There was an undisguised malice in Pei Shiyi’s tone.

Yu Lan froze. Just as she was about to explain that she couldn’t commit murder, arson, or harm others...

...anxious calls echoed from the distance, one after another.

"Lanlan!"

"Lanlan!"

"Are you alright?"

It was Huo Zhanting and the others, who had rushed over in the Starship to find them.

Generally speaking, a normal male wouldn’t harm a female.

Not to mention, Yu Lan was a 3S-level female who naturally held a powerful appeal for males.

They would rather harm themselves than ever harm Yu Lan.

But who knew? After spending so much time in the sea, that lunatic Pei Shiyi might have gone completely insane. What if something happened to her?

They had watched, wide-eyed and helpless, as Pei Shiyi suddenly burst from the sea, grabbed Yu Lan, and took off with her.

The sight had nearly scared the men watching from the Starship to death.

Unfortunately, the ocean was Pei Shiyi’s domain. He intentionally concealed himself, with the sea itself as his accomplice.

It had taken them a long while to finally track the two down, and now they were rushing over as fast as they could.

"Pei Shiyi, get the hell away from Yu Lan!"

"Or else you’ll be sorry."

The males’ fierce, threatening voices carried from the distance.

Pei Shiyi, however, turned a deaf ear to them. He stared unblinkingly at Yu Lan’s beautiful face and asked pensively,

"Are they all your Beast Husbands?"

"It looks like you’re all very close."

’So beautiful.’

’She had the kind of looks that could charm males into acting like complete fools.’

’Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to get them to scramble over here in such a panic.’

Before Yu Lan could answer, Pei Shiyi followed up with his own proposal, looking to be in an extremely good mood.

"In that case, how about you give me a kiss right in front of them?"

After saying this, he didn’t forget to add with utter malice:

"This is my only demand. If you agree, then I’ll agree."

On one side were the billions of people on Garbage Star, struggling to survive and waiting for medical treatment.

On the other were her Beast Husbands, who loved her deeply, now anxiously searching for her with faces full of worry.

How would Yu Lan choose?

It was a choice that wasn’t a choice at all.

A smug arc lifted the corners of Pei Shiyi’s lips. His deep blue hair made his handsome face look even colder and paler, and his matching deep blue eyes held an undisguised, malicious playfulness.

Yu Lan was so angry that her hands, hanging by her sides, were trembling.

She clenched her jaw tightly and met Pei Shiyi’s gaze.

Behind her, she could hear Huo Zhanting and the others rapidly approaching.

SPLASH!

SPLASH!

It was the sound of Su Xingye and Li Yucheng jumping into the sea and swimming toward Yu Lan.

Huo Zhanting and Jun Lin Yuan remained on the Starship, coordinating their actions in case anything went wrong.

After all, this was the deep sea, not land.

The air instantly grew heavy and stagnant, as if it had become difficult to breathe.

Seeing that Yu Lan still hadn’t made a move, Pei Shiyi couldn’t help but urge her on.

"Haven’t you made a decision yet? They’re almost—"

His words were cut off.

A pair of soft, fragrant lips pressed against the man’s cold ones.

’Sweeter than the finest honey in the world.’

Pei Shiyi’s eyes widened unconsciously, his unfinished taunt stuffed back down his throat by Yu Lan’s soft lips.

As for Yu Lan, who had suddenly kissed him, she was now pressed lip-to-lip with Pei Shiyi, equally at a loss.

’She and Pei Shiyi were not in a relationship where they could just kiss.’

’But this bastard had to threaten her with the medicinal herbs.’

’She was worried Pei Shiyi would just find another excuse to withhold the herbs later.’

Yu Lan moved her lips slightly, nibbling lightly on Pei Shiyi’s thin lips. The soft, warm sensation shot straight from his lips to his brain.

The next instant—

BOOM!

A monstrous wave surged up,

and swept Yu Lan straight toward the nearby shore.

*

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!!!"

Yu Lan had choked on water.

She was on the shore, coughing her lungs out.

The men surrounded her, their eyes filled with worry. One gently patted her back while another quickly grabbed a towel to dry Yu Lan’s wet hair. The men bustled about without a moment’s rest.

’If they kept busy, they wouldn’t have to think about certain things.’

’Why would Yu Lan kiss Pei Shiyi of her own accord?’

’That was special treatment not even they had received.’

As the men felt a pang of jealousy, an inexplicable anger welled up from the bottom of their hearts.

’Was it the same fury they’d felt toward Jun Lin Yuan when he was trying to secure his position? The kind of fury one feels toward a homewrecker?’

’Huh???’

’Is Pei Shiyi going to be just like Jun Lin Yuan?’

’Does he like Lanlan too?!’

Huo Zhanting, Su Xingye, and Li Yucheng all turned to look at Jun Lin Yuan in unison.

Jun Lin Yuan glared back fiercely.

’What are you all looking at me for?’

’You’re the expert on mind games! Quick, use your psychological analysis. Does Pei Shiyi want to be with our Lanlan, too?’

’Otherwise, why would Lanlan have suddenly kissed him?’

’That shameless bastard!’

Li Yucheng ground his teeth.

He’d always said he hated fish.

Before Jun Lin Yuan could begin his analysis, Yu Lan was the first to explain:

"Pei Shiyi told me to kiss him."

Yu Lan pressed her lips together, her soft mouth forming a tight line. "He said that as long as I was willing to kiss him in front of you all, he would agree to lend us the medicinal herbs."

"I had no choice."

"I’m sorry."

Yu Lan didn’t dare gamble with the lives of so many people on Garbage Star.

In her desperation, kissing him was the only option.

Seeing Yu Lan apologizing to them with downcast eyes, Huo Zhanting and the others felt their hearts ache instantly.

"Lanlan, this isn’t your fault."

"It’s all that bastard Pei Shiyi’s fault for making such a ridiculous demand."

"It’s completely absurd."

"Ahhhhh, I get it now."

Li Yucheng clapped his hands together. "He’s trying to drive a wedge between us, isn’t he?"

"He’s truly despicable. We absolutely cannot fall for his trick."

"Lanlan, if you really feel that guilty, then how about you give us a kiss too? We’re very easy to appease."

As Li Yucheng’s proposal hung in the air,

the handsome faces of the men gradually loomed larger in front of Yu Lan.

All four men wore expressions of hidden anticipation, awaiting Yu Lan’s kiss.

Who would she kiss first?

"Oh, honestly!"

Seeing the men acting like this, Yu Lan stomped her foot.

"I’m not kissing anyone right now."

"We have important things to do."

"What do we do now?"

’Why did Pei Shiyi suddenly summon a giant wave and send her away like that?’

’How are we supposed to find him again and get the herbs?’

’And more importantly, will Pei Shiyi even keep his word?’

Yu Lan’s heart was filled with unease.

Jun Lin Yuan spoke up.

"I never expected Pei Shiyi to be this kind of person."

"What decent person would make a demand like that? He was probably just bluffing about giving us the herbs. If I had known..."

’If I had known, I wouldn’t have said anything.’

’And caused Lanlan to be taken advantage of by that damn Merman.’

Su Xingye chimed in.

"In that case, we should go find Fu Chenhan and see if we can restart the agreement, or trade for them with supplies."

"We need to get a portion of the medicine to Garbage Star first, then we can plan the rest in detail."

But Fu Chenhan was no simple character either.

Compared to Pei Shiyi,

one of them might listen to reason.

The other doesn’t listen to reason at all.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

What a headache.

What they didn’t know was that

the calm surface of the sea was carrying their voices to Pei Shiyi, who wasn’t far away.

A mocking arc formed on the man’s lips.

"Tsk!"

’So much for "saving people" and "giving everything for Garbage Star".’

’They’re just doing it for fame and glory.’

’They want to run at the first sign of a setback.’

’And she brought so many males with her.’

’How vain!’