Hugo accompanied his cousin through several slave gladiator matches, and while they were at it, they finalized quite a few prospective business deals.
Just as host and guest were both satisfied and Hugo was preparing to leave with his people, they ran head-on into a group of uninvited guests.
"Ha ha, isn't this little Hugo? Us brothers really are fated to meet!"
A Unicorn Youth clad in Dark Gold Battle Armor stepped out from the crowd and approached with a smile.
It was none other than the Sixth Brother he had run into at the Interstellar Port earlier.
"What, little Hugo, you like watching these Gladiator Performances now too? How about the two of us have a round?"
The moment Hugo saw him, he felt thoroughly disgusted. He had no intention of responding to him at all and turned to walk around him.
However, Sixth Brother seemed unwilling to let the matter go and stepped in front of him again.
"Ah, little Hugo, why are you being so rude? You can refuse to give me face, but are you refusing to give face to His Highness the Seventh Prince as well?"
"The Seventh Prince!"
Hugo frowned slightly and looked past him with some unease.
Within the crowd not far away, a black-robed young man with golden hair, skin with the texture of white jade, and a pair of crystalline white dragon horns was also looking in their direction.
Hugo had actually noticed this man from the start. As a direct descendant of the Ortega Family, he naturally knew who he was.
But seeing him together with Sixth Brother, who did not get along with him, Hugo had deliberately pretended not to recognize him in order to avoid trouble and leave directly.
Yet now that Sixth Brother had openly revealed his identity, Hugo could no longer continue playing dumb.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Seventh Prince. Welcome to Lanka Star!"
Suppressing his displeasure, Hugo stepped forward and politely greeted the Seventh Prince.
Hugo had long heard that the Eternal Empire would be sending someone to attend the Lord of Domain Banquet for the family ancestor, but he had not expected it to be this Seventh Prince.
This Seventh Prince was somewhat different from the other princes.
Aside from being born into the Eternal Empire's imperial family, he had recently succeeded in becoming the disciple of a powerful Immortal God from the Lanting Universe Country.
With that status, his influence in the Eternal Empire far exceeded that of the other princes. He was not even inferior to some World Lord-level generals.
Hugo could ignore Sixth Brother, but he absolutely did not dare ignore the Seventh Prince.
"Hehe, Hugo, right? I've heard of you—the Future Star of the Ortega Family. Quite an impressive title!"
The Seventh Prince nodded lightly, though his smile carried a hint of amusement.
"Keep it up. I think highly of you. Ortega's future hopes rest on your shoulders!"
Hearing the faintly teasing words of the Seventh Prince, the polite smile on Hugo's face faded slightly.
This so-called Future Star of the Ortega Family was nothing more than a rumor fabricated by certain people in the family to tarnish his reputation before the elders.
He had at least dozens of such titles.
And now, this clearly sarcastic title had come from the Seventh Prince's mouth. It was obvious that the prince's attitude toward him was not as friendly as it appeared.
Sure enough, the Seventh Prince's next sentence placed Hugo in a difficult position.
"I heard you two were planning to wager on a fight? Hehe, I wasn't quite satisfied with what I watched earlier. You don't mind if I serve as a spectator, do you?"
Although the Seventh Prince spoke politely, his tone clearly carried an air that brooked no refusal.
"This..."
Hugo found himself caught between a rock and a hard place.
If it had been another prince, it would have been one thing. But this Seventh Prince had a special status, so Hugo had no choice but to handle him carefully.
He shot Sixth Brother beside him an irritated glance before forcing a smile and saying,
"Seventh Prince... the slaves under my command are truly not fit for display. If you wish to watch, I can have the Arena arrange a few more matches."
"Oh?"
The smile on the Seventh Prince's face suddenly vanished as he asked in a teasing tone, "What if I insist on watching the two of you wager on a fight?"
"Your Highness the Seventh Prince, what do you mean by this?"
Even with Hugo's good temper, he could no longer hold it in.
He looked at the Seventh Prince with displeasure and said stiffly,
"We are delighted that Your Highness has come to attend the celebratory banquet for our family ancestor. If we have failed to receive you properly in any way, please say so plainly. I will go directly to ask our ancestor to personally apologize to you!"
Seeing that Hugo was on the verge of exploding, the Seventh Prince hurriedly waved his hand and softened his tone.
"Hehe, don't overthink it. I simply want to be a spectator."
He pondered briefly, then directly took a strange weapon shaped like metallic wings from his Space Ring.
"How about this? I won't watch for free. This is a third-grade mid-level psionic weapon, the Void Splitting Wing. We'll use it as the prize for the winner in a moment."
"Well? Is that enough of an appearance fee for you two?"
"A third-grade mid-level psionic weapon!"
Even Hugo, a wealthy man who owned an entire high-grade resource planet, was slightly stunned by the Seventh Prince's extravagance.
A mid-grade third-rank telekinetic weapon was worth at least tens of billions of Eternal Coins, equivalent to several years of Lei Bao Star's income!
Yet the Seventh Prince had casually thrown it out just to watch a gladiatorial performance.
Though Hugo was tempted, he did not want to be toyed with like a monkey fighting over food.
However, just as he was about to refuse, Sixth Brother, who had remained silent for a long time, seemed to see through his thoughts and immediately stepped forward to cut him off.
"Little Nineteen, don't be so quick to refuse. Haven't you always wanted control over that Cloud Light Race woman? How about I put her up as the wager?"
Hearing this, Hugo, who had been about to speak, suddenly choked, then stared fixedly at Sixth Brother.
"What you said... is true?"
"Of course it's true. With the Seventh Prince as witness, could I still deceive you?" Sixth Brother replied smugly.
After receiving a definite answer, Hugo's expression changed several times before he finally spoke with a resolute gaze.
"I want Bing Lan, along with control over every Cloud Light Race slave in your hands. Agree, and I'll wager a match with you. Otherwise, we'll just stay here and drag this out."
"At worst, we'll wait until our ancestor's Lord of Domain Banquet begins. I don't believe you would dare make a move against me on Lanka Star."
"Hehe, you really never take a loss."
Sixth Brother's gaze swept lightly over Old Wu and Qi Yuan behind Hugo before he nodded.
"Fine. You brought two slaves, so I'll also choose two at the same level. Let them fight two matches."
"If you win one match, I'll hand over control of the woman named Bing Lan. If you win both, I'll give you all the Cloud Light Race slaves."
"But if you lose both matches..."
Sixth Brother's smile turned cold as he finally revealed his schemes. "I want unrestricted mining rights to Lei Bao Star for the next hundred years!"
"Hehe, so this is what you've been going on about all this time..."
Hugo considered it only briefly before immediately nodding.
"Fine. I agree."
I went out today, so the update's a little late. Please forgive me, gentlemen~~~
Hehe, shamelessly asking once again for follows and continued reading. Please support me, gentlemen~
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