As Charlotte grewanxious, ZhaoChen'sgazefelluponherseveredears.

Although ZhaoChen hadlonggrownaccustomedto Charlotte'soldscarsandheldnoaversiontowardsthem,seeingthesemarksalwayslefthimfeelingabituneasy.

"Charlotte,wehaveourownmedicalshipnow.Wouldyouconsiderundergoingafullbodyrestoration?" ZhaoChen suggested.

Charlotte paused,thenloweredherheadandwhispered,"Actually...keepthesescarsasaremindernottoforgetwhathappenedbefore..."

ZhaoChen raisedahandandstroked Charlotte'shead:"Wewon'tforgetthepast,butwecan'tremaintrappediniteither.

Wehaveafuture;wehavemoreimportantthingstodo.

Almostallthe alf-Beastmanswhowereoncepartofthe RebelArmy andarenowscatteredthroughoutthe Starlightmpire havebeengatheredbyyou,somesettledonDragonStarne,andothersjoiningour XiaolongFleet.

veryoneisenthusiasticabouttheircurrentlives,andyoushouldalsoletgooftheseshackles.

fyoufeelthatyourfailurewiththe RebelArmy backat Warhammer wasyourfault,whynotaskthecomradeswhofollowedyou?

Didtheyeverresentyou?"

At ZhaoChen'swords, Charlotte'sheaddroopedevenlower,andhertaildroopedweaklytotheground.

"eneral Charlotte, Commander isright.Seeingyoualwayslikethis...onestly,thoughwedon'tsayit,ourheartsacheforyou,"a alf-Beastman femalesoldiersteppedforwardandsaidwithapainedexpression.

veryoneonthe Bridge hadheard ZhaoChen'swordsjustnow.

And ZhaoChen'sactionsjustnownaturallyattractedtheattentionofallthefemalesoldiersonthe Bridge;howcouldtheymissoutonsuchclose-at-handgossip?

"eneral Charlotte,weoncesawyouinyourincomparablygloriousanddazzlingstate,andwehopeyoucanleadusforwardinthe XiaolongFleet inyourbestcondition!"

"Wecan'tbetheonlyoneslivinggoodliveswhileyouremaininthepainfulpast!"

"Commander isright,wehaveneverblamedyou,eneral,forourdefeatinthe RebelArmy before!"

earingthewordsofthese alf-Beastman femalesoldiersaroundher, Charlotte'seyeswerecomplex,filledwithemotion.

ZhaoChen raisedhishandandstroked Charlotte'shead,sayingsoftly,"Captain Charlotte,haveanorder.

Whengoto XiaolongMainStar later,needyoutogotothe 3Andromeda-classnterstellarMedicalShip forafullbodyrestorationtreatment.

Allexpenseswillbecoveredbythe XiaolongFleet.

hisisanorder!

fyoudon'tagree,'llpersonallydragyouthere!"

Charlotte bitherliplightly,andfinallynodded.

Afterward, 3Blizzardne arrivedat XiaolongMainStar.

ocreateanatmosphereandenhancethepresence, 3Blizzardne slowlyentered XiaolongMainStar'satmosphere,accompaniedbyten BlackKnights.

Whenthis Starfleet appearedabovethe ZhaoFamilyResidence on XiaolongMainStar,allmembersoftheZhaofamilyimmediatelygathered;theyhad[]justlearnedthattheir ordZhaoChen,whohadn'treturnedforoverayear,hadarrived.

ZhaoFamilyResidence.

AdensethrongofZhaofamilymembersgatheredoutsidetheparkingplazaspeciallybuiltfor shuttleswithintheresidence,lookingupatthe Starfleet abovethem.

Althoughtherewereonlyeleven nterstellarWarship,theydarednotunderestimatethemintheslightest.

Afterall,the 3Blizzard wasknownasalegendary Starship.

hehangarofthatlegendary Starship opened,a shuttle emerged,andfifteen 2BlackKnight mechsweresimultaneouslydeployed.

heylandedfirstaroundthe ZhaoFamilyResidence.

"BlackKnight FirstSquadhasreachedthedesignatedposition."

"BlackKnight Second..."

"..."

Fifteen BlackKnightsstoodlikeguardsontheground,awaitingthearrivaloftheirsovereign.

he shuttle slowlydescendedtothecenteroftheplaza,anditsrampopened.

Firsttoemergewasasquadof Commander'sguards,allfemalesoldiers.

heycarried aseruns,woreportablepersonalarmor,andtheirweaponsalsoincludedpersonalenergyshields.

nnecessarysituations,theycouldprotectthe Commander'ssafety.

"ooneisallowedwithinfivemeterswithoutpermission!"theguardcaptainbarked.

heZhaofamilymemberspromptlyretreatedbeyondthefive-metermark.

heystillvividlyrememberedthescenewhenthis XiaolongFleet hadbloodiedthe ZhaoFamilyResidence andpurgedthevariousnoblesofthe wlDragonStarSystem.

Atthatmoment,afigurealsoemergedfromthe shuttle.

eworea XiaolongFleet militaryuniformandacrispmilitary-styleovercoat.

ZhaoChen surveyedhissurroundings,andthoseZhaofamilydescendantswhosegazeshemetnervouslyloweredtheirheads.

Unlikeayearago,thecurrent ZhaoChen...orrather,iscount ZhaoChen,gaveofftheimpressionofagiantdragonrestingatopamountainpeak;hisentireaurawasmuchmorerestrained.

Yet,his Pressure,comparedtoayearago,hadnotdiminishedbutincreased,commandingrespectwithoutanger!

Justasingleglancemadethemfeelasiftheywerebearingtheweightofacolossalmountain.

"Jiangong,actingordofthe wlDragonStarSystem,greetsiscount." Jiangong wasoneofthefewZhaofamilymemberspresentwhowaspermittedtoapproach ZhaoChen.

Jiangong kneltononeknee,herwordsfilledwithreverence,acompletechangefromherattitudeayearago.

"Zhaofamilydescendants,greet ordZhaoChen."

SomeoneamongtheZhaofamilymembersstarted,andsoon,oneafteranother,peoplearoundthemkneltdown.

"Allofyoumayrise.'mjustcominghomeforavisit;there'snoneedforsuchagranddisplay.

veryoneexcept Jiangong maydisperse," ZhaoChen said.

With ZhaoChen'scommand,theentireplazasuddenlyappearedmuchemptier.

"First,let'sgopayrespectstomySecondrandmother." ZhaoChen strodeforward.

Jiangong andtheothersfollowedcloselybehindhim.

Asecludedancientcourtyardinthe ZhaoFamilyResidence.

"Allofyou,stayoutside." ZhaoChen stoppedatthemaingate,leftacommand,andthenwalkedintothecourtyardhimself.

hecourtyardmaintaineditsrusticstyle,withpillarsandafewsmallanimalsinside.

Secondrandmotherwascurrentlylyinginarockingchairwithhereyesclosed,seeminglyasleep.

AmaidwasgentlymassagingSecondrandmother'sshouldersnearby.

Whenthemaidsaw ordZhaoChen appear,shewasstunned.

ZhaoChen putafingertohislips,signalinghertobequiet,andthenmotionedforhertostepaside.

ZhaoChen himselfbegantomassageSecondrandmother'sshoulders.

twouldbehardfor ZhaoChen'senemiestobelievethatthemanwhocouldmakethemvanishinaninstantwasnowsoquiethere,likeanordinaryjunior.

"Youmustbeverytiredoutthere."Secondrandmotherplacedherhandon ZhaoChen'spalm.

ZhaoChen'snosestung.hefirstthingtheZhaofamilymembers,including Jiangong,feltwhentheysawhimwasonlyawe,andtheireyesheldonlyenvyandjealousy.

heyfearedhisstrengthandenviedeverythinghepossessed.

heyonlysawhisglamourandmajesty,unawareoftheheavyburdenhecarriedbehinditall.

"fyou'retired,rest."Secondrandmotherpatted ZhaoChen'spalm.

"Mhm," ZhaoChen quietlyresponded.