Chapter 136: Are All Alien Women This Annoying?

"Ahem, I forgot to mention, I don't know about other cosmic realms, but in the Yuanlan Empire, women—especially those of a certain status and standing—are rather sensitive and conservative regarding that sort of address. Calling her a 'beauty' is indeed rather frivolous in their presence; it's practically tantamount to flirting." White's gloating voice reached Lan Tian's ears.

Dark lines instantly mapped themselves across Lan Tian's face. Was all that really necessary over a simple word like 'beauty'?

So that was why she had attacked without a second word...

"Well... I don't know your name, but I am not a citizen of Huidu Star, nor am I from the Yuanlan Empire. I only just learned that beau—er, my address just now offended you, my apologies," Lan Tian apologized. On this point, he considered himself reasonably decent; when one made a mistake, one should own up to it. Although he personally found this ultra-conservative convention absurd, when in Rome, one had to follow local customs.

"Hmph! So you're from another cosmic realm. I suppose that excuses my striking you, but do people in your cosmic realm really address strangers like that right off the bat?" Seeing that Lan Tian's apology seemed sincere enough, Velyn's expression softened slightly as she snorted.

"Er... believe it or not, they actually do. 'Beauty' is really just a form of address, the exact same principle as 'sir' or 'madam'. In my hometown, 'beauty' is simply a polite title for women. Regardless of whether the person is truly attractive or plain, anyone can be addressed as a beauty. Unlike people here, they've grown entirely accustomed to it, so it just slipped out. Please forgive me if I caused any offense."

Lan Tian rubbed his nose and explained with an awkward smile. "You have no idea; back in my hometown, if you don't greet someone as a beauty, no matter how unpresentable a woman might look, she'll get angry. Haha."

"Though, having said that, you really are a beauty anyway, so I wasn't entirely wrong, am I?" Lan Tian said with a thick skin. Though his heart was already completely filled with the image of Wang Ling and he harbored no ulterior motives toward the woman before him, her beauty had indeed made his eyes light up.

"Since it's a matter of different habits, I won't pursue it further. However, the form of address in your hometown is certainly... rather open!" Velyn said, somewhat speechless after hearing Lan Tian's explanation.

Then, her pretty face tightened once more as she snorted, "Very well, we'll let that matter rest. But there's still one thing I don't understand: is arbitrarily breaking into someone else's home to wreak havoc also a custom in your hometown?"

"......Of course not. I was just about to explain before you came straight at me with a fist..." Lan Tian looked somewhat abashed and hurriedly explained again, "Regarding that, we truly didn't mean to. We hadn't calculated our coordinates properly during our previous spatial jump—well... actually, we did calculate the coordinates, but we ran out of energy, so we accidentally materialized in your house..."

"Hmm? You're saying... you arrived via spatial jump?" Velyn's expression shifted as she suddenly interjected.

"That's right, which is why spatial fluctuations occurred and ruined your flowers and plants..." Lan Tian looked utterly depressed, then said sincerely, "We are truly sorry, and we're willing to pay for the damages. I hope you won't mistake us for intentional vandals."

"Hmph! You make it sound so easy. Compensation? Do you have any idea how much painstaking effort I poured into those precious flowers and plants? While some varieties aren't terribly expensive on the market, they are virtually priceless—you can't buy them with money alone; you have to travel to various planets to search for and collect them yourself!" Hearing Lan Tian's explanation, Velyn finally understood the whole story from beginning to end. Understanding was one thing, but seeing the flora she so deeply cherished mostly destroyed left her heartbroken and indignant.

"Er... well, I still don't know your name?" Lan Tian rubbed his nose and asked.

"You can call me Xiao Lin," Velyn replied.

"Well, Xiao Lin, the truth is I'm on urgent business and really can't afford to be delayed long on Huidu Star. How about you name a figure? As long as it's not too outrageous, I'm willing to compensate you. How about three times the market price?" Lan Tian tried to negotiate with Velyn.

"Hmph! I have money too; I couldn't care less about your petty cash!" Velyn refused to budge an inch. Because of her family's business, she had been exposed to all sorts of exotic flora since childhood and thus held a deep emotional attachment to these plants. Seeing that Lan Tian's solution to everything was money, she felt extremely displeased.

"Er... then what do you propose we do? Surely you don't intend to have us thrown in prison over such a trivial matter?" Lan Tian probed cautiously.

"Hmph, considering that you had a valid reason, prison is out of the question, of course. But we can't just let it go at that either," Velyn shook her head, a mischievous glint suddenly flashing in her eyes.

"Fine, then lay down your terms. What exactly do you want? Let's hear it," Lan Tian was starting to lose his patience. This woman refused compensation and refused to call the authorities—what on earth was she planning?

"Lay down what terms?" Velyn blinked, momentarily stunned.

"......It's an idiom from where I'm from; it means what do you want me to do!" Lan Tian felt a headache coming on, dark lines mapping his face.

"What do I want? Hmm... Let me ask you a question first." Velyn suddenly began sizing up Lan Tian and Qipeng with a critical gaze. "You said earlier that you arrived via spatial jump. Does that mean you possess an advanced cosmic battle armor capable of spatial jumps?"

Because of the spatial fluctuations, Velyn's home security cameras had been unable to capture the footage of the moment Lan Tian and his companion had materialized. The footage Velyn had actually seen was recorded after Lan Tian had already put away the Chixin Divine Armor.

Although Lan Tian possessed transcendent cultivation talent, his grasp of basic common knowledge was atrocious. Unaware of this technical detail, he replied directly, "Isn't it right there in your surveillance footage? How else could we perform a spatial jump without cosmic battle armor..."

"Didn't you know that anything within the zone of spatial fluctuations cannot be captured by any surveillance equipment?" Velyn covered her mouth and smiled. "You don't even know such basic common knowledge—could that cosmic battle armor have been stolen?"

White's snicker sounded in his ear simultaneously. Lan Tian's expression instantly turned awkward, and feeling a mixture of shame and anger, he snapped, "What business is it of yours? State your terms if you have any, otherwise we're leaving!"

"Hmph, go ahead and try leaving. See if you don't get surrounded by the city defense guards the moment you step out that door and locked away for three to five years!" Seeing that Lan Tian genuinely possessed a cosmic battle armor, Velyn's eyes lit up and her interest was thoroughly piqued.

"......What on earth do you want?!" Lan Tian was truly growing annoyed, his tone turning harsh.

Were women on alien planets all this much trouble?

"Let me ask you this: as someone from another cosmic realm, coming to our Yuanlan Empire must have cost you a fortune. So here is the question: why on earth would you pay such a massive price to come to our Yuanlan Empire?" Velyn continued.

"Needless to say, what could possibly make me travel hundreds of millions of light-years to your Yuanlan Empire, other than the Juedian Tower trials..."