So when Jiang Qin groggily woke up and felt someone holding her, she nearly jumped.

If Long Hao hadn’t told her in advance when he would probably be back, she likely would have screamed. Fortunately, she quickly realized what was happening.

Sure enough, the face that came into view was Long Hao’s, looking much more haggard.

He had been following the Empire’s army to the surrounding Chaotic Stars to wipe out Star Thieves, especially since many of those involved were part of larger gangs.

So, this period of time had not been easy for him.

Besides, he had only rushed back this time just to see Jiang Qin.

After confirming she was safe, he would have to go back and continue with the plan.

They couldn’t take down the deeply entrenched forces on the Chaotic Stars that easily, but lopping off a few of their claws was no problem.

Jiang Qin’s disappearance this time had truly infuriated him.

Therefore, he intended to make these Star Thieves suffer heavy losses, but not to the point where they would get desperate and lash out.

After all, if he provoked too much hatred, it would be troublesome if those people banded together to take revenge on the ones he cared about.

If it were the old him, he probably would have just acted recklessly without a second thought.

But the current him couldn’t do that. He even had to carefully consider who to make an example of before making a move.

Jiang Qin didn’t want to disturb his sleep, but she was hungry, so she moved anyway.

The moment she stirred, Long Hao woke up. He held her close, the tremor in his breath betraying his inner turmoil.

"Thank god you’re okay..."

"Haven’t you seen my abilities? I just accidentally got drugged and passed out. When I woke up, I didn’t feel like it was time to risk my life yet, so I didn’t try to escape.

You know that if I had wanted to escape, those people couldn’t have stopped me."

Xiang Liu’s poison rain may not distinguish between friend and foe, but it’s super easy to use for creating chaos.

The reason Jiang Qin hadn’t made a move was, for one, because of Long Yue. If she had brought Long Yue with her, her abilities might have been exposed.

Don’t be fooled by Long Yue’s usually naive and pampered appearance; someone who could hold her own among so many heirs couldn’t possibly be a fool.

So, if she had used her abilities, Long Yue would have definitely suspected something.

At this moment, Jiang Qin still had some trust in Long Yue, but people’s hearts are the hardest to predict. Anyone can change.

The person who would die for you today might be the one who kills you tomorrow.

If she didn’t want to reveal anything, the best way would have been to escape by herself and leave Long Yue behind.

But Jiang Qin couldn’t bring herself to do that at the time.

Of course, she didn’t think of herself as some great samaritan. The reason she couldn’t do it was that she hadn’t been pushed to that point yet.

She hadn’t encountered any real danger along the way, so there was no need to do something that would leave a thorn in her heart.

But she kept these thoughts to herself and didn’t voice them.

In any case, that was Long Hao’s biological sister. She had no intention of voicing her own considerations.

So Long Hao naturally understood why she hadn’t escaped, even though she had the ability to.

It was true she hadn’t been pushed to her limit, and it was also true she couldn’t bear to abandon Long Yue.

And the deep bond between her and Long Yue was ultimately for Long Hao’s sake.

"I’m sorry... I hope there won’t be a next time, but if there is, promise me, no matter who is with you, you’ll think of yourself first, okay?"

Although Long Hao was afraid Jiang Qin would think he was cold-blooded, he still looked at her earnestly and said:

"No one is worth you taking risks for, not us, your partners, and not our relatives."

’If there are sins to be atoned for, it should be us who atone for them.’

Jiang Qin was speechless.

’I already thought I was pretty selfish, but here was my partner thinking I wasn’t selfish enough.’

It just went to show why they were partners.

"Are you hungry? I still have a lot of Special Level nutrient liquid here. You can put it in your Space Button later."

"I have a lot, too."

Long Hao asked, "Did Long Yue give them to you? I’ll transfer the Star Coins to her later."

They weren’t. Zhan Xiao had prepared them, so Jiang Qin said nothing.

"Yun Xie and the others and I have all reached an agreement with the military, so I’ll probably have to leave again this afternoon.

Cang Hong and Shi Lichuan will come pick you up and take you home, or you can just stay in the Empire to rest and recover.

But don’t stay at your villa. Stay at my place, or you can stay with Long Yue."

"What kind of agreement?" Jiang Qin asked worriedly.

Long Hao gently caressed her face, his gaze filled with infinite tenderness. "It’s nothing. There’s just been some fighting recently, so those Star Thieves have gotten a bit rampant.

We reached a collaboration agreement with the military to help clean them up a bit."

He was helping because he had led legions to wipe out Star Thieves before, so he was more familiar with the surrounding Chaotic Stars.

With him leading the team this time, they could be more efficient.

As for Yun Xie and the others’ cooperation with the Federation, that was because the Federation needed Yuan Ling.

Yuan Ling also hated these Star Thieves to the bone, so naturally, he agreed without a second thought.

This was a great opportunity to get revenge with a borrowed knife.

As for why Yun Xie was also going, it was to protect Yuan Ling. After all, the man was a technical specialist and not skilled in combat.

Of course, the main reason was that Yun Xie hated them too.

So even though Jiang Qin had returned safely, their extermination plan would not stop.

... 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

As smart as Jiang Qin was, how could she not guess it was because of her again?

She leaned into his embrace. "I’ll wait for you all to come back. I hope you don’t miss our baby’s birth."

"Don’t worry. After our little one is born, the first thing they see will definitely be me, their father!"

Though it was a bit of a buzzkill, Jiang Qin still smiled and said, "Then you might be disappointed. The baby’s first sight will probably be the nurse."

"Not necessarily. After he’s born, I won’t leave his side for a moment. I’ll make sure the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is me."

’Newborns don’t even open their eyes on their first day. There’s no way a nurse is going to steal that first look if I’m standing guard!’

Jiang Qin didn’t understand his inexplicable competitiveness, so she just let him be.

The two of them were lovey-dovey all morning. After meeting up with Long Yue for lunch, Cang Hong and Shi Lichuan arrived, along with Lan Yuyan.

Long Hao didn’t want to watch them be all lovey-dovey, and his time was almost up, so he left after giving a few last-minute instructions.

"Qinqin, are we going home, or...?" Lan Yuyan asked.

"Let’s go home. I’m homesick."

"Alright, I’ll make the arrangements."

To be safe, he decided it would be more secure to take Jiang Qin home on an official Empire spaceship.

Yun Xie and the others had killed far too many Star Thieves recently, and he was worried that people associated with those Star Thieves would retaliate.

...

The person most reluctant to see Jiang Qin leave was Long Yue.

Although she really wanted to go with Jiang Qin to the Federation for fun, things had been too turbulent recently, with various factions astir.

Moreover, her partners were also involved in the operation to exterminate the Star Thieves and might be targeted for revenge as well.

Therefore, for safety’s sake, the Empire was unwilling to let her travel.

「The next morning」

Long Yue reluctantly went to the port to see Jiang Qin and the others off. "Sister-in-law, after a while, I’ll come find you in the Federation for a visit."

"Okay, I’ll be waiting for you!"