Shield of the Rose

Richie didn’t even remember how he parted ways with Binder Fromm. When he returned to the underground hideout beneath the sewer, he remained in a state of dazed shock. The intelligence he had just heard was simply too difficult to process, making his chest feel suffocated.

If possible, he would rather have never met Binder, and he would rather not have needed that man’s help.

Now he finally possessed hope of rescuing his father and cousin, yet simultaneously felt as though he were losing them. Not just his father and cousin, but his mother and Aunt Ling as well.

Back when his knightly bloodline awakened, he had already felt the distance between himself and his parents widening. Having lived fifteen years as an ordinary, peaceful family, everything had suddenly transformed; he and his parents had become people of two completely different worlds. Only back then, the grim war situation and the prestige brought by his knight status had prevented the rift from showing on the surface.

Yet today, he suddenly discovered those seventeen years had resembled a dream—and upon waking, the world he saw was horrifying.

The impression left by Laboratory #2 remained far too vivid, especially that foul-smelling room filled with glass vats, housing corpses submerged in stench-ridden liquid.

So he was just like them. Richie shuddered, a bone-chilling cold surging from the soles of his feet, causing every pore across his body to prickle.

Returning to the underground hideout in a daze, Richie didn’t even notice the women greeting him, walking straight over to lie down on the nearest military cot.

The woman whose bed Richie had occupied saw his state and immediately summoned Ariana.

A single glance at Richie’s face told Ariana something major had occurred. She rushed over, asking: “Is there bad news? Is your father alright?”

“Thank you for your concern. Everything is relatively normal,” Richie answered distantly.

Though questions still filled her mind, Ariana’s heart settled slightly. Her greatest fear was Richie’s father suffering harm; knowing Richie as she did, such an outcome would turn this entire city into a bloody battleground.

“You don’t look well. Would you like a hot bath?” Unaware of what had transpired, Ariana could only try to help Richie relax. A relaxed person usually acted gentler and more rational, whereas someone with frayed nerves was exceedingly dangerous.

Richie nodded; right now, he only wished to soak inside a steaming bath tub just like earlier today. Not only did his body feel cold, but his heart felt equally frozen…

The underground hideout indeed featured a bathroom. Women differed from men in that they expended extra effort to make their living environment comfortable.

Walking to the far end of the tunnel, another passage branched off, sloping gently upward. Opening the door after a short distance revealed a slightly smaller tunnel section.

The floors and walls here were fully tiled. On the left sat a large bath tub spacious enough for forty or fifty people to bathe simultaneously, while on the right ran a drainage trench with water flowing continuously in from one end and draining out the other.

Seeing this layout, Richie understood immediately that this area served as both a bathroom and a washroom.

The water inside the tub wasn’t crystal clear, appearing slightly cloudy, yet far from dirty, radiating a subtle fragrance of cosmetics.

Like the commercial bathhouse earlier today, hot water replenished continuously into the tub.

Richie no longer held any curiosity about how they engineered the plumbing; he had long developed profound respect for these women’s ingenious arrangements.

Stripping off his combat suit, Richie stood completely naked.

Before he could step into the tub, Ariana’s leg hooked around his waist, coiling herself onto his body. Without him noticing, the woman had changed back into the seductive attire from earlier today.

“I didn’t let you indulge completely earlier. Now we have plenty of time, and there’s no need to worry about being rendered unable to walk from your thrusts.”

Ariana wrapped her arms around Richie’s shoulders, whispering near his ear while her hips swayed gently. Her hand slid downward, guiding Richie’s shaft toward her anus.

Nor was she alone; a large group of women followed behind her, including Monica, Carmen, and Aisha.

“I want her,” Richie reached out, grabbing Aisha’s wrist.

The seductive atmosphere froze instantly. Monica possessed a fiery temper, her face darkening in anger, and even Ariana looked momentarily stunned.

“Alright! If it’s me, then it’s me! But if I don’t perform well, don’t blame me!” As the person chosen, Aisha didn’t mind in the least; originally radiating gentle charm, she became as tender as flowing water.

Aisha indeed hadn’t performed such acts before. As a high-end courtesan frequenting elite venues, resorting to such crude tactics might attract certain men, but would ruin her reputation in high society, eventually getting her ostracized…

Women of her caliber had to rely on genuine substance to attract elite men.

Truth be told, being asked to do this made her feel genuinely aggrieved, yet she also caught the subtle thread of melancholy hiding deep within Richie’s heart.

Among the Seven Sisters, she excelled most at reading human hearts.

That skill stemmed from her environment; while Ariana, Monica, and Carmen had interacted with countless men, their clients came purely for sexual release—nine out of ten driven by lust. Aisha was different; many men seeking her did so not out of sheer lust, but to ease their minds and relieve mental stress. Consequently, she was exceptionally sensitive to a man’s emotional shifts.

Turning her body in a dance-like motion, Aisha sank into Richie’s embrace. Her dance skills were exquisite, displaying her deep mastery through a simple gesture.

Even when engaging in this act, Aisha maintained her unique grace.

Standing on one leg while lifting the other slightly, her toes rested against the edge of the tub.

The massive shaft slipped smoothly into Aisha’s anus, its sheer size causing her brows to knit in discomfort. She wasn’t unaccustomed to rear penetration—in her line of work, anal entry was standard practice—yet she had never experienced a shaft this thick and long.

Fortunately, they had applied lubricating oil to both openings before coming, so penetration proved relatively easy. Aisha allowed Richie’s shaft to plunge as deep as possible into her body, pressing her hands firmly against her buttocks to push back, while contracting her anus in rhythmic surges.

Though not relying solely on sexual technique to captivate men, Aisha’s skills were by no means lacking; that was, after all, the foundation. Conversational charm and elegance attracted men, empathy made them linger, but keeping a man tightly bound ultimately depended on performance in bed.

Ariana assisted from behind, pressing her front against Richie’s back, rubbing her vulva against his buttocks while wrapping her arms around his torso to massage his lower abdomen.

Pushed by two women simultaneously, Richie finally couldn’t hold back.

As a jet of scalding fluid poured into Aisha’s anus, both of them trembled simultaneously.

Richie was fine; ever since learning this technique from Ariana, he had tested it on numerous women, even developing several more intense variations.

Aisha suffered far more; tasting this sensation for the first time, the jet of hot fluid made her feel indescribably ecstatic, while her stomach experienced a bizarre fullness.

Though releasing his bladder, Richie didn’t withdraw his shaft, beginning to thrust in slow, deliberate rhythms.

The women had anticipated this outcome long ago. Ariana cupped Richie’s scrotum with both hands, lightly scratching the wrinkled skin with her fingertips; her technique was masterful, always scratching right where it felt best. Monica crouched down beneath the three of them, using both hands to squeeze Aisha’s buttocks tightly to clamp the thick shaft harder, while using her tongue to lick from Richie’s shaft all the way to Aisha’s entrance. Carmen joined in as well, her tongue gliding across Richie’s body, licking his nipples and swirling around his navel.

Nor were these the only women joining in; Ariana had experienced Richie’s power before, and while only four had participated earlier due to danger, she now brought as many women as possible to share the barrage.

In no time, a crowd of beautiful women surrounded Richie—each selected for top-tier beauty and exceptional intimate skills.

While making love earlier today, Ariana had inquired about Richie’s preferences, learning he didn’t care about a woman’s age. Thus, she had selected several mature women in their thirties—an age of peak sexual appetite—hoping they could endure the cannon fire of that massive weapon.

Though surrounded by so many women, to Richie—who made love with formidable extractors like Nora and Lina—the stimulation felt only moderate. Yet he knew when to exercise restraint; after two hundred thrusts, sensing Aisha’s waist going limp, he eased his control over his seed.

With a series of intense vibrations from his shaft, a massive volume of semen erupted forth, flooding deep into Aisha’s rear.

Withdrawing his shaft from Aisha’s body, the thick head blocked her anal opening to prevent any fluid from leaking out, waiting for her muscles to recover.

In this regard, Aisha fell far short of Ariana; back then, Ariana’s rear had been thrust continuously for an hour, turning swollen and purple, yet the moment he pulled out, her entrance clamped shut tight immediately.

“Let me,” Carmen whispered from the side, holding a rubber anal plug in her hand.

Using her left hand to flick Richie’s shaft aside, her right hand swiftly guided the rubber plug into Aisha’s anus.

“My turn next!” Monica stood up, inserting herself between Richie and Aisha. Wrapping her arms around Richie’s shoulders, she jumped up, coiling her long legs around his waist to hang directly from his body.

“How do you want to play? Front or back?” Monica was an unabashedly bold woman.

Richie’s heart overflowed with pent-up frustration, seeking an avenue for release. He wasn’t a gentle man to begin with, and now his actions grew even harsher.

Lifting Monica’s buttocks upward, his thick shaft slammed into her vagina like a wooden pile.

The moment he penetrated, Richie took a light breath, contracting his glans several rings smaller to thrust straight into her cervix.

Pushing hard with both hands, Richie’s glans forced its way completely into Monica’s uterus.

“Ah! Too deep! You entered my uterus!” Monica screamed, her eyes rolling back as her body arched like a bow, her long legs straightening instantly as she hung rigid upon his shaft.

No one anticipated “Turkey” having such a violent reaction. Even Ariana, who had experienced Richie’s power, was stunned, and for a moment no one thought to pull Monica free.

“It’s pierced! I’m being impaled! That giant club is hitting my liver! Spare me! I beg you!” Monica shouted through gritted teeth.

Richie ignored her words entirely, forcing her tense legs apart, using one hand to scoop up his scrotum and thrusting upward, forcing both testicles into Monica’s anus.

The skin of his scrotum was wrinkled, covered in short, stiff hairs.

The inner tissue of the anus was delicate and sensitive, and such intense stimulation was something even the experienced Monica had never tasted.

With a single low gasp, Monica lost her voice entirely, as lubricating fluid gushed uncontrollably from her tightly packed entrance, streaming down her thighs.

“Turkey lost control!”

“No way! Is it really that intense? If even Turkey can’t handle it, won’t we die if we go up?”

“Nonsense! Everyone cleaned out their rear beforehand, and Turkey did too—how could she forget to drain her front? That isn’t loss of control, that’s just Turkey’s fluids!”

“I’ve never seen Turkey produce so much water before!”

“Dummy, how many men can make Turkey feel genuine sensation? It’s like a dam—when unopened it’s sealed tight, but once the gates open, the flood pours out!”

The surrounding women poked fun at Turkey while watching the show. Seeing Monica’s intense reaction, they felt terrified, yet intensely curious.

Richie paid no mind to the other women, his attention focused entirely on Monica.

The last time he made love with these women, he had discovered the existence of “Yin Energy”.

Though not as grand or dense as Aura, it excelled in absolute purity.

He even sensed that absorbing “Yin Energy” from ordinary women yielded benefits surpassing formal dual-training.

Dual-training only boosted Aura volume, and the Aura gained was somewhat mixed. But converting this “Yin Energy” into Aura yielded pure quality.

Quality was absolute, while quantity depended on the number of women.

The world never lacked ordinary people, and females comprised half that population. Back on the front lines, Richie had even harbored a dark thought: breeding a herd of female supply vessels just like the Varedins.

The bathroom filled with a thick, exotic scent—a blend of cosmetics, body fragrance, arousal fluids, sweat, and semen. It wasn’t purely fragrant, yet anyone smelling it would feel their blood boil.

The large bath tub spanned only two meters wide, but extended over ten meters long, with knee-high edges.

The women lay limply along the tub’s edge, faces pointing outward and buttocks facing inward, their bodies draped over the rim onto the floor. Their eyes had lost focus, looking like empty shells.

Richie stood alone in the tub, his own legs feeling somewhat weak. Satisfying so many women at once could grind an iron bar into a needle.

Sitting down inside the tub, the warm water soaking his exhausted body delivered an indescribable soothing sensation.

Looking over, the row of pale buttocks looked spectacular, though seeing too many brought a sense of satiety.

Reflecting on his actions, Richie felt a pang of regret.

Acting so harshly had certainly hurt these women.

Before Richie’s eyes, memories of their first encounter flickered—Ariana’s stubborn gaze, Monica’s fierce boldness.

Though prostitutes, they possessed their own dignity.

“You seem to have something on your mind,” Aisha’s soft voice echoed near his ear.

She was the first to be penetrated, yet hadn’t tasted Richie’s lethal combo, lying there feigning collapse until Richie sat down, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Aisha excelled at observing expressions, knowing she was safe now. Once a beast was full, it stopped hunting, and she sensed Richie felt the same.

Just as she anticipated, Richie merely glanced at her.

“Received bad news?” Aisha asked. Richie didn’t know how to answer.

“No need to tell us. We have a rule here—never pry into other people’s affairs.”

“Why?” Richie asked casually.

“Everyone here has her own story,” Aisha leaned against the tub edge, her eyes holding an indescribable desolation.

“You have a story too?” Richie asked. “This question doesn’t count as breaking the rule, does it?”

“Of course, but I won’t tell you,” Aisha smiled softly.

Richie closed his mouth.

After a long pause, Aisha found the silence unbearable, pointing at Ariana: “Why don’t you ask what stories the others have?”

“Isn’t that breaking the rule?” Richie felt baffled, wondering if Aisha’s logic was flawed.

“Not at all! If you ask about my story, I won’t answer because it hurts me. But asking about Ariana doesn’t hurt me at all, so why not ask? Don’t you know that gossip, beside shopping, is a woman’s greatest pleasure?”

Aisha’s logic made Richie roll his eyes, having to admit female logic was beyond his comprehension.

“Among us Seven Sisters, Ariana and Audrey are real blood sisters. Their family was well-off, but when Ariana was twelve, a fire killed her parents. To support herself and her little sister, she entered this trade. Milia and Monica were met after she entered the trade, and I was the last to join…”

Only then did Richie realize why Audrey looked the youngest yet ranked second among the sisters—their ranking was based on when they joined.

“Milia and Monica knew each other early on. Initially, Monica was a tomboy just like Milia, wandering together. After arriving in Peines, they were targeted by thugs and sold to a brothel madam. Milia refused to enter the trade to the death; that madam had a lover who headed the city’s Gold Finger syndicate, so Milia was taken under his wing.”

Aisha pointed to Carmen, saying: “She joined the latest. She was a middle school teacher with a husband and family. Shortly after marriage, her husband fell gravely ill, and getting treatment required taking on massive debt. A teacher’s income couldn’t cover the debt, so she entered this trade. Initially she worked part-time while teaching during the day. After her husband recovered, he somehow found out, turned out to be a scumbag, demanded a divorce, and raised a scandal at the school, ruining Carmen’s reputation overnight. Since she held the debt, she still had to pay after the divorce, so she joined full-time.”

“Mitty was Carmen’s student; she supported herself while paying for school with her earnings, and actually introduced Carmen into the trade. Originally Mitty was 5th, but after Carmen joined full-time, Mitty gave her the 5th spot and became 6th herself. As for me, I was always the youngest, so I didn’t compete for rank.”

Aisha spoke casually, yet hearing it filled Richie with profound bitterness. Compared to them, he was remarkably fortunate.

“Do you ever reminisce about the good old days?” Richie let out a quiet sigh.

“Reminisce about good old days? That sounds like something old men and women do,” Aisha laughed. “Only those with little time left think about the past. We think far more about what the future holds.”

She pointed to the ceiling.

“Back then, we anticipated future trouble, so we built this hidden sanctuary. Constructing a place like this required immense effort, but now it has proven completely worth it.”

“Why build it so big? Were you planning to hide so many people from the start?” Richie had always felt curious.

“Of course! We planned to escape this awful place when the time came,” Aisha’s face showed intense disgust, clearly despising Peines to the core.

“Were you under constant surveillance, unable to leave Peines normally?” Richie asked.

“Ariana, Mitty, and I were indeed watched, but the others could leave. Yet after escaping, how would they survive? Moving elsewhere to do the same work? Better not to escape then! Our original plan was pooling our earnings to invest. Getting insider tips was easy for us, so under normal conditions, nine out of ten investments made money. We used the profits to buy farmland in a small town named Haixili in Noisquell Province—over ten thousand mu of farmland in total. According to plan, we were supposed to move there early this year…”

Aisha could only laugh bitterly. Anyone facing such a turn of fate would feel immense grief, yet she didn’t weep like ordinary women, having been hardened by life’s trials to the point where few things could break her composure.

Richie said nothing; though unfamiliar with Haixili town, he knew Noisquell Province—a southern border province like his hometown of Lavol, and among the first to fall when war broke out.

“So what are your plans for the future now?”

“Simple,” Aisha turned to look at Richie. “Survive. Only by surviving can there be a future. To survive, we must escape—preferably abroad, or to a remote area. Anything is better than staying in Peines. There is no path left for us here.”

Richie closed his eyes. Hearing these women speak with such clarity and resilience, he felt ashamed of his own hesitation as a man.

Reflecting carefully, whether he was his parents’ biological son didn’t really matter. His parents didn’t know the secret, and they had lived happily together for seventeen years—as long as it wasn’t exposed, life would continue as before.

Even though he learned the secret, he had never contemplated disowning his parents!

With that realization, Richie’s mind cleared completely, though a new question arose.

Why had Binder told him this secret? Disrupting his mind at a critical juncture—what benefit did it serve?

“If someone told you a secret, how would you interpret it?” Richie asked, not expecting Aisha to answer.

To his surprise, Aisha asked back: “What is your relationship with that person?”

Richie froze; that question was tricky. Binder was a stranger he met for the first time, yet technically a relative if he married Richie’s cousin. Yet because of his cousin, they were also romantic rivals.

“Not great,” Richie decided to judge based on his intuition; he hadn’t liked Binder previously, and disliked him even more now.

“Is the secret he told you beneficial or harmful to you?” Aisha pressed.

“Harmful—extremely harmful,” Richie answered without hesitation.

“Then it’s simple. If someone with a bad relationship tells you a beneficial secret, it’s likely a trap. If it’s a harmful secret, he is likely showing goodwill, or even seeking help from you.”

Aisha answered decisively.

Like a flash of lightning across his mind, Richie’s vision cleared.

Everything clicked into place.

Showing goodwill—it was a gesture of goodwill!

Countless people had shown him goodwill, so many that he had grown numb to it. Once something became common, its perceived value plummeted, which was why he only truly cared about figures like the Librarian Uncle, Espol, Madame Shar, Yiluo, Haigert, and Trisli.

To capture his attention, one had to employ an unconventional approach.

Reflecting on it, even he had to admit Binder’s move was brilliant. Not only did it show goodwill, but it elevated Binder’s status—a prospective cousin-in-law was far less influential than a partner holding the secret of his origins.

Cooling down completely, Richie realized his origin status exposed zero actual vulnerability.

Even if he were a monster calculated by numbers and created inside a glass tube, in his current position, no one could dissect him on an operating table. Equating himself with those rotting corpses in glass vats had been a flawed train of thought. From the moment he replaced the deceased infant in the hospital and assumed the identity of “Richie”, he was fundamentally different from those specimens. He wasn’t PS-xxx-xxx; he was Richie, a member of Squad 105, acquainted with heavyweights like the Librarian, Espol, Madame Shar, Yiluo, Haigert, and Trisli.

Even if his pureblood specimen identity were exposed, it posed no threat to him.

Unlocking one key node, the remaining pieces fell into place automatically.

Richie remembered Binder frequently mentioning “our team” and “our group”, while appearing confident about rescuing his father.

Everything was clear: Binder wasn’t acting alone; his entire team likely shared the same ambitions.

His mood brightened instantly. Richie pulled Aisha into his arms. When in a bad mood, he sought female release; now in a good mood, he likewise desired female release.

Of course, a different mood yielded a different approach.

Aisha felt no fear, having anticipated this outcome, sitting submissively upon Richie’s lap.

Her entrance had been penetrated earlier today, making it somewhat uncomfortable, so she knit her brows slightly as she sat down.

Fortunately, Richie acted exceptionally gentle this time, supporting her buttocks to let her slide down slowly until his glans rested against her cervix without pushing inside.

Even so, Aisha felt as though she were being impaled.

“You… you’re amazing… definitely… the strongest guy… I’ve ever met…” Aisha groaned softly between breaths.

Richie sat quietly in the tub without thrusting, though his hands stayed busy—one hand playing with the anal plug in her rear, while the other explored her body.

“Mm… so uncomfortable… yet so good…” Aisha closed her eyes. Earlier today, they had taken the initiative, controlling the stimulation intensity. Only now did she truly witness Richie’s terrifying strength.

“Will we… get pregnant?… I heard… carrying a knight’s child… kills ordinary women.” Aisha asked softly.

“Relax, the success rate for conception is extremely low,” Richie answered distantly, naturally omitting that he was physically incapable of impregnating anyone, as that would be far too embarrassing.

“Whatever… if I can enjoy such bliss… dying would be worth it,” Aisha murmured softly.

A surge of warmth touched Richie’s chest, though he realized Aisha was subtly persuading him to treat the other women gently.

Though seeing through her small scheme, Richie couldn’t bring himself to be angry. Carrying Aisha out of the bath tub without drying off, he walked toward the doorway.

“What do you… want to do?” Aisha knit her brows, though she had guessed his intention.

“Which bed is yours? Let’s lie down on the bed.” Richie smiled warmly.

“You don’t plan to do this all night, do you?” Aisha gasped in surprise.

Richie didn’t answer, his silence serving as tacit confirmation. A new chapter of his life began from this moment.

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