If that was Nathan Lockwood’s intention, Zoe Pierce had no problem with it.

In her eyes, it was a win-win situation.

She was trading her soothing ability for an equivalent exchange of resources. Even if it was just Nathan Lockwood helping her, that alone was a tremendous asset at the moment.

She let out a small sigh of relief, her expression serious. "I agree."

She even found herself adding, "I’ll be mindful of my words and actions. If I’m not doing a good job, you can tell me at any time."

What Zoe Pierce meant was that after becoming their Omega Comforter, she would be even more careful than she was now. She would work hard to only foster camaraderie and would absolutely not cross any lines.

Nathan Lockwood, who had been perfectly composed, was inexplicably taken aback.

His eyes swept over her as he let out an ambiguous hum.

"I’ll draft an agreement later," Nathan Lockwood said in a low voice. "You’ll need to sign it then."

Zoe Pierce agreed completely. For her, getting on board with them sooner rather than later was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

By the time they reached the dormitory, Zoe’s desire for a shower had reached its peak. After saying goodbye to Nathan Lockwood, she headed straight for her room.

In the interstellar era, everything was fast-paced.

Eating had evolved into drinking nutrient solutions, and even showering had advanced.

Nanotechnology-based cleansing worked by adhesion. You just had to stand in a special shower unit, and in only one minute, all sweat and grime would be detached and flung from the body.

Quick and efficient.

But Zoe Pierce felt she was too unrefined for such luxuries.

For her, the essence of a shower was the feeling of hot water washing over her body, the sensation of her pores opening up and relaxing. A shower completed by simply standing still and pressing a few buttons felt a little too futuristic.

She deliberately switched the settings to the "antiquated" shower mode. Only after giving herself a thorough wash did Zoe Pierce finally feel clean.

After all, she had been roughing it for the past few days.

But once she was done, she had to admit the special shower unit had its merits. Her hair, which had been sopping wet, was completely dry in less than thirty seconds.

Technology really does change lives.

Very nice.

Flopping onto the bed, Zoe Pierce let out a belated yawn. She had to go to the Psionic Training Room tomorrow morning.

————

「Elsewhere.」

Night stained the sky like thick ink. The vast expanse was dotted with countless stars.

Inside the two-person Alpha dorm, the lights were off and the curtains were drawn, plunging the room into darkness.

But the rhythm of their breathing told them that neither was asleep.

"Get online and fight me." Suddenly, Chase Shaw sat up, ruffling his already messy hair as he spoke to Nathan Lockwood.

Now that they’d been issued their Intelligent Brains, all they needed was to apply the special sensor patches to go online.

Nathan Lockwood had clearly heard this suggestion from Chase Shaw before. He grabbed an Intelligent Brain and the sensor patches from a nearby cabinet, and the two of them quickly entered the virtual world.

Inside a specially created mecha space, they climbed into their data-adjusted mecha and quickly selected a combat environment.

The technology was already quite mature, allowing Alphas to experience the impact and realism of mecha combat even within a virtual space.

The only downside, perhaps, was that the physical feedback from a mecha controlled by the Intelligent Brain was far inferior to that of a real Mech Bay, requiring much more mental effort to pilot.

However, it offered one advantage a Mech Bay couldn’t: convenience.

There was no need to lug a person-sized Mech Bay around everywhere.

"Head still hurting?" The mecha’s internal channel was open. Nathan Lockwood asked Chase as soon as he was settled in his.

’If I remember correctly, Chase only just received Zoe’s soothing today.’

’Getting dragged online for a late-night fight usually happened when Chase was feeling particularly restless.’

"It’s fine, I guess," Chase said, his tone listless.

In terms of how soothed his spiritual power felt, tonight was a vast improvement over the past. It was barely an issue at all.

But if he had to make a comparison, it still fell far short of how he felt when he was holding Zoe while he slept.

’It made him want to just drag Zoe over and have her continue being his comfortable personal pillow.’

’But the moment he had that thought, Chase felt even more irritated. Even if Zoe had lost her pheromones, there was no denying the fact that she was an Omega.’

’A thought like that was tantamount to going into heat over an Omega.’

The environment they chose for their mecha duel was the ruins of human settlements on a desolate planet. Yellow sand coated the dilapidated buildings. There was little cover and plenty of open ground.

Chase, piloting his mecha, drew a Laser Laser Gun and scanned his surroundings.

In this type of duel, victory was generally determined by who reached a preset attack score first.

Their win ratio was about seventy-thirty, with Chase taking seven wins for every three of Nathan’s. In one-on-one combat, Nathan’s strengths were completely suppressed. However, anyone who underestimated him would be in for a nasty surprise.

"I mentioned to Miles that I plan on making Zoe Pierce our dedicated Comforter Omega for the future." Nathan had spoken with Miles earlier that evening, which meant Chase was the only one who didn’t know yet.

Chase was stunned for a moment, as expected, then let out a soft chuckle. "Sounds good."

’If that’s the case, his bouts of irritability would be much less frequent in the future.’

"Did Zoe agree to it?"

Even as he asked, Chase didn’t think Zoe would refuse.

"She agreed, but she negotiated a condition." Nathan relayed the deal Zoe had proposed to him earlier. "She needs help with her family’s affairs."

Chase had never heard of the obscure Pierce Family.

But he couldn’t deny that Zoe was smart.

"If you need my help with anything, just ask." A slight smirk played on Chase’s lips. On his mecha’s display, Nathan’s mecha had just appeared.

He anticipated Nathan’s trajectory, raised his weapon, and fired abruptly.

Just as he expected, Nathan’s mecha was hit. A score notification flashed on its hull.

Nathan quickly retreated, abandoning his exposed position.

"You can help look into it. Find out who the Pierce Family sold their mecha energy ore to." Nathan’s expression didn’t change despite being hit. Instead, he continued speaking to Chase in a measured tone.

Chase’s family was principally in the mecha business. Most of the mecha equipment on the market was supplied by them.

The Shaw Family had its own mecha R&D department, and there weren’t that many sellers of ore specialized for mecha use in the first place.

Damien Pierce’s words might have been harsh, but in a way, he was right.

No matter which person on the team Zoe managed to win over, it would mean limitless resources for the Pierce Family.

It could allow the near-bankrupt Pierce Family to make a meteoric comeback.

"Even you couldn’t find anything?" When it came to who on the team was the most volatile, Chase wouldn’t deny it was him, even if he had been unusually calm these past few days thanks to Zoe.

’But he knew full well that he was still a powder keg, just waiting for a spark to set him off.’

’But Nathan was different.’

’He excelled at lurking silently in the depths, then striking unexpectedly, seizing his enemy by their weakest point.’