The minor gang leader running the tavern watched the group of males suddenly get all fired up, utterly baffled.

’Wait a minute... who the hell wants to bully our gang’s cub?’

’Just spit it out already!!’

’Have I been kicked out of the gang? Why didn’t anyone tell me something so important?’

To figure it out, he had no choice but to eavesdrop.

Only then did he understand what this bunch of brutes was thinking.

He was speechless. "Our Gang Leader is no pushover. You think he can’t protect one little cub?"

’Besides, it’s not like it’s the Gang Leader’s biological kid!’

He didn’t say that out loud, though. After all, protecting cubs was something engraved in the Genes of most males in the Interstellar era.

Especially on Chaotic Star, their attitude would soften, even when faced with Half-beastman cubs.

But that only applied to cubs.

When it came to adults, they never showed any mercy.

So even though Jiang Qin’s cub wasn’t Zhan Xiao’s biological child, they still had a soft spot for it.

Besides, they had gotten to know Jiang Qin well over this period, to say nothing of her relationship with Zhan Xiao.

So, deep down, they treated her child as the Gang Leader’s own and eagerly awaited its birth.

It was like nurturing a seed on the verge of sprouting in a desert.

...

And once people start to hold something dear, their feelings naturally become biased.

So, even though they thought the Golden Sand Gang was great and their Gang Leader was great, they understood in their hearts that this child could have a much better life.

He was like the classic "true young master" from a novel.

He was born entitled to so much, yet in the end, he would have to fight for it all himself.

If he didn’t fight hard enough, he would most likely end up rotting in the mire of Chaotic Star.

They knew they shouldn’t feel such pity.

But in reality, they were just a bunch of guys struggling at the bottom. They had become Star Thieves out of desperation, but even so, they still held onto their conscience.

Basically, anyone who managed to join the Golden Sand Gang was a Star Thief who still had a conscience.

That was why they had this soft spot.

"Why don’t we convince the Gang Leader to send the cub back to its birth father after it’s born? It’s not his kid, anyway."

"But wouldn’t that separate the mother and child? The Gang Leader’s wife would be heartbroken, and she’d always be worried."

"Exactly! If she’s always worried like that, won’t she just think about going home all the time? Keeping the cub here is the only way she’ll be willing to stay with the Gang Leader."

"But if we do that, doesn’t it mean the Gang Leader’s kid will have to become a little Star Thief just like us?"

The group fell silent, downing one glass of Inhibitor after another.

As a bunch of guys who couldn’t find mates, they didn’t have to worry about offspring. But their Gang Leader was such an outstanding male, and now he even had a partner.

Were they supposed to just stand by and watch the Gang Leader’s child end up just like them?

"Hey, you guys think maybe our Gang Leader should be the one to marry into her family?"

"I think so too. Even though he bought his wife, couldn’t the money he paid for her be considered his dowry?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Ahem, actually, we could just get a new Gang Leader. I think Mr. Mo would be a good choice."

The tavern owner: "..."

’Guards! There’s a tavern full of traitors here! Drag them away, quick!’

***

Within the Golden Sand Gang, life was peaceful. Everyone continued to live their quiet lives, with daily activities consisting of waiting for the Gang Leader’s wife’s novel and guessing what time the Gang Leader would get home.

Outside, however, a bloodbath was unfolding.

A giant, horned Flood Dragon was currently crushing a massive black tiger.

Nearby, a heavily wounded female had already been rescued by Federation Soldiers.

Yun Xie’s eyes were bloodshot. He was disappointed yet again.

’It’s not her.’

"Thank you." The female looked at him, overcome with emotion, and thanked him sincerely.

Even a female with the foulest temperament would have been terrified by this ordeal.

"Have you seen Miss Jiang Qing?"

Yun Xie had lost count of how many times he’d asked that question, and how many times he’d been disappointed.

"I have," the female replied with certainty.

In that instant, Yun Xie’s head snapped up. He stared at her intently, like a predator eyeing its prey. "Where did you see her?"

Though she was a little frightened, the young female instantly felt safe again when she recalled the male’s ferocious power as he killed the Star Thief.

"We were held captive on the same starship and sold at the same auction."

"Then do you know who bought her?"

The young female shook her head. "We were sold one by one. The next female would only be brought out after the one before her was sold.

Miss Jiang Qing was bought before me. I only heard that a Star Thief named Tu Shi was very interested in her.

But he didn’t win the auction for Miss Jiang Qing, so he was planning to ambush the buyer.

But Later I heard that the buyer left the moment they won the auction for Miss Jiang Qing, so Tu Shi wasn’t able to ambush them.

Also, Miss Jiang Qing was taken away with Her Highness Long Yue. The auction house said they were sisters."

After half a month of searching, he finally had news of Jiang Qin.

Yun Xie was on the verge of frenzy.

Seeing his unstable state, Yuan Ling immediately rushed forward and injected him with an Inhibitor.

He didn’t tell Yun Xie to calm down—he couldn’t manage it himself. Instead, he injected himself with a dose as well.

Qinqin still hadn’t been found. Even if they were fated to become Frenzied Beastmen, it wouldn’t be now.

The Inhibitors weren’t very effective, but using enough could keep their conditions suppressed for a while.

With this new information, Yun Xie and Yuan Ling boarded their starship and hurried to this new location.

For a while now, the entire Interstellar community had been searching for the five-hundred-odd missing females. They had split into three groups, each following one of the major factions in their search.

Every time they received a lead, they headed out immediately.

But not every lead was genuine.

Sometimes they would arrive to find their targets long gone. Other times, they’d discover the female they had wasn’t on the list of the missing.

The few females they did manage to rescue all said they had never seen Jiang Qin.

This was the first one who said she had, and who had even been at the same auction as Jiang Qin.

She hadn’t provided much information, but she had named a few Star Thieves.

So now they were getting ready to hunt down those Star Thieves.

After all, the ones who attended the auction were all minor leaders among the Star Thieves. None of them were nobodies.

They all ran in the same circles, so they were bound to recognize each other or know something.

If they could find them, they could torture them for information. They would definitely be able to dig up more leads!

"Let’s go."

With Yuan Ling’s high-speed starship, they quickly reached another planet.

Meanwhile, Long Hao and Cang Hong were operating with the Empire’s military.

Shi Lichuan and Lan Yuyan were working with the Bounty Hunters.

As for the Myriad Races, they were unwilling to share information because of Lina.

They even seemed to be gloating.

After all, their own females had escaped the disaster.