Wang Luan felt that the mecha he bought were expensive precisely because of their appearance—each one was all looks. This newly bought mecha was, as expected, flashy and gaudy on the outside, and once you looked at the functions, it was still a low-level mecha.
But Qi Liao, this appearance-oriented rookie, was very satisfied. He pulled Wang Luan to try sitting in it, and excitedly drove off several li within the mall’s large test-driving field, stopping in front of a building at the edge of the test area.
“How is it, my new mecha isn’t bad, right?”
“It would be even better if you loaded a few energy cannons,” Wang Luan advised seriously.
Qi Liao said, “I’d like to, but mecha energy cannons burn energy—honestly, it’s even more expensive than burning money directly.”
Mecha were expensive in their manufacturing costs, and also expensive in the energy required to drive them daily. If energy cannons were added on top of that, even a rich second-generation like him didn’t have that much spare money to support it. Besides, he used mecha as transportation; he wasn’t using them to fight others, so what use did he have for energy cannons.
Just as Qi Liao and Wang Luan got down from the mecha, several people walked toward them.
“Qi Liao, you bought another one of your big toys again?” One male alpha said snidely. “Let me see—sure enough, another low-level mecha. If you ask me, you might as well buy a flying car instead.”
These people were probably not on good terms with Qi Liao. The way they spoke was unpleasant, and there was also a blond-haired one who chimed in with the previous speaker. “Peng Cheng, you’re not unaware of our Young Master Qi Liao’s level. He can only drive this level of mecha anyway. Besides, the way he drives this mecha is no different from a flying car. Buying a mecha or buying a flying car—aren’t they the same?”
The group burst into laughter, so angry that Qi Liao’s face darkened. “Wen Zhengqing, Peng Cheng!”
Angry as he was, he didn’t know how to retort. He knew both of them, and their levels really were higher than his. Now they were already able to drive mid-level mecha.
Seeing Qi Liao get angry, those two still wanted to keep provoking him. One of them shifted his gaze to Wang Luan beside Qi Liao and deliberately said, “From far away I thought you brought a chick with you, turns out it’s an alpha… why are you even wearing a mask, can’t let people see you?”
The fire spreading to herself didn’t surprise Wang Luan much. She only looked at Wen Zhengqing and the others with a strange gaze.
Looking at their manner and tone, they really looked like cannon-fodder passersby about to get slapped in the face.
Finally, a burly male alpha at the back looked at the pair of eyes Wang Luan had exposed and suddenly stepped forward, saying, “Rare to run into each other. We’re all friends—how about going over there to have a drink together?”
Wen Zhengqing, Peng Cheng, and the others saw Bian Li act like this and knew his old habit was acting up again—he had taken a fancy to that female alpha. They exchanged looks and let out a few ill-intentioned snickers.
Qi Liao was impatient. “Who’s friends with you? We still have things to do today. Don’t block the way—move.”
“What urgent business could you have? Our big brother Bian Li wants to treat you to a drink, and you won’t even give that bit of face?” A few of them deliberately or inadvertently blocked their way.
The others were all focused on Qi Liao, but Bian Li alone stood in front of Wang Luan, using sticky eyes to keep sweeping over her figure. Her build was well-proportioned. She wore a set of work overalls for repairs, neat and efficient—not as soft and weak as an omega, with more flavor instead.
Seeing him like this, Qi Liao thought of Bian Li’s reputation for indiscriminate promiscuity, and his expression grew even uglier. He directly connected to the staff here. “Someone’s causing trouble—come deal with it, now!”
The staff had long noticed something was off over here. It was just that these young masters had conflicts, and as lowly staff, how would they dare to interfere? They could only watch the situation develop from a distance.
While the staff dawdled over, Bian Li puffed up his chest muscles, thinking himself handsome, and lowered his voice to Wang Luan. “I’m strong as hell. Want to give it a try?”
Wang Luan was stunned for quite a while. Her first reaction was that this guy was provoking her, but seeing his ambiguous gaze, she felt something was off. After figuring it out, she showed an expression of “this is too ridiculous.”
“…Is that so? Then I’ll give it a try.” She said blankly.
Bian Li thought she had agreed and laughed loudly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. At the same time, Wang Luan also reached out and smashed her fist hard into his chest.
Bian Li, burly like a bear, flew out right in front of everyone’s stunned eyes before they could react, crashing into the mecha Qi Liao had just picked up.
Wang Luan sensed that his ribs had broken. She glanced at her hand and said, “Not that strong after all.”
Absurd as it sounded, in this world of six minor genders, male alphas and female alphas belonged to the same major gender. They couldn’t have children together and were considered the same sex.
It had taken Wang Luan a long time to get used to this setting of male alphas treating her as the same sex, as brothers, barely managing to make herself not so sensitive about it.
She was just about to successfully twist her own understanding around, and then—damn it—she ran into a homosexual from this world. In that instant just now, her gender dysphoria flared up badly again.
What a mess.
Someone at the scene finally came back to their senses and shouted angrily, “You actually dared to hit our Brother Bian Li!”
So she hit him, so what? Wang Luan didn’t say anything, but her indifferent attitude was clearly on display. It was more infuriating than anything else.
Qi Liao was even laughing at the side. “You’re really amazing. I didn’t expect Bian Li to actually lose to you.”
“Shamelessly arrogant, asking for a lesson!” The blond-haired one spat out harsh words and charged over.
Wang Luan shoved Qi Liao aside. The sound of her kicking the blond-haired one away was louder than his harsh words.
Back when she was surrounded by young masters and young ladies from the Imperial Capital star ring, Wang Luan hadn’t been afraid. Now she was even less afraid of these local knockoff young masters. Anyone who dared to rush up together with the blond-haired one was lying on the ground moments later.
The staff finally rushed over to break up the fight. Qi Liao was in a great mood. “Hurry up and get my mecha paperwork signed. I’m driving it away now.”
Wang Luan walked toward Bian Li, who was lying beside the mecha. She nudged him aside with her foot, pressed down on the dent his body had made in the mecha, and bent it flat with her bare hands.
The harsh words Bian Li hadn’t yet spoken were swallowed back down.
On the way after picking up the mecha to go look at spaceships, Qi Liao told Wang Luan a bit about his grudges with those people—nothing more than some conflicts between families, mutual dislike, and competing over things.
“Liu Luan, your level must be pretty high, right? You beat Bian Li and the others so easily,” Qi Liao said enviously. He couldn’t beat those guys—every time he ran into them, he ended up swallowing his anger.
“A bit higher than yours.” Come to think of it, it was because of the injections and special training at the Wang family. Her body had been slowly changing all along.
“But you just went straight to throwing hands—you really startled me. I thought you had a pretty good temper. Didn’t expect you to be this hot-tempered. As expected of a high-level alpha,” Qi Liao sighed. He had been itching to join the fight just now, but unfortunately he couldn’t win—and it ended far too quickly.
“Did I cause you trouble?”
“What trouble is that? Every time we run into them there’s friction anyway. If they can’t beat you, the embarrassment’s on them.”
If she had just arrived in this world, Wang Luan would never have struck first. She would have avoided the conflict. But after the incident with the Fifth Prince, she had changed. And the days she spent living alone in the chaotic zone had tempered her even more.
Sometimes, some things really are better settled early.
In the building at the edge of the test-driving field, someone saw the commotion below through the glass curtain wall.
When she saw both sides separate, a woman standing before the curtain wall fixed her gaze on Wang Luan’s retreating figure, her eyes flickering.
Someone approached from behind and asked, “What is it, Miss Wang Huan? Did something happen outside?”
Wang Huan asked the mall manager, “Who is that?”
The manager didn’t dare slight this young lady of the Wang family who had come from the Imperial Capital star. Following the direction of her gaze, he glanced over. “That’s the Qi family’s young master, Qi Liao. Speaking of which, it’s quite a coincidence—the blue crystal mine you came for this time belongs to his mother’s younger sister.”
