Chapter 4: The Fourth Iron Pillar

With the dwindling number of females, certain races that rely on females as their core began to panic, successively enacting policies and criminal laws specifically designed for their protection.

However, that only applies to certain races and only in developed regions.

In some chaotic, barbaric, and lawless backwater places, such as the Exile Star, the trafficking of sentient beings is as common as drinking water. In those places, the rare females are treated as commodities and sold off to local power brokers or wealthy merchants. Those born from artificial wombs—the non-natural humans—might reach adulthood without ever having seen a female if their families were poor.

It is therefore not difficult to understand why, when the proprietress mentioned that there was a girl with Shen Junlin, every mercenary in the bar looked over.

"Captain Shen, where did you kidnap this little girl from? We don't do anything illegal here."

The remark was clearly a tease; speaking of the law on the Exile Star was laughable. But that didn't stop some troublemakers from chiming in.

"That's right, Captain Shen. Why don't we help you take this little girl back? Little girl, where is your home?"

"Should Uncle take you home? My bed is..."

Before the words could leave his mouth, a blur flashed by. The man hadn't even seen what happened before his left shoulder took a heavy blow. The bone in his shoulder shattered with a crisp crack. The mercenary fell from his stool to the floor, his face draining from red to white.

The noisy tavern fell silent instantly. Apart from the mercenary’s pained wheezing, no one dared to make a sound.

Shen Junlin slowly straightened up, no malice visible on his face, as if he hadn't been the one who just struck. The man spoke with refined elegance, "Apologies. My lady does not like dirty mouths. To those who are disrespectful to her, I will return the favor twofold."

The silence continued to spread, and cowed by Shen Junlin's strength, no one dared to speak.

Until—

"Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry."

Having gone without water for a long time, her voice was a bit hoarse, lacking any sense of authority.

Shen Junlin turned immediately, his smile gentle: "My lady, let's head to the second floor."

Xinyue had grown accustomed to the noise during her week in the black market, but that didn't mean she would pass up a better environment. She nodded: "Lead the way."

Shen Junlin complied willingly. The two soon vanished from the first floor. The tavern grew lively once again. In a corner, someone asked, "Hey, who is that little girl? Your captain is being unusually polite to her, isn't he?"

A blue-haired man held his wine glass, but he was stunned; he only snapped back to reality after hearing the mercenaries at the next table. The others at his table moved in unison.

"What's the situation with the boss? How did he bring back a little girl after just one trip out? Andy, why don't you go upstairs and take a look?"

"You used me as a shield last time, and now you're doing it again? I'm not going."

"They say the law cannot punish the masses, heh, let's all go up together."

***

Compared to the boisterous first floor, the second floor was much quieter. Glowing stones were embedded in the floors and walls, casting a dim light that looked like moonlight scattered across the ground. There were few people on the second floor; only two tables of customers who preferred the quiet were dining.

Shen Junlin chose a table in the farthest corner. There was a small, movable wooden board at the corner of the table. Shen Junlin pushed it aside and pressed a red button hidden beneath. A small screen popped up, displaying three-dimensional images of various dishes.

The black cloak's hood hung too low, obstructing her vision. Xinyue couldn't see clearly, so she simply took off the hood. The light fell upon the girl’s face; the curve from her forehead to her jaw was exceptionally beautiful. Her eyes were long and narrow with dense lashes, and her pupils were larger than those of an average person.

Undoubtedly, this face was favored by the Creator, every inch of it perfectly beautiful—beautiful but not fragile, like a precious gemstone inlaid on a peerless blade. Shen Junlin froze for a moment, stunned by the face beneath the cloak.

There was a saying in the interstellar community: the more powerful the genes, the more outstanding the appearance. Take the "Ultimate" level races, for example; there was basically no such thing as an ugly one.

Looking at the menu, Xinyue blinked. This looked much better than the food in the black market. Could she have it all?

"My lady, what would you like to eat?" Shen Junlin asked. Seeing the sparkle in Xinyue's dark green eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Let me order a few things for you."

Xinyue nodded rapidly. Shen Junlin ordered six dishes at once. The order was placed, but the food would take some time to arrive, so they sat and waited.

"My lady, how did you end up on the Exile Star?" Shen Junlin asked. His tone was gentle, a very comfortable cadence that made people lower their guard.

Xinyue thought for a moment. "Someone brought me here, and then I escaped."

Shen Junlin: "Who?"

Xinyue: "I don't know. I was here as soon as I woke up."

She lied. They had just met; Xinyue felt no need to tell him everything, even though she felt she could win in a fight. Shen Junlin frowned.

"Tell me about the Bee Race," Xinyue said. She was quite interested in this. The database implanted in her mind by the Linamorian had only a shallow layer—things like language, writing, and how to eat or drink. She didn't know much about the deeper aspects. She needed someone to fill in the gaps, and since someone had offered, it was perfect.

Shen Junlin: "You want to know?"

Xinyue said: "Everything. Everything you know."

Two pairs of eyes met—one light purple like glaze, the other pale green like jade—yet both were equally calm.

So, Shen Junlin began his story.

The queen of this generation of the Bee Race was named Singis. Singis had been on the throne for eighty-three years, and during her reign, she had been extravagant and tyrannical. Seventy years ago, to satisfy the Queen's desire to collect beautiful gems, the Bee Race used the strength of the entire race to capture a gemstone star called the "Crown of the Sea."

Unfortunately, the Crown of the Sea was the stronghold of the Sendra, and the two races engaged in a fierce battle.

"Sendra?" Xinyue asked, puzzled.

Shen Junlin explained, "A race that feeds on gemstones. They have strong combat capabilities, and after eating gems, they grow armor that resembles them."

Just then, a robot delivered the food. Six dishes, a soup, and a small pot of rice covered almost the entire table. Once the food was served, Xinyue's eyes were glued to it. The black market provided food, but never anything this sumptuous.

Shen Junlin smiled. "My lady, please eat. I will continue to tell you while you eat."

Xinyue nodded. Her movements with the chopsticks were not very skillful; the meat kept slipping through. Having always eaten black bread, Xinyue pursed her lips and tried again. She managed to pick it up on the second attempt. Shen Junlin, who had been about to get her a spoon, withdrew his hand. He thought to himself that this princess was not at all delicate.

The two races fought, and in the end, the Bee Race was victorious, but the victory carried a heavy scent of blood. The reason was simple: when the Bee Race sent their main force to war, the Mondangpu Eagle clan, which held a grudge against them, raided the Bee Race's headquarters.

It was said that the raid reached the palace where Queen Singis resided. She fled at the sound of the attack, but due to the emergency evacuation, she could not take the several Royal-level female eggs stored deep within the palace. The specific outcome was unknown to outsiders, but after that battle, the Bee Race declined once again.

Once a powerful race ranked in the top ten of the galaxy, they had now retreated to beyond the top two hundred. To maintain relative peace at their borders, they even signed humiliating peace treaties with neighboring races.

"How disgraceful," Xinyue muttered, taking a break from eating.

She continued to eat after her comment, stuffing her cheeks until they were bulging. Perhaps because she was satisfied, her eyes curved into crescents. The food here was different from the black market—not just in taste, but because after eating it, she finally felt a sense of "fullness."

"What meat is this?" Xinyue asked, her voice muffled.

"Meat from a Fanged Rabbit beast. These beasts can be hunted in the nearby forest," Shen Junlin explained.

"Can the Bee Race interbreed with other races?" Xinyue had another question. In her understanding, the Bee Race was a totalitarian society with only one voice—the Queen's. Was such a race really suited for interbreeding? It was an era of war, and conflict often broke out over a single disagreement. If there were many Bee Race hybrids, wouldn't they fall into an awkward position when war started?

But Xinyue hadn't forgotten the beastman she saw earlier; Shen Junlin had said he had Bee Race blood.

"Originally, they couldn't," Shen Junlin said, his eyes darkening.

But there were always exceptions. Eighty-four years ago, the Bee Race suffered a massive incident that nearly wiped them out. The Bee Race throne was occupied by the capable; what mattered was the purity of the princess's pheromones and their ability to control other bees through those pheromones. Only sufficiently powerful pheromones allowed the Queen to completely control the entire race through the mental realm.

In essence, whoever had the strongest pheromones took power. That rule had existed since the birth of the Bee Race; it was unwritten, yet every generation treated it as an iron law. The princesses who died in the struggle for the throne had no regrets; they all knew it was for the future of the race.

However—

When the old queen died, the new queen who had ascended to the throne was too preoccupied with a sudden war to deal with the losers who hadn't committed suicide.

"Was she ambushed?" Xinyue swallowed the meat. Now that she wasn't so hungry, she was even more interested in the history of the Bee Race.

"No one knows exactly what happened, only that the new queen died, and of the princesses who should have committed suicide or been executed, only the current queen remained," Shen Junlin said.

With only one left, there was no choice, so the survivor became Her Majesty the Queen. It was a pure stroke of luck.

"Does the hybrid issue have something to do with the Queen being weak?" Xinyue glanced at Shen Junlin before her gaze drifted back to the dining table. She continued to eat.

Shen Junlin sighed. "My lady is correct. Because this queen's pheromones are not strong enough to control the entire race, hybrids have appeared."

And the appearance of hybrids meant the Bee Race's combat strength was on a downward spiral.

Xinyue picked up a piece of roasted meat and put it in her mouth, her cheeks bulging again.

"My lady, concerning your pheromones..."

Footsteps suddenly came from the stairs.

"Boss, didn't that kid Adolf go out for a smoke just now? He said he saw a lot of patrol guards outside, looking for someone."