After their intimate moments, Derick wanted to hold Castorice and drift off to sleep.
On the chair beside them, a severely damaged pair of white silk stockings lay discarded.
Derick gently rubbed his collarbone. A lingering ache remained from Castorice's 'little retaliation' after he had been a bit too rough earlier.
They'd rested for a bit, but he was still feeling a little too stimulated. Plus, the day's battle had infused Derick with a massive amount of Abundance energy.
With both Abundance and Fecundity coursing through Derick's body, he truly couldn't hold himself back.
Just as he was about to snuggle with Castorice and fall asleep, his phone on the bedside table suddenly lit up.
"Who would send a message at this hour…?" Castorice's lips curled into a slight pout, a hint of displeasure on her face.
She thought to herself, Please don't let it be Cipher. If it's her, I swear I'll find a way to lop off that bad cat's head.
Derick picked up his phone and saw the contact name.
"It's General Feixiao," he said, showing her the phone. "She wants to check on my physical recovery."
Seeing the contact, Castorice immediately told Derick:
"Well, Derick, you'd better go quickly. Don't keep General Feixiao waiting too long!"
Castorice might have been suspicious or jealous if it were anyone else. But General Feixiao? She was one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals! Castorice honestly couldn't imagine her having a secret affair with Derick.
"Uh, yeah, I know," Derick nodded repeatedly, feeling a little guilty inside.
After getting dressed, Derick walked out of the Warm Dust Inn.
Arriving at the entrance of the Warm Dust Inn, Feixiao was already waiting for Derick. Upon seeing him, she tossed two seemingly small sandbags his way. Derick reached out to catch them, feeling that each one weighed several tons.
"Here, tie these to your thighs and run for a while. Once your body is exhausted, and you've had a good rest, you need to intensify your training. That way, you won't let your body get lazy," Feixiao told Derick.
"Th-this, alright." Hearing Feixiao's words, Derick thought for a moment before agreeing. He reached down and tied the sandbags to his thighs.
Feixiao nodded in satisfaction at the sight. She started running ahead, signaling Derick to follow. Derick felt a bit awkward at first, but as he ran, his speed increased, and he eventually caught up to Feixiao.
"Not bad. Looks like you've recovered well."
The two of them ran until they reached an uninhabited mountain peak outside Cloudford. Thanks to the Luofu Xianzhou's exquisite spatial technology, the actual area of the Luofu Xianzhou was incredibly vast. Not only could it accommodate hundreds of millions of people, but it also had ample space for additional scenic spots.
The very mountain peak where Derick and Feixiao stood, though popular with tourists during the day, became deserted at night. This was especially true given the recent Jianmu outbreak on the Xianzhou, making the peak even more desolate now.
Reaching the peak, Feixiao stretched her body and took a deep breath.
"General Feixiao, did you bring me all the way here just to run?" Derick asked, stretching his slightly aching thighs, as he addressed Feixiao.
"Of course not." Feixiao chuckled, shaking her head at Derick's question. She turned to him, gesturing for him to untie the sandbags from his legs.
Once Derick had untied the sandbags, Feixiao immediately clenched her fists and took a fighting stance.
"I'm itching for a fight. Come on, fight with your teacher for a bit," Feixiao said with an excited tone. The day's battle had fully ignited her desire for combat. The Crimson Moon within her pulsed, still yearning for battle.
Derick, possessing the other half of the Crimson Moon, was the perfect sparring partner.
Seeing General Feixiao's eager expression, Derick could only nod.
Taking his stance, Derick also prepared for battle. From a battle hunger perspective, he didn't have as much as Feixiao. Feixiao's Crimson Moon still lay quietly within her heart. But the Crimson Moon within Derick had already begun to be assimilated.
Derick's body was so domineering that even a supreme being's Crimson Moon could be devoured and assimilated into his system.
Derick's current battle hunger was entirely his own. Compared to a natural-born battle maniac like Feixiao, Derick was quite a ways behind.
Feixiao swung her fist, her strength still carefully restrained, not surpassing Derick's. Derick dodged sideways, then raised his knee and clashed with Feixiao.
The two exchanged blows, engaging in close combat.
After sparring for a while, both Derick and Feixiao were drenched in sweat. Feeling her battle hunger sated, Feixiao reached out and grabbed Derick's fist.
"Alright, that's enough fighting."
She said to Derick.
"Uh, yeah, I know. So, General, can I go back and shower now?" Derick's grip on his fist loosened slightly.
But he hadn't expected that the next second, Feixiao would suddenly reach out and cup the back of his head, pulling their two sweat-drenched heads together in a gentle collision.
Sweat stung her eyes as Feixiao grinned.
"Don't rush. The sparring's over, but we still have a second half, don't we?"
After such intense exercise, Feixiao's physiological desires had fully awakened.
It was perfect for relaxing and adjusting their bodies after battle.
"Huh!?"
Derick, hearing Feixiao say that, was utterly flustered.
"'Huh' what? Are you saying you can't keep up?" Feixiao pressed her face closer to Derick's. Seeing his still-sweaty cheek, she stuck out her tongue and licked a bold trail across it.
Her tongue curled, taking in the slightly salty sweat, then Feixiao blew a breath onto Derick.
"Don't worry. I've already checked. It's just the two of us here."
In the early morning, Derick returned to the Warm Dust Inn.
Stelle was already up early. Seeing Derick appear, she curiously asked him:
"Derick, what were you doing out all night?"
"Oh, General Feixiao was worried about my physical recovery, so she called me out in the middle of the night to exercise," Derick replied to Stelle.
"Oh, I see. Understood," Stelle nodded, looking enlightened.
Derick yawned. "Ah~, I'm a bit sleepy, so I'll head back to rest."
"Mm-hm, then hurry and get some rest."
Stelle watched Derick head upstairs to rest.
Derick returned to his room. Castorice was already awake. Seeing Derick, she asked about his situation, just like Stelle had, and hearing he went to exercise, she didn't doubt him at all.
"You go rest then. I'll check on the others first," Castorice told Derick.
"Mhm." Derick nodded.
Castorice then left, and Derick headed into the bathroom to thoroughly cleanse himself, washing away all the sweat and other lingering scents.
After cleaning himself, he returned to his bed.
Lying on the comfortable bed, Derick stretched out, settling into a relaxed posture. However, he wasn't in a hurry to drift off to sleep. While his body relaxed, he also needed to check on the situation with his other clones.
Especially his First Clone; he and the others had been away from Amphoreus for so long. He still wasn't sure what the situation was like in Amphoreus now.
If Aglaea encountered any trouble, he needed to help as much as he possibly could.
Derick began to shift his perspective.
First, he didn't check on his First Clone; that one had the most going on, so Derick planned to save it for last.
He first switched to his Second Clone.
The Second Clone was currently in Ruan Mei's makeshift laboratory on the Xianzhou.
Ruan Mei had acquired a large amount of Phantylia's remains and was currently researching the energy and Matter within them. Looking at Derick's Second Clone, she chuckled softly and said, "Good boy, my little Love. Don't rush. Once I've finished deconstructing everything here, I'll feed you properly."
Hearing Ruan Mei's words, Derick's heart swelled with anticipation.
This was absolutely perfect!
Phantylia was dead, and her body was a finite resource. Every bit used meant less for later. Once it was all gone, he'd have to wait for the next harvest.
If Ruan Mei could cultivate a substitute for Phantylia's remains with enough energy, Derick would be laughing out loud with joy.
"You can do it, Miss Ruan Mei! You absolutely must succeed!" Derick silently cheered Ruan Mei on, hoping she would produce results soon.
Seeing Ruan Mei still engrossed in her experiment, Derick made sure his Second Clone remained still, so as not to disturb her work, simply waiting quietly on standby.
Derick continued to shift his perspective.
This time, he switched to his Fourth Clone.
His Fourth Clone had been launched into space and was currently drifting through the cosmos.
After Derick's gaze shifted to his Fourth Clone, he saw nothing but empty space around him. Even the nearest Stelle-sphere was incredibly distant, a considerably long way off.
As for the Luofu Xianzhou, it was long out of sight.
Even after suffering considerable damage, Phantylia's corpse still contained immense energy. Derick's Fourth Clone had been launched a significant distance by its momentum. Now, after drifting through space all night, it was impossible to tell where it had ended up.
He moved his body to prevent his Fourth Clone from stiffening completely. Seeing that the nearest Stelle-sphere was still far away, Derick decided to drift for a while longer.
Anyway, with the Amber King's barrier in place, Derick wasn't worried about his Fourth Clone drifting off to some unobservable location. So, he decided to just let it drift for now; wherever it ended up, that would be fine.
Derick felt that there were no issues with his Fourth Clone, and just as he was about to switch his perspective to his First Clone, he suddenly sensed the fluctuations of a starship warp jump nearby.
"Huh!? What's going on?!"
Derick was wondering what was happening when he saw a small starship appear before his Fourth Clone. Upon seeing Derick's Fourth Clone, the starship visibly paused.
"The owner of this starship must be wondering what in the world this pitch-black body is," Derick thought to himself.
Derick watched the small starship, mentally filling in the dialogue its owner must be having at this moment.
Not long after the small starship paused, numerous large combat vessels appeared behind it. Derick recognized the emblem painted on these newly arrived ships.
"Interastral Peace Corporation ?"
Derick was a little surprised.
He shifted his gaze to the small starship.
"Is the owner of this small starship a Fugitive from the Interastral Peace Corporation ?" Derick wondered to himself.
Of course, a Fugitive from the Interastral Peace Corporation wasn't necessarily a bad person. In fact, there were many Justice-aligned individuals among them. While the Interastral Peace Corporation was reasonable when dealing with major powers like the Xianzhou or powerful Emissaries like The Herta, their actions in places they could easily conquer were nearly as destructive as the Antimatter Legion's.
The actions of capitalists were stained with blood at every step.
On the Xianzhou, why did Scott appear like a clown? It wasn't because he was an idiot, but because Jing Yuan's God-Monarch status forced him to behave.
So, was the owner of this starship a good person or a bad person?
Just as he was thinking this, the Interastral Peace Corporation 's vessels began firing at the small starship. And without bothering to care, the Interastral Peace Corporation also fired at Derick's Fourth Clone, which was not far from the small starship.
Seeing the Interastral Peace Corporation 's ships fire so indiscriminately, Derick felt a surge of irritation. These guys truly had no humanity.
Since they had made the first move, Derick naturally wouldn't hold back. His Fourth Clone swung its arm, summoning lotus flowers identical to those released by Phantylia, and sent them soaring straight towards the weapon systems of the Interastral Peace Corporation 's ships.
He didn't want to cause any casualties before fully understanding the situation.
What if the owner of that small starship was actually a bad guy?
The Interastral Peace Corporation 's ships hadn't expected the pitch-black humanoid object floating in space to possess such power. But their anger quickly flared, and they intensified their firepower, attacking Derick's Fourth Clone.
At that moment, the small starship suddenly surged towards the Interastral Peace Corporation 's vessels.
"You bunch of little Loves, you always do things that make people want to Love you to death. Come on, I'm the one you're looking for. This creature has nothing to do with it."
Such a voice was broadcast from the small starship.
Transmitting sound in a vacuum was something that had initially surprised Derick when he first left Amphoreus. However, as he learned more about this universe's technology, he understood that for the factions here, propagating sound in a vacuum was not a difficult feat.
Hearing that voice, Derick's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Alright, now he didn't have to ponder whether the Interastral Peace Corporation or the small starship's owner was the bad guy or the good guy.
The owner of this small starship was actually the Galaxy Ranger, Boothill.
Derick didn't even need to consider the Galaxy Rangers' Justice.
So, as Boothill attacked the Interastral Peace Corporation , Derick also spread his hands, unleashing Abundance energy towards the Interastral Peace Corporation 's starships.
"Well done."
Boothill piloted the small starship, flying continuously, as he praised Derick's Fourth Clone.
He had originally planned to just fly away, but seeing the Interastral Peace Corporation 's members attack Derick's Fourth Clone, he became enraged.
These guys simply didn't value human lives.
The Company's members might not care about lives, but he, a Galaxy Ranger, certainly did. Harming others to save oneself was a violation of the Galaxy Rangers' code of conduct.
Even if this pitch-black creature didn't look quite human, it still wasn't allowed.
So, even knowing turning back was dangerous, Boothill acted without hesitation. And mid-battle, he suddenly saw the attack released by Derick's Fourth Clone, easily crippling the starships' weapon systems.
"Damn! I didn't expect it to be so strong!"
With Derick's Fourth Clone by his side, Boothill quickly damaged all of the pursuing Interastral Peace Corporation 's ships.
Once finished, he quickly flew over to Derick's Fourth Clone.
"Buddy, get in the ship. I bet there's more Company reinforcement coming, those little Loves. It'd be pretty dangerous for you to stay here."
Boothill opened the starship's hatch, shouting loudly to the over ten-meter-tall Fourth Clone.
He wanted to take this pitch-black monster with him. For one, Company reinforcements were on their way, and there was no telling what dangers this pitch-black creature might face if it stayed here;
And on the other hand, this pitch-black creature could unleash such powerful attacks. If it were to go and do something bad, and he didn't intervene, the widespread suffering it caused would be on his conscience.
So Boothill wanted to pull Derick's Fourth Clone onto his starship.
Seeing Boothill's invitation, Derick thought for a moment and decided to go with him. His Fourth Clone had no idea where it was going anyway, so following Boothill and acting as a Galaxy Ranger for a bit wasn't a bad idea. After all, flying by himself was a bit difficult, and moving with Boothill's starship would be much faster.
Watching Derick's Fourth Clone enter the starship, Boothill satisfactorily flashed a very 'healthy' smile.
"Hey, friend, can you understand me?"
Boothill said to Derick's Fourth Clone.
"Huh?"
Seeing Derick's Fourth Clone's reaction, Boothill scratched his head.
Derick's Fourth Clone remained silent.
Since he had hitched a ride, Derick didn't feel the need to do anything else, simply remaining motionless after entering.
Boothill tilted his head back, trying to meet the Fourth Clone's gaze.
Then, he was surprised to realize that the Fourth Clone had no eyes at all.
"Alright, you stay put here, then," Boothill patted his forehead. "Don't move around! If you try to do anything bad, I'll just use my little Love here to Love you to death, got it?!"
With an unknown creature appearing, Boothill still felt the need to issue a warning.
Derick's Fourth Clone remained silent.
Boothill helplessly slapped his forehead, then turned to pilot the starship.
Derick couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at Boothill's expression.
He then shifted his perspective once more.
Having taken care of his other clones, finally came the main event: he needed to properly check on the current situation of his First Clone in Amphoreus.
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