Seeing the pig-headed fool in front of me staring at me like I had stolen his wife, I couldn't help feeling utterly baffled. I didn't seem to have ever provoked this guy, did I?
Sandora understood faster than I did. "The moment two gorgeous beauties stand beside you, you become the public enemy of all men."
This girl's ability to understand and learn about the human world was truly terrifying.
Qian Qian suddenly flashed a provocative smile at the pig-headed young master across from us, then turned and wrapped her arms around mine.
Liu Zicai's face immediately turned green.
Sandora curiously looked at Qian Qian clinging to me, then copied her and hugged my other arm.
Qian Qian's face immediately turned green...
Pandora suddenly realized that both arms she normally monopolized had been claimed by someone else. She pursed her lips, took a step back, then suddenly pounced and hung from my neck.
My face immediately turned green...
While the few of us put on a grand face-changing performance, everyone around us went through an earthquake as well. Ever since Sandora revealed her identity and thoroughly shocked everyone, she had become the center of attention. From government officials to ordinary waitstaff, including the few city inspectors in the distance holding Sikaro down, everyone had kept their eyes on Sandora. And now this unfathomable princess had suddenly pulled something like this...
Ah, farewell, my peaceful life. Though I had already said goodbye to you once a month ago.
To my surprise, Liu Zicai merely glared at me fiercely for a while before turning and striding away. It was obvious he was filled with hatred toward me now, but he could actually restrain himself so well—perhaps this Young Master Liu wasn't quite such a hopeless fool after all. He still knew how to distinguish priorities.
"Carbon-Based Lifeforms really are interesting," Sandora's voice rang in my mind.
I had already given up on making these stubborn Shilin Apostles understand that I was also a Carbon-Based Lifeform.
"A Jun," Qian Qian suddenly said happily, "let's go dance!"
"Dance?" I stared blankly.
"Yeah, dance. The second half of this banquet is an open-air dance party!"
I looked toward Sandora for confirmation. She immediately shrank her neck. "Don't look at me. I didn't arrange the second half of the banquet."
By then, people around us had already begun looking for dance partners. It seemed that quite a few people knew the banquet's exact schedule and had brought partners with them. But even those who didn't know had no problem—this place was full of people who frequented all kinds of social gatherings, so finding a partner required no effort. However, because Princess Sandora was present, most of the gentlemen's attention was focused on one person.
A handsome young nobleman in a pure white tailcoat approached and gave Sandora a gentlemanly bow. "Beautiful and noble Princess, might I be fortunate enough to share a dance with you?"
Sandora instantly switched into princess mode, lifted her skirt in a curtsy, and said, "I am honored by your invitation, but regrettably, I already have a dance partner."
The young nobleman turned his gaze toward me, his eyes carrying a trace of undisguised contempt. "Princess, is this gentleman the dance partner you refer to? Forgive my presumptuousness, but this gentleman has been rather intimate with you from the very beginning. May I ask what his identity is? Can anyone verify his trustworthiness? I am Ding Bai, chairman of Ding's International Trade and the host of this banquet. Therefore, I must concern myself with Your Highness's safety here!"
What insidious wording!
His argument sounded perfectly reasonable, casually painting me as a dangerous person with ulterior motives approaching the princess, and it was hard to refute him. He had said it himself: he was the host of the banquet and was merely fulfilling his duty by caring about the princess's safety. And no matter how anyone looked at it, my identity couldn't possibly justify such an intimate relationship with the princess. In short, Mr. Ding was the princess's staunch defender, while I was some punk toad dreaming of swan meat. For all anyone knew, I might even be a dangerous man with sinister intentions!
I now remembered who this young man surnamed Ding was. Ding's International Trade was an international trading company that had recently risen to prominence. Its emergence was full of inexplicable mysteries, because nobody had ever heard of the company before. Yet almost overnight, it had become one of the country's leading corporations. No one knew how it had developed, and its chairman, Ding Bai, was even more mysterious. At just twenty-one, he had become the highest leader of Ding's International Trade. When everyone doubted his abilities, he proved his worth to the world with his outstanding leadership and business vision. Like Ding's International Trade itself, he had risen suddenly, then radiated a brilliance too dazzling to look at directly.
He was a big shot—perhaps... In Sandora's eyes, though, I wondered whether he even counted as a lifeform worth barely communicating with.
Sandora patiently waited for him to finish, then smiled politely. "So, Mr. Ding doubts my friend's identity? And you very much want to know the relationship between him and me?"
"Please forgive my presumptuousness," Ding Bai said with a slight nod. "But I am merely fulfilling my duty as host. Although this gathering is open to everyone, not just anyone may enter this area. Even if he is a friend of Your Highness, we must verify his identity."
Although Sandora maintained a proper smile, through our Spiritual Connection I could sense that she was already very angry.
I had never seen Sandora angry. Whenever she was around me, she was always a carefree wild girl, but I guessed that if she became enraged, the consequences would be quite terrifying. Pandora had once mentioned this to me:
"...When Emperor Sandora flew into a rage, every civilization in the Twenty-Fourth Sky Region was utterly annihilated..."
Though Sandora was no longer the tyrant who once spread destruction everywhere, I had every reason to believe that if she got angry now, she was still more than capable of causing a natural disaster.
Just as I was about to calm Sandora down, Pandora, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly stepped forward and came before Ding Bai.
Only then did Ding Bai suddenly notice that there was such a cute little angel here—though this little angel had a cold expression and lifeless eyes, that did nothing to diminish Pandora's adorable appearance.
"Hello, cute little sister..." Ding Bai put on what he considered his most approachable smile and bent down toward the little girl.
"Don't badmouth Brother!" A slightly childish voice rang out, followed by Pandora delivering a lightning-fast snap kick...
...Which bastard taught the little one that move?!
Accompanied by Ding Bai's miserable scream, every man present collectively shuddered—this was far too vicious.
Pandora's kick also calmed Sandora's anger. She even had the leisure to analyze it through our Spiritual Connection. "A highly effective method of attack. It precisely targets the weakness of male Carbon-Based Lifeforms, inflicting maximum damage with minimal force, and it is not fatal. You have an excellent general."
What general goes around kicking people in the groin on the battlefield?!
Ding Bai's screams swiftly attracted everyone else's attention. Several staff members hurried over. Seeing Ding Bai curled into a ball on the ground, they quickly stepped forward to help him up, only for him to cry out miserably, "Don't move me! One more move and it'll shatter..."
"Princess," a sturdy man with the bearing of a soldier came before Sandora and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "we deeply apologize for the disturbance caused to you, but could you please explain what happened here?"
"Of course," Sandora replied with a faint smile. She seemed to be in an excellent mood. "Just now, Mr. Ding asked me several questions. Some involved the private affairs of members of the Liska Royal Family, and he also attempted to inquire into the Liska Royal Family's social dealings and personal contacts. We suspect that he was using me to spy on the highest royal secrets, so my friend swiftly subdued him and rendered him incapable of action. If our actions were improper, we ask for your understanding. After all, this matter concerns our national security and the dignity of the royal family..."
Sandora, I worship you. I truly worship you! You actually dared to casually slap such an exaggerated accusation on him. In terms of sheer viciousness, you had already become a god!
Before you continue