too."Scarlet said.


    "Woooo." the crowd cheered. More than one new citizen had a top quality bracelet terminal so two to three people were live streaming this.


    "My husband governor Esong and I promised you a good life and as you can see we are making slow but steady progress. Hunger is a thing of the past on our and soon sleeping in mechas, space ships, shoddy houses, tents and trees will follow. There is nothing extraordinary about the building behind us, it''s only six floors high and it''s painted blue and yellow with ordinary paint. But it''s the first well constructed building on our. The pictures we take here today will be seen by our children, their children and their children''s children. We will point at the sky scrappers we have in the future and say to them you see these things, they were not here in the past, all we had was one building. This, " she pointed at it, "Is that one building. So you and I are not here because of it''s size or beauty, we are here to be part of history. Think about it, how many people in the capital today can say that they are a part of the history of a? We are lucky that we are getting a chance today, so take pictures, record videos if you want because this is a memory to pass down."


    As the pping of hands gained momentum, her father and Esong held out a ribbon that she had sent over and she cut it with a giant pair of scissors that was made from the factory yesterday.Above the ss doors, a neon green sign lit up reading, ''Wee to Bluemart.''


    A young city hall worker took the official picture which would be hung in the official city hall building when it''s construction was finished.


    "Nice speech." Esong pulled her by the waist and heplimented her.


    "Nice ribbon holding skills." she replied.


    Both of themughed and they entered the supermarket, it was time to stock some shelves, in two or three hours, it would open for shopping.

 Chapter 122 Your Grandparents Are Here

    ?


    With the help of one hundred workers, Esong, his friends and her family members, within two and a half hours, a well stocked supermarket was set up. Cameras, sensors and other protective equipment were set up. There was a separate room filled withputer monitors and four security guards that were watching everything.


    The supermarket was designed simrly to the ones on earth, coincidentally it was the same way interster supermarkets too operated. The aisles were split into different sections, fresh produce, household items, canned goods, bakery, diary, frozen foods, meat, personal care and more.Of course some of the sections were well stocked while others were empty.Esong had brought a lot of goods from the mecha warriors division at arge discount and they were put on the shelves. This made the supermarket stock abination of both interster products and earth products which provided a wide variety of things to choose from.


    The fruits which had not made it to the online shop were avable in the supermarket, half of her ice cream stock, sausages, mattresses, nkets, cooking oil, the supermarket had it all.


    The upper floors even had gym and training equipment, yoga mats, skipping ropes, balls, swimming gear, all sorts of toys, stic, wooden and metallic. Some of these things werepletely new to this world, like the balls because football was not a sport here. Since she nned to have bicycles and motorcycles introduced, she added them too, remaining only with a few that would be studied in order for more to be created.All these floors were essible with elevators and esctors. Their speed was faster than that of earth and because of mental strength nobody was affected by the speed.


    The check out counters were all automated, requiring no cashier but Scarlet preferred some humans to be inside, ready to help in case of anything. Robot butlers were also avable to do all the heavy lifting, push carts and clean up.When they were stocking every item it had been entered into the system and a price was assigned for everything so the supermarket was ready to go.The first people to test it out where Esong''s friends of course, what puzzled her was the way they slowly walked around like tourists, touching different things even though they had participated in stocking.


    "Hurry up." Esong barked at them. "We are not going to be here all day." After telling them that, he hypocritically toured the fresh foods section, picking out different fruits which appealed to him slowly.


    Folsom had to be dragged away from the lingerie section by Cedric and Ian, "I was simply looking," he shouted, "Is it a crime to look?"


    "Not with those lewd eyes." Markaymented. "But it''s probably going to be emptied tonight itself." he giggled. Scarlet had to pretend that she did not see Esong pick out some things from there secretly. Why he was hiding it when he would eventually have to expose it at the check out counter baffled her.


    When they did finally step out of the supermarket, a curious crowd of around one hundred people had stayed back. She wondered if they were here to shop or simply look around.


    "Governor, can we shop now?" an excited woman asked.


    "Go on." she told them.


    One young man that called himself certified gold master online had stayed behind when others left, even if the number of people in his live stream reduced greatly, he wanted to be the first to show the world the inside of the Bluemart.Some of his viewers were simply mocking him and telling him to give up and just when he was about to do that, the governor stepped out and said they could go in.


    "Everyone, don''t go anywhere , our Bluemart is finally open for shopping. I am going to take you inside for the first look." He had to first go through a scanner.


    "Everyone, as you can see you have to through security before entering the supermarket. This sign here says that if you are carrying physical luggage or a storage bracelet you must leave it at these counters. I guess they are trying to deter theft."


    [So the blue star has thieves]


    [Hahaha, why are they so rigorous, there is nothing special on that world.]


    [Is there food in the supermarket?]


    "Brothers and sisters, thank you for sticking with me, now feast your eyes on the products of the first supermarket of the blue star. Let''s start with the food section."


    [I came back only for the food.]


    [It is bigger than I expected.]


    [Are all the six floors stocked like this?]


    "Haha; our governors are really taking care of us,speaking of which our governing couple is the most beautiful on any star. When ites to looks, we are better than all of you."


    [Shut up.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Why is he so annoying?]


    [Your can only boost about things like looks.]


    Certified gold master justughed, with each poke at his viewers the number grew and the gifts continued pouring in. He had a following of about one and a half million people, on the scale of live streamers he was at the bottom. He was signed to apany called Looney live streaming tform and he was sure that they were about to terminate his contract.


    "Everyone, look at this section of colorful fruits, some of you don''t know what fruits are, they are very sweet and nutritious. See this shiny red apple, our governor was speaking to the little children about eating fruits and she said an apple a day keeps, the doctor away."


    The different fruits were piled up high in different colors, yellow, orange, green, red.


    "Young man, stop blocking the way, the apples are about to get done, will you exin to my little Bubu if I don''t get him some?" a woman shoved him.


    "Sorry," he apologized and then he looked at his camera. His viewers wereughing at him.


    [She shoved him so roughly, I like that aunt.]


    [Is her child named Bubu, hahaha..]


    [I will give you one golden castle if you shove her back.]


    "Everyone, physical violence is a crime on the blue star, let''s just continue touring the supermarket."


    [Buy some things, why are you simply walking away?]


    [Are you broke?]


    [Anchor, I am cutie carrot, I always watch your live streams and those of the governor, let''s make a deal, I send you money for shopping and you send half of your purchases to me.]


    Certified gold master was truly a broke individual and he saw an opportunity to make quick money.


    "Are you serious cutie carrot?"


    [Yes, go to your inbox.]


    In the inbox, the twopleted their transaction and also signed a contract, cutie carrot sent the anchor one million star coins. He had to buy her things worth six hundred thousand star coins.


    "Everyone, today I am going to be cutie carrot''s personal shopper so I am going on a shopping spree. Let me show you how us rich youngds do it."


    [You broke anchor I can''t stand you.]


    While his annoyed and irritated audience rained insults down on him, his number of viewers increased and soon, certified gold master had an audience of six million people. He smiled cunningly because he had found a new way to make some money and increase his viewership, he could be a certified personal shopper.


    As for the most good looking governor couple, they were smiling stiffly in front of an older couple whose arrival they had only been informed about two minutes ago.

 Chapter 123 I Have My Reservations

    ?


    She had been on her way to meet Mr. Rodney and he on his way to hisst and only ss of the day when they both received messages that Cecily and Etienne Wu had arrived on the blue star. Not only were they allowed in without the usual act of seeking for her permission or Esong''s but they were driven straight away to the Su family''s house and given refreshments. By the time Scarlet and Esong showed up, Cecily Wu was ying with two kittens while her husband observed the Buddha statue curiously.


    Having arrived at the same time, Esong had taken Scarlet''s hand and led her inside while assuring her that everything would be okay.


    But would it? Scarlet wondered. In the midst of the daily busy schedule that she shouldered while shuffling a life between two realms it had skipped her mind to call Cecily Wu as she requested. As a matter of fact, she had not even done the simplest thing which would have been text the woman back!! Now, she was in quite a conundrum as her mind pictured nothing but ugly scenarios.


    Esong practically dragged her into the house as her unwilling feet budged very slowly and hesitantly. If she could dig them deep and bury them in the ground to stop the movement of her body, she would. But not long after, she found herself on her knees in the presence of these two elders.


    "Why am I on my knees?"She asked herself."Why is he on his knees?" she thought when she saw that Esong was just the same as her.Had theymitted an offence for which they had to atone? "Is because we had sex!!!!, how did they know?" she gasped, drew her head back and her eyes widened in shock.


    A few pillows started flying around the room in different directions and Esong tightened his hold on her hand. "Rx." he told her, "Control your mental strength."


    "Oh!" she gasped.


    "So she is not as useless as they say, thank you for telling us about that Esong." his grandmother said sarcastically.


    "I have beenx in mymunications with the family grandmother, I apologize." he responded. He was polite, calm, reserved and he sounded different, almost his entire demeanor had changed.


    "Why is he speaking like that?" Scarlet looked at Esong Wu as if he had grown two new heads suddenly.


    "You have bex in many things," his grandfather sat down next to his grandmother and he said. "When did youst call your father?"


    "Imunicated with him three days ago, he inquired about the well being of my son and my training. These questions were followed up by an update about how the blue star is faring. He informed me that he would be putting in a formal request to be appointed as the official royal liaison between the blue star andthe emperor."


    "Who speaks to like this?" Scarlet yelled in her mind? "It was almost as if he was addressing a stranger.


    "Your father has made up his mind then, it is a good thing for your child. He will grow up in the ways of the family. Where will we dwell then? We can''t forever be in a space ship" hid grandmother said.


    "I am already taking care of it." Esong replied.


    "Excellent," his grandmother smiled and then her eyes turned to Scarlet who squirmed like a worm. "How are you doing youngdy? I have heard that you have made tremendous changes to your behavior. My advice to you was not wasted it seems."


    ''Ah, she is one of those people that uses words like tremendous and superb or felicitations. This must have been what her mother said about the difference between their family and other noble families. The normal nobles behaved so formally and spoke like well learned individuals."


    "It is quite rude of you to travel in thought when holding a conversation with someone else." Cecily Wu added when Scarlet took a while to respond as she was thinking. "You are going to need formal training in sufficient behavior and proper mannerism if you are to govern this appropriately."


    Her behavior needed training!! Was she a monkey?Even if they were Esong''s grandparents they were too presumptuous.What was so inappropriate in the way she had been governing so far?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Scarlet smiled stiffly and she said, "Justin''s grandmother, thank you for visiting us, I apologize for the dy inmunication, I have been quite busy. I also apologize if my silence has been perceived as rude by you however please understand that your arrival still has me in shock. I was not expecting to see you here without so much as a heads up.I do not mean to offend you but my behavior will not be going through any training, I have been governing the blue star well enough with my mannerisms. So thank you for your kind advice, I will take it into consideration."''And throw it out of the window.'' she did not say thisst bit out loud, just within her mind.


    If they thought she was meek and desperate for their approval like the old Scarlet then they were in for a rude awakening.Whatever mist or fog was veiling their eyes, they should throw it out of the window because on the blue star, noble ormoner, they were one and the same.


    "So you finally have a backbone." Cecilymented. Her voice was filled with surprise, this response was not what she expected. She had been expecting Scarlet to address her as ''grandmother'' and say yes to everything she was told.


    "It''s made of steel and Iron." Scarlet replied.


    "You realize that those are not the strongest metals in the world."Cecily smirked.


    "It depends on the type of steel."Scarlet replied.


    "Rackite is stronger than steel or iron."


    "I wouldn''t know, we do not have Rackite here, I can only be as strong as what I know."


    They were speaking with their lips and eyes, it was as if a gauntlet had been thrown down and the two women were engaged in a weird war of words. Esong looked at his grandfather questioningly but Etienne shrugged and replied with his eyes, ''I don''t know what they are doing either.''He also shook his head, cautioning Esong not to interfere.


    "Iron and steel can bend." Cecily said.


    "It doesn''t make it any less sharp, it still cuts." Scarlet smirked this time around, "Deep." she added.


    "You don''t know when to stop, do you?" Cecily asked her.


    "I stop when I win." Scarlet responded.


    "I am Esong''s grandmother, I have reservations about you being his wife. No matter how much you have changed the past is not something that one can erase simply. You may have apologized to him but you have not apologized to me or the rest of my family for what you put us through. You dragged our name through the mud and made us look like viins in the eyes of the world because we would not ept you with open arms."


    ''Oh shit!'' Scarlet thought, ''She was destined not to have the upper hand with these people.''All she could do was simply say sorry in the briefest of words because no matter how she framed it, things would not change. The train of apologies would have to be restarted when his father, siblings and probably mother came. His grandmother was right, Scarlet had offended that entire family.


    "I apologize, I was muddleheaded back then. There is no changing what I did back then but I am in a better ce now. I have apologized to Esong too and even asked him for a divorce."


    "Divorce!!" Cecily said in a stunned voice.

 Chapter 124 Stay Here

    ?


    "Hey!!!!" Mega Su yelled loudly from the entrance leading to the living room. "How many times must I tell you that there is no divorce in the royal family?" she came over and pped Scarlet twice on the back.


    Her loud shout startled the two elders in the room the most because this kind of yelling in their home was only done when one was angry, extremely angry. This heavily pregnant woman shouted as if she was willing the roof of the house to fall down. To top it off she engaged in physical violence with her own daughter!!


    ''Ahh, mother," Scarlet shouted too, "It hurts."


    "Just keep quiet and follow me."She tugged on Scarlet''s ear and smiled at the elders apologetically, "We are sorry, we have some things to talk about." She dragged her daughter out and another yell was heard.


    "Ha!" Cecily bent her head slightly.


    "You will get used to it." Esong chuckled.


    "Are they all like that?" his grandmother asked curiously.


    Esong nodded, "You will discover that the Su''s are not like most noble families. They shout, argue, fight, cry, the expression of emotions in this family ispletely normal. They are also united more than most noble families, they could have cut ties with Scarlet when uncle banished them to this ce. This would have enabled the rest of the family to stay safely in the capital but they chose toe. They have been protecting her, Justin too."


    "At least shees from a good family." Etiennemented.


    "What is this nonsense about a divorce?" his grandmother asked. "Are you both trying to get us all ostracized in the royal family?"


    "It''s never going to happen," Esong assured her, "She said it once when I had just arrived, it has note up since then."


    "Did she mean it?" Cecily asked him with worry in her eyes.


    "I think so." Esong said truthfully.


    Cecily grabbed Esong''s shoulders and she asked him, "How is your rtionship with her these days?"


    "It''s satisfactory, we get along well enough." he replied. "Why?"


    "Because she is different Esong, your wife is the kind of woman that is capable of almost anything, good and bad.She could wake up one morning and file for a divorce without your knowledge, you have to watch her carefully."


    "She wouldn''t, we have discussed things." Esong insisted.


    "Listen to me," Cecily looked Esong in the eyes and shemanded his full attention, "She is different, I feel it,it''s like the old her ispletely gone and someone else has reced her. Back then she would run around calling us grandmother and grandfather to our greatest irritation. She was always contacting us even when we did not want to hear from her. But now, she never contacts us and just now she called me Justin''s grandmother, not grandmother but specifically Justin''s grandmother. It tells me that she is drawing the line between us, she doesn''t see us as family and she does not consider herself to be a part of ours. If she does not love you anymore then it''s not impossible for her to try and find a way of divorcing you."


    Scarlet meanwhile had escapedfrom her mother and she finally met up with Mr. Rodney of the star daily. He was sitting in the outside dining area, patiently waiting for her while he watched something on his terminal and ate somepressed biscuits which he bought from the supermarket.


    "Sorry for beingte, I received some unexpected guests." she told him. She sat opposite him.


    "It''s not a problem governor, you are a busy woman." he replied. "It would be thoughtless of me to assume otherwise."


    "Thank you for understanding, why did you want to see me? Is this about the contract, has yourpany made up it''s mind?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He shook his head and looked at her apologetically, "I am sorry, the president of thepany insists on sticking to the original terms and a level C contract." he closed his eyes and winced after he said it as if it physically pained him to say so.


    "Why are you apologizing, you tried your best to convince them I suppose. Sometimes these things work out and sometimes they don''t. To be frank with you I am relieved that this deal had fallen through because take a look at my schedule, I have not been able to broadcasttely. Posting videos on star tube is easy because Fey records the coking procedures, edits the videos and uploads them. Sometimes I don''t even have to say a word the entire time. This is a good thing for all of us in the end."


    "I disagree," he said, " whether you broadcast once or twice a week I still see greatness in you."


    "Well thank you, I do suppose that you will be returning to the capital now. You should save those biscuits, they are not supposed to be eaten like snacks. They are for emergencies, long journeys and times of disaster."


    Seeing him eating them like this made her take note to ensure that the supermarket employees put up a sign to inform everyone about this.


    "I hate returning like this, I have never failed before." he sighed and run his hands through his long ck hair. When he retrieved them it was with a few strands. "Do you know how much hair I have lost over this?"


    "Stay here." she told him. "Every star has it''s localwork, television stations, radios, live streaming tforms but our blue star has none of those. I cannot be in charge of this project, neither can I put members of my family on it. I asked my brother to check but no one among the newly arrived citizens has the experience and skills to spearhead it. I need someone with experience in how media works. I looked into you, you worked for three years in news department of Sea Park media before you transferred to star daily as the head of their live streaming department. You excel at your job but from what I can tell it also involves a lot of bureaucracy. I will give you free reign over blue star daily or whatever we choose to call it. You will pick your team as you wish without interference. Because it''s a state owned television, city hall will provide benefits for you and your family like free housing, education, medical care and others."


    "Let me get this straight, you are offering me a job!!"


    "Yes, one that needs to be started immediately. I have one satellite in the sky ready to be activated to connect the blue star to star." It was not her satellite, it was an invention of Maddox that he put up there. In fact there were three satellites but no one needed to know.


    "Can I think about it?" he asked her.


    "Yes, I will give you two days." she stood up, tapped him twice on the shoulder and walked away. "Don''t bother looking for me if you choose to reject my offer, simply pack up and leave."


    "Boss!!!" his assistant jumped when Scarlet''s figure faded away, "Did I just hear her right?"


    "We all heard it."


    The trusted members of his team that he hade with were all in awe and disbelief. They were all giving their opinions on the matter at hand excitedly.


    "I say we take it,."the pilot said.


    "Who is we?" one of the assistants asked.


    "We go where the boss goes." the pilot answered.


    "I have heard that Origin nutrients and some other nutrientpanies threatened to pull their ads from star daily if governor Scarlet was signed. They are frightened because of the rising influence of food."


    "Are you sure about this?" Rodney asked his assistant.


    "One hundred percent, this is not the first time that such a thing has happened, thepanies which advertise with star daily always make ridiculous demands like which employees to fire, which programs get premium time, which shows to cancel. In the long run, this will affect thepany negatively. We should leave before it crumbles. We should take the chance, who knows if an opportunity like this will evere back again?" his assistant looked determined.


    Seeing the hopeful looks in their eyes, Rodney''s mind started calcting.

 Chapter 125 In Every World I Am The Hound

    ?


    Three days had passed since the arrival of Esong''s grandparents and in a twisted turn of events that she could not fathom, Esong had not touched her since then. In public everything was fine, he would smile and act as if they really close but behind close doors he seemed to be distant. Scarlet could not even guess what had possibly urred to bring on such a change. She did not like it one bit!!!


    This same reason was why on the first day of her fight in the underworld she was distracted by unnecessary thoughts which Severus described as ''tedious and silly.''


    "I chose a day on which the crowd will be smaller and your nerves would be calmer and yet you are ruining my efforts by cluttering your mind with irrelevant thoughts, if you don''t concentrate we are both going to be humiliated." He chose a Monday, the irony of the fact that days of the week in the human world also affected the affairs of the underworld realm waspletely funny to her. Grim reapers werezier on Mondays not because they went out partying or having fun over the weekend but because weekends were hectic for them, more people died on the weekend than other days of the week. Scarlet could understand this easily because the mostmon idents like drunk driving and drowning happened over the weekend. For this reason Monday was a rest day in their world, not many souls were delivered, even most soul registrars took breaks on Monday.


    "I am ready for the fight, I also have no intention of being humiliated." She was sitting in the small in the small crowd of about fifty reapers waiting for her name to be called. Just as she had named herself the hound in the human world, so had she done here in the underworld. Her soul pet was hell hound, he was her partner and trainer so in each and every world, she would be the hound. Severus never said anything about the name but she could tell from the way he looked, he was proud that she chose it.


    The pair which was fighting in the ring concluded, with one male reaper gaining a victory over the other.


    "Scarlet the hound." a bored announcer called.


    "Here." she stood up with her hand raised and announced her presence.


    "You are facing off against Callistus."


    She covered her hair with her robe and she was transported into the ring where Callistus a young female reaper with a charming smile was waiting for her.


    "What weapons do you wield?" the announcer asked.


    Scarlet produced her whips and Callistus produced arge hammer.


    "Great, another smasher." theannouncer said in a very displeased tone. "Try not to break the shields."


    There was no apuse in this realm, unlike the human world where everyone gathered for her first fight. In the underworld most reapers only cared when you climbed up and entered the top one hundred. Over five thousand grim reapers were on the leader board, no one had time to attend and apud everyone''s fight.


    Despite this however there was some interest in Scarlet because she was the only other grim reaper that had a hell hound as a soul pet. The scuffle between her and Ulysses had been shared on the underworld forum. Many were interested in knowing why the hound had picked her of all reapers to sign a contract with.


    "Take it easy on me newbie." Callistus said.


    "I am afraid my partner won''t let me." Scarlet pointed to Severus.


    "Then I wish you luck newbie." Callistus saluted yfully, a bell rung and the fight started.


    Straight up, power punches and kicked were released from both sides, each doing their best to avoid to avoid getting hit by the other. Unlike the human world, here she did not hold back at all because they were both fighting with soul energy.


    As they were both level two soul cultivators, they were quite matched in strength levels but Scarlet beat Callistus in speed. This is how she was able tond two hits on Callistus which sent her flying. Callistus sent out her hammer and Scarlet dodged it by bending so low and sliding as if she was ying a game of limbo. The hammer narrowly missed her hitting her head.


    "The newbie has some skill." someonemented.


    "She should watch out for the hammer though, that thing hit me once and my bones ached for an entire week."


    When she raised her body, she directly went into a spin throwing her whips out to trap Callistus''s hands. She was also dodging the hammer which would cause the ring to vibrate evrytime it hit the ground.It looked like wood but it sounded like steel.


    "Give up newbie." Callistus taunted Scarlet.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Never." Scarlet responded and used her energy to send the hammer flying when Callistus raised her hand to grab it, Scarlet trapped her hands with her whips and they entangled Callistus. They coiled around her like a python squeezing hard and suffocating her as Scarlet controlled them. They had the ability to make one feel as if their life was being squeezed out of them.


    "Wow."


    "Oh my God!!"


    "That''s new, where did she get the whips."


    "Could my thinking be correct if I assume that she went to him?"


    "Who?" a reaper asked.


    "The favor." another reaper said.


    "No way." his neighbor said, "Only a crazy person would take on that deal."


    "Or a crazy one."


    Even though they were still arguing about it, someone put the rumor out there on the forum. In the ring meanwhile, Callistus surrendered by saying the words, "I yield." and Scarlet released her from the whips.


    There was no pomp, raising of her hand or loud celebratory deration of her victory, just the five second pping of a few reapers here and there. On the leaderboard Scarlet''s name appeared in position Four thousand fifty two.It would have been aplishment elsewhere to go from zero to that position but only low level cultivators hovered in those positions so no one really cared. She was just like the rest of them.


    "Great job." Severus said when she came down from the stage."For one small second there I thought that hammer would take you out."


    "What you said about speed was right Severus, I should work harder." she responded.


    "We have time, in five years you will be untouchable. I this mighty lord will make you number one on the leaderboard."


    "I know," she replied confidently. "Let''s deliver our souls and get out of here, I have to drive my son to school in the morning. By the way, you have not gone hunting in the forest for a while now, I have spoiled you by feeding you only store bought meat."


    "Just tell me that you want me to find you new edible animals." he replied in a sarcastic tone. He had also learned how to roll his eyes from her so he added that.


    "We will both eat better when have a variety of things to choose from." she reminded him.


    As they were walking away, a figure walked out of the coliseum and took the hood of her ck robe which was turning red down. This was Lythia, the leader of the guardian reapers.


    "Why did wee to watch her leader?" the reaper on her left hand asked.


    "Because, Severus does not do anything without a reason, if he chose that girl then she must be special in some way. I intend to have her join us, I will not lose this one to the warriors."


    "If he is training her, we guardians might not stand a chance leader."the reaper on the right side.


    "No," Lythia smiled mysteriously, "We stand a chance, Severus has not even noticed the most obvious thing about her yet."

 Chapter 126 Tasty Shrimp

    ?


    "Hey everyone, it''s your favorite chef Scarlet.I have been gone for a while and I am sure that you have all missed me. Well, I missed you too."


    Almost an entire week had gone by without her doing a live broadcast and her fans wereining greatly. An official Blue star ount had been set up on the star for ease ofmunication with both the citizens of the Blue star and those outside on other stars.Surprisingly, in thement section of the ount thergest number ofments were from people that were displeased that she had not done a live broadcast in so many days.


    Who knew that threats of sending knives, weapons and mutated beasts would be the motivation the employees in themunication department needed to contact her and forward theints. So, Scarlet announced a scheduled live broadcast for today and it started at six in the evening. She was using new cameras and equipment which Rodney had acquired for her. Fifteen million and six hundred thousand people were waiting when she finally appeared in a full chefs proper outfit with a coat and hat and they startedmenting immediately.


    [You have finally appeared, I have missed you so much.]


    [The most beautiful governor, I love you so much.]


    [This is not your usual location, where are you broad casting from?]


    [She is outside, can one cook food from outside?]


    [Is the mecha king still on the blue star and if he is can we see pictures of him.]


    [The quality of your live broadcast has finally improved, did you acquire some drone cameras?]


    [What is that on your head?]


    "Everyone, let''s calm down, I see so manyments that I do not know which ones to read first. The good thing is that I finally have a moderator so I will be able to answer some of your most asked questions.


    First of all to everyone asking about the mecha king, no, I will not be discussing him, showing you images of him or bringing him on to my live broadcast. If you are here for him I apologize for disappointing you."


    Because she decided to do an outdoor live broadcast, the live audience was also quiterge. People actually brought seats and snacks to watch her as if she was their entertainment. The live audience was mostly women and children, some were here to learn how to cook and others for fun.


    Among the watchers were Esong''s grandparents, his grandmother Cecily shook her head when Scarlet said she would not be discussing Esong.


    "Do you see the frown on her face when she mentions him?" she asked her husband. "Something is wrong between them. I don''t like this, it''s making me anxious."


    "Maybe you should not have told him to be cautious around her, whatever progress he had made has probably gone back to zero because you poked holes into it." her husband replied.


    "I am just looking out for him, women can be cruel and maniptive." his wife folded her arms.He shook his head and covered her with a quilted nket that he bought from the supermarket and he handed some oatmeal cookies.


    "They are adults, let them handle their rtionship." he said.


    At the front, Scarlet was still talking, "What I am going to be cooking today is something that is already avable on the Sunstar in plenty. Did you know that the centerfor marine studies has sessfully found a way to cultivate edible sea food? In fact they have been promoting it but not many people have taken an interest in it."


    Many people run to the official website of the center for marine studies to see what was being sold.


    [Those things are not edible.]


    [They sell some weird looking creatures which stink.]


    "They have cultivated shrimp," Scarlet announced, said, "Yey," and pped her hands.


    Six barrels were opened and plenty of pink medium size shrimps were exposed. The camera moved over them, exposing them to the viewers. Rodney was behind the camera, directing like a professional.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This is what they look like," she picked up one for the audience to see, "These ones are mature and healthy. Now there are two ways to eat your shrimp, shelled or unshelled. The shell is this top covering, since I am going to deep fry mine I want the shells on, they add this crunchy texture to the shrimp which makes it tasty."


    [Isn''t that like eating a chicken with it''s feathers ?]


    [Have you tested the shrimp for poison?]


    [Don''t be fooled, food has negative side effects.]


    A fewments were suddenly appearing and all of them were saying negative things about food like how it was poisonous, backward, gross. Even old rumors about Scarlet were resurfacing.They were so many that they were overwhelming the positive ones.


    "This looks like a coordinated movement." Rodneymented. "Use our own software, it will do an instant ban of those ounts." he told his assistant.


    "Yes." the secretary was typing as if she had magic speed hands, their movement could barely be seen.


    "I am going to use some flour, Cajun seasoning, salt and ck pepper in the quantities on the screen. I mix this together and set it aside half forter forter.The other half is mixed with my shrimp, I am only using two dozen for the live broadcast. You can increase as you wish as you do this at home."


    "Thirty six million viewers." Rodney''s assistant informed him.


    "Good, stay on top of the narrative."he was moving back and forth nervously, he had to be ready for any surprises.


    "Line the shrimp on a tray care fully like this. For this recipe I need an egg as well, you all know eggs, they areid by female chicken and little chickens are hatched from them. They are a good source of protein so those of you who engage in exercises and body building activities should eat eggs, children too, eggs are good for growth.Back to our cooking, in this case I crack my fresh egg and put it a bowl and then I add some little milk to it and some seasoning. I mix them together carefully and set this mixture aside. Now to cook, take one shrimp, dip it in the egg mixture, then dip it in the other half of the flour mixture and drop it in hot oil for two to three minutes."


    All the shrimps were spiced and added to hot oil. "Look at this," she took them out of the hot oil, they were golden brown and smelled really amazing. "You can all smell it, right?"


    [I am hungry already.]


    [I have already ordered for two dozen shrimps, I am ready to cook and al I need is Cajun seasoning.]


    [Where is that braggart Certified gold,e out and start shopping for us.]


    "Since I have a live audience today, I will not be taking that first bite, my babies Justin and Severus will do the honors.]


    The two little foodies wasted no time in dipping the deep fried shrimp into ketchup and eating with relish.


    [Oh, it tastes amazing.]


    [Amazing, I don''t care about the word spreading around about food being poisonous, I will die with a smile on my face.]


    [Tasty and yummy.]


    [It''s that fucking dog again!! I hate it with a passion, can dogs be eaten?]


    "Cajun seasoning can be found in the Bluemart or online shop, please buy sparingly because others want it as well. From today there is a purchase limit in quantity per person to the products both online and in the supermarket. Those of you who are interested I will be making kimchi tomorrow on live television with some women of our blue star on our official television, BSTV. You can find it right now on your terminals or televisions, it''s channel forty four. Thank you for tuning in, I hope you have a good night, Scarlet out."

 Chapter 127 The Night Life On The Blue Star

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    Even though she signed out, Rodney kept the live broad cast going, to show the beautiful interactions between Scarlet and the citizens of the blue star. Her live broad cast had been to short, he wanted it tost for at least three hours. As long as she was visible before the cameras it did not matter if she said a single word. To his relief, she had no problem with it, she smiled and waved at the camera as it captured all they were up to.


    Scarlet and some women fried more shrimp and it was carried off to be distributed along with the simple dinner which consisted of rice and beans which came from her storage space.


    [what are they eating?]


    [I know the white stuff is rice but what is the brown stuff?]


    [Is that a type of meat?]


    [Do people on the blue star always eat together like this?]


    Since she was not personally interacting with the viewers their questions went unanswered. Rodney finally got his other assistant to ask questions from behind the camera and the citizens that were not shy answered the questions of the viewers.


    People were sitting around the carefully arranged bon fire areas, eating dinner and engaged in conversations. Therge outdoor screen was showing a movie that some people were watching.


    [Is this what they do every night? It looks boring to me.]


    [They live like uncivilized people, was this how our ancestors truly lived?]


    [It looks like fun, most of the bon fires here in the capital are virtual fires. There is no space for what they are doing?]


    "Do you enjoy being outdoor like this?" Rodney asked a random teenage boy.


    "Yes," he answered while looking into the camera. "I have never slept outdoors in a tent before. I have also never seen stars so clear like this, the governor is right, flying cars block the view of the sky.


    "Do you prefer life here or the capital?"


    "It''s hard not to miss capital, I lived there with my family for so many years. I miss the night life over there and my friends. We don''t even have gaming cabins over here but our new life here is also good. We are taught sses by general Esong and the seventh prince so that''s pretty cool. We also y football and watch movies I have never seen before. The food is amazing, I love it here."


    [Wow, so the mecha king has be a teacher, i envy you so much.]


    [This is not fair we also want our children to learn from the mecha king.]


    [Does this mean that children educated on the blue star have higher chances of bing mecha warriors?]


    [Their should be aw against this, it''s so unfair.]


    [The princeof death is also a teacher, I am confused about so many things right now.]


    The boy''s revtions were quickly shared on star, more people poured into the broad cast.


    "Sixty seven million viewers." Rodney''s assistant told him.


    Rodney raised his fist high, silently jubting.


    The camera moved back to Scarlet who was carrying a child in her arms that was not Justin because she was obviously a little girl. She said something to the girl and both of themughed. Then she sat her down on a table and startedbing hair which she separated into two pony tails and tied with colorful ribbons.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Scarlet is so gentle, look at her with the little girl.]


    The little girl Scarlet was carrying was none other than Sia, who was still the youngest child on the blue star. Because of her age and Scarlet''s provision of all sorts of little dresses and shoes for her, Sia was the most adorable girl on their. Everyone knew that she was loved a lot by the governor.Sia''s mother was envied by many women for this. Secretly one or two women that were currently pregnant were hoping to give birth to cute female children.


    "Mother, sing for us a song." Scarlet was suddenly surrounded by little kids, Justin was their ring leader.


    "No, your teacher sings better than me, go and look for her."


    "Mother mother, mother," Justin jumped around her in a circle "sing for us, "please.


    "One song." she told them.


    "Yey." the kids pped and they scrambled around to find seats.


    While she got her guitar Rodney rearranged the cameras to make sure that they could capture Scarlet and her audience of listeners. He wanted to capture their reactions if she was terrible. It would beedy gold, if she was good, it would be amazing then. He could convince her to sing once in a while, entertainment like that was good for bringing in viewers.


    "The wheels on the bus go round and round....." Scarlet started singing.It was an easy song for the children to learn and soon they were singing along. It was amusing when she was adults singing along too.Scarlet of course made it funny by adding actions on some parts like ''the babies on the bus'' crying part and the ''mothers on the bus go shh.''


    Sitting somewhere close to therge screen, Esong and his friends were quite interested in this singing activity. He for one however was wearing a scowl because every time she sung, she attracted unnecessary admirers. More than one boy in hisbat ss was using her picture as an image saver on their terminals.He was sure that their would be tomorrow because she had this glow about her when she sung, it was if her voice enchanted all those who heard it.


    "She would make a killing as a singer." The seventhmented. "She has the voice and she ys an instrument."


    "Someone has attached a microphone and speakers close to her, now she sounds like she singing at a concert." Folsommented.


    "That tv guy Rodney is live broadcasting it, in a way it is concert, a kids concert." Ian said. "You are right though Folsom, she is good. Esong''s wife is good at a lot of things."


    "If she was not married to him already baron Su would be drowning in matchmaking invitations." Folsom said and he chuckled.


    "My Carolyn must be a great singer too, they are sisters after all." the seventhmented.


    More than one person looked at him and they shook their heads or chortled in wonder and amazement. As for Scarlet, she concluded her song and the kids dispersed, off to run around and y before they could be called away for bed time because it was a school night.


    "Sing another song." Rodney said. He was standing close to her but behind the camera. "The viewers are requesting, someone has even sent thirty space ships, twenty golden castles, three pces."


    "Okay," She knew many songs from earth, off the top of her head, she picked one of the easiest and most memorable to her.


    ying the guitar slowly, she opened her mouth and sung, "Did I disappoint you, or let you down..." Under the night sky, with the glow being emitted from the bon fires, she had no idea how enchanting she looked with her eyes as she sung the slow song. Therge screen which had been showing a movie had switched to the live broad cast and Esong could see her so clearly and for the first time in a long while, he took a sip of alcohol from the Folsom''s can which came from the supermarket.


    His hearing was quite good and he could hear the lyrics of the song so clearly, he wondered if she was singing for him or to him?It had to be, he thought, his were the only lips she had kissed and his bed the only one she shared. Why was she singing about saying goodbye?


    "Hey, are you drinking?" Folsom said in shock.


    "I am turning in for the night." He walked away stiffly.

 Chapter 128 You And I

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    Scarlet sung one more song, twinkle little star before the children were ushered away by their parents and sent off to bed. The teenagers too were sent off at around ten o''clock, most of the adults too went to bed because tomorrow was a working day. It was not just the children that needed to wake up early, the adults did too.


    When Scarlet reluctantly stepped foot inside the space ship, she found Esong in the control center, he was sitting in a chair with his arms folded and his eyes closed.Lately, she felt more at ease when he was sleeping than when he was awake. Since she could not tell what he was thinking, she was beginning to think that it would be better for her to move back to her family''s house for a while. Until he sorted through his manyplex thoughts anyway.


    "Hey," she tapped him slowly, and he suddenly grabbed her wrist.Rather than react like a frightened little rabbit, she looked at him questioningly, a little bit bored even. "What''s this now? If you are thinking that I was intending to do something to you, you are mistaken. I was simply trying to wake you up."


    He did not reply, not even a peep of a word came out of his mouth. Instead, he stared at her with his dark eyes intensely until she started feeling the inevitable wave of difort.


    "I am tired, and I have another busy day tomorrow" she said, "If you can wrap up whatever this is right now, I would love to get to bed. And by the way, I am not a glutton for punishment, sleeping next to a man that acts as cold as a fish every night is no longer working for me. It might be in both of our interests if I move back to parents house."


    The grip he had on her wrist tightened and she winced slightly, not that it was painful but because she was angry with him. If he had something to say to her, why couldn''t he juste out with it.


    "You are different." he said suddenly.


    She was slightly stunned but quickly she covered up her shock by replying, "And so are you, you don''t see me making a big deal out of it."


    "You are not her." he stated.


    In her mind, she panicked a lot, wondering what had given her away? The story of her illness was iron d, was it the songs and movies? But she would not give herself away easily, he could suspect all he wanted but he would never be able to prove it.


    "As if you knew me back then." she said sarcastically. "How many times did we meet Esong? You always increased your pace and sped away when you saw meing. You hardly said a single word to me, all you did was re and tell me to get lost."


    "Who are you?" he asked her.


    "Your wife." she deadpanned. "Then and now, I am your wife." It was one fact that could not be changed unless one of them killed the other. In fact, she thought, maybe it was better for him to suspect that she was someone else, this way he would hate her less for Scarlet''s discrepancies.


    Suddenly the grip on her wrist loosened but the hold on her hand remained. "I am not giving you a divorce." he dered.


    "I have not asked for ely." she reminded him. "I know thew now dear husband, we are stuck together for life. Unless you intend to stab mein the back that is. Is this why you have been so standoffishtely? Did your grandmother tell you that I would y some kind of tricks on you and attempt to get a divorce?"


    "Yes." he replied sharply. He did not even hesitate once or attempt to hide it. "She said trusting you would be a mistake. What do you think about her words, should I trust you Scarlet?"


    "No offense to your grandmother but our marriage is something she should stay out of. You are a grown man who can make his own decisions, we were getting along perfectly well before she arrived here. Both of us are new at the trusting thing Esong, you are not the only one that has doubts. Do you know how many times your mere presence frightened the life out of me because I thought you would stab me in the back. And I mean it literally not figuratively, especially whenever you suddenly popped up when I was alone in the woods. But I chose to believe that the father of my child would not harm me, I mean you have had many chances to do it but you did not. You could have had me thrown in prison for ¡­.you know...but you didn''t because you considered what was best for your family and your son. That''s why I believe in you, your decisions are always rational, you calcte and make a n.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    My parents, my sisters and my brothers also worry about me you know. My mother said she expected you to rip my head off the first night I slept here. If I was a coward I would not have shown up the following night but I did.Our families care about us but they don''t dictate what our rtionship should be. That''s entirely up to us, you and I Esong, we decide what we want to be."She needed to drill it into him that a rtionship was not amunal affair otherwise every decision of theirs would be influenced by the decisions of others. Such a rtionship was doomed to fail.


    "I am sorry." he suddenly uttered, bringing shock to her. When did the mighty general of the death thunder army start apologizing?


    "You don''t need to make that face." he told her.


    "What face?" she pretended.


    "That face, look I take the opinions of my grandparents very seriously.I just...." he stood up and sighed, "I ¡­" he was struggling to exin himself and she could see the struggle in his body with how tense he was, and his eyes that were agonized.


    "I know." she spared him the agony of exining. "But you can''t treat me this way again, it doesn''t matter if we are simply lovers in this marriage, if you have something bothering you about me, say it.If you act like this again I will simply leave without a warning."


    "Is that why you sung that song, goodbye my lover? Were you nning to leave me?"


    She tilted her head back and sheughed, "No way, it''s just a song I love, there was no special meaning attached to it. "Sweetie if you begin to see personal meanings in every song then you will never get to enjoy music."


    "It just sounded so personal." he mumbled and shrugged.


    "Well it was not, if I ever sing a song about you I will be sure to let you know." she assured him. "Now I am going to bed, and just so you know, if your mother ever shows up here and pokes holes into our rtionship causing you to act like an asshole I will be the one to stab you. And I mean a physical stabbing, so don''t get on my nerves."


    Heughed and followed after her, "Scarlet," the tone of his voice changed, "I.."


    "No." she pped his hand that was snaking it''s way around her waist stealthily. "I am punishing you for being an ass, you don''t get to have me until I change my mind."


    "Don''t be hasty, let''s discuss this first." he attempted to dissuade her, it was not as if he had enjoyed theirst few nights either. He was just thinking about things, how was he supposed to know that she would be open to discussing them? The thing which had been bothering him for days had been easily handled by her, if he had known, he would havee to her sooner.


    "No." she pped stubborn hand away again.


    "But it was not my fault." he whined.


    "Hmph." she sneered, "Don''t try to squirm your way out of this. Prepare yourself for a drought tonight buddy."

 Chapter 129 The Wise Lloyd.

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    The next day everything was back to usual on the blue star, Scarlet resumed her training after her cultivation and morning work out. Esong was right there, training, instructing and helping her craft her fighting skills.In training, Esong was always in full on instructor mode, he neither yed around nor smiled. Even when she cracked jokes here and there, all he said was ''Pay attention.''


    Watching them from a distance was his grandmother who was in extreme shock. Since when did this begin happening, she wondered.Standing next to her was Markay who was holding a vacuum cup of hot milk tea which he was sipping slowly.


    "How long has he been training her Markay?"


    "I think it has been around three weeks now, he said that she catches on pretty fast. All that''s dragging her down is her low mental strength."


    "You have been here long enough to form your own opinion of her, what do you think of her?"


    Markay thought for a while, icy blue eyes moving around as his mind worked,bining everything he had seen and heard ever since he first stepped foot on the blue star.


    "I think he is lucky to have her." he said honestly.


    Cecily snorted and sheughed dryly, "My grandson, lucky!!! to have her, I don''t know if you are insulting Esong or myself."


    "Esong is your pride and joy but he can also be cold, unreceptive, arrogant and a bastard. You should admit facts when they are true, he is a general that''s true, he is fierce in battle, extremely true. He is the greatest mecha warrior of our time, no doubt. But do not underestimate his wife, she is a force to be reckoned with and from what I can see she has only scratched the surface of her greatness. Time mighte when people do not say Scarlet was lucky to marry Esong but rather he is the lucky one to have married her."


    "You speak so highly of her, Is it because you are courting her sister?" Cecily was still filled with doubts.


    "My rtionship with Carolyn Su is separate from the value of Scarlet Su. Moreover my Carolyn is just as skilled and talented as her sister. Almost every machine you see on this has been personally crafted by her before it went into production.You have been watching Scarlet like a spy ever since you arrived so I am sure that you have observed just how creative, fierce, passionate and good she is. Whatever assessments you have been doing must being to a conclusion now, my advise to you is that you should not forget that she is Justin''s mother. When given a choice between you and his mother he will choose her, and with time, so will Esong." Markay was brutally honest with Cecily, not holding a single thing back. He had known Esong long enough to see the changes in himtely. Give him enough time and he would be professing his love to his wife.


    Away in the capital, a serious campaign to smear food had beenunched by a few of the nutrient solutionpanies two days ago. They were trying hard to hide it but it was in to see that they were behind it. All of a sudden, out of nowhere almost every televisionwork was talking about the dangers of food.


    One live streamer even ate a raw potato developed hives and copsed to a point that he had to be rushed to a hospital. Another was scratched by a chicken which apparently poisoned him causing a near death. All that was left was for someone to die before an official investigation into food could beunched.


    Even if all this was obviously a smear campaign, it did not stop majority of themoners to backtrack and return to purchasing nutrient solutions in plenty. Thepanies which were involved in the smear campaign were proud of themselves when they noticed that their sales were going back up.


    The three bosses of thesepanies, Samael Rogan excluded were currently meeting in a secluded entertainment club on the six hundredth floor of an entertainment building to celebrate their victory. The irony was that they were feasting on fries and deep fried shrimp to celebrate their victory. Unknown to them, a small drone was recording all this and transmitting it to a paparazzo who had been lurking around the entertainment building in the hopes of finding anything.


    The paparazzo was not the only one that was watching, a separate team which was under the control of the third princess under the authority of the emperor was also keeping an eye on these men. Their crimes were beingpiled and soon, they would be arrested.


    Somewhere else in the capital a young woman who named herself cutie carrot online was unloading and categorizing everything that had been sent to her from the blue star. Her father and brother were watching her meticulously record these items separating them into different categories.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Brother, I did good right?" she would asionally raise her head and ask.


    "You did excellent." her brother replied. "With all these spices, we will be able tounch our own potato snack soon."


    "Everything else is mine." Cutie carrot reminded her elderand only brother.


    "Of course, I would love to have a taste of some fruits though."


    Cutie Carrot pouted and crossed her arms , "That''s not what you promised."she red at her brother unhappily.


    Their father was watching them with an indulgent smile on his face. This man was one of the neen who had been invited to the meeting with Samael Rogan.He was Darren Vangar, the owner of Nutri nutrients, a moderately sessful nutrient solutionpany.What most people were not aware of was that he was not the brain behind the recipes in thepany, his twenty year old son Lloyd Vangar was. When Samael sent out that invitation, Lloyd told his father to go and watch but not say much, he even predicted what the content of the meeting would be about.


    Unlike the other idiots who saw food as a threat, he and his son saw it as another opportunity to widen the scope of their products. Scarlet herself had used nutrition solutions in some of her recipes which meant that they would not go out of the market, they were still useful and moreover they were good for mental strength wielders. Rather than sit back and dread the introduction of food, Lloyd went to hisb and came up with a snack. All he needed were spices which his sister acquired for him.


    "Here, taste my snack andpare it to the potato chips on the market." he surprised his sister by handing her a somewhat simr but different looking package to the blue star chips.


    His sister grabbed it tore it open and looked at the weird shape first, "these are straight like sticks."


    "Yes, I was inspired by the sugarcanes, they look like sticks but hold sweet water inside." Lloyd replied.


    Cutie carrot took the first tentative bite of the crunchy snack.


    "How is it?" Father and son looked at her curiously.


    "Sweet, it tastes like a crisp but also not, something is different about it. I like it."


    Lloyd nodded, "We don''t have ess to as much cooking oil as the blue star governor so I dried them slightly, then brushed them with oil and then air fried them." He exined his processed proudly.


    Cutie carrot ate the rest of the snack happily, but it was finished in only a few mouthfuls."Oh, why is there too little? You are selling air just like them."sheined. "Why can''t you all give us our money''s worth?"


    "We are preserving the crunchiness." Lloydughed at his sister. "As my sister you will eat as many as you want, don''t worry. Father I am sure that the royal family will make a move soon and when they do we willunch our Nutri chips on that very day. With all these spices we can create a variety, we should patent the design of our snacks since anyone can create their own recipe as long as they have ess to potatoes. When everyone realizes that they could have been branching out instead of allowing themselves to be used, the Rogan''s will pay a heavy price for their arrogance and cunning."

 Chapter 130 A Coconut Dessert

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    With the creation of city hall and the many departments with skilled heads, Scarlet found herself with a bit of free time after her work outs. To fill in the gaps, she stayed inside the kitchen, reading Maddox''s journals. The more she read, the more she understood the functions of some of the things in the storage bracelet. That''s how she came to learn about the satellites. Grabbing a packet of spiced peanuts from her storage space, she sat down crossed her legs and started reading.


    "My father said that our ancestors were the original creators of the star, despite what he said, nowhere is it written in the history of this empire that the Varakas did any such thing. When I was ten years old, I randomly mentioned this fact to a ssmate and that same day my grandfather almost shot my head off with aser gun. It was the tears of my mother Lenora which saved life. Our family was one with many secrets I learned that day, and most of them were dangerous. Secret one for example was the fact that our original family name was not even Varakas, it was London. I always wondered why that name sounded so familiar to me and when I grew up to finish the sophisticated sky eye, I finally found out why, it is the name of the ruling family of the Lunar federation. I was never meant to hear this name, I was ying a game of hide and seek with my siblings when I overheard it, I never gave it much thought until my entire family perished but now it sits at the very top of the list of my enemies, London!!!!!.


    I have been monitoring and waiting, I have made allies, built the weapons and the day is sooning, patiently I am waiting, the Varakas house will be avenged."


    She closed that journal because she had skipped ahead by a lot, she did not know what happened to his family yet. Judging from what she could put together so far, Maddox and his family were probably royalty that escaped from the Lunar federation. Why, she did not know just yet. She also had more questions like which allies had Maddox made and where did he find them? He had been living here for over one hundred years, he hardlymunicated with anyone. Could it be the secret satellites in the sky?


    "Alex, which journal entry is this?" she asked the AI.


    "Entry six hundred ten."


    Yup, she thought, I definitely skipped ahead, "Alex, I need the journal entries rearranged in order from the first to thest.


    "Yes master."


    "Alex what is sky eye?" she asked curiously.


    "It''s an interconnected web of hacking software that the master used to ess andmunicate with others on the Lunar."


    She pushed her head slightly forward, "Lunar as in Lunar federation!!"


    "Yes," Alex responded, "The Lunar is what star is, just for a different empire. The former masterpleted sky eye sixty years ago, it was the work of his grandfather, father and elder brother."


    Scarlet tapped her fingers slowly against her thigh thinking that their could have been some truth to Maddox''s ancestors im that they created star. If they could create sky eye then they could create star.


    "Can I ess sky eye and Lunar?" she asked curiously. It could be interesting to see what the enemies of their Sun star empire were up to. "Also, I need to know how your former master wasmunicating with his allies. Analyze the content of theirmunications and break it down for me." She had promised him that she would make his enemies pay but she did not promise to kill anyone. So she could pass off some of the things he created and send supplies or things like that to help them in their fight.


    "Do you want to all this right now?" Alex asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No, I want to read journal entry three." It was more important for her to know who his enemies in this empire were.


    "As children, we dreamt of bringing glory to the empire and to our family, we assigned what roles we would y in this greatness as soon as we were old enough to understand. Sven was extremely good with with writing code so he would join our father in themunications department of the empire. Elora was excellent fighter, the best among us. Her skills could put any man to shame and she amassed a following of over one hundred underlings. Her goal was to be a mecha warrior, and she had climbed up the ranks with skills and hard work. I on the other hand was good at crafting and designing everything, if you could think it, I could make it. I even crafted a self thinking fighting robot for Elora but my father destroyed it. He said that my clever hands would get me into trouble one day because I would create something that I could not control. The superior intelligence of anything other than human was a threat to us all.He likened it to a mutated beast that could think beyond the kill, such a beast would be unstoppable because it could n, calcte andmand others. I asked him if he had ever seen one such beast because the general assumption is that they are simply thoughtless brutal animals and he said that the universe was a big ce, they had to being from somewhere and someone or something other than instinct had to sending them otherwise why do they disappearpletely after the cold month, leaving only the injured or weak ones behind."


    "Alex, did Maddox ever figure out where mutated beastse from?"


    "No master, the only theory he had is that is theye from a separate continent through an invisible temporary crack in space. Before the crack closes the clever ones return."


    "A crack in space." Scarlet hummed, "Could that be it?"


    "Is it possible that they hibernate here on our world and simply wake up to hunt and fill their bellies or store food. That''s the habit of an animal like a bear, although, bears hibernate in winter, they do not hunt during that time."


    She looked at the time and closed the journal, she had promised Rodney that three times a week she record a lunch time show on preparation of deserts and sweet things.


    She was driven to one of the empty floors above the supermarket which was being used as a temporary television station. Preparations had already been made so she sat down, a little make up was applied to her face and she put on a ck chef''s gown and hat.


    "Ready?" Rodney asked.


    She nodded her head.


    "Three, two ,one." the camera man counted and the recording started.


    "Hello everyone, wee to my new show Scarlet''s sweet treats, I will being to you three times a week to teach you how to prepare the simplest and sweetest deserts right in your home kitchen. Today I will be teaching you how to prepare a desert from a special fruit named a coconut. I can''t see you right now but show of hands, who knows what a coconut is?"


    Whe this show aired, coconut powder, coconut milk and coconuts themselves would be on the shelves in the Bluemart, these recipes woulde in handy for many people at that time. They would be able to make these sweet treats in thefort of their own homes.

 Chapter 131 Cant Touch This.

    ?


    Cultivation with herbs, purifying water and marrow cleansing pills was really a cheat because four dayster, Scarlet was at level two foundation stage. To celebrate her win that morning, she turned the music on really loud in Esong''s space ship and started dancing. It was as early as five in the morning and Esong was sleeping, she on the other hand was not sleepy at all which was why she decided to dance along to ''Can''t touch this'' because she felt invisible.Scarlet was not a very good dancer, she had two left feet and her body was weirdly uncoordinated. This did not make much sense to her because when she was fighting it was almost as if she was gliding and swaying at times.


    Severus who was sleeping on the space shiptely to guide her in cultivation watched her dancing and he covered his eyes with his paws because he was extremely embarrassed. If any of the other soul cultivators saw her celebrating such a small advancement at such a small level his reputation would take a hit because he was her partner.And what kind of stupid dancing was she doing? It made no sense at all.


    "Please stop."he pleaded with her.


    "No way, I am in the zone." she replied and she started winding her waist.


    "The insanity zone?" he asked sarcastically.


    "The sweet zone." she replied.


    "You do realize that you are still on level two, right?"


    "Uh-huh." she responded and she broke into the shuffle.


    "I can''t watch this anymore." he turned his back on her literally, facing the wall of the space ship and closing his eyes. As soon as these doors opened he would be on his way to the forest to do some hunting.He needed to erase the images of her dancing from his mind.


    The song was almost winding up when Esong left the bedroom. He had risen and touched her end of the bed only to realize that she was nowhere to be seen. Curiously, he got up to look for her and his senses caught some movement in the spaceship. If Jovi had not alerted him, then it could only be her. He thought she was working out but what he saw was something entirely. It was abination of jumping, moving her feet left and right, twisting her waist all the while repeating three words, ''can''t touch this.''


    The song was ying from the speakers of the space ship, hopefully she had not set it to loud external mode becauseeveryone within two thousand square miles would have heard it.


    "Turn the music down Jovi." he instructed the ship AI.


    "Turning the music down." Jovi said as he did it.


    Scarlet spun around and she saw Esong leaning against the wall, he was dressed in sweat pants only. His very built muscr chest was on full disy for admiration. She threw her hands around as if they were boneless as she watched him and she smiled.


    "Interesting choice of song."he said to her.


    "Yeah, I forgot that I had a storage device hidden in my old water bottle." It was an old Ipod containing around one thousand or moresongs. She had it for a while when ipods where still popr and everyone at school had one. But like everything else with gadgets when a new one shows up on the market, the old one is retired. Carrying that bottle of water with a hiddenpartment which stored the thin Ipod around her neck in the apocalypse had saved all that music and she carried it to the interster too without even knowing. She thought it stayed behind with the rest of the things on her body when she was dying. She was pleasantly surprised when she found it.


    "Interesting choice of outfit." hemented with a naughty smile. She was wearing CK ck biker shorts and a matching sleeveless crop top.


    "Shut up and dance with me." she extended her hand to him, calling him forward with her pinky finger.


    Esong did not need to be told twice, he had been starving without her touch for a few days now. Ever since she said that he was in for a long drought, she had not relented at all.Even kisses were forbidden because he was in what she called ''the dog house.'' No matter how many times she exined it, he did not understand what a dog house was because he was not a dog.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Wrapping one arm around her waist and holding her hand with the other, they broke into a slow dance, moving slowly despite the fast tempo of ying music.


    Esong had danced before, social events, banquets, family events but he never held his partners as close as this. He made sure that he pulled her so close and ensured that their was barely any space between them. Until he got out of the dog house, this was the closest he coulde to feeling her body, except for when they were training.


    "Who taught you how to dance?" she asked him.


    "My grandfather and two teachers, by the time I was ten I was an expert. What about you?" his face held a hint of a smile, as far as he could tell, she could not dance. It was weird because most daughters of noble families could dance expertly by the age of five. He pushed away from her and spun her body around twice before pulling it in close once more. This time, they were looking into each other''s eyes, his ck ones into her grey ones.


    "Are you trying to make fun of me Esong?"


    "Why ever would I do that? Your moves may not be elegant but they have a certain charm to them.I for one like them, in fact when you are in the mood feel free to always dance for me." He bent his head down slowly, and his hand moved in circles on her back, touching her bare skin. She would be lying to herself and him if she did not admit that she was loving it.


    "You would like that, wouldn''t you?" she giggled.He would probably lean back andugh at her. Unless she could pull off those sexy moves other women effortlessly made in music videos. How they managed to move like snakes she would never understand.


    His left hand that was on her lower back moved downward and gripped her ass tightly."I would love it so much."


    Sheughed and oved it back up, "Keep it clean Mr. Esong."


    "Mmm" he groaned, "I have been on my best behavior Scar, why do you still deny me even this little bit of pleasure." every once in a while instead of calling her Scarlet he called her Scar. She med it on the viewing of the movie the lion king, there was no way he called her that romantically.


    "Dog house," she reminded him, "But if I win myfight tomorrow night I could be in a celebratory mood." she teased him by licking and biting her bottom lip slowly . "Maybe, we could do some things with our tongues, you could sit me right here on this table, split my legs apart and get on your knees..."


    "Go on." he whispered in her ear.


    She ced her hand on his chest, feeling it beat slightly faster. "I.." she kissed his chest, right above his heart and rubbed the spot she kissed. "I have to attend the opening of the hospitalter today, I made you some chocte coconut bars and put them in your freezer. Make sure that our son gets to school on time."


    He groaned, shook his head andughed, ''You are so unbelievable."


    "I know, right." she winked at him and ended the dance. It was so fun teasing him like this, she loved seeing new sides to him everyday, better and unexpected sides.


    "I am going to get you back for this." he promised.


    "I will be waiting." she replied. Scarlet stopped was on her way to the bathroom but she stopped walking, turned around and took off her top and threw it at him.She left him gawking at her, holding the grey top in his hands

 Chapter 132 To Shoot Oneself In The Foot.

    ?


    Scarlet often wondered about the importance of a hospital in a world where med beds fixed seventy percent of the health issues. There were no diseases like cancers of any kind here, broken bones could be healed instantly, burns, poison, fevers and the like. It should have been the ideal world indeed. But med beds could not treat the darkness, mental illnesses,mon colds, cough, the mysterious coldness and some other strange old and new diseases which required research. Some of these things required physical pills which were not many in supply since they came from herbs and nts that were rare in this world. Another key point she kept in mind was that med beds worked best if the disease or injury was attended to in a hurry. For example they could not regrow a new limb if the injury was beyond repair which had made advancements into artificial limbs leap far and wide. To cure a severe burn mark one needed basic treatment first for three days before the med bed could be used. Some operations were also done by hand and they required skilled doctors. Opening a hospital without a single doctor was something not quite right, she would not call it useless but it was not right. But at least they had three avable nurses and themunications department had already put up ads searching for doctors and nurses.


    As she was given a tour of the fully equipped with interster machines eighty floor hospital, she admired the spaciousness and organization of the building. It wasrge enough to remind her of an airport, it had transparent screens which for now were giving some health advise and directions. A few were showing television content. It did not have thatmon antibacterial hospital smell yet.


    "These are the first floor wards." the head nurse Shelley showed her ID to the camera ahead and the doors slid open.


    "Will the patients and visitors require ID''s to get in?" Scarlet asked.


    "Yes," nurse Shelley nodded, "Wards are private areas and it is not necessary for anyone to randomly walk in. This is a rule on the because a few years ago a man tried to set is wife on fire. She was taken to the hospital and he followed, he tried to finish what he started inside a private ward. For the safety of all patients only vetted family members, doctors and nurses can enter the wards since then."


    "What happened to the man?" Scarlet asked curiously.


    "He is probably serving time on the Red star." nurse Shelley replied but she was unsure and the shrug of her shoulders told Scarlet that. "Governor we have heard that your sister used to be a nurse, will she being to work at the hospital?"


    Scarlet shook her head and indicated that it would not be happening. It had been her first thought as well but when she made the request Carolyn turned her down. "My sister is very happy managing the factories, they are expanding rapidly which keeps her busy."


    "It''s also a good job," the nursemented, "I heard that they have been able to manufacture one sr powered car. This means we can finally start driving, I for one am looking forward to it."


    "Driving on the road is different from flying a car." Scarlet reminded her.


    "The school is giving virtual driving lessons, that ss is the most attended on our because everyone has signed up. There was a rumor that you would be teaching some things personally. Will you?" Nurse Shelley looked at Scarlet curiously.


    "No, my brothers have that covered. Most of the ex mecha warriors catch on pretty quickly too, I am sure that they already have half the skills. Those that are willing to be driving teachers after passing their tests will stay on to teach others. Anyway, thanks for the tour, I love everything. I have a supply of medicinesing in so the pharmacy will be stocked, med beds too. You can cross those off your list of worries. I am of the suggestion that two of the floors should be used as a temporary school of medicine, you three nurses can teach other young hopeful nurses what you know so far as we try to recruit professional teachers of medicine."


    " Meet the heads behind the food is poisonous movement celebrating their war on food by eating fries and deep fried shrimp with ketchup!


    In all words, some jobs remained the same, especially in the entertainment business. The paparazzo that took a picture of the heads of three nutrient solutionpany owners celebrating their big win carefully looked for who would pay the most for the picture. Between these three men and their enemies, the enemy would probably pay more.


    Lo and behold!! half of the picture was sent to Scarlet with an exnation about who the men were and a request for two hundred thousand star coins. She spoke to Rodney who advised her to pay the full amount and contract the paparazzo to spread the picture at a fee of one thousand star coins. So, as she toured the hospital, the picture made it''s rounds on star very quickly.


    Rodney was an expert in this field and he paid two mediocre live streamers to push the issue but he made a few calls and pushed their live streams to the top on different tforms.


    "Why they don''t want you to eat food!" one live stream had that big title.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The war between food and nutrient solutionpanies!" another was titled.


    The live streamers who had been provided with dozens of snacks carefully broke down the issue while eating snacks and drinking, which also promoted whatever they were eating.


    News like this was not the kind that could easily be squashed because many people were interested in it thanks to the energy invested by these nutrient solutionpanies to keep articles about food in the news and on the people''s minds. All the citizens were paying so much attention since this was rted to their health. It was safe to say that thesepanies prepared the table for Scarlet and food toe and sit.


    It took only thirty minutes for some newspanies to begin changing their tone.


    "Food vs nutrient solutions, could this be and economic war?"


    "Exposure of three hypocrites, food is not bad after all."


    Samael Rogan was in his office when his secretary came rushing in to show him the new unfavorable news that was picking up speed. "Kill the articles." he yelled, "Kill them immediately."


    "It''s toote sir. the RGB has released an official statement dering approved food harmless. The Agricultural bureau has said that two of their professors are on the blue star researching food. They have also released a list of foods that have been approved for consumption so far. I think it''s better to retreat right now, if those three idiots are arrested they could mention that you instigated their actions, we should be looking for a way to shut them up."


    "You are right, hurry up and offer them some money, if it won''t work thenperhaps a little ident could happen in which all three die."


    "That doesn''t mean the rest who were at the meeting won''t talk. I think calling them together was a mistake." his secretarymented. If word got out that Origin nutrients was involved in this smear campaign the royal family that has always been looking for a way to reduce the influence of the Rogan family will not sit back. This was a disaster, they had shot themselves in the foot by being over zealous.


    Someone else came into his office rushing, "Sir, it''s not good."


    "Now what?" he barked.


    "Nutri has released a snack made from food, it''s trending all over as the capital''s first produced food product."


    Samael watched the news and he saw the president of Nutri giving a speech at a press conference. There was a table before him on which a variety of purple, red and green packaged snacks sat.


    Angry, he hurled smashed the secretary''s small terminal against the table and continued hitting it until it was all broken into little pieces.


    "It''s toote, they have been taken into custody." his secretary showed him his own terminal from a small distance away. "We need a contingency n now."

 Chapter 133 That Little Brat!

    ?


    The ''doctors wanted'' ad had been up on themunications page of the blue star for only one hour when it was answered. When the applicant was asked to fill in their details however, they made a request. The request for their entire family to move here which was not unusual. It was expected in fact for the doctors to move here with their entire families but this family consisted of one RGB captain, the dean of Fordham medical school, two active mecha warriors and one GBCS officer.


    "Does the dean of a medical school qualify to be called a doctor?" one of the employees asked Beord.


    "Wouldn''t he have to be a doctor to upy that position in the first ce?" Beord answered that question with one of his own.


    "This family has some members with really impressive credentials. Do you really think that a serving dean, an active RGB captain, two active mecha warriors and a GBCS officer would willingly move here." another employee asked his neighbor. He was the one in charge of the final approval if Beord gave him a go ahead.


    "I don''t know." the female colleague shrugged. "Besides, what''s wrong with our star? Are you not proud ofing from our blue star?"


    "No, no way, I am very proud. I am just saying that it would be hard for me to give up such a lucrative position to move here and start from scratch." the other hurried to exin himself to his female colleague that he also had a big crush on.


    She spun around in her seat and said ''I understand what you mean but maybe there is a reason why they have to move. Who are we to reject talent when we need it so much? Approve of the application and send it to the job department of city hall. When their identities are confirmed we will simply input their information into the system and that''s that. Everything else is outside our jurisdiction. Keep in mind that every star is supposed to have an RGB headquarters and a mecha warrior station, this can be considered killing two birds with one stone as the governor says. We get an RGB captain that will head that office here, a GBCS officer and a doctor who is also a professor apparently. I think the stone kills three to four birds in this case."


    The colleague smiled agreeably and approved of the application.


    Ten minutester, dean Sham Langais was contacted by someone from city hall and told that his application had been approved and could move to the blue star immediately. He thought it was a prank call until the head of the academy called him in to ask if he was really resigning. Once more, he was confused but he could see it in the system that he had resigned with immediate effect stating exhaustion of his mental state. One thing that could get you out of almost anything on the Sun star was a mental rted issue. Those were taken extremely seriously for fear that they could escte, causing one to harm others.


    "I really didn''t resign." Dean Sham tried his best to deny and exin.


    In the eyes of the academy head and other teachers, he appeared to be ill with the way he frantically tried to exin himself.


    "Look at me, do I look ill?" he approached them but they backed away from him.


    "Just take a break Sham, we can discuss your return after your break." the academy head said.


    Dean Sham gave up on exining and he flew home to exin to his family the perplexity of the situation he had encountered. But when he returned, he found his three sons in the same boat. All of them had tendered resignations or requested for transfers.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "How could this happen?" he asked them.


    "You have one trouble making daughter that has been singing about wanting to move to the blue star for a month and miserable because only ex mecha warriors are being approved. What did you expect?" his wife asked.


    "That little brat Mina did this!!" Zorl, the eldest son and a captain in the RGB exploded.


    He was not willing to move, he had worked hard to be a captain, dedicating hours to his job.


    "We are wiling to move," the twins, his younger brothers Dan and Steve, mecha warriors volunteered happily.


    "That''s because your mecha king moved there, you all want a chance to join Esong''s army but what about me?" Zorlined angrily. "Mina is being selfish dad, I have a life here."


    "What life, all you do is work." his mother mumbled.


    "Mother," he said angrily, "This is happening because you indulge her, you have raised her to be extremely spoiled. Why else does she not have any boundaries? Even between family members there must be boundaries." he emphasized.


    "Did I raise her alone?" his mother questioned. "Did you all not y a role in her upbringing? Besides, your sister has said that they are looking for a professor of medicine and doctors, they also want a head of the entire blue star RGB. This is an opportunity for you to go from captain to head of the RGB, it''s a good move for that career which you love so much. Your father too can go from an ordinary dean at a mediocre medical school to running an entire university or being in charge of every hospital on the blue star. They have made advancements in nts, what do you think this will do for the field of medicine and pharmacy?Let''s not think on small levels, let us think big like Nutri nutrientpany. They haveunched a variety of snacks today and they sold out within ten minutes. Instead of looking at food as a threat like the other nutrientpanies, they saw an opportunity and now they will forever be remembered as the firstpany tounch an edible product in the capital. You know that they are going to be included in the history books, the ministry of education has sent officials to talk to them already. We should look at this as a new opportunity to do the same. In fact, you two should recruit others and take them with us to show the governor that you are proactive and useful. Change ising, we should be at it''s fore front not at the back."


    Be Langais was a wise woman, it was true that she spoiled her daughter Mina but Mina had not made this decision alone. They had discussed it together and seen that the pros outweighed the cons.


    Like a sloth, Mina came out of her hiding ce slowly and peeped at her father and brothers. She sharpened her small mouth andughed nervously, "Are you still mad at me?" She was worried about Zorl most especially.


    "Who is mad at anyone?'' Zorl looked around as if he was confused. "You were thinking about our careers, all is well. Anyway, when do we leave?"

 Chapter 134 Sweet Sweet Cola

    ?


    "Sister, have you seen this?" Fey came to see Scarlet in a hurry. She was holding her smallputer terminal in her hands and waving it around wildly. It seemed as if something terrible had truly urred.


    ''What, what is it?" Scarlet asked her. "Mother has warned you about running you know, no man will marry you if you run like a headless chicken." Scarlet guffawed at the ridiculous notion that a man would reject a woman from a noble family simply because she run. The interster had progressed but also returned to the 1800''s of her earth at the same time when it came to the standards and behavior of women from noble families.


    "You participate in mecha fights andbat traininge off it." Fey said in an irritated voice. "Look, apany in the capital is selling a snack that is familiar in taste to our potato chips. They simply changed the shape," she paused, "okay the taste is a little bit different but still, we havepetition."


    Nonchntly, Scarlet looked at her sister and raised both of her eyebrows up in utter confusion. "Is this what worries you Fey?"


    "Yes." Fey said loudly. Her eyes were filled with many questions as to why her sister was not as dismayed and bothered by this awful news as she was. "I thought our goal was to dominate the market?"


    "Whose words were those?" Scarlet was taken back. "My goal has never been to dominate the market, it''s to develop our blue star. It''s actually good that something like this has urred. Think about it this way, eventually thatpany has toe to us to buy the raw ingredients that are used in their snacks. We grow the potatoes, we provide the spices, if they use are using spices that is. If they want to continue producing snacks they have toe to us, the blue star is the only one that been proven so far to have food growing capabilities. No matter who produces what in the Sun star, they will all have toe to us. So, instead of worrying, tell Beord that we should send a congrattory message to thatpany and extend an invitation to open a cooperative channel with them."


    "Yes, yes, they have toe to us." Fey nodded her head eagerly. "I will tell him right away."


    "Don''t run." Scarlet yelled, but it was toote, she was already taking off like a rocket anyway.


    She was writing down a development n for the valley and widely dry and in area around her castle. She intended to turn into a valley of flowers and tea trees, this could attract bees that she was sure were in the blue forest.As she pondered which flowers to nt, small hands tugged on her foot.


    "Sia," she said in surprise when she looked down and saw the little girl. "What are you doing here?" she lifted her up, carrying her on herps and looking around for an adult.It seemed little Sia had somehow escaped from her mother or the daycare and no adult had noticed.


    The little girl touched her stomach and looked at Scarlet.


    "Ah," she said in understanding. "You are hungry it seems." Scarlet took some honey buns and milk from her storage space. "Here, eat carefully, I am working so don''t disturb me too much." She sat her down on top of the table with the bread and milk, gave her a red rattling toy and went back to her work.She used old books from earth to look for references, asionally having to rescue the books from Sia''s grubby hands.


    Shewas just concluding when the agriculture professors came in to see her.


    "You will never believe what happened." Oak shouted loudly immediately. His loud deep voice roused Sia that was sleeping on a table. Her head had been resting on a small pillow which Scarlet ced beneath her head. The little girl yawned and Scarlet was trying to ''shh'' Oak.


    "It''s toote." Bell said. "She is already awake and she looks like she is about to cry."


    Scarlet carried Sia and bounced her around in her hands while shaking the rattle for her as if she were an infant.


    "What has got you both this excited? Did one of the ancient seeds finally mature or sprout? We are going to have to be very careful with those you know, some nts are carnivorous, I don''t want anyone to be injured or eaten."


    "Have you ever seen a carnivorous nt?" Bell asked her curiously. This was a new concept that would require some research.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Once." she replied. "If animals can mutate what stops nts from doing the same? Be especially careful around beautiful and hypnotic flowers, they can be the most deadly. Some of them use deadly poison as a defense mechanism."


    "Is that why the gatherers have to wear goggles, masks, shieldedce boots and gloves?" Oak asked her. They had been wondering about that for a while, the gatherers had these cool new outfits which made people in other office rted jobs envious.


    "Yes, it''s also why they are some of the biggest earners on our blue star, their job is risky." she responded and bounced Sia from side to side, making the sound of an ocean wave which made the little girl smile. "Why are you looking for me?"


    "This." Oak showed her a red oval shaped fruit. "We have been carefully using the water and fertilizer you gave us in the experimental fields, some of the trees sprouted two weeks ago and they have started producing fruits. The tree which produces this fruit is especially growing faster than most and one of the fruits burst on it''s own a few minutes ago. It smelled so sweet but we are mostly confused about what to do next. Should we harvest the fruits and what are they used for?"


    She ced Sia on her waist, holding her with one arm and she used her other hand to take the fruit. First, she sniffed it.


    "Do you know what it is?" Oak asked eagerly. Before she could reply, he went to excitedly say, "I can''t believe we have sessfully grown some of those seeds, I had all but given up on them. How many years of our lives did we dedicate to this Bell?" he suddenly took a seat, broke down and cried.


    Bell''s eyes turned slightly red when his good friend started crying. He knew all too well how many years of their lives had gone by with no results to show. How many times had they been called before the house of ministers and been ridiculed before the emperor by some ministers. Those ministers had called their agriculture department a ckhole of funding. Money went in but no results came out.


    "We finally have results Bell." Oak said as he wiped the tears away from his face. "We can finally shut them all up."


    "Yes," Bell agreed, "we are are not ck holes anymore."


    "Does that make you white holes?" Scarlet asked and she giggled as if her question was funny.


    "It''s not funny." Oak sniffed.


    She could not believe that they did not find her joke funny, it sounded funny to her. "Sia, is governor aunt funny?"


    Sia nodded and they bothughed.


    "Let''s go to the field, I want to look at the fruits.The size, appearance and slightly fruity smell reminds me of something my teacher once mentioned. He called it a c fruit."She was lying of course, the answer was on the nt section of the underworld forum. Never in her life had she ever seen such a fruit. The forum said it was a rare natural liquid fruit, you poked a hole on the opening and drained out the liquid then cut the rest of the fruit open and removed the seeds.


    Logically speaking, she thought, a fruit called c that had a liquid inside made her think of soda. There were millions of supplies in her system but only a few sodas.If this c fruit tasted anything like coke soda than she and the agricultural bureau would have toe to an understanding quickly before someone else got wind of it and took a hold of the opportunity.


    "Hey Bell," she asked in a calm voice not wanting to sound desperate,"Who owns the seeds by the way, is it the agricultural bureau or the royal family?"

 Chapter 135 A Pertinent Threat

    ?


    They drove to the experimental fields in the blue city, these fields were veryrge, covering vast areas ofnd which was still being sealed off and marked to ensure proper nning of the city. On some fields were workers whose heads were covered by wide hats, to protect them from the hot sun manually nting or checking on seeds. Most of the farming was bing mechanized but the ancient seeds were handled much more carefully than ordinary ones. They were already scarce, growing them needed patience and care.


    Behind Scarlet were her personal guards, one of them attempted to take Sia from her but the little girl stubbornly refused and pouted.


    "Let her be." She told him.


    "About your question earlier," Bell said, "The seeds in the agricultural bureau belong to the royal family. They saved the seeds and protected them, they actually have more in their storage but they only allocate them to us when we show progress or run out of experimental fields.But the bureau has an agreement with the royal family which allows us to keep fifty percent of whatever we grow, over here." Bell pointed to a green house that was not far.


    "Are the nts affected by the weather conditions like too much heat?" she was curious as to why they were not in an open field.


    "We nted some in a green house and others on the fields, the same seeds were treated differently. Some got a lot of fertilizer, others got none and some got just a little bit. We also regted heat, light and water differently in different green houses. Under high heat, despite the manure and water growth has been slower aspared to these ones."


    They entered a green house that was partially dim and mostly cold., it was almost as if they were entering a cave "Does the nt thrive best under such conditions?" she asked in wonder.


    "Yes, it thrives in colder temperatures with dim lighting. I think it''s the kind of crop that grows under foliage and thick trees in the cold season. The fruits here ripened the earliest."


    She could easily count about sixty trees in here, each of the trees had red fruits hanging from the branches.Some workers in white overalls were plucking the fruits and gently storing them in containers.


    "How many more have burst?" Oak asked one of the workers.


    "Five more." he replied and he pointed to where the liquid had spilled.


    "I hope you did not throw them out, the seeds are within the fruit, it''s the liquid which we must take out." she informed the workers.


    In a loud panicked voice, Oak shouted at the workers, "Hurry up, bring them back right now, bring them back. How can you throw out the seeds? Don''t you know how precious they are?"


    "You told us to throw the fruits which burst in the manure pit professor Oak." that particr answered.


    "Me!!!" Oak pointed at himself. "I don''t think so." he denied.


    "It doesn''t matter just bring them back right now." Bell told them.


    In the meantime, Scarlet picked up one fruit from the storage containers, she gently poked the soft area as indicated on the forum and when it open up, she brought the fruit directly to her mouth.


    "What are you doing?" a hand stopped her just as soon as the liquid touched her mouth.


    "I am tasting the c of a c fruit, is something wrong Tion?" she was puzzled.


    "Felix." Tion called.One of the guards, a young man with a head full of curly blonde hair stepped forward. "Drink that first, we should ascertain that our governor will not poison herself to death."


    "Yes sir." Felix looked at Scarlet and he brought his hand forward, requesting for the fruit.


    She scoffed in disbelief, when did they start treating her like a precious gem. "Tion.." she said in her what do you think you are doing voice.


    "It''s the general''s ordersgovernor, word has reached us that some people in the capital are coborating with someone here to cause harm to you personally or the fields. We are officially on high alert until the rumor is substantiated or the coborator is arrested."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "And when were you nning to tell me about this threat on my life?" she asked unhappily. Did they see her as some weak damsel in distress? Also who was the idiot that dared to take on a grim reaper? They must be so anxious to pay a visit to the underworld.


    "We were not to inform you unless the threat is pertinent. In this situation I believe it is because this is an unknown fruit cultivated by foreign individuals."Tion did not even blink, hold back or think twice to say things the way he thought them.


    "Foreigners!!!" Oak squealed.


    "Yeah, how dare you say that to us?" Bell questioned him.


    "You are not citizens of the blue star, you have no family here or any other ties and in my books that makes you foreigners. You could poison her and fly out without our knowledge. Our duty is first to the governor, we protect her in all circumstances whether she wants it or not." Tion responded.


    Despite Tion''s words being correct, Oak and Bell were very unhappy. Of all people to be suspected why did it have to be them? And he called them foreigners!!, they had been working and toiling hard to grow food along with the governor. Did this mean they could be ordered to leave the blue star at any time? What about their experimental fields?


    "They will apply for citizenship when they are ready, I trust them. But even if they don''t, they can still stay here as workers on a working permit. Or business men on an investment permit.


    "We do not have any such permits here governor." Tion informed her.


    "We will create them." she said sternly. "These men have worked hard to help me grow and research the food which you all eat. Do not dismiss their efforts casually."


    Oak and Bell nodded, both of them giving Tion daring looks. "Yes, don''t dismiss our efforts young man." Oak repeated.


    "Without us you would not be eating rice and meat." Bell dered.


    Everyone wondered how the research done by these two was rted to rice and meat. Those were things discovered by the governor and her teacher.In the midst of this small disagreement, Scarlet got a chance to drink the contents of the fruit.


    "Governor." Felix said in shock.


    "Do your job right." Tion bellowed at Felix.


    "Rx" Scarlet said, "The fruit is harmless, who else knows about poisonous foods more than me in the Sun star? You should all drink one and tell me what you think."


    She distributed the fruits, showing them how to open them. Even Sia got one, this as natural c so it was not harmful to children. The only one who did not drink was Tion. She saw him ring at his men that actually did drink.


    "What do you think?" she asked them.


    "It''s sweet."


    "Really tasty."


    "Bell, how much do you think we can sell these for?" Oak asked.


    "Gentlemen," Scarlet stopped them, "We should discuss some business, the fruits may be yours but thend, fertilizers, water and growing techniques came from me. why don''t wee to a win-win understanding."


    She did not even know it but with the cunning smile on her face and her tone, she looked and sounded like the old deity.

 Chapter 136 Good Doggie!

    ?


    It was rare for Esong to get a visit from his wife at the school. What amused him even more was the little girl on herps who was dressed simrly to her. From a distance, he smiled and took a picture before asking himself what he was doing but he kept the picture anyway. He walked toward his wife that was sitting on a foldable titanium chair reading a physical book to the little girl.


    "Hmm," he cleared his throat.


    "Hello, my husband." She responded without looking up.


    "Did you give me another child overnight? I don''t recall having a daughter." He replied in a slightly yful tone.


    "No," she closed the book that had childish images of animals on the top cover. "But I will want one in the future so take that into consideration. It''s not something we have discussed after all."


    Esong looked at the little girl that was dressed in a yellow dress like his wife, they made a cute pair together. But he also knew that adding another child to theirplicated situation right now was not necessarily the best thing for them both. It was another confirmation to him though that she was not considering any form of divorce or separation from him. "Do you want another child or a female child specifically?"


    "I would prefer female but even if its male, I would love it anyway. But like I said in the future like thirty years away, I want to be the queen of the mecha fights first. By the way when were you going to tell me that someone is trying to harm me?" She slid that little tidbit right in there smoothly.


    Esong''s gaze moved to Tion and he raised both eyebrows.


    "It was for her own protection general." Tion answered the unvoiced question. "She attempted and then sessfully drunk an unknown liquid."


    "Don''t you have people for this?" Esong questioned Tion.


    Scarlet was not particrly happy about not being addressed directly and she made it known by hitting Esong''s leg lightly with the book. "Don''t ask him ask me I am sitting right here and I am responsible for my safety as much as he is..."


    "Scarlet look what I found." She heard Severus''s voice in her head and she broke off whatever tirade she was about to break into. Her eyes roamed around, searching for Severus who she appeared on the peripherals of her eyes, running toward her with a group of at least six hunters judging by their uniforms running after him.


    "Oh Severus what have you done?" She asked worriedly.


    "I found it first but they want to take my glory, I will never let it happen." Severus replied and he dropped a fat white animal at her feet.


    "About your safety.."


    "Not now Esong, let us first deal with this." She tapped his thigh twice then she squatted down to examine the fat white animal with tiny horns that were probably not useful to it. Not unless they could elongate when it was in danger.


    "It looks like a sheep." She said. When she tried to touch it her hand was stopped. "Let go of my hand Esong, I have touched more dangerous thing than this harmless ball of fur. Please respect my skills." She added thest bit in a soft voice.


    He let go and she used her hands to examine the sheep. To the utter dismay of everyone around, she parted it''s legs and peeped in between. Did animals not have the right to privacy?


    "It''s male," She looked at Esong whose face was dismayed with a smile, "It''s alive, in good shape and healthy if we can find a female then we can breed them. There are no physical injuries on it''s body which means you did not harm it, good doggie." She patted Severus''s head and kissed it.


    "We found it governor." One of the hunters said proudly. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, it tried to run but the dog caught it." Another said.


    She looked up, giving them cold and curious looks. "What was it doing when you found it?"


    "Feeding." One said.


    "Sleeping." The other said. Both men spoke up at the same time, giving different answers which made their little story fall apart immediately. One cannot sleep and eat at the same time.


    Esong pointed his broad sword at them and warned in an angry voice, "Let this be the first andst time you attempt to lie to your governor."


    "We are sorry," the one who said he found the sheep sleeping apologized, trembling in fear. "We spotted something with our heat seeking goggles and before we could find out what it was, the dog came racing past us, took the animal and run. we just thought that since we had spotted it first then credit for the find was still ours technically."


    "So you didn''t stop to look and find out if there are other simr looking animals around. There could be a whole flock of sheep on the move right now that we are missing because credit is more important to you than anything else."Scarlet rebuked them sternly. "Return to your posts immediately, I will be joining the search and if I discover what you failed to find I will not be giving you credit but rather subtracting five coins each from your sries this month."


    The hunters took off running, heading back into the blue forest but she knew too well that they would not be able to beat her at the hunting game.


    "Did you find more?" she asked Severus.


    "I counted, they are around twenty on the move heading west to the ravine. This one was probably left behind because it was weak, I want it for dinner."Severus''s tongue licked his sharp teeth.


    "Is that why you also decided to rush and leave the rest of the flock behind?" she pulled on his ear gently.


    "I am not your employee, I find, you catch. There is also a good number of souls hiding in the ravine, I can sense some level one to three soul eaters. Do you want to hunt?"He looked in the direction of the forest where he could sense the souls. "The innocent ones which are being preyed on are in pain."


    "Let''s hunt." she said. Standing up, she told Esong, "I have to find the rest of the flock, someone take this fellow to the pasture and make sure he gets some water and food. "She looked at Sia who she had temporarily sat on the chair, "Oh," she said, "Another person should return this little darling to the day care Centre or find the manager of themercial kitchen, that''s her mother. Be certain that you hand her off to the mother directly, I do not want to hear anything about a lost or kidnapped child."


    Sia was crying when she was taken away wanting to remain with Scarlet but how could she take a child into the forest.


    "I am going with you." Esong replied.


    "Me too." Tion said.


    "Is there anything I can say right now which will deter you?" she asked them.


    Both men shook their heads. "We can take my mecha, it will be faster."


    Scarlet''s face turned green.

 Chapter 137 A Gathering Of Soul Eaters

    ?


    The swiftness with which Esong''s mecha brought them to the ravine was appreciated by Scarlet. It was not slowly, rickety or old and ufortable like her brother''s mecha. Because it could fly she did not need to endure being bounced up and down as it moved so there was no nausea or difort on this trip.


    Scarlet, Esong and Tion were all covered up in their armor and in their hands, they carried their weapons.They each carried a storage pod to throw the animals inside as soon as they came across them. Leading the way was Severus who Scarlet assured Esong was the best hunter among them all. But trusting his mental strength more, Esong used it to scan his environment, ready to slice anything that moved or looked suspicious.


    The ravine itself was smaller than the valley between the two peak mountains but it was surrounded by greenery. A variety of trees, moss draped rocks which guarded the serpentine path through which they carefully moved, worried about slipping and falling into a small stream of water which was right below them.They followed the stream because so did the animals, but it was an eerie hallow quiet ce, shared between sunlight and darkness from the overgrown canopies above. Scarlet wondered if the echoes in this ce were loud or silent.


    Severus ears twitched and Scarlet''s grip on her soul binding rope tightened. While they could all see it, Esong and Tion had presumptuously thought it to be just another one of her whips.


    "He has found something." She told them.


    "How do you know?" Esong asked her.


    "When a dog''s ears twitch, it hears something." she responded.


    Both men were yet to hear anything and they found it both fascinating and doubtful that a dog could hear what two men with mental strength could not.


    Esong activated the heat seeking sensors of his helmet and he saw many heat signatures."I think I have something." he said.


    "Go," Scarlet told him, "But be careful, sheep can be yful and dodgy."


    "Aren''t youing with us?" he asked her.


    "I see some bamboo shoots down there that I want to cut, I am close by, don''t worry."


    "Then Tion can stay with you, I will go alone." He insisted.


    "No," she said sternly, "You need to capture all of the sheep, I have been inside the forest alone before Esong stop wasting time." she did not want to spend more time here arguing with him so she lifted Severus, jumped down before he could say more,nding in the stream and racing into the thick foliage.


    "Oh fuck." Esong cursed. He looked in the direction of the heat signatures and then where she had disappeared.He struggled with the decision whether to follow her or go after the animals.


    "I will go after her." Tion said.


    "No," he cursed and shook his head. "Let''s get the animals first, I have her heat signature on my helmet so we will find her after handling this."


    Scarlet followed after Severus, racing into the underbelly of the forest, even crawling at one point through a gap in the rocks beforeing to a cave.


    "Oh men!! another cave." sheined. "Why do soul eaters like damp and dark ces. For once I would like to find one sitting under the tree and sunbathing or something."


    "Just hurry, I can sense five of them here, the highest is a level three." Severus replied.


    "What is this, a gathering of soul reapers? Are they holding a conference?" she asked with extreme irritation in her voice.


    "I can sense about one hundred or more souls in there, these nasty soul eaters must be collectors."He replied. "They collect souls, trap them in one ce and feast for weeks or months beforeing up to hunt again. It''s how some soul eaters stay off the radars of grim reapers and hounds for so long."


    "Great, now there is a new category to add." she said sarcastically.


    "What do you spend your time doing if you are not studying? I should start quizzing you."


    "Roar now, let''s finish this, I don''t have a lot of time.." she told him. She blinked and they both ended up inside the cave, Severus roared fiercely, the entire cave shook and souls started flying in different directions, all of them panicked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She had added a crystal amplifier to her soul gourd which shielded the entire cave so all the souls which were trying to escape were directly swallowed into the gourd directly.


    "Okay, listen carefully." she yelled, "All harmless souls politely move into the soul gourd and all soul eaters allow yourselves to be captured without giving me trouble. "


    Severus rolled his eyes and attacked the first soul eater he saw, she too stopped talking and went into action, using her soul power, skills, and rope to trap three soul eaters at once.


    "And then there was one." she looked at the level three soul eater that was roaring at the back of the cave. "Let''s not make this any harder than it has to be, if you run, I will whip you mercilessly." she warned him. ording to the forum, the higher the level of a soul eater, the more intelligent it was. This one, she knew could understand her a little bit. She noticed the ck smoke around him getting thicker and she said, "Whipping it is, this is going to hurt you a lot, sorry, I will smile while doing it."


    The rope divided into two ropes and she used her skill of spinning in a circle like a tornado, forming a cloud of wind through which a multitude of ropes appeared, whipping the soul eater from each and every side as it groaned . She did this until she got tired of whipping it and the rope came together, wrapping itself around the soul eater tightly.


    "I told you that you would get a whipping, why did you not listen to me?" she dragged it into the soul gourd as it shrieked and struggled."I am done." she dusted her hands even though they had no dust and all it took was five minutes.


    "You are getting better." Severusmented.


    "Of course, I have a great teacher. Who else taught me that I could split my rope into many pieces with my energy. It made it easy for me to capture three at once." she spoke with pride and excitement.


    "The tornado spin was excellent." he said.


    "I will use it in the mecha fight tomorrow, the Eastern Pdin is dead. I heard he wants my head for defeating the Southern pdin, I am going to eliminate the five pdins of division one." she folded her small fist and gritted her teeth to make a determined expression.


    "Cleanse this ce, soul collectors leave evil energy behind which can infect humans." Severus reminded her.


    "Ah, I remember this, once a human is infected with evil energy you need to feed them purifying water for three days and hold an exorcism. If you cannot exorcise the evil inside then you hire an exorcist from the forum."


    Severus nodded as she got sage sprinkled some crystal water and lit the sage."So you have been studying." hemented.


    "Everyday faithfully," she nodded, "There is a lot to cover but I am trying my best so please teacher be a little patient with me."


    "Let''s go, your husband is returning."


    "Oh shoot, I need bamboo shoots." she said in a panic.


    "Buy them he said, ask for the ones covered in soil, those are verymon in the shops."


    Both of them walked out of the cave happily, another day to celebrate a victory that only the two of them knew about.She blinked and they returned to the area where they entered the foliage.


    She squatted down, pretending to be digging for something, "The sun is soon setting." shemented.


    "You will be weed in the underworld like a hero again." he said.


    "Wait until I get to the top of the leaderboard, what prizes does one win at that stage anyway?"


    From above, Esong that had just arrived watched his wife talking casually to her dog. He wondered if she did it out of necessity or loneliness. Wherethose the bamboo shoots she went to dig?


    "Down here." she waved when she looked up and saw him. "I need some help."

 Chapter 138 Seeing Ezrah Again.

    ?


    When they returned to the city, the sheep were given the same treatment every other animal received, food and water first.As usual there was a lot of excitement and chatter about the things which the governors had found. The live stock department had to send away idlers that were trying to sneak in and take a peak at the sheep.


    Some people like the seventh prince could not be turned away, who would dare to stop a prince? The workers stood to the side and watched him take pictures of the sheep before he departed.


    The pictures he took were sent to the emperor who had also received a package containing ten c fruits. Along with the fruits was a video exining how to poke a hole and drink the liquid inside. King Wu was not a fussy man and despite the maids bringing him a ss, he drunk the c directly from the fruit.


    "It''s,_" he licked his lips, "Interesting." he added. "Sweet like the juice but not too sweet."


    Because the growth of fruits from seeds passed down by the ancestors was a thing of greatness, a few ministers had been invited to look at the fruit and taste the c.However, only the emperor had done any tasting so far and they watched him drink a second fruit while swallowing saliva.


    "ording to the professors it tastes refreshing when it''s cold." his secretary reminded him. "Perhaps we should put the rest of the fruits in cold storage."


    "Yes, great idea." the emperor nodded in agreement.


    Helplessly, the few ministers watched the fruits being carted away with greedy eyes.


    "As you can see," the emperor addressed them, "Professors Oak and Bell of the Agricultural bureau have made some progress on the blue star in sessfully growing some fruit trees from some of the seeds provided to them.There are six of you ministers in this room, four amongst you have written petitions and spear headed campaigns to cut down the funding of that bureau. What do you think now?" He leaned forward and looked at his ministers.


    "It''s amazing your majesty, extremely astonishing." one minister said.


    "I suggest that the fruits be harvested and brought here to the capital for further studies your majesty. We should form a new team to see how we can grow the yield better." another said.


    The emperor scowled, he found it unappealing that the two who were most vocal in calling the agricultural bureau a ck hole of funding were the first to speak.


    "The professors experimented here in the capital for years without results and now that they are making progress you want them to hand over the results of their research to someone else? Minister Shawn, your words displease me. You can all leave, I simply wanted to make you aware of the progress and let you know that I will be increasing their funding."


    The ministers bowed and walked out stiffy, minister Shawn especially wore a rigid look on his face.


    At night, Scarlet visited the underworld to deliver her souls and she found Ezrah who she had not seen in a really long time. Her friend had changed her appearance by dyeing her hair pink.


    "Goodness me," Scarlet was amazed and her eyes showed it. "What did you do to your hair?"


    "I tried a new look, my boyfriend thinks it''s cute." she stuck her tongue out and moved her head from side to side. "What do you think?"


    "I think it''s_ unique." Scarlet touched her hair. "You are lucky that you are cute but please don''t get any sort of piercings. Where have you been by the way? I have not seen you on a soul delivery in so long."


    Ezrah punched her on the arm and smiled, "Oh, I have been around, did you think I missed your delivery of a pure strong soul? I watched it on the forum. I have been delivering my souls twice a week because I am concentrating on my cultivation.Ever since you caught up with me I have been feeling a bit inadequate." she replied honestly.


    "Please don''t, I have purifying water, a hell hound, soul nourishing grass and millions of soul crystals. I will share some grass and water with you, you are my only friend in this world after all and you offered me help when I started out. "


    "Really?" Ezrah''s eyes widened.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Mmm" Scarlet nodded. "But I should first deliver my souls." She was next in line and she released the one hundred seven souls from her soul gourd.


    Ezrah was not the only one to stare, many other reapers did too. It was notmon to see a reaper delivering hundreds of souls at once, except for the high level reapers asionally.


    "Wow, my friend no one canpete with you. Did a couple of buses crash on your world?"


    "No." Scarlet shook her head.


    "A big fire?"


    "No," soul eaters, the collector types. "I found five of them." She released those ones too.


    The bells went off, signifying the delivery of soul eaters and other reapers made way. She knew that this would cause a fuss, many would talk and her name would be trending on the forum again tomorrow.


    "Ah, reaper Scarlet, it''s good to see you." the soul registrar she approached spoke to her calmly with a smile.


    "Thank you, it''s good to see you too." she smiled back.


    "Is Severus the thirty first with you?" he asked.


    "No, we had a long day and he stayed back to rest, if you give me your name I will tell him that you asked about him."


    The soul registrar nodded, "Tell him Old McGee asked after him and that I have a soul attracting stone. He should meet me for a trade, he knows what I want."


    "I will." she replied.


    The soul eaters were taken away first, the rest of the souls were counted and she received her crystals.She gave Ezrah the things she had promised her to aid her cultivation.


    "Are you leaving now?" Ezrah asked her.


    "Yes, I have a fight tomorrow in my world, I need to focus. If you want to talk send me a message on the forum."


    "You are on the leaderboard fights, you also fight in your world, when do you rest?"


    "I would say that I will rest when I die but I died and I am not resting." Scarlet responded and shrugged. Both she and Ezrahughed at the irony of her statement.


    "I you need anything contact me, okay, bye bye. Thank you for the cultivation aids." Ezrah waved at her. Scarlet waved back with a smile, disappeared and she opened her eyes in the real world, Esong was sleeping with one of his arms on her waist just as he had been doing when she went on soul delivery. She smiled and inched herself closer to him and closed her eyes, going to sleep.

 Chapter 139 Another Victory For The Hound

    ?


    The day of her second mecha fight quickly arrived and Scarlet was feeling pumped. Unlike the first fight where almost all the blue star citizens had attended, it was not a necessity this time round. So, people went to their jobs, the children went to school and Severus slept this one out. To her surprise however the virtual arena was filled to the maximum despite theck of many blue star citizens. Who knew that her fights would attract this much attention? Someone somewhere was probably selling ''The hound'' merchandise already.


    The usual introductions were made and she stepped into the ring, more exaggerated introductions followed and the Eastern pdin, the challenged, entered the ring.


    He wore white armor and carried a staff just as the Southern pdin. She had looked into the five pdins of division one. They were five brothers, the divine pdin that was number one in division one on the virtual champions roll. The Northern pdin who was number ten, the Western pdin who upied the twentieth position, the Eastern pdin that she was facing off today who upied the fortieth position and the Southern pdin that she defeated. Amazingly after defeating him, the Southern pdin was now hot on her trail, seeking to catch up with her.


    "You are the one that defeated my brother." The Eastern pdin said.


    "Yes," she replied with a proud look on her face. "And I am going to do the same to you." She assured him.


    She did not break any records in her first fight but in this one, she intended to do so.


    "I will end your little reign today hound, I hope you have enjoyed it." He responded in a soft sort of eerie voice that was supposed to frighten her.


    She scoffed and thought, ''I have fought zombies and soul eaters, does he think his voice will be the thing that brings me to my knees?'' She said to him, "Bring it on." This was one fight which she intended to end in twenty seconds. That was not a record anyone had broken yet.


    The red g vanished in a small haze of mes and the fight started, having learned from his brother''s defeat, the Eastern pdin attacked her immediately. He used his staff to send a wave of powerful energy her way. Probably, he was hoping that it would knock her out or send her into the oblivion portal.Unfortunately for him, she too had learned from her fight with the Southern pdin. Lately, she had been practicing one particr skill really hard, creating a hallucination with her mental skills that interfered with the mind of her opponent.


    She pushed the energy st away, smiled and said, "zombies." Nobody in this world had seen a zombie before and she knew that it would shock and throw him off his game. Those mutated humans,ing at you like that with red eyes and growls could be quite shocking. The fear of the unknown was something that could shake up even the most powerful man or woman.


    Nobody knew what happened but they all saw the Eastern pdin suddenly freeze, his eyes widened in a panic and suddenly Scarlet spun around and kicked him with her wind st. She sent him flying into the oblivion portal and just like that, the fight ended.


    A moment of stunned conjoined silence that was a result of disbelief overtook the crowd of viewers that had been chanting, drag him to hell or cure her illusions.


    "What the fuck just happened?" The four other pdins were watching the fight and the divine one asked the others. "Someone tell me what has just happened?"


    "Fifteen seconds," the Southern pdin said. "She has defeated him in Fifteen seconds."


    "She must be cheating." Another one said. "We must report this to the board."


    The divine pdin shook his head, among them all he wore a gold mask on his face and his decisions could not be argued with.


    "Not yet, wait for an analysis of the fight." He said suddenly calm. The judges were still analyzing the fight and if they mindlessly run off and imed that she was cheating and it was discovered that she did not cheat, they would look like fools before the entire mecha fighting world.


    In the ring, Scarlet''s hand was raised up and her victory announced.


    "Not only has she won, she has set a new record by defeating her opponent in Fifteen seconds with a single move." The host of the fight announced.


    Standing proudly on stage she watched the people chant, "Hound, hound, hound." Someone started howling and many others followed either howling, growling or barking but they made animalistic sounds.


    "As the setter of a new record, how do you feel right now?" The host questioned her.


    ''How do I feel?'' She asked herself, "I feel like number one." She replied and the crowd went wild. It was a veiled hint but an open deration that she wasing for the top spot.


    The four pdins were displeased because they had been dominating this division slowly but steadily. This neer was disorganizing their ns. "She will being for you next West." The divine pdin said grimly.


    "I will take her down." He replied. "Whatever trick she has pulled, I will use it against her."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Scarlet was a grim reaper that could hear sounds from thousands of miles away if she wanted and she heard the pdins talking. Looking directly in the direction of their seats in the virtual arena, she smiled and winked.


    "Can she hear us all the way over here?" the southern pdin asked his brothers.


    "Probably not." the western pdin shook his head.


    But his brother could swear that that wink had been directly aimed at them. This hound was a very sly woman that could not be underestimated.


    "Will you be challenging another mecha fighter today?" the host asked her. He looked really eager and hopeful with the expressive glint in his eyes. His eyebrows were moving upwards, prompting her to say yes.


    "No." she replied.


    He was taken back and some people in the crowd were too.


    "Will you be epting challenges then?" the host tried hopefully.


    "No." she replied.


    And just like that the crowd went from loving her to booing her.


    "Why?" the host asked.


    Scarlet chuckled and then she shrugged, "I have a job." she said, "This armor does not pay for itself, soooo, farewell people, see you when Ie for number twenty."


    She fired them up with her little announcement, directly telling them that she wasing for the western pdin next and she left the virtual world.


    Beord was right there waiting for her with a bottle of water, "Good job sis, really superb." he was excited. "You actually set a record, I thought you would only concentrate on breaking Shadow''s record but you have branched out."


    "Oh I am stilling for that one." she told him. "Division two will dread my name before I arrive."


    Division two was already hearing her name alright and many articles were being released at a fast pace by journalists, bloggers and mecha fight analysts that wanted to oupete each other to the big headlines.


    "A new fifteen second record set in the division one mecha fights."


    "The hound does it again."


    "Fifteen seconds!!! How did the hound do it?"


    "The secret to the hound''s mysterious move."


    "I will annihte all the pdins," says the hound."


    "Division one has been spilt into two the pdins vs the hound, who will win this fight?"

 Chapter 140 I Am Here To Celebrate. [R.18]

    ?


    It was the lunch break at school and all teachers and students were off to eat something and find out if the governor had gained another victory. A few sneaky children had used their terminals in the ssroom to find out the results of the fight already. The video showcasing the highlights of the fights was pinned to number one on the mecha fights official star page however the highlight itself was a full coverage of the entire fight.


    A group of sixteen year old boys were huddled closely together, studying the video. "Is this it?" one of them asked.


    "It''s like the entire video, there is nothing else to see." one of his friends said.


    With a pained expression on his face, he kicked some dirt, "This sucks." that boy said.


    "Why, it''s cool, she defeated the Eastern pdin in fifteen seconds, do you know another fighter that can pull that off?"another of his friends asked.


    "I can name fifty." that boy said.


    "What''s your problem Briggs?"a friend of the boy asked him.


    "I am all for her win guys but the fight was too quick, it ended so fast like I wanted to see more action. Does any of you know what move she pulled to make the pdin freeze up?"


    Esong and Cedric bypassed the boys, over hearing thest bits of their conversation. "Your wife has attained another victory it seems."


    "I know." Esong replied.


    "You don''t have to look so smug about it." Cedric said lightheartedly. "One would think you personally fought."


    Esong saw Scarlet heading to the direction of the corn fields and he suddenly ced the two volumes of books in his hands on Cedric''s chest."I will see youter."


    Cedric did not get a chance to respond because he had to clutch the books and ensure that they did not fall down while watching his friend racing away in the direction of his wife."Oh, that wife obsessed bastard." he mumbled.


    Esong could have cared less about these mumbles because the moment he touched Scarlet''s arm, he directly carried her in his arms, exposed his armor and flew her to his space ship.


    She was surprised because she screamed for the ten second journey. He snatched her up like an eagle snatching up fish from the water and carrying it into air abruptly.


    "What was that?" she asked him when theynded down. She was giving him a perplexed look. "I have..."


    "I have missed you?" he cut her off.


    "Flustered, her face warmed up and she looked away from him, "We saw each other a few hours ago." she responded. "Seven hours and twenty five minutes to be precise."


    "You have been counting." he smirked. Lifting her up again in his arms, he sat her down on the table, right in the centralmanding unit of the space ship.


    "What are you doing?" she asked in a shy voice. In the back of her mind she knew what he wanted, and what he was going to do. "Heyyyyy," she could not help saying in a small voice as she felt him taking off her pants in one swift move. She had told him that he would be in celebratory mood if she won her fight and he must have known. Being the same old impatient Esong, he could not wait anymore.


    The beating of her heat sped up, and she clenched her eyes shut, squealing in a soft small voice.


    Esongughed and held her head up by her chin, "I have missed you so much." he repeated. He parted her legs, stood in between them, lowered his head, leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.


    She opened her eyes, wide they were in surprise because she expected him to go directly for her lips.


    "Congrattions." he rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. "You were spectacr." he kissed her on the tip of her nose.


    She was helpless against this unexpected sweet gesture, "Thank you."


    His hand caressed her cheek gently, "I am going to give you a big gift." he whispered.


    Out came her silly nature and she giggled. "A big gift!!, really Esong?" Did he have to be so clich¨¦ about his package.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s not just a reference to that, get your mind out of the gutter. I am talking about a real gift. But right now, I am going to give you another gift the one you said you want."


    She remembered telling him to get on his knees, between her legs..... she clenched her buttocks and that part of her body tight. She could feel this sweet warmth passing through her body.


    "Stick your tongue out." he instructed her.


    Breathing slightly faster, she opened her mouth and stuck she tongue out, wondering what he was going to do. In an unexpected move, Esong leaned in, and sucked on her tongue.


    She moaned into his mouth, very surprised by the erogenous feeling that was being stimted in her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, the tongue sucking turned into kissing, his mouth on hers, deeply pulling her into his world.


    The kisses quickly turned frantic and desperate for both of them, she ripped his shirt open and used her hands to pull him as closely against her body as she could.


    Esong pulled himself away from her and heughed, breathing quite quickly.


    "That bad, huh." heughed.


    "You have no idea." she told him.


    He returned but instead of kissing her again as she expected, he knelt between her legs and spread them as widely apart as he could. Lightly kissing her thighs, he inched his way upwards, approaching the most hidden part of her.He hovered over it, and sniffed, drawing in a deep breath.


    Scarlet covered her face, feeling mortified and extremely shy. Her thighs came together but he stopped them. "You smell edible." he whispered.


    "Oh," she half squealed and half moaned. ''This is so embarrassing, he can see everything, It''s not appropriate at all.'' she thought.But that thought was quickly erased when she felt the first swipe of his tongue on her honeypot.


    She whimpered, and shuddered as he started licking her over the top, he sucked hard on her sensitive clit and she screamed. Trembling, her hands slowly moved downward and held his head in ce, as she rode herself against the back of his tongue. When his tongue prated her insides, she clenched tightly, and fell back against the table helplessly.


    "Esong," she panted his name, "Oh, Esong," she cried as he prated her with his tongue over and over.The sensations were heavenly, it was just as she fantasized sometimes when she closed her eyes, no, it was better than her fantasies.With just the use of his tongue, he had set her entire body on fire.


    "Please," she pleaded, "More, give me something more."Her body was craving for something, something other than his tongue to fill her up.He obliged her by adding a finger to his assault of her honeypot and she banged her hand against the table.


    His mouth left her and he stood up but he added another finger inside of her. He raised her body up with his other hand, forcing her to look at him.


    "Tell me," he said, "Beg me." he told her.


    She nodded her head, "Please," she repeated.


    "Tell me you want my cock." he withdrew his fingers and spanked her.


    "I..."she shook her head from side to side, she wrapped her arms around him and hid her head in his broad chest.


    "Say it," he whispered harshly into her ears.


    She was too timid and proper, never saying any vulgarities as if it would break her to do so. He would get her to open up slowly, she would learn to enjoy dirty talk slowly.


    "Say it or I stop, tell me you want my cock." he withdrew his fingers from her body.


    "No," she whimpered, her body was on fire, if he stopped she felt as if she would go lose her sanity. "I want you Esong, I want your co..." The word seemed to be stuck in her throat. "Please." she said in a desperate small voice.


    He smiled, kissed her and said, "I will give you ten points for trying." And then, only then did he finally enter her in one swift move.

 Chapter 141 Moving To Blue City

    ?


    Two months quickly went by and the light emitted by the suns started to dwindle. The warmth was fading and the smiling faces of many citizens stretched into frowns. It wasing, the cold season, and along with it, the hours of dread. The suns never disappeared together at once, one sun always left before the other and it would be the first sign of the changing season. When the second sun disappeared, everything woulde to a stand still. Schools would be closed, most factories and businesses would shut down with the exception of the vital ones. Children would be locked indoors and almost all the night life woulde to a halt, with the exception of the mecha fights. When the cold season approached the mecha fights would kick off a storm in the virtual and physical world with many people seeking a ce to drown their thoughts and fears. For thest three months of the year these businesses thrived as most people locked and barricaded themselves inside their homes waiting for the official announcement from the national television that the cold season was over.


    The first sun was gone and Scarlet could see the grim looks on the faces of the citizens. She knew what worried them, for one they were still living in tents and two, Esong was leaving. Some misguided people actually thought that he would stay on and protect the blue star but when he started showing signs of packing up, they became anxious. If he was gone, who would protect them?


    She was in a meeting with the heads of departments, ministers and officials and the discussion revolved around the degree to which the preparations for the cold season had been achieved.


    "It''s time to start moving governor, we have less than a week left. A boy said he saw a drop of yellow rain, we all know what that signifies." d insisted against the many arguments made by his counterparts about waiting for an official another from the national television. Usually an official announcement was made which told the citizens of the empire that it was time to arm up, lock up and survive. But the yellow rain signified that the cold season was at most a week or two away. "The apartments have been ready for two weeks now, it doesn''t matter if a few amenities are still missing what matters is that the people are indoors, behind walls and locked doors."


    "We have a shield and a barrier, in the capital these things are usually enough to protect us. I think the movement of people into houses should be done carefully. The biggest contributors should get their pick of houses first. We all know that the prices of the houses vary from luxury to basic. Some people can afford more than one house, some want entire floors. The Carlzon''s want an entire building and they should get a chance to purchase one as they wish. The blue star needs the money, our construction department needs that money." Barry Wise said, he was the head of the construction department and he was a man that believed greatly in ''those who have and those who can do'' should have more privileges than others. He was skilled in handling money, talented in managing workers and excellent in construction. But his ideas about the hierarchy of society often made him the target of criticism among his peers. This was why Scarlet did not appoint him a minister, he was too inflexible with his ideals.


    His words resulted into an argument which was quickly bing louder.


    "What happens to others if the Carlzon''s get an entire building?" Scarlet banged a wooden gavel on the table and asked this when silence resumed.


    "Exactly my point." Calitos the representative of the religious and faith council concurred with Scarlet''s question. "What you are suggesting is inhumane and unrighteous. Whether one is poor or wealthy they deserve to be treated equally. In the eyes...."


    "Oh great, another faith sermon." Barry Wise interrupted and said sarcastically. "Save the speech for the temple Calitos we all pay our dues in the form of donations. Try that guilt tripping shit on the simple minded." His face wore a bored and unimpressed but highly irritated look.


    "He is not wrong though." Carolyn said loudly. "If we are going by hierarchy then the original citizens of the blue star should be ranked first because we lived here before the first immigrants."


    Barry snorted and sneered at Carolyn, "It''s not as if you lived in these wonderfully constructed houses which we have worked so hard on. We found you in hovels and trees like a bunch of..."


    "Barry Wise." Scarlet yelled sternly. "One more unpleasant word out of you and I will strip you of your authority skill or no skill. I value you but I will not ept insults to our people or my family for that matter. For your information we had started construction of houses before you moved here. I have made up my mind, whether we need the money or not from the sales of the apartments the safety of the people shoulde first. All the people." She paused and looked around patiently. "I know that your lives in the capital were different but keep in mind that the blue star is not the capital. You have all had more than enough time to assimte and this we vs you nonsense is no longer eptable. No matter where you came from once you requested and were granted citizenship here of your own ord then you are one of us. As long as no one is greedy then the apartments will be enough for everyone. If they are not by any chance then I will wee some residents to the outer buildings of the governor''s castle. Put down your hand Barry." she said sternly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Barry Wise grumpily put down his hand and sulked.


    "The new temple is very spacious too governor." Calitos added. "We will be happy to wee everyone that is seeking amodation."


    "Of course you would." Barry mumbled under his breath. In his opinion the people who worked with the temple and paraded themselves as righteous but did not dedicate their lives to Buddhism by bing monks were hypocrites.


    d then switched the hologram in the middle of the table to a different section. "The following sectors will remain open for work so you must all inform your workers about this." He announced. "Construction.."


    "Why are we remaining open?" Barry asked loudly.


    "It''s only for the beginning and if the weather gets too rough you will be told to stop." Fey as Scarlet''s assistant informed him.


    "Health," d continued. This was expected so no one argued. "Food processing, the winery, media andmunications, banking and all other financial services, all manufacturing departments, the RGB, the military, all the games and sports departments, cleaning departments." He got rid of the hologram. "Communicate well with your employees, it might be a challenge because some of you are not used to working in the cold season so we are going to take things slowly by working for only half of the day. If it''s not hard then the hours can be increased but if it gets hard then work can be paused."


    "Schools may be breaking off for the winter break but e-learning ispulsory. Children cannot simply sit at home for three months idly. All teachers should meet their department heads for a program." Scarlet reminded them."The meeting ends here, we have a lot to do so no redundancy please."


    "What is winter?" Someone asked.


    "The governor''s name for the cold season, it''s also used on the yellow star."


    "Mr. Rodney," Scarlet called the man in charge of all media on the Blue star, "please make the announcement right now, with immediate effect the citizens should start packing up and moving to the Blue city."

 Chapter 142 The Citizens Are Excited.

    ?


    A sudden announcement informing the citizens to suddenly prepare to move was bound to create a bit of panic. Not because the people were frightened but because of excitement. Everyone would be in a rush to get the best house, the closest house to a hospital, the road of the supermarket. Some would want to be close to the school. No matter where one preferred to live, there would be scuffles, arguments and a lot of shoving as if they were entering a market ce. Scarlet had seen such behavior in the Blue mart.


    To elude this, she went live on BSTV and addressed the citizens personally. Themunications department sent out a message to all the citizens that had bracelet terminals or phones, asking them to tune in to BSTV immediately for an important announcement. All department heads asked their workers to stop working and watch the governor.


    "On many terminals and some televisions, Scarlet''s face appeared, "Citizens of the Blue star as we draw closer to the cold season many of you have approached city hall, myself or the general and other representatives with many questions about housing and security. I am here today to address one of your concerns, the housing situation. It is with great pleasure that I announce to you all that we are officially moving to the Blue city starting today. Now I know that this is bound to cause excitement and rashness but I am requesting you all to be calm. I have been assured that there are enough apartments for every adult citizen on our. Even if the apartments are not enough other arrangements have been made to provide amodation for everyone.


    As we move I am going to request you all to be orderly, talk to the office of housing and find out the costs of the various apartments. You can also visit the local bank and find out what kind of mortgages are being offered. Those that can afford to make full payments you can also do so in the Blue Bell bank which is now open for business. However please note that not all of you will be attended to today, the migration process might take us three or four days before everyone canfortably move into their own home. I urge you all to exercise patience during this exercise and I am cautioning you not to abandon your work posts negligently because of the move. Your department heads will give you permission to leave in shifts. For this reason in some departments work will be done in day and night shifts, those who move during the day can work at night. This will be done until everyone has sessfully migrated. Lastly please note that just because we are moving does not mean that this working district is going to be abandoned. Your work ces remain here until further notice. Thank you, and may you have a good day."


    "That will do, right?" she asked Rodney.


    "It was perfect." Fey replied instead. "Now we should hurry, you have to move first in order to find time to care about the rest of the people."


    "We packed yesterday, all we have to do is move into the castle."she reminded her sister.


    "We are moving too," Rodney smiled, "The new media house is really beautiful. I love the revolving doors at the entrance and the spinning hologram at the top. We are going to need more programs for the cold...winter though.Many people spend this time watching television and I would hate to lose out to the televisions of other stars."


    "If we had directors, talented actors and actresses,we would shoot our own movies." she sighed.


    "Can we shoot short movies?" Rodney asked her. "The star mall has many script writers selling scripts. Also many reading tforms have short novels and other works for sale. If we can buy them we can cover up a significant gap."


    "Shop around and see, I have a lot to do today so I can''t sit down and share thoughts with you. I do have a short animation called avatar that can be aired during the winter. It will be loved by both the adults and children."


    "Give it to me," he said to her. Scarlet was already rushing out and he was hot on her heels.


    Tion stopped him when he got too close, "Someone will bring you the storage device." he told Rodney.


    "Aaah," Rodney rolled his head. He had so many grudges against Tion who took his responsibilities so seriously. Did he think that he Rodney would harm the governor if he stood next to her?


    "Tonight Rodney,e to the castle." Scarlet ignored their little tussle. It was not new to her.


    Two hourster the move was in full swing and one of the first excited citizens to move,Certified gold opened his live stream and many of his viewers poured in to see what new amazing product he was unveiling from the Blue mart today. Certified gold had poprized bicycles, by showing off when he rode one. Unfortunately he fell down and chipped a tooth. Unknowingly, he smiled at the camera and the silly chipped tooth smile was turned into a meme. This made him even more popr and he had a steady following of about twelve million people now.


    "Hey guys, guess what this rich but asionally broke young master is doing today?"


    [Eating a new food.]


    [Showing off some more.]


    [Buying a sr powered car, please do because we want to see the specs.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Massive shopping.]


    [You are handsome toady certified gold, do you want my private number.]


    "I am shopping today but not for food, for a house."he announced.


    [Really, are you finally moving out of a tent?]


    [I thought you were going to get a gold crown for your chipped teeth why is it still chipped?]


    Certified gold smirked, why would he cover up the tooth that made him famous? It was his signature look now.


    "Yes, the governor announced it a few hours ago. We blue star citizens can now move into homes. It''s time to say goodbye to the night sky and the stars. "


    [How much are the houses?]


    [How tall are the buildings?]


    "The prices of the houses differ but most of them range between one hundred thousand star coins to ten million. It depends on the size of your bank ount and the size of the house you want I guess. The office of housing is offering mortgages so you can purchase a house and pay it off in ten or twenty years. If this system was implemented in the capital many of us would be able to live in beautiful apartments and houses."


    [Oh wow it''s so cheap.]


    [What is the price of an entire floor?]


    [Can I buy an apartment if I do not live on the blue star?]


    [I can afford five apartments of ten million right now, full payment. Can I buy them as an investment?]


    "Guys I see so many questions and I don''t know which to answer first. Those of you who want to know about investments and stuff maybe you should contact themunications department. Anyway, this rich young master has purchased an apartment of two million star coins and I am going to give you a tour."


    [Two million is rich, hahaha..]


    [This poor young man, let me send you twenty castles to console your heart.]


    Certified gold used his thumb print to enter the house and he said, "Wee to my new home, I paid for a fully furnished apartment which cost me an extra six hundred thousand star coins. I have strained my ount but I think owning my own home is worth it. By the way guys, did I mention that this two bedroom apartment is on the sixtieth floor has a view of theke, take a look?"


    He started his bragging as usual as he showed his followers his apartment. Thanks to him, the entire star was soon filled with news about the beautiful blue star apartments.

 Chapter 143 What Is Fairness?

    ?


    BSTV decided to cover the first hours of the move because it would show the others what to do and what procedures to follow. This would save time for those whose jobs could not be left for more than an hour or two. Scarlet was inclusive among these people and instead ofnguishing in a rxed manner in the castle, she briefly inspected it before rushing out to resume work. But it was not before she and Esong took an official picture in front of the governor''s castle which was shared on the officialmunications page of the Blue star.


    People were encouraged to pay visits to the outer areas of the castle but the inside ones were strictly out of bounds. Mecha warriors assigned to guard the castle were among the first to move with their families into the buildings in the outer areas, they had to live here because it was where they were posted. Tion did not spend much time unpacking, leaving it to Grace, his wife and their daughter. He was quick to return to his position, two feet behind the governor at all times. When Esong was around it would be four or six feet, depending on what the couple was discussing. Right now, they were discussing his trip back to the capital. She was mentioning all the things that he could take with him when he stunned her into silence with his next words.


    "I am taking Hachiko," he said.


    Scarlet could not fathom what possibly made Esong want to take one of the dog with him. She had personally named the yful dog which always followed and waited for Esong by the space ship Hachiko, after the dog in a movie she never watched but heard so much about on earth. Esong and Hachiko bonded so much that they went for running together and when he saw her training him to sit, roll and greet, he took to teaching the dog some fighting and evasion skills. Scarlet fed some of the dogs purifying water which made them smarter, Hachiko was the smartest so far. With Esong''s training he had be faster and brutal. She did not think that Esong would love the dog so much to the extent of wanting to take it along with him to the capital.


    "You are going to be busy, you might not even have time to tend to him." She reminded him. "What if he is killed by a mutated beast?"


    "I won''t let it happen, If I am going out to fight I will leave him at home with my brother Elon or on the space ship.." He assured her, "Don''t worry much, just give me enough dog food tost me at least six months."


    "Six months!!, you will not be back here for six months, I will not be seeing you until what, April next year? You are going miss Justin''s birthday and mine too."A three month winter kept mecha warriors away from their families for six months a year. This job was not as glorious as it appeared to be on the surface.


    Esong took hold of her arm and held it in his, he was aware that since the dynamics of their rtionship had changed, it was difficult not to feel disappointment for both of them with the inevitable parting.


    "It''s going to be difficult on both of us." he said softly.


    "I know." she replied.


    "But what I do has to be done, someone has tomand the thunder death army army. I formed it, nurtured and grew it, as theirmander how I sit back when they go out to protect us all." he sighed.


    "I think it''s not fair that the strongest mecha warriors have to protect the sun star while other stars get the mediocre warriors. The sun star also has the strongest shields and barriers, it''s so tant that the lives of the nobles are more valuable than the rest of the people. Maybe you should discuss this with the emperor."she had so manyints about this policy in her heart.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Esong stopped walking so she stopped too, he grabbed her shoulders and looked down at her face. "Let me guess, you think that mecha warriors should stay behind and protect or fight for stars they live on."


    "Yes," she nodded eagerly. "You live on the blue star so it''s only fair that you stay and protect the blue star. There are thousands of other mecha warriors that can protect the capital."


    "What about the stars with no mecha warriors? Have you ever considered what would happen to them if that policy was initiated?" he asked her.


    Scarlet''s eyes rolled from left to right as she thought, this had actually not crossed her mind. Would other stars be left defenseless? Was that even possible? No way_.


    "You are right when you say that the capital has thousands, no it''s actually millions of mecha warriors that are born, raised and trained from there just as I was.But the green star has only ten, the yellow star has three, the red star is always okay because it has to be protected since it''s a mining.Mecha warriors are assigned there through out the year. The grey star has one mecha warrior, our blue star now has.....if you count the brothers that moved here and myself, three."he continued to exin to her. "Do you think three mecha warriors are enough to protect the thousands of people here against an invasion of thousands of mutated beasts? From the millions of mecha warriors in the capital, thousands are dispatched to different stars to protect them. It does not matter where each mecha warrior was born, what matters is their duty as long as they are still active and that they fulfil it."


    She had forgotten that the ex mecha warriors that moved here were not active anymore, they were retired and their mental strength had regressed. They could not be assigned fighting mechas, ships, armor or weapons the active warriors had. Come to think of it, her words were incredibly foolish. A thousand active mediocre mecha warriors protecting them was better than three since they could not be everywhere at the same time. Her words were indeed stupid!!


    "I am d that I am the only one you have discussed these thoughts with, I hope." he gave a stern nce, "If people were to know about this, you would be publicly condemned. The emperor would be displeased, you could even lose your governorship.


    "Sorry," she looked down, wanting to hide her embarrassment. "I should not have spoken so foolishly."


    Esong sighed and held her hand again, they continued walking to the corn fields. He surprised her by saying, "You are not the first to see things this way, many nobles whose children are mecha warriors once thought this way. They did not want their precious sons dying on what they consider to be unworthy and backward stars and they asked the emperor why they did not stay behind and defend their homes. The old emperor thought for days and then he called for a meeting and he said he was going to redistribute the noble houses among the stars to create some bnce of power. That was the end of the murmurings, the nobles were unwilling to move and they kept their noses out of mecha warrior business. This news was not made public of course, so don''t tell others about it."


    "Who would I even tell?" she muttered.


    "Your family is awfully close and cozy, everyday Fey updates on you on everything you missed at the dinner table in the house. Who said what and who reacted in what way. You, in turn tell her about our dates, training and all the funny things that you encountered. I can only hope that you do not discuss our sex life with your sisters." He gasped and looked at her, "And your mother!!!"

 Chapter 144 The Harvest Rush.

    ?


    She wanted to p him on the back of his head for thinking such an outrageous thing. What kind of daughter discussed her sex life with her mother? But another thought crossed her mind and nagged at her, "Wait," she looked at Esong with suspicion in her eyes. "All these are private conversations which you are not privy to, how are you aware of what I discuss with my sister?" She then spun around slightly and looked at Tion, "Don''t tell me_" she gasped.


    Her eyes widened and she held her free hand over her mouth in disbelief, "Tion!!"


    With a straight face, Tion told her, "I can assure you governor that my mouth is sealed tighter than the shields of the Varakaspany. If your conversations have been leaking I am not the source."


    She pushed her face forward slightly in a bid to look for the telltale signs of lies on his face, like a twitching eye, sudden perspiration, rubbing of his nose but she got nothing. He was as always, rigid and still like a rock. How did he convince Grace to marry him like this? The man was like a robot at times.


    "Leave Tion alone." Esong spun her back to face the front and they continued walking, ten more steps and they wouldnd in the corn fields. "The two of you discuss personal things in the hearing distance ofworkers, it''s inevitable that the gossip travels to all corners of this. Now that we are moving into the castle all the maids in waiting if you have any, cleaners, cooks, guards and whoever else works for you especially has to sign a confidentiality agreement. The more official and developed the bes the more efficient we have to be as well.Things must be done the right way."


    "I know," she responded, "My mother had this conversation with me already and some contracts have been signed. She got me maids too between the ages of twenty and fifty. I also have the robot butlers your grandfather gave me to help around the castle. I do not have any maids in waiting, my family has never been keen on that kind of thing, we leave it to you upper nobility, like your family." His sister had threedies in waiting and four maids in waiting.


    "As my wife you are upper nobility." he reminded her. It ticked him off sometimes that she drew the line like this, saying things like our, my, your, especially when it came to their families. To date, she did not refer to herself as a part of his family. He had tried to bring it up many times before but he held himself back out of desire to keep the peace in the fragile rtionship they had.


    She saw Fey waving at her with Justin in her hands and she abandoned Esong, running toward her baby who was holding ripe corn in his hands. First, she took a picture and then she carried him.


    "What are you doing here baby?" she asked him.He hardly responded when she covered his face with kisses.


    "Mother, don''t do this in public." Justin whined.


    She was taken back, puzzled why and since when had Justin started rejecting her overly affectionate gestures and public disys of affection."Why?" she asked him.


    "I am a man, great grandfather said that men must be dignified at all times. He also said that in the rules of nobility, men and women should keep a distance apart physically after the age of five." he opened his adorable mouth and retold her what Esong''s grandfather said to him.


    "You are not five my dear," she amended. "You are still four years old."


    "Oh," Justin said and he blinked, he looked around stealthily in an extravagant manner, "Okay you can kiss me but my friends should not see."


    "What?" Scarlet burst out loud inughter. "Wow, my only reason for living is embarrassed of me, oh my heart is breaking." she said, acting overly dramatic.


    "Mom, you can kiss me in the house." Justin put his little hands around her neck and he exined.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I don''t want to have an affair with you." Scarlet giggled and she shook her head.


    "An affair." he parroted.


    Esong took him from her hands and ced him on the ground, "Boys should not be carried at this age. And don''t say such things to him, what if he repeats them in ss?"


    Justin turned his little butt around and run to join his friends as Scarlet sighed. "I can''t believe he is already embarrassed to be seen kissing and hugging his mother in public. In a world where people live to be a three hundred I should be able to baby my son until he is at least one hundred."


    She received stunned and horrified looks from Esong, Fey and Tion, all of them clearly befuddled by her words.


    "What?" she asked them.


    "You are crazy." Fey said. "Really crazy, just follow me to the collection center before you dere that your son should not marry until he is one hundred fifty years. I never took you to be one of those clingy mothers, I feel so sorry for Justin. You gave birth at the age of twenty four but you want to cuddle and baby your son when he is one hundred years old, oh this is so....."


    "Jesus Fey I get it!" Scarlet could not receive the message any louder.She turned her attention to the fields now that Fey was silent and she noticed that the number of workers had tripled. It was almost as if a quarter of their poption was here for the harvesting.


    Up in the air camera drones which belong to live streamers and BSTV were recording the entire scene. "Did everyonee out here today?" she thought they would be more interested in moving.


    "We are harvesting many crops today, the corn, wheat, sweet potatoes and peanuts. Even the c fruits in the green houses are all being harvested, we cannot wait for the yellow rain to fall. Sometimes yellow rain is toxic and the professors do not want any crops getting infected. There is also a story about the yellow rain being acidic hundreds of years ago apparently it burned everything alive like a nt or person."Fey exined as they hurried along.


    The collection center she mentioned was mostly a bunch of tables put together with robot butlers and humans working together to weigh, record, pack and transport the harvested crops away.Everyone was busy here and they were all working in a rush.


    "Is that Captain Zorl of the RGB?" she asked Fey.


    Fey nodded, "I asked for their help, the RGB officers are here to maintain order and make sure that nothing is stolen, it is not umon for some people to lose their minds during this time and attempt to loot provisions. Even nutrient solutionpanies tighten their security at around this time."


    Everything about winter in this world was intense, the people behaved as if they were going into hibernation or preparing for war. If they lost their minds to the point of looting supplies then what wasing had to be brutal. Scarlet wondered if she was truly ready for it.

 Chapter 145 Many Centuries Of Feuding

    ?


    "Esong," Scarlet turned around to look at him because she had a question. "It has been months and we are yet to catch the person whose intention it was to harm me. Do you think the danger has passed or maybe the rat is too good at hiding?"


    "The what is what?" He gave her a confused look.


    "A rat is a small creature that likes to live in dark holes sometimes underground or in sewers. Even dumpsters, basically a filthy creature that sneaks around to steal food. People who can''t keep secrets are also called rats or snitches."


    "Oh," Esong replied. He was not sure if that was the appropriate response for the situation but seeing as to how he had no idea what a rat looked like he could not equate it to the circumstances. " The RGB is in charge of the investigation and captain Zorl keeps refusing to answer my questions because it''s an official investigation. I don''t think he likes me very much." Esong said, "Zorl," with displeasure on his face.


    "He told me the same thing." Scarlet told Esong. "Is the RGB this.....um.....I don''t know the right word for it." she said slowly, quite unsurely.


    "Ipetent." Esong said in a questioning tone.


    She raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking to herself that ipetent was a bit of overkill. "It''s not the word I was going for, I was going to say rigid. I have not really met an RGB officer I have liked, they all seem to have a stick up their ass." After the two that she met the first time on Justin''s case she had not been too eager to interact with more of them.


    Esong chuckled and Tion coughed to cover up his own desire to chuckle too.


    "That''s it!!!" Esongughed louder, "They can be uptight bastards. Most of them have around SS to A levels of mental strength and half of them failed to make it in the mecha warrior academies. It''s one of the reasons as to why the RGB and the mecha warriors don''t mix. They also have this thing about keeping their organization free from outside influence to avoid corruption. The emperor is the only one they bend for, the rest of us can go screw ourselves as far as they are concerned. To be an RGB officer one must have a spotless record, including your family background going back five hundred years."


    "So if my great great grandfather was a criminal five hundred years ago I cannot be an RGB officer?" She asked him.


    "Yes." A new voice joined them.


    Scarlet and Esong looked away from each other to meet the eyes of captain Zorl. "It''show we maintain our purity and the reason why our organization has been voted the most organized and efficient in the empire for three hundred years in a row. There are things that we do better than mecha warriors."


    "Oh yeah, name one." Esong challenged captain Zorl.


    Captain Zorl''s lips trembled and he smiled stiffly. She could tell that he was probably holding back a punch right now which he very much desired tond on Esong''s face. "We keep peace among themon people by arresting criminals like mecha warriors who go to the dark side." He said.


    "And we mecha warriors keep you alive at the expense of our own lives." Esong reminded him.


    "And you never let us forget it." Captain Zorl mentioned sarcastically. "The great heroes of the empire, the only ones deserving of recognition and praise."


    Esong was unbothered by the sarcasm, it was not him that was the origin point of the petty feud between the RGB and mecha warriors association. But he would not let captain Zorl have thest word."Because the day you forget our importance is the day young boys will stop dreaming about bing mecha warriors and they will stop joining our academies. Where do you think that will leave themon people? Who will protect them from mutated beasts, space pirates, enemy nations and other threats we don''t tell you about? You and your fellow RGB officers will be guarding graves so, no, we will never let you forget about the sacrifices of the mecha warriors because those men that died to keep you alive deserve to be remembered."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ignoring the tension Scarlet popped her head slightly between the two men and said, "And girls, haha, let''s not forget the girls who want to be mecha warriors too."


    Esong frowned at her and heughed lightly. "Now, really?" He asked her curiously.


    She shrugged and answered him, "I am just putting it out there. Anyway both the mecha warriors and RGB officers do important work. There is no need to rip off each other''s heads, if you want topete form some football teams and face off. We have six teams ying in the winter tournament so far, two more are wee." She was going to give the mecha fights a run for their money since she could not squeeze into the mecha fighting business and most of her people did not participate in the fights anyway. She had been actively promoting sports like football, basketball and ninja warrior challenges. In the winter they would add ice hockey or sledding and skating. Her people would not spend the winter cooped up like chicken. Speaking of chicken....." Esong, I have to go quickly. I forgot that I have to visit the chicken farm today. Good to see captain Zorl as always."


    She took off running and Tion too started running after her.


    She waved to different people as she run because they waved at her first. Some of them were carrying luggage, others had shopping bags. Some carried food stuffs, preferring to cook their own meals instead of buying it or eating the free porridge from the canteen kitchen. A few couples were riding bicycles with baskets and nkets, probably nning to go on dates by theke side. All this brought a smile to her lips because once upon a time, it was nothing but silence, hunger, fear, anxiety and worry.


    "You arete." Her mother said to her the moment she hurried into the hatchery. "All the eggs have been hatched already. You can watch the process on BSTV when the show about animals is aired. Look at all those tiny little yellow colored chicks, aren''t they adorable?"


    "Yes," she replied, "So adorable." They were watching the chick''s through a solid ss window. Only the sanitized employees in their overalls could go into the hatchery. She was not going to risk these checks catching any diseases.


    "How many are they?" She asked her mother.


    "Two thousand one hundred." Mega Su replied.


    "That''s too little." Scarletmented, "I was expecting a bigger number."


    "Eight hundred did not hatch, you have to remember that the hatching machine or brooder as you call it is still new, this is a trial and error process. The workers will find out what went wrong with the eggs which did not hatch. But what are they going to do with them? Can they be eaten?"


    "They can feed them to the pigs." Scarlet replied.


    "Too bad, eight hundred eggs to be wasted just like that." Her mother shook her head. "I don''t feel right about wasting food like this."


    "We also can''t feed it to the people because it could be a health risk. We do not want the narrative that food is poisonous out there. If the pigs don''t want it then they should be incinerated."


    "Ho, even pigs can be choosy." Megamented in disbelief. "I will see to it, don''t worry."

 Chapter 146 Returning To The Ravine

    ?


    Scarlet returned to the house and went to her old bedroom which was now empty because Severus was calling for her in there. "We have to go back to the ravine, I can sense something over there." He said urgently.


    "Something like what?" she asked him.


    "Energy, great energy and it''s making me uneasy." Severus replied in a heavy voice. Whatever it was, Scarlet could see that it was making Severus deeply uneasy.


    "Okay," She replied, then she put a hand on Severus, blinked and they appeared in the ravine. Once she had been to a ce once, blinking and appearing there again was no issue.


    Just like that, Scarlet was back again in the ravine, the same ce she found eerie and unnerving. Thest time she was there it was warm, despite the overgrown canopies. Today it was cold, and darker than before.


    "You should lead the way." she told him.


    "And you should arm up," he advised her. "I sense a soul eater too, one that is stronger than you. This really can''t be good."


    "Are you trying to freak me out?" she asked through gritted teeth. She was already nervous about the energy thing and being told that a soul reaper who was stronger than her was here was not making it better.Were grim reapers capable of being afraid? she wondered.Right now she was afraid and the beating of her heart sped up."I want to puke." she told him.


    "You are fine," Severus responded, "It''s just nerves, shake it off."


    ''Shake it off!!'' she thought, ''I am about to meet a soul eater that could suck me dry as a martini but he says to shake it off, oh this is a nightmare.'' Scarlet took a deep breath and asked him, "Where should we go?"


    "The cave we went tost time." he told her.


    "Conference cave?" she asked. "I thought we cleansed that ce."She touched Severus and they appeared inside the cave.


    Severus sniffed the air and told her to follow him. She trailed after him carefully, walking like a thief, looking left and right, front and back. Nothing was going to creep up on her. She did not need a torch or any form of light with her grim reaper vision.


    "There, in the wall." Severus suddenly said. "What the hell is something like that doing here?"


    Scarlet curiously walked toward the wall to look at whatever Severus was seeing. "Maybe it was herest time and we didn''t see it." she told him.


    "No, I would have seen it." he insisted.


    "It looks like a soul crystal but a different color, howe I have never been given any one of these?"She touched the glittering sharp green crystal and attempted to pull it out of the wall.


    "Be careful." Severus warned her. "You can''t carelessly touch things like that, in fact let go of it."


    While Severus said this, Scarlet put her leg on the cave wall and used all her energy to pull out the crystal. She was sessful because she ripped it out and it fell to the ground.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Ha!" she eximed, "That was easy." she eximed.


    "Too easy." Severus said. "And that soul eater is nowhere to be seen, let''s take the me crystal to the underworld and let them deal with it."


    "me crystal?" she said in a questioning voice, she was about to ask more questions when she felt this vicious energy being aimed her way and she bent down to avoid it.


    "Watch out." Severus yelled but it was almost toote. If she had not evaded it when she did, she would be writhing on the cave floor right now.


    "Soul eater," Scarlet smiled knowingly, "You must be the one my hound warned me about." This soul eater was more visible than the others she encountered so far, the sinister grin on it''s face was so ugly and it reeked of evil, if evil had a smell that is. Mostly Scarlet could smell Sulphur and a burning smell of something. "I cleansed this cave and something like you with bad breath still returned, the whole lot of you are like cockroaches, you never die no matter how many of you are fumigated."


    "You are the grim reaper that stole my collection." it chuckled.


    "It talks." she raised her eyebrows, then sheughed and said, "I know where your collection is, why don''t I take you to it. I promise not to hurt you."She sounded like an adult luring a child with candy.


    "I am going to suck you dry reaper bitch!!" it chuckled.


    "You can try bad breath." she responded and she swung her soul binding rope.


    Severus roared and Scarlet jumped into the air, sending multitudes of waves of soul energy to the soul eater. Severus had said that it was more powerful than her so she wanted to end this as soon as possible, the faster she subdued it, the better for herself. She aimed the soul binding rope at it but it disappeared and the rope hit the wall.


    It growled and appeared right behind her when shended back down. Severus sent mes of fire from his mouth and doubled in size, trying to swat it away like a fly but it disappeared again, the mes almost scalded Scarlet and when she twirled around to avoid them, the soul eater sunk it''s fingers into her back, sucking away a small portion of her energy instantly.


    Scarlet yelled in pain and she kicked it away, it hit the wall and quickly got back up.


    "You taste even better than thest reaper I sucked bitch, I am going to enjoy this." it licked it''s lips with a long tongue which she found disgusting.


    "Not before I drag your soul to the underworld." she responded. She did her tornado spin, and sent out six divided ropes, Severus sunk his teeth into the soul eaters thigh and it screamed, struggling to escape from their hold. It was almost in the soul gourd when it managed to free one hand, dislodging Scarlet and she fell on the ground.


    "A soul pet is only as strong as it''s reaper, she is weak which means so are you hound." The soul eaterughed at Severus and sent him flying into the wall. Immediately, it pounced on Scarlet and sunk it''s fingers into her neck. Scarlet could feel her soul energy dropping, one second at time. It was as if life was being drained from her and she was right back to that moment when the zombies were feasting on her flesh.


    Severus pounced on the soul eater again while Scarlet screamed and suddenly her body was enveloped in green mes. Filled with a sudden burst of energy, she put her hands on the soul eater''s chest and burned it. The mes were not burning it in a way fire burned something to ash but they were doing something to it. Whatever it was, it caused the soul eater to scream in agony and fall to the ground.


    Scarlet could feel her senses fading and she passed out. Thest thing she saw were souls hovering close by.

 Chapter 147 She Is Now A Refiner

    ?


    Severus rushed Scarlet to the underworld, straight to Lythia''s pce while shouting her name urgently. The few grim reapers around did not stop him, in fact they rushed to assist him because it looked like the reaper in his arms was injured.


    "What happened?" Lythia came hurrying, having been informed about that a grim reaper was injured in some way. "Put her down Severus."


    Severus was barking and growling at the other reapers when they tried to touch Scarlet. "Help her." he told Lythia. "I am not sure how to exin what happened."


    "I smell a soul eater." Lythia said.


    "Level five," Severus told her, "I underestimated her level of preparedness and she almost got all her soul energy sucked. Something weird happened, I think she absorbed the green me because she suddenly ¡­."


    "Stop." Lythia shouted at him."Leave us." she dismissed everyone around leaving only Severus. In addition to that, she ensured that the entire ce was sound proofed before they could talk.


    The old deity too showed up, having been called here urgently by Lythia.


    "What happened to my favorite grim reaper?"he asked casually when he saw Scarlet on the couch. "Oooh, a nasty soul eater I see."


    "It''s not that my Lord," Lythia said, "She seems to have absorbed a me, a green me ording to Severus."


    "It was in the shape of a soul crystal, I could feel the energy from many miles away. Moreover, it was in a ce we had cleansed previously because there was a hoard of soul collectors. The level five soul eater was heading the entire operation and we missed it because it was not around initially."he exined.


    "The me crystal was not there before?" the old deity asked.


    "It wasn''t, it had to have been put there after we were gone.Anyway, I don''t know how she did it but she absorbed the me crystal and used it''s power to burn the soul eater. Not only did she burn it she liberated all the souls it gobbled up. There were like a thousand souls and it was just vomiting them out."


    "Gross." Lythia said.


    "That''s not normal." the old deity added.


    "If you think that''s not normal then you should hold on for the next part. She passed out and the me still refined the souls and she absorbed them, regaining her soul strength and doubling it. But I think it was all too much on her body because she is still unconscious and burning hot."


    "Put her in the rejuvenation pond, it will help." The old deity told Severus.


    "And then what?" Lythia asked.


    "We wait, call me when she wakes." he disappeared into thin air, leaving Severus and Lythia to put Scarlet in the rejuvenation pond. The pond was filled with purifying water, nourishing herbs and other special things. The pond was separated into two parts, one for making tea, brewing spirit wine, growing spirit nts and another for healing grim reapers that had been harmed by soul eaters. You could never find this water being sold on the forum because only the leader of the guardian reapers Lythia had ess to it. After purifying water, rejuvenation water was the nexttype of water desired most by grim reapers.


    Four hourster, Scarlet opened her eyes wide in a panic, she exhaled loudly and looked around wildly. Thest thing she could recall was having those sharp fingers which felt like ws around her neck.


    She put her right hand around her neck and called for Severus.Where was he? Did the soul eater kill him?


    "Severus," she screamed in her mind around three times.


    "I am here."he replied and he appeared on the edge of the pond. "How do you feel now?"


    "I....I....." She stammered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "If you cry I will hit you." he threatened. He was right because she stupidly felt like crying.


    "What happened to the soul eater, did you get him?" she asked him.


    "Um, more like you got him." Severus replied. ''How did you absorb the green me crystal?"


    She sat upright and then that''s when she realized that she was wet, and she wasying in water apparently. "Where are we?"


    "In the underworld, Lythia''s pce to be specific. I brought you here after you passed out."


    "My strength!!" she gasped, "He was sucking it, I could feel it Severus it was if life was being drained out of me. I was so scared, it felt as if I was about to be....erased." she finished. Her eyes were watery, zed over and Severus could see little traces of fear in them.


    "It will never happen again." Severus assured her. "We will double your training, next time we will be better prepared."


    "Yes," she clenched her fist, "It will never happen again." She vowed to herself. "There were other souls there, they were faint but I saw them." she looked at him.


    "Well...¡­" Severus said in a high pitched voice, unsure about what to tell her.


    "You refined them." Lythia strolled in and announced. "You absorbed the green me, burned the soul eater and freed the souls inside which you refined into energy and absorbed, growing your own soul strength and leveling up."


    Scarlet listened to Lythia and then at Severus, "Exin." she told him.


    "It''s all happened as she said, this is new to me as well." He told her.


    "I think I might have some answers." the old deity appeared and announced. "Hello, my favorite grim reaper, you are quite full of surprises aren''t you?"


    "Hello," Old deity, she bowed.


    "You should get out of the rejuvenation pond now Scarlet, we can''t you absorbing all the good stuff." the old deity smiled. "That me of yours is capable of absorbing really anything with energy now which is why we will not be sharing this new fantastic detail about you with anyone else. You my dear have be a natural refiner, it takes years for the souls eaten by soul eater to be refined by a special artifactinto energy which is infused with soul crystals that are then used by grim reapers in soul cultivation. That abnormal me of yours does this job in an instant, making you a living, walking refinement tool."


    Scarlet was bewildered and surprised, but she thought for a moment, isn''t this a good thing for me?


    "You are thinking that it''s a good thing for you, right?" the old deity asked her. "It''s not, uncontrolled you are capable of absorbing the soul strength of your fellow reapers.Imagine what will happen if you are fighting, lose your mind for a second and suck them dry like a soul eater."


    "It will be a disaster." Lythia said.


    "You cannot use it until you learn how to control it." the old deity warned her.


    With that warning, the old deity disappeared and Lythia looked at Scarlet and Severus with worry.


    "I guess we should return to our world now, thank you for everything." Scarlet said.


    "Mm, take care of yourselves." Lythia nodded and vanished too.

 Chapter 148 My Partner, The Shopaholic.

    ?


    When she finally came out of her old bedroom, she could tell that Tion was steaming with abination of fury and worry. It had been two and a half hours since she went into the room. It had to have taken great patience for him not to break down that door and seek for her. He was standing still when she found him, like a tree whose roots had been firmly nted into the ground. He was always this way, standing behind her until she forced him to sit otherwise he would be on his feet all day, everyday.


    "Tion, how long have you been standing for?"


    He looked at her quietly and then he looked forward.


    "I told you to sit down when I am not in front of you or when I am too busy. Why do you disobey my orders all the time? Is it because I am not your formermander like Esong or you don''t respect me as your governor?"


    If he could not obey her then of what use was he to her? "Do my words mean nothing to you at all? If you were forced into this job perhaps tell me because I can find another personal guard."


    For the first time, she saw another expression on Tion''s face other than anger. She could not describe it other than to say that he softened up.


    "My duty is now to you governor, I will guard you forever even though I am not sure how long it willst because my mental strength regressed and it will continue to do so in the future. It''s not that I want to disrespect you but I just want to give you my best while I still can."


    "I will never rece you Tion," she touched his arm and said. " I will find a way to give you back your lost mental strength but I too worry that when I do, you will leave me."


    Tion looked hopeful but that little light which was beginning to bud in his eyes was quickly extinguished. There was no cure for it, in a few years the darkness woulde for him too.


    "Don''t you believe in me?" She asked him, then she smiled understandingly and said, "It''s okay, I can understand if you don''t. For thousands of years research into the darkness has yielded no results. But you should remember that those researchers are not me. I will make a miracle happen, just wait and see. Nowe on, let''s go home."


    "Home." Tion whispered in a small voice and he let out a smallugh. Could he really call the governor''s castle home? He was a disgraced Carlzon, would she be the miracle that saved him from sinking?


    Unaware of his multitude of thoughts Scarlet sat in the car and waited for him before it drove off.


    "By the way, what happened between Esong and captain Zorl after I left? Did theye to blows?"


    "I have been told that they went their separate ways and both men were smoldering when they walked away from each other."


    She raised both of her eyebrows at him because of the particr use of the word "smoldering". "That''s a word I have read and only seen used in romance novels. No one really calls another person''s gaze smoldering in daily life." Sheughed.


    "The ount was ryed to me byPrecious, your other assistant, who also happens to be my daughter. " <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Aha!" Scarlet snapped her fingers, "It had to be a woman. "We are the most dominant readers of romance novels you know."


    "I know." Tion responded.


    With that grim look on his face, Scarlet could see a father that was not ready to hear the words romance and his daughter in one sentence so she wisely kept her mouth shut for the rest of the journey. When the car arrived at the castle, she was escorted inside by Tion and two other guards.


    "Move into the castle with your family Tion, I don''t want you to be far away from me. Especially because that threat on my life has not been deal with."


    "Yes governor." He nodded.


    "The castle is divided into wings, I use the East Wing, my family has the South Wing and Esong''s family is using the West Wing. The Northern wing has been set aside for my closest guards and maids. I am not stopping you from purchasing your own house but I was told that you want an entire building. It cannot be done right now, you will have to wait until more buildings are constructed but even after you buy a building, I will be expecting you to stay here with me. Will that be okay with you?"


    Tion nodded, "Yes governor." It would make his job easier in fact, he thought.


    Scarlet left him and she walked to the Eastern wing of the castle. It was thergest of all the wings, with many rooms, including the governor''s meeting room. This was like the throne room of the emperor, it was where she would hold meetings, balls, host guests and all other governor rted business. The castle floors were tiled with a marble like material which was not really marble because it was more exquisite and lighter. The windows were tall and wide but at the moment they were closed. She had asked Carolyn to use some cheap materials to create metallic Knight costumes which were lined up in the hallways. The castle was toorge, silent and empty. So much so that she could hear the echoing of her own footsteps. It wascking upants, in her wing anyway because it was supposed to be used by her, Esong, Justin and a few maids and guards. For this reason televisions had also been attached to each wall, her goal was to drive out the silence with their nose. It was alsocking greenery on the inside and outside, not even one de of grass or flower petal was in sight.


    Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would embark on the task of nting trees and flowers tomorrow.


    "Or next year." Severus appeared next to her and said. "Winter ising so if you n to nt anything it must be resistant to the cold."


    "Why don''t you help me buy something from the forum? Get me some flowers that can bloom in the winter and please don''t waste my crystals." She begged him because Severus was turning into a bit of a shopaholic at her expense. Everything that caught his fancy on the forum had been purchased. Some of the things were useful to her like cold resistant furs, some pills, more armor of different styles but all with the hound insignia and books. He bought her many books on the underworld, deities, medicine, fighting skills and more.


    "I bought you another training ground by the way, now you can have one inside and another one outside. I also got these gloves from Lythia, until you learn how to control your refining skills you must wear them in every fight. You must train your hands how tofortably wield your whips and other weapons with the gloves on."


    "Thank you." She donned the ck gloves immediately. They were soft andfortable, stopping at her wrists. She had not said it out loud but she was the tiniest bit afraid to touch people now just in case she sucked the life out of them. When she touched Tion''s arm, she had been trembling. "Can I get them in other colors?"


    "Of course, they only cost fifty energy crystals per pair." He replied. " I like our new house but it''s too empty, how about I get some underlings too, trained spiritual dogs, some birds and a few other creatures."


    "Sounds good to me." She smiled. "Very good."

 Chapter 149 The Danger Of Flames

    ?


    She had asked her father to have those old style Romanian baths included in the castle ns. Now she had the modern bathroom which had a voice activated system and she could say "shower head on or off, warm water, cold or hot." And she had the old style bath which she could fill with oils and flowers with warm water and just rx just as she was doing now.


    Maybe it was a side effect of life on the zombie apocalypse but Scarlet liked it when there was a little bit of noise wherever she was. She didn''t like the silence, too much silence was never a good thing. It would make her heart race uneasily, it was what happened before all hell broke lose.For this reason there was a television on the bathroom wall too, right now BSTV was showing the evening news which she was barely paying attention to. Severus had dropped some kind of heat cooling pill in the water which she was absorbing with her green me. Scarlet was ying with the me, using her fingers like matches with small green frames.


    "It''s beautiful." She smiled. "Look, I can make them appear and disappear with the will of my mind."


    "You are learning how to control it." Severus nodded. "But keep in mind that the small stuff is easy, it''s the big stuff which will be harder. If you do not control it you will burn your family or that little child of yours. Basically no one around you is safe right now, not even me."


    "Saying such words to me will not boost my confidence." She reminded him. Making her doubt and fear the me would only make her anxious and afraid. The me was now part of her and she had epted it, denying reality was not how she did things. This thing saved from that soul eater and brought her to level three in an instant, it was precious to her.


    "I am just cautioning you, too much arrogance and confidence is not always a good thing. A lesson I earned painfully as a young hound."


    "How old are you Severus?" She extinguished the me and looked at him curiously.


    "I can''t die so thousands or millions of years, I don''t know."


    "Does it ever get boring, living forever? At some point you have to have wondered what it would be like to just let it all go. I wanted that so many times in the zombie apocalypse, I used to pray for it even.I wanted to close my eyes, go to sleep and never wake up, I was tired of everything, there was so much pain, desperation, fear, hatred and death." She closed her eyes and brought forth the memories of those dark days. "But it never happened, everyday I woke up and did the same thing, tried my best to survive hoping for a better future."


    "And then you died, you got your wish or your prayer was answered after all." He reminded her.


    "No, my prayer was to pass away peacefully in my sleep but the deity of life or Buddha that I worshipped did something else and instead I was betrayed by someone I loved, shot and feasted on by zombies while I was still alive. I could feel the pain of every bite and every rip into my body by those sharp teeth." Her voice was bing intense and the heat in the bathroom started rising. Severus noticed that the water had started bubbling and Scarlet''s body was covered in green mes. It would have been beautiful if she was not about to set them on fire or suck his blood dry judging by the the way it was jiggling in his body.


    "Snap out of it." He yelled at her. "Your husband ising." It didn''t work, the frown on her face intensified and he could not approach her because the mes had created a boundary between them.


    Severus picked up the slipper on the floor and used his power to hurl it at her cheek. She opened her eyes instantly and touched it.


    "Aww." She said.


    "No time, extinguish your mes now." He yelled at her.


    If he was not so serious she would have stopped tough at the way he was blowing air persistently on the mes as if he was putting out a fire and yet the wind made no dent on the me.


    She waved her hand and the me retreated with ease, "That was easy." She said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No, that was dangerous. We are also going to include lessons in how to manage your anger before you end up in Lythia''s enforcement hall for killing innocent humans. I thought this betrayal by that man from your former world did not bother you, was I wrong? Never mind, we will discuss thister."


    The doors slid open and in walked Esong who started taking of his clothes. Then he entered the big bath and walked toward her.


    "I was told that I would find you in here." He said with a smile. "I have to say that I have never seen a bath like this one. I don''t know if I shouldmend you on your creativity or chastise you for wasting water."


    "This has plenty of water." She replied. "And the water treatment nt has a way of filtering out all the dirt and unnecessary organisms from the water and sending it back into recirction."


    "Wait a minute, are we going to be cooking with the same water we use to bathe. Pardon me but I might throw up in my mouth." He frowned and gagged.


    "The water from baths goes to a different treatment nt, so does the one from the kitchens and the one from the toilets. Apparently Bell found a way to turn that one into fertilizer. Unless you n to give up on food, get on board with the program."


    She was just finished speaking when he spun her around and looked at her back. With his fingers, he started tracing something, all the way to the top of her neck. "I saw you this morning and you did not have a tattoo. When did you decide to suddenly get one?"


    Scarlet was confused because she was quite certain that she had not tattoos on her body. She had always been weirdly afraid of needles, why would she ink her body in that case?


    "I..." She was about to ask him which tattoo and deny its existence when a voice cut her off.


    "It''s the me on your back, the imprint looks like a tattoo." Severus said in her mind.


    "I am not saying that it''s not beautiful." Esong continued to trace his hands over it. "I like it, I am wondering where the inspiration came from?"


    "I like mes." She blurted.


    "I have seen red mes and slightly yellowish mes but never a green one. The artist did a great job with the detail, maybe I should get one too. On my shoulder, to match yours."


    "Sure," she replied, "Do as you wish, it could be cool having matching tattoos." She said thest words in a whisper because he was kissing the tattoo gently.


    The doors slid open again and in walked a young woman, her hands were humbly folded in front of her chest and she stood in one ce, at the small steps which led down into the bath.

 Chapter 150 Undefined Emotions

    ?


    "Who are you?" Scarlet asked her. She used her hands to cover her breasts, outraged by this infringement on her privacy.


    "She is your personal maid in waiting, assigned by my grandmother to take care of you and all your needs." Esong informed Scarlet.


    She looked at him with disbelief as if he was crazy, "Why is she in my bathroom then?"


    "I am here to give you a bath mydy." The woman replied.


    "Helllll no." Scarlet briefly wagged her finger and recalled that she was naked so her hands quickly returned to cover her breasts." I have two hands, you are not touching me. Please return to your room, I will be speaking with youter."Who gave an adult woman a bath for heavens sake!!


    The woman looked unsure as she looked nervously at Esong and Scarlet, she even bit her bottom lip as if she was afraid of something.


    "Just let her do it," Esong said and she smacked him lightly on the head. "What was that for?" He whined in a manner that was very much simr to Elroy.


    "You want another woman to get into this bath with her clothes off probably and touch my body while you do what, watch the whole thing?"


    He shrugged,pletely missing the point she was making.


    "Sweetie," she called him sarcastically "I don''t know what kind of threesome fantasy you have in your mind but it''s not going to happen. You, out." She said to the maid sternly and the woman left finally, scampering almost because Scarlet raised her voice.


    "I am not angling for a threesome," Esong defended himself the moment the maid left. "It''s normal for a maid in waiting to give herdy a bath whether her husband is there or not. And before you im not to be ady or mention that these are upper nobility things please remember that you are my wife and that makes you upper nobility. These things are part of our way of life, you may not like them but you will eventually learn to tolerate them. That maid is frightened and she is probably out there wondering if she is about to be fired. If you fire her, my grandmother will have no use for her and she will send her back to the capital. That woman has no mental strength like most maids, they are ordinary people who choose to serve in noble and royal houses or the wealthy for a better chance at life. Women with no mental strength suffer more than most people in our empire. Majority of them end up selling their bodies in pleasure houses. It''s not her fault that she is here, if you want someone to me then me my grandmother and me for not warning you in advance about the fact that she brought you three personal maids."


    Scarlet''s frown became softer the more Esong exined the circumstances which led the young woman here. While she understood them, she waspletely ufortable with someone else touching her body like that. If she was going to ept these maids they would need to rewrite a few rules. Like one, privacy in her bathroom and bedroom unless she sent for them.


    "I don''t like it, but I will learn to tolerate it." she told him. "But your grandmother should have spoken to me first before bringing me maids. I seem to recall thest ones the royal family gave me being unpleasant. And my mother also selected maids for me, what am I going to do with..." she counted in her mind the number of maids she had now, "seven personal maids."


    He shrugged and his hand snaked around her waist slowly, "So, no threesome, huh." Esong giggled.


    "Have you ever visited those pleasure houses?" she put her hand on his arm and smiled.


    Esong looked at her and heughed, "Why do I have a feeling that this question is a trap? I won''t answer it." He turned his face away, to look anywhere else but not at her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Why?" she followed the movement of his head with her own head. "Tell me, what was the experience like?"


    "Stop it." heughed even more.


    "Why," sheined childishly, "I am not going to judge you, we all have a past and you know mine. It''s so ugly that I want to dig a hole and bury it forever."


    "Fine," he nodded, "I will tell you since you are so curious, boys or young males of noble families do not really have to visit pleasure houses. It''s done for fun or curiosity but it''s not where we have our first experiences with sexual pleasures. Usually your family purchases the services of a mature experienced female and she joins the household as a personal maid but her duty is to sleep with that young noble man."


    "Ha!" she eximed."So noble families buy special courtesans for their sons. And I thought I had seen and heard everything in this world, apparently I don''t know much. Does this mean you have a personal sex maid?"


    "No way," he shook his head, "You were my first."


    She pped him lightly, "Don''t lie, you didn''t develop those skills from nowhere, you practiced somewhere."


    "I did some things, I won''t lie but my first time was with you. I am a mecha warrior, indulging in sexual pleasures is not my priority, my training is. All mecha warriors must be very strict when ites to this aspect of our lives, it''s also why we are encouraged to marry and have families early.Instead offrequenting pleasure houses it''s better to rx at home with your wife or partner when on break."


    "No wonder mecha warriors are the number one draft picks of most women in the empire when ites to husbands. You have no time for phndering."


    "Exactly, we are the best men out there." he bragged with a very proud look on his face. "By the way, why is a personal maid not allowed in here but your dog is? It''s a male dog at that."


    Scarlet looked at him and sheughed while Severus snorted and turned around, So what if he saw her naked? It''s not as if he was interested in her, he only had eyes for female hounds.


    "Are you jealous of my dog?" she asked him. "Is it you that keeps asking if dogs can be eaten in my live broadcasts?"


    He scoffed and tickled her waist, "How can I be jealous of a dog? Take that back." As sheughed and tried to evade him, he followed after her and both of them engaged in a fun game of cat and mouse.


    In moments like these both of them forgot that their rtionship was hovering on the boundary between lovers, friends and a married couple. It was not as if neither one of them noticed the subtle changes over the months, they just chose to ignore it. It was like a dam was standing in between all the emotions and worries and keeping all the turbulence at bay. Scarlet however often wondered how long it wouldst before the dam burst and they either sunk or swam.

 Chapter 151 To Welcome Another Su

    ?


    For the first time in months, Scarlet actually slept in. This could be attributed to exhaustion, wariness after absorbing the green mes into her body or the fact that she was in a bed that was so big,fortable and under an actual roof in a house that was hers. She woke up at around nine o''clock with a smile on her face, yawning like a new born baby who had no worries.


    Slowly, she took a shower, brushed her teeth and finally stepped out of the bedroom only to find seven maids as she had counted them waiting for her.


    "Right?" She said, the maids in waiting. Which one of them could be trusted? The three that were sent by Esong''s grandmother were probably well versed in how to cater to her needs and be helpful but how could she trust them not to ry her business to Cecily?


    "Who is the oldest among you all?" She asked them.


    They looked at each other and one red head stepped forward.


    "What''s your name and where are you from?" She asked.


    "Gertrude, mydy" she curtsied and said her name. "I am from the capital, Ie from a town called Farham."


    A precise answer she gave, one that did not go beyond the questions she was asked.


    "All of you walk with me right now, there are some rules that we must change if you are going to work for me." She walked and talked as they formed two lines and followed her while listening carefully. "One, unless I send for you my bathroom when I am bathing is off limits. Two, if I catch you offering to bathe or fuck my husband I will fire you and probably kick you off my. Three, when you clean my bedroom leave the personal things I leave out where they are. If you find a watch or jewelry on the floor pick it up and put it on the side table of my bed or the ss table in the corner. If you have sticky fingers I will cut them off. Four, if I find out that you have been talking to anyone about me and my affairs I will rip your mouth off. What happens in the my wing stays in the my wing. Five, if I catch any of you in-fighting in an attempt to be my favorite maid all involved will be fired."


    She arrived in the kitchen and found no one, the dining room too was empty. She had been informed that she had cooks but there was no smell of anything cooking in therge well stocked and equipped kitchen.


    "Where are the cooks?" She asked Gertrude specifically.


    "Your mother is giving them cooking lessons mydy."


    "Call me governor, I find it morefortable. Also from now on Gertrude you will be the head of my personal maids but that position can be taken away at any moment if I find out that you are abusing it or have betrayed me in any way. Three of you here were sent to me by my husband''s grandmother and I do not know where your loyalty lies right now. I will issue a warning right here for the first andst time, keep my business to yourselves or I will not be so nice." She smiled at the Gertrude before turning to the rest of the maids with that cold smile. For some reason, the maids felt as if the temperature in the room had gone up slightly and yet they shivered as if it was cold and felt uneasy. "Do you understand me?" she asked sternly.


    "Yes governor." They were quick to respond.


    "Good." Scarlet smiled again, two smiles but one was dark and promised hell while the other was sunny and promised sweetness. "If you have not assigned yourselves duties now is the time to do so. Make sure that I know all of your names by the end of the week."


    "Yes governor, I am Anna." A short maid with a cheery face that had a few freckles around the nose bravely came forward and said her name sprightly.


    Scarlet actuallyughed lightly, "Well it''s not what I was going for but I like it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The others were quick to catch on and they mimicked Anna''s actions effectively.Among her maids two were most memorable, Anna because of her height and brightness and the youngest at neen named Coral. It was not a name she heard everyday, in fact thest time she heard coral was in school during a lesson where the teacher talked about coral reefs.


    "You have a lovely name Coral." sheplimented.


    The girl, Coral, blushed red and lowered her head.Scarlet wondered how the girl made it through whatever training her mother had given them.


    "She is quick with her hands, governor." Gertrude exined, afraid that Scarlet would be irritated by the shyness of Coral.


    "Good to know." Scarlet smiled. "Onest thing, before I forget, hygiene is very important to me. As my personal maids you will be another visual representation of myself to the public, you are an extension of me. If you are dirty, the assumption will be that so am I. I cannot emphasize this enough I need a clean living area, every corner must be sparkling. We have robot butlers, cleaning robots, hand rags and so many types of cleaning agents so make use of them."


    She wanted to say more but her sister Fey came into the kitchen, looking disheveled and hurried."Big sister, you are here, great,e with me right now."


    "How many times must I remind you about running in the house Fey?" Scarlet gave her sister the disapproving look she promised her mother to give Fey anytime she saw her like this.


    "Yeah, yeah,e on, mother is about to have the baby."Fey waved her right hand at Scarlet, urging her to be fast.


    "I hate to be the buzz kill here little sister but in case you have not been counting there are eight of us siblings. Our mother is an expert in the art of child birth, weing another Su into the world is as easy as eating a banana to her." Scarlet thought that a woman who had given birth eight times was surely an expert at it by now. So, unlike Fey that was in a hurry, she walked at a moderate pace.


    "Really!" Fey gave her the stink eye. "Could you be any slower?"


    "Fey, it takes women hours to push, why are you so frantic?" Scarlet started to wonder what exactly it was that she was missing.


    "I don''t know, father was ashen faced earlier just before rushing her to the hospital. I cannot help but feel nervous." Fey exined.


    Scarlet increased her pace, grabbing Fey''s hand and breaking into a full blown run. "Why didn''t you lead with that?"All this while she had been thinking that Fey was simply being her usual panic at every scary thing self. If she had known that Mega was not well, she would have started running earlier."Where is she?"


    "At the hospital." Fey answered.


    They reached the car, Scarlet looked around for the driver but he was nowhere to be seen. "Car keys, I need the car keys." she told the guards that were standing around.The moment she received them, she drove herself and Fey to the hospital in a hurry at the maximum speed limit allowed.

 Chapter 152 Its A Baby Girl.

    ?


    At the hospital, she found her father standing outside the assignedbor ward. Only doctors and nurses were allowed inside. The blue star had five doctors now, including professor Sham. The other four doctors were his former students that he convinced to move to the blue star. He even managed to get two nurses and one pharmacist on board. The number of medical professionals was still too little but it was a start.


    Scarlet was surprised to find all the members of her family here for the birth, what surprised her even more was the presence of Esong and his grandparents. As if that was not enough, Markay was here as well an he was holding Carolyn''s hand tightly. The one thing ny percent of the people here had inmon was the simr frantic look on their faces.


    "Brother," Scarlet called Adler as she approached him slowly, "What happened?"


    Adler put his hand around Scarlet''s shoulders and sighed, "Mother insisted on having a natural birth, yet again. Very few women survive it, only ten percent,I don''t know why she makes things hard on herself."


    Scarlet frowned, the percentage Adler mentioned was too small. If only ten survived then did that mean ny percent died? "I thought she was having like a C-section kind of operation. She had no idea what it was called here.


    "A pre-term extraction." Adler said."


    "Yes," Scarlet nodded, "I thought she was having a pre-term extraction. What happened?"


    "She went into earlybor for some reason," Adler run his free hand through his hair and frowned. "Maybe it''s the col....winter, it has a funny way of affecting us all differently when it''s approaching."


    "I noticed that the animals don''t want to go out grazing anymore." Scarlet randomlymented and then she wished she could take it take back. It was the wrong thing to say at this moment, she probably sounded insensitive."I should not have said that, sorry."


    "What are you apologizing for? There is no manual for things to discuss when one''s mother is inbor."


    A nurse came out of thebor ward in a hurry, run off and returned with a very vivid blood box.


    "What the!! Is she losing blood?" Scarlet grabbed the nurse''s arm and asked her.


    "That''s the second blood box." Adlermented. "Just put her in the med bed already, extract the child, I don''t care what she says about natural birth. If she dies it will not be worth it."


    The nurse was trying to loosen her arm from Scarlet''s iron grip while avoiding Adler that was literally shouting at her.


    "Let go of her, Scarlet." their father pulled Scarlet''s hand away and the nurse run back into the operating room. "What do both of you think you are doing?" he questioned them. "This is a hospital, grasping and shouting at the nurse will not make things any easier. Mind your manners in public and behave appropriately."


    "I apologize." Adler said.


    Dorian looked at Scarlet, expecting her to apologize as well but Scarlet was unrepentant. "She is my mother, she is losing blood dad, we are her children and we are allowed to be scared. Now is not the ideal time for appropriateness."


    Her father gave her an unhappy look and he asked, "Do you think I am not scared too?"


    Right, Scarlet thought, he was probably more anxious than them all, he just couldn''t express it.


    "If the nurse had dropped the blood box and we were told it was thest in the hospital what would we have done?" he asked them.


    "Sorry." Scarlet apologized too."Excuse me, I am going to go to the bathroom for a bit."


    Esong was about to follow her when Cecily grabbed his arm and shook her head. "Don''t , I will go." she said.


    Scarlet''s n was to go as a grim reaper and peep into thebor word. If it was necessary she would a few drops of crystal or purifying water in her mother''s mouth. But this n was dyed because Cecily followed her into the bathroom.


    "Are you okay?" the woman surprised her by asking such a question. Given how Scarlet was going out of her way to avoid any interaction between them, she was thest person she expected to receive concern from.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I don''t know." Scarlet shook her head. "It''s ¡­" Scarlet broke off and sighed. "It''s...." she tried to exin her feelings but somehow the words were getting stuck in her throat. Losing a parent was not easy, she knew because she buried her entire family_ , no Scarlet amended her thoughts, there was no burial in those days, no funerals and no time to cry. If your loved one was eaten, you simply kept moving, looking for the next safe shelter. And if they turned into a zombie, you had to kill them, cutting off their heads before they ate you. Parents had killed their own children and children had the same to their parents.


    She never got time to mourn the death of her parents back then, it crossed her mind that maybe it''s why she was feeling like this. Slowly, their images were fading and the Su''s were recing them.


    "I know dear," Cecily patted Scarlet on the back. "But you cannot afford to be weak right now, you should toughen up. You have given birth before and you know how these things work, we women must be stronger than the men when ites to this. Your mother is going to be fine."


    Scarlet nodded her head and wiped away the small beads of tears which had been forming in her eyes.


    "I will give you some privacy,e out when you are ready." Cecily patted her back onest time before leaving. Immediately, Scarlet locked herself in a bathroom stall and took a two minute sleeping pill, then she appeared in thebor ward with just the thought of her mind.


    The baby had been born already it was in one of those artificial wombs for some reason.But her mother was pale and one doctor was suggesting putting her in a med bed. Another was arguing that they could not simply put her in a med bed without knowing what to treat. Wasting no time, she carefully dropped some crystal water in her mouth and transferred a little energy to her.


    "Her heartbeat is picking up." a nurse said.


    "And her pressure is stabilizing." another added.


    "Do we put her in the med bed then?" the doctor who had been suggesting it said.


    "Let''s go for it," professor Sham said, "We can''t very well wheel her out with an open wound. She seems to be breathing fine on her own now as well." Scarlet watched the entire process as the bed moved mechanically without being touched to a different area, a med bed assembled itself around her mother. It was different from the ones which had to be manually opened before one was ced inside.


    "I never get tired of watching the new med beds at work." a nurse said.


    "It''s so efficient, but expensive. Do you know that only twenty of these have gone into cirction so far. The other doctors still don''t believe that we have one here." a doctormented


    "Thank God the governors are rich." another doctormented and theyughed.


    Scarlet who did not purchase that new type of med bed wondered how much it cost and she certainly thought to herself that in no way was she rich. She returned to her body suddenly because the sleeping pill wore off. When she exited the bathroom, Esong was there waiting for her. He was leaning against the wall, with his legs crossed.


    "Hey," she said.


    "Hey," he smiled softly.


    "Did I miss anything?" she asked.


    "Not really, are you okay?" he asked her.


    She nodded. Esong reached up and touched her face, "Liar," he said softly. "You cried, didn''t you?"


    She rolled her eyes pretentiously and looked away from him. "Who? Me? I am not a crier."


    "I have been listening in with my superior mental strength."he pointed to his head, "It''s a girl and your mother is fine, so..."


    She felt this sudden urge to hug him, and she did.

 Chapter 153 Nine Children!!! She Is A Marvel

    ?


    And so it was that the good news was shared by BSTV at the lunch hour.


    "We would like to send our heartfelt congrattions to Dorian and Mega Su upon the birth of their ninth child."


    It was not everyday that one saw such news anywhere in the empire. It was not unusual for one man to have nine children, what was unusual was for one woman to give birth to nine children, all naturally at that. The citizens of the blue star had yet something else to gossip about, especially the women.


    "Have you heard the news?" one woman that was in the corn fields asked her neighbor.


    "What news?" the other asked.


    "The governor''s mother has given birth to her ninth child."


    "Eh," another woman joined in, "I have never in my life heard about a woman giving birth to nine children."


    "Her husband must be proactive when ites to their sex life." someone said and theyughed.


    "In my opinion he should reduce that proactiveness, do you know the burden of a natural pregnancy on a woman''s body?"


    "We have med beds, what burden is there? Besides, she chose to have a natural birth like they used to do in uncivilized days, why should he take the me for it?"


    One young woman was holding a remote in her hands andusing it to control a machine hand harvester which was picking corn and dumping it into a container. She looked at the older women and said, "Have you all seen how good looking Lord Dorian Su is? If I were her, I would be pregnant all the time too."


    The older womenughed, one of them that was sixty three years old looked at the young woman and she said, "These young ones are into looks more than anything, girl I advise you to find a hardworking man. My husband is on the heavy side but he bought us a four bedroom apartment with ake view. He works hard in the car making factory,tely he has been taking on night shifts too. We are nning to have our first child next year. I may not be able to brag about his looks but I can brag about his capability."


    "She is showing off, ignore her, she has been telling that story to anyone that cares to listen." Someonemented.


    "Girl, there are two active mecha warriors on our that are still single, if I was still your age and single they would be my targets."


    "The twins!!!, I have seen them too."


    "The RGB captain too, he is single."


    As the women gossiped, no one noticed a small spark in the fields that was picking up speed slowly.


    In the hospital meanwhile, Scarlet returned after stepping out forthirty minutes. Mega had been transferred to a private ward where she was nursing the baby in her arms and that''s how Scarlet found them. Her father wasmenting on therge appetite of the child.


    "Do you know that only poor women breastfeed?" Fey asked randomly. "I am looking at this fact right now on star. There is an article that says breastfeeding is not good for babies however if one can''t afford infant nutrient solution, they can breast feed as ast resort."


    "Wrong," Scarlet tapped Fey''s head lightly. "Breast milk is very nutritious and good for babies. Those articles were probably financed by nutrient solutionpanies to sell their infant nutrient solutions."


    "Really?" Fey sounded doubtful.


    "Really." Scarlet assured her. "I already discussed this with mother and encouraged her to breastfeed the baby. Babies are supposed to be fed on breast milk for at least one year, it''s full of nutrients. When they are six months you introduce solid food like porridge, mashed potatoes, fresh fruit juice." She stopped there because she was running out of foods to mention.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do all women produce breast milk?" Cecily questioned Scarlet. "I never did."


    "Breast milk can be supplemented with cow milk, I brought mother a tin of powdered infant milk from zero to three months."Scarlet put down the can of milk.


    There was one doctor and a nurse in the private ward and as soon as Scarlet started talking about breastmilk, it''s benefits and other supplements, she started recording the conversation immediately. These were things that could be helpful to other mothers in future. Such knowledge in fact, she thought, should be public.


    Everyone came closer to look at the can, "Fresh milk from a cow can also be used but you have to boil it really thoroughly." Scarlet added.


    "Can we drink milk from every animal in that case?" Elroy was curious.


    "No," Scarlet a bit loudly, "God no!!, do not attempt to milk the pigs in search for milk please.The animals my teacher mentioned were cows, goats, water buffaloes, sheep and camels. I have never seen some of those animals with my own eyes before you ask Elroy." Technically it was not a lie because she had never seen any water buffaloes or camels with her naked eyes.


    "So that''s what these cans are for?" Cecily shook her head in wonder. "We have passed by them many times in the supermarkets but no one knows what they are so they don''t purchase them. Is the powdered milk for only infants?"


    "The one in the blue and white can is for adults, I actually prefer powdered milk to liquid milk. I simply put it in a ss, add some sugar and lick it slowly. Now that we have corn, I have asked for some to be set aside for the production of cereals. That''s when you will enjoy milk more."Her eyes were closed and she was thinking about cereal and milk, coincidentally her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she had not yet had breakfast.


    "Have you eaten anything since morning?" Esong asked her.


    "I will eatter, but why are all of you here when my mother is breastfeeding?" she looked at her husband and the seventh prince.


    "Don''t worry I covered up the upper part of my body." her mother exined. "All they can hear is the suckling noises of your sister. One of the pigs gave birth and I went by when the three piglets were suckling, they sounded like this."


    "Mmm, mother, before I forget I went to the temple and got my baby sister a blessed pendant. It''s a prosperity pendant, I want to put it around her neck."


    "Is it like the one around your neck?" her mother looked at her neck and pointed.


    Scarlet nodded, "Mine is for peace, they have others for strength, love, health. If any of you is interested go and get one, someday they will be very popr and not easy to get a hold of."


    "Sister I want." Halley said in her voice.


    "Right." Scarlet said in a childish voice, "I will buy one for you."


    "Governor," the doctor in the room said, "I was wondering...." While he was talking Tion came in and whispered something to Scarlet.


    Her eyes widened and she rushed to leave without saying a word, Tion followed after her. It looked like something urgent and terrible had just urred.


    "What happened?" Adler asked anyone that could hear him.


    "Something about a fire." Esong said and he rushed out.

 Chapter 154 A Big Fire

    ?


    A fire! they were all a bit uneasy but no one had ever seen any big fires on the Sun star.


    "Do you think it''s bad?" Mega asked her husband. It had to be because of the way her daughter rushed out. What if she got herself injured out there?


    "I don''t know, but I should probably go and take a look." Dorian Su left the room, he was followed by all of his sons that were both curious and worried.


    Esong had been fast enough to catch up with Scarlet and Tion, he suggested that travel in his mecha, it would be faster this way. Scarlet did not even argue, she just went along with him.


    "How bad is it?'' she asked Tion. "How many fields have been burnt? How did it start?" Scarlet had so many questions. Of all things she nned for, she wondered why the outbreak of a fire never crossed her mind. Of course she should have thought about it, this fucking was mostly sunny!!! With the way the sun burned hot for thergest part of the year fires could break out if leaves were too dry and the heat was excessive.


    The weather here was unpredictable, with the exception of the winter season. ording to her father, at times it would rain heavily for two weeks and then stop suddenly. Sometimes for a month, other times it would just drizzle. The pattern was not easy to determine because it was inconsistent.


    "I am not sure right now governor, I too was given little information." Tion answered.


    "We will fix it, it''s just a fire." Esong said.


    "A fire in the fields!!, it''s not good Esong." she replied in a snappy voice. "How do you put out fires in the capital?"


    "We have never had a big fire in the capital." he replied.


    "Oh greaaaaat!!" she said in a high pitched voice, That probably meant no fire fighters or Emergency medical services either. "Do you know if anybody is injured?" she asked Tion.


    He shook his head and she sighed.At times, when she was nervous, Scarlet bit her nails and right now, that''s what she was doing until she realized that it was not a nail in her mouth but the glove.


    "Oh boy!!" Esong said and Scarlet looked up, that''s when she saw it, the big cloud of ck smoke up in the air weing them to the scene of the fire. No matter where one was in the blue star, they would probably be able to see it soon. "What''s the n? Should we use the space ships or mechas to send out air sts?"


    "No." she yelled immediately. "That might make it spread faster, we need water. How much water can your mecha suck up? Go towards theke and just suck up as up you can. Ry it to the other mecha warriors who can help too. Water puts out fire, other things can too but water is what we have ess to right now."


    Esong pushed his code red button, "All mecha warriors on the blue star whose mechas can store water, suck up some from theke and dump it on the field immediately. Water will put out the fire on the corn field."


    The officers in the mecha warrior headquarters in the capital saw the code red and heard the instructions. Since it was not theirs, they rxed a bit. For a few seconds, some of them thought the invasion of mutated beasts had started early.


    "Guys, have you ever seen a fire?" one of them asked.


    "How big can it be?" another asked.


    "But if the general himself has made the announcement then it must be."This was the officer that passed a code red because he thought Scarlet was going to be eaten by Severus on a live broadcast.


    He thought to himself that if general Esong was so calm back then in that situation, he must be worried right now for a good reason. It was best to take the threat seriously. All mechas had a video viewing option which the officers could ess to help the warriors monitor their environment in the field.They could only use it in emergencies of course, to the officer, mecha warriors were suddenly facing an unknown threat, it was an emergency.


    "Jeez!!, everyone look, I have footage from Admiral Folsom''s mecha, this is a big fire. What in the world made a fire this big?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are those people down there? We may not know much about fire but we know it kills."


    "There is a special gas in cars and space ships which instantly quells sparks, they should use that."


    "That''s just a rumor which is not authenticated."


    "But it''s true, my brother works for Mighty star autopany, he told me this. If the gas was not used, cars and space ships would erupt when idents happen."


    "I am going to say something weird, the mes are beautiful."That officer earned himself weird looks from his colleagues.


    As the mechas dumped water on the burning field and extinguished the fire, Scarlet was on the phone with Rodney who she told to make an announcement, requesting everyone to stay away from the field.


    Then she called the hospital asking for a few doctors and nurses toe to the scene of the fire and assist anyone that was injured.


    Twenty minutester, the fire waspletely extinguished and Scarlet was on ground to assess the extent of the damage. She walked with a few RGB officers, including their captain Zorl who was giving her a report.


    "We don''t know how the fire started and we are going to investigate carefully. From eye witness ounts, the fire started from the East, a few women were harvesting corn when it started. One of them was burned on the arm and three more were injured when they were running away."


    "Did they see who or what started the fire?" she asked. That is what she wanted to know more than anything.


    "Perhaps it was natural, the cold season ising after all." an officer suggested.


    "When the two suns were shining brightly we nted crops and nothing was burned. Now that the weather is bing colder and only one sun is still up, a field catches fire!! It cannot be natural, not everything that happens at this time can be med on winter. You are well trained investigators, I expect better from you, the ordinary people can say that but not you." Scarlet informed and chastised that officer at the same time. She found it really ignorant that everything that happened during this time of the year was attributed to winter. Her own brother Adler had med their mother''s earlybor on winter, forgetting that this pregnancy had been problematic especially toward the end.


    Captain Zorl also red at his subordinate for making such an assumption loudly in front of the governor. "We are considering all aspects governor, nothing has been eliminated yet." he said.


    Scarlet looked at the ck field which was filled with ashes and she sighed, it was so painful to watch.


    "No, noooo, the crops." she heard someone cry out loud, and she saw Oak fall to his knees dramatically. He was touching the ashes and crying as if an actual person had died.


    Many other ordinary people who should not be on the field wereing to look, including some who were live streaming.


    "Get the soldiers to help you keep unnecessary personnel off the field, treat it like a crime scene until you finish the investigation. These are standard practices, what are you waiting for?" She asked captain Zorl.


    "Yes governor." he gave instructions to his subordinates and they dispersed.


    "Hey Scarlet," Severus called, "I found something, I think someone deliberately did this."

 Chapter 155 My Dog, The Detective

    ?


    Severus barked three times and Scarlet walked in that direction, whatever he had found was the answer to her biggest questions.


    "Follow her, the dog has found something." Esong told the RGB officers, and even though captain Zorl did not like it, he went along with it anyway.


    Still he could not help asking, "What do you mean by the dog has found something?"


    Adler, Beord and Elroy had arrived around five minutes back with their father. Despite people being pushed back, they had been allowed through.


    "My sister''s dog is an expert at tracking things using scent, it''s sense of smell is far better than anything I have ever known." Adler exined to the captain. "I don''t think this is a simple case."


    Captain Zorl sneered because he could not believe these words. Did the Su''s think that a dog was better than trained RGB officers in investigation? They had been trained in the best academies, they excelled in physical fitness and their mental strength did not go beyond ''A'' level. This was a snub to their faces. "So a dog is leading the investigation now," he sarcastically.


    "Yes," Dorian red at captain Zorl, "Don''t always assume that you know everything about everything. Did you know about edible foods before my daughter came along?"


    "I apologize." Zorl said, albeit hesitantly. He still didn''t buy the idea that the dog was better at investigating than he was but he swallowed his pride. When it came to investigations, you learned something new each day after all.


    Ahead of them all, Scarlet finally found Severus, he was sitting on the ground, looking extremely bored. She squatted down and and patted his head. "What did you find buddy?"


    "This half burnt log, it''s what started the fire. Someone spent a lot of time here, I can smell them on the log, the ground and the behind those thorn trees. Do you want me to find him?"


    "Of course, whoever this is, it''s probably the person we have been looking for all this time, the one is that supposed to harm me. If the goal is to stop the food boom in the empire then burning the fields will be simpler." Scarlet said this, stood up and the officers, "Someone collect this half burnt log, it''s evidence of arson."


    Captain Zorl was among those that came forward first, looking at the log, he gave Scarlet a doubtful look. "No offense governor but aren''t you jumping to conclusions quickly. What evidence do you have that proves this log was used tomit a crime?"


    She asked him in turn, "When did bon fire logs start walking into the fields? It had to have been carried here by someone. Maybe it''s part of crime or maybe not but it should be dusted for finger prints or DNA residues. More importantly, my dog has caught a smell, you can continue searching the fields if you wish captain Zorl or trust me and follow us to apprehend the criminal."


    Rather than hearing an answer from captain Zorl, she heard one from her brother Adler and Esong.


    The former asked, "Where are we going, should I hold the dog?" and thetter asked "What do you need me to do?" After asking their questions both men gave each other a look that Scarlet could only define as unimpressive. She often thought thattely there was an underlying little bit of hostility between her oldest brother and her husband. Whether it was a result of Adler''s protectiveness or Esong''s petty jealousy she did not know.


    Scarlet looked at them both and then she looked at captain Zorl.


    "Are you on board?"


    "Lead the way." Captain Zorl nodded.


    Severus led the way away from the field, acting perfectly like a good actor as he would stop asionally and bark.


    "That individual was here." Scarlet would say after the barking. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Above in the sky, the BSTV drone was following all this with an excited Rodney close to hyperventting over the excitement of a detective dog. This was nothing like anyone had ever seen on the Sunstar, he coulde up with five ideas for shows on short notice with the dog sniffing and finding things as a challenge or for sport.


    Severus was running and then he suddenly stopped and turned back, he approached one woman that was walking with a shopping bag in her hands.


    "The smell is not strong on her, but it''s not hers." He told Scarlet.


    Scarlet could now take it from there because Severus could not very well question the woman too. As for the woman, she was scared when the governor, RGB officers and mecha warriors surrounded her. Two officers grabbed her hands ensuring that she could not run, in the process her shopping bag fell to the ground.


    "What''s your name?" Scarlet asked her.


    "Mi....Muriel governor." She replied nervously. She looked to be quite frightened by this sudden turn of events. The way she was being held certainly pointed to her being arrested for something.


    "Who do you live with?" Scarlet asked her. To ease the woman''s nervousness, Scarlet ced her hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. She topped it off with a soft reassuring smile.


    Muriel felt calmer, if the governor was smiling then maybe there was no trouble. "I live with my fianc¨¦ Ed."


    "Ah, congrattions I guess, I would love to hear more about Ed, like where he is right now?" Scarlet asked


    "W..Why?" Muriel looked perplexed and nervous now, her eyes strayed away from Scarlet''s gaze and moved to the officers behind her. "Is he in some sort of trouble?"


    "Look at me, not them." Scarlet held Muriel by the chin, "Ed might be in trouble and we need to find him as soon as possible. We all want to help him."


    Muriel looked worried, she nodded and responded, "He works the night shifttely, so he stays home to sleep during the day."


    Go with these officers Muriel, they might have some questions for you, please remember that we are protecting you so answer their questions truthfully." Scarlet patted Muriel''s shoulder in what was meant to an encouraging move.


    Then she nodded her head and two officers went away with Muriel.


    "We can take it from here governor, locating and apprehending this suspect is our job." Captain Zorl said, not arrogantly but calmly. "Someone that is capable of a crime like this might be afflicted by the darkness. That fire was set with people in the field which makes it attempted murder and not simple attempted murder but mass murder because the number of casualties would have been high if this nefarious n seeded. We RGB officers are trained to apprehend such individuals and even if he is just a suspect right now, we have to be cautious."


    "He is right." Adler said, "I will take you home or your office, whichever you prefer." He held Scarlet''s hand before she could say more. "Mother is worried about you too, she has not stopped calling."


    Scarlet agreed, choosing not to be argumentative because there was much else to do, the fire had exposed a few weak points that she had not covered. It was urgent to set up a fire station and train fire fighters.


    "Take Severus, he will be helpful." She told captain Zorl.

 Chapter 156 I Used To Be Adlers Princess

    ?


    She watched the team going after the arsonist fading away before looking at her brother Adler seriously. It seemed, they had something to talk about.


    So, she drew in one big breath and thought to herself, ''Let''s have it.'' "Are you going to talk about your recent attitude towards my husband brother, or do I have to tickle it out of you?"


    Adler gave her an angry gaze, one that worried her and caused her heart to drop. She had only seen this angry side of him towards her when she had just taken possession of Scarlet''s body. It made her ufortable, being stared at with this deep anger. Unconsciously, without realizing what she was doing, Scarlet rubbed her hand across her chest, over her heart, then she looked down at her hand and stopped.


    "Not now," he replied.


    "I can''t take the anxiety brother, I am unwilling to wait untilter to find out what exactly is wrong. Did Esong offend you? Or was it me? Have I done something that caused your ire?"


    "It''s not urgent." He insisted, "It can wait."


    "No." Scarlet held her ground. "You are clenching your jaws and fists, at this rate you are going to fight someone and that someone is probably going to be my husband. Before anyone does or says something that cannot be taken back or undone, please talk to me."


    Adler unclenched his fists and he said to her, "Fine, let''s talk." He invited her into her car which had been following them slowly. "Tell your guard to give us some privacy."


    "Tion, ten steps please." Scarlet told him. And after he got out of the car and stepped precisely ten steps away, Adler exposed his phone to Scarlet, asking her to read the contents.


    She looked at him, now equally as angry as he was. "Where did you get this from?" She was looking at her private emails and personal conversations including the contract between her and Esong.


    "I have always had ess to your emails since we moved here. It was done for your own protection." He answered her, looking none too guilty.


    With rage, Scarlet pushed his chest lightly and yelled at him, "It''s an invasion of my privacy. Do you even know how betrayed I feel knowing that my brother has been reading my private emails and essing my messages? I have never poked my nose into your personal business because its per-so-nal." She emphasized that word. "I am changing all my passwords right now."


    "Is that what is important to you right now?" He grabbed her hand and asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes." She replied with anger in her voice. "I can understand you monitoring me when I was still crazy after all I was still trying to get into contact with the royal family..."


    "It was not just contacting them, you insulted and threatened them in many of your emails which never reached them by the way because I made sure of that. Our father asked me to keep an eye on yourmunications and it was a good thing otherwise you would have gotten our entire family killed. But that''s not what''s important right now, I want to know why you entered into this kind of contract with a man that is supposed to be your husband. I have been doing my best to stay out of it, ignore it and look the other way but every time I see him holding and smiling at you in public. Acting like a great husband, I am enraged because I know its all lies. He is using you, punishing you for the past." He shook his head and looked down, "I can''t stand it sister, I want to protect you but I know that I can''t beat him in a physical fight and even if I could he is royalty. I cannot touch him so all I do is re and snap at him when possible. I feel so useless..." he sounded defeated."You should end it, before he breaks your heart."


    Scarlet had once though that Adler exhibited all the traits of a sis con, he loved her too much that at times, he forgot boundaries by poking his nose into all of her personal business. He was extremely protective of her, treating her more like a father does a daughter than a brother treats a sister. She knew that Fey and Precious were keeping him apprised of some her affairs and she looked the other way but maybe she needed to draw a line, however small or weak it was, it was necessary.


    "Do you remember what you all told me to do when he wasing here?" Scarlet could not stand to see him breaking down like this still. "Everyone told me to suck it up, smile and be extremely nice and weing to him. Basically, I was to say yes to everything he wanted while doing my best not to anger him."


    Adler gripped her hands tightly and shook his head, "Not this Scarlet, not this way. This is not what we meant, I will not allow him to use you like one of those..." he broke off and punched the car seat.


    "That contract is not me being used, its me taking control of a bad situation. It''s my way of apologizing to him, righting my wrongs and ensuring that my son, I and our family is safe, together and stable. With Esong by my side his mother will not be able to take Justin, with his support the royal family is now on good terms with us. With him by my side this is ours and all those who would seek to take it from us are terrified. I proposed the contract brother, not him." She admitted thatst part because she did ask him to sleep with her first.


    "What kind of crazy talk.." Adler looked at her with disbelief on his face.


    "I am not your princess anymore." She blurted out. Then she ced her hand in Adler''s and repeated her words, "I am not your little princess anymore, the one you promised to protect all your life. That is what I used to be when we were young but no more, I am Esong''s wife now. We have grown up brother, you cannot always be my hero with your mighty sword simply waiting to y all my dragons. There are things in my life that I have to handle on my own without running to hide under your wings for protection. When you get married someday you will understand that the rtionship between a husband and wife can beplicated. The smiles you have seen Esong give me are genuine, he holds my hand whether we are in public or private. He does not force intimacy on me and he dedicates his time to training me even though he does not need to. There was a space between us which was filled with hatred, rage and suspicion, we have filled that space with friendship andpanionship. I do not need to hear a confession of love from that man today, what we have right now is good enough for the start. What I need from Esong the most right now is to know that he will have my back for the next two hundred seventy two years of my life."


    Adler was still hesitant, shaking his head in refusal to buy what she was saying.


    "I have made my peace with it brother, if you love me, do the same. We have bigger problems right now like the loss of food in the fire. I need to know how much we have lost and how it will affect us. There are a few men who failed to pass the RGB test but they can be recruited as fire fighters. I need to you to gather them right now and we can move forward from there."


    "We are not done talking about this."


    "Yes we are." she grabbed his arm, "Get the men ande to the castle grounds."

 Chapter 157 On Your Belly!

    ?


    Severus continued to take the lead on the hunt for Ed, while they set off in vehicles to the blue city, captain Zorl checked the database for Ed. Before they could engage the suspect, it was necessary to know about him, especially the level of his mental strength. Because this was not a solo mission, this information had to be shared with others.


    When Scarlet left, the team had organized themselves to appear more professional. They were all given helmets used by RGB officers, these helmets blocked protected the officers from having their thoughts manipted by criminals with superior levels of mental strength. They also carried shields which emitted energy rays that interfered with the ability of a criminal to use telekinesis.


    Allmunication channels were kept open during the operation and at the RGB headquarters, in a secureputer room, officers who did not engage in field operations monitored the building they were going to with drones. The drones had heat sensors so the team had been informed that there was one upant in the apartment.Every point of exit and entrance was marked, Ed would not be escaping.


    "Listen to me everyone," Captain Zorl was naturally leading the operation so he addressed them as theirmander. "The suspect''s name is Ed Mara, he is one hundred two years old with an A level of mental strength, having regressed from S. He was a mecha warrior that served in the Wind death army under general Patterson. His primary base was the Red star so this means he is brutal when necessary, if he is the criminal then he will not hesitate to kill when cornered. We should be swift in taking him down, four of us will be entering the apartment, myself, general Esong and two of his men. Four others need to block off the entrance to the apartment in case he is slippery. The building has rooftop ess which needs to be blocked off, so does the emergency exit and the balcony."


    "I am d he is not ours." Ian whispered to Esong, "I thought we kept out mecha warriors that had served on the Red star for now from migrating here. How did he fall through the cracks?"


    "He probably has connections, someone obviously squeezed him on the list somehow. I will be looking into it when we return to the capital."What Esong did notvoice was his suspicion that general Patterson himself could have sent this Ed here after all, they were not on cordial terms.


    "It must be the Origin nutrients, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. They can only monitor the blue star and progress of food by sending one of their own here." Cedric suggested. Burning the field was done to ensure that the seeds would not survive as well, after all everyone knew now that seeds for the next nting cycle had toe from what had been nted in this cycle. So if you burned what was nted, no seeds and no more food.


    "Would they be that stupid?" Ian asked. "I heard that the emperor has turned thepany upside down in the hunt for a conspiracy to keep the citizens unhealthy and addicted to nutrient solutions. Apparently an anonymous person filed a report iming that one of the ingredients in there beauty nutrient solution is an addictive drug from the ck market. It is unbelievable that ''the Samael Rogan'' fucked up this badly."


    The vehicles arrived at the apartment building and suited up RGB officers and mecha warriors started their invasion. Two of the officers flew up to the roof top, and moved into position. Another one flew up to the balcony and pointed his weapon at the doors.Others blocked off the emergency exits and got ready for action.All the officers were armed, carrying guns that sted an energy force which was the equivalent of three hundred volts. This force could be deadly so when one was asked to surrender, they did so instantly when these weapons were pointed at them.


    Within twenty seconds, the door to the apartment was opened by a small overriding device which only RGB officers could use andthe four men went inside quickly, locating Ed Mara who was sleeping on the bed.


    "On your belly, mental shields down."Captain Zorlmanded immediately.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ed Mara who had been woken up from his sleep first appeared to be confused. He raised his hands up and acted shocked, "What have I done, officers I am innocent." he imed immediately.


    "On your belly, mental shields down." Captain Zorl repeated.The ss door leading to the balcony was opened from the outside and another gun was pointed at Ed.


    "Civilian, you have been warned twice, get on your belly and lower your mental shields." Thismand came from a ck circr drone with onerge red eye which looked like a camera. It had four arms facing the front, and all arms were armed.These drones had a name, ''Shoot to kill'' was what civilians called them.


    A few civilians were downstairs, they gathered outside, looking up to see themotion. But no one sent a personal drone up, not even certified gold whose apartment had a direct line of sight to Ed Mara''s apartment through one of his windows. He had been live streaming a game of snakes anddderswhich he was ying with his neighbor when themotion started. His viewers wanted to him to get a closer look but they all knew, shoot to kill drones ate normal drones for breakfast. If a normal drone came close during an operation it would be shot down until all that was left of it was ashes.


    Still, he could see a bit clear with the zoom feature and his viewers were excited.


    "I am sure that their is a misunderstanding." Ed Mara insisted.If he lowered his mental shields, the RGB officers would search his mind with ease, locating any information they wanted from his mind, looking into his deepest darkest secrets which they would use against him and he was unwilling to do so.


    This mind search technique of RGB officers was very secretive, only their very best could use it and on each criminal capture operation, such an officer was always present. In this case, captain Zorl was that officer.


    "On your belly, mental shields down." Captain said, for the third and final time.


    "Civilian, you have received your final warning." the shoot to kill drone also announced.


    If Ed Mara did not do as suggested, everyone knew what wasing next. The officers would use force to arrest him and if he tried to escape, a shoot to kill drone would do it''s job. All that would be left of Ed Mara would be ashes.

 Chapter 158 A Case Of The Darkness.

    ?


    BSTV was not to be oupeted by live streamers, as an official news channel, the news drone was not shot down but it had to keep a significant distance away from the action.


    The news anchor, a thirty year old female woman Chris Kennie who had been headhunted by Mr. Rodney was actively describing the scenes with vigor as the official star page of BSTV spread the information wide on the starwork.


    "Those of you who are just joining us, we are witnessing a standoff between suspect Ed Mara and officers of the RGB. Sources say that Ed Mara is the main suspect in the fire which was set intentionally on the corn field. The fire which has devastated many employees of the farming department and left at least ten injured is now being called, the tragedy before winter.


    Mr. Ed Mara has refused to surrender despite being faced down by armed RGB officers who are working in conjunction with mecha warriors. It is very obvious that the shoot to kill drone is cocked and ready for action so there is no telling how this will end. Following the rules of the national media association if the scene does turn extremely violent we will be blocking the footage. I will be taking you back to the scene where our on the ground reporter is speaking to some of Ed Mara''s neighbors."


    The reporter on ground was a neen year old girl named Jelly. Jellywas fearless despite not having any mental strength.She never hesitated to engage in any activity or confront any situation as long as she could do her job as a reporter. Part of her confidence was because news reporters were protected by bodyguards assigned by thepany and also because she wanted to prove to many other girls out there that had no mental strength that they could be something other than a courtesan or maid.


    "Thank you Chris, I am standing on apartment block C, also known asCat paw building. Next to me are some of Ed Mara''s neighbors that have a few things to say about him, like this gentleman over here, Mr. you said that you know Ed Mara personally."


    "Oh yes," an elderly man appeared on the screen, "He is a reserved fellow that keeps to himself. But he is polite, every morning he greets me before going on his run. I can''t believe what they are saying he did."


    "Thank you somuch," reporter Jelly moved on to someone else, "Ma''am, do you live in the Cat paw building?"


    "Yes," the woman nodded, "I work in the clothes manufacturing department with his fianc¨¦, she is a very good woman.I can''t help but feel sorry for her, this is going to break her heart."


    "Do you know Ed Mara?" Jelly asked her.


    "Yes, a little bit, I heard him mentioning that they would be moving to a three bedroom apartment on the eightieth floor. You know the upper floors are more more expensive so I guessed that he wasing into some money. I was curious so I asked him and he said he had inherited some fortune from a dead rtive."


    Boom!! something made a loud sound up and Jelly''s eyes moved to the balcony which she could hardly see.


    In the apartment when the look on Ed Mara''s face changed with thest warning and he started exhibiting signs of hostility, captain Zorl had fired his weapon instantly and Ian jumped on Ed immediately.Cedric assisted and both of them brought Ed down to his knees, forcing him on his belly.


    Captain Zorl put a white helmet on Ed Mara''s head and he was handcuffed. He became as stiff as a corpse and he was handed off to a shoot to kill drone that sped away so quickly to deliver him to the cells in the RGB offices.


    "Are we done here?" Esong asked captain Zorl.


    He nodded, "Thank you for your help, while you are done our work is just beginning. We have to search his house, his terminals, phones and any othermunication devices. We need to know if he has been in contact with anyone else. I hate to nag but we need security cameras on every building, the roads, the schools."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We are working on it." Esong informed him.


    "Work faster, in thest week we have arrested thirty six people for traffic vitions alone. The absence of cameras makes it harder to enforce thews when they im not to have seen the traffic lights change. Winter ising and we all know things will get crazier. We have drones monitoring in space but you and I both know that it won''t be long before the citizens im that being monitored by shoot to kill drones is making them ufortable."


    No one could sleep easily knowing that an armed drone was close to their window. What if it malfunctioned and started firing?


    "In two days we are expecting a delivery ofthree thousand sixty cameras and sensors. This doesn''t take away from the fact that you do not have enough manpower to monitor these cameras. " Since he wanted to remind Esong of his failures as a governor, Esong did not hold back on informing him about his shortings too. RGB affairs were captain Zorl''s territory and he reported back to the RGB headquarters in the capital even though his sry was paid by the Blue star.


    "I have been promised an addition of sixty officers that are arriving in three days." Captain Zorl replied.


    With the exception of the officers left behind to search the house, they all walked downstairs, captain Zorl inclusive.


    Jelly was quick on her feet and her microphone was shoved politely in captain Zorl''s face, "Captain Zorl, what do you think caused Ed Mara to burn down the field?"


    Captain Zorl''s upper lip twitched and he frowned. After mecha warriors, he hated the media next. They were quick to criticize and slow to amend or retract false news.


    "Noment, the case is under investigation."


    "What do you have to say about the rumor that Ed Mara''s is a case of the darkness?"


    "Noment." Captain Zorl said again.


    "Did Ed Mara set the field on fire for financial reward?" Jelly was persistent. "What about the involvement of the governor''s dog in the investigation, to what extent did it lead you to the capture of the suspect Ed Mara?"


    Captain Zorl pushed her aside gently, they entered the vehicles and set off for the RGB offices.


    In the governor''s castle, Scarlet turned her attention away from the screen, switched off the television and addressed the thirty six men and two women in front of her.


    "Let''s talk about fire and emergency response."

 Chapter 159 Jelly And The Hateful Zorl

    ?


    Two days passed, and captain Zorl passed on whatever information he got from Ed Mara to the headquarters in the capital. Today, the arsonist Ed Mara himself would be sent to the capital where he would be tried before a tribunal and then sentenced. The only criminals allowed to serve sentences on their homes where those whomitted minor offenses. Anything that resulted in deliberate death, near death, permanent body damage and property loss valued at over one hundred million star coins had to be handled by the capital. In other words, all major crimes had to be handed over to the capital.


    As per the instructions of the governor, after concluding the investigation captain Zorl had to address the citizens of the blue star in a press conference which was being shown live on BSTV. Other live streamers too attended with permission given by the RGB of course.


    Reporter Jelly as usual was very focused and asking all the right questions, some even tricky that they managed to anger captain Zorl.


    "After a two day investigation we have concluded sessfully that Ed Mara is the man responsible for burning down the corn field. His crime which has been named arson has been deemed to be deliberate. He will be sent to the capital where he is to be charged for arson and sent before a tribunal.The details of the investigation will be released on the official star page of the Blue star RGB. I would like tomend all the officers that were involved in the operation, a case like this one is the first in our empire but as usual the RGB has proven it''s capabilities by solving it.I would like to assure the citizens that this is the kind of dedication you can expect from us, we will spare nothing in our goal to protect you.I can take your questions now."


    "Is it true or not that Ed Mara received payment through a rtive from the capital tomit this arson? ording to our research his sister in the capital recently purchased one new model Varakas flying car that costs ten million star coins just as Ed Mara was nning to buy a three bedroom apartment at seven million." Reporter Jelly asked.


    "The investigation here on the Blue star has been concluded but the case is still ongoing in the capital. I am not not under liberty to discuss an on going investigation."Captain Zorl replied.


    "There is a rumor that Ed Mara was a nt sent here by a collusion of nutrient solutionpanies to destroy all the food and seeds. Could this be what inspired the arson?" Certified gold raised a question that was sent by one of his viewers.


    "Like I said, the case is still ongoing in the capital, next question." Captain Zorl ignored Jelly''s eager hand and chose someone else.


    "If the crime is arson then is the criminal an arsonist because a murderermits murder."


    This question was asked by another live streamer and Jelly pouted, that was thest question on the bottom of her list.She scratched it off with a frown ona face.


    "Captain Zorl went on to ignore her hand four more times, letting the live streamers ask all herquestions which irritated her. She was the official reporter for BSTV, what exactly was this hateful captain up to.


    Ignoring the procedure of choosing hands, Jelly raised her voice and asked, "If the crime wasmitted here on the Blue star, do you think it''s right for the criminal to be tried elsewhere?Logically speaking, shouldn''t every star have a tribunal branch just as it''spulsory to have branches of the RGB, mecha warrior offices and royal residences?"


    "I am an officer of thew, not a politician perhaps your question will be better addressed by the governor." Captain Zorl gave Jelly a very intense angry look. If he could


    Scarlet was watching the press conference with Esong on an open training field where the newly recruited fire fighters were training.When she the look captain Zorl gave Jellyshe giggled.


    "Hey Tion," she called and showed him her terminal, "This is what I call a smoldering gaze, I can''t tell if he dislikes her intensely or likes her with a burning passion."


    "I will go with dislike." Esong suggested. "He gave me that lookst time on the first day of harvesting. If it''s burning passion then I am very frightened. I might have to run in the opposite direction every time I see him."


    Scarletughed, a loud bigugh, "Oh, I would pay money to see that."She pictured captain Zorl chasing after Esong with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    After exhausting all of herughter, she knelt down and tightened the knots of her sneakers. "Let''s run." she told Esong.


    "I can''t believe this," he shook his head, "Their training is as intense as ours and they have to study for two hours about fires. On top of that they have to attend one hour of ss at the medical school to learn about this first aid. Don''t you worry that they will burn out?"


    "I never promised them that this would be easy but they are handling it well.I am even more impressed that the two women have been able to keep up."


    "You intend to put them to work during the winter, right?"


    She nodded, extremely determined. "That''s when the emergencies will double or quadruple. It''s a good thing that they already had training, it would be much harder if I had to start from scratch. "Come on," she took off running and the dogs Hachiko and Severus''s underlings went after her.


    At the RGB offices, the live press conference was being wrapped up and Jelly wasining to her colleague about captain Zorl.


    "He did it deliberately, undercutting me like that as if I am just a silly reporter. I can''t stand that man. And why is he ring all the time? Would it kill him to smile?"


    "Jelly." Her colleague called her nervously.


    "I should have taken my tablet and hit him over the head. BSTV is the official television of our star, we were supposed to be given priority in the Q and A."


    "Jelly." Her colleague called her again in a high pitched voice.


    "That stinky smelly captain, I know for a fact that Mr. Rodney is going to chew me out because of him when I get back to the station."


    "There is nothing about me that is stinky or smelly." Captain Zorl''s voice came from behind her.


    Jelly squealed and turned around, looking very guilty despite the small smile on her face.


    "Captain." She said. "Eavesdropping on other people''s conversations should be a crime."


    "No it isn''t, especially if I am not using any kind of listening device to stealthily ess your private conversation. You are standing in a public ce which makes your conversation public. And for your information, hitting me with your tablet is what would have been the crime. I agreed to the live press conference at the governor''s request but I did not sign any kind of contract that specifically assigned you priority on the Q and A session. Good day miss Jelly."


    Captain Zorl walked away with determined steps and his hands behind his back. In his official RGB uniform, the man looked dashing but at the moment, Jelly was too focused on the tiny spark of anger within her to care about that.

 Chapter 160 A Live One

    ?


    Scarlet had never met the actor Ramslin, she also rarely thought about the young man whose duties on the Sun star were simr to hers. She always figured that someday they would meet either during the leaderboard fights where he ranked two thousand two or if she ever payed a visit to the yellow star. If that was still not possible than maybe in the capital when the ban the emperor issued preventing her family from ever leaving the blue star was lifted. Never did she expect their first meeting to ur the way it was happening right now.


    After training with the fire fighters she had returned to her bedroom for quick bath but then Gertrude offered to massage her tight muscles to which she said yes. Laying there on the massage table, as she started gettingfortable, Severus showed up and told her they had a live one. This was his way of referring to a freshly dead soul, or one whose body was about to draw it''sst breath.


    Scarlet sent Gertrude out for a minute and then she took the sleeping pill.Now that she was at level three, she could reap fresh souls, not just the wondering ones.


    The fresh soul she was to pick up was in the capital which made Scarlet smile. She could not go there with her physical body right now but as a grim reaper, she could go anywhere.


    "When you reach level six, you will be able to change your face and use a temporary physical body to walk around in the capital if you want." Severus told her.


    This made her want to level up faster, she could practically enter the pce and the emperor would never know that it was her. Holding on to Severus, he blinked and they appeared in the capital at once, inside of a hospital. Of course, it had to be a hospital, they were the breeding grounds of death ording to the forum. Hospitals, battle grounds and cemeteries were the best ces for grim reapers to work. Souls of the dead were always lurking around everywhere one looked.


    "Ah, this must be like a hotel for grim reapers." she told Severus. "Open your soul gourd and go to sleep and when you wake up, everyone that died will have walked in by themselves."


    As she spoke, she opened hers without thinking twice. It was a change from looking for souls in the forest or collecting them from the temple.


    "What do I do next?" She asked Severus.


    "Just walk from room to room, visit the sick, give some energy to those whose time has not yete but are experiencing immense suffering. At times, a fresh soul needs convincing to let go so if you see one, whisper to them."


    It was a new experience for Scarlet walking through walls like a ghost, unseen and unheard by the patients and their families. This was a big hospital, it had many med beds that were almost fully upied. Why did she think that because of superior technology hospitals in the interster were usually empty? They were filled with people in pain as much as the ordinary earth was.


    On one bed, an elderly man was coughing fitfully. Scarlet could see the grey smokeing from his body, he was about to die she knew. He probably had less than five minutes left and he was surrounded by loved ones.


    "The doctor has said that they found a new treatment father, just hung in there for a while." His son said.


    The elderly man nodded but his pale face did not present much hope.


    Scarlet thought to herself that it would have been better if they said everything they wanted to say from their hearts. Everyone deserved a chance to say goodbye.


    She never got that chance, maybe if she whispered to them that he was dying...


    "Do not interfere with the living." Severus stopped her.


    "I just want...."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I know what you want to do but you are a grim reaper, the proverbial angel of death. Your duty is to get souls from point A to point B and if a dying person is holding on, asionally you convince them to let go."


    She looked at the man and his face with a pitiful smile as she waited for the seconds to exhaust and she could take his soul. In a weird way, Scarlet likened herself to a vulture waiting for someone to die so that she could finally get a chance to feed on the carcass.


    "Let me guess," a very audible voice said close to her suddenly. "You feel like the family deserves to say goodbye."


    Surprise shook her body and she looked to her left. A young handsome man stood next to her, his face was one she had seen before on star, the actor Ramslin.


    "It''s you!" She gasped.


    "I heard there was another reaper on my but knowing that it was Scarlet the hound, now that was a surprise." He replied.


    "I think you mean our, I didn''t think I would meet you this soon."


    "Well, I was passing by when I noticed you here. I caught thest bit of your conversation with your hound, impressive by the way." Hemented.


    "Thank you." Severus answered proudly and he stuck his chest out.


    "This is my pet Snowball," he showed them the fluffy white cat with a mean look on it''s face which proceeded to ignore them. "You were wise to caution her, I once made the same mistake she was about to make. I whispered to a mother that her sick child would die soon, and ording to the information I had it was true. What I did not expect was for the mother to poison herself and the child before the child''s time was technically up. Worse even was the fact that the child''s fate had been altered and she was supposed to live an extra sixty years but because of my whisper, the child died an untimely death. I have not interfered in their death since then, If it''s a live one, I stand on the side and wait for the clock to run out."


    The elderly man''s clock run out, he drew hisst breath and passed away. While his children, grandchildren and loved ones cried, Scarlet collected his soul.


    "See, it''s better for everyone this way." Ramslin was smiling. "Goodbye hound, see you around soon, we have a lot to discuss after all, business wise especially. By the way, thank for reintroducing food to this world, I used to eat in secret but now I eat openly and use you as an excuse." Heughed.


    Watching him leave, Scarlet was left with a few unanswered questions of her own, like who altered the fate of the child he was sure was about to die?


    "Severus, how do you know that someone is about to die? We were on the blue star so how did you know that someone in the capital was about to die?"


    "There is a hall in the underworld which only soul pets can ess, in there we can see the humans who are about to die, it''s like they have a contract with life which is about to expire.One of our duties is to guide our grim repears to these people. Let''s return, our work here is done."


    Scarlet woke up in her room, Gertrude was back, giving her that rxing massage and somehow, she slept off again.

 Chapter 161 The Interest Of A Deity

    ?


    While she was sleeping, schools were officially closed and Justin who was picked up by his grandparents and father came looking for his mother.


    "Hello," he greeted the maids in the kitchen. It was the first ce he went because the kitchen was his mother''s favorite part of the house. His too because it was where his mother cooked all sorts of delicious food for him.


    "Hello Lord Justin." Gertrude was eager to respond to him. Being the first born son of Esong Wu, someday this little boy would be the head of the prosperous Wu family. "Are you looking for something to eat?"


    "No, I want my mummy." He was eager to show her his report card, havinge third in his ss.


    "Your mummy might be sleeping so you will have to be real quiet." Anna told Justin.


    He was let into the bedroom and he found her sleeping indeed as Anna said. Justin smiled, took of his shoes and slipped into the bed, falling asleep with his mother which was something he had not done in a long time.


    His mother however was actually using this opportunity to continue climbing the ranks on the leaderboard. In order to at leaste closer to top one hundred within a year she had to fight constantly and burst her way through the thousands of grim reapers that were already ahead of her.


    The underworld was not like the mecha fights which were simple to navigate. Here, petty tricks like hallucinations did not work, only the level of soul strength did.


    Facing another level three grim reaper at who was ced two thousand six hundred thirty eight on the leaderboard Scarlet was scared that she might lose this fight. It had been forty minutes but there was no hint who the winner of this fight would be. Her opponent ck Dalia was a mist walker, she could appear and disappear in a mist. She could also surround her opponent with that mist, choking them and blocking their soul energy. She was also patient, ck Dalia was known for her inexhaustible patience, her prowess and calctive nature. It''s what made her one of the most well known level low level grim reapers. Her beauty added another tribute to the things which made her special. She was tall, dainty, with a tiny face, sharp nose and Cherry red lips. When Ezrah had been describing ck Dalia to Scarlet, she used the words heavenly beauty with a waist so small that dances as she walks.


    It was so weird to her that even in a realm like this one, things like beauty still mattered. Grim reapers preferred to date amongst themselves because there was no point in dating a human that would die while you lived forever. ck Dalia was one of the most sought after female reapers in the underworld for her beauty and unique mist skill. Scarlet still found it pointless for grim reapers to be together since they could not reproduce. If they could, there would no need to find strong souls that would be turned into grim reapers.


    She looked at the mist which was boxing her in and she wondered how she was going to escape it.


    "Haha." A beautiful bell like sound was heard in her ears. "I yield, two words hound and I will release you."


    "Never." Scarlet responded gruffly, she was trying to break through the mist with her soul power but it was not working. It seemed as if it had been contained within her.


    In the audience, Lythia as always was here for Scarlet''s fight and apanying her was an unlikely individual, the old deity with a different face.


    "Why are you here?" Lythia asked him. "I appreciate the disguise but not interest in her."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Why?" the old deity smiled cheekily. "I find her interesting, and that me of hers is also interesting." He looked over at Lythia with a more serious face. "They don''t know were special mes like thate from but we do. I am simply here to make sure she doesn''t ruin my hard work by ruining my reapers. Besides, I would like to spend more time with her."


    "Don''t do this, she is not a toy brother. I know you well and you have been bored for millions of millenniums and suddenly shees along and you are considering toying with her for your amusement. I have never asked you for anything but for the first time in our long existences I am asking, if you need I will beg, not her." Lythia looked deeply into the old deity''s eyes. Lythia knew all too well that deities could be cruel, her brother inclusive. These world that they built and filled with humans were done for their amusement and when they became bored, they destroyed them or simply moved on to newer worlds. They picked humans as toys and when they got bored, they broke those toys. It did not mean that they did not love the humans, being immortal just made them numb to small things like death ofhumans.


    Lythia''s words elicited augh from the old deity, he found her plea amusing. "What is it about this one that is making you beg me little sister? You make me want to toy with her all the more, ironically I could not touch her if she was human but as a reaper she is mine. Let''s be candid here, I cannot quell my interest in her. In life, they belong to my most annoying brother but in death they belong to me. Which is why I am so irritated by the fact that I can''t see the moment of her reaping. None of the reapers on Wrath''s world brought her here, she appeared as if by magic. On top of that she brazenly tried to cut the line and escape from me."


    "You put those thoughts in her head." Lythia snapped at him.


    "Tomato, tomatoe, she chose to escape, it''s all the same thing. I like her, she is greedy but not too greedy. She knows her boundaries but it doesn''t stop her from attempting to bargain with me. She doesn''t fear me which keeps making me wonder who sent her here and why?"


    "Does it matter?"


    "I want them Lythia," The old deity looked deeply into Lythia''s eyes and he repeated his words, "I want them. Thest memories of her life belong to me but they were stolen, you know how I get when someone steals from me. So if by any chance it happens to be you, return what belongs to me or I will be very unhappy and no reaper will get any rest for the next ten millenniums. One tiny outbreak of a deadly virus can wipe out billions of them in a few years."


    "That''s extreme, even for you." she gasped.


    "Like I said, I hate it when someone takes what belongs to me. I hate it even more when other deities interfere in the way I run my world, death is my territory."


    Lythia touched her head and a little white floating string of energy appeared. Slowly, it floated all the way to the old deity and he inhaled it with his eyes closed. There was a euphoric look on his face, and then he exhaled.


    "You reaped her soul personally, now why would you do that?"the old deity looked at Lythia curiously. Now he knew why no reaper could confirm having reaped Scarlet, or Su Yan as she was back then. Why would his all powerful sister, a minor deity reap the soul of a mere mortal?


    "I owed someone a favor, she died before her time apparently so I delivered her and allowed her to keep a little dimensional space as per that favor. That is all I know, there is no mystery to it, check your records if you want and you will find that she was not supposed to die when she did."


    "Huh, now I am back to being bored." The old deity feigned a yawn. "Although, someone needs to teach her how to master that me, Severus told me that she is struggling but she is too proud to admit it.So, I will decide whether to step in or not depend on how she handles this fight. If she triggers my interest, I will not treat her like a toy, I will ¡­.. master, I will be her master."

 Chapter 162 Bang!! The Hound Wins

    ?


    "What are you willing to bet that she will use that me of hers to escape the mist cage?" the old deity asked Lythia.


    "She won''t." Lythia assured her brother. "The girl is smarter than she looks, she knows the importance of keeping the me a secret."


    "Then she will lose." the old deity dered.


    "Actually," Lythia smiled mysteriously, "She is going to win."


    Both of them looked at the stage, one with twinkling eyes of amusement and another with a look of intensity. Each of them with their own agenda all for the same reaper by the name, Scarlet the hound.


    In the mist cage, Scarlet had tuned out ck Dalia''s taunts and concentrated on gathering the essence of Severus''s blood which she had not yet refined. It struck her while she was beingcontained in this cage like mist that there could be an explosive way out. In the beginning she considered using her me. It was a part of her after all so technically using it was not cheating but she had been warned severally not to use it against other grim reapers, there was a possibility that she could absorb ck Dalia''s soul powerspletely.The me was too dangerous, it was explosive!!


    The word explosive led to her next idea. In the zombie apocalypse, she had seen a human with a lightning superpower which he would use to explode the heads of zombies.Scarlet considered exploding her own soul power but Severus told her not to dare try it.


    She then remembered another thing that had explosive power, the blood of a hell hound. On the list of top ten liquids highly sought after in the underworld hell hound blood was number six.She had that with her, in her body were the remains of the essence of Severus''s blood which she had not yet refined.


    So, while ck Daliaughed and attempted to suffocate Scarlet with her mist until she eventually passed out, Scarlet sat down and concentrated on turning that essence into a round red energy ball that would go off like a bomb. It might have repercussions to her personally but right now, it was her way out.


    As soon as she started losing consciousness from the power of the mist, she screamed and let go of the energy ball. It went off with a bang, spreading in all directions and causing a small tremble in the coliseum.ck Dalia was flung away, she hit her back against the shields and fell down on the ground, passing out.


    In stunned silence, one the judges dered Scarlet the winner and ck Dalia was carried away by her friends to the hall of guardian reapers.


    "What the hell was that?"


    "What did she do?"


    Questioning voices surrounded Scarlet, all of them curious about what had just urred. But the loudest voice of them all was Severus''s, telling her that she had done a good job.Finally, she allowed herself to pass out, she was feeling drained,pletely out of energy.


    "Send her to my pce." Lythia spoke in Severus mind and he carried her away in his mouth, with his big sharp teeth.


    Away from the crowd, a reaper was sitting atop a veryrge ck hell hound with a gold star on it''s forehead and eyes the color of mes. The reaper had long red hair and he was wielding a scythe that had a few cracks in a few spots. It had been mended many times than could be counted.


    "Your son found an interestingpanion Argos, in a few millennia we might be facing them in a small world."


    The hound sneered and responded, "Why wait a millennia, I have others keeping an eye on my son. As soon as his reaper is invited to a small world, we can pay them a visit, maybe show them how it''s done. I don''t mind leaving a few scars on Severus''s skin, he is one of my children that has always opposed my way."


    "Aww, and here I was thinking that you were bing sentimental Argos." The reaperughed. "I would not underestimate them though, the girl herself is quite something...she has to managed to catch the eye of three deities. Maybe this underworld will finally be interesting after all, we have all been too bored."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It has been noisy ever since she arrived, interesting can also spell disaster." Argos was of the opposite opinion.


    "Not disaster Argos but change, the higher level reapers have been bing too arroganttely. She will teach them a good lesson." Heughed and rode off with his hound, unseen by all the reapers. If they had seen him, their would bemotion because he was a celebrity in this world, the reaper all reapers wanted to be.


    Scarlet woke up at around three o''clock with a small body snuggled against her. The smell of sweets told her that it was probably Justin, snuggled in her bed and eating something sweet and sticky.As she stretched, the hunger made itself prominent by the rumbling of her stomach.


    She opened her eyes and yawned, pulling Justin closer.


    "Mummy, you are finally awake." he said excitedly.


    "Mmm" she mumbled."When did you get here?"


    "Two hours ago, look at my report card mummy I was the best in ss." he shook her body insistently, showing her the palm sizedputer tablet in his hands.


    She sat up and yawned, throwing her hands high in the air. "Is this the report?"


    "Yes, teacher Penny told father that I would have been number one if I did not spell some words wrong in mynguage test. She said that you should help me with my reading during the holidays so that I don''t fall behind."


    "Congrattions oning third my son." she pulled him closer for a big hug. "How did I end up bing the mother of the cleverest little boy in the world?"


    Justin giggled and she started tickling him for a bit. He hid in the nkets and she sought him out with her hands. "Where are you going? Come back here."


    "Noooo," heughed.


    "I was going to bake a cake to celebrate youing third in ss if you allowed me to tickle you..."


    Justin popped his head up from under the nkets like a small ground hog. "I am here mummy you can tickle a little bit."


    He extended his tummy to her and closed his eyes like a willing sacrificialmb.


    "Really," Scarletughed, finding her son''s behavior utterly ridiculous but also adorable. "Here Ie."


    Justin opened his eyes, squealed and went back into the nkets.


    "Come on my little ground hog, let''s go and bake that cake after all. Mummy is so proud of you."

 Chapter 163 Can You Sue For Emotional Damages?

    ?


    Mr. Rodney came rushing over when he heard that Scarlet was about to do a live broadcast. Arrangements were made in the kitchen, drone cameras were set up, she put on her chef''s outfit and Anna too was dressed up to act as her assistant chef. The additional bonus was Justin who now had custom made little chef outfits from the supermarket. They had been made here, on the blue star in the factory. He looked so cute with that serious expression on his face in attempt to appear focused. His cheeks were puffed up because he was holding in air for some reason.


    "My baby, you should smile and breathe in or you will suffocate."Scarlet pinched his cheek and it deted.


    She looked at Mr. Rodney who was counting down with his hands, three, two one and the drone cameras turned green.


    "Hello everyone," Scarlet resumed her sweet chef personality, speaking cheerfully and sonorously. "You have not seen me in two months, right?"


    She had been so busy that she had no time to do live streams or broad cast anything. The star tube videos continued and her subscriptions had gone up to two hundred million so far and counting. Her star following was at eighty eight million and it grew more each day.


    Rodney had advised her to answer some questions first before she started baking the cake. This was to ensure that she had more than one million viewers before she started baking.


    "I will be answering a few questions before we begin, so, hit me." she pointed finger guns directly at the camera and made a cocking sound. Besides her, Justin mimicked the actions and sound perfectly.


    [When are you changing your name again?]


    "Someone wants to name when I am changing my star user name again.Well, I don''t know, I like it just fine right now."


    [Where have you been?]


    "Another person wants to know where I have been, my answer is right here on the blue star. Or maybe in your heart if you are my fan." she made a finger heart.


    [Am I your biggest fan?]


    "Yes, silver wolf, you are best and biggest fan. Thank you for supporting me right from day one."


    [Other stars do fan meetings or prize give aways, why don''t you do one?]


    "Cutie carrot wants a fan give away, I don''t know if transportation drones work in winter but if they do it will be the perfect time for that give away since most of us will have a lot of time on our hands, including myself."


    [Are you really the hound?]


    "Am I the hound?" She leaned closer to the screen andughed, "What do you think?"


    [Do you have any details to share about the fire on the blue star?]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The only opinion I have about that fire is that the people behind it are cowards, weak pathetic cowards and I hope they find themselves on the Blue star so that I can deal with them. I have been meaning to address this issue of food vs nutrient solutions for a while but I have not had the chance. So, let me borate some facts."


    Mr. Rodney leaned closer to the drone camera man, "Zoom in closer, and capture the young Lord Justin too. He is stealing snacks from the pantry."


    Justin thought his mother was taking too long to start baking the cake so he helped himself to some cookies, and a packet of gummy worms secretly.


    Scarlet was speaking to the people unaware of Justin''sedic actions, "The presence of food does not mean the absence of nutrient solutions, as some of my viewers have seen I have included nutrient solutions in many of my recipes and I have never once said that they are useless or we should throw them out.


    If more nutrient solutionpanies could think beyond looking at food aspetition like Nutri then they will go far.Rather than worrying about the declining sales of nutrient solutions think about how to expand your products. Off the top of my head I cane up with ten types of potato snacks. Those with chilli, those mixed with corn flour, those with vinegar, those with lemon. The possibilities are endless if one will only do some research. We sell rice on star but how manypanies have researched ways ofturning rice into snacks like crispy rice, crunchy rice,sweet chilli rice, buttered popcorn and so on. Almost every type of food we sell can be used in the making of food, drinks or snacks. How many of you have considered adding fruits or sugar or anything else to the nutrient solutions to create better tasting ones because let''s be honest, nutrient solutions taste...." she was going to say like ass and she stopped herself. For one it would raise eyebrows and two since it was not a saying in this world, it was possible for people to take it at face value that she knew what ass tasted like.


    "They don''t taste that good," she said something else instead, "You just need to do research, but you are choosing to bezy. You chose to pay a man to set my fields on fire. Like I said before, I think you are cowards, pathetic cowards and I hope that you spend the next twenty years in jail because the loss I incurred has been quite big. As soon as the RGB makes your identities public I intend to sue you because the people who were injured in that fire deservepensation and so do I for the financial and emotional damages you caused."


    As soon as she started addressing the issue about the fire, the star itself pushed and rmended her live broadcast urgently. This fire was a big deal, all the media agencies and televisions had been talking about it. Every star was discussing fire, it''s effects and how to prevent it.The one thing that was still being kept a lid on was the true perpetrator behind the fire, the rumor that a few nutrient solutionpanies including origin where behind the fire had yet to be verified.


    But there were others like Lloyd whose interest in Scarlet''s rant went towards all the snacks she mentioned and the possibilities of all the things that coulde from every type of food.He looked at his father and little sister who had called him urgently toe and watch the live broad cast.


    "I have been thinking small."he suddenly said aloud.


    "What is it son?" his father asked.


    "She is right about changing the taste of nutrient solutions, if we can make them as thick as porridge and add some sweetness with a few dried fruits like she uses dried nuts in oat meal then we can sell a sweet nutrient solution.And we can make as many varieties as we want as long as we have ess to the fruits."


    "Brother," Cutie carrot called, "The fruits are few, I have been grabbing many from the open market but everything is getting done quickly. The rice too, I think it will be better if youmunicate with the blue star again and we purchase these things directly from them in bulk."


    "Then we can turn the fruits into juice or pulp and add a little bit to the nutrient solution and some sugar." Lloyd''s idea changed instantly. "This way, onerge fruit can be used to make ten nutrient solutions."


    "We can also add some milk and see if it changes the taste." cutie carrot suggested.


    "That''s right!!" Lloyd took off running into his personalb. He was sure that he would not be the only one toe up with such an idea so the earliest Nutri nutrients beat others to the market, the better.


    Wise ideas were being worked on but a number of citizens had one question which was picking up heat on star. Can one sue for emotional damages?

 Chapter 164 My Baby Made Me Proud

    ?


    Scarlet''s broad cast was poprized even more when she spoke about the fire. She had thirty six million viewers so far and counting as the viewer count kept increasing.


    "I have been told that many of you are asking if you can sue someone for emotional damages and my answer is yes. If you have caused me pain, why should you get away with it? Sometimes, emotional damages can be worse than financial or physical damages. But I am notwyer and I am not an expert in this area so I will not borate on this matter. What I will do is get back to what brought most you here, baking a coconut cake for my son who has made me incredibly proud.


    Yes, Justin performed well in school so I am rewarding him with a cake baked by my own hands. Other parents out here on the blue star, please don''t feel the pressure to do something simr, if you cannot bake then buy a slice of cake from the canteen.


    I will start by setting my oven to three fifty because the cake needs to go in when the oven is already heated up. Next I pick up my cake pans and line them with parchment paper and butter and flower. I am using three pans but you can use one or two depending on the size of cake you are making. Please take a look at your bottom screen, all the ingredients I am going to be using and their quantities have been included.


    In a bowl, I am going to add three hundred sixty grams of cake flour, four hundred grams of granted sugar.I am going to do something called a reverse creaming method, the butter is creamed into the flour and sugar. I am adding salt, some baking sodaand baking powder.


    Then I am going to sift this mixture out manually. Then I whisk all the dry ingredients andadd some two hundred twenty six grams of room temperature unsalted butter. You can see that it''s not too soft or hard, do not over mix this because you will have a dense cake. We do not want a dense cake do we, assistant chef Justin?"


    Justin turned his head to the camera in shock with along gummy worm drooping from his mouth.


    [Pfffftt, assistant chef Justin is not doing his job.]


    [Caught cking off, assistant chef Justin.]


    "Use your mixer to blend all these ingredients together for about a minute until we get a nice crumbly mixture. As this mixes I am going to separate the eggs, I will be using only the egg whites because I want a white cake and the yolks will add yellow which I do not want. Look at this by the way, these are double yolk eggs, usually eggs have a single yolk. Beat the egg whites for a few seconds lightly to break them up. .


    She turned off the mixture and touched the crumbly mixture. "Lookat this everyone, isn''t it neat?


    [They look like tiny particles of white soil.]


    [Is it done yet?]


    "I am going to add the egg whites to the cake crumbs and mix it again, this recipe uses one cup of milk so I am adding that in. You can also use one cup of coconut milk. So in it goes and then I add vani and some coconut extract. Mix this on medium speed for one minute."


    She looked at the screen, and Rodney sent another question.


    [If my boyfriend dumps me, can I sue him for emotional damage?]


    "As we wait for the one minute to pse I will answer this question, if your boyfriend dumps you unfortunately you cannot sue for emotional damages. I think people would be afraid to get into rtionships if terminating one will result into being sued. But if that person entered a rtionship with you out of impure motives like financial gain then you can sue as long as you have receipts."


    [Receipts?]


    [Like the ones given after shopping?]


    "Exin." Rodney urged her to continue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "By receipts I mean tangible and visible evidence documenting this fraud because it truly is fraud. For example this individual asked you to buy for them expensive bracelet terminals,puters, game cabins or consoles, jewelries, flying cars or mechas. As long as you can prove that this is all they were after in the rtionship you can sue. Keep in mind that these are personal opinions, thew itself could be different so do some research first.


    She went back to her cake, "Now add into the batter our new sweet shredded coconuts which are now being sold online and in the blue mart. Take the batter mixture and spread it evenly among the three cake pans. Each pan gets about four hundred fifty grams of batter, then into the oven they go for half an hour.


    As the cakes baked, Rodney asked her to answer more questions.


    [How is your rtionship with the mecha king?]


    "My rtionship with Esong is amiable, we are getting along very well. "


    [We have not seen Severus today, where is he?]


    "Severus is walking around somewhere in the castle, he usually shows up when I have finished cooking."


    [Do you and general Esong n to have more children?]


    That question seemed a bit too personal, whether they wanted more children or not was not an affair for the empire."Did I mention that these shredded coconuts can be eaten as snacks. I know that your sensors are on, so Justin and I will eat a bit for you all to taste the sweetness."


    He opened his mouth and grabbed a handful, throwing it into his mouth eagerly. She on the other hand ate slower, wanting the viewers to enjoy the taste.


    [It''s sweet.]


    [Already purchasing as we speak.]


    [Can we see pictures of coconut trees again?]


    She pped her hands abruptly and turned to the oven, "The cakes are ready toe out of the oven, I am inverting them and allow them to cool andI am ready to make a coconut cream cheese frosting, so delicious.You will love it as much as I do.


    Into the bowl I add equal parts butter and cream cheese, two hundred twenty six grams to be specific, some salt and mix this for three minutes. Add some vani, coconut extract and some sugar. Sugar must be added slowly to ensure that it spreads evenly. Mix this on medium speed until it''s fluffy and light. It looks ready to me, so I will stop the mixer now." She showed the frosting to the camera, even touching some and licking it.


    [Woah, so tasty.]


    [It''s soft and smooth, can it be eaten on it''s own?]


    She smiled at the cameras and continued, "This is a cake stand, we have been selling them but since not many people are baking cakes we have not sold many. If you want to be a professional cake baker however you will need one. Add some frosting on your cake stand and ce your firstyer of cake n it. Another round of frosting, then anotheryer of cake and more frosting. Finally, we add thestyer and I cover the entire cake in frosting, including the sides. Most of the frosting goes on the upperyer, then I add coconut shredding with my hands all over the cake.Chill it for thirty minutes and you are ready to enjoy."

 Chapter 165 Which Children?

    ?


    The beautiful white cake was sitting right there on the table. Being stared at by everyone after Scarlet removed it from a portable refrigeration device that cut the necessary chilling time to thirty seconds. Justin licked his lips, Scarlet did the same and simrly, the seven people in the kitchen looked on greedily.


    "Well the moment of judgement has arrived." Scarlet said to her viewers. My baby who owns this cake rightfully will be taking the first bite."


    She cut one slice, put it on a te and ced a fork next to it.


    "Should mummy feed you?" She asked Justin.


    He nodded his head willingly and she fed him the first bite of the cake.


    "How is it?" She looked at him curiously. She had never baked a coconut cake before and this recipe came from one of her cook books. She had not practiced before baking it live and he was the first person to taste it.


    "It''s sweet mummy." He dered. "It''s very sweet."


    Scarlet took a bite as well albeit tentatively. She thought to herself that it could have been better. It was a bit denser than she would have liked but to people who were new to food, it was heavenly. Like the viewers in her live broadcast who were going crazy praising the cake.


    [That tastes amazing, it''s so amazing.]


    [Are you going to sell it on the online shop? Please say yes.]


    [Adopt me Scarlet I want to be your baby too.]


    In the royal pce the emperor was smacking his lips and he bit into an oatmeal raisin cookie with a bitter look on his face.


    "What''s wrong your majesty?" His empress asked. The emperor was usually jolly when he had food or snacks in his hands.


    "She is going to eat that entire cake with her son and thosemoners in the kitchen. Does she not think about me, the emperor? I want to taste it too."


    "You are the emperor, tell Markay that you want a cake and he will pass on the message. As a matter of fact, offer to pay for it. She will not turn down money, she changed into a better woman but there is that one trait remained dominant apparently, Scarlet loves money."


    The emperor thought about it for a few seconds and he sent Markay a message, requesting for ten cakes each priced at ten thousand star coins.


    "Isn''t that too much money for pay for one cake each?" The empress looked at her money wasting husband in dismay.


    "I have to show her some sincerity, other nobles might be thinking about doing the same thing."


    "You do realize that the royal chef has been watching the broadcast and he is trying to bake that same cake as we speak?" The empress found the head of the royal chefs to be skillful. In her opinion some of his food was even better than Scarlet''s. And he had beening up with a few new recipes of his own. Instead of spending one hundred thousand star coins on Scarlet''s cakes, maybe they could buy two and wait to see what he came up with.


    "He is a novice, if I give him one physical cake and he tastes it, he might even learn something and do better than Scarlet. Besides, with our storage pods, the cakes can be saved for many months and we can eat them slowly during the cold season."


    "Aren''t we saving some for the children?"


    "Which children?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The empress''s jaw dropped wide open and she pushed the emperor''s arm slightly.


    "Which children?" She asked in disbelief. "Have you forgotten your own children because of cake?"


    Scarlet was hungry, so hungry that she and Justin alone ate a whole quarter of the cake before Markay came looking for her to share the empire''s request.


    "Well I might as well bake more cakes for the rest of the day." She saw Rodney and his team still hovering around the kitchen. They were probably too embarrassed to ask for some cake but it was obvious what the desired.


    "Mr. Rodney, I will send Gertrude over with an entire cake for all the workers. I appreciate all your hard work, each and every one of you."


    "Thank you governor." He made an embarrassed face before leaving the kitchen and Castle atrge.


    "Justin, go and have a bath, Coral help him. You can use my bathroom and my closet has children''s clothes so change him as well then take him to join his friends. Did someone change the sheets on my bed by the way?"


    "I did, this morning." Anna replied.


    "Change them again, Justin took a nap with me and his hands were sticky. I am sure that there is more than one sticky palm on them."


    "Yes."


    "I want to bake alone, the rest of you are dismissed." She didn''t need their help because she had robot helpers, they were the perfect assistants.


    Only Markay remained and he made himselffortable, sitting on one of the chairs at the blue kitchen ind. Normally, it was her servants who used it but it was not specifically designed for them. It was actually built for her and the members of her family.


    Ignoring him, she put some music on and started working.


    She and Markay were not close, she could not recall ever having a personal conversation with him. His eyes made her ufortable, she preferred not to be around those soul searching eyes. Still, she tried to ignore it and give all her attention to the cakes but eight cakester in thirty minutes and he was still here. She finally had enough of his eyes following every one of her steps.


    "Why are you here your highness?" she spun around and asked.


    "I am waiting for the emperor''s cakes, in case someone attempts something stupid after they have been delivered I will be able to step in and prove that I saw every step involved in there baking."


    "So you are recording me without my consent because you think someone could attempt to poison the emperor and you will be my witness in case something like that urs."


    With her words, Markay put the tiny drone camera on the table, making it no secret that he was recording her.


    "Please understand, my father''s safetyes above everything."


    "My privacy is also important to me but I will give you a pass today because you are using the emperor as an excuse. As one of the empire''s governors I care about the safety of the emperor too after all, I am good tax paying citizen and he is yet to lift that ban on my family. Speaking of families, what are your intentions towards my sister?"

 Chapter 166 A Feeling Of Self Loathing

    ?


    Prince Markay raised his eyebrows in wonder and heughed. How long had she been holding that question in, waiting for the moment when she could slide it in effortlessly.


    "Your sister and I are dating." He told her casually. It was no secret, his family knew about the rtionship and his father approved.


    "I know that you are dating, what I don''t know is where the rtionship is going. Is there a future between you and her? If you are simply amusing yourself and toying with her feelingsI am going to insist on offending you by asking you to end it, or else!!" She pointed a sharp knife at him.


    Markayughed nonchntly, treating her words like a joke. This woman whose mental strength was just budding actually dared to threaten him. Was she overly confident or did she think Esong''s backing would be enough to save her from him if she stepped over her boundaries with him. But there were a few things he had to admire about the Su''s like the fact that they had each other''s backs.


    "You sister''s are funny, one slept in a tree for three days protecting the younger one from the husband''s wrath and the younger one threatens the older one''s boyfriend with a wrath despite being weaker than him. And both of you do these things secretly rather than talk to each other and settle your differences amicably."


    It did not take a genius to understand what the Prince was saying. But Scarlet wondered what differences he was talking about. She and Carolyn had an excellent rtionship and her sister had not given her any angry looks or said any spiteful words to her in months. In fact she was going out of her way to make Scarlet''s life easier and morefortable. Was Markay trying to sow discord between them?


    "My sister and I have a good rtionship I have no idea what you mean."


    Heughed dryly and shook his head, then he leaned forward and looked at her curiously. "Are you really going to stand there and pretend you have no idea what you did that caused your sister to give up her dreams of crafting mechas to bing a nurse? Could your past memory really be gone otherwise why else would you have approached her and asked her to be the head of the nurses knowing all too well that she had no option but to be a nurse because you copied her draft before her examinations and sold it to another girl. Your sister was used of giarism and she was forced to drop out of school. You on the other hand went on to be Esong''s wife and own a. Funny how life worked out for you but screwed her over."


    Scarlet froze because the memories came to her as Markay described them. Oh the horror!!!! She thought. So this was the cause of the rift between herself and Carolyn. But she also felt aggrieved because she was tired of apologizing for actions that were not hers. Why!!!! She eximed in her heart. Why was this woman''s cruelty and evil never ending? Why did she have to inhabit this dirty body that could not be cleaned no matter how much she tried.


    "Did my sister ask you to talk to me about it?" She asked Markay.


    "Of course not, your sister is too soft hearted to do that. She loves you blindly which is very baffling to me. Not that I have anything against you but if you were my sister I would have ripped your head off your neck while you were still alive with my bare hands."


    He collected the ten cakes for the emperor and stood up. "You have changed and it''s a good thing, you are even looking out secretly for her which is amazing. But I want you to apologize to her and set things right. It''s not an order but I love your sister and I am tired of seeing her secretly sad while your entire family hails you for being the hero when you were the actual original viin."


    He left and she sat down in a chair, alone at that kitchen ind, giving off lonely vibes while thinking about Markay''s harsh words. The irony or shameful thing none of them knew was that Scarlet did not hand over Carolyn''s draft for money. She kept evidence of the transaction and said she would return for payment one day after all, she sold it to the daughter of an upper noble family. When she did contact that woman again, Scarlet asked for the ck market drug which she used to drug Esong.


    "Mydy." A small voice called for her after a few minutes. She looked up and saw Gertrude, her small eyes were darting nervously from side to side. It could not be more obvious that she had overheard the conversation between herself and Markay. Now she was frightened, after all some secrets were meant to be sealed up tighter than others because they could lead to unexinable negligible death of maids.


    "How long were you standing there Gertrude?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Just a few seconds mydy."


    "Remember my rules Gertrude," she looked at the maid coldly.


    "Yes mydy."


    "Take this cake to Mr. Rodney at the BSTV offices and this one to professor Sham at the hospital. Take thatst one to Captain Zorl at the RGB offices. Tell all of them to share the cakes with the workers in their departments."


    "Yes." Gertrude went with a robot butler which carried the cakes.


    Left behind, Scarlet opened the wall which had a wine rack. It was hidden because it had what Scarlet called the good wine. She took one bottle, not caring about thebel of what kind of alcohol it was. Then she poured a little bit in two sses.


    This whole time, Tion had been standing in the corner and everything that Markay said to her, he heard.


    She held a ss in his direction and asked, "Would you like to have a drink with me Tion? Or are you disgusted by the sight of me now?"


    She was not expecting a response or any action from him anyway but she asked. "What do you think about me now, am I worth your protection?"


    Sheughed dryly and downed that ss of wine before filling up her ss again. She was filled with a huge sense of self loathing and embarrassment. Some things, these people did not know about Scarlet. She had a clean te, they respected her and liked her even. But now, they would look at her and whisper.


    "Turn it off." She suddenly heard in her mind. It was her good partner Severus, he was currently in the underworld but he felt the turbulence in her emotions. "This is why grim reapers turn off the emotions of their host bodies. Whatever she did has nothing to do with you so turn it off before you explode. Remember that you are a vessel that is housing the green me."


    When Scarlet looked down, she noticed a few scorch marks on the counter and immediately she did her best to reign in her emotions.


    "You can go home Tion, I am going to bathe and sleep. I will not be needing your services tonight." She almost said or ever but those words were swallowed in her throat as if she was forcing herself to swallow bones.

 Chapter 167 What Have You Done?

    ?


    In the underworld, Severus felt uneasy with every passing second. He had been here talking about some things with Lythia and picking up the fruits which Lythia always gave him for Scarlet to eat. They were special fruits, grown by Lythia and only fed to female reapers. As soon as he felt that wave of turbulence in Scarlet, he knew that trouble hade. It was strong this time around, nothing like what he experienced when they were in the bathroom. The more she tried to hold her emotions in, the more they bubbled like a brew of porridge, which was desperate to escape it''s confines.


    "I must return." Severus said.


    "Why?" Lythia was perplexed. "You were nning to spend the night here."


    "It''s my reaper, something is wrong with her, I can feel it all the way from here. Her emotions are surging like a raging tide. I am worried that something is going to go wrong, awfully wrong."


    "Haven''t you told her to turn them off?" Lythia asked the most obvious of questions.


    "I don''t think she can and it''s toote anyway." he said gravely. "Maybe you shoulde with me in case I can''t stop it.Do you have any pure soul essence, a weepy grim reaper is better than an uncontroble one."


    Lythia smelled the air and sneered, "That idiot brother of mine!!!" she clenched her fist. "I told him not to do something stupid, why does no one ever listen to me? Come out brother, I know that you are here."


    Under a tree blooming with white flowers, the old deity appeared. "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice me Lythia. Now before you me me for Scarlet''s condition please understand that I have taken on the mantle of being her master or teacher. I have not yet shared this wonderful news with her but my lessons have already started. Lesson one is in controlling her emotions. When she feels uncontrolled rage, the me goes boom. when she is angry, the me goes boom, when sheis irritated, the me..."


    "Yes, yes, boom we get it." Lythia was feeling extremely exasperated.


    "I was going to say bubbly, not boom." The old deityughed and jumped up, floating over Lythia''s head while facing the sky in the underworld. "She must learn to detach her feelings from the me and also ept who she is now. There is always a harmony between the reaper and their host body but she is rejecting it. She blocked the memories of the original host out and refers to her as ''she'' while referring to herself as ''I''. Even though she is not responsible for the damage which was done by the host she now bears the responsibility for it. It''s either she turns her human emotionspletely off which means she will detach herself from that family in less than two weeks because they wille to mean nothing to her or she epts who she is now and all will be sunny again."


    "What did you do?" Lythia sked him. She was more worried and nervous than she was letting on. There was a a slight break in her voice and this made the old deity curious. What was Lythia hiding?


    "I gave her some spiritual lotus wine, it won''t harm her.In a few days, she will be back to normal."


    "A few days!!!"


    "Why do you appear to be more concerned than you should be sister, he is also carrying away an unusual number of these spirit fruits." The old deity looked at the dozens of fruits Severus was packing away. "You are nourishing her as if you are taking care of...." The old deity broke off.He looked at Lythia with shock, doubt and in his eyes were a plethora of questions veiled by disbelief.


    "It is exactly what you are thinking brother, that''s why I told you not to toy with her."


    The old deity''s face looked grim again and hiseyes turned red with anger. "Who did this?"


    "I don''t know and I don''t care because it''s good news for us, I will not stop you from teaching her but you should know your limits now. While you are over there, do carefully look at her husband as well."


    Severus looked between the old deity and Lythia, they were speaking in veiled terms, not revealing what it was that they were discussing. He had been listening but he could hardly string together a sensible exnation.One thing he was sure of however was that whatever it was, Scarlet was at the center of it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I am leaving now." Severus told them.


    "Give her this," the old deity gave Severus something in a small crystal gourd. She will recover within one day after taking it. "


    "What is it?" he looked at the crystal gourd curiously.


    The old deity vanished but in the wind, Severus heard his voice say, "A hung over cure."


    Turning his head to Lythia onest time, Severus looked into her eyes and asked, "Is there something I should know about my reaper?"


    She shook her head and answered, "Not yet, just keep making sure that she eats the fruits for now. Two everyday for an entire month, then I will share everything with you."


    When Severus appeared in Scarlet''s private living room, he was met with a sight of total destruction.The ss table had been shattered, the mattress had been set on fire, the art which had been hung on the walls was on the floor. More than a few clothes had been ripped apart and Scarlet had somehow managed to burn her own hair and cut it haphazardly at the same time.It was long and short in different ces, she was sitting dazedly in front of a mirror and that too was shattered. Her hands were bleeding, having been cut by the ss on the floor but she did not seem to have noticed.


    What was in the lotus wine that the old deity tricked her into drinking?


    "Scarlet." he barked at her.


    She turned her head to the right, looked at him andughed, "I don''t look like her now. I am not her, I am not her." she repeated it twice.


    "Snap out of it!!" she shouted at her. "Drink this."


    "I am not her," she said again and she started to cry. "I hate her and I am tired of apologizing. Why do they have to keep reminding me of the things she did? I have never hurt a single person who did not deserve it. I sacrificed myself on earth by joining the soldiers to protect others, kill zombies and look for food and water so that we might all survive. I am a good person so why should I live in a filthy body like this? She did those things, not me, I am Su Yan."She started wing at the skin of her hands.


    If anybody saw her this way, they would think that she was having a mental breakdown.But Severus new what was happening to her, it was exactly as the old deity had said. She was still refusing to ept that she and Scarlet were all one now. In fact., she was Scarlet, there was no Su Yan anymore.


    Severus knocked her over, opened her mouth and poured the contents of the crystal gourd down her throat. "You are Scarlet," he said, "Su Yan is dead and gone. You must ept her mistakes, you can''t pick and choose which aspects of her life to ept and reject.You are being a hypocrite for epting her name, her husband, her child and all the love from her family but you draw the line at her past."


    His words got through to her and she cried even more, "What do I do Severus? It hurts here."She touched her heart. "Why does it hurt more than usual?"


    "Because you had locked it away and now it hase to the surface like filth looking for an escape. You can''t hide from it, grim reapers are seekers, they are not cowards that hide. So, find a way to soothe the pain while epting everything about this host body until there is a perfect union between the soul and the body." All he could do was guide and teach her because their lives were intertwined."Cross your legs and close your eyes, it''s time to meditate."

 Chapter 168 A Fight On The Football Field

    ?


    Outside the doors which led to the private living room, Gertrude was pacing around nervously. All she could think was that it was suddenly too quiet in there now, for a long while she had listened to herdy screaming and breaking things and now it was quiet. She wanted to enter the room and check but she had been forbidden from doing so, leaving her no option but to pace around nervously and clench her fists. She needed to do something about the situation because she was feeling extremely uneasy.


    She returned to the kitchen were she left Tion, he was sitting there stiffly like a straight wooden board. Whether he was simply sitting and thinking or just nkly staring at the wall, she had no idea and she did not care frankly. What she wanted was for them to join their heads together and think of a solution. He was the ex mecha warrior here, he probably had more knowledge than she did.


    "Do something." she told him.


    Tion raised one eyebrow at her and folded his arms across his chest.


    "You are mydy, the governor''s personal guard and she relies on you a lot. You are not just responsible for her physical well being, her emotional one matters too. We all knew that she was not a saint when we moved here, her past is covered in mud but the prince should not have spoken to her the way he did. She has done many good things as well, she got us here, you and I are living good happy lives because of her. Nobody was going to give a regressed mecha warrior who could suffer from the darkness at any time a chance but she did that for you. She does not like the fact that Lady Cecily sent me but she did not fire me, she epted me. Stop acting as if her personal life does not concern you because you and I are thedy''s servants so do something, call someone, fix this." Gertrude shouted sternly at Tion, something which surprised her and the maids who had just arrived.


    "I will get the general." Tion stood up.


    "No." Coral uttered.The rest of the maids had just returned and they all heard what Gertrude, the head maid said. Something was wrong with the governor.


    When everyone turned to look at her she blushed and covered her face.


    "Articte your words Coral we don''t have time to waste here." Gertrude said to the shy girl.


    "Call her elder brother, Adler, ording to gossip he is the closest person to her in the family. They say he protects her no matter what situation it is, the rest of us don''t know what happened to thedy but I think if something is wrong with her he might be the best person to handle it." Coral was quiet and shy but she was a good listener, in a few months she knew almost everything about the governor and her family from listening to others talk.


    Tion walked out of the castle and drove a car to the football field where he knew that some members of the Su family were ying a friendly football match against some the teenagers from thebat academy. There was a possibility that Esong would be there too because he taught thebat ss but he that did not matter anyway.


    In his opinion, it was better for the husband to help the wife, because their rtionship was more intimate aspared to the one between siblings.


    And right he was because he found Esong acting as a referee on the field with a whistle in his mouth. Adler was standing on the side lines, where the team coaches should be. Tion was torn between which of the two men he should speak to first. The husband, or the brother, who could handle this situation better?


    When he saw Markay in the stands, waving at Esong, his feet carried him in the direction of Adler.


    "We should speak." Tion said the moment he reached Adler.


    "Not now," Adler was too preupied with the game, shouting at Elroy to pass the ball to another person.


    "It''s about the governor, your sister." With those words, Tion had Adler''s full attention.


    "What is wrong with my sister?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The prince came by and reminded her that she sold her sister''s draft. He said a bunch of other things before he called her the original viin and asked her to apologize to miss Carolyn. I don''t think the governor fully recalled the incident because her face turned pale and she started drinking. She has locked herself.."


    Hardly had hepleted his words when Adler took off running in the direction of the seventh prince. His eyes were filled with rage and his fists were clenched tight. Tion could smell the angry bloody fight in the air before it started.


    "Shit!!!" he cursed and he went running after Adler. Perhaps it would have been better to talk to the husband than the hot headed brother.


    Adler leaped on Markay, calling him a bastard and sessfullynding one punch on his face before Markay pushed him off. Using kinesis, Adler lifted whatever was around him and he aimed it all at Markay.


    Markay dodged them with his swift speed, and he aimed the steel pole from the goal post at Adler.


    Esong leaped in, sending Adler out of the way and diverting the steel pole.Other people stepped in to separate the two men, particrly Adler who was trying to lunge at Markay.


    "What is going on between you both?" Esong yelled. "There are children here and you fight? What kind of adults are you?"The teenagers had gathered close by, trying to overhear and see what the fight was about.


    "Ask that son of a bitch what he did?" Adler shouted. All he needed were a few minutes to teach this meddling bastard not to interfere in their family''s affairs. Who did he think he was? What gave him the right?


    Tion pushed Adler''s chest back and yelled at him, "There is not time for this, she is not well."


    Adler red at Markay onest time and he took off running with Tion. It was best to get to his sister. As they drove away, he wondered exactly what condition she was in. Was she experiencing one of her old manic episodes? And Justin!!! where was he? He could not see his mother in that condition, not again. It would break his poor heart.


    On the field, Elroy took Adler''s ce and questioned Markay, "What did you do to my sister?"


    "Did he break up with Carolyn?" Folsom asked loudly.


    "No," Beord appeared too, using the advantage of hisrger size to over shadow Markay like a mountain. "Adler only gets involved in a physical fight when it concerns Scarlet. All our lives, that''s how it has always been and it will never change."


    "I simply told her what you all aren''t saying, there is tension between her and Carolyn. Am I the only one who cares?"Markay replied defensively.


    "They are working things out, at their own pace. Do you think we are all blind in the family?" Elroy screamed at Markay. "Are you trying to help or make it worse? Our sisterScarlet is still healing, our lives are now better and our family has never been this close. You are a prince but you are not a Su, I don''t like you dating Carolyn."


    While they screamed and argued, Esong flew to the castle in his mecha, arriving faster than Adler and Tion but what he found, surprised him.

 Chapter 169 The Battle For Tranquility.

    ?


    His wife was sitting in the middle of the living room, surrounded by chaos, her hair was ¡­.. his thoughts broke off, wondering what the most appropriate way to describe his wife''s hair was. It was a mess, he thought simply, half of it was cut and the long ck threads were on the floor. Another side was burnt, he could smell it in the air. One half of her face was red, it looked scalded like she had been burnt with a hot liquid or a fire. Her hands, he noticed were bleeding from cuts, the blood was not flowing but the small red cuts were vivid and the skin itself has been scratched in different ces. Even her neck had bloody wounds and scratches in many ces that looked like w marks. If he didn''t know any better, he would have thought that perhaps a mutated beast had scratched her with long sharp nails. He had never seen anything like it, he had seen patients with the darkness harm their own bodies but her case seemed to be slightly extreme, she had mutted herself as if she was trying to escape her own skin. And yet, in the midst of this mess, she was calmly sitting with her legs crossed and on her face was a rested look almost as if she was sleeping. Wasn''t she in pain? He wondered. Esong was terrified for her and his son. Did Justin ever see his mother in such a condition? He had heard stories about her manic episodes and her illness but witnessing this was another thing.


    This room itself looked like it had gone through an earthquake with everything broken and on the ground. The biggest abnormality here was his wife who waspletely unbothered, even her dog wasying next to her with it''s head on her thighs. What could he do in this situation?She needed urgent treatment first and then other things could follow.


    "Scar," he approached her carefully and slowly. She smelled of alcohol and he guessed that she had been drinking. Tentatively he shook her body and she fell over, her entire body almostnded on a sharp protruding ss which would have prated her back if he did not catch her in time. The dog raised it''s head and growled at him fiercely, treating him as an enemy. "Down boy, I am just trying to help your _" he stopped talking and tilted his head in a small moment in hesitation. Scarlet referred to herself as Severus''s mummy asionally. Why she chose to call herself the mother of a dog, he would never understand, that reasoning escaped his mental faculties. "Your mummy should not be in such a dangerous environment, what if she is injured even more by all the broken ss? Look at her body, she needs treatment urgently." Esong did not know if Severus understood him but he hoped the dog did after all, he had seen Scarlet talk many times to it like she would another person. As for Severus, he thoughtit did not matter much if Scarlet''s body was moved around in any way. What mattered was that she stay in this unconscious state because she was engaged in a battle for tranquility between the soul of Su Yan and the host body of Scarlet. The two needed to bond seamlessly by working through the memories and epting reality. If she failed in this battle, he would be the one to ask Lythia to forcefully turn off all her human emotions. They could not go through this again, this had to be thest time her emotions got the best of her. The physical state of her body which her husband worried about could easily be fixed with one beauty pill. But he could not exin all this to the human so he gave way and rose up from his position.


    Esong''s hand had been cut by the ss and it was bleeding but he hardly noticed because all of his attention was on Scarlet. He carried her away to the bedroom only to find scorch marks on the walls and the bed was nowhere to be seen.It did not take him much to guess that she had set it on fire. Torn clothes were on the floor, shattered mirrors and even one tiny cleaning robot had not survived the earth quake called Scarlet. He sighed and carried her to another bedroom, a guest bedroom.


    Adler found him carrying her there and he was rmed by her condition, instantly he tried to take Scarletaway from Esong.He was reminded of the old days, at least she was not screaming like an insane woman this time round. But what had she done to herself?


    "I have got it." Esong brushed Adler''s hand away.


    But Adler would not relent, in his eyes Markay, Esong and the rest of his friends could all drop dead. They should return to the capital as soon as possible, this was happening because they were here.


    "Give me my sister." he said through gritted teeth.


    "I think you mean my wife." Esong retorted. "In case you have forgotten I am her legal husband. I have more rights over her than you do, I respect you as her brother and I would like for you to treat me the same way as her husband, now move."


    Adler blocked Esong''s way once again, a small vein on his head was throbbing and the anger within him was numerous.He felt the urge to beat something up or break it until it turned to dust.


    Tion and the maids just stood by, watching in confusion as they wondered who would win the battle between the husband and the brother.


    "Adler," a stern voice called. This voice belonged to Dorian Su and it broke through the tension because Adler was forced to move and Esong took Scarlet into the bedroom.


    "How bad is it?" Carolyn asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Apparently all the Su''s were here down to little Halley, having been rallied by Beord and Elroy who sent them messages. The only person missing was Justin who was with his Cecily. Gertrude had taken him over earlier and requested Lady Cecily to keep him for the night without going into detail about what led to this decision.


    "Bad." Adler responded.


    "That''s good." Dorian Su responded and the Su''s shook their heads in agreement which confused the maids and the guards. What did they mean by bad was good?Did the word bad mean something else on the blue star?


    "I was expecting you to say worse or worst, is anyone injured?" Mega asked.


    Adler looked at the maids, seeking for confirmation from the head maid Gertrude.


    "No one is injured Lady Mega but almost everything in the living room and the bedroom has been destroyed. We are going to have to rece it all."


    "Do that, immediately and keep your mouths shut. If this news leaves this wing your bodies will never be found." she warned them coldly.


    These were the unexinable negligible deaths of maids that worried Gertrude. She was frightened but she remained stoic, not exposing her fear and very d that she did not tell Cecily a single thing. She was not the only one to tremble, the other maids were just like her. It was not umon for people like them to end up dead or disappeared suddenly. This job was high risk and high return because it paid extremely well but you had to be clever, quick and steady to navigate it.


    "I will make sure that none of the maids says a single word mydy." Gertrude said with conviction. "I don''t know about the guards though." With that statement, Gertrude cemented her ce as the most loyal of Scarlet''s maids in Mega''s eyes.


    "They know when to act blind and deaf when necessary." Esong filled in that gap. "Hurry up and clean up the rooms, by the time my wife wakes up I want the ce to look exactly as it used to before. Which one of you knows to properly cut and style hair, when you are done my wife will need catering to. Also bring me one of those basins, soap and wash clothes she uses for Justin.


    While other maids went away to start on that work, Gertrude looked at Esong and said, "What about the paintings Lord Esong? We cannot rece them because they are hand drawn paintings."

 Chapter 170 Esongs Defense Of His Wife

    ?


    Scarlet had brought these paintings over from earth. No one wanted fancy or expensive paintings in a zombie apocalypse. Paintings which used to cost millions were thrown out on the street. They were used to light fires for people to stay warm at night like ordinary paper. Because she had a space, she traded small cheap things like biscuits, juice and powdered milk for paintings like these. The zombie apocalypse would notst forever and these paintings would be valuable again, more than before.


    "I will take care of them of them," Carolyn said, "Bring them all to me."


    "Yes," Gertrude went away quickly.


    Mega Su spun around and red at prince Markay, the genesis of what in their opinion was a regression to the progress of their daughter''s healing. "You," she said with a stiff smile on her face, "Let''s talk about your actions."


    Markay squirmed in the chair on the kitchen ind, feeling very ufortable under the intense res of all the Su''s. Markay''s guard Juan who always followed him everywhere was further back in the corner, lined up with the other guards. He had never seen anybody treat the seventh prince so disdainfully and remain on their feet.


    "I am so sorry, my actions were foolish, I truly was just trying to help but I didn''t know that this would happen. Honestly, anyone that has never witnessed her in such a condition will think that the story about her illness was made up."


    "Did anyone ask for your help to settle whatever difort is between my sisters?" Adler tapped down on the ind furiously. "You had no right to intervene." Right now, Adler did not care if this was the prince, he could be the emperor and he would still face him this way.


    "I am Carolyn''s boyfriend_" Markay mumbled.


    "Not her husband!!!" Beord retorted. "What made you think that this was a good idea in the first ce?"


    "Yesterday, you were all showing off the pendants she bought you from the temple but my Carolyn doesn''t have one. It''s bad enough what she did to her in the past but freezing her out now when she was the one that betrayed her, it''s wrong. You all protect Scarlet and praise her for every little thing but what about Carolyn?"


    Everyone stared at Carolyn wanting her to exin this, wondering if they did not give her enough affection or praise. She on the other hand took a pendant out of her storage bracelet which had been gifted to her by Markay and said to him exasperated like, "Heeey, I received a pendant from her before them all months ago when the temple had just opened. I don''t wear it for personal reasons, this is why I told you to let things be, I never should have shared that story with you in the first ce. This is all my fault." she was speaking directly to Markay but ming herself mostly for all this. She should have known that Markay would intervene somehow.


    Folsom came hurrying over with a the new med bed, the one which would adjust to the needs of the patient. They had all been to the hospital to see that med bed. Scarlet had once spent many months sleeping in a med bed.


    "Will sister go in a longa again?" Elroy asked worriedly. "What will we tell Justin if hees looking for her tonight for their bedtime ritual?"


    "Nothing, nobody should tell him anything." Dorian replied.


    "Things are not the way they used to be in the past, he will not ept simple excuses. They are now attached at the hip!!" Elroy reminded them all.


    "Just tell him she is already sleeping, I am going in to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night." Esong told them and he stood up.


    "Maybe we should go to a hospital." Beord suggested.


    "No," both of his parents said sternly at the same time. "There is a med bed in the castle and the new health monitoring bracelet on her wrist shows that she is just fine. Let us monitor her for the night and then we will see what to do tomorrow. Everyone should bathe, eat and prepare themselves in case it turns out to be a long night." His father added.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Esong went into the room and the rest of the family followed, getting their first nce at Scarlet''s bloody, burnt and wed body in different areas.


    "Oh merciful Buddha!!!" Mega eximed and she turned her eyes away for a second. As always, she started crying."What did she do to herself?"


    "She is going to be fine." Dorian assured her.


    Esong set the med bed up and soon Scarlet was inside of one, being treated and all of her injuries vanished but still, she looked pale and remained unconscious. A few of them had been holding their breath in, hoping that she would open her eyes when the med bed had finished doing it''s magic on her but they were disappointed.


    Halley started to cry and Dorian told Elroy to take her outside. She was probably scared, but so were they.


    "I think you should all leave now." Esong told them, earning himself furious and curious nces. "I am going to clean her body, even if you are her family for the men to be here is a little inappropriate."


    "I will do it." Carolyn picked up a sponge and pulled the hands of her shirt up.


    Esong looked at her coldly, the stoic freezing look of undeniable anger in his eyes was scary, it made the hairs of the necks few people stand on end.


    Carolyn gasped and dropped the sponge, it fell down into the basin of water and made a small ssh.


    Markay was quick to step in front of Carolyn and hide her from Esong''s terrible gaze.


    "Brother," he said nervously, "I did this, not her. You can me me, beat me up any way you want but don''t me her. I will ept all the responsibility for what has happened here today."


    Esong smirked andughed in a mocking tone. "Do you think I won''t do it? Beat you up?"


    "I know you can." Markay replied in a smaller voice than usual.


    To the Su''s, the prince of death looked like he was addressing the king of death. Apparently he was not the apex predator in the area, there was someone that frightened him more.


    "Alright," Esong let go of Scarlet''s hand, and touched the side of her cheek which had been previously scalded. He then stood up abruptly and told Markay, "Let''s go. Since you have volunteered to pay for your mistake I am going to beat you up and break a few of your bones for every injury which was on my wife''s body." He looked at Carolyn and told her, "Thanks to this idiot I don''t trust you around my wife anymore. You have been keeping grudges even though she has apologized and made it up to you a dozen times over. Tion told me that he called my wife the original viin because she ruined your dreams. I will speak to the emperor and have the case reopened, then you can return to the school and study what you wanted and I will bear the expenses. In return for all this, I would rather not have a resentful person who refuses to ept my wife''s apology around her. So, when you return to the capital, stay there with Markay permanently."


    The Su''s were shocked into silence after all, no one expected Esong to stand up for Scarlet this much. But his words also made them unhappy because this was not a solution but a widening of the gap between the two sisters.


    "Another one that is ruining things, hey, butt out." Adler said to Esong and he cursed in his heart. His sisters should have just remained single because these idiots were creating more problems and making the issue bigger.

 Chapter 171 The Strength Of A Family

    ?


    Esong challenged Adler with his piercing gaze, why was the older brother of his wife so possessive of her and everything to do with her? In his opinion Adler needed a life of his own because Scarlet seemed to make up seventy percent of his.


    "Need I remind you that thew gives me authorization to protect my spouse from all harm?"


    "By what, tearing our family apart?" Dorian stepped in, very unhappy with the turn of events. "My daughter is not leaving her family to live alone in the capital."


    "It seems like you do not understand how things in this family work." Beord huddled closer to Adler and Carolyn.


    Esong smirked and chortled, were they ganging up on him? He smiled in disbelief when even the shy Fey and little Gregor joined in.


    The Su siblings lined up, forming a human wall in front of Esong.


    "My sister said this to me once, the strength of a family like that of an army lies in their loyalty to each other." Carolyn boldly looked at Esong and went on to say, "I am loyal to my sister, no matter how angry I have been with her. Or how many times I told Adler to just send her to the red I never would have gone through with it, I had many opportunities to harm her if I wanted to but I never did. I have known her far longer than you, loved her longer, protected her and cared for her more than you. I will take exception to your words because of who you are to her and because they prove your sincerity in the marriage but do not ever try to get between us. Whether or not I have forgiven her is not for you to decide." She looked back at Markay and added, "Either one of you, and for your information, my sister and I yed a game of snakes anddders two days ago in the privacy of her office. We talked and weughed together, something we have not done in years. We are both finding our way back to what we used to be slowly. The two of you should understand that this family stands together no matter what, we never abandon another Su or the partner of a Su unless they do somethingpletely heinous like deliberately attempt to maim, kill or sessfully take the life of a family member. If you are going to be part of our family then you should board this loyalty flight because it''s for life. If not, stay out of anything to do with our family."


    Carolyn didn''t care if she came off as rude, Esong Wu started it first by saying such rubbish to her. How dare he try to ship her off and order her to stay away from her own sister? He had only been here for a few months but she had been with Scarlet since she was just a baby.


    Esong grunted and rose up, "Hey Markay, follow me." He ordered in a stern voice. "Don''t dally little brother, you know me well."


    Esong could not understand why he was unnaturally angry with the Su''s. In his mind, he asked himself why they acted like a pirate gang. One could not leave if they joined one, it was a membership for life. If you attempted to leave, your fellow pirates would kill you out of the irrational fear that you would reveal their secrets. Was this a family or a gang? As Scarlet''s husband, he could take her away from here if he wished. What would they do if he did? However much he didn''t understand them, their weird closeness made him question the rtionships in his own family. He had a brother who spoke to him mostly when he had questions about mechas andbat. He had a sister that he only spoke to once or twice a month when he desired an update on the finances or the well being of their parents.


    He had a mother that sought to control him like he controlled his mecha and a father that was mostly indifferent to everything. His grandparents were clearly the most sane people in the family. Esong was not sure if he could ssify himself as sane when he desired to put as much a distance between himself and his family all twelve months of the year. He preferred a bloodied battle field to facing his mother and father.


    What did the poor Su''s do right inparison to the wealthy Wu''s? It was often said in their society that the happiness index was lowest among the mediocre and poor of them. Technically the Su''s were mediocre but they seemed to be happy.


    He stopped in an empty training room in the castle where he trained Scarlet''s guards every morning. He removed his shirt, exposed his bare chest and looked at Markay who was nervously ying with his fingers. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Pick up a weapon."


    In the room we''re all sorts of weapons, from swords and knives to axes and hooks.


    "Brother, we don''t have to do this, you even took off your shirt. What if I identally slice you open?" Markay put his teeth on top in an attempt to make a cheeky smile.


    "My wife gave me that shirt and I don''t want her to ask questions when it''s ripped and I have to make up a lie because I don''t want her to know that I broke all the teeth in her sister''s boyfriend''s mouth. If you won''t pick up a weapon then I guess we are going to do this old school." Esong leaped on Markay smoothly like a tiger that had finally caught its prey. In that one leap, he broke Markay''s left arm.


    "That''s one." He said poker-faced.


    "Brother!!!" Markay cradled his broken arm with a pained smile on his face. "One arm is enough, hmmm, I am really sorry."


    He was still talking when Esong approached him slowly with an unreadable expression on his face. "Let me think about it." He smiled.


    For a few seconds Markay thought he had escaped narrowly when felt his right knee crack, a sharp pain made him wail and he fell down.


    "Do you know how I found her?" Esong put a hand on Markay''s head and asked. "Or did you not get a glimpse of her when I was carrying her into that bedroom before the med bed was brought over? Well since you called her a viin that means as a her husband I should be the bigger viin and teach you a small lesson. She is my child''s mother after all, it will not be just if I don''t avenge her."


    Markay''s eyes widened as he started to tremble in fear when he felt waves of Esong''s mental strength touching his mind. He knew about Esong''s most special skill, the one where he would lock you inside of your own nightmares in your head. While he did this, he would pry your deepest secrets from your mouth and you would give them out because you are desperate to get out of that nightmare. If he left you in that condition for too long, you would go permanently insane. It was a secret known to only a few but there was a wide spread rumor that if Esong got a hold of you on a battle field, it was better to choose death. It was why enemy forces that failed to escape an assault led by him chose tomit suicide rather than be captured.


    "What do you say Markay?" Esong chuckled viinously, "Should I take a trip inside of your head?"

 Chapter 172 She Is Awake.

    ?


    The Su''s were not nervous about whatever was going on between Esong and Markay, let the trouble causers duke it out between themselves. They arranged sleeping bags, pillows and nkets as close as they could to the room or inside of it. Adler and Beord sat in chairs on the left and right hand side of the bed. Since the bed wasrge, Carolyn slept on the bed itself, preferring to be as close to Scarlet as possible.Dorian however insisted that his wife, Mega sleep in a bed in another room because of the baby.


    By the time Esong returned to the guest bedroom past midnight most of them were already sleeping. One of them, Beord, he noticed after a quick observation was snoring.Sqeezing himself past Elroy who was spread eagled close to the entrance, he found his way to the bed and slept on the left side, close to his wife as he could.


    Try as much as he did, sleep evaded him and he looked up at the roof of the bedroom which had images of rotating stars, installed in all bedrooms upon the insistence of his wife. He thought about the fact that when tomorrow came, he would have two more days on the blue star and then he would leave. It would be great if his wife was to wake up before then, he didn''t want to leave before ascertaining her condition.


    Esong had a pendant too around his neck which Scarlet gave him and he touched it. He was not a man of faith but sure would be d to on the receiving end of a miracle because nothing was certain right now.Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.


    But, despite all hope,e morning, Scarlet was still out. Her eyes were closed and she showed no signs of regaining consciousness which dampened the moods of her family members.


    "Now can we go to the hospital?" Adler asked.


    "Her vitals are still normal." Dorian answered.


    "We can''t just leave her to sleep indefinitely without having answers. Back then we knew she was in aa because she met with an ident but now we have no idea.She ispletely unconscious and we don''t know why." Adler spoke loudly like a bolt of lightning hitting a tree.


    "Don''t shout." Mega hissed at her son. Looking at her husband, she said, "He is right, now that I think about it we do not know what has caused this.If a doctor can exin it then we should take a chance."


    On the bed, Esong was facing Scarlet as he listened to their tiny argument over who cared the most and wanted the best for his wife. He was willing to bet money that eventually, Adler would win this argument because he was using logic to reason. In his judgement, Dorian was using emotion, wanting to protect Scarlet and the citizens of the blue star because panic was quite certain to set in with Scarlet unconscious. There was no doubt about it that without her, most of the ns woulde to a stand still. If the people knew, they would want to return to the capital with immediate effect.


    He raised his hand and poked her cheek which he noticed was regaining color. She blinked, it was slight in the beginning and if he was not closely watching her, he would have missed it.Esong raised his head and brought it closer to her face, his eyes roamed over her still closed eyelids and her eye lids ttered again.


    He opened his eyes to call her name but right then, she opened her eyes wide at once.The first thing he experienced was shock because it was not just the rings around her pupils that were gold but the entirety of her eyes.


    "What the hell!!" He said loudly and he moved his head away from her face.That was weird, extremely abnormal, it was as if someone had poured liquid gold over her eyes.


    His loud shocking words and the movement of his body attracted the attention of the rest of Su''s.


    "What happened?" Dorian asked Esong.


    He pointed at her but the gold was gone, disappeared in an a second and her grey eyes, looking extremely ordinary returned.


    "She is awake," Mega screamed happily, "Scarlet, my dear." she shook her body by the arms.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Mother, don''t shake her." Carolyn pulled pulled Mega Su away from Scarlet.


    Adler took Mega''s ce and examined Scarlet''s body, "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Can you speak? Are you hungry?"


    "Seriously, give her some space." Carolyn pulled Adler away too.How could he bombard someone that had just woken up with many questions without taking a single breath and allowing her to respond. "Scarlet, do you want some water?"Thest time she woke up from a longa, she had asked for water immediately.


    Scarlet nodded and she slowly sat upright, as she looked around the room, she wondered how long these disheveled people had been here.


    "Severus how long was I asleep?"


    "A few hours here but a whole week in the underworld thanks to Lythia''s help. Congrattions on fully bonding your body and soul, now we can finally train efficiently without worrying about the danger of the me."


    Esong propped a few pillows and helped her lean back properly so that she could drink the water Carolyn brought."Does this mean all the rage from my soul is gone."She could recall all the destruction she had caused when she was breaking those things, setting them on fire and mutting herself. It was if she had be someone else entirely. It sure wasn''t something she would have done if she was in full control of her mental faculties.


    "All gone, you are the perfect grim reaper now." he confirmed.


    She looked at her family and saw them all watching her silently but with a plethora of questions in their eyes.Aside from the questions there was the worry and tension.


    "Well, good morning."Scarlet greeted them all unsurely and she shrugged. She was not sure what kind of emotions or words could convey the right message in this situation.


    "How are you feeling?" Esong asked her.


    She raised her right hand thumb up and put on a perfect smile, "Great." she replied in a slightly shrill voice which raised many eyebrows in the room. She cleared her throat twice and coughed then she repeated her words, "I am feeling fine, my body is devoid of pain and my mind is sound."


    Elroy looked at her and rotated his index finger close to the upper side of his head, using the signal she taught him when she meant to say ''crazy'' in reference to a person.


    She chortled slightly and said, "No Elroy, I am not crazy, I just had a bad episode. I appreciate you all spending the night here it looks like to care of me but we have work to do. Where is my son by the way?"


    "With my grandparents." Esong informed her, "He went to themercial kitchen in the morning because they are making kimchi again."


    She nodded, took a deep breath and decided to deal with the matters which could not be handled with kid gloves anymore since she had made peace with them. So, she she looked at her older sister and said, "Carolyn, we should talk, a real talk."

 Chapter 173 Is It Always Like This?

    ?


    The request to talk was not what anyone in the room expected to hear from Scarlet, especially not when she had just regained consciousness. They all thought they would have to handle the issue with kid gloves, tip toeing around it and her like very fragile ss that could shatter at any second.


    The room was silent, extremely quiet like a cemetery as no one had a clue what to say first, not even Carolyn to whom Scarlet was addressing directly.


    "Can we have some privacy please?" She further went on to request politely. Despite the reassuring smile on her face, no feet were being shuffled but all stood or sat exactly where they had been.


    "No." Adler broke what could easily be a stalemate between the family and Scarlet. They were unwilling to leave and she unwilling to give in. There had been enough tiptoeing to go around and perhaps, if Carolyn hade out directly and shared her grievances with Scarlet, all this terrible madness could have been avoided. She was at peace with herself now and she desired for it to stay this way so the talk was necessary.


    "What do you mean, no?" She asked Adler. "We have had this talk brother, princess no more, remember?" She reminded him of their conversation without going into details to include everyone in on it. "This talk is going to happen, whether you approve or not. As a matter of fact we need to talk more about such things in the family. We sweep a lot of things under the rag in order to maintain our perfect family harmony but that doesn''t heal bleeding hearts. I betrayed Carolyn and forgot about it, my apology back then was general. It never specified any event, I broke all your hearts individually and I should have apologized the same way, individually." Scarlet stood up abruptly but she felt a bit woozy and the urge to vomit announced itself. She covered her mouth and stumbled into the bathroom, retching her guts out into the sink. Esong followed her inside and he patted her bark as she emptied the contents of her stomach out. When there was nothing left to vomit, she rinsed her mouth and used that teeth cleaning spray to clean her mouth. She also used some soap to wash her face and pat it dry before giving herself a look in the mirror. Her hair, she realized had been cut short by someone that was probably trying to fix the mess she made of herself. The previously waist length ck hair only came to her jaw now. She touched it and looked at it with a saddened gaze beforeughing dryly.


    "I think you look better like this," Esong whispered to her. "New you, new hair, maybe it''s something you needed to do. In rehabilitation after suffering from regression of mental strength, mecha warriors are told to throw out their old uniforms and mechas in order to detach from their confines. Consider your hair an old uniform or old mecha that you got rid of because it was part of your past and you must look to the future."


    He was trying to help in a way he understood things and she appreciated it. But given how often he tugged on her hair when they were in bed, or how often he run his hands through it, helped her wash it or blow dry it, he was probably going to miss it more than she would. But he was leaving anyway and when he returned, it would be long again. Perhaps she would change the color to silver to match his or white like Lythia''s. But for now, she was going to turn it into a short bob.


    The women on the Sun star loved to copy her style of dressing and her hair. But on this world were long hair was seen as a symbol of femininity and beauty, what would they think about her short unusual hair? Would it be a hit or a miss?


    "Does it ever work?" She asked Esong. "Do the warriors who throw out old uniforms and mechas move on?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His head tilted to both sides, "Some more than others. There are those to whom the title mecha warrior is everything and when it''s gone, so is the meaning in their lives. To such men, no amount of thrown out mechas or uniforms can help. The darkness tends to descend on them very quickly, devouring them from the inside. We have hospitals filled with many such men and every year after winter we add more."


    She sighed and chose not toment on the darkness or the over filled hospitals and sighed rather loudly.


    "I am okay, it''s just hair." She assured him. She turned around to exit the bathroom but he grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving by pulling her and trapping her in a sudden embrace.


    As she stayed in ce, allowing herself to be swallowed into his reassuring warmth and broad chest, she wondered how much she had probably frightened him. It was a miracle that he was still standing here and not giving her a disgusted look over what he had witnessed. Mental diseases were a valid reason for granting full custody of a child to one spouse with no visitation rights to the sick one. It was a drasticw but it was meant to protect women and children from the brutally and pain of watching a loved one harm you or devolve into someone unrecognizable. Once upon time, some women had taken advantage of thisw to defraud men by threatening them that if they didn''t get all they they desired, they would im the man was mentally unsound. For this reason, careful investigations were made when such allegations were made and if it was discovered to be a false report, one would be imprisoned for life. If Esong had taken pictures or recorded what he found when he saw her, Justin would be on his way to the capital already. She had never realized before just how much her family protected her by keeping a lid on her manic episodes because if Emory Wu, Esong''s mother found out, she would have the perfect excuse to take her son.


    She tightened her arms around his waist, thanking him in her heart for not doing anything drastic and still being here. Just recently she found out that grim repears could not have children with humans too, that''s why Severus was so dismissive of Esong. Justin would be her only child in this life, it was a bitter pill to swallow but it was her reality now. Now more than ever, she wanted Esong on her side.


    "Is it always like this?" He asked her softly, "Your illness, does it make you do terrible things to yourself?"


    She pursed her lips and moved them around a bit before shaking her head. "This was thest and episode, I always knew that it would happen because my teacher said so. I am okay now, you will never see me that way again." And before he could ask anymore questions, she said, I need to talk to Carolyn now, let''s go."


    She led him out of the bathroom by the hand.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 174 Noodles And A Talk.

    ?


    If somebody asked her again how she was feeling after she stepped out of the bathroom, she would tell them the genuine truth which was embarrassed. She had simply vomited by their nervous eyes were watching her as if had puked blood and guts.


    "Are you sure that you are fine because we can go to a hospital right now." Mega reached her out hand out and touched Scarlet''s forehead and then she touched her own, measuring the differences in their temperatures with her hand. "You don''t have a fever." She mumbled.


    "I don''t think that''s how they check for temperatures." Esong shared the information which he thought theycked. "You nee..."


    "I know what you need." Mega cut him off abruptly. "Scarlet said this is the old and simplest way of checking the temperature of a child. She uses it on Justin all the time."


    Esong looked at her and she shrugged, it worked, it was neither urate nor scientific but it worked.


    "I still need to talk to Carolyn which we are both going to do from the kitchen while I make breakfast because I happen to be starving."she said instead. Without waiting for any responses or questions to be asked, she walked straight to the open doorway and moved to the kitchen.


    Along the way, she met Gertrude and two other maids, they were using hand rags to clean the lower ends of the windows. When her eyes caught theirs, they lowered heads slightly and bowed.


    "Good morning mydy."


    "Good morning, I told you to call me governor." she responded.


    "Yes governor." they answered quickly.


    She continued walking, not wanting to delve into the emotions orck there of in their eyes. It was better if they did not express any emotions of pity, disgust, or harbor any curiosity about the happenings of the previous day. Scarlet was quite certain that if they did, she would not hesitate to fire them.


    Arriving in the kitchen, she got some noodles and eggs from the pantry and ced them on the counter.


    "What should I do? What are you cooking?" Carolyn came closer to her and asked.


    Scarlet poured some water into a pan and it started to heat up instantly. It was amazing how some adjustments in the factory had increased the efficiency of all the cooking devices. "We can talk as I cook, I want us to have a genuine conversation where you tell me everything you feel and think. Even the littlest and tiniest details, leave nothing out."As she spoke she added noodles to the water, added spices and then she started cracking eggs."I will start by apologizing for not remembering, then I am going to follow it up by pinching you on the arm for not saying a word."she actually put down the chop sticks which she was using to whisk the eggs and she pinched Carolyn''s shoulder.


    "Aww." Carolyn expressed her disbelief verbally and physically by pping Scarlet''s hand away. "I can''t believe you have actually pinched me."


    The other Su''s had respectfully stayed a distance away to allow the two sisters to talk but because the living room in Scarlet''s private quarters was designed to grant whoever was in the living room space to see into the kitchen, many eyes were peeping and watching and them.


    "Are they going to fight?" Beord asked.


    "Should we separate them?" Adler asked.


    "Stay out of it." Dorian shouted at both of his sons.


    Scarlet pointed her chop sticks at Carolyn and said, "And I want to pinch you harder for not saying anything until that annoying spokesman of yours decided to do it for you. Hey, sisters are for life, you should have been the one toe to me with this information."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He is not my spokesman!" Carolyn blushed red slightly and muttered.


    "Yes your highness," Scarlet lowered her voice and spoke politely but sarcastically as she bowed.


    "Don''t call me that." Carolynughed slightly and she said, "I am not his wife."


    "I..." Scarlet was starting to respond when something was said that made her shout her mouth.


    "Yet." Carolyn added.


    Now she held Scarlet''s attention, yet, whose dictionary meaning meant that the possibility was open to something happening soon.


    "Did he propose?" Scarlet asked curiously?


    "No, maybe I am jumping to conclusions, let''s change the subject. I never came to you with the issue of you selling my draft because you did not remember it anyway and you were doing so well. You recovered and went back to being the sweet little sister I loved and missed. What did you want me to do? Come to you and say, ''hey you remember that time when you visited me at school and I was so happy but you secretly stole my draft which got me kicked out of school for giarism and destroyed my dreams? Ooops!!, you don''t but let''s discuss it anyway." It was Carolyn''s turn to be sarcastic and dramatic with her words and hand gestures. "You did not recall what happened and I had long forgiven you by the way, all I wanted was an acknowledgement. Just anything that showed me you knew what you did." she sighed and sat down in a chair. "I really didn''t ask Markay to talk to you and jeopardize your mental well being and healing."


    Scarlet had been chopping up vegetables like cabbages, carrots, onions and green papers while Carolyn talked. Then sheadded oil to a pan and started frying the eggs, turning them into scrambled eggs.


    "He was both right and wrong toe to me because you would never have brought it up for the rest of our lives and it would have eaten you up. Who knows what might have happened in the future? Perhaps you would have left eventually or moved to another city because seeing my brazen face was too hard for you."


    Carolyn shook her head, dismissing Scarlet''s words. "I would never leave, I would probably propose a game of doge ball where I would proceed to beat you up until I feel better."


    "Ha-ha!" Scarletughed dryly. "For your information, I am the queen of dodgeball, you could never beat me."She was a skillful dodger and her hands were quick and nimble, those were some of the skills of an excellent chi blocker in the zombie apocalypse. A time came when those with superpowers were worse than the zombies because they preyed on the weak. Chi blockers existed to maintain the bnce because they had skills that could stop the flow of powers in the superpowered individuals by swiftly blocking various points of their bodies before capturing them.


    She got another pan added a little oil, the onions, green papers, cabbages and long thin carrots. As they fried, she added some soy sauce and salt.


    Those who were peeping into the kitchen started sniffing the air and touching their bellies, realizing that they were incredibly hungry.


    "This is torture." Elroymented and he sat down. Looking into the kitchen was too painful for him.


    Scarlet added scrambled eggs to the vegetable mixture and strained the noodles.


    "What can I do to fix what I did? Tell me and I will do whatever it takes to fix things between us." she looked at Carolyn with genuineness in her eyes. "I can tell the authorities what happened back then and the school..."


    "No way," Carolyn disagreed vehemently. "I run all the factories on our now, I can craft anything I want with no supervision from old fussy teachers who limited our knowledge to only flying cars and mechas. Someday, every house on our will have something designed by me, be it kitchen equipment, cars or games. My work here is important and my name will be mentioned along the most inspirational women in our world someday. Previously I would have been just another ordinary low level worker in a crafting factory, never seen and unknown. The mess you created has somehow inevitably turned into a blessing for us, each of us. Beord is head ofmunications, Adler heads defense, Elroy is still lost, Fey has turned into a great navigator of politics and business. We are living in a castle and I am dating a prince!!!!" Sheughed and pped her hands, her face was expressing so much disbelief as she mentioned the good things they had now. "Would we have all this if not for your mess and your teacher?"

 Chapter 175 Buried In Combat

    ?


    Scarlet added the noodles to the scrambled egg vegetable mixture, filling up the pan having prepared a meal for at least twenty people. At this time of the morning, if she had not yet eaten then it was likely all of them had not eaten as well.


    Carolyn helped her arranged the tes around the table as Scarlet distributed the noodles. Those who ate more like Adler, Beord and Dorian received the biggest portions.


    "So does this mean we are okay?"she asked Carolyn as she closed the pan with the remaining noodles. "If you are happy with your life should I consider it that I have been forgiven and all is well."


    Carolyn punched her shoulder lightly, "You said it, sisters are for life. We are more than okay, I will even move in and keep youpany when your husband leaves for the capital."


    She was about to say something quirky when Severus came out of the bedroom barking, "Where is my te?" He nudged at her feet, urging her to hurry up and feed him.


    "I swear, that dog always appear when food is being put on the table. How does he know? It has to be more than a sense of smell." Carolyn looked at Severus thoughtfully and suspiciously. It was simply not something that could be exined away by iming he had a good sense of smell. If that was the case he would show up as soon as the smell of food wafted in the air which he never did but he showed up right at the exact moment when food was put on tes. It was uncanny.


    "He has a great sense of smell." Scarlet replied.


    "Nope, " Carolyn shook her head. "It has to be more than that," she spoke as she waved the others over for breakfast. "Can animals have mental strength because I am inclined to believe he reads your mind somehow."


    Scarlet almost choked on her own saliva, narrowly holding back herughter because she had no idea how right she was about Severus reading her mind and knowing that it was time to eat.


    "Is everything settled between you two?" their mother asked. She was swaddling a baby that was sucking on a pacifier which Scarlet provided. "I saw some pinching and pping. I thought I would never see such a sight again since you are not teenagers anymore."


    "We are okay." Scarlet replied.


    "More than okay." Carolyn added.


    Esong looked at Markay and Markay shrugged,, he was officially off the hook now. Nobody had red at him for a while now, he did not say it out loud but in his opinion, they should throw him a feast for bringing this issue to the table. Thanks to him, the sisters could go back to their good sincere rtionship free of any grudges.


    "We still have to y a game of dodge ball though, our differences will be buried inbat." Carolyn added to her previous statement.


    Esong opened his mouth to correct them by defining the true meaning of the wordbat. Throwing a ball around while one jumped and dodged it was notbat. But he saw his mother-inw Mega looking at him with one eyebrow raised up questioningly and a smile that was waiting for him to correct them so he stuffed his mouth with noodles.


    "Sister this foodis so amazing, I am so d that you did not go into aa."


    "Idiot." Adler mumbled.


    "When? I want to watch." Fey raised her hand. "Can we take bets because I need to make some shopping money."


    "I will bet on Carolyn, she is ruthless."


    "Fool," Adler told Beord "Scarlet is quicker."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Su''s were not particr about table manners, in most noble families, there was a proper way to behave at the table which was rare since nutrition solutions did not need everyone to gather around and eat at the same time but asionally they did. During those times for one, all conversation was kept to a minimum and when introduced, it covered topics of a developmental nature. Not talking over each other cheerfully while calling one other names like dummy, idiot, fool or stupid.Esong and Markay continually experienced cultural shock every single day with the Su''s.


    "It rainedst night," Esong coughed and he suddenly said. This was his way of engaging more with the family.


    "Yes, and?" Adler responded immediately.


    "And winter ising, should the gatherers and hunters continue going out because it might be getting dangerous now. Some of my men captured some unknown creatures when they were installing water crawlers in theke." he filled them in.


    Little footsteps were heard and the joyful giggle of a child followed the steps.This paused the conversation on whatever had been captured. Scarlet extended her chair back in case Justin came in and threw himself at her.


    Right on cue, Esong''s miniature appeared and heunched himself at her, "Mummy," he called happily. "Your baby is back."


    She carried him up, sat him on herp and he faced the rest of the family. "Grandparents, Justin is back." he went on to say.


    "We see that, good morning Justin." Dorian replied and Mega wore a smile.


    "Good morning," he answered "And good morning daddy, uncles and aunties." He was greeting politely but his little eyes were looking at the noodles on his mother''s te.As the adults responded, theyughed at him.


    The Wu''s hade along with him, both husband and wife were here because of Cecily''s insistence as she was suspicious of a few things. A whole night and early morning had gone by without the Su''s contacting them to look for Justin. There had been no bed time ritual with his mother and no call from her. All thisbined with the hurried way he was dropped off, something was wrong. However, on arrival, everything seemed to be perfectly fine which was surprising.


    "Please join us for breakfast." Mega invited the Wu''s and they did not hold back.


    The maids brought noodles, bread and tea which Gertrude prepared as the two elders liked.


    "Are you hungry?" Scarlet asked him.


    Justin nodded, "So hungry mummy, like the wolf in little red riding hood. I can eat a whole person."


    His innocent but clever words brought a smile to her face and sheughed. She was sure that he slept off when they were still reading that story, he did not know that the wolf had gone on to eat the grandmother in the story.


    She wouldplete the story another night but for now, she fed him slowly and Anna brought him a small cup of milk and one bun.


    For a few seconds, silence filled the table as everyone ate their food. Then out of nowhere, Dorian asked Esong, "What were you saying about creatures in the water?"


    "Yeah," Esong nodded, "Some weird round looking creatures with ten legs, one of them pinched Folsom and almost broke a vein in his arm. We captured only five when they were onnd, the rest run back into the water."


    Something with ten legs that came from the water and pinched, why did that sound familiar to Scarlet?

 Chapter 176 Season Of The Crabs.

    ?


    "Do you have a picture of the creatures?" She leaned her head over and asked Esong.


    "I have a video." He tapped his bracelet terminal and a hologram video depicting the scene of the attack right up to the the moment when Folsom hand was bitten yed.


    Scarlet had to watch it two times to be sure that her eyes were not deceiving her. Unless she was hallucinating, these were crabs, two times the size of a king crab but still crabs. Or creatures that bore the same resemnce to crabs but were something else because she didn''t put them in the water, not even crab eggs and thest time she checked, there was no life in any of the water bodies. She had however dumped two containers full of fertilized fish eggs in theke but to date, nothing had been hatched. Lately, she had taken to thinking that the eggs probably rotted away or the reaper who sold them to her lied.


    "Maybe you were given crab eggs." Severus suggested in her mind. "Do they have meat? Can they be eaten?"


    The hound was a foodie, every creature he saw in this world was food in his eyes. She had caught him a few times licking his teeth as he watched the sheep sleep.


    But as she pondered Severus''s words and considered the possibility of having been given crab eggs identally, Scarlet started to worry about what would happen if crabs the size of baby goats started walking on the surface. If one had managed to bite the arm of a mecha warrior and break a vein then that qualified them to be dangerous. How many of them were in the water and how did they reproduce? She remembered that her grandfather once took her fishing for crabs one summer. They liked warm weather, he had said, so they were always easier to catch in the summer. Were theying to the surface because of winter? Unless they were hibernating and the water crawlersnded upon a few of them, drawing them to the surface.


    As many questions raced through her mind, she wondered what facts were true and which ones were fiction. One thing she was sure of, aside from cooking crab meat, she knew next to nothing about their living habits. She should have paid more attention when her grandfather was talking!!


    "Did you capture a live one?" She asked Esong curiously.


    Her interest in the crabs overrode her desire to eat and Justin helped himself to the remainder of her food. He was struggling to imitate her by using chop sticks instead of a fork and even though he was failing miserably, the little one refused to give up.


    Cecily was taking pictures while her husband recorded a video.


    "We are nning to send them to the center for marine studies since they came out of the water or the one for mutated beast studies because they appeared at this time. We are going to have to leave sooner than expected because this is not a good sign. I am actually worried more now because this means a few beasts have already made it inside the barrier. I am nning to seal off all water bodies and the forestpletely."


    Setting aside hisment about leaving sooner that expected, Scarlet was not quite willing to send the crabs to the capital if they were hers. But she could note out and im their ownership directly so she found another way to dy things a bit. "Maybe you should hold off on sending them to the capital and let me take a look first after all I do have some knowledge on the identification of mutated beasts."


    "That''s true, my daughter is the foremost expert on identification of mutated beasts in the empire."Dorian Su imed proudly.


    "Yes, yes." Mega nodded, adding to her husband''s words.


    Esong pushed his chair back and stood up, "In that case, we should go outside because I have three in my storage pod right now. It needs to be done out in the open so that I can easily kill it in case things be troublesome."


    "I will join you." Esong''s grandfather wiped his bottom lip and stood up.


    "There is no need to go outside." Scarlet pushed her chair back and handed Justin off to Fey. "We have a perfectlyrge kitchen here and I have many sharp knives. If it tries anything, I will simply dump it in hot boiling water. Have you ever seen anything survive hot boiling water?"


    Esong and his grandfather shared a look of disbelief, was Scarlet ruthless or simply efficient.


    "Dear, Esong''s way of killing it is efficient."his grandfatherughed.


    A group of six went into therge kitchen, and stood in circles, waiting for Esong to release the mutated beast in their midst. Cleverly, Elroy had called Tion and a few other guards just in case the creature suddenly grew wings and attempted to flee. You never knew with these beasts but it was always better to be safe than sorry.


    Esong released the creature, it''s height was the length of half a chair, it was red with some small white spots. It had a hard shell,rge body and five pairs of legs which were mostly sharp ws and pincers.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was sluggish and slow when Esong first released it but it was gaining momentum slowly, and it started moving around nervously, waving those sharp ws.


    Scarlet sent an image to the forum and it was identified as an edible hostile red king crab. It''s weapons were it''s sharp ws that could slice off an enemy into two if it perceived danger.


    "Should we shoot?" Markay asked.


    "Just cut off it''s legs." Elroy said, jumping around like a monkey from one spot to another.


    "Watch out for the ws." Scarlet said, "But don''t shoot, not yet anyway., it''s a crab and it''s meat is edible."


    "There is meat in that thing!!!" Markay yelled.


    Everyone was doing their best to dodge the ws because there was no clear n of attack yet.


    Esong used his mental strength to lift the crab in the air and trap it in one ce. It was waving it''s ws around but grasping at nothing but air. "How do we kill it without killing it?" One way of killing it would leave most of it intact while another way was Esong''s way which would end with the crab sliced into ten parts.


    All eyes were on Scarlet now, waiting for her to dere what was to be done next.


    "Should we put it in boiling water?" Cecily voiced all the way from the living room where she and the women of the Su family and the maids were peeping. Scarlet had said it''s meat was edible so logically speaking it would die if it was immersed in hot boiling water.


    "No," her method disagreed,"We need a method anyone can use, the mecha warriors can''t always go around with hot boiling water."


    "Pierce it through the head." Scarlet said. She took a long sharp steel knife out of her storage.


    Beord took it from her, Esong brought the crab closer and he pierced it but it barely grazed the surface. The crab was perfectly fine, the knife had not even caused a dent where it pierced.


    ''What the f.." Scarlet was about to use a dreaded word but she was cut off.


    "Language." Mega leaped on a chair and yelled at Scarlet, forgetting that she was holding an infant.


    "Now what?" Adler asked.


    "A sharper knife maybe." Scarlet shrugged.The one she had given Beord was an ordinary steel knife, she had other knives which Maddox had crafted and that is what she took out of the bracelet storage next.


    "Is that a knife made from Avoracian steel?" Markay asked her.His voice was filled with wonder and his eyes contained greed.


    "I don''t know, it was my teacher''s knife." she answered.


    Using that knife, the process was repeated again and this time the crab was killed in an instant.

 Chapter 177 Lets Go Fishing.

    ?


    "Is it dead?" Elroy asked because everyone was standing in one ce, simply staring at the crab which was hovering in the air. "Can we eat it now?"


    "Yes, eat it now." Severus was in perfect agreement with Elroy on this one fact. "Tell him to kill all of the rest, he said he has three."


    Scarlet was amazed by the level of Severus''s shamelessness, she had not even cooked the first one and he wanted more.


    "One is barely enough to pass through my teeth." he mumbled.


    Scarlet ignored her gluttonous hound and told Esong to put the crab down. "I have to first remove all the meat from the shell."This was a part which she knew quite well, having learned from her grandfather. She rubbed her hands together, thinking about what to prepare.


    "Sister, let me set up the equipment and record a few videos for star tube. Eh, Markay I saw you record when Beord was killing the crab, I am going to need that video too."


    "The video is for my father," Markay blurted out his exnation quickly. "I thought he should know bout this type mutated beast and how it should be killed." He did not want to be on the out with the family again so soon after fences had just been mended.


    "Should we hunt for the rest of the crabs?" Elroy asked Scarlet.


    "Sure, but it''s fishing, not hunting. And cover up with armor and take all precautionary measures, these ws can slice a human into two." She reminded him because no matter what she said, he was going.


    "In that case we will seal off all thekes and other water sources after fishing." Esong revealed his sharp sword, now that he knew how this type of beast was killed, everything was going to be easy. Folsom would be happy because he was surely going to want revenge for being sliced.


    "Mummy can I go fishing too?" Justin raised his hand and asked loudly.


    "No," Scarlet blurted out loudly, "You stay here with me, Esong keep the children away from the water." she reminded him.Something that could slice a grown man into two was not to be trifled with. "And not all of them are this big so watch your steps, some might be smaller but they can do simr damage to a normal human."


    The men left, leaving the women behind, all curiously looking at the crab. "Well, here I go."


    "What are you making?" Cecily asked her.


    "Crab cakes." she replied.


    Cecily produced her own sharp knife and asked Scarlet, "Where do I begin?"


    While the women made crab cakes, the men gathered at theke with additional reinforcements of all avable mecha warriors and the battle between crabs and man was on. It was inevitable for people to gather when something like this urred and as always, where the crowd was, the news followed.


    "This is reporter Jelly of BSTV at the shores of what general Esong has named crabke. News received earlier was that some mutated beasts crawled out of thiske and attacked a few warriors that were installing water crawlers which monitor all water bodies.


    Sources say that the governor has dered the mutated beasts which have been identified as crabs edible and more mecha warriors have gathered to fish for said crabs. There is some debate among the citizens of the blue star at the shores as to the edibleness of this ugly creature. But additional information reaching me right now is that the governor is recording a star tube video which exins more about crabs.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Despite the excitement of another discovery of an edible creature, the question on everyone''s mind right now is that as we enter thest days leading to winter, should we be expecting more mutated beasts to rise out of the waters?"


    Captain Zorl was standing at the shores with some of his officers, monitoring the area and preventing normal civilians from crossing to theke where the crabs which had been killed were being stuffed into pods and transported to themercial kitchen.


    He snorted when he heard Jelly''s words and rolled his eyes. They were approaching winter and mutated beasts arrived in winter so what kind of stupid question was she asking. ''Should we be expecting more mutated beasts to rise out of the waters!!!!!'' of course yes, this was the time.


    If this is why reporters were given special permits to be on the shore at this moment, it was a waste of time. The other group of civilians whose presence was unnecessary was the doctors, if they died, who would treat the injured warriors? And then there was that group of fire fighters, there was no fire at the shore so why were they here in their shy orange outfits and big red weird looking trucks and mechas?


    "Captain Zorl, do you...." Jelly approached him with a smile and a question.


    "Keep moving." her snarled at her.


    "Oh!! that rude bastard." she mumbled as she walked to the side with the fire fighters.


    Two RGB officers watched this interaction with great interest and secretive smiles. "Didn''t he eat the cake which she brought to his office today morning in search of answers about the cause of the fight on the football field between the seventh prince and minister Adler?" one of them asked.


    The other shrugged an replied, "Hey, food is food, it cannot be wasted. If she gave me that cake I would have eaten it too."


    Captain Zorl red at them and they looked behind, pretending to be very active. "Stay back, don''t cross the yellow line."


    "You with the drone, watch it."


    Back at the castle, the first batch of crab cakes was finished and the women, one child plus one dog each picked one to taste.


    "How is it?" Scarlet asked each of them.Even though it was the first batch she had divided them into three different groups, each spiced differently.


    "These ones are too soft, you said they should be crunchy." her mothermented.


    "These ones are crispy, they are good." Carolyn pointed to a different group.


    "I agree, these ones are the best." Fey added a positivement to Carolyn''s.


    "I don''t think these ones have enough meat." Cecilymented. "Or maybe I prefer shrimps so in my mind I thought they would taste the same. Is there another way to cook the crab meat?"


    "Mmm," Scarlet nodded. "Dozens of ways I can think of. Since my schedule was cleared up by Fey the rest of my day is free and this is one big ass crab. Let''s continue cooking."

 Chapter 178 Lessons By Severus

    ?


    After many hours of cooking and teaching a few men and women that worked in themercial kitchen a few crab recipes, Scarlet finally got a chance to rx in the evening but rather than do that, she used that time to train. In a few days, she would be challenging number fifteen on the division one virtual champions roll. Everyone had it in the back of their minds that she wasing for number twenty or ten but she decided to switch it up and give the pdins a break. They were probably training hard, especially number twenty and ten who were expecting to meet her in the ring. How surprised would they be when she didn''t pick them.


    "Again," Severus barked at her, "The hallucination skill works when it''s not broken and you have been holding it only for forty seconds. It needs to be more terrifying, stronger and as real as possible."


    She projected the hallucination again, still zombies for twenty five seconds and it broke.


    "Again." Severus barked. "What is holding your mind back?"


    "I don''t know." she answered in an irritated tone. "It was not as if she wasn''t trying but a lot of mental energy went into that skill. Her mind easily felt drained the longer she held on and the more she used it, the shorter and shorter the time span became.


    "This hallucination skill if mastered will be an ace card for you like ck Dalia''s mist. So far, you are one of the few grim reapers of the leaderboard with no special skill and you are ying around with this one. Do you want to lose? Is that it?"


    "I am trying you know, don''t growl at me."she stomped her foot and sat down in the middle of the training ground.


    "No breaks." Severus barked.


    "I have been going at it for one hour Severus, I am missing something, let''s think about it for a while." Shey there, looking at the painted ss up on the high ceiling. It reminded her of church, it was like those blue colored ss windows with images of Jesus."Do you think this needs a church?" she abruptly asked Severus.


    "I think you need to be training and churches are temples, what''s the difference?" he kicked her foot with his paw, trying to urge her to stand up.


    "You can''t sing in a temple," she raised her body up and looked at him, "Or can you." her eyes shifted from the left to the right. "I watched a few Indian movies back then and sometimes they would sing in their temples."


    "Then build a church for people to sing I don''t care, get up, rumor has it that Ulysses is training hard to get you within one month. He does not just want to defeat you he is going to challenge you to an Ummu again." Severus''s impatient voice persisted. Scarlet''sckadaisical attitude was really annoying him.


    "Ah, that annoying reaper, I will force him to utter the words I surrender the day I get my hands on him in a fight. I will get him back for that coward like blow he dealt me. Do you know that it''s being used as a teaching aid on constant awareness the forum? First it was the video of me being tricked by the old deity and then me being beaten by Ulysses. I hate this so much, I am famous for mostly the wrong reasons." she grumbled and kicked her legs in a tantrum like movement.


    "All the more reason to redeem your reputation."Severus told her. "Come on, onest try and then it''s just physical training."


    Scarlet howevery back down and Severus groaned, he would have to resort to some tricks it seemed.


    "Why didn''t you tell me that grim reapers could not have children at all?" She asked him this question out of nowhere. Severus had not been expecting it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You already knows, it''s in the wee to grim reaper hood package section of the forum which most newbies never read. I thought you were crazy when you talked about wanting to have another child with your human husband. It''s not exactly impossible but it''s ny nine point nine percent possible that it will never happen. You will spend the thousands of years eating these hell fruits until you give up."


    Scarlet rose up again, and gave Severus a questioning look. "Go back." she told him. She had just heard some information which she was not aware of.


    "The hell fruits..."


    "More." She yelled softly.


    "Ny nine....."


    "There." she raised her hand to stop him from talking. "I have been multitasking all day, cooking as I searched for more information on why grim reapers cannot reproduce even though we inhabit human bodies. I mean we can fall in love, marry, get intimate and do the nasty but children is where the line is crossed, its ridiculous!! All the information was negative, zero, no hope but you just mentioned one slim chance so spill."


    "I don''t know much except what I heard from my mother as a small hound, the hell fruit can help grim reapers reproduce which is why Lythia grows it and distributes it to female grim reapers, hounds and all female spiritual pets but while it works for all other creatures, it has refused to work for repears."


    "Is that all?" she asked when he said nothing more.


    "Should there be something else?" he asked in an equally puzzled voice.


    "Yes," she answered, it was obvious to her that his brief exnation did not even cover a drop in the ocean of the exnation. "Think Severus, if Lythia makes sure that female grim reapers eat the hell fruit then it''s possible that maybe a long time ago it worked for female reapers. Ergo, it''s possible for me to have a child. I need to speak to her right now."


    "Stop." Severus said in a serious voice.


    "What?" she was confused. All she was going to do was research more about the hell fruit and try to meet Lythia for an exnation.


    "Even if you could give birth to a child what will be? Half human-half grim reaper, isn''t that a monster of sorts? Okay, let''s say it turns out to be fully human, will you be okay living forever while you watch the child you loved so much age and die? Will you be able to handle reaping their soul and sending them to the unknown? And what if you can''t reap their soul out of love, making all sorts of excuses and extending their stay in the world what happens when it starts feeding on other souls? Will you apany it forever and deliver innocent souls for it to devour? There are many reasons why grim reapers should not have children and all those reasons are just.


    I went to my mother recently with questions when you mentioned having a child and all she said was that it''s not necessarily a good thing when reapers reproduce because the reapers themselves turn into humanities worst nightmare, worse than soul eaters because they would do anything in order to protect their human children or make them immortal. Therefor, even if a reaper has a child, it has to be a spiritual child, if it''s not, it has to be killed before it grows to adulthood. Would you ept for your child to be killed simply because it''s fully human? This issue is far moreplicated than it looks. So, please, leave it alone and work hard at being strong because it''s the most important thing for both of us right now. I am pathetically weak because my power is tied to you, the weaker you are, the weaker I am. Get your head on straight right now."

 Chapter 179 Fears, We All Have Them

    ?


    He shouted at her, sternly, more than he intended but he shouted. Never before had she seen Severus this incensed with her. Scarlet thought about how much she was dragging him down, it seemed. How much her illcking attitude at times probably disappointed him but he patiently continued to teach her. But even then, while she was grateful to him for everything, what he said was not right and she needed to clear the air before the training could be furthered on.


    "Severus," she said slowly, "You said it yourself that other female reapers eat the hell fruit because they want to reproduce so this means I am not the only one that has hope. I am not alone in this desire to have a child, thousands of female grim reapers are just like me, so do not dismiss their hope simply because to you, it''s something that can be done naturally and easily whenever you please." He could decide to father a few hell hounds today and he would be sessful but it was not the same for her.


    "Also," she added, "if it was as dangerous as you make it sound, Lythia would not be feeding hell fruits to female reapers. Unless it''s all a lie that is." She looked at him with a steely eyes gaze and asked, "Is it a lie?"Were the female reapers being given false hope?


    A few of her words made him feel quite embarrassed by his outburst. He just wanted her to prioritize and top priority should be increasing her soul strength. She was also indecisive when it came to what kind of reaper she wanted to be, whether it was warrior or guardian. At this rate she was going to be one of those reapers that belonged to no side. The ones who hovered in between factions, never belonging anywhere. Those ones leveled up their soul power slowest, they rarely existed on the leaderboard and in small words, they were preyed on the quickest and easiest. Belonging somewhere was important in the underworld because there were worse things in the world than soul eaters and there was strength in numbers. Severus however had no intention of apologizing because his beliefs were still intact.


    "I could have phrased mynguage better." he said. "Let''s just train and if you want to talk about the child thing I will take you to my mother."


    Still, she didn''t blink or back down. "That doesn''t answer my question, are the hell fruits a dead end for female reapers?"


    "I don''t know." he said in an exasperated tone, "I am not a female reaper or female anything. There is no information on the hell fruit on the forum apart from it''s name. I now owe my mother a favor for going to her with all these questions in an attempt to help you. Do you know when Ist spoke to my mother?"


    Naturally, Scarlet shook her head. Of course she did not know, he rarely spoke about his personal life to her.


    "Three thousand years ago!!!!!" he blurted out. "She tried to get me to father a few pups, I refused and she kicked me out of our home. Hell hounds have three jobs, guard the gates of the underworld, hunt for whatever they tell us to hunt and reproduce because the human poption growsrger every year since the deities won''t stop creating unnecessary worlds which we have to help in controlling and sometimes destroying. Do you know what male hell hounds are not good at?"


    Again, she shook her head.


    "Being fathers!!, they will train you to be an excellent hunter and guard but not anything else. So to me, this quest of yours to have children is not the most important thing in my world and yet for your sake I returned home to speak to my mother. I am helping you, I am on your side, I am your partner. I have no ns however to babysit you so, get up and let''s train."


    Having heard more than she expected to from him, Scarlet felt guilty for not knowing all that he had been doing for her without letting her know.


    "Thank you." she muttered.


    Severus snorted, a small me of red mes flew out from his nose andnded on the ground, scorching the tiled floor, turning it ck. "Oops." he mumbled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Scarlet resumed her training, digging deep within so as not to let down the partner that was doing his best to help her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing herself to enter a state of darkness and fear.In order to give your opponent nightmares, you had to experience them as well, fear them and then embrace them. If you did not fear what you were projecting, odds were they would not be frightened as well, teacher Severus had told her.


    In her mind, she went to the scariest ce she knew, on earth, when the zombie apocalypse had just started. She and a few friends had just reached the first human shelter. It was filled with all sorts of hopeless people with hunger and fear etched onto their faces.


    There was a small market ce, selling some weapons and clothing in exchanged for all sorts of food and water.She was walking to the market curiously when all went still. It was if time hade to a stand still and everyone was frozen. She was standing alone, in front of them all and theystared at her, warning her with the fear in their eyes which which were screaming out loud, ''run''. In that moment, the beating of her heart sped up, slowly at first and then it picked up speed. It was pumping so fast as if it sought to escape from her chest.


    Her body was stiff and she could not move, something wasing from behind and she was trapped inside of her own body, denying her a means of escape. Her breathing increased, she could feel it in her bones, the fear, it was crawling on her skin, surrounding her like a python and then swallowing her into the darkness of it''s belly. She wanted out!!!... nothing had attacked yet but she wanted out. And just as soon as the hallucination started working, she opened her eyes.


    Hyperventting, Scarlet calmed herself and mumbled, "Not real, not real." She chugged down a bottle of water so fast that it choked her, tickling her throat that she had to spit the water out.


    "Son of..." Severus yelled. "It was working!!"


    "Too well." she took a few deep breaths and bent over, holding her knees with her hands. "Maybe I should try a new skill because even though I know in the back of mind that I can''t die, I am terrified. Are grim reapers allowed to feel fear?"


    "We all have things to fear." Severus replied and heid down and surrendered, today was not the day to excel at this skill.


    "What do you fear?" She and walked down and joined him on the ground. "Aside from your mother and fatherhood."


    "One, I don''t fear my mother and two, I dislike fatherhood, not fear it. There is a difference between the two things." He corrected her wrong understanding. "But I fear the same thing you and every other creature that works for the deities fears, the deities themselves. Should they ever decide to have no need of us, we will all stop existing. We take our immortal abilities for granted and sometimes we find them exhausting but when faced with the decision to stop existing, we all choose to stay because the thought of simply not being alive is terrifying. I have seen thousands of humans begging gods for life on their sick beds when they know fully well that they are terminal. I always wonder why they don''t beg for death, it seems like the easier option to escape all that pain. But even when they beg for death, you can see the fear and hesitation in their eyes just before they die. They don''t want to go, no one ever does."


    Scarlet wanted to say she did, when she died, she wanted it. Her bracelet terminal vibrated with a message informing all governors that all mecha warriors must return to the capital the next day.


    She sighed and spread her arms out.

 Chapter 180 Its Time To Weed

    ?


    The calling for the evacuation of mecha warriors within hours was enforced because the ministers started panicking at the news of mutated beasts rising out of the waters on the Blue star. Even the emperor could not not hold off on this one because panic in the capital had increased. ''Winter madness'' as it had now been called online set in. The official announcement had not been made but already people were locking themselves indoors. Those who lived near water were moving away and seeking shelter in the buildings the empire set aside for those that had been disced by the attacks of mutated beasts. Two nutrient solutionpanies had been robbed and five people had been killed so far in these sad events.


    The ministers in the capital were feeling uneasy with their greatest mecha warrior away on another. Some were afraid that when it came to down to it, Esong would choose to protect his family over them.


    For this reason, the representative of ministers both the left and right side came to see the emperor for reassurances and when he left, the emperor hurled a cup at the door using kinesis.


    "Idiots!!!!!" He muttered under his breath.


    "Please calm down your highness." The empress who had been sitting next to him all along touched his chest and tried to get him to take a few deep breaths.


    "How can I calm down when such Idiots represent themon people? Did you see him saying boldly that only Esong''s presence can quell the panic and fear of the people? Then of what use are my words and assurances as the emperor?"


    "They are just trying to divide our royal house, they do this all the time. You cannot give them the satisfaction of seeing us destroy each other out of fear." His empress reminded him of the true intentions of the noble houses. Many of them wanted to control the royal family and the emperor. Since they couldn''t do it legally, they were attempting to sink their ws into the members of the family by creating discontent and paranoia. They had sessfully got the crown prince to be on guard against Esong, viewing him as his greatest threat on his way to the throne.


    "Some of their children are mecha warriors and yet they im only Esong can protect them. How can one man hold the entire sky? Does Esong fight alone? Doesn''t he fight with an entire army behind his back?" The emperor imed down but the anger beneath still boiled.


    "Maybe we should give them a taste of their own medicine. I have many friends in the media world. Rx and let me handle this one ruthlessly." The empress suggested this with craftiness in her eyes. If the nobles could attempt to y in her house, she could do the same with them. "Watch this video that Markay sent, the mutated beasts which came out of the water are edible."


    Lately, she could use food to calm him down and put him in a happy mood. Maybe if food existed many years ago, less emperor''s would have beheaded their subjects for the tiniest of things.


    "Did he send some to me?" The emperor watched the video with a smile. Smiling even more when he saw all the different ways crabs could be cooked.


    "The kitchen is warming up a crab feast for you right now. But you should perhaps tell Markay to warn the girl Scarlet. If she does not release a nutritional value chart of the crabs then they should send a sample to the center for mutated beast studies. We have weakened the Rogans but they are not crippled. It will not take long for someone to im that eating crabs is poisonous or unnatural in one way or another."


    It did not take long for many articles to appear online pausing a number of thoughtful questions, making usations and sharing insightful opinions. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Ministers urge emperor to order general Esong''s return. Does this mean they only trust him to keep them safe?''


    ''List of noble families whose sons are mecha warriors but they only trust general Esong to protect them. Should their children retire from the mecha warriors association?"


    ''Can one man hold the sky? The ministers ims that only Esong Wu can protect us all is foolish and na?ve."


    ''Can the great mecha king be a one man army? Is that why the ministers want him back desperately?"


    ''Protect us and let your family die!!! The ministers do not care if the general''s family lives or dies.''


    ''If the ministers do not trust the millions of mecha warriors and soldiers orw enforcement agencies who protect the people, why should themon people trust the ministers to do what''s good for them? Perhaps the people should vote their own ministers.''


    Thatst article had been written by the empress herself. It would send all noble houses into a tail spin, especially those ones that thought they had managed to sessfully get a grip on the royal family. They woulde back crawling before the emperor and begging him to banish the idea of themon people voting for their own ministers.


    Esong saw these articles and he shook his head, telling Markay, "I guess the ministers are acting up again."


    Markay shrugged and answered, "They always do so at this time. I wonder why they do not just appreciate how much better they have it than others. I hear they sent in a petition requesting that an order be passed to your wife for all the food cultivated here to be sent to the capital because it is needed more there than here."


    "Idiots!!" Muyang muttered. "They want to spend winter eating and watching mecha fights while the warriors sacrifice their lives for them. I have never seen a more selfish group of individuals, left or right they are all the same."


    Markay looked around, ensuring that no one was close to them as they walked into the castle. "Maybe, it''s just a suggestion but maybe a few mutated beasts could identally fall through the barrier and specificallynd on a few of their buildings. Our most trusted warriors should be there to ensure that while others are saved, a few ministers that are working with my brother join their ancestors. It''s time to start weeding out the bad crops as your wife says."


    "Do not say things you will not back up Markay, we have been down this road before. You say you are thinking about making a y for the throne and then you change your mind which always leaves us hanging. I have told you before, anybody else in the family can sit on throne but not your older brother. One thing I am sure will happen when he does is that he will ask his men for my head. They will fail and I will either kill him and make someone else emperor or the blue star will be an independent. I have never hidden my intentions from you and the emperor. Until the crown prince shows me that is no different from a mutated beast I will not bow before him. And until you sign a contract which assures me that you will take the throne I will not have my men jeopardize their heads by killing those vile ministers only for you to turn around and change your mind. That will turn them into murderers instead of heroes and mecha warriors are heroes Markay, always the heroes." Esong took a left turn after clearly expressing his mind to Markay. What he proposed was risky and it was either all in or nothing for them all.

 Chapter 181 Hold You While You Wait

    ?


    He took the route which led him to his wife''s private storage area. ording to Tion, she had been in there with her maids for quite a few minutes just filling up boxes with things.


    "You can leave," he dismissed the maids as soon as he entered the storage room. It was a brightly lit room where his wife stocked what she called doomsday emergency supplies. It was stocked full with longsting food stuffs, camping equipment, deactivated robot butlers, weapons and other items. Why she did not simply keep these things in her storage bracelet on her wrist he did not know.


    "Scar," he called her. But she did not hear him because she had thoserge headsets on her ears. She could buy smaller ones, others could even be imnted directly beneath the skin behind the ears but no, his wife insisted on usingrge head sets which were now bing quitemon on the Blue star especially among the teenagers who found it cool to walk around with such things on their heads while they pocketed. Lately, they would even add a lollipop and walk around looking pretentious.


    She was stuffing noodles into arge box, counting them and writing down in a small note book. Everything his wife did was ancient, she preferred physical books to online ones, writing with a device called a pen rather than typing into her terminal. She liked driving her manually operated car instead of driving the new sr and energy stone powered self driving cars.


    She sent out physical emails to the ministers of the blue star. Small things which she did here and there made him wonder why and kept her on his mind a lot of the time. It almost seemed as if she had witnessed with her own eyes how the ancient people lived.


    She was singing loudly, a song about someone meeting another on the East side and they would see each other in a city where the sun don''t set. A small part of him wondered whether he should correct her by reminding her that the correct use of the word was ''does not set'' and not ''don''t set.'' But then again, she spoke many words differently a lot of the time because she imed they were better this way.Esong squatted down and pulled the headphones gently from her head. Her head looked up and she saw his face which in return caused hers to glow up with a smile." You are here!, help me decide which things you and your men will need that I have left out. I am packing up as much as I can get my hands on but I doubt it will be enough after all there are millions of mecha warriors but my supplies are limited. So, I am packing for around a maximum of two thousand people and it will take you around two and a half months...."


    She was still talking when his mouth came down on hers, effectively sealing off her words.He basically shut her up with a kiss.


    "What was that for?" she asked when his mouth left hers. "Not that I don''t like it, feel free to shut me up that way always."


    "It''s a thank you." he answered.


    "What for?" she asked.


    "For being the most amazing woman I have known. I know that you are worried bout the food being enough for winter on our and yet you are still sending supplies to the warriors. The ministers are worried about their own families and stomachs but you are worried others." he tapped her nose yfully.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The mecha warriors will be fighting for the rest of us, our lives depend on them sacrificing theirs, a few supplies like this can barely feed half of them. I wish that I could actually do more." she sighed, wishing with every beat of her heart that she could sincerely do more for them.


    "Maybe your prayers will save more than a few." he replied. "I was told that you packed away many of those blessed pendants from the temple."


    She nodded, she knew that many of them did not believe but she packed them in case they decided to wear them anyway. They held images of the deity of the afterlife. If any mecha warrior wearing one of the pendants died this winter, they would be fast tracked to the top of the reincarnation list or whatever was behind the gates that only the dead souls went through. As long as she saved as many of them from being stuck here, it was a good thing.


    Severus had told her that soul eaters would be active, they were never far from battle fields or any ce that smelled like death. Her winter was going to be a busy one and she would probably bump into Esong a few times as a grim reaper.


    "I am wearing mine.'' he pulled down the cor of his shirt and showed her the longevity and peace pendant she had given him. "We could always use all the luck we can get in these battles because we never know what''sing."


    She touched his cheek and stared at him with an amorous look in her eyes. Many of the things she wanted to say, she could not really express because they would lead into the unknown and in such a bad time when he was just about to leave. There were more important things that the insecurities in her heart. "Are you afraid?" she asked.


    Esong grabbed her hand, keeping it at his cheek and he rubbed his face against it, slowly. "Which man is not afraid of death?" he responded.


    "The one who knows there is after life." she replied and sheughed softly. "Sorry, wrong joke, I don''t know." She was feeling as if she had not said the most appropriate thing.


    "It actually helps." He said,"and I think Tion should be on television telling the people such a message. It will give more mecha warriors strength and hope knowing that we will simply not fade into nothing when we die. I once held the hands of a very brave and promising twenty one year old warrior as he died. The kid was young, he had no business being on the battlefield but his noble family wanted all the perks and glory thate with having a mecha warrior in the family. As he was bleeding out, the kid asked me, what''s going to happen to me? I couldn''t reply because I didn''t know what to say. I couldn''t tell him you are going into the darkness and your body is going to be cremated and sit in the hall of foreign heroes. I just told him to close his eyes and go to sleep.If you had been around back then or maybe if we believed in life after death, I would just tell the kid, I will see you in your next life and he would die hopeful. That kid was scared as he was dying, I saw that fear and I remember it vividly. I don''t watch anymore when my men die because those eyes haunt you."


    He looked so pained as he talked about the death of his men that Scarlet felt so sad for him. She reached up and hugged him tightly, Esong was a man that had buried so much pain inside. Did no one on this world consider the role of psychologists? These people needed to talk some of these things out. "Let''s go to our room, Fey can pack everything else up, I was almost done anyway. I will simply hold you tonight and we can just be together while we wait for the morning toe."

 Chapter 182 Goodbye, For Now

    ?


    The night was a long one for not just Scarlet and Esong but also for Carolyn and Markay. He was a mecha warrior too, a part of Esong''s army and he was to return to the capital. He could have been given a stay order if he desired not to serve this time round because he was royalty but even then, he would be recalled to the capital which was the most secure ce in the empire. Their parting was as inevitable as that of Scarlet and Esong.


    For them, it was a sleepless night with Markay voicing many derations to his weeping girlfriend.


    "I will return baby, I swear, I will." He promised her aloud and himself in his heart.


    "Boohoooo!!!" Carolyn beat her fist slowly against his chest and she wailed.


    "It will be okay, I am the prince of the death, I will not die, how can death take one of it''s own?" He forced her to look at him, into his eyes and he wiped away her tears with the hands of his long shirt. But no matter how many times he wiped, his Carolyn would not stop crying. "Baby, you should be kissing me right now. You will not see your honey for four months at least. We should be enjoying ourst night together. How about this, let''s make a baby tonight?"


    His foolish words quickly quietened her sobs and she red at him. "Are you crazy?" She asked, wiping away her own tears now.


    "See, it got you to stop crying." Heughed, "Now, let''s enjoy thest few hours of our time together as intimately as we can. Starting with you epting these jewels from me."


    He presented her with a set of rings, all with different designs and colors. They were expensive, her eye was good at picking out the best crafting materials and these were premium quality. "I also got a gold set from the ones your sister sells. I will bring other good things when I return. I told my mother to prepare them all in advance."


    She presented her hand to him, bearing her fingers before him. "Mmm." She said.


    "Mmm what?" He asked.


    "Put them on." She rolled her eyes in frustration, wondering if her bodynguage could not be any more obvious.


    As Markay slipped the rings on, he smiled with mischief and said, "Baby, if we can''t make a baby tonight, maybe we should get engaged."


    She red at him and beat his shoulder, "This is not my proposal story, I will not be telling our children that it was either a ring or a baby."


    "Ouuh, so you have thought about our future together. Why do you always act and y hard to get then? Baby I have decided, since you are older than me, maybe you should be the one to propose. What do you think older sister?" Markay giggled, he knew how much she hated to be called older sister by him.


    "Yoooou, what did you call me?" she shouted at him, "Markay Wu, I am going to kill you before a mutated beast gets to you."


    Heughed and sluggishly run away from her while she chased him in an attempt to punish him. He was dodging her hands whileughing because he had aplished his goal, she was not crying or sad anymore.


    "Come here." She lunged herself at him and finally caught him.


    "Older sister, " he pouted and made himself look pitiful, "Take it easy on me tonight."


    He was not the only mecha warrior attempting to soothe a crying partner, a parent or a sad child. Whether it was done physically or over amunication device, the warriors asked their families to be brave.


    The starry bar on the blue star was the only one which served alcoholic drinks. It was located in one of the almostpleted buildings and upied three whole floors. Tonight, it was filled with ex mecha warriors who were reliving their days in battle orforting their friends that would be heading out. There was a lot of loud of crying, grown men were not holding in their emotions after all some of them would never meet again. Fatalities were inevitable and in the next three months, every time a bell would ring, the governor''s mansions would disy a hologram of a fallen mecha warrior. Somewhere on the his loved ones would cry, filled with sadness, anger, guilt and worry about how many more would die before a permanent solution could be found.


    From miles away, you could hear the mournful singing of the mecha warrior anthem loud like a beacon in the night. The manager of the bar looked at the dwindling alcohol reserves and sighed, it would be a long night.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    After a very long night of tight embraces, tear filled kisses, furious coupling and unsaid kisses, morning came, tearing Esong and Scarlet apart.


    Justin was brought by his grandparents to say goodbye to his father at the space port. Every child and adult knew what wasing. As Justin looked at his father, he maintained a stoic look on his face, showing him that he could be brave. These past few months had cemented the bond between father and son because they spent so much time together, training, eating, taking baths and scrubbing each other''s backs which Scarlet insisted on. They had their ownmunication now and little secrets which were shared just between them men. This is why even though he appeared brave on the outside, the redness of his eyes was an obvious give away of the fact that he had been crying. The tight clenching of his small fists and the shaking in his body told Scarlet that her son was seconds away from bawling.


    "Will you be a good boy for your mother?" Esong asked Justin.


    "Yes fat...general Esong." He responded like a young military cadet.


    "Will you protect her while I am away?"


    "Yes general Esong."


    "Will you miss me when I am gone?" Esong surprised his son with this question. Wasn''t this the being brave time? Justin asked himself.


    "I will miss you." Esong added, and he hugged Justin. "Take care of yourself son."


    And just like that, the flood gates open and the young cadet broke down into tears.


    They were all standing at the foot of the space ship which was ready to fly them back to the capital. Thest of the supplies had been loaded up and all the other men had boarded, only Esong was left.


    Well wishers and fans of the general were standing behind the barrier of the space shipnding port, waving the empire''s g and screaming for him to travel and return safely.


    Even Fion the Buddhist priest was here and he had blessed all the men and personally tied the pendants around their necks before the warriors boarded. He was chanting prayers for well wishes and blessings.


    On this day, reporter Jelly was not just live on the blue star alone, BSTV was being watched by hundreds of millions of people that were waiting for the mecha king tomand the armies which would protect them.


    "What you are witnessing right now is a touching moment of sad parting between the mecha king general Esong Wu and his family. His son, is clearly very heart broken and so are we. Theing three months are going to be hard and trying times and all we can do is pray for our mecha warriors and ourselves." Reporter Jelly resisted the urge to cry as she reported the news.


    Esong handed Justin back to Scarlet and he said to her, "I guess, this is goodbye for now."


    "For now." She said softly.


    "Goodbye sister-inw." Ian shouted and waved from a window in the space ship.


    "We will miss you." Cedric added.


    "I love you older sister Carolyn." Markay shouted as well, in a manner as dignified as he could muster.


    She would re but she just sent a flying kiss to him. It was okay to be older sister today.

 Chapter 183 Now What?

    ?


    As for Esong, after hugging his grandparents, he turned around to walk away but when his feet touched the metallic entrance to the space ship, he turned around and run back. He surprised everyone by lifting Scarlet up, with Justin in her hands and he kissed her. It was not a simple over the lips kiss but a deep one, with his tongue delving into her mouth onest time.


    Adler was quick enough to cover Justin''s eyes while the crowds cheered.


    "Make sure that you miss me Scar," Esong whispered in her ears, "Everyday." She replied. She meant it, she would be missing him everyday and she would check in on him as often as possible as a grim reaper. Hopefully she would not have to reap his soul this winter.


    As he finally looked back onest time and waved at the BSTV news drone in the air, Scarlet rubbed her chest slowly, fighting back her own urge to cry again. It was official, yup, she had fallen. And she could understand why human-grim reaper rtionships were not necessarily good for grim reapers. She did not think she would have the strength or will to reap his soul if he died this soon.


    In fact, just as Severus had said, the temptation to keep him around and find a way to resurrect him or make him as immortal as she was would probably be great.


    "This is why I warned you," Severus who had sensed her thoughts said, "Grim reapers should not invest too much in the emotions of humans. If you don''t have the heart to do it when the timees, I will do it for you." Oh she knew all too well that Severus would not allow her to risk both of their immortality by incurring the wrath of the deity of the after life. There were worse punishments in the underworld worse than disappearing into the unknown.


    The space ship doors closed and a new loud howl was heard, it epassed the entire blue star, causing vibrations in the ground. Since Scarlet had forbidden that howl of the sand worm, she had provided a new alternative howl which bellowed to announce the arrival or departure of mecha mecha warriors. She gave them Severus''s howl, which was louder, fiercer and safer. It was her way of warning the soul eaters that time was up while satisfying the requirement of a must have bellow for the mecha warriors.


    While Severus''s howl did not make the earth shake so much as the sand worm howl, it had the people holding their chests in a moment of unexpected fear which came out of a ce they did not understand. But Scarlet did, it was the sound of deathing to drag you to your eventual inescapable fate. Those who hadmitted evil, felt the fear more than others. But the feeling was only there for a fleeting second and the space ship rose up in the sky, the shields were opened and they disappeared in an instant, as if a light bulb had simply been switched off.


    "Dear viewers, you have just witnessed what might possibly be the most romantic kiss in the history of the Sun star.General Esong, going off to the winter war has left us all with something to talk about. Reporting from the blue star space port for BSTV, reporter Jelly."


    It was uncanny how captain Zorl was never far from reporter Jelly when she said what he considered to be the most ridiculous things. The RGB was here to maintain order and control traffic. Shoot to kill drones were monitoring above in the sky, rotating with their round bodies and that one big scary red eye.


    The RGB officers and the fire department were ensuring that those who drove here maintained order on the roads, breaking up the worst problem on the roads so far, traffic jam.


    When Jelly passed by captain Zorl, she put on a perfunctory smile and greeted him stiffly. "Captain, good morning." she nodded briefly.


    "You have never been kissed, have you?" Was captain Zorl''s unexpected response which pissed Jelly off.


    "What?" she scoffed in surprise.


    "The greatest kiss in the history of the Sun star!!! what a load of crap." heughed at her. He looked at her, ensuring that she could see the mockery in his eyes.


    "Just let it be." Jelly''s camera man whispered to her. "Do the two of you have to fight each time you see each other?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But Jelly was too angry to listen to the wise words of her colleague, she folded her arms across her chest and stared at captain Zorl challengingly. "You look the fussy uptight kind of guy who measures the breath of hispanion before initiating a kiss. I bet you have never kissed a woman before in your life. You," she pointed at him, "are a serial monogamist, you never smile, you are cold, arrogant, and..."


    "Then date me and find out if I am cold or warm." Captain Zorl "Maybe I will be the greatest kiss of your history." He smirked and winked, but that little glint of mockery in his eyes did not go away.


    "I jelly.." she was about to make more derations about how she would never date a bastard like him when he swiftly released his gun and pointed it at her. "Are you crazy!!" she squealed.


    Would he kill or arrest her simply because she did not want to date him!!!! What kind of maniac was this?


    "Captain Zorl, let''s talk about it, I will date you, okay.." she employed the strategy of rting, cajoling anding to terms with the hostile as they had been trained to deal with such situations in their job.


    "Move," Captain Zorl snarled at her, "Driver of vehicle XBS 080, retract the wings of your car right now and get out of the vehicle." he said loudly through his helmet.


    Jelly turned around and finally realized that the gun was not pointing at her but the driver who was trying to use his flying car illegally. "Turn on the drone." she told her camera man, she reported the situation to headquarters and she started reporting.


    Two shoot to kill drones and another officer joined captain Zorl. "Civilian in vehicle XBS O80, this is your first warning, step out of the car, get on your belly and lower your mental shields." a shoot to kill drone announced. They had a way of saying ''civilian'' in a cold mechanical way which frightened people.


    The driver got out of the car, he was arrested and transported away by the shoot to kill drone while his car was impounded and flown away by an RGB officer.


    Other civilians who were patiently waiting in line for traffic jam to break shook their heads.


    "Another idiot who is going to pay a heavy fine for attempting to fly a car. Does he think he is in a bigger hurry than the rest of us?" a man asked his wife.


    His wife was re-watching the video of the moment Esong lifted Scarlet and kissed her, "Yes," she replied absentmindedly.


    Away from this, Scarlet was still looking at the sky, and sighing.


    "He is gone, sister." Carolyn put her hands around Scarlet''s shoulders . "Now what?"

 Chapter 184 My Rich Sister

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    Scarlet sighed and gave Justin a lollipop because he was still sniveling, "Your father will being back soon, you should work hard at school. When he returns, we will show him all the progress you have made.And you can call him everyday when you want or send him messages."


    "Give him here, I will take him with me, he can push all the buttons in my office." Adler and Beord took Justin away, while talking about all the new cool toys his aunt Carolyn had crafted.


    "Your aunt created a robot dog." Beord told him.


    "Awesome!!" Justin responded.


    "You made a robot dog!!! why?" Scarlet looked at Carolyn in her bid to understand the knowledge and reasoning behind this.


    "Because, real pets poop, pee and want to y all the time. Ignoring all that, their supply is too little and your husband has taken away one dog. It will take many years for all the stars to have real pets so for now, robot pets will do. It''s an independent factory with only ten workers and things are slow but we have sold the first five robot dogs and cats online already and we made three hundred sixty thousand star coins. Tell me you don''t see the value in these robot pets?" Carolyn replied confidently, knowing that the addition of money into the equation would get her sister on board faster than anything.


    "Five pets and you made three hundred sixty thousand star coins!! do you know how many packets of crisps I have to sell to make that much?" Scarlet felt incredibly outraged, how could five pets which were not even real make this much money?


    "Your snack factories are still small and the raw ingredients are limited. It''s understandable that you wouldg behind for now. But the robot pets are still novel, otherpanies will catch on really quickly and imitate what we are doing which will bnce the ying field. We cannot patent the designs unless they are special otherwise, nobody really owns what an animal looks like unless you add unique features to it."


    Scarlet humphed but then she smiled cunningly and held Carolyn''s hand and started to wheedle like a child. "Older sister, rich older sister, please give me some shopping money."


    Carolyn sneered yfully and pushed Scarlet away, "Let go of me madam governor, when did I be your bank ount?"


    "Sis, sister," Scarlet pouted, she also turned her grey eyes on Carolyn, making them as pitiful as possible. Her sister was a sucker for pitiful eyes, did she think they did not know that it was the tactic Markay employed mostly around her?


    "I won''t give you anything." Carolyn looked away, choosing to look at anything but those eyes.


    "Sis," Scarlet dug deeper, "I used up many of my personal supplies for the mecha warriors, I have to rece them as soon as possible. Half of them were meant for our citizens."


    Carolyn sighed and raised her hand as if to beat up Scarlet but her hand did not not touch her. "I am only doing this because you are supporting the warriors. Don''t expect this to be a daily thing."


    "Mmm." Scarlet nodded. But deep down, both sisters knew it was a lie, if Scarlet asked for something today, she would return tomorrow and plead for more. That''s how she turned Carolyn''s bed into hers when they were children.


    "I am only giving you...hmmm.....One...no, two million star coins." Carolyn even used her fingers to clearly show her two fingers.


    "Hoo!!!, my rich elder sister," Scarlet batted her eyeshes extravagantly, "My new sugar daddy, maybe we should discuss...."


    "No," Carolyn pulled her arm away from Scarlet,"Absolutely not, I will not be adding more. I contributed one whole million of my star coins to the fallen mecha warriors fund, I am out of cash."


    "Is that a charity organization?" Scarlet had not heard about this fund before but it sounded like charity work.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s a fund run by the mecha warriors association take care of the families of mecha warriors who die in battle. The biggest contributors are the royal family and the noble families. A portion of the people''s taxes also go into it but any individual can contribute if they wish to. At least, when they die mecha warriors never have to worry about the families they have left behind."


    Carolyn''s exnation exined why many o the widows of mecha warriors who came here with their families could afford two and three bedroom apartments. In addition to their own ie, they had that monthly government pay check.


    "Oh the shields are lowering again," Carolyn said something that surprised Scarlet and she looked up again to count more than thirty space ships arriving which she had not been informed about.


    She called Adler immediately. "Brother, who....."


    The mecha warrior''s new howl bellowed from thending ships and she did not need to ask any further about who was arriving.


    "Those are the mecha warriors that are supposed to protect us, we have been sent five thousand five hundred men. I was only made aware of their presence when they arrived in our air space and once I confirmed their identities, I lowered the shields."


    "We have not made any sleeping arrangements for them, not even food or_"She could think about a couple of things that had not been arranged. Did their arrival mean that winter was finally descending? Why was thest sun still flickering then?


    Adler went to say, "They can sleep in their ships or mechas and they travel with high quality nutrient solutions. We can provide food as a supplement but it''s not their main source of nutrition. Mecha warrior''s nutrient solutions are different from ordinary ones, theirs are made with special materials to boost energy, strength and speed.Their captain is requesting for a meeting with you at your earliest convenience. When should I tell him that you will be avable?"


    "I will_" she was replying to Adler when captain Zorl and Bright, a city hall officer approached her with something to say. "Adler please meet their captain first if it''s urgent. I will get back to you." The people in front of her looked like they had something urgent to say."Can I be of help to you gentlemen?"


    "Yes governor." Bright handed her aputer tablet with a document that needed signing.


    "What is this?" she asked even though she was already signing it.


    "It''s a permit allowing the shadow guild tond on the blue star and hunt during the winter. Guilds are the only groups of civilians allowed to do so and the shadow guild is paying us twenty million star coins."Bright exined.


    "Okay." she nodded. "Has the money been deposited?"Why anyone would choose to do such a dangerous thing, she did not know.


    "The moneynded in our ount five minutes ago and they have already arrived. Sign this too governor." Bright showed her another document.


    "And this is?" She inquired as she signed.


    "Entertainment for when Winter ends, we have to book a well known singer for survival day. We must celebrate after we send off our dead to the afterlife."Bright spoke cheerfully but mechanically, all this was nothing but standard procedure to him.


    She did not ask questions but looked at captain Zorl instead, "So, are you with him or do you want to talk about something else?"


    Captain Zorl maintained his usual demeanor and replied, "Article fifty of ourw, section 7b, it says that no one should operate an illegal pleasure house without a permit from the RGB. Did you give permission to anyone to open a pleasure house on the blue star or are you running it yourself?"

 Chapter 185 Are You Calling Me A Madam?

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    It took a few seconds for Scarlet to process what captain Zorl was asking or using her of. To her understanding, someone had secretly opened a brothel on her without going through the proper process and she was captain Zorl''s first suspect.


    "What exactly are you saying to my sister captain Zorl?" Carolyn asked him with a hostile expression on her face. "Please keep in mind that she is not just the governor but the daughter of a noble house and wife of a general who is rted to the emperor. Her reputation cannot afford to undergo such a nder."


    "I am simply asking questions, which happens to be my job." Captain Zorl responded. "All I need is the governor''s reassurance that she did not sanction the operation of an illegal brothel and the RGB will handle the issue from there."


    Scarlet''s tongue finally loosened and she looked at Carolyn before looking back at captain Zorl and asking, "Are you calling me a madam? Do you think that with my busy schedule I have the time to run...pr....courtesans on the side?" She did not want to call them prostitutes, it might sound demeaning. And their profession was also generally epted on this world it seemed. In fact, it was considered a necessity and brothels were called pleasure houses.


    "I am not calling you anything governor, I just received a tip that the unfinished building at the edge of crabke is being used to house a secret pleasure house. If permission came from you or general Esong we can overlook the matter of the permit briefly as long as it''s filed before nightes." Captain Zorl answered politely and even made a concession which he would never make for anyone else.


    His new statement however angered Scarlet even more than he expected. "Now you think my husband sanctioned the illegal brothel? Why? Does he secretly indulge in the pleasures of the pleasure house?"


    Captain Zorl looked at Carolyn for help and she shrugged. ''You started this, finish it.'' her eyes conveyed. He could have asked his questions without making them sound usatory.And of all ces he chose this public ce which was so close to a space port which was somewhat over crowded. He should have asked her to talk in private or enacted a sound barrier. RGB officers were permitted to use them when questioning a suspect in public if it was an emergency.


    "Take me to the brothel, now." Shemanded.


    Carolyn pulled Scarlet''s hand and looked at her quizzically. "Are you crazy, you are a noble woman, you cannot be seen visiting a pleasure house. Mother will wring your neck like a chicken." She turned a fierce gaze on captain Zorl and dered, "My sister is going nowhere."


    "I am the governor of the blue star first, nobilityes second to me, we cannot have news spread that the blue star overridden with crime. We only have one developed city so far, if we cannot handle such small things when we are small, it will be worse when we grow bigger. I need to know who is sabotaging our good progress." Scarlet could not sit by idly and watch this happen.


    "Then I will go." Carolyn replied. "Those people areing to meet you." She tilted the direction of a group of obvious mecha warriors that Adler was bringing her way.


    "Captain Zorl, I am ordering you to keep this matter private.If no arrests are going to made then keep it silent. If the person behind the pleasure houses wants to file for a permit make sure that the pleasure house is miles away from the nearest school. I will not have childrenanywhere near it.It should also be very far away from the temple and all the workers must have a certificate of good health from the hospital." She spoke hurriedly, not wanting the mecha warriors to find them whispering about this.Carolyn was right. as a woman from a noble family married to a man from upper nobility, she should not even be overheard discussing pleasure houses.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She did wonder however about which women on the blue star were working in that ce.Esong had mentioned to her that pleasure houses made a lot of money in winter because unmarried men spent on to two months worth of their earnings in there. He also said that it was a way they distracted themselves from the bitterness of the winter.


    She pushed Carolyn and captain Zorl away quickly while putting on a fake smile for the newly arrived mecha warriors.


    "Hey sister." Adler waved as he looked at Carolyn and captain Zorl who almost appeared to be escaping quickly with the way they were running away. "Is something wrong?"


    "Nooo," Scarlet replied in a high pitch. "All is well, what could possibly be wrong? Our blue star is peaceful and normal as usual."Anyone that knew her could easily tell that when she spoke in a high pitched voice, she was hiding something.


    "Right." Adler responded doubtfully. "This is Captain Vangar, he is the leader of the mecha warriors that have been sent to keep us safe this winter. He wanted to introduce himself to you and also get some information from you about the city, both the habited and uninhabited areas."


    "Pleasure to meet you captain Vangar," Scarlet held out her gloved hand to shake his, "I am Scarlet Su, governor of the blue star."


    "The pleasure is all mine." Captain Vangar smiled, "I have been wanting to pay a visit to the blue star for a while now. It''s a beautiful and we will do our best to keep it this way."


    Captain Vangar was arge man with red curly hair and a red well trimmed beard. He had a jolly face that appeared to be smiling a lot of the time. He also had a calm assuring aura about him which made one feel safe.


    "Then I will thank you in advance captain, we will be counting on you a lot this winter. Please do not hesitate toe to when you need anything. Also, please try to keep the mutated beasts and mechas out of the city. We have only just built and I am keeping my fingers crossed while hoping that when the sunse out again, our buildings will still be standing."


    "I cannot make any promises but we will do our best. Now I want your assistance in mapping all the important areas where we should pay the most attention to. I would also like to see where the shelters are, those above ground and the ones that are below. If you need any help reinforcing them, we will start on that immediately."


    Thee was a lot to do and many arrangements to make. But she made sure to sneak out a text to her husband, informing him about the illegal brothel.

 Chapter 186 A Knowledgeable Governor

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    It was just two days after the mecha warriors arrived when the first drops of fluffy white snow fell, and as beautiful as they were, they brought that dreadful chilling bite and nightmare with them. The streets of the blue city were emptied, all the civilians had locked themselves inside their houses. They woulde out if the mecha warriorsmunicated with the governor and she would reassure the rest of them that it was safe to move.


    This did not mean it would be safe, it simply meant that they could move cautiously and when they heard sirens and saw alerts on their bracelet terminals, they would find the nearest shelters if they were outside and hide.


    Scarlet was not among those who were locked indoors, she was outside, patrolling the streets with the mecha warriors who were very obviously ufortable with her presence. Their lead captain Vangar also disapproved of Tion and her other body guards being present. They were ex mecha warriors, they were now considered civilians. All civilians should be indoors.


    "You should be heading back inside." Vangar told her.


    "Not yet." Scarlet kept her eyes on the boarder which mutated beasts could not prate unless they superior powers or happened to be extremely powerful.


    "Why do you insist on being outside?" Vangar asked her.


    "Because, I want to see what the enemy looks like. Hiding and fearing the unknown has never kept anyone safe. Besides, I have more knowledge on these beasts that you do, that''s why I have this drone camera with me. I must capture the images of as many beasts as possible, share them with Esong and he can add them to the archives, library or wherever they store such information."


    Something touched the shields and the mecha warriors were alerted.


    "The snow has only been falling for a few days and already the beasts arrive." Vangarmented. "All warriors, be alert, we have unwanted visitors in section twenty one." She heard a clear voiceing from his terminal.


    "Which one is section twenty one?" she asked him.


    "All the sections are avable on the map of your blue star; it''s rare for the mutated beasts to lurk around unupied areas. They attack where humans live so section twenty one is.....here," he pointed to a section of the now empty old city which had no living residents except for them currently. Since the shields were translucent, they could see the outside very clearly and a couple of green long beaked birds were attempting to prate through the shield with their beaks.


    She took the picture with a drone and with her eyes, sending it to the underworld forum.


    "Can you recognize what that is?" Captain Vangar asked her.


    "Those are young Pteranodons, carnivorous birds that prey not just on humans but animals as well. They eat raw flesh and only from live prey, they do not touch dposing bodies. They have sharp ws and strong feet which they use to carry away their prey. They can swallow a live human within one minute and they are not satisfied until they eat at least five in one sitting. The easiest way to stop them is to slice their legs off; it makes them useless and easy to kill. Since they can''t fly they fall down inevitably and bleed out or you can cut cut off their heads." She said these things to Vangar and his men but also into her bracelet terminal while Alex the storage bracelet AI recorded this information.


    "Wow," you actually really know your information." Captain Vangar was impressed. Not only did she know what they were but she also knew how to kill them. This information coulde in handy, save many lives and save their time. "I sort of you approve of you being out with us now." He had to say sort of otherwise she might take advantage of this and sneak outside unwarranted.


    "Why, thank you." She replied.


    Seeing as to how the Pteranodons had failed to break through the shield, they moved along probably in search of another entry point or to another.


    "Can we continue sending you pictures of all the mutated beasts wee along? If we know how to kill them then it will be easier to finish them off. We will of course give credit of identification to you and the association will pay you handsomely."


    She was very surprised on hearing what he said. "You get paid for information?" she asked aloud.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, didn''t general Esong mention this to you?" he asked curiously.


    "I think it skipped his mind." She answered, "He left in a hurry after all, but now that I am aware of this, I will dly share all the information I know." Captain Vangar turned to leave and they also followed him inevitably. "Why are moving away, do you not kill them when they are outside of the shield?" She always thought that mecha warriors would be stationed outside the shield just out there in space, slicing any mutated beast that came from wherever it was they came from.


    Vangar looked at her as if she was crazy, what kind of reasoning was she using right now? "That would be suicide governor, if we mecha warriors directly confronted them out there, we would simply be marching to our deaths. We stay within the shield, flying through the sky in our mechas or simply patrolling like we are doing right now and if something makes it through the shield, we kill it before it kills us."


    Scarlet raised her head and silently said, ''Aaaah'' in her mind. "That makes more sense, sorry, I asked a stupid question." She felt very silly indeed for asking such a question.


    Something else touched the barrier and again, the rms went off on the terminals of the mecha warriors.


    "All warriors be alert, something has made it through section thirteen."


    Tion and the personal guards surrounded Scarlet, drawing their weapons immediately. The mecha warriors with her, did the same.


    "It''s fast and heading to section twenty one."


    "Coming your way Captain." She heard someone say.


    A very loud rm went off; everyone could see it on their terminals and their television screens that something had made it inside the shield already. Everyone around Scarlet tensed up and those whose mechas were not active activated them.


    Scarlet used her grim reaper vision to track whatever it was down, and in slow motion, she saw a furry white creature with pink eyes running toward them with the speed of wind.


    Mecha warriors in their oversized suits were shooting at it from the sky and others were running after it on the ground. "Where is it?" she heard someone shout.


    It was white like the snow, Scarlet thought it was obvious why they were having a difficult time finding it, but she was different, she could see it clearly. The beast was a actually stupid because if it burrowed itself in the snow and lurked around, it might have the chance to do more damage_, but no, she stopped her thoughts when she realized it was too big to burrow or hide.


    "A furry snow white ape," Scarlet said loudly, "Aim for the eyes."She had this bow and arrow which Maddox crafted and she took it from her storage bracelet. Today was the day it would be making its entrance to the world.


    "Get the governor out of here." Vangar yelled.


    "It''s toote." Tion shouted back.


    There was a lot of misguided shooting going around as if no one had heard Scarlet yell aim for the eyes.


    "Nobody move, I got this!!" Scarlet shouted.

 Chapter 187 Scarlet Vs The White Ape

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    The person who was saying she ''got this'' was neither in a mecha nor wearing armor which made her loud deration all the more ridiculous. Killing mutated beasts was the role of mecha warriors, not civilians.


    One mecha warrior caught the white ape by the leg and threw it in the air. It must have weighed around six hundred pounds judging by its size but to the mecha, it was as light as a tennis ball. In the air, more mecha warriors attempted to shoot it with eager energy guns, which weakened it but the beast was not killed. In fact, it was enraged and itnded back on the ground, it pounced on the nearest mecha warrior, banging the mecha down with all of its might.


    Guns had failed to work and so another mecha warrior used arge hammer to beat the white ape. It yelled and tossed that mecha away, more mecha warriors in this section were arriving, all of them with the aim of killing the beast.


    "I told you, aim for the eyes." Scarlet shouted. When she saw that no one was listening, she jumped over the circle of bodyguards andnded on the ground before they could notice what she was doing, she took off, running at a speed equally as fast as the white ape.


    Above in the sky, a circling shoot to kill drone noticed Scarlet and immediately sounded a siren, "Civilian approaching, warning, there is a civilian approaching the mutated beast."


    "What is she doing, get her!!" Vangar yelled.


    But how could a grim reaper be easily caught? And how could see escape the white ape''s eye when she was a tiny thing which was not hiding inside one of these big mechas. Such easy prey had delivered itself and the ape left behind the mechas, choosing to go running towards Scarlet.


    The situation seemed to be a race against time between Scarlet, the white ape, the mecha warriors and her guards.


    When Scarlet was within five feet of the ape, she hit it with soul energy, slowing it down and she shot six arrows all aimed at its face. Four were distractions and only two were aimed at the real thing. She continued sending out soul energy sts that no one could see but her, ensuring that it would remain in a confused state and the arrows sunk into the white ape''s eyes. They were extremely sharp and strong that they went through the ape, and fell in the snow.


    Vangar ripped Scarlet off the ground, throwing her to Tion who rushed her into a mecha that flew away before she could see whether the white ape had died or not. And she was extremely curious about this, twisting and turning around.


    "Wait a minute." She argued. "I need to finish what I started." She said.


    "Governor, please stay in one ce, even if you were right about that beast did you stop to worry about the rest of your personal guards? You put their lives at risk with your sudden actions." Tion shouted at her in a way he had not done before."What you did was reckless and extremely careless, and it will not happen again under my watch."


    Stunned into silence for a few seconds, Scarlet looked behind at the rest of her personal guards. They wore nothing but armor and had that white ape aimed for them and not her, it was possible that all or most of them would be dead. They looked brave on the outside but exuded a lot of fear. Considering therger picture, perhaps she had been rush in her unnecessary actions. For all she knew, the mecha warriors were going to pin it down and someone would gouge its eyes out or something else which would ensure its death.


    "Sorry everyone, I should not have be so excited." For a moment there, she had forgotten that she was not a soldier, a warrior or a reaper to them. All she represented was a civilian governor of this. "From now on, I will be more careful but I do not promise to intervene if the dangeres too close to the city. We can''t just sit back and wait for the mecha warriors to save us all the time. If we know how to kill the mutated beast, then we kill it. But worry not for I will not be actively seeking out danger."


    Tion sighed in relief and when the mecha dropped them off at the governor''s castle, he saw to it that she was safely locked away in her private quarters before he left.


    "Wow, it''s not like I am a prisoner, why does he want to lock me in here?" she scoffed in much disbelief. He had not even let her meander away or visit her family members, insisting that she stay in her quarters.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Governor," Anna called her hesitantly when she came in.


    "What is it?" Scarlet asked in response.


    "Formermander Tion has asked me to tell you to stay in here for a few hours and reflect on your actions."Anna said the words between mumbles. She spoke as if her mouth was filled with food. Still, Scarlet caught all of her words clearly.


    "Ho!!" she gasped, "Is he the boss or am I the boss here?"


    "He is just doing his job like the rest of us here, ensuring that you are safe and secure in this winter season. The general will have all of our heads if he returns and finds you injured." Gertrude was quick to offer up that information.


    She threw her body on a sofa and replied, "He will find me withered at this rate. I can''t sit around and do nothing but paperwork all winter, I will go insane." She would really lose her mind if all she did was sleep, do paperwork, fight in the virtual world and sleep again.


    "The new episode of avatar is about to start, you love that show." Coral suggested. She even turned the television on because she knew how much Scarlet hated silence.


    "Alert retrieved, it''s safe to go outside again." A bold announcement in red passed by below on the television.


    "See," she sat upright, "it''s safe again, I can go out."


    "Governor, maybe I can give you another massage, I have been practicing my skillstely. Maybe you should give me your opinion." Gertrude could see that avatar would not work as a good distraction tonight. They needed another n, one that would keep the governor indoors.


    "It''s too cold for a massage." Scarlet answered.She stood up, got a jar of Nute from her pantry and a spoon.


    "There is a new episode of love against the odds; it''s all the maids can talk about in the castle.Yesterday the hunky Rafael stormed Elisa''s father''s castle and stole her away in the night. When it ended, they were just about to take a bath together in the creek; he had taken off his shirt, exposing his...."


    "Anna!!" Gertrude shouted.


    "What?" Anna replied.


    "She needs a cold bath." Scarlet chortled. "I think I should just do more live broadcasts, longer ones." She dipped the spoon in the jar and decided to watch avatar after all. Tomorrow she would do her first long live broad cast.

 Chapter 188 The Long Broadcast[1]

    ?


    "Hey everyone, it''s your favorite chef Scarlet here to teach you how to prepare some of the easiest foods and snacks to take you through this cold winter. This is my first live broad cast since winter started, I know that this time of the year is hard on us all but I urge you all to be patient and kind to your neighbors. Let us all maintainw and order during this time. The blue star has donated a lot of wheat and corn flour to all the stars, so those who are starving contact your governors for supplies. This activity has been approved by the emperor so if you are rightly denied the allocated food, make aint at your nearest RGB station."


    [Will our yellow star finally have some food?]


    [Long live the emperor and thank you governor Scarlet.]


    [Here on the grey star rations are already being delivered by the mecha warriors and RGB officers from door to door. We just didn''t know that the emperor''s hand was involved in this. Long live the emperor.]


    "Yes, the emperor paid for most of those rations, now please keep in mind that the supply is not much so eat sparingly."


    [You look beautiful.]


    [Are those the so called winter coats?]


    "Today I will be teaching you how to prepare creamy chicken noodle soup. It''s the perfect soup for a cold season like this one. All the ingredients are avable on our online shop so feel free to shop and cook along with me or wait and do itter.


    I am going to be using six chicken thighs and chicken broth which I will be bringing to a boil on high heat for thirty minutes and medium heat for thirty minutes more. Now for the sake of time, I already have some already cooked chicken thighs in this pot. Forget my original rmendation everyone, do not cook along with me because I am hours ahead of you. Save the video instead and try the recipe outte."As she talked, she chopped up the vegetables which were going to be added to the soup.


    [So chef Scarlet makes mistakes too.]


    [Hahaha, I had already started boiling my chicken now I have to wait.]


    [I actually save the videos because it''s easier to follow the recipe when you are taking your time than when she is cooking quickly on the broad cast.]


    [You look beautiful, this silver wolf is happy.]


    [Ho!!! Silver wolf has sent Chef Scarlet thirty silver castles!! Are you two dating?]


    [Daddy Silver wolf, I am also a live streamer, I can sing and dance cutely, please pass by and take a look.]


    "Thank you Silver wolf for the generous gift, to the others please do not insinuate things like romance between me and Silver wolf. I am married to a fierce general after all."


    [How fierce is he?]


    [Is he physically violent?]


    [She means fierce in bed, it has got to be fierce in bed. The mecha king has the most amazing physique after all.]


    Ignoring the few questions referring to Esong''s sexual prowess, she went on with her cooking. "I am removing the cooked chicken and adding my sliced onions. Chopped celery, sliced carrots, red potatoes minced garlic, salt and mixed spices."


    [Why are the vegetables bigger in size than usual?]


    [No tomatoes??]


    "All of you have seen me use this machine before, right?


    [Chicken shredder.]


    [Chicken deboner]


    [Destroyer of chickens.]


    Thestment was sent with a gift so it was erged for her to read andugh. "It''s not a destroyer of chicken but I have used it to shred the chicken which is now going into the pot to join the rest of the ingredients for ten minutes of cooking.So this boils for either for ten minutes or until the potatoes be soft. In the meantime, let me use this opportunity to promote another sport during this winter that you can watch."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [We watch mecha fights.]


    [Mecha fights are the winter sport, everything else is boring.]


    "I know that mecha fights are the winter sport but you cannot live on fights alone, three months is too long to spend twenty four hours of each day watching one fight after the other. You can check out other sports like football, basketball and hockey. Our blue star media has added three other channels besides BSTV we are offering a sports channel, a music channel and one for movies. It will not take anything from you to take a look and there is a two week trial. After two weeks, you will pay for subscriptions."


    [I know football; it''s that game where the yers run around a ball.]


    [Football is stupid!! Grown men chasing a ball in a field like children, no thank you.]


    [I actually find football very interesting, I will be watching.]


    [I am not a fan of mecha fights; I can''t stand violence so I will be watching too.]


    "Anyway, it has been ten minutes so I can add my noodles, heavy cream, fresh thyme, parsley and rosemary. This should cook on medium heat until our noodles are ready. "


    She got two bowls and put them down, she checked the noodles dered them ready and poured the creamy noodle soup into the bowls.


    "Look at that, so rich and creamy."


    [Rich and creamy, my new user name.]


    [I am rich and my skin is white, can I be called rich and creamy?]


    [That looks very amazing, and smells delicious, please don''t torture us anymore.]


    "I am waiting for my assistant chef Justin to arrive before taking the first bite but since many of you seem to be impatient today, I guess I can put you out of your misery."


    [Assistant Chef Justin did not even appear online today.]


    [Shouldn''t it be assistant eater Justin?]


    [I thought that assistant chef Justin had been fired.]


    [We are lucky Severus is not the chief taster of the day because I woulde through my screen and beat him up.]


    [Chief eater Justin, the cutest baby on the Sun star. I am one of his biggest fans.]


    Scarlet used her chop sticks to roll up some noodles, blow air on them three times and take that first bite which her viewers were waiting for. And it was just as rich and creamy as they thought it would be.


    "I feel like dipping some toasted bread in this so I am going to do that next. Feel free to try the soup with different things after all, food is all about adventure."


    "Mummy Chef Justin hase, I am ready to eat." Her son was carried in by grandma Cecily and Scarlet added another bowl for her.


    [Assistant chef Justin reporting for duty.]


    [Assistant chef Justin''s army of tasters reporting for duty online.]


    The online environment was quite harmonious and no single uglyment had been made so far.

 Chapter 189 The Long Broadcast [2]

    ?


    Esong and his men were in charge of protecting the central area of the capital and at the moment, it was all but quiet. The previous night they had fought off some lightning wolves which made it through the boundaries. Any mutated beast that had any weather rted abilities could not be stopped by shields or boundaries.Therefore any mutated beast that exuded fire, water, lightning, wind and the like could not be stopped. Even those that could barrel into the ground were not stopped by shields. At the moment, Esong and Ian were sitting in the headquarters of the mecha warrior offices and he was watching Scarlet''s live broadcast.


    He sent many gifts hoping to be the lucky recipient of the creamy noodle soup she had just prepared. It was not that he was guilty of dereliction of his duty but the moments when nothing was happening were filled with boredom and these were many. Apart from patrolling the empty streets, there was not much else to do.


    "Huh," Ian sighed heavily for the third time, "I want to go home, and I don''t mean my home here in the capital but home on the blue star. Look at the governor''s noodle soup; if we were there I would be assured of getting a taste. She always sent food to us you know."


    "I know." Esong responded.He leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs as he watched his small family of three. His son was stuffing his face with the creamy noodle soup and it was smeared all over his face. He looked like a cat which was licking milk off a saucer greedily.


    On the screen, it was looking like Scarlet was going to cook something else.


    "Those are the new sweet potatoes which she is promoting, right?" Ian looked closer at the screen and observed. "She said sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes are different which is definitely true. The sweet potatoes are not sweet at all."


    "You stole one and bit into it while it was raw, expecting it to taste like a sugar cane. Next time, control your greed." Esong reminded his friend of the part he was excluding. Ian had snuck around like a thief, taking a big bite out of the new shipment of sweet potatoes and then he dered that they were contradictory to their name.


    "I am the official taster of our division." Ian responded proudly.


    Esong snorted and looked at the screen.


    "So someone, a new friend of mine Minained about small sized Irish potatoes. She said that she never has any idea what to do with them since they break apart easily if boiled with the big ones or easily get burnt when you attempt to fry them I have thought of a way to cook small potatoes aside from using them in mashed potatoes."


    [Woohoo!!! Potato lovers assemble here please.]


    [Please be another kind of fries, munchy or crispy yum yum yum.]


    [I know it''s bad to waste food but I have been separating them from the big ones when I buy. I am happy that there is a way to cook them.]


    "This recipe is quite simple and quick, so take your clean small sized potatoes like this and boil them until they are tender. Do not remove the peeling; simply boil them as they are."


    Assistant chef Justin nodded, "Mmm as they are." He parroted.


    [Boohoo why is our assistant chef so cute? please teach us baby chef we are taking notes.]


    [I think chef Scarlet has been dethroned by Chef Justin.]


    "I have my boiled potatoes here; I cooked them until they were fork tender. I also drained the water and put them in a bowl. " She touched the bowl with the small boiled potatoes and continued, "Now I am going to be adding a generous amount of oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, fresh thyme and basil. Get this all mixed together." She shook the bowl with her hands, "These are very soft so using something hard to mix them is very risky. After giving them a good mix, line them up on baking sheet. Make sure to spread them out and give them room on every side."


    She picked a ss and showed it to the cameras, "Our next step will be aplished with the use of a ss which I am going to use to smash the potatoes about a half inch thick. Do not crush them into oblivion please; these are not your enemies. Just press them down like this and they will be ready to go into an oven of four hundred twenty five degrees. They are supposed to roast for thirty minutes, fifteen minutes on each side so flip them half way through."


    Those went into the oven and from another oven; she brought out a tray of potatoes that she had prepared already. "This is what you are going to end up with," she touched one potato, the interior is soft but the exterior is crispy."


    [But you did not take off the potato skin, can it be eaten?]


    [They actually look and smell good; can we get a taste please?]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Chef Justin," Scarlet held one of the potatoes to his lips and asked, "Will you do us this honor?"


    [Chef Justin: Yes, I will fall on this sword for you mother.]


    [Chef Justin with a serious look on his face right now, Hahaha, seriously, I can''t.]


    [Why does he look like he has been told to go to the front lines?]


    [I Chef Justin ept this mission on behalf of all human kind, potato beast, I will destroy you.]


    Scarlet wasughing as she held that potato in her hand, the viewers were on fire today.


    In the end, assistant chef Justin took the first bite of the roasted potatoes and he greedily followed that up by eating five more before Scarlet stopped him. And to the great annoyance of some in the audience, Severus the gluttonous dog showed up and he got to eat a big bowl of roasted potatoes and a big serving of creamy noodle soup.


    She cleaned away everything to do with roasted potatoes and Anna wiped the counter she was working from.


    [Is there more?]


    [Are we getting another recipe?]


    [My mother is already boiling small potatoes in our kitchen, we are going to feast well tonight, I will even watch your blue star movie channel.]


    "Well, I have seen some of your questions and surprise," Scarlet spread her hands out "I am going to be cooking onest thing today. Not cooking but actually baking cookies, now so far I have baked oatmeal cookies, oatmeal raisin, chocte chip and today I am adding Danish Butter cookies. This cookie recipees to us from ancient humans who were called the Danes and lived in Denmark. I do not know much of their history but I am grateful to them for their recipe. All the things I am cooking today are going to be sent to a special person. "


    [Special person!!!!!]


    [Please tell us more, we are begging for details.]


    [Who is the special person, is it general Esong?]


    [Everyone, look at that at, Silver wolf has sent a thousand flying cars. Something is going on between these two, I am reporting you to the general.]


    [Are you having an affair?]


    [I am begging somebody to unmask Silver wolf''s identity please.]


    "As always, thank you Silver wolf but do not forget that I am married, I will be epting your money though.]


    She would never reject free money in her life, not when the blue star had not even developed a quarter way. All of her money went into the; she did not even do personal shopping of any kind on the star. All her shopping was done on the underworld forum.


    Ian who knew that Esong was silver wolf looked at his friend and shook his head, and then he tapped Esong''s shoulder and said, "You already married her buddy, stoppeting with yourself."

 Chapter 190 I Like A Blank Canvas

    ?


    Scarlet meanwhile wagged her finger at the camera, "I am not revealing any more information, just watch and learn how I bake the cookies then you can bake them for your special people too. I am going to start with powdered sugar and butter. These are butter cookies so don''t be stingy with the butter, that''s why I am using four whole sticks in this recipe. Whisk this with a machine or hand and when it''s soft like this, add tworge eggs and two egg yolks. Add some vani extract and whisk it some more until it''s smooth like this. Then you add your salt and flour, just like that you are done."


    Justin bent his small head down and sniffed the dough.


    "Not yet you greedy cat!!" Scarlet gently pushed Justin''s head away. "The dough should be divided into four parts; in this one we add shredded coconut and roll all of our dough into small balls."


    She had Justin help her press the balls into round t cookie shapes and then she made other designs which looked like the Danish butter cookies from earth.


    [Why does that one look like shit?]


    [Hahaha, is that a ribbon or a deuce?]


    [I love the shapes, they are beautiful.]


    "Sprinkle some sparkling sugar on the cookies and send them into the oven to bake for twelve to fifteen minutes at three hundred fifty degrees."


    She opened another oven and pulled out two trays of finished cookies. "This is what you will have, perfect Danish butter cookies.Assistant chef Justin, will you do us the favor once again?"


    "Yes, chef mummy." Justin nodded.


    [Chef Mummy? Hahaha, Assistant chef Justin is not professional at all.]


    [Please change your name to chef mummy.]


    [I love you chef mummy.]


    [Silver wolf has sent one hundred golden flying cars!!! What will poor fans do?"]


    Assistant chef Justin took the first bite of the cookie, he chose the one with hoops which some people had said looked a ribbon.


    "Is yummy mummy." He said with a mouth full of cookie.


    [Can I be the special person to receive these please?]


    [They are too sweet and I don''t like too much sugar.]


    That said, Scarlet was ready to end her live broadcast today, having been with her fans for more than two hours.


    "Everyone, it''s time to say goodbye now, the Danish butter cookies are now avable on the online shop and so are these mother child chef outfits and aprons. We have even added a child''s cooking equipment set for your children that might be interested in baking and cooking. Thank you for staying with me for than two hours, goodbye for now, Scarlet out."


    Justin was not to be left behind, he waved at the cameras with an eager smile, "Justin out." He said in his small adorable voice.


    Not only were the viewers blown away by him but Rodney and his crew that were monitoring the live broad cast were too.


    "He is so adorable." Mr. Rodney''s assistant whispered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The cameras were deactivated as Scarlet packed cookies which she was giving away to everyone that had assisted her in this long but sessful broadcast. When they left, they were all smiles, holding the cookie tins and containers with roasted potatoes tightly.


    "I hope the governor does more long live broadcasts often." One camera man said. "I will stand for ten hours recording as long as she rewards us with goodies after the show."


    "Right," his colleague said, "Your wife is the governor''s diehard fan. I am sure she will squeal with glee when she sees the cookies."


    "I hope she does not say something ridiculous like keep the cookies for special asions. She does such thingstely, saving things for future generations."


    "In that case, you should eat a few cookies before your wife gets her hands on them. You know, in such times, I am happy that I do not have a wife yet. I eat all my good food alone."


    "You also sleep alone, I win." his colleague replied.


    Mr. Rodney too was dividing the cookies into two, what he would eat and what his son would eat.


    "Do you have to hide food from your son?" Scarletughed at him, finding his behaviorpletely funny.


    "My son has an appetite like Severus, if I don''t separate our food he will eat and leave nothing but crumbs. I still don''t understand what kind of ''growing boy'' theory this is. He will eat me out of the house one day."Mr. Rodney spoke of the woes on feeding his son as if the boy was a pit that was never satisfied.


    "He is a teenager that is bigger and taller than his father, he probably has a higher metabolism than yours. And he takesbat sses which consume a lot of energy, just teach him how to cook for himself." Scarlet proposed this because Mr. Rodney was a widow and a single father who was raising his son on his own. His wife had died under the ws of a mutated beast six years ago and he never remarried. However, he had raised his son Aaron quite well. The boy was responsible, ambitious, polite and very respectful.


    "That''s a good idea, thank you for the cookies. I should get going now, lots to do with the new channels receiving an influx of viewers thanks to you. Some people have already subscribed, you were right about women wanting a different kind of entertainment alternative to mecha fights. The movie channel already has three million female subscribers. We might hit fifty million in a month if the trend keeps up; I am going to have to recruit more actors and actresses for those telenovs. You were right; I didn''t need to spend millions on scripts or known actors and stresses. These D rated ones are doing a good job."


    "It''s all about exaggeration of emotions in the soaps. Never underestimate women''s passion when ites to such clich¨¦ dramas." Scarlet emphasized.


    On earth, there was an entire channel dedicated to showing telenovs all day, year after year. Here, they were not seen as worthy and considered stupid but who cared about worthiness. All people had to do was find someone to root for and a viin to hate. As long as the actors and actresses were passionate and good looking, the show would have many viewers.


    "Do not forget to exaggerate the titles too; they must be named things like storm in paradise, Melisa''s passion, the love of an angel." She even said the titles exaggeratedly, making Cecily roll her eyes at the actions of her grand daughter-inw. Would people really watch these things she was mentioning?


    "Then I am off, I will see you next time governor." Mr. Rodney left the castle.


    Scarlet, Justin and Cecily were left together in the kitchen.Cecily and she did not have much of a personal rtionship or anything really to discuss. Scarlet busied herself packing everything she was sending to Esong and gave it to a delivery drone.


    She hummed, as she cleaned the kitchen which had already been cleaned by a robot butler, awkwardly waiting for Cecily to leave or someone toe in and say anything so that she could get the chance to escape.


    "You know.." Cecily said and Scarlet raised her head so fast that she almost twisted her neck.


    "What?" she asked.


    "If you intend to join the division two fights, I was thinking about training you. I used to be a mecha fighter in the past and I was good at it so if you don''t mind, I want to teach you. In division two you actually fight inside of mechas and I have not seen you in one ever. Do youck the desire to learn or are you trained already?"


    "I know nothing." Scarlet said sincerely.


    "Good," Cecily replied, "I like a nk canvas."

 Chapter 191 Meeting Severuss Mother.

    ?


    That night, she went to the underworld and handed over all the souls which had been trapped by the soul attraction stone. After the hand off, she went looking for Ezrah and she found her sitting by the fish ponds, discussing something with a few other reapers. They were three in number, two female and one male.


    "Hi" she intervened in their conversation and gave a general greeting.


    "Oh, if it''s not the most famous reaper among us all." the male reaper said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.


    Over the years she had learned how to mitigate certain situations. If she was unsure if someone was being confrontational or defensive, she would y things off orugh them away until she was directly confronted. So, sheughed and replied, "Yeah, I am not exactly famous for the best reasons, I am a teaching aid for all new reapers. I will never be able to live that embarrassment down. If anybody wants this kind of fame, please take it from me."She folded her hands in a pleading manner.


    "Should I?" Ezrah joked.


    The othersughed and Ezrah pulled Scarlet to her side, "Come and meet some of our fellow newbies. This is Hawk, Lisa and Martha."


    "Hawk!!" Scarlet rolled her neck and sheughed yfully, "Like the bird."


    "Correction." Hawk responded, "Bird of prey, please do not leave that part out."


    "Well, who am I toment on your name, I am Scarlet." she replied.


    "Like the letter." Ezrah added.


    "You know about that!!" Scarlet was surprised because the Scarlet letter was something from earth. Since there were many worlds out there as she had learned after death, she could not assume that they all came from that same earth. However, she wondered, did Ezrahe from the same earth as her?


    "It''s not something special that we all know, you can check the forum for your name and you will find every person who has had it and every instance where it has been used in every world." Martha informed Scarlet.


    "And if you are the kind of person who is sensitive, you will look for a new name when you discover that in some worlds it means something bad, like Scarlet and sin." Ezrah added.


    "That''s why I go by Hawk, in every world, it''s a bird, nothing more and nothing less."


    "Does everyone know about the scarlet letter?" she asked curiously.


    "It''s the price of fame." Hawk shrugged.


    "Don''t let him confuse you, nobody really cares. what have you been up to anyway I have not seen you in the fightstely. Are you taking a break from them?" Ezrah dragged her away from the rest of the group and asked in private. "Did your soul strength deviate?" she gasped.


    "No, nothing like that, I am just training my special skills and when I return I will be challenging opponents in the one thousand and above levels. The leaderboard is too full and I can''t fight everyone, besides only when you climb to higher do others notice. Right now, I am still nothing more than a tiny grain of sand on a veryrge beach."Ulysses was in the top two hundred while she was still wading waters in the two thousands. She wanted to return and fight challenges that mattered and not simply fighting because she could.


    "So, you want to be a pebble." Ezrah teased.


    "No, I want to be the entire beach." she answered.


    "Ambitious words from one so weak." a different voice joined their conversation. One of a stranger to both women as neither one recognized it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On turning around, their eyes were met by the sight of a ck hell hound, female judging by it''s voice the little hell hound following it around and nipping at it''s heels.


    "May we speak, Scarlet."


    "And why would you speak with a reaper that you consider to be weak? If you seek a contract with me I am all tapped out." She was not asking the question out of anger because she a weak, it was true. She had no business with any other hound but Severus.


    "I believe we share something inmon, a greedy loud mouthed opinionated hound named Severus." the female hound replied. "He also happens to call me mummy dearest."


    "Oh," Scarlet said in realization of who she was.


    "I will see you around." Ezrah patted her on the back and made herself scarce, this was none of her business.


    "Should we move our conversation elsewhere?" Scarlet asked the female hound.


    "Call me Ruby," the hell hound said, "This is Kory." she moved the little hound to the front with her power. Scarlet had been expecting to see her carrying the little hound with her teeth the same way female cats and many other animals did with their young ones.


    Scarlet bent down and touched the head of the little hell hound with her finger, "Hello baby Kory," she tickled it softly. "You are so so pretty, look at your shiny brown coat."


    Kory opened her mouth and let out a small me in excitement.


    "She has not yet learned to control her mes, it''s one of the earliest lessons hell hounds learn and we only use it as ast resort on soul eaters or other things that escape from...let''s call it the beyond."


    "You mean hell." She said and then she carried Kory.


    "There are other ces with monsters created by the deities which we keep locked behind closed doors. Sometimes however, they escape and then we use every weapon we have to hunt and kill or hunt and retrieve them. Which brings me to why I need to talk to you, my foolish son seems to have it in his head that you will not be giving up on your desire to reproduce."Ruby spoke while she observed Scarlet''s behavior with Kory.


    The female reaper was so taken with the little hell hound to the point of kissing it''s head and petting it while paying little attention to what she was saying.


    "Are you even listening to me?" Ruby asked her.


    "Yes I am." Scarlet replied, "I also haven''t been to see you because I am still thinking very seriously about what you said to him.I now understand quite clearly what happens when a grim reaper reproduces. I am beginning to see why it''s dangerous for us and the humans."


    "Ah," Ruby said in realization, "He mentioned the human husband you happen to be fascinated with. I am sure that will pass after all, he will die and either destroy you if you can''t let go of him or you will do your job and after some years pass you will find a nice reaper boy to pair with."


    "I am not interested in pairing." Scarlet enunciated the word, it sounded like a contracted marriage between two people who had no choice but to be together.


    "You will be, trust me, living for millions of years eventually gets lonely. If you have some time then maybe be you should pass by the dark rune vige. It''s notcovered in darkness because of the name, they just call it that because the first reaper to settle down there called himself dark rune. He took a break from reaping and lived in the underworld for many years, building an entire vige which is now upied by thousands of reapers. Even though you live between two worlds, you can still build a happy life here."Ruby shared new information with her which she had not heard about yet.


    Most important of all was the fact that grim repears could take a break from reaping.Who made that decision, was it the grim reaper or the guardian reapers?

 Chapter 192 Deciding To Be A Guardian Reaper

    ?


    She would have to do more research on that issueter, however, she was leaning towards the guardian reapers more than warrior reapers. One of the biggest reasons for her choice was because Ulysses and his friends that all happened to be assholes were warrior reapers.But first she wanted to take a look at the Dark rune vige.


    "May I ask you to guide me to the Dark rune vige then?" she asked Ruby.


    "Of course," Ruby agreed immediately, "Put your hand on my head and I will blink us there in a second."


    Not only did she agree, she did so with a smile on her face and Scarlet who had once been tricked by the old deity into bing who and what she was today stopped her hand halfway.She pulled it back and hesitated for a few seconds."What''s the catch?" she asked Ruby.


    "The catch for what?" Ruby asked, appearing to be genuinely confused.


    "Why do you want me to see the Dark rune vige?"


    Ruby smiled and replied, "But that was your suggestion, not mine dear. You are being paranoid, I think you have been betrayed one too many times."


    "Yes I have, so, maybe you should first tell me why you came looking for me in the first ce. The real reason and not the reproducing conversation because I am not the only female reaper who wants answers to that. " Scarlet scoffed and she folded her arms at her chest, "It''s about the Dark rune vige isn''t it?"


    Ruby''s demeanor suddenly changed, her aura was colder and her size increased, she was now bigger and taller, almost Scarlet''s height.


    Other grim reapers who saw her walked the opposite way or they blinked and simply vanished from the area.


    "How can she stand to be around the energy of a hell hound for so long?" One grim reaper that was passing by asked.


    "She is the grim reaper that has a hell hound as a soul pet, that''s why." the other replied.


    "Oh, is that her?" the first one asked.


    Scarlet could see them looking at her boldly making no attempt to hide or cover up the fact that they were observing and gossiping about her. Grim reapers were often candid and rarely hid their dislikes, sneers, contempt and other emotions.


    "Ignore them and let''s talk," Ruby told her. "You are smarter than my son said, he made it sound like you are an idiot who can barely think for herself. You are wise indeed to be cautious in our realm, when you enter a world where deities like to y games, it''s always best to always be on guard. You have our hell hound essence in your body."


    "Severus gave me a drop of his blood." She answered truthfully. "It made me stronger."


    "He is thinking like a trainer," Ruby smiled, "For all the resentment he harbors towards his father and his determination not to have offspring of his own, I think he treats you more like a child than anything else. Usually the reaper trains and teaches the soul pet but in your case things are different. It''s quite interesting to see things done in reverse."


    Scarlet pped her hands and raised her hands, happy to find someone that finally understood her quagmire. "Finally, someone sees it too, he shouts at me and berates me as if I am child. The other day, he said to me that even an infant hell hound is smarter than me."


    Rubyughed, wondering if she should warn Scarlet that it would get worse in future.


    "Kory is dozing off, I should send her home. Sleep is very important when hell hounds are still young."


    Scarlet hugged the baby hell hound tighter, longing to keep the cute little thing.


    "You can always visit me in the Dark rune vige if you wish to spend time with her, she is taken with you as well it seems. I am afraid we will have to continue our conversation another time." Ruby used her powers to extract Kory form Scarlet''s hands and they disappeared.


    After they were gone, it crossed her mind that they never got around to talking about the real reason why Ruby wanted her to visit the vige. She did not know if this was a tactful move on Ruby''s part or simply a coincidence that Kory fell asleep conveniently when she was seeking answers.


    She would get them though, eventually, she figured. She blinked and sent herself to the hall of guardian reapers. The hall had many sections dealing with many different issues but she looked specifically for the area marked registration.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She passed through a mist and found inside another ce like ce with many trees, soul pets of different shapes and sizes and a few reapers that were engaged in conversation while they sipped tea or water or maybe just wine_, she guessed.


    "What are you looking for?"A young male reaper white very short white hair stepped away from one of the groups and he approached her with this question. "You seem to be lost."


    "I am here to register." she replied.


    "You want to be a guardian." he said unsurely.


    "Yes," she nodded.


    "This way, this way, hurry up." he suddenly eagerly pushed her to a counter where he pricked her finger for her and a drop of her blood dropped on a glistening yellow smooth orb. A gust of wind blew by and her picture which was used on the leaderboard appeared on the wall which now suddenly had pictures of other reapers.


    "You are the hound!!" heughed and covered his mouth.


    "Yes." she nodded.


    "You are the reaper with the hell hound." he said in a questioning manner.


    "Again, yes." Scarlet responded.


    "Guys," he shouted, "Look" he pointed at the wall, "I signed the impossibility. I will be getting the reward, I the king of Frost signed the impossibility!!!"


    "No way." she heard someone said.


    "They said she was going to be a warrior reaper."


    "What is she doing here."


    "Haha we finally have an ace, the warrior reapers are going to die of jealousy."


    "Guys, no one should tell them that we have the hound."


    So many words were being said and most of them left her with questions more than anything. Who said that she was going to be a warrior reaper?


    "You are Scarlet, right?" The reaper who had signed her and called himself the king of frost asked. "I am Frost, I will be your partner in the duo leaderboard fights. And from now on, we are on the same team, guardian reapers also work in groups, let''s be strong together."


    Scarlet nodded even though she was still very much confused about the whole situation.


    "I think I should go now, I have some things to deal with and my pet wants me to train." she made up an excuse because they were staring at her as if she was a freak or beast of some kind.


    "Yes, yes, go and train, I am counting on you partner. We will be the duo champions this year." Frost was so happy that it almost appeared as if he would break down and cry at any moment.


    She on the other hand left the underworld with a lot more questions than she had when she went over.

 Chapter 193 The Prince Of Warmth

    ?


    That same night, the seventh prince Markay finally had a chance to return home and see his parents and siblings that were eagerly awaiting his return. Each of them expected something from him, after all, the blue star from which he hade from was now the source of many good and unique things.


    The only one that did not wear a true smile was the crown prince who was working hard to hide the irritation in his eyes. For three days now, all he had heard in the pce were praises for his younger brother. He braved the wild by going to the blue star on the emperor''s orders. He stayed there for many months and personally oversaw the cultivation of many new types of foods. He could identify mutated beasts because Scarlet had taught him and he finally had a girlfriend which made him smile more often. He was the one who returned with the food supplies which were being distributed for free on all stars to the people. Meager as they were, as long as everyone could at least eat one or two bowls of porridge a day, especially the poor, then they could smile through winter.


    One maid was even overheard saying that Markay was going from beingthe fearsome prince of death to the prince of warmth.


    The crown prince felt as if his ears would bleed if he had to listen to anymore praise of Markay. As he watched his father check the time impatiently on the gold watch which Markay had sent him, the crown prince felt a hot ball of fury churn within his stomach and he smiled harder.


    The wide doors to the pce dining room were opened and Markay finally made his entrance. He walked in with a spring in his step, all draped in blue and silver armor which was standard for him but there was one new additional item, a long silver ck fur coat. It added a regal quality to his appearance, making him look even nobler than he already was.


    When he walked in, he moved straight to the emperor and got on one knee and bowed his head with one hand on his knee. "Your majesty, I your seventh son have returned after fulfilling the duties you bestowed on my shoulders."


    "Rise my son." The emperor replied.


    Markay slowly rose up and stood straight in front of his father with pride and a smile on his face. His entire aura had changed from something dark to something warmer, kinder and sunnier. He even appeared to be wiser, the emperor thought. This was a son worth showing off, one who could bear the mantle of emperor because he was learning. One of his guards that secretly reported back all of Markay''s doings had sent pictures of him harvesting corn with themoners, fighting crabs, sharing meals withmoners and ying football with young children. If only the crown prince could be this down to earth? Instead of trying to understand how the empire was run, he went around kissing the asses of nobles, gallivanting with their children, secretly spending time in pleasure houses. He even kept a mistress and a child outside, thinking that the emperor was not aware. Many times, the emperor clenched his fists around this son of his, to stop himself from beating him up because his wife was working on a solution.


    The emperor took a deep breath, got up slowly and a servant pulled his chair away, giving him room to properly embrace his seventh son.


    "You have done well, no you have done extremely well son. You have done this royal house proud."


    "Thank you father, you speak too highly of me." Markay returned the embrace. But secretly in his hearthe asked himself, ''why are you patting and feeling up my fur?''


    "You are looking so regal son, even more than I am." The emperomented.


    ''There it is! Markay thought, the second intent behind his father''s hug. As genuine as it was, he was also interested in the fur very much.


    The empress and other siblings chuckled, their father who managed to instill the wrath of a thousand mutated beasts in men could also be silly at times.


    "I brought you many such winter clothes father." he replied. "Most of them were personally chosen by governor Scarlet."


    "What are you waiting for to greet the rest of the family and unpack?" the emperor let him go, shooting him a disgusted look even as if he was dying national affairs. "Hurry up!!"


    The empress hugged him next, embracing him with all her motherly love to express how much she had missed him. "You have be bigger." she whispered, "They have been feeding you well."


    "Haha." Markayughed and touched his cheeks, "If there is something you neverck over there, it''s food."he exined.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She let him go and others hugged him too, weing him back jovially like one would a long lost brother that had been missed terribly.


    "It has not been the same without you, I am having a hard time keeping them under control." the fourth prince pointed to their sisters.


    "Aaaah." The third princess squealed and pushed the fourth prince out of the way. "Brother, I have missed you the most." Simrly, following the actions of her father, she patted the fur and pinched it. "It''s as soft as it looks." shemented.


    The empress rolled her eyes, longing to say, like father like daughter. If anybody had takenpletely after the emperor in the family, it was his third daughter. They had the simr facial expressions, both were foodies and also shared a love for all things new and novel.If Markay did not bring more of these fur coats he was losing this one to the emperor or his sister.


    The crown prince was thest toe in for a hug, his overly exaggerated smile and loudugh as he weed Markay back was very unlike him but no onemented.


    "Okay, okay, all greetings are finished, show us what you brought and tell us everything." The empress covered up for her husband whose foot was shaking in impatient irritation.


    Out of his bracelet terminal, Markay took out many things like clothes, toys, jewelries, paintings and most of all, snacks and raw foods. The biggest surprise were the live cats he brought for his mother and sisters and the robot dogs he brought for his brothers.


    The women carried the cute cats and cooed over them, gushing over how pretty they were.


    "These are brochures on how to care of your cats, they have to be fed, groomed, taken on walks and yed with. If you won''t be able to do all these I have been asked to return them to the blue star immediately because as you know, domesticated animals are still rare."


    "Father, this one is a gift from governor Scarlet to you." he took a grown spiritual dog, from the storage pod and carried it to the emperor. "It''s quite big, as you can see and it''s well trained, I was told to share simr instructions."


    The dog was ced on the emperor''sps and it barked twice.Royal guards took out their weapons, all they saw was a beast withrge teeth fiercely threatening the emperor.


    "Stand down." Prince Markaymanded them sternly.


    "It''s okay." the emperor added, "I have seen videos of Esong and his dog, they arepletely in sync." the emperor imitated things he had seen Esong do like scratching it and allowing it to sniff him. "It''s memorizing my scent, right?"


    "Yes." Markay replied. "And it might pee around but that''s just how it marks it territory, Scarlet said his name is Brutus, I also brought myself a female dog..."


    "I will take it as well." The emperor said, "They can be husband and wife, Esong has one and I have two."


    Around the table, the emperor''s children and his wife held back their smiles, Markay would soone to discover that his father''s new personality was like that of a young kid, dering mine on every pretty thing he saw.

 Chapter 194 My Sister Is Nameless

    ?


    The next day, Scarlet and Esong finally saw each other again after many days of departing. He called her as soon as she opened her eyes, as if he was watching her from somewhere.


    "Good morning, sleepy head."he said, "Am I allowed to say that you make such a beautiful sight."


    She was pretty sure that she had bed hair and dark circles under her eyes but he looked no different from her. It looked like he was barely getting any sleep, he had dark circles and she had caught him trying to hold back a yawn twice.


    "Are you getting any rest?"she asked him.


    "Here and there." he replied. "Mostly not, this is not necessary the most sleep appropriate time of the year."


    She frowned, thinking to herself that what he was saying did not sound very healthy.


    "Don''t worry," he added, "mecha warriors can go a maximum of four days with no sleep.We are trained to be this way, it''s just that I have a lot of things to deal with. How have you been?"


    "Hmph," she pursed her lips, "Who said that I was worried?"


    "It''s written all over your face." he chuckled. "Thank you for the food and the cookies by the way. You didn''t have to send many of those, not that I amining but you look exhausted too."


    "I had a training session at night." she told him.Severus had woken her up for two hours of training her special skill which for some reason seemed toe alive at night. She could now project nightmares for six minutes and she was just fifty percent afraid of them. He was right, the morefortable she became with them, the more she enjoyed it.


    "You don''t need to push yourself so hard, mecha fights are not worth that much sacrifice. They are essentially games which were created to distract the people during this time of the year. You don''t need to be in such a rush to get to the top of the virtual champions roll. Take your time."


    "I am, I have not scheduled a fight in months. But I have oneing up which is what I am preparing for. Have you spoken to our sontely?"


    "Mmm," he nodded, "He sends me short videos of himself daily, I miss you all so much."


    "We miss you too." she replied. "How are things so far? I have not had to ring that bell so all things considered, I am thinking positively."


    "Yes, one week down with no death, not a mutated beast rted one anyway. Human on human death on the other hand is different, space pirates are running rampant looting supplies in different cities. We are weeding them out but by the time the new year begins, they will have recruited more among the poor."


    "You can use Hachiko to sniff them out, as long you have something he can smell you will find something. By the way, your grandmother wants to teach me to fight and operate a mecha, I said yes."


    "You told me that in a text," he smiled.


    "I forgot," sheughed, "But I should get your honest opinion, how is she as a teacher?"


    "Tough but fair." he replied. "She will expect you to learn something within three tries, she will berate you and reward you. You should know that in the capital Cecily Wu is a highly sought after teacher but she has turned down all requests."


    "Then it''s a great honor for me to be learning from her." Scarlet decisively said, "I will work hard not to let down her expectations."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "How is your little sister, the newborn?" he asked.


    "She is fine but still nameless as my mother struggles to find the right name which specifically begins with the letter "I" . Every name we suggest seems to sound wrong to her ears or taste wrong on her tongue. How does a name taste wrong? You cannot eat it?"


    Esong chuckled, wondering why she was so worked up about the naming of her sister.


    "I suggested good names," Scarlet continued, "Like Ines, Isabe, Indra, India and she said no to them all.Can you believe it? Those are perfectly good names for a girl child. I am about to suggest Ivy."


    "You should save some for when we have that daughter you spoke about." he suggested with a faint smile on his face.


    She froze for a few seconds beforeughing, that was probably never going to happen for them but she could not that share that secret with him. Maybe they would look into other options like adoption or using another females egg when she finally came back around to the child issue. For now, she had put a lid on everything baby until further notice. Maybe she could revisit it in one hundred years. "We don''t need to think about that right now, maybe you should give me more names because I never realized before just how rare it is to find a good name that starts with an ''I''.


    "Iris, Irene, Igloo, Izaora, Isadora, Iliana." he mentioned a few names and it looked like he would keep going if she didn''t put a stop to it.


    "Yes naming genius Esong, please send them all to me and I willpile a list and send it to her."To her ears, it sounded almost like he was bragging.


    "What''s this I hear about you fighting a mutated beast in armor..." he changed the topic to the second biggest reason why he had called.


    "Before you condemn, berate, shout or do anything you should understand my circumstances Esong. " she was quick to cut him off and exin her side. "I knew how to kill the beast but none of the mecha warriors seemed to be listening to me no matter how much I yelled. I was in the wrong for acting impulsively, I will admit. Next time..."


    "Next time?" he said questioningly.


    "There will be no next time." she amended.


    "Good." he nodded approvingly.


    "Unless_" she added.


    Esong sighed and shook his head in an ''I knew it'' manner.


    "Unless, it attacks me first, then it''s a case of self defense, I am allowed to defend myself."


    Esong looked away from the screen for a few seconds and he nodded his head. When he looked back at her, it was to say hurriedly,"I have to go now, something else has made it through the barrier, be safe." he took off running.


    She sighed, and prayed in her heart for all the warriors that had gone off to fight whatever that something was. She hoped for another week where she would not have to ring that bell.


    But that wish would be impossible because she received a message with the face of a newly fallen mecha warrior on the Red star. It was time to ring that bell and reap a soul.

 Chapter 195 I Figured You Would Want This One.

    ?


    First, she asked Alex to ring the bell which was followed by therge hologram projections on all the major city buildings, showing the image, name, age and the best action scenes of the fallen mecha warrior through different battles in the years of his service.


    "Twenty six," Scarlet read and sighed, "Still so young." He was practically an infant in a world where humans died at three hundred. Esong was right, these kids had no business being on a battlefield and fighting mutated beasts. Mecha warriors should be aged between fifty to one hundred fifty.


    Severus was also there, waitingfor her to decide when they would leave.He watched her agonize and he sympathized but this was an inevitable end for all humans, in theing years, she would be less emotional as she dealt with death.


    "We should go now." She was about to close her eyes and go reap the soul when another alert came, with the picture of another mecha warrior, also fallen on the red, and a third alert came before she could read the information of the second.


    "What is going on on the Red?" she asked herself. "Alex, automatically deal with the alerts and the bell until I say otherwise." She left everything to the storage bracelet AI and went off to the Red grim reaper style, by blinking.


    Since she had not been to the Red before, Severus guided their journey by sensing where the souls were and that''s where they ended up. The Red star, where theynded was a ce with rough and rocky terrains. It was surrounded by high mountains, excavated caves and machines of many kinds were buried in the ground. But all this was currently covered by snow, and all she had were the memories from pictures she had seen. The soil itself in the pictures was red like fresh spilled blood, perhaps this was why it had been named the Red star. It was also hard with a few cracks in the parts she could see with her own eyes that were not coveredpletely by the snow. She could count ten high watch towers alone on a space of five aces ofnd. It seemed, that the mineral was tightly protected at all times.


    Her golden eyes, moved around the emptynd as she searched for the fresh souls of the fallen mecha warriors. She recorded all the mutated beasts that she saw, intending to share the information about themter when she returned.


    Severus blinked, and they moved at least sixty feet at once, finding the souls andnding in the midst of the fight. There were at least fifteen mutated beasts that she could count colliding against sixty or more mecha warriors in a heated battle. This number of odds should have given the mecha warriors an advantage but the beasts were big and their bodies were covered in long sharp spikes which cut through metal like a knife did soft butter. It was no wonder the warriors were dying.


    First, she had to help save the others, so she looked for information on the lizard like creature, with wings and spikes.


    "A wind spiked Draco, hostile and deadly." the forum identified. "Now, how do we kill them?" she asked herself.


    "The souls first Scarlet, that''s our priority." Severus reminded her.


    She opened the soul gourd, powering it to suck in any soul that was in the area as she looked for more information. "Tell me if you smell as much as soul eater, I am dying to test my me out again."


    Severus started sniffing the air, and he left her side briefly to search the area while Scarlet continued to read aloud. "The strength of the wind spiked Draco is their spikes which is also their weakness as well. Melt away the thick spikes and the flesh can be sliced apart with hot weapons."


    Scarlet punched her fist against her palm as she asked herself, "How do I melt spikes?" They had to be made of bone, she thought after all, these creatures were not robots. "Acid!!" she gasped, and her eyes lit up.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She had to share the information with Esong and he could get it to the leader of these mecha warriors quickly. She blinked and returned to the Blue star, in her bedroom and contacted Esong, hoping he would pick up.When he didn''t she sent the information to both him and captain Vangar. As a third option, she also sent it to the officer named rk in the mecha warriors association that captain Vangar had rmended she share information with as he would be the one processing her payments.


    Officer rk was avable and she was relieved, he uploaded the information immediately while Scarlet blinked and returned to the Red star.


    "Hello," she met Ramslin immediately. He was standing next to the spot she had previously disappeared from. He waved at her and greeted her with a smile.


    "Hi, what are you doing here?" even though she greeted in response, she kept her eyes on the reapers and the fight. They were doing their best to keep the Draco''s here so that they would not move into human upied areas. She also wondered what was taking them long to change their fighting strategy.Punching the creatures was not working.


    "You are married to a mecha warrior and today four of them have died so far, all from here. I figured you would want this one and I came just in case it was too much for you. Ouuh I spoke too soon, make that five." He winced and Scarlet saw a mecha fall down, it had been torn to shreds in the mid section and a warrior inside was bleeding out. The long spikes of the Draco had gone through his chest. "Damn, it''s hard to watch them go." He shook his head and reaped that soul when the warrior took hisst breath.


    "Why do you sound so cynical?" she asked him.


    "I have been here for ten years doing this on my own, you have been here for a few years. Give it a little time and you will start to sound like me. I have seen grim reapersugh on the forum while they reaped souls. I have heard them discuss their evening ns or n to go on dates. Once you be numb to death, it all begins to feel familiar, boring even, it''s inevitable, humans must die and we must collect their souls. Nothing more, nothing less." He blinked and disappeared.


    Severus who had just returned snorted in the direction where Ramslin had been standing."Whatever he said, ignore it, he is a warrior reaper, they are the coldest of all reaper you know."


    "Why are they assholes?" she asked.


    "Because they think they are cool." he replied. "But they are not."


    The battle, Scarlet noticed had changed tides with the delivery of acid canisters by drones which were dumped on theDracosand as they squealed in pain while the spikes melted, the mecha warriors sliced through them vengefully with red energy swords. For some reason, in the back of her mind, Scarlet thought they would use metallic swords which had been dipped in hot coals orva."What was I thinking?" she asked herself.She felt slightly stupid frankly. This was an interster high tech world, of course they had weapons that could automatically heat up.


    She watched them load whatever was left of the dead lizards into storage pods and carry away the bodies of the dead mecha warriors. Some of their friends, she noticed were crying. She felt like crying along with them all for these young brave soldiers.


    "Let''s go," Severus told her. "You can''t weep for them all, this is only the beginning."

 Chapter 196 Daddy, Mummy Is In My Class!!

    ?


    On her return, she entered her bathroom first and vomited but because she had not yet eaten a single thing, all she emptied from her stomach was water.


    "Here," Severus had put a ck pill on her bed, waiting for her to exit the bathroom. "I knew you would need this the moment we returned because you stillck a strong stomach for this. Why do you vomit so easily?"


    She swallowed the ck pill with no questions asked since he would not poison her anyway.


    "I need to take a bath, I don''t know why I feel dirty." she returned to the bathroom and the shower head turned itself on once it sensed her body. The warm water cascading down her body provided some relief to her senses. She sniffed twice and tilted her head back and sighed deeply. "I did not fight in the battle but I feel exhausted."


    "You dispended energy slowing down the beasts and blinking back and fourth to distant ces like theses is also tiring. You have covered a journey of millions in seconds, did you think it has no toll on you?"Severus responded.


    She sniffed again, and she started to get the sense that she was on her way to catching a cold or she had one already.


    "Severus, isn''t there a way to help the mecha warriorsheal faster? I don''t mean to stop their inevitable deaths but I am talking about things like bleeding out when it can be prevented. Or saving them from damaging their mental strength, giving them significant energy boosts, I know that''s why they take the mutated beast bodies. It''s because some of them have such abilities. But it looks to me like it''s not efficient."


    "Medicinal herbs on the forum could help but you will be poor in ten seconds if you are to purchase enough herbs to help them all. It will be easier to nt them yourself, you do have purifying water after all. No, rejuvenation water is better and as a guardian reaper, you have more ess to it than anyone.Additionally, Lythia values you a lot, that''s why she almost scalded me when you refused to eat anymore hell fruits. So please, gouge yourself on them to save both of us from her wrath and get in with her good graces. She will be of ore help to your growth than you realize."He handed her a hell fruit as he spoke.


    Even though she had given up on the baby project, the fruit was still tasty. It was like a mixture of very sweet strawberries and mint with lemon. It was kind of like a strawberry mint lemonade.She enjoyed eating the fruit so if the provider did not mind giving, she would keep eating.


    "Do you want a taste?" she asked him.


    "Ew." Severus turned his nose away. That fruit was nasty and how she enjoyed it, he did not know. "By the way, how did you get stuck with that idiot Frost for a partner? His special ability is making his hair as white as snow, okay he can create a white freezing mist which grim reapers hate because your bodies crave warmth extensively but he has zero tactics. Why do you think he has been a solo guardian reaper for twenty years now? I feel like we were cheated, you should have waited for me before he signed you on."


    "You were avoiding me because I was with your mother," She replied, "You need to deal with your mummy issues." she pointed at him and said. "Nowe on, I have to attend an introduction to mecha ss taught by my husband''s grandmother."


    "I don''t have mummy issues." he mumbled.


    Severus followed her out and as they walked, she smiled at her maids, two of whom she noticed were missing.


    "Gertrude, where are Coral and Lia?"she asked.


    "Both of them are down with the cold, I think they got the chill in their bones. The hospital is already full so they are in their rooms."


    "Oh," Scarlet responded. "Give them some hot drinks and make sure they cover up well." This was one of the mysterious winter illnesses that seemed to have no cure.She pulled her own furs which Severus had procured for her on the underworld forum tighter around her body. This was another thing that perhaps could be fixed with medicinal herbs. "Severus, find something that can increase the internal heat in the body."


    If she recalled properly, this was the illness which she was told would freeze up the bones and cause them to shatter from the inside. There was no way she would be telling the people to go out and build snowmen in such conditions.She would bemiting mass murder if she did.


    The winter jasmine trees in pots around the castle were blooming well, thriving even. The beautiful yellow flowers stood out, spreading their lovely scent in the air. Well at least something wasing alive in this cold harsh weather, the winter here was way colder than that of earth.She had given these trees small drops of crystal water just in case.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She also met a few cats that were walking in a group, as if they were on patrol in the castle.Spiritual animals were really interesting to watch, they behaved so intelligently and at times, looked upon being treated like ordinary animals disdainfully.


    "Hey beautiful cats." she greeted them.


    "Hi,"


    "I am the most beautiful."


    "She is talking to me."


    "Who touched my tail?"


    "I want crispy fish today."


    Scarletughed at the different replies she hearding from them. Since they were spirit pets, she could understandtheirnguage. When Esong returned, he would probably wonder if her lunacy had been cured or not because spirit animals had the most funny conversations she had ever listened in on. She often caught herselfughing alone around them.


    She found her family gathered in themon room, watching a movie on a big screen while having breakfast. This was probably the same thing most families on the blue star were doing.


    "Morning everyone." she greeted. "Hello beautiful nameless." she also poked the cheeks of her baby sister that was wrapped up tighter than a burrito in nkets and some kind of warming device, probably Carolyn manufactured.


    "Great,e and exin to Adler that house Slytherin in this magic movie was the strongest house." Beord dragged her to his side and said loudly.


    They were watching the first part of Harry potter after Alex cleaned it up and made it interster viewing quality.


    "Nope, no time for this." she twisted her body like a worm and escaped his hold. "I have mecha ss this morning with teacher Cecily." she replied.


    "With Justin?" Fey asked.


    Everyone started to giggle at the notion of mother and son attending the same ss. For Justin it was normal because it was a ss for children his age abut for Scarlet!!!, so abnormal.


    She thought it was a joke but when she got to the ssroom, it was not just Justin but three other kids as well.


    "Wee student Scarlet, please, take a seat." Cecily smiled and pointed at the desk and chair which was bigger than the others. She was going to be the oldest student in this ss.


    Justin pulled out his terminal and sent his father a text saying, "Daddy, mummy is in my ss!!!."

 Chapter 197 The First Day Of School

    ?


    Scarlet''s first day of mecha school did not go the way she expected. First she was surprised to be studying with little children and secondly, every time Cecily addressed a question to her, the little ones giggled silly before she couldpose a proper response. It felt as if she was a university graduate that had been sent back to preschool to learn the ABC''s.


    The sweetest or most humbling moment hade when Cecily gave them a quick exercise to write down theponents of a mecha and Justin whispered to her, "Mummy, you can copy my answers!!!!"


    He tried to be discreet about exposing his tablet to her but Cecily saw them and said loudly, "You two, no cheating allowed."


    The other children giggled and Scarlet groaned, her reputation was definitely going down the drain. She had not even copied the answers, but if she denied, she would beughed at even more.


    Silently, she had filled in her answers and sent in her exercise to teacher Cecily. Nobody was happier than her when the ss ended. Even though she had promised Esong to take the ss serious, she was beginning to consider bing a bad student by skipping it. She could cover the theory part with Alex and the practical''s with Cecily.


    To her greatest horror, as soon as they left the ssroom, Justin went off running to his uncles to shares the news of mummy being in his ss and being caught cheating on a test.


    "I did not cheat." She defended herself loudly. "Justin, baby, save your mummy''s good reputation."


    "Little sister, this is just like your first day in preschool all over again." Carolynmented. "You copied answers then as well and you were caught. I remember you came home crying."


    "What?" Scarlet felt so wronged, but even as she tried to exin the circumstances, her family wasughingpletely taken in by Justin''s childish narration. He even walked to the front and demonstrated the look on Cecily''s face when she caught them cheating.


    "My daughter, should we walk you to school tomorrow?" Her mother teased .


    "My baby is finally in preschool, this is so heartbreaking. She has grown up so fast." Dorian added.


    One by one, everyone got their Scarlet goes to preschool jokes out of the way until they exhausted themselves.


    She sighed and surrendered, going off to find some privacy where she could do something more productive with herself.


    "I can teach you what you don''t know." She heard Adler shout as she left.


    "Yeah, yeah." She replied, brushing his words off as he was stillughing. "It''s ridiculous," she muttered as she walked away, "simply ridiculous."


    As she walked, she asked herself many times, should she give up on the ss or not?


    "Governor," Anna was waiting for her by the steps which led upstairs to her wing.


    "Yes Anna." She responded.


    "You have a visitor, someone named Mina. We could not let her into your private wing so she is sitting in the waiting lounge over there." Anna exined.


    Scarlet smiled broadly, a visit from her first human friend in this world. She and Mina had met in the Bluemart where she was agonizing over the necessity of buying in door shoes. This was another of Scarlet''s habits that she poprized on the Sun star and now they even had self warming in door shoes that kept your feet free from the cold this season. Scarlet rmended some shoes to Mina after recognizing her as the child services officer who was kind to her and Justin.


    They had hit off and be fast friends, sharing bits of gossip and conversation daily through texts or calls.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Let her in." She told Anna. She waited by the stairs until Mina who was smiling and waving eagerly was escorted to her.


    As Mina was going in for a hug, Tion ced his hand between them. It forced the two women to hold off on the hug and Scarlet to look at Tion questioningly.


    "Was her body scanned for weapons?" He asked the guard that escorted her inside.


    "Yes sir." The guard confirmed.


    Tion withdrew his hand while giving Mina a harsh once over with his eyes that threatened hell to pay if she attempted to harm Scarlet.


    "Sorry," Scarlet apologized with a nervous look on her face, "Ites with the territory." The stairs which were powered by energy stones moved on their own like esctors, sending them up.


    "I understand, you are our governor after all, he must do his job. Trust me when I say this, everyone on this sleeps better knowing that you are protected extremely well. You are the glue which is holding us all together." Mina answered. "Your castle is so pretty by the way, what kind of flowers are these that they can stand the harsh cold season?"


    "Winter jasmine." She replied. "You can take one back when you leave."


    I will not say no to that." Mina answered, "Thank you so much." She epted gracefully. "However I have not brought you anything so this puts me at a disadvantage."


    Scarlet waved her offered, "We are friends, you can always reciprocateter. What made you decide to visit me finally?"


    "I was bored at home." She replied sincerely. "All my brothers are busy and my parents are working at the hospital. My only source of entertainment is the television but I can''t watch it all day. Which is probably why I have started writing a fictional romance online novel about a captain of the RGB and a journalist. My brother and Jelly are the inspiration." Mina had followed Scarlet to the kitchen and both women were now holding cups of hot chocte milk.


    Scarlet chuckled on hearing thetest about the blue star''stest real world ''will they or won''t they'' couple. The gossip mill was working overnight when it came to those two.


    "Knowing your brother for just a little while I am sure he will pluck the hairs from your head one at a time when he finds out." She replied.


    "I can''t help it, Jelly Simmons moved into our building. I don''t know if it''s a coincidence or not but my brother swears she did it because of him. When I met her in the lobby today morning on the other hand, she was surprised to see me there. She looked mortified and she called her boss immediately because he helped her get the apartment."


    "Who paid for it?" Scarlet asked curiously.


    Mina shrugged, this was not information she had ess to.


    "I ask because you said her boss helped her get the apartment and I am wondering in what capacity he did. Is it a boss helping an employee or a man helping a woman. Her boss Rodney is single too you know, he has money and looks as well. Jelly is a beautiful single hardworking woman, I am sure that other men have noticed."


    "Woah," Mina opened her eyes wide, "Could it be a love triangle? Who will win the beauty''s heart? I have seen that Mr. Rodney on a few asions and he is easy on the eyes, I support him."


    "Shouldn''t you be rooting for your brother?" Scarlet raised her eyebrows as she saw excitement and not worry in Mina''s eyes. Would her brother not be heartbroken if Jelly chose someone else.


    "No way, he deserves for his arrogance to be taken down a peg. But those two have a date this week, I will share all the details when the timees. By the way, what do you do for fun around here?"

 Chapter 198 More Surprises From Maddox

    ?


    Mina left after eating some snacks, engaging in one invigorating conversation and ying the newer version of the game of snakes anddders which one of Carolyn''s employees tinkered with to make more realistic and painful in way that the yers wore these ck tiny patches on their hands which connected to the game. If younded on the snake fangs, the snake would rise out of the board in a hologram and bite you which would send a small shock to your body. The pain varied ording to the size and type of snake, the bigger the snake or the deadlier, the worse the pain. It was one of the most yed games in the Sun star now. The teenagers especially had lost interest in the old version.Scarlet had been bitten by the snakes more than Mina during their game.


    When Mina returned home, she was carrying a yellow potted winter jasmine. There had been no alert today so there were more people outside than usual. Children were ying, throwing snow balls at each other. Workers in the green houses were busy, those from the food factories were changing shifts. Cleaners were melting heavy snow that was blocking off buildings with energy stone powered heaters which they carried with ease like leaf blowers. A few were using kinesis to do their work and the heaters were floating above the snow on their own as if they were powered by magic.


    She was surprised to find both of her parents and her brother Zorl at home. "Oh, what are you guys doing here?" she asked them.


    "We live here." her mother responded. Then she took the winter jasmine from Mina and sniffed it."Where did you find this?"


    "Mother, don''t you follow me on star?" she asked in response while she changed into her indoor shoes. These were long like boots, because they had to keep the entire length of the leg warm. She had posted pictures she took around Scarlet''s castle, with her and alone.anyone that followed on star m would have seen the pictures already.


    "Do you think I have time to check what you are posting online?" her mother responded. She ced the winter jasmine on the kitchen counter, before moving it close to a window ledge and then the living room table.


    "Just put it anywhere." her husbandmented.


    "You have no sense of aesthetics, you can''t just put it anywhere." she shook her head and continued her search for the perfect spot.


    Mina pushed Zorl so that she could squeeze herself next to him on the couch, despite the house having many more empty chairs. "Mother, I got it from Scarlet, handle it with care, it should not die."


    Her mother put it next to window and eagerly came to ask more questions, "My most hard working daughter, are you on first name basis with our governor now? How close are you?"


    "Close enough to gossip and y games together." Mina replied nonchntly as she looked around for the tv remote. When she failed to find it, she said, "TV on."


    It turned itself on. "Movie channel."she added.


    "Forget about the movie," her mother said with urgency,"just tell me everything you did with the governor.Did she cut her hair because of fashion, I want to cut mine too but I am hesitant. Did she teach you how to cook anything?"


    "That''s not important," her father pulled her father back and asked a question of his own, "We have many adults and sixteen little children in the hospital that havee down with the chill, if something is not done, we are going to start sending dead bodies out of the hospital soon. Did you ask her what she is doing about it?"


    "Is she a doctor?" Captain scoffed and he asked. "Stop behaving as if she is a deity or a scientist."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "There is a rumor that her teacher was a doctor, there is no way she did not pick anything.When ites to saving lives, all hands must be on deck."Professor informed his son calmly.


    Zorl''s bracelet buzzed and he looked at a new message. In such a season, when one bracelet buzzed it was not abnormal for others to check theirs as well.


    "What is it? Is it another beast?" his mother asked with worry in her voice.


    "No, a kid got stuck in a hole, fire department is going to handle it." he answered.


    "I like the fire fighters, they are so friendly." Minamented. "And they always carry sweets to give scared little children. Why do you RGB officers never carry those around?"


    Zorl shook his head and looked at his sister in disbelief, "Mina, do you actually know that you work for the GBCS, you are not so different from us. We arrest criminals, why should we hand out sweets?" This was one of the reasons why he disliked those braggart fire fighters. On the blue star, after mecha warriors, fire fighters were not on the likeability hierarchy. When people saw theming, they apuded but when they saw the RGBing, they frowned because someone was going to be arrested and if the situation was dangerous, killed.


    "The GBCS is handing out sweets too and we deal with children mostly." Mina shrugged and looked at the television. "I am not saying you should change the way you work but maybe small changes here and there could make the people look at you better."


    "We have been voted most efficient and most organized. We have zero corruption and our officers are highly trained. The people may not wee us with flowers but they know our necessity and appreciate our services. Now, let me be, I was resting before you returned."


    Mina scoffed and whistled for two seconds, then she said, "Did you know that Jelly''s handsome boss is single? I heard he has a child but I did not know that he had no wife or partner. He helped her get her apartment, I wonder if he sees her as an ordinary employee, a friend or something more."


    Zorl jumped up from the sofa, red at Mina and strode to his bedroom.


    "Ha! he thinks I can let him have thest word, impossible." Mina mumbled.She turned up the volume and turned her attention to the movie.But she was not bound to enjoy it because her parents restarted their Q&A session on her time with the governor.


    Scarlet, meanwhile was discovering another shocker left behind by Maddox in journal entry number thirty one.


    Alex hadmunicated with her urgently, urging her to read it immediately because there was an emergency so she did.


    "When I said I was thest descendant of house Varakas, I left out a technicality. I am not thest, there are two more, my sister Elora and her daughter Aryn. When our house fell, my elder brother Sven, in order to protect us urgently sent us away from our home in a space ship. With thest of his power in the body enhancing mecha, he exploded with the enemies that hade to kill us. We watched as our home went up in mes and burned as we disappeared into the stars. But the enemy was far craftier and ruthless, they nted an explosive device on the ship unknown to us, by the time I realized, it was toote."

 Chapter 199 To Sleep For Over One Hundred Years

    ?


    The explosive device went off, it almost killed Elora and sent Aryn into a longstinga. I managed to save them both because we had an emergency shuttle and storage bracelets with other space ships but try as much as I did, I could not wake them up. Without a med bed, I was left with no choice but to leave them in life sustaining storage pods. My hope is that by the time the storage pods run out of energy and start to decay, they will have regained consciousness and I will have found a way to cure the wounds on their bodies permanently. Elora was always proud of her beauty, it will kill her to see her face with such ugly burn marks. And Aryn is too young to be scarred like this, I worry about how she will cope if she has to carry half a body filled with scars and one leg. They remain unconscious and I am using the synthesized poison of an acrid bug to keep them alive. I know well that should I die, it''s entirely possible that they will die with me which is why I still maintain that I am thest remaining Varakas."


    "Alex, are those people by any chance in this storage bracelet?" she had a strong feeling that the bracelet AI would confirm her suspicions. There were at least six space ships in here. There were also mechas, crafted by Maddox, the original owner of the first manufacturing factory on the blue star before he isted himself away and others started using it. He was the one that found a proper use of the garbage dump and old mechas which had been thrown away. Those pods had to be inside a mecha or a space ship.


    "Yes master and the reason for the urgency is that all life sustaining podse with a date and year of decay. The maximum a pod can keep someone alive is one hundred twenty three years so far. Beyond that, the air supply is cut off and the human suffocates to death in there.Others have automatic features which allow them to open and that is exactly what is going to happen in five seconds."


    She stood up from her seat and panicked, what was he to say to them?


    "Should I send the pods out or let them suffocate?" Alex asked.


    "Out, send them out." she said loudly, she was a grim reaper not a killer. Maddox stated clearly that they were unconscious, not dead. But to sleep for over one hundred years!!!


    The pods appeared in themiddle of the living room and Tion pulled his new energy gun out.


    "Holster your weapon." she ordered him.


    It was easy to see why he was doing so with the new type of transparent pods which vividly exposed two women that were sleeping. To him, they were intruders who appeared out of nowhere.


    "Master, my former master prepared some items for his sister and niece should they ever regain consciousness. Should I send them out as well?"Alex asked.


    "Let''s not jump the gun." she replied. "They are still unconscious, aren''t they?" Was there a guarantee that she could seed where Maddox had failed? "How have they been feeding?" She was rotating around the open pods and observing the two women.


    One was older and she had long blonde hair, she was a beauty at first nce from one side. Her jaw line was well defined, almost as if she had gone to a surgeon that chiseled it perfectly making her beauty even more eye catching. The only w on her was the ugly red burn mark which covered half of her face. It was almost she wore a mask, half pale and half red. It was unsettling, like a beauty had met a monster and they coexisted in one body.


    The younger woman had softer features, she was beautiful too but from her neck, her arm and all exposed parts of her body, she had simr burn marks to her mother. It was so obvious that she was missing a left leg for that part of her body was t.Maddox had not specified their ages so Scarlet had no idea how old they were.


    "They have been feeding through that tube in their arms, their is an automatic feeder attached to the pod which is filled with a year''s worth of nutrients that are injected directly into their veins."


    "Governor," Tion called her, "Please exin this situation."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "These are patients my teacher was treating and he left in my care and now if I don''t do something it''s possible that they could die because the life sustaining pods are naturally decaying. What do you suggest I do?"


    Tion looked thoughtful as he questioned the validity of the exnation she gave without skipping a beat. "Maybe try putting them in a med bed." he suggested.


    "My teacher tried that many years ago and it did not work." she replied.


    "Science changes every year, the new healing fluid in the med beds is different from what was usedst year."he added.


    Right, she thought!, the new med bed was much more efficient than the previous ones. However, in the back of her mind she had questions and doubts about why healing them was a necessity. What if they were hostile? What did she really know about them?


    "Alex is there any other mention about them in the journals?"


    "Just the master mentioning how sorry he was for failing to heal them and how much he loved them."


    "So why didn''t he tell me about them?" she wondered. He could have mentioned them at any moment before she handed his soul over. Did he forget or did he give up on saving them after all he did say that they would die with him.


    She was filled with many doubts but at the end of the day, life was sacred and if she could save them, she would do so. Maybe they would be the ones to get the revenge for their grudges.


    The oxygen in the life sustaining pod was running dangerously low and the situation was bing urgent. "The med beds in the hospital are full."


    "There is one in the castle." Tion reminded her.


    "Let''s go, help me push them." she told him.


    Tion used kinesis to lift the two pods and hurry off to the treatment room in her wing where the younger woman was ced first in the med bed. Hopefully, it would speed up and the mother too would be inside soon enough. It crossed Scarlet''s mind then that perhaps, someone should invent a med bed that could be used by more than one person at the same time.

 Chapter 200 Who Are You?

    ?


    Waiting for a few minutes felt like an eternity to Scarlet as she watched the count down on the med bed until it slid open. "All vitals normal, diagnosis unidentified, illness cured."


    Scarlet scoffed while Tion carried Elora into the med bed and it closed up. She found it curious how the AI of the med bed could proudly say diagnosis unidentified and illness cured at the same time.If you had no diagnosis then what exactly were you curing? Did the makers of the med bed talk about it''snguage with real medical professionals?Perhaps, if the scars were gone and the missing leg had been regrown she would agree with the med bed AI but none of that was done. All it had done was clean up any toxins within her, and cure her internal injuries.


    Oh well, she thought, at least now, the girl was conscious and she was breathing on her own. There was nock for health monitoring bracelets in the castle and she tied one around the girls arm.


    "You should use your kinesis more to do such simple things. It will help you in your mecha sses." Tionmented.


    "I have never used it before." Scarlet replied. Waking up in the morning and being told you had an active super power did not mean you automatically adapted to it. She was used to carrying things in her hands and not floating them in air. If she wanted salt, she asked for it to be passed and did not use her mental strength to slide it over. In her opinion, dinner in their family was chaotic because when they were alone, her brothers and sisters used kinesis to move tes, food, drinks and other things around. Was it so hard to say, "please pass me the salt or the potatoes?"


    "You should begin." Tion said again. "Start with small things like pushing a button, pulling your shoes closer, closing a manually operated door."


    "I will take that under advisement." she replied.


    "That one needs to see a doctor, they both do. I have seen burns like that when mecha warriors explode their mechas as ast resort to kill mutated beasts. They survive because they are dressed in armor but injuries such as these are inevitable. Did your teacher tell you what happened to them?" Tion asked her and he looked at her curiously.


    Silently, she looked back at him and said, "You are overly chatty today."


    "You have encouraged me to talk more around you governor, I am simply doing as you wish."


    "And this is what you wish to begin with." she stated.


    "It is what''s on the table right now. As your personal protector who would die for you, I believe that I should be in the loop with everything that concerns you. Or am I wrong?" he answered calmly, with a softer expression on his face, one that was unlike him. "Your teacher treated them, not you, they could be dangerous to you. You don''t get such injuries by ying around, they were involved in some pretty serious stuff.


    They could be criminals, space pirates, rebels, fugitives from the Lunar federation."


    "They - they are my teacher''s rtives." she said after a small pause. "My teacher gave me a lot of help so I will do the same for them, these two women are royalty on our star. They were harmed by a bad man a long time ago which is how they were injured." She replied with a mixture of truths and lies.


    Maddox had truly helped her with everything in the storage bracelet that he gave her. He also had a small stash of seeds which she would nt in the summer but so far, there was no exnation where the seeds originated. Some of his notes on mecha crafting she had gifted to Carolyn which had improved her skills by leaps and bounds.


    He even had weather monitoring devices which she was going to have installed after winter to monitor the blue star weather better. Maddox''s footprints could not be eliminated in the development of this. His sister and her daughter deserved a chance to start anew here. If they had no memories of who they were, she would not mention their identities to them.


    The med bed opened again with a simr diagnosis and Tion carried Elora out. Unlike Aryn that was still sleeping or unconscious, Elora opened her eyes and with a speed unexpected, she reached out with her right hand and gripped Tion hard by the throat.


    "W-who are you?" she asked in a husky whispery voice.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Let him go dear, you are not in any danger from us." Scarlet said and the woman tilted her head over, looking at Scarlet with cold brown eyes.


    "Ho-how?" she struggled to talk, loosening the grip on Tion''s throat.


    "How do I know your name?" Scarlet responded.


    Elora nodded, and then she started looking around wildly for something, "Ryna," she shouted.


    "Your daughter is here." Scarlet stepped to the side, allowing Elora to get her first look at her daughter who wasying still with her eyes closed.


    Scarlet knew that some things they needed to talk about alone because they could not leave the four walls of this room. "Tion, please go personally and bring professor Sham, also exin the injuries and ask him toe with the proper medication to deal with the illness. Caution him on privacy, until my guests are ready to leave the castle I do not want their presence to be public business. Give thatstmand to Gertrude and the other guards."


    "And your family?" he asked.


    "I will speak to themter." she assured him.


    "I will send someone else to take my ce." he said and he turned around to leave.


    "No, that''s not necessary." she told him. Seeing the unwilling look in his eyes, she added on, "But if it makes you feel better, someone can stand outside the door." She would simply enact a sound barrier in the room to maintain the privacy of their conversation.


    With Tion gone, she sat down in one of the four chairs in the treatment room and waited patiently for Elora to caress Aryn''s face as she cried.She handed her a bottle of water and looked at the time. One minute had gone by while Elora cried.


    "Here, drink some, we do not have a lot of time before the doctor gets here so let''s put our cards on the table. Do you know Maddox?"


    Elora gasped, and she ced her hand over her chest, "My brother, how could I forget? Where is he? What happened to him?"


    Scarlet shook her head and expressed her most sincere regrets through her grey eyes. "I am sorry," she said, "He passed away many months ago."


    "Noooo," Elora ced her hands on her head and she let out a bitter wail. "No, please no." she added and she broke into a very heartbroken cry. Scarlet came closer and patted Elora''s back but the woman shrugged her hand away. She waspletely inconsble.


    Over one hundred years of grief rained down Elora''s eyes in the form of salty tears and high pitched screams. If Scarlet had not enacted sound barriers, her guards woulde charging in here with the expectation of danger.


    The need to talk was urgent with every passing second and even though Scarlet felt bad for Elora, she had other urgent issues to further discuss with her in this borrowed time.

 Chapter 201 One Soul, Four Soul Eaters

    ?


    She grabbed Elora forcefully by the shoulders, shook her like a rag doll and forced the woman to look her in the eyes. "Listen to me," she said sternly, "the doctor will be here soon and he will ask for your details. We or you need to adjust as many things as you can and im amnesia, you don''t remember your past or how you were injured.ording to your brother''s research, some of the people that harmed you and your family are still alive and thriving so your identities cannot be exposed in any way. From now on, you are not Varakas, choose another name. Also, if your face has not changed in the slightest over the past few years we are going to have to change it surgically so that you cannot be recognized. I know you are grieving but listen to me again, you are not Elora Varakas of the house Varakas from now on, you must be someone else. Pick a name, we have ten seconds of privacy left."


    She had just finished exining this when the doors opened automatically and in Tion walked with a flustered professor Sham who looked ill prepared. It almost looked like he had been sleeping when Tion dragged him here.


    "I brought the doctor." Tion announced and he resumed his position, standing in the corner.


    "Mmm, thank you." Scarlet replied and she nced slowly at Elora. "Thank you too foring professor Sham, I apologize for having you brought here under unclear circumstances."


    "It''s no problem governor, I am here to serve you." Professor Sham replied. "Who is the patient?"


    Scarlet gripped Elora''s hand tight onest time, reminding her of what they had just discussed and she stepped aside, allowing the professor to get his first look at the two women."It''s them."


    Professor Sham was a professional doctor indeed, he took in the injuries with a stride. He neither winced or looked on them with disgust but there was a hint of pity in his eyes. "You must have been in terrible pain when this happened to you," he approached Elora and said, "I will do my best to heal you."


    "Thank you," Elora replied stonily.


    Professor Sham tapped his terminal and essed the hospital data base via a hologram which they could all see. It looked like he was preparing to enter their details into the system. "I will require a few details form you like your names, how you were injured and how long you have had the injuries..."


    "That will not be necessary professor." Scarlet cut him off. "Just their names and injuries, they were attacked by space pirates."


    Professor Sham closed his terminal and he looked at Scarlet quizzically, "Is this a matter you want off the records governor?"


    "Yes, professor, I would rather that this stays between us for now." she confirmed. The professor caught on quickly.


    Professor Sham in understanding, when dealing with nobles, royals and governors, there was always secrecy involved in one way or the other."I will still need to keep notes on the course of treatment so I will need names or initials." he exined.


    "Lora Storm." Elora said, "I am Lora, and this is my daughter Arya Storm. We were attacked on our way here to meet the governor a year ago and both of us have been sleeping in pods since then."


    Professor Sham nodded, but he looked at mother and daughter doubtfully. Those scars were skin deep, the injuries were more than a year old. He could guess that maybe five years. The young woman too was missing a leg, AI realistic prosthetics were avable cheaply, why did she have none? But it was not in his position to ask personal questions. He was a healer, not an investigator. "Should I start with you or your daughter miss Lora?" he asked.


    "My daughter." Elora, now Lora replied. Her answer did not surprise them all mothers tended to care more about the injuries of their children than themselves.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Well then," Professor Sham took out gadgets and equipment that he would be using from a back pack. "We will be requiring privacy because the youngdy seems to be injured all over." His eyes were direct at Tion specifically.


    "We will give you privacy." Scarlet replied. Then she looked at Lora and said, "I am going to send some of maids to help you out in the meantime. They will also bring you some food. If you need to reach me you can approach any of the maids and they will alert me. Also, please stay within the castle, a maid can give you a tourter."


    Lora nodded, but her eyes never left her daughter Arya.


    Scarlet left the room with the intention of finding Severus to discuss the herbs he had found to help the people deal with the winter chill.


    "Should they be left alone?" Tion asked her.


    "The entire castle is monitored by cameras and guards, I also have trained dogs patrolling. Besides, they know no one here but me, they are not going anywhere." she answered confidently. It had been one hundred years and they had enemies, Lora was wise enough to know that they needed to stay hidden for now. And naming herself storm!!!! the woman obviously had vengeance on her mind.


    "Where are we going?" Tion asked.


    "I, am going to the hospital and you are going to update this information to the the mecha warrior''s association. I told the officer that you will be sharing the information on the mutated beasts they sent." She ced a terminal in his hands.


    "Are you trying to get rid of me, again?" he asked her, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.


    "Yes," she confirmed with a nod of her head. "It may befuddle you Tion but sometimes, even I need to walk and breathe without smelling you or hearing you. I feel like your prisoner sometimes. I am driving myself to the hospital to talk to the pharmacist. Find me in say, thirty minutes to an hour."


    Tion raised his hands and walked back into the castle.


    She was surprised to see him back off, it seemed so easy but one minute why, she realized why because someone was obviously tailing her.Ignoring that, she drove herself to the hospital for one reason only, that''s where Severus was and he had been urging her to get her ''ass'' over there for the past one minute.When she found him, he was howling loudly, meaning trouble. And it only took her one elevator ride up to the children''s ward to find out why.


    There was a soul of one dead child and around four soul collectors that were here to feast on the innocent soul.


    She sat her body on the nearest chair, popped a sleeping pill and switched to grim reaper mode instantly.


    She grabbed the first reaper with her binding rope and smiled at the other three deviously, "Well," she said, "I am notte to the party, am I? You guys are so greedy, just one soul and four of you are here to feast. Tsk, tsk," she opened her soul gourd and sucked the soul of the dead child inside."Should we do this the hard way or will you walk your ugly legs in?"

 Chapter 202 Now, Now, My Favorite Reaper.

    ?


    "Do you always have to do this?" Severusined with an eye roll. "You want to chat them up as if they understand."


    Scarletughed, again, deviously, "Oh, they understand alright, their greed just gets the better of them always. And I like teasing and taunting them, it makes it fun." she said. "Come on fes," she teased, "Why don''t you try to feast on me? I bet I am much tastier than the itty bitty soul you were all about to prey on before the hound arrived."


    She could see the calctions in their hollow dark eyes as they calcted the odds of three against two since one had already been captured. She did not know how they sensed which reapers were stronger than they were but they could. Once they did, soul eaters would attempt then to fight or flee.


    One attempted to vanish through the open window and she threw out a tiny green me that burned him slowly while the other two soul eaters looked on in shock.


    "I bet you didn''t see thating." she said cockily. "Do you want to see something even more magical?" She released more tiny mes as if she was sprinkling water and they fell like drops of rain onto the soul eaters who now realized it was toote to run.


    Severus shook his head as he watched the soul eaters writhing, all were level two, still weak which is why they had not known better that to escape when they saw a hound and a reaper. It was in their senses t run but the smell of death in the children''s ward had probably overwhelmed them. There were too many sick children in here, not all of them had lived out their full lives but if they were not saved, they would be facing untimely death.


    "Mary had a littlemb...." Scarlet sung as she hopped around the soul eaters like a little kid. Refining soul eaters was not exactly a quick process, but it was a short cut to her cultivation which she had not been progressing as quickly as she liked for a while now.


    "Could you try to enjoy this a little less and feed the kids these pills." He tossed her a small bag of yellow pills that smelled like candies.


    "What are these?" she asked. There were more than five hundred pills in the bag, it was small but had much more space inside than she realized. A storage bag from the underworld, probably one of the cheap ones.


    "Internal heat regtors, the children and many other humans who are not meant to die will live survive." he answered.


    "How much did it cost me?" she asked him. If he was buying pills it was with her soul crystals. They were slowly but steadily dwindling, thank God she could directly refine energy from soul eaters to aid in her cultivation. She had the biggest cheat among all grim reapers in the underworld.


    "Thirty soul crystals, it was cheap." he replied.


    "Cheap my ass." she mumbled. Those were like fifteen souls once delivered, what exactly was cheap about it?


    "I am going to need a lot more if I am to help others beyond the Blue star and I am going to need a human way of making the pills and the herbs. I can''t always rely on underworld pills to do this." she told him.


    "I knew you would say that next so, I purchased a human based recipe, herbs that can be grown here and a cauldron." Severus produced all the things he mentioned. They were all in another storage bag and Severus looked mighty proud of himself. "I did good, right?"


    "How much?" she asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He raised his paw andsaid nervously, "Just three."


    "Three." she replied.


    "Thousand." he added.


    "Youuuu." she yelled loudly at him with wide eyes and the green me burst fourth from her hands.


    Severus was quick to put a distance between himself and her, some parts of his fur that she identally singedst time had just growing back. He did not want to a bold hell hound, that was not a good look on him. "Let''s not be too hasty." he said now that he considered himself to be safe. "You just said it yourself, you needed a recipe and ingredients, I got all that at a discounted price. I even got seeds to grow the herb yourself in preparation for the next winter. You should be rewarding me, not going all crazy green torch."


    Scarlet tilted her head in confusion, "Crazy green torch!!"


    "Yeah, I didn''te up with the name, the old deity did. Apparently, when you go crazy, the green mees out like a torch and since you call him deity he now calls you crazy green torch."


    "That..." Scarlet was almost about to insult the old deity when everything came to a standstill, reminding her eerily of the moment she had transmigrated over and met the old deity. Just as it was then, she could not move but she could, see and hear everything vividly.


    Everything was frozen, including Severus, even the time on therge clock on the wall was not moving. The few children that had been crying a few seconds ago were quiet and a nurse that was about to inject some fluid into a little boy stood still with a green syringe in her hand.


    "Yup!, the old deity was here." Scarlet thought.


    "Hihihi," she heard his familiar voice chuckle and her eyes looked from side to side. "Don''t listen to your hound, how can I call my favorite reaper crazy?"


    ''Because you are...'' Scarlet thought but her thoughts were cut off.


    "Now, now, my favorite reaper, let''s think positively especially about me. I am your teacher after all, your master, the one who has been sending all these brilliant ideas into your head about how to manipte the me. Or did you think that you were suddenly so clever out of the blue? That little sprinkle tiny mes like rain drops move is pretty cool, right? I was inspired when these annoying little monkeys kept shaking the peach trees in Lythia''s garden insistently. I sprinkled some water on them and they went running. Since I have been sharing some great ideas with you, you should appreciate me more dear Scarlet. What do humans say, a master for a day is like a father for life? I am your father dearest, and I have a gift for you." The old deity continued and then he held her hand and ced a bracelet on it.


    Scarlet watched as the bracelet coiled itself around her hand like a little snake and then vanished beneath her skin. In it''s ce was a new tattoo of a ck and gold rope coiled together around a scythe.


    "I cannot have one reaper going around refining soul eaters to increase her strength otherwise you might be tempted to stop reaping souls, allowing them to be eaten because the stronger a soul eater is, the more power you get when you refine them. And when others hear about your special ability because such things never stay hidden forever every reaper will want a special me which is like a one in twenty billion chance.Others will grow to resent you because you will catapult your way to the top unfairly and I will start to receiveints, mumbles and all sorts of noise which I hate. So, from now on, ny percent of the power you get when you refine a soul eater will go into the bracelet and when you visit the underworld it will automatically be directed to where soul crystals are kept. Don''t worry, as a refining vessel, I have left you ten percent. Aren''t I generous?"

 Chapter 203 Lets Discuss Your Husband.

    ?


    Scarlet wanted to yell so many things but even her tongue had been curbed and she could only look on helplessly as the green mes finished refining the soul eaters and the energy was sucked into the tattoo on her hand.


    "Perfect," the old deity dered, "Itworks perfectly, see, don''t you like it when things work out for everyone?" he smiled.


    ''No, I don''t.'' she thought. ''I am on the losing end here.''


    The old deity had her thoughts and he chuckled, "Tsk, tsk, my favorite reaper, why are you so greedy? You have only been around for a few months and soul cultivation takes years. You need to crawl and walk before you can run, don''t be too hasty to take the top spot. The ones up there will tell you that it''s not an easy burden to carry. The stronger a reaper is, the more responsibilities they have on their shoulders. In my opinion, you still have way too many responsibilities at the moment to handle more. Like these little failed experiments that keep being dumped on your world, you should find a way to plug that hole. And then there is your husband."


    Scarlet''s eyes moved around wildly, ''What?'' she thought, ''what about my husband?''


    "Do you know that it takes someone very extraordinary to sense the presence of a deity? Humans cannot sense us, not unless we want them to. For example, a while ago, I passed by the temple where the feeble number of monks you have were praying. Since they are genuine, I lightly made a veiled appearance and most of them copsed immediately. It''s ttering really, they were overwhelmed by my presence."


    ''Or they were shocked to see your three faces.'' Scarlet thought.


    "Oh, that must be it, ah, I should have appeared to them with my handsome face." the old deity touched his face. "I have always been the most handsome deity you know. Ask the female deities, I have the highest charm, charisma, looks and_"


    ''Please get to it and release me already.'' she thought.


    "Tsk. tsk, you have no patience at all dear Scarlet but fine, since you want to know so badly then I will tell you. Lythia asked me to check in on your husband so I poked around, touched his clothes, smelled his hair_"


    ''Creepy much!'' Scarlet thought.


    The old deity poked her head with an unhappy look on his face, "Not creepy, it''s called investigating. I was investigating, but then he sensed me somehow, turned around and sliced the air with that big sword of his. If I was not a deity, he would have got me good. Which brought me to a big conundrum, how does a human sense a deity that is invisible? It''s impossible, absolutely impossible unless we want it to happen. I am beginning to think that maybe there is more to meets the eye than your husband. He is human, I checked, but you have a world with a missing creator so for a few seconds I thought he was it. That maybe he chose to be born as a human because some deities like that kind of thing. They are born in their worlds and they be great men but when they get bored they die heroically and leave."


    ''Great, so you conformed he is human, now let me go.''


    "Not so fast, you see, even though most of my suspicions have been eliminated slightly I cannot turn a blind eye on the situation. The most dangerous thing for humans is for deities to directly have children with human women. It upsets the bnce of things in our realms. Those children are the most bloodthirsty humans you will evere across. They are valiant, brave, courageous and they start wars which kill many, making my life harder. So, to nip this in the bud, I came up with a counter measure, I nt one of my own creatures close to the suspected offspring of a deity and when the dayes that they cause trouble they are killed off by a trusted ally. That''s why some generals are killed by a closemander, CEO''s killed by their most trusted secretaries, presidents by their closest bodyguards and so on and so forth. You must be wondering why I am telling you this and the answer is that, I will continue testing your husband asionally, and his son too. Should the little one be a danger to humans I will employ my counter measure so take care to ensure that the boy walks on the straight and narrow. I will be seeing you around my dearest Scarlet." The old deity disappeared and everything was as it had been.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The crying children resumed, the nurse injected a little boy, the soul eaters were gone and the soul gourd was closed.


    Scarlet noticed that her hand was trembling and she shook it out. "What was that?" she asked Severus. "Why did Lythia tell the old deity to look in on my husband?"


    "I don''t know but I will go an find out right now. You stay here and feed the children the pills." Severus answered quickly and he vanished.


    She returned to her body, very unnerved by what the old deity had said. From now on, she would have to monitor Justin closely and protect him from any suspicious close friends. The old deity was probably screwing with her since he had said it himself that he had confirmed that Esong was human. If Esong was human, Justin was also human, there was nothing to be worried about, she convinced herself.


    She roused herself slowly from the chair and stretched her hands, giving off the appearance of someone that had just risen from sleep.


    "Hello governor," the nurse in the ward smiled and bowed slightly to her. "Did the children wake you?"


    "No," she raised the pouch in her hand, "I came to bring some relief pills, help me distribute them. Every child should eat one and then the other patients in the hospital who are suffering from that unknown chill should do the same."


    "Then I should call others to help, if it works it will be such good news. We have already lost one child to the illness and three adults." The nurse buzzed others and called them to the children''s ward.


    Soon, every child had taken a pill and they werefortably sleeping. Rosiness was returning to their previously pale cheeks and parents were being updated on the positive turn of events.


    As she left the ward, parents thanked her, wanting to shake her hands or kneel down but she would not let them.Suddenly, when she saw them crying and relieved, the three thousand thirty crystals did not matter anymore.


    Passing by the pharmacy, she surrendered the recipe, a few herbs and a cauldron. Thatst one had her feeling silly because therge jade cauldron looked so ancient in a room filled with smart, modern equipment.


    Eventually, Tion came and picked her up, returning her to the castle where she locked herself away in her bedroom after checking in on Justin. She had to cultivate, n and think. as she awaited Severus''s return with some useful answers hopefully.

 Chapter 204 Story Time.

    ?


    It took Severus a whole night in the underworld just to return and confirm all that the old deity had said, exactly as he said it. ording to him, Lythia had matched the old deity''s statements, word for word.


    So, when she was having breakfast with her family, Scarlet was holding Justin''s hand and treating him with extra love and more care than usual. Little Justin who had no idea about the anxieties in his mother''s heart was simply opening his mouth like a baby bird and enjoying the sweet pancakes she was feeding him.


    After breakfast, she insisted on carrying him personally to one of the buildings in the outer area of the main castle which had been built into a library. She had named it Maddox library, after the man who made her wealthy in the underworld and here.


    Maddox library was constructed like a cave on the inside, the walls were white and the supporting pirs were of royal blue and gold. It was spacious, quiet and peaceful, a perfect ce for solitude. When she could, she would put in an aquarium, perhaps that was all that was missing in this beautiful ce. With the technology of the interster, physical books were not verymon so the tradition of reading one was just picking up speed but slowly, like a snail thousands of miles away from the ocean.


    To grow the reading culture, she was starting out with the children, once a week every Wednesday after breakfast, the children would be brought to the castle for story time with the governor in Maddox library. It should have been a private event but Mr. Rodney decided to turn it into a live broadcast.Scarlet who wanted to sell physical books agreed when she calcted how much she could make.


    There were about thirty children here today, sitting together closely in a enclosure that looked like an oval pod. Looking at them, she smiled because they were chattering with excitement and ying with some kittens. The number was less than she expected but some were still in the hospital while other parents did not want their children to leave the house in winter.


    "Great turn out." Beord said to her.


    "Eh," she shook her hand back and forth to indicate that it was sort of great but not so much.


    "Governor Scarlet," principal Stash a jolly older woman with abutt chin came over to her and grabbed her free hand with so much excitement. "It''s s nice to see you again governor, I was hoping that we would meet and talk when the school term was ended but your husband showed up instead. I have been revising the curriculum you gave us for the preschool section and I think some of the ideas are simply wonderful. Engaging the children in arts and crafts_"


    "Principal Stash," Scarlet blurted out, then she lowered her voice and said, "Perhaps we should discuss this another time since we are supposed to be here briefly and some of the children might be antsy or tired. Maybe we should schedule a meeting with other teachers to discuss the curriculum." Scarlet at this point was just saying anything that would get principal Stash to keep quiet for a while. It was well known that Susan Stash could talk the ear off of any person if they let her.


    "Oh, silly me, look at me, I just bubble on and on sometimes." Principal Stash blushed and fanned her face with her hands. It was her worst trait and she knew that at times, some people found it irritating.She really did not mean to irritate the governor with her talkativeness.


    "That''s okay, I talk a lot too sometimes but it''s cold." Scarlet reminded her, "You should cover up, put on your winter hat and gloves, I would not want you to fall ill. Our little children depend on you a lot, you are like a big tree for them but if you fall down where will they run to for shade?"


    Principal Stash smiled hard and squeezed her eyes tight, "Governor," she said, sounding like a teenage girl that had been ttered by the teenage boy she had a crush on. "I am not that great."


    "Yes, you are." Scarlet insisted.


    "I like you principal Stash." Justin chimed in and made a finger heart.


    Principal Stash smiled and replied, "I like you too Justin." she made a finger heart too. "I should go and settle them down." she pointed to the children and hurried away.


    Beord bent Scarlets head down slightly and checked her ears, then he said, "I did not have to rescue you from Susan Stash and your ears are not bleeding. Good God that woman is a talker, I don''t know how her husband does it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Maybe he enjoys it." Scarlet shrugged.


    Beord gave Scarlet an inquiring look and he said, "You have never met Susan Stash''s husband have you? He works for me you know."


    Scarlet shook her head because indeed, she had never met the man.


    "His name is Hub, Hub Leslie and I have never met a man more unwilling to talk than him. Everything you say, he grunts in return. Tell me how a man that is unwilling to talk married a woman that never stops talking. It''s a mystery, one that warrants investigating." Beord continued looking on in the direction Principal Stash had walked.She was talking to the children now, waving her hands around as they settled down.


    All the children were waving back, settling down and obviously very happy to see her.


    Scarlet replied, "As long as she is good to the children and they don''t mind, all is well."


    "Mummy," Justin wiggled in her arms and said, "I have to go, Bubu saved me a space."


    She let him go and he run towards another little boy, one who was starting to look slightly chubby. He was well dressed and neat, in his arms was a small round blue ball.


    "You have been watching your son with worry in your eyes since morning little sister, what gives?" Beord asked her. He was not the only one to notice this behavior at the table. Everyone knew that she was the kind of mother that hovered and maybe asionally smothered her son but she was being extra today.


    She sighed, and sent Justin a finger heart when he waved at her, "I just love him so much." she answered.


    "And the love is boiling over today?" Beord asked in a voice that wasced with doubt and sarcasm.


    She smiled mysteriously and tapped his back twice, "It boils everyday brother, you will understand when you have one of your own."


    Since she couldn''t exin her mythical worries, she used the same old line all those with children gave to those that did not have children. ''You will understand when you have your own.''


    "It''s time," Mr. Rodney yelled into a megaphone and other people held their hands over their ears when it made a loud screeching sound.


    "Sorry," Mr. Rodney yelled into it again.


    Scarlet meanwhile walked on to the small podium before the children, sat down on afortable mattress with pillows just as the children were doing and she asked them, "Kids, are you ready for story time?"

 Chapter 205 Call Me Snow White

    ?


    The children pped, very excited for the stories they had never heard about before. Because Mr. Rodney had announced that the live broadcast would be of her reading a story to children, it was filled mostly with parents, children and a few curious individuals.


    Some unusual viewers were participating too, using their secret ounts like the emperor who always faithfully watched her live broadcasts because he was a foodie. The empress who was learning to cook for her husband, Samael Rogan who wanted to study every move of the woman he considered his arch nemesis and a general who had been up all night fighting more Draco''s. No more mecha warrior lives had been lost thankfully because of his wife''s knowledge.


    "I will be telling you the story of a princess named Snow white, it takes ce in another world, in a kingdom far, far away." Scarlet spoke softly, using hand gestures and hoping that she woulde out of this sounding like a good narrator and doing the story justice. "It was in the middle of winter and the snow-kes were falling like feathers from the sky, and a queen sat at her window working, and her...."


    While she read, she captivated the attention of her little audience, Esong drifted off to sleep and thements in the live broadcast were filled with questions.


    [What is embroidery?]


    [Why was the princess named snow white?]


    [Is there winter in other worlds?]


    When she reached the part of the story with the mirror on the wall, Scarlet pulled a small hand held mirror from her storage bracelet and showed it to the children.


    "Looking ss upon the wall,


    Who is the fairest of us all?"


    "And the looking ss would answer,


    You are the fairest of them all."


    [So the mirror talks, ha, what a stupid story.]


    [Where can I buy a hand held talking looking ss?]


    [I believe I am the fairest maiden in the empire. ]


    [This years star daily dered Ca Ebony the most beautiful woman in the Sun star so does this mean she is the fairest of us all?]


    Meanwhile, Scarlet who was not even looking at thements continued,


    "Queen, you are full faire, ''tis true


    But Snow-white is fairer than you."


    "This gave the queen a great shock, and she became yellow and green with envy, and from that hour her heart turned against Snow-white, and she hated her." Scarlet paused, allowing the suspense to sink in and making the listeners even more desperate to listen to what happened next.


    "Should I keep going?" she asked the children.


    "Yes," the children answered and they pped.


    "Since the little ones want to hear more, then I will continue."Scarlet turned the page in the colorful red and white book she was holding.


    The adults who were taken in with the story too longed to pull the book out of her hands so that they could read it for themselves at a faster pace and get to the end.


    Mr. Rodney was smiling happily as he monitored the views because the eight thousand viewers in the beginning were now three million. It was a small number, a lot less than what she pulled in when she was cooking but it was growing slowly.


    When Scarlet reached the part where part where the queen ordered for Snow white to be killed, the children and adults gasped alike.


    [That is so cruel, how can you kill someone for being more beautiful than You?]


    [Down with the wicked queen.]


    [Poor snow white, I hope she survives.]


    In the royal pce, the empress looked at her husband and daughter who were saying, ''what a cunning queen'' and she thought, ''do they realize that I am cunning queen?'' And, why were they so invested in the story? She was d that she had no step children otherwise people would soon begin poking into their welfare, wondering if she was just like snow white''s wicked step mother.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    One hourter, Scarlet finished the story and the children cheered, some jumping around even as they celebrated snow white''s victory over the wicked queen. Scarlet even saw principal Stash wiping a tear away from her eyes.


    "Did you enjoy the story?" Scarlet asked the children.


    "Yes." the children nodded.


    "Governor," one girl raised her hand and said, "I will be called snow white from now on."


    "Oh, is that true little princess?" she teased.


    "No, I want to be snow white."


    "Me too."


    Because the live broadcast was still ongoing, people could see the girls all iming to be snow white. In the pce, the third princess tilted her crown upright and she said smugly, "We can''t all be snow white."


    "But you are not her." the queen said in a puzzled voice.


    "I am a princess, ergo, snow white." the third princess exined as logically as she could.


    "Still..." the empress wanted to voice her doubts on this wed logic but her daughter kicked her feet childishly as if she was throwing a tantrum.


    "Ah, mother..." sheined.


    "Okay," the empress backed off and said, "You are snow white."


    "Mother, where can I get a talking mirror?" the third princess asked the empress.


    The empress shrugged and said, "Ask Markay."


    "Kids, stop arguing and listen to me," Scarlet and principal Stash calmed the children down because she wanted to exin some more things. "The moral or what I want you to learn from the story is the danger of vanity and greed. True beautyes from inside, not outside." she touched her heart to show the inside and her face to show the outside.


    [So she was teaching the children a lesson through the story, I have also learned something.]


    [Does everyone remember that online fight between Scarlet and Bejeweled? I remember the other woman insulted Scarlet''s looks and rubbed her family''s wealth in her face. Could this be rted to it?]


    [Do you mean bejeweled is the evil queen and Scarlet is Snow white.]


    [I remember that scandal, I was an anti fan of Scarlet''s back then.]


    "This ends our story time here children, I will see you all here next Wednesday for another story. The physical book of snow white''s fairy tale is avable for sale at the purchase point of the Maddox library and on star at blue star fairytale.. Until next time, Scarlet out."


    As she was bidding the online viewers goodbye, the children were already getting up and being organized to exit the reading room carefully.Scarlet stayed back and patiently waited for them all to leave before she carried Justin up in her arms.


    "Did you have fun?" she asked him.


    "Yes mummy, story time is better with my friends." he replied. Usually she read stories to him alone before bed.


    "Then what story should we read next time?" she asked him. "Jack and the beanstalk, little red riding hood, sleeping beauty, Cindere."


    "Are those all stories you came up with governor?" Principal Stash who had been slowly following them asked. "Do you have physical books that I can purchase before the reading next time?"


    Scarlet stopped walking and she looked around the library, then she said, "There are many books here principal, you are always wee to find a book, get afortable spot and read. You will discover many hidden gems on your own."


    Some of thefortable reading spots were solo pods which gave off the effect of one reading by the side of the ocean. Others under the stars, or sitting in a sunny grasnd. It was a readers paradise the Maddox library, if people fell in love with reading then she would build many more."My husband is calling, principal, I should answer this privately." she showed her bracelet to the principal and the woman excused herself.

 Chapter 206 Alice The Sweetest

    ?


    She gave Justin to one of the guards and asked him to be taken to one of his two grandmother''s.


    "Bye mummy," he kept waving and shouting loudly as he left.


    "Mmm, bye baby." she waved back and shouted just as loudly. Both mother and son ignored the first library rule which was maintain silence at all times. The head librarian was a stern looking woman that Scarlet hired because she adhered to the rules in every situation no matter who the person was. Originally, she was supposed to be the head of all castle maids rmended by her mother but Scarlet diverted her to the library.


    The woman, who insisted on being called madam Olga was reserved and she liked keeping to herself so library work suited her perfectly. Olga made it no secret that she was frowning at Scarlet for viting the most important rule of the library.


    "Sorry madam Olga," Scarlet ducked quickly out of the library and found a spot outside to answer the call. Esong must have really wanted to speak to her so desperately if he was this persistent.


    She smiled, took one deep breath and answered the video hologram call. "Hey," she said which was followed up by a quick "You are not my husband."


    "I am his assistant, Dez Mino." the other party replied.


    "Okay," Scarlet nodded, "Where is my husband Mr. Dez Mino?"


    "He is sleeping currently which is a good thing because he has not had any good sleep ever since winter arrived. I apologize for using his terminal to contact you, I did not mean to vite your privacy or his. I wanted to discuss the new internal heat medicine which you sent the mecha warriors association. Did you personally make it?"


    "Yes," she replied, She could not say that another grim reaper that you cannot meet or talk to made the pills. "Is there a problem with the pills?"


    "A few mecha warriors have fallen asleep after taking the pills. Is this a side effect of the medicine or has something else gone wrong." Dez asked her.


    "It''s a side effect, I mentioned it in the brief which I sent along with the pills. If you had read it you would not be contacting me but we both know that nothing goes into a mecha warrior''s body especially during the winter without a very thorough investigation so why are you contacting me really?"


    Dez Mino bit his lip and scrunched his eyes, then he said, "Okay, you got me, I just wanted to speak to you and feel you out. The general he has changed, he smiles more, he got a tattoo and he says he misses home. I just needed to look at you maybe, talk and see if all these new changes are a permanent thing. We are in the ugly season, I do not want him to break down as he once did because of you. It will be bad for us all if you changed your mind and went back to being evil you."


    Scarlet rolled her eyes andughed, ''Evil me!!, now that''s a new one. Look, I appreciate you being so nosy and looking out for him but he is fine, I am fine, we are fine, the medicine I sent is fine and everyone is fine. There is no evil me, so next time you need to talk about something, contact me personally. I think us being in contact could also be a good thing because thest time I reached out and couldn''t get through to him I was worried. It will be good to have someone that updates me daily on his condition. For example is he eating?"


    "One meal a day, sometimes two, it''s always much worse in the capital than other ces really." Dez blew air out of his mouth in a loud sigh that made his lips vibrate.Esong shifted his body and Dez''s eyes widened, "Gotta go." he hung up abruptly.


    She was left astonished by his behavior, knowing that if Esong found out what he had done, he would probably be in trouble. She looked at the time and remembered that she had a division one fighting up in less than ten minutes.


    Rushing her steps, she made her way to her private training room and prepared herself by entering the virtual world with her helmet. She recognized some members of her family in the arena closest to her and she waved at them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This was a scheduled fight, one in which she was not the challenger but the challenged. It was not the norm for someone of high ranking on the virtual champions roll to challenge someone in a lower position but the pdins had probably be impatient and decided to seek her out because she was making no move to challenge them.


    Some attributed it to fear, othersck of skill and a few imed that she had only climbed so far due to sheer luck and her luck had finally run out. Those who knew that she was the governor of the blue star however were well aware of how busy she was. She did not live for the mecha fights as they did and she would return when she had time.


    She was sitting in the assigned sitting area for all challengers or challenged that were waiting before their fights. "Hound, hound, do you have anything to say before the fight?" she was suddenly osted by a reporter.


    "Noment." she replied but the reporter would not leave her alone. ''Was it legal to beat up a reporter in the virtual world?'' she wondered.


    "Ohe on, say something, you have been hiding away for months like a coward and the people have a right to know what''s on your mind." the reporter said, shoving her rudely in the shoulder.


    "Seriously, you guys don''t even rest in the virtual world," a woman that was sitting next to Scarlet pushed the reporter to the side. "No press is allowed here, beat it or I will report you for vition of yer''s privacy."


    The reporter unhappily backed away, but not before taking a picture of both women against their will.


    "Stupid paparazzo." the woman muttered. "They are not even real reporters. Are you okay?" she looked at Scarlet with that question.


    "I am okay, thank you for your help." she replied. "I did not know that reporters or paparazzi could work in this world. It''s a virtual world after all."


    The womanughed and raised one eyebrow which was pierced, three piercings to be exact. "You don''t spend much time in the virtual world, do you? Come to think of it, I have never seen you here on the benches. I have heard about you of course, the female fighter in weird ck armor that has a picture of a fierce dog, you are the hound."


    "Or you just heard the paparazzo call me hound and now you know who I am." Scarlet countered with a smile. "But you would be correct on that. What''s your name?"


    "Alice, the sweetest." she replied.


    Scarlet was a bit surprised because this was a name from the virtual roll, number two in division one as a matter of fact. "You are the one with a picture of her back instead of her face."


    "Yeah," Aliceughed casually, "Why expose my pretty face when my skills are all in my hands and feet?"she folded her fists and wriggled her feet.


    "Why that name, Alice, the sweetest?" Scarlet was curious about that. She had been curious ever since she first heard the name.


    "Because, my pain is sweet sweet pleasure." she winked. "But I guess you will never know because after number ten tonight you will be challenging number one.Which means, you and I will not be getting a chance to meet in the division one fights, right?"

 Chapter 207 Has The Hound Run Out Of Luck?

    ?


    The woman''s predictions were quite urate and not surprising because mecha fights had analysts and predictors who watched the games and liked to foreshadow. These game analysts were highly followed, sought after and well known in the mecha fightingmunity. This special skill of theirs could even break down the moves of a fighter giving their opponent enough time to learn their skills and find a way to maneuver every pitfall, leading to a victory.


    She had no intention of denying what Alice, the sweetest and thousands of fans already knew. So, she admitted to it, "Yes," Scarlet said, "It was never my intention tog around in division one, I neither have the time nor the passion to dedicate myself to the fights frankly."


    "So," Alice bent her head slightly and poked her face directly in front of Scarlet''s. "Is it true then that you are the governor of the female blue star? Everyone talks about it but there is no official confirmation like an interview or a star note."


    "I am." She confirmed with a smirk, It was no secret after all.


    "Well I will be damned!!! I am sitting with royalty over here," Alice shook her head in a round movement and she made a weird facial expression. "What''s it like being royal? Do you all really sleep in gem studded beds and drink nutrient solutions synthesized from S ss mutated beasts."


    Scarlet was surprised by the woman''s enthusiasm on equating her identity with royalty. Now that she thought about it closely, she was royalty by virtue of being Esong''s wife!!!!


    "Hot damn, I am a royal!!" Scarletughed.


    "Yes you are." Alice concurred.


    "But I don''t sleep in a gem studded bed and I eat food instead of nutrient solutions." Scarlet added.


    "Umph.!" Alice mumbled. "Look, that''s your picture, you are up next, good luck hound."She literally pushed Scarlet up towards the ring and cheered her on from the side.


    While Scarlet went entered the ring amidst excited cheers of the overly enthusiastic audience, Alice jumped up and down from the her seat as if they were the closest of friends. Some of the division one fighters who were watching or waiting for their turns to fight were amused and puzzled.When did Alice the aloof and crude as they called her start making friends or supporting other fighters?


    "Hey Alice," a male fighter that called himself, Doom shouted her name, calling for her.


    Alice turned her head around and raised two eyebrows, ''What?" she asked in a somewhat stern voice.


    "When did you be so friendly with the hound?" Doom asked her. "It''s not as if she ever hangs out with any of us."


    "And why should she? " Alice challenged Doom''s questions with one of her own. Seeing that he was tongue tied with no sensible reply to her query, Alice turned to the front, cheering and jumping as well. In her eyes, these other fighters were all fools, for one, the hound was a good fighter Two, she was excellent strategist in the ring, and three she was a governor, a royal, the owner of a which had food and money. In division two, you needed not just skills but sponsors to fight, the hound could be useful to her when the time came. If the others did not see her value, they were blind and she would not be sharing her thoughts with them.


    The usual introductions were made and the hound finally met the Northern pdin, number ten on the virtual champions roll. He was dressed as his brothers, all decked in white with a white staff that had been altered. The head o the staff was wider, with a curved de at the top.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You should have known when to stop, hound, give up right now and I will not harm you." he said her name with disdain, as if it was distasteful, and threatened her menacingly.


    She chuckled lightly and titled her head, "Aww, are you afraid that I might give you a boo-boo northy?" she mocked in a childish voice. "Let''s just fight, I have no more than thirty minutes."


    She did not even hesitate to release one of her whips and aim it at him with so much energy, as much as she could muster with her D level mental strength. She aimed for his face because the entirety of his body had been covered up with vemirite armor. It was hard for simple weapons to prate vemirite.


    She did not wait to see what his next move would be as she used the momentum of the wind st to jump high and twist her body around, throwing out her second whip, aiming for his throat.


    The Northern pdin cursed in his heart, for he was not expecting her to be so direct. While he avoided her whips, he sent out the curved de from his staff, aiming for her eyes, if she could not see, she could not whip.


    Scarlet was not afraid, she kept moving forward, directly confronting the de whipping it with her ropes from every angle that it attacked while defending herself against the power kicks the pdin sent out. His strongest skill was in his feet it seemed because the power kicks carried the most energy, The closer she came, the more her opponent backed away, extremely agitated because most fights involved distance and avoidance as if they were tap dancing around each other.


    She, on the other hand was like a maniac, she just kepting forward like a mutated beast and trying to reach him.


    In the audience, a teenage boy said to his friend, "This would be cooler if we could bend like in avatar, imagine this fight if they were benders."


    "She would be earth bending the hell out of him right now." his friend replied.


    "Finish him!!!" a third member of their party of three shouted. This fight, the hound had taken time to showcase her skills, not rushing like thest one.


    But Scarlet would not hear the trio as her attention was on the pdin whose de had just grazed her cheek.Scarlet stood still in the middle of the ring, touching her cheek, so close to her mouth, on the area where the de would have opened her up if she had not been swift.


    "The hound had been injured, I repeat, the hound has been touched by the pdin''s de." the game announcer enthusiastically announced and the audience went wild. Was this it? Was the hound''s short lived sessful run finally over? Those who had bet money on the hound to win crossed their fingers and hoped or prayed that this would not be the case. Those who did not bet but knew a few friends or rtives that did looked around for such people, wanting tough at them and remind them of the many adverts on star and televisions which cautioned them against betting or imed it was dangerous for their health.


    It was not unusual on the sun star however, for one toe out of winter with an empty ount, betting on mecha fights was the number one cause of poverty in the empire. It was also one of the quickest ways to get rich quickly so that axe swung both ways, you could engage in it at your own risk.


    "Has her luck finally run outdies and gentlemen?" the announcer continued on.

 Chapter 208 I Surrender

    ?


    The Su''s were up on their feet, outraged and worried because their daughter and sister was injured. Even if it was an injury in a virtual world, the fear that one''s loved one was injured was not aware of any such fact. It was just as real as it would be if she were injured in the real world.


    Adler was tittering on the brink of desperation to pull her out of there. It was just one fight, it was okay to lose, train hard and return. "She should surrender now." He said worriedly.


    "When have you ever seen your sister surrender?" Dorian asked Adler. "She would rather send them both into the oblivion portal than say those words."


    And Dorian was right because of the way Scarlet was eyeing the northern pdin with a mysterious unsettling smile beneath her mask while he celebrated his small victory over her as if the match itself had ended and he, dered the victor.


    "I warned you hound." The northern pdin said with arrogance. That brimming smirk on his face was so crystal clear, like a shiny soul crystal. "Surrender now."


    Over on the benches were the yers sat, Doom shouted, "Hey Alice, guess things are not so sweet now, huh."


    A few yers chuckled mockingly at his words, some even tapping their hands together in a high five.


    "Idiots." Alice mumbled and she gave Doom the middle finger.


    "Anytime Alice." Doom responded and heughed again, in a nasty way with his friends.


    "Fucking idiots!!!!" Alice mumbled again. She kept her eyes on Scarlet who was looking at the time for the third or fourth time since the fight started. In her opinion the hound was not one to prolong fights like this, so why was she doing it? And why did she keep looking at the time? "Come on hound." She said loudly and she pped.


    In the ring, Scarlet waited for the northern pdin whose hands were up in the air, rallying the crowds to chant his name, to finish his celebration before she held her arm out and whispered, ''nightmare.''


    "That''s the weird mind distortion move, she is doing it now." The Eastern pdin shouted.


    "We prepared him for this." The Western pdin replied, calm down. They were all sure it would not work and the hound would be eating loser''s dust today.


    Unfortunately, today was not that day because ten seconds in, the northern pdin started to scream as if he was being tortured and suffering great agony.


    "What is she doing to him?" Many in the arena had the same question.


    "Is this legal?"


    While they were asking themselves many questions, the northern pdin turned around, run and threw himself into the portal of oblivion.


    This was a very unusual way of ending a fight, it was certainly the first of it''s kind because when one was defeated and surrendered, they usually said the words, ''I surrender.'' No one actually threw themselves into the portal of their own volition.


    There was a mutual stunned silence in the arena which made Scarlet want tough. Was this such an abnormal phenomenon? She could not just stand here in the ring forever waiting for them to remember her.


    "Host, do I win or not?" She asked.


    The host looked at the judges and they raised the red g.


    "The hound wins." The host dered, " Ladies and gentlemen, the hound has officially joined the top ten on the division one virtual champions roll."


    Her hand was raised high and the trumpets which were sounded for the victor yed.


    "Do you intend to challenge anyone right now?" The host asked her.


    She looked at the time and realized that she had seven more minutes. "I still have some time, soooo number eight." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The crowd went wild, and those who wanted to ce new bets got their fingers ready.


    The host looked up in the arena, in a VIP area where the top ten sat. They did not share the benches with other yers because they were different, they were the top of the division after all and it was only Alice, the sweetest who liked toe down and see how the other half lived as she always said. The host said into his microphone, "Is number eight avable for a challenge?"


    The top ten had specially assigned seats and a light shone on number eight''s seat which was upied by a young man fully draped in armor of gold. He called himself the golden wasp, his most preferred weapon of choice were a pair of long thin swords that could sting like insects, if he touched a single part of your body once with one of his thin swords, it was over.


    "I ept," he said, "And surrender." The young man added with a cheeky smile on his face.


    "W-what?" The host asked in surprise that could not be hidden.


    Even the audience was taken aback and those who were preparing themselves to bet wore wry expressions on their faces. Why was he surrendering? At least get in the ring and be beaten up for our enjoyment before surrendering.


    Most of therge screens in the arena were showing golden wasp''s unbothered face and only two were showing Scarlet''s bored one.


    "Now golden wasp, do I quote you right when I say, you surrender?" The host asked.


    Golden Wasp raised one eyebrow and he looked at the camera and asked, "What, is it illegal to surrender?"


    Scarlet looked at the time and bit her lip, "Mr. host, I challenge number five then." She dered loudly.


    "What?"


    "Eh?"


    "Is she crazy?"


    "She is allowing small victories to cloud her judgement."


    It was one thing to go for number eight buting for number five now straight up was too bold.


    The host on the other hand was excited, if golden wasp was a coward, number five Crazy Jerry was not, for he was the loose canon of division one.


    Crazy Jerry could never turn down a fight and in fact, he always sought out more fights than he could handle.


    "There you have itdies and gentlemen, number five, crazy Jerry has been challenged, will he face the challenger the hound?" The host added more gusto and exaggeration to his words and actions, seeking to excite and enthrall the audience. "Number five, do you ept the challenge?"


    All eyes were on number five, Crazy Jerry who wore vemirite armor of many colors as if a rainbow had spit up on him. He was bold by choice on the front of his head but he had a long ponytail at the back.


    His skin was smooth and pink like a egg which presented quite the contrast in his looks because other than going out of his way to make himself look ridiculous, Crazy Jerry was a handsome man. His preferred fighting style wasbat and direct confrontation, Crazy Jerry liked to smash his opponents like rocks into the ground until he was forcibly pulled away from them.


    When crazy Jerry stood up, the crowd went wild, screaming in anticipation for a bloody fight in which the hound would be defeated.


    "Oh, I can''t watch this." Mega Su logged out of the virtual world immediately. Watching her baby being squashed like soft potatoes under crazy Jerry was not her definition of a fun fight.


    The other Su''s would have followed her too but they stayed on for moral support. When Scarlet looked over, they had to be there whether she was winning or losing.


    On the screen, Adler thought he was deaf when he heard the words, "I ept and surrender,"ing from Crazy Jerry''s mouth.

 Chapter 209 The Luckiest Hound Strikes Again.

    ?


    The host''s hand trembled slightly and his eyes were filled with both amazement and rage. Were these fighters here to sabotage the fights? What the hell did they think they were doing by surrendering without fighting?


    "Crazy Jerry," he said slowly, "Think about your words, are you sure that it is your aim to surrender?"


    Crazy Jerry, unlike the host who was dismayed, was very nonchnt and he even smiled, "I surrender." he repeated, "The hound wins."


    "What?"


    "What does he mean?"


    "Are they all colluding?"


    "Give us our money back if you are colluding?"


    Suddenly, more than one unhappy voice shouted in the arena, all calling for the return of their money. Some were booing while others screamed in excitement because if the fighters were afraid to fight the hound then she had to be a very strong contender for top position.


    "Please calm down," the host said to the crowd, "We have yet to understand why crazy Jerry is surrendering. Crazy Jerry please exin your reasons for surrendering."


    "Exin."


    "We need answers."


    "The fight has been rigged."


    Above the arena in VIP seats, one of the directors of the mecha fights had been called to assess the situation and he was cursing up a storm.The fights were a money making venture, did these fighters think they were here to y games?


    "Don''t let her challenge anyone else today." he yelled to the host.


    "Before Crazy Jerry can formally address the question, we are dering the hound the winner. As of now, the hound is the new number five on the virtual champions roll." The victory pomp was quickened so that they could get rid of her from the stage before she could say anything else. "Ladies and gentlemen, give the hound onest round of apuse as she heads towards the VIP seats."


    Scarlet almost petntly dragged her legs because she was practically being shoved off the stage but her thirty minutes were up. Since she had no intention of sitting around, she waved at Alice, grabbed the host''s mic and said to the crowd, "This lucky hound will see you all at my grand finale." Then, she saluted, smirked and left the virtual world.


    She wasughing when she opened her eyes, feeling extremely cheerful for the havoc she had just created and the bomb she dropped before leaving.


    It was a bomb alright because even as the host med the crowds in the virtual world, word was already spreading. When the hound returned, she would be gunning for number one.


    "Haha," the host wasughing dryly, "The hound is full of surprises really, now crazy Jerry, what were you saying?"


    Crazy Jerry shrugged and said, "I am a man of fists and the hound likes to mind games. You all saw what the former number ten did, he leaped into oblivion on his own. I would rather not humiliate myself, the best fighter is one who knows when the opponent has the upper hand."


    "Boooo!!"


    "Cowards."


    "Fight her."


    There were many reactions from the crowd, most of them negative. They would rather watch them lose the fights and be humiliated than surrendering easily without a fight.


    "If you think you can take on her mind maniption skill, go ahead, I wee you. No, I challenge you." Crazy Jerry added, looking at the crowd.Then she returned to his position, he got to where he was by proving his capabilities and there was nothing more for him to prove.


    "Wise choice." the golden wasp bent forward and told crazy Jerry. "Number ten is already being humiliated on star, we have our reputations to think about."


    The others agreed with him because everyone up here could fight the other head on confidently because they understood each other but not the hound, she was an anomaly that came out of nowhere with no n to stay long. Let the anomaly leave the division and they could battle amongst themselves.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Move it along." the director told the host.


    "Next in the ringdies and gentlemen...."


    Scarlet drained one whole bottle of water first before leaving the training room and finding her way to the living room. "Gertrude," she called as she walked, "I need a massage." she mumbled.


    Slowly, as she walked, a random thought crossed her mind, ''could she levitate instead of walking?'' Was it possible with mental strength? She had not seen anyone doing it however did that mean it could not be done?


    Stopping herself, she stood in one ce and looked at her feet, and then she concentrated hard, willing her mind to lift her body. She was frowning so much that she almost appeared to be constipated but she was forcing her body to relieve itself. Tion, who was following her from a distance away was quite puzzled by her bizarre behavior.


    "What are you doing?" a woman''s voice surprised her from behind.


    "Shit!" she said as she went down head first, crashing into the floor.


    However, before she could actuallynd on the floor, her body was suspended and then slowly but gently returned to an upright position."


    Woah!" she eximed and turned around to look at Tion and the owner of the voice, Lora. "Which one of you did that?"


    "That would be her." Tion pointed to Lora and said.


    The woman had a thin white mask covering the side of her face which professor Sham was treating. She was standing behind Scarlet in a in white jumpsuit, white shoes and a thick white long cotton jacket covering her from head to toe.


    "That''s my jacket." Scarlet said.


    "And that''s my bracelet." the woman replied coldly.


    Scarlet gasped and hid her arm behind her back. "Is not." she said like a child. "It just looks the same." She brought her hand forward again because she recalled that only two people could use this bracelet and one was dead. "I have yours in my bedroom."


    "Then I would like to have it, bring it to the room." Lora said. "I would also like to have a meal now, one for my daughter too because she has finally risen." She turned around and walked away after dispensing orders as if she was the owner of the castle.


    "I don''t work for you, you know." Scarlet shouted at Lora''s fading backside. "And that is still my jacket."


    "I don''t think she cares." Tion told her.


    Looking at Tion, Scarlet, looking extremely childish said, "I will not take anything to her, I am not her maid."


    "I never said you were." Tion replied.


    "Humph." She spun around and squeezed her eyes shut briefly because they both knew she would give someone orders to take mother and daughter a meal. In addition to that, she would personally deliver the storage bracelet to Lora so that they would discuss other things. "Aah, she is so cold." Scarlet muttered.


    Tion, still overheard her and he added, "She is just like the winter snow."


    As expected, it was the maids that delivered Lora''s meal to her and her daughter while Scarlet lurked around the kitchen, speaking to two of the cats which had just returned from outside the shield. They could blink and appear outside the shield and when danger struck, they could blink and return to her bedroom.


    "Is there anything to worry about?" she asked them.


    "Humans running around foolishly, nothing else." the brown cat replied.


    "One almost died, something came from the ground and ate his arm." the white cat added.

 Chapter 210 Stay Away From The Water

    ?


    Processing this new information, Scarlet thought about what the cats had reported, something came out of the ground and attacked a member of the shadow guild, tearing their arm off and eating it.


    "It was not the ground, it was the water." the brown cat corrected.


    "No, it was the ground, I saw it clearly." the white cat insisted.


    Scarlet looked between her two eye witnesses, wondering which one to believe. The one that disdained humans or the one which vehemently persisted on being right while it rubbed it''s head against her fingers. The white cat was a people pleaser probably, a glutton for rubs and scratches.


    "Severus," she called in her mind, "What should I do?" she asked.


    Somethinging out of the ground or the water was dangerous was for them. Even though all the water bodies within the city had been shielded, water was not something one controlled easily. It could divert at anytime, shields did not stop divergence and captain Vangar had already warned her about this. But what puzzled her the most was the fact that the water in theke and the river was frozen as far as the eye could see, it would take a very extraordinarily strong beast to break through the ice and bite an arm off of someone. Nothing made sense about this story at all.


    "Read their minds," Severus told her. "ce your hand on the head of the spirit animal and use your power to invade carefully. If you use too much force, you will kill the animal so be very careful."


    "No pressure." she said sarcastically.


    "Wait." Severus blurted out as soon as her right hand touched the head of the white cat. "You have to take the glove off and do it with your bare hands but I am not sure if this is a good idea."


    She took off her glove and scratched the chin of the cat gently, "Don''t worry, I am getting better at controlling the me. I will not risk harming this little cutie pie."


    The brown cat jumped closer and attempted to push the white one away saying, "It was water, just read my thoughts. It''s easier when we let you in,e and take a look."


    "Go with him, he looks smarter." Severus pointed at the brown one and the white cat hissed at him. Not too pleased at bing the stupid one in this scenario.


    Scarlet ced her hand first on the brown one, letting her energy travel slowly into the brown cat, connecting with the threads of red in it''s head. She could see everything that had happened in it''s day, the memories were like broken fragments and she could pick which one to look at.


    "Hurry." the catined grumpily.


    She found the memory from the forest, the two cats were patrolling around, keeping a close eye on the shadow guild members in their mechas deep in the blue forest who were tracking mutated beasts with a special device. They moved in arge group towards a spot the red dot on the device indicated. She recognized this part of the woods, it was one she hade through as a grim reaper before winter. There was a small isted hot water stream that run through the area. It was obvious that the stream too was frozen, the entire are was covered by ayer of ice.


    "It should be here," one of them said, "I see nothing."


    "I don''t see anything as well." another said.


    "We should return, any mutated beast that can make itself invisible is not one we can handle." this was said by a woman, she was inside the mecha in the middle and she looked like the leader of the group.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The device indicates a strong beast, this can be millions in payday for us Sephora, if you are scared, you should not havee." a man replied.


    The man was inside the mecha at the front, the way he spoke portrayed arrogance and excitement.


    "I sense danger Quinlin." the woman, Sephora insisted. "We are teleporting back, now."


    "Teleportation devices only have six runs and then they fry, they also cost hundreds of millions, are you going to waste hundreds of millions on your mystery sense? I think..."


    The man was still speaking when something broke through the ice, tearing the arm off the mecha with onerge bite and then ripping one arm off the nearest hunter. There was loud screaming and panic and then the mechas disappeared in a sh of white and pink light.


    The cats stayed behind, and watched the creature swallow the hand in one bite and return to where it broke out from.


    Scarlet let go of the cat and fell back, sitting on the ground in shock. "What the bloody hell!!" she said in shock. You had creatures jumping out "You have things jumping out of frozen water now? Is any ce safe in these terrible times, I am beginning to think, Severus, that the threat level on this world is equal to that of the world I came from. Without these energy powered shields we would be sitting ducks. How does something even stay under frozen water and still have the energy to move around violently like that?"


    "Maybe it generates it''s own heat or maybe it likes ice cold water, I don''t have the answers to everything. All I know is that you should warn the humans to stay away from the water. Something that can rip one of those mecha machines in one bite is not one they need to entangle with."


    Agreeing with him, she sent the image of the creature to the forum for identification. Unlike the usual ones which were identified in a few seconds, the identification of the creature that looked like a mixture of a behemoth whale and a over grown crocodile was taking a while.''I might as well go and check on the shadow warriors, she thought. She had only seen them once, it was when they had arrived on the blue star.


    Their group was led by Sephora, she was master Shadow''s daughter, however, it seemed to Scarlet after what she had viewed in the brown cat''s memory that Sephora was not orded much respect by some of her fellow hunters. If they did, they would have turned back when she told them that she sensed danger.


    Tion drove her to the hospital where the nurses were surprised to see her again, so soon, in their opinion.


    "Are you here to bring more medicine governor? The internal heat regting pills worked perfectly." one of the nurses from the children''s ward said to her as she escorted her to an elevator.


    "No, I am here to check on the injured man from the shadow hunters guild, were is he?"


    The nurse scanned her wrist and an elevator leading to a private floor eighty five opened. "They have money so they asked for one of the VIP private wards. They scared many of us when they brought their friend in, his entire arm was gone and ripped off violently and there were deep teeth marks on his neck. Part of his ear too was gone, if they had not brought him in time he would be dead right now. W-what kind of beast do you suppose did that kind of damage?"


    She spoke freely, but nervously because she kept her massaging her fingers and pressing them.Her voice too, was shaking, almost as if her teeth were chattering from the cold.


    "Are you scared?" Scarlet took both of the nurse''s hands in her own and held them.


    The nurse nodded her head up and down slowly, and then she looked sown. "It''s stupid, right? This is a part of what happens when winteres, we should be used to it, especially those of us in this profession but I am scared, I am so scared and seeing that man like that_"

 Chapter 211 Sephora Means Business.

    ?


    The nurse broke off, holding back a weak sob in her throat that was threatening toe rushing out of her forcefully. "I should not be like this," she shook her head and ripped her hands out of Scarlet''s hands gently. "Sorry, I should not have said all that, if the patients see me like this then they will be even more afraid than they are."


    Scarlet looked at the nurse and felt both pity and understanding for her. She worked in the hospital so she could see first hand the effects of winter in injuries and sickness which led to death.This was why mecha warriors were not treated from ordinary hospitals in winter, if the people saw the extent of their injuries, the veil of safety which had been carefully woven over their eyes would be torn.


    "It is natural to be afraid of danger and death, it''s what makes us all human." Scarlet told the nurse. "I get scared too sometimes especially in such turbulent times when nothing is assured. We are all living as if their axe hanging over our heads that could slice them off at any moment, it would be crazier if we were not scared. So, don''t ridicule yourself, by choosing to be at work and save lives in such times rather than hiding behind closed doors and waiting for the sun toe out you are already as strong as a mecha warrior."


    The nurseughed softy, "Mecha warrior is too much." she said. Her face however held a small smile of delight in beingpared to the great mecha warriors.


    The elevator had stopped, and it would not move again unless the upants stepped out. "You have arrived at your destination." the voice of the hospital''s central operating system AI told them, just in case they were not aware. The doors opened and three people stepped out, Scarlet, the nurse and Tion.


    The corridors of this private ward floor were empty, devoid of humans and sound. It was so quiet that that all three people could hear the sounds of their own steps clearly. There was no influx of patients, hospital robot butlers leading people to different treatment areas, patients shouting about the urgency of their situation over others, it was calm here, as if there was not a single living soul.


    "Where is everyone?" she asked the nurse.


    "Most of the patients on this floor with the chill checked out in the morning when the health monitoring bracelets dered them healthy. Only the hunter is left, regrowing his arm will take at least ten more hours ording to the doctor. Maybe his fellow hunters stepped out."


    The nurse again ced her wrist on an unmarked ck lock one of the rooms and the door slid open, allowing them to enter the room.


    It was upied by two hunters, three if you counted the obviously unconscious one inside the med bed which was rotating slowly. One of the two was none other than the woman, Sephora, herself.


    "Hello, pardon us for intruding, the governor was passing by and she wanted to check on your injured friend." the nurse spoke in a soft voice.


    Privacy of a patient being one of the top most requirements of hospital wards meant that if they did not want Scarlet here, she could be asked to leave.


    Sephora was standing by a window, she had been looking outside for a while. The other hunter was sitting on a sofa, his legs were crossed and he was watching television. Both of them abandoned what they were doing and came towards, standing in front of her and bowing slightly in a polite manner.


    "Greetings, governor," Sephora spoke. "We were not expecting you."


    "It is I that has showed up with no forewarning, I was very surprised when I heard about the extent to which your friend was injured, as the governor it''s only natural that I stop by and check in. How is your friend''s condition?"She looked at the man in the med bed.


    "He will recover, this does not even crack top ten on the list of life threatening injuries on members of the shadow guild in the cold season." she smiled awkwardly. "I hope we have not made a nuisance of ourselves on your."


    "No way," Scarlet replied, "You brought me a lot of money and you are hunting mutated beasts, what possible nuisance could you be? I actually hope to see you again next winter."


    Sephora smiled, genuinely this time, appreciative of Scarlet''s candidness. "Then I will pay for a hunting license in advance, however I would like to pay for one that allows us to hunt all through the year."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I think I was expecting that, I did get two requests from your guild before winter which I turned down. My problem is not with the hunting, it''s that you guild hunters hunt to kill or sell while I on the other hand aim to domesticate and breed as many edible animals or beasts as possible."


    While Scarlet wanted the money selling hunting licenses would bring in, she had many hesitations about them which she was not shy to share with Sephora.


    "Then we can work our way around that by bringing all of our catch to your identification centers before sending it off. If what we catch can be domesticated then we will give up half to you at a reasonably agreed upon fee. We can charge you only half the price, I think that''s a fair deal considering the fact that we are willing to enter depths of forests and waters that local hunters are not willing to." Sephora gave Scarlet a look of determination, producing a small terminal from which she showed her a number of statistics. "This is your blue forest and your hunters have only covered about one percent on their own, they seem to be sticking to the outskirts and edges, they are frightened and untrained. It will take you twenty years to cover even half of the forest at this rate." She put the terminal away and said, "Why don''t you bet on us? We can get you there in half that time?"


    Scarlet looked into Sephora''s eager still blue eyes and she twisted her lips from side to side while she weighed the pros and cons of Sephora''s proposal.


    "You propose a good deal which can benefit us both but you know, this same deal can be offered by ten other guilds, why should I choose yours?" she walked around Sephora, and sat down in the lone ck armchair in corner of the room. There was a soft pillow in the chair which she held in her arms and crossed her legs.


    This was business, she must exude the aura of a businesswoman in such moments so that the blue star is not put at a disadvantage.


    "Convince me." she told Sephora.


    Sephora, not deterred for a single second sat down too, in a in foldable chair and nodded. ''Okay, let''s do this.'' her bodynguage seemed to say.


    "We are the top guild in the empire." she said casually.


    "I have been using amateur hunters, even the worst guild in the empire will be a step up from them." Scarlet answered.


    "We have the best weapons."


    "Again," Scarlet said, "Same answer as before."


    "We have the best hunters, the most fierce, the bravest_"


    Scarlet raised her hand, stopping Sephora from talking, "My answer remains the same, miss Sephora."


    No amount of praising their guild would get her to give that stamp of approval.So, Sephora thought to herself, what did the governor of the blue star want more than anything? What could she offer that would make this woman satisfied? After exactly twenty seconds of perfect silence, Sephora said, "We will open a permanent branch of the Shadow guild here on the blue star, we will recruit new members also from here, and if we can be the only guild operating on the blue star for fifty years, we will only charge you, the governor, thirty percent the normal market price for half of whatever we catch. You will also have the first pick of everything we hunt before it''s sent to the capital."


    "Miss Sephora!!" the other hunter eximed in shock.


    "Deal." Scarlet said

 Chapter 212 The Dark Rune Village.[1]

    ?


    Later, in the evening, Scarlet who could not stand the boredom of staying indoors to look at yet again more paperwork so she contemted on the idea of maybe visiting the dark rune vige. It possibly couldn''t hurt to take a look a look around, right?


    So, she went off to the underworld, on her own without Severus who was busy patrolling for soul eaters. It struck her while she was there that nothing ever changed in this realm, nothing that she had noticed anyway. The trees remained the same, always blooming season after season, the reapers dressed the same, the soul registrars retained the same uninterested gaze, the fish in the ponds and streams remained the same kind and size, soul pets chased each other around. Conversations changed, but not much else did.


    Scarlet wondered then if the other realms were the same, did they look like this?


    "No, they don''t." A voice said in her mind. "The realms are shaped ording to the will of the deity and the purpose they serve."


    "Hello old deity," she said, and she looked around, just in case he was somewhere close to her. "Nice of you to invade my mind, as always." she finished with sarcasm.


    "Well, you work for me and I can do whatever I want in my world. Just what did you think the underworld would look lie anyway?"he replied.


    "Dark, with fire everywhere and demons and screaming souls being burned by the eternal mes which will never burn out." she answered.


    "This is not the final destination of souls my dear Scarlet, this realm can be equated to__, say a transit point in a long destination. You bring the souls, we send them off elsewhere for punishment, reincarnation or non existence." he exined. "Is there something wrong with the appearance of my realm?"


    "No, it''s beautiful." she replied. "I was just makingparisons to the changing seasons in the human worlds that do not exist here. I think maybe it''s a good thing, souls of the dead do not take breaks because it''s raining or snowing."


    She was walking across a bridge which provided ess to another part of the underworld realm, one she had not been to before. Along the way, she passed by other grim reapers that were heading the same way. More than a few were travelling in pairs, male and female and on their faces, they wore smiles. They loved it here, the underworld was their home for eternity, they were happy to live here unlike her who had yet to settle in and make this her forever home because of her human ties.


    "Old deity, can we float or fly?" she asked randomly.


    "We can do anything," he replied, then heughed and added, "Well I can, you on the other hand have to be a high level reaper first."


    "I don''t__" she was responding when another reaper bumped into her at the end of the bridge which implied that she had reached the vige. There was also a big ck stone on which words were written, Dark rune vige, our immortal home.


    "Hey Scarlet," the reaper that bumped into her greeted with so much enthusiasm injected into his voice. "We did not think we would ever see you here before three hundred years in your human worldpsed."


    "Hey Hawk," she replied, "I am guessing Ezrah told you about the life expectancy of the humans in my world."


    "Yup, a couple of guys have asked her about you so she shared the sad news about your human husband and the question is always followed up by another which is ''how long is he expected to live?'', he is probably over thirty so it should be two hundred seventy or sixty years but you will mourn his death for a while which is why I round it up to three hundred. Am I wrong?"


    She frowned at him and pushed him aside, "Stop talking nonsense."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She took the first step into the vige whose entrance was shrouded in mist which resembled a fluffy white cloud. The mist, when she entered it felt like air, there was no single sound within, it was as if she was standing in the middle of nothing. When she came out on the other end of the mist, she was met with apletely different world, a real world it seemed, an ancient civilization that was built on the peaks of high mountains and an endless ocean.


    "Goodness gracious," she gasped.


    "Yeah," Hawk showed up next to her and he said, "It''s something else, isn''t it?"


    It was more than beautiful, the houses here were gorgeous crafted from beautiful wood, not concrete or y but just wood, spiritual wood from the warm feeling she was getting. Some stood as tall as the mountains themselves, others floated on water and many floated above in the skies. Even though they floated, many remained in ce just seeming to move enough to create the illusion of travelling. It was no small vige, for it extended beyond where her reaper eyes could see, but at this distance, she could see a beautiful blue waterfalling from the inside of one mountain and spirit pets were leaping from above and falling below, into the water. A few, were hell hounds even which surprised her, apparently they could have fun when they wanted.


    Beyond the waterfall, far behind, she saw gardens, nted with many varieties of fruits she had never even seen. The vast gardens were being tended to by grim reapers and spirit monkeys, they were the pets that always stole Lythia''s fruits. She always wondered where they came from and she had an answer now.


    This vige was beautiful, it had the kind of beauty which painters longed to capture and put on a piece of paper to be remembered eternally.


    All the roads, foot paths and side walks she could see were lined up with beautiful flowers on the sides. Flowers, of many colors, some red, some yellow and others white.


    The upants of the vige walked with smiles on their faces, many of them, using the blink skill to travel, disappearing from the roads in an instant.


    Why didn''t Severus tell her how beautiful, enchanting and captivating the dark rune vige was?


    She wanted to look further, and she took two steps in when she was bounced back by an invisible barrier that denied her entry.


    "What is this?" she looked at Hawk. She was a grim reaper, this vige was a home to grim reapers so why was she being denied entry? "Why can''t I get in?"


    "Did you not read the instructions."he asked her.


    "What instructions?" she asked him with a very puzzled look on her face for she had seen no instructions that he spoke of.


    "Pay," he said, "Residents pay rent or buy a house or space and visitors must also pay an entry fee. Put an energy crystal in the open mouth of each head of the hound." he pointed to a very creepy looking statue of a three headed hell hound with blood red crystal eyes. The mouth of each of it''s three heads was wide open, sharp fangs out and ready to bite.There was something very life like about it, as if it could open those eyes, spring to life and immediately tear her throat out.


    But aside from that, she was dismayed by the aspect of having to pay energy crystals to enter the vige. The old deity really knew how to make them spit out energy crystals, no wonder he put that bracelet on her hand.


    "So ridiculous." she mumbled as she paid the very expensive entry fee. Even the three headed dog was here as a threat, it was extortion.

 Chapter 213 The Dark Rune Village [2]

    ?


    Once the fee was paid, she put one foot ahead of the other and finally entered the vige with ease. She had no specific ce she was moving to or a n in mind, all she wanted to do was look around.


    "Do you need a tour guide?" Hawk asked her.


    Slowly, she moved her eyes back and forth and considered his question for a while. "I think so, but I am not paying for one." she added.


    There were still many uses for all of her energy crystals, In a space one week, Severus had used up ten thousand of them on the internal heat regting pills and ingredients.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t charge you a thing." he answered with a chuckle.


    "Why?" she was even more suspicious. The underworld was one of those ces where nothing came for free. It was also a ce where one had to second guess everything, she knew that more than the others.


    Gasping, she ced a hand over her chest and looked at him with wide eyes. "Don''t tell me that you are in love with me."


    Equally surprised, Hawk gasped at her outrageous statement, "Are you crazy why would I be in love with you?"


    "I am pretty, I am on the leaderboard, I am rich.." she counted off the easiest reasons she could think off on her fingers.


    "I like Ezrah." Hawk blurted, "No offense but you are in, there is no spunk with you."


    "Spunk." she said, wondering what he meant by that. Was spunk even a word?


    "Yes, you are the basic grim reaperin my eyes."


    "Basic!!" she said loudly.


    "You are Ezrah''s good friend, best friend she ims since you shared some of your resources with her and I want to be on good terms with you. I have been chasing her for one year now but the ice refuses to melt, do you have any good ideas to help me?" he said as he walked.


    She had no choice at the moment but to follow and listen to his woes of his unrequited love.


    "Doesn''t she have a human boyfriend?"


    "Human is the key word here and boyfriend is the other. It will notst, apparently she dates them for a few months and ends it before the guy gets too attached. But we are immortal, so I am patient, eventually I think she wille to see me as more than a friend. Put in a good word for me, asionally."


    While she sympathized with him, "I will try." She said, but she would make no promises. "Tell me about the vige, is it as peaceful as it looks?"


    Hawk gave her an ''are you bonkers look'' and said, "Peaceful! have you met grim reapers? Our society is built on power, we have high level reapers, low level reapers and above them you have the rare grim reapers who go beyond normal soul cultivation to be soul kings. Soul kings are on equal footing with the gate keepers, but to be a soul king, they say you must be a high level reaper that has killed a very rare type of soul eater. There is an imbnce that exists and will always exist.


    Look around you, some houses are small, though beautiful while others are big, beyond the gardens you can even find pces. Those belong to the strongest grim reapers with the best resources. Most of them have been to the small worlds crafted by deities ande out victorious.


    In this ce, you will find harmony, peace and love but you will also find resentment and challenges. Even the soul pets are like that, the strongest upy the biggest spaces and training areas.


    But not all grim reapers seek for power, some are simplyfortable doing the job and going to sleep, like myself." he smiled with content all over his face.


    What he did not say to her because she was one of those who were after power was that they were immortal, he was of the opinion that no reaper should be in a rush to climb the leaderboard or live in an extravagant house without necessity. He for example was also alone, without a partner. of what use was a big house to him?


    "Does the resentment ever turn into something deadly?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Not that I have ever heard about, most grim reapers are like me, calm and easy going. But there are like ten or fifteen percent of us that are that way. Of that percentage, warrior reapers make up thergest number."


    She nodded, and they continued walking, slowly, "This is a tea house, the owner is a guardian reaper like you. asionally they brew tea made from rejuvenation water and purifying water. Most of the tea they sell is made from spiritual herbs, fruits and energy crystals."


    It was fascinating that even in this world, small businesses like these thrived.


    "You have herb shops, pharmacies, music halls,bat halls, armor crafting shops, spirit pet shops, flying beast shops,_"


    "I don''t see any restaurants." shemented.


    "We don''t get hungry as grim reapers but if we want to eat, there are fruit shops." he pointed out a few. "We also have tourpanies."


    Now that got her head spinning. "Tourpanies?" she said as a question.


    "Mmm," he nodded, "There are parts of the underworld we hate, the cold areas with nasty creatures and there are warm areas, the deities gardens, their springs, other realms. You can visit such ces if you pay for a guide and spirit boat."


    "Wow," she eximed.


    "It''s not boring here, there are many things which we do for fun, you should consider buying a house, talk to the soul registrars when you are ready, they also handle the real estate of the underworld.


    The tour went on for another thirty minutes before Hawk left and she returned to the real world. It struck her when she opened her eyes that the dark rune vige reminded her of a cultivationic she had read on earth.


    Many of the buildings, the arrangements, the power structure, it was all too simr. Perhaps, that cultivation novel had been written by a grim reaper.


    "Enjoy the trip?" Severus who wasyingzily on her bed asked.


    "Yes." she replied. Then she noticed that sometime when she was sleeping, Justin hade into her room and crawled into her bed. It was too soon for them both to be sleeping but given the weather outside, many slept early so this was not a surprise.


    "Have you been seduced by the beauty of the dark rune vige?" he further asked.


    "Yes." she admitted.


    He sighed as if he had been expecting exactly that tiresome reply. "I guess my mother will have her way after all, she has been wanting you to see the vige so that you could move in since wee as a pair you and I."


    "I am not moving in right now." she told him.


    "Oh that''s a relief." Severus rxed. He was not ready to be within blinking distance of his mother.


    "Did anything happen while I was away?"


    "Nothing, your human husband still hasn''t called if that''s what you were hoping to hear. But I blinked and checked on him, he is breathing and uninjured."


    She sighed and looked at her terminal, and then sheid her head back down on her pillow. If he was fine, why wasn''t he calling?

 Chapter 214 Smelly Mecha King.

    ?


    The weeks sped by, time continued to move, and more people came out of hibernation taking to the streets and resuming life. For some reason unknown to them, this winter seemed to be easier than others. Less people had died so farpared to thest winter, including the mecha warriors themselves. Even though the ordinary people did not know, the mecha warriors knew, it was because of Scarlet Wu and her information. Timely information on the mutated beasts had given them an advantage in every battle and saved many lives.


    It wasing to two months and only a few more weeks were left to bid winter goodbye, the smiles on the faces of the people were brighter, it was almost over, they thought.


    Scarlet on this fine winter day was currently battling a hoard of soul eaters, they were all soul collectors that had been hiding on the grey star, another deste which looked almost no different from the blue star the first time set her eyes on it. In a way, it was different because it had arger poption and well defined cities but they were poverty stricken cities. It was no wonder that the capital, the green star and other developed stars were overpopted, everyone was abandoning the undevelopeds and moving to the developed ones.


    At the moment, she resembled a human torch, a human green torch that was just refining everything that crossed her path with so much fury and anger. Her entire body was surrounded by green mes, from her hair, her hands to her feet. Even her eyes were glowing gold and green and every time she yelled, the mes exploded with a great burst of energy which made it easy to finish off the eleven soul collectors with ease.


    One soul eater, the leader of this group, a level six soul tried to escape and she released her soul binding rope, with a burning green me which wrapped itself around the soul eater''s neck and she dragged it back as she choked it painfully.


    Beside her, Severus was nodding in approval, "That''s it, you are bing more powerful." he said.


    She did not pause to show off as she usually did, rather, she stayed silent, fueling her rage into destroying the soul eaters.Silently, she sat down on a chair and waited patiently for the soul eaters to be refined and then she opened her soul gourd, collecting the harmless souls.


    "Miss," a small weak voice called her.


    Turning around, her eyesnded on a small child, a small talking soul of a little child, probably five or six years old. The child, a girl, could see and hear Scarlet, she also emitted a strong white smoke, filled with pure energy stronger than even Maddox''s. As a grim reaper, part of her was excited to reap such a soul. As a mother, she felt incredibly sorry for the little girl who died at such a young age.


    "I will be damned." Severus said, "It''s no wonder there were so many of them gathering here."


    "They were here for her." Scarlet realized too.


    "Freaking fucking soul collectors!" Severus cursed unpleasantly. Hisnguage wastely adapting to emte Alice the sweetest who was in regr contact with Scarlet now.


    She chose not to chastise the hell hound again and rather concentrate on the problem at hand.


    "Oh, the dog talks." the soul of the young girl said.


    "Yes it does." Scarlet replied.


    "Can I touch him?" she asked curiously.


    "Sure, but_, never mind, just touch him." she nodded. For a small moment there, Scarlet was about to ask the girl for her name, family or details of that sort. But she realized that none of that mattered now.


    While Severus made himself as gentle as possible to y with the little girl, Scarlet purified therge crater where the soul collectors had gathered. It was filled with so much evil energy and darkness that letting it be would create trouble.


    "I am done, let''s go." she told Severus.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The little girl lunged herself at Scarlet before she could tell her to follow them, saying in a terrified voice, "Don''t leave me here, I can''t find my mummy and the scary things wille back."


    She smiled down at the girl, and said, "Don''t worry, I will take you to a very special ce, just close your eyes and trust me." She also used soul energy to rx the soul before sending it into the soul gourd.


    She then looked at Severus and asked him, "What''s going to happen to her? She is young, she cannot be turned into a grim reaper, right?"


    That''s the way things worked in the underworld but surely exceptions were made.


    "I am not sure, strong souls of children are even rarer than adult ones, but I have never seen a child grim reaper so I don''t think that she will be turned into one. Either way, what happens to her is not something you are going to have a say in because of the favor we owe, she has to be given to Halder.


    Of course, she recalled now, the favor!


    "You can''t back out on it, these things have consequences in our world, you need to give the soul up." Severus could see the little thoughts and reluctance in Scarlet''s eyes.


    "I do not intend to back out of the deal." she answered. "I am just beginning to see why favors in the underworld are not a good idea. A strong pure soul, even though she is young..." she said,ughed dryly and sighed.


    "She is worth a lot." Severus finished her iplete thought for her.


    She looked up at the sky and sighed, again, "Does it make me bad to think this way? A little girl died and I am thinking about the worth of her soul."


    Now, that vulture and merchant of death thought was even more prominent in her mind.


    "It is the way of your kind." Severus replied. "Look, I will deliver the souls and you can go back to sulking over the fact that your husband has not contacted you in weeks."


    If she asked for his personal opinion, Severus would tell her that he was d her human husband was keeping a distance. She was training more, concentrating on learning fighting techniques and she had also started learning how to pilot a mecha, the ones used in mecha fights. There was a lot she had aplished using her frustration in this time period.


    He was more surprised at the fact that she had not yet used her blinking power to show up and check on him as a grim reaper. If she wanted to find out so badly why he was not contacting her, why not go in person and check? But he did not care, as long as she continued training ruthlessly, he would pretend not to notice anything.


    She blinked and opened her eyes, her body was inside a lone library pod, one of the ones that projected warmth and a beach. In her hands was a book, the wolf and the seven little kids. It was another fairy tale Wednesday or story time with the governor as it was now famously known on the blue star and online. It was not just children and parents thatattended, all sorts of people came, just to listen to these fascinating stories. Story time had ended an hour ago, but the library was full, people stayed behind to read.All the solo reading pods were full, the tables too and the curves and bends which could also work asfortable seats were upied by readers.


    They would need to construct a public library after winter because this one would only be open to her and tourists.


    When she was leaving the library, she received a phone call from Mina.


    "Friend, your husband is on television, have you seen it?"

 Chapter 215 Who Is The Floozy?

    ?


    "I was in the library, I will go and take a look now." she replied. But when she hung up, she did not bother to check the star or any television for any news on Esong.


    It was disappointing that he had not called or returned any of her calls. One could argue that he was busy because of winter but he could have replied to her texts, he had not even texted Justin too. More than her own disappointment, she hated seeing Justin''s even more.


    He did not ask or talk about his father with her but she could see it, his little heart was breaking. However angry she was, she knew that time hade for her to set aside her pride and check in on Esong.


    She went looking for her son, and she found him withLora storm and her daughter. Lora had taken it upon herself to be Justin''s newbat teacher and whatever skills the woman had, she did not shy away from teaching him.


    She was also close to Carolyn because she was ten times a better craftsman than Carolyn was and her sister was treating the woman like a teacher and an idol.


    All the members of the Su family treated Lora and Arya like members of their own family. Adler more so, he seemed to be little bit too interested in Arya, especially now that her face and body had healed, revealing the great beauty she was.


    Scarlet and Lora on the other hand had a rtionship like that of ice and fire because on learning that Maddox was Scarlet''s teacher, Lora acted as if she was Scarlet''s second teacher. She spoke to her as one would a subordinate, always attempted to send her on errands and made no efforts to hide her disdain for Scarlet''s ''piteous'' D level mental strength.


    "Hello Lora." Scarlet greeted her in a cool manner, on finding her teaching the children an air slicing move with a an energy sword.


    Returning an even colder look and in a simrly cold voice, Lora said, "Scarlet."


    "I am here for my son." Scarlet said.


    "He is training." Lora gave her a look that dismissed her and said to the children, "Again."


    "He has been training for an hour Lora, he needs a break." Scarlet insisted and she tugged on Justin''s hand. "They both do." she indicated at Arya as well.


    The girl was young when they were attacked and she had been sleeping for many years. She aged in that pod, missing out on many years of her life.


    "What she needs is to learn how to fight, when the enemy..." Lora was speaking sternly, waves of energy were being emitted from the energy sword in her hands.


    It seemed as if she would use it to slice Scarlet into hundreds of little pieces at that very moment.


    "She is a child." Scarlet interfered in Lora''s rant.All the girl did was train, rest and train, then sleep and train more. She was not a machine for crying out loud.


    "She is precisely one hundred six years old, in my books the time for childhood hase and gone." Lora replied.


    Arya for all her skills and talents seemed to have no backbone and when her mother spoke fiercely, the girl always shriveled and wilted like a sick nt.


    "I am taking her with me, we are going to build snowmen, you can join us if you want. One hour of rxation will not kill you Lora, your brother would not have wanted Arya to be caught up in bitterness and anger." Scarlet would not have it, and she dragged both Justin and Arya out of the castle confident that Lora would not attack her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I would worry more about that floozy around your husband than my daughter." Lora still yelled this as Scarlet was leaving, intending to have thest word.


    "Shut up." Tion responded to Lora. The least this woman could do was respect the governor that had saved her life and yet she acted as if she was owed something when it came to Scarlet. In his opinion, she was filled with rage and looking for an outlet so she settled on Scarlet being her verbal punching bag.


    The governor had asked him to give the issue breadth and ignore it but he could not take it anymore. As soon as winter ended he would suggest that she be shipped off to the capital or anywhere that was not here.


    Gritting her teeth, Scarlet continued walking, until she reached the front gates of the castle, only then, did she let go of the hands of the two people she was pulling.


    "Are you okay?" she asked Arya.


    The girl nodded and blushed profusely, seemingly far younger than Scarlet."My mother was not always like this, she used to be different."


    "I know dear." Scarlet replied. "If what happened to your family happened to mine, I would be even worse than she is. I would raise hell and rain a storm of pain on those who caused me that much loss but I would not expect Justin to follow me into that kind of madness. Your mother might mean well but you deserve a life outside of a sword and a gun, look at your hands."


    They both looked at her hands which had blisters and calluses, some were newer than others, the proof of the hardship she was enduring. At this age, her hands should have been smooth and fair, not rough like those of a mecha warrior or an ordinary soldier.


    Scarlet touched the Arya''s face gently, pinching her small cute nose which was slightly pink due to the cold. "Why won''t you get a cream from the hospital, the ones which seal up wounds immediately."


    "What''s the use, they will be back again the next day?" Arya answered with a small sigh. "I am okay with some of the training, I might have been a child back then but I remember everything that happened to my family. This vengeance is not my mother''s alone, I carry it too."


    Scarlet nodded, it was not her business at the end of the day. She would step in whenever possible however, blindly watching Arya lose herself to her mother''s anger was not something she could stand.


    "Tomorrow then, you can train but today, let''s just build snowmen."


    Justin had been quiet while she spoke to Arya, holding on to her right leg with both of his small hands.


    "Are you ready baby?" she asked him.


    He nodded, having seen a snowman in a movie before, he was ready to build a real one.


    Scarlet rolled a big ball of snow and asked Justin and Arya to copy her actions. She also invited her personal guards and the activity eventually turned into a snow ball fight. But at the end of the hour, they had twelve snowmen lined up on opposite sides of the path leading to the castle.


    Some were short, some were perfectly round, others were fat, while a few were crooked. But to Scarlet, it was perfect, all that was missing were some lights and she would set the Christmas mood.

 Chapter 216 The Identity Of The Floozy

    ?


    After ying in the snow, she randomly decided to make pizzas, this was something that even she herself found to be ridiculous, the simplest food to eat, so delicious even if left overnight and she forgot all about it!!


    So, she turned the music high up and got to work in the kitchen with the assistance of two of her maids. Once again, the maids wondered why no single screen was turned on on the castle tonight. In fact, Tion seemed to have gone out of his way tonight to switch off all the televisions.


    Something was wrongtely with theirdy, they knew, the aura of the governor was off.


    "Mummy," Justin''s voice came from the living room. He was obediently sitting in a chair and Cecily was feeding him warm chocte milk with a spoon as if he was still a little baby. Here, within castle walls Justin ate up this baby treatment with happiness.


    "Yes baby." She answered.


    "Can I watch television?" He asked politely.


    Her Justin was a polite baby, always considerate, sweet and kind. If anyone asked her about him, Scarlet always said that she won the most wonderful baby in the baby pool. She had met some children here that had unsuitable attitudes like Justin''s friend little Bubu. His mother spoiled him rotten, giving him all he demanded like a little king and never chastising him. Once, in the library when the boy failed to get a Jack and the beanstalk story book because it was out of stock, he flung himself on to the ground and threw a big tantrum, then he screamed as if he was a pig being ughtered by a local vige butcher. On top of that, he pointed to another child, a little girl and saidmandingly, "give me hers." For a minute there, watching the boy from a distance, it almost looked to Scarlet as if Bubu''s mother was considering snatching the book from the girl and giving it to his friend. The boy was also bing chubbier by the day from being over fed and Scarlet could see that soon, he would be overweight for his age. She was not one to tell another woman how to raise her child but somebody really needed to have a serious conversation with the woman. She did not want this kind of child around her son, call it snobbish or selfish or perhaps over reaction but Justin needed good friends to stay a good boy.


    "Sure baby." She replied after taking two deep breaths.


    Right on cue, Esong''s face appeared first with a reporter from BSTV talking about the heroic rescue of the general of a ship from another empire, one unrted to them called Xeno. Where they came from, there was no such thing as mutated beasts which is probably why they came to the Sun star at such a terrible time. The ship sent out a distress signal and Esong and his men went outside of the shield, confronting many mutated beasts directly before rescuing the upants of the ship. The rescue mission was not without casualties but so far, none had been reported dead because of the apparent healing gifts of one of the ships upants.


    Aboard the ship was a Xenoan princess and her guards and maids. The princess had been sent out on a first contact mission with others and the Sun star was their first stop. The princess was the magical healer on the crew.


    "Enough already, they have been showing that on television all day, it happened many weeks ago." Coralined.


    Justin changed the channel, looking for cartoons.


    Cecily knew why, and her lips thinned. But how could she defend the uncharacteristic like actions of her grandson to her great grandson. Every time she brought him up, Scarlet''s face changed from whatever it was to unhappiness. She also couldn''t reach him as well, which was very unusual. She had no answers for Scarlet and Justin at this time, none at all.


    Unlike everyone else that ignored the massive elephant in the room, Lora who was sitting at the edge of the dining table did not. The opinionated woman had much to say and she did not hold back.


    "So you have finally seen her, now that you have, can I ask the question, seriously who is that floozy? They keep praising her for her ''beckoning'' beauty as if that''s a thing. They are also speaking about how special she is, enchanting and h h h but all I see is how handsy she is with another woman''s husband. And what''s wrong with your idiot husband?"


    "Miss!!" Cecily shouted at Lora, very testy at the moment.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    " He is just standing there and allowing himself to be felt up by princess floozy. She looks at him with ''I want to fuck eyes.'' " Lora ignored Cecily and she shouted. "Is he going to bring her in as a mistress? The tabloids are going crazy calling them a beautiful couple, theypiled a list of men worthy of floozy and he was number one. The seventh prince was mentioned too but he came out and shut that shit down immediately. What is your husband waiting for? Word of advise dear, If he will not distance himself from her, divorce him swiftly. Like I said, if I were you, I would worry more about her fucking my husband than how much training I give the children."


    Scarlet scowled at Lora, very pissed off because she had the effrontery to raise this up with Justin in the room. Even though Cecily had quickly raised a sound barrier around her son that was curiously looking around and scratching his ears with a frown like a little cat, it did not mean Lora could not curb her tongue. Why did she have to bring this up in front of her son, the maids and the guards?.


    "You crazy bitch!!!" Cecily shouted at Lora in a way that was so unlike her usual refined self and she tossed the flour which Scarlet was about to mix at her.


    The maids were surprised, Scarlet''s hands remained in the empty space where the flour had previously been and Tion carried Justin, giving him to another guard with instructions to send him to his other grandmother. It was possible that a fight would break out between the women, the air was tense and vtile at the moment.


    After dusting the flour off her face, "Ha-ha," Loraughed with a sneer, "Her highness can call someone a bitch!, huh." She gasped and looked at Cecily with eyes that obviously mocked her.


    "We have been so nice to you." Cecily yelled and she threw a knife from the kitchen counter at Lora, but this time, Lora was ready for it, turning it around and adding a bottle of olive oil to the mixture, sending them Cecily''s way.


    A few more kitchen items and ingredients were sent hurling back and forth while the maids who had no mental strength lowered their bodies to avoid being injured.


    Scarlet stayed where she was and watched them destroy many of her harmless ingredients that were the true innocent casualties of this kitchen war. If these two wanted to fight, why not take it outside.


    A st of hot Chilli saucended in Cecily''s eyes and she shrieked ''my eyes'', with rage, she run toward Lora who wasughing with milk dripping from her head so unbothered.


    Cecily had a red energy stone sword in one hand and a knuckle de in the other.


    Lora too armed herself, with an energy gun no less.


    "Sword versus gun bitch." She told Cecily, confrontational with that same sneer on her face.


    " That''s it!!" Cecily replied and she run toward Lora.


    "Tion!!" Scarlet raised her voice.


    "Got it." He said. From behind, he tackled Lora and carried her out of the kitchen.

 Chapter 217 Scarlet Is Read The Riot Act.

    ?


    Left behind, Cecily smirked as if she had won the fight and Lora was sent running off with her tail tucked between her legs.


    "Don''t smirk." Scarlet told her, "You have both behaved very irresponsibly and shamefully. Take a look at what you have done to my kitchen?"


    The kitchen was sparkling clean, the floors and the walls which had been the final home of some ingredients were very neat. During the fight, cleaning robots had been doing there job actively, it seemed.


    "Okay," Scarlet amended, "the kitchen is clean but grandma Cecily, this does not mean the evidence of the crime is gone. How could you fight her?"


    "I didn''t touch her." Cecily said defensively. "Not even one poke, but you on the other hand, why did you stand there and allow her to level such callous and malicious usations against your husband? You should have defended him." she tapped one hand against the palm of the other to express how angry, offended or disappointed in Scarlet. "He is your husband!!" she said again.


    But Scarlet silently watched Cecily lose her mind, shouting the word ''husband'' around as if it was so precious. "What exactly was I supposed to defend him for?" she responded. "Tell me Cecily, he has been out of contact for weeks, he won''t call or text his son back and he is in front of cameras holding that fish look alike princess as if she will faint at any second. Among all the things Lora said, what was is it that I was supposed to defend Esong for?"


    Dammit!! she was angry and feeling humiliated, and having to talk about these issues in front of others was still something she was getting used to.


    "All of you, leave us." she ordered them out of the kitchen, dining room, and the living room even though it was useless at this point because the had already witnessed everything.


    "One word of this gets out_" Cecily nted herself in front of the maids and gave them a threatening re.


    The maids looked down, at the floor and the scurried out. The guards walked out slower, portraying no fear from Cecily''s attempt to intimidate us.


    "You should have defended your husband in public, it''s what a good wife does." Cecily went into a rant as soon as all the doors slid shut. "Whatever problems arise between a married couple especially pertaining to fidelity or their sex life should be settled between them behind closed doors. Out here, if someone says something about him, you go to war with them. You are feeling humiliated because you allowed that raging, ungrateful, angry, sour faced cow Lora to get the best of you in your own castle. I have been watching for a while and you are handling her with kid gloves as if she is the most fragile thing in the world. She speaks to you anyhow in front of your maids as if you are any other ordinarymoner. You are acting weak and stupid and enough is enough, put her down where she belongs." she yelled in a very deep voice, sounding almost slightly masculine, "Put the bitch down like the noble royal woman you are and get your house in order or I swear to every deity you believe in I will do it for you for my grandson''s sake. I will not let you be his downfall and humiliation, and for your information, we have also not heard from Esong, and neither have his parents the most he has gone silent during winter is a month, but it has been total silence close to six weeks now so you are not the only one who is worried that something is wrong. Instead of walking around acting woeful and angry, try to help, use all your ess to reach him, fight for your marriage, that''s what a determined wife does." Cecily grabbed a few of her belongings and walked toward the door, but before leaving, she turned around and said, "Then again, you have always wanted out of the marriage ever since you got your head screwed on right. You must be hoping that he sleeps with her so that you can petition the emperor and ask for a dissolvement of the marriage. Should I congratte you on bing a single woman in advance?" She spat these words out of her mouth with a loud sneer o her face before finally departing.


    After being read the riot act act by Cecily, Scarlet held her head in her hands briefly and sighed, wondering if indeed, she had gone wrong by letting her pride hinder something that could have been so simple.


    "All you had to do was check in." Severus appeared next to her and said. It was convenient how he always did that only when they were alone, nobody else had ever seen him appear out of thin air suddenly. "Tsk, tsk, human partners are so troublesome." hemented.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Going into her bedroom with Severus and a made up mind, she closed her eyes and appeared in the capital, at the hospital where shended once before.


    Then, Severus smelled the air and blinked them to Esong''s current location. He was on a ship which was flying to or returning from somewhere.


    At the moment, he was appeared to be sleeping, wonderfully.


    "Well, he looks fine to me." shemented. There was some disappointment in her voice because maybe, if he was injured, she would have an excuse not to be angry or disappointed.


    "He is pale, his spirit is weak and his mind is clouded by small unnoticeable dots of darkness, he is not fine." Severus dered.


    Suddenly, she started to worry, none of the things Severus mentioned sounded good at all. On looking closer, she realized that he was pale indeed, he was almost as pale as the moon itself.


    There was a hint of a frown on his face, and he looked fitful, as if he was having a nightmare maybe.


    "What is wrong with him?" she hovered over him and sent some energy to his body. Then, she opened his mouth and poured a few drops of purifying liquid down into his throat.


    "Add this," Severus gave her a small vial that contained two drops of a green liquid. "A soul eater has been feeding off of his energy."


    "A human soul energy feeder, I thought they were rare." She had been catching up on her grim reaper and she knew by hand all the types of soul eaters. The human soul energy feeder was a soul eater that possessed and inhabited the body of human infected with evil. They survived by feeding off the soul energy of powerful humans. As a general, a powerful one at that, Esong certainly qualified if power was what it was looking for.


    "No wonder you all haven''t heard from him, parts of his memory are nk and he is in a state of hypnosis and someone is controlling his actions just enough to make him seem normal and not raise suspicions. Human energy feeders do not work alone, they are the kind that seek to serve people in positions of power. Most of their victims are served up or chosen by their masters. I think it''s time we search the ship, I can smell it''s filthy stench already." Severus added.


    Scarlet had an idea on the possible master, everything seemed to have started when princess floozy arrived.

 Chapter 218 Be Sorry As A Grim Reaper

    ?


    Before going off to look for this soul eater, she gave Esong onest lingering look. As she did, she wondered what percentage her pride had yed in his current circumstances. All she had to do was pop in for one second but she held herself back, wanting him to reach out to her and apologize for not calling or texting back. Was Cecily right in saying she still wanted out of the marriage? She did not feel that way but perhaps there was a small part of her in the back of her mind which deemed the rtionship unsalvageable, short term even. Maybe it was becausetely all she heard was how their rtionship had a time limit. And in the long immortal life of a grim reaper, that little time they had together was akin to a drop in the ocean.


    "You are feeling guilty, right?" Severus asked her.


    "Yes." She did not deny what was true. If only she had just popped in....


    "Be sorry as a grim reaper, not a wife, what you did as his wife is not very unusual. My mother would go weeks without talking to my father if he angered her to the extremes. The longest record was one year. But as a grim reaper, it''s shameful that this evil thing has been here for weeks and we did not sense it. So, let''s go get that motherfucker!!"


    "Please stop talking like Alice." She said as they passed through the walls, following the scent Severus hadtched on to.


    Along the way, they found Ian and Cedric whispering, they appeared to be conspiring about something and a sound barrier had been raised to ensure that their conversation could go no further than this room.


    "We have to call it off, I don''t care what he said." Ian said.


    "This is the emperor''s order, we must obey and Esong agreed to it."


    Scarlet nted herself in front of them, and her head would move back and forth from one speaker to another. She desired to know what they were speaking of and what exactly Esong had agreed to.


    "Can I read their memory?" She asked Severus.


    "Only when they are sleeping, or in a rxed state and right now they appear to be hyper vignt to me. Besides, we have vermin to catch, chop chop."


    "We are flying inside of an enclosed space ship, trust me that vermin is going nowhere. I have to deliver it myself so that I can get the equal of it''s value."


    "We all knew that their was something suspicious about Princess Keziah but this has gone on for too long. Have you ever seen Esong sitting in the captain''s seat without Hachiko in his arms? Then suddenly he asked you to lock up the dog in keep it out of the control room because it scares the princess. Come on brother, this test or whatever the emperor seeks to find out from the princess has gone on for too long. I think she has some other freakish power beside healing, maybe it''s mind control." Ian looked convinced by what he was saying. Something had gone terribly wrong with the n to get into the mind of that princess.


    "We checked her mental strength, she is an A and A''s cannot control the mind of another person." Cedric disagreed with that theory.


    "Then can you exin his weird behavior?" Ian asked the other. "I don''t care, she is not to be close to him anymore. As soon as we touch down,...."


    The ship shook and rumbled before he could get all of his words out.


    The rm started going off, and then he said, " We are under attack."


    The two took off running while Scarlet who now had bits of information sighed and followed Severus. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    From room to room they went until they entered what was the temporary sleeping quarters of the princess Keziah or floozy as she was called in the governor''s castle. It was quite telling that despite the loud noise from the beeping of the rm and the shaking of the spaceship, the woman remained steady, with her eyes closed, sleeping as if she heard nothing.


    Was it that the ruckus was not loud enough or was she simply a deep sleeper? This was very abnormal, it made no sense at all.


    Scarlet waved her hand over the princess, feeling her heartbeat and it''s steadiness. All signs pointed to sleep which was urring naturally. She then looked around for a sound barrier, and found none.


    "This is weird." She said. "How can she sleep through the noise and danger?"


    "Maybe she took a sleeping aid." Severus suggested.


    "Maybe." She said slowly, her eyes remained on the woman and her face maintained a scowl as she watched her. "There is nothing beckoning about her, I bet she had some work done on her face. See how stiff is?"


    "Let''s go, ignore the floozy, the soul eater is close." Severus told her.


    "Can I dump some itching powder or something on her face before we go further. I can''t simply ignore her after what she has done. Besides, I think she is the master of that soul feeder."


    "Deal with her after the soul eater," he replied.


    "Wait, wait, just something small, I already have it in my soul gourd." She had many different types of powders bought from a pharmacy in the dark rune vige, all these were prepared so that she could defend herself in human form in case someone attempted to kidnap her. She wanted to give some of these powders to Justin but he was young and she worried that he would mess around with them.


    "This one," she opened a small sachet and took out a medium sized round white pill. "This will give someone red bumps on the face for three months." She told him. In essence, the red bumps might be pimples or rash which was something she had never seen on the face of anyone in this world. It was not exinable either because it just didn''t happen. The concept of e waspletely new and unheard of to these these people. "Congrattions princess floozy, you will be the only pimple faced princess in this world." She said with a smile as she crushed the pill and the small powders fell on the face of the prince.


    "Well, at least you have not attempted to kill her." Severus muttered, "You have learned to control your emotions far better than I expected."


    "Should I give her a new haircut too? She will look prettier without hair." Scarlet mumbled.


    "No," Severus said sternly, "We have to go."


    They went into the next room, it was the one being used by her personal maid, another female who was awake, standing by the window and looking outside with a smile on her face. Her pale grey face looked unnatural, and she did her eyes which were ck as pitch and empty. Scarlet could see their reflection in the window she was looking at.


    What was even more unsettling was the way she spun around and looked directly at Scarlet with a weird expression on her face.


    "Hello reaper." She said. "I have been waiting for you."

 Chapter 219 You Are Sorely Mistaken

    ?


    Scarlet was surprised on the inside but she had no ns of portraying this to the soul eater. One that was this was self aware was probably a high level soul eater, one that had been around for a very long time. She had to deal with this one patiently and cunningly.


    So, she put a smile on her face as if she was looking at a friend she had not seen in such a long time and said, "I am ttered, if I had known that you were waiting for me, I would not have kept you waiting. I would havee running to hug you much sooner."


    "Hi-hi-hi." The soul eater chuckled in a menacing small voice. "You are funny."


    "What can I say, we grim reapers have a good sense of humor. Can I ask what happened to the original owner of the body you are inhabiting?"


    "Ah, that wench ispletely gone, I ate her soul up clean and only left enough to keep the body stable. But, you should not worry about her, she killed her entire family because of greed. You should worry more about yourself, after all you are the reason we stopped by on this ugly."


    She raised her eyebrows and looked on curiously. "Me!!, wow, you came all the way from Xeno for me? Has my reputation spread that far already? It can''t be." She answered.


    Then, sheughed yfully and brushed her hand against the air, "No way, I am just level three reaper who happens to be pitifully weak." She said. In the back of her mind, she thought, ''Come into my web, the spider said to the fly.'' She was the spider and the soul eater the fly. The weaker she assumed pretended to be, the greedily the soul eater, after all, who was more powerful to them than a grim reaper?


    "Too bad for you then, I am a level seven, in this fight, you are going to be devoured by me." the soul eater dered arrogantly. "And, I am going to enjoy every second of it."


    Scarlet wanted to extract some more information out of the soul eater before the short battle would begin. "How old are you?" she asked it.


    "I don''t know, does it matter,? You seem to be caught up in all the wrong things? Do I not frighten you reaper?" It paid no attention to Severus who had changed his appearance at thest second before entering the room. He looked no different from a little puppy now, all traces of a hell hound were gone.


    "I would not be a grim reaper if I scared easily, you could be level ten and I would still face you head on with everything in me." she answered confidently. "Why were you sucking energy from the general?"


    "Oh," the soul eater came closer and whispered in her ear, "That guy, the princess wanted to make him her sixth husband but he refused, so she told me to punish him. The weaker he is, the easier it will be to control him. Not that I mind sucking his energy, he is delicious. But, she licked Scarlet''s neck in a very creepy way and said, "You will be more delicious."


    As disgusted as she was because the vile soul eater had just licked her neck, she ced her hands around it''s waist and said, "I know this guy whose hugs are very painful, so painful that they nobody wants to hug him. When I told you that I would havee over running to hug you, it''s because I was thinking of that guy." She tightened her arms around the soul eater in a forced hug with all of her strength taking it by surprise as it was just starting the attempt of draining her soul energy. "You are sorely mistaken you vile disgusting filth, it is not I that should be scared," she used her me burst ability, her whole body was lit up by the green mes, and because of the hug, the soul eater too was surrounded by the mes, being refined slowly. "You are the one who should be scared."


    No matter how strong they were, they could not escape the power of the me, The soul eater struggled, and bit Scarlet''s neck, with sharp teeth but Severus resumed his form, howling and growling, which frightened it.


    "H-hound," it said weakly.


    "I thought you had heard all about me since you stopped by for me but I was wrong." Scarletughed, "Surely it would not have escaped your ears that I had a hound, you came because you heard there was a reaper and you wanted to my soul energy, how foolish."


    The soul eater screeched, shattering the window of the spaceship and Scarlet leaped out with it because this was bound to draw people here.


    Severus blinked, sending them to the crater where she had refined the seven soul collectors from. As soon as theynded there, she threw the soul eater to the ground, and increased her intensity of the me, in addition she took out her soul binding rope and whipped it mercilessly, venting all of her frustrations on the source of her misery.


    "I apologize, I will be good." it pleaded weakly, "Spare me, I will tell you about the princess''s n."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Shut up!" Severus barked, he opened his jaw wide, wide enough to swallow something whole and then he released red mes which melted the physical body the soul feeder was inhabiting, leaving only the ck soul eater in it''s original form.


    Scarlet pushed it into the soul gourd, and the short battle as she expected, ended. All was quiet in the crater again, not a peep or a chirp.


    More than ever, she was d that she hade across that green me, and in fact, she wanted more mes now.


    "I thought you would refine itpletely." Severus said.


    "No way, it''s a rare soul eater and I have a different list of demands to make. On the forum they say rare soul eaters are worth almost as much as pure or strong souls."


    She wanted spiritual herbs, rejuvenation water, water from the spring of any deity and whatever Severus had given to Esong. Simply refining it for energy was not what she intended.


    "I am going to have to cleanse this ce again." she said.


    She cleansed it and they blinked, returning to the spaceship because she needed to make sure that Esong had woken up from whatever daze he was under. She also wanted to see the princess who wanted to make her husband one of her concubines.


    What kind of woman had six husbands? How did that even work? It was simply greed and depravity.


    Indeed, the princess and her guards were frantically looking around the room, searching for the missing maid.


    Behind them, was a bored looking Ian who said, "There is a broken window, and it was broken from the inside. The cameras outside show no one entering the room besides the maid. It''s in to see that she took her own life by jumping out when we were under attack because she wanted to save herself."


    "We must find the body, she could be alive_" the princess said.


    "I refuse, we have no time for that." he stormed off.


    The princess scratched her face, but she paid no attention to it, going after Ian and screaming at him to turn around.


    Scarlet smirked and went to Esong''s private quarters, he was awake, drinking some water and looking at his terminal with hints of confusion in his eyes.


    She squatted down and touched his face, "he looks better now." she said.The color was returning to his face which was a good sign.


    Esong suddenly moved his face forward while she was observing him and smelled the air before saying, "Scarlet?"

 Chapter 220 Go Get Some Money

    ?


    Severus directly blinked, sending them both to the underworld and on their arrival, the hell hound proceeded to prance around, even trotting like a horse as he appeared to be extremely panicked.


    "Stop that." She told him, it was distracting her.


    In a very high pitched undignified tone, Severus answered, "He saw us, he called your name, you saw that, right? This is not good, humans should not be able to see us."


    "He did not see us." She replied calmly.


    Severus turned his red eyes on Scarlet who was the picture of perfect peace and tranquility,pletely unbothered and currently munching on a hell fruit.


    "Stop eating that foul thing and concentrate." He yelled.


    "Buddy, unless Esong''s nose has eyes then he did not see us. I am little freaked out as well but all he did was sniff the air and call my name." She smelled her armpits and wrists, "Maybe he is too familiar with the smell of my perfume."


    "Humans should not be able to smell us either." He added, "Not in our other forms anyway." Severus added. "Maybe he is not human after all, the old deity could have been right."


    "You realize that we have just rescued him from being preyed on by a soul eater. If the man was not human he would not be in the condition we found him in. Now, stop panicking, think rationally and let''s go get some money." The money were energy crystals, and Severus hated it when she called them that.


    The hound, still looking troubled, did not budge, mumbling something about needing to speak to Lythia.


    "Oh look, your mother is here." Scarlet said and suddenly Severus jumped up high in the air as if he was being assaulted by a group of red ants, blinked and vanished. He did not even check first to ascertain if her words were true.


    If he had looked back, he would have seen a dopey smile on her face because she was pranking him.


    "Tsk, tsk, and he ims not to have mummy issues yet he runs away when I mention her." She mumbled.


    Turning around, she did not recognize the ce where Severus brought her, not dwelling on where she was, she blinked and appeared closer to a familiar ce, one with soul registrars.


    As soon as she left the unknown ce however, three hell hounds came out from behind rocks and looked at each other with confusion and questions in their eyes.


    "You saw that, right?" The biggest one asked.


    "A reaper came to our sacred training ground, without an invitation." Another said.


    "She was with hound, maybe that''s how she got in."


    "Maybe," the biggest one mumbled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Scarlet in the meantime was smiling as she made her way to a soul registrar. "Reaper Scarlet here to make a delivery." She said cheerfully and released the level seven human feeder from her soul gourd along with other souls.


    The soul feeder was wrapped up like a mummy by the soul binding rope because she wanted to keep it in a constant state of agony.


    The bells rung, seven of them, announcing the capture of a level seven soul eater, but one more was added, a bigger bell which screeched like a bat, no, ten thousand bats Scarlet thought. She along with other reapers covered their ears, extremely irritated by the sound made by that one bell.


    As if that was not attention grabbing at all, the sky turned darker and shadows suddenly appeared from above. Then, five gate keepers appeared and theynded down like ck ravens. She could hardly make out their faces as they carried off the wailing soul feeder before Scarlet could get a chance to make her demands.


    As soon as they left, all was restored as it was before, it was brighter again and the screeching was gone. Her soul binding rope was in her hands and there was an additional round grey bead which she was certain had not been there before.


    ''My money.'' She thought.


    "Register the rest of your souls." A soul registrar said to her.


    Not particrly contented because she had received no exnation, Scarlet held the registrar''s arm tightly. "Wait a minute, what just happened? I delivered a level seven rare type of soul eater why was it taken from me without payment?"


    "The bead is your payment, rare soul eaters, especially the nasty ones are not dealt with by our department." He replied, shrugged his arm away and then gave her a scowl. "Others are waiting."


    Because she did not want to drag the line and dy other soul deliveries she did what was necessary and then started walking off in the direction of Lythia''s pce.


    "Oh, look at that, she is running off to mummy to report." A voice directlying from behind her mocked.


    Scarlet wanted to ignore it, but her feet moved faster than her mind, prompting her to turn around and face the mockerying from whoever it was. It was not a reaper she had met before but judging from his uniform and the red of his scythe, it was a warrior reaper. He was standing with a female reaper, probably hispanion judging from the simr looking rings on their fingers. The male reaper would have had captivating looks were it not for his overly sharp nose which made him look a long beaked bird. Hispanion was simply fine, and quiet, she also looked very ufortable with the situation.


    "Walk away." She told him. She was not one of those reapers who sought out confrontation but it always seemed to find her when she was minding her business. But she was no coward and if the fight came to her, she would face it head on.


    "Why should I?" He replied, "You must be cheating, the hound caught that soul eater, right? Why do you get to reap the benefits? How is this fair to the rest of us?"


    Scarlet folded her arms across her chest and smiled provocatively before saying, "Then, maybe you should get your own hound, there are many of them in the underworld. You warrior reapers have more ess to them since you hunt the most dangerous soul eaters after all. Go on, if you think having a hell hound is cheap and simple, try it." Severus had the appetite of one hundred adult men, he criticized her all the time, was always away running his own errands, loved spending her energy crystals and he made demands of her all the time. Their partnership was not perfect, he was not a docile soul pet like the others. In other reaper and soul pet rtionships, the reaper was in charge and the pet often listened to their instructions but in hers, there was an imbnce in the power. One she was actually grateful for because Severus had taught her a lot but they butted heads more oftenas well.


    "Don''t speak nonsense, you are a weak level three reaper that caught a level seven soul collector, how ridiculous." He looked at her with heavy deep seated contempt.


    She was so puzzled and she tsked, and asked, "Why are you so angry about me capturing a soul eater from my world? All of us are assigned to different worlds, you have yours and I have mine. If I hade to your world and captured a soul eater then you would have the right to do this but I did not. I will not bother to defend myself to you, it''s not worth it."


    She knew now what Hawk had said was right, jealousy andpetition among a small percentage ofpeting grim reapers existed. It was not all peace and love in the underworld, this reaper was probably not the only one who felt sour about her partnership with Severus because of the advantages it brought her. The question was, should she care about how they felt?

 Chapter 221 You Would Be Privileged

    ?


    She turned around, giving her back to the reaper as she chose to walk away. Mincing words with him would only serve to anger her.


    "You turned your back on me, I am still talking, how dare you?" She heard him angrily yell and felt his hand on her shoulder.


    Her n was to flip him over her shoulder when he was suddenlyunched into the air, and suspended there. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish that was struggling to breathe after being taken out of water.


    Scarlet looked around to see who was providing this assistance and out of thin air, Lythia and her guards appeared. One of the guards was holding his hand upwards, she guessed that it was him that lent her a helping hand.


    "A level six warrior reaper attempting to unfairly beat up a level three guardian reaper, now this is what we call indiscipline. You have earned yourself one month in the hall of punishment." Lythia said softly.


    Like thest time with Ulysses and his friends, a portal appeared through which this reaper was sent.


    "Did she attempt anything as well?" Lythia looked at the female reaper that was frowning, looking frightened as if she was about to shit herself.


    "No." Scarlet said and the woman sighed in relief.


    The hall of punishment was not a ce reapers wanted to visit even for a few seconds. It was full of nightmares and your powers were stripped away so all that you suffered was cruel and unforgettable.


    "Thank you." The female reaper said in a small voice and she disappeared.


    Scarlet looked at Lythia and bowed politely before saying, "I was on my way to find you before he osted me verbally, said you were my mummy."


    Lythia chuckled and took Scarlets hand, transporting them to her gardens. "You know, it would be a privilege for you to be my daughter. It would make you the child of a deity after all."


    Smiling in a cheeky way, Scarlet pretentious held Lythia''s arm and said, "In that case, you can adopt me."


    Lythiaughed and shook her head, "You just want some benefits from me, I know you Scarlet. What is it that you need?"


    "Some rejuvenation water." She replied without a second thought. "Ooh, some water from your spring too, I heard that spring water which belongs to the deities can cure any human disease."


    "And that''s why we do not give it out easily. " Lythia answered. "Imagine a world where humans never fall sick, there would be no death and no pain. As horrible as it is, those two alone give us deities incredible power. Humans believe more when there is suffering and hope."


    They sat on a swing set under therge peach trees and a reaper brought them some tea.


    "Drink, it''s good for you. " Lythia told her.


    For a while, they sipped the tea slowly, admiring the beautiful surroundings andughing at the silly antics of the spirit monkeys.


    Still, Scarlet could not erase Lythia''s words about pain, suffering and death but she chose not to ask anything else. She asked another question instead.


    "What are you the deity of? I know the old deity is in charge of death but what about you?"


    Lythia raised her hands gently and in the bright light shadows formed, some were dancing, some were standing still and others running. "Shadows," she said. "Shadows and darkness."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Everything suddenly went dark, as if the entire realm had been lit up by lights that were suddenly extinguished.


    Scarlet could not make out a single thing, not even her superior grim reaper vision was working. All that was in front of her was an endless darkness which felt like an empty void whosepanion was the wind which suddenly sounded mournful.


    They say death and darkness werepanions but as an agent of death, Scarlet felt uneasy, it was freaky, scary and troubling.


    "Lythia, turn on the lights before the entire realm turns to chaos." Scarlet heard the old deity''s rage full voice shout from somewhere.


    "Hi-hi-hi." Lythia chuckled and suddenly it was bright again.


    The first thing Scarlet noticed as her eyes adjusted to the sudden onught of bright light was the way the spirit monkeys were huddled together, holding each other forfort. Nobody liked darkness, not a single being or creature.


    "It''s amazing that my brother acts as if my powers are so simple, turn on the lights!!!" Lythiained in a disbelieving voice and she poured out the rest of her tea and sulked.


    "Would you like to see my power in action in your world?" She asked.


    "Oh please no." Scarlet blurted out desperately.


    "See, this is the right reaction, fear, anxiety and desperation. But he talks about my powers as if they are an ordinary light bulb to be switched on and off."


    Scarlet had another question on her mind, something that made her even more curious. " As a deity, you can have your own realm, why do you choose to live here and work with or for your brother?" It seemed logical that every deity have a realm of their own.


    "Because nobody likes the darkness, not even I, it''s deity. And, of all my brothers and sisters only he likes me, deities too act like humans, they segregate. Some feel more superior to others and think they should be revered, respected and admired more than others. It''s why we rarely interact, there are less wars when we mind our own business. Why were you seeking me out?"


    "Oh, I delivered a level seven soul, the gate keepers stole it and I got this." Scarlet finally got around to the real reason why she hade seeking for Lythia before all the distractions. "I don''t know if I should beining but I feel cheated, it''s not what I wanted."


    "It''s one of the beads of infinite protection, with this, no one can harm you physically in this realm or the human one. I am surprised that they gave you something so precious, they must be courting you. A day wille when they will ask you for a favor _"


    "No, no," Scarlet shook her head, "No favors, they are too big in this realm."


    "But the bead of infinite protection is a good thing, there are things that your little me cannot protect you from but the bead will. Keep it, the gate keepers will only ask you to capture an escaped soul from hell once in a while, don''t be afraid." Lythia stood up, she looked ready to bid Scarlet goodbye. "Are you eating the hell fruits daily?"


    "Yes," Scarlet replied, " I am tired of them now though."


    "No, keep eating, it''s important." Lythia said in a sterner voice that perhaps even she did not realize.


    "Why?" She asked curiously. This was important to Lythia it seemed. "You know, if I had some rejuvenation water I could be convinced, I would even consider increasing my intake."


    "Here." Lythia shoved a whole collection of twenty four mid sized vials all filled with rejuvenation water at Scarlet. "Four fruits a day and if you skip, I will know and I will be very unhappy. Lights tend to go out when I am unhappy Scarlet."


    "Don''t worry adoptive mom, I will eat the fruits faithfully." Scarlet knew that Lythia would not tell her why the fruits were desperately important to her so, she chose to get some benefits. This rejuvenation water could be helpful perhaps in curing the darkness.

 Chapter 222 Esongs Ship Crashes.

    ?


    Esong was sure that his wife had been on the spaceship, he could not put a finger on how he knew but somehow, he did. He could smell her in the air, it was a faint strawberry smell but it was hers. He drew in a deep breath and inhaled, greedily sucking in that scent as he wondered if perhaps he was losing his mind. There was no way she was here, it was impossible, maybe he was missing her so much that he had lost his mind.


    He looked at his bracelet terminal and saw that he had received over two hundred messages, calls, emails from her, his son, his parents and the rest of his family and all were marked read which meant he had seen them but he did not respond at all.


    "What is going on?" He asked himself in a whisper.


    He stood up resolutely and dialed a number, initiating a video call, trying to reach his wife first before everyone else. She was not the most stable person emotionally, what could possibly be going through his mind with his long absence.


    She did not answer, the rm in the spaceship was going crazy and it was wobbly, at this pace and speed they would soon be diving straight to the ground in what would be a deadly plunge.


    "Shit." He cursed. There were other urgent things to deal with right now, he could contact her again when they were safely on the ground.


    He broke into a stride, practically running to the central operation room of the spaceship.


    "Jovi, exin." He said sternly in amanding voice to the AI as he took the captain''s seat, taking charge of the spaceship from another pilot who was temporarily trying to bnce it but failing.


    "One of the engines is failing as a result of maximum damage to one of the thrusters, the ship is losing momentum general." Jovi exined.


    "What do you rmend?" He asked.


    "I rmend_"


    "Esong," Ian came into the central operation room,


    "Where the fuck have you been?" Esong barked at him.


    "Fixing your stupid mess." Ian answered. He took up a seat in the co-captain''s seat and they employed the measures Jovi rmended while the engineers aboard dealt with the damaged thruster from inside. On the outside, another thruster caught fire, not red mes but light blue ones and the situation worsened.


    "We need tond, quickly." Ian said.


    "I know." Esong replied through gritted teeth. He alerted the officers at the main headquarters of the mecha warriors association and preparations were made.


    Twenty minutester, emergency measures were deployed and the space ship crushed into one of the storage areas of the mecha warriors association, missing the initialnding mark narrowly.


    The ship doors opened, emergency personnel invaded the ship, pulling out any injured individuals while Esong went on to check on Hachiko, his beloved pet first. The dog was barking and whining simultaneously, it seemed to be in pain.


    He found it locked away, which surprised him, who had locked his dog away? But being locked in this hard crate had saved the dogs life, perhaps.


    "Come here boy," he carried the dog out, it licked his face and barked before exposing a bleeding paw.


    Esong carried his dog out while mecha warriors carried others out.


    "I am fine, thank you." Ian yelled at him.


    "I know." Esong replied.


    He had looked at his co-captain first before moving on to his dog.


    "Have you seen Cedric?" Ian asked loudly, his ears were ringing and he was pping them lightly. "Cedric, Cedric." He shouted. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He is at the treatment cabin outside, which is where I am taking my dog." Esong replied as he increased his pace, rushing to the treatment cabin where he grabbed an idol doctor and said, "Treat my dog." And then, he walked back to the space ship to help.


    There was a lot going on at the same time, people were being pulled out of the spaceship, robots were carrying away the broken parts of the spaceship, there was smoke everywhere and masked craftsmen were hammering away at the rest of the thrusters. It looked like a rescue and fixing mission was urring at the same time.


    "Is anyone dead?" Esong shouted at the top of his voice. He had no idea who to ask the question since everyone was running around as if they had lost their minds.


    "General," Someone said, "You are injured." And his arm was grabbed.


    Now, Esong himself noticed that he was bleeding, his arm had a deep gush from the wrist upwards, which he had not noticed.


    "Help the others first." He answered and he went on to pull out two engineers from the mess.


    It took a good forty five minutes before everything calmed down and all those that were injured received treatment. Esong wentst, after ensuring that all of his people were okay.


    "General," the doctor he had given the responsibility of treating Hachiko came to him while the torn flesh of his arm was being closed up by a yellowser which was sealing a transparent fluid over the wound. "Your dog keeps baring its teeth at me every time Ie closer."


    "Bring him to me, you can treat him while he is my arms."


    There were others in the treatment cabin, and they looked over curiously, some of them were wondering if this was special treatment.


    The dog was wheeled into the room by the doctor and two mecha warriors, as it was wheeled in its sharp teeth were on top and it was growling fiercely. Immediately, it jumped down and went over to Esong who carried it up, using his mental strength. The dog seemed to be used to this because it was so calm until itfortably found itself on Esong''sps. It ced its head on his stomach and he patted it gently.


    The doctor stood in front of the two with a needle and the dog whined, folding its body as if it wanted to hide inside his clothes.


    "A," a female nurse gushed. "How cute."


    "Hachiko, be a good boy give the doctor your paw." Esong said gently. "The needle won''t hurt at all."


    Hachiko whined further, his chocte brown eyes looked at Esong as if to say, "Don''t lie to me."


    "I will give you some beef steak after, Ian will grill it for you perfectly."


    Ian who was sitting on a chair on the opposite end while a doctor looked through his head for any injuries, tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.


    "Why do I have to cook the beef for your dog?"


    He shouted and the doctor who had other things to do dragged Ian''s head back.


    "Stay still." He ordered.


    "See, uncle Ian will grill steak for us." Esong further convinced Hachiko.


    Everyone curiously waited on the side to see if it work and they could not the excitement and smiles when Hachiko extended a paw to the doctor and his wound was treated. More than a few people took pictures and shared them on star which was how the news got out,


    "General Esong''s spaceship crushed, his crew, his dog and the princess were involved in an ident."

 Chapter 223 The Battle Of Silence

    ?


    When Scarlet returned to the real world, she went to the kitchen with every intention of finally starting on that pizza. It waste however,ing to nine o''clock and she was quite hungry. By this time, Justin too had probably had dinner with her parents. Did she still have to cook the pizza, she wondered.


    She found Cecily in her kitchen with Gertrude and Anna. On the counter was a recement of the ingredients that had been hurled during the fight.


    What was she doing here, again? She had already stormed off after saying such harsh words.


    "Leave us." Cecily told the maids.


    "Yes mydy." Gertrude and Anna bowed before leaving.


    Since the ingredients were already prepared, Scarlet washed her hands and set out to prepare the pizza. For a good ten minutes, she ignored the woman whose presence was causing her difort. If she had nothing to say, then she too would not be opening her mouth as well.


    She mixed the dough aggressively, ignoring the fact that she could use a mixer. She went through all the necessary steps of preparing a chicken pizza and finally two pizzas went into the oven, and she started working on a third.


    Cecily maintained the same position on at the dining table, showing no intention to abandon it anytime soon.


    "Aren''t you going to say anything to me?" Cecily finally said, for some reason exasperated.


    Scarlet felt a satisfaction in her belly from this small victory in the battle of silence. She had not caved first, she would never cave first.


    "Like what? She responded.


    Cecily rubbed her face, and sighed, seemingly exhausted from the events which urred or Scarlet''s attitude toward them. "Won''t you tell me that I was wrong for shouting at you and saying such unpleasant things?"


    "Why should I? Scarlet asked her, "You have this preconceived misconception about me, who I am and what I should be. Why should it fall on me to change that, why not you? Haven''t I proven myself for months now as a good wife and great mother to your grandson and great grandson? I feel like you are testing me all the time, even when you are good to me, it feels artificial. Like you are only doing it for Justin''s sake. You wanted me to stand, raise my voice and defend Esong but how can I defend something I don''t know? If I had the smallest inkling about what was going on I would have defended him. I went to captain Vangar twice to inquire about Esong''s well being and all I was told was that he was okay. Going a third time would have been humiliating because it was in to see, it was me he did not want to talk to."


    "Then you should havee to me." Cecily said in a low but firm voice.


    "Did youe to me?" Scarlet reiterated. "You knew that he could go silent for a few weeks but I didn''t. He said nothing about it and mind you before the total silence we were in constant dailymunication. Of course I thought something was wrong but when I found out that he was fine and simply ignoring us I was furious." She clenched her fist and punched the round ball of dough. "You are always telling me that I am part of your family but I do not feel it here." Scarlet pointed at her heart.


    "Until you ept me as I am ws and all, do not y the family card with me Cecily. Also, unless it''s really important please keep your opinions about my marriage to Esong to yourself. I am tired of hearing you say that I want out of this marriage all the time when you have no proof of such a thing. I am tired of being used of such a thing and yet I have been working my ass off to make the marriage work." She was very sincere about it, making things work for their small family of three was a big priority for her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She pushed another pizza into an oven and removed the first two which were now ready. The sweet smell of pizza, which her memory was so familiar with wafted to her noise, seducing her senses and damped down some of the bitterness she was experiencing. Her stomach rumbled like an old engine, begging her to take a bite immediately.


    Cecily licked her lips, almost drooling and close to forgetting the real reason why she hade.


    "I am sorry, " she blurted out loud, " I was waiting for you out here so that I could apologize for my words earlier. I should not have been too harsh on you, and you are right, I can be quite mechanical with you because I expect perfection and devotion to Esong from you. I pride myself on my nobility, elegance and big heart but with you, I have been none of those things. I will strive to be better, and make you feel more like a part of our family."


    Whether she was genuinely apologizing from the bottom of her heart or simply because she wanted pizza die to the way her eyes were glued to it, Scarlet took her words as a win. Continuing the fight would not benefit anyone so it was better to let it go for now and take things slowly.


    "Has Justin eaten?" She asked Cecily.


    "I checked in on him one hour ago and he is already sleeping with your brother, Adler. I guess he was worn out from ying and training." Cecily, then looked down and frowned for a few seconds before asking Scarlet, " Do you think I should apologize to Lora as well, she is your guest after all. And she was right in saying that Esong should have shut those rumors down immediately. It''s not right, what you have had to endure for months now."


    Scarlet thought about it for a while, thinking back to all the times Lora had deliberately been rude, loud, and mean to her.


    "No." She said and then she chuckled as she handed Cecily a fork, knife and a ss of juice before inviting her to enjoy the pizza together. "She needed to be taken down a peg, she can be quite annoying at times."


    Cecily nodded as she stuffed her mouth with pizza, she abandoned the knife and fork, choosing to use her hands the same was Scarlet was doing it. Between bites she said, "Not just annoying, she is so freaking rude to everyone and she is always ring. She has a stick up her butt, a big one."


    Scarlet giggled because Cecily was behaving in a mannerpletely opposite to her normal self. She had not even bothered to wipe the sauce on the side of her cheeks, normally the woman took one bite of food and wiped her lips.


    "This is so good." Cecily picked up her third slice of pizza. "What''s her story anyway? Why is she so angry at the world?"


    "Life dealt her an unfair blow." Was all Scarlet said.


    Cecily shrugged and thought, she is not the only one, life was unfair to many others but they did not walk around acting as if they were owed something.


    They managed to polish off one and a half pizzas before Tion made his way to the kitchen and switched on the television which was reporting Esong''s ident.

 Chapter 224 A Strong Statement From Esong.

    ?


    There was something about tragedy which made people vulnerable, even the strongest ones could also lose their strength and show fear. Such was the situation for the longest hours in the night for Cecily Wu after she saw the news on Esong''s ident. The pizza she had been eating lost all deliciousness and she held on to Scarlet tightly all night, as if she was afraid that she would vanish or break down. The Su''s who had been awake gathered in the living room of Scarlet''s private quarters and maintained a vigil, waiting for the bad or good news together. Only Justin, the baby and Adler were left to sleep, everyone else was awake. They kept giving Scarlet pitiful looks, trying to hug her and then moving on to do the same to Cecily.


    Scarlet on her end was dissatisfied more because she could not pop in to check on him while everyone was keeping an eye on her as if she was such a fragile little thing that would shatter at any minute. Her mother even reached the extent of walking her to the bathroom, denying her privacy.


    Severus shook his head and took things into his own hands, he popped in and returned to tell Scarlet that her human husband was fine before he helped himself to the abandoned pizza and the fresh one which Scarlet took out of the oven.


    "We should have heard something by now." Mega who couldn''t take it anymore said, in a slightly high voice. "This is torture, how can they make the families wait for this long?"


    "It''s standard procedure." Etienne Wu said, until they clear everything up ande up with one mutually agreed upon story that will cause worry to the public, we will not know a single thing."


    Chi Lian sighed and Beord grumbled, mumbling something nobody heard but it held hints of frustration.


    "Are you okay?" Carolyn whispered from behind Scarlet. "Do you want some tea?" This was the sixth time she was being offered tea. What exactly was the tea going to do, soothe her feelings or provide the answers they all sought?


    "I am okay." She replied. "Check on Justin."


    d to have something to do other than stand around and pace nervously, Carolyn left the living room.


    "He is going to be fine." Cecily mumbled.


    She looked at the pale faced woman and squeezed her hand, "He is fine," Scarlet said in a reassuring voice.


    The television was on and the story, despite having no updates was running and re-running as some even spun it to be worse than it really was.


    One anchor imed to have it on good authority that the mecha king had been seen bleeding profusely from an injury and Cecily wilted.


    Scarlet''s terminal vibrated for the tenth or twentieth time, she had lost count of the number of people calling her to extend their sympathies, share their reassurance or ask her to address the citizens of the blue star because they were worried, he was after all their other governor.


    She ignored it, as she had been doing all night.


    "We are going to a live press briefing being given by the mecha king himself." The anchor for star empire television, the national television said and all eyes in the castle living room turned to the screen. It was not just here but everyone that was awake anywhere in the empire turned up the volume.


    Esong, appeared on the screen, physically he was not injured. He was clean, there were no smears or traces of blood on his mecha warrior uniform. All Scarlet could deduce from his appearance was that he was quite exhausted. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I told you that he would be okay." Etienne told Cecily.


    "I know," she grabbed his hand, still, holding on to Scarlet''s other hand.


    Scarlet received more than a few pats on the back, and "All is well, or everything is going to be alright. " whispers.


    Esong''s address started, "At approximately thirty six minutes past seven o''clock this evening, while on a journey back from Zend district, my spaceship the dazzling star encountered a few flying mutated beasts and during the battle which ensued damage was done to the thrusters of the ship. Even though wended somewhat sessfully at the base, unfortunately, we lost one person during the attack. Thankfully, everyone else was able to receive urgent medical care and they are fine.


    I would like to send the heartfelt sincerity and gratefulness of all crew members for the well wishes you have all sent on the official star page of the mecha warriors association." He sounded so mechanical, as if he was reading this directly from a written press briefing handed to him by a public rtions manager, which indeed it was.


    Scarlet yawned, and blinked five times continuously, she was sleepy and exhausted, it had been a long night. There was nothing else to see at the moment.


    "I would like to address something personal right now and clear up a few misunderstandings." Esong said.


    "Eh," she turned her eyes which were looking around for the nearest escape point to to the television. That did not sound like part of the statement officially handed to him.


    "Over the past few weeks articles,parisons, malicious rumors and all sorts of nonsense have been spread by the media and on star about the supposed rtionship between myself and the Xenoan princess. I would like to begin by strongly denying any inappropriate involvement of any sort with the princess. I Esong Wu, I am a married man with a wife and child who I would never dishonor by engaging in such behavior. It has been my duty to show the princess around and determine her intentions ofing to our Sun star empire. All of my observations have been shared with the emperor and ministers in charge of foreign affairs, internal and external security. All those media''s and individuals that dared to spread such nonsense will be hearing from my legal team before the night ends, I will be suing them all for ndering of my character and that of my wife. I would like to apologize to my wife, my son and my family for noting out earlier and addressing the rumors head on and I hope that such an incident will never happen again. Thank you all, may the empire live long." He saluted and walked off the stage after giving the camera onest cold look.


    "Ho!" Mega Su covered her mouth andughed.


    Fey squealed and lightly pped Scarlet''s back continuously. "I knew it, I knew it, all those rumors were false."


    "I don''t think he was supposed to exin what he was doing." Etienne looked at Scarlet and then at his wife.


    "Who cares, he has exined his actions to the entire world, now we know he was spying." Cecily smiled, "he did not dishonor his family. I would have strangled that floozy myself if he dared to bring her in." Now, she was in perfect agreement with Lora, calling the princess a floozyfortably."Did you hear that dear, Esong did not wrong you in any way."


    Scarlet resisted the urge to smile fully and she just nodded and said, "Yes grandma Cecily, I heard everything he said."


    "You should forgive him, hmm." Cecily continued as she patted Scarlet''s hand. "The two of you must have a lot of things to discuss, why don''t you go in and give him a call." Cecily stood up, and took Scarlet by the hand, leading her to her bedroom door. "Go on, give him a call dear."

 Chapter 225 Hey Baby

    ?


    "Have you lost your damn mind?" Esong was shoved in the shoulder by arge menacing man, who wore a very expressive scowl on his face.


    "One more time," Esong said in a calm but deadly voice which promised grave consequences. "Touch me one more time general Sang and this will be an entirely different scenario."


    General Sang who was dressed in a red and ck uniform breathed furiously, and he heaved heavily unnecessarily, he was extremely angry, it seemed. "You exposed the details of a mission that is not supposed to be shared with the people on national television just so that_"


    "Oh shut up you pompous asshole, it was not your mission, it was mine. I didn''t see you stepping up when the emperor asked three of us to take on the mission of studying the Xenoan princess, in fact, you shriveled away like a dysfunctional cock!!"


    "Huh!" An officer who had just entered Esong''s private office at the mecha warriors association gasped.


    Both men turned to look at the officer who had entered uninvited into the office and managed to overhear a private conversation.


    "I_I, I," he stammered.


    Ignoring the officer, General Sang red at Esong, his face was red with fury and his eyes bulged so much that they gave off the appearance of almost popping out through the sockets. "One of these days you will push your authority too far and I will happily step in to discipline you."


    "I think you forget that I outrank you general Sang, I am a seven star general while you are an ordinary major general. If anyone is going to discipline the other between us, I will be the one doing it. Get out of my office Sang."


    It was well known that was no love lost between major general Sang and general Esong. Sang was older and he found it very shameful and infuriating that he had to take orders from someone many years his junior. Sang was also amoner that resented Esong''s noble and royal status, often, he was overheard iming that Esong was only in his position because of his close rtionship with the emperor. But only fools would believe that since Esong had proven his skills on the field in a fight and in leadership with the excellence of his men. Sang was jealous, simple and easy.


    As general Sang stormed out of Esong''s office, the officer came closer and handed him a new terminal bracelet. "It''s a recement for the one which was damaged in the crush general, you have a call." He said.


    The officer handed the new terminal off and rushed out of the office.


    Esong realized that his wife was calling and he answered the call quickly, and Scarlet appeared before his eyes in a hologram. He could not exin the sense of relief which washed over his body just by simply ncing at her face. A face, which he had missed so much. She looked as beautiful as always, her grey eyes held that usual stubbornness which he hade to miss and her lips had formed that pout which often meant, he had done something to apologize for.


    "Hey baby." He leaned back in thefortable rotating office chair which she had given to him and he twisted his body slowly, making the chair move from side to side slowly. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His voice was soft and deep, seductive as always which made Scarlet melt inside like a bunch of gooey soft marshmallows over a fire.


    "Don''t give in so easily," Her inner voice said and she shook her head and impishly eyed him, adding a "humph."


    "You look amazing." He said.


    She rolled her eyes and again, said, "humph."


    "I am so sorry, I don''t know how to exin the events of the past few weeks myself because I don''t understand them." He said, looking at her with all the genuineness he could muster into his eyes. "Please believe me, I would never disappear like that without word to you or Justin, not anymore, especially not if I am in my right senses."


    Even though he did not know what happened, she did, quite well but she could not exactly exin it to him either. So, she yed pretend, giving off the appearance of an aggrieved wife.


    But first, there was one thing to get out of the way, "Are you injured? How bad was the ident? The news said that you were bleeding profusely from an injury."


    "I am fine, it was just a minor cut on the arm, Hachiko is fine too, we all made it out safely." He smiled slightly, very happy to see that she was worried about him. This probably meant that they could salvage anything.


    After establishing the excellent status of his body, she moved on to other important things, "I waited by the phone Esong, for more than a month. What happened? Why did I have to endure so many pitiful looks, gossip and nder online? What exactly were you seeking to find out from princess floozy that you allowed her to hold your arm in public. Our son saw that!!! I am sure that he also saw people saying that she would be your new wife on star. Why didn''t you leave this kind of mission to someone else?"


    It was important for him to know and understand that his actions often affected Justin in good and bad ways. Was he the only person in the empire that could deal with floozy?


    "I am sorry baby, really sorry. I will talk to Justin and exin everything. It was supposed to be a simple one week long assignment, I would try to get ess to her mind and poke around. But, her mind shields were always up and every time her personal maid came close to me I would feel dizzy and weird, I started suspecting that they were in possession of an unknown drug so the one week of observation was extended to a month. Honestly, everything that happened in between that time period is kind of woozy, especially the things rted to her. I don''t know what to say, frankly, all I want is nothing to do with that princess anymore, she even dared to hit on me, she asked me to be her sixth husband!!!! There is something wrong with that princess and I have a feeling that she was here with ill intentions. I have handed her off to the department of foreign affairs and they can decide what to do with her because all I know is that if she remains within my breathing orbit I will snap her neck." He did not skimp on the details, exining all that happened clearly and additionally drawing a line between himself and the princess so neatly, which she appreciated greatly. Most of the gaps and dots had been connected.


    "Did she touch you anywhere else?"

 Chapter 226 A Man Of His Word.

    ?


    At her question, Esong suddenly coughed heavily, beating his chest as if he was in pain and then he burst intoughter, a deepugh which would have been infectious if his wife was not scowling.


    "Sorry baby, I don''t know why I found that question funny. What kind of touching are you asking about, like my special ce kind_"


    "Youuuu!!" She pointed at his smiling face. "This is serious, did she touch you in a sexual way, an intimate way, did you screw her?"


    "Of course not!!! my private quarters are off bounds to everyone but Dez, my assistant and yourself. She tried to sneak in but the door would not open for her. But even if she did, we are all on suppressants, she would never get a rise out of me. I would also like to believe that my subconscious would not have allowed anything of that sort to happen, Ian said that even though I acted funny, I did not do anything to be ashamed of. I guess you control my body baby." He smiled sheepishly after saying that.


    "Humph," she sneered. "You have not exined "Why did it have to be you to take on that mission, couldn''t one of your men have taken it on?"


    "They could have but of the three people the emperor asked to take on the mission only I stepped forward and it was only because the others did not. I guess her attraction to me was an additional bonus, at least, now we know not to trust the Xenoans. Why did you call her princess floozy?"


    "Check the star for the meaning of the word floozy and you will find out why. Around here nobody cares about what her true name is, we simply call her floozy. Anyway, I am going to be understanding in this situation because the circumstances areplicated but if this should repeat  itself, I will not be so forgiving." she said seriously.


    "I understand baby." he replied.He wiped non existent sweat from his forehead, "Pheewks, I am so happy that we have been able to get past this huddle. I was so worried that maybe I messed things up so badly for us. Tell me anything that you need Scar, I have to make it up to you."


    She pursed her lips back and fourth, thinking about what possible gift he could give her to make up for his mess.


    "I want a mecha." she said after some thought, "Not these replica fake things on the market, I want a superior mecha."


    "Done." he said.


    "And you must teach me how to pilot one, I don''t want these big bulky ones either, I want a light one like yours which is adjusted to suit the situation at hand."


    "Done and done." he answered assuredly. "Anything else that you want, name it."


    She did not really want anything else because he had actually made it up to her by dering on national television that he and floozy had no rtionship. As long as he went through with what he said about suing, she would be happier. In fact, she might do some suing of her own, that bejeweled woman would be at the top of the list because she, more than anyone had led a smear campaign against her in these weeks.


    "How are you?" she asked him.


    He smiled and answered, "I think we have already established the fact that I am doing okay earlier, do you not believe me? Should I undress and expose my body_"


    Alex, who monitored the cameras in her castle said, "Your brother and son are here."


    Esong had already taken his shirt off and she hissed at him, "Put on your shirt, Justin is here."


    While he did that, Adler poked his head inside, he covered his eyes with the palm of his left hand as he shouted, "Are you decent?"


    "Would I let you in if I wasn''t?" she asked sarcastically.Given the number of times he would budge into her room in the old house when she took too long to answer the door and he was worried, wasn''t it toote to be making changes to his behavior?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Justin was asking for you." he said, and he handed the boy over to Scarlet before nodding at Esong and leaving the room.


    She ced her baby close to her, in direct view of the camera so that he could see and talk to his father.


    "Son," Esong said in an emotional voice.


    Adler meanwhile was hounded by his mother and Cecily the minute he returned to the living room.


    "What happened? his mother asked.


    "How is she?" Cecily asked.


    "Is she talking to her husband?" his mother added another question.


    "Does she have a smile on if they are talking?" Cecily was not to be outdone.


    Dorian and Etienne looked at each other and then shook their heads, pitying Adler but making no ns to save him from the conundrum he found himself in. Those two women would interrogate him as if he was a fugitive on the run now and squeeze all the information out of him.


    On BSTV, a new reporter that was not Jelly because he was so obviously male was speaking as he pointed at the screen behind.


    "It seemed like a joke when general Esong Wu dered only an hour and a half ago that those who dared to nder himself and his wife would be hearing from his legal team which caused a riot online as more than one hundred thousand people were involved in this activity. Despite many deleting the content of their posts, they have still received legal sermons requiring them to appear before the RGB to ept their charges and pay the associated legal fines or face a thirty day prison sentence. Never before on the Sun star has one individual sued so many people at once.


    I am standing outside the RGB offices on the blue star where so early in the morning, officers are physically bringing in the few people that were involved on our. It''s really a puzzle why people who have received so much goodness from the two governors would choose to be online trolls and participate in such nder against them. Stay with us as the story develops, reporting for BSTV, Joey Dazzle.


    Dorian Su nodded in approval, looked at Esong''s grandfather that was sitting next to him and said, "I like your grandson, he is a man of his word. He made an announcement and immediately his legal team started filing cases."


    Etienne Wu looked proud when he smiled and replied, "Esong is not a general for nothing, when one is going into a battle they must be determined. I am d that he is doing this, maybe now those online trolls will learn a lesson."


    "How much is everyone required to pay, the fine, how much is it?" Elroy had a question which he addressed to Etienne.


    "The penalty if one is found guilty of malicious nder online is one hundred thousand star coins, and that''s the lowest fee. It increases ording to the gravity of nder, it''s maximum outreach and it''s impact." Etienne exined slowly.


    "So, those whose posts got more likes, views and were shared the most will pay more than others." Elroy said thoughtfully.


    "Yes," Dorian answered, "I bet they are now regretting their fame." heughed, very d that they would face consequences for their actions.

 Chapter 227 Scarlets Original Name.

    ?


    On the yellow star, inside grim reaper Ramslin''s exquisite house, he was having a conversation with someone Scarlet would recognize easily, for it was none other than the old deity.


    Perhaps she would be surprised to see him having a conversation with another grim reaper the way he always did with her. Furthermore, she would be surprised to see him sipping tea with a tranquil look on his young handsome face and not the old familiar one he usually used with her. The content of the conversation seemed to unexpectedly revolve around her.


    "You have been studying your fellow reaper secretly for a while now Ram, what exactly is your intention by veiling yourself and following her around. Are you reaper warriors nning to cause trouble in my realm?"


    "The warriors are not behind this," Ramslin answered. "I was just curious because of the way she is leveling up so quickly. It took me two years to make it to level three and yet she made it there in less than a year." He spoke softly, but he scoffed and shook his head. "Something was suspicious, I knew that it was too good to be true."


    "Some grim reapers have a natural affinity for soul cultivation than others." The old deity replied. "She happens to be one of them. Why should her cultivation speed make you curious anyway, it''s not as if it''s rted to you. The girl has talent, extraordinary talent."


    Ramslin did not believe that response one bit and he said, "I saw something weird, she has these green mes and she did something to the soul eaters with them, I cannot forget it. I have never seen anything like it in my few years at this job. What is she? Is she even a grim reaper? Is she a deity experiencing life as a reaper?"


    "Is that the only reason why you are interested in her?" The old deity did not respond to Ramslin''s questions but he rather posed one of his own. He smiled mysteriously and added, "I don''t think so, I see everything you know, and thatputer thing of yours has a picture of her. If I didn''t know better, I would think that your interest in her is somewhat romantic." The old deity looked mighty proud of himself from his deduction.


    "You are wrong, my Lord." Ramslin denied. "I dare not covet a married woman."


    "Hmmm, she is magnificent Scarlet, one of my beautiful reapers. And it''s not because of her face, it''s her powerful aura and fierce nature. Even when she should surrender in a fight she always refuses to do so. It''s not a sin that you admire or desire her, as long you do not lose your sanity to that desire and harm her husband."


    "I would never!!" Ramslin said, fully exasperated at the mere suggestion of such an abominable act. He would be stripped of his powers and sent off to eternal damnation or erased from existence. Why would he risk the wonderful life he had as an immortal reaper over a woman?


    "Good." The old deity said. He stood up and touched Ramslin''s head suddenly forcing him into a deep sleep. "Let''s forget all the useless memories." The old deity said, slowly, to himself. He erased the memories of Scarlet using her green me. Someday, it woulde out but now was not the time. He reced those memories with others.


    "I have not forgotten about you." He said to Ramslin''s soul pet, and he erased it''s memories too, and reced them. From now on, all Ramslin would see when Scarlet used her green me was nothing but the excess power of her soul gourd.


    The old deity looked outside the window at the falling snow kes, he smiled and vanished.


    Back at the governor''s Castle, Justin, after finally prying his small body from his mother''s death grip made it to the living room eventually. When he made it out, he leaned first against the door and sighed like an exhausted adult, thinking to himself that his mother was really clingy. Even in her sleep, she had held on to him so tightly as if he was her personal teddy bear.


    He touched his stomach and realized that everyone else that he had left behind previously was gone with the exception of his two grandmothers, one his great grandmother actually.


    "What happened?" The two pulled him to a sofa in the living room and grilled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Where is your mother?" Mega asked him.


    "What did your father say?" Cecily asked as well.


    The little boy looked at both women as he wondered whose question to answer first. The one about mummy was easiest.


    "Mummy is sleeping." He answered. "I am hungry." He added.


    "I will make you some waffles and give you a cup of milk." Cecily stood up and went to the kitchen. Her little adorable great grandson was hungry, she could wait a while longer before asking him for details on what happened in the bedroom.


    "I will help, I know how Scarlet arranged her kitchen. There is a specific order to everything and she is very particr about where things should be ced." Mega joined Cecily in the kitchen.


    "I noticed that she gets unhappy if things are carelessly moved around in the living room as well, everything must look a certain way." Cecily added. "Which got me wondering, if she likes things in perfect order why is she named Scarlet? All your children seem to be following a specific alphabetical naming order. "


    Mega shook her head and scoffed, "Oh, don''t get me started on that. I did not name her Scarlet, her true name is Demona. She suddenly applied for a legal name change when she was twelve years old without my permission. I didn''t even know until we went to school and her teacher was calling her Scarlet."


    If Mega could see Cecily''s face as she exined perhaps she would stop talking. The other woman was staring at her as if she was insane. "You named your daughter Demona!!" Cecily shouted.


    "Mm," Mega nodded, "What is wrong with it?"


    "You named her after those demons the Buddhist priest talked about?" Cecily questioned the logic behind the name.


    "How was I supposed to know that demon is something evil? I dug the name up from one of those ancient books at the school of ancient culture research." Mega exined herself. After they were taught about evil and demons which still sounded unbelievable to her, she was happy that Scarlet had changed her name. How much mockery would she be facing now if peoplepared her to a demon?


    "This is why I am taking too long to give mytest a name." Both women looked at the baby who was ying with Justin. She was grabbing his fingers while he shook a rattle for her. "Carolyn said that maybe Scarlet''s life was messed up back then suddenly because I gave her the wrong name. We never found out the source of her illness or what it was after all."


    Cecily was puzzled, how was a name responsible for the sickness which gued Scarlet. Wasn''t it a mental disease? Those were not new in their empire.

 Chapter 228 Adler, Sweetie

    ?


    "She has been reading this book from the ancient earth which is all about superstitions and beliefs. Some of our ancestors believed that a name could bring fortune or misery to an individual. That''s why they gave children names like Hope, Blessing, Charity, Beauty and other things like that. I on the other hand named my daughter a demon. Maybe, she was possessed, who knows?" Mega continued with a very deep thoughtful look on her face.


    Cecily frowned even harder and shook her head. "I think you are reading too much into this, she was sick and she is healed, simple. You should be grateful for it and spinning crazy theories in your mind. Remember not everyone here is religious, if you say such a thing, they will think you are mentally ill." All this talk about possession was nonsense. She took Justin his breakfast.


    But Mega still couldn''t help thinking to herself that she never once saw her daughter take any medicine for her mythical illness. How could she dismiss Carolyn''s wild theory so simply in that case and Scarlet''s teacher was the one who taught her about deities, maybe he really did see something weird about her daughter before he healed her.


    "So, what will you name your daughter?" Cecily asked Mega. "You must have a short list of choices I am sure."


    " or Isabelle, both good names, I will go by the temple and ask priest Fion for an opinion." she replied.


    "Justin and I will go with go with you, we should light some incense and be thankful for Esong''s safe return." Cecily said too.


    The women made ns for the day, even adding lunch ns and an evening tea party.


    At the offices of the ministry of defense, Adler was engaged in a very joyful conversation with Beord in his office. They wereughing while they sipped milk tea and enjoyed a light breakfast. This was part of their usual routine, Beord always came over breakfast if they did not eat from home.


    This breakfast was eaten in themand center of the offices, arge monitoring room which had many screens that showed footage of the outer space beyond the shields and all the boundaries.


    In this season, while the brothers ate, they would also watch mutated beasts attempt to break through the shield and fail. Just like right now, at this very moment, some veryrge beasts were banging their bodies against the shields which sent out strong electric like waves, shocking their bodies in return.


    Beord suddenly asked Adler, "Where do you suppose theye, those beasts?"


    "Sister said there are cracks somewhere either in space or the ground which is what her teacher said." Adler replied.


    "Wouldn''t we have seen those cracks in that case?" Beord asked.


    "Have you ever seen any of us venture out there in the winter? Not even the mecha warriors go beyond the shield if not necessary, even the guilds know not to venture too deep in the hunting zones. How are we supposed to find said cracks if we are hiding in here during the time those cracks open up? We should share this with the mecha warriors and go out and look for them." Adler had thought things over and over again ever since his sister shared that theory with him.


    "I would keep those ideas to yourself brother because a lot of people will die if we have to venture outside during the winter in search of those cracks. It would be a suicide mission. Not only will you be called insane if you share these thoughts but the ministers will call for your head because half of their descendants are mecha warriors." Beord was not a coward but he knew well what the consequences of such a mission would be. He noticed a red light beeping on one of the terminals so he pointed to it. "What''s that?" he asked.


    Adler saw it too, and he frowned. "An attempt to be contacted by an official space ship in distress."Since only the two of them were in the office at the moment, Adler responded to the distress call.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This is minister Adler Su, head of the blue star internal security state your_"


    "Adler, is that you sweetie?" a female voice interrupted him and said, with a drawl.


    Adler switched off themunication immediately, that voice was one he was unwilling to listen to it seemed, however the beeping persisted.


    Confused, Beord looked at his brother and raised one eyebrow, his eyes portrayed curiosity and the smile on his face was begging for an exnation of his brother''s sudden actions.Who was the woman on the other end of the call?


    "An official ship is in distress, brother, it cannot be ignored." Beord said slowly and he swiped his finger, restarting the call Adler ended. "This is Beord Su, head ofmunications on_"


    "Hey Beord, put my sweetie back on please, this is Amara Leopold, RGB officer identification badge SSC7560, currently in pursuit of space pirates that have activated the emergency inter star tower transportation and are heading your way. We will all bending on your in less than five minutes, the space pirates in four because they are ahead of me. I am on a solo mission so I am requesting for back up, be warned, the pirates are armed and they have killed twenty people so far today and injured many more. They cannot be allowed to escape, I repeat, they cannot be allowed to escape."


    Adler immediately sent an rm to the RGB immediately, while Beord got on his phone and alerted captain Vangar about the danger which was heading their way.


    Those pirates had to be crazy, the inter star tower transportation was a long gravity tube that connected all the sevens of the sun star allowing mecha warriors to make emergencyndings in case a was in distress. The tower however was very unstable, still under trial and chances of sessfully making it through were only at sixty percent. There was a big chance that those who used it woulde out on the other end as dead bodies.


    Even the space ships did note out undamaged, they were banged up and in need of repair after the trip.


    The officers of the RGB were dealing with citizens who had been arrested for malicious ndering online when an alert in the building and an order to suit up and carry their arms went out.


    Shoot to kill drones were activated, instructions were given and the offices were deployed. Their orders, were to give out one warning and then shoot to kill.


    Blue star citizens were walking around freely, at work, or rxed in their houses when an alert went out on their bracelet terminals telling them that space pirates were almost here so they should stay indoors or find the nearest bunkers or safety shelters until further notice.


    Suddenly, panic ensued with people running in different directions while screaming. Fear set in, urging them to find the nearest safest ce.


    "What now?" Mega asked as she, Justin and Cecily were ushered back inside the castle by their guards.


    "Space pirates." Tion answered, he looked at another castle guard and said, "Tell everyone to grab their weapons and suit up,"

 Chapter 229 The Hunt For Space Pirates

    ?


    The entire castle was sealed off and surrounded, nobody would be making it inside or without a proper form of identification.


    Tion and his men were circling above monitoring the environment from the roof like a couple of birds hunting for prey below.


    More than one hundred mecha warriors made their way to the site of the old garbage dump, that''s where the tower was predicted to open and where they wouldnd if the pirates managed to survive the rough journey.


    "So," Beord asked Adler as they headed there, "Who is the girl?"


    "Nobody, and she is not a girl." Adler replied.


    "She is nobody but at the same time you know her well enough to be sure that she is not a girl, pick a side brother." Beord chuckled.


    The other however was not amused, and he scowled at his brother, letting him know just how not amused he was with his ring facial expression."Shut up." he said.


    "Did she break your heart?" Beord however was like a dog with a bone, pushing more as his brother became more and more displeased. Even his countenance had changed, it was threatening, and it reminded Beord of the time he tried toe close to one of the chickens his sister kept in the backyard of the castle. The stupid bird almost pecked his hand off.


    "Leave it alone Beord." Adler said harshly. He almost bit Beord''s head off.


    "Sheesh, it was just a question, you don''t have to take my head off big brother.


    The two brothers found a war of authority warring in the spot where the pirates were expected tond. Captain Zorl was shooing the mecha warriors away like unwanted bugs because they were encroaching on his territory.


    "Space pirates are mecha warrior territory." Captain Vangar insisted, unmovable like a mountain.


    "Not on ground, that''s RGB territory." Captain Zorl replied.


    "We have bigger guns Zorl." captain Vangar answered.


    "We have shoot to kill drones, and address me by my proper title of captain." Captain Zorl answered Captain Vangar unhappily.


    "Jeez!!" Adler shouted when the air waves started bing thicker and the ground shook, indicating that a ship wasing down hard, and fast. "Can you both measure your dickster, now is not the time."


    Both captains red at Adler, finding his words to be extremely unpleasant.


    "Thending spot has been diverted, captain, you are all thirty minutes away from thending spot."


    This message was shouted loud and clear into the ears of all RGB officers who took off running in the direction of the new coordinates which were being given. Not to be leftgging behind,the mecha warriors followed. Some were on the  ground and others were flying high above. Space pirates were killers, and they did not discriminate, male or female, adult or child, whoever got in their way ended up with a hole in their bodies. They did not spare babies as long as they got what they desired.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The fact that they had no more information about the specific number of pirates or what kind of weapons they were wielding was worrisome. They also hadn''t had much time to evacuate the citizens which heightened the present danger because these pirates could hide or take hostages.


    "Everyone just fly to thending spot," Vangar yelled loudly, there is not time to waste.


    One minute flying in a mecha of their kind would cover that entire distancepletely.


    They arrived at the newnding spot just as a long ck tower visually appeared, it was moving around like small squares which were being forced apart by an uncontroble power. The huge gust of wind it was releasing sent those with ordinary or weak mechas flying away with force. It was one of the reasons why the tower was not yet in use, it was not stable, it could close at any moment, trapping those inside and it moved around, opening up anywhere random, you never knew where it would take you.


    They were close to the hospital right now, which was not a good thing. It had remained open because patients could walk in at any moment.


    "Lock up the hospital." Captain Zorl shouted to some of his men. "Seal it offpletely, surround it with drones, no one goes in or out."


    The first space shipnded while he was yelling, out of one of the small ck floating square shaped like boxes, it was spat out as if the tower was regurgitating garbage. The space ship rolled through the air and the mecha warriors who were closest opened fire on it.


    "What are you doing, we want them alive." Captain Zorl shouted.


    "We don''t follow your orders, the general says to do as we see fit." Captain Vangar responded. "Shoot it down." hemanded his men.


    The moment they received word of the space pirate ship heading their way, he had contacted the general who told him to do as he deemed but ensure to shoot the space ship down, especially if the situation was judged to be dangerous. He did not share this fact with captain Zorl because for him, capturing a single space pirate alive was a way of gaining recognition. If he captured an entire crew, he might even get a promotion and more stripes out of it.They had two different motives at this moment andpletely different ns for the space pirates. But shooting down a space pirate ship was not exactly easily aplished, one had to be an expert marksman because they reinforced their ships with shields from stolen vemirite minerals which made them bulkier and slower but added an extrayer of protection. So, when one shot, they had to target a specific tiny spot, like the inside of a thruster, the hinges around the wings, or any other part of the space ship which would send it crushing.


    Captain Zorl cursed after hearing Captain Vangar''s answered.


    The space ship went crushing down on the ground hard, producing blue sparks as it screeched, its wide wings opened and the upants exited and went off running in different directions while shooting. Shoot to kill drones analyzed and announced, "Sixteen hostile space pirates detected in the vicinity, this is your first warning, you are surrounded,y down your weapons, get on your bellies and lower your mental shields."


    Space pirates were not the kind to give up because they knew the fate which awaited them, a life of suffering and misery as miners on the Red star or execution on thest day of the first month of the new year. Their heads would be cut off in a publicly televised ceremony with the the families of their victims in live attendance as witnesses.


    They would not be surrendering, they kept running in the hopes of taking their chances out there. Two of them were in mechas, and these two fired back the most at the pursing mecha warriors as they took off running in the direction of the hospital.


    The big cross hologram at the top of that building dered what it was. To others it was a ce to heal but to them, it was a big buffet with hostages that could be used to bargain for a ship and freedom.


    "Shoot them all, don''t miss a single one." Captain Vangar shouted.


    Adler and Beord had flown up to one of the thorn trees. During winter, the green leaves had dried up which left the branches bare and spread out. From there, the two brothers had good vantage point from which to take shots excellently.Adler was the shooter and Beord was his spotter. They managed to take out two space pirates with a direct shot to the head.


    One of the space pirates in the mecha was taken down by the mecha warriors but the other one shot his way into the hospital, wounding the RGB officers at the entrance greatly.

 Chapter 230 I Want The Jewel

    ?


    Almost everyone''s attention was on the hospital where the one space pirate who had escaped was had currently barricaded himself inside with two nurses and one elderly patient inside of a locked ground floor ward.


    The other sixteen space pirates were either dead or captured. The captured ones were being lead away by some RGB officers and STK drones. Other officers tended to the wounds of the injured officers or mecha warriors as they desperately hoped that the situation would end so that their colleagues could get immediate medical care.


    "Take the injured men to the governor''s castle and request for help, there is a med bed in the castle, two actually." Captain Vangar told the RGB officers.


    While everyone was trying to remedy the current situation, help out, or look for entry points into the hospital so that they could ess the locked ward, Adler kept his eye on the unstable ck tower which looked like it was about to close up with the way it was slowly beginning to disappear.


    "What''s wrong?" his brother asked.


    "She is not yet out." he replied with worry in his voice.


    "That''s not good." Beord said.


    "Fuck, fuck fuck fuck!!" Adler mumbled. "She never thinks about the consequences of her actions, so stupid."


    Beord did not say another word but he knew that his brother was very worried, whoever this woman was, they had a past and it was one which had not been sealed tightly shut.


    "I see something," Beord said, "Look, up there." he pointed.


    While the brothers dealt with their own situation, Captain Zorl and Captain Vangar eyed each other, each of them wondering who was going to take charge of the hostile situation.


    "Captain, what should we do?" an officer of the RGB who was less concerned with this authority contest anxiously said to Captain Zorl. "Should we make a forceful entry?"


    Captain Zorl spun his head around and red at that officer, "Are you crazy?" he asked. "Do you want to kill everyone in there. We have to ascertain that the mecha he has on does not have explosive power. Space pirates in mechas when cornered often take their lives of those of the people around them. This ismon knowledge that all RGB officers should know."


    Not deterred by the reply from his captain which sounded more like a rebuking, the officer replied, "So, what should we do?"


    "We attempt to negotiate as we find a way inside that room." Captain Vangar replied. "You can take the lead, this is your home after all." he looked at Captain Zorl and allowed him to take the lead.


    "The shoot to kill drone needs to analyze the mecha and it''sponents." captain Zorl said. "Is there a television in the ward, we can establish a direct line ofmunication with the space pirate."


    "There is." an officer from a table which was being set up with many different gadgets said. "We have officers that have made entry into the hospital from above. The front door has also been pried open and everyone is being carefully guided out of the hospital by mecha warriors."


    "I can see that." Captain Zorl replied. He appreciated mecha warriors for their speed and swiftness in such situations always. Suddenly, he saw Jelly and a news crew from BSTV.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    News really travelled fast, they were already here, arriving faster than he expected. That woman really had no fear, others were locked indoors but she was out here risking her neck even though she had zero mental strength. The news crew was moving closer, and Jelly had her eyes on him it seemed. "Keep them away from the crime scene." he told another officer.


    "Yes sir." the officer went running and he asked a few others to help him stop the reporters from going further.


    "We have hard shelled thermal smart guns that can prate through the wall, go through the mecha and take out the pirate, just give us the word." Captain Vangar told captain Zorl. He pointed out to him the five mecha warriors who had already found the perfect positions for sniping. All they needed was a go ahead.


    But everyone knew, until they established that the mecha could not blow up, it was best to negotiate.


    An audio connection was established, and in the ward, the space pirate was contacted through a television which he was watching and monitoring the outside events.


    "This is captain Zorl of the RGB, I am in charge of the negotiations right now. State your demands and we will do our best to fulfill them but first I am going to establish a video connection because I want proof that the hostages are not injured or we will forcefully engage."


    The space pirate whose identity was unknown said, "I want to talk to someone with power, you are a worker, a rough stone and I want the jewel, get me the governor of your. You have two minutes or the olddy dies first."


    The television had been hacked into by the officers outside, it was also connected to the star which allowed for it to be used like amunication terminal. They could hear the space pirate and he could hear them.


    "So we know he is male." Captain Vangar mumbled.


    The video connection was established and captain Zorl, Vangar and the closest officers could see into the room. He thought the space pirate would say no because if they could see into the room, they might find a way in but that was not the case.


    The space pirate even grabbed the nurse by her hair and dangled her in front of the television screen like a weightless little doll while she screamed. When he was finished, he threw her roughly on the bed and she banged her head against against the edge, screaming some more in pain.The other nurse run to assist her friend while the space pirateughed.


    "Fuck!" Captain Vangar cursed, this one was ruthless and sadistic.


    "Someone has gone to call the governor but in the meantime, what name should we use to address you?" captain Zorl asked.


    "Don''t waste your time captain, I already know that if you captured the others alive then their minds are being invaded and tortured for information. You will have my name soon enough. Just so that you know I mean business...." he broke off aimed the hand of his mecha at the elderly woman who was huddled in the corner and shot.


    The force of the shot was so strong that the elderly woman''s hand was shot clean off. She started screaming, crying and then she convulsed and copsed.


    Bothe nurses run to the old woman, despite being so afraid and checked her pulse. After ascertaining that she was alive but bleeding out, they grabbed medical kits and hurried to stop the bleeding and try to save her life.


    "The next one goes in one of the two do gooders over here, that or I will simply tear them into two pieces with my mecha, don''t waste my time captain, your governor has one minute. And if you are interested in knowing if I have any explosive power, yes I do." the space pirateughed, and he pointed at his chest to a circr design close to the heart that was counting down. Ten minutes, that was all they had until the mecha went boom along with everyone in the building.

 Chapter 231 That Poor Child!!

    ?


    Even before the desperate officers of the RGB came to the governor''s castle with extremely panicked looks on their faces to see Scarlet, she was already awake, dressed and on her way out of the bedroom.Severus and the white cat which loved attention persisted sessfully in waking her up.


    When she reluctantly opened her eyes, Severus had told her that their was a fresh soul right here on her to reap.


    At first, she thought it was another victim of winter or death by natural causes but then Severus said this one had just been shot to death and nobody had realized it yet.


    Of course, that would get her attention, a shooting on the blue star, what had she missed? She turned on the television while she got changed.


    "The situation here is quite tumultuous as the captain of the RGB attempts to negotiate with the space pirate who has barricaded himself inside one of the ground floor wards. Word reaching us is that the space pirate is piloting a mecha which is set to explode should the mecha warriors or RGB attempt to make a forceful entry. We have also managed to get word that one of the hostages has been shot and injured by the space pirate to prove a point and assert his demands which have not been shared with us so far. It is unknown if there will be a peaceful resolution to this tragedy because space pirates have never been known to surrender without leaving great carnage behind. Stay with me as I bring you more updates on the situation on ground, reporting for BSTV Jelly Simmons."


    "How the hell did space pirates get here?" she asked the two animals.


    "It''s something you will have to hear from your people, I do not know how to describe it." Severus answered.


    "A tube." the white cat answered as well, "A ck tube like a long ck snake."


    Severus could not help ncing at the white cat and recalling that the tube was more like moving small boxes, it was true that it was ck but not like a snake. Again, the white cat was sharing the wrong information.


    Scarlet hurried to leave her bedroom, she had no n at the moment, she was simply angry that an innocent civilian had been killed. As for now, whether it was friendly fire from their side or a pirate that did it, she was not aware.


    She run through the castle, and made it half way to the gates before Tion saw her and jumped down, standing in her way.


    "Where do you think you are going governor?" he asked.


    "To the scene of the crime," she answered.


    He frowned and shook his head, he opened his mouth, ready to tell her that it would not be happening on his watch and she should head back inside. If she got so much as a scratch on her body, the general would kill them. And why was she travelling with a dog an a cat? Were they secretly skilled inbat too?


    "Governor, governor," two officers flew down in their mechas, calling her so loudly on their helmets that everyone outside the castle could hear.


    "You shoulde with us, the space pirate will only negotiate with you." one of them said.He opened the side of the mecha for her to enter and be transported.


    The frown on Tion''s frown deepened and he said in a loud authoritative voice, "She goes no...."


    "Let''s go." Scarlet cut him off she entered the mecha before Tion could stop her. The cat and the dog leaped in after her, narrowly missing having their bodies sliced as the mecha doors closed. The mecha flew off at maximum speed and as always, Scarlet felt the urge to vomit. She took a white pill from he rocket and swallowed it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Follow them." Tion told his men, and they too flew after the mecha and Tion updated Esong on the situation.


    Esong was monitoring the situation from where he was in the capital, everything was quiet here in the central, no mutated beasts at the moment. There were some in the Eastern districts but that was not his territory, general Patterson was handling it. He would only be forced to intervene if the beasts made it close to the center of the city.


    When Tion called and told him what was going on, Esong had longed to fly back to the blue star immediately and protect his family and he almost, did. He had been found on his way to his space ship and it had taken thebined strength of all his friends and a call from the emperormanding him to stand down for him to stay in ce.


    Now, he was like everyone else in the empire, watching the situation in bits and bits with whatever the television fed them and the mecha warriors or Tion told him.


    He was watching the reporter exin how the families of the hostages had caught wind of the fact that their loved one were trapped in the hospital with a maniacal space pirate and rushed to the crime scene in tears pleading for their lives to be saved. BSTV did not shy away from showing these families which were being held back by RGB officers from going any closer to captain Zorl or the hospital. One of the family members was a man, ahusband to one of the nurses who was carrying their six year old daughter that was crying loudly and pitifully.


    The cameras vividly showed the little girl''s green jade colored eyes which had tears flowing down uncontrobly as she called for her mother over and over again. The scene tugged at the heart strings of almost all the viewers.


    "Those darn space pirates!!" the empress was among the people pained at the sight of the little girl. "They should all be executed in the new year."


    "We shouldunch an active manhunt for space pirates in the new year father," Markay suggested. "We should make every star of the empire feel too hot for them to hide on."


    "That poor child!" the third princess said, and she wiped tears away from her face. "What are they going to do? This is not going to end well, we all know it will not end well." shemented.


    The reactions of the people on star were no different from those of the royals, the citizens were calling for an open and immediate execution of all space pirates.


    "Kill them all."


    "Off with their heads."


    "Fucking space pirates, they killed my grandmotherst year, very heartless monsters."


    "Space pirates are no different from mutated beasts, they should be hunted and killed like said beasts."


    "Why do we have guilds that hunt for mutated beasts but no guilds to hunt for space pirates? Hunting them should be made legal, put a fee on the head of each pirate and we themon people will take care of it ourselves."


    "I know everyone is angry but not all space pirates be that willingly. My cousin was kidnapped as a teenager by them and forced to be one of them, he was arrested and executedst year. That was unfair to our family, he was a victim too."


    In the midst of all this, the new reporter suddenly said the governor hade to the crime scene.

 Chapter 232 I Do Not Negotiate With Terrorists.

    ?


    The emperor was stunned and he asked, "Why is Esong''s wife there? She is not aw enforcement officer, she might aggravate the situation. I hope the others are keeping an eye on Esong or he might attempt to fly off carelessly."


    Esong was clenching his hand, very anxious and angry that he could not be there to stop Scarlet from heading into a dangerous and sensitive situation.


    Scarlet was not afraid however because she had been briefed on the situation from inside of the mecha, the RGB officer she was travelling with, officer Seamus was quick to mention only that which was vital. So, going in, she knew that the space pirate was called Anton but he preferred to be known as the back breaker.


    This was because he enjoyed breaking the spines of his victims by bending them backwards until their bones shattered. He enjoyed listening to their pain and screams, they were like a drug to him so he never stopped killing and he would do so whenever he got the chance. He was a ruthless man that showed mercy to no one.


    The statistics office of the RGB from the main headquarters had alreadysent in a detailed analysis and prediction the second his identity was discovered, chances were less than ten percent that he would surrender. They were higher that he would blow himself and those hostages up, and he wouldugh while doing it.


    "So why ask for me then?" she asked officer Seamus.


    "Probably as a fuck you to the highest authority figure on the which is you. He knows that he is all over the news and everyone is watching. The RGB statisticians say he wants to humiliate you, make you beg him and prove to the world that you failed to stop him."


    Scarlet did not know space pirates and their mode of operandi well enough so doubting what people that had experience with them said was not wise. However, she had no intention of failing, if the back breaker was dying today, he would be dying alone and she would be taking his soul straight to the underworld and hopefully, he would be sent to hell.


    She came out of the mecha and immediately went to over to join captain Zorl at the negotiation table.


    Captain Zorl was trying to get Anton to talk but the space pirate remained silent, and instead heughed as he pointed his weapon at the nurses, and saying, "Pew pew."


    "Ah, that asshole." Captain Vangar cursed.


    "Where do I begin?" Scarlet asked captain Zorl.


    "You must say only the things I tell you to say, the mecha warriors already have weapons on him so all that matters is that we get the hostages out." captain Zorl was exining to Scarlet but she raised her hand, stopping him.


    She told him then, "That kind of man is not going to surrender, even if we give him what he demands, he will ask for more. For example, if he asks for a ship, do you think he will enter it alone? He knows that he will be shot down with stronger weapons if he enters any space ship on his own. So, he will demand to board with one or two of the hostages to ensure his safety, if not, he will release the others but demand for me to be that hostage since you won''t kill me if I am on board. But he is not just a space pirate, he is also a serial killer, if I go with him, he will not simply let me go. Killing me will give him more boasting rights and enhance his reputation among criminals."


    "Then what are we supposed to do? Should we just shoot him and sacrifice those three women as coteral damage? We are being recorded on live television, the entire empire is watching." Captain Zorl looked at her with a speechless kind of disbelief because it sounded like she was telling them to give up and walk away.


    "Are you fuckers taking me as a joke, I will break one of these bitches right now if the governor does not appear."


    Scarlet pulled the microphone captain Zorl was speaking into and said, "I am here, this is Governor Scarlet Su of the blue star, what can I do for you Anton."


    "You already know my name, good, it means you know what I am capable of." he answered.


    "What can I do for you?" she asked him.


    "I want a spaceship and a guarantee that I will be allowed to leave your without being harmed. I will release these bitches after I sessfully exit your shield."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The shield cannot be lowered in any way, there are thousands of mutated beasts which wille rushing in, more people will die." Captain Vangar was the first to air his disagreement with that n. "As the captain of the mecha warriors I cannot allow that to be done, not even in this situation."


    "Anton, you know there are mutated beasts outside, you will die if you go out there." she replied.


    "I will take my chances, space pirates that are afraid of mutated beasts are not well suited for this line of work." he answered. "You have three minutes left until I explode along with these bitches, have you given up on them already? Will you let them die on national television?"


    "No," Scarlet said. "We are preparing a space ship for you as demanded and we will allow you to leave but you cannot take the hostages. You have my word as the governor, nobody will pursue you, we are not interested in confronting thousands of mutated beasts, you can do that on your own, it''s your death wish apparently."


    The mecha warriors and officers closest to her were confused, what ship?


    "You stupid bitch!! shut up, I will not die." he spat out.


    "No, you will die, the beasts will tear you apart, piece by piece and feast on your flesh while you scream in agonizing pain. Some will eat your eyes, imagine being alive long enough to watch with one eye as your other eye is eaten."


    "What are you doing?" captain Zorl whispered to her.


    She was wasting time, precious time babbling nonsense after nonsense. There was no space ship being prepared, and now only a minute was left, it was time to start evacuating the area.


    "Start evacuations." he signed with his hands at another officer.


    Suddenly everyone was moving backwards and the families of the hostages realized that something was wrong, even the officers in the hospital were retreating. It looked their people had been abandoned, they were going to die, negotiations had failed.


    Reporter Jelly said into the camera, "The situation has changed, it looks like evacuations are in the process and all officers have been asked to move away from the hospital. Perhaps the negotiations have failed and the families of these hostages are going to have to prepare for the worst."


    Even Anton who was inside the hospital, realized that something was wrong. This governor was too rxed and the explosive timer was running out, she had no intention of allowing him to walk away, it seemed. "You have less than one minute left, I will blow this shit up.!!"


    Severus and the white cat appeared next to Scarlet, they were invisible so she was the only one here that could see them.


    "It''s done." Severus told her.


    "Mr. Anton," Scarlet said slowly, in a determined voice, I do not negotiate with terrorists, so do it."


    Captain Zorl and Vangar gasped.


    "What?" Anton was surprised.


    "Do it, explode." Scarlet repeated.

 Chapter 233 Boom!

    ?


    "Dammit!" Captain Zorl swore and took off his helmet. "What are you doing? Have you gone crazy?" Why the hell was she encouraging him to blow himself up with the hostages?


    Even captain Vangar was looking at her simrly and thinking the same thing to himself probably.


    Scarlet folded her arms and looked at captain Zorl, she was so rxed and confident as if none of the events urring were of special concern to her.


    "I am not crazy, I have already set measures in ce to ensure that they alle out alive, including Anton. I hope that when it''s time for his own execution, they will kill him the same way he killed his victims."


    Tion was not far from Scarlet and when the count down entered into thest minute, he attempted to drag her away but for some reason unexinable to him, he could not move her. She was as heavy as ten thousandrge rocks.


    "We have to go." he said desperately.


    "No, we can all stay, nothing will happen." she answered.


    There was a lot going on at the moment for example, Adler and Beord were pulling the female mecha warrior out of the wreckage or what remained of her spaceship.


    The female officer had passed out when her ship fell down to the ground with arge force in the midst of the chaos while officers were moving backwards.She was unconscious and unresponsive, there was arge cut on her forehead and the bones in her arm were broken, One of her legs was bent backwards, all that could be detected from the health bracelet on her wrist was a faint pulse.


    "Hey, Amara!" Adler shouted her name and pped her cheek."Wake up."


    "Just take her back to the castle." Beord shouted at Adler and he took off rushing in the direction of his sister that had yet to evacuate the danger zone.


    As he run, he shouted, "Get my sister out of there, get her out of there right now."


    Most officers were confused as well, was the evacuation real or not? If it was real, why was the governor sittingfortably as if she was here to spectate an ordinary football match.


    They also wondered why Tion, arge man was having such a difficult time lifting such a small woman out of there.


    This did not skip the reporters as well as theymented on it.


    "There is a lot of confusion at the scene of the crime because the governor is not leaving and from what we hear, the space pirates mecha is about to explode. Information reaching us is that the space pirate was identified by RGB officers as Anton or the back breaker as he likes to be called.


    Thepany which manufactured the mecha has sent in the predictive value of the kind of damage the explosion could do. They say that half of the hospital is likely to be destroyed and everyone withinwalking distance has been advised to stay as far away from the crime scene as possible."


    Only Scarlet, Tion and the two captains were left within the distance of possible danger. Whether they stayed because of Scarlet''s absolute confidence or simply because they could not leave her behind, not while the entire empire was watching anyway.


    "Three, two one," Scarlet counted down.


    "Boom!!" the loud sound of an explosion was heard from many miles away. The earth vibrated a bit causing the snow to fall down from terraces or buildings especially in the areas closest to the hospital.


    Many people took cover, squatting down or holding on to trees and nearby sturdy things to remain stable.


    It took about thirty seconds for everyone to settle down when it was done. And yet, now they realized that despite the loud sound of an explosion and the vibrating of the earth, the hospital building stood steady in ce. Nothing had copsed and with the exception of cracks in a few windows, everything was still standing.


    "Get in there, now." Captain Zorl regained his senses and shouted at his men.


    Many people on the blue star who heard the explosion were worried, in the governor''s castle, Mega closed her eyes and started to snivel.


    Esong clenched his fist and pushed his face closer to the screen, as if he could somehow enter inside of it and get to the scene.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What happened, Tione in, where is my wife?"


    "She is next to me general." he answered in a tense voice, "She is crazy, the governor is crazy." he let out his true thoughts identally.


    The officers, followed by mecha warriors were not hesitant at all to enter the hospital building , after all, with an explosion of that size, the criminal had to be dead.


    "Be careful, it could be a diversion." Captain Vangar reminded the men as they invaded the building bravely.


    If nothing had exploded, this could be a trick by Anton to get his hands on more hostages.


    Both captains were handed small tabs from which they watched the footage of the men going inside, some leaped in from the side windows and others broke in through the front door.


    They found the hostages huddled together in a corner, the women who were trembling, held on to each other as if for dear life. They were crying, when the mecha warriors rescued them because they believed that they were destined to die when the timer on the explosive device went off.


    "The hostages are safe and alive." Captain Zond everyone else on the mission heard, "All three are alive, one is injured and unconscious but her life is in no danger."


    "And the criminal?" Captain Vangar asked.


    "Uhm, this is weird, I am not sure how to exin the situation." a mecha warrior answered. "We are uhm, dragging, or floating him outside."


    "Dead or alive?" Captain Vangar asked.


    "I am not sure, he blinked or moved his eyes, captain you are going to have to see this for yourself. None of has has encountered anything like it before."


    The families of the hostages were escorted into the hospital to meet their families and receive assurance that they were alive and safe.


    Captain Zorl allowed reporters to follow them because after the tension, fears and tears, it should be a heartwarming scene to watch them reunite with their loved ones, especially the little green eyed girl and her mother.


    Mecha warriors came out of the building and above them was a round transparent big thick sphere. Inside of the sphere was Anton, the space pirate, in his birthday suit. He was trapped in what looked like jelly, very sticky hard jelly and the only part of his body which was moving were his eyes.


    Nobody had ever seen anything like that and they all stared, some even taking out their phones or using their terminals to take pictures.


    "What is that?"


    "What happened to him?"


    "Why is he naked?"


    "Where is his mecha suit?"


    Many different questions were asked but only the two captains at the scene looked at Scarlet and asked for an exnation with their eyes.


    She was on her terminal sending a voice message to her husband who had sent ten messages and called her three times ever since she arrived at the crime scene.


    She even took a selfie and added it to one of the texts.


    The mecha warriors, meanwhile were confused, "How do we get him out of this thing?"

 Chapter 234 Should I Break Your Back?

    ?


    "Why is everyone looking at me?" Scarlet asked them.


    "What is that thing?" Captain Zorl asked her.


    "It''s a slime balloon, one small drop on something and it will engulf that particr thingpletely. It''s also hard and explosive proof. Don''t ask me how it works, I just know that it works. My teacher created it, all credit goes to him."


    She raised her arms, stretched and stood up slowly. Casually, she walked over to the slime balloon which had been ced down, on the ground and surrounded by armed mecha warriors.


    This case was no longer RGB territory, it was owned by the mecha warriors. She reached her hand into the slime, and just as her fingers touched it, the closest mecha warrior stopped her.


    "I know the device trapping him is yours governor but even trapped, this man is still dangerous. He can bite your ear off with his teeth, he can gab your neck or do something with his mental strength. It will be best if you give us directions and we will take care of it."


    "Let them do it." Tion said.


    "Yes." captain Zorl concurred.


    She backed off, stepped away and nodded, "Just pull him out, but do it slowly because if you pull too hard you might break off a piece of his body. This kind of slime makes the body soft, as if it''s that of a newborn."


    The mecha warriors nodded and two of them reached their hands into the slime balloon, each of them took a hold of one hand and pulled Anton, as gently as they could.


    Captain Vangar however could not stand to see such gentleness beingvished on a monster like Anton. The son of a bitch had just shot off the hand of an elderly woman! If they were not toote, the hand might have lost the chance to be regrown. That innocent elderly woman had screamed and cried in pain, so why should they care about the hands of the man who did that to her? "Why are you being gentle, he is an inhumane beast. After all the backs he has broken and the people has killed, nobody will blink an eye if he loses a few fingers or a hand in the process. just pull him out quickly."


    Happy to do as they had beenmanded, the mecha warriors increased their strength, and when Anton was finally pulled outpletely, both of his hands were bent and two fingers had been torn off.


    He was tossed on the ground like a piece trash, he was breathingboriously and he stayed in one ce, too weak to move. Scarlet took off her right hand glove and quickly reached down before anyone could stop her, and she dug her fingers into his lower back bone. Others could not see the green me so she took advantage of it to inflict more pain on Anton.


    Anton groaned, he screamed in pain and he convulsed, saliva poured of his mouth and his body twitched as if he was being electrocuted.


    "How do you like it you son of a bitch? Should I break your back?" she asked him, making no effort to hide the disgust and disdain in her voice.


    Tion was the one who pulled her up, and shielded her away from the cameras.


    "It''s a crime to torture criminals." he said, "In pubic anyway." he added.


    "So they can be beheaded in public and that''s legal but if I snap a few of bones in public it''s a crime? What kind ofw is that?" she asked him a whole lot of sarcasm dripping from her tone.


    "I think it''s best if you pay a visit to the hostages and their families, get your picture taken and we can return to the castle." Tion suggested.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She patted her outfit and put on her glove. "I want my slime balloon though, it should be taken back to the castle immediately."


    Her voice was loud enough to be heard by the two captains, both of whom had an interest in the slime. At the moment, it was shrinking and bing smaller in size since the foreign object had been taken out of it. Within an hour, it would be small enough to be hand sized.


    Captain Zorl stopped her and said with a state of urgency, "Wait a minute governor, this is a very good tool for capturing dangerous criminals, I believe that the RGB officers will be much more efficient at their jobs_"


    "What are you talking about? You clearly saw that this slime balloon can somehow stop exploding space pirates, the mecha warriors need it more." Captain Vangar cut him off and said. "Don''t we?" he added a question, asking the closest mecha warriors around.


    "Yes."


    "It can save many lives."


    "It should be ours."


    "There is only one slime balloon at the moment and it cannot be divided into two. I will think about it and see what to do." This was an argument which would soon turn into a ''we are better than you.''petition.


    One of Scarlet''s guards came over and whispered, "There is a dead body behind the new pharmacy,"


    "Who is it?" she asked him.


    "One of the live streamers, I recognize him clearly. I think he came out to secretly record and he was shot by a stray energy bullet."


    She passed on that information to captain Zorl who sent his men to collect the body and take it in for examination."


    Scarlet left the officers to clear up the scene and prepare to make an official announcement. Somewhere out there was a family which would soon be in mourning because their son or husband had died.


    If only the live steamer had heeded the warning and stayed in doors like they were all meant to.


    She met the families of the survivors and shook a few hands, smiled and expressed her sympathies towards their plight.


    They thanked her profusely for saving the lives of their loved ones, the little girl even hugged her. When Scarlet gave the girl a sweet and ruffled her hair, BSTV camera men took pictures and uploaded then on the BSTV official star page immediately.


    The entire empire came to know that everyone hade out of the ordeal almost unscathed, this belief was soon shattered when captain Zorl addressed the media and informed them that their was one casualty, a young man.


    Scarlet delivered the fresh soul of the young man and fell asleep again, unaware of another storm which was brewing somewhere else in the castle, the arrival of Amara.

 Chapter 235 Goodbye, Certified Gold.

    ?


    The identity of the young man who died while secretly trying to record the hunt for the space pirates was released. As soon as his followers found out, they mourned his loss. Certified gold had been a promising live streamer, one was on his way to creating a greater future for himself.


    Many of his fans took to star to mourn his loss, sharing his pictures, videos and funny clips as they expressed how much they would miss the braggart live streamer. One fan even asked the city hall of the blue star if they could preserve his house as a memorial of some kind while another offered them twenty million star coins to transfer its ownership to himself.


    #Goodbye Certified gold was trending because even those who did not know him knew his widely used memes of the sillyugh with the chipped tooth.


    Some fans like cutie carrot even cried, certified gold had looked so much to the development of the blue star, he was so hopeful and full of life. He always said that when he was rich enough, he would marry the most beautiful live streamer in an extravagantly wealthy wedding and his fans would mock him. He was a trustworthy personal shopper that she could always count on. How could his life have been suddenly cut short?


    Zorl sat on top of the desk in his office and rubbed his temples as he read thements on star. In the beginning it seemed as if moving to this quiet where nothing ever happened would be simple but he was wrong, things were always happening.


    "Captain, will you be personally searching the space ship of the space pirates or should we hand it off to the mecha warriors as well?" His assistant appeared in his office in the form of a hologram and asked.


    "I will search, tell the other officers to get started and I will join them in a minute." They were the detectives here, they needed to find what the space pirates had stolen, from where, catalogue the evidence and eventually it would be returned to the rightful owners.


    "Captain, miss Jelly is still here, should I let her in?"


    "No." He uttered immediately. She was still fishing for details on what went down between Scarlet and Anton before the explosion but she would not be getting it out of his mouth. She could have gone to captain Vangar, he was there too but she insisted on questioning him. Darn nosy reporter!!!


    "She says that she is not here in the capacity of a reporter."


    Zorl was unsure, he squinted his eyes as he thought about it for a few seconds. One could never trust a reporter, especially not when they said that. But, curiosity won over sensibility.


    "Send her in." He said.


    His office door slid open and Jelly who was standing right outside as if she had been expecting to be allowed inside all this while entered his office for the first time ever.


    Jelly''s first thought when she entered the office was that it was as cold as the man who upied it. ck and white with only the necessities and no single decoration whatsoever. She moved slowly, from one corner to the next looking for signs of what in her mind, she called ''life'' but there was none.


    "Aren''t you going to sit down?" Zorl asked her.


    " I am, captain," she had been looking at his bare office walls with a look of pity in her eyes.


    "Why do you sigh at my walls?" He did not understand what she was up to. Was she nning to bug his office? Is that why she was looking around?


    "I think it''s a pity that you have an impressive office to yourself and it''s so in." She answered. "You should ask the governor for a nt or ce a family portrait on the wall_"


    "This is a ce of work and not my family''s house that I need a portrait of them hang on the wall. All I need to do my job efficiently is here." He was quick with a response to her criticism of the appearance of his office. "Can I help you with something?"


    She sat down across from him and looked at him. Without his helmet on, he looked much better, maybe it was because his hair and eyes were exposed.


    "Are you fine?" She asked.


    The question surprised him, and it showed on his face in the way he frowned.


    It was not the thing he was expecting her say, not that he knew what she going to say anyway.


    Why was she really here? He observed her face, looking beyond her alluring features for traces of her motives in her eyes.


    Maybe he looked too hard because she suddenly averted her gaze from his and looked at the back of his monitor. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zorl, breathed in and he smelled her perfume, he could not remember hosting anyone in his office that used perfume, she was the first.


    All RGB officers did not wear perfume at work because criminals with heightened senses of smell could escape capture by tracking the scents of the officers. He held back the urge to rebuke her for wearing it because she was not one of his officers and she smelled really nice.


    Jelly looked back up and found that the captain''s unsettling gaze was still on her and his nostrils now, were slightly red.


    "I only came to see if you are fine because of the shooting, then the hostage situation and you had to look at a dead body after." She blurted because she was feeling funny, foolish even foring.


    "I am fine." he told her. "It has been a rough day but that is the nature of the job. You should understand, you were out there with the rest of us."


    "We only came after the shooting stopped." she said, "Before that, we did not dare to even peep outside for fear of getting shot. We made the right decision because see what happened to the live streamer."


    The captain sighed and said, "The boy was unlucky, simply unlucky."


    His death hade as a surprise to everyone, especially because his body was found after they thought all had been wrapped up sessfully.


    Captain Zorl stood up, picked up his helmet in his hand, looked at her and said, "I have to go and investigate the case further, I cannot engage with you in anymore more conversation at the moment."


    She stood up, waited for him toe closer and said, "I will walk you out."


    He did not reject her and they walked together, side by side, leaving his office and making their way to the entrance of the building. While they walked, they talked about random things.


    She talked and he mostly listened.


    Just before they separated, she asked him, "What are you hoping to find in your investigation?"


    "A reason for the senseless madness." he replied.


    She smiled naughtily and tilted her head to the front, looking into his eyes as he put on his helmet. "Can I quote you on that?"


    "No." he said.


    "Aah, I guess I will be seeing you around the building then." asionally, they would run into each other when one of them was returning or going to work.


    "Sure," he answered, slightly impatient, duty called and he was two minuteste.


    "Here," she took a box of red Danish cookies and handed them to him. "Your sister mentioned that you like this."


    Zorl was never one to turn down food and he took the cookies with a smile. What he did not dwell on was why she and his sister were discussing him.


    "Thank you," he nodded, "I have to go now."


    His ride had arrived, the official RGB patrol car on the Blue star was designed to look like a range rover from earth. Scarlet added the sirens and the blue lights and stripes on cop cars from earth.


    The RGB officers found it novel and cool, often times, they took pictures posing in front of the cars the same way they did with their mechas and ships.


    Jelly waved at the captain while he was driven away, she waved until the car disappeared from the peripheral of her eye view. As she did, she wondered what had really driven her toe and see him when she had turned down the opportunity to go on a date with him.

 Chapter 236 Why Are You In My Bed?

    ?


    The following day at the castle, a disturbing andedic scene, the first of it''s kind really aroused the attention of the cleaners and the guards who were awake early enough to witness it.


    The scene was of Amara Leopold, the injured woman Adler had brought into the castle, chasing him with a feather duster in her hands. He was running away from her as if his life depended on it while she screamed at the top of her voice, "Get back here."


    "No." they heard him shouting back.


    Life in the governor''s castle was never boring, something was always happening. Once they witnessed the governor''s personal guard Tion toss Lora Storm into the pool of water in one of the public guest bathrooms.


    Now, a whole minister was being chased by a strange woman. For a while, everyone had assumed that Adler was interested in Arya Storm, but it was beginning to look like there was someone else maybe. Who was the new addition to the mix.


    One of Mega''s maids that was carrying the baby''sundry to be washed giggled and told she was walking with, "Things are going to be even more interesting around here than usual."


    "It''s going to be a love triangle." the other maid said.


    The nosy white cat was passing by and she caught all that was said, but would it reach Scarlet''s ears exactly as it had been said?


    Scarlet on her end was just waking up, ever since she diffused the hostage situation she had fallen on her bed and slept like a baby until this very second when her eyshes ttered and she yawned with a small smile on her face.


    The first thought to cross her mind was that her shoulders ached and she was in need of a massage.The second was had Justin had breakfast yet. Her third thought was a question of how long she had been sleeping for.


    "Sixteen hours." a female voice next to her answered her unvoiced question, prompting her to open her eyes wide and gasp.


    "Lythia!!" she said in shock.Scarlet looked around because she was beginning to think for one small second that maybe she was not in her bed but the underworld. But this was her bedroom, or what looked like her bedroom anyway.


    "It is your bedroom, the one on your world." Lythia confirmed.


    "Why are you in my bed?"Scarlet blurted the question out instantly as if it had been on the tip of her tongue.


    Lythia chuckled and said, "So my brother can visit you in this world but I can''t?"


    Scarlet frowned and said, "Your brother has never visited me in my bed. That would be super weird, and wrong."


    "Why?" Lythia asked.


    Scarlet gave Lythia a look that said, ''Isn''t it obvious?'' "He is a man and I am a woman." she replied. She heard it in her own mind, just how unsure her reply was.


    "Are you asking me or telling me?" Lythia asked her.


    "Both." Scarlet replied, again, unsurely. "But we should get back to the main issue, why are you in my bed?"


    "I spent the night here." Lythia raised her body, yawned and stretched. Her bones moved and broke so loudly as if they were being hammered by a hard steel weapon. "Aah, that feels better, your bed is so ufortable." she said when she finished.


    "No, my bed is normal, your deity body isn''t." Scarlet deadpanned.


    "I am hungry, make me breakfast." Lythia told her.


    Scarlet''s mind was taking a while to processing everything as it happened. One, she had slept for sixteen long hours with Lythia. Two, Lythia the deity wanted her to make her breakfast. The way she was ordering for it reminded Scarlet of Severus when he was hungry. Neither one of them had manners, but it wasn''t as if she could say no to the deity of darkness. Her powers freaked her out even more than those of the old deity.


    Right now, Lythia was going through her wardrobe as if she owned it, picking out the dresses which caught her fancy and replicating them out of thin air.


    "I will take a shower first, a quick one."Scarlet sighed and said.


    "Ouuh, let''s do it together, you can scrub my scrub." Lythia abandoned the activity of replicating clothes and instead took off all of hers with the snap of her finger. She stood before Scarlet,pletely naked and not the slightest bit embarrassed or shy. "What are you waiting for?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She snapped her fingers and Scarlet found herself just as naked as Lythia was. She on the other hand reacted differently, covering her breasts with one hand and her private area with another.


    "Stop snapping your fingers." she told Lythia.


    "Why? What are you doing?" Lythia chuckled. "Can''t a mother and daughter be naked around each other?"


    "No." Scarlet replied. She led the way to the bathroom still, and Lythia followed her.


    "Ouuh, I love this." Lythia said and she dove into therge bath and started swimming from one end to the other.


    "Quick shower yourdyship, quick shower." Scarlet reminded her. Often, she heard people in the underworld refer to Lythia as her herdyship and she was beginning to catch on as well.


    Lythia was like a child,she frolicked, created dolphins and small boats in the water and she yed with them. While Scarlet stepped into the shower, Lythia added scented oils and flowers to the water.


    When Scarlet stepped out of the shower, the bathroom smelled like fresh lilies and herbs. Lythia and the dolphins she created were spitting water up wards, making the entire bathroom went.


    She ignored the deity and left the bathroom, dressed up and left the bedroom with ns to go to the kitchen directly.


    "Good morning governor." three of her maids were waiting outside her bedroom door, lined up with cleaning equipment and a hand heldundry basket.


    "Good morningdies," she responded. She was about to leave when she recalled the deity in her bathroom. "Come backter." she told them. "I have a guest."


    If Lythia was nning to have breakfast from here then she would be seen by everyone, Scarlet thought it would be easier if she called her a guest.


    "Yes, your friend Lythia, we met her yesterday." Gertrude replied with a smile.


    Scarlet was surprised, what did she mean by they met her?


    "How?" she asked the maid.


    "She came in with you yesterday." Gertrude replied.


    "You all saw her?" she asked the other two maids.


    They nodded, each confirming that they had seen Lythia with Scarlet yesterday. It was obvious that these memories had been nted by Lythia herself. Unless she was the one who had no memory of it.


    Sometimes, Scarlet loathed the deities for the mind maniption they engaged in.


    Brooding, she went to the kitchen and cooked up arge meal of pancakes, sandwiches, eggs and bacon.Right on cue, as she was finishing up, Severus and Lythia made their grand entrance.


    Both filled their tes and settled in to eat in silence, filling their tummies until all that she had cooked run out. They did not even leave a single crumb behind, even the sandwiches she had set aside for Justin were taken by Lythia.


    When Lythia was finished, she gave Scarlet ten high energy crystals and disappeared right before the eyes of the maids who continued to look on as if nothing extraordinary had happened.


    Scarlet tested the waters and asked them, "Have you seen my friend Lythia?"


    "Yes, she just went through the side door a few minutes ago." Coral replied.


    "Of course," Scarlet mumbled.As expected of a deity, they coulde and go as they pleased.


    She held the high energy crystals in her hands for a moment and a random thought crossed her mind, how much would grim reapers pay for cooked food in the underworld.

 Chapter 237 Markay And Carolyn

    ?


    Time passed quickly and winter wasing to an end, only days of this horrid season were left on the countdown and the days of celebrating surviving the long winter wereing. It was not simply days, it was one whole month of celebrations and people were beginning to prepare for it.


    Markay was nning to return to the blue star for these celebrations; he had no intention of staying in the capital for them, after all his girlfriend was not here. Rather than sleep well and eat mediocre food, he wanted to be in thepany of a loved one and eating whatever new recipe Scarlet had cooked up.


    At the moment, he was on the phone with Carolyn, discussing their ns for the New Year festival and survival celebration day. Survival celebration day as it was named was the first day of the new year and it was aday for sending off the dead, and then celebrating their lives. It was always followed up by heroes'' day which was a day for burying and celebrating the mecha warriors and medical professionals or any brave person that had sacrificed their lives for another to live during the winter season.


    The third day was awards and renewal day, a day when the emperor rewarded those mecha warriors who stood out the most in the battles and all mecha warriors took another solemn oath to defend their empire again.


    On the fourth day, the permanently injured mecha warriors would be released, givenpensation and resigned from their duties. They wouldy down their uniforms, leave their mechas behind and fly home.


    After day four, the New Year celebrations would begin and they would go on until the new month started. During this time, workers could take time off and spend more time with their families, not huddled up inside but outside, in the spirit of celebration. Since most people spent three months not working, they opted to work during this month but work always ended early.During this month, the work of rebuilding started and the buildings which were dismantled during the battles in winter were repaired.


    Citizens that had been disced were relocated, taken to new stars or moved into shelters until new housing could be found them.


    Markay was exining to Carolyn that he intended to spend thergest part of that month with her.


    "You are a prince," she replied, "Isn''t your presence required at home during that time? Your father must have a lot of things to do during this time. You should stay behind and assist him."


    "What are the ministers for if not to help my father?" he replied. "I can work all the way from the blue star, we have holograms and virtual reality so if my presence in a meeting required then I can attend that way. I have missed you older sister, haven''t you missed your cutie kitty Markay?"


    "Huh," Carolyn gasped, "Who told you that?"


    "He-he," Markayughed, "I guess you didn''t know that Elroy and I are very close friends now and that we share secrets. He said you call me your cutie kitty when you are alone. Haven''t you missed your cutie, I want toe home. I am exhausted beyond reason and I need to see your pretty face."


    Carolyn would have argued back if she was not taken aback by his wording, "Home," she whispered with a soft look on her face. "You consider this your home?" she said in a questioning voice.


    "Of course, home is wherever you are." He replied confidently. "Don''t you know that by now?"


    She blushed and touched her cheeks, she did not intend to let him know just how affected she was by his reference that home was wherever she was. She always worried that if their rtionship did be serious he might ask her to move to the capital. This meant that both of them might not have to move.


    "Are you sure that your family will be okay with all this?" she asked him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "My family loves you, my mother can''t wait to meet you and my sisters are obsessed with all the things you craft. I think they might love you even more than they love more, the other day I caught a glimpse of my mother''s terminal and she is using the picture I took of you in the factory as a screen saver. "


    "Really?" Carolyn''s lit up. Did this mean the empress was happy was with their match? Everyone knew that when it came to the marriages of the princes and princesses if the empress did not approve, it was a waste of time to be involved with them.


    "Baby, trust my words." He said sincerely.


    "I told you not to call me that." She mumbled. "It''s so embarrassing when you call me baby yet I am older than you. Scarlet calls Justin baby all the time in that now, anytime someone says baby in the house, he replies instantaneously."


    "That''s their problem, not ours. I call you baby because you are my baby." He replied with a shrug and unbothered look on his face. "By the way, have you decided on the next step after I return?"


    "What next step?" she blushed and looked away, staring at the walls while wishing she wishing she could bury her head in them. It was obvious what he was talking about.


    "Come on baby, you know I want you, we have started weaning off the suppressants which keep our libidos low in the three months of winter. But you know what happens in the week that follows; we are like beasts being released into the wild to feast. Are you really going to allow me to suffer through that period alone?"


    For all mecha warriors, they were given a suppressant shot which kept their libidos low and toned down any sexual desire so that they could fully concentrate on the battle with mutated beasts. This enabled them not to be distracted by such urges in that time period. The only side effect of the suppressant was that once it started to wear off towards the end of the three months, the mecha warrior''s temperature would rise and they would experience an increase in their libido, twice the normal rate.


    Markay was right to refer to them as beasts being released into the wild because they did not stop until the urge died down, which was usually a period of one to two weeks and then they would be normal again.


    Normally, his mother would assign him a special maid for this task but now that he had a girlfriend, it did not feel right at all to employ the services of such a maid.


    "Baby," he whined.


    "Can we discuss this when you return?" she raised her head and asked him. Despite being intimate, they had notpleted the union.


    "You are killing me woman," he groaned.


    Scarlet wanted to talk to her sister but when she peeped into her bedroom and saw her blushing as she spoke to Markay, she closed the door and walked away."Increased libido!!" she thought as she left, is this why Esong kept her pictures that were purely thirst traps?

 Chapter 238 Baby Illa Smells Sweet

    ?


    "Did you find your sister?" her mother stopped her on her way outside the castle and said. "You are empty handed; I thought she was going to hand over the ess code to the factory with all those Christmas trees, how are we supposed to decorate the trees if they are not here? You got everyone revved up with those Christmas tales and all the little children are excited for it."


    "She is on the phone with Markay and I did not want to intrude." Scarlet told Mega, "How is our beautiful I? Is she still fussy?" Scarlet extended her arms towards her mother with all intentions of carrying her baby sister. Because Mega used baby oil and powder on her, I smelled so sweet all the time. Additionally, she smelled like milk and she was pink, tender, and always peaceful making her such a joy to be around.


    Every time Scarlet carried the baby, she would sniff her deeply as if she was she was inhaling a drug.


    "Stop smelling your sister every time people will think she stinks." Mega pushed Scarlet''s head away and changed the baby from her right arm to the left one.


    "I can''t help it, she smells sweet." She replied.


    "If you want another child then you should have your own, I heard you speaking to Adler and you told him that you are not going to have another child. You cannot make such a decision on your own, you must discuss it with your husband first. I know its old school but we women are responsible for the continuation of our husband''s lineages, particrly the noble ones, the family lines must continue."


    "Mother, we live in a world with artificial wombs, incubators, egg and sperm donors and all the technology needed to make our reproductive role as women minimal. Heck, I saw very lifelike sex toys in the pleasure house_"


    Mega swiftly put her hand on Scarlet''s head, grabbed her hair and said in a loud surprised voice, "You went to a pleasure house!!! Which of your brother''s did it? It''s Adler, right, he could never say to you. I should have known that your curiosity would get the better of you even after I cautioned you not once but three times not to step foot in there, arrrrghhhh, I am going to kill him."


    She should have kept her mouth shut, now she realized, how could she have forgotten Carolyn''s warning about their mother killing them if they stepped foot in that ce, especially her. Now, she was going to receive another long boring lecture on etiquette.


    "Mother, I went there on official business once, when the ce had just opened up. I went with captain Zorl to ensure that all of the rules were being followed. I could not have closed my eyes when I was there, I simply nced." She said defensively, "Yes, I nced briefly."she even pinched her fingers to demonstrate the degree of briefness and prove how small it was.


    "That''s no excuse." Mega frowned at her. "Do you know what kind of rumors can sprout from something like this getting out? Pleasure houses have male and female workers; someone could im that you engaged inscivious behavior with a male courtesan. No, this won''t do, maybe you should spend some time with Catherine she teaches etiquette_"


    "Mother!!!" she said loudly, if she listened to her mother freak out and rant, there would be one full hour of this. "Look, Mina is here to pick me up, we have something very important to do, I will see youter."


    Without waiting for her mother to respond, she took off running, desperate to escape the unwanted lecture.


    "Scarleeeettt," she heard her mother yell but she kept running, as if she was escaping hell itself.


    Mina who was simply passing by to drop off a package was surprised when Scarlet suddenly invaded her car through the open car window. She never even bothered to open a door but simply dove in as if she was jumping into a swimming pool.


    "Drive, drive, drive." Scarlet yelled.


    Mina looked back curiously before adjusting the speed of her vehicle so that her wide eyed, crazy looking friend could escape.


    Scarlet adjusted her body as the car sped off, and she leaned back in the car seat while breathing slightly faster than usual. "Oh, how crazy." She mumbled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What happened?" Mina asked curiously.


    "My mother wants me to attend another etiquette ss; I would rather shoot my foot off than do so. Have you ever been to one of those damned things, I have, courtesy of Cecily Wu and I was criticized for the way I spoke, sat, walked, even the way I breathed was wrong." She shook her head, and rubbed her arms as she recalled that it was one of her worst days in this world. "It was torture."


    "I am amoner, why would I attend etiquette ss? Only women aiming to marry into noble houses do such things." Mina answered and she shrugged. "But you dove into my car as if a mutated beast was on your tail." Sheughed, suddenly realizing how funny the situation was. "Where should I drop you off anyway?"


    Scarlet looked at the video on the dashboard which showed the carsing up behind them. She could count three cars, all being driven by her personal bodyguards on their tail. She also had no ns of heading home anytime soon, Justin was having a sleep over tonight with his friends in the Maddox library. She was left to her own resources, it seemed.


    "Where are you going?" she asked Mina.


    "To have a drink with my other friend Lena, I don''t think you have ever met her. But are you allowed to enter a bar?"


    "Why not?" Scarlet asked her.


    "You are the governor, usually when someone like you goes out drinking the headline article the next day is ''irresponsible governor goes out drinking.''


    "That''s in the capital, this is the blue star." Scarlet shrugged, "I aming with."She had not shared a drink with a friend in many years. It could be fun just drinking, chatting and having fun with others her own age.


    As soon as Tion saw where the car the governor was in was heading, he frowned.


    "Are you letting her do this?" another guard asked him.


    "Is she a child? What right do I have to tell a grown woman where to go or not to go?" Tion responded.


    "It''s not a good look." The other guard answered.


    "She has done nothing but work all winter, let our governor act like a normal twenty eight year old woman for once. I will exin this to the general." He waved a phone at the colleague who did not look ready to drop the issue.


    The guards got out of their cars and followed Scarlet and Mina into the bar from a distance, and inside, they took up what they perceived to be the best positions from where they could keep an eye on her.


    Thanks to Tion, Scarlet had a chance to enjoy a night out which culminated in her spending the night at Mina''s ce.

 Chapter 239 Scarlet Sleeps Out

    ?


    Early in the morning, Scarlet''s rm on her terminal went off and she woke up feeling quite thirsty. She stretched her arms and yawned, thinking back on the activities ofst night. She Mina and Lena had a few drinks and then Scarlet spontaneously decided to spend the night at Mina''s.


    It had been a very long time since she slept over at someone else''s ce, and in their bed. Mina was already awake, it seemed because she was alone in the bed.


    The first thing she did was check her terminal for news on Justin, so, she dialed principal Stash, against every instinct that warned her not to do so.


    After three rings, the woman picked up, sounding very cheerful and excited to hear from Scarlet.


    "Governor, good morning, I have been expecting your call. I have up since five o''clock in the morning because other worried mothers kept calling my phone to check on their children. Not just early in the morning by the way, some called me in the middle of the night because their children sleep walk or wet_"


    "Principal Stash!!" she said loudly. "Justin, how is Justin?" Why was the woman so chatty and chirpy this early in the morning? Did she sleep on a rainbow or a in a candy factory?


    "He is still sleeping; I did not want to wake the children up so early when they went to bedte because they had so much fun. Do you want to know what kind of games they yed? We invented_"


    "Nope, thank you for sharing information with me, have a nice day principal, goodbye." She hung up so fast, before the principal could say anything else. Dealing with the principal was like dodgingndmines.


    She looked around Mina''s room, observing it for the first time. Everything from the curtains to the beddings was lc colored. The potted dark purple vi which Mina had stolen from the castle was rotating on a round disc like flower stand in a corner next to the window.


    On the wall were various pictures of Mina at different ages, in some, she was alone, some with family and others with friends. One picture, thergest which was in the midst of the room had been taken from right here on the blue star, in front of the castle. It was framed in a motion activated frame, courtesy of Carolyn and inspired by the moving images in Harry Potter. Normal people watched movies and apuded, her sister sought to bring to life any and all amazing gadgets from the movies, mythological or not. The motion activated frame created the illusion that the picture was moving for a maximum of ten seconds. It could recreate a total number of five poses in the ten seconds.


    Even though Scarlet did not want to admit it, it was pretty cool.


    She left the bed, cleaned her teeth, washed her face and then made her way out of Mina''s bedroom with every intention of returning home to prepare breakfast for her baby. However, her nned simple escape did not go as she nned. For one, Mina''s entire family was sitting downstairs in the living room, and it seemed, as if they were waiting for.


    Two, not everyone was aware of her presence because captain Zorl came out of their kitchen in only his pajama bottoms.


    "Oh," he said in surprise and then, he covered his chest with the packet of buns. "What are you doing here?"


    Scarlet looked to the side and said, "You should cover up first."


    "Aaaah brother," Mina stood up from where she was sitting and she red at her brother, "Why don''t you stop that habit of walking around half naked? You are embarrassing me in front of my friend."


    Zorl red at Mina and he walked quickly to his bedroom. As he walked, he wondered why and when the governor started visiting his house. In his opinion, this was not a good thing; someone in his position could not be seen spending too much time with people in power. He decided there and then, it was time to move out because his sister and the governor could be closer than he thought initially.


    He sent a message to his assistant, "Find me a new ce to stay as soon as possible."


    "Sorry you had to see that, Mina did not tell us that you had graced our house with your presence governor, we are so happy to receive you." Mina''s mother was the perfect picture of weing and pleasant.Mina had said that they weremoners but her mother spoke like she had gone through some training in eloquence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Good morning governor, please stay as long as you want, make yourselffortable." Professor Sham smiled, weing her to their home as eagerly as his wife was doing.


    "Thank you, I have to leave however, I need to go and prepare breakfast for my son." She replied, eager to make her escape.


    "Ah, I had made pancakes for you." Mina said.


    "So that''s why you made many." Her mother said.


    "Sorry friend, my Justin''s tummyes first but if you can pack them, I will go with them and eat them from the pce." Scarlet did not want to disappoint Mina that looked overly eager for her to taste what she had cooked.


    "Wait here." Mina said and she ran to the kitchen, leaving behind Scarlet who was awkwardly facing her parents.


    "So, it''s a beautiful day." Scarlet said.


    "Great day for a walk." Professor Sham answered.


    "Yes, it''s an excellent day for activities like snow fights and skiing." Mina''s mother added.


    Then, silence resumed, and all three parties peeped at the kitchen. Mina could not return quickly enough.


    "Here," she returned running toward Scarlet at the same pace with which she had run to the kitchen. "They are simple pancakes with flour, sugar, eggs and milk, I hope you enjoy them."


    "I will," Scarlet took the blue container from Mina and put it in her storage bracelet. "I will see you next time Mina."


    Mina walked Scarlet to the door and the two women embraced, "Thank you for a great night out."


    It had been a wonderful night; they had drunk some wine, engaged in friendly gossip about thetest movies and fashion. They talked about some of their ns for the following year, andughed a lot. Scarlet felt wonderful because for one night, she did not have to be the responsible governor of an entire or the grim reaper who had many responsibilities but a young woman that could giggle silly and be herself.


    "We should it again soon." Mina suggested.


    "Definitely." Scarlet agreed.


    "And not just when you are escaping your mother." Minaughed.


    Scarletughed as well.

 Chapter 240 Relationship Gone Sour

    ?


    On the drive back to the governor''s castle, Esong called her and she answered the call immediately. With him, it was a never a voice call, it was always a video call because he wanted to see her face.


    "Good morning." She said with a sigh.


    "Good morning my drunk little wife." He answered.He was shirtless, as he always was usually during their callstely. This morning, he was not just shirtless, even his pants were gone and he was carrying a pillow in his arms.


    He had managed to get some sleep the previous night because he was lying on his bed, he had bed hair and thate hither look, he gave her in the mornings when he was hoping to get lucky and attempting to seduce her. After hearing about the suppressants and their side effects, she now knew why he was in such a mood, almost all the timetely.


    Ignoring that look, she said, "I am not drunk, I did not get drunk." She replied with an emphasis on her state of mind the previous night. "Wait, how do you know that I went out drinking?"


    He smiled. "Your guards keep me appraised on all your movements; this should not be news to you my dear. You also made the news, not official news but star gossip kind of news, the female governor going solo in a bar during winter, yay or nay." He read this exactly as a blogger had written it.


    "Dang it!" she mumbled, "My mother will have another reason to nag if she sees this."


    "Why? You went out with your friends and there is nothing wrong with that, you are allowed to have fun. I go out with my friends all the time and nobody ever makes a big deal out of it except to discuss our good looks."


    "Are you bragging?" she asked him.


    "Why should I not brag, I am good looking, just take a look at me." He flexed his biceps, exposing his green me tattoo which was identical to hers. He caressed his abdomen slowly, touching his abs and he licked his lips in a way that was meant to entice her."


    He was a very handsome man, no doubt, with his silver hair flowing down like that and the way he was acting, he reminded her of a male exotic dancer in a movie, she just couldn''t recall it''s name. She could not help thinking that if Esong was female, maybe he would be twerking and gyrating in a short skirt right now, "Tsk, tsk, our mecha king, please rein in the horniness." She told him.


    "What is horniness?" he asked.


    "It''s a word that means your libido is high and acting up, you are horny."She exined.


    "Horny for you!!" he said in a deep voice.


    Scarlet guffawed and covered her mouth, but then, she loudly burst intoughter.


    Esong stopped the movement of his hands and gave her an aggrieved look instead. "Why are youughing? Don''t you find me attractive anymore?"


    "Because right now, you remind me of a female cat I had, when it was in heat it would be overly affectionate and demanding, like you. It would also rub up against me all the time which you would be doing if you were here and it would disy a mating position by lifting its buttocks and exposing its private bits. In a way, you are exposing bits of yourself too, so in conclusion, you are in heat."


    "Hmph," he replied.


    "How do you usually handle that one week when you are like this? I know others go home to their wives and partners. Others go to pleasure houses; the rich hire a specific maid for this purpose. What about you?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "My hand and some toys if I was too desperate but if I could tolerate it, I would train." he replied honestly. "But now that I have you, we can lock ourselves in the bed room all day and do all sorts of wild things."


    "We have a child_"


    "He has grandparents, and dozens of Su''s to take care of him for a while. I have missed you; look even little Esong has missed you." He stood up and made sure that she could see the bulge in his underpants clearly.


    He was acting slightly needy and soundedpletely the opposite of his usual self. What did they put in those suppressants exactly?


    "I am home now Esong, I have to cook for Justin, make an official announcement on television and then do a live broadcast. We will talk againter when you are free and in the meantime, try taking a cold shower, I think it will help. Take some ice cold water and dunk your body into it."


    He sighed, and said, "Alright, bye for now."


    She got out of the car and walked in a different direction than usual, she nned to use the side entrance to her quarters instead of the main doors. This part of the castle was rarely used by anyone because ess to it was restricted, and only she or Esong could use it.


    Before walking further, he nced at two figures fighting close to the frozen fish ponds near the Maddox library.


    "Is that Amara and my brother Adler?"


    "I believe so governor." Tion answered her.


    "Again." she mumbled.


    Things had been very tense between those two since Amara arrived on the blue star. She kept trying to talk to Adler but he avoided her as if she was a gue. When he saw hering, he would turn and walk in the opposite direction.


    It was no longer umon on the blue star to see Amara physically running after Adler who was always trying to escape her as if she was a demon.If anybody in the family tried to talk him about her he would re, brood and lock himself in his room. They all hoped that she would be the one to ask him about their connection because if he would open up to anyone, it would be her, Scarlet.


    The little information that she got from the white cat that loved snooping around for her was that Adler ate Amara''s ring and triangle, whatever that meant. She was sure that the white cat had brought her wrong information because that was its talent, spreading misinformation.


    "What do you suppose happened between them?"She asked Tion.


    "A rtionship gone sour," Tion answered. "No man is that determined to stay away from such a pretty woman if they did not have a sexual rtionship of some kind. Not after the way he reacted when she was injured, I saw your brother, that look in his eyes was worry and fear. But as soon as she opened her eyes, he changed and became cold and distant."


    That was themon guess, Amara was Adler''s ex-girlfriend, but how deep did their rtionship go and what made it sour?

 Chapter 241 Traces Of The Cracks

    ?


    Ignoring that for now, Scarlet made her way to the nned entrance and went into her private quarters.


    "Is anyone inside my ce Alex?" she asked. She paused her feet in the long corridor first and asked because she did not want any surprises. It would not be too surprising if she found Mega here. Her mother was famous fortching onto things and not letting go.


    "No one master, just a few cats ying around." Alex replied.


    She headed into her bedroom for a quick shower, changed into jeans and a short ck bomber jacket then she left the bedroom.Severus appeared just as she was making her exit from the bedroom.


    "Is it time to eat?" he asked.


    She side eyed her soul pet and replied, "I am not just your cook you know."


    "That''s what you think, I gave you my blood." He answered after snorting derisively.


    "So I am paying for your blood by ving away in the kitchen daily, this trade is not fair." She found Severus ill mannered, he did not even greet her when he appeared, and all he would ask for first thing in the morning was his food."At least ask me how my night was, I always ask about yours."


    Severus rolled his eyes and yed along however, "Good morning, how was your night? There, I am very hungry; I spent the night doing your job by sweeping up those wondering souls close to a leaking crack deep in the forest. The beasts have started heading back inside that crack but most are weakening, they are copsing before making it inside."


    They were both in the kitchen and she was pulling out the things which she was to use in cooking breakfast. But hearing him say this took her by surprise, finally, after weeks of waiting for news, something on those cracks the old deity mentioned hade up. All the spirit pets, especially the cats had been assigned this mission but they had been unfruitful.


    "Did you really find a crack?" she asked him.


    "Mmm," he nodded, "I think it''s a gateway to another world, but it''s not just leaking mutated beasts, its leaking souls too from the other world. And then there are souls from here that are also going into the crack, the whole thing is a puzzle. I did not carelessly venture inside because if it closes, I might find myself trapped in there and transported elsewhere."


    It was a puzzle indeed, not a good one at that because she was already running around collecting souls which had been here for thousands of years, fresh ones and in addition, she now had lost souls that were wondering in from another world!!It would take her years to clear up this mess unless it was stopped.


    But if there were cracks in space, why had no one else detected them? Was the equipment in this interster world not good enough?


    "Take me there." She said.


    "I am hungry and tired," Severusy down, and refused to budge. "The crack is not going anywhere for a few days, you can feed me first."


    She folded her fist and threatened to hit the stubborn hell hound, even though she would not actually go through with it because of their link. If she harmed her soul pet, she would be harming herself.


    "By the way, you have not been to the underworld in three days so you may not know this, the duo leaderboard games are beginning in one week, They willst for an entire week and you are partners with that frost character, this year''s challenge seems to be a climbing one so you should start training your endurance. Visit Halder''s shop, he will give you something for training. Even if the prizes are not as grand as the small worldpetitions, you should still strive for top three."


    He was disseminating information left and right, helpful information despite his arrogant demeanor.


    "Thank you for informing me." She told him. She had one week to train; at least, she thought it was a good thing that grim reapers who were participating seemed to be starting at the same level if everyone found out about the challenge at the same time."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Master, Rodney and Mr. d are here to see you." Alex informed her.


    "Let them in."


    Ever since he connected to the entire housework, Alex controlled everything from devices and cooking equipment to doors easing her life greatly. Now, she could track all that happened in her castle with her terminal.


    The doors slid open and Mr. Rodney and his crew made their way to her kitchen and started setting up equipment.


    "Good morning governor."Both men greeted her, one after the other and when they were finished, the other workers Mr. Rodney came with did the same.


    She replied to everyone politely, with a smile on her face.


    "Should we start shooting, we will be thirty minutes ahead of schedule but the people love to see you cooking. " Mr. Rodneymented.


    "No, this is supposed to be Justin''s breakfast, I am making him crepes." She replied.


    "It looks like you are making pancakes." dmented.


    Sheughed lightly and said, "Does it?" in a yful voice. "How about I make more than enough for everyone to taste?"


    "Who can turn down something cooked by the governor?" d licked his lips, his greedy eyes lit up at the thought of eating special food that no one knew about yet. What an honor that would be.


    She had been half way through the mixing process when they arrived and she was finished. "So, what statement am I supposed to be making today d?"She cooked the first crepe carefully while engaging in conversation, the television too was on but the volume had been lowered greatly.


    "The few ministers met and suggested that the Christmas date be pushed to the seventh day of the first month. From all the stories you have shared and what we have seen in the movies you promoted, it''s a time to be with our loved ones. The yellow star, green star and a few nobles in the capital have expressed interest in the festivities. I think it''s mostly because of the economic significance of such a day. They want to push the tradition on their stars as well. For this reason a mutual suggestion has been made that we should wait for the mecha warriors to return before celebrating."


    "I have absolutely no problem with that, we will make bigger profits if all the stars celebrate Christmas, at the moment we are the only ones selling Christmas lights, outfits, decorations and other things rted to the day. Honestly I would also love to celebrate it with my husband."It would be weird however celebrating christmas in January.


    For some reason, an image of Esong dressed in nothing but ck boxer briefs with red deer antlers on his head a can of whipped cream in one hand or a sweet creamy cake with cherries on top waiting for her in the bedroom appeared in her mind.


    "Why is your face turning red?"d asked her, in a very concerned voice.


    "Nothing she denied and turned around to hide her embarrassment.


    "Crazy, crazy, I have gone crazy!!" she thought to herself. Esong was the one in heat, not her.

 Chapter 242 Live Long And Prosper.

    ?


    It was Esong, she exined to herself, his negative influence had got to her, it was the only exnation for this madness. She pped herself, small tiny ps which would not rm anyone but seemed to be those of someone who was attempting to wake themselves up. Still, the camera men and d looked at her with questions in their eyes.


    "Are you okay, governor?" d asked her softly, in a concerned tone and he looked at her the way Cecily often looked at Justin when he fell down or showed her his barely grazed fingers after a training session with Lora.


    "I am okay, the crepes are ready." she recalled the pancakes Mina made and brought them out as well. On one tray she stacked pancakes and on another crepes and weed the visitors to help themselves to a few.


    "No eating," Mr. Rodney told his employees though, "You can save them forter, we are here to work."


    "Yes sir." they could only watch d take small bites out of his crepe while they were filled with much jealousy and envy.


    d smiled at them and said, "Don''t worry, I am sure it will be sweet eventer. Although, I think the crepe taste best when it''s warm and fresh."


    "Isn''t it your first time eating a crepe, what do you know?" One of the camera men mumbled.


    Scarlet gave Severus his veryrge breakfast and when the hound saw the two camera men staring at it''srge stacked bowl filled with a variety of meat, It eyed them with disdain and wariness before it turned around and gave them it''s back.


    One of the camera men pointed at Severus and stuttered with disbelief in his eyes.


    "Tsk, tsk, even the dog could see could see your greed." dmented.


    "Nobody was going to steal the dog''s food." the second camera man blurted. "What do you take us for?"


    Mr. Rodney banged on the kitchen ind with his knuckles, "What are you doing?" he said sternly.


    "Sorry boss." they lowered their heads and went back to monitoring the footage


    d, looked at Mr. Rodney, the stern boss of BSTV and all three other televisions.He was one of themoners on the Blue star with wealth and some influence. The man however was what the governor called a workaholic, he was always working. Nobody worked overnight more than the television employees.


    "You share a simr name with my son, Rodney." he said.


    "I have heard." Mr. Rodney replied.


    "To differentiate you, people use Mr. when addressing you and junior when addressing my son." d added. "I have told him to add Minister to his introductions so that people drop the junior, I don''t think a grown man should be referred to as junior."


    Mr. Rodney who was busy typing, replying messages, giving out orders and firing one actor from the shooting of a soap opera was not in a conversational mood. He red at d and said, "Go away."


    d frowned but he left, of all the Rodney''s he had ever met, this one was the grumpiest of them all.


    If Scarlet could hear d''s thought, she would remind him that he had only met two Rodney''s, his son and this one.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Governor, it''s time," Rodney indicated with his index finger, moving it in a circr motion. It was his wrap up whatever you are doing. It was always followed by a count down of his fingers which meant we are going live in three, two one.


    Scarlet switched to governor mode, and she smiled like the perfect smiley face emoticon, "Good morning, citizens of the Blue star and those from other stars in the empire who are joining us on this lovely day. It is my hope always that every morning finds you in good health and wealth. I have three brief announcements to make, first, the final and official date of Christmas as approved and stamped by authorities from our capital and all interested stars is the seventh day of the first month of every year. I know that you have heard about many conflicting dates which have been changed suddenly but this is the final and official announcement which also has my stamp of approval. Secondly, leading up to thest three days of Christmas, the governor''s castle will be holding an event known as the Christmas baking tournament. The details of this tournament will be shared on our officialmunication star page and on BSTVter today. Lastly, thest football match of the winter season will be taking ce on Christmas eve, that is the day before Christmas. I encourage you all to be there and support our local sport and home teams. Thank you for listening, may we be blessed and may our empire live long and prosper."


    Immediately, the television went into amercial break and she breathed out, loudly. Scarlet could only liken her condition to someone that was wearing a waist trainer and it was suddenly taken off and she could breath easier.


    "Okay," d nodded, "That was good, you were slightly nervous and you added a few words to the speech but you delivered the message well. Where did youe up with the may we be blessed and may the empire live long and prosper thing?"


    "It just came to me." she lied with ease.


    She really did not mean to say it but the speech had no closing lines and she improvised. She wanted to say what Esong said after his press briefing on the ident but she could not recall urately what it was and she went with what she had heard many times before on earth.


    "It could be a Blue star slogan," d mumbled, "It should be added to all official announcements I think, maybe we should....."


    "Speech man, move," Mr. Rodney shouted at d and he rolled his fingers.


    That guy had been wasting the governor''s time when she should have been getting into the right mood to begin cooking.


    d would have retaliated but the cameras turned green again, indicating that they were live not on BSTV but the live broadcast channel on star.


    d stayed around for the shooting of the live broadcast for some reason, he found a chair in the kitchen and plopped himself downfortably. He was puzzled by the way Scarlet blossomed into an entirely different person when the live broadcast started. She was not the same stiff faced fake smiling woman she was during the official announcement.


    "Hey guys," she waved at the camera, her voice had a slightly high pitch, she was smiling widely with most of her teeth exposed and her body was vibrating. She was radiating happiness and excitement.


    "Have you missed me? I have missed you all so much." she made a heart finger and even blew some air kisses at the camera.


    [I have missed you so much my beautiful chef, I aming to Blue star to meet you as soon as you open up the for visitation.]


    [Your chef''s outfit is different, it looks like a sponsored outfit.]


    [Where is baby Justin our assistant chef and official taster?]


    [Did Certified gold really die because he was shot by a space pirate.]


    [I dare you to marry me!!!]


    "So manyments and over sixty two million viewers already, wow, I feel so loved guys. Oh, it''s sixty five viewers now, wow, let''s p for ourselves."Scarlet squeezed her eyes shut and pped her hands.

 Chapter 243 Battle Of The Biggest Fish

    ?


    [Who else pped when she said that we should p for ourselves?]


    [I did, I pped.]


    [Me too, I pped.]


    [Is that Severus in the background? Is he eating as always?]


    [Bring out Justin, no pping until I see my beautiful baby.]


    [Silver wolf has apetitor actor Ramslin has rewarded our chef with twenty golden space ships!!!!]


    [Hey guys, actor Ramslin is here with us.]


    [Is he a singer or an actor?]


    Mr. Rodney folded his hands and smiled, a big fish, they finally had another big fish apart from the anonymous silver wolf.


    [Move aside, the third princess has awarded her fifty flying cars.]


    [That''s old news Silver wolf had dominated, one hundred golden castles.]


    The gifts were shing by so fast on the screen that Mr. Rodney and the team were losing count of who was gifting and how much was being gifted. Even Scarlet was puzzled by this sudden battle of the biggest fish because gifts were money and money was being thrown at her in every direction she turned.


    "Bwahahahaa!!" Mr. Rodneyughed like a movie viin. He pped his hands and then folded and raised his two fists in the air as if this was such a glorious moment.


    "Mr. Rodney, the fans are being to fight and insult each other, this might get ugly soon." The female assistant who was in charge of monitoring thements and banning all those who were vulgar or promoting violence of any form told Mr. Rodney in a worried voice. "Should I close thement section? What should we do?"


    "Keep a close eye on them at the moment." Mr. Rodney answered. "Keep going," he mouthed at Scarlet.


    Scarlet smiled, enjoying herself truly and she went on, "So, seeing as how we are so close to Christmas, today we will preparing some ginger bread cookies. Yes, they are exactly like the ginger bread man cartoon, cookies are part of the Christmas tradition especially ginger bread cookies. You can also bake an entire house, a ginger bread house. Those of you who watch Scarlet''s sweet treats on BSTV will be able to see me bake and build a ginger bread house from scratchter."


    Mr. Rodney pointed his thumb upwards and smiled approvingly, great job. She had sessfully promoted her own show.


    "As always, the list of ingredients is down at the bottom, and it will stay there through all the show. Everything I am using is avable on the online shop. I also shared the necessary preparations to a certain stage yesterday, before hand so that it would be easier to follow along.


    To start off I will bebining all the dry ingredients starting with the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, salt and cloves.


    I know you can smell the spices already and now you know the smell of Christmas." sheughed. "If you have not started decorating your houses please do, what''s Christmas without the lights?


    She whisked the dry ingredients and set them aside.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Now, grab that automated mixer and bring it closer, and in our bowl add butter and mix. I know someone out there thinks I cook with butter a lot, but I can''t help it, especially in baking. Add some brown sugar and mix until it''s nice and creamy. You already know this so I will not be exining what a nice and creamy texture is. Now, we add some msses. What are msses, I know this will be in thements. If you go on star to the online shop, you will find that we sell msses by the jar, it''s thick, dark brown juice obtained from raw sugar during the process of refining. You can also call it a syrup." She poured some on spoon and tasted it so that the viewers could taste it as well.


    [It''s sweet.]


    [I prefer sugar.]


    [Why is it dark brown?]


    The mixer had been mixing while she talked about msses. "Now, we can add one egg and vani and mix again. I know some of you are baking alongside me at home while others are saving the video forter. You will notice that the mixture seems to be broken, don''t panic it''s supposed to happen so, just keep going."


    She turned the mixture off add added the dry ingredients, "I am sure you can smell that sweetness already, it''s the taste of richness which will soon fill our mouth, look forward to it people. Okay, add the dry ingredients to the mixture and ensure that the flour is mixed in. Now, if you follow me I am sure that you saw the list of ingredients and instructions yesterday going at least to this part. Ginger bread cookies need time to rest, not ten or twenty minutes but a lot of chill time to firm. It must sleep in the refrigerator overnight. Luckily for us, we now have super fast cold storages that cut that time into less than half so you need four hours of chill time if you have one of these devices in your kitchen." She pointed to a super fast cold storage oven sized box which was a product of apany named Top kitchen crafters. They were paying her money to promote the device which she was happy to do. It was super convenient.


    "I have cookie dough that has been firmed up." she had prepared it before the crepes and put it in there. "Now it will be soft so be careful, she rolled it out on the counter carefully and added some flour on top. "Your rolling pin should be floured as well to make sure that the cookie dough does not stick. Now herees the fun part and assistant chef Justin will be joining me."


    The cameras turned to Justin who came running in in his little chef outfit. He was running like a baby duck that was waddling from side to side. Scarlet turned on a Christmas tune as he approached, and she cheered.


    [Finally, my baby, my baby.]


    [Mummy has been waiting for you cutie pie.]


    [Look at him in his cute chef''s outfit, so cute.]


    [Is it tasting time since the chief taster is here?]


    The battle of the biggest fish resumed, they sent out gifts randomly filling the screen with popping balloons, a new recent addition inspired by Scarlet''s slime balloon. Big gifts were apanied by popping balloons. Star executives were very wise and knew which trends to tap into because the balloon was a hot trending topic at the moment.


    Mother and son embraced, she carried him up and ced him on a chair.


    "The amazing assistant chef Justin everybody, let''s give him a round of apuse." Scarlet and those in the kitchen with her pped.


    The smiles on their faces were genuine because they were amused by his entrance and infected with his cheerful energy.


    "Assistant chef, are you ready to make ginger bread men?"


    "Yes chef mummy." he replied loudly and then saluted.


    She cleaned his hands with a wet wipe, dusted them with some flour and handed him a set of cookie cutters shaped like ginger bread men, stars, candy canes and Christmas trees. "You have received your assignment, begin."

 Chapter 244 Naked Ginger Bread Men.

    ?


    [I find this mother-son duo cute.]


    [Yes chef mummy, ..hahaha]


    [He is like a little cadet, how adorable, I love it. ]


    Justin took the cookie cutters and carefully started cutting out cookies while Scarlet carefully ced them in a baking pan.


    When he finished his batch, he looked at her for approval. Hisrge grey eyes were so hopeful, as he begged for praise.


    She did not withhold the praise and gave him a big smile. "Great job chef assistant chef Justin." she said.


    They tapped their hands together in the form of a high five.


    "Our cookies can now go into the oven at a temperature of three fifty for ten minutes. If the shapes are smaller, then you can bake them for less time. While they bake, we can make more ginger bread men to fill up the ovens. I will also prepare the ingredients for icing, this procedure I will not exin out loud because we have done it before."


    Having learned from her, Mr. Rodney asked someone to turn up the volume of the Christmas music while Scarlet and Justin worked in not so perfect sync because he made mistakes asionally but under her careful guidance, he always corrected his mistake.


    [The mother is so gentle and patient with the son, excuse me miss, do you need anymore children? If yes, adopt me.]


    [How old are you before asking if she needs anymore children?]


    [How I wish that food existed three years ago, I would have loved to bake with my mother before she died.]


    [I am hungry, please take a bite of the raw dough.]


    [Stupid Severus is drooling and sniffing the air, the dog is contaminating the environment.]


    [Do you and the mecha king cook together at home?]


    [Am I the only one who is curious why that Christmas song is threatening. ''You better watch out, you better not pout, you better not cry!!]


    For a few seconds Mr. Rodney had been worried that if Scarlet remained silent for a while then the viewers would be bored and leave but the view count increased, one hundred ny million people were watching.


    The oven dinged and Scarlet took the freshly baked cookies out of the oven and the smell of ginger cookies filled the air.


    One of the star shaped cookies was broken but the rest were fine.


    "Look at our ginger bread men everyone, they are perfect. What do you think chef Justin?"


    Justin looked at the cookies and put a serious look on his face, or what he thought was serious because he scrunched his nose and folded his arms.


    "They are perfect mummy, like little men." he said with a broad smile.


    She looked at the camera and smiled, "There you go, I give your cookies a ten out of ten rating. Now, let''s decorate our cookies with icing, the ginger bread men are naked, we should put some clothes on them."


    Justin giggled when she said the gingerbread men were naked. "They are not naked, silly mummy."


    "Oh, let me put some clothes on and then you will see the difference between them. You do not need to be tense when doing this, just have fun."


    As Scarlet decorated the cookies with white icing, Justin watched her carefully.


    [If anyone sees me naked from now on, please ignore me, I am a ginger bread man.]


    [I love the broadcast today, she is so cheerful and the interaction between mother and son is so natural.]


    [Can you bite a cookie already, I am dying to taste.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Star is so fast, they are selling ginger bread men emoticons already.]


    [I keep hearing ginger this and ginger that but what is ginger and what does it look like?]


    She was finished and the drone cameras brought a close up view of the finished cookies. The ginger bread men.


    "Look at that, aren''t they beautiful?"


    [Why are the ginger bread men so cute?]


    [They look like they are wearing tiny little shirts with buttons.]


    [The chief taster is ready to do his job.]


    "The hour of judgement is upon us, assistant chef Justin, will you do the honors?"She ced one gingerbread men on a small saucer te and extended it toward Justin.


    "Thank you mummy." he was already extending the cookie to his mouth as he thanked her. Then, he took the first bite, directly biting off the head of the ginger bread man.


    Mr. Rodney and Scarlet knew that Justin''s actions would be the source of some funny reactions from the viewers.


    After the head, he bit off an arm and Scarletughed.


    [This is too brutal, poor tasty ginger bread man.]


    [Two seconds ago I thought they were too cute to eat but now I will rip their heads off and feed them to my tummy.]


    [I like them but I prefer the Danish cookies.]


    [I like the way he has systematically demolished the ginger bread man, first the head, then the arms and the legs. A true son of mecha warrior.]


    Aside from the taste of the cookies, most of the viewers were more interested in which part of the ginger bread man was most suitable to be eaten first.


    While they argued, the big fish threw out more and more gifts. Scarlet had baked more cookies so chances were, she might save a few for a give away.


    "Well, there you have it, Christmas ginger bread cookies for all of you try out in your own kitchens. And for those who like things simple, we will be selling ginger cookies starting tomorrow, not ginger bread men but cookies. If you want the men, contact one of the blue star confectionaries directly. Let''s say bye-bye to Justin everyone."


    He waved at the camera, he held his index and middle finger up and said, "Justin out."


    He left with a teful of ginger bread cookies and a smile on his face.


    "Okay, so we cannot have Christmas without eggnog, this one is for the adults because it''s a recipe that includes some alcohol and as per the empire''sw no one under twenty can take alcohol.


    It''s a simple and quick recipe so follow along."she cracked six eggs and separated the egg whites from the yolks. She added sugar to the yolks and whisked them together until it was light, thick and fluffy.


    "In a pan over heat add some milk. heavy cream, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and stir. Bring this to a simmer then take it off the heat.Slowly, add the milk mixture to the egg mixture and whisk constantly.


    Pour this back into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture begins to thicken. When you are satisfied with the thickness, take it off the heat and vani extract add your alcohol, I am adding rum.


    Strain this in a jug before pouring the eggnog into bottles and into a fridge it goes."


    She talked slowly as she did everything, she had no more than ten minutes left and Severus was happily satisfied enough and in the mood to take her to the crack.


    "So, that''s it today guys, I do not know what thew is on drinking anything with alcohol while the taste sensors are on. I do not want to identally intoxicate teenagers so I will not be tasting the eggnog. You have the recipe, make it at home and see. For my vey generous fans, thank you for supporting me, I will be sending you a Christmas package so please send your addresses and delivery drones at lunch hour today. Thank you for joining Justin and I today, I will see you all next time. Scarlet out."

 Chapter 245 What Is On The Other Side?

    ?


    Unlike the usual when she wrapped up the show and everyone simply packed up and left, she received a staggering and surprising apuse from those in the kitchen. Mr. Rodney, the television employees, the maids and the guards all pped.


    "That was awesome governor, it was filled with humor and lots of fun. The Christmas music was a bonus." dmented first and quickly.


    "Yes, the dynamic between you and Justin is amazing, I think we got more viewers because of it. I have seen some live streamers trying to replicate the results but you and him are the best so far. You should invite him to join you more often." Mr. Rodney as always went in directly and told her what made their team special.


    "I will, as long as all he receives is love but the moment I see hatements or insults directed at him I will stop and I will sue. I don''t y when ites to my baby."


    Mr. Rodney heard her loud and clear but what he thought was, "What is wrong with this husband and wife? Do they have to sue every time for everything?"


    Scarlet poured out eggnog into sses for the television employees to taste.


    While they thanked Scarlet and reached for their sses, Mr. Rodney said sternly, "Take one sip, if I so much as detect a whiff of alcohol on anyone at work they will be fired."


    The poor employees squeezed their eyes closed and cried in their hearts. Why was their boss such a stickler for the rules?


    They gave Scarlet hopeful looks, ''Please talk to the tyrant.''


    "Don''t look at the governor, she doesn''t decide on the size of your Christmas bonus, I do. And if I feel like you have been cking off...." he stopped talking and finished all of the eggnog in his ss.


    The poor employees only took one sip, and d helped himself to the rest as they left, walking with their shoulders hunched forward.


    "At least you gave them cookies." He said. "Their boss is strict but he pays them well, I wouldin about unfairness but he works harder than them. He is a fair man, you cannot set the precedent of allowing workers report to the office or factory drunk. It can easily be habit."


    Scarlet did not intervene in Mr. Rodney''s treatment of his employees. If he was a harsh man, the star daily employees who followed him here would not have done it. d did not need to exin his actions to her.


    "Mr. d, I really have to go now." She said.


    "Right, right. " he looked embarrassed for dying her. "Sorry, I should go as well, thank you for everything governor." He carried away the cookies he had received and left her kitchen.


    She programmed a robot butler to replicate the ginger cookie recipe, instructed Anna and Coral to make the shapes and bake ten batches of cookies.


    Her quarters were big and she went upstairs to one of the areas she had not visited before, the in door patio. It was an entire floor and a beautiful space, with a soft green carpet, some potted nts a swing set andrgefortable sofas. The ss windows offered a vivid view of the outside and from them, she could see the tiny snow kes fighting against the wind before falling on the windows or the ground and slowly melting away.


    She sat down on the couch closet to one of the windows, took off her shoes and picked up a book.


    "I want to be alone Tion," she told her guard.


    He nodded and left her alone in there, since she was with Severus, he trusted that she would be safe.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As soon as he left, she had Alex seal the door temporarily and travelled with Severus, to find the mysterious space crack.


    He blinked, and they appeared first outside of the shield, at the edge of the blue forest. Sephora and her hunters were preparing to return, with smiles on their faces since the mutated beasts were always easiest to hunt towards the end of winter when they weakened. They were talking about therge loot and how much they would make from it.


    Severus blinked again, and they appeared in the middle of a in white field, there was nothing but snow here, for miles.


    "Are we out of the forest?" she asked him.


    "No, this is a part of it you have never been to." he replied.


    Again, he blinked, and they came to a what should have been a frozen valley filled with snow but weirdly, it was not. The snow waspletely melted in this ce, and it felt warm.


    "Where are we?" she asked him.


    "A ravine." he answered. "You can feel the difference in the temperature between this ce and everywhere else, right?"


    "Mmm," she noticed. Theck of snow and uncharacteristic heat in the area made it stand out like a sore thumb. As if this was not unnatural enough, they were standing on yellow and green shrubs which seemed to be thriving, not affected by the winter or heat at all. This had to be the ce with the crack.


    Additionally, the mutated beasts heading this way were quite numerous, it had be their way back to wherever they hade from.


    "We must go all the way down there, that''s where the crack is." Severus was looking down, at what she judged to be a gorge. There was a narrow stream of water running along the bottom, at each side, were steep and rocky walls which were covered in green moss and likely to be slippery.


    It would take some masterful climbing to navigate this rocky gorge, or one could just fly in with a mecha. But only one or tworge mechas at a time, she thought.


    Severus blinked and suddenly, Scarlet was face to face with the crack she so much wanted to see. In between one of the rocks was an opening like that leading to a narrow cave. It was warmer than the other ces and emitted the color red. It was just there, a round red vortex and mutated beasts which could fly were swooping inside expertly.


    The ones which could climb were slowly making there way to it, for them, the strong ones were pushing the weak ones out of the way. As they fell down to the ground, most of themnded in the stream where another fight would ensue.


    She could only imagine how many bones or bodies of mutated beasts were down there.And more importantly, souls were falling out of the crack while wailing as if they were in great pain.


    "I told you," Severus said, "This ce is leaking souls. If the humans did not barricade themselves inside their houses and cities during the snow, they would have discovered this ce already and started investigating the cause of their plight. I am not sure but there must be one of these cracks on every of this world. All that matters to us are the souls, why are we taking on work that is not ours?"


    Scarlet pushed her face forward ever so slightly, simply curious, "Severus, what do you think is on the other side?"


    Severus blinked them away immediately, bac to the in door patio at the castle and red at her. "Don''t even think about."

 Chapter 246 So, Talk To Me

    ?


    She took two steps away from Severus and plopped herself down onto the orange couch. To her, it was only logical that they go in and poke around to see what was on the the other side of the vortex. Why was he so against it? Wasn''t he curious?


    "You said it yourself Severus, our workload had been multiplied because souls are leaking from that ce. It only makes sense that we should go over and see what''s causing the problem. If we can plug the hole then we do so and if we cannot then we seek solutions from those above us."


    "I will give you credit for yourst statement but not what you said before. All grim reapers are assigned their own worlds so you cannot carelessly wander into another world without an invitation from the reaper of that world or authorization from our Lord." Severus exined to her. He spoke with a serious look in his eyes, one that held all of  her attention. "Also, you cannot go into that ce carelessly, there is another grim reaper on this world besides you who is facing a simr problem. Why wasn''t your first thought to contact and share this information with him? A problem halved is a problem.....what is it?" He broke off while making confused statements and questioning himself.


    She watched him mumble and prance around as he did his best to recall the proper way to finish his sentence.


    "Do you know how that statement ends? He finally asked.


    "No." She shrugged


    "Oh well," he shrugged and said, "What matters is that you cannot face danger alone if there is apanion who is willing to apany you on your journey."


    She scoffed and asked him, "What makes you think that Ramslin is willing to follow me into that ce? I have never cooperated with him before, we have not said more than ten sentences to each other. He never stays around me for too long, I actually think he doesn''t like me."


    "Have you ever reached out to him beforeing to that judgement? Use the forum, send him a message and tell him about what you discovered. For all you know, he has encountered the space crack before and he could have useful information to share."


    The more she attentively listened to Severus and seriousness considered his opinion, the more she realised that maybe, the hound was right.


    Ramslin had been here longer than her, he could have seen something.


    She got on to the forum, in put his name and was directed to him. He had a shop in the underworld as well, selling flowers.


    She decided to buy some seeds from him using high energy crystals, all reapers liked those and he would surely contact her soon.


    As she waited for his response, it struck her as weird that both of them were reapers on the same world and yet, neither had the others contact.


    After waiting around for ten minutes with no response, Severus got on to his legs and said, "see youter".


    "Where are you going?" She asked him.


    "To see if I can find you some answers and to get you training equipment from Halder for the duo leader board games. We can''t just sit around waiting for him to contact you. This would be much easier if we could blink our way to his human residence."


    "Let''s do that." She nodded. Such an easy solution had been at their fingertips all along.


    "We need an invitation first, otherwise we will simply loiter around in the area. Don''t even think about returning to that ce without me. I will be back." Severus waited to receive an affirmation from her.


    "I won''t." She said to him.


    "I mean it Scarlet, remember that we are tied together, your fate and mine." He reminded her.


    "I really won''t." She assured him.


    Severus left but  whether he believed her assurances or not was unclear. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Scarlet looked at her terminal and had  a thought, she could remember someone saying that there was possibility mutated beasts wereing out of a crack in a space from another world or she read it somewhere but she could not quite ce her finger on where she heard that information. Her mind kept drawing nks as she thought about it.


    After failing at the memory recall for twenty good minutes, she gave up, but only temporarily. She promised herself to return to itter.


    She checked the underworld forum and saw no response from Ramslin still, which tickled her curiosity. Wasn''t this guy very active in her live broadcast only a while ago? Where had he sudden disappeared to?


    She sighed, and closed the forum. Randomly, she asked herself, "Am I the only reaper who has nothing to sell on the forum?"


    On a whim, she returned to the underworld forum, and paid three energy crystals to operate a shop. Additionally, she paid ten high energy crystals for a trading licence.


    "Tsk, tsk, you guys just love taking back what we earn. Why is it so expensive?" Even as she paid, she could not resistining.


    Hawk had said that since they didn''t get hungry, grim reapers did not eat food so she was experimenting with snacks. If she was sessful, she would rent a ce in the Dark rune vige.


    She received a message on the forum, but when she checked, it was frost.


    "Hey partner, wanna do a training session together?"  His message was read out loud by a small animated figure which looked exactly like him.


    Sheughed before replying, "Not now,ter."


    "Okay partner."


    She would wait for Severus to return from Halder''s shop with the training equipment so that she was not a nk page when she met him.


    She stayed at the window, looking outside at the falling snow and time passed without her realisation. Somehow she found herself dozing off and she got a warm nket from her storage space and covered herself. Lately, she thought, she was sleeping a lot. Maybe, she was more exhausted because of the coldness.


    "Master, your brother Adler is looking for you. Should I have him sent up here?"


    She had barely closed her eyes when she heard Alex saying this.


    "Send him up." She responded.


    Then she yawned, multiple times and groaned as if she had been woken up from a deep sleep.


    Adler came into the indoor patio and he found her stretching her arms. He joined her on the couch and he proceeded to sag, sitting like a sack of potatoes which was about to fall over. He brought his fingers to his temples and attempted to alleviate his headache in the manner which she taught him.


    He was unshaven and his eyes were slightly red, not from crying, she assumed. It was probably exhaustion that was eating all the way into his bones. It seemed, her favourite brother was having a tough time sleepingtely and this was probably a side effect of Amara''s presence on the blue star and in the castle so close to him.


    Maybe it was time tomand the woman to leave her castle, she was fully healed after all and her continued stay was bing detrimental to her brother''s state of mind. And the physical one obviously.


    "So," she said, "talk to me."

 Chapter 247 Adler Brutus Su

    ?


    Adler groaned when he heard what she said and he slowly lowered his body and leaned his head against her shoulder. He must not have beenfortable because he shifted and ced his head on herp and closed his eyes.


    She touched his head andughed while injecting some energy into him to ease the pressure of his headache.


    "Okay, why are you acting like a big baby?" She asked him.


    "I am just tired." He said and he sighed.


    "What is exhausting you my brother? You have been so snappy and ill temperedtely that everyone is walking on eggshells around you. Our parents are worried and they are not the only ones, even we your younger siblings are the same."


    Everyone wanted to know what it was about Amara Leopold that was driving Adler insane. Why was she always running after him and why did he avoid her? They did not realize it but they were like a couple which was having a dispute.


    Adler made himselffortable instead, he threw his shoes off his feet using his mental strength and ced his feet up on the couch.


    "I knew it, being next to you for a few minutes is all I needed. My headache is gone and I feel better. Sis, you are like a walking natural med bed. How is your husband? Is he still standing and what happened to Floozy? She has not been in the newstely. Are they hiding her or did she return to her home?"


    "Adler Brutus Su, don''t you dare change the topic, we are going to talk about this and find a solution otherwise on the first day of the month I am ordering Amara off my."


    Adler winced, opened his eyes and pouted, something which was so unlike him. "Don''t call me Brutus or I will call you Demona." He threatened.


    "Hoo, so the gloves areing off."  Scarlet hissed at him and said.


    "Fair y sis,you are not a kid anymore that I can be ckmailed with your tears. If you call me Brutus I might make a mistake on an official announcement and call you governor Demona Su. The whole world wille to know your true name, De-mo-na."


    Just hearing that name alone made Scarlet break out in shivers. In this round, Adler had won. Nobody outside of the family could know that awful name had been hers.


    "Fine, you win, for now. Brutus is off the table, I still think its a fine name though despite those mean kids who called you brute. Anyway, talk to me brother, right now, I am like a vault and whatever you say will not leave this room. I am worried about you Adler." She took the snow hat off his head and shook her own head at what she saw. "See, even your hair has lost it''s spikes. How will our citizens identify you if you nolonger resemble a porcupine or a hedgehog?"


    "I hate you, do notpare me to those rodents." He sulked.


    She giggled and sniffed. He did not like the reference ever since she showed him pictures of both animals in a textbook. Now, he would be offended if anybody in the family even mentioned any of the two animals. Did he deliberately make his hair t because of that?


    "Do you have a cold?" He suddenly asked, worry was in his eyes. Even a simple cold or cough in winter was something to worry about in this world despite the new medicine developed by their pharmacy from a recipe that Scarlet said was given by her teacher.


    "No, you said it yourself, I am a natural walking med bed. Stop avoiding the topic, who is Amara and what is she to you? Is she really your ex girlfriend? It looks to me like there is more to that story than everyone assumes. Would you care to share it with me? Look, I will stop pushing if you tell me that talking about her and whatever happened in your past is a source of pain for you but I will ept nothing other than that brother."  It


    Adler sighed and closed his eyes. His lips drew into a thin line and he shook his head.


    "You are not going to drop this are you?" He asked her.


    "I am your sister, allow me to protect you as much as you protect me." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Ha! It''s funny." He chuckled.


    "What?" She asked.


    "I clearly remember you as the short snot nosed brat that was always running to me for cover and making me fight all her enemies. Now, that snot nosed brat wants to protect me. Isn''t it funny?"  He could picture that little girl standing in front of him with her hands spread out widely in a silly attempt to protect him.


    She pped him on the lightly on the head, yfully. "Who are you calling snot nosed?" Did she look like she had a runny nose? Even if she did as a child, she was a full grown woman now. That memory should be extracted and burned from his memory.


    "Don''t hit me, I am simply reminding you of the good old days." Heughed hard and loudly.


    "Out with it already, or I will stick my finger up your nose." She wiggled her index finger infront of his eyes, showing him that she meant business.Nobody liked having a finger shoved up their nose.


    Adler covered his nose with both of his hands and stared at her with wide disbelieving eyes.


    "Ew, the horror!!" He said. Not only would that be disgusting, it was probably painful as well. Who was teaching his sister such weird things? It had to be Esong Wu.


    "Here ites." Sheughed and moved her finger around yfully, looking for a way into his nose while his hands moved around as well, blocking her finger.


    "Put the finger down Demona." He said with a heartyugh.


    "Demonaa!!" She eximed. "You are dead Brutus."


    Even though his nose was covered, she could tickle another part of his body and her hands moved to his waist.


    Adler''s eyes widened and he caught her hands. "Don''t even dare to think about it."


    "Talk or I will invite Justin to the tickle party." She threatened.


    Adler gasped yfully, "You y dirty Demona, that''s really low." He pretended to pout. "How can you use my lovely nephew against me?"


    "All is fair in love and war Brutus." She answered with a shrug.


    "Fine, you win, I will tell you but no more Brutus or Demona, deal?" He looked at her and waited for her response.


    But then again, his sister did love having thest word always. She could say deal and then go back on her words. She was never one to allow herself to lose.


    "Deal," she said. "Now talk."


    Adler took a deep breath and blew air out of his mouth. He sighed loudly and looked at the ceiling instead of her curious eyes. Then he said, "It''s true that Amara and I had a rtionship, a close rtionship, she was not just my girlfriend, she was my fiance."

 Chapter 248 Repeat That Please!

    ?


    Scarlet gasped and her mouth gaped wide open. For a few seconds, she assumed that maybe she misheard him because he could not possibly have said what he did.


    She looked down at Adler whose eyes were still closed for some reason. He looked rxed and his breath was steady, in and out he breathed deeply as if he was to soon fall asleep. How could he rx after sharing such staggering news? It was the general assumption among the Su''s that Adler had not been involved with any woman seriously before. On the blue star, before Arya arrived, they had not seen him bat as much as an eye in the direction of any other female except for his sister''s and mother. And yet, he had a secret ex fianc¨¦ all along!!!! Boy was he good at keeping secrets.


    "Could you repeat that please." She told him.


    "Because I could have sworn that the words ex fianc¨¦ came out of your mouth brother."


    "It is exactly as you have heard, Amara and I were engaged for a while. To be specific, I asked her to marry me and she epted."


    Even though she had heard it already, Scarlet still gasped and her mind reeled from shock when he confirmed it for the second time.


    "So what happened?" She blurted. Her curiosity had been piqued to high levels. If he stopped here, she would lose her mind. "Did you love her? Did she dump you? Why did you break up?"


    Adler opened his eyes and gave her an exhausted look. "Breathe De-, Scarlet before you choke on your own saliva."


    She hissed at him and blew air out of her mouth, and then she smiled and gave him her best ''look, I am so cool,'' nce.


    "What happened?" She asked, more gently than before.


    "We broke up, end of story." He answered and closed his eyes again. He had a smile on his face which he was sure would drive her to fury. And right he was, because a sharp pain on his arm and realized that she was pinching him.


    Adler opened his eyes and gave her an exhausted look again. ''Really.'' His eyes conveyed.


    "Yes really." She replied with a fierce look.


    "Must you know the whole story?" He asked her.


    "Don''t tempt me to go to her for the details." She answered. "Spill brother, or are you embarrassed because she dumped you?"


    Adler scoffed and said, "Take a good look at your tall, devastatingly handsome rich brother. Do I look like the type of man to get dumped?"


    She giggled and returned a disdainful gaze at him. "Breaking news brother, yes, even good looking people get dumped. I was ready to end things with Esong despite his good looks, height, royal ties and money. Sometimes peace of mind beats some of those things."


    Adler faced the ceiling and he said, "I ended things."


    Even though he was looking up, she could see the tiny bit of pain in his eyes which he quickly veiled and hid with a smile. This sadness had to have permeated through once in and while and It made Scarlet wonder, how did no one notice anything all this while? Was it because he was always strong that nobody thought to ask regrly if he was okay?


    "Did you love her?" She asked him.


    "Yes." He admitted, honestly.


    "Then....." she broke off. Maybe it was better to the sleeping dogy.


    "Why did I end it?" He finished her question for her. "It''s okay, I know that you are curious so don''t hold back. How will you protect me if you don''t know what I am hiding from?" He chuckled.


    "It''s not funny." She mumbled.


    "You know Amara''s family name, right?" He looked at her expectantly.


    "Leopold." She said.


    "Mmm, she is not just any Leopold, she is one of the Leopold''s." He exined.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Scarlet''s mind quickly moved and brought up the most powerful families with the name Leopold. Only two could be referred to as the Leopold''s.


    "Green star or capital Leopold''s?" She asked.


    The green star Leopold family was a noble family which owned the secondrgest weapons manufacturingpany in the empire.


    The capital Leopold''s were noble too, and they owned Leo nutrients. It was number ten on the best nutrient solutionpanies in the empire.


    There was no rtion whatsoever between the two families although rumor had it that their ancestors were cousins or sworn brothers. No proof of any such rtionship existed.


    Both families were influential, noble and wealthy.


    "Green star, although, Amara and I met in the capital. I was attending the Vibrant academy for mecha warriors back then, and I was in my final year. Like every other young man I had applied to join your husband''s death thunder army. Amara was already working for the RGB, we met when she was pursuing a thief. You have seen what she is like when she is going after a criminal, she is fierce and focused. I caught the thief and as thanks for my help, she punched me." He giggled.


    He touched his jaw, and added, "Right here, and it was painful, she was wearing these vemirite steel knuckles, I bit my cheek and drew blood."


    "Ouch!" Scarlet responded.


    "And she red and said to me, ''I never asked for your help, if you are looking for a damsel in distress to save, try one of the many pleasure houses. Then, she stormed off with her criminal in hand."


    But that was not the end, Scarlet thought, because they developed a rtionship after."So, what did you do?" she asked him.


    Adler pulled the winter hat covering his hair down, and blocked his eyes from her view.


    What is he up to? she asked herself.


    "I did something stupid." he said.


    So, he is covering his eyes to hide the embarrassment she thought. "What did you do brother?"


    Adler mumbled, "I filed aint against her with the RGB for excessive use of force on a civilian."


    "What!!" Scarlet eximed.


    "I know." he said.


    "You are an asshole." she said.


    "I know." he concurred."That is exactly what she said after she was forced to apologize to me by her boss. I don''t think a woman has ever hated me as much as she did back then."


    Scarletughed, and she pulled the winter hat up so that he could see just how amused she was with the story. In fact, if she had some fresh popcorn, she would happily munch away while he narrated the story. This friends to lovers story was like a novel or a movie.


    "So, how did you get her to like you? What happened after the forced apology?"


    Adler chuckled, again, and he said, "Amara is very hot tempered and vengeful. Honestly, I didn''t think that I would see her again but as I was leaving, she run after me with a smile.


    I was quite arrogant back then and I thought she had been charmed by my handsome looks despite the rocky start."


    "You were delusional." Scarlet blurted.


    "I was, because despite that smile, she looked around carefully waved me toe closer and whispered, ''From now on, I am going to be watching your every move. The day I catch you so much as throwing trash alongside the road, I will be sure to punch you so hard that I break a tooth or two before arresting you."

 Chapter 249 What Do I Do, Sis?

    ?


    Scarlet cackled and pped her hands, she wasughing so hard that tears starteding out of her eyes and her tummy hurt a little bit.


    "It''s not that funny." Adler mumbled and pouted.


    "Oh but it is." Scarletughed, even more. Her shoulders were shaking so hard and she pped Adler on the back. "I can imagine the scowl on your face after she said to you. You must have been embarrassed."


    ''Mostly aroused.'' Adler thought, but he did not say it out loud. Instead, he said, "I was terrified, and mind blown. She had just been reprimanded by her boss and forced to apologize but her roguish nature could not be contained. She threatened me and then she handed me a high quality nutrient solution and pretentiously said loudly, "I apologize, once again, sir, this will not be happening again." Then she walked away as if everything was very normal and I was left standing there, puzzled, for a good twenty minutes.


    "But, did she go through with it, watching you?" Scarlet asked.


    "Oh, she did." Adler nodded his head and widened his eyes as he emphasized just how much she went through with her threats."At random times I would be walking and she would show up next to me, matching my pace perfectly as if we were in sync.


    I would go for a movie and she would show up and sit next to me. I went for a concert once and there she was, cheering for the singer but her eyes were staring daggers at me the whole time. It was unnerving, she was like a robot.


    I started bing paranoid that I was always on the lookout for her, all the time. Eventually I got tired of ying hide and seek when she showed up at the training hall where I always went on the weekends. I asked her to fight me, If I won, she would back down. If she did she would do whatever she wanted with her. I knew that she would not turn down an opportunity to beat me up."


    He guffawed, his eyes were distant, lost in the memories of that time.


    "Who won?" Scarlet asked him.


    "I did." he said. "And then I asked her to go on a date with me."


    "Wow," Scarlet eximed. "She said no, right?" The woman hated him after all.


    "She said she hated my guts, my hair made me look ridiculous, my face was stupid. I was an idiot and she had two tickets to the opening of an old ship museum and if I wanted to, I could go with her."


    Again, Scarlet burst intoughter, but this time, Adlerughed along with her.


    After about a minute, she asked him, "Why was she angrily stalking you in the first ce? She did use force against a civilian after all."


    "When I reported her, she got a detriment point which will forever be on her record. Amara wants to be a captain someday, every detriment on her record is a stumbling block to her dreams. Myint was the first detriment point she received in her spotless career. Two years we were together and I never heard the end of it with that detriment point. In every argument we had, she brought it up and I would surrender."


    Two years! Scarlet thought, that was some impressive dating time. And by all looks, it seemed like it was a sessful two years because there was a proposal.


    "So what went wrong?" she asked him.


    He sighed, and said, "After I asked her to marry me, her father came to the capital to meet me. The three of us took one of those sky tours which takes you around the capital, we visited the headquarters of the first mecha warriors and the ruins of the old pce. Lord Winston Leopold seemed to be impressed with me. It helped that I was the son of a noble family and on my way to bing a mecha warrior in Esong''s army. I had passed the initial test and only had one more to go. But then,...." he paused and looked at her. "Things just went wrong, let''s leave it at that."


    Scarlet was not stupid, there was only one thing that deterred her brother''s career, her!!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It was me, right? I screwed things up for you."


    "No," he said vehemently, "You didn''t."


    "But you wanted to be a mecha warrior, you were thrown out because of me. The death thunder army rejected you because of me, nobody else could take you in. Then I was banished to the blue star and you followed me. Oh my God!!! I screwed up your life."She was notughing anymore.


    She took a deep breath and clenched and unclenched her hands. "Here we go again." she thought.


    Adler grabbed her hands, both of them and forced her to look at him.


    "Stop it you dimwit!! your marriage to Esong was something that somewhat elevated me in the eyes of Amara''s father. No matter how the press painted you, you were Esong''s wife. Winston did not care how you did it, all that mattered was that our family was rted to royalty through marriage. You did not screw anything up for me."


    That was a bit of constion which med her down quickly. She looked at him with hopeful eyes and asked, "Really."


    "Really." he assured her. "Look, I broke up with Amara because I could not bring her with me to the blue star. I did it for her sake, to protect her. If I introduced her to the family and married her then she would have been forced to follow me here as my wife. But you remember what this ce was like when we first moved here, it was empty, we barely had anything to eat, we were worse than the beggars in the capital. Amara grew up in luxury as a spoiled pampereddy, how could I ask her to give up her career and everything to suffer with me. I am relieved that I saved her and us from such a humiliating situation. To top it off, her father told me not to make her suffer and do right by her. So, don''t get things twisted in your little head and imagine that our rtionship revolved around you. I made a choice, my choice."


    Scarlet wanted to say, ''But I contributed to that choice.'' If it was not for her, their family would not have been banished back then.


    "Are you still twisting things around in your mind?" Adler asked her sternly. He barked at her, questioning her loudly in a way he rarely did.


    "No." she denied quickly.


    "Good, you better not be." he warned her.


    Sheughed nervously and scratched her back, Adler was scary sometimes.


    "Brother," she said softly, "Where do you and Amara stand now? Should I send her packing off our?"


    "That won''t work, she has already been epted as an RGB officer here on the blue star."


    Scarlet''s mouth formed an ''o'' shape and her eyes widened in surprise. RGB officers were assigned from the capital, she could not pick and choose who would serve here.


    "What are you going to do? She is always chasing you up and down, why?"


    Adler sighed loudly and he sagged, "Amara says we are still engaged. She even has the ring I gave her back then. I don''t know what to do about this. What do I do sis?"


    "Don''t you love her anymore or is it because of Arya?"

 Chapter 250 Adler Makes A New Choice.

    ?


    It was obvious to her were his hearty, it was with Amara. Ever since shended on the blue star he had hardly spent any more time Arya. What he was feeling in her opinion was guilt for raising Arya''s hopes perhaps.


    "Did you ask Arya on a date?" She asked.


    "No." He answered calmly.


    "Did you talk to her about any future ns that involve both of you together?"


    "No."


    "Did you tell her that you were interested in a rtionship with her?"


    "No."


    "Did you make her any promises?"


    "No."


    "Do you love her?"


    "No." He replied instantly. Then he looked at her and crinkled his nose as he thought. "I don''t think so anyway. I mean, I am fond of her and I find her pretty easy to talk to but she does not make my heart race the way Amara does. I think we both found friendship andpanionship in each other."


    He breathed out loud and sat up. To her, it looked like his shoulders were straighter than they had been before. He probably didn''t realize how much speaking to her and unburdening himself had affected him.


    "Are you sure that your heart does not race around Amara out of fear?"


    Adler guffawed andughed silently, with his hand over his eyes.


    "You know what, sometimes I can''t even tell the difference."


    "Hmph, you are a lost cause. It looks like you found yourself a new princess, prince Adler." Scarlet sighed and pouted. She pretended to look pitiful.


    Adler tilted his head upwards andughed at her. "I seem to recall a conversation between us where you specifically said that you were not my princess anymore. You were so vocal and decisive when you said that you were Esong''s wife now and I should stay out of your personal business. Why are you pretending now?"


    She pursed her lips and looked to the side, "Pssh, I will not defend myself." She replied. "Anyway, I am happy for you brother, it has been my wish that you find happiness of your own and now you have. Assuming that she is willing to forgive you for dumping her that is. If I were her, I would make you grovel."


    "Oh yeah, how many times have you made Esong grovel?"


    "I was the one who had to do the groveling." She rolled her eyes upwards as if she could not not believe it still. "Aah, maybe it''s in our Su blood to grovel. Anyway, now that I know your little secret what about Beord? Does he have a secret ex girlfriend, fianc¨¦ or wife that he is hiding from us?"


    "Hmph, Beord does not do secret rtionships. You know what our brother is like, when he would get a crush on a girl he would talk about her nonstop for days. And when things didn''t work out he would mop around the house ying loud horrible music." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He remembered how their mother would pace around Beord''s room worriedly and check in onhim every five minutes while their father clenched his teeth and enacted a sound barrier around the room.


    "I have changed Scarlet." Adler said suddenly.


    His words puzzled her, changed from what or who?


    "I am not the same man I was when Amara met me and I don''t know how she will handle that. I am not on the path of bing a famous mecha warrior, I have no intentions of pursuing that path ever either because I have be contented where I am. Her father might not be so impressed with me anymore. Amara too, what if she finds myck of ambition to be one of the empire''s glorious heroescking?"


    She pped him lightly on the back and forced him to look at her. Seriously, she said, "You are a minister of what will be the most admirable star of the Sun star. I don''t care what Amara and her father think of you, to me and our family you are a hero. You are my protector and precious brother, you have all the qualities of an excellent mecha warrior and best of all, you are a good man. Moreover, what is so good about being the wife of a mecha warrior? Look at me, I spent weeks filled with worry and I will not rx until Esonges home. There is nothing exciting about knowing that you could be a widow at any moment. If Amara Leopold does not find these things satisfactory then she is the wrong woman for you and I will be the one punching her for being stupid."


    "You are a good sister, little one. I am actually happy that you pushed me to talk about this. I feel so much better now, as a matter of fact let me stop running and return to work. What are you nning to do with the test of your day?"


    "Nothing much, I simply intend to do some reading and research. Next month we must begin preparations for nting and then expansion of the town must continue. Folsom told me that the grey star has been the most devastating this winter and so many people have lost their homes. I have been asked to take them in if I desire."


    "I am guessing you said yes."


    She nodded twice, "We need people to sustain the otherwise we will end up with empty lonely buildings and no one to live in them. Also it will take a lot of manpower to nt enough food to feed the billions in the empire. At the moment we don''t even have enough food to feed three million people."


    "Then you should bnce the manpower between humans and machines. Machines can work overnight in the fields." He suggested.


    "We still have a few unemployed people here, how do you think they will react if I give the jobs to machines? They will be anxious and worried, and they will loathe me. We already had one person set a farm on fire, we don''t need another. I actually intend to put shields around the farms next time. It will cost me some money but it''s necessary to prevent those with ill intentions from gaining easy ess inside."


    "You know that a farm worker can be bribed as well to attempt something even with a shield up, right?"


    He spoke so logically but all she did was re at him. She wanted only solutions here, no pessimism.


    "I should go and work, most of the beasts have retreated anyway. There is nothing to fear anymore. But,....never mind." He wanted to share his theories on the mutated beasts as he once discussed with Beord.


    He thought that since her teacher what the beats were, maybe he knew where they came from. He Also thought that now was the right time to follow them and see where they disappeared to always. But with his sister thinking about the economy and the way forward for their to develop, his random thoughts could perhaps best be shared with someone else, like her husband.


    "What are you thinking brother?"


    "I am thinking about Elroy''s request for us all to attend his hockey match. First it was football, then basketball and now hockey. What''s next, quidditch?" Adler touched his head as if the thought of his indecisive little brother caused him much pain. "I don''t get it, why can''t he decide what he wants to do and stick to it? Will he end up bing one of those monks and live in the temple? Aah, that kid is giving me a headache."


    Scarlet smiled and she said, "He is our baby brother, we will continue to support him until he finds his way."


    "So, see you at the match." Adler stood up to go.


    "Mm, bye-bye." She threw him a packet of ginger snap cookies before he left. He could not have left at a better time because Ramslin had reached out finally.

 Chapter 251 Aah, That Asshole Ramslin

    ?


    He reached out on the underworld forum, not star. High energy crystals were too valuable to pass up.


    On the underworld forum, they could chat face to face as if it was a video call.


    "Ramslin." She said his name.


    "Hound." He replied.


    She stayed silent for two seconds and then shrugged, whatever he chose to call her, she didn''t care much.


    "I want flower seeds." She said, first. "And then, I have a question for you."


    Theypleted the transaction sessfully and he beamed happily as he collected six high energy crystals from her.


    "Pleasee again." He said.


    "Sure, where are you? I discovered some things that I want to ask you about? Is it possible for us to meet? Can youe to my as a reaper?"


    He appeared to be slightly confused but he said, "Sure, I am in the underworld, give me a minute."


    They both kept their lines ofmunication open and less than a minuteter, he told her that he was outside her castle gates.


    She blinked and appeared next to him.


    "I thought you would invite me in." He said. His eyes roamed over the castle with much interest.


    "Would you invite me into your ce?" She asked.


    "No." He replied, with no hesitation whatsoever. He did not even have to think about it.


    Scarlet wondered why grim reapers had to be invited into the home of another grim reaper like vampires in movies. If there was no invitation, they bounced back against an invisible shield.


    Then again, with their blink abilities, if one had ess to your home, they could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted in your home. Showing up whenever they desired like deities and that could be quite annoying too.


    "See, we don''t trust each other, and that''s okay because we are strangers. Just because we are grim reapers does not make us friends or family." She told him. She had learned now after being attacked twice by fellow grim reapers. They were the same but different.


    "So, why am I here, hound?" He asked.


    "Come with me." She touched his hand and transported both of them away, directly to the ce with the vortex.


    She waited for him to look around and then pointed to the red vortex. "That," she said heavily, "That is why you are here. Have you ever seen anything like it?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Aah, that stupid hole which leaks souls. Did you bring me all the way here for it?" He gave her a nce that said ''I am unhappy, you wasted my time.''


    "Well, yes." She answered. "Doesn''t it bother you that souls are leaking into our world from another ce? Our workload is bigger because of it. How do you know if soul eaters are noting out of it as well? Do you know what it is? Don''t you care about what is on the other side?"


    "I know it exists." He replied in such a casual manner as he opened his soul gourd to collect the random souls which were falling out of the vortex. "What are you whining about? This hole is like a mine for us, a mine to grow our power and it only appears for three months in a year before closing up. It always moves from one star to another and I have no desire to know what''s on the other side or why it appears. I have not received any instructions from our Lord or any deity to venture inside so yeah...I should go now and so should you. Let the humans handle their affairs hound, the hole was there long before you and I arrived."


    She scoffed and shook her head, he was talking crazy so casually as if this was not a big deal.


    "You must have lived on a beautiful world before you died and became a reaper. Me, I lived in a world which was okay until one day something changed. People fell sick and became monsters, mothers ate their children and survivors lived in hiding, starving and suffering. When I see something weird like this, I can''t help but wonder if whatever is on the other side won''t ruin this world someday. I don''t want to go in either, all I really want is to close the hole up and move on with my life. I thought you knew something that might help, sorry to bother you."


    She blinked and returned to her castle. "Aah, that asshole." Sheined as she kicked her legs up and down on the couch like a child throwing a tantrum.


    "You met Ramslin, I take it." Severus popped up in the room and chuckled.


    "He doesn''t care, he knows it exists and he just doesn''t care." she shook her head in disbelief. "How can he not care?"


    "Because he is not human, not truly anyway, and he gets free souls from there. What did you expect, that hole is to Ramslin what your green me is."


    "So," she put her feet down and looked at Severus for answers. "What did you find out in the underworld?"


    "I found out that you are not to go into the vortex, not as a grim reaper anyway. But if you want, you can go in as a human. The only way to go in as a reaper is to get special permission and even if you do, the souls you reap from the inside will not contribute to your power because it is not your world and you were not invited in."


    "So, I provide free cheapbor." she said.


    "Yes." he answered. "What do you n to do?"


    Sheid back down on the couch, put her feet up and covered herself with her nket.


    "What does that mean?" Severus asked.


    "Nothing, Severus, for now anyway. I have thought about it and Ramslin is sort of right, the hole was there long before either one of us came to this world. Winter is almost over, so going in there would be foolish because he said the hole also moves. I could end up in a totally different world by being careless. I think it''s toote to do anything about it and I will wait for next year to revisit the issue. What I am going to do is send a few of the cats out with cameras to record the footage which I will mysteriously share on star and the emperor and his people will begin figuring out what to do. I do not believe that this hole has never been encountered before. There must be records of it''s existence somewhere because it appeared long before they started making shields and barriers."


    "Wise choice, let the humans handle their problems. Meanwhile, I brought a training device so let''s go, the clock to those games is counting down and you must be one of the top three, okay, top three Scarlet." he emphasized.


    Severus was very much in agreement with her about not going into the vortex but what he said was more in line with Ramslin''s opinion.


    Were they both right and she wrong? Scarlet really wanted the opinion of a third party on this.

 Chapter 252 Lets Go Doggies

    ?


    Muchter, when night fell, everyone gathered at the Maple leaf center as it had been named to cheer on Elroy and his team in a hockey match.


    The Su''s were all sitting together, wearing winter hats that represented the color of Elroy''s team, the doggies as someone named them. These colors were yellow and white, so everyone''s winter hat was yellow with white stripes.


    The other team, the giants whose colors were blue and white were led by a very unlikely individual, Principal Stash''s husband who never said much.


    His strategic leadership, despite being a man of few words had led his team to the semi finals and principal Stash had not stopped singing praises of her husband to anyone that cared to listen and unwilling victims who simply greeted her.


    At the moment, principal Stash was cheering loudly and waving her hands, flying the giants jersey as high as she could. She was even being shown on therge screens for all to see. Many eyes were on her, including those of the Su''s.


    "Who needs cheerleaders and mascots when you have her?" Adler asked with a tsk.


    "What is wrong with it, she is simply supporting her husband and I think that''s a good thing." Scarlet said.


    "Does she have to be so loud about it?" Beord asked.


    "You want to see loud!!" Scarlet looked at her brothers challengingly and Dorianughed while Mega groaned.


    "I will show you loud." Scarlet said.


    She stood up on her feet, got a mega phone from her storage brace let and started chanting.


    "Let''s go doggies, let''s go doggies. woof woof woof."


    Adler tugged at her waist and attempted to pull her down while their parentsughed.The cameras had moved away from principal Stash and now they were on Scarlet.


    Scarlet waved at the moving drone cameras above she held up the doggies jersey.


    Justin the little copy cat who was never too far from his mother jumped up and down, imitating her actions and the cameras moved from Scarlet to Justin who was joined by Halley and Gregor.


    "A." many people said.Cute children were always loved and weed everywhere.


    The seats in front of them were upied by bodyguards and the ones behind them by RGB officers. The two groups were here to protect the governor.


    Adler suddenly turned around because someone poked him in the back, and his eyes fell on Amara. She was sitting directly behind him with an ice cream cone in her hands. Whether she would be licking the ice cream or dumping it on Adler''s head was yet to be known.


    "Oh, this is going to be a long night." Adler groaned.


    Whether it was deliberate or not, the cameras stayed on two for a whole minute and Adler longed to break them. Seriously!!! why?


    He raised his hands and held his palms up facing upwards as he shrugged in a manner that said, ''What''s up?"


    Scarlet looked at him and into her megaphone, she said, "Boo."


    Adler tried to take the megaphone away and the peopleughed.


    Suddenly, everyone was booing and Adler bent his head down, and he covered his eyes with his right hand.


    "Should we intervene?" Mega asked her husband.


    "Why?" Dorian asked.


    "He still hasn''t told us about her." she said.


    "I think Scarlet knows, I saw her waving at Amara. You said that you wanted Adler to get married, maybe this is how." her husband answered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "But, why are they all acting childish right now?" she asked.


    "I think it''s fun." Dorian chuckled.


    They were having a good time, everyone was smiling and Elroy''s team was currently in the lead. All in all, it was a good night so far.


    Dorian was right, the match ended with Elroy''s team heading to the finals, to face the crushers.


    When the family returned to the castle, they all stayed in themon room first, sitting around arge table as a family and talking about the match, the highlights and everything in between.


    Elroy was pumped, he was super excited and not even the loose tooth in his mouth could bring him down.


    "So is this your thing now Elroy? Getting beat up for sport?" Carolyn asked.


    "Hey, I didn''t get beat up, I did the beating.'' he bragged.


    "That game is too rough." Megained. She was feeding I milk from a bottle and the little one was greedily filling her stomach. "I went through nine months of pregnancy and eleven hours of natural birth just to watch you get beaten up for a small ck ball."


    She thought watching Scarlet in the mecha fights was hard enough but watching Elroy y hockey was even harder. At least mecha fighters had armor and mechas to shield them from harm but hockey yers barely had any usable form of protection.


    "It''s not a ball ma, it''s a puck and it''s a ck disc, not a ball." Elroy corrected her.


    "I don''t think that''s the point our mother is trying to make." Fey told him.


    "Wait till he gets into boxing." Beord said.


    Their mother sent a warning nce at Elroy and everyone groaned and red at Beord.Now, their mother would rant and make herself pitiful while pointing out all the reasons why they were making her age by the day.


    "All of you just keep doing whatever you want, nobody cares that I could be staying up all night worried about your futures. The eldest is in an unknown situation with a woman causing gossip all over the empire while the second one stays single, refusing to be set up on dates with respectable youngdies and the eldest daughter dresses like a vagabond and lives in a factory, then their is the married one who went to a pleasure house, the next one is getting beat up ck and blue because ordinary jobs just won''t do while the one who follows is secretly dating a business man from the capital, while....the young ones are well behaved at least. Did I leave anyone out?" Mega eyed her children one by one while they squirmed and avoided her gaze.


    "Well, exin yourselves." Dorian told his children.


    "My affairs are not being discussed by the entire empire." Adler mumbled.


    "And I want to meet someone and fall in love naturally." Beord said.


    "You can''t wear long fluffy dresses inside a craftingfactory mother, and I do not live in a factory, I have private quarters in only one branch." Carolyn exined.


    "I went to the pleasure house for official duties, okay official duties." Scarlet emphasized.


    In her case, even her brothers frowned at her and she sighed.


    "Ordinary jobs don''t suit me, seriously." Elroy shrugged.


    "I am not dating Lloyd, I convinced him to open up a branch of Nutri nutrients on the blue star. We are business partners, I am an investor." Fey said shyly.


    Mega looked at her adult children, pointed at them and sighed, "I am going to bed, you are making me older by the day, I think I am going to get grey hair."


    The young ones went off to bed, while the older siblings remained behind and Scarlet brought some canned beer out of her storage bracelet.


    "Let''s celebrate Elroy''s win." she said.

 Chapter 253 A Wall To Scale.

    ?


    It was the secondst day of winter, and there was barely a mutated beast in sight. The mecha warriors were all but rxed and hanging out with themon people outside. The snow was already melting and traces of cracks in the frozenke were so visible.Children were outside ying with thest remaining bits of snow. Everywhere one looked, life appeared to be normal and work had resumed even for those industries which had been closed down.On the blue star, there was no one indoors, hiding and waiting for an official announcement from the emperor to tell them to resume normal life ande outdoors.


    Scarlet was on her way to the temple which had recently acquired an abnormal feature that everyone called a miracle or an abnormality but if you asked, not even the monks could exin what happened.One day, in the middle of night, when all was quiet and calm, the ground started shaking and out of it rose a ck wall crafted from a material unknown to them.


    It covered the entirety of the temple and spanned a measured length so far of twenty thousand miles but there was more to go.A part of this wall went through theke and some parts of a river thousands of miles away, separating the areas it passed through into two for it had no entrances or exits.


    So far, on the blue star, this wall was also the highest formation, it was taller than the twin mountain peaks and the two buildings of six hundred floors.


    The monks swore up and down that they felt a mystical energying from the wall and they called it a blessing. They had developed a habit of doing their weird fighting exercise as the children described it to the adults in front of the wall and meditating while facing it. But for many, especially the few city hall officials, the wall seemed to be a nuisance and the question they had was that if the wall had no entry or exit points, how would people on opposing sides travel since the governor banned flying vehicles. They were also irritated because ns for the new district and city needed to be changed to amodate the wall.


    As if the appearance of a sudden weird wall was not disturbing enough, the governor''s mission to climb it daily until she reached it''s top was another abnormality. While it appeared to be easy, she seemed to be having such a tough time going up so why keep climbing? Also, why was she climbing using her bare hands when some parts of the wall were clearly rough enough to cause pain and bleeding.


    It was not umon however for many to copy what the governor was doing so a few tried to climb the wall but they quickly gave up because the wall seemed to have a power that weakened them physically and mentally.


    Lately, mecha warriors were attempting to join in the wall climbing activity and city hall officials were quick to catch on. To ess the wall now, unless you were the governor or a monk, you had to pay star coins or energy stones.


    Some of them had developed a habit of paying money just so they could watch others climb, fail and fall down. They would record this and put it on star.


    Scarlet and her group arrived at six sharp in the morning, just as she had been doing daily. The monks were already up, and cleaning the temple. Other''s were practicing their kung Fu which she never thought she would ever see in a world with mental strength and mechas.


    When she gave Fion all those books, she never once thought that he would put those moves into action. He was really determined to be the best priest and monk he could be.


    He was always there when she arrived, smiling at her in white robes from a small distance away.


    What she found funny was the way Tion always scowled at Fion''s shiny bald head. Once Fion even let the kids paint a blue arrow on his head to mimic the monks in avatar.


    "Peace be with you, governor." he said.


    "And you, monk Fion." she answered.


    "Will you be climbing the great wall of devotion again today?" he asked.


    "You have given it a name!" she was surprised.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes," he turned around and led her in the direction of the area where she always climbed from. As he walked, he exined, "It takes great devotion to scale this wall, we monks are trying as well and we have discovered that one must be of one mind and wholly devoted. You must block out everything and see only that which is ahead of you. But most men, cannot stand a silent mind, it screams of their insecurities, fears, worries and evil. Meditation we have found, helps. But sadly, it is still seen as something of ridicule among our people."


    Even the way he spoke had changed, she thought. He came off sounding like one of those wise old men that had seen so much of the world. Then again, she thought, he had traveled to every star and those that were outside the empire as well.


    She saw some priests tyings as close to bottom of the wall as possible and quizzed him.


    "What are they doing withs?"


    "There was an identst night, a boy whose parents hade to pray snuck away and climbed the wall. He fell down and with no form of protection, he broke an arm and lost two teeth. It is our mission now to have thoses tied around the entirety of the wall to protect curious little ones."


    She thought about the length of the wall and their progress. It would take them months to aplish their goal.


    "You can ask the city hall for help, we still have some unemployed citizens and those who wish to make more money."


    "Should one wish to assist us in our mission then they should do so out of the goodness of their heart."


    "We should still call for help." she suggested.


    "Then I wee your help." he said.


    Fion bowed and left her at her climbing spot, where she changed into shoes and gloves also provided by Severus for this purpose.


    The hound always came with her on this mission, although it would sleep close to thergest Buddha statue that was surrounded by a pond of diluted purified water.


    Inside the pond wererge floating lilies, and bright red flowers. The hound was not the only one that loved to sleep around here, others human or animal loved it too because of the clear air and soothing aura emitted from the purifying water.


    Today, before Scarlet could leap up and begin climbing, Tion said to her, "You know that this might be easier if you use climbing equipment or have a space ship or mecha fly you as high as you want."


    "I know," she said, "But where is the challenge? The goal is to scale the wall and get to the top with my will."


    Severus had told her that this year''s challenge was a test of endurance and will. She had to hold on, no matter what she saw or heard, she had to hold on.

 Chapter 254 The Empress Is Not Finished.

    ?


    Unlike the blue star were all was normal, in the capital, Esong and his men had just finished killing off a pair of wind spiked Dracos which had somehow made their way to the Origin nutrientpany factory and in the fight that ensued, more than half of the equipment was destroyed.


    Even the closest ware houses had not been spared as the warriors ''identally'' used to much acid in the fight, destroying almost half of the nutrient solutions in storage.


    Members of the Rogan family had received word of this great destruction and rushed to their factory, ignoring the dangers and what they found devastated them.


    "What_, what happened here?" Samael grabbed the closest mecha warrior and asked with dismay, disbelief and usation in his eyes.


    "It''s obvious, a mutated beast did this, we are collecting it''s guts and parts. Don''t you have eyes?" the mecha warrior answered quite rudely in a raised voice.


    To him, it was obvious what they did and everyone knew what mecha warriors did, so why was Samael asking what happened?


    But Samael did not believe that this was not a nned hit somehow. The emperor had done everything to break them financially but he could not finish them off without raising eyebrows. But everyone knew in business, they were being targeted by the royal family. If this was Esong''s army, it was obvious that this was a concocted scheme. "No, the beasts are retreating everyone knows that in thest week of winter they are docile and weak, they would not attack. What have you done? Where is Esong Wu? I demand to speak to Esong Wu." He held tightly on to therge arm of the mecha.


    Another alert went off at that moment and the mecha warrior in a rush flung Samael away like a tiny nuisance. The man fell into a puddle of green bubbling acid which had melted Draco spikes.


    He screamed loudly and other close members of the Rogan family run to his aid, screaming for help.


    Mecha warriors scooped those family members up and tossed them in the closest shelters. "We have to fight other flying beasts, stop giving us a hard time you idiots." one mecha warriorined. "Find your family member in the hospitalter."


    The entire capital was put on high alert and those who had started rxing once again, locked their doors tightly, closed their eyes and crossed their fingers.


    Mecha warriors flew from wherever they were in the capital, off to join the others in battle against a hoard of wind spiked Dracos that acted opposite of their nature because this was not what mutated beasts, especially not on the secondst day of winter.


    Three hourster, everything calmed down and the news reported that the abnormality was caused by beasts which were already hiding inside the capital that were trying to escape the shield. Sadly, it was reported that two ministers and one prominent business man had died. The crown prince was also gravely injured because he had been meeting those ministers when the beasts attacked them.


    In Esong''s space ship, he was sitting with Markay, Folsom, Ian, Cedric and captain Jacks. They were discussing this sudden attack and it''s impact.


    "How could the crown prince have been there? Talk about coincidences." Captain Jacks said. "Worse even, on the list of the injured or dead, my step mother has not made it anywhere. That witch was in that same building you know and not even one spike touched her. What kind of shit luck do I have?"


    "Jacks, make sure that the men outside prepare, we have five more dots on the map. These are other possible hoards of mutated beasts that are hiding. You all know that these are worse than the ones which attack directly because of the possibility of breeding. We need to go and confront them."


    "Sir, yes my general." Captain Jacks joked and he left.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As soon as he left, Esong looked at those who remained and said, "Okay, we all know what is going on, the empress is not finished."


    Not all the mutated beasts were natural, some of them had been artificially manufactured by the empress and her secret team to get rid of some ministers that were loudly vocal in pushing Sader to take over his father''s throne and funding this plot.


    Through the entirety of winter, six ministers had died and there was absolutely no proof that their death was anything other than a tragedy caused by mutated beasts.


    Markay shook his head and said, "I can''t believe my mother was willing to take Sader out with the ministers. She is way more ruthless than father, how can she be willing to kill her own child?"


    "Because that one child is willing to kill all of her children. Sader wants all of you dead because you are a threat to his inheritance. The empress is simply doing what any mother would do and I support her. Sader will not spare my family, not even my young son if he sits on that throne." Esong reminded Markay.


    "How bad are the injuries?" Folsom asked.


    "His eyes were permanently damaged by the spikes, he lost almost all of his blood and one of his legs was sliced off.It is safe to say that my brother is crippled now and he cannot inherit the throne. We all know the rules, an emperor must have all of his natural body parts to rule." he answered.


    "Why was thatw made again?" Ian asked.


    "Clones and robots." Folsom answered this question.


    The red dots on the screen moved and the warriors set off to do battle again. Before they left, Esong did something that he had seen Scarlet do asionally before a fight, he held the silver part of his pendant and it.


    While the empress eliminated some of the enemies of the throne and dangers to the peace of the empire, the citizens discussed this tragedy in thefort of their homes.


    Those who did not live in the capital were grateful that this tragedy hade their way.The wives of mecha warriors prayed that their husbands returned home safe.


    Mothers who had been rejoicing that winter was bidding them goodbye crossed their fingers again and those who had lost loved ones cried.


    In the royal pce, the empress held hands tightly with the emperor as they watched over Sader in a med bed.


    The empress was sitting in a chair and her other hand touched the med bed. One lonely tear made it''s way down her face and she struggled to breathe. "Forgive me." she told the emperor.


    "I know." he said in a heavy voice.

 Chapter 255 Meeting Again.

    ?


    Scarlet was watching this news update in her office, the governor''s office with Fey. She was sitting in a chair with her arms folded across her chest while Fey stood besides her, shaking her head while the news anchor narrated the gruesome details of the death of the ministers, Samael Rogan and the injuries of the crown princes.


    "Can you believe it?" Fey asked when the news showed a censored image of Samael''s body. Even though most of the body was blocked, bits of burned body could be seen.


    The bodies of the ministers too were showed, one had his head partially decapitated by the spikes of the Draco.


    "I really can''t." Scarlet answered. She meant it seriously because she had reaped one of the souls. Ramslin had beaten her to the other souls.


    In death, there was no difference between the rich and the poor because Samael''s soul was just like all the others. He was a very proud and extraordinary man in life, but in death he was extremely ordinary, his soul was not even special.


    While over there she happened to over hear what Esong and his men said, so when she said that she couldn''t believe it, she really didn''t.


    "I say, good riddance." Fey said with a slight scowl on her face. "That bastard spent years cheating other scientists, stealing recipes and iming them as his own, buying political power and recently trying to influence others to destroy everything rted to food. If he had lived any longer, he would have been a big threat to us."


    "Well, we might as well close that chapter and move on." Scarlet switched the channel from the news to the soap tv.


    "But, are we really safe?" Fey asked, with a hint of worry in her eyes. "Should you be telling the citizens to head back inside because it doesn''t look like winter is ready to say goodbye to us yet."


    "We are safe." Scarlet said, confidently.Neither Severus nor the mecha warriors had detected any hidden mutated beasts on the.


    There was much work to be done, the vegetables in the green houses were ready to be harvested. Even the c fruits had ripened, waiting on a new harvest.


    Some of the seeds she got from Maddox''s storage bracelet had almost ripened as well and she was waiting for Oak and Bell to tell her so that she would identify them.


    The only thing that she identified so far were almonds, the trees had bloomed towards the end of winter.


    "Sister, take a look at this, these are the businesses in the capital which are requesting for licenses but they have put forward a condition that they would love to firste and tour our star to assess the pros and cons of opening up branches here. I think we should speed up the construction of the new district because when ites to numbers, we are not winning. Our poption is not attractive enough forrge businesses."


    "I know that." Scarlet said. "That''s why I am taking in the refugees from every star who have nowhere to move and the mecha warriors who requested for citizenship. But, establishing the new district is going to take time, we will work with the businesses which are ready. Grant them authorization to be implemented under the new visa system, they can only be tourists for a month and only those who intend to stay on for business will be granted long term visas."


    She looked through the list, there were gamepanies, pharmaceuticalpanies, a new clothingpany, a film productionpany, many hunting guilds and she noted that only one nutrient solutionpany was asking for a license, Nutri, Lloyd''spany.


    The others did not see the potential of the blue star yet.


    "By the way, has Cecily or anybody else talked to you about the suppressants?"


    "I heard." Scarlet answered and she looked at her sister curiously. "Why are you curious about it? Are you secretly dating a mecha warrior we don''t know about?"Scarlet''s eyes widened and she gripped Fey''s arm tightly, "Please don''t tell me that you are one of those women that willingly offer up their bodies to sleep with mecha warriors." Scarlet knew of such women or men on earth, they loved men in uniforms a little too much.


    Fey rolled her eyes and grabbed her small tablet which was sitting on the table in front of her sister. She thought to herself that between this sister of hers and her mother, everything she mentioned about a man lead down the road of ''are you dating?''


    "Sister, first of all I would not do something like sleep around and secondly I am never going to date a mecha warrior in my life. I do not want to spend my life wondering if my husband ising home or not."


    "And I respect your choice, since you are leaving, please help me pass along a message the city nning department of city hall. Some kids are vandalizing the unfinished buildings, they should hire people for security or we are going to spend more money repairing what has been damaged."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Isn''t that something for the RGB to handle?"


    "I think they will take offense to being relegated to the role of ordinary security guards. RGB officers are very proud people." Scarlet made this judgement from the few that she had met, especially captain Zorl.


    "I will pass your message along, and oh, mother says that we are all going to the temple in the evening at five for I''s official naming and blessing ceremony. We must all be there so do not drown in work sis."


    "I will meet you there." she told Fey.


    When Fey left, she ignored the rest of her work, closed her eyes and appeared in the underworld.


    She went looking for the Frost in the hall of guardian warriors. Scarlet was relieved because no one bothered her, it seemed that majority of the reapers were either busy or training for the duo leadership games.


    It was only when she got to the hall of guardians that someone finally approached her.


    It was a young woman, a female reaper who could not have been older than fifteen. Her dark blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had the biggest smile on her face. It was Scarlet''s first time seeing this girl. But since she called her cookiedy, it was possible that she was the one who bought the cookies she put up for sale.


    "Hey cookiedy."


    Only two people had bought cookies from her so far.


    "Hi," she returned the girl''s smile with one of her own.


    As she did, she wondered why a reaper so young, existed. It was her assumption that they all had to be mature to do the job.


    "Pffft!!" the girl chuckled.


    "What''s funny?" Scarlet asked.


    "You," the girl said, "You don''t recognize me at all , do you?"


    Scarlet squinted her eyes and came closer to look at the young girl. But the more she looked, the more she was sure that this face was unfamiliar and new to her.


    "I am sure, I don''t know you." she said.


    "Take a guess?" the girl said.


    "I am not good at ying the guessing game dear, you will have toe out and be direct." She responded.


    The girl chuckled again and then said, "It''s me, Maddox."

 Chapter 256 Do We Have A Strategy?

    ?


    Scarlet gasped and came closer, she looked at the girl and shook her head.


    "No way." she said and she chuckled. "No way." She repeated.


    Old Maddox had been transferred into the body of a beautiful young girl!!! It had to be weird for him.


    "What happened to you?" Scarlet asked her.


    "What do you mean by what happened?" Maddox asked,pletely unbothered by her question. "I am a reaper now, just like you. Isn''t it cool?"


    "Mmm-hmm." Scarlet put her right hand over her mouth and she nodded. "So cool." she mumbled, and then sheughed for a good five minutes.


    Maddox stood there, pouting her lips as she waited for Scarlet to get theughter out of her system.


    "I cannot believe they made you a girl." she said when she calmed down. "I keep picturing you as an old man, the one I met. And yet, seeing you like this_," she raised her hand and moved it up and down over the girl''s figure. "It''s weird."


    "For me too, especially in the beginning. I mean I lived my entire life as a man and suddenly I am a female grim reaper. I keep looking down at my chest and going, woah!!" She looked down at her chest, back and forth from her left breast to the right one.


    Scarlet chuckled again, and then she pulled the girl over to one of the swings to sit down and have a brief conversation.


    "Tell me, where have you been? And which world are you living on? How are you coping with everything?"


    Maddox shrugged and started swinging herself slowly, "It''s okay, I guess. I mean I like the not dying part."


    "What else?" she pressed.


    "I like feeling helpful, gathering souls and keeping the world order perfect is a useful job. More than that, it was the only way to keep in contact with you who promised to help me avenge my family."


    "Speaking of families, yours in particr, why didn''t you tell me about your sister and niece. I was very surprised when I met them." she said.


    "What was the point? I just didn''t want them to suffer, you have seen what their injuries are like. Their is nothing left for them in that world anymore. Did you reap their souls?"


    "No," she looked over and told him, "I saved them, they received medication and both of them are doing okay, your sister is an angry woman who wants revenge but most of the people on the Sun star that wronged your family are close to death already. I did research on the names mentioned in your journals. Don''t worry about them, they are living with my family now and they will be okay."


    "Oh, okay." Maddox said. "Thank you."


    The swing stopped moving and she stood up, looking ready to move.


    But Scarlet on the other hand was surprised, "That''s it?" The man in the journals and the man who spent years nning to avenge his family reacted with a simple, ''oh, okay,'' to the news that his sister and niece were okay. Was she missing something?


    "I was given specific instructions not to attempt anything in rtion to my family. Knowing that they are okay is enough for me right now. I trust that you will take care of them, I did give you all of my resources after all. Look, I have to meet my partner to train for the games, but we shouldmunicate on the forum. Oh, please sell more snacks, after a lifetime of feeding on nutrition solutions, I am very eager to eat."


    "Don''t you have food in your world?" she was curious.


    "We do, but cooking techniques arecking. It''s a beautiful world, I will send you pictures sometime."


    She waved goodbye as Maddox left and she realized that she had not asked for the girls name.


    "I will do that next time." she thought.


    She went off as well, heading to themon training area in the hall of guardians. When she opened the door, it led her not to a room but a wide open space. It was a beautiful garden flower garden and the only feature marring the beauty was the high wall which bore a close resemnce to the great wall of devotion in her world.


    This wall however was rougher and taller, it went so far up as high as the eyes could see and beyond.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Grim reapers were already climbing up, slowly but with determination.


    She felt someone shoving her shoulder slightly and a voice said, "You came."


    "Frost." she said.


    "Come on, I will climb and you spot. The way the duo challenge is yed is one person climbs up and when they can''t hold on, they wave a white g and another one takes over, starting from where the other stopped. One of the biggest challenges is that the pressure increases the higher one climbs. Secondly, the real wall is rougher than this, it''s filled with pits and holes so you must be extra careful. And then, there are the flying monkeys, they throw different things at you as climb, mostly rotten or half eaten fruits. The worst are the hallucinations, the higher you climb the worse they get." Frost exined.


    She had experienced the hallucinations, it''s why the monks said that one needed to be of one mind to climb the wall.


    "Do we have a strategy?" she asked him.


    "Just keep going, no matter whates at you, just keep going." he said.


    She nodded and followed him, to the wall and their training session started. For three hours, they trained and when both of them were drained, Scarlet returned to her world.


    It was ten minutes past five and she waste for the naming and blessing ceremony of the baby.


    "Oh crap!" she said, "Mum is not going to let me off easy."


    Then, she rushed out of her office and raced past Tion whose had remained in the air because he was about to knock on her door, again.


    "Let''s go, let''s go, let''s go." she said.


    "I have been knocking on your office door for hours." Tion said, "What have you been doing?"


    "Sleeping." she said.


    Tion did not justify her answer with a response, he simply followed her into the car and they raced off to the temple.


    Scarlet dialed Fey''s number and hoped that maybe she too would be runningte.


    "Sister, where are you?" Fey whispered into the phone.


    "On my way, howte am I?" she asked.


    "Five minutes, we are starting." Fey answered.


    "Okay, try and stall if you can." she told her.


    Fifteen minutester she was at at the temple and she joined the rest of the members of the Su family who were being led in prayer by monk Fion.


    Scarlet squeezed herself between Carolyn and Fey, but she did not miss that small re of disapproval which her mother shot her.''You are busted,'' it said.


    She looked up and pretended not to have seen it while Carolyn snickered.


    After prayers, they all lit some incense and made some offerings before leaving the temple.


    Baby I Su was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face and Mega Su was contented as she watched the baby.


    ''I was right, a name is a very important thing.'' she thought.

 Chapter 257 The End Of Winter.

    ?


    Winter ended, in the blink of an eye, it left quietly and silently as it hade. In the middle of the night, it simply stopped snowing and no more snowkes fell from the sky.


    Most people did not see thest snowkes, because they were sleeping but Scarlet did because she was wide awake and capturing two soul eaters that had been hovering close to the temple but not daring to head inside to feast on the souls which followed the light emitted by the soul attraction stone.


    After capturing the soul eaters, she sat on the roof of the castle, close to highest tip from where images of fallen mecha warriors were projected and she looked over small the city with a smile on her face.


    "I did this." She thought, with pride. Even though she did not build the buildings with her own hands, she contributed resources. Sitting next to her was Severus, in puppy form licking his paws.


    She rubbed his head and he brought it closer, behaving like an ordinary dog. Sheughed softly and carried him on to herps and they watched thest bits of thin snow falling and then stop.


    The chill in the air remained, but she reckoned that it would be dispelled in a day or two.


    She waved at the sky, bidding goodbye to the snow and then looked at the bright twinkling christmas lights on the roof or wall of almost every building and she realized that she would never celebrate a snowy Christmas ever again. It was not the first time she was having this thought, but watching the snow dwindle emphasized this fact on this night. How sad!!


    "You know what Severus, I think I just might miss the winter." She said.


    "I won''t." Her soul pet responded. "I enjoy ying in theke and mud ponds with the children. I also love hunting which we can only do when the sun is out and bright. Among the world''s I have seen, this one might rank third on those with the worst seasons, winter especially."


    She looked at the hound and asked, "And how many worlds have you seen?"


    "Three thousand sixty eight." He said.


    That number was quite specific, so, she asked, "Do you keep count?"


    "Yes, I keep count and I keep pictures."


    "Those are too many worlds." She said one of her thoughts on this out loud.


    "There are too many deities." Severus replied.


    Scarlet looked up at the sky, and she wondered where all those worlds were right now and what they looked like. Were some primitive and others modern? Did they have worlds were animals talked or giants lived?


    Where there worlds with only one gender and there were no female or male specifications?


    Could there be worlds were only souls lived or only mutated beasts and animals with no humans? Or maybe elves, orcs or half human-half animal beings?


    Three thousand sixty eight worlds were too many, anything was possible.


    "How many worlds are there?" She asked him.


    "Too many." The hound answered. "The sun and the moon rotate, seasons change and in every cycle some worlds die and others are born. The deities don''t stop, which is why we are immortal, because they never stop creating."


    Sheid back against the roof and looked at the dark sky, and the pale moon which was not very big but somehow was casting it''s soft pale light on every inch of the.


    Scarlet raised her hand to her face and covered one of her eyes, the moon stayed the same, not diminishing or erging and she giggled like a silly fool.


    "What are you doing?'' Severus asked her.


    "Something my younger brother always did, he would try to see if the moon became smaller if you could only see it with one eye. It''s stupid, right?" She scratched Severus''s ear vigorously.


    "Hmmm." Severus answered.


    She sighed, the hound Severus was enjoying the scratches and she would get nothing coherent from him at the moment. She closed her eyes, and decided that on this night which seemed mournful, perhaps a drink and some music could be good to apany the fading winter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She took the iPod which she brought from her earth out, and inserted air pods in her ears. Then, she brought out some spirit lotus wine which she stole from Lythia from the storage bracelet as well. It was not theft if the owner forgot it and never asked for it.


    "Do you want some?"she asked Severus.


    "Spirit wine, yes please." The hound got off her body and sat down next to her. "y your music loudly, don''t worry about anybody hearing it, I can cast a sound barrier."


    Even though he said he was grateful to see the winter end, there was something sad in the air tonight, and he felt it as much as she did.


    She did as Severus asked, ying slow mournful music and singing along.


    "The wind was mourning in the night, the fire was red...." Scarlet sung with her eyes closed, and she moved her body slowly.


    Severus added a howl to the singing, it was loud and sad and it was heard over many miles. It travelled all the way to the Yellow star, and captured the attention of Ramslin who came over in a hurry.


    He sighed in relief when he saw that the hound and it''s master were doing okay, they were simply drinking lotus wine which he could smell all the way from he stood in the sky. He wondered if these two knew that spirit lotus wine amplified the emotions of the drinker, whatever they were feeling sad about, the wine intensified the feeling.


    And why was the hound howling as if it''s reaper was gone?


    "Fools." Ramslin''s spirit pet looked at Scarlet and Severus disdainfully before Ramslin blinked back to his home.


    Theirs was the the only attention to be drawn, because even the spirit animals came out of the castle and took a look outside, wondering what the fuss was all about.


    Their was a mixture of meowls and barks which drew the attention of the castle guards, waking up those who were sensitive sleepers.


    "What is wrong with them?"


    "I am trying to sleep."


    "Someone tell them to keep it down."


    "Did something happen?"


    "They are drunk, they are drinking concentrated lotus wine, I can smell it all the way below here."


    The humans could not understand thenguage of the animals so they simply searched castle grounds for what was exciting the animals and they found nothing, they shooed them back inside forcefully.


    Mega Su was one of the light sleepers who was woken up because of the fuss and she looked outside her window and sighed.


    "Honey,e back to bed, you have been standing their for over five minutes." Her husband called out from where he wasying in the bed.


    She sighed again.


    "What''s wrong?" Her husband joined her at the window and his eyes lit up when he noticed that the snow was gone. "It''s over, winter is finally over. We should be celebrating, why are you sad?"


    "I don''t know, I just feel_, weird." she said. "As if I want to cry but I have nothing to cry over." She could feel something stuffed in her chest and her throat that was eager to escape in the form of tears.


    Her husband simply hugged her from the back andforted her without saying a single word.


    In the temple, monk Fion who was more attuned to spirituality and blessed by the old deity heard the howl. Other monks too arose, very sleepless because there was something restless in the air.


    "Let''s pray for the souls of the dead.'' Monk Fion told them.

 Chapter 258 Goodbye, See You In Your Next Life

    ?


    It was the first day of the new year, the day for celebrating survival and sending off the dead. Even though the winter was gone and bright smiles were on the faces of all those who had survived ande out of winter unscathed, sadness could not be hidden in the eyes of those who had lost their loved ones.


    Whether it was in the capital, the blue star, yellow star or any other, the citizens were preparing to bury their dead.


    It waspulsory everywhere in the empire to attend these funerals on the first day of the empire, as a way of respecting the fallen heroes. There was no work on this day, pleasure houses would shut down for the day. It was also said that sexual intercourse between couples was forbidden on this day, however this was not aw respected by many. It was not as if the RGB could go around policing people inside of their bedrooms.


    What would they even say when they knocked on people''s doors, ''You are under arrest for having sex?''


    Still otherws were respected and nobody could go home until the burials and speeches ended. They had to gather at the venues dictated by their governors on their different stars or the emperor in the case of the capital.


    At this moment, on the Blue star, as many people as possible were gathered inside and outside the temple. Others were in the maple leaf center and others on the open football fields. Wherever they were,rge outdoor movie screens had been set up to ensure that they would follow the procedure of burial on every star.


    Everyone had listening devices in their ears, they could switch to any''s proceedings as they wished.


    But first, the mecha warriors funerals were first and then others followed so everyone was currently keeping their eyes on the screens which were showing the funeral procession in the capital.


    Colorful mechas and flying cars were carrying the bodies of the fallen mecha warriors. They were led by a space ship which was carrying one of the best the female singers in the empire called Serine, and a choir who sung in the most mournful but angelic voices.


    The emperor and the royal family followed that ship and then the generals including Esong went directly ahead of the mechas which carried the bodies of the dead mecha warriors. Their grave and stoic faces were vividly captured on camera.


    After those mechas came other mecha warriors, usually those who served directly with the dead warriors, in this procession the cameras captured a few mecha warriors whose eyes were red and tears were sliding down their faces despite their attempt to be strong.


    Behind the procession, at the very back were the families of the fallen heroes and these ones did not hold back their wails, tears or sorrows. Their grief was expressed so loudly that it broke the hearts of many viewers from ever star.


    Scarlet and her family were sitting inside the temple, along with other ministers and officials of the empire. They were joined by mecha warriors whose evacuation would begin after the funeral andmoners who hade early enough to find seats inside the temple.They too watched the procession fromrge screens on the walls of the temple.


    Mega Su was the first to cry as she watched the heartbroken families of the dead.


    Even her husband could notfort her in these circumstances because what words could be said in this situation? You could not say that it would be okay when in a few months, they would be back here for the same purpose.


    He snuck looks at the mecha warriors who were silently watching with sadness in their eyes. He wondered if they were thinking, ''Will that be me being transported to my final resting ce next year?'' He looked at his son Adler and thanked the deities that his son had not be a mecha warrior.


    In the capital, the bodies finally arrived at therge field in the middle of the headquarters of the mecha warriors association. This was a special burial ce where mecha warriors wereid to rest.


    It was also a historical museum, one with pictures, names and year of service of every mecha warrior that had died in thest eight hundred years.


    It was built with snow white materials, and the edges of therge extrarge field was shielded by a fence that spread out in the shape of hundreds of weing open angles wings.When the field was closed at night, the wings would fold together and form a protective dome.


    Scarlet could argue that these little things were representative of the fact that on this world, the people once worshipped deities. Angels were part of that world after all, the supernatural protectors and defenders.


    On the screen the emperor gave a speech and he wavered slightly, wiping a few tears from his eyes.


    Scarlet heard people at the back cry and she sighed. She wondered if the deities were getting off on enjoying this pain and misery that guaranteed devotion to them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t make me shut off your emotions." the old deity''s voice threatened in her mind.


    "Yes great lord, what are you doing inside my mind?"she responded.


    "I get a notification every time you think about deities, your thoughts can be amusing."


    She sneered and said, "My thoughts are my own, you should stop using them for entertainment."


    "Hmph, you forget that you belong to me as well. Dear Scarlet, I will never abandon you, you are my favorite reaper after all. Should I tell you the trick to winning this year''s duo leadership games?"


    "No thank you." she replied. "That will be cheating."


    "Your green me is already the biggest cheat, but okay. Since you don''t want my help I will let you be."


    Just then, a big gust of wind hit therge bell at the entrance of the temple, and followed up on the small bells around the temple as well and they started ringing non-stop, so loudly that everyone on the Blue star covered their ears.


    "Aish, did he have to be so petty." she thought.


    "Yes." the old deity responded and then he chuckled. "Bye, see youter."


    "Ignore him," a new voice said in her mind, a gentler wind blew by and it calmed the bells.


    "Lythia, you are here too." she said sarcastically. "Please stop using my mind like amunication channel." she said unhappily.


    She got no response back, it seemed that both of them were gone and she breathed in relief.


    The rituals for burying the mecha warriors werepleted and their bodies were lowered into the ground. Scarlet had not even seen how it opened or what the silver and white rotating tube in which the bodies were ced was.


    She had missed all that when she was looking at the floor and trying not to appear crazy because her face was irritated thanks to the voices in her head.


    With those funerals over, other funerals started on every for every soldier, teacher, doctor, or civilian who died this winter.


    In the temple, the monks gathered at the front and started chanting a melodious chant, and in the temple the echoes of their deep voices engulfed everyone, pulling them into one spiritual state of mind.


    This time, when the bells chimed, it was smoothly and soothingly while the wind carried the voices of the monks far and wide.


    The head monk Fion lead the families of the dead to the edge of the cliff close to the temple and they lit a fire, cremating their loved ones and sending them off in the midst of the sorrowful chants.


    "Goodbye, see you in your next lives." They said this with tears in their eyes.

 Chapter 259 Chanting Equals Leveling Up

    ?


    The general rituals were over, speeches were also given and the burial ceremony ended. The people could now go and celebrate the lives of their dead. As protocol would have it, Scarlet should have been the first to evacuate but she remained behind and listened to the chanting of monks. What she was unsure of was how or who taught them the Gregorian chant. The temple reminded her of a monastery as they chanted, an old ancient monastery which felt spiritual and clean from the moment one stepped inside. She closed her eyes and listened with a small smile on her face, all this chanting was really good for her soul cultivation. The energy in the temple was greater than usual, and she absorbed as much as she could.


    To outsiders it looked like she was in a deep state of meditation, sitting with her legs crossed like that and unmoving for close to two hours.


    When she opened her eyes, it was with joy and expectation that she would soon break through to the final level of the third stage of soul cultivation.


    She was the only one left in temple, with the exception pf the monks. Everyone else seemed to have left for the individual celebrations in their homes.


    Scarlet got an incense stick which she lit, thanked the old deity and Lythia for their participation in the ceremony and then she made a generous donation to the temple.


    "So you know how to be grateful." The old deity''s voice returned to her mind as if it never left.


    "I felt your presence when they burned the bodies, that gentle wind when the bells were ringing as well, I know Lythia''s touch when I feel it." She replied.


    When she got no response, she walked outside and located her bodyguards who were standing right outside therge doors leading into the temple.


    "Let''s go." She touched Tion''s shoulder and said.


    They surrounded her and escorted her to the car which set off for the headquarters of BSTV.


    Mr. Rodney was waiting for her over there with a very serious re in his eyes and a scowl on his face.


    ''He is pissed.'' She thought. But who wouldn''t be passed off if a chief guest for a program waste.


    "Sorry." She looked as genuinely apologetic as she could be.


    "You arete." Mr. Rodney told her.


    "I know, it''s why I apologized." She said.


    "Over an hour." He said. That re had not faded from his eyes.


    Tion stepped between them, obstructing her view of Mr. Rodney.


    "The governor has other important affairs to tend to, be grateful that she spares time for your cameras. Her apology can only be given once." He said.


    "Don''t think you can intimidate me with yourrge size." Mr. Rodney scoffed at Tion when he said this.


    "I am not intimidating you, I am protecting our governor. ording to the general even a harsh re from a human or the suns is a threat." Tion replied.


    Scarlet guffawed and covered her mouth, ''how silly'' she thought. How could the sun be threatening if it was doing what came naturally to it?


    "If she is not singing we are leaving." Tion dered. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This is my tuff, are you the boss here or am I?" Mr. Rodney asked Tion. "Or are you her agent or manager?"


    Scarlet went around Tion and stood to his side and said, "Guys, I have to go home soon because I promised to make Justin his favorite pizza. Can we wrap up whatever this is? Should I stay or go?"


    She had been roped into one song on live television for the celebrations. If she had not seen Ramslin''s performance with the priestess and all the women who served the goddess Rai, she would not have done it. She was taken in by the beautiful performance and she said yes because the blue star deserved a special song or dance to say farewell to their dead as well.


    "Follow me." Mr. Rodney scowled onest time at Tion before leading Scarlet to the only music studio in the building.


    It was a sound proof room with all the equipment needed to record a song. All the rising talent of the blue star music wise had stepped foot in here a time or two, some even three.


    "You wanted a water background, take a look at what we designed." One of the station''s sound and visual engineers in the room showed her what kind of scenarios would be shown as she sung.


    "Are you ready?" Mr. Rodney asked her.


    "Mm." She nodded.


    "If I die young, bury me...." Scarlet started singing. Her voice needed no prep and if it needed fine tuning the sound engineers were avable to do that. They had the song, lyrics,position and everything already.


    In the capital, Esong was walking through the streets with Dez and a humanoid robot butler, from shop to shop, he was moving around and shopping. It was obvious that he was preparing for his return home. Usually, people would approach him and ask to take pictures, shake his hands or ask him to sign something but not today. It wasmon knowledge that after winter, for at least a month, general Esong hated being approached by strangers and being congratted. Men had died, to him, there was nothing to smile about it. Others had been injured permanently, maimed or scarred so what was there to celebrate?


    He was inside of a shop that sold flying devices when he saw his wife''s face on television. She was wearing a white dress and sitting in a dingy floating vessel with colorful flowers in every side. The floating vessel was on a vast water body, with nothing else in sight.


    "Turn that up." He told the owner.


    For the entirety of the song, his eyes did not once move away from the screen. He watched her sing a sad song about dying young and he frowned as he thought about all of his men that had died young.


    He did not even realize that he was touching the blessed pendant around his neck as he watched her sing and thought to himself that those men did not deserve to die, they should have lived full lives. How long would they keep burying their own? When would it end?


    When the song ended, he realized that his assistant was crying, loudly in the open.


    "What is wrong with you?"


    Dez wiped his eyes, and he said, "It''s so sad general, the song is so sad."


    Esong sighed and he looked at owner of the shop, "Give me thetest flying toys for children under six, and a couple of open C grade ships that run on nuclear energy. I also need wing attachments for armor and I want to see yourtest catalogue."


    While he made his order, Dez resumed his crying.


    Esong ignored his crying assistant because mecha warriors did not weep on this day, they could but it had to be done in private. Instead, out in public, they put on brave faces and celebrated those who had died. They toasted to their achievements, recounted stories about their greatness and ensured that their selfless sacrifices would never be forgotten.


    All day on television, radios and any other media that is what would be shown or shared the most. But for now, songs and performances to send off the dead were being shown on every channel and Scarlet had started singing a new song.

 Chapter 260 I Should Not Have Come

    ?


    The day for awarding the mecha warriors who had been the bravest in battle soon arrived. All those who had fearlessly confronted mutated beasts without a thought about their own lives were gathered at the royal pce where they got on one knee and bowed before the emperor. When one''s name was called , they went up and received a medal of valor and arge cash prize from the emperor. For, some a promotion and rise was in the ranks was also given on the spot.


    It was not unusual for Esong and his closest men to receive the award year after year. He had a whole chest of such awards by now, so the ceremony while meaningful held no attraction to him. All of his thoughts were on home, ''tomorrow, I will be going home tomorrow.''


    After being recognized and rewarded, mecha warriors from wherever they were stood on their feet and ced their hands over their hearts to loudly renew their oath of servitude and faithfulness to the throne and empire in all circumstances.


    When the ceremony ended, Esong decided to do something that he had not nned to do, visit his parents. Even before arriving at their family home, he dreaded the visit. His mother would use her sharp tongue to condemn this or that, particrly anything t do with his wife. His father would grunt and disappear and his siblings would pretend not to hear anything and then, they too would disappear.


    And he was right in his thinking because the moment he stepped through the doors, his mother started raining her perceived grievances on him.


    "You have been here for three months but it did not cross your mind to visit your home, has she taught you how to hate us already?"


    Esong frowned, and he felt an imaginary headache setting in. He gritted his teeth, faked a smile and said, "It''s good to see you too mother."


    Emory Wu was like a dog with a bone that it would not let go of however, she sat down and looked at her hands. Then she looked at Esong and said, "So you still consider me to be your mother, I thought I had be your stepmother. How long has it been since youst contacted me Esong? How did your feet even find our home, isn''t the blue star your new home?"


    "Since this is not my home then maybe I should not havee." Esong turned around, intending to leave.He was not here to argue or fight with his mother but it looked like she was of the opposite thinking from him. Her intention was to duke it out verbally with him.


    "Let it be Emory." his father strolled slowly into the living room and said to his mother.


    She, in return scoffed but kept quiet, something which stunned Esong. What had happened while he was away?


    "Sit down son." his father said.


    Reluctantly, Esong turned around and took a seat. For all the bitterness his mother had toward his wife, she had not hesitated in approving changes in their home, following a trend led by his wife. The soft new sofas, motion triggered pictures on the wall, a small Buddha statue on a worship table high up, the smell of incense, the pendant in her neck and much more. Even the floral holograms on the sill of the windows, the tables and most of all the mechanical dog sleeping in front of a new fire ce. Which of these ideas or items had not originated from the blue star?


    "How are you son?" his father asked.


    "I am alright, physically and mentally." Esong answered.


    "How was the battle, things got a bit tricky towards the end of the season?" his father added another question.


    "It was not difficult to deal with, what was hard was the civilians who died." he replied.


    His father nodded and said, "Yes, the ministers who died, it''s such a tragedy. The emperor will need to fill those positions."


    Father and son were speaking casually, settling into afortable pace when his mother suddenly butted in and loudly said,"You should return to the capital and take one of those positions, it''s high time you_"


    "Emory please!!" His father shouted.


    Esong was surprised and his eyes widened, what happened? Wasn''t his father usually passive about his mother''s actions. Seriously, what had he missed?


    Where were his siblings? Now was the time to fill him in on what he missed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A maid came into the room and served Esong hot tea and ginger cookies.


    ''So, my mother adopted the tea culture as well.''Esongughed inside.


    "How is my grandson? I heard from from mother than he is already training inbat and he excelled in school during thest term." His father turned his attention back to him and he inquired more about Justin.


    The more Esong answered, the more his father asked and soon, Esong was sharing pictures and videos of Justin with his father while his mother sulked in misery because both of them ignored her.


    "Brother," Elon came running into the living room and Esong stepped away from his father to embrace his younger brother.


    "Brother, you are here." Emily his sister came in as well and she said gently, before curtsying.


    Keeping one hand on Elon''s head, Esong asked Emily, "How have you been?"


    "I am fine, Elon and I went out shopping for christmas supplies. The emperor said that we should all celebrate it since it''s a festival that promotes family ties and happiness."


    ''He opened up a factory to manufacture christmas supplies and gifts, the emperor wants to make money.'' Esong thought. But he did not share this thought with his sister. "You look flushed,e and have a cookie."


    Emily was happy to sit closer to her brother who was more weing of her today. He always kept her at a respectable distance.


    "What else have both of you been up to in the winter_"


    "Emilye and sit here." his mother said in an authoritative voice.


    When she stood up to move, Esong tugged at his sister''s hand and stopped her from moving. "She is fine where she is." He said, "Tell me, what do you usually do at home?"


    "I read books, and visit my friends, we go shopping most of the time..."


    Esong frowned because hepared his sister activities and those of the women in the Su family. They were all noble but they had jobs and they worked, even little Halley often helped her mother in the kitchen. His sister on the other hand simply spent money like water daily and went to be bed. Moving to the blue star had opened his eyes to many things that were wrong in their society. Why is it that daughters of noble families did not work and all they were good for was creating alliances through marriage? He was sure that his mother had such ns for his sister and he did not approve.


    "Emily, have you ever thought about getting a job?" he asked.


    "A job!" Emily gasped.


    "Yes." Esong nodded.


    "Are you crazy? Is that what your mentally ill wife told you to suggest to my daughter?" his mother screamed.


    "Emory!!" his father shouted.


    That was not something someone uttered simply in the empire. It was an insult, one that most people found offensive.

 Chapter 261 I Dont Care

    ?


    "Respect your parents, honor and respect your parents." These words rung through Esong''s mind over and over again as he clenched his fists, digging his short nails into the palms of his hands and using the pain as an anchor to keep him steady right where he was and stop him from exploding at his mother. Did she think the things she said through, or did she just enjoy talking?


    "My wife is not crazy or ill mentally, watch your words mother." He said in a calm, but deep voice.


    Even then, the hair on the back of Elon''s neck stood up and he scooted a small bit away from his brother.


    If Esong''s men were here, they would exin to his mother that this was the voice he used before he went on rampage and beat up someone.


    "Your mother did not mean what she just said." His father, Emmet said.


    "Oh, but she did. Mother makes it no secret that she hates and cannot stand my wife." Esong replied.


    Emory stood with a scowl on her face and she said, "You used to be just like me."


    "Yes, used, mother, used." Esong was quick to respond. "My wife is a good woman that was misunderstood in the past and she may have wronged me but I have moved on. Both of us are doing our best to create a harmonious family for ourselves and our son. I don''t want you around us, not if you are this spiteful and hateful. I can only stomach so much of this toxicity."


    "What are you saying?" His father asked.


    "I am saying that when youe to the blue star, you cannot live with us in the castle father, not if motheres with you. You can find outside amodations and at no single point should mother be alone with my son." Esong picked up his few belongings that were in the chair. He could not stay anymore, he was too angry to stay.


    "Take care of yourselves, I will see you both in a few days." He told his siblings.


    "You can''t do that to me, he is my grandson and I have a right to see him. I am your mother." Emory was screaming as Esong slowly walked out of the house.


    He paused his steps, turned around and said. "I don''t care."


    He had seen what a true loving mother should be like through his grandmother, Mega Su and his own wife. They loved their children without seeking to control them like robots or machines. His mother, she did not know how to love her children, only how to dictate what they should do, disparage them and prop them out to her friends as evidence of her sesful happy life.


    When he returned to the ship, his friends were already waiting for him. Dez, who was looking away guiltily had probably called them beforehand.


    He sat down in the closest chair and sighed, fighting the urge to start a brawl right now to let out the anger he had inside.


    "I am guessing that it did not go well." Folsom said.


    "What is it this time?" Ian asked. "You are not in a position high enough to satisfy her or she wants more of your energy stone mines. Or does she want you to marry a fourth cousin to keep the purity of the Wu bloodline alive."


    Captain Jacks who had tugged along with them burst intoughter at thest part. "Boy I thought my stepmother was greedy and crazy but your biological mother is something else. She wants you to marry your cousin!!!, that''s so wrong."


    They all knew it was wrong, science had proven that children born among rtives no matter how distant they were prone to the darkness, gic defects or not awakening mental strength. When Esong told them about his mother''s suggestion they had found it unbelievable and disgusting. If his grandfather or father heard about it, his mother would be out of the Wu family. They would have a reason to ask for a divorce and the emperor himself could not deny it.


    Esong remained quiet and the questions he was asked went unanswered, he lowered his head in the palms of his hands and breathed harshly.


    His friends shared amon look of inquisity, ''What should we do?'' They wondered.


    "Who wants to train?" Ian asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I do." Cedric said. "Let''s show the mecha fighters how it''s done, I heard that Gand arena is open for bare knuckle fights tonight."


    "Thest time we gathered because of something your mother said we went out to have fun and he fathered a child so let''s stick to the ship tonight. I brought this bottle of tequ from your wife, let''s drink. Folsom patted Esong on the shoulder and poured him a ss of tequ. "Your wife called it happy juice my brother, so, drink and be happy."


    "Oh, look at this, your wife is calling." Captain Jacks said, and this managed to get Esong to raise his head up and look at his terminal. There was no call from his wife, he red at Captain Jacks but the other chuckled and raised his hands in a shrugging away and portrayal of harmlessness.


    "See fes, that''s how you get my man out of a slump. Call your wife Esong." He said. "Maybe convince her to sing you a song or something." The man chugged thest of the tequ in the bottle down his throat and stood up.


    "Where are you going?" Folsom asked him.


    "Bare knuckle fights, unlike you guys, I am burning hot tonight and it''s either I fight or I fuck. So, unless one of you is willing to_"


    "Eew." Ian said.


    "Get out." Folsom added.


    Jacks was a bit of a man slut, he had no gender preference and he slept with anything that walked two legs, as long as it was human. He also had a reputation, as a one time hit and run man. He did not sleep with the same person more than once, and often, if you took him home you were likely to wake up cold and alone because he would be gone.


    Jacks was not the ideal mecha warrior, but he was also one of the few with many medals of honor awarded by the emperor.


    "I bet he is going to be a pleasure house." Folsom said. "We are all running hot but we are hanging in there, why is he in a rush."


    "You have taken five cold baths today." Ian reminded him.


    "And you took six, so what?" Folsom reiterated.


    Esong stood up abruptly and went to his private quarters.


    "See, you scared him off." Folsom used Ian.


    "Both of you just shut up." Cedric told the two. "Instead of standing around here and arguing why don''t you pack up and pick up yourpanions as well. Esong said that as soon as our injured brothers are released from their duties we are going home. And by home, I mean the blue star. That''s my n anyway, I don''t know about you guys."


    "You and I have no family in the capital, only Folsom does." Iand reminded his friend and they both looked at Folsom.


    "Oh, I am going as well, I have been home for the past two days, I have paid my dues by wiping as many baby bottoms for my sister''s brats."


    The two giggled, Folsom was an only son with five sisters and three had children recently. He had truly be an uncle.


    "Will he be fine?" Folsom looked in the direction of Esong''s room.


    "He is a strong man our general, there is nothing that man cannot handle." Dez who had been quietly sitting in a corner said this.

 Chapter 262 The Paladin Dominates

    ?


    On the day the injured mecha warriorsid down their weapons and mechas with much unwillingness and in tears, Scarlet was doing something else. One of her resolutions had been to get out of the division one fights before winter ended but somehow, she never managed to get around to it. She had no idea just how busy the winter would keep her.


    Tonight was the final fight, after this night, the mecha fights would take a break for a month and resume in the second month of the year. Thepanies and themittee in charge of the fights imed that this move was because they wanted the fighters to rest after three months of exhausting challenges but she knew that it had to be a strategic move on their part. Most of their clients that participated in betting came out of winter poorer than when they went in.


    By taking a break, it allowed some of them to work, earn some money and return to watch the fights again with heavier pockets.


    She decided on that this night, while mecha warriors were returning to their homes, she would get it over and done with.


    Her appearance in the virtual world for the fight was somewhat of a surprise to the fighters and the viewers. Many thought that having not appeared in the virtual fighting world for many weeks meant that perhaps the hound had given up. No amount of trolling or name calling from the pdins on star had received a response from the hound. And now suddenly, the hound had appeared and she was sitting in her chair in the special area reserved for the top ten.On top of that the halo above her chair was lit green, it was a go. This meant she was open for a challenge, anyone who wanted could challenge her.


    "The hound is here,dies and gentlemen. In a surprising twist of events, the hound might be here to challenge the number one pdin on the champions roll."


    The cameras turned to the hound, viewers cheered and yelled while the pdin clenched his jaw. Scarlet however remainedpletely unmoved, she neither waved nor smiled.Everyone knew why she was here but before she could challenge the pdin, he surprised her by challenging her.


    "Hmph." She scoffed. ''Was he trying to prove that he was confident, ready or brave?"


    She epted the challenge and leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. All she had to do now was watch two fights before her turn came.


    "Hey, rich royal, why didn''t you tell me that you would be here?" Alice tapped her over the shoulder from the back and asked.


    Her voice was loud because the noise in the virtual arena was also loud.


    Scarlet turned around and said to the woman, "I am going to be busy in the uing weeks and I won''t have time for the fights. I figured that this would be thest time I would participate in the fights for a while."


    Alice knew what Scarlet meant so sheughed and winked, and then she said, "I am going to bet some money on you rich royal, please don''t let me down."


    Shouting over the loud noise, Scarlet asked Alice, "Aren''t we forbidden from betting money on the fights?"


    Alice shook her head and replied, "Only on ourselves but we can bet on other fights, I am going back to my seat, good luck."


    "Thank you." Scarlet said with a smile.Of all the fighters here, only Alice had so much as smiled at her. The rest gazed at her with curiosity and others contempt before looking away from her.


    Scarlet did not let their gazes bother her, she kept her eyes on the ring, watching the other fighters and soon, it was he turn.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She and the pdin faced each other in the ring, in the midst of loud deafening noise and cheers. This pdin had no direction attached to his name and he was silent, saying nothing as if he was mute. He simply watched her like a wolf sizing up its possible prey, trying to assess if the fight would end with him or her surrendering.Who would devour the other, she wondered.


    His choice of weapon was simr to that of the other pdins, a staff and yet it was different because it was clearly made of metal, it was segmented and it was colored gold. What was unusual today was the helmet on the pdin''s head which she guessed was a shield of sorts meant to protect his mind from her mind maniption skills.


    No matter what the host said to the audience to hype them up or asked either of them to get them to say something that would rile the crowd, both maintained perfect silence.


    The red g dropped and she leaped up immediately, wielding the scythe which was her weapon of choice tonight. The pdin nted his staff firmly in the ring and swung around, using it like an anchor and he released a burst of energy which sent her flying away.


    Shended on the ground like a cat, fumbling to maintain its stability. Of course, she knew that number one would not be easy to beat; there was a reason why he was the top dog of the division after all.


    She stood up and smiled as she thought of which strategy to employ but as she thought, the pdin was already on her, hisrge meaty fist with knuckle rings came down on her face. But she was quick too, and she avoided the punch by tilting her face to the right and then wrapping her legs around his neck. She injected all of her strength into her legs choking him so that he would have difficulty breathing and surrender.


    The pdin was physically stronger and he leveraged his strength, lifting himself and her up at the same time, then, he threw her into the air and followed that up with a power kick which sent her flying again.


    The audience was excited, and they yelled loudly as if they had not seen this much action all night.


    In the seats, was a teenage boy whoined once that Scarlet''s fight was too short. He was jumping up and down with excitement.


    The host of the fight was frothing at the mouth as he exined the moves. Even the organizers of the fight who had simply showed up because they were worried about Scarlet''s presence were happy.


    "If I had known that she was this weak I would have fought her." One of the top ten said.


    "Hey, crazy Jerry, do you regret surrendering to her?" another asked.


    "I don''t think it''s that simple, he has thrown her twice but not once has her body touched the ground as a result of the force. And look at that, she has made four slices into his armor with that axe but her own is untouched." Alice exined.


    "But he is dominating her physically; we all know that he is the strongest in a physical fight." Crazy Jerry said.


    "It''s not the one who dominates the most in these fights that is the final victor, it''s the one who gets their opponent to surrender first or sends them into oblivion that wins." Alice reminded them.

 Chapter 263 Hello, My Wife

    ?


    The fight between Scarlet and the pdin had been going on for fifty five minutes and showed no signs of slowing down because both fighters were still standing. It wasing to an hour and both opponents were still throwing out powerful moves, tossing each other around like ragdolls and pushing themselves to the limit. Ordinarily, the audience would be bored by now, restless for a new fight but in this case, they hoped it would keep going. All around, one could hearments like,


    "The pdin is going to win.I am assuring you, the pdin is winning."


    "You are crazy; the hound is taking it tonight."


    "My money was worth it, this must be the crowning fight of the night."


    Others who did not make it the virtual world were watching the fight on star. The number of viewers of this division one fight had surprisingly caught up to a division three fight taking ce at the same time.


    Even the top ten of division one were caught up in the heat of the fight, screaming and shouting. Usually, they would be analyzing the moves and learning so that they could figure out how to counter themter or assimte them into their own routines. But all that was thrown out of the window and there were two reasons for this.


    One, nobody had fought the pdin for this long, he was very dominant in his fights and he would corner and beat his opponents senseless within ten minutes.


    Secondly, after Alice mentioned that the hound had sliced portions of the pdin''s armor they paid more attention.She was right, no matter how much they fought, the hound remained untouched while the pdins armor was filled with gushes. They wondered if he had not noticed that his arms especially were mostly visible now.


    But he had, Alice noticed, the pdin was now facing a challenge of fighting, defending himself while protecting himself.


    "Oh-oh, she has him now." Someone said.


    In the ring, Scarlet had abandoned her scythe for the whips which were now wrapped tightly around the pdin''s arms.She threw him over her shoulders with so much force, sending him in the direction of the oblivion portal. She added nonstop power kicks as spun around, creating such a huge force that ensured that the pdin could not counter her moves and save himself.


    She watched him carefully, with her brows furrowed and her weapons in her hand until he vanishedpletely. And then, she stayed where she was, breathing heavily andughing slowly. This had not been an easy fight, she had exhausted a lot of her mental strength, if Carolyn had not added hooks onto her whips, she was not sure if she would have sessfully sent the pdin into oblivion.


    The audience was roaring and a loud apuse that filled their entire arena. Her parents she noticed were sitting with Severus in the front row of the seats where family members of the fighters sat.They were cheering as loudly as they could and Severus was howling.


    A buzzer sounded indicating that the fight was over, and the virtual champions roll came down, sending the hound to the number one position.


    The host was eager to get an interview, but before he could, the hound vanished from the ring and disconnected from the virtual world. Something which left everyone confused, why disconnect at this moment.


    Scarlet too, was surprised to find herself forcefully disconnected and ejected from the virtual world. When she opened her eyes to figure out the source of the problem, her eyesnded on those of an unexpected individual.


    The ck eyes whose depths were unknown were staring directly into hers. The face which she saw many times in her dreams was hovering over hers and the lips which she heard seen many times in her dreamstely, held a charming and seductive smile as they came closer to hers.


    "Esong Wu!!" she gasped.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Hello, my wife." He said, in a deep voice.


    Many questions raced through her mind immediately, like when and how did he get here. She had not been expecting him until tomorrow or a few more days. Not that she wasining, because seeing his handsome face was worth it. Him being so close to her again was enough to get her little heart racing wildly like a mad horse. Whether it was because of the victory she had just earned or the excitement of seeing him, she did not know. All she new was that she was madly excited.


    She smiled beautifully and broadly, and then she slowly raised her right hand up and touched his cheek. "What are you doing here?" she asked.


    He closed his eyes, and rubbed his cheek against the palm of her hand. "I am here because I missed you." He kissed her palm and held it against his cheek, stopping her from taking it away. "I could not stay for one more day, one more hour, minute or second withouting to you."


    She smiled and used her other hand to touch another side of his face as gently as she could. "You have lost some weight, your face is thinner."


    He opened his eyes andughed, "Is that what you are thinking about after not seeing your husband for more than three months?"


    "Then what should I be thinking about?" she asked.


    "Me, my lips, kissing me and taking me to bed where you can kiss me some more in private, am I wrong?"


    "I don''t know, maybe I have forgotten how to kiss." She giggled yfully as she said coquettishly.


    "Then, I should teach you again, my wife, you have no idea how happy I am to be back." As he said this, he used his right hand to touch her face and slowly. His hand moved from her face to the back of her neck and then, back up to her lips.


    Scarlet''s heart went crazy, jumping up and down as if it would soon burst out of her chest as a result of his simple teasing.It reminded her of the very first time she kissed him, and yet she felt somehow even more nervous than she did back then because she knew what to expect.


    He rubbed her lips gently with his thumb and she surprised him when she kissed the thumb and nipped on it.


    "What is this?" heughed. "Did you inherit mutated beast blood while I was away? Why are you nipping on my thumb?"


    "What is it to you?" she responded in a whisper.


    "Your lips are redder than I remember, or was it pink?" he said in a soft voice, one that was soft and almost as whispery as hers."It doesn''t matter what color they were, what matters is that I get a chance to taste them right now because if I don''t, I don''t know what will happen."


    He leaned down easily, and pressed his against hers in a soft quick kiss and he backed away, avoiding her overly eager mouth which was ready and willing to be devoured.


    ''What is this, is this all?'' she asked herself.

 Chapter 264 I Cant Wait

    ?


    Esong saw the lost look on her face and heughed. Then he poked the tip of her nose and said, "I brought you many gifts and I want to give them all to you but it will have to wait, people areing."


    "Oh." She said.


    "Should I ignore that fact and continue?" he asked. "Do you want me to steal you away so that we can be alone, together?" he held her against his heart.


    She closed her eyes and calmed herself, there was much to ask him but there was also much she needed and much he wanted.


    While the question was so simple and direct, the sinful look in his determined eyes was not. If she said yes right now, he would kiss her until her feet curled up and her bones melted. She was strapped in this game cabin which connected her to the virtual world. She would not be able to escape if he decided to do as he pleased with her.


    ''Do you even want to escape?'' a voice in her mind asked. It was her subconscious asking this question.


    She snatched her hand out of his, blushed and looked down, intending to unstrap herself from the cabin. She would be less tempted if she was out of the cabin.


    Esong observed the movement of her hands and he sighed and said, "Looks like you have made your mind."


    Then he put a pitiful look on his face and said, "Oh, poor me, this is not the kind of reception I thought I would receive after rushing to return. Scarlet, my blood is boiling right now, I am like a fuse which will explode at any moment." He took her hand and ced it on his neck.


    She could feel the not so regr heat being regted from his body. This was probably what they meant by the bodies of mecha warriors experiencing higher temperatures than normal when the suppressants wore offpletely.


    "Do you feel that?" he asked.


    She nodded.


    He dragged her hand lower and she clenched his shirt just before he could make her touch that part of his body.


    "You are back to being scared again." He said and he sighed. "Ah, will I have to handle this problem myself?" he asked loudly.


    "You said people areing," she said. "Pull out your shirt and cover up, or vanish before they find you here."


    She would die of embarrassment if her entire family walked in here and saw that big bulge in his trousers. But it was toote, the door to the gaming room in the castle slid open and some members of her family walked in.


    "Congrattions, congrattions." Mega was shouting at the top of her voice. She was the first into the room and she stopped cold when she saw Esong standing there beside Scarlet.


    Dorian bumped into his wife''s back and the children behind also bumped into their father.


    "What is this?" Elroy tilted his head to see what was blocking the way. Sadly, he was one of the shorter Su''s and he resorted to jumping up and down so that he could see inside. "Seriously, what''s up?" he asked again.


    "It''s brother-inw." Beord said.


    "Eh," Fey tilted her head from behind Elroy''s back, surprised and curious. Was it possible for the mecha warrior tond on their silently without a fuss? Even the news had not covered it.


    "Turn around, let''s go, let''s go." Mega pushed her husband out of the room and he turned around and pushed his children away as well, repeating the words his wife had just said.


    "Don''t bother your brother-inw, he has just returned after fighting a long battle for three months. Allow him to spend some time with your sister." Dorian reminded his children as they all walked away from the gaming room.


    No one was happier than Esong to see this reaction and he wasted no time in carrying Scarlet in his arms. "Hold on." He said.


    He took off, racing at a very high speed to their private quarters. He passed guards who barely saw his shadow but they caught a glimpse of the governor''s red shoes so they chased after the incredibly fast figure, alerting everyone to an intruder who was in the midst of an attempt to kidnap the governor.


    When Esong slowed down for the door to the bedroom to open, the guards were very embarrassed as they slinked away back to their positions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That was so embarrassing." Tion mumbled.


    "I agree." Another guard said.


    While they wondered what the general would think about their failure to catch up with a suspected intruder, Esong could care less because he was already plundering Scarlet''s mouth desperately.


    Unlike the first kiss in the gaming cabin, this one was not yful and the second she opened her mouth, his dominance took possession of the situation. She moved her tongue teasingly against his, prompting him to slow down but he would not have it, and he took absolute possession of her.


    "I missed you." He said when he tossed her on the bed and devoured her some more with his hands on her waist in a tight punishing grip.


    She wanted to tell him that she missed him as well and that there were so many things she wanted to tell him but she was lost in the emotions and the feelings of desperate arousal which suddenly overwhelmed her.


    Somehow, her dress was ripped apart and he buried his head in her breasts, and bit one of them, albeit softly. After biting, he licked and opened her bra. He bit one of her nipples with more force than he usually did and she moaned loudly, partly because of the pleasure and party because of the pain.


    "Why are you so soft?" heined harshly. "I am dying to rip you apart but I am afraid that I will hurt you."


    Her breathing was already uneven, her heart was pounding and she had it in the back of her mind that this would not be some gentle love making. Esong''s breathing was unstable, his nostrils were red and his eyes had this dazed look as if he was high on something. This would be a rough and quick coupling.


    She could see it in his eyes, the struggle between desire and control; it looked like desire was winning. He ripped his own trousers off and forced her legs which she had locked tightly together apart.


    "I am sorry, I can''t wait." he whispered in an agonized voice.


    She did not stop him when he prated her with one finger to test her readiness and her own body clenched when he put that his finger in his mouth and licked it.


    She was so thankful that her body was incredibly sensitive to his touch because when he lifted her hips and entered her with one powerful thrust, she was already wanton and wet with desire.


    As the morning hours approached, she was awoken by a hand that gabbed and squeezed her buttocks, while attempting to flip her over onto her back.


    "No, no more." she mumbled into her pillow.


    "Hihihi," Esong chuckled, "I know, I simply want to check and see if you are alright."


    She opened her eyes and pped his hand away. "Are you a doctor now?" she askedzily.


    Did he think that she did not catch him licking his lips sneakily while he attempted to part her thighs?


    "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention something small about my return." he said. He had parted her legs sessfully by now.


    "What is it?" she mumbled.


    "I came with excess baggage."


    "What is it?" she asked again.Did hee with all his luggage?


    "The princess," he said, "The emperor sent her here, I could not stop it."


    "Oh, you so of a bitch_"She wanted to curse some more but the son of a bitch swiped his tongue across her honey pot and teased her clit. Later, she thought, they would fight about thister.

 Chapter 265 Not A Guest, But A Hostage

    ?


    Christmas songs were still being sted loudly in the air,ing out of different apartments and buildings. Everywhere one passed, they would hear the asional ''merry Christmas or happy new year'' greetings from happy strangers. Despite it being day and the two suns shining brightly, Christmas lights outside and inside were shining brightly. They were wrapped around artificial trees of different colors.


    Carolyn and her people were certainly making a killing this season because the celebrations were in full swing and orders for trees and lights were stilling in. She was walking around with quite the smile on her face.


    Scarlet smiled because Mina called it the ''I am getting some smile''. The smile was attributed more to Markey''s presence than the impressive number of sales.


    Just as she thought of Markey, Scarlet bumped into him outside of the maple leaf center. She was there because the baking tournament would be ended today and a winner would be picked. She was not sure why he was there so she acknowledged him with the nod of her head.They were not very chummy because he had yet to apologize to her for sticking his nose where it did not belong.


    After nodding at him, she stepped to the right and almost bumped into the giants hockey team mascot, arge green frog. It was not an actual frog but someone dressed in a frog costume. Mascots were very popr in every sport on the Blue star and the tradition had been picked up by the mecha fights but rather than soft animal mascots, they had robots.


    "Sorry." She mumbled.


    "No worries miss governor." The frog replied.


    "Careful," Markey approached her and said with a smile, "You might kiss the frog and turn it into a prince."


    She raised her eyebrow and smiled insincerely, "Ha-ha."


    It seemed, he was attempting to make a reference to the fairy tale about the princess and the frog.


    "Thanks forughing at my poor attempt of a joke, It''s admirable that you tried." He said.


    She had slowly been moving toward the front tables were she would be taking one final look at the ingredients and giving the bakers some words of encouragement. However, it seemed to her like he wanted to hold a conversation so she stopped and turned around.


    "What is it that you want your highness?" she asked in an unhappy voice. "I know that Carolyn is my sister but we look nothing like so if you are looking for her, you have the wrong sister. I also have no ns to get chummy with you anytime soon so you don''t have to force yourself to talk to me. It will just make us both ufortable, as you can see I am going to be very busy today. Good day, you highness."


    Markay looked ufortable, not having expected her to be so direct and rude to him. He enacted a sound barrier and sighed.


    "Wait, it''s not the appropriate time, I know, but I wanted to offer my sincerest apologies for what I did. By what I did, I meaning at you rudely like that and interfering with your process of making amends to your sister. I should have kept my mouth out of it and my opinions to myself."


    He looked apologetic and sounded apologetic but he seemed to be ufortable and out of ce. This was probably one of the only few times a royal prince like him had apologized to a normal person like her.


    "Hmph," she scoffed, "You don''t have to force yourself to apologize you know, It almost looks like I am pulling a tooth out of your mouth. You have never apologized to amoner, have you?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He blushed slightly, and touched his ear. "I have not really spent much time aroundmoners. It was not until I came to the Blue star that I did such a thing. And honestly, I did it because of Esong and the others."


    "I know the hierarchy your highness and I remember how you behaved when I first met you. You were very cold, standoffish, arrogant, rude and scary. I don''t know how you seeded in making my sister love you, not that the rtionship between two consenting adults is my business. Thank you for apologizing anyway; it is a positive step in interactions between us in future." Nothing good woulde out of alienating a royal prince who was possibly the future emperor and husband to her sister. Just as she had been forgiven by her family and Esong, she could forgive others as well.


    He sighed, in relief and then said, "I should warn you about something but you didn''t hear this from me. So, a Xenoan shipnded in the capitalst night. I am sure that it will be all over the news soon. On the surface, they areing for a peace mission and to establish a rtionship but in reality, they areing to test the waters. It has not been admitted out loud but their princess is a hostage here because she drugged a general of our empire, your husband. The emperor thinks she was trying to spy and extract information from him."


    "Ha!" Scarlet said, "So that is why he sent her here? Is my a prison world? He sent the floozy that tried to seduce my husband to me and imed that she was here to rx and sightsee. If she hade with royal guards the Xenoans would be picking her up in a body bag."


    She had been trying to seduce Elroy ever since she got here. The pimples on her face were obviously not punishment enough.


    "When should I send her packing back to the capital?" Scarlet asked with a smile.


    Markay shook his index finger back and forth, letting her know that she was wrong. "You are asking the wrong question sister-inw, it should be, when will the Xenoans bending here on the Blue star?"


    "Why would theye here?" She asked. They came for their princess, she should be sent to them.


    "That''s because the emperor does not want them anywhere close to the center of our empire. If they can control minds somehow, then it will be easy for them to gain ess to the core secrets of our empire by controlling one of the ministers or my brothers and sisters. He can''t send them to the green star or the yellow star because they have energy stone, gem mines and other important strategic resources. The Red star is out of question because we might have Xenoan prisoners there and spark a new war unknowingly. The grey star is too poor and rough so naturally, only the Blue star remains."


    "So we are not important." She took offense to his words, or the emperor''s logic.


    "No, on the contrary, the Blue star is now beautiful, organized, and important but most importantly Esong and I are here.My father trusts that we will handle the Xenoans if they try anything clever.If they are genuine, then he hopes that they will see the blue star as a sign of a progressing empire and future trade."


    "Okay, got it. We will make the proper arrangements to host the unwanted guests." she said.


    But as she moved, he followed her.


    "What, is there more?" she asked him.


    "No, I am going where you are because I am one of the judges, surprise." he smiled.


    She sighed, looked forward and kept walking.

 Chapter 266 The Christmas Baking Tournament Finals

    ?


    With those thoughts mulling around in her mind, Scarlet tried her best to pay attention during the finals of the christmas baking tournament which was being televised live. When it started over one hundred people had showed up to disy their baking talents. She could remember that more than half of them could not bake. Some of their cookies or cakes had almost sent her running to the bathroom or the hospital. Because cooking was still new to most of the citizens of the sun star, people were very creative with their dishes and this creativity was not always good.


    Someone had meat to a fruit cake!!! It was called a fruit cake, why would you add meat to it?


    Another baked a cake with spoiled milk which created stomach troubles for all who tasted it.


    One had even gone so far as to fry their cake instead of baking it. Scarlet had refused to put that cake near her mouth.A deep fried cake was not something she had ever eaten in her life.


    She was very apprehensive about eating anything from any creative chef now. It was time to release a cook book before these people poisoned themselves.


    The numbers had dwindled and now, there were five bakers left standing and each of them was eager to win the big prize of two hundred thousand star coins and a one year supply of baking and cooking ingredients.


    When the year started city hall had announced that all those intending to start businesses could apply and pay for licenses.More than twenty people had applied for licenses rted to food business, bakeries or restaurants specifically. A win at the tournament on national television would be a big stamp of approval for the victor.


    "You are not paying attention." Esong whispered to her.


    "That''s because your hands are trailing up and down my thighs inappropriately." She whispered to him. "Have some self-control for God''s sake Esong."


    The judging panel consisted of the two governors, the head chef of the only blue star confectionary a chubby and jolly woman named Molly Hayes, Mr. Rodney of BSTV and the seventh prince Markay.


    Of all the people on the panel, only the two women couldy a im to having any expertise in food. Esong was there because he was the other governor; Markey was there for publicity and Mr. Rodney because he was known for being a food critic.


    Scarlet was squeezed in between Esong and Molly, who was very excited to be sitting next to the governor and sharing their opinions on the do''s and don''ts of baking.


    "That''s because you look so good and smell so yummy. We have been here for one whole hour already, I want to be supportive but it''s hard to do so when you are sitting next to me." Rather than retract his hand Esong, upped his teasing and tried to move his hand further up.


    She gripped it tightly and stopped its unruly movements. "Are you crazy?" she whispered to him.


    He winked, looked forward and waved at the live audience of at least one thousand five hundred or more viewers.


    The host of the event, an uingedian Jonny Jim, from the Blue star was enthusiastically hyping the crowd and interrupting the bakers with questions which had the audienceughing.


    "Did you know that Xenoans wereing here?" she asked him after stopped his mischief.


    "I am negotiating to have them redirected." Esong replied. He did not want to y host to those strangers who might or might not be hostile.He especially did not want them so close to his home and family.


    "Our judges are discussing something secretively over here, I think they might be picking a favorite. Judge Scarlet and judge Esong, who do you think is winning the tournament." The host could not resisting closer to ask because the cameras made it look like the whispering between the governors was something romantic.


    Scarlet smiled and Esongughed.


    "Anyone that can blow my mind will be my favorite." She answered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t say that Judge, I saw one of the bakers blending red chillies, so your mind will be blown along with something else."


    Everyoneughed as they recalled the first day of the tournament when Scarlet run out of the Maple leaf center with her hand over her tummy.


    "How about you governor Esong, rumor has it that you have a sweet tooth so will the baker that bakes the sweetest cake win your heart?" The host moved over to Esong.


    "That is very dangerous." Molly said and sheughed, "You might mislead our bakers into adding bucketful''s of sugar into their cake mix because they are eager to please the judge."


    "That''s true." Esong agreed with what Chef Molly said. "But I will repeat what my wife aired, I want my mind blown."


    "It looks like times up for the side task and the bakers must present their Christmas cookies to the judges. Keep in mind that whoever wins this round gets to work on their cake for ten minutes while everyone else takes a time out."


    The chefs assembled at the front and one by one, when the chef''s name was mentioned, the judges would taste the cookie andment.


    To add more excitement to thepetition, there was an additionalrge screen which was disyingments of the people from all over the empire who were watching andmenting fervently.


    "I hope my husband wins."


    "Please let my mother, win."


    "Oh great deity, I really hope the other chefs lose, please let their cakes burn."


    "It is not enough that the other chefs forget to add sugar to their cakes, please Buddha, let them forget to add milk and eggs and well. We need this victory."


    These were some of the prayers of the family members of the bakers participating in the challenge. If people could hear could each other''s silent prayers, perhaps a fight would break out in the venue.


    To the surprise of the audience, and the judges, the winner of the side task was the unlikelyrge mecha warrior who had been nicknamed Big Santa by the children because of hisrge abdomen and thick ck beard. His true name was Melvin, but Big Santa had caught on pretty quickly and it was all anyone called him now.


    Big Santa the unlikely baker withrge hands baked the perfect vani coconut cookies with one chocte ring in the middle.


    Esong called the cookies a bite of victory and it surprised no one when he won the entire baking tournament.


    When thepetition was finished, Big Santa posed for photos with all the judges and an interview with BSTV reporter Jelly followed.


    Scarlet was filled with joy when she watched the excitement of Big Santa''s daughter and his wife as they waved at the cameras nonstop.


    "Let''s go home."Esong whispered to her. "We can have our own private celebration.

 Chapter 267 The Unwanted Guests Are Here

    ?


    Christmas was here, the day for celebrations and festivities and for Scarlet, it should have been one filled with excitement. But instead, she was standing outside the spacending port with the three ministers of the Blue star, Markay and her husband as they waited for the Xenoan ship tond on their.


    She had barely processed the news shared by Markey when the emperor called as early as four in the morning to share the news that she would be ying host to the guests who would being with the empress.


    So, here she was, standing miserably under an umbre in the ring hot sun which had returned with a hateful vengeance after winter. What made her miserable was the fact that the Xenoans werete. That, and the inappropriate way Princess Floozy was dressed.She had joined the weingmittee which no one objected to since these were her people but the way she was dressed was causing difort and embarrassment.


    It was hot, sure, everyone could feel the heat but that was no excuse to walk outside in a transparent dress that showed all of her body.The tiny shorts she was wearing to cover her private parts did not help much and the ck pattern at the front covered her breasts but did not hide her very sharp nipples.


    "She should just take off the dress and walk around naked." Fey whispered into Scarlet''s ears from the back. "Is this really the way Xenoans dress?"


    "Who knows?" Scarlet whispered back in an irritated voice.


    Princess Floozy lifted her right hand wrist slowly as if they were boneless or exhausted and she fanned herself with a hand held fan she acquired from Blue mart. One of her servants rubbed a damp cloth against her neck and she pouted her lips and tried to look appealing.


    "Oh, a floozy remains a floozy." Fey said, shaking her head and shooting the veiled princess a disapproving re.


    If they were not on live television because the emperor wanted the visit to be seen by all the citizens, Scarlet thought to herself that she would have ordered Tion to throw floozy in a pool of water to cool off.


    The woman waved at Esong, and she smiled beneath that veil on her head.


    Scarlet scowled and clenched her fists. "It''s okay, this will be over soon and she will be out of our hair." Esong whispered to her.


    "It better be soon because I will do something drastic Esong, I swear."


    Esong heard her words and he wondered how many times he had heard his own grandmother threaten to do something ''drastic''


    The Xenoan ships arrived, two of them, they looked vastly different from their own ships. They had blue and green gems or lights embedded into theirrge frame. They were also fast, she could liken their appearance to the blinking abilities of a reaper.


    "They are here." Esong said.


    "How many guests were we told to expect?" she asked him.


    "Twelve." he answered.


    "That''s more than twelve." she told him. With her grim reaper vision, she could see into those space ships. Twenty people hade here, already, the Xenoans were telling lies, or the emperor had made a mistake.


    Esong frowned and he looked at her unsurely, "Are you sure?"


    "Use your mental strength, you will see that what I tell you is true." she answered.


    "They have shield blockers on the ships, I can''t see inside." he told her.


    He was trying, she could tell, because he was frowning, his eyes were squinted and he was looking at the Xenoan ships with so much concentration.


    She touched his arm and injected some of her energy into him.


    "Oh," he gasped, suddenly he could see past buy their blockers. It was weird that he could suddenly easily see into the ships but that was not what mattered the most at this moment "I see it, they have people in pods."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What should we do?" she asked.


    "Do you want to y catch the spy or should we just force them to bring out their excess baggage?"


    Catch the spy was a game children yed in the virtual world. One person would be the spy whose mission was to destroy the headquarters of a team while the team hunted for the spy before they were sessful.


    It was a simple game, adults did not y it but the children loved it.


    "Should we y?" she asked Esong. "The animals have been boredtely as well."


    "Okay, we are ying." Esong said and he snapped his fingers.


    He had a big smile on his face and she wondered if he realized that he was suddenly excited for this spying game.


    "Tag, you are it." Scarlet added.


    He gave her a confused look, and said, "Huh."


    "Nothing." she said. "They are getting off."


    Scarlet was keeping an eye on all the spaceships that had arrived, including the royal spaceship on which the empress had arrived.


    When she and her people alighted, Scarlet frowned immediately.


    "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." she said, loudly, and with a sneer on her face. "Who released Crue and gave her a free pass to my?"


    All the eyes of those who were close enough to hear what she said looked in the direction of the empress, is it her? Did the governor call the empress Crue? What did that name mean?


    "I had no idea she wasing, I promise." Esong hurried to hold her hand and say.


    Everyone''s thoughts rearranged themselves, they all knew that the empress wasing. She could not be Crue. They looked at the other women that were apanying the empress, not the servants but the noble women walking closely with her but not next to her.


    "Is that Madam Emory Wu?" Fey asked, loudly.


    "You mean she whose name cannot be mentioned, I can''t believe she is really here." Adler said.


    "Stop it, all of you." Dorian tilted forward and warned his children. First of all, they were in public and no matter how much they loathed the woman, it was not proper to say all this.


    Secondly, she was Esong''s mother, how could they say this in front of her?


    "Sorry Esong, the children sometimes say things they don''t mean." he apologized.


    "Oh, I am sure they mean them." A surprising voice joined the conversation, Cecily''s. "Don''t worry, it''s not news to us or Esong that their is no love lost between you Su''s and Emory. But, this is a historical moment like Scarlet likes to say, everybody should smile and wait until we are out of public to bare their ws and teeth. If this interary rtionship falls through, we do not want it to be med on ourck of proper attitudes."

 Chapter 268 Meeting People From Another Empire

    ?


    "At least they are decent,"she thought, when she saw the Xenoans.


    It had been her expectation that they would be dressed as horribly as princess floozy. But instead, they wore full bodysuits, and carried their guns and weapons on their backs.


    The woman leading them at the front probably held the highest position among them all. She wore a white bodysuit with a long cape at the back. In fact, some women had capes and others didn''t. All the capes matched the color of the bodysuit. While they were body hugging bodysuits, they covered every inch of their bodies their necks to the legs.


    The shoes covered the rest, high heeled boots which were mostly ck. The woman in white wore red boots.


    The closer they came, the more Scarlet observed them. No man, she noticed, there was no man in the group at all.


    The group came to a stop in front of Scarlet and her weingmittee.


    "Sister," Floozy squealed andunched herself at the woman in white.


    The woman in white stepped aside and red at floozy and just like that like, floozy wilted her head like an embarrassed dog caught stealing meat and she returned to her position.


    "Hmph." Scarlet brimmed with a smile that she hid by looking down.


    The leader of the Xenoans was not finished, she nodded at her people and four of them crowded floozy, blocking all eyes and when they stepped away, she was fully dressed in a silver jumpsuit. The leader was satisfied but floozy was scowling and unhappy.


    ''How did they do that?'' Scarlet wondered.


    She could hear the sound of Fey chortling from behind and Adler guffawing.


    All three groups stood still, each waiting for one to move first. Scarlet did not know if she should wee the empress first or the visitors.


    The empress stepped forward first and held out her arms wide, with all intentions to embrace Scarlet it seemed.


    "Governor Scarlet," she said, and pulled her in a for hug.


    BSTV drones circled the area, RGB officers patrolled the area and enthusiastic citizens who hade out to get their first look at royalty cheered from behind the shield that prevented them from froming close to the space port.


    The first picture of the governor being embraced by the empress circled star immediately.


    "Your highness, what an honor." Scarlet said as she epted the warm embrace of the mother of the nation.


    "Thank you for epting to take on the momentous task of hosting the Xenoans. I know that it could not have been an easy decision for you to make given past events."


    "I am simply fulfilling my duties your majesty, it was not a hard decision to make." she said.


    Esong coughed, to cover up theughter which threatened to escape his mouth. His wife was quite the excellent liar. It was not a hard decision to make!!!, his body was full of red bruises from the little spots she had pinched and kicked him for each hour that the unwanted princess was on their.


    And when she found out that the Xenoans wereing, she refused to host them without being paid. The money hade out of Markey''s ount.


    "Esong, dear, I am so happy to see you." The empress let go of Scarlet and hugged Esong briefly.


    She let go of him quickly and walked two steps toward the Xenoans and smiled, "Please Princess Carana, meet the governor who has been looking after your sister, you can see with your own eyes that she is healthy."


    "I can see that." the woman in white answered. She came closer to Scarlet and mimicked the actions of the empress by embracing her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh," Scarlet was stunned.


    "Was I not supposed to do that?" Princess lifted upper body away from Scarlet, looked her in the eyes and asked. "I was under the impression that this was how people in your empire shared greetings."


    "Not always." Scarlet answered, "We also shake hands, curtsy, bow or simply nod with a polite smile."


    "I will take note of that next time." the princess said.


    Scarlet pulled herself away from the princess and stepped back, as she did, she wondered if it was her imagination that the princess had held her a little bit too tightly to simply be sharing a greeting.


    "This is the other governor, Esong, he is the one who rescued your sister princess Keziah from danger." the empress took the princess Carana to meet another person on the weingmittee.


    The princess extended her hand this time, and she said, "It''s a pleasure."


    "You are wee." Esong responded with a nod of his head.


    The empress continued, introducing her to five more people before those formalities were done. When they were finished, two little girls who were wearing white dresses, Halley and Sia came forward with bouquets of flowers which they handed off to the empress and the princess.


    The empress hugged both little girls, and she said, "Aww, aren''t they sweet."


    "Thank you." Princess Carana smiled at the girls as well.


    BSTV shared those pictures on star immediately, arousing a series of ''ooh,'' ''so cute,'' and ''how adorable'' responses from the citizens everywhere.


    Scarlet smiled at the guests and said, "Pleasee with me, I have prepared a feast in the castle in your honor andter, if you are up for it, we can give you a tour of our blue star. I would also like to hear more about Xeno."


    The group was led by RGB officers and personal guards, they bordered cars and were driven away.The empress insisted on sharing a car with the two little girls, another scene which was captured by the drone cameras and shared.


    In the pce, the third princess sulked andined to the emperor, "You should have let me go with mum, look at those adorable babies."


    "Get married and have your own babies," he answered. "Sapphire, you are my old daughter, please stop fighting with me over my food, in my pce and eat freely in your own home."


    "Tch, which man is worthy of me in the empire?" she replied.


    The emperor did not pull back for a single second, he sent his daughter a list of the most eligible bachelors from all the noble houses immediately.


    "Not my type." the third princess replied. She did not even bother to look at the list.


    In the governor''s castle, the maids were running around like headless chicken in every direction.


    "Fast, fast, fast," Gertrude was yelling at the others to clean up the mess created when the white cat was chased by Severus. "The guests are almost here, chop chop."


    They youngest maid, Coral, thought to herself, "If you join us instead of shouting orders, we will be much faster."


    Still, the job was aplished by the time the guests arrived.

 Chapter 269 I Am Impressed, But Not That Much

    ?


    The two princesses took the same car back to the pce. Immediately when they entered, princess Carana enacted a sound barrier and initiated a conversation with princess floozy.


    "Sister," floozy beat her to it, and she said excitedly.


    "Shut up." Princess Carana said sternly and ripped the veil off floozy''s head.While she was taken back by the red bumps on her face, she had a lot of rage deep down to concentrate on the face. "You came to this empire illegally without receiving permission from our royal mother which is not only reckless and foolish but also a crime."


    "Sister_"


    "Shut up Keziah, I am still talking." Princess Carana shouted.


    Princess floozy bowed her head and bit her lip, giving off the appearance of being terribly wronged.


    "Why do you act without thing Kezzy? Look at what you were wearing in broad daylight. Are you a prostitute? Do you engage in the business of trading your flesh? Why would you dress like that when they have cameras around? What kind of image are you trying to portray? You are a princess for heaven''s sake, a royal princess."


    Princess floozy pouted and folded her arms, and then she said, "Why do you always berate me first without listening to me? It was not my intention tond on this wretched, Jana suggested it."


    "Your maid," Princess Carana said with a sneer, "You came to a foreign at the behest of your maid!!!"


    "My ship was also attacked by flying beasts, I had no option but to entrust myself to them."


    "And what did you do wrong?" Carana asked.


    "Nothing, I did nothing." Floozy shook her head.


    "Then you are a bigger fool than I thought Keziah because you are not here as their guest. If you were a precious guest then you would be in the capital, being hosted by royalty as it should be because you too are royalty. But, you have been dumped on this small unimpressive where all your movements are curbed and watched. So, I will ask again, what did you do?"


    "I am telling you sister, I did nothing." Floozy insisted. "I have some affection for their general Esong, the other governor that you have just met. I think he specifically asked for me to be brought here."


    Princess Carana looked at her sister disdainfully, and she said, "You are crazier than I thought if you think that the man I just met holds any affection for you. That man is not breakable, he would never share a woman with another man. Whatever it is that you are thinking, abandon it before I abandon you here to die."


    "You wouldn''t!" floozy gasped.


    "You don''t know what I would or wouldn''t do Keziah, so don''t anger me anymore. Until we return home I need you to be on perfect behavior. What can you tell me about her, the governor?"


    "Not much, just that she is an uppity bitch and she doesn''t ever talk to me. If you are having any thoughts about her, you will be disappointed because she is married to the general you just met."


    Princess Carana did not respond to that and she asked another question instead. "What are the security parameters like on this?"


    "I don''t know."


    "What kind of treasures do they have?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Where can we ess the information on their strengths and weaknesses?"


    "I don''t know."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Wow, Keziah, how useless can you be? You have been here for a while and you don''t know a single thing. What exactly have yu been up to?"


    "They would not let me go anywhere on my own, I don''t even enter that governor''s castle. When I go to sleep, they have a shoot to kill drone outside my window and two of theirw enforcement officers outside my door. How can I know anything if I am immobilized?"


    Princess Carana looked outside the window and lowered the sound barrier at the right moment, just as they arrived at the governor''s castle.


    Scarlet and Esong led the empress and the guests inside, to one of the empty wings. The whole time, Scarlet was ignoring Emory''s presence as if the woman was not even here.


    "Wow, I have heard about the impressive structing of your castle and seen it''s magnificent picturesbut they do not do the real thing justice.What inspired all this?"


    "Our ancestors," Scarlet answered, "They lived in castles just as this. Of course it was royalty and nobles that lived in them. Not everyone can afford to maintain a castle after all, it is expensive."


    "The grounds surrounding it arerge, is all thisnd part of the castle?" the empress asked.


    "Yes," Esong answered, "Construction is still ongoing, now that winter is over we can resume the job."


    Scarlet looked at princess Carana who was silently walking by her side.


    "What kind of buildings do you have in your have in your empire?" she asked the woman.


    "Beautiful ones," she replied.


    "Does my castle impress you?" she asked.


    "It''s_, lovely." she said, after thinking for a few seconds, "I am impressed, but not that much I am afraid."


    "Oh," Scarlet said with a small smile. "Please borate on your words."


    "I am not sure how to do that, perhaps it''s because our buildings are much taller and elegant. We build with hardened crystals and ss from the depths of the mines in the ground.When one sees the buildings of Xeno, they know that they havee to and of wealth and beauty. I see some beauty but not much wealth, your capital is more shinier that this ce."


    "Hmph," Fey scoffed.


    "I hope someday I will be able to see it." Scarlet said.


    Esong tugged her hand and pulled her to his side. In his head, he thought, where are you going?


    The empress''s ears were sharpened when the princess was talking, and she was taking in as much information as the princess offered.


    All the guests stopped moving when Scarlet and Esong stopped moving. A row of maids was standing by, mixed in with them were female RGB agents who arrived in the night.


    "These women will be serving you for the duration of your stay. Please feel free to call on them when you need something. If you don''t mind, then you can freshen up and we can have a big breakfast weing you to our blue star."


    "That sounds perfect." Princess Carana said.


    As the princess and her group changed, and made themselves presentable, Scarlet sent the cats out to do reconnaissance.

 Chapter 270 The Wicked Witch Of The Capital.

    ?


    The moment they stepped into their own private wing, Esong carried Scarlet and sat her down on the kitchen counter.


    "Oh, what is this?" she asked.


    He bent down and put two of her hands around his neck, and he also ced his own hands around her waist. Then, he went on toin in a grumbling voice, "I don''t like that yellow haired woman."


    Her eyes rolled upwards as she thought about the only yellow haired woman she had met this day and that was the princess Carana.She had bright yellow shoulder length hair, light brown eyes and a sharp nose. One of Scarlet''s earlier thoughts about the woman was that her looks coupled with the jumpsuit she wore gave her the appearance of a cosyer atic convention.


    "You don''t like the princess." she stated.


    "Yes." Esong established.


    "Why?" she asked, and she started patting his hair slowly and gently as she did for Justin when he when he wasining about his day at school.


    "She is too touchy with you, I was counting you know." He raised three of his fingers up and said, "Three times she touched you."


    Scarletughed at him, finding his behavior and words to be ridiculous.


    "Don''tugh," Esong tried to sound stern but he came off sounding more like a whining toddler. "She gives me the wrong vibe."


    "What kind of vibe?" Scarlet asked, giggling still to the great irritation of her husband.


    "I don''t know, I just don''t like her. Don''t get too close to her, you should stay by my side at all times." he kicked one of the chairs and raised his upper lip in what she she would ssify as tantrum behavior.


    "Okay, I will stick to you like glue." She pulled his head down, embracing him properly and sqeezing tightly. "From now on, we should stay like this, hmm, don''t even let my feet touch the floor."


    The two acted as if the maids huddling in the corner and looking anywhere else but at their governors did not exist.


    Esong kept poking Scarlet in the waist which she found produced a ticklish sensation that made her jumpy and she screamed. He did it again, and she repeated her reaction as well.


    "Stop it," sheughed very loudly.


    "But you areughing," he said in a soft voice and he did it again.


    She tugged on his long hair, releasing it from the ck hairband which was holding it up and threatened, "I will pull your hair if you don''t stop."


    He leaned down again and brought his mouth close to her ear. First, he bit he earlobe and she clenched the muscles of her stomach by holding her breath in. When he let go of the earlobe, she breathed out, loudly.


    Then, he asked her, "Is that even new? You tug on my hair so much when you are in the throes of passion and it surprises me that I still have hair on my head to date. Each day that I do not wake up bald headed with you is another day to say a prayer of thanks."


    She squealed and pped his shoulders, five small stinging ps.


    "Aah, ah, ah, ah, ah." he winced, "Seriously Scar, I told you to cut it out with your little ps. I don''t know what you have in your palms but they hurt."


    He rubbed his shoulder as heined and eyed her unhappily.


    "I have seen you walk off bleeding injuries when you are training with your men, stop pretending. Start telling me how your mother made it all the way here without you receiving a heads up. You said that only your father and siblings wereing."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Esong groaned and backed away from her, he pulled out a chair and sat down. With a frown on his face, he said, "I really didn''t know. My father said that she vehemently maintained her stance on not associating with the likes of us, whatever that means. His ship is almostnding, they even came separately so I don''t think he knows that she is here as well."


    Scarlet pulled a can of pringles from the pantry using her mental strength and opened it. "Did you see the way she stared at me at the space port? I have seen witches look more gently on babies that they are going to eat."


    Esong reached for that same tin and she pped his hand.


    "Why is it hard for you to share snacks?" he asked her.


    "Just because you can get your own but you always wait for me to get something to eat and then you pat your stomach and reach your grubby hands out."


    He smiled slyly and said, "But, things are always sweeter when we eat together,"


    Looking at his handsome smiling face, she could not deny him anything so she bent the can downwards and they embarked on a journey of finishing off the entire can while they talked.


    "By the way, where did you see a witch?" he asked her suddenly, out of nowhere.


    "Somewhere." she replied.


    "Aah, why are you always cryptic." heined.


    "Because mystery is the key to an interesting life, just as your mother mysteriously showed up." she replied.


    "Ooh," Esong groaned. He was never going to hear the end of this, not anytime soon.


    "She should keep her bloody paws away from my sweet baby or I will Avada Kedavra her out of existence. I mean it Esong, she is on my turf now."She punched her fist against the palm of her hand and put a serious look on her face to show that she meant business.


    Esong separated the palm and the fist and he held both of her hands.


    "First of all," he said with an impressed smile on his face, "You make way too many references to that magic movie when ites to my mother. I have heard you call her , she whose name must not be mentioned, the dark lordess, Lady Emorymort, the queen of death eaters, Umbridge''s little sister."


    Scarlet was chuckling with every nickname he mentioned that she came up with in reference to his mother.


    "Now you have moved on to Crue and the wicked witch of the capital. It''s impressive howmitted you are to vilifying her. Not that I me you, my mother is a snob, rude, selfish woman that is incapable of love. To her, we her children are extension of her perfect existence."


    "She is a narcissist." Scarlet said.


    "That and more," Esong concurred, "But, is it okay if I ask you to give it a rest while she is here. As long as she doesn''t provoke you, please don''t start a fight with her. Especially not when we do not know her true intentions for showing up here suddenly. I need you to be calm, cool headed and do not have any emotional outburst."


    "Ha!" Scarlet scoffed.


    "My mother will use your illness against us, in anyway that she can. She will go out of her way to make you look crazy so please do not give her the satisfaction of getting under your skin."


    Scarlet thought to herself, ''I will refine her before allowing her to get under my skin.''


    "Baby," she smiled "Don''t worry about me, I have evolved." And in the back of her mind, she thought, ''Worry more about your mother.''

 Chapter 271 Was Someone Playing With The Kitty?

    ?


    Scarlet did not Emory Wu in the least bit which is why the brown cat was the one sent to spy on her, not the white one.


    It followed her as she changed her clothes and listened to her as she attempted to question the maids covertly.


    "Why is this animal following me around?" She asked one of the maids.


    "The cats are always curious when new people show up around the castle, maybe it likes you." the maid answered.


    "Mmm," Emory eyed the cat warily, and said nothing else. But she could have sworn that the cat looked at her with contempt when the maid imed that it liked her.


    "I don''t want it my room anymore, get rid of it." Emory ordered the maid.


    "I can''t do that, we are under strict instructions by the governor not to touch any of her pets without her say so unless they happen to be in danger or have met with an injury."


    "Get rid of it." Emory shouted, "It''s not as if she will find out. Unless you are nning to tell her, is that why you are here. Did that crazy bitch tell you to keep an eye on me and report back to her?"


    "Lady Emory, the governor always knows when something is done to the animals. Just let it be after all it''s harmlessly sitting in the corner." another maid stepped in to attempt to smooth over things since the guest was bing more agitated with every passing second.


    Nobody knew how Scarlet found out but she always knew when something happened to the animals. It was if they went to her and reported whatever had been said or whoever had harmed them.


    They had all learned to treat the pets with care and respect. What did the guest want them to do?


    "I will do it myself," Emory mumbled and she marched over to the corner with a heavy grunt on a mission to grab the cat and throw it out of her room.


    When she reached down and touched it''s tail, the cat swiftly jumped up and scratched her face. It''s ws were sharp so the cut was deep, going all the way from the bridge of her nose to her chin.


    Emory screamed while the cat returned to it''s former position and closed it''s eyes as if nothing happening at the moment was it''s fault.


    "Med bed, sealing fluid, hurry." Emory''s personal maid screamed at the castle maids and everyone started hurrying to stop the bleeding and treat the wound.


    "I will kill that animal," Emory screamed as she was taken away for treatment.


    Later, at the table, in arge dining hall decorated with lights and a veryrge blue christmas tree under which a few cats were ying with empty boxes, the guests gathered with the host for a sumptuous breakfast.


    "Wow, we don''t even eat like this in the pce." the empress said.


    "Neither do we here in the castle." Scarlet told her, "Today is a special day because it happens to be christmas and we have guests."


    "We get gifts today." Justin said.


    "Yes, little one, I brought you a good as well." the empress told Justin.


    Justin looked at Scarlet and she nodded, then he smiled brightly at the empress and said, "Awesome, thank you so muchdy majesty."


    "Oh,dy majesty." the empress said, and sheughed.


    The othersughed as well, and Scarlet patted Justin''s hair. Usually he could sit wherever he wanted during mealtime but with Emory around, she wanted him close to her.


    There would be no more sleep overs as well with his great grandparents for as long as that woman was in the castle.


    "Justin,e here, grandmother has a gift for you as well." Emory used her hands to call him over.


    He looked at Scarlet and she sliced a small piece from a snowman shaped pancake with a fork and fed him.


    "He is still eating, maybeter." she said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Emory, angry at being slighted frowned and said, "I am his grandmother, I can feed him too."


    "The spider to the fly,e into my web." Scarlet mumbled. Esong squeezed her thigh and she smiled, and then, loudly she said, "You have a fading mark on your face Emory, what happened?"


    Emory frowned even more and her face folded, "I had a little ident, apparently some things are just like their owners, lunatic, untamed and disgustingly wild."


    "Oh-Oh, was someone ying a little too rough with the kitties? Careful, they scratch."Scarlet said with a sly smile.


    Esong sighed and squeezed his wife''s thigh again, please tone it down, he conveyed with his actions.


    While everyone at the table who knew where the genesis of this conflict begun buried themselves in their delicious breakfast, the guests were enthralled by the back and forth which would have been considered yful banter if not for the tension, scowls and frowns.


    "So, how is the food princess Carana?" The empress changed the focus of those at the table by changing the subject.


    "Wonderful your majesty, I must confess that we do not eat like this on Xeno either. I would like to know more about how this type of food and how you grow it. What kind of nts does ite from?"


    Scarlet turned her head in the direction of the princess and she asked, "You know about nts and food."


    "Oh yes, Xeno is rich in lush green forests, but they are filled with deadly beasts. We iste out cities far away from our forests for that reason. But we are do go foraging for edible nts."


    "Wow, what kind of nts do you have?" Scarlet asked.


    "Mmm, I will show you mine if you show me yours." Princess Carana replied, and she smiled gently at Scarlet.


    Esong frowned and he leaned forward, blocking the view of his wife from the princess. He recognized a look of desire when he saw one. This princess had designs on his wife!!


    "We have agricultural experts, they will be eager to trade knowledge with you on that subject." he said in a deep voice.


    Scarlet pushed him back because he was interrupting a potential business conversation.


    "I will be looking forward to that." the princess said. "I would also like to know what this is." she shook the salt in a ss salt shaker and a few grains poured out.


    "Oh, that is salt." the empress said. "It is mined right here on the blue star and sold all over the empire."


    "So it is not a nt, is it a gem stone then?" floozy asked.


    "Pffft!" Elroyughed, and coughed, "Choking, I was choking." he said because his mother and sisters red at him.


    The Su women did not y when it came to business.


    Moving on, princess Carana also took a cube of sugar with a spoon and lifted it up. "This too, it makes in water sweet, it''s so tasty. I hope this does not inconvenience you but I would love to acquire some of these things before we return to our empire."


    "We_" Esong wanted to say that ''we can discuss that'' but his wife cut him off as she was filled with excitement.


    "It''s not an issue at all." Scarlet said.


    "Yes, we can do business together." Fey added.


    "What kind of currency do you use on Xeno?" Carolyn joined in with a question of her own.


    The empress smiled as she looked at all three sisters. Perhaps a new trade route would be opened up with another empire sessfully.

 Chapter 272 Just Let Me Be

    ?


    After breakfast, Scarlet and Esong escorted the guests around, but only to the easily essible areas which were open to everyone. It was like taking a trip at a zoo, you could see the animals behind ss walls or fences but you could not go inside and interact with them. The guests could see the outside of the buildings but they could not go inside.


    Princess Carana had many questions but Scarlet veiled her exnations exnations to ensure that she did not give much away.


    During the tour, the empress insisted on sitting with Carolyn and Markey, she had many questions to ask Carolyn after all.


    All through the tour, instead of looking at the buildings, the empress looked at Carolyn who became so ufortable that she covered her face with her hands.


    "Don''t be shy little one, I have to look at you carefully before deciding if you are the right fit for my Markey. Your face is only the beginning, what will you do when it''s for me to observe your body?"


    "Eep!" Carolyn squeaked and her hands fell away from her face.


    "Hahaha." The empressughed, it''s another tradition as well, as the wife to be of a prince, your body must have no malformations or extra appendages."


    "Appendages!" she repeated after the empress.


    "Oh yes dear." The empress replied nonchntly, "but do not dwell on this, and have no fear, it is the way of royalty."


    Carolyn looked at Markay and she raised both of her eyebrows up in a questioning manner. ''Why didn''t you tell me that your mother is going to inspect me like a prized cow?''


    Markay shook his head and shrugged, ''I didn''t know either.''


    "Do you intend to continue working after your wedding?" the empress suddenly asked.


    "What wedding?" Carolyn asked.


    "Your wedding to my son of course." the empress answered. She was even perplexed that she looked at Markay and asked him with her eyes, ''What are you up to?'' "I assume that you two are dating with marriage in mind of course otherwise this is a waste of all of our time. Am I wasting my time having this conversation with the youngdy Markay?" the empress went on to sternly ask.


    "Royal mother, I have not proposed yet because we are still in our courtship phase, but we are dating with marriage in mind." he answered.


    "Excellent." the empress dered. She looked at Carolyn and said with a gentle smile on her face, "Now, let''s discuss purity, have you had sexual rtions with my son yet?"


    "ooh," Carolyn groaned and buried her face in her hands with a strong desire you fly out of the car window.


    When the empress insisted on joining them for a small talk she assumed that it would be about the small things, like how did you meet my son, where did you go to school? Do you really love my son and not a discussion of her sexual purity or it''sck thereof. The empress had gone straight for her jugr by asking the hard questions directly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t be shy dear, I know that there is a ny nine percent chance that you are already intimate since he rushed here after survival day. Unless, you are the open minded type of woman and you allowed him to go through his heat phase with another woman. I will be the first to tell you that such a decision would be foolish on your part because some mecha warriors do catch feelings for the women they go through that phase with. This is why over the years I made sure that whichever woman he went through the phase with in the past was always veiled and it was never the same woman. I do hope that you do not hold this part of his past against him dear, all of that will be stopped now that he has you. Oh, and if you two are being intimate then you will need to study the best positions, angles and techniques to please your husband. He will have to study how to please you as well, a royal marriage sometimes falls apart due tock of sexualpatibility." The empress tugged on the hand of Carolyn''s shirt, urging her to look up and face her so that they could speak candidly.


    "Oh God!!, please make it stop." Carolyn thought. "Just let me be."


    "Come now, don''t be embarrassed, these things you will someday have to ask the woman your own son brings home."


    "Mother!!" Markay groaned, "Please stop." he said.


    "Why?" the empress asked him. "I need honest answers out of both of you if we are to do this thing right. And, we must hurry up because Sader is injured irrevocably and your father will need to name a new crown prince soon. If he names you, the nobles will be rushing to bring their daughters forward as the most excellent candidates for a marriage alliance. We must iron out every crease and make sure that you two appear to be a solid couple."


    "Can we iron the creases out in the privacy of a locked room?" Markay asked.


    "Sure, just as long as you two are not afraid to answer the hard questions."


    The empress stopped asking questions and finally looked outside the window of the moving car.


    Carolyn could now lift her head up and look forward while pretending that her face was not as red as a tomatoe.


    "You know," the empress said and Carolyn braced herself for the impact. "This is quite a lovely city you all have here, it''s homey and I hate to use the word human but that''s how I feel."


    "How is that?" Markay asked.


    "In the capital, our humongous high rise buildings stand out more than anything. The skies are congested and so are the streets. Everyone moves with a humanoid robot butler or a weapon, and billboards, holograms and exaggeration of unnecessary kind fills our sight. But look at this city, the people are moving together andughing with no weapons. The children run around so freely with happiness. I have not seen one robot butler in sight, the skies are clear. Most of your billboards and holograms are in the middle or at the top of the buildings and every once in a while I smell delicious scents in the air. Everyone just seems to be happy and content living simply."


    "That''s because my sister has many rules about what the best society should be like. Carrying ofrge weapons is illegal here. Children of all ages must engage in one sport daily in teams, that''s why most of the children walk in groups in the evenings. Flying cars are illegal, unless its a tour or sight seeing car. Littering on the streets is illegal, no blinding lights on the lower levels of buildings, all robot butlers should be kept indoors and if they are used outside, you must get a special permit from the RGB. No ying of loud music in residential areas, no civilians are allowed outside when an alert is sounded. Some are too many to keep up with, but everyone has a rule book of the on their terminals."


    "Do you think a society like this is sustainable?" the empress asked no one in particr. Either Carolyn or Markay could address the question.


    "I think we needs like this to bnce the chaos of the capital." Markey replied.


    The empress turned to Carolyn and she asked, "What about you?"


    Carolyn thought for a moment, deeply, then she looked at the empress and she said, "I think we are happy, and that''s all that really matters."

 Chapter 273 I am going to wing it.

    Chapter 273 I am going to wing it.


    After the tour, Scarlet finally got time away from the guests. She made it to the underworld for the first day of the duo leaderboard games. When she made it there, she found a change in the environment. One, it was brighter but colder than usual and two, not many reapers were around the soul delivery area and it was quiet. Even the soul registrars appeared to be bored. She delivered her souls and went off to find Severus who was waiting for her by the new, long wide wall whose depths could not be seen into. Frost had been right about the real being different from the one used for training because this one was rougher, reddish brown in color and covered in mist the higher one looked upwards. Below the wall were crowds of grim reapers, soul pets, hounds, gate keepers, and almost every creature in the underworld was watching and cheering. On the boundless wall, climbers had already starting progressing. Some were even leaping from one point to another like graceful cats, and others were running along the wall as if gravity did not exist.One grim reaper was walking side ways and she could not fathom how he was maintain a steady pace when he could fall at any moment. She had never seen anything like this, it was supernatural, entertaining and beautiful.


    "You are here,e quick."Severus pulled her to his position using his power. She literally flew through the air as she was pulled toward him. "What''s that and how can I do it?" she asked him immediately. "It''s the increased energy which hase with the wall, I guess the deities injected much energy into the mist. I feel three times more powerful than usual, how do you feel?" Scarlet closed her eyes and circted her soul power, it felt powerful, like a new gust of energy was being infused into her soul. "It feels powerful." she opened her eyes and said. "Can we use it for cultivation?" "Only a soul drop." he replied."You took your sweet time getting here, don''t you know the importance of the games?" "I had guests." she answered absentmindedly because she was looking around for Frost, her partner. "The human world is hindering you again," Severus noted unhappily. He needed her priorities to be eighty percent underworld business and only twenty percent human world rted. This was proving to be difficult because of ties to her human family, husband and child. "Where is my partner?" she asked him.


    Severus looked at the wall and replied, "Up there, he has been at it for two hours now, he is one of the idiots that are leaping like monkeys."


    "Oh," she said, holding back a chuckle. It was true that those who were leaping were a big distraction to the others."We agreed on slow progress in the beginning to conserve our energy, if he keeps that up, he will be maxed out before he gets to the first crossing point." She used her mind to reach out to Frost and she said to him, "Stop leaping partner, just walk." "But it''s fun and easy." he answered. "Now, but your knees will give up soon." she told him. "One more leap and I am done." he answered. She snorted and looked at thepetition, she had never seen so many grim reapers gathered in one ce at once. Not even when she visited the Dark run vige.They were every where, all around, in their ck robes like little ants. She could not count how many because asrge as the wall was, grim reapers were all over it, beyond points she could see. "You can watch your partner on the forum." Severus told her. She checked the forum and found a live viewing of the wall climbers. It was like a live broadcast of actors and actresses in the wilderness with room for the viewers toment. Most of thements were from warrior reapers who were bragging about having the victory in their bag. "How convenient." she said. "Show me Frost." she said. The footage moved to her partner who had stopped leaping on her advise and now, he was crawling along the wall with his hands and feet like a lizard.


    [Look at this white haired idiot.]


    Someonemented when Frost was shown on the forum''s section of interesting climbers. [Monitor Lizard has joined thepetition.]


    She didn''t care if someone called him an idiot or a monitor lizard, just as long as he held on steadily. She had seen at least three grim reapers falling from the wall in the past one minute wall. Twenty five minutes of watching, she saw Frost waving his white g and he vanished from the wall. When he appeared, it was next to her. "Oh!!" she gasped, "Did you blink and locate me?" "No, the white gs locate each other." he answered. She brought her own simr white g from her soul gourd and held it up. "I was not expecting you toe down so soon." she told him. "I reached a section of the wall where many reapers are falling off before raising their gs. I had a feeling that something was wrong so I crawled slowly and tentatively touched it. Look at my hand," he showed her his hand. It was slimy, and when she touched the slime, she realized that it was slippery. "Damn it!" she mumbled. Frost was right, something was right and new obstacles had been added to the wall. New quick strategies were needed. "How are the others getting across?" she asked him. "The strong ones can maintain their stability easily, I am not sure how they are doing it." he replied.


    "All the anti-slip shoes in every shop are gone, those damn mecha warriors must have known ahead of everyone else about the slippery wall. It''s all over the forum." Severusined with a loud growl. "Isn''t that cheating?" she asked. "Not technically, everyone can sniff around for potential cheats and possible obstacles. Some people pay the gate keepers to be ears, others pay the soul registrars and others keep an eye on what kind of armor, tools and weapons are being crafted the most."Frost exined. Now, she regretted not listening to the old deity when he extended a helping hand, perhaps she could have a way to help her team out of this conundrum if only she had listened. She thought for a little moment that the old deity might appear and say something but all was uncharacteristically silent in her mind. He sure knew how to turn up when he wanted and not when she wanted him to. Scarlet looked at the forum and realized that someone had already reached the first crossing point. Jesus!! what kind of energy were these reapers using that others did not have? "We should not be wasting time here, it''s my turn." "But what is the n?" Frost asked her. "Um, what are you going to do? Do you have a way to get past this slime without slipping and falling off the wall?" More grim reapers were falling from the wall like sick weak leaves off a tree.


    "I am going to wing it." she answered and she vanished, leaving behind a dismayed partner and soul pet.

 Chapter 274 Damn deities

    Chapter 274 Damn deities


    The white g directly transported her to where Frost had left off. At least the games were yed this way, one team member got to rest while another took over. She looked at the closest reapers to her sides, to see how they they were tackling the challenge and wondering if she could mimic their actions. Most of them had gloves. ''I have gloves too,'' she thought. Carefully, she brought the gloves out of her soul gourd and put them on, one at a time. "Good thinking." Severus thought rom below. She considered doing the exact same thing that she had told Frost not to do, leap!! But what worried her was that if she leaped and missed hernding, or fell into a hole, it was game over. Scarlet tilted her head upwards and looked at the thick mist which prevent those below from seeing what was ahead. "Damn deities." she thought. It also crossed her mind that nobody had said she could not use her scythe like a hook, mountain climbers used those all the time. "Why isn''t she moving?" Severus concentration on the forum waspletely on Scarlet asked himself worriedly. His worried voice was loud enough for Frost to catch and he said, "She has to be careful because more reapers are slipping off the wall. It''s better not to rush and progress slowly." He too was concentrating on the forum, and his eyes were not leaving Scarlet. "Hey buddy," someone shoved Frost from the back and he temporarily looked away from the forum.He recognized the voice as one which belonged to his friend and fellow reaper. "Hey Ezekiel," he answered, "You are not the wall?" he asked. "I slipped, the slime got me." Ezekiel showed held up his hands. "What about you?" Frost nodded his head toward the wall, just where the mist begun and he said, "My partner is up there, the slime almost got me too so I took a break. But this means you are out of the games." "Yeah," Ezekiel scratched his head, "Dina is going to kill me." Dina was someone Frost knew as well, she was Ezekiel''s partner and another guardian reaper. Dina and Ezekiel made quite the unlikely pair. Ezekiel was tall and thin, he also had healthy pink skin and long golden locks of hair that when untied, fell down to his lower back. His personality was calm and soft spoken, his aura was always clean, warm and inviting. It was a joke among many reapers that Ezekiel had been brought to the wrong realm and he was supposed to be an angel for the deity of light.


    Dina on the other hand was short, only reaching Ezekiel''s chest barely. She was temperamental and her fuse was just as short as she was physically. If you picked a fight with Dina, it was better to stay away from the underworld for a while because she challenged and provoked you every second she set her eyes on you. She was loud mouthed, could be rude and standoffish. It did not help that she had short cropped purple hair and a gloomy aura, which most described as the aura of death. Ezekiel and Dina were yin and yang,plete opposites of each other and nobody could exin how their rtionship worked but it did because they had been together for fifty two years so far. Frost did not want to be around Dina right now, he looked around for her and sighed in relief when he did not see her in the vicinity. But he did not hesitate to shoo Ezekiel away anyway, Dina was never too far behind from him. "Good luck, I will be rooting for you."Ezekiel walked away.


    "Mmm," Frost mumbled and his attention returned to the forum where he noticed that his partner had not made one ounce of progress. She was concentrating on weaving her soul binding rope around her scythe. Other reapers on the forum were mocking her. [Oh, the hound is stuck, someone howl her away from the wall.] [I have seen some bad climbers today but she is the worst.]


    [Give up hound, it''s not your day.]


    [Men I would hate to be her team mate. Des anyone know who her team mate is?]


    [Frost, the white haired weirdo is her team mate.] [Guardian reapers will always be canon fodder in these games. Thank you for giving usughs, we warrior reapers will thank you from the top.]


    "Umph, these damn warrior reapers!" Frost mumbled. "Hey Severus, she is your reaper, you know her best, what is she up to?" Severus scoffed and said, "I hate to break it to you but that woman is unpredictable. Whatever n she has, she has not thought it through but it just might work out for her because things somehow always work out for her. If I didn''t know better I would assume that she is the actual daughter of the deity of fortune." Up on the wall, Scarlet used her soul strength to throw and aim her scythe for any [Maniac, there is a maniac on the wall.] possible ce high up above her. "What is she doing?" Frost asked loudly. [Maniac, there is a maniac on the wall.] [She will pull someone down by doing that.] Those who saw what she was doing wondered if she did not wonder if that scythe would hit another reaper.


    But, just as Severus had said, the scythe found something to hold on to, tightly because she tugged on it to ensure that it was steady, and then, she used it as leverage to pull herself up slowly, leaping from one point to another using soul strength. "I will be damned." Frost said in amazement and heughed. "She really managed to wing it."


    "Don''t be too quick to jubte, she still has miles to go." When she had been preparing this mechanism another grim reaper had passed by her and smirked before sshing slime from the wall on her face. This was the same grim reaper that shoved her and used her of cheating because she had a hound.When she passed by him, she smirked and waved bye bye before kicking him off the wall. There was disbelief in his eyes and he went down and joy in hers as she watched him. "What the frickity fruck?" Severus burst out loud into a whole boat load of curses that he had picked up in the human world. "Is she crazy?" Frost asked. "We are going to be disqualified, she has ruined everything. Oh my God, we are done." They were not the only ones going crazy, even those who were not participating and those who had been disqualified already were perplexed. Why had she done such a thing? Of all the obstacles they were to face, fellow reapers had not been mentioned by anyone anywhere. [Is this allowed?]


    [What was she thinking?] [Guardian reapers have decided to cheat this year. The hound is cheating.]


    "You, hound, has this ever been done in the history of the duo leader board games?"Frost asked Severus.


    "Shut up, let me think." he barked. On the wall, Scarlet continued on her way up and those who had seen what she had done made sure to evade her as quickly as they could. This resulted in two more grim reapers fumbling and falling off the wall. [That''s three victims now, the deities shoulde out and exin this.] [Why is she targeting warrior reapers only? We should target her back as well.] [Target all the guardian reapers and pull them of the wall.]


    A loud bell rung, stopping all activity and freezing all movement. "The deities have reached a verdict." amanding voice said.

 Chapter 275 A change in the games.

    Chapter 275 A change in the games.


    "The actions of reaper Scarlet, also known as the hound are not in vition of the rules of the duo leaderboard games." After those words were said, everything unfroze, and thepetition resumed. It would have resumed much quicker if everyone was not suddenly caught up in the repercussions of this sudden announcement. Did it mean that anybody who desired could eliminate thepetition by pulling, pushing or kicking them down just as she had done?


    In these games, everyone apart from your teammate was an enemy but often reapers were aligned as warriors or guardians. In the beginning, warrior reapers and guardian reapers had been having fun taunting each other. There amon union as the enemy was either a warrior or a guardian. But now , everything had changed, so what if you were a warrior or guardian like me, in the end you werepetition. [Wait a minute, I don''t understand this, do you mean that we can eliminate each other?]


    [So on top of worrying about other obstacles we have to worry about our fellow reapers!! This is not fair.]


    [That damn hound, someone eliminate her already.]


    [Since it is not illegal to pull others down I am sending out a warning. Marcus you arrogant grim reaper, if I don''t eliminate you in thispetition then my name is not June.] [So what happens to all the alliances which had been formed among reapers?] "Further announcement," the voice from before said again after the ringing of the bell, "Water from the springs of the deities is up for grabs. Third ce gets two, second ce gets three and first ce gets five, of his or her own choosing." [The spring water which was infused with the power of a deity and give you the ability to level up instantly on top of strengthening your soul and multiplying your power!!, did I hear correctly?] [And don''t forget that the deities are different so you could get new abilities from using their spring water.] [This is not fair to those of us who have been eliminated, please restart thepetition.]


    Someone that having more fun at the new twist of things in the games was the old deity. He and Lythia were watching them from her other pce, the one beyond the gates where other deities could meet on neutral ground in the underworld realm. No grim reaper had ever reached this area, only the gate keepers. There were two other deities here to watch the games, the deity of fire and the deity of fear. "Should I congratte you on making the games interesting this year?" the deity of fear asked. "For once, it''s not as stale as always." "I like the new girl, she is feisty." the deity of fire said. "She has fire, a spark, she would_"


    "You cannot have her." the old deity cut off his brother, fire and refused. Lythia waved her hands andrge tters filled with spiritual fruits and wines appeared.A rare addition to this was human food in the form of cookies and sandwiches. "See, this is why I like you shadow, you always know just what I like. You even added human food this year, how novel of you." a new deity made an appearance. He had white hair light gold at the tips and he wore a long white robe. His face was young and seductively charming. When one looked on him they would easily think him to be the deity of light, divinity or creation. The old deity scoffed and said, "You know, as the deity of trickery, lies, treachery and deception, believing a single thing you say would be crazy of us, and the gods must never be crazy." The new deity''s outfit changed to ck and his hair turned blue, gone was the divine aura. He took a seat and said, "You have learned a thing or two from me death, don''t pretend to be better than I am."


    Meanwhile in thepetitions, as manyined, cried or jubted, Frost and Severus hopped around in circles. "I told you,I told you, what did I say?" Severus said excitedly. "That she is filled with luck." Frost said loudly.


    "Yes, haha, we are aiming for number one Frost, if you let me down I will bite your ass." Severus added, he was threatening Frost quite seriously but with a smile on his face which had all his sharp teeth out. Frost stopped jumping around and said, ''That''s just creepy." Suddenly a new announcement was made on the forum, someone had made it past the second crossing point.


    "What the f!" someone said. "Who is that individual, why is it that we can''t see who it is?" Past the first barrier point, the identities and faces of thepetitors were not revealed, all one would see is their figure. Any identifying markers on their robes or shoes, and weapons'' or equipment would also be removed on the forum. Scarlet increased her pace, and she started leaping. With much focus, she kept her eyes forward, seeing nothing but the path of her soul binding rope. With the bead of infinite protection that she was gifted by the gate keepers, nobody would push her off the wall and if they tried, they could end up going down themselves. It took her a while to get into the rhythm and she almost slipped twice, but she made it past the first crossing point. She did not even realize that this was the first crossing point until she saw the mist cleared, and she saw the trees and spirit monkeys tossing fruit. "Monkeys." she said. In Lythia''s second ce, the deity of lies paid attention to thepetitors his brothers and sister watched the most, one of them was Scarlet. "Is that the girl you tricked into joining your world," "Mmm-hmm." the old deity nodded proudly. "I wonder if I can trick her into joining another realm, just for fun. It might be better entertainment than having your reapers climb the mountain of a thousand demon bones." the deity of lies chuckled. "You know," the old deity said softly, "If everyone is dead, there is no one to deceive." "You always resort to that." the deity of lies mumbled.But, his eyes still held a wicked glint as he looked at Scarlet. Lythia looked at the old deity and she sighed, this would probably not be the end of it. That bastard would try something for sure because he was not the type to give up just because he was threatened. He was the type to spread lies, give rise to false prophets and spread anarchy as long as it pleased him. He never worked alone either, he always moved with the deity of chaos and together, they destroyed many worlds. In the games meanwhile, Scarlet waved her white g and disappeared from the wall, and when she she appeared next to Frost, she told him what to expect.


    When he said that the monkeys threw rotten fruit at you, he did not mention the fact that the fruit felt like a ten thousand kilogram rock when it hit the body at full speed like a missile. It was painful and if it hit the right spot, one would let go easily and fall off the wall. She had one red mark on her cheek where a peach hit her and almost took her tooth out. "The monkeys are my territory, I got this." Frost disappeared with a confident smile on his face.

 Chapter 276 There was never a choice

    Chapter 276 There was never a choice


    Scarlet was really curious and she watched closely to see how Frost would deal with the brutal monkeys thatughed every time one of their fruits hit a target and elicited a reaction from them. What she noticed that the monkeys left Frost alone, not even targeting him from the moment he started his climb. Everything was smooth sailing and he gaining momentum, surpassing even grim reapers that had gone ahead of them many minutes ago. It almost seemed as if the monkeys were afraid of Frost.


    "Wow, what is happening?" she asked Severus. "Special skills, is what''s happening. You have your gut and your luck and he has that cold energy which all creatures in the underworld hate. Even the monkeys cannot stand that cold air, it''s why he is called frost." Severus turned to her and he answered. He was much more rxed now than when she had juste. It was obvious that he was very happy with the progress they were making. "Why don''t soul pets or spirit animals participate in these games?" she asked him, after a random thought crossed his mind. "Because if our reapers win, we win. You need resources to level up and our strength grows when you are stronger. Why struggle for something that you can obviously provide for us?" "Right." she nodded slowly. "Can I go back to the human world now and return when Frost is on a break?" "Sure, I wille and pick you up." he replied, in a dismissive tone and manner because he had long been expecting this from her. "We are out of snacks in the shop by the way, so increase the supply. And none of the ordinary stuff, the things with purifying water added to them are the ones flying off the shelves. In one week alone, we have made one thousand five hundred crystals from cookies sales. Sometimes, your mind works in mysterious ways." "Alright." she answered. It had been an experiment to see if the grim reapers would be interested in snacks which had special ingredients and right she was, but this business was not sustainable because her supply of purifying water was not replenishable. That''s why she had to win one of the top three positions, purification water was one of the rewards.But she had another special ingredient which was untouched for now.


    "Should I do something with rejuvenation water too?" she asked him. "Magnificent." Severus replied, "I like the way you think. Use the ordinary soul energy crystals too, anything that can add a drop of energy to a grim reaper is a wee. Flowers and herbs too, don''t be afraid to try different things."


    "Alright, I will see youter." She looked at him for thest time, before blinking and returning to the castle. First, she went to the kitchen and put all the ingredients for the special underworld cookies together before leaving a robot butler to do the rest of the job. Then, she left her private wing and went out to join the others who were on their way to one of the football fields to watch the christmas carols. She would also be switching on the lights for the big christmas tree and giving out a few gifts to the most hardworking and notable citizens.


    Just before she left the castle through the main doors, her feet slowed down because walking slowly ahead of her were Adler and Amara who were holding an intense conversation. His hands were behind his back and hers were clenched at her sides.Even though she could not see their faces, she could guess by the bodynguage that this was probably not a very happy conversation. "She probably wants to punch him." Scarlet thought. "What has he done now?" Scarlet was caught between letting them know that she was behind or eavesdropping on their conversation. Common sense won over curiosity and she raised her hand to tap Adler on the shoulder. Even her mouth opened, with his name at the tip of her tongue. Right then, Amara said something that stopped her and made her drop her arm. "It''s your sister, Scarlet, right? Then and now, it alwayse down to your sister." Scarlet asked herself, "What am I being med for now?" "It''s not my sister Amara, you see this has always been one of our biggest problems. You fail to understand the dynamics of my family."


    "No_" Amara raised her hand and stopped him, "It''s not family dynamics, it''s a grown ass man that has a sisterplex. What is so difficult about moving out of this castle and moving in with me so that we can try and restore our rtionship? You simply don''t want to be so far from your sister, even then when you abandoned me, it was the same." "It was not my choice Amara." "Yes it was, you chose her. For you, Adler, I was never the right choice inparison to your precious sister. You left me without giving me time to process what was happening. I barely wrapped my mind around the fact that you were choosing to abandon everything you had worked hard for, and me, to follow your sister_"


    "I followed my family." Adler cut her off and he said in an angry voice. "Keep telling yourself yourself that." Amara muttered. But the scornful look on her face said so much more than her mouth did. "We cannot restore something that was broken Amara, if we are going to be together we have to start from scratch and build again, perhaps something stronger and better. I have told you, that I have changed. When we met, I was a young man with many dreams of glory and ambition. And when I met you, it was hard for me not to fall hopelessly in love with you. We were almost the same when it came to ambition, we nned to be the best and nothing would get in the way of our ns. Look at me now, I am a different man whose goals and ambitions have changed. All I want is to protect this, have some good food, drink a little beer or wine, watch television, y with my nephew,ugh with my family and sleep in a warmfortable bed with a roof over my head. After everything my family has gone through, my dreams have be simpler and achievable. " He looked at Amara and went on to say, "But not yours Amara, I have changed but you are the same." "No," she was looking back at him and she said, "I have be angrier, meaner, hateful and bitter. How could I stay the same when the man I loved, the man who was meant to marry me abandoned me suddenly? I didn''t even get to say goodbye because you didn''t call or text before leaving. I had to hear the news from your old friends that you were already gone. You know how much I hate being pitied, so you must have a picture in your head of what I endured that day. They looked at me as if I was a broken piece of something. I was forced to take a break from work because my boss was worried about the state of my mind. I could not stay at home because everyone kept whispering and pointing at me. But you know what makes you a bigger jerk Adler? Ever since Inded here you have not said to me even once that you are sorry for abandoning me."

 Chapter 277 Brother, you might be a jerk

    <h4>Chapter 277 Brother, you might be a jerk</h4>


    Scarlet was sure that this was not a conversation these two needed to be having in such a public ce. For one, anybody could walk in on them and eavesdrop just as she was doing and two, they were blocking the entrance. It was wide enough for at least ten people to go through at the same time but they were standing right in the middle which made it awkward for her, especially because she had somehow gone closer to them than she intended.


    "Oh boy," she thought in her mind. "I should cough or something."


    "I apologized when_"


    "No-" Amara shouted loudly and she raised her hands to her face in a frustrated gesture and Scarlet waspletely unsure if she was going to cry or scream.


    "You guys, excuse me." Scarlet shouted as well, in a voice that came out louder than she intended.


    She startled the two who probably preparing to have a big blowout and ended up choking on her own saliva. Which was weird to her because her throat was dry as well, and she was feeling parched.


    "Sister, when did you get here?" Adler asked her. He also stepped back, away from Amara.


    She scoffed, shook her head and gave Adler the middle finger, flipping him off before walking away from both siblings without acknowledging Scarlet.


    "I don''t think she likes me much." Scarlet said after a while.


    "She has a small misunderstanding about a few things which I will clear up. I am sure that you two will make great friends." Adler answered.


    Scarlet looked at the light filled room with all the christmas decorations which were indicators of a happy environment and she thought about the two who had been arguing. There was nothing merry about their actions.


    "Are you going to the Evergreen football field?" Adler asked her.


    "Yes, for the carols, are you heading that way too?" she asked him.


    "Yes." he answered. "Let''s go together."


    The siblings walked to Scarlet''s car and the convoy of four vehicles set off for the football field.


    Adler was looking out of the rolled up window, and his eyes were closed. There were frown lines on his forehead as he intensely thought about something that was making him deeply sad.


    While in the car, Scarlet''s curiosities got the best of her and she asked him, "Did you really not say goodbye to her?"


    He turned his head in her direction and looked at her with heavy unsure eyes. "I told her what I was nning to do and that it would be best if we ended our rtionship, for both of our sakes." he answered.


    "That is not what I am asking brother, what I want to know is if you said goodbye and not if you broke up with her. Did you really not give her the chance to make a choice? If you did that, you might be a jerk."


    Heughed softly and said, "When wended on this back then, as hellish as it was, you spent days holed up in your tiny room that had holes which needed fixing. You and mother cried all the time. We were starving and three people had to share one nutrient solution. And when it rained, we huddled together in an old mecha that barely contained us all. We barely survived with our lives that first winter. Tell me if you think that she would have been happy here."


    No matter what he said, he was sad and she saw that. She took his hand, and held it in hers, sqeezing it as a way of saying, ''It''s okay, I am here.''


    "If she loved you as much as she says she did, maybe she would have been happy."


    "I know Amara even better than she knows herself, trust me she would not have been happy. To her, killing her career is the same as killing her and there was no RGB on the Blue star back then so it would have been the equivalent of killing her career. She would have grown to resent me after a while. Eventually, she would have returned to her life because there would be nothing but an empty shell here for her. I made the best decision for both of us, even if she doesn''t see it that way." Adler looked out of the window again, indicating that he was done talking about this for now and she respected that even thought there was much she still wanted to say.


    They arrived at the Evergreen fields and Scarlet was escorted to her special seat, next to Esong, the empress and Markay.


    Justin was sitting close by with the rest of the family. It seemed, she had been thest to arrive,te by a minute which had her mother ncing at her with disapproval.


    "Again!!" Fey mouthed.


    Carolynughed and Scarlet shrugged.


    She looked around and noticed that their visitors were here as well, and reporter Jelly had finally got her opportunity to interview princess Carana which she was doing right now.


    Arge arm turned her around and forced her to face forward but she tilted her head to the right to look at the owner of the arm. "Hello my wife."


    "Husband." she acknowledged him with one nod of her head and one word.


    "Tch," he responded.


    As always, the crowds, the royals and everything was being shown onrge screens in the field and on BSTV live.


    Both of them had a few very loud cheers and looked up. Scarlet was expecting to see herself and Esong on the screen but she saw a face which annoyed her.


    "Why is captain Jacks here?" she asked him.


    "He came with my father and siblings an hour ago. They are sitting over there." He turned her head in the direction of ministers and their families. "One hour here and already the women are happy. Those cursed pretty looks of his are going to cause big trouble one day."


    "You never mentioned that he had dimples when he smiled." Scarlet mentioned.


    Esong frowned at the screen, willing it to move away from captain Jacks before his wife forgot that she hated him and ended up being drawn in by his looks.


    "He is the resident king of promiscuity in the our headquarters, don''t look, you might catch the bug." he told her.


    She chuckled, because promiscuity could not be transmitted with a look.


    "You look wonderful dear." On her other side, the empress tapped her arm and whispered.


    "Thank you." she replied with a smile. "You look lovely as well your majesty, I am happy to see you wearing a gown like all of us."


    "I am told that it''s the Blue star tradition to wear beautiful gowns on official asions." the empress answered. "I was not told how extravagant the gowns could be or how much red would be incorporated into them."


    The women wore a mixture of Victorian style gowns and modern day gowns. Most of them were red to match the christmas theme. The Santa hats were an additional bonus. For the rich, the hats had jewels attached to the fluffy ball at the tip. Even the children were dressed up to the nines.


    "Yeah, I was not expecting the women to be so enthusiastic about it."


    d stepped on the center and started speaking, and the singing of christmas carols officially started.

 Chapter 278 Oh look, mistletoe

    <h4>Chapter 278 Oh look, mistletoe</h4>


    In front of very tall and very big green Christmas tree, decorated with lights and other small items, a choir of thirty people, all adults, stood perfectly still. All were dressed in red or green, others abination of both colors. On the screen, most of them looked nervous because this was their first time singing in front of arge crowd. Some of them would not have been anyone''s first pick if asked who they expected to see among the singers, like principal Stash.


    When her face was shown on the screen, Scarlet clearly heard Beord whisper to one of their many siblings that the woman had finally found a job which suited her.


    The choir was not the only one at the front, instrumentalists were present as well and one woman that Scarlet did not recognize had resumed the role of choir master.


    The choir broke into a revised rendition of silent night which she rewrote and omitted some things.


    They sung so smoothly, in soft voices that soothed the ears of the listeners. As expected, when Scarlet looked around, she saw soft smiles and one or two people wipe away a tear.


    After silent night, the instruments became cheerful and little children who were dressed like Santa''s little helpers came from the back, swinging their bells and the oldest, a teenage girl who was leading them broke into a lovely tune of jingle bells.


    Proud parents of the children who were participating in the christmas carols were pping, cheering and they had pulled out their cameras or whatever devices they had to take pictures andmemorate this moment.


    The youngest child was three years old, she was female who barely knew that lyrics to the song but she was simply so adorable in her floral red and green christmas leggings and a sweater. She moved her body back and forth in an uncoordinated manner that had the crowd going, ''A''


    The cameras stayed on her the longest more than they did on the other children.


    More songs followed like little drummer boy, white christmas, feliz navidad, little christmas and after ten songs and one short skit. Two hourster, the event was ended with a speech from Esong.


    As the people started to depart, the choir was singing we wish you a merry christmas loudly.


    Not long after the event ended, the press on every star released articles about the event, it''s symbolism and the unity it brought among the citizens of the blue star.


    The citizens of other stars however were taking it as a challenge and they went on star to express their opinions, pleasure and displeasure.


    [Next year we will have our own christmas carols in the capital, watch out blue star, we will dethrone you.]


    [Yellow star, next year we will christmas more than the blue star.]


    [All I want to talk about is that adorable three year old baby. Whose is it and how can I kidnap it?]


    [Governor Scarlet of the blue star sure has unique ideas, this christmas thing might actually catch on.]


    [If you think christmas is a joke, nutrient solutionpanies are selling packaged eggnog. Three of them have already run out of stock, what a turn of events.]


    [Why didn''t they sing the song about the chubby Santa threatening us to watch out, not pout and not cry because he ising tonight. I think it''s my favorite christmas song.]


    [If I do not receive a gift from Santa tonight I am suing the governors of the Blue star and the entire. I hope I have made myself clear.]


    Among the citizens of the blue star, on this night, the happiest perhaps was Calitos, the representative of the religious and faith council. He was sitting in the same car with Barry Wise who was driving them both home. These two were an unlikely pair of friends.


    "Look at this Barry, we made fifty three million star coins in donations alone from this carols event. Hahaha, I think we might be the wealthiest council here."


    "What are you using the money for? If you are going to loan it out, give our construction department first priority." the other replied.


    Calitos looked at Barry as if he was speaking gibberish and his mind was suddenly unsound. "Why would we loan this money out? We have a big projecting up, the governor proposed that at the both ends of the wall we build massive temples. I have been so worried about where the funds woulde from but it looks we might be covered."


    "Hold on," Barry put the car in self driving mode and looked at his friend that was also his enemy at times. "Isn''t that money supposed to be used for charity? Aren''t the monks supposed to be going on some kind of charity expedition to the grey star to spread the good word of the Lord?"


    "Building temples is also a form of charity because the orphans and homeless can sleep there." Calitos answered.


    Barry did not buy it and he tsked, two times, "I knew that you religious nuts in the council would misuse the funds, I am going toin about this to the governor."


    "Don''t call us nuts!" Calitos shoved Barry.


    "Hey," the other shouted, but not so loudly, "I thought your religion advocates for peace, this is not peace holy Calitos, it''s violence."


    Calitos ignored Barry and opened a car window, he even went as far as to stick his head out just so that he would not have to talk to him.


    "Are you really not talking to me?" the other asked.


    "No." Calitos replied and then he covered his mouth with his hand, bbergasted because the other had sessfully tricked him.


    Scarlet was still in the Evergreen field, looking at the message informing her about the amount they had received in donations.


    Esong too received it and he peeped at Scarlet''s terminal to see if they were looking at the same thing.


    "I have to say, faith is a profitable business." Esongmented. "Imagine how much would be made if we had three christmases a year!"


    "People have faith in mecha warriors, you make ten times more than this a year in donations, so, what are you talking about?" she asked him.


    But he shook his head and said, "That''s different, the people see us and know what we do but believing in a deity or God is different because you ce your faith in something you cannot see, touch or hear. I don''t think you understand what that means."


    ''I am a grim reaper, I am living proof that deities exist.'' she thought.


    "Oh, look," Esong suddenly said and he pointed up. When her eyes followed his fingers, it was to see a hologram image of mistletoe which had been moving around for a few minutes now. "Mistletoe." he added, "I guess you know what must happen next."


    "Huh!" she acted daft, even faking confusion on her face.


    "You said, it''s tradition to kiss under mistletoe. Now I don''t know whose tradition it is but pucker up." he puckered his own lips and made kissing sounds.


    "You know that the big screens are still on and cameras are still rolling, right?" she pointed all around them where evacuations from the field were still ongoing. Even their families were still here.


    He pulled her by the hand and said cockily, "We are the couple with the greatest kiss or something in history, what are you afraid of?"?He smiled, leaned his head down and kissed her.

 Chapter 279 Esong, the pawing master

    <h4>Chapter 279 Esong, the pawing master</h4>


    Of course that kiss was captured and shown on therge screen and of course people cheered like they always did when the two governors kissed.


    Others however wore sour looks on their faces and had something to say about the kiss.


    Like Adler, who said, "That guy cannot go two minutes without pawing at my sister for the whole world to see."


    Their mother heard what he said and turned around to say, "That''s his wife, he can paw all he wants."


    What Mega Su did not miss however was the scowl of deep unhappiness on the face of Emory Wu had never and by the way things were going, would never like her daughter.


    "What a loose, cheap thing." Emory muttered under her breath.


    Her husband Emmet gave her a re that warned her to shut her mouth immediately.


    "Brother is so cool." Elon hooted.


    At the edge of the football field, Jelly who finally got a chance to sit down and rest was beating the calves of her legs with her fists. After standing for two hours, she was really tired.


    "Here." a hand reached down to her, offering her a small automatic massaging device.


    She did not have to look up to identify the voice as that of Captain Zorl, the man she had not seen for close to two weeks.


    "Thank you." she took the massager and used it on her right leg first.


    The man who gave her the massager did not go away however, he stayed and sat down next to her. Then, he took off his helmet and looked at her.?"You are avoiding me." he said.


    "Do you have evidence of that fact." she asked.


    "You won''t look at me." he said. "Do you find me too attractive or repelling?"


    She had only nced at him briefly before looking down at the ground again.


    "I will choose neither." she answered. "Besides, why would I need to avoid you when you moved out of the building. It''s not as if I was given a heads up about your sudden move."


    Zorlughed lightly, the woman did not even realize that she was sulking as she made thatint known to him. He added a chuckle to theugher and he said, "So you noticed. This means you do not find me repelling after all. That and the fact that you are blushing right now even though I have barely said or done anything to you."


    "I am not blushing." she denied. But the proof was on her face, which was slightly red. It was very in to see on her fair skin.


    He handed her a hand written note and she put it in her bag without looking at it.


    "It''s my new address,e by and visit whenever you want." he said.


    She raised her eyes and asked, "Why would I visit a man''s house. That is a recipe for gossip and nder, you know what our is like, people like to talk. My job is to report the news and not be the news."


    He tapped her on the shoulder which forced her to look at him. "In that case, we should go on that date finally. I have a day off tomorrow and front row tickets to Miss Du Fyne''s concert."


    She smiled and he caught that small smile on her face, but it vanished just as quickly as it came and he sighed. Taking this reporter on a date was harder than an investigation.


    "What time is it?" she asked, which surprised him.


    "Eight p.m., but there is a new restaurant that was opened next to the bank. I can make a reservation for dinner for two and we can get something to eat before the concert."


    "Will you be picking me up?" she asked.


    "Um, sure, if that''s what you want." he responded. "Make sure that you tell your boss you are going on a date with me."


    Now she was confused, and she looked at him with eyes and a look that portrayed her confusion.?"Why would my boss need that information?"


    "No reason," he shrugged, "But, I don''t want him to suddenly call you in for work."


    While that was the answer he gave with his mouth, in the back of his head, he had an entirely different thought. ''Because he should know that you have a serious suitor.''


    "You should head home, it looks like all the important people have left." he stood up and held his hand out to her, helping her stand up as well. "I will walk you to your car."


    She did not reject him, which made him smile. As they walked slowly side by side, for the first time in a long time, Zorl felt the urge to hold the hand of a woman.


    His eyes kept moving to her small hands and fingers which were nervously dancing.


    "Hey, howe you didn''t name the governors kiss tonight?" he asked something to cover up the silence.


    "Is this questioning from the same man who mocked me over this issue thest time? You threatened to kiss me, I should have reported you to your high ups." Sheughed.


    Heughed as well at the memory and looked to the side, ignoring the curious nces of other citizens who were walking or locating their cars.?"I don''t recall that." he lied.


    "Eh," her mouth dropped open and she looked at him. "You dirty liar."


    "Is there evidence of such an event urring, hmm, I don''t think so." He raised his hands, and shrugged as well.


    Jellyughed softly, as she was seeing a whole new side of the man. He was rxed, easy going and even making jokes. Where had captain Grinch disappeared off to? "So that''s how it is."


    Again, he shrugged, folding his bottom lip downward as well.


    They had arrived at her small blue car, and so they stopped walking.


    "Well, this is me." she said.


    "I know." he answered.


    For some reason, sheughed and so did he. It could not be denied that there was a spark between them and as they looked at each other n this night, it increased the slightest bit.


    "I guess I will see you tomorrow." she said.


    "Tomorrow." he repeated herst word with a nod.


    "Um, goodnight then." she said.


    "Goodnight." he said to her as well.


    But she did not enter her car, despite having opened the door and she stayed where she was, standing in front of him and swaying her body nervously from side to side.


    He looked up, at a short distance away and said, "You know, that hologram of mistletoe is still making rounds." If she stayed any longer, he might actually end up kissing her.


    She looked up at the sky and squealed when she noticed that it was heading their way. Jelly chose to take the coward''s way out and she got into her car quickly.?She drove off without even saying goodbye.


    Zorl waved at the departing car with a chuckle and he wondered if she would get a speeding ticket because of how fast she was going.


    The hologram of mistletoe was hanging above his head idly, turning from side to side as if it was confused as to where the woman had gone.


    Zorl looked at the hologram and he said, "Keep it moving, this captain won''t be kissing anyone tonight."

 Chapter 280 There is no understanding Emory Wu.

    <h4>Chapter 280 There is no understanding Emory Wu.</h4>


    In the underworld realm, the deity of lies, wasining for the third time that he was now officially bored.


    "Bring the girl back, maybe she will do another shocking thing."


    "Nobody invited you Cepti and no one is forcing you to stay. if you are bored return to your realm or find humans to mess around with." Lythia told him.


    "No, it''s so much better to stay here and irritate you Lythia. By the way, maybe you and I should work on something together, darkness and lies we would make a strong pair."


    A bright light light shone in the pce and out of it a new deity stepped out. One who looked exactly like the deity of lies looked when he appeared, just before he changed back to his real form. "Every year you say it and every year she turns you down. But you never quit, it''s amazing to see you work this hard at something Cepti. Then again, your words cannot be trusted by any of us."


    "Nobody invited you either Atha," Lythia said to the new deity, "Light and darkness should never mix, Those were your words before you kicked me out of our father''s pce so what brings you to my pce?"


    "I defeated you and you left with your literal tail between your legs sister. I did not kick you out." The deity of light answered and took one of the fruits from the tters.


    Lythia''s staff lit up, a bright red me was emitted from the ruby on the top that caused the other deities to cover their eyes briefly before adjusting to it. "Would you care a rematch?" she asked the deity of light.


    "Oooh, a fight, I like this much better, quickly Lythia, unleash your power of blood curling darkness and let the creatures of the night dance in overwhelming blood lust." Cepti, the deity of lies rubbed his palms together gleefully.


    The other deities expressed disdain for the deity of lies and they ignored his words. It was not umon for them to have such wrangles, but they kept their physical fights to a minimum because when they fought, the humans suffered.


    In the human realm, on the blue star, Scarlet and Esong were arriving at the castle to prepare for therge christmas dinner which she would be hosting for family and friends.


    He helped her out of the car and led by the hand inside, going to their private wing directly. The first thing both of them did was get into the shower to have a quick bath.


    He was scrubbing her back with a soft orange loofah when she had a thought that?she shared with him.?"I thought we would be meeting your family first before taking a bath. I must meet your father in two capacities, as a governor of the blue star and his son''s wife. It''s weird that he and I have never shared more than two words."


    "My father said that we should hold off on all official introductions until tomorrow. It''s christmas and you should be smiling today, not conducting business or feigning politeness for the sake of tradition.?I personally think he wants to spare you the agony of having to be around my mother. She is brooding tonight which tells me that she is angling for a showdown. I will not give her the satisfaction of taking her anger or misery out on you."


    She turned around to face him and asked, "Was your mother always like that?"


    "I think so, but we just didn''t notice it when we were younger. You always assume that other people live the same way you do until you visit another home and suddenly it hits you that it is not the case. Your family was the biggest eye opener for me."


    "So, why does your father put up with her? I saw him, he has the appearance of a calm steady person. He was smiling all through the christmas carols while the wick_, your mother was frowning. How can you frown at such a joy filled time and with no good reason. Your mother has it all, I mean she is married to handsome minister, she is wealthy and from a royal household. She has a general and mecha warrior for a son. In addition to that she has two more children one in a military academy and another who is beautiful. She does not have to worry about food, money or safety. If my life was hers, I would be a very happy woman. Ask the dozens of women in the empire and they will all tell you that they would trade ces with her in a heartbeat. Unless there is a hidden cause of her anger and vileness your mother might actually be as ill as I was. I promised myself that I would try to understand her but I don''t."


    "Don''t try." he helped her out of the shower and slowly dried her body off with a towel instead of letting the machine which exuded warm dry air when one stepped out of the shower do it. With the machine, you simply stood still for five seconds and every drop of water on your body was sucked off."


    Scarlet did not like the machine which they called the body vacuum because her skin was aways left with a feeling of extreme ufortable dryness after she used it.


    She had also noticed that her skin would peel if she used it for more than a week in a row. When she asked her sisters, she came to a conclusion that this situation was specific to her and?for this reason, she preferred the ordinary hand towel to dry her body off.?She just hadn''t realized that her husband had picked up on this peculiarity of hers.


    After dressing up infortable clothes and light christmas sweaters, they both went looking for Justin first.


    They found him running around the Su''s living room, ying a game with Halley and Gregor. All the children had virtual devices connected to their eyes, hands and heads. They were running, jumping and rolling as if they were inbat training.


    "No fair Greggy you are cheating." little Halleyined.


    "Yeah cheating little uncle." Justin added to Halley''sint.


    "Ha-ha, losers." Gregor responded and chortled.


    "I am going to tell dad." Halley said.


    "What are they ying?" Scarlet asked Beord. He was in the virtual world as well but only his eyes were connected. He was keeping an eye on the children, who they came into contact with and ensuring they stuck to games meant for only kids.


    "Sand robbers." he replied.


    "I won''t even ask." Scarlet answered. "It''s time for dinner so everyone should just move to the dining room in the governor''s castle." She smiled and pointed tat herself with a smile, "My castle." she added.


    Her brother looked at her husband and he said, ''Oh yeah, are you forgetting something?"


    "He doesn''t care," she answered. "Do you?" she looked at Esong and asked.


    "Nope." he replied. He had many titles already, the addition or?remission of the governorship title made no difference at all.


    Esong helped Justin take off the virtual devices and then the little boy tantly climbed on to his father''s back and said, ''My feet hurt, I can''t walk daddy."


    Scarlet scoffed andughed, was this not her same baby that had been running around and jumping like a little ninja a few seconds ago? Also, when did his way of addressing Esong go from rigid ''father'' to happy sunshine ''daddy?''


    "Don''t worry, daddy will carry you everywhere you want to go." Esong told their son.


    "Thank you daddy." Justin rewarded his father with a kiss on the cheek.

 Chapter 281 What I am thankful for

    <h4>Chapter 281 What I am thankful for</h4>


    Shifting his body back and forth on his father''s back, Justin tugged on Esong''s hair and if it was the handle of a bike.


    Then he said, "Daddy sing with me, itchy itchy ouch ouch, can you help my?boo-boo."


    "It''s called the boo-boo song baby."


    "Yes that one." Justin said cheerful.


    Behind them, she had Gregor saying to Beord, "Big brother carry me like that too."


    "And me." Halley said.


    When Scarlet turned around, she saw her youngest sister jumping up and down while tugging on Beord''s pants. Halley had imed Beord''s let left while Gregor imed the right one. With the way they were tugging on his sweat pants, they would probably pull them down sessfully.


    "Calm down you little brats." Beord held on to his pants by the waist. "If you make me embarrass myself nobody is going to be carried." He looked at Scarlet and mouthed, help.


    Scarletughed and said, "Alex y kids songs, nursery rhymes on every screen and speaker in the castle."


    Beord grunted and grabbed Halley first and then Gregor, each of them imed a side on his broad shoulders.


    A group of three adults and three toddlers made their way to the dining room with the toddlers singing loudly at the tops of their lungs. In the dining room, they found than more than half of those expected to be at the table were already there.


    Beord put his siblings down and Gregor hurried to find himself a seat while Halley rushed to im her ce on her father''sps. She would be there acting adorable all night until when she received her christmas gift or fell asleep.


    She and Esong had chosen to leave the central seat to the empress and they sat opposite of her with their son in the middle. she was sitting next to Adler.


    "For your information I liked the christmas music better."?Adler whispered to her.


    "So did I." she whispered back.


    "So why?" he asked.


    "I have a little master who I asionally allow to make the decisions."?she told him.


    Adler looked at the little master Justin who was pointing at the foods on the table and counting them one by one.?He also frowned at the ones he was not interested in putting inside of his mouth. At the top of the list was the broli.


    Sheughed when she saw the look of hatred he aimed at it and then he tugged on her sweater and said, "Mummy, I am not going to eat the small tree shaped meat."


    She pulled his head closer to her chest and rubbed his hair while exining to him what broli was for the tenth time in a month. "Broli, Justin, not meat but a nt. Why does it always go over your head when I tell you what it''s called."


    "Because it''s yucky." he stuck his tongue out.


    She drew in a deep breath and prepared herself to educate him on broli, it''s nutrients and the advantages of eating it. She was even going to lie to him that it would help him grow taller.


    All that was pushed to the back when the empress said, "Scarlet dear, I am afraid that I might not be resist the temptation of these lovely foods much longer. Are there rituals we must follow like the head of house or host digging in first?"


    "You are the guest of honor your highness, so you will be the one whose lead we all follow. The only ritual we could follow is perhaps going around the table to say what we are thankful for from the previous year or in this new year."


    There was no thanksgiving in this world so she might as well steal another tradition from earth.


    "That sounds lovely," The empress smiled and she said, "I am grateful for your knowledge on edible foods. How we lived on only nutrient solutions until you, I don''t know."


    Cecily was sitting next to the empress so she got to go next. "I am grateful for my great grandson Justin and the time we have spent together."


    "I am grateful for the fact that we lost fewer mecha warriors the past winter than the previous ones." Etienne said.


    "I am grateful for all of you."?Mega Su said, and her words were repeated by her husband, Elroy, Fey and Carolyn.


    "I am grateful for our family and what we have ovee." Adler said the same thing in different words.


    While everyone including all the guests and visitors from Xeno who had been invited at the request of the empress said only nice things, one Emory Wu was smiling like a devious beast, awaiting her turn so that she could say something spiteful.


    "We will not be saying anything, Emory''s throat is aching." her husband cut into her ns and she clenched her hands into a fist.


    "I am thankful for my beautiful family." Esong looked at Scarlet and Justin.


    He even extended his hand and took her right hand which was sitting on the table next to Justin''s. He squeezed her hand, and they shared a secret smile.


    Mega and her husband shared a secret smile as well, very pleased with the way the rtionship had progressed.


    Seeing that she was the only one left, Scarlet raised her ss, an action that the others had not done.


    Looking around the table, she smiled broadly and said, "Uhm, there is much that I have to be thankful for and if I begin to list them down, we might be here all night long and this delicious food will go to waste. So, I am going to pick out the most important one, the one which which matters most to me right now. I am thankful for second chances."


    She had died, transmigrated, and restarted her life. A better life than the one she had in the past. She had received the biggest second chance the universe could ever restore on a human.


    "I will drink to that." Lora Storm said, loudly, and she took a big sip from the ss of wine in her hands.?She too would be dead right now if not for Scarlet''s infinite mercy and her brother''s refusal to let her and her daughter die.


    "Me too." Arya said and she snuck a nce at Adler who was looking down at the ss of wine that he was tapping with the nail of his index finger slowly.


    Scarlet raised her ss of wine even higher and said loudly, "That said, let''s feast."


    "Finally," a small voice said. It was one of the children, little Halley to be exact and everyoneughed.

 Chapter 282 As free as a bird

    <h4>Chapter 282 As free as a bird</h4>


    After dinner, those who wished stayed behind and engaged in a couple of games and karaoke.


    Scarlet and Esong left the table after he whispered something to Adler who took charge of Justin immediately.


    Under the scathing gaze of an angry Emory, he led her outside, holding her hand tightly just in case she tried to run away.


    "Are we escaping from something?" She asked him, in betweenughter.


    He looked back at her and said with a smile on his face, "Yes and no, I want to give you your Christmas gift."


    "Ooh, and I got you nothing." She joked.


    He was leading her in the direction of the private elevator which led to the roof of the castle.


    "Don''t be scared, I won''t bite." He chuckled when he noticed that slight frown on her face that had cause a crinkle on her nose.


    "If you dare to bite me I will bite you back, and that''s a promise." She said seriously.


    "Come here." He tugged her body towards his and hugged her from the back, making sure that his face was bent down andying in the crook of her neck.


    She closed her eyes and clenched her hands tightly, willing herself not to touch his hair or kiss his face.


    The previous day, Carolyn had asked her if Esong had made any spontaneous deration of love to her. Apparently Markay had done that for her, many times over. She had smiled and changed the topic. That contract was still in existence and neither one of them had mentioned erasing it and simply being together as a married couple. She could however confidently say now that the anger and grudges he had against her had vanished.


    But it did not erase the same old fears and questions she had before he left for winter. What exactly is it that they were doing? Should she even care since their rtionship was temporary because of what she was and who he was?


    "You are quiet, and you are still frowning. What is it? Have I done something that made you unhappy?" He asked this question slowly with his hands tight around her waist and the long draws of his breath against her soft neck.


    She turned her head away from him and asked. "Who said that I am unhappy? Have you done something for which I should be unhappy?"


    "You are responding to my question with a question, Scarlet, you told me that christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. And that we shouldugh and be merry but you are not merry. Tell me what I can do to make you smile today?"


    "I smiled all through dinner." She said.


    "Because you were required to." He answered.


    She sighed and pointed at the doors of the elevator. "We have arrived at our destination and we should get off. I am quite eager to see that gift which you got me."


    He raised his head and gave her a look that said, ''this is not over.''


    Again, he took her by the hand and led her to the roof of the castle. There were a few spots on the roof where one could stand and have a whole view of almost the entire city.


    They stood in one of those spots, with her at the front and him at the back just as they had been standing in the elevator.


    It was a beautiful view from where they were, one of a brightly lit city filled with lights. From where they were, she could see at least two billboards. One was ying miss Du Fyne''s old nutrient solution advert while another showed a family of five celebrating christmas.


    "Do you want to go with me to that concert?" He asked her when he noticed how keenly she was looking at it. She looked at him over her shoulder and she said, "I am pretty sure we get free tickets as the governors of the."


    "Not really, theye out of the city hall budget but I am not asking as a governor, I am asking as your man."


    Sheughed, slightly, and covered her lips with her hands. "My man, huh." She said.


    He stepped out from behind her and stood beside her with his back to city and his face looking down on her.


    "Do you have another man except for me?"


    "Don''t joke." She replied.


    "Exactly, I am your man and I am seeking your permission to take you as my date for miss Fu Fyne''s concert."


    She chortled because he had mispronounced the name of the singer and did not even realize it because he was still smiling so confidently.


    ''Should I tell him or not?'' She asked herself.


    "Do you even like her music?" She asked him. "And be honest because I will know if you lie to me."


    He hung his head like a child that was being forced to admit the truth after being caught in a lie.


    "I am not sure." He said.


    "Gun to your head, name five of her songs." She added.


    Esong scratched the bridge of his nose and he frowned, trying hard toe up with even one of her songs.


    "Oh my gosh, you don''t have the slightest clue." She gasped. Even she who had transmigrated over knew at least six songs but the man who had lived here his entire life knew none!!!.


    "I used to spend my time training and I only like music that gets me moving or soothes my senses." He raised his hands and said in his defense. "Sue me if that is a crime."


    "Calm down," she said to him, "I am neither condemning you nor putting you on trial. I don''t know every song of every musician in the empire as well. I am just befuddled by your desire to attend the concert of an artist whose songs you don''t know."


    "Because we will be going together so I thought it would be fun." He exined.


    "Then I will go with you, we will have the most fun out of everyone there." She dered. He had asked her to go on a date of his own volition, how could she break his heart? He was even doing something he had not done before, and would not enjoy.


    The confident smile on Esong''s face returned and he took a device from his storage bracelet which he assembled quickly with his nimble hands.


    "Your gift," he said when he was finished. "You told me once that the skies belonged to birds because they could fly freely. Armor with wings that go high up is only avable to mecha warriors so I got this custom made for you. It''s a a flying device, these wide arcs act like wings and here, you strap your arms and feet in. You would need vision protection gear as well so I got you that. It can carry two people so you can take our son flying with you or me." He pointed at himself with his thumbs.


    "Wow, thank you." She touched the device and smiled. "Can we take it for a test drive?"


    "Sure." He was more than willing and together, they strapped in and flew over the city.


    One small child looking through the window managed to catch a glimpse as they flew by his house and he gasped, "Father christmas."

 Chapter 283 The race to the top

    <h4>Chapter 283 The race to the top</h4>


    They were not the only ones to excuse themselves from the dining room to get some privacy, Markay and Carolyn did the same.


    He too had a christmas gift that he wanted to give his girlfriend privately.


    Justin gravitated towards grandma Mega and baby I so Adler left on his own, slowly walking towards the main entrance before heading in the direction of the Maddox library which was open to all members of the governor''s family day or night.


    There was an old man on the blue star, the father of an ex mecha warrior who was now officially the oldest person on the blue star at two hundred sixty years old. Given his advanced age, grey hairs and the wrinkles on his face, everyone simply called him old Wyatt.


    Old Wyatt was the new guard of the Maddox library and he loved his new job so much that he never went home. He even had a small corner room in the library where he slept and he took his baths from the public restrooms in the servants quarters.


    For this reason, whether it was day or night, it was not unusual to find old Wyatt here.


    Adler found him sitting at his guard post with a book in hand and a bottle of eggnog sold by Nutri nutrients.


    He closed his book and looked up with a bright smile on his face. "Good evening minister Su."


    Adler handed old Wyatt a small gift wrapped in a silver packaging. "Merry christmas Wyatt."


    "Thank you minister Su, unfortunately I can''t ept this." He tried to hand it back but Adler shook his head, refusing to take it back.


    "You work for the castle and that makes you one of us. I want to go in and do some reading, I would like not to be disturbed for a while."


    Old Wyatt put the gift away and he nodded. Then, he smiled like a fool and said, "Are you and the youngdy together?"


    ''Which_?" Adler asked as he turned around in the direction old Wyatt was looking. "Arya!" he said her name in a voice that expressed how much he was taken back at her sight. She was not wearing pants today, but a dress, one which was long but with a low cut which exposed a bit of cleavage.


    Her eyes wererger than usual, and her face was flushed, whether it was from the cold night air, his presence or maybe tipsiness as a result of drinking that bottled eggnog in her hands, he was quite unsure. The only thing he was sure of was that she looked beautiful.


    "Hi," she waved and said, with a shy smile on her face.


    "Hi," he lifted his hand to wave back at her but he lowered it quickly.


    "I did not follow you." she blurted.


    Adler smirked, he took three steps closer to her andughed, "Now I feel a little disappointed, I was hoping that my irresistible charms had enticed you."


    Arya covered her mouth, stared at him.


    He ced his hand on her back and asked in a concerned voice, "What''s wrong, are you nauseous?"


    "Yes, I am nauseous from the nonsenseing out of your mouth." She pushed his hand away.


    Adler ced his left hand over his heart and said, "Ho, now I am hurt even more, Arya Storm, you just drove the dagger deeper into my heart."


    Arya rolled her eyes and marched forward into the library after wishing old Wyatt a merry christmas. Adler followed her inside, specifically heading in the direction she had gone.


    Christmas eve came soon, and when the clock struck midnight, Scarlet was off to the underworld while most ordinary humans slept.


    The scene at the bottom of the wall was different from when she wasst there, the number of spectators had increased. Grim reapers had brought seats, nkets, snacks and someone was even hawking spirit tea loudly as if it was a market.


    She found her way towards Severus who was sitting with a few hounds on a thick round fur nket under arge umbre which was unnecessary since the sun in the underworld did not burn hot enough to necessitate the use of one.


    She plopped herself down behind Severus, and said, "Hey partner."


    The hound tilted it''s head to the back, saw her and then scooted over to create space for her to sit downfortably.


    She did not turn down the unsaid gesture and she sat down with her legs crossed like she was about to cultivate.


    One of the hounds, sent a small gourd filled with spirit wine her way and she nodded.?Then, she sniffed the wine and took a small sip directly from the gourd. It tasted like apples, with some honey and something else but it was quite tasty but strong.


    "Um, this is good." she uttered out loud.


    "It''s hound brew, we make it and sell it ourselves." One of the hounds said proudly.


    "I think I will be a regr customer." She told that hound. Then, she looked at Severus and asked, "What have I missed?"


    "Your partner has not yete down, he is still going strong. It looks like he is going to make it past the second crossing point." Severus answered.


    "Congrattions," the ck hound which gave her the wine said. "You are working hard not to put us hounds to shame."


    "Hmm," he looked at Severus.


    "Your victory is Severus''s victory and he is a hound so it''s also our victory." that hound added on to his previous words.


    "The race to the top is harder this year but it''s more interesting than it has been in thest century. It''s fun to watch grim reapers turn against each other for the sake of the prize." Another hound added.


    "Even friends are betraying each other and alliances have disintegrated. Miss hound, you have truly created chaos in the realm, that''s why most of us havee to watch." another said.


    Severusughed and said with pride, "That''s how we roll, we are unpredictable."


    His fellow hounds gave him disdainful looks. This was just like Severus, his greed extended to other things as well. He was a credit hog, always had been and forever would be.


    "It looks like your fame continues to grow in the underworld. This will probably be another teaching aid on something." the ck hound said.


    Scarlet had already noticed that many eyes were on her, grim repears were looking at her, pointing, whispering or loudly expressing their opinions about her.


    "I don''t know if that is a good or bad thing." she said, "But, I will never allow myself to be in a position which is disadvantageous. Initially, reapers in alliances were working to secretly block the path of others so that one person in their group would win and then they would share the rewards. Those without an alliance were being forced off the wall because the others were ying little tricks. If everyone had checked the rules of the games then they would have realized that pushing another off the wall is not against the rules. Those who were doing it secretly had not been punished so, I simply opened it up for them to do what they had already been doing in the open."


    "She is right," Ezrah said, and she plopped herself down behind Scarlet.


    Grim reapers with their extraordinary hearing would not have failed to hear what Scarlet said.


    "Hey friend, Ezrah leaned her head on Scarlet''s back."


    "Break this up," Severus said and he pointed at Frost who hade down with a white g. "It''s her turn."


    "See youter." Scarlet saluted and vanished.

 Chapter 284 Is Mina a flower thief?

    <h4>Chapter 284 Is Mina a flower thief?</h4>


    "The Rogan family is set to file awsuit against the association of mecha warriors for failing to save Samael Rogan in thest winter battle against the mutated beasts. They are iming that carelessness and negligence of the mecha was the direct cause of his death and not an injury caused by a mutated beast."


    Early in the morning when she was preparing breakfast for herself and her small family of three in their private wing, this was the news on every television.


    The wordw suit was bing verymon on the sun star empiretely and people were suing for everything, the minor and major.


    Scarlet got on the phone with Mina who had been texting her on and off since six in the morning.


    "Hey bestie." Mina was chipper and excited when she saw Scarlet''s face on the video call.


    "We said hi to each other in the morning, but hi, for the second time today." Scarlet replied and waved at Mina with her flour covered right hand.


    "So, what''s up? Can Ie over for breakfast?"


    The more Mina became familiar with Scarlet, the more her way of speaking to her changed. She was bing more and more casual, which Mina''s brother Zorl disdained even more.


    "No, but I can send you something." Scarlet told her.


    "Yippee, thank you bestie." Mina waved her fists around and smiled. "So, why the video call?"


    "Have you seen the news?" Scarlet asked her.


    "For five brief seconds before I switched it off." The other said.


    "So did you see the part about the Rogans suing the mecha warriors association? They have mentioned my husband specifically as one of those that are being used of ipetence_" She rolled her eyes because Esong was not ipetent, especially not in battle. In fact, he was good at almost everything. He could be dull emotionally but that was his biggest w that she had observed.


    "Okay, that''s just crazy because the day the mecha king is listed as ipetent is the day mecha warriors cease to be useful. The Rogans are just panicking because their business is on a downward spiral."


    "Hey, Mina, I wanted to ask you if anything like this has ever happened before. Has someone ever sued the mecha warriors?"


    "Of course not, it''s like suing a mutated beast for killing your loved one or suing a doctor failing to treat the darkness. The case will be thrown out because it''s not a precedent the emperor, ministers or tribunals want to set. In fact, the people themselves will riot if this nonsense actually gets to see the light of day in a courtroom because which mecha warrior will save someone if their rtives can wake up and sue you if something goes wrong? Ignore all that my friend, this has only picked attention because it happens to be the Rogans. I bet they are paying for half of the publicity themselves. Don''t worry your pretty head over such an inconsequential matter."


    "Mmm, thanks for the information, and stop stealing my flower pots."


    "Which flower pots, Mina mumbled. Oh my mother is calling me, bye-" she hung up without waiting for Scarlet to respond.


    It had been on the tip of Scarlet''s tongue to tell her friend that she had footage of her leaving the castle with a potted flower after dropping off a gift for herself and Justin yesterday in the morning.


    ''I will just send her the footage.'' Scarlett thought.


    She continued baking with the robot butler, making two different versions of cinnamon and chocte donuts. One version was for the underworld and another was for her family.


    There was a knock on the door of the kitchen and she looked at the entrance. Coral, was the one knocking and standing there nervously.


    "What''s the matter dear? Which of the guards yed a joke on you today and frightened you?"


    The girl had a weak heart and she was easily frightened which had resulted in a few of the castle guards ying pranks on her every now and then.


    "The empress is here and she would like to meet you. Should I send her to your office or would you like to meet her in the living room?" the girl asked.


    "Did she tell you why she wants to see me?"


    "No, governor, she did not."?Coral shook her head energetically as if the words ''no'' did not express her message enough.


    "Is that why you are nervous?" Scarlet Scarlet asked her. "Did the empress scare you?"


    "Yes." The girl nodded, "She is the empress!!!" Coral expressed in a voice filled with awe.


    Scarletughed, ''Ah, I see.'' she thought.


    "Please bring her over, I will take a break and speak to her in the living room. Call Gertrude and tell her toe and prepare some tea and serve some of the cinnamon donuts to the empress."


    "Yes governor."?Coral rushed out and Scarlet left the rest of the work to the robot butler.


    Scarlet cleaned her hands, tidied her hair and took of her apron. If it had been any other visitor, she would have met them in the kitchen without a second thought but the empress was different.


    "She is here." Alex told her.


    "Alright." she answered.


    She left the kitchen and arrived in therge living room at the same time with the empress.


    "Scarlet dear," the empress called her name with a smile on her face.


    Scarlet curtsied and bowed slightly, "Your highness." she said.


    "Do not do things the traditional way when we are alone, you don''t need to curtsy or bow." the empress told her.


    "Yes your highness."


    "And don''t call me that when we are alone, just call me empress or Lady Vara, I insist on it." the empress added.


    "Yes, your_, empress." she said with a smallugh. "Please sit down."


    The empress chose one of the smaller white chairs in the room.


    Scarlet sat in one of the bigger ones that was opposite of that one.?She crossed her legs and then uncrossed them. The, she tugged at her dress and looked at her hands when she was done with that.


    "Do not be nervous dear, I am here to speak to you as a___, I am not sure if I should say friend,dy, or rtion.?Frankly, I do not know what to call you when we are alone. I am sure that you have a few grudges against us for the way our pce handled things in the past." The empress leaned back against the softfortable chair and she looked at Scarlet seriously, waiting for her respond.


    "I do not begrudge you personally empress, I am sure that the idea was not yours. Moreover, I was at fault in many ways. However, some good dide out of it all, wouldn''t you say?"


    "That can said to be true, you have turned this wastnd into a fruitful." The empress responded.


    Gertrude and three maids came into the living room and served tea and the freshly baked donuts, bread and biscuits.


    The empress mixed her own milk tea, adding only one spoon of sugar while Scarlet helped herself to a warm cup of cold chocte milk.


    After watching the empress take three sips of her tea, Scarlet finally asked what was on her mind.

 Chapter 285 Nothing_

    <h4>Chapter 285 Nothing_</h4>


    "If it''s not too much trouble your_, empress I would love to ask for the reason why you came to seek me out so early in the morning. Do you have something that you would like us to discuss?"


    The empress slowly ced her cup of tea down on the table. Even that simple act was filled with gracefulness.


    "I will get straight to it then," the empress looked at Scarlet seriously and she asked, "How much would it take for you to sell this back to the royal family?"


    She almost dropped the cup of chocte milk in her hands because of this unexpected question which she had not foreseen.


    Of all the questions or things she expected the empress to discuss with her, buying back the was not on her list.


    The empress noticed her tiny reactions and she said, "You must be fluttered by my question dear, I should apologize for suddenly springing it on you like this."


    Scarlet put down her own cup of milk and took a deep breath.


    Then, she opened her mouth and said, "I am afraid that I am going to disappoint you your highness. The Blue star is not up for sale so nothing and no amount of money that you offer will tempt me to give it up. Why would you buy back a that you never sold in the first ce?


    It was given to Esong and I as a wedding gift which we happily epted. Do you know what it was like when I had just moved here, it was empty, dry, the people were starving. Those were some hard times, but we endured and now things have changed and they are looking up.


    I have made many promises to these people about the blue star being our home. What will they think if I sell our home?


    Let me ask you this, would you be interested in buying it if it was still the old deste blue star?"


    The empress looked at Scarlet and she said frankly, "No, if it was the old blue star, I would not be interested. Do not take my offer to buy the blue star from you in an offensive way. The idea does note from the emperor, it''s something I came up with on my own. I knew that you would say no but I figured that I would ask anyway."


    "Thank you for your honesty." Scarlet told her.


    "Well, we are going to be even closer in the future after my son weds your sister so I do not want to base the future our rtionship on lies."


    "That will make me very pleased your highness." she said.


    The empress sighed and picked up her tea cup, "Again with the your highness_"


    "It will take me a while to be familiar with any new way of addressing you."


    "I am not impatient dear, we can take away our time."


    "So, when do you n to return to the capital your highness?"


    The empressughed and asked, "Has my short lived stay already made things difficult for you?"


    Scarlet waved her right hand immediately, "No your highness, that is not the case at all.?We are very happy to host you, it is a point of pride for us now as we have only just recently joined the ranks of decent stars."


    "So why?" the empress asked.


    "It''s because we will be getting back to work tomorrow. Abiding by thews of the empire, the citizens will be working half days with the exception of those who want to work for a full day. I myself will be quite busy and I would not want you to feel ignored in any way."?she exined.


    This was because of Cecily''s words on attitude and what not.


    "I have been informed that the Xenoans will also be leaving tomorrow so I assumed that you would be too."


    "Oh no, I intend to stay back for a few more days. It is perplexing to me that the Xenoans are leaving so soon however, I was expecting them to stick around for a while and attempt to poke around. Don''t you find it questionable that they are leaving already?" the empress looked at her with the expectation of an honest answer.


    "I think the prospect of trade with us has excited princess Carana, she requested for samples of things to be carried back and presented to their empress." Scarlet replied.


    The empress nodded her head along to Scarlet''s exnation and then she added, "What else do you think we can trade with them with the exception of nts or animals? This kind of opportunity is too great to simply handle cidly. Now, one of my guards mentioned that their ships run on a different kind of energy from ours and he thinks that''s why they run faster. I think we could benefit from receiving their energy stones."


    Else where in the pce, more drama was created by Amara who visited the castle once again, to see Adler.


    He had not been expecting to see her so soon after the way she stormed off and the things she said.?Why did they keep letting her into the castle?


    He could see that glint in her eyes when she stopped him on his way out of the castle by nting her body directly in front of his car.


    When he stopped it, she run to the side and opened the car door, letting herself inside.


    Already, castle workers were slowing down their steps to see what was about to follow.


    Adler would not give them the satisfaction of turning his life into their entertainment so he drove off, in search of a private ce where they could both talk in peace.


    He found the perfect spot in the underground parking of his office building. Through the whole ride, they had maintained perfect silence that was filled with tension.


    It was not sexual tension, somehow that had fizzled out, over the years. It had taken time, but he was slowlying to realize that Amara might not be it for him.


    A woman who did not respect his family did not deserve his time or attention.


    "I am not in the mood for whatever is going on in your head Amara and please, stoping to the castle, it is my sister, the governor''s castle, not Adler''s castle. I have work to do so get out of my car."


    He expected her to throw a temper tantrum but what she did next, took him by surprise.


    Amaraunched herself at him, in tears, grabbed his face and started kissing him.


    For two seconds, he was surprised, but then, his sanity was restored and he pushed her away from himself. The harder he pushed, the more desperate Amara tried to hold on and initiate intimacy.


    "What the hell are you doing?" Adler shouted sternly and shoved her away from his body with much power.


    The tears she had feigned dried up quickly and a sneer on her face reced them.


    "What''s wrong, it''s not as if we have not kissed many times before." she said.


    "That was back when we were still together." he banged his fist on the dashboard of the car to make the point that Amara somehow seemed not to be getting.

 Chapter 286 A violation

    <h4>Chapter 286 A vition</h4>


    Adler eyed Amara like she was a venomous snake which was attempting to bite him. What was wrong with her? She was extremely different from the woman that he remembered. She had been right when she said that she was different, she was something else, something bad and rotten.


    "It''s that old bitch, right? The one with blonde hair that lives in the castle. I have heard rumors about her and you, that you are sleeping with her. Is that true?"


    Surprised, Adler looked at Amara with dismay in his eyes. "What are you talking about?" He asked her.


    Amara''s voice was high pitched as she seemed to be bing hysterical. "You are fucking her, right? I knew it from the first day I set eyes on that picture of both of you together. How is it, is she better than me, huh!, you bastard!!"


    She raised her hand and almost pped him but he caught her hand and stopped her just before the p couldnd on his cheek.


    "You have lost your damn mind Amara." He shook his head inplete disbelief. There was a plethora of curse words he wanted to apany with that statement but he controlled himself.


    "Yes, I have lost my mind because I love you so much, soe back to me. Move out of that castle and live with me. We will be fine on our own baby, and we can even start a family together. If it''s money, I have a lot and I can provide for both of us." Wide eyed and desperate, Amara pleaded with him.


    But Adler could not believe what he was seeing or hearing.


    "Amara, I have been allowing you to vent your anger on me because I loved you once and I thought that I still did but I have been fooling myself. You were right, you have changed but I don''t think it''s anything new or because of what I did. You are sitting here and telling me that if it''s a money issue you will provide which not only do I find insulting but it also makes me wonder. Where was this offer when my family was banished?" He flung her hand out of his with much disgust on his face.


    "Wait_" Amara said and she tried to touch him again but he repeated his actions of pushing her hands away, preventing her from brushing against even the hairs on his arm.


    "It was no secret that we could not return to the capital but you could have visited the blue star. If you loved me as much as you im, you could have showed up even if it was just once to express your displeasure or vent your anger. But you never did." And he never wanted to admit it but he had hoped that she would show up magically one day. The magic had finally happened, but it was not as he dreamed.


    "I have a job_" Amara jumped in to give an excuse.


    "Do you take me for a fool? You think I don''t know that the RGB does offer time off? You could have requested for it but you chose not to. So ask yourself why you never did, Amara. I could note to you but you could havee to me so don''t try to me it all on me and make me feel guilty as if I was the only bad one here." He barked at her loudly with a raging voice filled with all the pent up anger he had pushed deep down over the years. "As a matter of fact, this is aplete waste of my time, let me make this clear, we are done Amara." He got out of the car and abandoned it, heading into the building with fury written all over this face.


    She got out of the car and run after him, screaming his name as she always did but this time round, he did not stop for a single second or turn back to look at her.


    "Don''t let her in." he told the guards who manned the entrance to the department of defense building.


    He could hear her as he headed into the lobby, she was iming to be here on RGB business and he scoffed. It was probably how she had been getting into the castle as well.?Did she even realize that she was viting her authority and that badge by using it carelessly like this?


    "I am a fool." he mumbled to himself. He sent a message to his secretary telling him to put Amara''s picture and identity into the system on the list of those who were cklisted from essing the DOD without his exclusive permission. He also nned to ask his sister to do the same with the castle.


    As a matter of fact, it might be best if she was transferred back to the capital.


    Back in the castle, the empress left Scarlet''s private wing soon after Esong came out of their bedroom in search of his wife.


    "We will talk some more." she said to Scarlet.


    Scarlet had walked the empress out and then returned to find Esong sitting on a chair at the kitchen ind and gouging himself on donuts that were meant for the underworld.


    "Oh dear!" she whispered to herself.


    "Yaaa, these are so good, they just melt in the mouth." he said and he finished another one in two bites.


    "Oh sweet Jesus." she whispered. Not that it was dangerous for a human to consume food or snacks made from products?that she got from the underworld but they were precious. Counting the number of donuts he had eaten so far, those were fifty soul energy crystals.


    "So good," he picked another one and she pped his hand in an attempt to force him to drop it. He had not even swallowed the one in his mouth yet because the "so" came out sounding like "sho"


    Not knowing why she was forcing him to drop the donut, he smiled like a fool and asked her, "Why are you fighting me for these, do you want to eat together?"


    "No," she rolled her eyes very hard, with a look of disbelief on her face. "Ah, you gluttonous oaf, look what you have done."


    She rushed to remove the tray which was sitting in front of Esong. The man probably had ns to eat the whole thing alone.


    "What?" He stole one as she took the rest away. "Are they for a special asion?"


    "They are not for you." she told him and she got a different tray, one with chocte filled donuts and pushed it towards him. "Try this one." she said.


    He raised one eyebrow curiously and bit into one, the sweetness of the chocte melted into his mouth and he grinned.?"It''s good, you should have rewarded yourself with the money Big Santa took at the baking tournament. No one beats you when ites to cooking. I think maybe you should teach me."


    "You," she pointed at him, "want to learn how to cook!"


    "Yes, why not." he replied with a shrug.?He left his chair and came over to her, then he pulled her down and sat her on hisp. "Think about this, on days when you are exhausted, I can be the one to cook for us."

 Chapter 287 Date night

    <h4>Chapter 287 Date night</h4>


    She smiled and put both of her arms around his neck snugly. "Woooow, have you always been this considerate?"


    He pulled out the hair band which was holding her hair up in a ponytail and her hair fell down naturally, just the way he like it. "Only for you, ask my men, I am the opposite of considerate when ites to them."


    After saying this, he raised his nose and sniffed her hair. Then he leaned away from her face and said, "Speaking of considerate, where is your dog that eats like it owns the castle. I have not seen him aroundtely, my Hachiko is lonely."


    "Severus is hunting in the forest, he will return when he has found something worthy of my time." she replied.


    In his mind, Esong calcted the number of days that the dog had been gone and he wondered what it was feeding on. It could be possible that the animal had died of starvation in the forest while she waited for him to return.


    "What is it eating?" he asked.


    "I gave him a storage bracelet and taught him how to use it, it took a while but he is an expert now." she answered.


    Immediately, he chuckled because her response reminded him of the time they saw the dog in the virtual arena.


    "You gave your dog a storage bracelet when forty percent of the people cannot even afford one! Wow, you are spendthrift. And you spoil him so much, if he cannot defend himself out there one of those shadow guild hunters is likely to steal it from him. Or themoners who are hunting in the forest of finding a mutated beast which was left behind. Is there a way we can track him down and bring him back home?" he knew how much she loved that dog and he was worried that she would be devastated if anything happened to it.


    She giggled and looked up, "Are you actually worried about my dog right now?"


    "Of course, what''s yours is mine and all that." he answered.


    Then, he pushed his head forward, ensuring that his face was close enough to hers so much so that he could smell the cinnamon on her breath from thest donut she had eaten a few minutes ago.?He puckered his lips and made kissing sounds with a cheeky smile on his face.


    She brought one of her hands forward and covered his lips. "What is kiss worthy about this moment, our baby is on the way here with his great grandmother and grandmother for breakfast. Go and put on something decent."


    She wiggled and got off hisps, while he sighed and looked down at the sleeveless ck vest he had donned. How was this not decent?


    "Hurry up, go and put on a shirt." she pulled him by his right hand out of the chair.


    With the way she did it so easily, she knew that he was allowing himself to be dragged by her.


    While mumbling something about nothing being wrong with his outfit, he still made his way to the bedroom to get changed while she prepared the cups and arranged the table.


    In a few seconds, Justin came in holding the hands of both of his grandmothers an singing the itsy bitsy spider while jumping.


    "Mummy, your baby is here." he abandoned Cecily and Mega the minute he set his eyes on her.


    "Yey, my sweet baby is here." she responded with much enthusiasm and picked her up as he lunged himself at her.


    She twirled him around, then threw his body up and down while saying, "Whoosh, whoosh," and Justin giggled at the top of his voice.


    Their game made Mega nervous and she told Scarlet, "Stop ying around both of you, what kind of risky game is like that?"


    "Yes, at the table moreover," Cecily added.


    Mother and son settled down and they both sat down. Esong came over and greeted his grandmother and his mother-inw before finding a seat as well.


    "How was your sleepover with your little uncle and aunt?" she asked Justin.


    "Little uncle let out bad air at night." Justin replied with a giggle.


    Scarlet joined him in giggling as theyughed at Gregor.


    "Table conversation." Mega banged down a spoon and mother and son stoppedughed.


    "Are you ready for school son?" Esong changed the topic.


    "Yes daddy, I want to see my friends, and teacher Peggy and principal Stash and...."


    All the adults listened with smiles on their faces as the young one named all the people ha had missed and could not wait to see.


    After breakfast, Mega asked Scarlet, "What are you two up to tonight?"


    "Date night." Esong answered loudly, and quickly.


    Cecilyughed and Esong turned his face away and he put on a serious look on his face. "I was just sharing information." he said.


    "Right." his grandmother said.


    "Mother you will have to spend time with Justin and keep an eye on him." Scarlet said.


    "I know the drill," her mother replied, "Keep him away from Emory."


    "I already spoke to Emmet, they will be moving out of the castle tomorrow. We found them a house on the upper floor of the cat paw building." Cecily shared with them.


    "Mother is going to hate it." Esong said.


    She would be unsatisfied and angered by the prospect of having to share a living space with ordinarymoners. Additionally, if they did not upy an entire floor, she wouldin every single second about being forced to live in such diminished quarters.


    "Yeah well, whose fault is it?" Cecily mumbled. She was spending less time with Justintely because Scarlet did not trust Emory not to show up around them when they had him.


    Her great grandson was more important that Emory and her nasty attitude.


    "Okay, I have a meeting in ten minutes so I need to run. I will see you allter."?She gave Justin a big kiss on the cheek and hugged her mother.


    She turned around and hugged her husband as well before running off.


    "So I don''t get a hug." Cecily mumbled after Scarlet run off.?"I wonder who she is meeting."


    "Someone in city hall, I heard that they are nning to construct and underground tunnel leading from this city to the next one. But, is that a good idea? Wouldn''t it copse during winter if mutated beasts attack?" Mega was looking at Esong.


    "It depends on the materials they use." Esong replied.


    Then he carried Justin up and lifted him up and down as if he was carrying a drum bell while Justin squealed.


    Cecily and Mega looked at each other, thinking, first the wife and now the husband. Did these two think their son was a ball to be yed around with anyhow?


    "We are going gardening, put him down." Cecily ordered Esong.


    "Yes,dy Cecily." Esong replied in a humor filled voice.


    "Are you joining us?" Mega asked him.


    "No, I am joining my men for training."?He fist bumped Justin before leaving.


    "I guess that leaves us." Cecily muttered.


    Justin broke into a song about flowers and he jumped, leading the way out of Scarlet''s private wing.

 Chapter 288 A proud father

    <h4>Chapter 288 A proud father</h4>


    In the car, Scarlet briefly dropped by the underworld and observed with her own eyes that Frost was still going strong. He was almost at the third crossing point.


    So, she returned to the human world and went on to her meeting.


    "Good morning governor." Tion greeted her for the first time that day.


    "Good morning Tion, you have a smile on your face today. Do you have good news to share?"


    "Yes governor, it''s about my youngest son Eden, I was contacted by Principal Stash about putting him in the advanced painting ss. He has been working very hard at it all through the holiday. Ten percent of my ie goes towards buying painting supplies which are very rare governor. If you could please speak to someone about this I will be very grateful." He spoke like a proud father. Indeed painting by hand was a very rare skill in the interster. They usedputers for everything, including painting. She had included hand painting in the curriculum of the children as a fun activity. It was wonderful to know that they were serious at it.


    She remembered the shy little boy, Eden that she met for the first time when he needed a med bed because a space pirate stabbed him. She had also seen him a few times during story time in the library. He was not a very talkative boy, and he always kept to himself mostly in the library. It was good to know that he had something that he loved which he excelled at as well.


    "Wow, that''s amazing." She said. She almost made a joke about him raising a little Van Gogh but she kept it to herself. He would not understand anyway.


    "Yes, painting by hand is a natural talent which is not verymon. Even though his skills are still basic, he has much potential."


    She saw the smile on Tion''s face brighten even more as he exined. "If all goes well, in future people will pay thousands of star coins for one of his paintings. I have some pictures of his work, would you like to see?"


    The proud father pulled out the pictures before she could even say yes or no.


    She obliged him by looking at the pictures andplimenting them. She was no art connoisseur but the paintings did look nice to her eyes.


    When Tion took his phone back, she asked him, "Did any of you see my brother Adler leave the castle in the morning?"


    "I did governor." The guard that was driving the car said rather quickly.


    It sounded to her like he was dying with anxiety to spill what he knew. She was asking because he had not picked her call this morning when she tried to invite him over for breakfast.


    Alex also confirmed that he had left the castle.


    "Oh, okay." She could see the surprise in both Tion''s and the other guards eyes when she asked no further question on the matter.


    But that was what she intended because she had no ns to engage in a tete-a-tete session with outsiders on a matter that concerned her brother.


    At her office on the one hundredth floor of a building covered in blue stained ss, Scarlet stood in front of one of therge windows that allowed her to overlook arge part of the city. The view from here allowed her to see her castle, the bank, the supermarket and a few apartment buildings. The schools and farms were far from her view.


    One of thergest buildings which was most outstanding from her view was department of defense building. It was not evenpleted because they were still erging it.


    Using her grim reaper vision, she watched Precious, her assistant delivering the breakfast which she had just sent over for Adler.


    She could see him, sitting in front of hisputer monitor on his desk. He did not touch the breakfast, which made her sigh and look away.


    A few secondster, her phone buzzed and she received a thank you text from him.


    She texted back, "You are wee, and please call me soon. Don''t brood for too long my darling brother."


    It had to be rted to Amara, the thing that was bothering him so much. And yet, ording to the brown cat Adler and Arya spent the night in the library together. They read books,ughed and talked but fell asleep in there and only left in the morning. What did this mean?


    "Hey,e to the grey star partner." She heard these words in her mind from a voice that belonged to Severus.


    She blinked and appeared at the sire of the crater where shest fought soul eaters. He was there, waiting for her with a fresh shine to his fur.


    "Did somebody go to the spa or groomers?" She teased him.


    "I run into my mother." He answered. "We have fresh souls to collect, let''s go."


    "I don''t sense them." She tried to feel the fresh souls but nothing called to her.


    "Look for the ones that are about to die, not the ones that are dead. Tap into my senses and you will locate them."


    That was quite easy to do since they were linked deeply. She could feel them, the souls whose light was slowly dimming, some faster than others. They were like candles which had burned and melted down to theirst tiny wick which was seconds away from being snuffed out.


    "Do you see this all the time?" She asked him.


    "Yes," he answered. "We get names from the underworld of those whose lives will soon end and we track them. That''s how we lead repears to them quickly. Now let''s hurry, there is not much time left for these people."


    She counted six souls whose lights were dimming quickly and they were clustered together as if they were in the same location.


    Severus blinked and brought her to the edge of a cliff which was overlooking an ocean.


    She presumed it to be an ocean because the water was deep blue, clear and beautiful.


    She found herself standing on the sand, and she looked at Severus.


    "There he said," His eyes were on the vast waters, and from far a small almost unnoticeable boat was floating on the water slowly, making its way back to the shore.


    She used her vision to look closer, it was not like the boats from earth. This was more like an oval shaped orange and white capsule that could float on water. It had two engines on the side, and within, she could count six people, all of them dying.


    "I am guessing those are souls we are here to pick up." She said.


    "Do you want to wait from here or blink to the boat and be quick about it. If we wait for the boat to reach the shore, it''s going to be twenty minutes."


    She shook her head and looked around to see other humans running to the shore, they had probably been keeping an eye on the boat.


    "I won''t wait, I do not want to give any soul eaters clever ideas. You said that they live anywhere, even in the water."


    "Wise choice." He told her and he blinked, sending them to the top of the small boat.


    They stood right on the white cover of the pod whose top was transparent enough for her to see inside. Five men had died, but one was still alive but he had six breaths of life in him and the way he was looking up at her and Severus with a smile, it was like he knew why they were there.


    She waited patiently and opened her soul gourd and then took their souls as soon as thest man took hisst breath.


    She pushed the boat to the shores with a small but powerful wind.


    As she left, she could hear the mournful cries of those that found the bodies of the men.


    "Do you pity the dead still?" Severus asked her.


    "No," she answered.

 Chapter 289 Surprises underground

    <h4>Chapter 289 Surprises underground</h4>


    "You are finally adjusting, I thought it would take you a century or so to stop feeling sorry for the dead humans. Should I be impressed or worried?" Severus asked her this as he blinked and returned them to the cliff.


    "Why have you brought us here instead of blinking back to the blue star? Should I return on my own?" She thought that with their mission here aplished, she could naturally return to where she came from.


    "There is something underground, but that''s not the issue, answer me first. Have you adjusted your mentality or turned off part of your emotions?" He answered. "Oh, follow me to that thing underground, you will like it."


    She followed him into a thicket of dry bushes that seemed to be prickly. If she had been weaving her way between them with a human body, she would end up covered in wounds.


    "Won''t you answer me?" He asked.


    "Right, the question, you told me yourself that death is not the end. It''s a transition from one life to the next. Some of them have suffered greatly in this life and they can get the chance to be reborn into happier lives. Or they don''t get to be reborn and simply die and their suffering ends. Whichever way it is, I have convinced myself that death, ultimately is not a thing to be dreaded. It''s the methodology of death that one is to be weary of perhaps. Nobody wants to die a violent death, we would all rather go unknowingly in the night while we sleep. But that''s not always the case, like these men. I bet they knew that they were dying and they were terrified. But now it''s over and the terror is gone. So no, I do not pity the humans anymore when ites to death."


    "Hmmm." Severus replied.


    She had been expecting more but he did not give it to her so she shrugged and continued walking.


    In reaper form, she never felt tired or thirsty and she could move for months without stopping. But knowing that she had another meeting in fifteen minutes made her want to end this walk sooner.


    "Do you smell that?" Severus asked her.


    "What she asked him?" And she sniffed the air, drawing in long deep breaths as if she was doing breathing exercises. The air smelt sweet here, so sweet that she could practically taste it on her tongue which was abnormal so she observed the environment. There were tall trees with only a handful of leaves left after a brutal winter. The trees stood over a tiny stream which flowed through a rocky cave that went deep underground. There were small fresh sprouts of grass on the ground, tiny and unnoticeable. But the grass itself was weird because it had yellow tips.


    She squatted down and plucked a small de.


    "What''s this?" She asked Severus.


    "A honey grass flower, it''s not from this world. A few seeds must have somehow made their way here with a bee. I smelled it when I came over to check on those whose names I had, the ones who were going to die soon. Take a peek underground in the cave and tell me what you see."


    She used her vision and hearing to look inside and first, she had a loud terrible buzzing which she attributed to bees, hundreds, thousands or millions of them. And then, she gasped and looked deeper, to see colonies after colonies lined up in a long underground tunnel that was obviously dug by humans because of it''s structure. There was a single tree down there but it spread so wide and had branches long and thick vines that had spread out for miles. She followed the upward movement of the tree upwards through an opening in the cave and Severus suddenly blinked, bringing her directly to the tree above ground.


    Tall, thick and proud it stood, with healthy leaves that had not withered. It''s roots were firmly lodged in the ground and she could hardly see how deep they run.


    "What is this?" She asked Severus. "What kind of tree is this?"


    "One that fed on fire soul stones for years, do you feel that?" He asked.


    The wind around the tree was different, it was filled with energy and warmth. When she touched the tree itself, it felt hot as if there was a fire burning inside of the tree.


    "There are remnants of weapons, nts, stones, crystals and things from the underworld and other heavenly realms on every world. The worlds may change and entire poptions might be wiped out by deities but the ground remains the same. Things are just buried and new humans build over the surface, rarely looking deep to find out what''s buried. Unless they are searching for remains of their ancestors. asionally a human will find an item that does not belong to their realm and either they are blessed with incredible fortune or misfortune. In the end, most of them go mad and often possessed by evil. So we step in called upon and whatever they find is either retrieved by the gatekeepers, an exorcist or a hound."


    "So, the tree grew up on something from the underworld."


    "Yes, that''s why I was attracted to it in the first ce. It has been transformed into a spiritual nt over the years, five hundred or so I guess. It''s flowers are inedible to humans and it bears on fruit." he replied.


    "So how did the bees find it? It''s like this is their territory." she spoke in wonder.


    "The flowers," he said and then paused, "Maybe one of the bees came from that crack we saw in the space. Those bees down there are red and green with long pincers and I have only seen them on one world, Nord, a gxy far away from this one. Or it could be one of the many species that originally lived on this world and somehow survived whatever cleansing was done by whichever deity did the cleansing. But the bees have been surviving on the tree for years, they are a special breed now,"


    "So is there honey." she gasped and said, "Look at all that honey down there, I bet this will be something unique in the underworld."


    "In this world too." Severus reminded her.


    "I need to start harvesting, oh my God! this is incredible. Wait, are the bees dangerous? Does their sting kill?" She had many thoughts, ideas and questions.


    "You should calm down first Scarlet and remember that we are not standing on the blue star, this is not your."


    "You are right, this is not my. That means I must get the honey in grim reaper form." she said with a smile as if she had just thought of the most brilliant idea.


    "And what happens if the citizens of the grey star, guild hunters, or anybody else destroys this ecology? What if they decide to cut down the tree? This is why I brought you over, the honey might be good for your cultivation so we need to secure the spiritual tree." he emphasized hisst words.


    "Should we uproot it?" she asked him.


    "No, the bees might scatter." he said.


    "Then what?" she asked him. "Short of iming ownership....oh my God, that''s it!" she eximed. "I have to buy thend on which the trees and the cave and the tunnels sit."

 Chapter 290 Plans for the future.

    <h4>Chapter 290 ns for the future.</h4>


    She looked around, observing the ce where she was standing. The trees, the stream of water and the distance to the cliff, it was not an ugly ce. It was not pitted or cracked like most of the grey star was. If she bought this ce, then it was possible to turn it into a bee farm and eco resort. If she included most of thend going to the ocean,?she could turn it into one of those resorts in Greece that she always wanted to visit but never got a chance to.


    "I think I can make this work Severus, and I need to be quick about it because if I start introducing beaches to the blue star it won''t take long for other sharp eyed business people to see the value in owningnd by the ocean, sea orke. And like you have said the honey from these bees is important to me. Not just the honey but the tree and it''s flowers as well."


    Severus grunted and a misty smoke was emitted from his nose. Then he said, "I am happy to see that we are on the same page. Should I deliver the souls for you?"


    "Thank you my ever helpful partner." She handed him the soul gourd. It would return to her naturally after he delivered the souls. "I am going to collect some honey before heading back home."


    Severus blinked and he left, while she ventured into the cave, carefully, she passed through the vines, using them from leverage as she traveled through the cave. Her n was to enter the deepest depths of the cave but she decided against it. She used her energy to scare the bees away and then she took onerge honeyb. When she was finished, she poured some crystal water into the small holes close to where she took the honeyb. It was like a trade, she thought, she would provide crystal water in exchange for some of their honey.


    She returned to the blue star and went through the next meeting, signed a few documents and then left the office during the lunch hour.


    First, she went in search of her brother who should have been quitting work as well but it seemed as if he would not be doing so anytime soon. He was bent over some printed maps which had taken all of his attention.


    "Sister," Adler said when she surprised him by popping up in his office.


    "Are you still brooding?" She asked from where she stood in the entrance of the doorway leading to his office.


    "I am not brooding." He responded.


    He looked away from her and looked down at the maps again. The breakfast she had sent him was sitting at the furthest end of the table, open to exposure. Half of it was untouched, and as the baker who took time baking the donuts she took offense to this gross wastage of her snacks.


    "You didn''t eat." She said, with a frown and a dash of worry. "Why?"


    "I am not so hungry today." He imed.


    She moved forward, and sat down in one of the chairs in his office. She made sure to sit in the chair which faced him directly.


    "You are always hungry brother, not starving hungry but cannot resist sweet snacks hungry. Tell me brother, what is it that is bothering you? I am not leaving until you tell me what it is and we work through it. I told you brother, I am your protector now."


    "Have you always been this inquisitive?" He looked up at her and asked. "I don''t remember you being this nosy as a child."


    "What can I say, things change." She replied. "I know this has something to do with Amara and since I am the only one in the family who knows about your little secret, I am willing to listen again, so tell me."


    "It''s no big deal, just instruct the castle guards to stop allowing Amara toe into the castle. She is using her RGB identity carelessly, it''s a crime. Oh, this might be quite tricky but I wonder if your husband could use some of his influence to get her sent back to the capital."


    Scarlet bit her bottom lip and leaned her body against the armrest of the chair as she internalized this new information.


    "You are not getting back together with her." She said slowly.


    "Not in this life time." He replied through gritted teeth. "Or any other I hope." He added.


    She wondered when it had be this bad for him to go from choosing her to disliking her to a point of intolerance.


    She had a nasty attitude for sure, especially because flipped them both off on Christmas night. She had been tolerating her of Adler but since that was not the case anymore, it was time to say adios to Amara.


    "I will speak to the empress, given the uneasy rtionship between the mecha warriors and the RGB, I don''t think they will want to assist Esong in any way. Don''t force yourself to meet her if you don''t want to brother, your happiness should be your only priority. Go with the woman who makes you feel at ease, this is why I asked you if Amara made your heart beat because of love or fear. I knew that as my brother you would not settle with a woman of such nasty character."


    "I appreciate your help my mighty protector," he finally smiled for the first time since she entered his office.


    She got on her feet, looked at the time on one of the four clocks on his wall whose purpose she did not know and then she said, "Now that you are smiling, I will be leaving. I won''t be sending you lunch since you wasted my breakfast." She pointed at the half eaten donut and it''s twopanions that had been wasted.


    "Sorry, I will warm them up and eat themter. Thank you for passing by my dear sister " She left as he wrapped them up and kept them away in his storage bracelet.

 Chapter 291 Another first date___1

    <h4>Chapter 291 Another first date___1</h4>


    In the evening after spending time with her mother, Cecily and Justin in the empty gardens of the castle nting flower seeds, Scarlet took a warm soapy bubble bath with flower petals picked from Lythia''s garden. She attempted to mimic Lythia by creating water creatures in the bathtub but she failed. She settled for creating transparent butterflies and bubbles which floated around in the bathroom but popped every time they touched the wall or something sharp. Then, dressed up nicely, then she went to themon lounge downstairs and waited for Esong to show up and pick her up.


    As she waited, for the first time, she took a picture and posted something on star that was not rted to food.


    The mecha king sucks: [Date night with the mecha king who only sucks a little bit now. #Miss Du Fyne on blue star]


    Then, she continued to wait with a patient and rxed demeanor as she read through thements on her post. She even responded to some, with words, emoticons or funny memes that she had saved up but never used until now.


    [I can''t believe you still haven''t changed your user name on star.]


    The mecha king sucks: [Why should I?]


    [Hello my favorite chef.]


    The mecha king sucks:[ Hello fan 011011011. I love your name btw.]


    [You look beautiful chef Scarlet.]


    The mecha king sucks: [Thank you, I was born beautiful, it is my plight.]


    [Loving the red lip, you look gorge!!!]


    The mecha king sucks:[Thank you, I love it too.]


    [So he only sucks a little now, huh!!]


    The mecha king sucks: [Should I add the percentages and calcte the degree to which he sucks?]


    [If he sucks give him to me, I am willing to sacrifice my life enduring his suckiness.]


    The mecha king sucks: [That sacrifice has already been made, keep moving.]


    [I love miss Du Fyne, take a lot of pictures from the concert.]


    The mecha king sucks: [ I will try but I am making no promises.]


    [Does this mean you are going on a date with the mecha king, I am happy for you but I also hate you and I am jealous of you, sob sob]


    The mecha king sucks:[Don''t hate, also jealousy is an ugly color on pretty women.]


    [This must mean the marriage is working, please give us another kiss to remember, don''t be shy.]


    The mecha king sucks: [I will aim to please.]


    [Merry Christmas chef Scarlet.]


    The mecha king sucks:[Thank you dear, I wish you a happy new year.]


    [Where is Justin, is the baby going for date night too?]


    The mecha king sucks: [My baby will be sleeping as should all children be doing at that time.]


    She was having fun engaging with her fans online, teasing, rebuking and joking with them them and she only stopped when the sound of someone clearing their throat forced her to look up.


    "You are here," she said.


    The words came out of her mouth before her eyes saw the handsome face of her husband who was dressed in all ck, jeans and a t-shirt. He added brown boots and a long coat. His hair had been cut, and curled, it was now reaching down to his shoulders.


    She took in a deep breath and admired


    "Wow." she said.


    "I would say the same gorgeous, you look___, perfect" he replied with a smirk. He was proud that she had lost her marbles for at least three seconds when she set her eyes on him. Those fashion columns on star were not totally useless.


    "Come here." he extended his hand and helped her up.


    She could not tell if she tripped over something or he simply used too much energy while helping her up but she ended up falling against his chest.


    "Oh!" she gasped.


    "I have got you." he said, in a deep reassuring voice and snaked his right hand around her waist and pulled her body against his tightly.


    When she looked into his eyes, she noticed that he was smiling, but it was the sparkle in his eyes that gave him away.


    "Oh, you bad, bad, boy." she drawled.


    He said with a smallugh, "I can assure that whatever it is that you think I did, I did not do it."


    "Uh huh." she replied.


    Esong looked up andughed, and then he let go her waist as well.


    She watched him do this with an indulgent smile on her face. ''So handsome,'' she thought, ''He is so handsome.''


    "Are you ready to go?" he asked her.


    She nodded, and picked up her handbag from the chair where she had been sitting. "Food first," she said hopefully.


    "Pizza and c soda." he said. "Will that be okay with you?"


    "I don''t mind." she said.


    He held her hand and led her out of themon room, walking slow so that their steps could be evenly matched. With every few steps that he took, he looked at her face and smiled, as if he was thinking of something secret.


    "What?" she asked him.


    "Nothing," he imed.


    "Say it or I poke your eyes out the next time you look at me." she threatened him, yfully because she was smiling.


    He shrugged, and said, "I am just__," he paused,ughed in a embarrassed way and then added, "Just blown away by your beauty."


    She blushed and suddenly scrambled to hold her purse over her face.


    "Ho!" he eximed. He stopped walking and because he was holding one of her hands, she stopped walking as well. He used that free hand to try and swat away the purse she was covering her face with. "Don''t hide." he said withughter in his voice.


    "You caused it," she replied. "If you keep staring andplimenting me then I might have to mask my face."


    "That''s extreme, you don''t need to mask your face oh beautiful one." he responded.


    She took the purse down and hissed at him, "Seriously." she said.


    "Alright, alright, then, no more staring orplimenting which is going to be really hard to do because this is supposed to be a date. We are supposed to do such things like staring into each other''s eyes while engaging in deep soul touching conversation." he reminded her.


    They started walking again, and arrived at the cars. He intended to drive so she sat in the passenger seatfortably. One car with guards drove ahead of them and one behind.


    In the car, after adjusting her seat belt again, she looked at the man who was confidently driving with one hand and using the other to tease her hair, "What happened to the man with a list of topics to talk about? I don''t remember any o those things being soul touching or deep."


    Esong guffawed and slowly shook his head. "Right, our first horrible date. Did I ever apologize for it appropriately anyway?"


    "No, you did not." she blurted out loud immediately. "You pped my hand when I offered you a ss of wine."


    He groaned deeply and said, "Don''t remind me, it''s a memory of shame that I want to erase from my life."


    Sheughed, pointed at him and said, "Shame, shame, shame,"


    "Your weird." he shoved her lightly and said, "I am erasing history with my nonexistent wand and dering this our first date."


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