A young girl in the prime of her youth, gazing into the starry sky from within a huge battleship.
"Miss Qi Qi, you are as charming as the last time we met. No, you should be even more beautiful."
A man emerged from the battleship door behind her, his eyes brightening upon seeing the young girl, and he complimented her.
"Hehe, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince certainly knows how to talk."
The young girl nodded with unfamiliar formal language to him and then continued to gaze outside at the scenery.
Her name was extremely well known within this battleship, and even among the huge fleet of thousands of battleships surrounding it.
For she was the most important person in this fleet; even if the entire fleet were destroyed, if the Fifth Prince of the Great Empire died, she could not have died.
The strongest guardian deity of Earthās civilization, the niece of Mister Jia Yan, āJia Qiā!
Compared to the Empireās Royal Family, the people of Earthās Jia Family were described as few in number, and Jia Qi, further rumored to be the closest niece of the strongest hunter Jia Yan, had an evident status.
"The word ālieā has never existed in this princeās dictionary; your beauty is flawless in my eyes. Also, Miss Jia Qi, being invited to join our Kawai Defense Line camp is our Great Empireās honor, and at the same time our Kawai Defense Lineās honor."
The Prince, who looked to be around Jia Qiās age, although being from the Great Empire, very possibly exceeded a hundred years old.
He approached Jia Qi, wanting to lift the fair little hand of the attractive girl in front of him.
His heart was ablaze, not only due to Jia Qiās charm in his eyes but also because of Jia Qiās family background.
Though he was nobly the Fifth Prince of the Great Empire, actually he had no inheritance rights at all, yet the Earthās Jia Family, as a rising notable family in the Orion Arm, even holding Lord Jia Yan, the so-called strongest in the Orion Armāif he could establish something with the high-status girl in the Jia Family, his future status in the Great Empire would soar, and even his father, the Great Emperor, would have to give him due respect.
But Jia Qi seemed completely unmoved, stepping away as he raised his hand.
Jia Qi inwardly cursed the Fifth Prince of the Great Empire, who had been exceedingly attentive throughout the journey, almost daily.
"Iām still a seventeen-year-old girl, okay? A hundred-year-old elder actually came to shower attentionāyouāre even older than my grandfather, yet youāre shameless enough to do this."
She felt disgusted, additionally thinking of Jia Yan. If Uncle were here, he would certainly put this fellow in a dire position.
Of course, they were both international diplomatic relations major figures, and Jia Qi couldnāt afford to be too rude. Unexpectedly, this Fifth Prince unashamedly continued his diligence all the way, making Jia Qi disgusted to the point of discomfort.
"Should have known better than to agree to this whole thing."
Jia Qi regretted it; this matter didnāt actually have much to do with her family, as she purely wanted to see the outside world.
To be honest, this whole incident was really an accident. Jia Qi had been incognito in a high school because of the nearing high school graduation, visiting a newly developed mining star on Neptune, and then the Great Empireās diplomat came along, persuading her to represent Earth in a competition while citing logical statements, leading Jia Qi, as a teenage girl not able to completely think it through, to get fooled by it.
Later, seemingly prepared, Earth surprisingly dispatched a fleet. Although small, under a hundred ships, upon Jia Qiās reception, it claimed to be Earthās reinforcement. Several surrounding civilizations dispatched fleets amounting to three thousand ships readily prepared, and a giant fleet thus appeared.
Jia Qi didnāt even remember to notify her family, and just like that, she set out with a group of students on the journey towards the star path to the Kawai Defense Line.
For a girl leaving the Solar System for the first time, it was thrilling and fun, but when considering the outcome, she increasingly dared not report it to her family.
"Miss Jia Qi, isnāt that black hole over there entertaining? Our Great Empire has something that allows you to approach the extreme vicinity of a black hole. Next time, Iāll show you a video of people getting hilariously distorted by its suction."
The Fifth Prince stuck like glue, constantly explaining everything around Jia Qi.
Although Jia Qi felt disgusted by the Fifth Princeās pursuit, his insights on some topics were indeed quite fascinating, being someone whoās lived a hundred years. Jia Qi wanted to dismiss him yet wished to hear his accounts of novel things, feeling very conflicted.
And the fleet of three thousand ships varied in speed, having traveled in the Universe for several months without yet reaching the Kawai Defense Line.
The scenery of the Universe, having been viewed much, was just that. Jia Qi had seen much, and after āmeetingā various civilizations and state leaders along the way, was inevitably feeling a little impatient.
"His Royal Highness, the Fifth Prince, I wonder if my family has been notified about this? Iām feeling homesick."
Xiao Qi childishly asked the Fifth Prince on a certain day.
"Of course, after we joined forces with your civilizationās hundred knights of justice, we informed the Jiaās family. Recently, they have been continuously sending messages to you, but you have been refusing to read them. Do you want to look at them now?"
"Alright."
After reading a few family letters, Xiao Qi grew more and more apprehensive. Although she wasnāt afraid of her mother threatening to beat her up in the letters, considering she was someone at the Upper Celestial Level, her motherās strength was not much more than scratching an itch to her. But even though she wasnāt afraid of a beating, it didnāt mean she wasnāt afraid of being scolded.
Now every family member was urging her to return, saying her childish temper had disrupted the arrangements her uncle had painstakingly made over the years to dissociate Earth from the Kawai Defense Line, accusing her of being a spendthrift.
As a result, Xiao Qi became even more hesitant to return.
"Since everyone is scolding me, I might as well go to the Kawai Defense Line, earn some military merits, and return gloriously to shock them all."
Xiao Qiās personality was almost identical to that of Jia Lin back in the day, and now she was impulsive, not even resembling a girl.
She clearly intended to earn military merits at the Kawai Defense Line, which made the Fifth Prince of the Great Empire, who was worried Xiao Qi might back out, so filled with thoughts on how to persuade her, almost jump for joy.
With Xiao Qiās attitude increasingly inclined towards participating in the defense line, the Earth was fully dragged into it. Of course, their Great Empire didnāt really care about the military prowess of Earth; what they cared about was that if Earth and even the Jiaās family were dragged in, would that powerful Mister Jia Yan still be able to stay out of it?
In such a scenario, it was fine if he couldnāt win over Xiao Qi. This Fifth Prince had recently come to understand that Xiao Qi, whose age was equivalent to a fifty-year-old girl in their Great Empire, was basically a child. After finding out, he understood that Xiao Qi was only seventeen, which in their Great Empire was on par with a female infant, so how could he shamelessly pursue her?
With the Fifth Prince who wanted to prey on the young gone, Xiao Qiās life in the fleet finally became colorful.
"Jia Qi, I never expected that our school beauty turned out to be the eldest princess of the Jia family, the first family on Earth. It completely shocked me."
"Indeed. By the way, Jia Qi, is it okay for us to talk to you like this now? After all, you are a member of the Jia family, whom virtually all civilizations in the Orion Arm respect."
Jia Qi frequently visited the battleship where her group of classmates lived, and now whenever her classmates on the battleship saw the previously incognito Jia Qi, they were all awestruck.
Originally, at school, even though Jia Qi was already a famous school beauty and there were rumors of her extraordinary family background, no one could associate her "Jia" with the first family on Earth. It was like a living myth walking up to them.
But after that small tourist trip during the graduation trip, Jia Qiās identity was exposed, and they were invited to join this hastily assembled massive fleet.
"What do I care about? I am still myself, whether itās Jia Qi at school or Jia Qi of the Jia family. Everyone should just act as they normally do."
In the eyes of her classmates, Jia Qi was very approachable. However, naturally endowed with a noble aura, now with the additional halo of the Jia family, those classmates who used to joke around with her now dared not speak casually anymore.
"Why are you all like this? Oh well, I came here not only to see how you all are doing but also to tell you that when we reach the Kawai Defense Line in the future, donāt wander off. This battleship will be very safe following my flagship. Once we earn some military merits, we can head back, and it will enhance the reputation of our Earth civilization."
To Jia Qi, it seemed only right. In her mind, since her uncle could easily make a name for himself at the Kawai Defense Line, she should be able to claim some credit as well.
If she also didnāt know that her strength wasnāt sufficient, she would even want to personally join the battle to see just how formidable these so-called extraterrestrial creatures truly were.
"Alright, Jia Qi, whatever you decide to do, we will follow your lead."
Since the Princess of the Jia Family had already spoken, neither the students nor the few accompanying teachers had any arguments to counter.
What they didnāt know was that on the other side of the starry sky, an Earth-like man controlling a battleship almost gave a helpless smile.
"Qiqi, oh Qiqi, how could you take after anyone but your mother? You are indeed mother and daughter."
Jia Yan was inside the superfast battleship, trying his best to accelerate it.
Although he knew that Xiao Qi, heading to the Kawai Defense Line, should be well-protected because the open intention of the Great Empire was to drag Earth into the Kawai Defense Line, he understood that the Kawai Defense Line was definitely a dangerous place. If a Secondary Level creature indeed attacked Xiao Qi, no number of battleships protecting her would suffice!
"If anything happens to Little Qiqi, even if itās just a hair lost, then, sorry, the Great Empire must pay for it!"
A ghostly gleam flashed in Jia Yanās eyes.
He had never been the kind of creature to be trifled with, and for his family, he was capable of anything.