Little Pink Starfish

If one had to sum up the current mood of the survivors who barely made it through the mutated beast tide, it would probably be these eight words:

Like a dream, like a hallucination, scattered in the wind.

That’s right, everyone was completely scattered! What the hell does “huanghou” even mean in this context?! Did it mean what they thought it meant?! Could it be the “queen” of another group of mutated beasts?!

There had always been speculation that the mutated beasts might have some ruler uniting the horde, but now even the high-ranking officials and generals of the base had had their focus derailed—

Because everyone… was thinking about the word “huanghou.”

And what shocked them even more—who the queen was seemed all too obvious now.

—So those last two years of mutated beasts coming to human bases to look for ice-type ability users… damn it, they were really choosing a consort?!

This was too unbelievable…
How could you even date someone from another species?

Of course, after the initial shock, the leadership was the first to react.

Their first thought was: What about Gu Shan?

After all, in their base was an eight-level corrosion-type ability user who seemed utterly fixated on the ice-type “beauty,” Zhang Youqing. And now a mutated beast huang was suddenly in the picture…

There was only one beauty.

But now there were two love rivals.

What kind of messed-up tragedy was this!

The leaders’ minds were swirling with thoughts.

What if the mutated beast huang and the level-eight ability user got into a fight?

If the huang won and took the beauty away, would the level-eight go berserk?

If the level-eight won and got the beauty, would the huang fall into rage and destroy the base out of heartbreak?

This was just too complicated, too stressful, too much for anyone to bear…

If before, when people referred to Gu Bai as the devastating ice-type beauty, it still had some teasing connotation—then now, reality had proven there was no teasing, only truth!
It was seriously driving people mad!

The atmosphere was heavy.

After surviving this great battle, the hard-earned chance to keep living was now shadowed by a silent dread.

After the laughter and shock passed, everyone began to sense the underlying unease.

Sure, Gu Bai’s existence had always been a massive asset to the base, securing victory time and again. But now it seemed like heaven had suddenly withdrawn its favor and turned fortune into disaster?

People couldn’t help but sigh.
Sometimes, being too attractive… wasn’t a good thing.

Especially when the ones attracted weren’t just mutants—but maniacs.

As for Gu Bai…

He seriously didn’t want to associate that word—“huanghou”—with himself.

Unfortunately, everyone in the base, aside from himself, seemed to think exactly that.

WTF, this kind of thing is such a damn stray bullet!

Whoever wants to be the queen, go ahead—what does it have to do with me?!

But maybe heaven was determined to tear apart Gu Bai’s fragile denial, because that stupidly colorful parrot had already flapped over to him, chirping several times:

“Huanghou! Huanghou! Meimei~~!”

Gu Bai: Meimei your ass!

The battle-hardened leader had already regained his composure. His eyes were serious, even solemn, as they landed on the golden-maned lion king:
“May I ask, sir lion, are you the ruler of the mutated beast horde? It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

With that sentence—countless mutated beasts froze like stone.

The lion king’s feline face immediately contorted into a look of terror. He backed up several steps in panic, practically wishing he could shrink down into a little furball. His voice turned desperate:

“No no no, why would you think that?! I’m not the huang! The huang is supreme—please don’t misunderstand ahhhh!”

And because he was so nervous, his pronunciation was perfect. Tone and cadence impeccable. Emotional delivery? Off the charts.

The leader was a little embarrassed.

He honestly thought it was odd. Every time the beast horde showed up, it was always the lion and the parrot doing the talking.
Logically speaking, if the parrot was the messenger, then the lion had to be the huang, right?

But the lion was still babbling denials.

He was genuinely terrified.
Damn it, the huang was right in front of him, and this human dared to say that?! Were they trying to get him killed?!

He was innocent, okay!

And the huang’s possessiveness over the huanghou was terrifying enough to grill him alive!
If he’d known it would turn out like this, he never would’ve tried to act important!

Heart. Broken.

The lion king’s heart was truly broken.

All he’d done was… act a little narcissistic?

He’d only tried to take some initiative in talking to humans, okay?!

Normally, the four beast kings didn’t get along all that well, and the other three would have loved to laugh at him in this situation—but let’s be real, they didn’t dare.

Everyone knew the huang was scary beyond belief.
If they laughed at the lion now and it came off as disrespecting the huang… what then?

They still had their sanity, thanks.

The leader had no choice. If the golden lion wasn’t the huang, then who was?

And as the base’s top brass, he had to…

So he asked, “Then may I request an audience with the huang, to express our gratitude? You’ve saved our entire base. We are endlessly grateful.”

The mood… subtly shifted.

The huang had already been right among you fools for a long time…

But if the huang didn’t reveal his identity, how could they expose it?

Things grew awkward.

The lion king didn’t know what to say—so he said nothing.

The other beast kings? All zipped their mouths.

The leader was helpless.

He hadn’t climbed to the top in this apocalypse by being rigid. If these beasts could be reasoned with, why not try to ally with them?

If humans could partner with these powerful mutated beasts, it would boost their survival chances in this changing world.

But if they couldn’t meet the huang, how could they negotiate?

Only after meeting him could further plans be made.

Still, the leader’s heart was conflicted.

To form an alliance with the beasts would require sincerity. And the greatest form of sincerity? A political marriage.

If the huang had taken a liking to Zhang Youqing and already considered him the huanghou, wasn’t this a perfect opportunity?

Which brought up the real problem—

First, how were they going to convince Zhang Youqing, a top-tier ice-type ability user, to “marry” into the beast clan?

Sure, the huang was still a beast. Could someone at that level accept dancing with the beasts? It felt so unfair. They couldn’t ask him to sacrifice himself for the base, could they?

Then, how to deal with his biggest admirer—who happened to be a level-eight ability user?

And which of the two was stronger, anyway?

If they were equally powerful, then the beast huang had more bargaining chips.
But if the level-eight was stronger, then forcing this “marriage” might have very bad consequences.

Was it possible for both to coexist and share…

As soon as that thought formed, the leader broke out in a cold sweat.

He’d always fought for humanity’s survival—how had his mind ended up here?
This was a dangerous sign.

He was willing to do whatever it took to survive—but there still had to be a line.

This choice… was seriously hard.

For a moment, the leader didn’t know what to do anymore.

.

Gu Bai had no idea that the base leadership had mentally cast him as the “princess” and were now trying to figure out how to arrange him—agonizing over every choice and then immediately feeling guilty and self-loathing over those choices.

What he was thinking was: Which damn beast is the huang? Come out right now—I swear I won’t kill you!

And then, Gu Bai never expected…
That damn beast huang actually did come out.

Qiguan Rui stepped forward, his figure leaping into the air.

Then—he landed directly among the mutated beast horde.

People in the base: =口=！！！

Young man! Don’t be rash! Just because they called your beloved “huanghou” doesn’t mean you need to go throw yourself into their army!

They have more beasts than we have men!

Please calm down! A bright tomorrow is still ahead of you!

Young man, please come back!

But then—their eyes almost popped out.

Because after Qiguan Rui landed—never mind how the hell he jumped from that height without using any powers or breaking any limbs—the beast horde didn’t react at all.
Qiguan Rui didn’t even look like he came to fight.

As soon as he hit the ground, the beasts around him parted, leaving a wide-open space.

Qiguan Rui stood in the middle, his presence overwhelming, his aura suffocating.

The mutated beasts—no matter if they were lions, wolves, or birds of prey—all shrank like kittens.
The elite beasts in the back dropped to the ground, trembling in fear, completely suppressed by his aura.

Backline support guy Meng Qiao’s mind short-circuited.

Holy crap, could it be… could it be—

Before he could speak, Qiguan Rui’s body suddenly changed.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a devastatingly handsome young man into a massive black serpent at least as tall as the city walls!

So majestic. So imposing. So cold. So terrifying.

Way more powerful than those other beast kings.

Of course, he only stayed in that form for a moment before shifting back.

With perfect calm, he said:
“You may express your gratitude to me now.”

The leader’s first thought: Oh thank god, we can arrange the marriage now without any hesitation!

But someone else… was terrified.

Gu Bai: I屮艸芔茻 that terrifying body, those black scales, that streak of gold on his forehead—ahhh isn’t this that insane main character from Demon Emperor Wu Zun?! WHY THE HELL IS HE IN THIS WORLD?