Until that mech slid out of sight into the gradually closing underground hangar, Henry Lane was still standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, drooling. Drooling over a mech instead of a beautiful woman with a curvy figure—even Henry Lane himself, once he realized it, thought there was something wrong with him.

There were too many secrets in the manor waiting for him to uncover. That red mech had appeared and vanished as suddenly as the evening clouds, leaving Henry Lane with nothing but a fleeting, breathtaking impression.

It wasn’t just a lack of material things. Haizhou Star also lacked information and knowledge, not to mention access to high-end technical data like the mesmerizing structure of mech design.

Even if kids from the slums wanted to learn and change their fate, the gap in access to information made it impossible to catch up with mainstream society.

His room was on the second floor of the manor. He lived in a guest room inside the villa. Although it couldn’t compare to the luxury of a suite like Howard Lane’s, the interior layout, the advanced video intercom system, and the casually placed works of art were already enough to make Henry Lane, who had never seen anything fancy in the slums, feel a rush of excitement.

It was like stepping into a treasure vault.

“That golden antique globe on the display shelf—just this kind of retro art piece would start at thirty thousand on the black market!”

“That tourbillon clock over there—if I could take it, I’d be set for at least ten years…”

“Even the door handles are gold. If I could pry one off, it’d be worth at least ten thousand! There are eighteen rooms on this floor, two handles per room… If I took them all… how much would that be…”

Kids from the slums have dreams, and the vast trove of mechanical information in his computer was Henry Lane’s dream.

But kids from the slums also develop a craving for material things because of their impoverished lives, so it was inevitable that Henry Lane would have some wild thoughts when faced with all this luxury.

Thinking this way, he casually slipped the fist-sized golden globe from the table into his pocket, making a big bulge. Of course, he would never actually steal it—he just liked the feeling of it warming in his pocket. He imagined that if this family ever rejected him, he could just pack up all these things and steal them back to the junk planet, and he’d never have to worry about food or clothes for the rest of his life! Daydreams like that.

These days, Henry Lane devoured the information on that computer, and when he got tired, he’d do things like this. Of course, it was all just fantasy in his pocket. In the end, he’d always stick his butt out and put the item back on the table, breathe on it to wipe away his fingerprints, and make sure it was placed exactly as before. In front of Andrew Thompson, who tidied his room every day, he’d always act completely calm, as if all this luxury was nothing to him, putting on an air of unyielding pride, unmoved by wealth or poverty. This even made Andrew Thompson look at him with a bit of newfound respect.

And just as he was admiring the room, the door behind him opened.

There was no way the steward Andrew Thompson would come at this time! So Henry Lane’s scalp instantly tingled.

No time to react!

He turned his head and watched as the door opened. A tall, coldly elegant woman entered. She wore a form-fitting black camisole with lace trim, the twin straps accentuating the proud curves of her chest. Her long legs were as striking as her cool, upturned nose, carrying a breathtaking, suffocating beauty.

And there was Henry Lane, clutching a vintage porcelain vase like a baby, his face almost pressed against it, caught red-handed in front of her.

In that brief instant, a deathly silence filled the air.

After a moment, Henry Lane gently stroked the vase, set it back in place, and muttered, “…Almost knocked it over.”

Then he pulled the golden globe out of his bulging pocket and put it back on the table. “How careless, it actually rolled onto the floor.”

Only then did he frown and look at the woman at the door. “And you are…? Do you need something?”

The girl was stunned.

Though she was adopted, she had grown up in a refined and privileged environment and was well-versed in the ways of the world. She’d seen shameless people before, but never anyone quite this shameless.

Her brows furrowed ever so slightly, as if she hadn’t seen what just happened. Her expression grew even colder and more aloof, a hint of disdain in her eyes, as she walked straight into the room. She half-reclined on a sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, as casually as if she were in her own boudoir.

At that moment, the setting sun of Riverside Star cast golden rays over her. Her red hair, still damp, fell loosely over her prominent chest, relaxed and carefree. In the glow, she looked as delicate as a porcelain doll.

Seeing her long legs crossed in the sunset, Henry Lane couldn’t help his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. A strange heat stirred in his lower abdomen, and he finally understood why even the disciplined steward Andrew Thompson showed such infatuation when mentioning her—on all of Riverside Star, who knew how many people dreamed of conquering this woman.

Thinking back to the commotion caused by the arrival of that red mech at the manor today, and seeing this woman—freshly showered, changed into casual clothes, and moving freely within the villa—Henry Lane immediately guessed who she was.

She was, of course, Howard Lane’s highly regarded sister, the adopted daughter of the Lin family with an extraordinary status—Lady Violet Lane.