Arlan Kept Kowtowing-This Was a True God!

The heavy wooden door of the VIP Lounge let out a tortured groan.

Two metal screws burst from its hinges and struck the velvet carpet.

Arlan, head of the Security Department, stumbled into the room and sprawled across the floor.

His uniform was torn in four or five places, the ragged edges blackened by burns.

A gash had opened on his forehead.

Dark red blood ran down his brow and completely covered his left eye.

The thick smell of blood and the ozone stink of scorched rubber instantly overwhelmed the coffee's aroma.

The Copper Kettle in Himeko's hand lurched.

Two drops of boiling water splashed onto the solid-wood coffee table, leaving two conspicuous white marks.

Su Chen was holding that cup of purplish-black coffee.

Its sharp, sour bitterness still lingered at the back of his tongue, and he had been wondering how to get rid of the poison.

Arlan's entrance was a lifesaver.

The Female Lord lowered her golden eyes without a flicker of emotion.

Her long, fair fingers held the cup by its handle as she set the white porcelain cup steadily back on its tray.

Porcelain tapped against glass with a crisp clink.

"Arlan!" Himeko immediately set down the kettle and hurried over, her heels clicking.

She bent and reached out to help the young man on the floor.

"Has the outer defense line collapsed? The Astral Express Crew will go reinforce it right now."

Arlan gulped down air.

His lungs wheezed like a leaky bellows.

He shoved away Himeko's outstretched hand.

Bracing both hands against the carpet, the young man forced himself up despite the open wound on his right leg.

He did not look at Himeko.

His right eye, the one not covered in blood, fixed on the Female Lord seated on the black leather sofa.

Thud.

A heavy blow shook the room.

Arlan's knees struck the edge of the hard floor, his kneecaps scraping with a teeth-grating sound.

He did not stop at kneeling.

He pitched forward, planted both hands on the floor, and slammed his head down.

Bang.

His forehead struck the wooden floor hard enough to make the cup on the coffee table jump.

On the sofa, the muscles along the front of Su Chen's thighs tightened at once.

Inside his heeled boots, his toes curled hard against the soles.

This is too much. What modern shut-in could handle a show of respect this intense?

But he could not dodge it.

The Female Lord sat straight-backed, her intricate black robes spread across the leather sofa.

She was like an ancient statue enshrined in a temple, watching a mortal's worship with cold eyes.

"Thank you... thank you, true god, for saving our lives!"

Arlan's voice was terribly hoarse, thick with sobs.

He did not raise his head. His forehead remained pressed firmly to the floor.

Himeko froze where she stood.

Her outstretched hand hung in midair, unable to move forward or pull back.

She turned to look at the Female Lord on the sofa, then at Arlan on the floor.

"The station chief and all the staff were driven back to the Master Control Zone."

Arlan swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva and spoke in a rush.

"There were too many Antibaryon in the Antimatter Legion. They tore the defense line apart, and every Ion Shield shattered."

His shoulders shook violently. Cold sweat and blood had soaked the fabric across his back.

"The monsters reached the crowd and raised their light blades."

"No one could even send a last message. The Legion blocked all our communications."

Arlan jerked his head up. Tears and mucus streamed down his blood-smeared face.

But his uncovered eye blazed with the fervor of someone who had narrowly escaped death.

"Just as the defense line was about to be slaughtered, the pillar in the middle of the hall... lit up."

Su Chen paused.

A pillar?

He thought back to when he had first arrived and fought the Doomsday Beast.

The Star-Piercing Spear he had casually formed from Geo had later become a rough stone pillar in the middle of the ruins.

"Rings of ripples burst from that golden stone pillar, one after another."

Arlan waved both hands, struggling to describe what he could not understand.

"It was pure gravity. And there was this... pressure that made you want to kneel."

"The quantum light blade of the Antibaryon Reaver at the front shattered outright."

"The monsters acted like they'd seen a ghost."

"Those lunatics who only know Destruction were trembling. They dropped their weapons and fled into space like mad."

Arlan sniffed, his voice breaking completely.

"All the monsters retreated."

"Not one of the three hundred and forty-two unarmed staff members in the Master Control Zone died."

With that, Arlan bent forward again.

Bang.

Another full-force kowtow.

"The pillar you left in the ruins became the entire space station's protective charm."

"On behalf of all the staff, I bow in thanks for the true god's arrival."

The young man kept his head against the floor and refused to lift it.

The room fell deathly silent.

Himeko gripped the fabric at the side of her skirt and drew in a sharp breath.

It had been nothing more than a stone pillar left behind on a whim.

Could its lingering aura really frighten off the Antimatter Legion, which did not even understand fear?

What kind of power was this?

Himeko felt her entire view of the world being forcibly remade.

Su Chen's thoughts were in turmoil.

Geo constructs could resonate, sure, but he had never imagined one could serve as an aura of mass terror.

On the system panel, Shock Points from Arlan and the space station staff poured in by the hundreds every second.

Even Su Chen felt his scalp prickle at how impressive he looked.

The Female Lord still said nothing.

She simply sat there in silence.

As though saving hundreds of lives and frightening off the Legion had been nothing worth mentioning.

As trivial as brushing a speck of dust from her clothes.

Then hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor.

Heels clattered over the metal grating in a frantic, uneven rhythm.

A fair hand grabbed the damaged wooden doorframe.

Asta, the space station's chief, appeared in the doorway, gasping for breath.

The wealthy young heiress looked utterly disheveled.

Her distinctive short pink hair was a mess, with several strands plastered to her smooth forehead by sweat.

Gray dust coated her expensive tailored jacket, and a long tear ran through its hem.

When she entered, she did not even glance at Himeko.

Her gaze passed straight over Arlan, kneeling on the floor, and locked onto the golden figure on the sofa.

Asta stopped breathing for half a second.

Her chest rose and fell sharply.

A fire of fervor burned in her eyes, ten times brighter than Arlan's.

As the daughter of a powerful Interastral Peace Corporation family, Asta had seen countless sights beyond ordinary people's imagination.

She had seen planet-destroying warships, tycoons with wealth enough to rival nations, and the eccentrics of the Genius Society.

But she had never seen a god.

Even Lady Herta was merely a brilliant eccentric, without a trace of divinity about her.

Now Asta had seen one.

It was an absolute majesty beyond money, technology, or mortal power.

A single glance was enough to make someone willingly surrender everything.

Asta swallowed against her dry throat.

She stepped stiffly into the VIP Lounge.

With each step, her hands gripped the corners of her jacket more tightly.

She walked straight to Arlan's side.

She did not help her bloodied subordinate from the floor.

Instead, she followed Arlan's example and dropped heavily to both knees on the carpet.

Su Chen clenched his jaw until he tasted blood.

He fought down the reflex to stand.

The Female Lord did not so much as flutter an eyelash. Her golden eyes looked coldly down on the two mortals kneeling before her.

Asta gazed up, her cheeks flushed an almost feverish red with excitement.

Her mind had gone blank.

Noble etiquette and business negotiation tactics had all vanished into a black hole.

Only one thought remained.

I have to get close to her.

Whatever it costs—even if it ruins my family—I have to forge a connection with the Imaginary Divine Court.

Asta's fingers shook violently as she reached into a concealed pocket inside her jacket.

After fumbling for a moment, she pulled something out.

It was a card.

It had no elaborate patterns. Its entire surface was a deep, dark gold.

A strange metallic sheen flowed across it, and tiny Imaginary Energy crystals lined its edges.

At its center was the Interastral Peace Corporation's highest-ranking gear insignia.

The dust in the air seemed to stop drifting when the card appeared.

Asta drew a deep breath.

She gripped the dark-gold Black Card in both hands.

Then she raised it high above her head and offered it without reservation to the Female Lord.