[Ding, the healing value for the healing target Audrose has increased by 5. The total healing value for the current healing target is 5. Host, please keep up the good work!]

An electronic voice suddenly rang out in Su Duan's mind.

The healing value increased?

But he clearly didn't do anything.

"...Hic."

Su Duan was puzzled while letting out a small hiccup.

He always hiccupped when he cried, and the more intensely he cried, the longer the hiccups would last. He didn't know how he developed this problem, and even after living with Qin Zhi for so long, it still wasn't cured. It seemed it would never get better.

Hearing this hiccup filled with a watery tone, the eyes of the man wearing the black cloak moved, and an indescribable darkness flashed in their depths.

Even through the gloves, he could feel how soft and lovely the cheeks under his palm were. He was certain that with just a little force, he could leave obvious red marks on them.

The feeling of the gloves rubbing against his face was very rough. Su Duan was initially distracted by the prompt about the healing value increasing. After blanking for a moment, he realized this person was touching his face. He immediately retreated several steps vigilantly until his back hit the hard metal bars. He then huddled there, staring at his new healing target with wary eyes, occasionally making small hiccuping sounds.

With his spine pressed against the cold cage, Su Duan belatedly realized: "My situation doesn't seem very good, system."

The system confirmed his speculation: "Yes, Host. The slave trade is legal in this world. Your current identity is a slave awaiting sale. However, because you have rarely seen black hair and black eyes in this star domain, your value is relatively high."

Su Duan: "..." Sure enough, his earlier premonition was correct. As soon as he arrived, he became a slave of lower status. How miserable.

Even if he was the more expensive kind, it didn't change the essence of being a slave.

"System, what do I look like now? Is it the same as in the first world?" Hearing about black hair and black eyes, Su Duan suddenly remembered the issue of his appearance.

The System said: "Yes, the world data is constructed from data streams. When the host enters the world, the specific data will be adjusted according to the host's situation. So even if the identity changes, the host's appearance will not change."

Su Duan touched his face: "I see. So this is what I will look like after I take human form?"

The System said: "It should be like this, host."

After briefly discussing the issue of appearance, the System continued to explain the situation to Su Duan in more detail: "The situation in this world is somewhat similar to the world we were originally in. Both have highly developed technology and evolved populations. But the difference is that in our world, the direction of evolution is superpowers, both mental and physical. In this world, the direction of evolution is uniformly on the mental level."

"Aud..." Su Duan tried hard to recall the name the system just told him. "Is Audrose also part of the evolved population?"

The System said: "Yes, just now the healing target directly destroyed the power supply system of the cage using psychic power."

Su Duan made an "oh" sound and recalled the pain of being electrocuted earlier. The lingering sensation of pain still remained in his nerve endings, causing his eyes to turn sour again, almost shedding tears once more.

"Host, the System Mall is now open. Pain relievers are 10 experience points per bottle and can block 90% of pain sensations. The effect lasts for one hour. Does the host want some?" the System asked in a timely manner.

Ten experience points per bottle seemed very cheap, but considering his total savings were only 3,000 experience points, he still needed to be cautious.

The little herb thought for a bit and decided frugally: "Buy five bottles."

The system said: "Okay."

Then with a whoosh, 50 experience points were deducted, and five bottles of pain relievers were credited.

The system asked: "Host, host, the system detects that you are still experiencing discomfort. Do you want to take a bottle now?"

The unwasteful little herb declined: "No need for now, just store them." The most painful moment had passed, and now there was only some residual pain. He could endure it, and there was no need to waste a bottle of pain reliever.

It was ten experience points per bottle after all.

However, while he was thinking this way, the person watching him from outside the cage slightly furrowed his brows.

As an imperial marshal, although Audrose had a considerable number of slaves in his residence, he rarely concerned himself with their affairs. The daily procurement was handled by the housekeeper.

In fact, most of the time, he was not even in his own residence but out on the battlefield. Sometimes he would be gone for several years, so he paid even less attention to these trivial household matters.

Of course, he didn't come to the market to purchase slaves but to discuss his mech repair issues with a high-level mech manufacturer residing here. He just happened to pass by this place.

However, with just an unintentional glance from the corner of his eye, Marshal Audrose quickly forgot about his mech lying in the spatial ring with a broken arm awaiting repair. His feet moved uncontrollably to the front of this silver cage used specifically to hold expensive slaves, and he even reached out to touch the face of this slave.

Only after the little slave actively escaped from his palm did Marshal Audrose belatedly realize what he had done.

He actually touched a slave's face in public?

Moreover, this slave was obviously not used for labor...

In the Delaire Empire, the purpose of slaves was roughly divided into two types. One was to work for the master, undertaking heavy physical labor in the household. The other was for "pleasure", and this type of slave usually had smooth skin and a beautiful appearance to satisfy the master's lust.

Of course, sometimes these two purposes could coexist. After all, slaves had a low status, and even their lives were in the hands of their masters, so they could naturally be manipulated at will.

Marshal Audrose was known in the empire for his coldness. The slaves in his residence were all for the first purpose. As for excess energy, he was more enthusiastic about venting it on the battlefield and deriving pleasure from the wails of his enemies, rather than entangling with another body of unknown cleanliness in bed.

Thinking of that kind of scene, Marshal Audrose, whose mysophobia had become increasingly severe in recent years, contemptuously curled the corner of his lips.

In any case, he felt that slaves should just obediently do their work in the courtyard. Even if someone gifted him slaves meant for pleasure, he would still throw them into the garden or kitchen to do the same work as the other slaves.

As for whether those slaves carefully raised to please their masters could handle the sudden heavy labor? That was their own problem to worry about. He didn't have the extra compassion to care about such things.

Once, an exceptionally beautiful slave came crying and begging him. The result was that after being punished, the slave was resold to the lowest-class slave trader.

After that, the slaves in his household who harbored improper thoughts became much more well-behaved. None were foolish enough to appear before him and try to seduce him again.

However, now, looking at the little slave with fair skin that he had just confirmed was indeed soft and smooth, Marshal Audrose suddenly felt that if this little slave came to him with teary eyes, begging not to be made to work, not only would he not punish him, he might even soften his heart and allow it.

After all, he looked far too delicate.

This was a slave with black hair and black eyes.

Slaves with black hair and black eyes were rarely seen at the market. Their star domain did not have the genes for this hair and eye color. Slaves with these features usually came smuggled in from outside star domains.

Due to the rare appearance and high transportation costs, the price of this kind of slave was generally far higher than ordinary pleasure slaves.

Because of the genetic gap, the bodies of this kind of slave were also a bit weaker than other slaves and could easily get injured or sick.

Many nobles were obsessed with this sense of rarity and fragility. Even if they might die from rough play not long after being bought, there were still many nobles who were infatuated with them one after another. So black-haired, black-eyed slaves were usually very popular on the market. Once they appeared, even if the price was set exorbitantly high, they would still be bought within a week.

Audrose had seen a few black-haired, black-eyed slaves beside others before, but he had never understood the so-called "fatal allure" of legend. However, upon seeing this little slave, he suddenly had a vague inkling of that feeling.

Black hair fell against fair skin, and the round eyes were also pure black, like a precious black obsidian headlining an auction. They appeared especially clear after tears had flowed, setting off skin that was originally fair to appear even more delicate.

Beautifully shaped lips had lost some color from pain, the corners tightly pursed. Curled up in the farthest corner of the cage, he was like a small beast at the end of its rope, futilely resisting the malice from the outside world.

For a fragile little thing like this, Audrose dared say he could crush two to death with one hand.

However, at this moment, looking at the black-haired slave in the cage who had wrinkled his little nose from pain, Audrose suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. But he was born with overly indifferent emotions and had never felt pity or the like for anyone. So for a while, he also couldn't figure out what was going on.

He could only shift his gaze to the trembling slave trader climbing up from the ground. Raising his chin coldly at him, his tone was icy: "Open the cage. I'm taking this slave. How much?"

The slave trader stated a price with a quivering voice. It was indeed very high, almost equivalent to the price of an advanced mecha. Normally, if the housekeeper told him a slave cost this much, he would definitely tell the housekeeper to get lost without hesitation.

—Although he had money to squander for several lifetimes, he did not like to spend it unnecessarily.

But this time, Audrose did not hesitate. He opened his personal terminal and decisively transferred the amount stated by the slave trader.

The slave trader looked at the huge sum transferred into the card, a hint of greedy glee flashing through his eyes.

Although black-haired slaves were rare, some time ago there had been a nasty incident of people using new technology to change the hair and eye color of ordinary slaves. So now the whole market was very depressed. Those nobles with suspicions always doubted they were being fooled with fake goods.

Therefore, this slave had been here for three days without being sold.

"G-Good, Your Highness. I'll let him out right away."

The slave trader pressed the switch and the silver cage opened with a click.

"Come out!" Seeing the slave still lacked the sense to come out and remained unmoving inside, he anxiously shouted.

—Then he was kicked again by the prince behind him. Although this kick was not as heavy as before, his head unfortunately hit the hard metal bars, so it hurt even more than earlier.

Audrose stepped over the annoying slave trader and entered the tall metal cage with one foot. Cold, hard boots stepped on the crossbars, making a chilling clang.

Su Duan looked at him with wary eyes and tried to squeeze himself further into the corner of the cage.

He was resisting.

Resisting this man who had just bought him.

Su Duan did not like becoming someone else's property, even if this person was the target he had to find a way to get close to for his mission.

He missed home.

Su Duan tentatively asked the system in his mind: "If I beat up the healing target, will the healing value drop?"

System: "Logically speaking, there is no direct relationship between the two. However, Host, after analysis, the system has concluded that it would probably take the strength of fourteen of you combined to possibly inflict light injury or higher level damage to the healing target in front of you."

Su Duan fell silent.

The system probed: "Are you planning to use painkillers? Host."

Seeing Audrose reaching his hand towards him again, Su Duan said, "Probably...I don't know either."

Seeing the little slave sniffle and about to cry again, Audrose's half-extended hand slowly stopped.

Why was he so scared? Did he look very fierce?

The prince thought for a moment, took off the glove on his right hand, and under the little slave's biting gaze, covered his cheek.

It was indeed very soft, just a little cool, who knew how long he had been out in the wind.

Su Duan blinked dumbly. When Audrose touched his cheek, he had originally planned to bite down directly. But looking into those blue eyes, for some reason he was momentarily dazed, and his cheek was touched by that warm, large palm.

Of course, it was still not too late to bite now, but Su Duan suddenly fell into hesitation.

Where his cheek and the palm made contact, a subtle tingle spread, as if every nerve ending was quietly stretching itself out.

The feeling of this person's palm was too familiar, so familiar that it made him want to lazily close his eyes, nestle his cheek in it, and have a good sleep.

—Just like he had done countless times in the past nearly eight years.

Su Duan stiffened his head, not daring to move at all. He hated being touched by strangers, but he was more afraid that if he moved, this familiar feeling would disappear in an instant.

That way, he wouldn't even get a bit of hope.

He asked cautiously in his heart, "System... where exactly do these healing targets come from?"

The system said, "The characters in each world, including the healing targets, are constructed from data streams simulated by the host, so the healing targets are just data, but slightly more complex than ordinary data compositions."

Hearing the system say this, Su Duan only then realized that the world he had been in was constructed by the system, but those experiences were too real. Every person he encountered had their own vivid personality and unique traits. Su Duan couldn't regard them as emotionless data.

Su Duan asked again, "Is it possible for character data to be repeated?"

The system said, "Each character is composed of tens of thousands of data points, and there are countless combinations among these data. According to probability, the likelihood of character data being completely identical is infinitely close to zero. However, the system doesn't have the authority to know exactly which sorting algorithm the host uses, so it can't jump to conclusions."

Su Duan was actually a bit dizzy from listening, but still tried hard to grasp the main point: "So it's possible?"

The system said, "It's not wrong to say that, but even if the host uses the sorting algorithm with the highest overlap rate, the probability of tens of thousands of data points being the same is really too small, about one in a billion. When we calculate, we generally don't consider such a tiny probability."

Su Duan said, "I understand."

System: "..." I feel like the host is thinking about some strange things.

The palm covering his cheek rubbed slightly, and Su Duan came back to his senses.

Although the hand moved, that familiar feeling did not disappear. Unclear whether he felt more at a loss or more of a messy joy, Su Duan raised his head and met Audrose's gaze looking down.

Those eyes were as deep blue as the ocean, but it was the ocean on an overcast day, appearing a bit melancholic. The long lashes drooped slightly, densely forming two little brushes.

Although the color was completely different from black, in the depths of those pupils, Su Duan still found something that couldn't be mistaken.

A person's name can change, appearance can transform, memories can be wrong, but only the eyes are the unique mark of the soul.

As a spiritual herb who had lived for several thousand years, although Su Duan had no ability to shapeshift, he still had the instincts of a spirit.

In fact, not only did he have them, his instincts were also very accurate. Otherwise, he wouldn't have escaped countless natural and man-made disasters so thrillingly over the thousands of years.

Su Duan tentatively took the initiative to rub his cheek against that hand.

Warm, very comfortable.

He also sniffed lightly with the tip of his nose. Even the scent was exactly the same.

Seeing the little slave who wanted to bite him a second ago suddenly start to intimately take the initiative to rub against him, even using his small, upturned nose tip to grind against his palm, leaving a somewhat marvelous sensation, Audrose's entire body stiffened imperceptibly.

He had never been so close to someone before, being so softly... coquettish with him.

Just as His Highness the Prince was at a loss as to how to respond to the little slave's sudden coquettishness, he suddenly felt a moist sensation on his palm.

Using a bit of force with his hand, he made the little slave raise his head, and sure enough, saw tear stains all over the little slave's face.

However, those eyes that were like black gems were bright, as if hidden within them was the fine and gentle starry river he saw when he was fighting at the border, not looking like he was sad.

"Hic." He even hiccuped.

Audrose took out a handkerchief to wipe his tears. The little slave very obediently raised his little head to let him wipe, except for occasionally hiccuping, he didn't move at all.

After wiping away all the moisture on the little slave's face, Audrose used the gentlest strength in his life to tug on his arm to stand up, declaring, "Come back with me."

Although he hadn't thought of what to have this little slave do, he had to first bring the person back home to feel at ease.

Su Duan nodded and obediently let him pull him out of the cage, doing whatever he was told.

Marshal Audrose was very satisfied with his little slave being so obedient. He liked obedient slaves.

"Do you need to mark your slave now? Our machines and equipment here are very complete. As long as you send me the mark image, I will definitely be able to complete this task within ten minutes," the slave trader waiting outside said ingratiatingly.

It seemed this noble prince was very satisfied with this slave. Hopefully after this transaction spread among the aristocratic circles, it could save his recently bleak storefront.

Only after hearing the slave trader mention it did Audrose remember there was such a procedure.

After a slave was sold, they would be marked with a special mark to prove they were the master's property. The raw material for the mark was a special paint stipulated by the empire. Once engraved, it could not be washed off for life and would accompany the slave for their entire life.

Usually, things like purchasing slaves and marking them were handled by the housekeeper in the residence. He rarely paid attention to these matters, so he momentarily forgot about this.

Su Duan, unfamiliar with this world, also didn't know about the marking, so he asked the system.

When he heard the system say that people here marked slaves without anesthesia, he was so frightened that he reflexively shrank behind Audrose.

It must hurt a lot. He didn't want to be marked.

Audrose instantly detected his movement.

This was undoubtedly an action seeking protection. Was this... fear of being marked?

Audrose didn't move, letting the little slave use him as a shield, and declined indifferently, "No need."

Even if he wanted to mark him, he wouldn't engrave a mark on his little slave here. Who knew how many slaves the machines here had been used on and how many people's bacteria were on them?

Just thinking about it felt dirty.

After leaving the market, Audrose brought the little slave he had bought on a whim back to his own residence.

Letting the servants take the little slave to bathe and change clothes, His Highness the Prince sat in his study, considering where to arrange for the person to work.