Long Yue wasn’t an irrational person. She knew this wasn’t the time for a head-on confrontation.

So, after exchanging a look with Jiang Qin, she went with the red-haired male Beastman.

Now, only Jiang Qin and the blond male Beastman remained. After a moment of silence, he spoke first. "What’s your name?"

Jiang Qin remained silent. ’My face is all over the Star Network,’ she thought. ’I can’t believe these kidnappers actually don’t recognize me.’

’That’s... just perfect.’

"My name is Yun Xin."

"A beautiful name. You can call me Xiao, as in a formidable hero. Or you can just call me husband."

Jiang Qin was speechless. "...Xiao."

Zhan Xiao raised an eyebrow but didn’t press her to call him husband.

"Come on. I’ll take you to a room to rest."

But when they arrived at the room, Jiang Qin fell silent.

"Does... someone else live in this room?"

Zhan Xiao saw nothing wrong with it, saying matter-of-factly, "This is my room. We’re mates now, so of course we’re sharing.

But don’t worry. I know you’re pregnant, so I won’t touch you for now."

Jiang Qin was speechless.

"Get some rest. There’s nutrient liquid in the cooler; help yourself if you get hungry. There are climate-controlled suits in the closet."

"Okay."

After Zhan Xiao left, Jiang Qin hurried to the closet, changed into a climate-controlled suit, and then drank a tube of nutrient liquid.

Then, she quickly went to her system’s jewelry section to craft enchanted accessories.

She bought most of the special materials the system offered daily, as long as they weren’t too expensive, so her inventory was quite well-stocked.

She had her own Superpower, so she only needed to craft a Jade Pendant with a defensive effect for herself.

Then she made an offensive hairpin and a defensive Jade Pendant for Long Yue.

There was no helping it. The jewelry module was limited and could only craft accessories.

Things like guns, Mechas, or laser swords were out of the question.

Besides, those kinds of things were too conspicuous.

A hairpin was much better. It was small and easy to hide. With the element of surprise, killing a male Beastman wasn’t out of the question.

...

Crafting in the system took time, so she lay on the bed in the room for a while.

Once the crafting was complete, she tried to leave the room.

To her surprise, the blond male Beastman hadn’t set an access lock on the door. With a gentle push, it swung open.

The spaceship was massive, however, and she didn’t know which room Long Yue was in. She could only head in the direction they had gone and search room by room.

In the surveillance room, Zhan Xiao saw this unfold but couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it.

’It’s not like they can jump off the ship, anyway.’

"Go on, take her to the other female’s room."

He didn’t even have to ask to know who she was looking for.

His subordinate nodded, quickly found Jiang Qin, and escorted her to the door of Long Yue and the red-haired male Beastman’s room.

...

She knocked on the door. An impatient voice came from inside, "Who is it? Bothering me at this hour."

When the door opened, both of them were stunned.

The red-haired male Beastman was surprised that Jiang Qin could move freely around the spaceship.

Jiang Qin, on the other hand, was shocked by his face.

The man, who had been somewhat handsome just a moment ago, now had a face covered in scratches. The corner of his mouth was red, swollen, and bleeding, and his eyes were puffy...

"You..."

"You’re here for Yueyue, right? Go on in."

The red-haired male Beastman generously gave the room to Jiang Qin, then grimaced in pain as he headed off to use a Medical Pod.

’This female is so fierce. I like her, hehe,’ he thought.

Inside the room, Long Yue—the one who had beaten the man to a pulp—looked to be in exceptionally good spirits.

Broken objects were scattered across the floor, but she was casually sitting with her legs crossed, sipping a cold drink.

Her makeup wasn’t even smudged. At worst, her hair was just a bit messy.

Jiang Qin stammered, "...Yuyu, are you okay?"

"Oh! Sis, what are you doing here? That blondie didn’t give you a hard time, did he?"

"No, I’m fine. What about you? What happened here? Did he force himself on you?"

Long Yue shook her head proudly. "Hmph, he wanted to, but I beat him up, and he didn’t dare to even lift a finger."

Hearing this, Jiang Qin breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems our luck is pretty good. They still have some conscience, not the completely depraved kind of Star Thieves."

"But you still need to be careful. Don’t go too far and make him angry."

"Hehe, Sis, you don’t get it. This is a kind of fun between mates. Some males just like to get beaten up." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I think he really likes it. He was smiling like an idiot even after I beat him up."

Jiang Qin was at a loss for words. ’Young people these days are really something else.’

"Ahem... let’s not talk about that. I came to give you something. This hairpin is made from a toxic material."

"If he tries to do anything inappropriate, don’t hesitate. Stab him in the neck, the heart, or between the eyebrows."

"Also, this is a Jade Pendant. Hang it around your neck. When faced with a strong enough attack, it will generate an Energy Shield that can protect you for several minutes."

"I can’t take these. Sis, you keep them for yourself."

Jiang Qin took out her own to show her. "Don’t worry, I have one too."

Only then did Long Yue accept them.

As for where the items came from, she wanted to ask but knew this wasn’t the place. ’Who knows if they have listening devices?’ she thought.

So, she didn’t mention the two items again. Instead, she walked over to the closet, took out a fresh set of clothes, and hid the items in an inner layer.

Knowing that they were both okay, the two women relaxed considerably.

"Yuyu, do you know how to pilot a spaceship?"

"I do, but these people aren’t following a standard flight path. They’re on an uncharted route. I don’t recognize it, and if I fly off course, we could end up lost in space."

Alright, that completely extinguished any thought Jiang Qin had of killing everyone and hijacking the ship.

"Then let’s just play along for now. We’ll behave and lull them into a false sense of security. We can make a new plan once the ship lands."

"Okay. Sis, you be careful. By the way, I’m going by Bai Yue now. ’Yue’ as in ’moon’."

Jiang Qin nodded and shared her own alias. "I’m Yun Xin."

Even though they hadn’t coordinated beforehand, they had both independently decided to use aliases.

She didn’t know why the auction house hadn’t given their information to this group of buyers, but hiding their identities was definitely to their advantage.

***

Jiang Qin returned to the room.

For the three days they were held captive, she and Long Yue had taken turns resting. Not trusting anyone else, neither of them had been able to rest properly.

Now, feeling temporarily safe, she finally succumbed to exhaustion, collapsing onto the bed and falling into a deep sleep.

She didn’t even react when Zhan Xiao returned and carefully lay down on the bed as well.

This certain someone, sleeping with a female for the first time, lay as stiff as a board, his hands folded over his stomach.

His eyes, however, were wide open, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t even dare pull any of the blanket over himself.

His heart was pounding out of control.

Zhan Xiao couldn’t help but curse himself.

’She’s just a female carrying another male’s cub, what’s there to be nervous about!’

’She’s already a seasoned veteran when it comes to love. As the leader of a Star Thief Gang, he should be waking her with a domineering kiss and pulling her into his arms to sleep.’

The reality, however, was that there was a whole river of space between him and Jiang Qin.