Exclusive Possession – CH 010

Chapter 10. The Art of Choice

Kenya stood tall and straight under the lights, looking like a man who had just stepped out of a movie, impeccably dressed and handsome.

But I saw a chilling murderous intent in his eyes.

Death and killing had always been distant and unreal to me. Newspapers reporting who killed someone, or Morin saying how many enemies Mu Xian had eliminated, may send chills down my spine, but they did not evoke any real feeling in me.

Until this moment, for the first time, I saw murderous intent in a man’s eyes. His gaze was so dark, like the bloodthirsty tongue of a desperado, lightly licking your cheek, sending chills down your spine.

I suddenly thought of Mu Xian.

I wonder what he was feeling when he was at his wit’s end, defeated and killed?

I could not imagine it.

On the day he left, he said, “I promise to come back for you within ten days.”

At the time, I was dismissive. But now, those words have become his dying words, a promise that can never be kept. Suddenly, I felt that he was actually naive and sincere back then, and a little pitiful.

I hoped he survived.

I used to feel disgust and indifference towards him, but I never wanted him to die. And Morin and Mop, I liked them; in my heart, they were more important than Mu Xian.

“What are you thinking about? Worried about Nuo’er?” A deep, amused voice suddenly rang out, startling me.

Kenya took two steps forward and stood ramrod straight less than half a meter away from me, his long legs spread about half a foot apart, his hands behind his back, looking down at me. He looked like a truly ambitious commander, dignified, composed, and authoritative.

“No,” I replied. “The victor was king, the loser was villain; it was only natural.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, and his smile deepened.

I seized the opportunity and said, “Your Highness, I still have robots and soldiers on my spaceship. They are not involved in the mutiny. Can you release them?”

He paused, then suddenly laughed: “Why care about unimportant people?”

“Because they are protecting me with their lives.” I looked him straight in the eye.

He looked at me quietly, then suddenly reached out and took my right hand, which was hanging by my side. His hand was large and strong, and I did not dare to resist. I watched as he brought my hand to his lips and lowered his head to kiss the back of my hand.

“Hua Yao.” His handsome face lifted slightly, a playful smile in his bright eyes. “If I protect you too, will I gain your attention?”

I froze. His words were dangerously ambiguous. But I knew perfectly well that he was not interested in me; he was just flirting with the woman labeled Mu Xian.

He suddenly released me, chuckling softly, “You were so scared your face turned pale. Did I make you resist like this?”

Upon hearing this, my first instinct was to explain and make amends, but he had already walked towards the door, his voice carrying a slight smile: “Now you can sleep peacefully; no one would disturb you.”

The door closed slowly behind him, and the spacious room returned to silence. I felt utterly exhausted, my legs gave way, and I sat back down on the sofa.

But how could I possibly fall asleep?

I felt like an insignificant nobody, forcibly pushed to the forefront of witnessing history. I could foresee the impending horrific massacre, yet I could only stand by numbly, awaiting the judgment of fate and the powerful.

**

A few minutes after Kenya left, a servant led me to my room upstairs. Looking out the window, it was already broad daylight; the sunlight bathed the vast forest in a soft golden glow. All around was silent, and the sky was a clear, cloudless blue. I could not help but wonder, if Mu Xian died, would Kenya let me return to Earth?

I was summoned by Kenya again the following morning.

After a day and a night of rest, my emotions had completely calmed down. The sympathy I had felt for Mu Xian had also faded away. My only thought was to focus all my energy on dealing with Kenya, and I did my best to save my own life and that of the Morin brothers.

However, when I stepped into the gleaming silver command center with the soldiers, I could not help but feel nervous.

This was a very spacious hall, with snow-white metal covering the walls and ceiling. Standing inside, one would be dizzy from the magnificent surroundings and involuntarily feel a sense of awe. More than twenty officers sat at desks, each with one or more pale blue floating images in front of them.

Kenya must have had a very strict military, because when I, an uninvited guest, clattered in in my round heels, not a single person turned to look at me.

I followed the soldiers across the hall and into a side door. The room was not large, and two tall, black metal robots stood inside. Kenya, sitting behind a dark brown desk, looked up at the sound and smiled at me.

“Come over.”

I walked to the desk, but he reached out his hand to me. I reluctantly gave him my hand, and he pulled me over.

That was when I noticed that next to his large sofa chair was a smaller chair, and he wanted me to sit next to him.

“Do you not want to see how Nuo’er is defeated?” He looked at me leisurely.

I had no choice but to sit down.

He raised his left hand and gently swiped the floating screen in front of him, which displayed a dark space with silver galaxies shimmering silently. Suddenly, he draped his right arm over the back of my chair and turned to look at me.

“How about becoming my lover? I would protect you; I am more reliable than Nuo’er.”

The next sentence was almost whispered in my ear, but it made the hairs on my body stand on end.

“…We’ll see,” I managed to squeeze out.

Even if I wanted to please him, I absolutely could not agree. If I did, this man would immediately consider me his possession. I’d be crazy to want to be his woman.

He stared at me quietly for a moment, then removed his arm from the back of the chair and smiled faintly.

“You have not seen Nuo’er die yet, so you are still not giving up?”

I thought to myself that it was not like that; I was just avoiding you. But even though I thought that, I felt embarrassed that someone had seen through my thoughts, because I genuinely hoped that Mu Xian would not die. It had nothing to do with love; it was still a human life.

“Come on, let’s look at something that would make you give up.” His hand began to swipe across the screen.

My heart sank slightly as I saw a yellowish-brown star slowly rotating in the center of the screen. Distant galaxies shimmered with silver light, forming a tranquil backdrop.

“This is Phosphorus Planet, a new planet rich in minerals,” he said. “According to the original plan, Nuo’er was supposed to arrive here at 9:00 was this morning to investigate the military mineral reserves. Originally, I intended to join forces with the Surman fleet to ambush Nuo’er’s fleet from here. However, he had already gained command of the Surman fleet, so I suppose the fleet that would be attacked from both sides would be mine.”

I was startled when I heard this—I had always thought their power struggle was nothing more than assassination, but I never imagined it had escalated into a war between fleets.

“But…” I hesitated before answering, “Are not these fleets all part of the Empire’s army?”

I found his actions unacceptable—to use nuclear weapons to destroy the entire fleet in order to ascend the throne? How selfish! If I were a citizen of Stan, I certainly would not want to be ruled by such a king.

But then I thought, “Was this not how all the struggles for imperial power in Chinese history had been?”

I felt a lump in my throat; I did not agree with this approach, but I had to admit it was reality.

Kenya, of course, understood what I meant, and his eyes darkened slightly.

“I do not like women questioning my decisions.” He stared at me.

He said this without a hint of a smile; his face remained cold.

My heart skipped a beat—I had been careless. What I said just now would have clearly angered him. How could I have said it? Perhaps because he had always been so gentle with me, I had unconsciously forgotten that the man in front of me deeply hated everything related to Mu Xian and would kill me if he was unhappy.

“I’m sorry,” I could only say. “As a king, perhaps you did nothing wrong.”

“I do not accept verbal apologies.” His voice was deep, almost seductive. “Find another way.”

Of course I understood his ambiguous hints, but even a spontaneous kiss was unbearable for me.

“Then…should I write an apology letter?” I looked at him, trying to maintain a sincere gaze.

He paused, then suddenly burst into laughter. He knew I was pretending, of course, but at least he laughed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, to my surprise, he suddenly raised his hand, hooked his index finger, and gently flicked the tip of my nose.

I was completely frozen from the bridge of my nose to my chin; my whole face was numb, and I reflexively took a step back.

To my surprise, he was also stunned, as if he himself had not expected to so affectionately flick my nose. But he quickly recovered and said with a faint smile, “I would give you a chance to make amends.”

I sensed his softening tone and dared not say anything more.

Just then, the communicator on the table rang. Kenya pressed the communication button, and a somewhat familiar voice came through: “Your Highness, the warships were in position.” I immediately remembered that this was Commander Xiangli Sheng, the one who had spoken to Mu Xian.

Kenya replied in a deep voice, “Very good.”

Another voice rang out: “Your Highness, the nuclear missiles were ready.”

Upon hearing the word “nuclear missiles,” I was startled. Kenya, with a slight smile, replied, “Very good.”

He turned off the communicator and swiped the screen again. The image froze in a grayness, with the outlines of rocks of varying sizes vaguely visible, floating in the dark space.

“This is a planetary belt not far from Phosphorus Planet,” he said calmly. “It’s a perfect ambush location. I’ve planted two hundred nuclear bombs.”

“What are you planning to do?” I asked nervously.

He laughed: “Nuo’er has two fleets that would arrive in 10 minutes. I will jump away immediately; he will not be on guard, and it will take time for the jump engine to restart.”

“And then… you launched the nuclear missile that had been lying in wait?” I continued his question.

He smiled, his brow unfurrowing. “Very clever. But not me; it’s you. It would be quite amusing to have Nuo’er’s woman personally launch a nuclear missile to kill him. If you want to apologize to me, then do it this way.”

My heart skipped a beat, and I turned my head away.

“…I do not want to do that.”

He glanced at me indifferently: “Plus the lives of Mop and Morin.”

I suddenly looked up at him, and he looked at me with a cold smile in his eyes.

“…It’s a deal.”

He seemed a little surprised: “Your decisiveness was beyond my expectations.”

I answered sullenly, “I was forced to.” My words were somewhat resentful, but he was not angry at all; instead, he laughed again.

Kenya stopped talking to me and began scrolling through the screen, carefully checking each piece of data and asking the officers outside for details. Their questions and answers were very brief, and the atmosphere was tense.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

Kenya put his arm around the back of my chair again, and I sat up straight, staring at the screen.

The deep black space was originally calm and still, and the yellowish-brown planet continued its silent rotation. Suddenly, several silver lights flashed by, and numerous warships and spaceships of various sizes seemed to emerge from the darkness, occupying a large portion of the right side of the screen.

This was the ‘Surman’ fleet,” Kenya said in a deep voice.

I thought to myself, “Mu Xian is the one in command now.”

At that moment, another group of warships appeared at the top of the screen. Kenya said, “This is my fleet. Of course, it was also bait. Nuo’er is a vigilant man; if my fleet had not appeared, his other main forces would not have jumped over now.”

Just then, the communicator rang.

“Your Highness, Surman requests a call on an encrypted channel.” It was Xiangli Sheng’s voice, very calm, but with a hint of sarcasm.

My heart skipped a beat—it was Mu Xian! He still did not know that Kenya had set a trap!

“Bring him in.”

Kenya appeared calm, but my heart was pounding.

A daring thought flashed into my mind: “If I spoke up at this moment, could Mu Xian and the entire fleet escape this calamity?” But Kenya would surely kill me.

Did I really need to sacrifice myself for these strangers? And did Kenya not realize this? Then why was he letting me sit here and listen to this phone call? Is he sure I was afraid to speak up?

“No. I do not want to die.” A powerful thought surged through my mind, and I could not utter a sound. But watching hundreds and thousands of people die felt like a huge rock was pressing down on my heart, making it hard to breathe.

Just as I was struggling intensely and deeply, a deep male voice came through the communicator.

“It’s a pleasure to speak with you, Your Highness Kenya.”

A completely unfamiliar voice, an unfamiliar tone. But my intuition told me that it was Mu Xian. Just like last time on the spaceship, he must have changed his voice through some means.

Just then, a warm, strong hand suddenly covered my mouth, pressing me against the back of the chair with such force that I could not move. My breathing became short and tense. I glanced to the side and saw Kenya staring at the communicator as if nothing was wrong, while one of his arms was raised and pressed down on me with great force.

“Surman, is everything arranged?” Kenya asked.

Mu Xian replied, Yes. Once Nuo’er’s fleet arrives via the jump, I would attack immediately and destroy their jump engines. At that time, Your Highness, you can then send troops.”

My heart skipped a beat. Actually, Mu Xian wanted to destroy Kenya’s jump engine.

“Good.” A mocking smile appeared on Kenya’s lips. Do a good job, Surman. Best of luck, my admiral.”

The communication was crucial. Kenya remained silent for a moment before making his move. I felt a dull ache in my cheek and instinctively gasped for breath. Just then, a flash of silver light appeared in the center of the screen, revealing a densely packed fleet. It was Nuo’er’s fleet!

My heart seemed to race again with their appearance. And when I saw a round, pink warship next to the large spaceship in the middle of the fleet, standing out like a red heart, my feelings were indescribable.

That was the Angel, a gift from Mu Xian.

“Your Highness, the nuclear missile has entered the launch lane, and the faster-than-light jump engine is ready for launch,” an officer reported as he ran to the door.

Kenya nodded and pressed a button on the table. The previously flat wooden tabletop slid backward with a whoosh, revealing a huge silver panel that slowly rose up. Countless buttons on it shimmered with blue light.

He turned to look at me. I froze; my blood seemed to boil, so hot it felt like it was melting me.

Seeing that I was sitting still, he pulled me to my feet and placed my hand on a blue handle protruding on the right side. I felt a chill on my fingers, and my mind went blank. I instinctively tried to pull my hand away, but he held it firmly, and I could not move at all.

His palm began to press harder, making the back of my hand ache slightly. I watched as his fingers intertwined with mine, pressing down on the handle. The blue handle emitted a dazzling silver light as it was pressed down little by little.

Finally, the handle sank completely into the table, reaching its limit, and stopped moving. Kenya sneered and released my hand.

I looked up in horror, watching the screen with him as his fleet transformed into a silver light and leaped away.

At the same time, in the lower left corner of the screen, several faint white lights, like shooting stars, intertwined into a dense network, slowly covering the entire screen. That was a nuclear rain of bullets, powerful enough to destroy any flying object, silently attacking the motionless Nuo’er fleet in the center!