After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: One of Our Own

In the end, the man added ten times the original price before he managed to coax a single sentence out of Fang Ziyue: “The person has already been sold.”

“Sold?!” The middle-aged man nearly leaped out of his seat in excitement. Had he not been mindful of his image, he would have screamed aloud. “Sold to whom?” he asked urgently.

One had to understand that on the Imperial Star, the Royalists, the Military-Political faction, and the Merchants were currently locked in a fierce struggle. It was originally a balanced tripartite where no one could overpower the others. However, the Merchants’ strongest leader, Third Master Liu, had suddenly suffered an acceleration in his spiritual riot, causing their status to waver.

This wouldn’t do. If they didn’t obtain the legendary mermaid—who could supposedly regrow flesh and heal spiritual energy—the Merchants would likely lose everything.

The man was unwilling. The family business he had worked so hard to build absolutely could not be swallowed up by the Royalty or the Military!

“Where else could she be sold?” Fang Ziyue looked at him as if he were an idiot. “On this desolate planet, selling a whole person isn’t as profitable as selling parts. Dismantling the organs is enough to buy half a crate of low-grade nutrient solution.”

Of course, many people would rather self-destruct their spiritual power to take their captors down with them than die incomplete. This was why organs were sold at such high prices on the desolate planet—scarcity creates value.

The practice was truly disgusting. Fang Ziyue frowned; she suddenly disliked the lie she had spun. It felt like she was cursing the little mermaid, which was bad luck.

The displeasure on Fang Ziyue’s face made the man’s heart tremble. He naturally knew about the organ trade on the desolate planet. Although modern technology could grow various organs, some people simply preferred the “real thing” from their own kind. They enjoyed the thrill of plundering another’s life.

“Miss Fang, please do not be angry.” The loyal butler, braving immense pressure, stepped in front of the man. With the man’s permission, he brought out another sum of money. “Miss Fang, this is an apology for our intrusion. We hope you will accept it.”

The butler told a lie, trying to gloss over the fact that they had searched her house without permission and blasted her door. As the saying goes, “turn big problems into small ones.” As long as the money was right, Fang Ziyue was too lazy to pursue the matter. Her attitude made it clear she intended to make them bleed money. To save their lives, they could only grit their teeth and pay.

Once they finally escaped that “tiger’s den,” the man turned pale and swayed. The butler and assistant rushed to support him. He gritted his teeth and hissed, “Investigate every organ trading site. You must find the organs of that madwoman from the Liang family!”

He had loved studying Ancient Earth books since childhood and had discovered legends stating that eating mermaid flesh could grant immortality. Since he couldn’t get a living mermaid, bringing back mermaid meat would still count as a success. He was convinced the Liang madwoman was a mermaid; he trusted his intuition, which had helped him avoid several major crises in business wars.

The moment the man sent people to investigate, Fang Ziyue took Ling Qiu and her mercenary group and left the desolate planet.

A magnificent and massive starship vanished into the void, cloaked in stealth. The former officers, who had been hiding in the weapon room and wishing they could live there forever, ran faster than anyone else the moment they heard the words “mealtime.”

These people, who once hated drinking mixed nutrient meals, stared at the food on the table with glowing eyes. No matter how many times they ate them, these vegetables and fruits were still so delicious! They ate so fervently that tears nearly fell.

“Good lord, this thing called ‘green pepper’… I feel like I could eat a whole crate of them plain!” someone exclaimed after finishing half a bowl of stir-fried pork with peppers in one go. But the others were buried in their food, having no time to acknowledge him. By the time he realized it, the large plate of food in front of him was gone in the time it took to speak a sentence.

Gone!!

“You brutes! Save some for me!”

The peaceful table erupted into a food-snatching war, a scene that played out at almost every meal. Because fruits and vegetables could heal their spiritual riots, every single one of them ate until they were stuffed.

Fang Ziyue peeled a lychee for Ling Qiu and let out a long sigh. Thank goodness for the system’s help; otherwise, she really couldn’t afford to feed these people.

In fact, she had provided them with large quantities of produce since she brought them out of the Gobi. She thought they would be used to it by now. Furthermore, she had already given them the nutrient solution formula and the seeds. She had discussed the distribution of seeds and the planting manuals, and they had already devised a plan to mobilize people to plant; anyone who successfully grew vegetables could receive a high-grade nutrient solution.

Fang Ziyue had previously exchanged for a nutrient quality tester from the system; their prizes were all accompanied by test results. Moreover, once the solution reached the winner, a sub-system would ensure they drank it on the spot; otherwise, it would be reclaimed. This prevented people from reselling the prizes at high prices and cut off intentions of robbery. Of course, if the winner wished to gift it to a severely ill patient, it could be transferred after strict system verification.

Similarly, every seed carried a mark from the system; once it reached a recipient, it was bound to them. This ensured the vegetables grown belonged solely to the grower—no one could steal or snatch them. It could be said that Fang Ziyue was using every possible method to ensure that every inhabited planet would be filled with vegetables, fruits, and greenery. She wanted the little mermaid to have the most comfortable environment regardless of which planet she wanted to visit.

“But this approach is dangerous,” the former General said, squinting while cleaning his gun. He was an exile from the Imperial Star.

The Royalists, Military, and Merchants were a tripod. The Royalty would lock those with severe spiritual riots in dark dungeons until they died, only to hold grand funerals for them. The Merchants would quietly eliminate them. Only the Military, resisting pressure from both, would let them leave. On the surface, it was exile, but they all knew the Military provided the best escape routes and resources. Those retired generals, who still held iron-fisted authority, worked together to protect them. This was one of the reasons why so many people were still willing to join the army despite the risk of exile—they believed justice would not fade.

Fang Ziyue knew this, of course. She picked up a tissue to wipe the juice from Ling Qiu’s lips. She said casually: “There is only one cake in the world, with a gold-inlaid base, jade-like frosting, and sweet, rich cream. This expensive, tempting cake is divided into three pieces: one for Royalty, one for Merchants, and one shared by the Military and the people. I don’t like this division. The cake belongs to everyone.”

The monopoly of life-sustaining nutrient solutions by Royalty and Merchants annoyed her. The “cake” was something researchers had spent day and night developing to save lives, only to be seized by a group of parasites. It was as disgusting as a designer creating something free and usable for their ideals, only for capital to seize it and sell it back to the public at high prices.

Of course, Fang Ziyue didn’t have the grand ideal of working for everyone. What she wanted was for people’s spiritual energy to be brought under control so they would no longer flock toward mermaids. Otherwise, the war between mermaids and humans from years ago would repeat.

The former General said nothing, but a knowing curve appeared on his lips. Some people do not seek fame or fortune, yet fame and fortune fall into their laps with every gesture. For someone like her, nothing could keep her except the things she truly cared about.

The General, who had originally thought of recruiting Fang Ziyue to the Military Research Institute, dropped the idea. All Fang Ziyue cared about was the childlike woman sitting next to her. He had heard she was a lunatic abandoned by the Liang family, but after this period of observation, he was certain she wasn’t mad—she was an anomaly. She had an incredible learning ability but lacked most human common sense. Furthermore, one could see the ocean in her eyes.

That was a sight only extremely powerful spiritual energy could condense. Within that ocean sparkled the light of shells and sea crystals, and the songs of mermaids.

Fang Ziyue didn’t intend to hide the truth from these people, as their destination was Planet Ruize—the mermaid planet. Only by knowing exactly what they were protecting could these men formulate a proper plan. To her satisfaction, these people honored their contract; not one of them tried to leak Ling Qiu’s identity. This allowed her strained nerves to relax; at least on this journey, she didn’t have to worry about internal betrayal while facing external threats.

On the third day after Fang Ziyue’s departure, the middle-aged merchant realized he had been tricked. He had searched every organ-trading site and found no clues. When he returned to Fang Ziyue’s house, he found it empty.

“D*mn it, she lied to me!” The man gritted his teeth and immediately reported the news of the mermaid to the Imperial Merchant Alliance.

The person in charge was shocked and skeptical. But under the man’s repeated assurances, they adopted a “try anything” attitude and secretly sent people to find Fang Ziyue. However, all three major factions had spies in each other’s ranks. The Merchants moved first, and the other two factions immediately followed.

The difference was that the Royalty and Merchants wanted the mermaid for themselves, while the Military demanded the protection of Fang Ziyue and the mermaid. This was exactly why Fang Ziyue, after understanding this world, chose to cooperate with these men.

“Host, please note: fleets from three factions are coming to search for your trail. Continuing to distribute seeds may lead to discovery. Do you wish to close the distribution channel?”

“No,” Fang Ziyue shook her head. “Closing it now would waste all our previous efforts.”

Currently, seed distribution had covered 30% of the population; 70% still had none. They had promised to give them to everyone. Moreover, even if they hid now, they couldn’t stay hidden forever. “We’ll deal with whatever comes. No rush.”

With the system’s capabilities, they could hold out until everyone had seeds. Furthermore, because she had hired soldiers, she had secretly sent a few “gifts” to the Military Headquarters. She was sure they would love them.

“General! Miss Fang has sent one million high-grade nutrient solutions, 7,000 pounds of various seeds, an electronic planting manual, and the nutrient solution formula!” the messenger shouted, his face red with excitement. With these solutions, the brothers suffering from severe spiritual riots were saved!

The lead General, gray-haired but vigorous, slapped the table and roared, “Excellent!”

Well done! Fang Ziyue had provided massive help this time!

“Since the youngster sent us such a great gift, we must return the favor,” a kind-looking General sitting below him said warmly. “Send a Star-Hunter ship. We can’t let our own child be bullied by outsiders.”

The Star-Hunter ship was one of the three great weapons of the Military-Political Department, famous for carrying planet-class weaponry. In the entire Star Alliance, no one dared go head-to-head with a Star-Hunter.

The Military had already categorized Fang Ziyue as “one of our own.” The deployment of the Star-Hunter was an overt declaration: This is our child. Whoever touches her, I’ll kill them!

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