Killing a match would bring the Beast God's punishment. The Drakonid who had killed another match had his mind snap and self-destructed. Even so, Drakonids still attempted to claim a female and eliminate rival matches—no one could fully prevent it. Damian knew a male as powerful as Drake wouldn't want to share Emma with anyone else. Drake had already guessed Damian's intentions. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Go on." Poor little Emma—every mate she gets seems unwilling to pair with her. Damian's smile widened. Drake was willing to negotiate. "Mr. Smith, I can help you drive away the other matches so you can have Emma all to yourself. I only have one simple request. Don't tell her who I am."Drake snorted. "A few low-level matches? I can handle them myself. Why involve you?" There's no need to kill them—just chase them off. No one could take Emma from him unless they could defeat him. He doesn't even plan to pair with her himself. This is just to toy with Damian at the door. The Empire's wealth will eventually be all his. Damian expected Drake wouldn't be easy. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I know you're searching for a rare ore, and I know exactly where it is. Agree to my terms, and I'll give you the location." Drake's eyes lit up. "Deal." Damian relaxed, sending the coordinates to Drake's lightcore. Whether Drake could extract the ore was up to him. With Drake handled, Damian had no worries. Being matched with two such powerful males was already a huge blessing for Emma. The remaining unmatched matches were likely just average Rank 6 or 7 guys. With a bit of cunning, he could scam their star coins and send them packing. … At Laura's villa, Emma sat on the couch, studying the info Laura had sent her. She'd been in the interstellar for five years. With no matches or family support, Laura was the only one willing to team up with her for beast hunts. "A whole group of Rank 5 beasts, some Rank 7 ones, and even Chitinids?" Emma frowned. "F-268? Why are there Chitinids there?" Unlike mindless wild beasts, these Chitinids were a high-level civilization. As intelligent as therian but grotesque in appearance, they built nests in space and preyed on therian. Chitinids often launched massive raids across the Interstellar Empire. To protect females, all Etherian females were relocated to upgraded planets with shields strong enough to repel them.One of Laura's male matches explained, "These Chitinids came from the outer battlefield. They've developed silent bombs that can pierce shields without anyone noticing. "My brother works in the Empire Army. Three months ago, massive swarms attacked from the outer battlefield. The Aurelia's second prince led the troops personally. Casualties were enormous on both sides, even the top commander was involved." Emma had heard of the outer battlefield but never seen it. She'd lived peacefully in the interstellar for five years, always thinking war was far away. "So how's the fight now?" she asked. The man shook his head gravely. "No idea yet. But I trust the second prince and the top commander—they never lose." It wasn't just their status—they were unbeatable. Laura added, "We've confirmed that the Rank 5 beast group on F-268, along with the Rank 6 and Rank 7 ones, all came from the outer battlefield." How they ended up on F-268 was a mystery. No one knew. "Emma, you're already Rank 4, right? You need Level 5 beast cores to level up. When I heard about this, I called you over—want to join us?" Leveling up required tons of beast cores. Laura knew Emma couldn't afford them, so she thought of her immediately. "I'm in. No question." Emma nodded without hesitation.