"Wow—! It smells so good! Seriously, you folks from Yongmu Star are amazing cooks! If you brought these culinary skills back to our place and opened a restaurant, it'd probably become a global sensation in no time!" Hao Yun praised enthusiastically while sniffing the aroma emanating from the dishes on the table, drooling a bit in anticipation.

"Alright, everyone out! I want to enjoy a quiet lunch with Lord Hao Yun. No one is to disturb us without my permission!" King Er gave a satisfied smile in response to Hao Yun's remarks, then issued orders to the squad of guards who had accompanied them into the lounge.

Seeing the guards withdraw promptly and reinforce security outside the hall's entrance, Hao Yun immediately suppressed his yearning for the food and heightened his vigilance. He wasn't surprised by King Er's sudden order to seal off the room; having entered enemy territory, he was prepared at all times for a confrontation. Thus, Hao Yun quickly checked the status of his battle armor's protective shield again and calmly began eating from the dishes on the table, even before King Er announced the commencement of the meal.

King Er seemed to understand Hao Yun's thoughts and hurriedly explained with a smile, "Please don't misunderstand, Lord Hao. Given our esteemed statuses, the guards naturally need to be on high alert during our meal to prevent any unforeseen incidents. Rest assured, these guards outside are all part of my personal guard, untouched by the corruption of Mold and unharmed by the toxins of the Mastanians. Simply put, they are all ordinary soldiers of Yongmu Star."

"Understood," Hao Yun replied casually while gnawing on a grilled meat skewer.

At the same time, Hao Yun thought to himself, surrounded by the enemy with few allies, there was little he could do to control their actions. He focused instead on filling his stomach first. As for them, well, they could do as they pleased.

However, due to his lingering doubts, Hao Yun continued after quickly finishing the skewer, "Speaking of ordinary Yongmu Star people, why is your personal guard composed of normal Yongmu Star soldiers? Also, I noticed earlier that many Yongmu Star people here, including the soldiers, seem perfectly normal. What's going on? Weren't the Yongmu Star people supposed to leave Yongmu Star according to the ceasefire agreement with the Mastanians? Yet, so many Yongmu Star people remain here. Could it be that they have all defected and joined the Mastanian coalition?"

"Haha! What else can they do if not this? Should everyone wait to be wiped out by the Mastanians? What good would it do to flee from Yongmu Star? To continue futile resistance on Yongmu Star against such a powerful enemy would be meaningless. In order to ensure the survival of Yongmu Star's people, we chose to stay, endure humiliation, and remain here. Doesn't it seem reasonable?" King Er replied, shaking the wine glass in his hand. The full table of food failed to whet his appetite.

Seeing King Er merely watching him eat, Hao Yun relaxed and put down his food, then awkwardly swallowed the morsel that had stuck in his throat. King Er laughed heartily and said, "Lord Hao, you needn't be so nervous. Do you think I would poison these dishes? Besides, we're not powerful enough yet to harm a divine priest through mere poisoning!"

King Er elegantly picked up a small piece of rib, sniffed it before his nose with a self-deprecating tone, and continued, "As you know, I have bid farewell to these delicacies. Hence, this lunch is specially prepared for you. Please enjoy these dishes without worry, and let me savor once again the joy these dishes once brought me."

King Er was right. With Hao Yun's divine body strength, even under the suppression of the chaotic currents of the black hole, poisons from the mortal world could not harm him. Moreover, Hao Yun had already used the Mold Energy Pursuit System to thoroughly inspect the dishes on the table, making his worries somewhat unnecessary. It could only be said that although Hao Yun had become a priest, he had not fully adapted to his new identity, often viewing the surrounding situations from the perspective of an ordinary Earthling. Of course, this might also be due to Hao Yun's excessive indulgence in palace intrigue dramas, causing him to always assume that others would attempt to harm him through poisoning.

To dispel his own embarrassment, Hao Yun quickly clinked glasses with King Er and said, "I appreciate your explanation. However, from what I know about the Mastanians, they aren't exactly reasonable folks. They burn, kill, and plunder like locusts, sweeping through and destroying every planet they pass. I'm truly curious why they would allow so many ordinary Yongmu Star people to continue living here. Moreover, during our attack on the Yongmu Star Palace, there were indeed many normal Yongmu Star soldiers fighting side by side with the Mastanians against us. So I find it hard not to believe that many of you have already turned traitor and joined the Mastanian coalition."

"Haha! It seems Lord Hao knows quite a bit about the Mastanians! Well, with that said, I can't continue to whitewash them!" King Er laughed.

"I only know a little. In fact, I heard about it from Captain Tie Zhu," Hao Yun replied casually.

"Hmm. Tie Zhu— He's a very promising young man. Like his father, he's a talented general we can trust. Oh? Wait a moment, when did that boy become captain? Wasn't he the Queen's personal guard?" King Er asked in surprise.

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Hao Yun made a 'who knows?' expression, indicating it was also his first time hearing that Captain Tie Zhu was a personal guard of Her Majesty the Queen. However, based on King Er's brief information, Hao Yun immediately understood why Captain Tie Zhu was so familiar with the layout of the Yongmu Star Palace.

"Alright, let's not talk about that kid for now. When I saw him risking his life to rescue us, I knew I hadn't misjudged him. It's a good thing he managed to get back safely. Otherwise, I would've been scolded to death by Queen Antanelis!" King Erl remarked, waving his hand dismissively while wearing a guilty expression on his face. It seemed that King Erl also feared Queen Antanelis quite a bit, or one could say he was also a bit of a henpecked husband.

Hao Yun naturally agreed with King Erl's sentiment because he had too many questions to ask at this point. So, seeing that King Erl seemed ready to converse with him, Hao Yun didn't hesitate to bring up his queries, "Indeed, compared to Captain Tie Zhu, I'm more curious about what the Mastanians actually did to you."

"This is quite a long story," sighed King Erl.

"No problem, time is the one thing I have in abundance right now. Of course, that's assuming Your Majesty doesn't intend to harm me," Hao Yun replied with a smile.

King Erl chuckled, interpreting Hao Yun's words as a jest, and then took a sip of his wine, saying, "Simply put, the Mastanians came to wipe out our planet. However, due to the powerful protective shield over Muxing, they could only occupy Yongxing first. They plan to attack Muxing when the time is right."

"The protective shield? You mean the one created by Queen Antanelis—what was it called again? Ah yes, the Celestial Canopy Shield, right?" Hao Yun recalled Captain Tie Zhu's earlier explanation and confirmed the information he had previously acquired with King Erl.

"Oh? So Lord Hao is familiar with the Celestial Canopy Shield! It seems Captain Tie Zhu gave quite a detailed account!" King Erl once again praised Captain Tie Zhu's thoroughness.

Hao Yun nodded in agreement, acknowledging Captain Tie Zhu's serious attitude. He then remarked, "But I have to say, your wife's strength is quite formidable."

"I couldn't agree more! If it weren't for my wife, the people and civilization of Yongmu would have ceased to exist long ago!" Hao Yun noticed that when King Erl mentioned Queen Antanelis, his sinister and gaunt face immediately lit up with a hint of affection. Although Hao Yun wasn't sure if the emotions displayed by King Erl, who had already become a puppet of the Mastanians, were genuine, he could be certain that King Erl's use of the term 'wife' clearly indicated her absolute superiority in the household.

"It's a pity. If she could also create a Celestial Canopy Shield here, those Mastanians would be trapped and left to die!" Hao Yun sighed with regret.

"Sigh! That's right! In fact, the Mastanians think the same way. Therefore, out of fear of Queen Antanelis, they dare not indiscriminately slaughter the people of Yongmu who remain on Yongxing. They fear that such extreme actions would provoke the wrath of my wife, who is not yet fully recovered, and bring about real disaster for them. Of course, the Mastanians know that as soon as she gets a chance, my wife would definitely do just that, so they absolutely won't let such a thing happen. Therefore, Lord Hao, you may have time to linger here with us, but time for us Yongmu people is indeed running out!" King Erl said solemnly.

Hao Yun nodded seriously, "I agree with your assessment. However, I still don't understand how you ended up as a captive of the Mastanians. Since your ministers were all hiding under the protective shield at the time, why didn't you join them and wait for rescue? If so, we could have rescued everyone, including you, back to the Muxing Palace. Could it be that your entourage panicked in the face of the enemy's sudden attack and only cared about protecting themselves, thus leaving you, their king, behind?"

"How could that be possible! Lord, you must be joking! Those guys would have risked their lives to ensure my safety at the time! Besides, the protective shield you saw was actually initiated by me. It's just that later, I voluntarily walked out of the protective shield and became a captive of the Mastanians," King Erl chuckled and explained.

"Voluntarily becoming a captive? Why?" Hao Yun couldn't believe his ears.

"Sigh! Of course, I knew that hiding under the protective shield could last a very long time, maybe even until the reinforcements arrived to rescue us. But at that time, the situation on Yongxing was changing rapidly, and time was really not on our side!" King Erl sighed.

"What exactly happened at that time?" Hao Yun pressed for more details.

After taking a large gulp of red wine, King Erl, with fibers twitching at the corners of his eyes, recalled, "That night, the Mastanians hidden on Yongxing and Muxing simultaneously launched assaults on both planets. However, the Mastanians only launched sporadic attacks on Yongxing but launched a massive assault on Muxing, specifically targeting the Muxing Palace. We initially thought that the reason the Mastanians chose to launch such a large-scale assault on the Muxing Palace was because Queen Antanelis had just visited the front lines that day, leaving the Muxing Palace defenseless due to the absence of leadership."

"In addition, the attacks by the Mastanians on Yongxing were mainly concentrated along the route to the Rainbow Tunnel, preventing our troops stationed on Yongxing from going to Muxing for reinforcements. Their intentions were too obvious, which further convinced us of the Mastanians' ultimate goal in organizing such a large-scale assault—to seize control of Muxing by capturing the Muxing Palace."

"Due to the limited scale of the Mastanians' attack on Yongxing at the time, they were quickly driven back by our troops stationed on Yongxing. Seeing the enemy so weak, our troops naturally became highly motivated. They fought more bravely as they quickly cleared out the Mastanian forces responsible for intercepting along the way and advanced singing and fighting all the way to the Rainbow Tunnel."

"Subsequently, after stabilizing the situation at the Rainbow Tunnel with the troops stationed on Yongxing, they all passed through the Rainbow Tunnel into Muxing, where they joined forces with the Muxing army stationed there and began to counterattack the enemy attacking the Muxing Palace."