Imperial Guard

"Your Majesty?" The Shi’ar Empress’s words left everyone bewildered. They all turned to her, waiting for an explanation.

Unfortunately, the Shi’ar Empress merely shook her head instead of explaining. "Just take good care of him. You must keep him here, no matter what!"

Alex, who had left the hall, had no idea that his future had already been decided. Lilandra was holding his hand as they followed Warlord toward the Imperial Guard’s base.

Lilandra hugged Alex’s arm with both hands, half her body pressed against his. A brilliant smile covered her face as her little mouth chattered nonstop, asking all sorts of strange questions, such as what Earth looked like.

Though he was somewhat impatient inside, Alex could only smile wryly to himself and answer Lilandra’s questions gently, considering how she had always looked after him.

Before he knew it, Alex had gradually run out of answers to Lilandra’s questions when Warlord finally stopped ahead of them.

Alex took the opportunity to put an end to Lilandra’s questions and looked around curiously. "This is the Imperial Guard?" The Imperial Guard’s base was nowhere near as grand as Alex had imagined. It was exceedingly plain, just a lone castle with nothing remarkable about it.

Noticing the disappointment on Alex’s face, a trace of indignation flashed across Warlord’s face. Still, he explained, "The Imperial Guard is stationed in the Imperial Capital most of the time. Planet Feather is only a temporary base."

Alex shrugged without speaking. He did not really care about such things. Being shoved into the Imperial Guard had not been his choice. Alex had never intended to remain in the Imperial Guard, much less the Shi’ar Empire. Once he had the chance, he would certainly leave.

In his assigned room, Alex had just prepared to tidy up properly when Lilandra rushed in, grabbed him, and took off at a mad sprint, not giving him any chance to refuse.

After running for a while, Alex gradually slowed down. Holding Lilandra’s little hand, he asked with a mixture of laughter and tears, "Lilandra, can you tell me what happened?"

"You’re going to spar with Warlord!" Lilandra glanced back at Alex, but her pace did not slow in the slightest. Her face was beaming, and her bright, watery eyes brimmed with anticipation. "It’s an Imperial Guard rule!"

Alex helplessly rubbed his head. Before he understood the Shi’ar Empire’s true situation, he did not want to reveal too much of his strength. If he appeared weak, people would certainly look down on him. But if he appeared too strong, that would bring trouble as well.

Just as Alex was deeply conflicted, Lilandra suddenly stopped. Alex immediately snapped back to his senses and stopped with her. He turned to inspect the surroundings, and his expression became somewhat strange.

The sparring venue resembled an ancient Roman gladiatorial arena. Outside the spacious central fighting ground was a ring of rising stands. The enormous arena was packed with people, and one of them was the Shi’ar Empress, whom he had just met. Several others sat beside her, and from their clothes, it was clear that they were either wealthy or noble.

A single spar seemed to have drawn the attention of quite a few people.

What surprised Alex even more was that the moment he appeared, he felt at least a hundred gazes turn toward him. Some were curious, some astonished, and others disdainful. They were varied and complicated.

What’s going on? Alex frowned slightly as he pondered in secret. Since waking up, he had met only a handful of people. Apart from the Shi’ar Empress and Lilandra, there had only been Warlord and the other Imperial Guards. Alex had never seen any of the people in the stands. It was truly strange that they were all looking at him this way.

Seeing that Alex had not moved for so long, Lilandra reached out and nudged his shoulder. She lowered her voice and asked with concern, "What’s wrong, Alex?"

"Nothing." Alex smiled and shook his head, suppressing the doubts in his heart. He strode into the arena, where Warlord was already waiting.

Warlord stood in the middle of the arena with his arms crossed. When he saw Alex approach, he finally uncrossed them and said excitedly, "We didn’t get enough of a fight earlier. This time, let’s have a proper spar!"

Alex smiled calmly, considering how much strength he should show later. After thinking it over, he still decided to appear weaker. Let others underestimate him if they wanted. He would first figure out the Shi’ar Empire’s situation.

Alex did not intend to display several of his abilities. Only the physical enhancements from the Super Soldier Serum and Energy Absorption could not be concealed, so he decided to show only those.

Of course, with just his physical body, Alex had already reached superhuman levels.

"We can begin!" Just as Alex focused and waited, the Shi’ar Empress’s voice rang out.

Alex’s whole body tensed, and he launched the first attack.

With his superhuman physical abilities, Alex’s sprint had clearly surpassed the speed of sound. A sonic boom exploded like thunder, echoing throughout the arena.

Warlord’s brows tightened. The cape behind him fluttered without wind, and without any visible movement from him, he vanished from where he stood in the blink of an eye, appearing directly in front of Alex.

Alex possessed extraordinarily rich combat experience. The instant Warlord vanished, he realized what had happened. He immediately pulled back his strength and used his momentum to throw a right punch at the air in front of him.

Just as most people were feeling puzzled, Warlord appeared exactly there, as though he had voluntarily thrown himself beneath Alex’s fist.

Warlord was clearly stunned for a moment. But as the Captain of the Imperial Guard, his eyes narrowed, his body trembled rapidly, and he narrowly avoided Alex’s fist by a hair’s breadth.

Taking advantage of the moment, Warlord threw a punch back as well. One had to return what one received.

Alex’s eyes flickered. With a shift of his feet, he neither retreated nor dodged. Instead, he charged directly into Warlord’s fist.

Warlord’s expression changed. He suddenly recalled their earlier fight, when his claw had felt as though it had struck cotton. Thinking of that, he did not immediately pull back or withdraw his punch. Instead, he added more force. Warlord wanted to use this to probe Alex’s true capabilities. He was equally curious about Alex.

Alex had no idea what Warlord was thinking. At that moment, his entire focus was on the battle, a pure contest of martial skill and physical strength without any other superpowers mixed in.

At the instant their fists and bodies were about to collide, Alex’s upper body suddenly twisted in an incredibly bizarre manner, miraculously evading Warlord’s punch.

This sight stunned everyone. No one had expected someone to fight like that.

Alex paid no attention to what the others thought. His body had already passed Warlord’s fist and closed in on Warlord’s chest.

His shoulder sank, and with an Iron Mountain Lean, he slammed into Warlord’s chest.