Chapter 18: The Dark Prison, Section 2

“Ah… um… huh??” Blood-Pupil’s cry was cut short as he suddenly realized that in just a short while, the pirates’ attention had shifted from the beautiful figure stepping off the warship to him, with all of them staring at him intently.
It is said that a person’s gaze can kill; the combined gaze of hundreds of pirates was utterly terrifying, and Blood-Pupil felt overwhelmed. Joke… why do these guys all look like they want to eat me? And my head… uh? Head, stop staring at me like that… I’m scared…
In an instant, the black-haired man who had been smiling moments ago now had a cold expression, his dark pupils fixed on Blood-Pupil. His voice was as cold as an ice mountain that never melts.
“Koko… what’s wrong?”
“Ha… haha… nothing… nothing at all…” Blood-Pupil was terrified, raising his hands to his chest and shaking them frantically. “He’s fine. He came back with Lily and the others. It’s just that the Creek Commercial Association has a lot of work right now, so he stayed on Silver Star. Hehe… I was just joking… just a joke…”
“Phew…” The pirates around him all let out a sigh of relief, their expressions improving immediately.
To be honest, after so much time together, that short Dryo Starling was nothing short of their savior. Everything they had—food, clothing, and necessities—was delivered to them by his commercial association’s freighters. In such a remote place like the 31st Star Region, the Creek Commercial Association was probably the only true friend of the Blood Wolf faction. They didn’t want, nor could they tolerate, any problems for that adorable little guy.
A humble Dryo Starling? Go to hell!! That was just prejudice from the outside world. They didn’t dare say anything else, but if anyone among the Blood Wolf faction dared look down on Dryo Starlings, they would be torn apart by the pirates before Black Hair even had to intervene!
Probably even Koko hadn’t realized it. Through his support for Black Hair, he had inadvertently created a vast space for Dryo Starlings in the universe, truly changing the fate that had plagued them for countless years.
Black Hair patted Blood-Pupil’s shoulder. His expression finally softened a bit. “Next time, don’t make such dangerous jokes.”
“Ha… haha… understood, understood!” Blood-Pupil nodded repeatedly, still glancing nervously around.

After his interruption, the atmosphere at the scene improved significantly. As more and more people disembarked from the warship, the small canyon located 30 kilometers west of Death Star City became increasingly crowded. In front of the black-haired man, five clearly defined teams gradually formed.

The one on the far left went without saying—it was the Lori Corps of the Beth family and the Shota Corps of the Li Cha family. The three teams next to them caught everyone’s attention.

It had to be said that the five major families truly had their own distinct characteristics. Like the Beth and Li Cha families, these three teams also exhibited strong and distinct features in terms of both personnel selection and equipment types.

They belonged to the five major families: Edira, Abyss, and Dark Realm.

Edira was the family geographically closest to the center of human society, so its members were mostly humans. All of them were tall, around 1.80 meters, and extremely handsome. Each wore a black trench coat, along with snow-white gloves. Anyone who saw them at first glance would be utterly impressed. With their stern faces, serious expressions, well-organized teams, and strict discipline, they gave the black-haired man the impression of being highly efficient. Their weapons were also uniformly military-grade: each carried a close-range self-defense weapon similar to a large-caliber revolver, along with a compact high-frequency assault rifle. Everything about them exuded a sense of menace. Even more striking was that, in addition to these standard armaments, every Edira warrior had at least two or three large bags with them. Although the bags were tightly sealed, the black-haired man could tell at a glance that they were filled with weapons—heavy-caliber ones!

“Edira is the faction that prefers to use weapons. Their warships aren’t strong, but they excel in ground combat, even surpassing the regular soldiers of the star fleet. Whether it’s siege warfare or urban combat, they are top-notch.” Noticing the black-haired man’s slightly furrowed brows, Blood-Pupil immediately explained.

“Hmm,” the black-haired man responded indifferently after hearing Blood-Pupil’s explanation, then turned his gaze to another team next to Edira.

That team, needless to say, was Abyss from the five major families.

Unlike Edila, Abyss is clearly a non-human organization, with most of its members being humanoid creatures. Perhaps because they placed too much emphasis on this deal with the Black-Haired man, the warriors sent here were also highly uniform, with no mixture of different races. Even so, their numbers still made the surrounding pirates look rough and fierce. The reason? The number of fighters sent by this family called Abyss to the Black-Haired man was a full five thousand… beautiful women. Their form-fitting black leather outfits accentuated their curves, along with matching black leather gloves and high heels. If he hadn’t already known they were warriors sent by Abyss, the Black-Haired man would have thought they were SM girls from Earth’s era—queen-level ones at that! In a male-dominated society like Death Star, the sudden appearance of such alluring beauties, each with an exquisitely seductive appearance, was quite impactful. The Black-Haired man didn’t know how many people could resist such temptation, but he knew well that his subordinates fought in a wolf-like style—and coincidentally, perverts seemed to be a type of wolf as well. With Abyss’s addition, the Blood Wolf faction seemed truly about to turn into a den of wolves… For a moment, the Black-Haired man was speechless. “Hehe, surprised, huh, boss? I was the same at first. But don’t underestimate these beauties. They are Abyss’s most terrifying warriors, known as witches among outsiders. You might not know this, but beneath their leather outfits, they have wings—black wings just like those of demons in legends. Though small, they allow them to fly for short periods. Their warships are also fast-paced, not very powerful in firepower, but with astonishing impact. It’s said that if Abyss’s witches charge in one direction, even the fortifications of interstellar fleets can’t stop them.” Seeing everyone’s astonished expressions, Blood Pup smiled proudly, as if these witches were his personal property, full of arrogance. Yet no one challenged him; almost everyone was still in shock, not even noticing their drooling. (Hehe, with the new expansion for Warcraft coming out, let’s have Xiao Dao make fun of some SS girls.) With these two teams as precedents, the third team didn’t draw as much attention. Though they were just as prominent. Dark Realm. Just hearing the name gave people a sense of coldness. And after seeing their team, the Black-Haired man had to agree.

In fact, when it came to combat alone, in Black Hair’s eyes, only this team from the Dark Realm seemed more suitable. Their members were ordinary—just burly men, not much different in appearance from the pirates from Hell Star. But their demeanor was completely different. These men were all bare-chested, with their muscular chests covered in numerous scars. Coupled with their resolute expressions, Black Hair immediately concluded that they were a group that had endured countless battles. Their weapons further confirmed this—there was no confusion at all; each person carried a dagger, a long sword, and a common crystal spear found everywhere. The daggers indicated they were skilled in close combat, the long swords showed they were accustomed to hand-to-hand fighting, and those who were used to close combat certainly weren’t timid. As for the ordinary crystal spears, though unremarkable, they were the easiest to replenish in terms of ammunition. Based on these subtle details, Black Hair could determine that although the Dark Realm ranked last among the five great families, it had by far the strongest combat power. This was indeed the case, as Blood Pupil explained. “The Dark Realm is located farthest on the periphery among the five great families and has the harshest environment. There are many alien forces around them, constantly at war with each other. Yet the Dark Realm has the strongest strength among the five great families. Only their warriors grew up in the midst of battles from a young age. So in terms of combat power, the Dark Realm is number one. If not for the overly complex environment surrounding them, which greatly limits their development, the rankings of the five great families would have long been rewritten.” “Huh, no wonder,” Black Hair said nothing after hearing Blood Pupil’s explanation, but the fat man beside him, Baroka, let out a long sigh first. As a sand bandit who had lived in constant strife since childhood, Baroka was all too familiar with and sensitive to the demeanor of these men. To him, these guys from the Dark Realm were nothing short of treasures. Perhaps everyone present combined wasn’t as worth his attention as them. All talk of uniqueness or innovation paled in the face of absolute strength. Baroka was certain that as long as these guys from the Dark Realm obeyed orders, they would eventually become Black Hair’s ace forces, even reaching the level of his personal guard. Who knew—maybe they would even be relied upon to conquer the world in the future.

A gentle breeze blew, and soon, the teams from the five great families had all gathered. A sea of people filled the canyon. Everyone’s gaze fell on the young man with black hair standing before them. They knew that man was the one mentioned by their elders as the one with black hair, and he would be their future leader. Their expressions showed doubt, excitement, curiosity, and even disdain…

Faced with such mixed reactions, the young man with black hair said nothing. He simply stood there quietly, letting the breeze stir his long hair. He didn’t move, neither speaking nor leaving. It wasn’t until slight unrest arose among the crowd below that a faint smile appeared on his stern face.

“Baroka, take them into the city. The physical examinations… begin.” With a wave of his hand, the young man with black hair turned and left the canyon.