Admittedly, perhaps because the Alien Beasts she had manifested with her Superpower these past few tis had been so strong, Jiang Qin’s confidence had grown a bit.
She was even daring to covet the research institute’s Healing Potions and spaceships.
Even Qing Luo was starting to look visibly flustered.
"Hey, kid, you’re not actually thinking of raiding the institute, are you?
I was just ssing with you. How could you take it so seriously?"
Long Hao hadn’t planned on telling Jiang Qin, but if he didn’t say sothing soon, she was probably going to raid the institute for potions.
He had bombed an institute himself, so he knew exactly how dangerous they were.
So, he could only tug helplessly at her clothes from inside her pocket.
Sensing he wanted to say sothing, Jiang Qin quickly stepped to the side, away from Qing Luo.
’After all, they barely knew each other. What if Qing Luo discovered Long Hao and decided to take his dragon head in for a bounty?’
Once she was sure Qing Luo couldn’t see, Jiang Qin picked up the little dragon, held him to her chest, and asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Qinqin, you don’t have to look for an Advanced Healing Potion. This isn’t an internal injury. My Riot Value is soaring."
"I don’t know why I’m still lucid, but I can feel that my Riot Value has already surpassed 90%."
"Once it passes that threshold, it’s impossible to lower it back to 89% without deep pacification."
89% and 90% was a critical threshold.
Logically, he should not only be unable to revert to his human form, but he should have also lost his sanity and gone berserk by now.
Yet he remained in his beast form—albeit a shrunken version—and had retained his sanity.
"So, drinking a Healing Potion is useless. And don’t even think about sending back to the Empire to find a female."
"I won’t look for one, and it would be useless even if I did. Even an S-level female wouldn’t be able to lower my Riot Value below 80% in anything less than three to five years."
"During that ti, I wouldn’t be able to fight in my beast form at all. That’s simply impossible."
"So, I’m going to die sooner or later anyway. I don’t want to go through all that trouble. I just want to beco your partner before I die."
To be honest, Long Hao truly felt no attachnt to the Empire.
He wasn’t the Empress’s biological son. His mother was from a branch of the Imperial Family, and because he was born with Black Dragon Genes, she sent him to the main family in exchange for wealth and status.
For as long as he could rember, his only companions had been robots and servants of the Imperial Family.
Once he could walk, he began his studies alongside the other children with Dragon Clan Genes.
The struggles began then, too.
There was endless knowledge to learn, endless sches to fight, and constant, unavoidable assassination attempts.
The Empress paid no mind to any of it.
Because only the victors were qualified to compete for the right of succession.
Only after successfully coming of age and graduating were their identities announced and their nas entered into the Imperial Family rankings.
After that, another new round of competition would determine the next heir to the Imperial Royal Family.
If one didn’t want to participate in the struggle, the solution was actually simple: just leave the Imperial Family and return to their own branch family.
When Long Hao was young, he once went ho after feeling wronged.
He told his biological mother and father that he didn’t want to be a child of the Imperial Family; he wanted to co ho.
But...
He was harshly reprimanded and promptly sent back to the Imperial Family.
The fawning faces of his two closest relatives were deeply seared into his mory.
From that day on, he, Long Hao, never allowed himself to be wronged again.
After he ca of age, that mother of his saw that he had entered the rankings and ca to offer so encouragent, spouting a heap of platitudes.
But Long Hao let her words go in one ear and out the other. He imdiately applied to join the military and went to the front lines.
He only returned to the Empire for the occasional school exam.
Just as he had thought when he left the Empire this ti, he no longer owed it anything.
Don’t talk to him about faith; he had none. He had hovered between life and death countless tis, repaying the Empire with his life over and over again.
As a citizen, he had fulfilled all his responsibilities.
So he refused to be shackled again.
...
Jiang Qin had never imagined such a rule existed.
She had always thought that pacification alone was enough to lower any Riot Value. ’So there are different circumstances?’
Since she had never pacified anyone with a Riot Value above 90%, she couldn’t be sure if what Long Hao said was true.
To be honest, she felt her abilities couldn’t be compared to those of other females.
’This wasn’t narcissism; it was a clear-eyed assessnt of her own capabilities.’
’She just didn’t know if ordinary pacification would be effective in Long Hao’s situation.’
’If only her Light Computer was still around... She could asure Long Hao’s data. After all, she had perford one-on-one pacification for him twice already.’
’But... it seed Qing Luo had one...’
’How was she supposed to borrow it from the honey badger?’
Jiang Qin didn’t say anything to Long Hao. She just stuffed him into her pocket and went to find Qing Luo.
She asked, "Are you planning to follow us forever?"
Qing Luo didn’t know why he was following them, either. It was just a gut feeling.
He had always done as he pleased, so if he felt like following, he followed, without even considering the reason.
So, upon hearing her question, he nodded without a second thought.
"Yeah."
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll lead you to your death at the institute?"
"Tch. You think you can scare , kid? If I were afraid of dying, I’d have died long ago."
’Right. Why would a honey badger be afraid?’
Jiang Qin said, "Since you want to follow us, can we make a deal?"
"You lend your Light Computer, and I’ll record a copy of the music you like."
A thing like a Light Computer was considered a luxury item on Chaotic Star.
But Qing Luo didn’t hesitate. He took off his Light Computer and handed it to her.
"I’m only lending it to you because it’s you. If it were anyone else, I’d suspect they were trying to trick out of my Light Computer."
"But it’s useless even if you have it. This thing has no signal on Chaotic Star."
"Mm," Jiang Qin nodded.
’It didn’t have a signal, but testing the Riot Value didn’t require one. You only needed a network to record and upload data.’
So, after getting the Light Computer, Jiang Qin once again stepped aside to test Long Hao.
Sure enough, the data showed his Riot Value at 90%.
Exactly 90%. Not a bit less.
Still, Jiang Qin wanted to run a test. She took out her harmonica, started the recording function on the Light Computer, and began to play *The Wind Rises*.
A lodious tune drifted across the yellow sands.
Qing Luo, whose head had been feeling heavy, let out a comfortable sigh and flopped directly onto the sandy, gravelly ground, spreading his limbs out and closing his eyes.
’Ah~ this is the sound. It really hits the spot~~’
When the song ended, Jiang Qin tested Long Hao’s Riot Value again.
It was still 90%.
With her level of skill, a one-on-one pacification had never failed to lower the value by at least 2%.
’So, there really was a threshold.’
’She was at a disadvantage for not having a teacher; she didn’t even know this. Thankfully, her partners had never reached this value before.’
Still, she asked, "Long Hao, how do you feel after my pacification?"
Overco with drowsiness, Long Hao answered groggily, "I do... My spiritual power feels especially relaxed... I want to sleep..."
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