Zhi Xin's oath: there was only one Feng!

At those words, Zhi Xin's little face flushed bright red.

The redness spread from her ears down to her neck, like a little quail whose secret feelings had suddenly been exposed.

She fell silent for a long while, her eyes lowered and her lashes trembling slightly.

Just when Qin Feng thought she would not answer, she suddenly pulled free of his hand and stepped half a pace back. She clasped her hands before her, interlacing her fingers in prayer.

"I am willing to become Qin Feng's Guardian Angel."

"To love what he loves and think what he thinks. To bear his pain and weather hardship for him. Whether in poverty or wealth, whether lowly or noble, whether amid the chaos of war or forsaken by the gods."

"I will draw my sword and fight for him, fold my wings for him, and never leave his side, for all eternity!"

After finishing her oath, Zhi Xin opened her eyes.

"This is my answer!"

This time, she did not shrink back, but met Qin Feng's gaze bravely.

At the sight, Qin Feng was a little stunned.

What was this?

Baiting out an ultimate with a basic attack?

He had only casually teased her, and she had gone straight into reciting the angels' Guardian Oath?

"Qin Feng, do you not like me?"

Seeing him remain silent, Zhi Xin's pale golden eyes gradually lost their steadfast light. Her voice grew quieter, carrying a cautious timidity.

"If... if you think I was too forward, I can..."

She never finished.

Qin Feng had already stepped half a pace forward, cupped the back of her head with his right hand, and bent down to kiss her.

Zhi Xin's eyes instantly widened, and the trace of timidity in her pupils shattered into pieces.

Her hands froze in midair for two seconds, then slowly settled against his chest, as though she had finally reacted.

A long while later, their lips parted.

Qin Feng drew back slightly and looked down into her still-dazed eyes, his lips curving with a hint of smugness. "This is my answer too!"

Zhi Xin's head swam as though she had drunk an entire jar of Nectar Wine specially brewed in the Angel Nebula.

She blinked, taking several seconds to process everything that had just happened. Then her cheeks burned even redder, but she leaned forward into him and buried her face in his embrace, her voice muffled. "A Feng, can I call you that?"

"Why do you want to call me that?"

Qin Feng rested his face against the top of her head and asked softly.

"Because there are countless Qin Fengs, but only one A Feng."

Zhi Xin's voice came from against his chest, muffled but filled with earnest certainty. "I know there will be many sisters around you in the future, A Feng, and I will definitely be the most special one."

Qin Feng paused, then lifted his head and looked at her for a long while. Finally, he gently tightened his arms and drew her closer. "Don't worry. You will definitely be the most special."

Samo stood nearby, unable to leave yet unable to stay.

Then, very considerately, he turned aside and adopted the posture of someone carefully reviewing data on a blank holographic screen before him.

Fortunately, during this time, he had not allowed the Giant Shadow Soldiers under his command to offend Zhi Xin in the slightest.

Otherwise, he would have wanted to die right then.

After they spent a while in each other's arms, Zhi Xin finally lifted her head from Qin Feng's embrace. Although the blush on her face had not completely faded, she had regained her ability to think.

She looked up at him and brought the conversation back on track. "A Feng, you still haven't told me. Why don't you want to fight for Blue Star?"

Qin Feng glanced down at her and reached out to tuck a loose strand of golden hair beside her cheek behind her ear.

"It's simple. Because Blue Star is Karl's testing ground right now."

"You know he advocates the Void Order. If he succeeds in opening the Void Plane in the future, Blue Star will definitely be the first to bear the brunt. I don't want to put my home base on an outpost where Void Creatures could land at any moment."

Zhi Xin's eyes shifted as she took a moment to digest this, then she nodded.

"So that's why... but Queen Kaisa is keeping Karl in check right now. He probably wouldn't dare act so recklessly, would he?"

"No one can say for sure what the future holds."

Qin Feng's voice was calm but certain. "In any case, I prefer to prepare ahead and keep the initiative in my own hands."

Zhi Xin fell silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, her pale golden eyes lit up, and she looked up at him. "A Feng, if you really want to expand into the Known Universe, I recommend the Hundred Flowers Star System."

"The Hundred Flowers Star System? Is there something special about it?"

"The Hundred Flowers Star System has considerable resources."

Zhi Xin raised a finger and began counting them off. "Energy deposits, rare metals, Stellar Energy Collection Points, and even a few undeveloped primitive planets. The only drawback is that a powerful race lives there. Although they can't compare to a god-level civilization, they're among the very best aerospace-class civilizations."

"Then wouldn't I have to fight them for territory if I went there?"

Qin Feng raised his eyebrows. "Would your Queen Kaisa agree to that?"

Zhi Xin's lips curved into a sly little smile.

"Don't worry. Since I recommended the Hundred Flowers Star System, naturally, I have my reasons. That race doesn't belong to a Shenhe-body civilization. They're the Insect Race, who were on the losing side of the Form War back then."

"The Insect Race reproduces extremely quickly. Even though our side won back then, we couldn't successfully drive them out of the Hundred Flowers Star System. Later, war broke out between angels and demons, and the issue of the Hundred Flowers Star System was left unresolved. So if you go there to seize territory, Queen Kaisa and the others won't object."

She paused, a shrewd, calculating gleam in her pale golden eyes. "Besides, doesn't that little army of yours like devouring other people's shadows to grow stronger? There are so many of those insects. They'd be perfect for strengthening your soldiers!"

After hearing this, Qin Feng's eyes immediately lit up.

He lowered his head and kissed Zhi Xin on the cheek, his voice filled with undisguised delight.

"Zhi Xin, baby, I love you to death! Tell me, how should I reward you?"

Zhi Xin said nothing. Her little face red, she merely traced circles on his chest, her fingers brushing lightly over the front of his clothes.

At the sight, Qin Feng laughed and swept her up in his arms.

Zhi Xin cried out in surprise, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her entire face in the crook of his shoulder.

Their figures flickered in the great hall, then vanished from the spot.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Solar System.

In the dim reaches of space, a meteorite of middling size floated quietly among the starlight.

Morgana sat on its surface, her legs dangling and swinging, her hands braced against the rock behind her as she gazed in utter boredom into the deep void in the distance.

The resource delivery and Demon One that Karl had promised still hadn't appeared. She had waited so long she was practically growing mushrooms.