"Alright, let’s start with you." The thug grabbed the young woman who had been trembling violently and shoved her into the center. He pointed his gun at her. "Who are your Beast Husbands? Hurry up and call them out, or I’ll blow your brains out."

Terrified, the young woman’s voice trembled on the verge of tears. "You... you all, come out, quickly."

But when her voice faded, no Beastman came out.

"Hahaha, looks like you didn’t hold back when you abused your Beast Husbands before, did you? They all want you dead," the thug said, patting the young woman’s cheek with a vicious laugh.

A look of hatred appeared in the young woman’s eyes. "If you don’t come out right now, I’ll order your monitoring rings to kill you all!"

Only then did one Beastman slowly stand up, followed by the others.

"Hahaha, come on. However she abused you before, you’ll abuse her the same way." As the thug spoke, another brought out a package filled with a variety of torture instruments and threw it directly in front of the Beastmen.

The young woman stared daggers at her Beast Husbands.

The men’s brows furrowed.

"My Female Master didn’t abuse me—AH!" One of the Beastmen had just started to speak when a knife stabbed into his arm. Another gun was pressed against his waist. "What did you say? Say that again?"

Jiang Zheyu’s heart sank. ’It’s over,’ she thought. ’They’re targeting the females.’

’What bullshit about reversing roles! These thugs just want to make the Beastmen whip the females!’

The Beastman, trembling with fear, had no choice but to pick up a torture instrument.

"Tch..." A low, sudden scoff broke the silence. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The muzzle of the gun immediately swiveled toward the source of the sound.

"Want to play a more interesting game?" Feng Qi stood up calmly, unfazed by the gun pointed at him. His gaze casually fell upon the thug. "For instance... playing with me?"

The thug let out a chilling sneer. "Alright. You like playing the hero saving the damsel in distress, huh? Then I’ll let you play until you’ve had your fill!"

"Get out here!" the thug ordered viciously.

And just like that, Feng Qi walked out from among the Beastmen.

’Four thugs. Two in the middle, and two guarding the door.’

’The thugs are all on the same side. This positioning... it’s perfect. Perfect for taking a risk.’

He walked forward slowly, but in the next second, he abruptly grabbed one thug’s gun and forced it upward. His long leg swept out in a sharp kick at another thug while his body pinned the first, using the forward momentum to push them both aside.

The two Beastmen at the door instantly opened fire, sweeping their guns across the room.

Jiang Zheyu’s heart leaped in shock. A thought flashed through her mind—’Wasn’t Feng Qi being too reckless?’

’If he couldn’t subdue all of them at once, the bullets would hit innocent people!’

Moreover, she had no time to run when she heard the gunshots, so she instantly launched a spiritual power attack at the two Beastmen. But she saw the bullets were still sweeping toward her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, only able to hope that no bullets would hit her. But she felt the chances of surviving a spray of gunfire were slim. ’Was my spiritual power attack useless? I’m a goner.’

The gunfire continued, but it wasn’t followed by people’s screams. Instead, there was a series of crisp, shattering sounds.

She didn’t feel any pain. Surprised, she looked up and saw a black Mystic Light Mecha had appeared in front of her, completely filling the coffee shop and blocking all the incoming bullets.

It also separated the thugs from the Beastmen on this side, and of course, it also trapped Feng Qi on the same side as the four thugs.

Feng Qi moved with agility, using two of the thugs as his shield. He snatched a gun, quickly shoved one of them toward the two at the door, and rolled swiftly across the floor. The ground he just rolled over was instantly riddled with bullet marks. In that split second, he fired only two shots. After the two gunshots rang out...

...the sound of sweeping gunfire also stopped.

The surroundings fell quiet.

Jiang Zheyu’s heart was pounding. A moment ago, she had truly believed she was going to die. Her hands and feet were cold and weak.

In that instant, all sound ceased.

’Did Feng Qi win? Or did the thugs win?’

Jiang Zheyu’s heart was in her throat.

"Captain... Captain Qi?" Jiang Zheyu noticed her own voice was trembling. She had been wrong earlier. Feng Qi wasn’t reckless at all; he had ensured their safety before engaging the four thugs in battle.

"Feng... Feng Qi!" Jiang Zheyu’s legs felt weak as she walked toward the jet-black Mecha, but she couldn’t see what was happening on the other side at all.

’He couldn’t be dead, could he?’

’He was actually willing to risk everything to protect others, putting himself in grave danger.’

Protecting the citizens of the Empire was indeed his duty, but when Jiang Zheyu thought about him putting himself in such peril to protect others, her heart grew so heavy she could barely breathe.

The next moment, the jet-black Mecha vanished. Feng Qi’s clothes were stained with coffee and dust. His black suit was now a patchwork of different shades, sullied and dirty. His hair was a mess, too. But he tilted his head slightly and smiled at her, the long, black, raindrop-shaped earring in his ear swaying with the movement. "What? Didn’t you believe I could win?"

"You..." Jiang Zheyu found it hard to speak, a lump forming in her throat. She had just thought Feng Qi was dead, and a wave of grief had washed over her, making her eyes redden. "Is this your combat style? You could scare someone to death."

Seeing the young woman’s reddened eyes, Feng Qi’s lazy smile faded. He bent down slightly, his calm gaze holding a hidden affection as he looked at her. "Jiang Yuyu, with your eyes all red like that, worrying about me so much... I might just think you actually like me too."

’Seeing her so worried about him made him want to kiss her, comfort her, and soothe her.’

Jiang Zheyu paused, then quietly explained, "Actually, I thought I was going to die just now, that’s why I felt like crying. Worrying that you might be dead was just... incidental."

Feng Qi just let out a light, genuinely amused laugh. "Mm, Jiang Yuyu is right!"

Beastmen from the Imperial Army began to storm in from outside.

The four Beastmen on the ground—no, they must have been Biorobots.

Two of the Biorobots had their chests punched through by Feng Qi’s fists, their chips completely destroyed. The other two had their chips pierced by bullets, disabling them.

「Inside a Holographic Simulation Room on a Cosmic Star Thieves’ Starship.」

A red-haired man, his entire body covered in Dynamic Sensors, suddenly snapped his eyes open. They were still wide with shock. After a moment to recover, he remembered what had just happened and roared in fury, "Who was that guy? Who the hell was he? I’m going to tear him to shreds!"

The other three Beastmen, also covered in Dynamic Sensors, came to their senses. Hearing the furious roar, they all dropped to their knees in fear.

The door opened, and a man with glasses leaned against the frame. "Pathetic. The guy only needed two punches and two shots to take out all four of you."

The red-haired man shot a vicious glare at the man with glasses in the doorway.

"Oh, but don’t feel too bad," the man said. "After all, that was Feng Qi."