Chapter 62
The deep silence of space enveloped the dark gray starship as it traveled through the void.
On the screen, a distant spiral galaxy slowly rotated, its movement almost perceptible. They had passed countless celestial bodies of various shapes and sizes during their journey.
As a cluster of shimmering stars, a nebula shaped like a half-arc, cradling two larger celestial bodies at its center, appeared on the screen, the control panel beeped softly.
The white-haired man in the pilot seat, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, his gaze hardening as he saw the familiar star system.
Observing from afar and actually arriving were two different things. As the starship emerged from a cloud of interstellar dust, the number of other ships in the vicinity increased.
The First Star System, the most prosperous and influential, was a bustling hub of activity, its space lanes filled with ships coming and going.
A massive checkpoint platform, built in space, its countless sensors and scanners constantly monitoring the incoming traffic, its weapon systems concealed, awaited them.
Hugh Elvis knew that even the small maintenance robots working on the platform’s exterior were equipped with weapons, their unassuming appearance a deceptive disguise.
Entering the First Star System required passing through these stringent security checks.
He didn’t join the queue of ships entering the main traffic lanes but steered Long Xu towards the edge of the platform.
A smaller gate, less congested, offered faster access.
This was a dedicated access point for several prominent families, who collectively funded a portion of the platform’s maintenance and operating costs, earning them certain privileges.
The dark gray starship, its appearance ordinary, drew a snicker from a pilot in a nearby ship, who, in a private communication channel with a friend, mocked its unremarkable design, its lack of any family crest or insignia, a clear sign of a country bumpkin, unfamiliar with the customs of the Imperial Star Circle, foolishly assuming the less congested gate offered a shortcut.
He would soon be turned away and forced to join the queue at the main entrance.
The two pilots continued their conversation, their gossip focused on the latest scandals and rumors within the noble circles.
Then, the Elvis family’s wolf insignia appeared on the dark gray starship, and the two gossiping pilots fell silent.
Displaying a family crest here was a serious matter, not something done lightly, unless one had a death wish.
Inside the control tower, Karli, the operator, frowned at the unfamiliar starship, its identification code not in the system.
She happened to be an Elvis, a distant branch, but she recognized the wolf insignia. The unique coating technology was exclusive to the Elvis family, a closely guarded secret, so the insignia had to be genuine.
But the starship itself was unregistered, its origin unknown.
As she connected to the ship and accessed its transmitted data, her eyes widened in disbelief.
Hugh Elvis?
Inside Long Xu’s cockpit, Hugh Elvis calmly awaited clearance, then opened his terminal, entered a communication code, and typed a short message.
Imperial Star Two.
In a conference room, a man sat at the head of the table, his expression unchanged as he listened to the heated debate among his subordinates. His face, well-maintained and handsome, his features sharp, his eyes cold and calculating.
A sudden chime from his optical brain drew everyone’s attention.
Arnold Elvis’s expression remained unchanged, but his gaze was fixed on the notification, his hand stilling. Even before opening the message, the unique notification tone told him who it was from.
“Sir,” his assistant, Jiang Hui, prompted softly.
Arnold Elvis looked up and, with a gesture, dismissed everyone else.
The meeting adjourned, and only he and his two assistants remained in the room.
Jiang Hui and Fang Yu were Arnold’s highest-ranking assistants, sometimes handling the family’s internal affairs, so they had also seen the message on the screen.
[I’m back.]
No formal address, no punctuation, a curt and almost disrespectful message.
They had never seen anyone address the head of the Elvis family so casually.
Arnold closed the message, rubbed his temples, a flicker of weariness in his eyes.
“Sir, is that…?” Jiang Hui asked hesitantly.
Arnold Elvis lowered his hand, his expression once again cold and composed. He stood up and walked towards the exit. “Hugh.”
“The young master?” Surprise and disbelief were evident in their voices.
Jiang Hui, quick to react, followed him. “Are we going to greet him, sir?”
Arnold didn’t reply but quickened his pace, heading towards the landing pads.
The equestrian field.
A white pegasus, its massive wings spread wide, circled gracefully in the air, its movements swift and powerful.
The rider, skilled and confident, guided the pegasus effortlessly through a series of aerial obstacles, showcasing its grace and agility.
Beneath a shaded viewing platform, a pampered, aristocratic-looking Omega lounged, sipping tea, his gloved hands elegantly holding the delicate cup. A small red mole adorned the corner of his eye.
Wen Luo Kelaso’s face was beautiful and striking, his eyes occasionally flashing with a sharp, almost cruel, glint.
But when he feigned vulnerability, his lowered eyes and submissive demeanor could make anyone doubt his ruthlessness.
A sudden chime from his communicator, a priority call, and he heard the caller’s voice even before answering.
“He’s back!” Yarlin’s voice was filled with anxiety.
Wen Luo Kelaso frowned, sensing something was wrong, and answered the call. “Who?”
Yarlin, his panic evident, could barely contain himself. “Hugh Elvis!”
“What?!” Wen Luo Kelaso shot to his feet, his face contorted in rage.
After a brief, hurried explanation, he ended the call, his right hand trembling slightly beneath his glove.
He wasn’t wearing gloves for fashion. Beneath the fabric and leather was a prosthetic hand.
Biotechnology had advanced significantly in recent decades, but a prosthetic limb, no matter how lifelike, wasn’t the same.
He suddenly swept the table clear, sending the teacup, vase, and other items crashing to the ground.
“Impossible!” his voice was filled with disbelief, his face twisted in a grimace.
A regressed, feral Alpha, a lost cause even for the best medical teams on Imperial Star, couldn’t possibly have recovered.
Three days later.
The Elvis Estate.
Night had fallen, and the vast, opulent estate was brightly lit.
Over a hundred people, dressed in elegant attire, filled the grand hall. It was a family gathering, most of the guests bearing the Elvis name.
They were all curious about the guest of honor, whose imminent arrival had been the subject of much speculation.
When they first heard of Hugh’s return, most had dismissed it as a rumor. They remembered the feral white wolf, engulfed in white flames, a beast devoid of reason.
A regressed beastman regaining their sanity was a rare occurrence.
For those in the medical field, this was an incredible opportunity, a chance to learn more. If they could convince Hugh Elvis to share his medical data, it would be a groundbreaking discovery.
But for others, the memory of Hugh Elvis’s violent, uncontrolled episodes was a terrifying nightmare.
Wen Luo Kelaso, as the current Elvis patriarch’s spouse, was also present, but like the other guests, he had only been allowed inside the estate today.
The estate was the Elvis patriarch’s private residence, and although as his spouse, he should have resided there as well, since the incident with the beast heart, he had been treated as a guest.
He sat alone on a sofa in a corner of the hall, his face grim, making no attempt to socialize or greet the other guests, his displeasure evident.
The hall was filled with members of the Elvis family, their allegiances and motivations varied, their conversations seemingly cordial yet filled with undercurrents of tension, their gazes occasionally drifting towards the second floor.
“Young Master,” Fang Yu’s respectful address, although spoken softly, silenced the room, and all eyes turned towards the staircase.
Hugh Elvis descended, dressed in a black suit with subtle gold accents, the design simple yet elegant, accentuating his tall, lean physique, the luxurious fabric a mere backdrop for his striking presence.
The two-meter-tall man’s aura was commanding, his features handsome and aristocratic, his expression cold and aloof, a hint of distance in his eyes.
He met a hostile gaze without flinching, his own eyes locking onto the source.
Wen Luo Kelaso’s hateful face appeared in his line of sight.
Hugh’s gaze shifted to his right hand, one eyebrow raised slightly.
Wen Luo’s body stiffened, the memory of that brutal attack, the searing pain, the gushing blood, surfacing, the phantom sensation of the beast’s jaws clamping down on his arm, tearing it from his body.
He had been confined to the basement. How had that beast escaped?
His face paled, his mind lost in the traumatic memory, and he was only brought back to reality by Yarlin Elvis’s urgent whisper.
Yarlin Elvis was also tall and handsome, his appearance considered one of the best among the heirs of the prominent families on Imperial Star, but now, he was overshadowed by Hugh’s presence.
Seeing him, Hugh turned his head slightly and gestured to Fang Yu.
Fang Yu retrieved a document from a small spatial storage device on his wrist and handed it to Hugh.
Hugh took the document, didn’t even look at it, and tossed it at Yarlin’s face, his voice casual and dismissive. “Such a small amount, and yet you still had to steal it.”
Yarlin’s face turned an ugly shade of green. He dodged the document, a clear insult, but it opened in mid-air, revealing a detailed account of his fraudulent activities, the discrepancies highlighted in red, bold text.
Several key words were also highlighted: “Shi Nuo,” “supplies.”
The first thing Hugh had done upon returning was to investigate the supply shipments meant for Shi Nuo. He knew that even in its current state, the Elvis family wouldn’t abandon an Omega, especially one incapable of surviving in the wilderness, to fend for himself. As expected, Yarlin, responsible for the shipments, had been pocketing the funds.
The amount embezzled, for each quarterly shipment, was insignificant to a member of the Elvis family, but Yarlin’s greed, his petty theft, was a sign of his…unsuitability for leadership.
Several Alphas in the room, their senses sharp, clearly saw the contents of the document, their eyebrows raised in surprise.
Hugh’s situation had been the subject of much discussion in the past few days, including the arranged marriage with the Shi family, and Shi Nuo’s name had also been mentioned.
Some had even investigated him, his past now public knowledge.
But Hugh Elvis, as he mingled with the guests, his body devoid of any Omega pheromones, seemed to be a single Alpha.
His condition hadn’t been publicly disclosed, and apart from Arnold Elvis, who hadn’t appeared yet, no one knew when or how he had recovered.
Some, recalling the timing of Shi Nuo’s arrival, over a year ago, speculated that Hugh might not have been sane at the time.
A weak Omega, without any supplies, dying on a planet filled with wild beasts, wasn’t unusual.
He might even have been killed by Hugh himself, a feral beast instinctively eliminating an intruder, even an Omega.
A regressed beastman was no different from a wild animal, and with Hugh’s return alone, few believed Shi Nuo was still alive.
