The Second Slave, "Yigenmao"

He looked again at the face of the Black-Clad Youth in the image, a flicker of wariness in his eyes.

This man had become a major thorn in the Fire Phoenix Organization's side.

"Let's go! Return to headquarters immediately and report this!"

The wiry man waved his hand, leading his team as they hurriedly boarded the spaceship.

Three C-class ships soon lifted off and vanished into the starry sky.

On the other side.

Half a month of dark-space travel passed in the blink of an eye.

When the ship emerged from dark space, a grayish-brown planet appeared outside the porthole: KX-11.

It was almost a carbon copy of KX-7: a hazy atmosphere, mining pits everywhere, dense clusters of concentration camp buildings, and the familiar defensive system layout in the planet's orbit.

Qian Yu stood at the porthole, watching silently for a moment.

"No mistake."

He nodded.

This planet was also a slave stronghold of the Fire Phoenix Organization.

"Then... same as usual."

Qian Yu stowed the ship, his body hovering silently in the void of space.

He didn't act rashly. Instead, he first released his divine sense, sweeping it across the planet's entire defense system.

"A B-grade defense system... about the same as KX-7."

After confirming there were no issues, Qian Yu raised his right hand.

The next second, his figure vanished from the spot.

Boom!!!

The orbital cannon platform exploded!

Boom!!!

The energy shield generator collapsed!

Boom!!!

The anti-air radar shattered into fragments!

In just a few seconds, KX-11's entire defense system was crippled.

On the planet, alarms blared piercingly, and countless Fire Phoenix members fled in panic.

They had no idea what had happened; they only knew the defense system was wiped out in an instant, meaning the enemy coming was at least a high-level Cosmic-tier, possibly even a Domain Lord!

But their escape was utterly meaningless.

Because the next second, an overwhelming pressure descended from the sky.

Boom!!!

With Qian Yu at the center, space within a hundred kilometers instantly froze.

The fleeing Fire Phoenix members were locked in place in various poses; the guards trying to start ships to escape had their fingers just one centimeter from the control panels, yet could no longer press down; the overseers and managers hiding in buildings and trembling couldn't even blink.

Only Qian Yu moved through this frozen space as if it were empty ground.

His battle blade left its sheath.

Blade light flashed.

Heads flew up one by one, bodies fell to the ground one after another.

Blood, like red fountains, bloomed into eerie flowers in the frozen space.

Qian Yu sped across the planet's surface like the Grim Reaper, leaving rivers of blood and fields of corpses in his wake.

But this time, he kept his wits about him.

When his divine sense swept over a command tower, he stopped.

There, a Cosmic-tier first-level administrator was frozen in place, his face full of terror.

"Cosmic-tier first-level... not too strong, not too weak—just right."

A faint smile curled at the corner of Qian Yu's mouth.

With a casual slash, he killed all the other Fire Phoenix members in the command tower, leaving only this Cosmic-tier first-level alive.

Then he continued the slaughter.

Over ten minutes later.

Every Fire Phoenix member on the entire planet was dead.

Only the Universe-Grade First-Level administrator was left, held by the neck like a chicken by Qian Yu, who dragged him to an open clearing on the planet's surface.

The frozen space finally returned to normal.

Thud—

The administrator's legs gave out, and he dropped straight to his knees.

His entire body trembled, his face deathly pale, sweat beads the size of beans rolling down his forehead.

In those ten-plus minutes just now, though he had been frozen in place and unable to move, his eyes could see and his ears could hear. He had personally watched that Black-Clad Youth, like a god of slaughter, wipe out every single member of the Fire Phoenix Organization on the entire planet.

That terror had nearly driven him mad.

"G-G-Great... Great One..."

Kneeling on the ground, he knocked his head like a pestle pounding garlic, his voice shaking so badly he could barely form a complete sentence.

"Sp-spare me... spare me, Great One..."

Qian Yu looked down at him from on high, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Do you know why I kept you alive?"

The administrator shook his head frantically: "N-No... I don't know..."

Qian Yu smiled. The smile was light, but in the administrator's eyes, it was more terrifying than a demon's grimace.

"You'll find out soon enough."

The next second.

Crackle—

A flurry of blows.

Screams echoed across the entire planet.

The next day.

A black-and-silver B9-class Spaceship hovered silently in the outer space of KX-11.

Inside the cockpit, Qian Yu lounged leisurely in a wide seat, a cup of pale green sake in his hand.

The wine had been found yesterday in KX-11's warehouse, said to be a famous product from some star system, worth a fortune.

Qian Yu took a sip—it was indeed good: fragrant and mellow, with a sweet aftertaste that lingered in the throat.

Behind him, a bald man with a bruised and swollen face stood cautiously, his expression a mix of reverence and fear.

It was the Universe-Grade First-Level administrator from yesterday.

Only now, around his neck was an extra ring of silver-gray metal.

After yesterday's beating, Qian Yu had done one more thing: personally implanted a chip into this administrator.

Let him have a taste of what it felt like to be a slave.

"Master."

The administrator spoke cautiously, his voice tinged with a hint of fawning.

"The stronghold distribution map you requested—I've finished organizing it all."

Qian Yu didn't turn around, just gave a soft "Mm."

The administrator quickly handed over a data storage device.

Qian Yu took it and, through the virtual universe, quickly scanned its contents.

"Not bad."

He nodded.

This distribution map was very detailed. All of the Fire Phoenix Organization's strongholds in the Cui Lang Starfield—including slave transfer stations, mining planets, trade posts, training camps, and even a few secret supply depots—were marked clearly.

With this map, he wouldn't have to search blindly one by one anymore.

Qian Yu put away the data storage device, picked up his wine cup, and took another sip.

"Yigenmao."

"Your orders, Master?"

Qian Yu didn't look back: "How long until we reach the next Fire Phoenix stronghold?"

The administrator quickly pulled up a star chart, calculated carefully, and replied respectfully: "Master, the nearest one is KX-19, also a slave transfer station. At our ship's speed, it will take approximately 17 days of dark-space navigation."

"Seventeen days..."

Qian Yu nodded and took another sip of wine.

"Very good."

The administrator stood cautiously behind him, not daring to breathe too loudly.

He still couldn't figure out how he had gone from being a lofty stronghold administrator to someone else's slave.

But the slave chip in his brain reminded him every moment that this was all real.

Yet this black-haired youth, who appeared to be only at the third stage of the Cosmic level, possessed the terrifying strength to annihilate an entire planet.

He dared not resist, nor even show the slightest hint of disrespect.

Qian Yu took another sip of clear wine. The name Yigenmao was something he had casually come up with for this fellow yesterday.

It carried no special meaning—just whatever came to mind.

After all, this guy had managed to reach the Cosmic level, which counted as a mid-level executive within the Fire Phoenix Organization.

The strongest member of the Fire Phoenix Organization was a Realm Lord.

That would be Pan Xi. As far as Qian Yu knew, Pan Xi was the only Realm Lord in the entire organization; the next strongest were merely Domain Lords.

Within such an organization, the Cosmic level was already considered respectable.

Naturally, he knew quite a bit as well.