" I can't believe how lucky Tessa is," Becky complained as she and Victoria once again sat in their hovercar.
"Well, if you didn't use my position to avoid work, this wouldn't have happened," Victoria said absentmindedly as she stared out the window.
"Are you thinking about what that bitch said?" Becky asked as she noticed her aunt lost in thought.
"Mmm, she's not wrong, I'm trying to remember the last time anything but a passing comment about Trillion was made in a general meeting regarding the living conditions of the empire," Victoria replied.
"Well, the empire does have over a hundred planets that we inhabit within it; the council can't possibly talk about every single one in great detail."
"You're not wrong, but looking back on it now, it seems suspicious that nothing regarding gangs controlling the lower city has ever been brought up."
"I must admit that I knew nothing of that before I heard and saw it on Adam's stream."
"Exactly, it's never reported on, even in the galactic news casts. Someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes to keep it quiet."
"Do you think this is connected with the TISF putting a bounty on Adam?"
"There is probably a slight connection since it happened right after he attacked the Sky Towers; however, judging by what Diva Rowena's granddaughter, Stacey, said, Trillion has been this way since she was young, so someone has been covering this up for over ten years."
"It must be someone high up then, possibly someone in the imperial family, to cover it up for that length of time."
💫💫💫
"What are you doing here?" Stacey asked Tephe after they all landed just outside the city to wait for Spector.
"Well, I wanted to come along. Going back to the palace with Empress Victoria and Becky means that my mother will most likely drag me home. The only reason we got to stay here so long was because Mother wanted to test the streamer, I mean, Adam, but now that you're leaving, that won't happen." Tephe explained.
"Test him for what?"
"To become her universal senator's personal bodyguard for the upcoming supreme speaker selection."
"What? Why would she have the idea to test him for something like that?"
"Because a certain young green dragon here let slip that Adam carries a Universal Force Staff and that he must be or have been a universal senator's personal bodyguard." Rowena replied with her signature smirk before asking with interest, "Do you know if it's true?"
"I don't," Stacey replied while shaking her head.
Just as Stacey finished speaking, they felt a strong wind blow over them before they noticed the ground a few meters away from them sink in slightly in four locations. Shortly after, a bright light appeared out of midair and started to get larger and larger until their eyes adjusted to it and they could all make out an entry ramp that led to the interior of a shuttle.
"Soo cool," Tephe said in awe.
"So they did park the ship just outside the city, like Malacoss thought," Rownena commented.
"Not quite." Stacey said as she led the group up the ramp before looking over her shoulder at Tephe and saying, "You can come along for now, but it's Adam's call if you get to stay or not."
As they boarded, the entry ramp started to close, and the bright light vanished before another wind blew at the location they had just been standing.
💫💫💫
"Status report," Adam said as he flew into the air in the direction that the shuttle was parked.
[[Stacey, Diva Rowena Nosferatu, Diva Lorelie and Tephe have just boarded the shuttle and it is enroute to your location, ETA 21 seconds.]]
"Tephe? As in Dragon Princess Tephe, why is she there?"
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Oh shit, the streamer just kidnapped the dragon princess. Kekeke.]
[Puntanghunter69 (Earth): And a dragon joins the harem, my man.]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): Why is the dragon princess with them?]
[Superhearofangirl (Earth): She prefers just being called Tephe, remember.]
[HackerSu (Trillion): Did you seriously have Stace kidnap the dragon princess so you can add her to your harem, you pervert? 🤣]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): Something tells me her mother and the other dragons won't be happy when they hear about this.]
[Devil_Prince_Asura (Deverinian 9): More chaos 😈.]
[RetiringOld (Earth): Only just arrived, and it's getting interesting.]
[[Unknown]]
"This is going to cause me even more of a headache, isn't it?"
[[Arriving now]]
As Spector's message appeared, a white light suddenly appeared before Adam and started to get bigger.
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Oh shit, it looks like those movies with extraterrestrials where the ship opens up and a bright light appears.]
[SciFifanboy (Earth): This is so Sci-Fi.]
[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): I'm getting flashbacks to the ET movie theme song.]
[Justiceistruth: (Earth): Nah, man, it's totally gotta be the Close Encounters music.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): DO these Earthlings have a movie reference for everything or something?]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): Seems that way.]
Soon, the microcam lenses adapted to the emerging light, allowing the chat to see the entry ramp and inside of the shuttle that hung in mid air.
[Fluffy_puppy_hugger (Caniniar 4): That doesn't look like the normal entry ramp.]
[Wikkr (Earth):Hmm, you're right.]
Adam flew inside the shuttle and landed before four beautiful women who were showing him different expressions. Stacey gave him a relieved look, Lorelie showed a kind smile, Rowena gave her signature smirk, and Tephe showed a look of excitement.
[Puntanghunter69 (Earth): Wo ho ho, check out the hot lineup, is this some sort of Miss Universe contest?]
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Streamers gonna be busy tonight. Kekeke.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Do you think they have Miss Universe contests?]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): What are they?]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): It's a contest held to decide the most beautiful woman in the universe.]
[Lizziethetruepower (Palalxia): Bah, so sexist.]
[HackerSu (Trillion): Agreed.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): Oh, ok, yeah, they used to hold those in the past; however, they stopped after it became pointless.]
[Puntanghunter69 (Earth): Pointless how?]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): Well, there are already many polls on Xer-verse about who people think is the most beautiful woman or handsome male in the universe. Most of those votes go to the top celebrities, such as Diva Rowena or Diva Lorelie, who always rank near the top. What would be the point in hosting shows about the most beautiful if you can't actually get the recognised most beautiful people on them?]
[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): He has a point.]
"You certainly kept us waiting," Rowena said while she let her eyes wander over Adam as she openly judged him.
Adam ignored the comment but turned to Stacey before asking with a smirk, "You want to play with your new toy?"
[Justiceistruth: (Earth): Hey, hey, wooo now, remember to keep it PG.]
[Puntanghunter69 (Earth): When has this stream ever been PG, yeah, get it on with all four at once streamer.]
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): He's starting already, I can't blame him, I wouldn't be able to hold myself back from such a lineup. Kekeke.]
[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): Fucking perverts, don't even think about having dirty thoughts about the Divas.]
[Puntanghunter69 (Earth): Too late. 😂]
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Agreed, Kekeke.]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): I'm so jealous, I want to join in.]
[Justiceistruth: (Earth): Honestly, this chat.]
"Hey now, can't you at least wait until you two are alone?" Rowena asked with a laugh as Lorelie blushed slightly with a trace of disappointment.
"I think you're misunderstanding something," Adam replied as he pointed at Stacey, who had walked over to where her new toy was and picked it up.
"A rocket launcher?" Rowena asked in surprise.
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Ok, now I'm both jealous and not.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): How can you be both?]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): I'm jealous because I want to play with that toy, and I'm not because they weren't talking about the streamers' toy.]
[Justiceistruth: (Earth): For the love of god.]
"Spector transmit targeting data of the Bounty Hunters Guild to Stacey's missile launcher," Adam instructed.
"Affirmative," Spector responded through the shuttle's intercom
The small holographic display appeared next to the missile launcher and highlighted the Bounty Hunters Guild building as Stacey held it up and pointed it out of the still-open ramp of the shuttle in the direction of the city.
"You know if you do this, you will probably make an enemy out of the Bounty Hunters Guild, right?" Rowena stated as she looked on with interest.
She was curious to see if the man her granddaughter had chosen and who Lorelie fancied was brave enough to make an enemy out of them.
"And, what of it?" Adam asked as he glanced at Rowena.
"You must understand that the Bounty Hunters Guild is one of the most powerful factions in the universe; they have branches on the majority of inhabited planets, which means there is a possibility you will be hunted wherever you go."
"If such an organisation won't even protect their own and are only there to make credits, then maybe they don't deserve to exist," Adam replied before turning to face Stacey again.
As he turned away, he didn't notice how Rowena's eyes seemed to glow slightly for a fraction of a second at his response before returning to normal.
"I can do this if you're not comfortable doing it?" He asked Stacey.
Instead of replying, Stacey just pulled the trigger four times in rapid succession, causing four missiles to fire out of the weapon and the shuttle towards the city below.