Once the safety measures were out of the way, the team captain adjusted himself and continued briefing General Kristoff, downplaying the embarrassment.
"Everyone agrees that she must be a body cultivator of sorts, since our torture methods are still not effective..."
He said a few more things before finishing, then took a step back and returned to the line. No one spoke a word for an entire minute, as the General was contemplating.
'Could it be because she is from that planet?' General Kristoff pondered until the nearby prisoner interrupted him with ridicule.
"Serves you right, old bastard."
The prisoner leaned against the wall of his cell and stared at the black ceiling. The weight of seventy years of imprisonment seemed to be catching up to him.
"Witnessing your minions' struggles, their fear, and slow deaths... This old man can finally die without much regret."
"It's just a pity I wasn't the cause of your sufferings," he sighed loudly.
The two lines of guards, five on one side and four on the other, turned their heads and glared at the old man's cell, with looks ready to commit murder.
"Pft... don't give me that look, when you're not going to do anything about it."
"In fact—"
"Enough!" General Kristoff shouted, massaging his temples.
He then turned to the team captain and ordered him to bring the female prisoner before him, while the prisoner continued to throw scornful looks in his direction.
When the team captain returned, he was accompanied by a weak but gorgeous jade beauty whose clothes, though ordinary, covered every nook and cranny of her body. She even had a bag on her head, with only breathing holes and a large pair of eyeholes.
The prisoner was a jade beauty and had mind-melting curves, suitable for dual cultivation. Yet when she was brought before the general, all the guards turned their heads toward the empty ceiling, avoiding her at all costs.
Likewise, after seeing the female prisoner, the shadows churned and retreated several feet back.
***
Six weeks ago, when the prisoner was initially brought in, everyone was perplexed because she lacked the aura of a second step.
Even after the royal physicians declared her loss of cultivation, the orders from the higher-ups remained unchanged, raising many questions.
But who would dare defy Princess Ariana, who was next in line to the throne?
After a bit of contemplation, some of the supermax guards, while off duty, conducted their own investigation and uncovered some juicy rumours.
"The crown prince is missing."
"That girl appeared in his bedchambers mysteriously."
"She killed two servants shortly after and wanted to escape."
"When caught and questioned, she said she is Tsunami's woman."
"..."
Some of the guards began laughing at the stupidity of the comrade who seemed to believe the rumours, especially the last one.
The poor guard ended up getting responses like.
"I have a better chance of becoming a god than the crown prince laying a finger on a woman." Or
"Tsunami's woman," humph! ", she might as well claim to be a pig's woman." They burst out laughing.
"It's—It's true, you have to believe me," the poor guard, the youngest among them, almost cried with frustration, as he stammered.
"If it's not true, then why did the Princess give out that order?"
"Have you ever seen, Princess Ariana, getting so involved with the supermax affairs?"
"..."
These questions were things his companions couldn't answer. They remained speechless for a good while, seeing their youngest in a new light.
But despite the logic, no one would believe the Crown Prince had a woman.
If the Princess, despite all her efforts, background, power, and beauty, failed even to hold hands with the prince in public... then there was no way a nobody would be his woman, and even dare to say they cultivated together.
'Maybe the Princess felt offended by the prisoner's claims and wanted to make an example out of her, ' that was what everyone thought.
But the prisoner's peerless body and otherworldly beauty, which they witnessed during her torture sessions, made them realise that if the Crown Prince ever got bewitched, then perhaps this woman could do it.
But unbeknownst to everybody, a silent storm was brewing inside the royal palace.
...
At 9 am on a typical Monday morning, inside the Queen's bedchambers, the day started uneventfully as usual until a royal physician pounced on the Queen during her checkup.
"Ahh!..." she screamed in her bed with utter disbelief.
Pinned down, the Queen only had a loose, thin piece of cloth covering her body, her guard completely down. After all, the royal physician had treated her household for forty-seven years without fail, and he was one of the few people she trusted.
But now, on top of her, and bewitched, the royal physician was long gone. In his stead, a lustful beast salivated at the sight of her large breasts.
In a swift, singular motion, he managed to destroy her attire, revealing her pink nipples, which seemed to welcome him with great anticipation... at least that is what his impaired mind thought anyway.
But before he got any closer, he was stopped from eating his prize, by an ice blade conjured by the Queen.
The Queen's startled and helpless display ended when she remembered that she was the fifth-strongest being in the Kingdom, and the physician was just a first step Favourite.
As she stared at the severed head and her body that was now covered in blood, a mix of emotions welled inside her heart.
Flustered, embarrassed, and with an abysmal anger, the Queen ordered that the physician's household be sold into slavery, with his cultivation partner killed and her head hanged at the entrance of the central city gate.
Juicy rumours circulated among the daring shadow guards. With those who were present to see the event unfold but caught unprepared, gaining an impressive following throughout the day.
"Hey Zero, you saw the Kingdom's treasures right... How massive are they? What colour do her nipples have?" twenty-three whispered in an excited voice.
"Bastard!"
"Do you have a death wish?" Zero replied in a pretentious scolding manner.
"Eh! But your room, says otherwise Zero," Seven chimed before Eight grinned mischievously at Zero's pretentious act.
"Come on... man to man, how are they?"
Staring at the pair of excited eyes and all the attention he had, Zero felt that he had finally made it in life.
After all, only three shadow guards were stationed for the Queen, and primarily for secretarial and convenience issues.
And unlike the shadow guards, under the Princesses and the Crown Prince, who were supposed to monitor them 24/7, the Queen's guards didn't. It became quite a thing for them to have bets about the Queen's unseen body, and who would be the first one to have such an hour.
"Hm...hm" Clearing his throat, Zero finally responded.
"A cultivator's dream."
....
But things were far from done.
In the evening of the same day, some maids had pounced on the guards, taking them by surprise. Ultimately, they were killed and didn't manage to do any damage to the guards, but apparently, they were too powerful to deal with, and ended up leaving serious injuries for those who were least prepared.
As the day neared its end, everyone let out sighs of relief, "What a day," and went to bed.
But shortly after, the real debauchery began.
11:30 pm.
All the shadow guards who had fought, captured, monitored, or even glimpsed her face began experiencing frightening levels of desire.
Seeing the abnormal change they were experiencing, their eyes widened in horror... but it was too late.
Pent-up and with their reasoning faltering, they turned to each other and pounced.
Whoever was fated to be in patrol with them, be it male or female, living or unliving, human or beast, anything that had a hole, anything that could fit in a hole, even their own supernatural powers, were attacked for debauchery.
Luckily for everyone in the royal palace, the Queen was a little jumpy from the morning's encounter and couldn't sleep, no matter how hard she tried.
And as a third step Favourite who was currently vigilant, she picked up the disturbance, with her strong divine sense, early on and halted everyone.
There were naked bodies everywhere, some fondling each other's breasts, some about to begin heavenly penetration... and the wild beasts who were about to be violated, ran for their lives in utter horror, after their captors remained unmoving for some reason.
In her bedchambers, the Queen frowned as she put on her robes and got out of bed.
"Just what exactly is happening to my palace?"