I Object

Day Two, early morning.

The beast hordes were swarming.

The number of beasts in Beast City reached its peak that day, second only to the height of the beast race’s glory. The city gates stood wide open as beast clans poured in from every direction in vast numbers. Every inn in the city was packed with beasts.

Today was the day!

Today was the day!

The true king of the beast race was about to be born!

The beasts craned their necks in anticipation, waiting for the election ceremony to officially begin that afternoon. The streets were several times livelier than usual, and food stalls had sprung up everywhere.

It should have been a thriving, joyous scene.

But there were also plenty of fights and brawls...

When it came to business, food was naturally the most profitable. Yet human food was unappetizing to the beasts and offered them no benefit whatsoever, so the various clans hunted and killed one another for food just like ordinary wild animals.

After all, if they weren’t of the same clan, there was no reason to feel guilty about eating them.

However, selling meat in a place where so many clans had gathered was bound to provoke the beasts whose kin had become ingredients. As a result, the outskirts of the city were filled with the sounds of fierce clashes.

The fighting was intense.

The other beasts had long since grown accustomed to it. It had become an unavoidable part of every grand gathering of the beast race—something they simply had to witness.

Until afternoon.

Sunlight streamed in through the window. The two exhausted women finally woke groggily after sleeping through the night.

“Mm...”

Jiang Xin let out a vague mumble in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes, only to meet Xia Hanmo’s gaze. The two froze at the same time. Then, as memories of the absurd events of the previous night came rushing back, their pretty faces flushed bright red.

“Um, about that...”

Jiang Xin awkwardly scratched her head and began babbling. “I didn’t mean to fall on top of you yesterday. It’s just that your skin was really slippery... No, wait, I mean, the sweat on your skin made it slippery, so I couldn’t get a grip and accidentally fell... But luckily, your breasts were really soft, so I didn’t hurt myself...”

“Shut up!”

Xia Hanmo abruptly cut her off before she could finish.

Looking at Jiang Xin’s utterly innocent expression, Xia Hanmo’s face turned so red it seemed ready to drip blood. She wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

Did this idiot even realize what she was saying?

How could anyone say something so embarrassing?

She, who had always been so reserved, had actually done something like that. She clearly didn’t want to remember anything that had happened the previous night!

“Why?”

“Why are you making me remember it?” Xia Hanmo’s voice carried a hint of despair.

“Huh?”

Jiang Xin froze for a moment. At last, she realized just how shameful her words had been. With a squeak, she yanked up the blanket and buried her face beneath it, too embarrassed to look up.

Watching Jiang Xin turn into an ostrich, Xia Hanmo was speechless.

Was this girl an idiot?

Aside from having a great figure and feeling good to the touch, she was practically useless.

After what had happened the previous night, the two women could no longer bring themselves to be hostile toward each other. Nor did they have anything in particular to say. The principle behind a brotherhood forged in battle applied to women as well.

At the very least, they had been through the same battle together.

The little grudge in their hearts had long since been swept away by the outrageous events of the night before.

“All right, stop being embarrassed.”

Xia Hanmo gently patted the blanket, signaling Jiang Xin to stick her head out.

“Oh.”

Jiang Xin poked her head out and looked at her obediently.

Just where had her man found such a sweet, obedient girlfriend?

Xia Hanmo rubbed her forehead, utterly exasperated.

She straightened herself and said in a serious tone, “Listen carefully. That good-for-nothing Ye Shu doesn’t have just the two of us as wives. He has so many wives that you can’t count them on your fingers. Right now, they just aren’t here. But once they’re all gathered, the two of us probably won’t even get a bowl of porridge.”

“So we have to form an alliance!”

“F-Form an alliance?”

Jiang Xin was startled. She timidly glanced at Xia Hanmo’s upper body, then hurriedly lowered her head in embarrassment and whispered, “I-I don’t want to. That’s too humiliating.”

“What are you embarrassed about now?”

Xia Hanmo looked at her with an expression of exasperation.

If it weren’t for the fact that they had been through a battle together, she wouldn’t have bothered discussing any of this with her.

“If we form an alliance now, we might at least get a bowl of porridge.”

“But later, once we run into those powerful women, we won’t even get a sip of clear soup!”

“But... but...”

Jiang Xin’s mind was a complete mess. She couldn’t understand how Xia Hanmo, who had been arguing with her so fiercely the night before, had suddenly started discussing an alliance with her as soon as they woke up.

“But what?”

Xia Hanmo knitted her brows and put on a fierce expression. “At worst, I’ll be on top in the future.”

At those words, Jiang Xin’s eyes immediately lit up.

Being on top was so tiring. If she stayed underneath, she only had to lie there. It was comfortable, and she wouldn’t have to do any work.

She nodded rapidly, afraid Xia Hanmo might change her mind.

“Good. Then it’s settled. I’ll be underneath from now on, and you’ll be on top.”

With a smack, the two women sealed their alliance with a high five.

“By the way.”

Afterward, Jiang Xin looked around the empty room and scratched her head. “Where did that heartless man run off to?”

“Right!”

Reminded by her words, Xia Hanmo suddenly realized it as well.

Where was he?

He had used the two of them as his little playthings, only to disappear before either of them even got out of bed!

At that very moment, the beast race’s assembly grounds were roaring with noise.

“Brother, could you move over a little?”

Ye Shu patted the shoulder of a bull-headed beast beside him and said with a foolish grin, “I’m the future clan leader’s teacher.”

“You?”

The bull-headed beast cast him a disdainful glance. “You’re the future clan leader’s teacher? Then I’m the Old Dragon King!”

That was what he said.

But the bull-headed beast still shifted his bottom to the side and made room for Ye Shu.

The moment Ye Shu sat down—before his rear had even grown warm—a towering giant ape clad in iron armor slowly stepped onto the platform, a stone staff engraved with beast markings in his hand.

As soon as the giant ape appeared, the clamorous crowd fell silent.

“Ahem!”

The Giant Ape City Lord cleared his throat, swept his gaze over everyone present, and spoke loudly. “Everyone, we have gathered here today to elect the true leader of the beast race, to cast off the darkness that has shrouded our people for so long and step into the light.”

“But today! Today!”

The Giant Ape City Lord’s voice suddenly grew impassioned. He raised the stone staff high and pointed toward a certain direction. “Let us welcome the most noble bloodline of the beast race—the Old Dragon King’s daughter, Ao Xue!”

His words stirred up a thousand waves. The beast crowd instantly erupted.

“What? The Old Dragon King’s daughter?”

“Is that for real? Didn’t the Old Dragon King disappear? I’ve never heard that he had a daughter.”

The beasts reacted with either suspicion or anticipation.

And beneath the eyes of the entire crowd, a light-blue figure stepped out from among them at an unhurried pace.

She wore a pair of crystal-clear high heels that looked like they had been carved from glazed crystal. One hand rested on her hip as she swayed her hips, the dragon tail behind her moving with the wind. A faint smile curved her lips.

Unlike the rugged style of the other beast clans, she wore a light-blue dress. Like a blue lotus blooming from a crack in stone, she stood out strikingly among the beasts.

“She really is from the dragon clan.”

“Those golden eyes are unmistakable!”

The surrounding beasts were stunned. The distinctive characteristics of the dragon clan were impossible to fake.

Ao Xue slowly made her way onto the platform and came to a stop.

Her gaze swept across the crowd below, and her heart swelled with boundless pride.

From this day forward, she would become the leader of the Beast Clan and restore its former glory.

“People of the clan!”

The Giant Ape City Lord’s voice echoed across the square. “Today, we have gathered here to choose the one truly capable of leading the Beast Clan. I believe no one is more qualified than the descendant of the Old Dragon King to become our leader.”

“Of course, if any of you have an objection, you may voice it.”

The Giant Ape City Lord’s gaze passed over the fervent beasts assembled before him. “The Beast Clan is fair.”

That was what he said, at least. But every beast present knew the truth.

Ao Xue becoming the leader of the Beast Clan was already a foregone conclusion.

No beast would seek humiliation by standing against the bloodline of the Dragon King.

The Giant Ape City Lord nodded in satisfaction, then called out loudly, “And now, I hereby declare Ao Xue the new—”

Before he could finish, a petite hand rose from within the crowd.

It was inconspicuous, yet unwavering.

“I object!”