After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

Hearing that a very handsome and generous Alpha had come to the tribe, Su Mu didn’t even wait for her mother to finish applying medicine to her face. She grabbed her hat, plopped it on her head, and ran out in a hurry.

Her face had been injured by someone throwing stones a few days ago.

Whenever Su Mu recalled that tall, slim Alpha in military uniform, she felt a twinge in her teeth.

After the stone battle that day, she returned to the tribe with a swollen face, and even her mother could barely recognize her.

These past few days, Su Mu hadn’t dared to go out, and was already feeling incredibly stifled.

Now hearing such exciting news, she definitely had to go and take a good look.

But when Su Mu excitedly ran to where the tribespeople had gathered and saw the person walking into her tribe with a smile,

She felt as if someone had punched her cheek again, with a burning pain.

Shen Han, surrounded by a group of tribal members, was chatting and laughing, maintaining a harmonious atmosphere perfectly as she walked along.

Just as she was wondering how to bring up her desire to meet their chief,

A somewhat familiar figure suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

It was a burly tribal youth wearing a cloth hat, with silver ornaments on his clothes that set him apart from the others.

His face was still a bit swollen.

It seemed to be from her punch…

Looking at the tribal youth whose eyes seemed to be spitting fire, Shen Han’s heart skipped a beat.

She then gave him a polite yet awkward smile.

Su Mu jumped up and shouted loudly, “She’s from the Federation army! You’ve all been tricked by her! This person has bad intentions, quickly arrest her!”

Knowing Su Mu wouldn’t lie about such things, the people who had brought Shen Han back to the tribe immediately became apprehensive.

They made her take off all her gold jewelry, then grabbed that heavy backpack and quickly ran to find the High Priest.

In the Qubi tribe, the High Priest’s authority surpassed that of the chief.

Su Mu happily led people to lock Shen Han in the tribe’s wooden cage.

Then, she also ran towards where the High Priest was.

Shen Han felt a bit depressed.

There were at least 10 or so tribes, big and small, in Mount Zhixing. How could her luck be so “good” that all three groups of people she encountered were from the Qubi tribe?

Moreover, why did people from the same tribe wear such different clothes?

Sighing slightly, Shen Han saw that there were others locked up here too, so she walked over to three young men wearing windbreakers.

“Hello, how did you end up locked in here?”

The three young men looked more miserable than each other. Seeing that she had just been locked up but already seemed restless, they all turned their heads away, ignoring her.

Shen Han squatted in front of one of them, staring at him as she continued to ask, “Are you students?”

The person pulled his windbreaker tighter, his voice dejected and lifeless: “Can you chat with someone else?”

Seeing that these people weren’t in a good mood, Shen Han figured she probably wouldn’t get much out of them, so she stood up and walked towards the remaining person in the wooden cage.

It was a short, stout middle-aged man. He glanced up at the Alpha walking towards him, his eyes lighting up slightly, but he didn’t take the initiative to speak.

Shen Han didn’t mind this at all.

She pulled out a gold nugget about half the size of a pea from the corner of her clothes and casually slipped it into the man’s hand: “Brother, a small welcome gift. If you don’t mind, can you tell me about the rules here?”

The middle-aged man pinched the half-pea-sized gold nugget, brought it close to his eyes for a careful look, then smiled at Shen Han.

“What do you want to know?”

“How did you end up locked in here?”

“They say I sold them a batch of fake suppressants, but I’m really wronged. I’m just a middleman, damn it.”

“Oh, so the tribe uses these things too? I thought they truly rejected all modern products.”

The middle-aged man snorted through his nose: “They used to use herbal potions from the forest, but how could those compare to injections?”

“Actually, people in the tribe have quite a high demand for modern products. It’s just that their High Priest won’t relent. Oh right! After you get out, do you want to join me in reselling goods? I guarantee you’ll get rich!”

Shen Han waved her hands repeatedly: “No, no, my salary is actually quite high. So why were those students locked up over there?”

The middle-aged man smiled mysteriously and asked in a low voice: “Do you see any Omegas in this tribe?”

Shen Han thought back from the moment she entered the tribe and realized that everyone she had seen seemed to be either Alpha or Beta.

“No need to think about it, of course you can’t see them. All the Omegas in the tribe are scarce resources with very limited activity ranges.”

“Those students were just unlucky. They came to this deep mountain to do some photography? They ended up encountering the tribe’s Omegas and even took some secret photos. The aftermath was miserable. Not only were their cameras smashed, but they were also beaten quite badly.”

After saying this, the middle-aged man curiously asked her: “So how did you end up locked in here?”

Shen Han sighed wistfully: “Maybe because of flaunting wealth.”

The middle-aged man choked, shaking his head and laughing: “I thought you had offended the chief’s precious little princess! I saw it was her who threw you in here earlier.”

Hearing this, Shen Han trembled in fright, staring wide-eyed as she asked: “Little princess? Where did a little princess come from?!”

The middle-aged man yawned, saying slowly: “That Beta wearing silver ornaments just now, the one with injuries on her face.”

Shen Han: “???”

Brother, are you joking with me?

A little princess who could punch someone’s brains out? Are you serious?

Inside the chief’s felt tent, seven or eight people were crammed together.

Su Mu was among them, arms folded, listening to the tribespeople report to the High Priest about their encounter with that Alpha.

The High Priest tapped his pipe, sighing as he looked at one of them.

“I’ve taught you so much, yet you’re still as stupid as a donkey? Bringing just anyone into the tribe so casually.”

The young man he scolded immediately retorted in a small voice: “I didn’t bring her in casually. She said she was a backpacker who really wanted to come to our tribe to broaden her horizons. I saw that she seemed very sincere, so I agreed to bring her in for a look.”

The High Priest hit him on the head with his pipe: “Don’t you know you blink excessively when you lie? If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll confiscate your gun!”

The young man covered the lump on his forehead, saying with a dejected face: “Because she gave me two gold bracelets.”

Su Mu: “!!!”

After hitting the man, the High Priest put the pipe back in his mouth and started puffing away.

“That Alpha clearly came to the tribe with ulterior motives. Now we’re in a mess. It’s easy to invite a god in, but hard to send one away.”

The tribal chief was warming his hands by the fire nearby, carelessly throwing in a comment: “Why don’t we just kill her? Killing one person won’t make the government army go to war with us.”

Hearing such words, the High Priest wanted to hit him with his pipe.

But seeing that it was the chief speaking, he forcibly held back.

“The Empress of the Free Federation has always tolerated our existence, not because they fear us, but because they respect ethnic diversity.”

“If you all can’t understand even this, our tribe will be wiped out sooner or later! Forget it, I’ll personally escort that Alpha away tomorrow. You lot go return her backpack.”

“No need to wait until tomorrow.”

A clean voice suddenly came from outside the felt tent.

Then, the door curtain was lifted, and the tall figure of a young Alpha appeared in everyone’s sight.

The newcomer had clear, delicate features and didn’t seem to have the oppressive aura common to soldiers.

If Su Mu hadn’t personally seen her wearing combat gear before, everyone would have thought this person looked more like a student than those photographers.

Perhaps because Shen Han’s appearance was too natural, and her voice gave a casual, friendly feeling,

Everyone didn’t even consider a question: How did she, who was originally locked in the wooden cage, manage to quietly walk into the chief’s felt tent?

Among the roomful of people, only the High Priest felt that the Alpha had a unique quality.

She was like a treasured sword hidden in its sheath, concealing all her sharpness in places others couldn’t see.

Shen Han faced the surprised or guarded gazes of everyone, and across the central burning fire pit, she said to the High Priest opposite: “Sorry, I accidentally overheard your conversation just now. High Priest, you’re a sensible person. I think both our sides have plenty of needs that require each other’s strength to achieve mutually beneficial cooperation.”

The High Priest didn’t reply immediately.

He fiddled with his pipe with both hands, but his slightly cloudy eyes never left Shen Han’s face.

He didn’t speak, and the other tribespeople, including the chief, all remained silent.

After a while, the High Priest finally twisted the mouthpiece of his pipe and spoke in a calm tone: “In our Qubi tribe, there’s a rule. For the first cooperation between two parties, both must show sufficient sincerity to the other.”

After saying this, he stepped closer to the fire pit and loosened his palm, dropping the newly twisted-off mouthpiece into the blazing pile of wood.

“If you can retrieve that iron piece without using any external objects, you’ll be recognized as a warrior by the tribe. Then I can talk with you.”

Hearing the conditions set by the High Priest, the surrounding people immediately erupted in small jeers.

Su Mu felt particularly vindicated. She was already thinking about what she should say to most effectively mock the Alpha after she inevitably refused.

In her view, retrieving the mouthpiece from that fire pit was simply impossible.

She had just seen the High Priest deliberately throw the iron piece at the very bottom of the burning charcoal.

Even if the other dared to instantly thrust her hand into the fire, she absolutely couldn’t separate the red-hot charcoal and retrieve the mouthpiece, which must have become scalding hot.

Just as Su Mu was lost in thought, Shen Han had already started taking off her windbreaker. She rolled up the sleeves of her inner sweater above her elbows.

Then she walked to the fire pit and stood still, smiling lightly at the High Priest: “Alright, I accept your condition!”