The Galaxy's Number One Vixen

On a chaotic, lawless colony planet, being beautiful isn't a bad thing.

But being too beautiful can be deadly.

To avoid becoming merchandise on the black market, Hu Xiaoqi had always carefully hidden his true appearance.

Then one day, he suddenly saw a fluffy, chubby red fox in a battered mirror.

Hu Xiaoqi understood. So he was a fox spirit.

Being a fox spirit was great!

*

After Imperial Marshal Antars finished inspecting the colony planet, a red fox had joined him aboard the ship on his way back.

Antars made no secret of how much he doted on it, eating and sleeping with it.

The medal representing the empire's highest honor became a decoration around the red fox's neck. Even when it left paw prints all over classified military and political documents, he only laughed and called it a little troublemaker before carefully wiping its paws clean.

Hu Xiaoqi was perfectly happy with life as Antars's pet.

The only problem was that he wasn't really a fox. Given Antars's wariness, if he learned the truth, the fox spirit might end up as a fox-fur muff on the spot.

Having everything brought to him and never lifting a finger was lovely, of course, but staying alive mattered most.

Hu Xiaoqi counted the things Antars had given him in his spatial button and decided it was time to run.

*

Antars's fox had disappeared, and his mental powers, which had rarely been calm, began to run wild again.

At first, he thought it was a scheme devised by political rivals or enemy spies.

But after investigating again and again, every clue pointed to the same conclusion: the little fox had run away on its own.

Antars laughed in anger. Beneath his uniform, his long, powerful legs transformed into a thick black serpent's tail.

So it liked to run, did it? He hoped his little fox would be clever this time and not let him find it too easily.

Otherwise...

Bonus scene:

Because his mental power level was too low, Hu Xiaoqi couldn't freely control his transformations.

As a result, whenever Antars was kissing him, he often ended up with a mouthful of fur.

Clearly, that couldn't go on forever, so Antars coaxed Hu Xiaoqi into linking their mental realms.

Hu Xiaoqi didn't understand what it meant. When he heard it would raise his mental power level, he immediately agreed.

By the time he realized he'd been lured into a trap, it was too late to back out. A serpent's tail wound around his calf, and a beguiling voice whispered in his ear, "Xiaoqi, to link mental realms, you have to be in your original form."

Hu Xiaoqi: Who's the real fox spirit here?!

Theme: Hard work can change your fate