《Dwarf In The Future》 CH 1 ¡°Catch it.¡± It¡¯s been half a month since Qiao Zhiya fell into this barren land full of rocks. During this half month, he was constantly watched by a group of strange guys who were tall and huge. Every day, he worked hard to transport the stones, tiring his thin arms. However, that was not the point. The point was that he could not understand what those people were saying, he didn¡¯t know the objects they used, and they ate an extremely unpalatable food that he had never tasted before. More importantly, there was no magic here¡ª the air was twisted and dry, and filled with something that made him very uncomfortable. This was definitely not his beautiful and lovely hometown. The black hole that appeared suddenly half a month ago seemed to have brought him to the center of a villain¡¯s base camp and caught him as soon as he landed. What was that black hole? Was it a teleportation magic array made by an evil magician? What was the purpose of that evil magician to build a magic circle so close to the dwarf village? Other than him, were other people also sucked in? Would his father and mother go out to find him after he disappeared? He was messily thinking about something, but his hands were not slow. He was pretending to be struggling to pick up a crimson stone, while paying attention to his feet, he walked towards the metal trailer not far away. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been half a month. Why is this kid still so strong?¡± ¡°The radiation from the red tin mine is only harmful to the spiritual power and it doesn¡¯t affect the body. Isn¡¯t it normal for him to be strong?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s because he overeats, so I took the liberty to reduce his food.¡± ¡°Reduce his food? Do you mean take all his food? Hahaha.¡± Advertisements The strange and peculiar noises could be heard nearby and Qiao Zhiya glanced at them. With a quick glance, his gaze stopped on the three tall silhouettes that were tightly wrapped in protective clothing, he lowered his head, and continued to walk towards the trailer. Although he could not understand the content of those people¡¯s words, but only by listening to their malicious tone, he knew that he must be starving again today¡ª after all, this kind of thing had not happened for the first time. Suddenly, his shoulder was hit. He turned his head to the side and his sight happened to meet a wretched middle-aged man who was also lifting a rock. He silently frowned, then flinched aside pretending to be scared, and bowed his head. ¡°Little Mute, come to me at night, I¡¯ll give you food, and you stay with me for one night, how about it?¡± With the slick tone and the disgusting glint in his eyes, although he couldn¡¯t understand, it¡¯s definitely not a good-natured question. Qiao Zhiya raised his fist itching to hit someone. Glancing over the metal ring on his wrist, he could only suppress his impulse, speed up his pace, and put the stone in the trailer. He then ran back around the middle-aged man and continued to move stones. With today¡¯s metal trailers piled up, Qiao Zhiya, together with other people who were not wearing protective clothing, was driven back to the pit in the ground by the bad guys in protective clothing. After half an hour, dinner came down and Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t get anything. The middle-aged man who had hit him before smiled and then started looking at him with that disgusting and blatant look. He frowned, waited for the person who served the dinner to leave, got up, and walked deeper. He found a cave that can fit his figure and blocked the entrance with a boulder. When the noise outside was separated by the stone, his tense nerves relaxed slightly. The cave was very dark, but fortunately, dwarves were good at seeing things at night, so he wouldn¡¯t be groping in the dark. He took out the last piece of dry food from the magic storage ring on his left upper arm and ate it to fill his stomach. He touched the metal ring on his limbs and took out the pocket hammer given to him by his mother, controlling his strength and aiming at his feet. He carefully pounded at the metal ring on his ankle. Half a month was enough time for him to figure out the surrounding environment, the food in the storage ring had all been eaten, and if he would not leave, he would definitely be dragged to death here. These metal rings were put on by the bad guys after they caught him. The function was unknown, but they were definitely not good things. The others who wore them showed pain after wearing the metal ring. Although he realized that these metal rings had no effect on him, it was better to take them off before fleeing just to be sure. Advertisements The metal ring was stronger than he had imagined. Because he was afraid of being noticed when the sound was too loud, he minimized the force on the hammer, so his progress was very slow. About a quarter of an hour later, a crack finally appeared on the metal ring, and at the same time, there was a sound of being moved from the stone blocking the entrance of the cave. He looked up at the motionless stone, his mouth turning into a flat line. He bowed his head expressionlessly and continued to beat the ring. When the person found out that he couldn¡¯t move the boulder blocking the entrance, he yelled in frustration. Qiao Zhiya acted as if he heard nothing and continued hammering at the metal ring in a regular interval until small cracks appeared. He didn¡¯t know how long it took, the cursing outside stopped, and the metal ring on his ankle showed signs of breaking under his continuous beating. ¡°Damn, I don¡¯t know how the little devil managed to lift this thing! Brothers, help me remove this stone and everyone will be happy today!¡± The shouting started again. This time, with a few more echoing sounds, and the big rock at the entrance of the cave started to move slowly. Qiao Zhiya stopped and looked at it very unhappily. The hand holding the hammer tightened, he frowned and thought about it. He suppressed the idea of ??tidying up these people, turned around, and knocked another big rock from the cave wall with a hammer to block behind the previous rock. Obviously, they were all controlled and oppressed by the bad guys. These people didn¡¯t want to unite and run away. Instead, they fought and bullied each other. They were full of malice who wanted to find satisfaction from the weak ones¡ªa group of people who didn¡¯t know how to save themselves, but would only drag bad things around! He gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart. He then observed this cave he could use for hiding temporarily and listened to the noise getting louder outside, worrying that it would attract the bad guys in protective clothing. He simply got up and walked to the deepest part of the cave and touched the cave wall covered with hard rocks and raised his hammer. The plan couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes. If he didn¡¯t run today, he would only have two results: Either the bad guy in the protective clothing would find the cracks in the metal ring, thus, he would be more closely controlled; or he would have a conflict with the middle-aged man, bullied, or exposed his strength, and catch the attention of the bad guys in protective clothing. No matter what he chose, it would be over. Therefore, it was better to run away! Although this cave was not the escape route he had previously planned. However, his hammer was still here, and if there was no way, he could smash a way! After he no longer suppressed his strength, those hard stones, under the dual force of his strength and hammer, were as crisp and fragile as freshly baked biscuits, and shattered when hit. One meter, two meters, three meters¡­ There was more and more rubble behind him. The noisy sound was gradually turning inaudible and only the sound of a hammer hitting the stone wall could be heard in the dark stone path. Realizing that the surrounding air was getting thinner and thinner, he frowned, took out a small tank device from his storage ring and then took out the large breathing mask attached to it and put it on his face. Advertisements Dwarves were good at mining and used to carry various mining tools. Although he was a mixed race, he was more similar to his mother and grew up in a dwarf village. Thus, his habits were more biased towards dwarves and he liked to carry around various kinds of tools and gadgets in his storage ring. He was now very grateful for this habit. This strange barren land was different from all the mineral mining areas he knew. The minerals were actually laid on the ground with nothing underneath, only piles of hard rocks without energy. The reacting hard rocks could not be broken by ordinary tools, while the bad guys in the protective suits monitored above the ground. Without his tools, it would have been impossible for him to escape. His thought was interrupted by a crisp knocking sound, and the stone wall, which should have been shattered immediately, blocked him, silently mocking him in contempt. He regained his senses. He hurriedly took the small hammer to his eyes and checked it. After confirming that it was not broken, he looked at the suddenly hardened stone in front of him and frowned. Different from the gray-brown stone that was smashed before, what the hammer failed to destroy was a small piece of crimson stone wrapped in the gray-brown stone. He raised his hand and lightly touched it, quickly perceiving an uncomfortable familiar feeling as he always felt it during his half a month of stay. He immediately determined that the red stone and the ore he had transported during this time should be the same thing, but this stone was darker in color, harder, and made him feel more uncomfortable. The stone that should have only existed above ground suddenly appeared underground. It was weird, but it was not the time to study this. The road was blocked and he had to find a way to get rid of this stone. He raised his hammer to increase his strength and beat it a few times. Some cracks appeared on the red stone, but it remained strong and not broken. He was a little anxious, there was not much air in the storage ring, and he couldn¡¯t stay underground for too long. Get around it? Or¡­ he looked around and tightly gripped his hammer ¡ª since he couldn¡¯t smash the red stone, he would just pry it out! Who knew how many pieces of this kind of red stone were in this area. If there were many things everywhere, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of time? Based on his experience, such things as ore definitely appear in pieces! Having this idea, he stopped smashing the red stone, but the gray-brown gravel around it. Half an hour later, a crimson boulder half a person tall was ¡°stripped¡± from the rock wall by him. Before he could take a closer look, he threw the stone into the storage ring and continued to walk forward. Afterwards, he came across a few of these red stones, all of which were ¡°peeled¡± by him and stuffed into the storage ring. Fortunately, the red stones that he encountered later were not big, and he was also proficient in ¡°peeling¡± them without being delayed for too long. After walking for more than ten meters, the red stone did not appear again, and he successfully reached an underground escape point. Taking a sigh of relief, he rubbed his wrist and began to smash rocks up diagonally along the escape point, slowly moving towards the ground. It was more than an hour later, when the air in the storage ring was about to run out, he pushed away the last smashed rock and stuck his head out of the ground. Advertisements Fresh air gushed over and he took off the mask on his face. He took a deep breath, put away all his tools, carefully climbed out of the hole, and blocked it with stones. He looked at the distant boulder surrounded by tall wired walls and the faint patrol crowd inside. He turned and ran in the opposite direction. ¡°Warning! Warning! Someone broke in! Someone broke in! Warning!¡± The harsh metal sound suddenly exploded, the lights around the barren ground turned on, and Qiao Zhiya stopped abruptly. He turned his head in horror and looked behind him. What was going on? Where did the strange sound just come from? Why did the lights on the barren ground turn on? Did the bad guys in protective clothing found him running away and wanted to catch him? Before he could think of a reason, the air in front of him suddenly twisted. A black metal giant and three iron gray metal giants appeared out of nowhere and fell in front of him, just blocking his retreat. His pupils shrank sharply. He stepped back and looked up at the sudden appearance of these metal giants, his heartbeat almost stopped¡ª and with all his knowledge, he swore that these metal giants were definitely not creatures that existed on the magical continent. Unfamiliar language, strange machines, minerals that have never appeared before¡­ All the different things he had seen in the past half month appeared in his mind, stimulated by fear. One thought was squeezed out in his left and right brain¡ª Mom, this place was too strange. I may not be able to return home. Inside the black mecha, Fan Xiangnan stopped his action, and looked at the scanner¡¯s screen. Sitting in the deputy chair, Chu Rong noticed his pause, turned off the light brain in his hand, and looked at him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Sir.¡± Fan Xiangnan pointed to the middle of the screen, frowning slightly, ¡°It seemed to be a small child.¡± Chu Rong followed the direction of his fingers and saw on the screen a thin, awkward young boy in torn clothes who was looking up at them¡ª his eyes widened with fear, his hands crossed at his arms, forming a defensive posture for self-protection. His face was dirty, his hair blasted comically, and his thin body¡­ Well, like a frightened bald chicken. Advertisements ¡°Catch it.¡± He gave a faint command and gently touched the metal shell of the light brain with an unreadable expression. CH 2 ¡°Catch it.¡± It¡¯s been half a month since Qiao Zhiya fell into this barren land full of rocks. During this half month, he was constantly watched by a group of strange guys who were tall and huge. Every day, he worked hard to transport the stones, tiring his thin arms. However, that was not the point. The point was that he could not understand what those people were saying, he didn¡¯t know the objects they used, and they ate an extremely unpalatable food that he had never tasted before. More importantly, there was no magic here¡ª the air was twisted and dry, and filled with something that made him very uncomfortable. This was definitely not his beautiful and lovely hometown. The black hole that appeared suddenly half a month ago seemed to have brought him to the center of a villain¡¯s base camp and caught him as soon as he landed. What was that black hole? Was it a teleportation magic array made by an evil magician? What was the purpose of that evil magician to build a magic circle so close to the dwarf village? Other than him, were other people also sucked in? Would his father and mother go out to find him after he disappeared? He was messily thinking about something, but his hands were not slow. He was pretending to be struggling to pick up a crimson stone, while paying attention to his feet, he walked towards the metal trailer not far away. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been half a month. Why is this kid still so strong?¡± ¡°The radiation from the red tin mine is only harmful to the spiritual power and it doesn¡¯t affect the body. Isn¡¯t it normal for him to be strong?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s because he overeats, so I took the liberty to reduce his food.¡± ¡°Reduce his food? Do you mean take all his food? Hahaha.¡± Advertisements The strange and peculiar noises could be heard nearby and Qiao Zhiya glanced at them. With a quick glance, his gaze stopped on the three tall silhouettes that were tightly wrapped in protective clothing, he lowered his head, and continued to walk towards the trailer. Although he could not understand the content of those people¡¯s words, but only by listening to their malicious tone, he knew that he must be starving again today¡ª after all, this kind of thing had not happened for the first time. Suddenly, his shoulder was hit. He turned his head to the side and his sight happened to meet a wretched middle-aged man who was also lifting a rock. He silently frowned, then flinched aside pretending to be scared, and bowed his head. ¡°Little Mute, come to me at night, I¡¯ll give you food, and you stay with me for one night, how about it?¡± With the slick tone and the disgusting glint in his eyes, although he couldn¡¯t understand, it¡¯s definitely not a good-natured question. Qiao Zhiya raised his fist itching to hit someone. Glancing over the metal ring on his wrist, he could only suppress his impulse, speed up his pace, and put the stone in the trailer. He then ran back around the middle-aged man and continued to move stones. With today¡¯s metal trailers piled up, Qiao Zhiya, together with other people who were not wearing protective clothing, was driven back to the pit in the ground by the bad guys in protective clothing. After half an hour, dinner came down and Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t get anything. The middle-aged man who had hit him before smiled and then started looking at him with that disgusting and blatant look. He frowned, waited for the person who served the dinner to leave, got up, and walked deeper. He found a cave that can fit his figure and blocked the entrance with a boulder. When the noise outside was separated by the stone, his tense nerves relaxed slightly. The cave was very dark, but fortunately, dwarves were good at seeing things at night, so he wouldn¡¯t be groping in the dark. He took out the last piece of dry food from the magic storage ring on his left upper arm and ate it to fill his stomach. He touched the metal ring on his limbs and took out the pocket hammer given to him by his mother, controlling his strength and aiming at his feet. He carefully pounded at the metal ring on his ankle. Half a month was enough time for him to figure out the surrounding environment, the food in the storage ring had all been eaten, and if he would not leave, he would definitely be dragged to death here. These metal rings were put on by the bad guys after they caught him. The function was unknown, but they were definitely not good things. The others who wore them showed pain after wearing the metal ring. Although he realized that these metal rings had no effect on him, it was better to take them off before fleeing just to be sure. Advertisements The metal ring was stronger than he had imagined. Because he was afraid of being noticed when the sound was too loud, he minimized the force on the hammer, so his progress was very slow. About a quarter of an hour later, a crack finally appeared on the metal ring, and at the same time, there was a sound of being moved from the stone blocking the entrance of the cave. He looked up at the motionless stone, his mouth turning into a flat line. He bowed his head expressionlessly and continued to beat the ring. When the person found out that he couldn¡¯t move the boulder blocking the entrance, he yelled in frustration. Qiao Zhiya acted as if he heard nothing and continued hammering at the metal ring in a regular interval until small cracks appeared. He didn¡¯t know how long it took, the cursing outside stopped, and the metal ring on his ankle showed signs of breaking under his continuous beating. ¡°Damn, I don¡¯t know how the little devil managed to lift this thing! Brothers, help me remove this stone and everyone will be happy today!¡± The shouting started again. This time, with a few more echoing sounds, and the big rock at the entrance of the cave started to move slowly. Qiao Zhiya stopped and looked at it very unhappily. The hand holding the hammer tightened, he frowned and thought about it. He suppressed the idea of ??tidying up these people, turned around, and knocked another big rock from the cave wall with a hammer to block behind the previous rock. Obviously, they were all controlled and oppressed by the bad guys. These people didn¡¯t want to unite and run away. Instead, they fought and bullied each other. They were full of malice who wanted to find satisfaction from the weak ones¡ªa group of people who didn¡¯t know how to save themselves, but would only drag bad things around! He gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart. He then observed this cave he could use for hiding temporarily and listened to the noise getting louder outside, worrying that it would attract the bad guys in protective clothing. He simply got up and walked to the deepest part of the cave and touched the cave wall covered with hard rocks and raised his hammer. The plan couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes. If he didn¡¯t run today, he would only have two results: Either the bad guy in the protective clothing would find the cracks in the metal ring, thus, he would be more closely controlled; or he would have a conflict with the middle-aged man, bullied, or exposed his strength, and catch the attention of the bad guys in protective clothing. No matter what he chose, it would be over. Therefore, it was better to run away! Although this cave was not the escape route he had previously planned. However, his hammer was still here, and if there was no way, he could smash a way! After he no longer suppressed his strength, those hard stones, under the dual force of his strength and hammer, were as crisp and fragile as freshly baked biscuits, and shattered when hit. One meter, two meters, three meters¡­ There was more and more rubble behind him. The noisy sound was gradually turning inaudible and only the sound of a hammer hitting the stone wall could be heard in the dark stone path. Realizing that the surrounding air was getting thinner and thinner, he frowned, took out a small tank device from his storage ring and then took out the large breathing mask attached to it and put it on his face. Advertisements Dwarves were good at mining and used to carry various mining tools. Although he was a mixed race, he was more similar to his mother and grew up in a dwarf village. Thus, his habits were more biased towards dwarves and he liked to carry around various kinds of tools and gadgets in his storage ring. He was now very grateful for this habit. This strange barren land was different from all the mineral mining areas he knew. The minerals were actually laid on the ground with nothing underneath, only piles of hard rocks without energy. The reacting hard rocks could not be broken by ordinary tools, while the bad guys in the protective suits monitored above the ground. Without his tools, it would have been impossible for him to escape. His thought was interrupted by a crisp knocking sound, and the stone wall, which should have been shattered immediately, blocked him, silently mocking him in contempt. He regained his senses. He hurriedly took the small hammer to his eyes and checked it. After confirming that it was not broken, he looked at the suddenly hardened stone in front of him and frowned. Different from the gray-brown stone that was smashed before, what the hammer failed to destroy was a small piece of crimson stone wrapped in the gray-brown stone. He raised his hand and lightly touched it, quickly perceiving an uncomfortable familiar feeling as he always felt it during his half a month of stay. He immediately determined that the red stone and the ore he had transported during this time should be the same thing, but this stone was darker in color, harder, and made him feel more uncomfortable. The stone that should have only existed above ground suddenly appeared underground. It was weird, but it was not the time to study this. The road was blocked and he had to find a way to get rid of this stone. He raised his hammer to increase his strength and beat it a few times. Some cracks appeared on the red stone, but it remained strong and not broken. He was a little anxious, there was not much air in the storage ring, and he couldn¡¯t stay underground for too long. Get around it? Or¡­ he looked around and tightly gripped his hammer ¡ª since he couldn¡¯t smash the red stone, he would just pry it out! Who knew how many pieces of this kind of red stone were in this area. If there were many things everywhere, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of time? Based on his experience, such things as ore definitely appear in pieces! Having this idea, he stopped smashing the red stone, but the gray-brown gravel around it. Half an hour later, a crimson boulder half a person tall was ¡°stripped¡± from the rock wall by him. Before he could take a closer look, he threw the stone into the storage ring and continued to walk forward. Afterwards, he came across a few of these red stones, all of which were ¡°peeled¡± by him and stuffed into the storage ring. Fortunately, the red stones that he encountered later were not big, and he was also proficient in ¡°peeling¡± them without being delayed for too long. After walking for more than ten meters, the red stone did not appear again, and he successfully reached an underground escape point. Taking a sigh of relief, he rubbed his wrist and began to smash rocks up diagonally along the escape point, slowly moving towards the ground. It was more than an hour later, when the air in the storage ring was about to run out, he pushed away the last smashed rock and stuck his head out of the ground. Advertisements Fresh air gushed over and he took off the mask on his face. He took a deep breath, put away all his tools, carefully climbed out of the hole, and blocked it with stones. He looked at the distant boulder surrounded by tall wired walls and the faint patrol crowd inside. He turned and ran in the opposite direction. ¡°Warning! Warning! Someone broke in! Someone broke in! Warning!¡± The harsh metal sound suddenly exploded, the lights around the barren ground turned on, and Qiao Zhiya stopped abruptly. He turned his head in horror and looked behind him. What was going on? Where did the strange sound just come from? Why did the lights on the barren ground turn on? Did the bad guys in protective clothing found him running away and wanted to catch him? Before he could think of a reason, the air in front of him suddenly twisted. A black metal giant and three iron gray metal giants appeared out of nowhere and fell in front of him, just blocking his retreat. His pupils shrank sharply. He stepped back and looked up at the sudden appearance of these metal giants, his heartbeat almost stopped¡ª and with all his knowledge, he swore that these metal giants were definitely not creatures that existed on the magical continent. Unfamiliar language, strange machines, minerals that have never appeared before¡­ All the different things he had seen in the past half month appeared in his mind, stimulated by fear. One thought was squeezed out in his left and right brain¡ª Mom, this place was too strange. I may not be able to return home. Inside the black mecha, Fan Xiangnan stopped his action, and looked at the scanner¡¯s screen. Sitting in the deputy chair, Chu Rong noticed his pause, turned off the light brain in his hand, and looked at him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Sir.¡± Fan Xiangnan pointed to the middle of the screen, frowning slightly, ¡°It seemed to be a small child.¡± Chu Rong followed the direction of his fingers and saw on the screen a thin, awkward young boy in torn clothes who was looking up at them¡ª his eyes widened with fear, his hands crossed at his arms, forming a defensive posture for self-protection. His face was dirty, his hair blasted comically, and his thin body¡­ Well, like a frightened bald chicken. Advertisements ¡°Catch it.¡± He gave a faint command and gently touched the metal shell of the light brain with an unreadable expression. CH 3 ¡°Catch it.¡± It¡¯s been half a month since Qiao Zhiya fell into this barren land full of rocks. During this half month, he was constantly watched by a group of strange guys who were tall and huge. Every day, he worked hard to transport the stones, tiring his thin arms. However, that was not the point. The point was that he could not understand what those people were saying, he didn¡¯t know the objects they used, and they ate an extremely unpalatable food that he had never tasted before. More importantly, there was no magic here¡ª the air was twisted and dry, and filled with something that made him very uncomfortable. This was definitely not his beautiful and lovely hometown. The black hole that appeared suddenly half a month ago seemed to have brought him to the center of a villain¡¯s base camp and caught him as soon as he landed. What was that black hole? Was it a teleportation magic array made by an evil magician? What was the purpose of that evil magician to build a magic circle so close to the dwarf village? Other than him, were other people also sucked in? Would his father and mother go out to find him after he disappeared? He was messily thinking about something, but his hands were not slow. He was pretending to be struggling to pick up a crimson stone, while paying attention to his feet, he walked towards the metal trailer not far away. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been half a month. Why is this kid still so strong?¡± ¡°The radiation from the red tin mine is only harmful to the spiritual power and it doesn¡¯t affect the body. Isn¡¯t it normal for him to be strong?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s because he overeats, so I took the liberty to reduce his food.¡± ¡°Reduce his food? Do you mean take all his food? Hahaha.¡± Advertisements The strange and peculiar noises could be heard nearby and Qiao Zhiya glanced at them. With a quick glance, his gaze stopped on the three tall silhouettes that were tightly wrapped in protective clothing, he lowered his head, and continued to walk towards the trailer. Although he could not understand the content of those people¡¯s words, but only by listening to their malicious tone, he knew that he must be starving again today¡ª after all, this kind of thing had not happened for the first time. Suddenly, his shoulder was hit. He turned his head to the side and his sight happened to meet a wretched middle-aged man who was also lifting a rock. He silently frowned, then flinched aside pretending to be scared, and bowed his head. ¡°Little Mute, come to me at night, I¡¯ll give you food, and you stay with me for one night, how about it?¡± With the slick tone and the disgusting glint in his eyes, although he couldn¡¯t understand, it¡¯s definitely not a good-natured question. Qiao Zhiya raised his fist itching to hit someone. Glancing over the metal ring on his wrist, he could only suppress his impulse, speed up his pace, and put the stone in the trailer. He then ran back around the middle-aged man and continued to move stones. With today¡¯s metal trailers piled up, Qiao Zhiya, together with other people who were not wearing protective clothing, was driven back to the pit in the ground by the bad guys in protective clothing. After half an hour, dinner came down and Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t get anything. The middle-aged man who had hit him before smiled and then started looking at him with that disgusting and blatant look. He frowned, waited for the person who served the dinner to leave, got up, and walked deeper. He found a cave that can fit his figure and blocked the entrance with a boulder. When the noise outside was separated by the stone, his tense nerves relaxed slightly. The cave was very dark, but fortunately, dwarves were good at seeing things at night, so he wouldn¡¯t be groping in the dark. He took out the last piece of dry food from the magic storage ring on his left upper arm and ate it to fill his stomach. He touched the metal ring on his limbs and took out the pocket hammer given to him by his mother, controlling his strength and aiming at his feet. He carefully pounded at the metal ring on his ankle. Half a month was enough time for him to figure out the surrounding environment, the food in the storage ring had all been eaten, and if he would not leave, he would definitely be dragged to death here. These metal rings were put on by the bad guys after they caught him. The function was unknown, but they were definitely not good things. The others who wore them showed pain after wearing the metal ring. Although he realized that these metal rings had no effect on him, it was better to take them off before fleeing just to be sure. Advertisements The metal ring was stronger than he had imagined. Because he was afraid of being noticed when the sound was too loud, he minimized the force on the hammer, so his progress was very slow. About a quarter of an hour later, a crack finally appeared on the metal ring, and at the same time, there was a sound of being moved from the stone blocking the entrance of the cave. He looked up at the motionless stone, his mouth turning into a flat line. He bowed his head expressionlessly and continued to beat the ring. When the person found out that he couldn¡¯t move the boulder blocking the entrance, he yelled in frustration. Qiao Zhiya acted as if he heard nothing and continued hammering at the metal ring in a regular interval until small cracks appeared. He didn¡¯t know how long it took, the cursing outside stopped, and the metal ring on his ankle showed signs of breaking under his continuous beating. ¡°Damn, I don¡¯t know how the little devil managed to lift this thing! Brothers, help me remove this stone and everyone will be happy today!¡± The shouting started again. This time, with a few more echoing sounds, and the big rock at the entrance of the cave started to move slowly. Qiao Zhiya stopped and looked at it very unhappily. The hand holding the hammer tightened, he frowned and thought about it. He suppressed the idea of ??tidying up these people, turned around, and knocked another big rock from the cave wall with a hammer to block behind the previous rock. Obviously, they were all controlled and oppressed by the bad guys. These people didn¡¯t want to unite and run away. Instead, they fought and bullied each other. They were full of malice who wanted to find satisfaction from the weak ones¡ªa group of people who didn¡¯t know how to save themselves, but would only drag bad things around! He gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart. He then observed this cave he could use for hiding temporarily and listened to the noise getting louder outside, worrying that it would attract the bad guys in protective clothing. He simply got up and walked to the deepest part of the cave and touched the cave wall covered with hard rocks and raised his hammer. The plan couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes. If he didn¡¯t run today, he would only have two results: Either the bad guy in the protective clothing would find the cracks in the metal ring, thus, he would be more closely controlled; or he would have a conflict with the middle-aged man, bullied, or exposed his strength, and catch the attention of the bad guys in protective clothing. No matter what he chose, it would be over. Therefore, it was better to run away! Although this cave was not the escape route he had previously planned. However, his hammer was still here, and if there was no way, he could smash a way! After he no longer suppressed his strength, those hard stones, under the dual force of his strength and hammer, were as crisp and fragile as freshly baked biscuits, and shattered when hit. One meter, two meters, three meters¡­ There was more and more rubble behind him. The noisy sound was gradually turning inaudible and only the sound of a hammer hitting the stone wall could be heard in the dark stone path. Realizing that the surrounding air was getting thinner and thinner, he frowned, took out a small tank device from his storage ring and then took out the large breathing mask attached to it and put it on his face. Advertisements Dwarves were good at mining and used to carry various mining tools. Although he was a mixed race, he was more similar to his mother and grew up in a dwarf village. Thus, his habits were more biased towards dwarves and he liked to carry around various kinds of tools and gadgets in his storage ring. He was now very grateful for this habit. This strange barren land was different from all the mineral mining areas he knew. The minerals were actually laid on the ground with nothing underneath, only piles of hard rocks without energy. The reacting hard rocks could not be broken by ordinary tools, while the bad guys in the protective suits monitored above the ground. Without his tools, it would have been impossible for him to escape. His thought was interrupted by a crisp knocking sound, and the stone wall, which should have been shattered immediately, blocked him, silently mocking him in contempt. He regained his senses. He hurriedly took the small hammer to his eyes and checked it. After confirming that it was not broken, he looked at the suddenly hardened stone in front of him and frowned. Different from the gray-brown stone that was smashed before, what the hammer failed to destroy was a small piece of crimson stone wrapped in the gray-brown stone. He raised his hand and lightly touched it, quickly perceiving an uncomfortable familiar feeling as he always felt it during his half a month of stay. He immediately determined that the red stone and the ore he had transported during this time should be the same thing, but this stone was darker in color, harder, and made him feel more uncomfortable. The stone that should have only existed above ground suddenly appeared underground. It was weird, but it was not the time to study this. The road was blocked and he had to find a way to get rid of this stone. He raised his hammer to increase his strength and beat it a few times. Some cracks appeared on the red stone, but it remained strong and not broken. He was a little anxious, there was not much air in the storage ring, and he couldn¡¯t stay underground for too long. Get around it? Or¡­ he looked around and tightly gripped his hammer ¡ª since he couldn¡¯t smash the red stone, he would just pry it out! Who knew how many pieces of this kind of red stone were in this area. If there were many things everywhere, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of time? Based on his experience, such things as ore definitely appear in pieces! Having this idea, he stopped smashing the red stone, but the gray-brown gravel around it. Half an hour later, a crimson boulder half a person tall was ¡°stripped¡± from the rock wall by him. Before he could take a closer look, he threw the stone into the storage ring and continued to walk forward. Afterwards, he came across a few of these red stones, all of which were ¡°peeled¡± by him and stuffed into the storage ring. Fortunately, the red stones that he encountered later were not big, and he was also proficient in ¡°peeling¡± them without being delayed for too long. After walking for more than ten meters, the red stone did not appear again, and he successfully reached an underground escape point. Taking a sigh of relief, he rubbed his wrist and began to smash rocks up diagonally along the escape point, slowly moving towards the ground. It was more than an hour later, when the air in the storage ring was about to run out, he pushed away the last smashed rock and stuck his head out of the ground. Advertisements Fresh air gushed over and he took off the mask on his face. He took a deep breath, put away all his tools, carefully climbed out of the hole, and blocked it with stones. He looked at the distant boulder surrounded by tall wired walls and the faint patrol crowd inside. He turned and ran in the opposite direction. ¡°Warning! Warning! Someone broke in! Someone broke in! Warning!¡± The harsh metal sound suddenly exploded, the lights around the barren ground turned on, and Qiao Zhiya stopped abruptly. He turned his head in horror and looked behind him. What was going on? Where did the strange sound just come from? Why did the lights on the barren ground turn on? Did the bad guys in protective clothing found him running away and wanted to catch him? Before he could think of a reason, the air in front of him suddenly twisted. A black metal giant and three iron gray metal giants appeared out of nowhere and fell in front of him, just blocking his retreat. His pupils shrank sharply. He stepped back and looked up at the sudden appearance of these metal giants, his heartbeat almost stopped¡ª and with all his knowledge, he swore that these metal giants were definitely not creatures that existed on the magical continent. Unfamiliar language, strange machines, minerals that have never appeared before¡­ All the different things he had seen in the past half month appeared in his mind, stimulated by fear. One thought was squeezed out in his left and right brain¡ª Mom, this place was too strange. I may not be able to return home. Inside the black mecha, Fan Xiangnan stopped his action, and looked at the scanner¡¯s screen. Sitting in the deputy chair, Chu Rong noticed his pause, turned off the light brain in his hand, and looked at him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Sir.¡± Fan Xiangnan pointed to the middle of the screen, frowning slightly, ¡°It seemed to be a small child.¡± Chu Rong followed the direction of his fingers and saw on the screen a thin, awkward young boy in torn clothes who was looking up at them¡ª his eyes widened with fear, his hands crossed at his arms, forming a defensive posture for self-protection. His face was dirty, his hair blasted comically, and his thin body¡­ Well, like a frightened bald chicken. Advertisements ¡°Catch it.¡± He gave a faint command and gently touched the metal shell of the light brain with an unreadable expression. CH 4 ¡°Unknown language, unable to recognize.¡± Magic stones were divided into different attributes. There was gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. They were mostly found in places where the five natural elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth were abundant. They were extremely rare and precious. Qiao Zhiya, as a hybrid of elves and dwarves, possessed two types of magic, wood and earth. Although his magic was weak due to being a mixed blood that it basically did not work much at ordinary times, it was still better than nothing. Moreover, magic could be practiced and increased. It might be weak now but it didn¡¯t mean it would be the same in the future. Since arriving at this strange place, he had not sensed the existence of magical elements in the air. The thin magical power in his body had been unable to recover after he used it. He was really flustered. Currently, he found a suspected high-grade wood magic stone in his hand. He immediately became excited. If there was a magic stone, then it proved that there was magic in this place! As long as there was magic, he could find a way to contact his parents. He could establish a magic connection, draw a teleportation array, and go home! Due to his excitement, his hand holding the magic stone tightened unconsciously. His palm became warm and the magic power in the magic stone was triggered and began to continuously be absorbed into his body. The originally dry internal magic pool filled up rapidly. The cool and moist wood-attributed magic power spread, slowly nourishing his body with an inclusive and gentle force. Qiao Zhiya closed his eyes comfortably and couldn¡¯t help curling his toes. ¡°Are you stupid?¡± A cold voice sounded above his head. Immediately after the body warmed up, the slipped blanket was used to cover his body again. Qiao Zhiya regained his senses from the peculiar feeling when he absorbed the magic. Thinking of something, he couldn¡¯t care about seeing Chu Rong standing in front of him, and took the green stone in his hand and looked at it. The originally round and shiny green stone has now dimmed in color. There was a layer of lifeless gray on the surface, no longer the bright crystal clear before. Qiao Zhiya was stupid. The high-grade wood magic stone was highly praised by magicians because of its pure magic power and its gentle compatibility with other magic stones. The price was several times that of other magic stones! He, he simply couldn¡¯t afford it! Advertisements Dwarves were mostly industrious and wealthy, but he had just recently graduated from the clan school. He no longer accepted parental care and had not found a formal job. It was the poorest time in his life, not to mention the high-level magic stone, he couldn¡¯t even afford the low-level one. After all, he was just a young dwarf who had just grown up. He hadn¡¯t gone out to journey yet. He had been sheltered by his tribe and his parents while growing up. Even though he suffered a little injustice because of being a mixed blood, his life was still stable and smooth. Now, in the face of sudden changes, it was not easy for him to maintain his calmness for so long. His mood had just risen and fallen because of the sudden appearance of the magic stone. Presently, finding himself in trouble, although nothing showed on his face, his eyes were reddish. What to do? He actually used up the thing that belonged to the benefactor who saved his life¡­ ¡°Get up.¡± Seeing him sitting motionless on the ground, Uncle Chu began to be impatient again. Zhuang Yu could not stay still seeing Chu Rong¡¯s Yama1 face and whispered, ¡°This child is upset. The suppressor has been taken out, but his spiritual strength cannot be utilized. He should have realized that there is something wrong with him¡­¡± After hearing this remark, Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s half-dried head and his figure that was much slender than his peers. He frowned more deeply and bended down. He held the teenager¡¯s shoulder to hold him up and said in a deep voice, ¡°S physique is enough for you to become strong. Cheer up a little bit.¡± He raised his hand and rubbed the wet hair that had stuck on the teenager¡¯s forehead, exposing it which forced him to look up. It was only a momentary weakness. When Qiao Zhiya heard the cold voice from above his head, Qiao Zhiya quickly calmed his emotions. He stood up with the other party¡¯s support and looked at the person in front of him. For the first time, his eyes did not have any precaution. He carefully handed over the high-level wooden magic stone in his hand and whispered, ¡°Is this yours? I¡¯m sorry I broke it. I¡¯ll pay for it. And thank you for saving me.¡± While speaking, he looked at Zhuang Yu and Fan Xiangnan¡ª who was still facing the wall and didn¡¯t turn around, and thanked them separately. Zhuang Yu clutched her chest this time and said in an erratic tone, ¡°Oh my god. His eyelashes are so long and his voice is like singing, so good¡­¡± With his elvish blood, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice was really good. His voice was not as thick and low as other dwarves, but soft and translucent, like the first bird song in the forest when the sun rises. For this reason, he was not less discriminated against by other young dwarves. He was often mocked as his voice was not ¡°warrior¡± at all, saying that he was not qualified to be a dwarf. Although he later proved himself with his strength and received a sincere apology from his peers, his personality was still somewhat affected. He was always silent and he tried not to speak as much as possible. Having been used to the low or harsh voice of his subordinates, he suddenly heard this clear voice which obviously belonged to a young man. Even Chu Rong, who was not very sensitive to voices, had to admit that the voice of the bald chicken that he caught at that time was too good to hear. His mood suddenly lightened. He glanced at the other person¡¯s white palm raised in front of him and then at the flushed eye corners. He reached out his hand to Fan Xiangnan and said, ¡°Give me the translator.¡± Advertisements When Fan Xiangnan heard the command, he immediately opened his eyes and walked over. He took a black round instrument about the size of a palm from the space button and handed it to him. Then, he looked at Qiao Zhiya and gave him a friendly smile. After receiving the goodwill from the other party, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression softened a little, pursed his lips, and sheepishly returned his smile. These people were really good people. Although the White-Haired Monster still had a bad attitude that he sometimes couldn¡¯t help pulling out his hammer, he still vowed to repay the kindness of saving his life this time. Chu Rong ignored their exchange. He opened the translator, reached out in front of Qiao Zhiya, and ordered, ¡°Repeat what you just said.¡± Qiao Zhiya was immediately attracted by the machine that stretched out in front of him. He fixed his gaze on the flashing light of the translator. He wanted to touch but was afraid of being rude. He raised his eyes to look at Chu Rong and asked unconsciously, ¡°What?¡± The light of the translator stopped, and an electronic sound came up, ¡°Unknown language, unable to recognize.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect the machine to speak suddenly. He was startled. However, his curiosity and love for machinery engraved in his bones came out secretly. His eyes circled on the translator, showing eagerness¡ª He really wants to take a look at the structure inside. Everything here should be amazing. Zhuang Yu and Fan Xiangnan all had serious expressions and the keen sense belonging to a soldier immediately surfaced. Zhuang Yu asked first, ¡°Unknown language? Are there new marginal planets and indigenous people discovered?¡± Fan Xiangnan shook his head and replied: ¡°The military department¡¯s translation system is updated in real time. The unrecognizable language only represents one situation: the planet where this child grew up has not been discovered by the Federation or the Empire, and the language system has not yet been entered.¡± The significance of the undiscovered planet¡­ He looked at the thoughtful Chu Rong, hesitated and said, ¡°Sir, this child¡­¡±¡¯ Chu Rong returned to his senses, threw the translator back to him, took a deep look at Qiao Zhiya, whose gaze moved with the translator, and pointed to the pendant in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, and asked, ¡°Whose thing is this thing?¡± Zhuang Yu leaned over to take a look and raised his hand: ¡°Mine. I lost a space button decoration pendant before. It looks like this, but the color was more beautiful¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy it.¡± Chu Rong interrupted her, took out his own space button from his pocket, removed the ink pendant on it, placed it in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s palm, and tapped it lightly. He said in a threatening tone, ¡°No more crying. Holding a broken pendant as a treasure¡ª country bumpkin2.¡± Advertisements Qiao Zhiya opened his mouth slightly after seeing the extra thing in his hand. His eyes were full of disbelief. He had no time to pay attention to the bullying tone of Chu Rong¡¯s. The top-grade magic stone of earth? Is¡ª is he dreaming? Seeing that his eyes widened and the red color of his eyes seemed to fade a little, Uncle Chu was satisfied and confirmed that he really didn¡¯t understand what he said. When he thought of his behavior of talking with others, he was not happy. He looked at him coldly, turned around, and walked out, saying, ¡°Notify Lin Zhen, let him investigate the mine thieves again, and figure out where they caught the slaves.¡± Fan Xiangnan consciously followed and responded. He took out the communicator and began to issue orders. Zhuang Yu didn¡¯t expect that they would immediately leave. She was confused for a moment. She caught up with the first two steps and asked, ¡°Sir, this child¡­¡± ¡°Find an empty room for him to settle in. Let someone teach him the common language of the Federation and then bring him to see me again.¡± Chu Rong impatiently waved his hand without looking back, while being followed by Fan Xiangnan. Zhuang Yu stopped and looked back at Qiao Zhiya, who was holding the two pendants like a treasure. She rubbed her forehead with anxiety, ¡°We have everything on board, but there is no teacher. Where can I find someone to teach common language¡­¡± Half an hour later, Zhuang Yu crammed Qiao Zhiya, who was wearing a military training uniform that was too big, into a monotonously furnished room. ¡°Dinner will be delivered in half an hour, so you can have a good rest first.¡± Zhuang Yu endured the desire to touch the teenager¡¯s head. Although she knew he didn¡¯t understand, she still gave a gentle reminder, smiled, and left in a hurry. Qiao Zhiya watched her leave, took a look at the strange room he was in, and touched the clean soft bed. After making sure that there was no one around, he took out the two magic stones that Zhuang Yu refused to take back and sat on the bed. He sat on the floor against the bed, closed his eyes, and mobilized the magic in his body. His fingers used magic to draw a complicated circular pattern on the ground. Then, he pulled out a hair and placed it in the middle of the pattern. The magic circle formed and a soft light that only he could see rose up. The hair in the circle moved. Suddenly, there was a fire and spontaneous combustion, turning it into a cloud of dust. Blood formation failed. He was stunned, staring at the invalid magic circle for a while, then moved his gaze to the two magic stones. He hesitated, gritted his teeth, and picked up the wood magic stone that he partly absorbed, and placed it at the array¡¯s center. He then lowered his head and started again. After drawing the magic circle, he pulled out a piece of hair again, bit his finger, and dripped a drop of blood into the circle. Advertisements A brighter light than before flashed. With the magic stone as the circle center, the magic array is more effective this time. He saw the blood in the array slowly wrapped the hair under the guidance of magic, until the white golden hair condensed into a thin red needle-like thread, which turned wildly in the array. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw this and there was even a hint of joy on his face. Chuckle¡ª The frantically turning hair combusted spontaneously again. The magic stone at the front of the eye clicked and shattered into several pieces. The joy on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face froze, staring at the scorched ashes in the formation, his heart sank a little. The first time the magic circle failed, he could comfort himself because there was no magic element in the air. The second time he used the wood magic stone with the strongest vitality as the cornerstone, and dripped blood from his fingertips, but the magic circle still failed. This only showed one thing: His parents were gone, at least not in the continent or space where he was now. As for some more terrible conjecture, he refused to believe it. Although he had vaguely realized that the black hole should have taken him to a place far away from his hometown, it was only at this moment that he really understood clearly that even the ancient blood drawn magic array could not allow him to communicate with his family from his hometown. In this case, it was definitely not just ¡°far¡±¡ª he might not be able to go back. All he saw here were unfamiliar and strange things. He slowly curled up his legs and hugged himself, buried his face on his knees, and closed his eyes. If he had known this before, he would definitely not insist on the idealistic thought of wanting to be independent as soon as possible when his parents asked him if he wanted to go out to wander together. Right now, he wanted to rush to the embrace of his parents. If he knew¡­ Patter, a tear fell on his knee, wetting the soft cloth. He moved, pressing his eyes against his arms. Conference room. Chu Rong sat in the head chair, playing with his light brain, and asked casually, ¡°How about that kid?¡± Advertisements ¡°After returning to the room, he sat on the floor and played with the pendant, and then he fell asleep on the floor without having dinner.¡± Fan Xiangnan replied, after a pause, he added, ¡°The person delivering the meal found that the child seemed to have cried.¡± Chu Rong turned off his light brain, squinted at the magnified star map in the middle of the conference room, and ordered, ¡°Send him my spiritual power purification liquid.¡± Fan Xiangnan hesitated: ¡°But, sir, that is assigned to you by the military to empower spiritual strength. There is only one drug per month¡­¡± ¡°Give it to him.¡± Chu Rong waved his hand indifferently, suddenly a little irritable, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any improvement after drinking it for ten years. It can be seen that it is completely useless to me. I¡¯m fed up, so take it away.¡± Fan Xiangnan shut up, glanced at his obviously impatient expression, and sighed in his heart. CH 5 ¡°Variant red tin ore! Radiation! Ah, ah, ah!¡± After an undisturbed sleep, Qiao Zhiya put away all his weaknesses and began to figure out the matter of repaying the magic stone. He had just arrived in this strange place, his language was not fluent, and he didn¡¯t understand anything. There may be no way to repay his gratitude for the time being, but the matter of compensating the magic stone must be prioritized as soon as possible. Yesterday, he was anxious to contact his parents and completely used the wood magic stone on impulse. Although the person who took him in did not hold him accountable, he felt very embarrassed and guilty in his heart. That¡¯s a high-level wood magic stone, even his father did not have plenty of pieces in his hand. Thinking of this, he took out the earth magic stone that the White-Haired Monster gave him yesterday. He touched it with extreme care. He felt the rich and almost condensed soil magic inside and his cheeks flushed slightly. Most of the ordinary earth magic stones were ugly grayish brown. The higher the quality, the deeper and purer the color is. This black was so beautiful, it was simply the best earth magic stone! But why did that White-Haired Monster put this in his hands? Obviously, the tone and expression were fierce, but his behavior was always contradictory with his good intentions. What was the White-Haired Monster trying to do? After his thoughts drifted for a while, he regained his senses, carefully put the emblem-shaped earth magic stone into his pocket, and then took out the wood magic stone that had become fragments. He touched it with regret, and buried it in the flowerpot at the corner of the room. Wood magic stone was the most natural nourishment for plants. Although the magic of this high-level magic stone has been exhausted, the stone itself is also very beneficial to plants. It was a pity to lose it. After burying, he touched some withered leaves of the strange plant, thought for a moment, and transferred some wood magic power to the root of the plant. Seeing the leaves of the strange plant getting green, he pursed his lips and smiled contentedly. Advertisements He sat back on the bed after that and put his hand on the storage ring. He started looking for something that could be used to compensate for the high-level wood magic stone. He was really poor. Apart from some tools in the storage ring, there were only a lot of books left by his father and all kinds of trinkets made by his mother. The general currency of the Magic Continent was crystal stone. Although he has saved some, it was certainly not enough to compensate for the magic stone. Moreover, he did not know whether the crystal stone was being accepted here. If not, he was definitely a penniless pauper. The more he looked, the more frustrated he became. Just as he was thinking about whether to go out and find a place to work and earn money immediately, a large crimson stone appeared in his vision. Huh? He blinked and turned his mind to the corner of the storage ring. Afterwards, he realized that when he escaped from the cave, he also dug a lot of things that looked like ore and placed it in the storage ring. This thing¡­ should be very valuable and worth a lot of money. The group of bad guys in protective clothing attached great importance to the red stones dug out on the ground, and they didn¡¯t even let go of the broken edges and corners of the gravel. All of them were collected. It can be seen that the strange red stone is very important. Although this crimson stone appeared underground, it was obviously the same thing as the red ore on the ground. It might be better, so it should be very valuable. He doesn¡¯t know whether the White-Haired Monster will accept it or not. Suddenly, the gray metal giant suddenly flashed in his mind. It discriminately shattered his expectations. His excitement was slightly reduced and his ears shook. The protective clothing villains treated these things as treasures, but the White-Haired Monster and his party blew up the mine. It can be seen that the other party does not care about the ore. Moreover, a person who has a high level magic stone may not be attracted to these stones that even he does not know the value of, and can make people feel uncomfortable. Looking down at his palm for a long time, he hesitated for a while, and finally decided with a sullen face to take a small crimson stone to see the reaction of the White-Haired Monster and his party! If the other party is willing to accept the stone and the stone is very valuable, he will give them all the crimson stones on his body, and then take them to dig the remaining crimson stones in the mine field as a reward! If he doesn¡¯t want to, he will try to make money and buy a high-grade wood magic stone to compensate them! Repaying the favor will then be calculated later! In fact, he had a secret hope that the black hole that brought him over would really be an ancient magic circle carved by some evil wizard in the minefield, and whether it was possible to reappear and send him back to his hometown. Advertisements Blood formation failed, it was almost his only hope of going home, he wanted to take another chance. Once he had a goal, he immediately became energetic. When Zhuang Yu came back after lunch, he turned away from his previous restraints and gave him a big smile without hesitation. Zhuang Yu held her nose and blushed. Gosh! So lovely! This brilliant smile, this creamy white blushing beautiful little face, this fluffy and naturally curly hair, these unconsciously shaking little ears¡­ Oh, why is this boy so cute?! Okay, she wants to tie him at home and rub him ¡®til she¡¯s satisfied! Qiao Zhiya frowned and raised his hand suspiciously¡ªwhat¡¯s wrong? After that episode, he was a little worried. This beautiful lady¡¯s face was so red, was she sick? The language barrier was really troublesome. He had no way to express concern and kindness. Seeing the worry in his eyes, Zhuang Yu¡¯s heart became softer, and she hurriedly showed him a soothing smile, stood up straight, and shook her head. She said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, let¡¯s go. I¡¯ve got you a common language teacher and I¡¯ll escort you to class.¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t understand what she said, but he clearly saw her gesture to follow. He nodded obediently, stepped to follow, hesitated, and directly took out a crimson stone the size of a thumb and raised it up to her. Dwarves were not very tactful and instead, straightforward. When they see people, they will immediately express their purpose. ¡°Hmm? Did you prepare a gift for me? Thank you.¡± Zhuang Yu was so embarrassed by him that she asked gently, looking at what he was holding, and at the same time stretched out her hand. Qiao Zhiya immediately put the crimson stone in her palm, and looked at her expectantly¡ªhow would the benefactor react? Is this stone worth any money? Is it enough to pay for the magic stone and repay the favor? The most important thing is, can this stone give him a chance to go back and forth in the minefield? An uncomfortable scorching sensation came from her palm. Zhuang Yu looked at the crimson stone on her palm, her smile becoming stiff for two seconds. Startled, she then threw the stone out without hesitation. She took out a tube of injection and drank1 it, covering her head and screaming, ¡°Ahhhh! Variant red tin ore! Radiation! Ah, ah, ah! My spiritual power!¡± Advertisements The stone hit the ground and made a crisp sound. Qiao Zhiya was stunned. He looked at Zhuang Yu who collapsed and screamed in panic. He bent down and picked up the red stone. He¡­ Did he get into trouble again? Seeing that he had picked up the damned variant red tin ore again, Zhuang Yu, who was collapsing, almost choked to death as she couldn¡¯t snatch the stone away from the child. While anxious to let him throw away the stone, she rang the alarm in her pocket. She screamed towards the control room, ¡°Close the corridor in the E1 area! Send someone from the radiation cleaning team over here! And protective clothing! Bring two sets! Come on!¡± The sound of the alarm pierced Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart into panic. He shrank into the corner, becoming more and more helpless. Half an hour later, Fan Xiangnan, who had been rushed by the news, brought Zhuang Yu and Qiao Zhiya to an isolation room, together with the variant red tin ore that was covered by an isolation material. ¡°Where did you get this thing?¡± Fan Xiangnan asked solemnly. Qiao Zhiya looked up at him, his expression taut from being at a loss and guilt. He shook his head with his lips pressed and said nothing. Zhuang Yu, who had already calmed down, pushed Fan Xiangnan away and rolled her eyes at him, ¡°What are you asking? This kid doesn¡¯t understand. Judging from his behavior when he gave me the stone, he probably doesn¡¯t know what the red ore means. Don¡¯t scare him.¡± Fan Xiangnan also remembered the language barrier and rubbed his aching forehead, ¡°Then what should I do now? The chief is in a meeting but he must be coming here soon. His mood is not good.¡± Thinking of the chief¡¯s face, Zhuang Yu twitched her mouth and glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was sitting at the table with his head hanging down. She took a long breath, took out her electronic notebook, and sat opposite Qiao Zhiya, waving her hand boldly, ¡°I¡¯ll ask! Language may not be understood but everyone can understand drawings! I can draw very good cartoons!¡± Fan Xiangnan: ¡°¡­¡± So far, they could only try this one. ¡°Come on then.¡± Another half an hour later, Chu Rong rushed to the isolation room with a cold expression. He glanced over at Qiao Zhiya, who was immersed in drawing at the table, and strode forward. He picked up the variant red tin ore in an isolated covering on the table. After looking at the ore, he asked with dissatisfaction, ¡°What are you doing? Playing painting games with children?¡± Advertisements When Fan Xiangnan wanted to explain, he was interrupted by Zhuang Yu¡¯s strange voice, ¡°Sir, look at this.¡± An electronic tablet was handed over and Chu Rong took it. His forehead was pricked by the childish pattern on it and his voice became eight degrees colder, ¡°Do you want to go back and train again?¡± ¡°No, take a closer look. These are drawings made by Little Cutie. He¡¯s explaining to us the origin of the variant red tin mine. Because I don¡¯t know the language, I came up with this way of communication. I¡¯m not fooling around¡­ ¡± Zhuang Yu insisted on explaining and she refused to go back to training again. She didn¡¯t want to relive that nightmare at all! Chu Rong focused on another matter, squinting his eyes and repeating, ¡°Little Cutie?¡± Zhuang Yu was taken aback, nodded, and glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was sitting on the side waiting for the judgment after he finished drawing. She shyly replied, ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know his name, so I just gave him a nickname.¡± There was no better nickname than this! Qiao Zhiya¡¯s scalp unconsciously numbed when they looked at him. Thinking of the things he had drawn, he raised his hand and touched the storage ring, feeling very nervous. These people were good people, but he didn¡¯t want to reveal the little secret of the storage ring, so he carefully kept up an eye when he drew. He covered the stored red ores he curiously picked up with the waste space storage supplies. He was hoping they won¡¯t find any flaws. Seeing him start to make a self-protection posture again, Chu Rong frowned, reached out, and rubbed the bangs on his forehead, forcing him to raise his head, and said coldly, ¡°What are you afraid of? No one here will bully you.¡± Qiao Zhiya covered his forehead and glared at him¡ª why does this man always force him to pull out a hammer? A dwarf warrior¡¯s head cannot be touched casually! ¡°Promise.¡± Chu Rong no longer looked at him. He threw the variant red tin ore on the table and turned over the pictures on the tablet. The picture narrative was not long. At the beginning, it was a picture of a little man with pointed ears hiding in a cave. Outside the cave, a fat man with sharp teeth and claws wanted to come in. Then, the little man hid back and accidentally touched a stone in the hole, revealing the twisting tunnel behind the stone. The little man walked into the tunnel to avoid the fat man, picked up some red gravel in the tunnel, and escaped along the tunnel by chance. After reaching the ground, the villain ran into several metal giants. He was rescued by the metal giant and took good care of him. In order to repay the metal giant, the little man sent out the stone he had picked up. The plot is clear at a glance, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ability to tell stories with pictures was excellent. Chu Rong tilted his head and looked up and down at Qiao Zhiya with a complicated expression. Unexpectedly, he hooked his lips up. He stepped forward and picked him up. He said to Fan Xiangnan, ¡°Let a small team prepare and bring protective covers and clothing. We¡¯ll go to the mine.¡± Advertisements ¡°Mine?¡± Fan Xiangnan was stunned. ¡°Yes.¡± Uncle Chu nodded in a very good mood, and explained patiently, ¡°The mecha creators of the Xiang family who held themselves above others have been searching for something for a year already, and then sent these things to us. If we don¡¯t dig them up, how can we live up to their sarcastic expectations towards the Chu family? I will not only dig out the mine, but also put it in front of them and make them angry. ¡° Fan Xiangnan: ¡°¡­¡± Many Chinese calendars have passed but the officer still remembered that grudge. ¡°What do you think?¡± Uncle Chu was unhappy without receiving an immediate response. ¡°No, I will make arrangements.¡± Fan Xiangnan kept silent, took out the communicator, and started issuing orders. However, Qiao Zhiya, who was carried by Chu Rong, was keenly aware of something. He did not struggle and was a little excited. The White-Haired Monster immediately made the appearance of going out after seeing his drawings. Was he going to the minefield? Would they bring him? He thought of this, and Zhuang Yu, who was always paying attention to him, naturally thought of this, and reminded the chief euphemistically, ¡°Sir, the spiritual power of Little Cutie is severely damaged, so it¡¯s not suitable for him to go to the mine to get exposed again.¡± Hearing this, Chu Rong stopped in his tracks and looked down at Qiao Zhiya, who rarely behave in his arms. Qiao Zhiya looked up at him. First, wondering why he stopped, and then, after noticing that everyone¡¯s eyes fell on him, he suddenly understood something in his heart. Without thinking about it, he grabbed the man¡¯s arms and wrapped his legs around the man¡¯s body. His face tightened. In order to go home, he must not be left behind! CH 6 ¡°Do you want to drive a mecha?¡± The air seemed to be frozen. Zhuang Yu stared at Qiao Zhiya, who was clinging on the chief¡¯s body. She¡¯s both admiring and envying the scene¡ª the admiration was because the Little Cutie dared to cling to the high officer, so courageous! At the same time, she¡¯s envious because it¡¯s too foul that he looked so cute clinging to people! She also wants to be hugged by the Cutie. The whole body temperature Qia Zhiya was clinging to seemed to drop a few degrees, the arms and body that were wrapped around the officer quickly tightened, and an invisible aura rushed straight down from above. Qiao Zhiya shook his ears and looked up at Chu Rong, who had an unpredictable expression. The corners of his mouth twitched and smiled flatteringly at him. His eyes were sincere¡ª he promised not to cause trouble again, please bring him along! Chu Rong suppressed the instinctive defensive response of his body in time, frowned indistinctly, stretched his arms to make his face a little farther from him, and said coldly: ¡°Let go, go down.¡± Although he didn¡¯t understand, the tone didn¡¯t seem very good. Qiao Zhiya smiled shallowly and hesitated for a moment, but still did not go down. On the contrary, he boldly stretched out his hand to soothe his tight chest muscles as a comfort. Then, he gave him a more flattering smile and took the initiative to tilt his head and rub his ears against him. It seemed that the White-Haired Monster, like his mother, liked to pinch his ears. Before, whenever he asked his mother for a favor, he just let his mother knead his ears and his request would basically be granted. Since the White-Haired Monster and her mother had the same preference, was it that as long as he let the other person knead his ears, would he be willing to take him to the mine? Zhuang Yu took a deep, cold breath, almost afraid to see what would happen next. The Cutie unexpectedly continued to move forward with full momentum. He¡¯s so cute, so brave! Sure enough, the ignorant are fearless! The last person who dared to do a similar thing was mercilessly thrown into the lake by the officer. The force scratching his chest was very light. Before he could react, a small head with fluffy hair rubbed against it. The hostility that surged from being suddenly approached by a stranger suddenly stagnated. Chu Rong lowered his eyes, staring at the pink ears that came in front of him, and raised his hand. Fan Xiangnan felt nervous when he saw this. He hurriedly stepped forward and persuaded him, ¡°Sir, he doesn¡¯t understand anything. He didn¡¯t mean to offend. I¡¯ll take him down and let people teach him well¡ª¡ª¡± Advertisements Chu Rong¡¯s hand clawed on the top of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head. He pushed his little head away softly but he did not tear him off. Instead, he rubbed his soft hair and asked, ¡°Do you want to go?¡± The top of his head is one of the places where dwarves don¡¯t like being touched. Qiao Zhiya suppressed his instincts. After a moment of stiffness, he took the initiative to rub his ears against the opponent¡¯s hand and his head tilted towards the officer¡¯s palm. His eyes widened to please him. Slightly looking over, he implicitly glanced at the variant red tin ore that was forgotten by everyone on the table and silently expressed his desire. The ears in the palm of his hand were soft and cool. Chu Rong could almost imagine the small, pointed ears shaking pitifully after being touched. The aquamarine eyes looking over were extremely clear and easy to understand. The desire inside was clear at a glance, making people want to pretend not to see it. He¡¯s really a cunning and sly kid. His hostility faded like a tide, Chu Rong used a little bit of strength to tear Qiao Zhiya off his body. He then pinched the tip of his ears and told Fan Xiangnan, ¡°Give him a protective suit and bring that spiritual power purification liquid. We¡¯ll leave in a quarter of an hour. I don¡¯t like people being late.¡± After saying that, he strode away without looking back. Qiao Zhiya covered his ears and chased forward for two steps. He found that Fan Xiangnan and Zhuang Yu hadn¡¯t moved and stopped hesitantly. He turned his head to look at them, his eyes were nervous. Just a moment ago, the aura of the White-Haired Monster seemed to be gentle, but he immediately left just like that. He was not sure whether he had succeeded in pleasing him. Zhuang Yu and Fan Xiangnan received his gaze and looked at each other for a while. Suddenly, Zhuang Yu screamed and jumped over, hugging him excitedly and saying, ¡°Ahhhh, as expected, no one can refuse cuteness! Cutie, you are so cute!¡± Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed being hugged. When he returned to his senses, he rubbed his face red and struggled with a sullen face. He was about the same height as the opponent. At this time, he was hugged and his head was directly pressed hard against the other person¡¯s plump chest. This¡ª this was too much. He¡ªhe was a reserved dwarf warrior. No, he could not take advantage of his benefactor. Fan Xiangnan withdrawn his gaze from them, shook his head helplessly, and took out his communicator. He was surprised that the chief was so easy to talk to this time, but he didn¡¯t think that the commanding officer was swayed by the little guy¡¯s flattery. The variant red tine ore was very difficult to find and has irregular distribution. The chief should have been prepared to take this little guy with him from the beginning, so as to find the location of the ore faster. As for the problem of reinfection, for a person who has lost his spiritual power, the harm of the red tin mine was almost equivalent to none. Zhuang Yu was confusely concerned and ignored this cruel fact. A quarter of an hour later, a team of about twenty people gathered at the hatch of the warship, waiting to set off. Qiao Zhiya stood next to Fan Xiangnan, looking up at this group of powerful human beings, and later realized one thing. The people here¡­ seemed to be very tall? There were also humans in the Magic Continent, but most of them live in the plains and have no contact with dwarves. As far as he knew, the average height of humans was much shorter than that of elves, but the humans in front of them are all about the same height as the best warriors of the elves. Advertisements Were they selected on purpose? However, other humans he had seen before were also not short¡­ Just as he was staring at the crowd and speculating, Chu Rong, who had changed to his protective suit, appeared at the exit of the corridor. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he waved his hand and said, ¡°Get on the mech and go.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The squad members simultaneously responded, dispersed, and took out the standard mecha space button hung on their chests. Then, they swam to the air. Swish. Dozens of identical gray mechas appeared on the clearing; the ground seemed to shake. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, his heart beating wildly¡ª So many metal giants! That night, it was too dark and he was too nervous. At that time, he didn¡¯t have the energy to take a closer look at the giants that shocked him. At this time, seeing them up close, he was immediately fascinated. This beautiful metallic luster, this perfect proportional structure, this unfamiliar material but obviously super textured that he couldn¡¯t understand¡ª Beautiful! Extremely beautiful! Want to touch! Want to demolish! Want to buy it, bring it home, and study it! After taking out the mecha, the team members put away the space button and neatly went to their own mecha, waiting for departure. In the blink of an eye, only Fan Xiangnan and Qiao Zhiya were left on the ground. Chu Rong strode closer to Fan Xiangnan and waved at him. Fan Xiangnan nodded and took out the mecha space button hanging on his neck. He walked forward to the open space in front of him. A black mecha, slightly larger than the gray mecha, emerged out of thin air. Fan Xiangnan went and boarded it first. Qiao Zhiya was almost drooling. If the gray metal giants were great beauties, then the black giant was an enormous and extreme beauty! Look at this mysterious luster, this seamless structure, this¡ª ¡°Don¡¯t be silly; hurry up.¡± The cold voice sounded behind him, interrupting his thoughts. Then, something suddenly tightened around his waist, his body soared, and his sight was raised. It took a moment before his line of sight satibilized. When he stood firm again, he was already standing on the ground of the cockpit. Advertisements ¡°Behave.¡± The familiar silver net cover was draped over and trapped him in the corner. Fan Xiangnan was already sitting in the operating chair. Chu Rong walked to the deputy chair and sat down. He pressed a button on the operating platform and said, ¡°Go, let¡¯s finish it quickly.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fan Xiangnan responded and quickly issued instructions, then the indicator light flashed. The protective cover fell and the screens that were originally on standby were all lit, clearly showing the scenery outside the mecha. In the next second, the mecha flew out of the hatch and soared towards the blue sky. On the small screen displaying the scenery behind, a row of gray mechas quickly followed and surrounded the black mecha in a protective formation. In the distance, a huge warship with black insignia carved in silver slowly showed its shape as their field of vision increased. Heaven, God, what was that?! Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t care at all about his ¡°captive¡± state of being caught in the net. He was almost lying on the net, his eyes staring straight at the screen, his cheeks flushed with excitement ¡ª what was that huge thing that looked like a boat, but was suspended in midair? Did he just come out of there? Could it be that he has been living in that beautiful big guy these days?! Flying on the right track, Chu Rong retracted his gaze from the screen and turned his head to look at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s green eyes. He squinted and tapped the armchair lightly, remembering the time when the light weight of the other party while clinging to him, and stood up. ¡°Give me the spiritual power purification liquid.¡± Fan Xiangnan, who was driving the mech, heard the words, took out a silver sealed small box from the space button and handed it over. Repeatedly tossing the small box with almost no weight in his hand, Chu Rong walked up to Qiao Zhiya, terribly blocking his view of the screen, and squatted down. He shook the small box in front of him, and asked, ¡°Do you want to drive a mecha?¡± Qiao Zhiya anxiously pulled him ¡ª Go away, you¡¯re blocking the screen! ¡°Heartless little thing.¡± Being plainly disliked, Chu Rong¡¯s eyes were getting darker. He reached out and pinched his ear. He moved his hand, put away the silver net, held his chin with his other hand, forced open his mouth, quickly took out a small green fruit from his space button, and fed it to his mouth. He ordered, ¡°Swallow it, don¡¯t spit it out.¡± Advertisements The rich fruity scent filled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mouth and saliva was automatically secreted. Qiao Zhiya reflexively closed his mouth and swallowed the fruit that was only the size of a thumb. Then, he was choked and his face and ears were red. He stretched out his hand and grabbed his own neck. He instantly forgot the beautiful big guy. ¡°Really useless.¡± Uncle Chu didn¡¯t know how to reflect on his rude feeding behavior. Seeing him like that, he simply opened the small box, took apart the precious spiritual purification liquid that was only a finger thick, and poured it down his throat like water. The inlet of the purifying liquid became warm, and then it quickly flowed toward the stomach. The fruit stuck in the throat became softened water under the influence of the purifying liquid, and slowly slided down. The sense of suffocation disappeared. Qiao Zhiya intuitively wanted to gasp, but Chu Rong covered his mouth again and straightened his body. ¡°Close your eyes, sit down, and feel it.¡± He didn¡¯t understand, but it¡¯s so uncomfortable. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead was sweating and he reached out to break free from Chu Rong¡¯s hand. After a brief refreshing sensation, a scorching heat rushed up from his stomach to his brain. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, but his limbs suddenly lost strength. His body weakened and he fell forward to Chu Rong¡¯s embrace. CH 7 It turned out to be so simple to use magic to find mines! Part of the feverish pointed ears rubbed the skin of the chin and slid down. Shoulders becoming heavy, a slender body fell into his arms. Chu Rong reached out to catch the person, his forehead bulging with blue veins, and raised his hand to grab Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders, pulling him up. His cold gaze swept across his uncomfortable face and frowned. He simply took out the silver net again and fixed him on the wall. His fingers pressed his eyebrow, ¡°Don¡¯t faint. Stay awake. Pay attention to the changes in your body. If you don¡¯t want to become disabled, just stay with me. ¡° Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body was forced to straighten up, and the heat flowing in his body rushing towards his brain seemed to have found its way, no longer surging chaotically. It smoothly reached the brain. Then, after a moment of hesitation, it rushed forward and surrounded his shallow magic pool. His head felt swollen and burning, but strangely comfortable. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression gradually calmed down, but the sweat on his forehead became more apparent. He vaguely heard what the White-Haired Monster said, but the changes in the magic pool left him no time to care. After the heat flow reached the magic pool, the magic left in the pool was contrary to the gentle tolerance of wood and earth magic. It was almost ferocious and dragged the strange heat flow into the depth of the magic pool. Compared with other dwarves and elves, his magic pool was as barren as a small dry pit because of being a mixed blood, thus, there was no need for cultivation. However, currently, this small dry pit changed and began to deepen and widen bit by bit under the influence of the heat¡­ Although the process was uncomfortable and not easy, the pain he felt like as if someone was digging inside his brain with a tool. Nevertheless, the dwarf¡¯s instinct to become stronger forced him to endure it. As he endured the pain, he even felt excited and happy. It¡¯s amazing. The magic pool became deeper. Does it mean that he can learn magic from his parents in the future¡ª Advertisements ¡°Open your eyes.¡± The forehead was suddenly hit, his dreamy thoughts faded away, and his consciousness returned back to reality. Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes. He felt the unprecedented sense of clarity in his mind and the magic pool that has turned from a small pit into a small pond. He couldn¡¯t help but happily looked at the frowning White-Haired Monster with a fierce expression in front of him, and said excitedly, ¡°Thank you! I will repay you!¡± Such a fortunate thing as changing the magical cultivation talent happened to him! And all this was given to him by the White-Haired Monster who looked like a villain! He no longer thought that he was viscously terrible because he was actually a good man! A good man! A good man who was cold outside but warm inside! He wants to repay him! Repay him with the most precious things he has! ¡°Thank you for your help. May the God of Light bless you.¡± He stretched out his hand to salute the White-Haired Monster but found that his body was trapped by the silver net again, and he couldn¡¯t move at all. Before, he would definitely feel unhappy about it, but now, it didn¡¯t matter! Everything the benefactor did was justified! Look, the net has fixed his body in order to let the strange heat reach his brain more smoothly! A real nice person! A good man! If he had a tail, Qiao Zhiya would have been wagging it excitedly in circles now, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t. Therefore, he just shook his ears as fast as the wind. He also unconsciously leaned back like a domestic pet that was extremely happy. Under his joyful and excited gaze, Chu Rong¡¯s expression slowly darkened and deeply frowned. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± In his excitement, the Qiao Zhiyan talked more. Although he knew in his heart that the other party could not understand his concern and kindness. Chu Rong glanced at his shaking ears and shining eyes. He hesitated for a moment, raised his hand, and gently rubbed his sweaty forehead. Qiao Zhiya blinked and looked up at his outstretched arm, pausing. Instead of glaring like last time, he leaned over awkwardly, gently rubbed against his palm, and then continued to look at him with gratitude and joy to express his intimacy. It¡¯s over. Advertisements Uncle Chu retracted his hand and fell silent. He seemed to use a spiritual power purification fluid to turn a bald chicken with no spiritual strength but with S physique¡ª who still looked intelligent and energetic¡ª into a bald chicken with no spiritual strength but with still S physique¡ª whose brain seemed to be broken. The mecha stopped at the right time. Fan Xiangnan took off the protective shield and looked back, ¡°Sir, the black mine is here.¡± No one paid attention to him. The two people were squatting in the corner, one of them reflecting deeply and the other one was excited, with bright eyes as if seeing his savior. They were inside their own world and have no time to deal with the outside world. ¡°Sir?¡± Fan Xiangnan was puzzled. He ordered the team members to stand by and walked to Chu Rong¡¯s side. He hesitantly reached out his hand and patted him, reminding, ¡°Sir, the black mine is here. Do you want to go down immediately?¡± Chu Rong returned to his senses and took a deep look at Qiao Zhiya, who looked very abnormal after taking the purification liquid. He put away the silver net, got up, and threw a green fruit and a protective cover. He responded to Fan Xiangnan, ¡°Go down and find the mineral distribution as soon as possible.¡± Afterwards, go back to the warship to cure the brain of this bald chicken. Although Fan Xiangnan was a little bit confused about his unusual mood, he didn¡¯t ask much and turned around to issue orders. ¡°Are these for me?¡± After Fan Xiangnan went away, Qiao Zhiya immediately came up to Chu Rong, holding the green fruit and the protective cover, and asked happily and embarrassedly. The White-Haired Monster was so good¡ª unexpectedly giving him things again. He would write them all down and then double his repayment! The young man¡¯s soft voice stirred his eardrum. Chu Rong looked down at his white palm he had stretched out. With a cold expression, he picked up the protective cover, buckled it to his wrist, and grabbed his waist, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t run around and hold us back when we go down.¡± Everyone got off the mecha, checked their protective clothing and mining tools, and entered the mine which had become a ruin. Qiao Zhiya retracted his hand, which poked curiously at the warm yellow transparent protective cover around his body, turned his wrist to look at the storage ring that was assigned to him with mining tools, trotted over to catch up with Chu Rong, who was tall and long-legged, and followed him like a small tail. Behind Chu Rong, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head turned back and forth, then his eyes lit up and he pulled Chu Rong¡¯s arm, ¡°The hole is over there! The entrance has not been blown up.¡± After that, he took the lead and ran over there. His team members were secretly observing when they saw this. They all looked at Chu Rong, waiting for orders. Advertisements ¡°Follow him.¡± Chu Rong moved his arm that had just been pulled and followed Qiao Zhiya with a seemingly cold expression. There were some broken stones at the entrance of the pit. Qiao Zhiya moved them away. When he turned around, Chu Rong and others had caught up. With shaking ears, he got in first, and under the cover of the dim underground, he took out the high-grade earth magic stone and absorbed it quickly. The dwarves¡¯ excellent ability to mine was related to their common possession of earth magic, but Qiao Zhiya was different. Because his magic pool was too shallow to practice magic, he received a special mining course designed for him by his mother when he was young. When other dwarves were learning how to use magic to detect minerals, he was memorizing the properties and ground manifestations of various minerals. When other dwarves were practicing magic to judge the size of the ore, he had already followed his mother and afterward, started to do things himself. Practice was the best teacher. Over the past ten years, he has relied on experience and strong learning talent to crush all his age-peers. He has proved with his strength that even without magical support, dwarves can still be good miners. Now that he arrived in a strange place, almost all of his accumulated mineral knowledge was useless. He had to start everything from scratch. Fortunately, there was a way for him to change his magic cultivation ability in this strange place! Those magic mining methods that have been learned but never used can finally be applied now! Thank you, White-Haired Monster! Repaying his grace, since the White-Haired Monster wanted the crimson ore, then he would help him dig out all of them! It¡¯s a pity that there was no magic element in the air here. He could only replenish his magic power with the magic stone given to him by the White-Haired Monster¡ª the debt has increased again. After his small magic pool was filled up, he shook his head to shake off the pain in his heart, put the lightened magic stone back into the storage ring, and looked back at Chu Rong, who was the first to enter the pit and strode towards the depths. When I walked, I tentatively found out the magic power. As a result, everyone walking behind saw a small figure covered by a warm yellow protective cover, trotting forward like a big moving light bulb. The team members were silent¡ª so the commander took the kid with him and buckled him with the most advanced protective cover to make him a light bulb. Advertisements ¡°What are you doing in a daze? Are you not as strong as a minor kid and you need him to help you clear the way?¡± Chu Rong glanced at his subordinates, with a murderous expression on his face. Everyone shook their heads and hurriedly chased after Qiao Zhiya¡ªthe chief seemed to be in a bad mood. They had to be extra careful. In a blink of an eye, Chu Rong was left behind. The ¡°light bulb¡± was no longer visible and all his subordinates ran away, leaving only Fan Xiangnan beside him. ¡°Go back and let them double the intensity of their training.¡± Uncle Chu said, displeased. Fan Xiangnan responded, glancing at the team members who rushed forward to block the tunnel, and shook his head¡ª the fortitude of these newcomers was still too weak. The chief only frightened them a little bit and they had already forgotten to reserve escape routes during operation. The magic of the earth element penetrated into the rocks without any obstacles and smoothly dug deeper. It felt amazing. Qiao Zhiya could even feel the gentle feedback from the earth. After walking for a few meters, when he was about to reach the depression where he had stayed before escaping, a very familiar feeling of discomfort came back to his senses along with the magic. He stopped, eagerly took out the mining tools, adjusted to the feeling, and chiseled towards the stone wall. Boom! The stones shattered and peeled off, revealing a darker inner lining. He paused, tentatively covering the mine hammer with magic, chiseling towards the stone wall again, and then deliberately letting the magical power lead him to the area that made him feel uncomfortable. There was a louder cracking sound than before. The next second, the gravel shattered and a crimson stone was exposed. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up. Advertisements It worked! It turned out to be so simple to use magic to find mines! No wonder his mother said that he took a path that was hundreds of times more difficult than an ordinary dwarf. After a few more punches, the rubble fell down, and the whole red stone was exposed. He happily stepped forward and peeled off the crimson stone the size of his arms. He looked back and searched for Chu Rong. He happily ran past the crowd and presented the stone to him, as if offering a treasure. The team members who witnessed the whole process of smashing the stone were all stunned silly. They looked at the dusty rocks on the ground and then at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thin arms. Their eyes widened¡ª who said that the rocks associated with red tin ores were indestructible and that they could not be easily destroyed with ordinary tools? What was going on? Some unbelieving squad members also took out a hammer and smashed it towards the stone wall. After seeing that there was only a little crack on it, they shamefully blocked the crack and pretended that nothing had happened. Fan Xiangnan looked at the variant red tin ore in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arms, estimated its weight, and was a little stunned¡ª this child looked thin and weak, but he didn¡¯t expect him to be so strong. ¡°As expected. S-grade physique.¡± The cold and calm voice broke the crowd¡¯s strange silence. Chu Rong took the stone presented by Qiao Zhiya, casually looked at it, placed it in the special mineral space button, and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder. His eyes showed relief, ¡°Good, it¡¯s similar to how I was back then.¡± Even though you didn¡¯t have mental power, as long as you have a strong physique, you can stand at the top. Thinking about this, he felt more assured that he had picked up a good bald chicken. A faint smile even appeared on his face. Qiao Zhiya was greatly encouraged, smiled happily, and then ran back to the place where he had just dug. He picked up a hammer and knocked on the stone wall. Then he pulled out a bigger, heavier, and darker looking red ore from inside. The red stone slammed in front of Chu Rong with a ¡°bang¡± and continued to look at him as if offering treasures. Team members and Fan Xiangnan: ¡°¡­¡± It felt like a dream. Chu Rong¡¯s eyebrows raised. He lifted his hand and waved the dust splashed by the stone in front of him. After a pause, he took a cyan fruit from the space button and handed it over to him. With an unfathomable expression, he continued to praise, ¡°Very well, you have good prospects.¡± It was a bald chicken worth cultivating. Qiao Zhiya, who didn¡¯t know his inner thoughts, took the fruit with joy, wiped it on his body, and stuffed it into his mouth. When he chewed, his cheeks bulged, looking harmless and cute. Everyone, ¡°¡­¡± No, liars were indeed deceitful. This kid was a monster! CH 8 It is not advisable to stay here for a long time, withdraw quickly! The green fruit had no pit, the flesh was soft and fragrant. After eating, there would be a refreshing feeling flowing through the body that felt very comfortable. Qiao Zhiya comfortably squinted his eyes, remembering that the White-Haired Monster intentionally let him eat a fruit first before feeding him that strange potion, and he increasingly felt that the man was a good person. Seeing that he had also collected the second crimson ore, he ran to the depression and pointed to it, indicating that the tunnel was right here. Then he picked up his tool and smashed it towards the next crimson ore. Bang, bang, bang. The rubble fell like tofu dregs. The squad members silently watched Qiao Zhiya, who was gradually surrounded by rubble, but his face was flushed with excitement. Suddenly, they felt their tooth ache¡ª some of them were S-grade physique talents, but all of them were tall, muscular, and their appearance was extremely qualified. However, this kid¡­ those thin arms, that white and tender skin, that small and weak-looking face¡­ It was too unscientific. This¡ªWhere did the little devil¡¯s strength come from? ¡°Did I bring you here just to sightsee?¡± Chu Rong said and silently cut all his worthless subordinates with a sharp glare. As soon as they woke up from their daze, they took out their tools and went into the tunnels one by one. They scattered and found a place to dig. For a while, the sound of intensive excavation in the cave became the only sound that could be heard. Qiao Zhiya looked into the tunnel and among the ¡°peeling¡± stones. He hesitated but still did not take the initiative to indicate that some people were digging where there was no ore at all. Instead, he moved a little bit and silently gave them the place with more ore. He turned around and began to look for ore from other directions. If only there was a way to tell the White-Haired Monster about where the ore was distributed without exposing his earth magic. Distressed, he went to the other side of the stone wall with some annoyance, put his hand on it, and infiltrated with magic again. Fan Xiangnan noticed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s action of holding the wall and picking up rocks, and didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. He turned his head to Chu Rong, who he couldn¡¯t guess what he was thinking, and suggested, ¡°Sir, although there¡¯s protective clothing, the mutant red tin mines in this place are too dense. It may still affect your spiritual power. Why don¡¯t you¡­¡± Advertisements ¡°No need.¡± Chu Rong returned to his senses, waved his hand to interrupt him, took out an electronic map, and drew two strokes on it. He kept it again and ordered, ¡°First, find out the underground structure here, and then dig along the tunnel. Mark the places where there are mutant red tin mines while paint black to the ones that don¡¯t. There are more mutant red tin ores here than expected and a professional mining team must be brought over. We don¡¯t have much time to spend. This remote mine star occasionally blows an energy storm from time to time. Before the next energy storm blows, we must leave. The mine robbers and the black ore slaves also need to be handed over and resettled as soon as possible. Otherwise, those old people in the Federation will start to make trouble again. ¡°. ¡° Remembering the reason why the Commanding Officer suddenly came to inspect the Chu family who was idly located at the mining stars bordering between the Federation and the Empire, Fan Xiangnan frowned and did not persuade him to leave. Instead, he put away the electronic map, took out the mineral detector, and prepared to start working. ¡°This instrument is useless. The red tin ore is formed slowly after the limestone is blown by the energy storm for a long time. The radiation is very heavy, which has a profound impact on the mental power and various rays. The primary essence of the mineral detector are rays¡ª when one is exposed, the other becomes scrap.¡± Fan Xiangnan quietly put the detector away. He almost forgot that before he was unable to use his mental power and prior to retreating to the second line, he drove his mecha to destroy all the mining stars. He knew the mineral characteristics very well. Chu Rong glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was touching the stone wall in the distance. He didn¡¯t know what he was doing. He couldn¡¯t help but raise his hand and touch the hard gray stone wall beside him. He looked to be in deep thought. Variant red tin ore was extremely difficult to form. There must have formed a red tin ore on the ground. Furthermore, earth movements should occasionally occur on the ground where the ore was, leaving some gaps on the earth to allow energy storms to continue blowing in and influencing the ore. Only under these circumstances could variant red tin ore could take shape. There were so many variant red tin ores here, therefore, there must have been large-scale earthquakes in the past. That was to say, the geology here was unstable, and they just bombed this place with mecha a few days ago¡­ Thinking of this, he frowned and quickly ordered, ¡°Retreat! Immediately!¡± Fan Xiangnan, who had just taken out the mining tools, was taken aback. Seeing that Chu Rong¡¯s expression was wrong, he rushed into the tunnel and called for the team members to gather¡ªthe radiation was serious here and the communicator cannot be used. He could only shout to call them back. Chu Rong waited for them to be back and looked at the place where Qiao Zhiya had just been. He was ready to take him away but he didn¡¯t see his figure. He only saw a touch of warm yellow turning in the distant corner and disappearing from his sight. His face sank and he strode to catch up. Qiao Zhiya took out the magic stone to absorb some magic and then walked further away. He put his hand on the stone wall and penetrated it with magic. He had a serious expression on his face. Just when he was searching for minerals with magic, he found that not only there was no mineral reaction, but even the feedback from the earth was gone. The magic power went past as if it had fallen into a black hole and disappeared. This was too strange. It stands to reason that the earth magic was the strongest when it went deep into the ground and it should not immediately disappear. Advertisements He felt that something was wrong. For the safety of the White-Haired Monster and others, he began to deliberately explore the size and location of the non-reaction area. Just now, he discovered that the non-reaction area actually extended downward, so he walked further and further along the tunnel. The magic power he released disappeared again. He retracted his hand and frowned. It¡¯s already very close to the non-reaction area, but there seems to be something wrong¡­ He squatted down, put his hand on the ground, and penetrated the magic power directly into the ground. The next second, his eyes became sharp. After repeated confirmations, he took a breath, turned, and ran back. ¡°What are you doing?¡± As soon as he turned a corner, he bumped into someone¡¯s body. His collar was grabbed at the back, his whole body was lifted up, and Chu Rong¡¯s face that was more fierce than usual appeared in front of him. ¡°Why are you running around? Go back with me.¡± Chu Rong shook him in displeasure. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s tight body relaxed. He waved his hands and feet, shouting and making gestures. He was sweating from the tip of his nose. ¡°Get out of here! These hard rocks are all broken sand! Let those people stop digging! Let¡¯s go!¡± He didn¡¯t expect that under the hard rock layer, it was all sand-like gravel that can easily be penetrated by magic. What this signified was obvious: Once the sand-like gravel was affected by mining, there was a possibility of 8 or 9 out of 10 that the tunnel above it would collapse, and they would be directly buried alive! He was so careless that he forgot to explore the bottom of the ground before, thinking that the stone wall here was so hard that there should be no danger of collapse. In short, it was not advisable to stay here for long. Quickly withdraw! Chu Rong couldn¡¯t understand what he was talking about. He thought he was protesting against his restraint, wanting to continue digging and playing with rocks. His expression suddenly became more fierce. He said, ¡°What¡¯s so fun about rocks, don¡¯t move, stay obediently with me¡ª¡± A commotion suddenly spread from the direction of the tunnel. After the faint sound of falling rocks was heard, the ground gradually shook. The earthquake intensity then increased. Advertisements Chu Rong¡¯s complexion changed. He hurriedly stabilized his body and checked the protective shield on Qiao Zhiya. He then put him on his shoulders, turned, and ran in the direction of his subordinates. Qiao Zhiya was also confused. He didn¡¯t expect the ground to move. He guessed that the people digging the ground affected the unstable gravel layer underneath and caused the ground to shake. As they were approaching the tunnel entrance and could faintly see the squad members who were coming out, a more intense earthquake came. As the ground shook, Qiao Zhiya lifted his head up with difficulty. In his swaying sight, he could only see the big boulder slowly loosening above the team members¡¯ heads. It was terrible! The cave was about to collapse! He was greatly alarmed. Before thinking about it, he took out the green plant ball from his storage ring that was used to test whether there was a problem with the food, threw it hard, and shouted: ¡°QiuQiu,1 go!¡± Chu Rong also immediately found something wrong. He yelled to remind him to open the protective shield. Boom! The rocks fell in large chunks with the shaking of the ground. In a blink of an eye, the road ahead was blocked, completely cutting off the two from the other members of the team. Qiao Zhiya, who vaguely saw the ball expanding rapidly and helping all the team members block the falling stones, was relieved. He held Chu Rong¡¯s shoulders to let him put himself down. As a result, before he had time to speak, his body was suddenly whirled around. In the blink of an eye, he was firmly trapped in a hard embrace. Then his head was held down and there was a sound of gnashing teeth in his ear, ¡°What are you moving for?! Just wait! When we get out, let¡¯s see how I will deal with you!¡± Once again, an intense earthquake came. Boom¡ª The rocks intensely fell and the cave completely collapsed. Advertisements Qiao Zhiya was awakened by a sense of suffocation. His body felt a little heavy as if he was being crushed down by something. He opened his eyes in a daze. His sight gradually adjusted to the darkness. He saw Chu Rong¡¯s face close at hand. The person who usually looked cold and unkind had a completely relaxed expression at this time. His eyes were closed, his neat hair became messy, and a few strands fell to cover his forehead, appearing a lot more gentle and kind. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± A vague, painful groan came from the other¡¯s tight lips, and the beautiful eyebrows slowly wrinkled¡ª the fierce Chu Rong returned. Qiao Zhiya recovered and immediately noticed something was wrong. He turned his head and found that the two were lying in a narrow space surrounded by rocks. The warm yellow shield that had originally surrounded him had disappeared. It should have been broken while helping them block the gravel. He tried to push away the person who was pressing on him. He first took out two oxygen supply devices from the storage ring with mining tools and put them on. He then began to check the situation of Chu Rong. There were no broken bones or bleeding wounds, only the protective clothing was torn in several places, revealing the wheat-colored skin underneath. It¡¯s strange¡­ The White-Haired Monster clearly had no serious injury, yet why did he look so pained? In doubt, his gaze swept over the gravel around him. When he saw a crimson stone, he suddenly remembered how the White-Haired Monster and his group were fully armed when facing it. When he realized it, he reached out and covered the places where the White-Haired Monster¡¯s protective clothing broke. However, it didn¡¯t seem to work and the White-Haired Monster showed a more painful expression. The author has something to say: The magic weapon for cultivating feelings: Sharing adversity! QiaoQiao wants to save the hero and rubs his hands in excitement. CH 9 Qiao Zhiya, ¡°?¡± Qiao Zhiya was a little anxious. The earthquake moved all the crimson ore, scattered around everywhere, and seemed to have taken them to a deeper place. The White-Haired Monster¡¯s face became more and more ugly¡ª what should he do? In a hurry, he simply leaned on Chu Rong and tried to make himself a human protective suit. His thoughts turned wildly and his magical power was still unconsciously being hiddenly penetrating the surroundings. Currently, the two people were trapped underground and the White-Haired Monster was unconscious. It would definitely take a lot of effort to escape from here and even after escaping, he had to take the White-Haired Monster out of the rocky ground to completely get rid of the discomfort of minerals. That would take too long, what if the White-Haired Monster was rendered stupid during this period? Others were protected by the ball. They had no injuries and there were so many people, it was relatively easy to escape. When they found that the White-Haired Monster was missing, they would definitely come back to save him. Because of the metal giants they were driving, their speed of saving people was certainly not slow, therefore, the most urgent thing was to protect the White-Haired Monster from being further harmed by the minerals before the rescue arrived! But there was ore everywhere, nowhere¡ª The magic power that had been used to explore suddenly disappeared, his thoughts broke off, and he suddenly remembered the non-reactive area that caused the magic power to sink into something similar to a black hole. His eyes brightened¡ª there was a layer of broken sand. There must be no ore in the non-reaction zone! And it could block the magic, maybe it could also block the uncomfortable feeling caused by the red stone, the White-Haired Monster would be saved! As soon as he thought of it, he immediately got up and took out a small hammer from the storage ring. He identified the direction with magic power. He first dug a space around for two people to move, then stood up and bent over to put Chu Rong on his back. After confirming that there was no problem, he walked forward towards his target area. When Chu Rong woke up from the pain of his spiritual power being contaminated again, what he saw was the back of a head in front of him and a toy hammer being held by little white hands. As soon as the little hand moved, the toy hammer wrapped with vines hit the stone in front. The strength looked light and fluttering, but the hard rock wall was broken and peeled off in a large area in an instant, turning into a pile of rubble, and then the little hand shook to block it. The rocks in the road disappeared. The body quietly moved forward, the little hand raised the small hammer again, and at the same time, he felt his feet powerlessly dragging against the ground. He lowered his head and saw himself tied to a thin body by a very primitive straw rope, his arms were wrapped around the thin neck of the small body in front of him, and his wrists were tied together and being held by a little hand with a cool temperature. The long legs that had nowhere to lay dragged on the ground. Advertisements ¡°¡­¡± Uncle Chu, who always stood at the top of the crowd and looked down to protect the weak, felt that he was probably made stupid by his damaged spiritual power, causing his brain to deceive his eyes and create hallucinations. Bang. Whoop. Another pile of rubble fell, and then his wrist was pulled and his body was forced to slide up. ¡°¡­¡± Chu Rong was unhappy with the situation and decided to face reality. ¡°Let me down.¡± He endured the tingling sensation of the spiritual power wreaking havoc in his brain and broke the rope on his wrist. He then stood upright on his feet and reached out for Qiao Zhiya, who was unsteady because of the rope on his waist. When he looked back, he motioned to the rope tying their waist together, and said with a cold face, ¡°Untie.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him in confusion for a few seconds, and then his eyes lit up, happy. He tried to touch his forehead but was evaded by Chu Rong. Uncle Chu, who was suffering from a headache, became more and more impatient when he didn¡¯t get a response. He simply trapped Qiao Zhiya in his arms, then broke the rope with one hand, and put the person down. He looked around, frowned, stared down at Qiao Zhiya, and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who didn¡¯t understand, began to gesture with his hands. Chu Rong, ¡°¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya, ¡°?¡± Advertisements What the hell! Chu Rong raised his hand and rubbed his forehead to alleviate the tingling sensation in his brain, waved his hand to Qiao Zhiya who was about to come near in worry. He observed his surroundings again and then leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and thought about it while adapting to the discomfort of his body. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at the strange hammer in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, looked back at the tunnel leading downward, guessed, and asked, ¡°You want to go down to save yourself? Why not go up?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was circling around him worriedly, couldn¡¯t understand what he said, and just gesticulated anxiously, trying to make him understand that there was a place under the ground that might make him less uncomfortable, and that place was already very close to them. Now, the White-Haired Monster¡¯s face was paler than when he was unconscious and he was worried. Chu Rong¡¯s head increasingly hurt the more he watched his gestures. He simply reached out to hold his swaying hand, his eyes fell on the small hammer in his hand again. He had a guess in his heart¡ª maybe the illustrations that this bald chicken painted before were lies The escape tunnel was probably not discovered by accident but was smashed with this strange little hammer. Since he had the ability to dig tunnels and run away from the thieves, he was now carrying himself down. It was likely that he had also found a way to save himself. The look of this guy with excitement and gestures before the ground move¡­ This bald chicken had a secret. His eyes darkened a bit, his hand unconsciously rubbed the slippery little hand in his palm. His fingertips slowly slipped to the pulse of the opponent¡¯s wrist, his muscles tense and began to accumulate strength¡ª the person in front of him was very weak, just use a little trick¡­ He inadvertently met the clear, pure, and caring eyes of the other party. He paused and let go of the opponent¡¯s undefended hand. He took the initiative to stand in front of the rock wall, took out his mining hammer, moved his wrist, and said, ¡°It¡¯s enough for strong adults to do it. Children should just play.¡± As he raised his hand, he slammed it down against the stone wall. Bang. There were a few cracks in the stone wall and a few small pieces of rubble fell down. Chu Rong¡¯s heart beat, feeling that his self-esteem has been challenged. Although he just tried and didn¡¯t use his full strength, compared with the scene of the gravel falling crazily caused by the bald chicken before, the little movement he made was too ridiculous. Qiao Zhiya came over silently and glanced at him worriedly. He stood in front of him in a protective posture and raised his small hammer. Chu Rong, ¡°¡­¡± His head seemed to hurt even more. He quickly wrapped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, turned the person around, and then took out an electronic book from his space button. He wrote the basic letters of the Common Language in a few strokes and put it into Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hands. He said seriously, ¡°We need to communicate. Now, I will teach you the Common Language and you should learn carefully.¡± Advertisements Qiao Zhiya looked down at the electronic book, then at his serious expression, shaking his ears, and raising his hand trying to draw. ¡°No.¡± Chu Rong decisively pressed down his hand, pointed his finger at the first letter, tapped lightly, and slowly said, ¡°You must tell me what you want to tell me. I don¡¯t accept other forms of communication. This reads ¡®a.¡¯ Imitate me, say ¡®a¡¯.¡± Qiao Zhiya was confused for a few seconds before he realized it. He was probably teaching himself the language here. However, instead of running for his life, he was learning a language? But the White-Haired Monster was so serious. Teaching him the language was also for his sake. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally opened his mouth and read honestly following the other party¡¯s teaching. If this would make the White-Haired Monster happy and comfortable, then he would learn it well. Seeing this, Chu Rong breathed a sigh of relief. While teaching him the basic alphabet with one heart and two uses, he walked up to the stone wall again and hit it with a hammer. After smashing, the rubble rolled down in a large area and the effect was very good. He was finally satisfied. After lightly sweeping the bald chicken¡¯s surprised eyes, he was strangely unhappy¡ªLittle devil, dare to look down on him. Bumpkin1. Qiao Zhiya immediately became happy after being surprised. His eyes were bright and he looked at Chu Rong¡¯s back again. His ears shook. The White-Haired Monster was so powerful and his strength was no less than that of a dwarf. As a result, one taught letters while smashing the wall while the other secretly helped while learning hard. When the stone wall disappeared and the figure of broken sand appeared in front of them, the two of them had unknowingly learned all the letters on the electronic book. Chu Rong didn¡¯t have time to be surprised by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s excellent learning ability. After scanning the metal color under the crushed sand and stone, Chu Rong hurriedly knelt to the ground and sweep a few times. He frowned fiercely. How come there were metal objects here? What¡¯s more, it seemed to be a wall of a certain building. He didn¡¯t remember that he had built a building on this idle mining star. Could it be that the mining thieves secretly built it? He touched the metal¡¯s somewhat aged color and remembered those variant red tin ores. Suddenly, he wondered whether this building was buried under the ground by an earthquake with those variant red tine ores? Before he could think of a reason, a small hammer suddenly appeared in front of him, and then the hammer slammed down the metal wall with a bang, the metal dented, the wall cracked, and the sand leaked along the crack. Advertisements Chu Rong, ¡°¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t care what he was thinking. He only knew that there was a non-reaction zone behind this metal. The White-Haired Monster would be comfortable if he entered this place. Although the White-Haired Monster did not say it, he knew that the other party must be uncomfortable now. The discomfort from the ores was always there. The hammer smashed a few more times. The metal was completely sunken and cracked. Finally, he simply put away the hammer, grabbed both sides of the crack with his hands, and in front of Chu Rong¡¯s slightly widened eyes, he stretched the crack to the size that a person can pass through, and then he stuffed the stunned Chu Rong down. Chu Rong, who was successfully attacked by this ¡°sneak attack¡±, didn¡¯t fall head first because of his fast reflex. His face turned black similar to the bottom of a pot. He raised his hand and held his forehead. He felt that a year¡¯s worth of anger has been evoked by the same damn bald chicken! There was a breaking sound above his head. He instinctively reached out to catch some dwarf who had jumped down one step later. Damn it! Throwing the person to the ground, he clenched his fist and controlled his temper. In order to divert his attention, he simply took out a flashlight from the space button and turned it on to scan the inside of the metal building. Qiao Zhiya, who was steadily caught, silently labeled Chu Rong in his heart as ¡°caring.¡± After standing still, he hurriedly reached out to feel the magical power around him and was satisfied to find that the discomfort from the ore was actually blocked by the metal. Only a little floated in through the hole from the outside. He pursed his lips and revealed a small smile. Just as he was about to withdraw the magic power and lead the person to walk deeper, he found that after avoiding the adverse impact of the ore, another kind of discomfort floated slowly over him and circled wildly around him. The source of that uncomfortable feeling¡­ seemed to be the White-Haired Monster? CH 10 He was ashamed of his capriciousness. Realizing this, Qiao Zhiya was shocked. He hurriedly got close to Chu Rong to carefully confirm and feel it. His eyebrows wrinkled. It was actually emitted from the White-Haired Monster¡¯s body. Could it be that the White-Haired Monster was infected by the crimson ore? ¡°Don¡¯t walk around, follow me closely.¡± Chu Rong saw him leaning over, shoved him behind his back to protect him, and then waved his flashlight around. All the furniture was crooked and broken¡ªthey seemed to fall in the middle of the room. The influence of the mutant red tin ore gradually disappeared, the headache eased, Chu Rong felt much better, and began to consciously gather the scattered spiritual power. After stabilizing his spiritual strength, he looked up at the hole above his head that was opened by Qiao Zhiya and walked to the wall. He touched the metal wall thoughtfully¡ªall the radiation isolation layer was installed. In other words, this building was built when the red tin mine had already existed. Moreover, looking at the wall structure and furnishings in the room, this building should cost a lot. ¡ªA high-priced building that appeared on an unmanned remote mineral star and was deliberately built in the middle of the red tin mine in the radiation-stricken area? Something was wrong. He frowned and walked around the room again, trying to find some clues about the building. Advertisements Qiao Zhiya, his little tail, followed behind him, probing with magic, and was very puzzled. It¡¯s strange. Why did the uncomfortable feeling suddenly disappear again? Did he feel wrong, in fact, the manic uncomfortable feeling was the aftermath left by the red ore? After thinking about it, he seemed to have stepped on something hard. He lowered his head and moved his feet. With his excellent night vision, he immediately recognized that what was lying on the ground was a commonly used storage item. These days, he had paid careful attention to the types and appearances of the daily items used by the White-Haired Monster and his group. He could now roughly distinguish the kinds and shapes of daily necessities here. He bent down and picked up the storage item that was only the size of a palm and looked very much like a button. He tentatively explored the inside, but to no avail. He noticed a broken thread under the item. He remembered the White-Haired Monster¡¯s action of removing the attached magic stone from the storage item. His eyes lit up and he hurriedly bent over to look for it carefully on the ground. A trace of magical feedback came from the corner. He was so happy that he hurriedly walked over to move a tilted sofa stool and found a small golden petal-shaped pendant from below. There was actually one! It was a high-grade gold magic stone! Although he couldn¡¯t absorb it, the gold magic stone was a necessity for dwarves to refine and make tools! It was also very useful! ¡°Space button?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t know when Chu Rong appeared behind him. He reached for the space button and turned it over. Qiao Zhiya recovered from his surprise, looked up at him, hesitated for a moment, and still reluctantly sent the magic stone he just picked up to him. The White-Haired Monster greatly helped him improve his aptitude in magic cultivation. However, he not only didn¡¯t help the opponent to get the crimson stone but also caused the opponent to be trapped here. He was embarrassed to take the magic stone he picked up. Chu Rong, who was trying to destroy the imprint on the space button, glanced at his outstretched hand, and noticed him peeking at the decoration pendant from time to time. His forehead beat and he pinched his ear, ¡°I know you like these flashy things. What you pick up is yours. When I finish scanning the items in this space button, it will be returned to you.¡± When Qiao Zhiya saw that he didn¡¯t pick up the magic stone, but pinched his ear instead, he relaxed and his eyes lit up with hope. He put the magic stone in his pocket, his action extremely slow. His eyes always paid attention to Chu Rong¡¯s expression, as if he was ready to give up the magic stone as soon as he wanted it. Chu Rong almost laughed angrily at his stingy tentative appearance. He pinched his ear again with a cold expression. He simply turned his head and stopped looking at him. His eyes fell on the space button in his hand. He first violently destroyed the fingerprint imprint on it. He endured the tingling pain in his brain caused by the backlash when he used his spiritual power. Then, he mercilessly broke the mental mark on the space button. Just as he was putting away the magic stone, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears immediately stood up in alert. He looked at Chu Rong with a tense expression. The magic power appeared ¡ª there was that strange uncomfortable feeling again. Advertisements Perceiving his gaze, Chu Rong turned his head and snorted coldly, ¡°I promised. If I say I will give it back to you, I¡¯ll definitely give it back to you. You don¡¯t need to stare at people so urgently.¡± With that, he retracted his hand and checked the contents of the space button. It¡¯s gone again¡­ that strange discomfort. Qiao Zhiya looked up and down at Chu Rong suspiciously, thought for a while, and simply searched the room again. The uncomfortable feeling suddenly appeared when the White-Haired Monster got the storage item and opened it. He had to try again. After erasing the owner¡¯s imprint, the contents of the space button were clearly displayed. Some clothing, some daily necessities and tools, and a small box of cosmetics and jewelry¡ª they were all very common things. When combined, it could only be concluded that the former owner of the space button was a girl, in particular, a wealthy girl. The only conclusion was that she had good things and there was no useful clue at all. Chu Rong frowned and put the space button down. Just as he was about to look elsewhere, a small white hand stretched out in front of him, with a slightly larger space button lying on it. ¡°You picked up another one?¡± He picked up the space button and said casually, ¡°Don¡¯t run around. Although I couldn¡¯t sense the presence of other people here, it doesn¡¯t prove that this place is safe.¡± After speaking, he realized that the other person couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying. He unhappily closed his mouth. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t notice his mood changes and only thought about the strange discomfort. At this time, he was looking at him and the space button in his hand, the magic swaying around him, ready to start. Chu Rong repeatedly glanced at him. With a dark expression, he took out a green fruit to Qiao Zhiya and turned around. The fragrance of the fruit permeated. Qiao Zhiya, who released magical power in the surroundings, got his attention immediately diverted, and was surprised to find that there was a strong wood magic element floating on the cyan fruit. In the past, his magic pool was very shallow and he had never intuitively felt the wood magic elements emanating from plants like other dwarves and elves, nor could he tell whether plants were poisonous or edible by magic. For this reason, his father took great pains to help him find the magic ball to fill his shortcomings. Now, his magic pool had grown deeper and had increased. Without the discomfort caused by the ore, he suddenly discovered that he had acquired the survival skills that dwarves should have innately possessed, which was similar to opening a door to a new world. Advertisements ¡­With magic blessing, the green fruit seemed to become more fragrant. He almost couldn¡¯t wait to put the fruit in his mouth and comfortably chew it. When he finished eating the fruit and finally remembered what he was supposed to do, Chu Rong had already broken the second space button and was carefully looking at the stack of manuscript-like things he took out from it. ¡°!!!¡± He was ashamed of his capriciousness. After reading the manuscript, Chu Rong¡¯s expression became serious. He picked up Qiao Zhiya and strode out of the room¡ª the place they were in was not a building, but a warship! Specifically, a warship of the Empire! Damn it! On the territory of the Federation, an imperial warship was buried in his Chu family¡¯s mineral star! This was a provocation! A provocation to the Federation and the Chu family! Qiao Zhiya looked strangely at Chu Rong, whose aura suddenly became stronger. He did not move, his eyes looked around and he carefully spread his magic, trying to find other storage supplies. ¡°Don¡¯t run around.¡± After leaving the room, Chu Rong put down Qiao Zhiya. He turned around and entered the next room. He began to look for the existence of other manuscripts. Qiao Zhiya turned his head, quickly followed him, and walked to the closet in the room. There was a wave of magic stone, which seemed to be made of wood. The white palm appeared again containing another space button with a pendant made of jade. Chu Rong had rummaged through the room and straightened up to look at Qiao Zhiya who had approached him. Qiao Zhiya looked back as if offering a treasure. Advertisements Strangely, his unpleasant mood eased a little bit. Chu Rong picked up the space button, pulled the dark green decoration down and put it in his hand. He reached out and patted his head, praising, ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll give you a reward.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his ears and looked at him expectantly. Chu Rong paused, then took out a green fruit and gave it to him. He then put away the space button, picked him up, and headed towards the next room. Qiao Zhiya was stunned, looked at the magic stone and the fruit in his hand, and at his hasty pace. He frowned in distress¡ª why didn¡¯t he open it this time? Was it because the storage supplies were too old and not worth it? Also, could he not hold his collar, his neck felt a little uncomfortable. One after another, the two went through the rooms like locusts¡ª sweeping all the space storage buttons within their sight. Later, Chu Rong simply handed over the task of finding the space buttons to Qiao Zhiya, who seemed to be particularly good at searching for such items, and concentrated on searching for other valuable clues. After searching this floor, the two went up the stairs and continued to search. Chu Rong knew the basic structure of the warship very well. After discovering that there were no valuable clues on the accommodation floor, he turned to take Qiao Zhiya towards the warship¡¯s main control room and the floor where the captain lived. At the same time, he simulated the internal structure of the warship in his mind. This was a small warship that could accommodate about two hundred people at the same time. There were no corpses inside, which proved that when the warship was buried, all the people in it had escaped. There were various signs that this was an abandoned warship that had been deserted by its owner and would not be taken to be recycled. Even if some important materials had been stored in it, eight out of nine have been taken away by those who fled. Soon, his guess was confirmed. Standing in the main control room, Chu Rong gazed at the console that had obviously been blown up by the self-detonation device. There was a sense of hostility in his heart¡ª as long as he thought of what little action the imperial bugs had done on his Chu family¡¯s mineral star and then running away smoothly, he wanted to set up a mecha to bomb all the despicable people of the Empire! Just when he was so upset that he almost couldn¡¯t control his spiritual power, the little white hand that had been seen countless times today appeared in front of him again. There was a charred space button lying on it with a fiery red decorative pendant with cracks. Advertisements His eyes condensed, his hostility faded in an instant, and he reached out and picked up the decorative pendant¡ªthis badge mark¡­ Qiao Zhiya was stunned. Why did the White-Haired Monster take the fire magic stone this time instead of the storage button? Although the top fire magic stone was cracked, it was not damaged. It was suitable for lighting the magic furnace. Seeing his reluctant look, Chu Rong, who finally found some clues, was in a better mood. He reached out and rubbed his bangs to fix them, and said softly, ¡°I¡¯ll take this away. When we go back, I¡¯ll make a good one for you. ¡° Qiao Zhiya looked at him and saw that he was really not going to return the magic stone to himself. His ears moved and he passed the space button over again¡ª the magic stone was taken away, then, could he try opening the space button again? He was very concerned about the uncomfortable feeling. The space button was blackened and the items inside were probably destroyed. However, the space button that fell in the main control room must have been left by a senior person on the warship. There may be clues inside. He could try to find someone to repair it. Chu Rong also took the space button. The more he looked at Qiao Zhiya, the more satisfied he was. He took out a green fruit and patted him on the head, ¡°You are very good.¡± If he was identified to be harmless, he could consider taking him into the Chu family. Qiao Zhiya was disappointed again. The White-Haired Monster really didn¡¯t plan to open the space button again. It seemed that he could only figure out another way to determine the uncomfortable feeling. After that, Chu Rong used the communication equipment that had not been destroyed in the warship to send his location and rescue information to his warship with his password. He then took Qiao Zhiya out of the main control room and found a room where the furniture had not been completely destroyed. About an hour later, there was a sound of digging from the outside of the warship. Chu Rong, who had his eyes closed and was resting, immediately sat up. He picked up Qiao Zhiya, who was already asleep on the sofa, and walked towards the sound. In his sleep, the magic of the wood and earth elements floated gently around his body, slowly nourishing his tired being. Just when he was comfortable, a group of white and black lights suddenly appeared on his side¡ª more and more appeared with unfamiliar and threatening intentions. The magic that came into contact with the black spots in the light group delivered back a vaguely familiar uncomfortable feeling. Qiao Zhiya frowned. He instinctively manipulated the powerful wood magic to surround the black spots, dragged the opponent over, and swallowed it a little bit to purify. ¡°Yes!¡± A familiar female exclamation sounded from beside him. His consciousness returned and the magic quickly returned to him. The mysterious feeling in his sleep disappeared. Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes, froze for two seconds before sitting up and moving towards where the black spots appeared in his dream. He saw that Zhuang Yu looked at a certain data detected by the instrument in surprise and doubt, looking excited. Fan Xiangnan anxiously stood on the side, holding a medicine in his hand. With a sudden drop, the light on the healing instrument flashed, and then the lid was lifted. Chu Rong, who was completely naked, sat up from inside, took the medicine in Fan Xiangnan¡¯s hand, raised his neck and drank it. After drinking, he raised his hand and rubbed his forehead. ¡°Sir, how do you feel?¡± Fan Xiangnan handed over a bath towel and asked nervously. ¡°It feels¡­ not bad.¡± Chu Rong put down his hand, frowned, and knocked on the instrument under his body in doubt. He looked at Zhuang Yu and asked, ¡°Have you changed the type of healing fluid? This medicinal chamber that has been useless actually treated my spiritual power a little bit.¡± CH 11 ¡°Sir, do you want to cultivate him?¡± Hearing his question, Zhuang Yu¡¯s excitement cooled down. She flipped through the various medical records in her hand and shook her head in doubt, ¡°No, it¡¯s the same medicine healing fluid. Your spiritual power is too polluted, so I didn¡¯t dare to change the medicine casually. However, the instrument data just now showed that the spiritual energy state has indeed improved a little.¡± Fan Xiangnan¡¯s joy and hope that had just risen in his heart dashed. He lowered his head to think about it and guessed, ¡°If the medical chamber is suddenly effective, is it related to the secondary pollution caused by the red tin ore? Just like the old saying goes, break it and then rebuild¡­¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± Zhuang Yu immediately refuted his conjecture and her expression became serious, ¡°Sir, the damage caused by the red tin ore is severe and irreversible. I don¡¯t recommend that you risk yourself just because of a little speculation. This sudden improvement, I am more inclined to think that it was a result of the body¡¯s self-repair.¡± Fan Xiangnan also realized that his guess was too dangerous. He frowned, sighed in his heart, and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was too anxious.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t blame you, but my improvement this time really has nothing to do with the mutant red tin mine.¡± Chu Rong waved his hand. He finally felt the long-lost relaxation of his mind. He couldn¡¯t think of the reason why, so he shook his head and didn¡¯t think about it anymore. He wiped his body with a bath towel and put on a bathrobe. He was just about to ask regarding excavation and retrieval of the imperial warship when he met Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze. Oh. That¡¯s right. There¡¯s still this bald chicken. ¡°Give him a mind soothing medicine.¡± He stepped out of the cabin, gave an order to Fan Xiangnan, and walked to Qiao Zhiya. He raised his hand and flicked his forehead. Like playing with a toy, he pulled his ear, hooked his lips, and turned away in a good mood. ¡°?¡± Qiao Zhiya watched him leave with a confused look. He touched his ear, looked at Zhuang Yu, and gestured¡ª Was the White-Haired Monster sick? Was it related to that dark thing? Was it cured? Advertisements Seeing a beautiful young man with disorderly clothes, tousled curled hair, and misty pair of eyes reaching out for a hug¡ª Zhuang Yu¡¯s body shook and her cheeks quickly turned red. She approached with a serious face. Then, she slammed Qiao Zhiya into her arms and exclaimed excitedly, ¡°Hug, hug! Hug Jiejie1! Little Cutie, you are too awesome this time. You saved the squad members, saved the chief, and discovered the conspiracy of the imperial bugs. It¡¯s amazing! Here¡¯s a soothing agent for you! Here¡¯s a green fruit also for you! Do you like jade? Jiejie will buy you! Buy, buy, buy! Do you feel any discomfort? Jiejie will give you a full-body examination, okay?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was once again buried in her chest, immediately forgot the White-Haired Monster¡¯s illness and was busy struggling free. His face and ears reddened and he was very confused. What, what was going on? How could this beautiful lady be more enthusiastic than before? ¡°Oh, your strength is really great, Little Cutie! Jiejie has prepared a physical strength healing fluid for you. You will be better after drinking it. Come here quickly!¡± Zhuang Yu¡¯s maternal instinct became more and more pronounced as she saw his blushing appearance. She immediately rushed after him after he broke away. Qiao Zhiya was so scared that he jumped off the hospital bed, looked around, and hid behind Fan Xiangnan in a panic. ¡°Okay, Zhuang Yu, stop making trouble with him.¡± Fan Xiangnan stopped Zhuang Yu¡¯s enthusiastic show of affection. He turned around to look at Qiao Zhiya behind him, bent his eyes to show a gentle smile, raised his hand, and patted him lightly. He sincerely said, ¡°Thank you for the things in the mine.¡± They surrounded him warmly with pure kindness. Qiao Zhiya froze for a moment and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He quietly glanced at Zhuang Yu and shyly went out to hide. His ears were so red that it was almost dripping blood¡ªWell, it was so strange. Everyone was smiling so strangely. What was going on? Hidden back to his room following the route in his memory, Qiao Zhiya, with a sullen face, walked around the room for a while before he completely calmed down. He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the bed and began to recall the things he felt in his dream. He was pretty sure that the uncomfortable sensation he felt from the White-Haired Monster before was caused by the black dots in the white light cluster, but what were those black dots? Those were not like dark magic nor something emanating from ore¡­ Moreover, the white light cluster that made people feel warm, what was that? They were somehow similar to magic but not exactly the same. Were they the power of human cultivation here? Someone suddenly knocked on the door. He regained his senses, got up, and opened the door. He looked in doubt at the tall man standing at the door. ¡°I was sent by the chief. He asked me to send these to you.¡± The tall man took out two space buttons from his pocket and put them in his hand. He then raised his hand to give him a Federal Army salute. He then squeezed a smile, trying to make himself look kinder, and said, ¡°Thank you for your rescue. Please, accept the gratitude of a small team.¡± After that, he stopped and saw that he didn¡¯t respond, he turned around and walked away stiffly. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave with a puzzled look. He glanced at the two storage supplies in his hand and scratched his head. What did the big guy just say? He closed the door and returned to the bed to sit down. He looked at the two storage supplies in his hand and took a closer look. The first larger storage item contained daily necessities and fruits, as well as a few small boxes that he didn¡¯t know what they contained. Inside the second one was filled with something green like a hill. Advertisements What was this? He picked up the second storage item with the plant mark, looked inside for two seconds. Then, he opened his eyes in shock and quickly took out the things from inside. He said anxiously, ¡°Qiuqiu? What are these on you? Are you okay? ¡° The magic plant ball, which was covered with a pile of unknown medicine, moved. It listlessly raised its strong vines, then collapsed on the ground like heaving a sigh of relief. It withered and shrunk, quickly turning into a pile of withered grass in a twinkling of an eye. Qiao Zhiya was distressed to see it. He hurriedly pulled away the dead grass containing all its exhausted strength and retrieved the plant ball the size of a young pea. He touched it gently. He felt really guilty and said, ¡°Thanks for your hard work this time. I¡¯ll feed some magic power to¡­ Huh?¡± The magic pool that was half full before going to bed was completely now dry, like he just experienced a magic exhaustion. He was stunned. He thought of when he used wood magic power to devour the black spots in his dream. Thinking about the matter, he frowned deeply, then shook his head to temporarily suppress this thought. He took out an intermediate wood magic stone that was picked up in the warship from the storage ring and closed his eyes to absorb it. In the past, his magic power pool was shallow and his magic power was not enough. He had never directly fed the magic plant with magic. This time, he could finally fulfill his master¡¯s responsibilities and he couldn¡¯t stop feeding it. The ball was also very happy and soon became energetic, waving the fine vine affectionately against his arm. The pea-sized body was visibly fattened. The two of them fell asleep in the middle of the night and got up late the next day. ¡°It¡¯s been an hour since the first class started. You are late.¡± The expressionless Lin Zhen, who was waiting outside the door, saw him come out and threw him a nutrient for breakfast. He then looked him up and down. He took out an electronic textbook and put it in his hands. He motioned him to go with him and said, ¡°Starting from today, you will learn the Common Language with me in the morning and train with a small team in the afternoon. The course schedule is on the first page of the book. Please, strictly follow the stated instructions. I don¡¯t like students who are late. You¡¯re not allowed to do this again.¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t notice any malice and the style of the clothes the man was wearing was similar to that of the White-Haired Monster. Qiao Zhiya followed him out unprepared and unsuspectingly. He looked at the e-textbooks in his hand and wondered, what was he going to do? A quarter of an hour later, Qiao Zhiya looked at the translucent screen that rose in front of him and the familiar letters on it. He then looked at Lin Zhen, who was standing by the table, and finally understood his intentions. He raised his hand and gestured¡ªWhere was the White-Haired Monster? He wanted to see him. Lin Zhen ignored his actions and started teaching directly. Advertisements Qiao Zhiya paused, put his hands down, hesitated for a moment, and honestly followed the lesson. His father said that we should respect our teacher. That enthusiastic lady in white clothes seemed to be able to cure the White-Haired Monster¡¯s disease. When he sees the White-Haired Monster Move, he would ask about those things. Lin Zhen was secretly observing him and nodded in satisfaction when he saw him. Although his face was still expressionless, his teaching tone was a little more gentler. A student who was obedient and knew how to behave was much more pleasant than a student who made unreasonable trouble. The lunch at noon was finally no longer a nutrient, but a meat steak and a little vegetable with fruit for dessert. Qiao Zhiya rushed to finish eating his food. Just as he was about to find the White-Haired Monster in the afternoon, Lin Zhen took him to a training room and gave him to the captain of a small team, Tan Shengwei. ¡°Take him to do some basic adaptation training first.¡± Lin Zhen left after giving an instruction. Qiao Zhiya raised his head and looked at the tall and strong man in front of him and the familiar teaching record board in his hand. He vaguely realized that his studies were not yet over. The busy study life lasted for several days. During this period, Qiao Zhiya finally knew the names of the White-Haired Monsters and his group. Except for White-Haired Monster¡¯s people¡ª who also seemed to be very busy¡ª he had completely no chance to see the White-Haired Monster when he went out early and returned late. Another two days passed. Conference room. After finally arranging the mining team and the investigating team from the Chu family, Chu Rong leaned back in his chair, sorted out various things in his head, looked at Fan Xiangnan, and asked, ¡°That kid, how¡¯s it going?¡± ¡°He adapted very well. Lin Zhen said that he is very talented in language. With his current progress, he should be able to learn basic verbal communication in a week. The feedback from the training room is also good. According to the data analysis recorded in various training equipment, his physique may be above S, not the S measured at the beginning.¡± Fan Xiangnan reported briefly, hesitated, and asked, ¡°Sir, do you want to cultivate him?¡± Chu Rong nodded and did not conceal his appreciation and interest in Qiao Zhiya, ¡°He is very good. He has survival instincts like a small animal. He also has an appropriate temperament and physical talent. He¡¯s worth cultivating.¡± It¡¯s rare for the chief to give such a direct and positive evaluation of a person, which showed that he was really optimistic about the potential of the other party. Fan Xiangnan agreed with him very much in his heart and he supported Qiao Zhiya¡¯s admission. The child was indeed very pleasing, but¡­ He glanced at his own chief who seemed to have begun planning in detail how to train his new subordinate. He braced himself and reminded, ¡°But, sir, in case that the child just accidentally separated from his parents and was unfortunately caught here by the mine thieves¡­ Also, he¡¯s underage.¡± Advertisements Chu Rong¡¯s brows raised and looked at him coldly and quietly. Once again, he assumed an unreadable expression. The author has something to say: ¦ä(¡Ñv¡Ñ)¦äLearning languages; Uncle Chu started to kidnap children. The translator also has something to say: OMG, OMG! It¡¯s like Death Progress Bar and My Husband is Suffering From a Terminal Illness combined. In DPB, the MC also studied due to the ML¡¯s insistence. In MHISFATI, the ML was also a yandere but a true little soft cinnamon inside, just like our Chu Rong. I was internally screaming while translating the last two chapters. So cuuuuuute! CH 12 ¡°I have parents¡­ Don¡¯t kill me.¡± Fan Xiangnan endured the tingling on his scalp and insisted, ¡°Even if he is an orphan, your training plan may not be implemented for the time being. Federal regulations require that indigenous people from marginal stars must enter the Federal Welfare Institution first and receive a one-month adaptation study. After that, they need to enter a federally designated school to receive language and basic compulsory education. Otherwise, they will not be able to get an official Federal Resident Identity Certificate.¡± Without formal resident status, everything that Chu Rong planned would be all for naught. Although the Chu family had the ability to give an indigenous person a formal identity, anyone who understood the chief and the Chu family knew that they would not take advantage of their privileges. Chu Rong leaned back in his chair and began to be impatient¡ª how could it be so troublesome to raise a bald chicken? A boy who was identified as having a third-degree disability was thrown into a federal school to live and study with a lot of other indigenous people with unknown temperaments and tendencies. He could almost imagine that the bald chicken was pushed out and bullied by his other classmates because of his shape, height, and qualifications. ¡°Let Lin Zhen quickly figure out his life experience and focus on determining whether he has any relatives alive. If not, I remember that there are many welfare agencies under the name of my elder brother. I will give him an adoption status and raise him in the Chu family¡¯s headquarters first.¡± He was upset to compromise. Fan Xiangnan looked at him and cruelly added, ¡°Federal regulations state that the establishment of an adoptive relationship must be approved by the adoptee and cannot be coerced or deceived.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s face turned dark. He tapped his fingers on the table and asked coldly, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m the kind of person who bullies children?¡± Yes¡­ It seemed that the chief was determined to coerce the child to leave his past behind. Fan Xiangnan fell silent and took out his communicator to send a message to Lin Zhen. Qiao Zhiya, who didn¡¯t know that he was already being worried about, looked at the new words learned today and the actual pictures behind them. He secretly tightened his fingers, looked at Lin Zhen as normally as possible, pointed to one of the pictures, and asked in an unskilled Common Language, ¡°Mr. Lin, what is this ¡®black hole¡¯?¡± Lin Zhen, who was checking his communicator and just read Fan Xiangnan¡¯s message, glanced at the picture. He put a light brain into Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand and answered, ¡°A black hole is a kind of cosmic channel that appears randomly. The reason for its formation is unknown. It¡¯s very dangerous, therefore, if you encounter it, you must immediately stay away and send information for help and location to the authority. You can use your light brain to inquire about its specific description. If you don¡¯t understand, write it down and ask me tomorrow. I have something else to do, so I¡¯ll end today¡¯s class ahead of time. Let Captain Tan take you to lunch. See you tomorrow.¡± After putting away the teaching materials, he left the small classroom in a hurry. Advertisements Qiao Zhiya watched him leave, looked down at the physical picture of the black hole, got up, and went back to the room with his light brain. After confirming that there was no one else around, he sat on the floor. He opened the light brain according to the method Lin Zhen taught him before, typed in the word ¡°black hole,¡± and clicked search. According to his learning progress, Lin Zhen limited his use of light brain to the category of ¡°children¡¯s mode,¡± so the pop-up search result was a cartoon-text version that caters to children¡¯s vocabulary level, which can be understood even by beginners of Common Language like Qiao Zhiya. The search result was not long but the explanation was very detailed. It could be summarized as follows: A black hole is a cosmic channel that appears irregularly, wherein some evil insects will come out of it. These insects will kill when they encounter people. They are powerful and have extremely high reproduction ability. They are the enemies of all human beings. It¡¯s best to stay away from them and call the police immediately after encountering them. In short, black holes are not good things and the creatures that come out of black holes are not good things either! They are the deadly enemies of mankind! After seeing them, they must be immediately eliminated and must not be kept alive. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face turned pale. His small face was tensed, his lips were tightly pressed, and his hands formed fists. A black hole was not a magic array, but a passage for evil creatures¡­ Through these few days of lessons, he had basically figured out the general situation of this place¡ª Galaxy, universe, spiritual power, physique, mecha, various kinds of incredible technology and machinery¡­ Now, even the black hole that brought him here had an explanation and he could no longer deceive himself. He couldn¡¯t go back, really could¡¯t go back. Black holes were things that appear irregularly and only evil bugs would come out of them¡­ Then what was he? What was the black hole that brought him over and appeared in the magic continent? So here, was he considered a monster that came out of a black hole? ¡­If the White-Haired Monster and his party knew his origin, would they kill him? His nose turned sore and tears flowed out uncontrollably. He raised his hand and wiped his eyes, trying hard to endure, but finally couldn¡¯t hold back, shaking his shoulders and crying depressively and uncontrollably. Advertisements So was it really impossible to go back? He could never see his father and mother again? He pulled up his sleeves again and wiped his tears, further reddening his eyes. He condensed magic power and once again attempted to draw blood on the floor for the magic array. He then pulled out a piece of hair, cut his wrist, and dripped blood on it. He knelt down in front of the magic array and put on a pious posture as if offering a sacrifice. The soft light rose, the magic array took shape, and the hair began to spin frantically after fusing with the blood. He closed his eyes and chanted a spell praising his hometown. The strand of hair spun without wind and the magic elements were flying wildly in the air. The magic breath from home seemed to come from across the distant time and space. In the next second, all the beautiful and dreamlike scenes disappear, the magic array failed, and only a smear of burnt ashes was left in front of him. The spell came to an abrupt end. He opened his eyes, stared at the ground blankly, leaning on the bed frame weakly, and the brilliance in his eyes dimmed a little bit. Still failed¡­ Someone suddenly knocked on the door and Captain Tan1¡®s figure appeared at the doorway. Qiao Zhiya turned his head to look his way and met the other¡¯s kind and smiling eyes. His body moved, unconsciously leaning forward, but his head slowly dropped, and he whispered, ¡°No, I¡¯m not a monster. I have parents¡­ Don¡¯t kill me.¡± ¡°Qiao, it¡¯s time for lunch. Today¡ª¡± Captain Tan glanced over his wrist. His expression changed. He quickly strode over and grasped his bleeding wrist. He took out a bandage and asked worriedly, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Why are you injured? What happened?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up at his expression full of concern and remembered the White-Haired Monster and his people who treated him kindly during this time. He moved his hand, his dazed thoughts slowly straightened, and his eyes became firm¡ª It didn¡¯t matter, as long as he was alive, he could always find a way back home. There were also these people who sincerely helped him. He promised that he would not hurt them. He would work hard to keep this rare friendship and goodwill forever. Dwarves were not a race that would bit the hand that fed them. ¡°Qiao?¡± Seeing that he didn¡¯t respond, Captain Tan became more worried. He returned to his senses, smiled, and shook his head. He shook his bandaged wrist, and replied, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I just accidentally scratched it. Thank you.¡± Advertisements Captain Tan saw that he was back to normal and finally felt relieved, Silly. He smiled back, got up, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll take you to lunch. Your wrist is injured. The training plan in the afternoon has to be changed.¡± He then got up, glanced over the ashes on the floor, and his eyelashes trembled. He turned his head and walked out of the room without looking back. Lin Zhen presented Qiao Zhiya¡¯s learning results during this period in front of Chu Rong. He said in detail, ¡°Through these few days of teaching and communication, I have probably figured out his growth environment¡ª a gentle and humorous father, a warm and reliable mother, a united and friendly tribe. Generally, his living environment is relatively simple and primitive. His knowledge of electronic products is basically blank. He does not know spiritual power, does not understand physical skills and ancient martial arts, calls the mecha a metal giant, and has never seen a cleaning robot. He didn¡¯t know the location of his hometown. Particularly, he was instinctively guarded against this type of question and refused to answer in detail. In addition, he seemed to have forgotten the process of being caught by the thieves and transported here. He only remembers mining after he was caught.¡± Chu Rong narrowed his eyes, tapped on the desk, and asked, ¡°In other words, you didn¡¯t find out whether his parents or relatives are still alive?¡± Lin Zhen paused as he didn¡¯t expect the chief to focus on this. He nodded: ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t find out. When he talked about his parents, he was very vague. He only said that his parents had gone away, but he couldn¡¯t tell where his parents were going.¡± ¡°Are there any clues according to the other slaves?¡± ¡°No.¡± Lin Zhen frowned and replied, ¡°These mine thieves sneaked in from the Empire. Most of the slaves caught were deceived with the pretext of helping them migrate into the Federation. The composition of the members is very complicated and there are also criminals¡ª there are gold diggers and helpers who do illegal activities. Only a small number of Federal residents are innocently captured. I personally think that Qiao is not a native of an unknown planet, but lived in seclusion from a remote planet.¡± Chu Rong looked down and pondered for a while, then asked, ¡°Do any of the thieves know his origin?¡± ¡°No, not only that, other slaves don¡¯t seem to know his origins and no one knew anything about him. On the contrary, several mine robbers have mentioned that there is a ¡°kid¡± among the slaves, but they can¡¯t tell where he came from. Because of the specificity of the red tin mine, the life span of the slaves is not long, so the peripheral thief members will regularly catch new slaves to come back to replenish blood. The personnel flow is too large and the management is very chaotic. No detailed records have been made and the clues are broken.¡± Fan Xiangnan who was listening on the side did not expect this to be the case. He frowned and said, ¡°That is, unless Qiao speaks, no one can know his origin now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Lin Zhen nodded. Fan Xiangnan was silent and looked towards Chu Rong¡ª to be the chief officer¡¯s subordinate, one must first have the status of a Federal resident, and second, the status of a legal military soldier. However, the Federal Military Academy and the recruitment office will never accept a person of an unknown origin. The chief¡¯s training plan would probably end soon. Advertisements Chu Rong naturally thought of what he thought of. The hand he placed on the tabletop was tapping regularly. His expression calm and indifferent, as if he didn¡¯t care about these things at all, but the aura on his body was a little oppressive. Just when Fan Xiangnan hesitated whether to say something to comfort him, Chu Rong finally spoke, his tone always cold. ¡°Just ask him, I want a clear response.¡± Lin Zhen stepped forward, put away the results of his research, and responded with unconditional obedience to his orders. Fan Nan sighed in his heart and took the initiative to open the door for him to leave ¡°Wait.¡± Chu Rong suddenly called them again, looked down for a few seconds, stood up, and said, ¡°I will ask him myself. The mine thieves and slaves also need retrial. The bugs living in the sewer are not honest.¡± How could the bald chicken he fancy be turned into a dangerous person of unknown origin by a group of mine thieves and hinder his bright future? This is a provocation to his dignity! He walked away like a wind, leaving Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen looking at each other. ¡°Sir¡­ cares about that Qiao?¡± Lin Zhen asked, frowning. ¡°No¡­ it may also be considered caring about another self.¡± Fan Xiangnan sighed, patted Lin Zhen on the shoulder, and left the meeting room. Another self? Lin Zhen was taken aback, thinking of Qiao¡¯s crippled aptitude who had no spiritual power but had a physique of S. He also recalled the chief¡¯s experience of returning to the peak with only physical strength after his spiritual strength was contaminated. He fell into deep thought. CH 13 ¡°Really stupid.¡± When Chu Rong found him, Qiao Zhiya was running. He was sweating all over his body and his face flushed extremely red as if he was about to die out of exhaustion. ¡°Come down.¡± Chu Rong grabbed his collar, pulled him off the machine, and rudely rubbed his wet hair stuck on his forehead. He frowned and admonishingly said, ¡°Training should be done moderately. What are you doing? Who asked you to train like this?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t see him for many days. He was stunned for a while before realizing that he came to see him. A smile appeared on his face and his ears shook. He intimately asked, ¡°Are you no longer busy? Hello, I¡¯m Qiao Zhiya.¡± After introducing himself, he expectantly looked at him, waiting for his introduction. The young man¡¯s soft voice was a little hoarse due to exercise. The pronunciation of Common Language was very standard. Although the speaking rate was reduced, there was no observed language problem. It could be seen that he has studied very hard and frequently practiced. What an obedient and hardworking Bald Chicken. Chu Rong¡¯s expression was unreadable. His hand moved to his unconsciously shaking pointed ears and straightforwardly said, ¡°Tell me where you came from, I need an answer.¡± The smile on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face froze. He quickly recovered and looked at him with a dazed and confused expression as if he didn¡¯t understand what he said. Chu Rong squinted, pulled his ear, and said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t understand. Lin Zhen said that the fastest things you learnt were listening and writing. The tips of your ears shake so badly out of fear that you cannot deceive anyone. Tell me the truth or you will be thrown off the warship.¡± He was long familiar with the cold and vicious tone, but this time, he could finally understand the content¡ª the White-Haired Monster was a good man, though he used words for scaring little children. Advertisements Qiao Zhiya lowered his eyes, removed his confused mask that was easily been seen through. He looked at the man with innocent eyes, pulled down his hand rubbing his ear, nodded, and lowered his voice, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± He said and gestured in the direction of his room, wanting to go there to talk. However, Chu Rong grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He shook his bandaged wrist with an even worse expression, ¡°How did this happen? Tan Shengwei1!¡± Tan Shengwei, who had been paying attention to the Chief since he came in, rushed over and immediately responded with a loud voice, waiting for his order. ¡°Give me his training plan.¡± Chu Rong stretched out his hand. Tan Shengwei took out a teaching record board from his space button and handed it over. At the same time, he explained, ¡°Reporting to the chief, he has a hand injury, so today¡¯s training activities have been changed. Arm stretching has been removed and running time has been increased. In addition, his wrist was accidentally cut wounded. The wound has been treated and it is expected to heal in three days!¡± Before he had time to ask questions, they had all already been answered. Chu Rong gave him a cold look, threw the notebook back, and ignored him. He gestured to Qiao Zhiya to lead the way with a dark expression. Qiao Zhiya glanced at Tan Shengwei apologetically and hurriedly led the chief out of the training room. In accordance with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s identity as a freed slave, the room allocated to him by the logistics department was relatively small, with simple furnishings, including a bed, a table, a chair, a wardrobe, and a small private bathroom. For the ¡°primitive¡± Qiao Zhiya, this room was already very good, but for Chu Rong, who had long arms and legs, it was a bit uncomfortable to stay in this small room. Fortunately, he still remembered that he was the warship¡¯s chief master and he participated in the formulation of various regulations on the ship. He did not unreasonably express any opinions on the allocation of this room. Letting Chu Rong sit on the soft bed, Qiao Zhiya dragged over the only stool in the room, and sat on the opposite side of him like a prisoner preparing to confess. He then took out the electronic textbook from the space button and turned it to the latest learning page. He handed it over and directly confessed, ¡°It was the black hole that made me leave my parents and fall into the hands of the thieves. Afterwards, you found me.¡± Through observations over the past few days, he has determined the identity of the White-Haired Monster and his team as soldiers. If the incident of him originally coming from a black hole was revealed, they would be the first one to point their weapons at him¡ª that was a scenario he never wanted to see. He didn¡¯t want to lie to the White-Haired Monster, but he couldn¡¯t tell the truth2, so he could only use this vague way to mislead the other person. This was a countermeasure he thought about while running. His parents were still waiting for him to go home. He had to keep himself alive and not die here. Sure enough, Chu Rong was misled. His momentum rose abruptly and his mental power gushed out uncontrollably. He asked coldly, ¡°Do you understand what you¡¯re talking about?! Don¡¯t indiscriminately use the new words you learned!¡± Advertisements The manic turbulence swept the whole room in an instant. Qiao Zhiya stared at him speechlessly in shock ¡ª what¡¯s the matter? Why was this uncomfortable feeling still exist? Didn¡¯t Sister Zhuang Yu cure the White-Haired Monster? Meeting his frightened sight, Chu Rong frowned fiercely. He retracted his mental strength, suppressing the unconsciously rising hostility in his heart and enduring the tingling sensation in his brain. He took out a silver ball from the space button. Within the ball-shaped object engraved with the micro-chapter mark, two wires were pulled out from it, and he coldly said, ¡°Extend your hand.¡± The discomfort disappeared again. Qiao Zhiya paused. He slowly stretched out his hand. There were two wires, one long and one short. The short one was attached to his wrist by Chu Rong while the longer one was wrapped around his arm, extending into his neckline, and attached to his heart. ¡°Put your hands on it and close your eyes.¡± Qiao Zhiya put his hands on it obediently, forcing himself to calm down, and closed his eyes¡ª don¡¯t be afraid, don¡¯t be afraid, the White-Haired Monster won¡¯t hurt him. He won¡¯t. In the darkness in front of him, the other senses of his body immediately became more magnified. The sphere in his hands was warm, like the fruit of the Tree of Life used by the elves to bless newborns. Chu Rong¡¯s breathing was very light and wouldn¡¯t even be heard if he didn¡¯t listen carefully. He could faintly smell the fragrance of a fruit at the tip of his nose. It was Tan Shengwei¡¯s special fruit spray for relieving the pain on his wrist. His flustered heart slowly calmed down and his hold on the ball loosed. Finally relaxed, he thought that it didn¡¯t matter¡ª it was better to have a clear conscience. Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya who was wearing an expression of resignation as if finally ready to face death. He frowned and asked, ¡°What is your name?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who thought he would be beaten, was stunned, and quickly replied, ¡°Qiao Zhiya.¡± ¡°Where did you come from?¡± ¡° Advertisements ¡°Pariet Valley.¡± ¡°How did you get here?¡± ¡°Black hole.¡± The indicator light on the sphere was always dark, indicating that the Bald Chicken did not lie. Ten years had passed, it truly seemed that the black hole reappeared. Chu Rong¡¯s breathing became heavy. Looking at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s curled eyelashes and the shadows their casting, he asked in more detail, ¡°Where is Pariet Valley? How did the black hole bring you here? Who are the mine thieves? How did they catch you? Did something else come out of the black hole? How did you escape?¡± Qiao Zhiya, a beginner of Common Language, was confused by his series of non-stop questions. He barely understood the first sentence and hesitated. After a while, he vaguely replied, ¡°Alec Mountains, I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know.¡± Anyway, he didn¡¯t understand it, so the answer should not be considered a lie. The indicator light was still dark and Chu Rong frowned. As Lin Zhen said, the Bald Chicken had indeed forgotten how he was caught. He didn¡¯t ask anymore, but instead asked about his main purpose of personally coming this time, ¡°Where are your parents now?¡± Qiao Zhiya was silent. ¡°Want me to throw you off the warship?¡± Chu Rong reached out to pinch his ears and pulled threateningly. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Qiao Zhiya recalled the time when his parents said goodbye to him before going on a tour, feeling down, ¡°There are many places they want to go. I don¡¯t know where they will go first.¡± Maybe it¡¯s a human town, maybe it¡¯s the territory of the elves. His parents were always very casual, he really didn¡¯t know. Chu Rong withdrew his hand. His expression was not good¡ª what irresponsible parents. They actually left a lone child behind and went out to have a good time. Advertisements ¡°Then do you know how to get home and contact your tribe?¡± Go home? But where is home¡­ ¡°I can¡¯t go back.¡± His wrist seemed to hurt again. His dwindling hope of being able to come back home was amplifying his feelings of vulnerablity 3. He strained his expression in an attempt to hide his emotions and shook his head, ¡°I can¡¯t go back for the time being, but it¡¯s okay. I¡ªI¡¯ll find my way home.¡± His curled eyelashes trembled, faintly stained with a trace of moisture, and his voice seemed to be a little hoarse and softer. Chu Rong felt like a villain who bullied a child. After sorting out the words he said, a conjecture suddenly appeared in his heart. He frowned, sat up straight, stared at him, and asked, ¡°What happened after you saw that black hole?¡± ¡°I was transported here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not telling the truth!¡± ¡°I am!¡± The indicator did not light up. Chu Rong withdrew his gaze, his expression became serious, and he hurriedly asked, ¡°Are your people still alive?¡± ¡°Alive.¡± ¡°Are your parents still alive?¡± ¡°Alive.¡± ¡°Do you have a way to contact them?¡± Advertisements ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t you contact them?¡± ¡°Because, because¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was so cornered by him that he couldn¡¯t think. He couldn¡¯t help but stubbornly look at him with widened red eyes, pressed his lips tightly, and stopped talking. Chu Rong directly looked at him, slowed down, and asked, ¡°Because you tried, but you couldn¡¯t contact them, right?¡± Qiao Zhiya was startled and looked down to avoid his gaze. ¡°Are they no longer here?¡± ¡°No.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, feeling a little flustered. ¡°Your parents¡­¡± ¡°No! They are still alive! They are still waiting for me to come home!¡± He suddenly broke down. He didn¡¯t want to think about those tragic possibilities. He got up and wanted to tear off the wires on his wrist and chest. No, the appearance of a black hole did not mean that insects would definitely appear. Strange insects and monsters have never appeared in the Magic Continent. The people in his hometown must be safe, and so were his parents. The only one who met with an accident was himself. Don¡¯t think about it, don¡¯t think about it! The indicator light was not on, proving that the other party really thought so. Chu Rong held his hands, pulled him, trapped his body with his legs, and forced him to look at him. He said with a stern face but a softer tone,¡±Calm down! One last question, Qiao Zhiya, are you going to hurt us?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t try to break away, staring blankly at him and blinking to suppress his tears. He turned his head. With a voice a bit unstable, he responded in a firm tone, ¡°No, I won¡¯t hurt you. You saved me and I will repay you.¡± The indicator light never turned on. Chu Rong raised his hand and rudely wiped his tears away. He said, ¡°What a disgrace. I didn¡¯t hit you, what are you even crying for?¡± Qiao Zhiya became increasingly embarrassed by his wiping. He tilted his head on his shoulder and wiped away his tears. He honestly put his hand on the ball, no longer tried to break away, and regained his well-behaved appearance. However, he became less energetic. Really stupid. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go training tomorrow.¡± Chu Rong pulled his ears, stretched out his hand to pull the wire on his wrist, and said casually, ¡°Why was your wrist wounded? Don¡¯t play with dangerous things when you are alone.¡± Seeing that he was no longer aggressive and his aura became gentle, Qiao Zhiya slowly relaxed, and replied, ¡°It was cut by a piece of sharp jade. The wound was not deep, it wasn¡¯t¡­¡± Dididi¡ª The instrument that has not been removed yet suddenly alarmed and the indicator light was flashing. Qiao Zhiya was startled and quickly withdrew his hand. Chu Yung immediately frowned, pulled his hand back, and said with a grave voice, ¡°Tell the truth! This is a lie detector customized by the Chu family. If you won¡¯t lie, it won¡¯t ring. Why are you lying? ¡° Lie detector? Is there such a thing here? Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart began to beat frantically, trying to remember what he had just answered. He wanted to withdraw his hand and shook his head, ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Dididi¡ª ¡°Tell me honestly the truth!¡± Chu Rong commanded. ¡°I, I¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya became more and more flustered. He was worried about whether he had inadvertently said something, and for a moment, he couldn¡¯t find the right words to cover up. The alarm of the lie detector sounded like rings of death, which rendered him unable to think calmly. ¡°If you won¡¯t tell me the truth, I¡¯ll have you arrested!¡± ¡°I did it myself!¡± Qiao Zhiya yelled the truth and quickly retracted his hand. He also struggled to retreat a few steps, looking at him pitifully and in fear, ¡°Don¡¯t arrest me, I never wanted to hurt you. Don¡¯t arrest me, don¡¯t kill me¡­ Mom and Dad are still waiting for me. Don¡¯t kill me¡­¡± In the end, he couldn¡¯t help putting his hand on the storage ring, which seemed to give him a sense of security. Chu Rong didn¡¯t speak anymore. He looked at Qiao Zhiya who was shrinking in the corner, remembering himself who couldn¡¯t face reality after losing his parents many years ago. He stood up, pulled him into his arms, and rubbed the soft hair on the back of his head. He comforted, still with a cold tone, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, everything will be okay.¡± Being embraced securely by the other¡¯s arms, seemingly perfectly fitted within, and the comfort coming from the other alleviated the anxiety in his heart. Qiao Zhiya put his hand on his arm. His nose was sore, rubbing his face against his arms. The author has something to say: PS: Don¡¯t, don¡¯t ask for more, I¡¯m afraid QvQ CH 14 Reason for seclusion: Their appearance is different from ordinary people¡¯s. Chu Rong turned off the recording and glanced at his three subordinates. He knocked on the table and said, ¡°Your conclusion.¡± ¡°The results of the lie detector have 80% credibility. Combined with Qiao¡¯s character, I think his experience regarding the appearance of the black hole is true.¡± Fan Xiangnan frowned and looked at Chu Rong, ¡°Sir, we must remind the border planets to be on guard. Now that the black hole reappeared again, it signifies danger.¡± Chu Rong nodded and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve sent a message to my elder brother. He will arrange it.¡± ¡°On all the planets known to the Federation, there is no valley called Pariet or a mountain range called Alec. I guess the names of these two places are direct transliterations1 by Qiao himself from his language and the names used by their indigenous tribe. Yesterday, I re-examined the mine thieves and found new clues. They had bought a batch of cheap, unidentified slaves from a human trafficker on the border planet of the Federation. I suspect that Qiao came from there.¡± Lin Zhen added the new clues he obtained from the interrogation he once again conducted. Chu Rong¡¯s expression grew cold and said, ¡°It really is a group of dishonest men. Continue the interrogation until they can no longer tell lies!¡± Lin Zhen nodded to show that he understood. ¡°QiaoQiao¡¯s response¡­¡± Zhuang Yu¡¯s brows were knitted in concern. Finally, she said, ¡°It¡¯s very similar to a reaction after experiencing trauma, such as self-evasion, confined memories, and lack of security. I watched the video of him in class and noticed that everything was normal before he learned the word ¡°black hole.¡± After learning the word, his behavior started to become unusual, like he thought of something terrible. After that, he hid in his room and came out with a wound on his wrist. If it wasn¡¯t for Captain Tan coming to find him, maybe¡­ In addition, I checked the search history of his light brain and I found out that he really searched for the ¡®black hole¡¯ after returning to his room.¡± So after searching for the ¡°black hole,¡± he wounded himself? The other three people all looked over. Chu Rong frowned and said in a deep voice, ¡°Continue.¡± Advertisements ¡°As we all know, the unidentified rays randomly released from the black hole have a chance to pollute or directly destroy spiritual power¡­¡± Zhuang Yu explained as she glanced at Chu Rong. Seeing that he didn¡¯t exhibit any peculiar reaction, she continued, ¡°Considering QiaoQiao¡¯s S-level physique, his primary spiritual power should at least be C-level. The damaging process to the spiritual power caused by the red tin ore is very slow. Even with the influence of the spiritual power suppressor, it will take two to three months to completely destroy a C-level spiritual power aptitude. According to the confessions of the mine thieves, QiaoQiao only arrived at the black mine for possibly less than a month. In addition to his strange cessation of development, I guess that his body was severely affected by the radiation from the black hole before he was caught. The red tin ores only made things worse. Everyone knows that mental damage may cause memory disorder and mental retardation¡­¡± ¡°He is very smart.¡± Chu Rong frowned and opposed her last sentence. Lin Zhen nodded in agreement, ¡°Yes, he learns very fast and his intelligence quotient should not be low.¡± ¡°I know. What I mean is¡­¡± Zhuang Yu took another look at Chu Rong again, gritted her teeth and said, ¡°The radiation influence of the black hole has no solution for the time being. His lost memory may never come back.¡± That was to say, no one would know the origin of Qiao Zhiya until the real place called Pariet was found. After going around, things went back to the original point. The atmosphere in the conference room was a bit stagnant. If they wanted to find out the origins of Qiao Zhiya, there was actually another solution. That was to send people to all possible marginal stars to search for traces of the reclusive race being exterminated by insects. However, since it was a reclusive race, it must be very difficult to find traces of its habitation. There were also so many border planets in the Federation, searching for it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. If Qiao Zhiya was actually a refuge from the Empire, the search would be even more impossible. Once the insects appear along with the black hole, if they were not injured after killing, they would immediately retract into the black hole to absorb power and evolve, becoming dormant and waiting for their next sudden attack. It was difficult to implement this method of searching to find the trajectory of the insects. In short, the clue was broken again. ¡°Sir, he¡¯s a good child, he can¡¯t¡­¡± Zhuang Yu was a little anxious, only thinking that Little Cutie was extremely pitiful. She could almost make up a story in her head about how Little Cutie ended up like this. First, because the black hole caused him to lose his parents and clansmen, his spiritual strength and body were all damaged. Then, he was caught by human traffickers and sold to the thieves. He was then transported to a rotten place where birds don¡¯t even shit¡­ It was too miserable. If it wasn¡¯t for the chief to come and inspect, the cutie might have died here silently. Chu Rong recovered from his thoughts, waved his hand to interrupt her, and called out, ¡°Lin Zhen.¡± Lin Zhen looked at him, remembering the phrase ¡°another self¡± that Fan Xiangnan said, paused, and temporarily threw this thought at the back of his head. He opened a document and said in a hurry, ¡°The federal marginal planets that the thieves have reached include D-level 12, D-level 67, D-level 93, and F-level 78. Among them, traces of reclusive tribes were found on D-level 67 and F-level 78 where some slaves purchased by the mine thieves came from. Eight reclusive tribes have been discovered on these two planets wherein¡ª each has the same reason, most of which are strange in appearance and different from ordinary people. ¡° ¡°F-78¡¯s, the newly discovered reclusive group, reason for seclusion: Their appearance is different from ordinary people¡¯s. The ethnic group was killed due to an accident, only one member survived.¡± Chu Rong opened his mouth and directly made up an origin for Qiao Zhiya. Fan Xiangnan frowned, ¡°Sir¡­¡± Advertisements ¡°Transfer his files under the Chu family, set up an encryption, and fill in my name as the legal person in charge. If something goes wrong with him, I will bear full responsibility.¡± Chu Rong could not tolerate dangerous variables before finalizing his decision, and so he added, ¡°In the event that he harbors evil intentions, I will personally kill him.¡± Zhuang Yu couldn¡¯t help but cheer. Seeing the officer look over coldly, she sat down in silence and said with a low cough, ¡°Sir, actually, this is not the case of going through the back door, so you don¡¯t have to bear the burden of any responsibility. According to Federal Law, an orphan with a third-degree disability and unclear origin like QiaoQiao can also obtain official federal resident status after passing a certain supervision period. Now that you just took the initiative to accept his supervision right, you don¡¯t have to think too much about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not overthinking.¡± Chu Rong withdrew his gaze and picked up the recording, ¡°The meeting is over. If you have nothing to do, go and help the investigation team to cover up the imperial warship. We have stayed here for too long and someone will surely poke their nose into this.¡± The three of them looked at each other, tacitly setting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s affairs as confidential in their hearts, and turned to leave. Waking up from a chaotic dream that was completely incomprehensible, Qiao Zhiya sat up and stared at the pile of shiny magical stones next to his pillow. He was at a loss for a while, and then, with a low cry of surprise, he threw himself on them. ¡ªOne of these was the magic stone he picked up in the underground warship that day! The White-Haired Monster returned it to him! It seemed that he also gave him a few more! After a brief excitement, he remembered his conversation with Chu Rong before falling asleep, raised his hand silly and touched his ears. His face was a little red. The White-Haired Monster was so good as he even coaxed him to sleep¡ª although his expression was very impatient¡­ ¡­ He wanted to ask: The White-Haired Monster was willing to return the magic stone, did it mean that he had gained their approval? Great joy surged out of his chest. He laid down on the magic stones again, remembering the uncomfortable feeling he felt from the White-haired Monster during their conversation. He quickly found the biggest top wood magic stone from the magic stone pile and then took out the magic book that his father had prepared for him in the storage ring. He opened a section containing magic arrays. Advanced Strengthening Magic Array, Advanced Teleportation Magic Array, Advanced Protection Magic Array, Advanced Purification Magic Array, Advanced Healing Magic Array¡ª This was it! Advanced Purification and Advanced Healing Magic Array! These two magic arrays had the most similar effects to wood magic! He now knew that the power of human cultivation in this place was called spiritual power, a kind of soul power, which almost everyone had. However, he was not a human being, so naturally, there was no spiritual power in his body. Furthermore, magic power was definitely foreign here and couldn¡¯t be discovered by anyone. He had thought of using magic power to cure the White-Haired Monster before, but now, he had hesitations. Magic power could not be directly used, so he could only use magic arrays as an alternative. Although the effect of using the magic array was not comparable to straightforwardly using magic power, the process was much gentler and not easy to be noticed. It¡¯s currently the most suitable method. Thinking of this, he became happy and hurriedly began to study the illustration methods of these two magic arrays. Advertisements Ten minutes later, he twisted his eyebrows and put down the magic book, feeling a little upset. Although his aptitude had increased, he had only changed from the level of being unable to practice magic to a junior magician¡ª he still couldn¡¯t draw a high-level magic array. Moreover, he forgot that he had never really drawn these advanced magic arrays before. He only had theoretical knowledge in his mind. If he tried, the success rate would probably be ugly. ¡ªLet¡¯s just start practicing from the basic magic array then. First, he would try drawing on the low-level jade. After getting familiar with it, he could then use the top magic stone. Regarding the White-Haired Monster, he could only let him wait. There was a wave of gift-giving that suddenly started on the warship and the initiator was Qiao Zhiya, who had become energetic again. After finally recognizing and accepting his own current situation, and letting go of the big stone in his heart, the dwarf who loves to create and do things finally released his nature, drooling at all the machines he saw and making some cute gadgets anytime and anywhere. ¡°Zhuang Yu-jie 2.¡± After lunch, Qiao Zhiya went to Zhuang Yu¡¯s medical room where she worked. He looked around like a thief, ran over with a blushing face, and stuffed a light green vine-shaped hairpin to her hand. His eyes were darting around but never dared to look at her eyes. He quickly said, ¡°Here, for you. You can use it to hold your bangs. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you.¡± Then he turned around and ran away, his hair fluttering and his pointed ears blushing. Zhuang Yu glanced at the cute little hairpin in her hand and was stunned. She then covered her face with a low cry and hurriedly ran after him, ¡°QiaoQiao, come back! Jiejie will give you a physical examination again. Come back quickly!¡± Hearing that, Qiao Zhiya ran faster. After the afternoon training, Qiao Zhiya also went to Tan Shengwei, threw a small mechanical doll over, and quickly said, ¡°I heard that you have a sister. This was a broken robot I modified and it can now sing a song.¡± ¡°Hey, how do you know I have a sister¡ªQiao, where are you going? That¡¯s not right, the cafeteria is over there!¡± During breakfast, Fan Xiangnan ran into Qiao Zhiya in the cafeteria. When he passed by to say hello, his hand suddenly sank¡ª there was a mechanical-style metal pendant. The pendant was very cute and peculiar, and it would dance with metal arms. Fan Xiangnan was stunned and glanced at Qiao Zhiya who was already running away. He shook his head and laughed. Advertisements After the morning class, Qiao Zhiya oddly took the first step out the door which was disrespecting to his teacher. Lin Zhen frowned, glanced over at the modified electronic pen lying alone on the desk, and picked it up. In the meeting room, Chu Rong sat in the head seat with a cold face, looking at some of his subordinates, slowly scanning the hairpin on Zhuang Yu¡¯s head, the pendant on Fan Xiangnan¡¯s electronic file, and the electronic pen in Lin Zhen¡¯s hand. He irritatedly knocked on the table, ¡°If you have something to say, just tell me already. I¡¯m very busy.¡± Zhuang Yu giggled, Fan Xiangnan pretended not to see the chief¡¯s displeasure, and Lin Zhen tapped on the cover of the document with his pen and said, ¡°I just received the notice from the Federal Government, saying that given your noble status, someone will be sent to help you share the task of inspecting the border.¡± This caused Chu Rong to be even more unhappy, and coldly rebuked, ¡°Share? I think it¡¯s to monitor. That¡¯s right, they are just a bunch of idiots who don¡¯t know the situation!¡± The author has something to say: PS: ¦ä(¡Ñv¡Ñ)¦ä The translator also has something to say: Updates will now be more frequent: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Let¡¯s celebrate! \(£þ¨Œ£þ)/??*¡§*?.??? Thank you for reading this translation and I hope (and greatly recommend) that you can also support the author by buying the VIP chapters here. You can refer to this guide to know how. As a last resort, if you want to support the author or any author you want, but don¡¯t want to go through the pain of having to navigate the JJWXC site, you can buy me ko-fi as all proceeds will be allocated to buying raws. CH 15 These were the basic skills of the dwarves. The people on the ship suddenly became busy. Qiao Zhiya, who could have moved freely, was restricted from walking around. The teachers who taught him courses were also changed from Lin Zhen and Tan Shengwei to two other logistics staff who were not busy. Since knowing the identity of the White-Haired Monster and his group of soldiers, Qiao Zhiya has learned to pretend to be blind and deaf and just obey orders, not asking much. He was now being accepted. Everyone was kind-hearted and treated him well. In addition, if he acted without regard to the immensity of heaven and earth and only messed around, that would not be good. His new teachers were older and good-tempered uncles. They taught with great dedication. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya learns fast and well, they came to love him very much. Besides teaching, they were also trying to tell him more about the life of ordinary Federal residents, so that he could have a general impression of the outside world in advance and be able to better integrate into the society in the future. Qiao Zhiya was very grateful for this. In order to repay their kindness, he began to help them do some trivial things as much as he could within the scope of their permission, such as helping to clean special areas with cleaning robots, learning to distribute food in the kitchen, helping to transport things and maintain equipment, and so on. Diligent and well-behaved young people were the easiest to win everyone¡¯s favor. Qiao Zhiya quickly got acquainted with the people in the logistics department and gave out another batch of small gifts made by his usually itching hands. A few days later, just after the logistics department suddenly became busy, Qiao Zhiya was stopped by a gray-haired old man in the kitchen pantry. ¡°I heard you have a lot of strength?¡± The old man asked with a serious expression. Although he had just seen him lift a machine that even a housework robot could not carry, there was still a trace of disbelief and doubt in his eyes whenever he looked at his thin arms. Qiao Zhiya wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves and brushed his sleek bangs together. He didn¡¯t care about the old man¡¯s suspicious eyes, smiled, and nodded, ¡°Yes, my strength is just fine. Is there anything I can do for grandpa? I just happen to be free.¡± The old man¡¯s face twitched when he said ¡°grandpa.¡± He looked at Qiao Zhiya from head to toe and motioned him to follow, ¡°There is something you need to move. Come with me.¡± Advertisements Qiao Zhiya agreed. He turned to bid goodbye to the people in the kitchen area and happily followed the old man. Everyone in the kitchen, ¡°¡­¡± God! How did the Old Man Ren from the Mecha Management Department come to the kitchen to ask someone for help? What about the large handling equipment of the management department? Was it broken? They actually needed a child to carry things? A person to do such a thing? The atmosphere was silent for two seconds. The head kitchen staff who had brought Qiao Zhiya hesitated and suggested, ¡°Should we go and talk to Old Man Ren to get Qiao back?¡± Everyone looked at each other and then stepped back together, frantically shaking their heads ¡ª no, no, no! Don¡¯t blame them for not having the spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice. Asking people from the hands of the Old Man Ren, were they afraid that they had already lived for too long? Qiao was so cute that he should not be bullied. ¡°That¡­¡± The head kitchen staff wiped the sweat from his forehead and gritted his teeth, ¡°I¡¯ll add a steak for Qiao tonight!¡± Everyone, ¡°¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya followed the old man into an area he had never entered before. Along the road, he passed two doors that needed ID cards to pass through. He saw several groups of serious soldiers passing by and finally arrived at a hall larger than the dwarven sacrificial square. ¡°It¡¯s amazing¡­¡± He looked at the various instruments and workbenches in the distance, densely scattered in the hall, as well as the large piles of parts and shuttles scattered in them. His eyes were almost shining bright. This, these parts, if he was not mistaken, should have originated from the metal giants, that was, the mecha! He would never mistake the shape of that elbow joint! And the foot¡ª ¡°Shut up and keep up.¡± The old man said, interrupting his exclamation. He returned to his senses and followed the old man toward the inside, but his eyes uncontrollably looked around. Not only people but also various robots shuttle in the hall to help humans handle some trivial matters. Judging from everyone¡¯s actions, they should be cooperating to test the performance of the machinery parts. The hall was not quiet; the sound of instruments, humans, and metal collisions were mixed together, but there was a strange harmonious beauty filling the entire place as if everything here was made to be like this. Advertisements He thought of the hard-working people outside the dwarf smelting furnace and a wave of pride rose in his heart¡ª the same, all the same, everyone¡¯s love for machinery and creation was the same! He was proud of his love for machinery! There were some faint, strange energy factors in the air. He suppressed his excitement and distinguished them carefully. He was once again astonished. It¡¯s actually spiritual power! All the people who were working here have actually released their spiritual powers, instead of usually restraining them in their bodies like the White-Haired Monster and his usual group of people. Lin Zhen told him before that it was very impolite and dangerous to casually release spiritual power out of the body. However, in this hall, everyone had no scruples at all and could freely release their spiritual power! During this time, he also discovered that each person¡¯s spiritual power gave off different feelings¡ª some were gentle, some were lively, but most of them were warm and harmless. ¡°Come up.¡± The old man¡¯s voice came again. He reluctantly retracted his gaze and followed the old man to the elevator in the corner of the hall. As the platform rose, the scene in the hall became more and more comprehensive with the increase and widening of his field of vision. The rows of gray mecha standing on the edge were also exposed. He became increasingly excited, causing the tips of his ears to shake with excitement. ¡°Come with me.¡± The old man retracted his gaze and motioned to a passage opening on the wall in the middle of the hall. Qiao Zhiya quickly followed, but couldn¡¯ t help looking back from time to time. They walked down the corridor to the deepest room. The old man opened the door with a swipe of his ID card and took the lead to enter. He then pointed to a very large machinery part in the corner that almost reached the ceiling and said, ¡°Help me move that instrument.¡± Afterwards, he pointed to a flat instrument that was not far away from it. Qiao Zhiya immediately understood the reason why the old man called him over¡ªthe equipment was too large, the room was too narrow, and the transportation space was not large. If they used the space button to carry it over, they couldn¡¯t accurately move it to the right place. In addition, it was easy to damage the instrument. The large handling equipment could not also enter while the small one could not bear the weight of the machinery part. If they used manpower, people who were too tall couldn¡¯t stand up straight while holding the equipment, making it hard to fully use their strength. On the contrary, he¡¯s short compared to them, but it¡¯s just right. In some respects, having this embarrassing height but being able to help move machinery parts Advertisements was also great. He rolled up his sleeves, stepped forward without saying a word, found a strength point, easily picked up the equipment, and gently placed it on the instrument. He then clapped his hands, smiled, and looked at the old man, ¡°Grandpa, it¡¯s done. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± The old man hid back his widened eyes without a trace, trying to keep a neutral expression, and waved his hand while saying, ¡°No, but I don¡¯t have time to send you out now. You can stay on the side for a while.¡± After speaking, he went straight to the instrument and began to record the machinery part¡¯s data. Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment, remembering the training class that was temporarily canceled today, and cleverly found a corner to sit down. He took out a half-finished toy mecha, immersing himself in tinkering it and trying not to disturb the elderly. Seeing him like this, the old man¡¯s eyebrows twitched and turned his attention back to the machinery part. It took an hour to inspect the parts. Meanwhile, the mini-mecha in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hands gradually took shape. ¡°Let me see.¡± The old man¡¯s voice suddenly rang above his head. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand shook, causing the small mecha¡¯s arm which was not yet fitted properly to fall to the ground. ¡°Your hand is unsteady like this, it¡¯s outrageous!¡± The old man scolded him, bent over to pick up the arm of the mecha, and fiddled with it. He looked at him and asked, ¡°You melted it by yourself? Where did the materials, tools, and abrasives come from?¡± Qiao Zhiya, in a daze, honestly replied, ¡°The uncle in the kitchen gave me some broken parts that had been replaced on the machine. I borrowed the melting tool from a brother in the cleaning robot management department.¡± Naturally, there were no abrasive tools1. The toy parts were all manually hammered out in reference to the pictures found using his light brain. These were the basic skills of the dwarves. The old man said nothing. He returned the small arm while also taking the body of the small mecha to take a closer look. He then signaled that he could also take it away, still without saying a word. Qiao Zhiya collected the small mecha but he didn¡¯t know what he meant by not speaking. Afterwards, he was sent out, still feeling some anxiety. Advertisements ¡°The movement axis of the leg joints is wrong.¡± Standing in front of the last door that Qiao Zhiya needed to pass, the old man suddenly spoke. He then pushed him out and mercilessly closed the door. Qiao Zhiya staggered two steps and looked back. He scratched his hair in confusion, stopped for two seconds, and turned to walk towards his room. It was almost dinner time and there were more people walking in the hallway. Qiao Zhiya minimized his presence and walked against the edge. As he turned into the corridor of the E1 area, he faintly heard the voice of the White-Haired Monster. His eyes lit up, thinking whether the other party had come to see him, and hurriedly ran towards the sound. ¡°Marshal Chu, Your Excellency the President missed you very much. The day for the release of the purification liquid is coming. You never went back, so everyone is very worried.¡± The handsome young man in a white military uniform said gently, his concerned tone sounded very sincere. ¡°Thank you, Colonel Xiang, for your concern, but everyone knows my situation. It doesn¡¯t matter whether I drink the purification liquid or not. Anyway, there will be no improvement.¡± Chu Rong replied calmly. His words were polite but his tone was strange, making people want to beat him up as soon as they heard it. The person called Colonel Xiang was obviously one of the people who wanted to beat him up. With a light smile on his face, he changed the topic and asked, ¡°I heard that you caught a group of mine thieves? How can we trouble you to handle such trivial matters by yourself? Just command the corresponding functional department, so they could be the ones to deal with them. ¡° ¡°Therefore, I¡¯m very grateful to Colonel Xiang for coming.¡± Chu Rong said lightly. Colonel Xiang was taken aback and after thinking for a few seconds, he realized that Chu Rong meant that he was the ¡°corresponding functional department¡± that was called to deal with ¡°trivial matters.¡± He almost didn¡¯t maintain his composure and punched Chu Rong on the spot. He, Xiang Hui, the most excellent successor of the Xiang family, the grandson of one of the four marshals of the Federation, and the most outstanding talent of the military department. How could this spiritually lacking waste dare to compare him to a grassroots soldier? No wonder the elders in the family mentioned Chu Rong as if they wanted to get rid of him. It was just that this piece if sh?t truly deserved it! Looking coldly at him, Chu Rong suddenly moved his eyebrows and then frowned. He looked sharply in the direction where light footsteps were coming from. Why was the Bald Chicken not training at this time and just wandering in the corridor? Advertisements Qiao Zhiya, who followed the voice, saw the familiar tall figure at a glance. A smile bloomed on his face. Just as he was about to run over, he was frightened by the cold gaze that the other party sent him. Only then did he find out that there was a stranger standing beside him. His mind turned and he quickly turned away. Xiang Hui also heard the sound. As soon as he was about to turn his head, Chu Rong moved sideways, blocking his line of sight, and then somehow bumped into his shoulder. The villain Chu Rong complained first and coldly asked, ¡°Colonel Xiang, you seem to be dissatisfied with me?¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± Colonel Xiang immediately retorted. His attention shifted, stepped aside, and forgot what he wanted to look back on. He began to change the subject, trying to turn the atmosphere back. This time, he came with a mission and wouldn¡¯t dare to really tear pretenses with Chu Rong. The author has something to say: PS: ¦ä(¡Ñv¡Ñ)¦ä CH 16 Chapter 16: Take Him With Me! Rat! Qiao Zhiya lightly slipped back to his room, recalling the unfamiliar white military uniform worn by the young man next to the White-Haired Monster. He realized that there might be a guest on the warship and the White-Haired Monster didn¡¯t want the other party to see him, so he didn¡¯t dare go out again. Sitting on the floor next to the bed, he took out the small mecha and inspected its legs. Sure enough, he found that the adapter shaft at the knee of the right leg was installed reversely. He raised his hand and scratched his hair. He searched again using his light brain, looked for the detailed illustrations of all kinds of toy small mecha, and reinstalled the adapter shaft. During dinner, there was some noise from outside the corridor. He recovered from his concentration of assembling the small mecha. After thinking about it, he did not go to the dining hall. Instead, he used the nutrient prepared by Zhuang Yu in the space button to serve as his meal for dinner and then continued putting together the other parts of the small mecha. Later, entrusted by Zhuang Yu, Tan Shengwei sent him some mental soothing agents and physical repair fluids. He also told him not to run around these days and drink the medicine on time. Qiao Zhiya looked at the dusty military uniform on his body and the exhaustion on his face. Although he was wondering what they were up to, he smartly did not hold him back to talk more. After thanking him, he drove him back to rest. Before going to bed, he took out a mental soothing agent and a physical repair liquid to drink as usual. He felt the comfort in his mind and the languidness in his body. He squinted his eyes and lay down in bed. After talking with the White-Haired Monster that day, Zhuang Yu began to let him drink these potions, two a day, for ten days in a row, so as to stabilize his health. Although he couldn¡¯t figure out what was wrong with his body and the need to drink medicine in order to stabilize his body and mind, the other party was all kind-hearted and he didn¡¯t want to disappoint her. In addition, after drinking the medicines, his body would be more comfortable, so he did as he was told. Probably because he went to bed earlier today and did not train in the afternoon to consume his energy. He did not immediately fall asleep after lying in bed. Instead, he was only in a daze and couldn¡¯t sleep. When his thoughts were empty, he unconsciously turned to the healing magic array that he had practiced many times in recent days. Advertisements Gradually, the calm magic in the magic pool was unconsciously mobilized by him, slowly wandering in his mind according to the lines of the healing array, forming a translucent primary healing magic array. After realizing this, he couldn¡¯t help but raise the corners of his mouth. As soon as he was about to disperse the magic array, he noticed that some magic power had escaped from the magic array, grabbed a little white light that was almost invisible, and dragged it towards the magic pool. He froze for a moment. The next second, the familiar digging sensation came but the feeling was too light, almost as if tickling with a root of hair. It didn¡¯t hurt and, on the contrary, he wanted to make the digging sensation stronger. This was¡­ He was a little surprised. He had some suspicions but the magic instinctively flew towards the white light balls, happily dragging the light balls into the magic pool. The spiritual power contained in the soothing agent was too small and it was soon ¡°dragged¡± away. The magic array lingered for a moment, dissipated, and rolled back to the magic pool. Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes, sat up for a few seconds, took out the ball, condensed a bit of magic power at his fingertips, and fed it. He then held the empty container of medicine in front of it and coaxed, ¡°QiuQiu, try it.¡± The plant ball moved, drew out a thin vine, and stuck it in. It then stretched the vine¡¯s tip comfortably and bounced happily in his palm. Spiritual power medicines were really useful for improving magic cultivation! In the past, he went to sleep after drinking the medicine and the effect of the soothing agent was too faint, so he never noticed this! He thought that if his aptitude in this life could be promoted to the primary level, it was already the gods¡¯ favor, but he didn¡¯t expect that there would be such a surprise waiting for him in the future! He was holding the ball excitedly and fell on the bed, pulled the quilt around him, and rolled on the bed a few times. It should have occurred to him that the medicine that the White-Haired Monster gave him last time should be spiritual! There was also the green fruit that made him comfortable after eating it¡­ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! If it was really what he thought, then, did that mean that as long as he worked hard and supplemented with spiritual potions, his aptitude could gradually improve and he would gradually become an intermediate magician, advanced magician, a great magician, or even a magic magister, and then draw the most advanced magic array to help the White-Haired Monster cure his strange diseases? What¡¯s more, he heard that there was a saint magic magister above the grand magic magister.1 According to legend, the saint magister was omnipotent. If he could become a saint magister, did it mean that he had the chance to use the most advanced forbidden incantation in the legend, tear up the space and go home directly? Advertisements As he thought about it, his eyelids slowly became heavy. He yawned, shrank into the quilt, and slowly raised the corners of his mouth¡ªMama, Papa, I will try to get back to you. After the morning class ended the next day, Qiao Zhiya again received the news that the afternoon training class was cancelled. He nodded in understanding, returned to his room, solemnly took out an intermediate wood magic stone, and an ancient magic pen. After confirming the magic power in the magic pool, he rubbed his face to cheer himself up and began to draw the magic array. First, he used magic to cut the magic stone into a round with flat sides. Next, he poured magic into the magic pen and began to draw down. He first drew a gentle healing magic array. Because there were no magic elements in the air, this process of drawing was relying on his own stored magic power and the speed was a bit slow. This was also the reason why he could only practice at the primary level first. The intermediate and advanced magic arrays required too much magic power and his magic was simply not enough to support the completion of the entire magic array. When drawing a magic array, the input of magic must be even and cannot be broken. The more even the magic power, the better the magic circle effect was, and vice versa. If the magic power was cut off, the magic circle was directly invalidated. Fortunately, most dwarves were very patient and it was not too difficult for them to control the uniformity of magic. Half an hour later, the last stroke of the magic circle was connected to the first stroke. The magic circle was completed. A burst of white soft light rose and the formation lit up. The magic in the magic stone was pulled by the magic array and began to flow slowly along the lines of the circle diagram, releasing a gentle wood healing breath. It¡¯s done! Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes brightened and touched the magic stone like a treasure. He then pressed his excitement to make up for the magic power in his magic pool. He carefully turned the magic stone to the other side, took a deep breath, and picked up the magic pen again. After another half an hour passed, the soft light rose again, the magic stone heated up for a moment, and then a refreshing and purifying air mixed with healing breath spread out, clearing the mind and eliminating fatigue. It was a success! Awesome! He carefully held this middle-grade jadeite, which looked very delicate and beautiful after drawing, and imagined what the White-Haired Monster would look like after receiving this gift and bent his eyes. The magic power in this intermediate magic stone was enough to support the operation of two primary magic arrays for three months. During these three months, he would practice hard and strive to replace the White-Haired Monster with a better magic stone in three months! Advertisements He put the magic stone into the storage ring. Just as he was about to take out the small mecha that had been slightly modified yesterday and study it again, the door was knocked. He went forward to open the door and was surprised to find that the old man from yesterday was standing outside. ¡°Grandpa?¡± He had doubts in his eyes. Old Man Ren¡¯s face trembled, still unable to adapt to his intimate address. He said, ¡°The machinery part is stuck again.¡± Actually¡­ Qiao Zhiya blinked, raised a bright smile, and replied, ¡°I was just about to find something to do and you came, Grandpa. It¡¯s great. The afternoon training was canceled. I was just feeling a little lazy and wanted to help.¡± Old Ren¡¯s face trembled again. His eyes moved away from his face. He turned around first to leave and said without looking back, ¡°Don¡¯t dawdle, keep up!¡± Qiao Zhiya moved his ears and followed obediently. The machinery parts got stuck in another corner of the room this time. There were faint traces of changes on it. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t understand it, so he just moved the part that seemed to be heavier to the instrument. He then consciously went to the corner of the room to sit down and took out the small mecha to tinker. Old Man Ren stared at the top of his head for a while, then turned and walked to the instrument. After a busy afternoon, before dinner, Old Man Ren sent Qiao Zhiya to the door of the last restricted zone. He said abruptly, ¡°There is a problem with the modification and the weapon slot will be stuck.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, turned back to ask, but the metal door just closed. ¡°¡­¡± Advertisements As usual, he walked along the edge of the corridor. He recalled the weapon slot structure of the small mecha and his brows were twisted into a knot. It seemed that it would really get stuck. The weapons in this world were relatively large and the space was too small¡­ It seemed that it¡¯s time to hammer the machinery parts again. In front was the corner from F1 to E1. He was eager to change the mecha and couldn¡¯t help speeding up his pace. When he was about to turn, he suddenly heard a slick call coming from the cross corridor on the side of F1. He frowned and his expression tightened. This sound¡­ The sound of footsteps came and several slaves who were rescued were now being escorted by soldiers. The warship was built according to the huge stature of men. At a glance, Qiao Zhiya saw the excited middle-aged fat man walking among a group of long-legged soldiers. He clenched his fists and his eyes were filled with fierce light. ¡ªThe person who just called him was actually the middle-aged fat man who was trying to trouble him in the pit back then! The bad guy who impeded him! The hoodlum who tried to hurt him several times! Shameless trash! When he first arrived here, he didn¡¯t understand anything and was very confused. It was this person who took advantage of his ignorance, pretended to be a good person, and approached him, defrauding his trust and then trying to do evil. If he hadn¡¯t stopped the ore with his only remaining magic power, he was afraid the other party¡¯s sneak attack had already succeeded. Rat! 2 After the middle-aged fat man approached, he was sure that the figure he saw was really him. He pulled the soldier in white clothes around him more excitedly and shouted excitedly, ¡°That kid! My family! He was caught with me! I thought he encountered an accident in the explosion but I did not expect to meet him here. Take him with me! I¡¯ll take him back to the Empire!¡± The officer in white immediately looked at Qiao Zhiya. However, the man in black on the other side frowned, pulled the middle-aged fat man hard, and said, ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t make any noise!¡± The white-clothed officer immediately stopped the black-clothed officer¡¯s hand and said, ¡°He is not a prisoner but a poor slave who has been rescued. Your attitude is detrimental to the image of the Federation.¡± Advertisements The black-clothed officer¡¯s expression tightened and he almost could hardly restrain himself from beating this man up¡ª this was the warship of their head chief. What qualifications did a group of unwelcome guests have to dictate here? Ridiculous! ¡°Yes! I¡¯m a member of the Empire and the soldiers of your Federation have no right to move me!¡± The middle-aged fat man immediately became proud when he saw someone supporting him. He threw off the black-clothed officer¡¯s hand and pointed his finger to Qiao Zhiya, who was standing still, and said, ¡°That¡¯s my child, I want to take him away. Your Federation surely doesn¡¯t want to detain an Empire¡¯s person.¡± Qiao Zhiya watched his performance without expression, knowing that it was too late to avoid him at this time and the situation would only be worse for him, so he took the initiative to step forward. In the eyes of the middle-aged fat man who was slightly surprised and then immediately satisfied, he suddenly accelerated, clenched his fists, avoided the officers on both sides, and punched him in the stomach! ¡ªDwarves paid back their graces and were kind-hearted in nature, but they were all also petty creatures. They protect their shortcomings and hold grudges. As long as they had the opportunity, they would take revenge! The author has something to say: PS: ¦ä(¡Ñv¡Ñ)¦ä CH 17 Wasn¡¯t this little demon dumb?! The middle-aged fat man was hit by the fist and flew upside down. After a scream, he laid on the ground and groaned. His face was pale and his forehead was sweating. The expressions of several soldiers in white uniforms changed and they reached out to catch Qiao Zhiya, but were stopped by the soldiers in black uniforms and prevented them from getting closer to him. ¡°This is a contradiction between the rescued slaves. We have no right to use violence against any of them until we know which they belong to.¡± The soldier in black uniform, who was stopped once, said with a serious face, obviously protecting Qiao Zhiya behind him. His attitude of being ready to confront them was clearly laid out. The soldier in white uniform¡¯s expression sank, wanting to get angry but afraid of the consequences. This was the other person¡¯s territory, so he could only sigh in distress. He helped the middle-aged fat man stand up and took a look at the protected Qiao Zhiya, not reconciled. He said, ¡°He must go with us to see the colonel and Marshal Chu. If he is determined to be a member of the Empire, he must be sent back and cannot remain in the Federation!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression tightened and he glanced at the middle-aged man whose groans and moans weakened. He was resenting the middle-aged fat man who was also looking at him. Suddenly, he somewhat regretted having apprehensions here at White-Haired Monster¡¯s territory just a moment ago. When he wielded his fist, he restrained himself and only took a little bit of strength. He then simply moved away from their eyes and stood behind a black military soldier who was familiar with him. The soldier looked down at him, gave him a reassuring look in a vague manner, motioned him not to move, and then secretly sent a message to his chief. Fan Xiangnan, who was sitting beside Chu Rong, noticed the vibration of his communicator. He glanced at Xiang Hui and the officials from the Federation who were talking cheerfully and warmly on the opposite side. He cast a look at Chu Rong, got up, and walked out of the meeting room. Xiang Hui noticed his departure but didn¡¯t care much. He continued to chat gently with federal officials, invisibly pushing Chu Rong out of the conversation. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t even look at him for this kind of careful thinking. He turned away his eyes and lightly touched the light brain shell in front of him, squinting in thought. Advertisements This time, Xiang Hui brought a group of troublesome officials from the Federation over and took the command of the old president as an arrow. Not only did he go to deal with the subsequent resettlement of slaves and escorting of thieves, he had to walk around the red tin mine several times for the reason of checking the thieves¡¯ home. It seemed that he knew it was the red tin mine that had been stolen this time. But not long after he arrived on this planet, most of the information has not been reported in detail. It¡¯s really strange that the Xiang family came so quickly and knew so many details. There must have been someone leaking the information about the red tin mine. The warship was full of confideants and there should be no problem. The slaves and thieves were firmly guarded. Even Qiao Zhiya, who initially gained their trust, had no communication device on his hands. Therefore, it was impossible to be them. Aside from the red tine mine that had been stolen, he only told his elder brother about the other matter, could it be that it was his elder brother who leaked the news? No, Xiang Hui didn¡¯t seem to know that there was a variant red tin mine under the red tin mine. If his elder brother was the traitor, there was no reason to leave this alone. Since the news did not leak out from his side, nor from his elder brother¡¯s side, then there was only one possibility left¡ª Xiang Family had long known that there was such a group of mine thieves on the Chu Family¡¯s mining star. Even more maliciously, maybe these mine thieves were brought by the Xiang Family to steal the ores. The Xiang Family¡¯s ¡°requesting but not¡± behavior regarding the red tin ores and variant1 red tin ores had been going on for a whole year. With the stingy and mean nature of Xiang Family, it¡¯s not impossible to steal if they couldn¡¯t buy it. Combined with Xiang Hui¡¯s urgent attitude of putting the pirates over to the ¡°corresponding functional department¡± when he came yesterday¡­ It seemed that Xiang¡¯s visit to ¡°help¡± patrol the border this time was fake and it was instead to conceal the mine thieves. If these mine thieves were really from the Xiang family, then the imperial background that the thieves had previously explained was probably just a cover to hide their true identity. At the thought of this brainless action, he glanced at Xiang Hui¡¯s polite and gentle appearance, and showed mockery¡ª Xiang Hui¡¯s family, who always boasted of elegance and benevolence. Behind his back, Xiang Hui actually colluded with swindlers and thieves, which was extremely uninteresting. The atmosphere in the meeting room was strange. Fan Xiangnan, who went out before, suddenly pushed the door in, his voice was slightly louder as he said, ¡°The slave who claimed to be a resident of the Empire has been brought together with a minor.¡± He then took a look at his own chief officer. When Chu Rong heard this, he frowned and looked at the door¡ª there was only one minor among the rescued slaves. ¡°There¡¯s also a minor?¡± Xiang Hui frowned and scolded bitterly, ¡°The red tin mine is so special, it¡¯s heartless of them to catch a minor for mining!¡± The other officials echoed, like lackeys against the same enemy. Advertisements Chu Rong couldn¡¯t withstand knocking on the table. Lin Zhen, who had been sitting like a background drop, received the signal. He raised his head and said with no expression, ¡°Those who illegally detain minors to engage in work harmful to their spiritual power and cause irreversible disability shall be sentenced to imprisonment according to federal law. Those who illegally excavate and steal minerals from others shall be sentenced to death according to the value of the stolen minerals. Those who illegally imprison and cause the death of slaves shall be sentenced to death. For multiple crimes, they should be executed immediately.¡± Xiang Hui stopped condemning as if someone had caught his neck, paused, and said, ¡°These mine thieves are from the Empire and cannot be directly sentenced in accordance with federal laws. This will cause diplomatic friction.¡± ¡°Then this matter should be investigated to the end.¡± Lin Zhen flipped through the information in his hand and said in a calm tone, ¡°The Empire allowed the miners to cross the border asteroid belt and stole minerals from the private mining stars of the Chu Family. If the Empire did not give a reasonable explanation to the Chu Family and the Federation, the friction might not be easy to settle.¡± Was this trying to make a big deal out of the small matter regarding mine thieves between the Federation and the empire? The federal officials were silent and began to regret that they had just isolated Chu Rong for Xiang Hui. This young marshal was feared by the President; he had a solid background, huge support from the public, powerful hands, and an older brother who protected him. If they stood on the opposite side, they would have to step on a big pit if they were not careful. Xiang Hui¡¯s heart jumped. What did Chu Rong¡¯s subordinates mean? They wanted to delve into the bottom of the mine thieves? While they were talking, Qiao Zhiya and his group had already entered the room. The middle-aged fat man had been looking at Qiao Zhiya resentfully. At this time, he looked like he couldn¡¯t be counselled. His eyes turned around on several high-ranking federal officials and finally fell on Chu Rong, who was in the head seat, guessing his identity in his heart. In the Federation, only the Chu Family could wear black military uniform out of the four influential families. He just didn¡¯t know which position in the Chu family this person had. Anyway, it¡¯s better to fool him. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s gaze glided slightly across Qiao Zhiya and finally fell on the officer in black uniform. ¡°Sir, sir, it¡¯s like this: This person is my child. He was accidentally separated from me in the explosion. He is also from the Empire. I want to take him home. Thank you 2 for saving him. Thank you3. Thank you.¡± Without waiting for the officer to reply, the middle-aged fat man jumped out and reached out to pull Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arm. Qiao Zhiya sullenly glanced at the White-Haired Monster who seemed to claim not to recognize him. His heart was stuffy. With a move of his arm, he turned and punched the middle-aged fat man in the face again¡ª disgusting guy! I would beat you! Advertisements Fan Xiangnan¡¯s eyebrows twitched when he saw this. Seated on the upper seat, the corners of Chu Rong¡¯s mouth curled up but he immediately pressed them down, showing coldness and impatience. He motioned his subordinates to pull Qiao Zhiya away and then looked at the middle-aged fat man who was lying on the ground holding his face and shouting in pain. He said, ¡°Your child? It doesn¡¯t seem like it.¡± In fact, not only him, but everyone in the conference room felt it was really not like that. Qiao Zhiya looked exquisite and pure while the middle-aged fat man had fat, big ears and greasy features. Standing together, people with normal IQ would not think that they were one family. ¡°That kid looks like his mother, not like me, but he is really my kid! If you don¡¯t believe me, look at his back, there is a leaf-shaped birthmark on his butterfly bone! He was born dumb! He beats me because I didn¡¯t protect him and blames me. Rebellious children are like this.¡± The middle-aged fat man stood up firmly and no longer tried to get close to Qiao Zhiya, but began to sell miserably in a bitter and regretful manner, and said, ¡°Yes. I¡¯m wrong, I can¡¯t give him what he wants. I¡¯m not a qualified father, I¡¯m sorry for his mother¡­¡± Xiang Hui received the gaze from his family, his thoughts turned, and he began to show his generosity and kindness. He said, ¡°So, this father, you don¡¯t have to blame yourself. The child betrayed¡ª¡± ¡°You are a dumb, disgusting molester!¡± The elf blessing mark on his body was said to be a birthmark. Qiao Zhiya was so angry that he finally found a suitable vocabulary to explain the behavior of the middle-aged fat man. He broke away from the officer¡¯s hand, rushed to the middle-aged fat man, and hit him again and again. These punches used half of his strength and the middle-aged fat man was in so much pain. He was shocked by the punches that he couldn¡¯t believe it¡ª what¡¯s going on? Wasn¡¯t this little demon dumb?! Birthmark, dumb, molester¡ª these words made Chu Rong¡¯s breath sink. He thought of the illustrations Qiao Zhiya had drawn at the beginning. He deliberately didn¡¯t open his mouth. When Qiao Zhiya seemed to finally vented enough, he waved his hand and made his subordinate drag him again. He looked at Lin Zhen and said, ¡°Check their identities.¡± Lin Zhen opened and quickly the file containing the information of the middle-aged fat man. He reported, ¡°Bart, a member of the Chamian Family of the Empire¡¯s B-class planet, was removed from his family for illegal detention of a molested minor. He escaped during his arrest. The mine thieves deceived him on the grounds of smuggling. He is unmarried and childless. He is now wanted by the Empire. Qiao Zhiya, Federal F-class planet resident, orphan, and had never left his hometown before he was caught.¡± The middle-aged fat man was shocked when he heard the information. He didn¡¯t expect his background to be checked so quickly. He was immediately confused but could only scream because of the pain on his body. ¡°A rapist of the Empire actually wanted to take away a resident of my Federation.¡± Chu Rong frowned in disgust and ordered, ¡°Drag him out, contact the Empire and ask them to extradite 4 the prisoners back. Don¡¯t let them dirty the federal land.¡± Advertisements Chu Rong frowned. The soldiers stepped forward and dragged others without saying a word. They were not polite at all. The federal officials sat quietly aside and didn¡¯t dare to indiscriminately intervene. With such a powerful investigation ability, it would be better for them to be honest when they were on someone else¡¯s territory. Upon seeing this, Xiang Hui¡¯s thoughts flashed. Before the middle-aged fat man was completely dragged out, he said, ¡°Since you want to contact the Empire to extradite the prisoners, it is better to send the thieves and other Empire slaves back together. Marshal Chu, you still have to preside over the land remedial task. I will take care of the handover with the Empire.¡± Chu Rong looked at him, his eyes unreadable. Qiao Zhiya at the side secretly stepped on the hands and feet of the middle-aged fat man while everyone was not paying attention. The black-clothed officer glanced at him and turned to pretend not to see it. The middle-aged fat man was stepped on and yelled out with an ¡°ow.¡± As he woke up from his dream, he hurriedly grabbed the door and shouted, ¡°I, I know the background of these thieves! They are not from the Empire at all! They are from the Federation. Please don¡¯t send me back, I can atone for my crimes! Don¡¯t send me back!¡± Xiang Hui¡¯s expression changed when he heard the words. He sharply looked at the middle-aged fat man and stealthily gave a meaningful glance at his subordinates. The soldier in white uniform quickly stepped forward to help drag the person out and wanted to cover the middle-aged fat man¡¯s mouth. Chu Rong coldly curled his lips and ordered, ¡°Drag him back.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was standing on the side, heard the order, stepped forward without a word, grabbed the middle-aged fat man¡¯s feet, easily pulling him back, and threw him directly at Chu Rong¡¯s feet. He then glanced at him with a sullen face upon turning his head, and brushed against Fan Xiangnan¡¯s back. Fan Xiangnan coughed and suppressed his smile. He thoughtfully closed the door of the meeting room ¡°just in time¡± to shut Xiang Family¡¯s military subordinate, who was too late to react, outside the meeting room. Xiang Hui was choked by their behavior, turned his head to look at Qiao Zhiya, and groaned in his heart¡ª was this kid a monster? Such a big and fat man, he actually pulled him back with the strength of several adult men! D?mn it! Advertisements Chu Rong looked at the fat man on the ground and gave another glance at Qiao Zhiya, who was peeking from behind Fan Xiangnan. He raised his eyebrows without a trace and his mood fluttered¡ª was the Bald Chicken upset?5 The author has something to say: PS: ¦ä(¡Ñv¡Ñ)¦ä6 CH 18 ¡°Here it is, cheapskate.¡± Without ¡°others,¡± the meeting room was instantly quiet. Chu Rong pretended that he had forgotten to drive out Qiao Zhiya, an ¡°irrelevant person.¡± He kicked the middle-aged fat man who was still lying on the ground and said, ¡°I will give you three minutes. I can¡¯t tell you any valuable clues. I don¡¯t mind listing the crimes you committed in the Federation and then send you back to the Empire.¡± The middle-aged fat man, Bart, was terrified when he heard the words. He didn¡¯t care about the painful fat all over his body. He got up from the ground and quickly said, ¡°Before I left home, I secretly hid a mini space button on my body that was not found by the mine thieves when they caught me. After I got here, I bought an old protective suit with the contents of the space button. I also got some news, I¡­¡± ¡°Just say the important point.¡± Chu Rong interrupted his nonsense and deliberately checked the time, ¡°You have two minutes left.¡± Bart choked. He quickly swallowed the nonsense he had started to talk about and directly said, ¡°The newcomer told me that he is actually a member of the Federation. If I provide him with enough money, he can bring me into the mining theft organization and settle down in the Federation. Believe me, what I said is true! If you don¡¯t believe me, you can call the mine thief to come and confront him!¡± ¡°What if you are conspiring with each other to try to confuse the Federation and cause internal strife?¡± Xiang Hui interjected, with a look of ¡®I¡¯m very smart, you don¡¯t want to deceive us wise Federalists.¡¯ He frowned and looked at Chu Rong, trying to persuade him, ¡°Marshal Chu, this vile person¡¯s words are not credible, I think¡ª¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t even look at him and waved to Lin Zhen: ¡°Let¡¯s interrogate them. Bring all the mine thieves who have been in contact with him.¡± Lin Zhen stood up and walked out of the conference room without saying a word. The attitude of the other party made it clear that he was going to treat him as air. Xiang Hui looked at Bart, who was shrinking to the side. He wanted to hit him and block his mouth! Advertisements Within a few minutes, Lin Zhen returned with several people. ¡°It¡¯s him! He was the one who promised to help me! He¡¯s a Federal!¡± Bart pointed to one of the younger looking mine thieves and shouted. The young mine thief was at a loss. He didn¡¯t know why he and his other companions were brought out. At this time, seeing Bart, he was shocked and thought about it. He immediately understood what was going on. His expression abruptly stiffened and he sternly shouted, ¡°Who are you?! I don¡¯t know you, so don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡± It was a Concerning his own safety, Bart immediately blew up and yelled, ¡°Bell, don¡¯t pretend to be stupid! I gave you so many good things. There¡¯s also a chain bracelet of ice crystals in it. There are only several of them in the entire Empire. Don¡¯t say you don¡¯t have them!¡± Chu Rong looked at Lin Zhen. Lin Zhen understood, opened the file, looked at it, and replied, ¡°The mine thief, Bell, who claimed to be an Empire C-class planet resident, had three space buttons on his body when he was caught. There was indeed a chain bracelet of ice crystals inside.¡± Bell¡¯s expression changed and he began to regret his initial greed. The other mine thieves probably understood what was going on. At ordinary times, they would definitely want to take the bad things off of Bell but at this time they were not in the mood to take care of him, and only minimized their presence. Beads of sweat could be seen on their forehead. How could the Xiang Family be here? Could it be that their identities have been exposed? Could they still use their Empire¡¯s identity to escape through a loophole this time? Chu Rong observed their reactions one by one. Finally looking at Bell, he asked, ¡°Which one of the Federals sent you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about!¡± Bell ignored him and slowly approached his companions¡¯ side. He stiffly said, ¡°I am a resident of the Empire. You Federal people have no right to detain me. I want to return to my home country!¡± Chu Rong was impatient to talk nonsense with him and looked at Bart again in a quiet tone, ¡°I need more detailed clues and identification. You must have it in your hands, right?¡± Obviously, he had a perfect and beautiful face, but his aura was so terrible¡­ Bart trembled, just about to say that he really only knew this. His eyes swept over Chu Rong¡¯s white hair, which made his facial features become more cold and harder. Something flashed in his mind and his eyes suddenly widened. Advertisements The Federal Chu Family was a big family that lasted for more than a thousand years. Their family¡¯s main characteristics were their black hair and black eyes. However, this generation had a member with a strange natural white hair, that was, the second young master of the Chu Family who was born with an SSS-level spiritual aptitude, Chu Rong! According to legend, the second young genius of the Chu family witnessed his parents sacrifice themselves in the human and insect1 battle ten years ago. His spiritual power was destroyed and was greatly stimulated. His temperament became irritable. He killed indiscriminately and his patience became extremely poor. He disliked other people¡¯s disobedience and resistance. Even if the Royal princes and princesses of the Imperial Family saw this, they could only do nothing but shrunk with their tails between their legs. The most important thing was that because of the sacrifices and decisive contributions of the second young master of the Chu Family and his parents in that tragic battle, the second young master of Chu had some privileges in some aspects, such as being able to directly execute a prisoner who made him unhappy without carrying responsibility¡­ Now, on the Chu Family¡¯s warship, he actually saw a man with white hair who was suspected to be the leader. He remembered that he had just yelled in agony without knowing the height of the sky, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. The survival instinct made his mind spin wildly and some details that had been ignored before popped up and jumped around in his head. ¡°I remember!¡± He suddenly shouted with excitement, comically waving his hand, ¡°When I got the old protective suit, an old communicator fell from it, and then the communicator was snatched by Bell. I glanced at the screen of the communicator and saw that there was a faint badge pattern on it, like a family badge, with a white background and a silver pattern. It looked like the side of a mecha head¡ª¡± He abruptly stopped and thought of the family in the Federation using this badge. He turned his head in horror to look at Xiang Hui who was wearing a white military uniform and then his heart was pierced by the opponent¡¯s cold gaze. Chu Rong also looked at Xiang Hui and the corners of his mouth curled up, revealing a smile that was not a smile. Xiang Hui retracted his gaze, adjusted his cuffs gracefully, and suddenly moved his fingers. The several mine thieves huddled on the side like a backdrop suddenly and violently rushed towards Bart. When Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen saw this, their eyes turned sharp and they stepped forward to stop them. Qiao Zhiya, who was standing behind Fan Xiangnan, was short and flexible, and was able to rush to Bart first. He then took the ball out of his storage ring and threw it towards the thieves who came rushing. ¡°Go!¡± The ball expanded in mid-air, all the vines spread out, waving towards the mine thieves and tying several people tightly. ]¡±Wonderful.¡± Chu Rong got up and clapped his hands. He stepped forward and threw Bart to Fan Xiangnan. He stood beside Qiao Zhiya and blocked Xiang Hui from looking at him. He knocked on the table and asked almost cordially, ¡°Colonel Xiang , I think we need to talk.¡± Several federal officials sitting next to Xiang Hui moved aside without a trace, wishing they had never been to this conference room. They were just small shrimps who had no real power and lived by the four major families. Knowing too much was not a good thing for them. ¡°Indeed.¡± Xiang Hui suppressed his emotions in his heart and forced a smile. He also stood up, looked at Chu Rong, and said, ¡°I heard that the family flagship that was damaged by the Chu Family in the last war has returned. What kind of rare materials are missing for repairs? Maybe the Xiang Family can help.¡± Advertisements This is the matter of negotiating conditions for private matters, this Xiang Hui was good at finding a breakthrough point. Chu Rong looked at several federal officials next to him and politely said, ¡°Dinner time is almost here. Why don¡¯t you go to dinner first?¡± The federal officials got up and ran without hesitation, as if they were granted amnesty. Qiao Zhiya glanced at Chu Rong¡¯s back, who was in front of him, and then at the ball that was still tying the thieves. He gloomily threw a sentence, ¡°Take care of the ball and return it to me once you¡¯re done.¡± He also turned and left. With Xiang Hui here, Chu Rong naturally pretended not to hear his words, and even his expression did not change. Fan Xiangnan followed Qiao Zhiya by sending Bart out. ¡°Thank you very much for today.¡± Fan Xiangnan covered Bart¡¯s five senses with an enclosed shield, followed Qiao Zhiya, and gently said. ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s troubling you.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked back at him, slowed down to match his speed, thought for a while, and took out a small pouch embroidered with leaves from the storage ring. He handed it over and said, ¡°Help me hand it over to¡ª¡± Halfway through, he remembered that the White-Haired Monster had never told him his name and his face became more strained. ¡°Help me give it to him.¡± After putting the small pouch into Fan Xiangnan¡¯s hand, he quickly walked back to his room with drooping ears. Fan Xiangnan watched him leave, glanced at the obviously hand-made small pouch in his hand, and sighed amusedly and heartily¡ª the child¡¯s feelings were all written to his face. After an hour of controversial talk, Xiang Hui hurriedly left with his own people. When he left, his expression was so terrible that he could not even bother to pretend. The federal officials who were watching the wind bid their farewells and then ran away, not daring to stay on Chu Rong¡¯s warship any more. It was so simple to send away obtrusive people and severely hit the unpleasant Xiang Family. Uncle Chu was in a good mood and he was about to go to dinner when he received a small pouch brought by Fan Xiangnan with a smile. Advertisements He glanced at the leaf imprints on his pocket, moved in his heart, and asked, ¡°Did he not eat yet?¡± Fan Xiangnan nodded and replied, ¡°I think he didn¡¯t. He went straight back to his room after he left the meeting room.¡± Chu Rong squeezed his small pouch and ordered, ¡°Let the kitchen send two dinners to his room and prepare more fruits.¡± Fan Xiangnan asked knowingly, ¡°Two?¡± Chu Rong gave him a cold look, without replying, and went out towards the E1 area. He was hammering the parts in their crucial areas to his target shape when the door of the room was suddenly knocked. Chu Rong¡¯s voice came from outside the door. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand shook, the hammer tilted, and the parts skewed. He straightened his face, hit himself twice, each with his left hand and his right hand. He then put down his hammer and went forward to open the door. ¡°Is there something?¡± he asked gloomily. Chu Rong glanced at his drooping head and unspirited ear tips. He raised his hand and pinched, grabbed the back of his neck, entered his room, and closed the door. He glanced at the scattered parts, tools, and incomplete small mecha. He put him down, rubbed his hair, and asked, ¡°Do you like mechas?¡± Qiao Zhiya covered his head and sat on the floor beside the bed. He was downcast for a while, he nodded honestly¡ª The other party had helped him so much. Ignoring the other party for such trivial things as not knowing his name was too capricious and disgusting. Such a grumpy kid. Chu Rong retracted his gaze, sat on the floor like him, reached out to pull at his ear, and said, ¡°Not good.¡± After he retracted his hand, he took out a mecha model from his space button, and placed it directly on him with the length of his hand. Arms. ¡°Here it is, cheapskate.¡± Advertisements The fineness of the official mecha model couldn¡¯t be compared with that of the children¡¯s toy version he could search in his light brain. Qiao Zhiya immediately forgot to be angry and closed his hands carefully to hold up the mecha. He touched its arms and legs, looked at the weapon slot and at the mini cockpit. His eyes were bright and his face almost overflowed with love. Chu Rong sat and looked at his joyful appearance and suddenly felt very warm and relaxed at this moment. His expression unconsciously relaxed¡ª it turned out that it feels this way of raising a pet and it was not bad. In his chest pocket, the magic stone engraved with magic arrays was slowly rotating, absorbing all the ¡°bad things¡± he could feel. CH 19 Chapter 19: Duel ¡°I still won¡¯t eat it.¡± He didn¡¯t know where he pressed, the little mecha in his hand suddenly pulled out its weapon and swung its arm. Qiao Zhiya could even feel the faint heat from the waving of the energy blade in its hand. He couldn¡¯t help exclaiming, his eyes brightened, and his ears trembled with excitement¡ª compared to the beautiful guy in his hand, the hand-made one he made was simple in appearance, without weapons, unpainted, and had mixed colors. His little mecha was like a piece of rag dug out of the mud! Fortunately, he had no whimsical thought of giving the small mecha as a gift to the White-Haired Monster, otherwise, he might be disgusted to death. Thinking of this, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but look sideways at Chu Rong, who was sitting beside him. His gazes met at first glance. He seemed to have no emotions but when he looked closely, he seemed to have a relaxed smile in his eyes. He remembered his previous annoyance, embarrassedly looked away, his face flushed slightly, and he whispered, ¡°Thank you, I like it very much.¡± Advertisements Chu Rong reached out and rubbed his bangs, and watched him without speaking, his body posture becoming more relaxed. Qiao Zhiya moved his ears, took a look at him, carefully and tentatively put his ears to his hand, saw that he did not refuse, and gently rubbed. His eyes squinted happily, the action was full of intimacy and trust¡ª first, food and treatment, then helped him improve his aptitude and teach knowledge, and he also gave him almost everything he needed to survive in this strange place. He was grateful for having a second parent. The ears in his hand were soft and tickling. Chu Rong recovered from the strange and relaxed feeling that suddenly rose, frowning instinctively, and his gaze swept over the little head that Qiao Zhiya had approached, which he could almost take advantage of in order to take his life by hitting his vital points 1[This long line of text (ÊÓÏßɨ¹ýÇÇÖÎÑÇ´Õ¹ýÀ´µÄСÄÔ´üºÍ¼¸ºõË͵½ÊÖϵļ¸¸öÃüÃÅÒªº¦) made me cry without tears. I¡¯m not really sure if I interpreted it right.]. He unknitted his eyebrows, glanced at this simple room, moved his fingers slightly, and followed his heart¡¯s wishes, rubbing his soft ears. The atmosphere was silent and warm for a while. It didn¡¯t return to normal until the people sent to deliver the meal knocked on the door. The table was too small to set up dinner and there was only one chair. The two simply put the food on the chair and settled the dinner while sitting on the ground. Advertisements Chu Rong had eaten in various environments in the past, but at this time, in a small room, sitting on the ground with a strange little ghost who he hadn¡¯t known him for a long time and eating simple meals from the military¡ª this scene actually made him feel novel and even had a long-lost sense of leisure. He unbuttoned the two buttons at the top of the military uniform, shifted his gaze, and looked at the person beside him. Qiao Zhiya was eating very quietly, with a faint elegance in his movements, and a very regular sitting posture. It could be seen that his tutor was very good. When chewing, his cheeks bulged, very attentive and well-behaved. ¡­Much better than the noisy third child at home. Chu Rong thought of his careless brother and his face turned dark. He increasingly felt pleased about the obedient and well-behaved Qiao Zhiya. He simply took a plate of fruit prepared by the kitchen, just like his instructions to Fan Xiangnan, and took a green fruit packed in a sealed container. ¡°Eating this is good for mental energy. Eat all of it. Don¡¯t waste it.¡± As soon as the box opened, a comfortable and clear air as well as rich fruity aroma came out. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slow thinking after eating immediately became clear. He observed this valuable box, felt the soothing breath suddenly floating in the air, looked at the five green fruits soaked in strange potion inside the box, and swallowed unconsciously. However, he pushed the lid back on the box and shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t want it. I don¡¯t have spiritual power. You should keep it for yourself.¡± Now, he guessed the value of green fruit and the significance of these green fruits to Chu Rong, therefore, he would never eat these again. Just after complimenting his good behavior, he was suddenly picky about food. Uncle Chu made a face, opened the box again, pushed it over, and said, ¡°You can eat it if you want. You have just temporarily lost your mental energy due to some accidents. It does not mean that you will not recover in the future. Eat the fruit and lay a good foundation.¡± ¡°I still won¡¯t eat it.¡± Qiao Zhiya continued to shake his head and thought of his ¡°illness¡± which made people care about him. He wanted to spit out all the green fruits he had eaten before and return them. He deliberately turned his head and said, ¡°You always give me this. I¡¯m tired of it. I want to eat cantaloupe.¡± Cantaloupe, the most affordable fruit in the Federation, was cheap and easy to store. It was the most suitable fruit to bring when traveling or at home. Chu Rong¡¯s impatience was once again triggered. He reached out to cover the box with its lid and put it in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. He stood up and said, ¡°Little demon, you don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you. For your training tomorrow, remember to attend on time.¡± After that, he turned around to leave. ¡°Wait!¡± Seeing that he was about to leave, Qiao Zhiya immediately stopped pretending to be willful, got up, and leaned forward. He looked at his body, searching for something, but when he did not find the familiar little pouch, he anxiously asked, ¡°I personally made the thing I gave you. You have to carry it with you and it¡¯s best to put it next to your body, not in the space button.¡± Otherwise, it won¡¯t work. Advertisements After finished speaking, he felt that his commanding tone was not very good and added in a soft voice, ¡°Okay?¡± The height difference between the two was too much. The other was looking up at him, similar to a weak and small chicken. Uncle Chu¡¯s irritation eased again. He looked down at his nervous expression for a few seconds, raised his hand to rub his bangs, did not speak, and left. Qiao Zhiya touched his messy bangs. He wanted to chase but was afraid of offending the other party. He was a little anxious¡ª what did he mean by not speaking? Did it mean yes or no? Looking at the box in his hand again, his face wrinkled. Also, what should he do with these green fruits? Before going to bed, Chu Rong took out the small pouch that was only the size of his palm from his coat pocket, touched the very primitive leaf imprint embroidered on it, gently pulled the drawstring on it, and took out the content. Under the dim light, a touch of green was exposed and as the light turned, there seemed to be a silver light gliding over the green. Chu Rong, who thought he would see metal gadgets, was stunned. He flipped the jade, which was polished to be smooth and beautiful, and rubbed the pattern on it. The corners of his mouth curled up but he snorted in disgust. The Cheapskate actually sent him a piece of jade. After snorting, he touched it again, which seemed to be carved or painted, like a delicate pattern of moonlight sliding across the tip of a leaf. He squinted his eyes and looked at the space button hanging on the coat. After a pause, he put the jade jade back into his small pocket and stuffed it under his pillow. Forget it, it¡¯s time to indulge the child. The next day, the teacher who taught the language class changed back to Lin Zhen. From him, Qiao Zhiya learned that the uninvited guests he saw yesterday had left, the thieves were also taken away, and the slaves remained for resettlement. Life on the ship returned to peace. After lunch, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t go to the training room immediately. Instead, he ran back to his room to check the large leaf plants he tried to raise in the primary wood enhanced magic array before going to bed last night. He carefully felt it. After discovering that the wood elements really became richer, he squinted his eyes, removed the plant, and carefully placed the box containing the green fruit in the middle of the formation. Advertisements After all this, he changed his training clothes and rushed to the training room. ¡°Qiao!¡± Tan Shengwei stood at the door of the training room, saw him come, and greeted him. He handed over a bag of plant seeds and said with a smile, ¡°Here, I heard from Zhuang-jie that you like plants. I found this when I went to patrol. I guess you will like it, so I got some seeds back.¡± Then he showed a picture from the communicator. The picture was very clear, with a handful of spherical pink flowers swaying in the sun, very beautiful. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up and he hurriedly reached for the seeds. Tan Shengwei smiled when he saw it, turned off the picture, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what this flower is. It seems to be a native plant unique to this mineral star. It has been determined to be harmless. You can keep it for fun. Zhuang-jie should have the nutrient solution for flowerpots and plants.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, only thinking that the gift was super pleasant. Last night, he just came up with a way to cultivate plants with a magic array. He was worried that there were no more plants for him to experiment with. Today, Tan Shengwei sent plant seeds. It was like he was drowsy and someone handed him a pillow. Such good luck! ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Tan Shengwei smiled back at him, happy in his heart, and simply took over the job of finding Zhuang Yu for flower pots and nutrient solution. Waiting in the training room, Chu Rong, with his keen five senses, heard the ¡°greasy and crooked¡± dialogue between the two. He frowned and silently counted for three seconds in his heart. No one came in. His patience completely disappeared. He went out with a cold face, grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s collar, and forced him in. He caught Tan Shengwei¡¯s sight in passing. Tan Shengwei, ¡°¡­¡± Oops, he forgot that the chief was here today. The feeling of being carried by the collar was too familiar. Qiao Zhiya immediately realized who the person was. He turned his head to look with bright eyes. Seeing Chu Rong¡¯s beautiful profile, his ears shook, and he asked happily, ¡± Why are you here?¡± Chu Rong ignored him, strode to the combat zone in the training room, put him in the center of the field, and said coldly, ¡°I will take over your training today.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned. After digesting the information, he almost jumped up, and his tone unconsciously raised, ¡°Really? Are you not busy today?¡± How did this dialogue feel like the daily life of a clingy son and an irresponsible father? Chu Rong coldly put this terrible illusion behind his head and coldly said, ¡°First, do warm-up and basic training and then, we¡¯ll do a practice duel.¡± Advertisements Practice duel? Qiao Zhiya was puzzled for a moment, then immediately threw this unlearned word behind his head, and ran to do warm-up exercises. Half an hour later, Qiao Zhiya, who was fully active, was once again carried to the combat zone by Chu Rong, and then Chu Rong stood still. Qiao Zhiya curled his ears at him fawningly, his eyes filled with doubts, ¡°?¡± ¡­Stupid! Chu Rong disliked the side of his head, took out a familiar small pouch from his pocket and tied it to the waist of his training suit, stepped back a few steps, put his hands behind his back, and signaled him to attack, ¡°Using your two hands, try to attack me. If you grab this thing from my waist, I will give you ten mecha models like yesterday. ¡° Attack? Ten?! Qiao Zhiya glanced at the hands behind his back and then at the position of his own arm ring. He crouched down slightly and attacked him without hesitation. CH 20 Bang! Three seconds later, Qiao Zhiya was pressed by Chu Rong¡¯s leg to the ground, face down. ¡°You¡¯re too slow.¡± Uncle1[T/N: I¡¯m thinking if I should change it to ancestor. Ancestor Chu.] Chu ruthlessly commented. Qiao Zhiya was in a daze for a moment and didn¡¯t understand why he fell on the ground. When he returned to his senses, he heard what he said, his unwillingness and desire to win blossomed at the same time. His eyes turned sharp and thought about what he had learned during hunting with his mother in the woods. First, relax the body. Next, wait for the suppression behind to loosen. After that, immediately fight back! Advertisements Plop. He was pressed face up on the ground this time, facing Uncle Chu¡¯s cold face, ¡°Good idea, but the action is too rigid and there are too many flaws.¡± This kind of perspective of lying on the ground looking up at his opponent made Qiao Zhiya think he was a prey that was being teased by a beast under its claws and may die at any time. The fighting spirit in his heart increased. He suddenly raised his fist, knocked on Chu Rong¡¯s calf bone, then turned up while the opponent was dodging, and he retreated far away. ¡°Good escape.¡± Chu Rong slowly stood up straight, his expression indifferent, and his voice was cold, ¡°Unfortunately, there is no need for fleeing soldiers on the battlefield.¡± Fleeing soldier? Advertisements Qiao Zhiya¡¯s breathing slowed down and his hands clenched into fists. Although peace-loving dwarves never took the initiative to provoke a war, when the enemy made provocations on their faces, they didn¡¯t mind letting the other party taste the dwarves¡¯ anger! The dwarves had no cowards! He put away his recklessness and hesitance, moved his wrist, and attacked again! ¡°Rough attack.¡± ¡°Bad prediction.¡± ¡°There are too many superfluous movements.¡± ¡°Weak points are directly sent to the enemy, ignorant!¡± ¡°The strength is great but the force action is too obvious. The enemy is neither a wood stump nor will just watch you attack. When you attack, the opponent won¡¯t just stupidly stand and let you hit.¡± The sound of beating on the mat frequently sounded. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s clothes were soaked and his breath gradually became unstable. However, his expression remained calm, his eyes even grew more aggressive, and his attack became increasingly strategic. Chu Rong calmly stood opposite him. Aside from his clothes and hair that were messed up a bit, there was no sign of him fighting at all. The members of the small team who pretended to be training were full of envy, admiration, and sympathy for Qiao Zhiya¡ª envy for getting Chu Rong¡¯s personal guidance; jealous because he was not only instructed personally, but also received a one-on-one actual combat teaching; admiration for his bravery and perseverance; sympathy¡­ seeing the little white rabbit being abused by the devil, normal people would sympathize. The atmosphere seemed to be tense. Advertisements Qiao Zhiya slowly adjusted his breathing and stared straight at Chu Rong, who was calmly standing opposite him. His hands clenched into fists. Suddenly, he rushed forward again without warning and his speed was fast like a shadow, only leaving an afterimage. ¡°Wow.¡± Glancing at their duel, the squad members unconsciously stopped their own training and turned to watch as he passed by¡ª this speed was worthy of an S-level physique talent, so fast! He could hear the sound of his own heart beating and the wind was pouring into his neckline as he ran, taking away the heat after exercising. Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong¡¯s always calm eyes, pursed his lips, and suddenly changed his course. After a sharp bend, he directly slammed his body into the opponent from the side and back. ¡°Ah!¡± The onlookers headed by Tan Shengwei couldn¡¯t help exclaiming. They bluntly gathered in the opposite combat zone and frowned in empathy ¡ª it was too reckless to run into him directly. Wasn¡¯t it directly looking for destruction?! What¡¯s the use of speed? With the Chief¡¯s2[T/N: I¡¯m not sure but I just realized that it would be more appropriate if it¡¯s capitalized.] ability, this kind of reckless attack could be perfectly avoided by turning sideways and it could also be used to kick the opponent out directly using the strength of the opponent¡¯s rushing. Why did Qiao choose this attack method and be abused? Was he a fool? As expected by the squad members, Chu Rong didn¡¯t respond much to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s course-changing attack. He didn¡¯t even turn his head. He just avoided the attack when he noticed the wind approaching and then raised his leg to make a counterattack. Qiao Zhiya, who had entered the range of his attack, suddenly turned around, faced the leg he kicked, and then reached out and grabbed it! ¡°Well?¡± Chu Rong was a little interested in his difficult turning. He retracted his legs in time to avoid his ¡°strong King Kong claws¡± and his body retreated a few steps back due to inertia. When Qiao Zhiya saw this, his eyes flashed, stopped decisively, and rushed towards him! Not seeing the expected street fighting scene, the onlookers became stupid. When they saw the next development, they became even more stupid¡ª what¡¯s the matter? How did they get into a fight? And look at this posture, why was the Chief still entangled by Qiao? Chu Rong was indeed entangled by Qiao Zhiya. It was a kind of personal entanglement. The opponent seemed to have finally discovered the shortcomings of the leg attack and began to use the sticky strategy. He did not give him the space and opportunity to stretch his legs at all. He cunningly stuck to his side and back, occasionally stretching out his ¡°powerful King Kong claws.¡± The attack style became tactful and sticky from the beginning. Advertisements ¡ªLike a candy that couldn¡¯t be thrown off once stained with it! Once again, Chu Rong sidestepped the opponent¡¯s hand touching his pouch on his side. He rushed forward and tried to open the distance between the two, but he was stuck again. During this action, a scent of plant fragrance drifted over. Cunning Bald Chicken! He thought in a good mood, no longer seeking a chance to kill with one blow, but patiently and strangely ¡°entangled¡± sideways with the other party. The onlookers are a little confused ¡ª why did these two people seem to just be playing? Weren¡¯t they supposed to fight? Where was the picture of you punching me and I teasing you? In the eyes of outsiders, Qiao Zhiya, who seemed to be playing sticky with the adult, was not at all at ease this time. He carefully adjusted his position, predicted the opponent¡¯s escape route, minimized the attack range, and then took advantage of their height difference to find opportunities to attack the opponent from a tricky angle. Unknowingly, based on the evaluations said by Chu Rong before, he quickly changed his aggressive attack method, carefully maintained the current situation of fighting, and did not dare to show a little bit of flaw that would allow the opponent to fight back. Very stubbornly wanted to win, this was the only thought in his mind at the moment. The fragrance of plants in the air seemed to thicken. Chu Rong¡¯s evasive movements stagnated for a moment and his brows deeply furrowed. As he was concentrating on his movements, Chu Rong in front of him suddenly changed the rhythm of the battle. He speeded up his offensive, no longer pulled the distance, but turned and pressed closer to him while bending his knees. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t react in time. In shock, he retreated as a conditioned reflex. He stabilized his body before trying to approach once again but it was too late. Chu Rong had already taken advantage of his escape and retreated three meters away. He failed and was again defeated. Advertisements He clenched his fist, ignoring the carelessness he had just done, quickly adjusted his body direction, rushed forward again, and swung his fist. Chu Rong easily dodged his attack, raised his leg and kicked, but he didn¡¯t think that it was only the opponent¡¯s false attack. Qiao Zhiya slipped behind him, then bent down and supported the ground with his hands, turned around and kicked his joints! The onlookers once again exclaimed in surprise¡ª this was the move that the Chief had used before! Qiao actually used it! He was also able to perfectly imitate it! This learning speed was amazing! His spiritual power began to get restless, feeling a little uncomfortable, but this did not affect Chu Rong¡¯s pleasure at this time. He avoided the leg swept by Qiao Zhiya and was about to turn around to teach the young kid an unforgettable lesson. However, the sound of wind came from his side and back and a force collided on his back. Plop! The two collapsed on the mat. At the last moment, Chu Rong twisted his knees, knocked Qiao Zhiya¡¯s palm to his waist with his knee, and quickly pressed against the fragile spleen of his abdomen. Meanwhile, Qiao Zhiya pressed his other leg with one hand, pressed his body on him, head down, teeth threatening to stop at the pulse of his neck, and the other hand on his face, making an embracing binding posture. The two people were able to control each other¡¯s life and death at the same time, but none of them could go further. Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds. ¡°Ehem.¡± With a low cough, Tan Shengwei moved his eyes away and at the same time, motioned to the other team members to quickly go away. He turned around, pretended to look at the scenery, and reflected on himself. He must be too impure to think that the posture of the confrontation between the Chief and Qiao was ¡°terrible.¡± This was extremely wrong. The other party¡¯s rapid breathing sounded by his ear, the warm breathing around his neck, and the place where the knees were pressed together were rising and falling¡ª it was the chest vibration brought out by the other party¡¯s breathing. The slightly astringent smell of grass around his body faintly brought a hint of bewitching smell. The spiritual power locked in his brain boiled uncontrollably. He returned to his senses, raised his hand to lift Qiao Zhiya off his body, got up, and quickly said, ¡°So far today, the attack just now was good and there¡¯s progress.¡± With that, he raised his hand to press his forehead and strode outside the training room. Qiao Zhiya was lying on the mat, looking sideways at the tall figure walking away. He remembered the uncomfortable sensation he had just vaguely felt and frowned, forced his almost detached body, and quickly followed him. Advertisements The onlookers watched them leave one after another without knowing why. They were full of curiosity. Some of them wanted to follow, but they were yelled back by Tan Shengwei and went on to continue their training honestly. Tan Shengwei stood at the door of the training room, glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s back, and at the honest squad members. He was relieved3T/N: ¡®Seems like we¡¯re about to welcome our first passenger on the ship.]¡ª a group of things without eyes! The Chief and Qiao obviously felt that the posture just now was too humiliating and they could not stay any longer, thus, they ran. What were they foolishly jeering for! Chu Rong had long legs and walked fast. He soon disappeared. Qiao Zhiya stood in front of the intersected corridor and remembered the White-Haired Monster pressing his forehead before leaving. He became increasingly concerned about the discomfort he felt before. After thinking about it, he walked towards the medical room. When he came to the door of the medical room, he saw a small familiar pouch at the corner of the door and the bad feeling in his heart became more intense. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why did your spritual power suddenly start to fluctuate?¡± Zhuang Yu stood outside the healing cabin, while injecting new healing fluid into it, and anxiously asked Chu Rong, who was taking off his clothes with his back against the healing cabin. She was a little frightened by this sudden unexpected situation. ¡°It should have been triggered by the excitement of fighting.¡± Chu Rong calmly replied, took off his last clothes under the curtain, drank a soothing drug first, and then laid down in the healing cabin. The cabin¡¯s door automatically closed. After a slight beep, the indicator light on the instrument began to flicker regularly. Zhuang Yu took out her notebook and quickly set it up to the complicated operation panel of the instrument. At the same time, she took out her internal communication device and called all the assistants who were not usually assigned here to help and come from the laboratory. No one noticed Qiao Zhiya standing at the door. The atmosphere in the medical room was stifling and tense. Qiao Zhiya held the small pouch and felt the uncomfortable feeling remaining in the air for a moment. His expression slowly returned from tension and worry to normal calmness¡ª the purification array suddenly speeded up for some reason and some of the black spots that were about to struggle were dying. Therfore, the White-Haired Monster, the target who was attacked by the black spots, began to feel uncomfortable. After figuring this out, he touched the hospital bed on the other side and sat down. He laid down secretly, covered himself with a quilt, and closed his eyes¡ª now, the time was right, maybe he could help the White-Haired Monster. CH 21 Chapter 21: Below Critical Level ¡°But I ruined him.¡± Fan Xiangnan, who was dealing with the task of slave settlement, rushed back to meet Zhuang Yu and asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Didn¡¯t you say last time that the spiritual power of the Chief showed signs of improvement? The red tin mine was just fine that time. Why is it suddenly turbulent now?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time to explain. The most important thing now is to calm down the chief¡¯s spiritual power as soon as possible.¡± Zhuang Yu hurriedly said. She turned around, took another soothing fluid from his assistant, and injected it into the healing cabin. Her brows were tight and her expression was solemn, ¡°The healing cabin can no longer stop the manic spiritual power of the Chief.¡± Fan Xiangnan also noticed the increasingly obvious spiritual power fluctuations in the air. His expression changed and decisively ordered, ¡°Close the medical room. Everyone, put on protective clothing! People below mental power level B, proceed outside! Notify the main control room to close the V1 area centered on the medical room! Let the first and second teams stay outside the V1 area, and the second and third teams, have them watch the slaves placed in the X6 area. Don¡¯t let them run around! Call the person in charge of the investigation team back and let him take care of the slave settlement!¡± Several officers behind him responded and turned around to convey his orders. The people in the medical room below the spiritual power level B also put down their things one after another and followed them to retreat. Advertisements In less than a minute, the medical room was half empty and all the remaining people put on protective clothing. They kept a close watch on the healing cabin and waited. ¡°It¡¯s started.¡± Zhuang Yu suddenly said with a serious and heavy expression. Fan Xiangnan nodded, remembering the scene of Chu Rong last time when his spiritual power was out of control and manic. He was so flustered that he wanted to go back and forth a few times, but was afraid to miss any details, and finally stood silently on the spot. The atmosphere was like a floating mental force suddenly compressed and turbulent, just like a balloon inflated to the extreme, centered on the healing cabin, silently exploded toward the surroundings, and then spread violently. Various instruments began to emit sharp sounds and some dense cracks appeared on the walls of the medical room. Advertisements ¡°The barrier is broken.¡± Fan Xiangnan said in a deep voice, his expression increasingly becoming more ugly, ¡°The Chief¡¯s violent spiritual power this time is more serious than the last time.¡± Zhuang Yu had no time to listen to what he said. She stared at the frantically changing data. She was carrying the pressure of mental energy and constantly adjusting the medicine injection, not daring to be distracted. After a long and difficult five minutes, the alarm of the instrument weakened. Just when people thought that the frenzied spiritual power in the air had already broken out, a greater spiritual power suddenly surged crazily out of the healing cabin and hit everyone¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s terrible!¡± Zhuang Yu exclaimed and quickly retreated away from the healing cabin. Even if they were covered by protective clothing, the people in the medical room were still overwhelmed by this strong and frantic spiritual power and the mental sea began to become turbulent. Some people with weaker concentration power had even begun to become pale and perspire cold sweat. ¡°Drink a soothing agent! Spray the soothing agent! Quick!¡± Zhuang Yu ordered loudly, took the lead in drinking the medicine, and then rushed back to the healing chamber. Fan Xiangnan, who had been observing honestly, took out a large protective cover to shield everyone, helping them withstand a wave of mental attacks. The pressure suddenly diminished and everyone recovered, like waking up from a dream. They hurriedly took out the soothing agent and drank it. Then one person walked to the emergency operation panel in the medical room, entered the password, and pulled down a red lever. Ding, ding, ding¡ª The ceiling of the medical room suddenly released a few delicate probes. After a period of rotation and adjustment, a stream of white mist was sprayed into the room. Kacha¡ª The protective shield in Fan Xiangnan¡¯s hand finally couldn¡¯t withstand the impact of the violent spiritual force. It shattered and disappeared as soon as the spray fell. Advertisements As soon as the white mist appeared, the room temperature began to drop madly. Under the influence of the white fog, the impact of the berserk spiritual energy in the air gradually slowed down. The pressure on the crowd eased and they collapsed on the ground one after another. ¡ªIt¡¯s terrible. Just a little late, if the spray appeared just a second late, they would all be ¡°slaughtered as sacrifice.¡± Qiao Zhiya was feeling unwell, almost out of breath. He curled up on the bed, lying on a pile of magic stones that turned into rubble after exhausting their magic power. His brows were furrowed, his face was pale, and he was full of cold sweat. After closing his eyes, it took him a while to enter the wonderful state he had experienced in his last dream and ¡°see¡± the cluster of white lights floating in the air and the black dots in it. He recalled the things he had done in his dream last time, separated the wood magic, rolled towards the black spots that were more lively than the last time he saw them, and then dragged them little by little to devour and purify them. Everything went smoothly. Although the black spots were a bit more ¡°lively¡± than the last time, they were not difficult to deal with, and they could be restrained by spending a little more magic. But just as his magic pool was slowly drying up and as he was about to open his eyes to replenish his magic power before continuing, a large black spot, like a black cloud covering the sky, that was completely invisible to the cluster of white lights suddenly rushed out¡ª towards the magic power that he didn¡¯t have time to withdraw. There was a great disparity between his strength and that of the enemy. This time, it¡¯s his magic power¡¯s turn to be engulfed and assimilated. He decisively cut off the connection with the magic power, disrupted the black spot, and followed the magic power to the channel of his magic pool. He then took out a magic stone from the storage ring based on his feeling and frantically absorbed it. But the black spot was like a blood-sucking insect that had eaten delicious nourishment. It kept circling around him, unwilling to leave, and tried to penetrate into his body. No, he had to absorb magic while releasing some power to protect himself. Later, he found that it was useless just to protect himself. It would only make those black spots more unscrupulous. So he gritted his teeth and started a sharp counterattack with the powerful stability of the earth magic. The black spot just stopped a bit and then a long tug of war began. When you came, I went. The black spot was being swallowed up but the magic power was consumed like flowing water, and the magic stone in the storage ring was broken piece after piece. Fortunately, the black spot seemed to be constrained by something and could not stop his attack. Another piece of magic stone was broken and the black spot that had attacked was also broken by him. He touched the storage ring again, but found that there was no longer wood or earth magic stone for him to absorb. To make matters worse, just when he was about to run out of ammunition and food, a black spot that was stronger than before rushed over and instantly swallowed the earth magic power that he was protecting himself with. The enemy became stronger but he was already at the end of his rope. It¡¯s over. When the danger came, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out the last bit of magic power to protect his magic pool, enduring the pain of overdrawing magic. He tightly closed his eyes, fumbled, and put away all the magic stone fragments¡ª as long as the magic pool was still there, everything could be done again. Hold on! Advertisements The anticipated sense of being swallowed did not come. The black spot that rushed over suddenly stagnated and the white light ball suppressed by the black spot seemed to be stimulated by something, awakening from a half-dead state, dragged the black spot back and locked it firmly. Then it turned around it, separated a wisp of pure spiritual power which was not stained with the black spot, and surrounded it. At the same time, a cool white mist slowly wrapped towards him. His exhausted physical and mental states were soothed. Qiao Zhiya felt relieved, his head tilted, and fainted. Beep¡ª After a pleasant beep sound, the door of the instrument opened automatically. Zhuang Yu¡¯s heart finally fell back to its original place. Her legs weakened and she collapsed directly on the ground. She wanted to laugh and cry. Her expression was distorted and she looked crazy, ¡°Scared me to death¡­ The Chief is okay. He¡¯s better, actually getting better ¡­ Wu wuwu1[T/N: Sounds of cryings], my medicine is all gone, all gone, wuwuwu¡­. ¡° Fan Xiangnan rushed forth to the instrument. After seeing the data, he froze, then he raised his hand to wipe his red eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°The contamination value has dropped below the critically dangerous level, it really dropped¡­¡± Hearing this, the other assistants in the medical room who had already collapsed on the ground were stunned, then they exclaimed in surprise, crying and hugging each other. For ten years, they tried every means necessary to reduce the Chief¡¯s spiritual power contamination value, but all of them were ineffective. They feared that one day, the Chief would suddenly be violent due to uncontrollable spiritual power and become insane. After ten years under pressure, finally¡­ Although it was extremely dangerous, but after ten years of despair, this tiny dawn was like a gift from a god! In the medical room, the joy of surviving the disaster was overwhelming. Fan Xiangnan quickly sorted out his emotions, took out the towel and bathrobe from the cabinet next to him, walked to the cabin, looked in, and asked, ¡°Sir, how do you feel? Do you feel any discomfort?¡± Chu Rong, who was in a trance, regained his senses, and turned his eyes to look at him. He used his arms to support himself and sat up. He closed his eyes to adapt to the change in spiritual strength and then jumped out directly. He took the bathrobe and casually covered himself. After covering his key parts, he strode to the side of the hospital bed, fixed his gaze on a bulging quilt mass, stepped forward, and directly opened it. The strong green fragrance of plants came out and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s curled up small figure appeared. He was sweating, pale, and frowning. He was curled up, arms protectively wrapped around his body, cutting a sorry and pitiful figure. Advertisements ¡°Ah!¡± Zhuang Yu, who just turned her head to look over, couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, then got up anxiously, hurriedly approached, and nervously asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? How could the Little Cutie be here? The spiritual power just now was violent¡­¡± Fan Xiangnan was also stunned. He frowned when he thought of the spiritual storm that just made a group of people with mental strength above level B unbearable. ¡°Adjust the healing cabin.¡± Chu Rong ordered towards Zhuang Yu, who was leaning over. He walked forward without expression, picked up Qiao Zhiya, and tore his clothes. His eyes swept past the hand that was firmly holding his arm in defense, despite being in a coma. He reached out to pull it away but he couldn¡¯t move it. He frowned and didn¡¯t care about the details. He turned around, stuffed the person into the healing cabin, and closed the door. The instrument started running again. Zhuang Yu let go of the old repair fluid and injected new one. While operating the instrument, she kept muttering anxiously, ¡°When did the Little Cutie run in? People with no spiritual power are directly impacted by spiritual power, either become stupid or become¡­ Bah, bah, Cutie will be fine, will be fine¡­ What are you doing in a daze! Get moving!¡± The assistants were yelled back to their senses, got up, and moved. They went back to their designated instruments. The atmosphere in the medical room became tense again. Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was asleep in the healing cabin with his eyes closed. He remembered the comfort he felt when he was mentally berserked and unconsciously touched the healing chamber. ¡°He may have recovered his mental strength and it¡¯s partially healing.¡± He spoke with deep eyes and his tone was heavy, ¡°But I ruined him.¡± Fan Xiangnan was taken aback when he heard this and he suddenly turned his head to look at the healing cabin. The mood in his eyes changed and after a long time, he sighed. After the spiritual power disappeared due to external force, there was a chance that it would recover. Although the probability was very small, if it was recovered once and then destroyed again, then the injured person would not be able to have spiritual power anymore in his life. Human beings were fragile and they simply couldn¡¯t stand the second fragmentation and collapse. CH 22 Qiao Zhiya stood in the darkness, looking around blankly. ¡°Mama?¡± ¡°Papa?¡± No one responded to him. He stopped looking around and later realized what happened before he fainted. He panicked and quickly checked the situation of his magic pool, but he only felt nothing. Nothing¡­ It¡¯s gone. He was a little confused and walked a few steps forward in a daze. He thought of something and then immediately stopped. He looked down at his palms¡ªthey were still his hands, but they could no longer gather any magic. What¡¯s the matter? Had he lost his magic? His heart beat violently for a few times and then quickly sank. He looked around the pure black space again. His lips moved, then he pursed tightly, bowed his head, and looked at the darkness under his feet. His eyes slowly turned red. Without magic, what would he use to get blood to draw the magic array and what would he use to go home¡­ Where was this place? It was so dark, was it inside that black hole? Was he dead? Would the black hole bring his body back to the Magic Continent? His parents would surely cry when they saw his body¡­ Tears dripping, he knelt down and hugged himself and bit his lower lip to stop crying, but his body trembled even more. He really wanted to go home¡­ He wanted to go back¡­ As if sensing his cries, some green and beige light spots suddenly appeared out of thin air in the dark world, and then more and more light spots gathered together to form translucent beautiful light ribbons that gently surrounded him. He couldn¡¯t sense the magic and his sight was blocked by tears. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t realize their existence until a few light spots floated in front of him. He hurriedly raised his head and looked over. A light brown strip lightly brushed his cheek, as if to wipe his tears. ¡°Ma¡­ Mama?¡± Qiao Zhiya stared blankly. He then suddenly returned to his senses, reaching out to touch the strip of light, but was avoided by the strip of light and rushed into the air. ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡± He got up to chase but his sight was blocked by a green light ribbon that suddenly appeared. He tripped himself, his body staggered, and he embarrassedly fell to the ground. This familiar wood magic¡­ He stood up and looked up to see the green light band that had covered the whole darkness. He was like a child who had finally found a home. He sobbed and cried out intermittently, ¡°Take me back, Papa, Mama, take me back, I want to go home¡­¡± The wood magic floated gently and the light brown ribbons also floated back. They wrapped the crying Qiao Zhiya up and down. After a few rotations, they suddenly converged into a ray of light which quickly drilled towards the center of his eyebrows. As soon as his eyebrows warmed, his arm with the storage ring also became warm and his consciousness pulled away from the dreamlike scene. The familiar wood and earth magic powers were gone. The pain of having his magic overdrawn exploded in his brain. Qiao Zhiya suddenly opened his eyes, touched his arm, but felt empty. His eyebrows were cold, his dried magic pool only produced some magic, and followed the white mist floating in the air. There was a stronger sensation of fire burning in his brain than the last time and he couldn¡¯t help groaning in pain. His eyes closed again. He wanted to curl up but found that his body seemed to be trapped in a narrow space and he couldn¡¯t move. So thirsty, want magic¡­ He struggled a little, his face was full of pain. ¡°Sir, there is no data feedback.¡± Zhuang Yu stopped injecting healing fluid and did not look at Qiao Zhiya, who was silently crying and struggling in the healing cabin. She couldn¡¯t bear to say, ¡°Take him out and let him have a good sleep.¡± The pain of mental collapse could not be cured but could only attempt to endure and survive. In this case, the healing fluid was completely useless and it may even stimulate his broken mental sea and further aggravate his pain. Fan Xiangnan couldn¡¯t bear to look at him, too. He turned his head to look at Chu Rong, who was always looking down at the healing cabin, and called out, ¡°Sir¡­¡± ¡°Try again.¡± Chu Rong interrupted him and ordered in a deep voice, ¡°Don¡¯t use healing liquid, change to mist soothing medicine.¡± The mist soothing medicine, although its name was similar to the soothing medicine, was dozens of times higher in purity than the soothing agent. It was also mild and easy to absorb. It was a rare drug with a very complicated manufacturing process. Even if they had it on board, they didn¡¯t have much stock of them. Furthermore, they had used up most of them just now in a hurry and now, only a few of them were reserved for first aid. In case, after using them, the Chief suddenly becomes mentally frantic¡­ After many thoughts flashed in her mind, Zhuang Yu glanced at Chu Rong and turned around. She went to the inner room and took out all the mist soothing medicine. She released the healing liquid in the healing cabin and injected all the mist soothing medicine into the instrument like free flowing water. Her eyes were terribly bright¡ª no matter! Chief¡¯s current contamination level was below critical level and he would no longer be suddenly mentally violent. It was important to save Little Cutie! Even if there was only a little bit of hope, she would try! The white mist flooded the healing cabin. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face gradually became unclear. Chu Rong manually released him from the healing cabin and did not move away. In the burning chaos, a refreshing wave suddenly came and eased Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pain. He moved and his body relaxed. He didn¡¯t know how much time passed. The painful digging he felt in his brain finally disappeared and the thirsty feeling became more and more apparent. ¡°So thirsty¡­¡± He murmured and slowly opened his eyes. After a light sound, a familiar tall figure appeared above him. Looking at it without focus, he faintly noticed a trace of pure earth magic fluctuations. He struggled to sit up and reached towards the figure with his arms. His hands grasped the source of magic, closed his eyes, and absorbed it with peace of mind. Chu Rong, who was about to check his condition, was hugged upright. His body stiffened. He paused and also held him. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Zhuang Yu, who came one step later, was stuck when he saw Qiao Zhiya, who was desperately drilling into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. Her mouth twitched in jealousy¡ª Little Cutie really had no eyes. The Chief was very tough. Also, how could she hug him in this situation? They gazed on the two bodies, which were not clothed, and suppressed the wicked thoughts that had risen unconsciously in their minds. Zhuang Yu pretended to be busy with the healing cabin and said1, ¡°What Qiao needs most now is rest. Although the pain of mental sea collapse has been over, he should pay attention to it in the next few days and try to keep his activity as little as possible. It is best to stop the training. Later¡­¡± Her voice went down, her hands were on the instrument, and she couldn¡¯t speak anymore¡­ A child who had not had time to integrate into society, after completely losing the possibility of possessing mental power, what kind of future could he have? Unfortunately, he previously had a spiritual power for healing which was a good potential for being a doctor. The atmosphere went dreary again. Fan Xiangnan coughed, ignored the appearance of his Chief¡¯s untidy clothes who was also being hugged, and reached out to Qiao Zhiya. He said, ¡°Let me, sir, you also need to have a proper rest.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was clinging to Chu Rong, seemed to be aware of the threat of being pried away. When Fan Xiangnan came near, he tightly and fittingly snuggled himself in Chu Rong¡¯s embrace and grasped the back of his neck. He murmured something and buried his face in Chu Rong¡¯s neck. Fan Xiangnan, who was obviously being disliked, also let out an ¡°Uh¡±, not knowing what to do. ¡°You go and help with the aftermath.¡± Chu Rong frowned and adapted to the intimacy of being close to another person¡¯s skin. He blocked Fan Xiangnan¡¯s approaching hand, pulled up a blanket to wrap Qiao Zhiya, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take him to rest first and let Lin Zhen call all the leaders of the mining and the investigation teams to discuss the return journey.¡± Fan Xiangnan was taken aback when he heard this. He asked with surprise, ¡°Sir, you want to return to the Capital Star2?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Chu Rong nodded. Unwilling to say more, he waved his hand and strode away with Qiao Zhiya, who had begun to struggle in uneasiness again. ¡°But the border inspection hasn¡¯t finished yet¡­¡± Fan Xiangnan frowned. He didn¡¯t know when Zhuang Yu came to his side. She retracted her gaze from the door, reached out her hand to pat him on the shoulder, and said, ¡°What are you being stubborn and worried about? This inspection was originally made by the Chief as a diversionary tactic in order to deal with the old man above. Now, the Chief¡¯s spiritual strength has improved. He has found out the Xiang family¡¯s bugs and imperial warships as well as the possibility of the black hole reappearing. Naturally, we should hurry back as soon as possible and then send someone to take over this kind of work! Don¡¯t forget those slaves who are also waiting for us to settle them. Most of them are from the Empire. Maybe we can find out something.¡± Fan Xiangnan also remembered the real purpose of the Chief¡¯s inspection this time, raised his hand, and patted his forehead. He shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m confused. There are too many things these days that my mind is in a mess.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been working really hard these days¡­ But it¡¯s better to go back early.¡± Zhuang Yu slowly revealed a lost expression, lowered her eyes, and said in a low voice, ¡°QiaoQiao can¡¯t stay on our ship all the time. He¡¯s still young and needs systematic study. It¡¯s better to have a skill¡­¡± In the end, she couldn¡¯t help sighing. Fan Xiangnan glanced at her, remembered the Chief¡¯s intention to cultivate Qiao Zhiya, and said nothing. After returning to the room, Chu Rong put Qiao Zhiya on the bed and rubbed his wet hair. Seeing that he was still squirming in restlessness as if looking for something, he frowned, reached out and held his forehead to keep him from moving, and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡± Qiao Zhiya reached out to pull down his hand, but he didn¡¯t have much strength. He opened his eyes blankly and stared at him for a few seconds. His eyes moved, fixed on an ornament in this strange room, and squirmed in an attempt to go near it. ¡°Not enough, so thirsty¡­¡± ¡°Speak the Common Language.¡± Chu Rong helped him wipe the sweat off his forehead. He followed his gaze, laughed angrily, pinched the tip of his drooping ear, and coldly said, ¡°You¡¯re still thinking about these things even if you¡¯re sick. Tsk, childish.¡± His mouth said in disgust but his body immediately moved. He strode over, took the black jade ornaments on the table, put them in his hand, pulled the quilt to cover him, and awkwardly patted him. ¡°Just go to sleep, so you can wake up well-rested.¡± A large group of rich and pure earth magic power was stuffed into his arms, Qiao Zhiya settled down almost immediately. He curled up and hugged them into his arms, closed his eyes, and absorbed them eagerly. The flailing person finally fell asleep. Chu Rong sat quietly by the bed for a while. After confirming that he was fine, he got up and walked to the small living room outside. He took out his communicator and dialed a number. A few seconds later, an image of a handsome man appeared in mid-air. ¡°Ge.3¡± Chu Rong looked up and said in a tone that couldn¡¯t be rejected, ¡°I want to take a child home.¡±4 The handsome man¡¯s eyes moved and slightly raised his eyebrows. His serious expression collapsed in an instant. He glanced up and down. His eyes stopped on his messy bathrobe and slightly reddish skin around his neck. He asked in an unfathomable tone, ¡°Lao Er5, did you finally get laid6?¡± Chu Rong was taken aback and then frowned, ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good to get someone pregnant when you¡¯re unmarried. You also have a bad reputation for girls, so you must get married as soon as possible.¡± Elder Brother Chu lowered his head and flipped through the astronomic calendar and asked, ¡°You should go back immediately to discuss the wedding. Who is the bride? How many people are in her family? We have to make a list of guests as soon as possible. By the way, your sister-in-law¡¯s family¡ª¡± Chu Rong¡¯s forehead bulged with blue veins and he mercilessly hung up their call. He leaned on the sofa with a cold face and tapped the armrest of the sofa impatiently¡ª forget it, he should raise Bald Chicken by himself. As for the terrible education of the Chu Family, how could he let a good child be misguided! CH 23 Qiao Zhiya was lying straight on the bed and his eyes were wide open. His hands groped under the quilt and touched the place where he used to wear his storage ring. It was empty. He felt the condition of his magic pool again and breathed slightly. He finally took out his hand from under a quilt and found a completely cracked gray stone ornament in his hands. He looked at it for a few seconds, suddenly raised his hand and lifted the quilt to cover his head, and rolled hard on the bed a few times. Really! It¡¯s not a dream! It¡¯s intermediate level! His magic training aptitude has actually risen to the intermediate level! The initial small pond had become the current small lake! It¡¯s full of pure magic inside! He was one step closer to going home! The most important thing was that the simple storage ring that his parents gave him was directly connected to his magic power after his aptitude was upgraded to the intermediate level, and it entered and its contents went into his magic pool! Holy things! That was actually awesome that it could be bound to the magic pool! His parents left him such a big surprise! In other words, he no longer had to worry about the storage ring being discovered by others! He also could never lose it again! The storage ring would be his deepest secret! The dark space in his dream was not a black hole at all, but a storage ring with its capacity expanded countless times! After a moment of silent excitement, he suddenly thought of the cracked ornament, quickly lifted the quilt, sat up, frowned, and tried to recall yesterday¡¯s events. He then froze, looked around the strange spacious room, got out of bed, and ran out of the room. In the conference room, Chu Rong nodded his head and said, ¡°The mining team will stay here and should strive to dig out all the variant red tin ores in the ground within a month. By the way, conceal the traces left by the imperial warships after they were dug away. Half of the investigation team will come with us and the remaining half will cooperate with the mining team to check the surroundings to see if there were any traces of human activities left by the Empire, so as to protect the safety of the mining team. ¡° The two people in charge wrote down his orders. After confirming that there was nothing left to settle, Chu Rong waved his hand to announce the end of the meeting, leaving only Zhuang Yu and Fan Xiangnan to stay. When the door of the conference room opened and closed, Zhuang Yu retracted her sight, took out a small pocket and a small gray stone from a small pouch, and pushed it in front of Chu Rong, saying, ¡°I found this on the bed where QiaoQiao was lying.¡± Chu Rong glanced over these two things, reached out to pick up the small pouch, motioned for the gray stone, and asked, ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just an ordinary stone.¡± Zhuang Yu said, feeling a little funny. She stretched out her finger and touched the small stone, ¡°This stone still has patterns. It should be a gadget QiaoQiao made when he was bored. He seems to like stones very much.¡± Chu Rong remembered that Qiao Zhiya was obviously uncomfortable but he was still struggling to look around for stones. He narrowed his eyes, put away his small pouch, changed the topic, and asked, ¡°Did you figure out when he entered the medical room?¡± Hearing this question, Zhuang Yu turned serious, clicked on a video on the electronic file, and replied, ¡°The surveillance showed that he came in shortly after you entered the medical room and he was already seen holding the small pouch. Afterwards, the monitoring was rendered ineffective under the influence of your mental power and nothing was captured.¡± In other words, Qiao Zhiya probably discovered that Chu Rong had lost his pouch after the duel exercise and came with him in order to give back his pouch. In order to return Chu Rong¡¯s pouch, he came to the medical room and then suffered the disaster. Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Fan Xiangnan at Chu Rong, who was sitting at the head seat and whose thoughts couldn¡¯t be read, and asked Zhuang Yu, ¡°Have you found out the reason why Chief¡¯s spiritual strength has improved?¡± Zhuang Yu returned to her senses and shook her head. She slightly frowned and replied, ¡°No, the instrument detected nothing. The officer¡¯s improvement this time is the same as last time, without any reason why. I can only make sure that the healing cabin and the healing fluid are not the reasons for Chie¡¯s improvement.¡± ¡°Could it be the effects of the special magnetic field of this planet?¡± Fan Xiangnan guessed. Mineral stars had more or less some magnetic field problems which caused various negative effects on the human body and were not suitable for long-term residence. After the Chief came here, his spiritual strength had been frequently improving, combined with the planet¡¯s strange energy storm response, he couldn¡¯t help but think about it. ¡°No, aside from energy storms, the planet¡¯s usual magnetic field is within the safe range.¡± Compared to their careful and solemnity, Chu Rong, the subject of the concern, was much calmer. After denying this conjecture, he glanced at his two subordinates and said, ¡°Let¡¯s forget that assumption. What I want to say is about my spiritual strength. I suspect that my recovery has something to do with Qiao Zhiya.¡± ¡°It has something to do with QiaoQiao?!¡± Zhuang Yu unconsciously raised her voice, almost astonished. She stood up from her chair and stammered, ¡°Sir, Chief, what do you mean? QiaoQiao has been miserable enough, you, don¡¯t¡­¡± Chu Rong was an important member of the Chu Family and the Federation. Everyone knew what would happen if QiaoQiao became his ¡°healer.¡± QiaoQiao¡¯s future would be¡­ ¡°When I lost control of my spiritual power, I vaguely sensed the fluctuation of his spiritual power.¡± Chu Rong glanced at her coldly, suppressed her agitation, and continued, ¡°At that time, I recovered a little bit of consciousness and noticed that there was a weak healing power in the corner of the medical room trying to soothe my mind. It had a good effect but the power was too weak. When I wanted to protect it, the power had disappeared.¡± When Fan Xiangnan heard this, his thoughts cleared and connected some events, and said, ¡°Last time, when your spiritual strength first improved, Qiao was also lying on the bed in the medical room and soon after you woke up, he also woke up. As far as I know, there are mental powers with special effects. During the Federal War, there were many large families secretly capturing people with special mental powers for research. Maybe Qiao¡¯s ancestors were one of them and they lived in seclusion to avoid persecution.¡± ¡°Zergs1 also prefer strong and special mental powers¡­¡± Zhuang Yu added, stunned and feeling cold all over. She slumped back to her chair and muttered to herself, ¡°How could this happen? Qiao is only seventeen years old. Why should he experience it? If people know that his spiritual power is useful to you¡­¡± ¡°Therefore, his loss of spiritual power is not necessarily a bad thing. The current Federation is not much better than that chaotic period in history. There are also many small moves on the side of the Empire. In addition, the insects are ready to attack again. Now, he is the safest without spiritual power.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s words were cold and rational, but his face was darkened similar to the bottom of the pot, and his tone was murderous, ¡°Conceal the matter about Qiao Zhiya having special spiritual strength. Send him all the purification fluids sent to me every month and find a way to restore his spiritual power. I will be responsible for the consequences I caused.¡± Zhuang Yu¡¯s heart was full of sympathy and love for Qiao Zhiya. She hesitated and said, ¡°In case he recovers, will you¡­¡± ¡°What do you think of my Chu family?¡± Chu Rong frowned and interrupted her. His eyes were clear and honest, ¡°I¡¯m Chu Rong, I¡¯m not so despicable as to take advantage of a child.¡± She thought that he was a small-minded person but it turned out that he was a gentleman. Zhuang Yu rubbed her face as she tried to regain her focus. She didn¡¯t even have any energy left to continue internally ragging about how the weird way her own Chief reprimanded them. She only nodded and replied, ¡°I will try to find a way to help QiaoQiao restore his spiritual power.¡± If she couldn¡¯t do it, there¡¯s still Shifu 2 they could consult. They would always find a way. Since it was a special spiritual power, maybe a miracle would even occur. Fan Xiangnan understood his other meaning and asked, ¡°Sir, where are you going to settle Qiao after returning to Capital Star?¡± He didn¡¯t ask the Chief whether he wanted to adopt Qiao. Instead, he asked where he was going to put Qiao because he knew that from the moment Qiao Zhiya was destroyed due to the Chief¡¯s spiritual power, it¡¯s a foregone conclusion that Qiao would be taken in. Zhuang Yu was also invigorated when she heard him. She looked at Chu Rong expectantly and suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t you bring Qiao to my shifu? He¡¯s so smart and it¡¯s good to be a pharmacist in the future. A junior pharmacist can take the test without spiritual strength. With his talent and love for plants, he may concentrate on researching primary medicines in the future and he may not fail to achieve some achievements.¡± ¡°No, his S-level physique shouldn¡¯t be wasted in the laboratory.¡± Chu Rong dismissed her proposal without mercy, got up, and said, ¡°Make good preparations and set off tomorrow afternoon. The meeting is over!¡± He then strode away, as if afraid that they would come up with some unreliable suggestions. Zhuang Yu stared at his back, slapped the table angrily, and retorted in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the laboratory? Qiao is so cute. Does that mean that he¡¯s more suitable mixing with your group of stinky men? What a waste!¡± One of the ¡°stinky men¡± Fan Xiangnan looked at her and decided to be impolite even just once. He got up and left without saying goodbye to her. Zhuang Yu became angrier upon witnessing this and almost couldn¡¯t hold back roaring out. She sulked as she stared at his retreating back. Suddenly, she thought of something and her eyes lit up. She picked up the electronic file and left the conference room. Qiao Zhiya wore a black pajama that was obviously too big for him and went to the medical room, but it turned out to be regrettably empty. The White-Haired Monster was not here, Zhuang Yu was not here, and there was no one he knew here. Looking for someone to no avail, he searched the hospital bed again and looked around, looking up and down. However, he still couldn¡¯t find the small pouch. His ears shook in puzzlement. Strange. At that time, in order to avoid mistakenly sucking out the power of the magic stone in the small pouch, he especially put the small pouch under the pillow. But now, it seemed that someone had picked it up? He looked for it again but still couldn¡¯t find it, so he had to embarrassedly call the medical assistant, who was obviously busy, and asked in a soft voice. ¡°Small pouch? Ah, I remember. Zhuang-jie cleaned up the bed after you were taken away by the Chief. If you left something here, she should have put it away.¡± The assistant replied, seeing his face ruddy and breathing stable. With a smile on his face, he asked in concern, ¡°Do you feel better? Is there anything uncomfortable? Do you need gege 3 to check you up again?¡± Qiao Zhiya was frightened that his ears turned tense. He hurriedly shook his head and said that he didn¡¯t have to. After thanking him again, he turned and left the medical room, panicking ¡ª why did the people around Zhuang Yu-jie like to check him up?4 It was too terrible. CH 24 Did they have a pet onboard? Dwarves were a principled race. If they said no, that meant no. No matter how many times they would be asked, they would always adhere to their decision. Also¡­ ¡°What is a bald chicken?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked in confusion. He had always thought that these unlearned words sounded a little strange. Chu Rong, who was mad, paused, released his collar, took two steps back, and leaned on the operating table with his arms folded. He covered his emotions with a cold expression, tapped his fingers on his arm, and replied, ¡°It¡¯s just a modal particle 1 to express emotions¡­ Don¡¯t change the topic. I¡¯m asking you a question, don¡¯t you like mechas very much?¡± The tone of those words was quite strong to just be a modal particle¡­ Qiao Zhiya foolishly threw the question of bald chicken to the back of his mind. He returned to the topic at hand and honestly replied, ¡°I really like mechas.¡± ¡°So?¡± Chu Rong looked down at him, with the idea that he would throw him out of the mecha if he didn¡¯t give a satisfactory explanation. Qiao Zhiya glanced at him, making sure that he calmed down and could listen to his explanation, and said, ¡°It¡¯s good to be a mecha fighter, but I want to learn to build a mecha more than to drive it.¡± He always remembered to repay the White-Haired Monster and his team. The failed treatment in the medical room yesterday made him understand that curing the White-Haired Monster¡¯s disease would be a long and difficult process. The other party¡¯s spiritual power was as vast as a sea of ??stars. However, his magic power was only the size of a small lake. Before he really became stronger, the White-Haired Monster¡¯s situation could only be carefully maintained, but his disease could not be cured. The other person helped him so much, and he also wanted to try his best to do something for him. After listening to Grandpa Ren¡¯s words, he saw a new direction to pay back. Mecha manufacturing 3¡ª a field that could perfectly demonstrate the creativity and specialities of dwarves. He was confident that he could get some small results in this field. When he could really build a powerful mecha, even if he had never reached the level above the great magician and could not cure the White-Haired Monster¡¯s disease, he could at least help the other to some extent within his ability. He also had some secret little wishes. If he could, after repaying the White-Haired Monster and his party, he would like to try to drive the mecha he made, through the black hole, and return to his hometown. Chu Rong didn¡¯t expect to hear such an answer. His eardrum was itchy by the phrase ¡°for you,¡± and a strange sour and sweet emotion rose in his heart. He didn¡¯t know how to react, so he just laughed at the ¡°stupid¡± smile he revealed. Without hesitation, he raised his hand to pinch his face and pulled badly, until the expression on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face was completely distorted. He said in disgust, ¡°No matter who told you about manually driving mechas, one thing you must understand is that all mecha creators are excellent spiritual geniuses before entering the field of mecha manufacturing. The whole Federation, including welfare colleges¡ª which are the least selective of students, will not admit a student who has no spiritual strength4 into the mecha manufacturing department. Without spiritual power, you won¡¯t even be able to do the most basic material processing, let alone build a complete mecha. Little demon, mecha creation is not as easy as you think.¡± ¡°Building mechas also requires spiritual power?¡± His dream was pierced as soon as it took shape. Qiao Zhiya was a little lost and stammered, ¡°But, Grandpa Ren didn¡¯t say¡­¡± ¡°Grandpa Ren, you mean Ren Moze?¡± Chu Rong inquired. Seeing him look pitiful and deeply shocked, the anger in his heart was completely extinguished. He raised his hand and rubbed his forehead. He stretched out his arm in comfort to pull him into his arms, and said, ¡°That old man is a research lunatic. You should only believe half of what he said. Hold on. I¡¯ll take you to pick up stones¡± After that, he opened the hatch and jumped out. Qiao Zhiya reflexively grabbed his clothes around his waist, still somewhat confused. It required spiritual power to make mechas, that, that¡­ but he had just confidently drawn a huge pie. Thinking of the heroic words that he just put down in front of the White-Haired Monster, his ears shook and his face tensed. His body stiffened like a stone, while his face and ears were red with shame. ¡ªIt¡¯s a shame to talk without knowing the situation. Probably seeing his embarrassment, Uncle Chu was rarely considerate and did not continue to tease him regarding this. Instead, he stopped after taking him to a wasteland full of stones of various colors and found a large rock nearby to rest on. He then signalled him that he could move around freely and enjoy himself as much as he could. Qiao Zhiya took a careful look at him. Just as he was about to suppress his embarrassment and ask about the principle of mecha manufacturing with spiritual power, he keenly sensed a wave of magic. His expression changed into concentration, turned his head, and looked around the wasteland. He fixed his gaze in a certain direction and forgot everything about the mecha in an instant. After hurriedly informing him, he strode towards his target. His heart was beating very fast ¡ª magic stone! There was a magic stone fluctuating in that direction! Top grade! He felt it! Chu Rong half-leaned on the rock and watched how he couldn¡¯t wait to run away. He was unhappy once again and said, ¡°Country bumpkin5.¡± Qiao Zhiya followed the magic wave to the edge of the wasteland. After a careful inspection, he focused his gaze on a small plant growing out of a crack in the stone. He was stunned. How could the strong magic wave radiate from this small plant? This, this was incredible! His eyes widened, somewhat in disbelief and somewhat in foolishness. How could such a small plant emit the strong magic wave that could only be found in top grade magic stones? Was it due to mutation? Or was it bearing a peculiar fruit guarded by a magic beast? As soon as he thought about it, he noticed that there were many such stone plants farther away, and immediately put the latter guess behind him. Peculiar fruits usually appeared alone, not everywhere like this. So it should be a mutation? He squatted down, leaned close to the plant, tried to gather some magic, and touched the top of it with his fingertips. As if sensing a friendly aura, the plant gently swayed its slender body after being touched by him, and then happily absorbed the wood magic power he rubbed over. It stretched its leaves comfortably. He watched it become more energetic. It was really magical! It interacted with him, completely different from the stupid big-leaf plant in his room! He glanced at his fingertips that had been rubbed. He remembered the magic array that had been laid in his room before which he used to nourish green fruits. His face flushed red again. This time, he was excited ¡ª whether it mutated or not, this plant was a big surprise! Before, he tried to cultivate a green fruit with the magic array. His purpose was to improve the wood magic elements contained in the green fruit, so as to use it to make basic magic potions to alleviate the disease of White-Haired Monster! He had speculated before that the soothing effect of the green fruits on spiritual power was because their pulp contained rich wood magic elements. Later, the healing effect of wood magic on the White-Haired Monster¡¯s spiritual power proved his conjecture. However, the magic elements in plants had little effect on the human body when they were eaten directly. It was far from being as useful as a medicine! Moreover, the magic elements carried by plants were limited, and most of them were not qualified to be made into magic potions. Even if some were barely acceptable, the amount required to make a potion was huge. It may not be possible to collect a bunch of ingredients to make one. The green fruit was already the plant with the strongest magic content he encountered since he came here, but it was scarce. It was not enough to make a potion, and he couldn¡¯t get more, so he used a new method to increase the magic content in the green fruit. But now, this magical plant had solved this problem! With this, the magic potion could be made at any time. He didn¡¯t have to bother with the green fruits anymore! Another thing was that when the Purification Magic Array caused the White-Haired Monster¡¯s spiritual power to fluctuate. Once he created the magic potion, it would no longer be a problem! Thinking of this, he was about to float in happiness, and couldn¡¯t help feeding some more magic power to the plants in front of him. Chu Rong opened the message sent by Fan Xiangnan. He glanced sideways at Qiao Zhiya, who was squatting on the ground not far away, and didn¡¯t know what he was doing. He was so excited that his ears trembled. He squinted and enjoyed the warm sun in the afternoon, and replied wilfully: ¡®Postpone our time of return.¡¯ Fan Xiangnan was used to his willfulness. Without asking why, he directly asked: ¡®Until when is the postponement?¡¯ Until when is the postponement? Uncle Chu was basking in the sun with an unreadable expression and moved his fingers. ¡ª¡¯It should be postponed until the pet is done walking around.¡¯ Pet? Fan Xiangnan put down the communicator and touched his chin¡ª did they have a pet onboard? It took an afternoon of using magic to bring back a batch of plants. Chu Rong brought a red-faced Qiao Zhiya back to the warship, who then immediately locked himself back to his room. After waiting for him to walk away, Zhuang Yu glanced vigilantly and suspiciously at the Chief who exuded satisfaction, and asked with caution, ¡°Where did you6 take QiaoQiao for this afternoon? Sir, it is written in the Federal Law that abduction of an underage child is punishable by imprisonment!¡± Abduction? Chu Rong stopped, looked sideways at her, and raised his eyebrows. He inexplicably thought about something, and suddenly asked, ¡°Where is Master Ren?¡± ¡°Master Ren?¡± Zhuang Yu trembled with fright because of his expression. She took a step back and replied, ¡°Old Ren doesn¡¯t walk around the warship very much. At this time, he should be researching new weapons in the mecha maintenance department. Do you have something to ask him?¡± ¡°There should be.¡± Chu Rong adjusted his cuffs, his footsteps changed direction, and walked towards the mecha management department. He vaguely replied, ¡°A big matter, nonetheless.¡± Daring to snatch someone right under his nose, Mr. Ren was probably a little idle lately. Taking out the green fruit from the magic array, Qiao Zhiya sat on the floor next to the bed, took out the magic potion manufacturing method left by his father in the storage ring, and buried his head on it. When he saw a difficult vocabulary, the modal particle that the White-Haired Monster said in the afternoon suddenly popped up in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he got bothered. In line with the principle of not missing any uncommon word, he put down the medicine manufacturing method, took out his light brain, tuned to the voice search, and spoke the two words ¡°bald chicken¡±7 according to his memory. A second later, the page loaded and rows of cartoon videos showed in the search results bar. Advertisements Huh? What were these? He reached out to open one of the videos in doubt. The screen zoomed in automatically, the music sounded, and after the colorful balloon special effects passed, a cartoon chicken with a hairless head and small pockets appeared on the screen, and lively yelled at him. ¡°¡­¡± He touched his hair, looked down at his thin body, and finally stared at the lively cartoon chicken in the video for a few seconds. His lips tightened and forced back the half-read magic potion manufacturing method back into his storage ring! CH 25.1 You¡­ want to fight me?¡± After a simple rest, the warship finally set sail in the dark, left this remote border mining star, and flew towards the prosperous planet at the centre of human civilization. When Chu Rong pushed the door to enter, Ren Moze was sitting at the table fiddling with some toy-like small component. Seeing him coming, the old man only nodded as a greeting, and then continued tossing the part with his head down. ¡°Qiao Zhiya has no spiritual power.¡± Chu Rong sat opposite the old man and straightforwardly said, ¡°You1 shouldn¡¯t give him false hope. It¡¯s too cruel.¡± Ren Moze¡¯s hands assembling the component paused and raised his head to look at him. His eyebrows were slightly knitted, ¡°He has no spiritual power? Never had?¡± ¡°No, he had. It disappeared after being injured, and it may or may not recover in the future. ¡°When Chu Rong heard him ask this. He thought of Ren Moze¡¯s closed and indifferent nature. His tone was a little more relaxed as he continued, ¡°He has an S-level physique aptitude. Mecha fighting is the most suitable path for him. Mecha manufacturing can be a hobby, but cannot become what he depends on for a living.¡± He could see Qiao Zhiya¡¯s love for machinery manufacturing, but in the face of a reliable future and cruel reality, this passion could only be abandoned with regret. ¡°There¡¯s still the possibility of recovery.¡± The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com Tsolhla, Sld Ysgl eke dsv pbso vbl pweeld wdelapvydekdt vbyv Ubw Ssdt oydvle, yde vbld altalvvle bkp alynvksd sq fwpv tkhkdt wr. Mbl sze xyd sdzu dseele zktbvzu vs lmralpp bkp wdelapvydekdt, vbld zsolale bkp blye vs nsdvkdwl ypplxczkdt ryavp, yde pyke, ¡°Jwv bl zkjlp nalyvkdt xlnbyp. Rv eslpd¡¯v xyvvla kq bl eslpd¡¯v byhl prkakvwyz rsola, bl nyd zyu vbl qswdeyvksd qkapv. Gqvlaoyaep, kq bl alnshlap bkp prkakvwyz rsola, kv¡¯p dyvwayzzu tsse. Rq bl nyd¡¯v, bl nyd vau vs qkde swv y pwkvyczl oyu qsa bkx vs zlyad xlnby xydwqynvwakdt okvbswv prkakvwyz rsola. R¡¯zz blzr bkx. G tldkwp pbswze dsv cl pvsrrle fwpv cu pwahkhyz sa raynvknyz xlydp. ¡± ¡°Xze Sld.¡± Ubw Ssdt qasodle kd ekpytallxldv, bkp lmralppksd clnyxl nsze ytykd, yde bkp qkdtlap jdsnjle sd vbl vyczl kaakvyczu, ¡°Wsa bkx, kv¡¯p dsv y ealyx, cwv y nypvzl kd vbl pju.2Tl oydvle vs qzu lhld clqsal vyjkdt vbl qkapv pvlr. Rv¡¯p wdalyzkpvkn. Tl pbswzed¡¯v cl y hknvkx sq uswa3 rwapwkv sq y dlo ryvb.¡± ¡°Mbyv¡¯p obyv usw vbkdj.¡± Sld Ys aykple bkp lulp vs zssj yv bkx, yde pbyarzu ypjle, ¡°Gal vbl xlnby qktbvlap usw vaykdle yzps vbl hknvkxp sq uswa rwapwkv sq xydwyz eakhkdt xlnbyp? Mblu byhl ds prkakvwyz rsola. Jlnywpl sq vblka zshl qsa xlnby qktbvkdt yde wdnsdekvksdyz vawpv kd usw, vblu ynnsxrydu usw kd uswa rwapwkv elprkvl okvb sdzu y zkvvzl ckv sq nbydnl. Ps usw vbkdj vbyv obyv vblu es yal xlydkdtzlpp sa lhld y pynakqknl? Rp vbl ealyx vblu rkd sd usw y nypvzl kd vbl pju?¡± ¡°Mbyv¡¯p ekqqlaldv.¡± Ubw Ssdt¡¯p vsdl qlzz zso, obknb oyp y pktd sq bkp ydtla. Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p wdelapvydekdt sq vbl osaze oyp czydj. Tl nswze cl lypkzu poyule yde nsdvaszzle cu svblap. Tl oyp nsxrzlvlzu ekqqlaldv qasx vbspl obs qkaxzu jdso obyv vblu oydv. Tso nswze bl nsxryal vs vblx? ¡°Ebu kp kv ekqqlaldv? Zsw nyd osaj byae vs qkde vbl rsppkckzkvu sq rwal xydwyz eakhkdt yqvla zspkdt uswa prkakvwyz rsola clnywpl usw yal wdokzzkdt vs tkhl wr eakhkdt xlnbyp. Mbld, usw oydv vs nbydtl vbl elqsaxle yde prkakvwyz-alprlnvle psnklvu vbaswtb vbkp. Mbwp, obu nyd¡¯v Ckys Hbkuy, yqvla zspkdt bkp prkakvwyz rsola, qkde rsppkckzkvklp kd xlnby xydwqynvwakdt okvbswv prkakvwyz pvaldtvb vbaswtb bkp ryppksd qsa nalyvkdt xlnbyp? Mbld vbaswtb vbkp, nbydtl vbl pkvwyvksd sq vbl xlnby xydwqynvwakdt kdewpvau vbyv kp xsal ekpvsavle vbyd xlnby eakhkdt?¡± Jlnywpl bl oyp pvkzz vss olyj vs cl pwnb y rksdlla yde lyazu kdkvkyvsa. Rv oyp vss ekqqknwzv, yde bl pbswze dsv nyaau vblpl vbkdtp sd bkp cynj okvbswv vbsaswtbzu wdelapvydekdt vbl osaze! Ubw Ssdt oyp yzxspv ycswv vs alqwvl, cwv vbl yrrlyaydnl sq Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p nsdqkeldv yde fsuqwz yrrlyaydnl obld bl pyke bl oydvle vs xyjl y xlnby pwkvyczl qsa bkx qzypble ynaspp bkp xkde. Tl poyzzsole bkp osaep cynj okvb y eyaj qynl. For a child who had nothing, dreams may be the most precious thing he had now, and should not be stifled by indifference just for any high-sounding reason. ¡°So it¡¯s all the same.¡±4 Seeing that he listened to his words, Ren Moze lowered his head and began tinkering with the component again. His tone suddenly changed and said with some ridicule, ¡°Marshal, you are now like a parent who is overly worried about your child, unwilling to let him take a different and difficult road. You want to pave and prepare everything for him and firmly protect him under your own wings.¡± When Chu Rong heard what he said, his face became darker, and he started knocking on the table in irritation. He replied, ¡°I can¡¯t have a child as old as Qiao Zhiya.¡±5 ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t even have a girlfriend.¡± Ren Moze mercilessly taunted him, reached out to the manipulated component in front of him, gestured for a moment, and said, ¡°Look.¡± Chu Rong regretted for countless of times that he, at that time, had found such a nasty old man who now got a hold of himself and was annoying him! He glanced at the strange small component, pinched it up with disgust, looked at it twice, and asked casually, ¡°Is this a new weapon slot design? How much weapon integration can be improved?¡± ¡°10% increase.¡± Ren Moze also answered casually, and took out a small mechanical doll to play with. Hearing this, Chu Rong got serious, took a closer look at this small component, and confirmed, ¡°Is it an increase of 10% from the original basis?¡± Ren Moze nodded, showed him the test results collected in the morning, clicked on some data, and said, ¡°Look here, but 10% is only a theoretical value. When it is officially applied to the mecha, this value may drop a little. The sensitivity of thunder brown ore is not as good as spiritual power. It¡¯s a pity that this change has been made.¡± ¡°That¡¯s also a great improvement.¡± Chu Rong gripped this small component, quickly calculated various values in his mind, and said, ¡°A 10% increase in integration can probably increase the weapon¡¯s performance by 2%-5%. Not bad. Who researched this component? I¡¯ll give him a bonus later.¡± Ren Mo took a look at him and replied, ¡°It¡¯s the Qiao Zhiya you look down on. I copied this change from the doll he made.¡± ¡°Qiao Zhiya?¡± Chu Rong froze for a moment, then became angry, and retorted, ¡°I don¡¯t look down on him. He will become an excellent mecha fighter, which I have always believed.¡± ¡°Your prejudice and denial of his interests are the same as you looking down on him.¡± Ren Mo picked up the mechanical doll and shook it before his eyes. He said, ¡°His excellent mechanical design and creative ability are much stronger than the S-class physique you admire. Marshal, you need to get off your high-horse6. Observe that child carefully with an equal attitude as he is better than you think.¡± Chu Rong frowned, and didn¡¯t think he had ever been on a ¡°high-horse.¡± Only in the face of enemies and annoying people would he put on airs and deliberately anger them. Regarding Bald Chicken¡­ he¡¯s not annoying for the time being. When all was said and done, Ren Moze had already experienced a lot and could easily see through his thoughts. He didn¡¯t get bothered entangling with him. As soon as the topic turned, he poked his blind spot, ¡°You want to reverse the situation of mecha driving relying too much on spiritual power, but why do you firmly believe that mecha manufacturing is just a game that only spiritual power talents can participate in? Isn¡¯t this also a notion of being biased to spiritual power? Human beings have invented a wide variety of machinery, but these rely too much on spiritual power in the production of the most powerful individual weapons. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s ridiculous?¡± After that, he left the little doll on the table, got up, and left. CH 25.2 ¡°You¡­ want to fight me?¡± A word of advice to awaken the idealist. Mecha driving could put aside spiritual power, so why couldn¡¯t mecha manufacturing? Chu Rong picked up the small mechanical doll on the table, pulled its funny metal arm, and watched it jump in a strange dance, lost in thought. Qiao Zhiya was silently sulking in his room. He was about to wash up and go to bed early when he heard a knock on the door. He was taken aback, and hurriedly put away the messy things on the ground. He then went to open the door. ¡°Sister Zhuang Yu-jie?¡± ¡°Shhh.¡± Zhuang Yu put a finger to her lips, looked around, motioned him to follow her, and whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll take you to see the stars.¡± The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com Fvyap? Ckys Hbkuy oyp rwggzle, cwv sclekldvzu eke dsv ypj, yde bsdlpvzu fwpv qszzsole bla. Mbl vos oyzjle vs vbl letl sq vbkp qzssa. Hbwydt Zw pokrle srld vbl essa sq vbl lzlhyvsa rzyvqsax okvb bla rypp, yde asel sd kv okvb Ckys Hbkuy. Mbl rzyvqsax pzsozu aspl, yde qkdyzzu pvsrrle sd vbl scplahyvksd elnj sd vbl wrrlaxspv zlhlz sq vbl oyapbkr. Ckys Hbkuy zssjle wr qsszkpbzu yv vbl hypv tyzymu swvpkel vbl vaydpryaldv oyzz, bkp xswvb okel srld. ¡°Eso. Fs clywvkqwz¡­¡± Hbwydt Zw pxkzle yde vssj bkx cu vbl yax yde zle bkx vs vbl pokdt nbyka kd vbl xkeezl sq vbl scplahyvksd elnj. Fbl qkapv ralpple bkx vs pkv esod, vssj swv psxl zshlzu pdynjp qasx vbl prynl cwvvsd, nsdfwale y rkvnbla sq clywvkqwz fwknl, rswale bkx y nwr, yde pyv srrspkvl bkx okvb y pxkzl. ¡°Mbydj usw.¡± Ckys Hbkuy vssj vbl fwknl, pxlzzle vbl pollv qaytaydnl qzsyvkdt kd vbl yka, yde bkp lyap pbssj¡ª kv pxlzzle tsse, psxlbso pkxkzya vs vbl qawkv rkl bkp xsvbla xyel qsa bkx clqsal. ¡°Kwpv lyv, sjyu? Mbspl pvkdju xld esd¡¯v jdso bso vs vyjl nyal sq rlsrzl yv yzz. Zsw ts vs vbl jkvnbld vs blzr lhlau eyu, yde R byhl dlhla plld vblx xyjl usw psxl pdynjp.¡± Hbwydt Zw rwpble vbl pdynjp kd qasdv sq bkx obkzl yzps wdnlalxsdkswpzu rswakdt ekavu oyvla sd vbl xld sdcsyae. Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed and explained on behalf of them, ¡°No, they actually secretly give me extra food.¡± It¡¯s just that it was meat, saying that he was too skinny and he should gain weight by eating more.1 Zhuang Yu choked but quickly recovered. She waved his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking about it. QiaoQiao, we¡¯ll soon be returning to Capital Star. Have you ever thought about what you will do in the future?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was about to grab a snack, raised his eyes to look at Zhuang Yu and blinked. First, it was Grandpa Ren, then the White-Haired Monster, and now it was Zhuang Yu-jie. Today, everyone liked to ask him about his future plans. Zhuang Yu was closely watching him, getting intoxicated in his pure and clean eyes. The more she looked at him, the more she felt that such an adorable child should not be ruined by the Chief¡¯s boorish methods. She courteously pushed a snack once again in front of him, ¡°Although it¡¯s still early, it¡¯s better to prepare in advance. You see, since ancient times, people have said that doctors who save lives and heal the wounded are great. Although you have no spiritual power and cannot become a formal doctor, you can be a pharmacist. Don¡¯t you like plants very much? Pharmacists have the most contact with a variety of plants and cute little animals. Would you like to think about it?¡± Pharmacist? Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears moved, and he remembered his dream of mecha manufacturing that sunk down earlier. Although he had not given up yet, it seemed good to learn a practical skill for employment first before he could make mecha manufacturing as something he could depend on for a living. Moreover, he was preparing to learn how to make magic potions by himself. By analogy, it seemed great to first learn the potion making methods of this place. Thinking of this, his eyes lit up, and he unconsciously moved closer to Zhuang Yu¡¯s side, and asked, ¡°Is it difficult to learn medicine? Is it okay to have no spiritual power? Seeing that he was interested, Zhuang Yu was so happy that she almost jumped up. With a wave of her slender hand, she threw out a lot of pharmacy textbooks, and said with bright eyes, ¡°Simple! Super easy! It¡¯s easy to get started! These are textbooks for Primary Pharmacy. Aren¡¯t they very thin and conscientious? Come, come, come. Jiejie will now help you lay the foundation. Let me see, uh¡­ that¡¯s it. Let¡¯s start with understanding all kinds of medicinal plants!¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at the dozen or so brick books that appeared out of thin air on the table, silently swallowed, nodded, and took out his electronic tablet,2 ¡°Thank¡ªthank you, Zhuang Yu-jie.¡± Three days later, after another space jump, the azure-blue Federation Star finally appeared in their field of vision. Everyone on the ship had finished their work one after another, waiting for the warship to land. After arranging the slave settlement once disembarking from the ship, Chu Rong finally remembered Qiao Zhiya, whose figure he had not seen for the past few days. He called Fan Xiangnan and asked, ¡°Where is Qiao Zhiya?¡± ¡°Qiao?¡± Fan Xiangnan struggled to recall among the various kinds of matters he had arranged. He turned to his electronic tablet and replied, ¡°Everyone¡¯s busy with the return journey, so Qiao¡¯s classes and training have been stopped. Zhuang Yu should be the one taking care of him these days.¡± Zhuang Yu? Chu Rong¡¯s eyelids twitched as he remembered Zhuang Yu¡¯s suggestion that day. He stood up straight and said, ¡°Inform Zhuang Yu to go to the medical room to check the equipment, confirm the safety of various equipment in the medical room, and prepare for handover.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fan Xiangnan took out his communicator and asked, ¡°Do you want Qiao to go back to his room? The warship will land in about an hour.¡± ¡°No need.¡± Chu Rong waved his hand and strode out, ¡°I¡¯ll find him.¡± Zhuang Yu put down her communicator and took a look at Qiao Zhiya, who was diligently lying on the table writing and drawing. After being tangled for a while, she pressed down her frantic desire of wanting to teach this newly discovered good seedling for ten days and ten nights. She reluctantly said goodbye to Qiao Zhiya, hurried off the observation deck while holding some things, and returned to the medical room. Qiao Zhiya watched her leave, took a look at the quarter of the encyclopedia of medicinal plants that he had learned, touched his light brain on the table, and continued to work hard¡ª for the dwarves who were born in nature and grow in nature, it was almost a natural skill to quickly understand plants. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t touch the entities of these plants now, otherwise, he could learn faster. Knowledge really had something in common. Through the past few days of study and his conscious guidance and inquiries, he now faintly understood some slightly difficult points regarding magic potion manufacturing method. He liked the feeling of learning something new every day. After Chu Rong entered the viewing platform, he saw Qiao Zhiya lying on the table, and writing and drawing in front of a pile of bricks.3 From his perspective, he could only see the sharp ear tips of the other person when he lowered his head. He moved his fingers, succumbed to his desires, and stepped forward to pinch the tip of his small ear. As soon as Qiao Zhiya stiffened, he put down his pen and looked up at him. When he saw it was him, his eyes lit up and just as a smile started to emerge on his face, he suddenly remembered something, making his expression tight. He buried his head back in the books, tilted his head to pull his ear out of his grip, picked up his pen, and continued to write and draw, ignoring him. Well? Chu Rong squinted his eyes and reached out his hand again. Qiao Zhiya ducked as if he had eyes on the top of his head, letting him pinch an empty air. Oh! Had a tantrum?4 Chu Rong retracted his hand and glanced at him from top to bottom. He paused for a few seconds, decisively stretched out his hand, grabbed him by his back collar, picked him up, and stuffed him into the chair. He stepped across with his long legs and sat beside him. He squeezed him into the corner, and nastily ruffled his hair. ¡°You!¡± Qiao Zhiya glared. ¡°Who told you to learn this?¡± Chu Rong rubbed his hair, glanced at the botanical encyclopedia opened on the table, and the densely packed notes in the electronic tablet. He was a little surprised at his amazing learning speed. However, his face looked chilly as he said, ¡°A few days ago, you were still talking about learning mecha manufacturing to me. It¡¯s only been a few days, and now you have changed your mind and learned this. Are you not keeping your words?¡±5 Qiao Zhiya huddled pitifully in the corner and was a little angry. After a long time of being upset, he said, ¡°You said that I can¡¯t learn mecha manufacturing without spiritual power.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good to cower just from encountering a little difficulty.¡± Uncle Chu changed his face faster than flipping a page, and awe-inspiringly condemned his fickle behavior. The simple dwarf blushed when he said this. He raised his head and stared at him. He retorted, ¡°I don¡¯t want to give up. I just want to learn something else to support myself before I can rely on mecha manufacturing.¡± Dwarves also had to eat. Without a full stomach, how could they talk about dreams? Also, there was this person¡¯s illness. He had never done magic potions, so he had to learn more to lay a foundation¡­ Thinking of this, he quickly glanced at the cold expression of the person beside him, and once again became dispirited. He felt that he should be firmer and hit back the phrase ¡°bald chicken¡± with his fist, instead of being embarrassingly squeezed in a corner like this. Hearing how to ¡°support oneself¡± in the mouth of an underage kid, Chu Rong¡¯s thoughts about teasing Qiao Zhiya6 disappeared, and when he thought of his annoying younger brother who only knew how to cause trouble at home, his heart softened. He gently pulled his ear and said, ¡°I found you, so I will naturally support you. Moreover, you are not yet an adult and have no relatives. Even if you don¡¯t have an official Federal resident status, the Federal government will give you a monthly living allowance. Hence, you can rest assured that you won¡¯t starve until you can really be independent.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned. He didn¡¯t expect this place to have such benefits. He then quickly focused on the first sentence he said, looked up at him with wide eyes, and asked, ¡°You, you will support me?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Chu Rong liked the way he looked at himself, tugged at his ears, and said in a good mood, ¡°You don¡¯t eat much, I can surely afford raising you.¡± He raised his chin slightly and looked at his face, waiting for his surprise and gratitude. Qiao Zhiya was indeed grateful, but he didn¡¯t feel surprised, only frightened, because among the dwarves, apart from their parents, the only one unrelated and adult independent dwarf they would support was their partner. ¡°No, definitely not!¡± Thinking of this, he shook his head and refused, ¡°In my hometown, I am already considered an adult. I can¡¯t accept another person¡¯s nurture for no reason. This won¡¯t do, it won¡¯t work, I, I will support myself! You, you don¡¯t need to support me.¡± Once again rejected, Uncle Chu was extremely irritable. He reached out his hand to grab and shook him, ¡°Little Devil, do you look down on me and think I can¡¯t support you?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t think so. I just thought I can¡ª¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡± Chu Rong interrupted him, put him back on the chair, and said, ¡°The reason why mecha manufacturing relies so much on spiritual power is because almost all the materials used to make mechas more or less have issues, and cannot be used at all without proper processing. Spiritual power integration is a step that must be used in the final processing of materials. The purpose is to make materials with different properties blend more, be more compatible, and form a whole. This degree of integration cannot be replaced by mechanical processing. That¡¯s why I said that without spiritual power, you can¡¯t even handle the materials.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thoughts immediately followed, frowning slightly, and had a thoughtful look. It turned out that spiritual power played such a role in the creation of mechas. Magic power was partly similar to spiritual power, so the things that spiritual power could do, maybe magic power could also¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t have spiritual power, but you want to take the path of mecha manufacturing, then the expenses for this will be several times or even dozens of times that compared to other careers, whether it¡¯s energy or money.¡± Chu Rong held down the top of his head, rubbed his bangs, and laid bare everything to him, ¡°The Federation will guarantee that you will not starve to death, and will also provide you with basic education. However, it will not be able to give you other learning resources. The excellent mecha manufacturing colleges require you to take an examination. After you pass the exam, you need to supplement the purchase of materials and equipment needed during the learning process. At the later stage, you also need to prepare an independent studio for research for yourself. It can be said that every outstanding mecha designer is piled up with a lot of money and materials. Qiao Zhiya, I don¡¯t look down on you, but I think that with your current blank and no foundation, the most suitable and convenient choice to quickly get on the right track is to be supported by me, and then build a perfect mecha for me in return.¡± Qiao Zhiya was silent. In fact, he had thought about all this, and even planned for it. The early stage was definitely the most difficult, nevertheless, he still had a card, which was his excellent mining ability. He used his light brain to search, and there was a profession similar to an adventurer, that was, a mine seeker. These adventurers searched in wastelands on marginal planets. Once they found new minerals, after reporting to the Federation, they could obtain part of the mining rights and ownership of the minerals they sought. Upon having a transaction, he didn¡¯t have to worry about not having any profit for 30 years as money came in very quickly in this profession. He planned it this way, and directly explained. Chu Rong immediately laughed in anger, pinched his ear hard, and said, ¡°It seems that you think foolish things when you¡¯re alone. Anyone can dream of being rich overnight, but it¡¯s not that easy.¡± Mine seeking was indeed very profitable. There were also few mine seekers who were rich enough to buy planets to play with, but they were a minority after all. Most mine seekers lived in poverty, running around on the road all day without hope. Since the development of the Federation and the Empire, the planets that should be discovered in the surrounding star regions had been almost discovered. Even if a new planet appeared, the Empire and the Federation would get in touch with the natives on the planet as soon as possible, and then ask them to join their nation. Afterwards, they would send troops to figure out the basic situation of the planet. If there were minerals on the planet, they could basically be detected with the current and advanced instruments. Meanwhile, the minerals that could not be detected by the instruments could manually be found. The most important thing was that the deeper the mine was hidden, the worse the surrounding environment was. There were even guardian animals that may appear, which could be described as extremely dangerous. Generally, mine seekers had their own professional teams. They supported mecha fighters and mecha designers at high costs to ensure the safety of mine searching. According to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s simple and naive idea, rashly embarking on this road may only lead to one result¡ª before finding the mine, he would have already died on the road. The danger could not only from the environment and the unknown, but also from other mineral seekers who were competitive. Death and injury were common on the chaotic path of mine seeking. It was a completely dark gray area that was outside the law. ¡°The circumstances of each planet are different. Without sufficient preparation, there is only one dead end. There is darkness outside of civilized society. You have nothing now. Only when you are alive can you have something. When you die, you¡¯ll be left with nothing.¡± Chu Rong brushed his bangs aside and looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes as pure and innocent as if they could reflect the whole universe. He stretched out his finger and gently touched his curled eyelashes. Seeing that he dodged reflexively, it was like recovering from some profound emotion. He took back his hand, looked sideways at the large pile of textbooks on the table, snorted, and said with a smile, ¡°So, Little Demon, I¡¯ll be honest with you, I won¡¯t support you for free. I¡¯ll be waiting for the mecha you promised.¡± After listening to such a thorough analysis, Qiao Zhiya also realized his naivety and indulgence to such fantasies. Nevertheless, he also saw the other¡¯s good intentions. He raised his hand and touched the bangs that had been ruffled and brushed aside. He lowered his eyes, pursed his lips, and asked, ¡°Then what if I can¡¯t make a mecha suitable for you¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s to be done then?¡± Chu Rong raised his eyebrows and wickedly replied, ¡°Of course, roll back to me and learn mecha driving. Work hard for me to pay back what you owe me.¡± 7 The implication of this sentence was that even if he couldn¡¯t learn mecha manufacturing, there was still a back road for mecha driving waiting for him. Qiao Zhiya looked up at his harsh expression. His heart was soft, his nose was sore, and his eyes reddened. He suddenly raised his hand and pressed his eyes with his sleeve. Waiting for him to leap forward and hug his thigh,8 Chu Rong frowned when he saw his actions. He froze for a few seconds, pulled his hand with a stern expression, and said, ¡°What are you hesitating for? It¡¯s not as if it will take your life. Are you not ashamed of crying? You¡ª¡± Qiao Zhiya rushed over to hug him, and buried his face in his chest, and rubbed against his chest. His voice was muffled, but full of gratitude, ¡°Thank you, I will definitely make a mecha suitable for you and, and¡­ ¡± cure your illness. Although this person was always fierce, he had always been thinking about his well-being. He was so kind¡ª how could he be so kind? The soft-hearted dwarf was so moved to the point of crying, and the dark-faced Uncle Chu was completely stiff. ¡°Let go.¡± He frowned, feeling uncomfortable with being tightly hugged. Qiao Zhiya did not let go, but hugged tighter, and fondly nuzzled in his arms. Uncle Chu opened his hands and looked at the vast and beautiful sea of stars outside, thinking coldly about the possibility of throwing this dead child out. The atmosphere was a little deadlocked, and then a muffled voice came from his chest. ¡°White-Haired Monster.¡± Uncle Chu felt as if he had auditory hallucinations. He narrowed his eyes expressionlessly, paused for a few seconds, suddenly looked down at the small head on his chest, and pulled him out by his back collar. His voice couldn¡¯t help raising, ¡°Little Demon, what did you just call me?!¡± ¡°Now, we are even.¡± With a red nose and flushed eyes, Qiao Zhiya raised his hand to wipe his face. He smiled at him, showing his white teeth, and pulled his collar like he did, and said, ¡°I will pay you for my living expenses.¡± ¡­and a lot more. Uncle Chu, who had always been respected, praised, and held high by people, was pulled by the collar for the first time in his many years of living. He couldn¡¯t believe it. After that, he only felt annoyance rising from the soles of his feet and blocking his chest, almost suffocating him! His expression changed fiercely several times. He couldn¡¯t help shaking Qiao Zhiya vigorously, like an angry parent whose son had been defiled by villainous people. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Who taught you? Who taught you these?! Who taught that d*mn nickname and the action of pulling the collar? Speak! Is it Zhuang Yu? Is it Lin Zhen? Or that one in the team surnamed Tan who¡¯s sticky with you!¡± Lin Zhen, who just came up to look for him, stopped, adjusted the collar of his uniform, and said ruthlessly, ¡°Sir, I think Qiao learned all these bad things from you. If you don¡¯t believe me, look at your hand. Furthermore, the warship is about to land. You should prepare for uniting with the military headquarters.¡± Chu Rong quickly turned his head to look at him, gave him a murderous look, and then looked at his hand. He became silent. Qiao Zhiya looked at Lin Zhen innocently, and then at Chu Rong. His ears moved, and he wondered, ¡°Isn¡¯t this a way of expressing intimacy? I think so since you keep doing this to me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lin Zhen attacked someone who was already under fire, ¡°No, Qiao, good boys don¡¯t pull other people¡¯s collars indiscriminately. That¡¯s a provocation.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, glanced at Chu Rong¡¯s arm, paused, and asked in a low voice, ¡°You¡­want to fight me?¡±9 CH 25.3 ¡°You¡­ want to fight me?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a kind of exercise for you.¡± Chu Rong answered with a cold expression. He retracted his hands, stood up, tidied up his wrinkled military uniform, coldly glanced at Lin Zhen, and turned away with cold air all over his body. Lin Zhen followed him. Halfway through, he seemed to think of something. He looked back at Qiao Zhiya and said, ¡°Don¡¯t learn from him.¡± After speaking, he left. Qiao Zhiya watched them leave, touched his back collar, and his ears moved¡ªwas it a provocation? But every time the White-Haired Monster grabbed his collar, he paid attention and never made him uncomfortable. The warship landed at the port dedicated to the Military Department. Everyone gathered at the exit hatch and waited to leave the ship. Qiao Zhiya was also stuffed into the medical team by a medical assistant who came up. ¡°Xiao Rong1 is back.¡± A gray-haired middle-aged man greeted him with a smile. He reached out his hand affectionately to pat Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t run around again when you come back this time. How can you personally go to inspect the border? Your health should always be your priority. I let the military vacate the medical room. Why don¡¯t you have a check-up first?¡± ¡°Lieutenant General Wei, how can I trouble you?¡± Chu Rong avoided his hand without a trace, and said in a polite but estranged greeting, ¡°It¡¯s unnecessary. I don¡¯t like this special treatment and wastage of military resources.¡± After shutting two arguments with just one sentence,2 the expressions of people behind Lieutenant General Wei changed, but Lieutenant General still smiled cordially, as if he didn¡¯t hear Chu Rong¡¯s implication. He stretched out his hand to pull a young girl next to him and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to. It¡¯s better to go back and have a rest early. Your spiritual power is unstable, you should not be exhausting your body. This is Xiao Ci. She was admitted to the Federal Military Academy this year. I heard that you came back today, so I took the initiative to ask for¡ª¡± The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com ¡°Tso eslp vbl rlapsd kd nbyatl xydytl vbl rsav sq vbl Ykzkvyau Plryavxldv vs yzzso y nyelv vs nywpyzzu ldvla yde zlyhl?¡± Ubw Ssdt kdvlaawrvle bkx, bkp lmralppksd clnsxkdt eyaj, yde oyhle bkp byde. Tl pyke, ¡°Dkydtdyd, zlv vbl rlapsd kd nbyatl oakvl y alhklo. Mbl hkszyvsa pbswze cl rwdkpble. Tso nyd R alpv yppwale vbyv vbl pzyhl plvvzlxldv kp pvkzz xu sod cwpkdlpp?¡± Wyd Dkydtdyd alprsdele yde kxxlekyvlzu vssj swv bkp nsxxwdknyvsa vs nsdvynv vbl nsxxyde assx sq vbl rsav. Gqvla clkdt pzyrrle zkjl vbkp, vbl pxkzl sd Nklwvldydv Qldlayz Elk¡¯p qynl qkdyzzu nswze dsv cl xykdvykdle. Mbl lmralppksd kd bkp lulp pydj. Mbl tkaz clpkel bkx czwpble yde bke clbkde bkx. Mbl pkzldv pxsjl sq twdrsoela qkzzle vbl qasdv, cwv tsppkr qzlo qypv vs vbl xleknyz vlyx.3 ¡°Tlal¡¯p ydsvbla sdl. Mpj, vpj, vpj.¡± Mbl yppkpvydv pkpvla4 pbssj bla blye kd ekptwpv yde obkprlale vs vbl lya sq vbl rlapsd dlmv vs bla, ¡°Xwa qyxkzu¡¯p Ubklq5 kp alyzzu rsrwzya. Wkapv, vbl ralpkeldv bkdvle yv yaaydtkdt y xyaakytl qsa vbl Ubklq. Tl oyp ps ydtau vbyv bl ayd vs ryvasz vbl csaela yde bke. Tl oyp rwzzle cu vbl Elk Wyxkzu fwpv yqvla bl nyxl cynj. Ebyv y talyv nyvnb bl kp.¡± ¡°Mbl uswdtlpv xyapbyz sq vbl Wlelayvksd, okvb pvasdt qyxkzu cynjtaswde. Ebu osd¡¯v bl cl rsrwzya?¡± Mbl yppkpvydv casvbla6 alrzkle yde pyke kd y zso hsknl, ¡°Mblu yal qsankdt vbl Ubklq vs pvyde cu vblka pkel. Mblka vbswtbvp yal yzxspv oakvvld sd vblka qynlp. R blyae vbyv lhld vbl Oxrkal yzps xlydp vs okd shla vbl Ubw Wyxkzu cu xyaakytl.¡± Mbl yppkpvydv pkpvla lmnzykxle. Fllkdt vbyv vbl rlsrzl yaswde bla zssjle shla, pbl iwknjzu zsolale bla hsknl yde ypjle, ¡°Oxrkal? Rv¡¯p dsv y plnalv vbyv vbl Ubklq byvlp vbl Rxrlakyz Wyxkzu. Ebyv yal vblu vbkdjkdt? Psd¡¯v vblu byhl ydu caykdp?¡± ¡°R fwpv blyae kv. Psd¡¯v pralye kv swvpkel.¡± Mbl yppkpvydv casvbla¡¯p hsknl clnyxl kdnalypkdtzu zsola yp bl pyke, ¡°Gduoyu, vbl pkvwyvksd kp wdnzlya dso. Ohlau kdqzwldvkyz qyxkzu¡¯p clpv¡ª¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhuang Yu suddenly interrupted their conversation. She reached out to pull out Qiao Zhiya who was standing next to them, glared at the two, and said, ¡°Talk less and don¡¯t guess what¡¯s running in the heads of those people above. Be careful to get into trouble!¡± The two assistants were silent and respectfully stopped chatting. After advising her subordinates, Zhuang Yu walked forward with Qiao Zhiya. Seeing him with a thoughtful look, she frowned and explained, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to those rumours. Chief did not inspect the border because of an arranged marriage, and he won¡¯t marry just for connections. Don¡¯t believe the messy news outside, be careful to be deceived. Have you seen those people outside? One of the four influential families of the Federation, the Wei Family, has a good relationship with the Xiang Family.7 He came here today and brought a girl with him. The purpose is not just to pull strings, but also to monitor these slaves and help the Xiang Family kill them and cover up their scandal.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s line of thought was immediately shifted to this intriguing news, and he felt that he couldn¡¯t understand it¡ªwhat was this place? Intrigue8 and murder were so common. It was no wonder that his father said that human society was very complicated, and it was best not to set foot in it. ¡°When you follow the Chief in the future, you will face all kinds of unprovoked hostility, kindness, and temptation. You have to learn to distinguish them.¡± Zhuang Yu sincerely and earnestly instructed him. She patted him on the shoulder, looked at his innocent, tender, and immature appearance, and sighed. For such a simple cutie, she was only hoping that the Chief would give some strength to protect him, and also wished that this cutie would grow up quickly. Without knowing how the discussions went outside, as Qiao Zhiya left with Zhuang Yu, the Wei Family didn¡¯t follow. Of course, the group of slaves could not be taken away, and they were not even allowed to meet them. The suspension car was driving steadily in the air. Qiao Zhiya was holding the window of the car, looking at the various aerial tracks and high-rise buildings that were rapidly flashing past outside, amazed and dazzled. A pure black suspension car suddenly sprinted past his side. Qiao Zhiya keenly caught a flashing profile face in the car window, and pulled Zhuang Yu beside him, ¡°Zhuang Yu-jie, I saw White¡ª I saw Chief! Why didn¡¯t he sit with us?¡± Zhuang Yu was admiring his little blushing lovely appearance. She took a look outside upon hearing him, and replied, ¡°That¡¯s the Chief¡¯s car. He has to go back to the military headquarters first to hand over some matters. I will be the one to take you to his house, so you won¡¯t be going together.¡± After she thought of something, she suddenly smiled again, pinched his pointed ear, and asked, ¡°Calling him ¡®Chief¡¯ so quickly, it seems you have decided to follow the Chief with us?¡± When Qiao Zhiya heard this, his ears moved and his face turned red. He glanced at her and explained, ¡°I know I¡¯m not qualified to follow him yet. I call him that because I just don¡¯t know his name. When I introduced myself to him, he didn¡¯t respond to me¡­¡±As he spoke, his spirits withered again, feeling slightly aggrieved. Later, he thought about taking the initiative to ask, but every time, he was distracted by other things. When he remembered, the other party had already left and he was not able to ask him. Moreover, in dwarf etiquette, if a person was unwilling to reveal his name to someone, it would be very impolite to ask. Unwilling to say his name¡ª it means that the other party did not want to be friends with him¡­ But the White-Haired Monster clearly said that he wanted to support him. In a sense, they were considered family. Zhuang Yu was stunned when she heard this. She stared blankly for a while before she dared to say, ¡°So you still don¡¯t know the name of the Chief?!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, a little sad. This was really¡­ Zhuang Yu was speechless for a few seconds, and glanced at his drooping ears. Qiao Zhiya, raised his hand to wipe his face. She remembered Chu Rong¡¯s d*mn reason that she was not suitable to live together and take care of Little Cutie due to different genders. An evil idea suddenly popped up in her heart. She held Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder, looked him in the eyes, and coaxed, ¡°Do you want to know the Chief¡¯s name?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes brightened upon hearing this. He nodded vigorously and answered expectantly, ¡°Yes, I want to know his name!¡± ¡°Okay, then I will tell you¡­¡± That night, Chu Rong finished his affairs at the military headquarters. After communicating with his eldest brother, he returned to his personal residence near the military headquarters. He entered the door with a passcode. He unbuttoned the collar of his military uniform and reached for the light. Bang. The light turned on, and Qiao Zhiya, wearing cartoon home clothes, got up from the sofa with sleepy eyes. He looked at him for a while, suddenly sat up straight, and greeted softly, ¡°Honey,9 you¡¯re back. Will you take a bath or eat first?¡± Chu Rong accidentally pulled off the military button with force. CH 26.1 How did he become more stupid the more he goes to school? ¡°What?¡± Seeing that he didn¡¯t respond, Qiao Zhiya shook his ears in confusion, glanced at him a little shyly, called out again, and asked, ¡°Honey, are you not coming in?¡± Plop. The button made of metal was directly pinched into a small lump of disc by Chu Rong. Qiao Zhiya was attracted by the slight noise, his eyes fell on his hand, and his body unconsciously leaned forward. During the action, the loose neckline of his home clothes slipped aside, revealing a small section of beautifully lined collarbone. The blue veins on Chu Rong¡¯s forehead throbbed. He threw the flattened button on the entrance shoe cabinet, pulled open the collar of his shirt forcefully, and walked towards him with large strides. ¡°Why come back so late? Are you tired from work?¡± Seeing him coming, Qiao Zhiya immediately turned his attention back to him. He remembered Zhuang Yu¡¯s instructions, and happily got up to greet him. His face was full of concern, like a caring little wife who cared about his husband. Chu Rong seemed to hear the sound of the string called sanity in his head completely snapping off. He reached out his arms and accurately grasped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s loose-fitting clothes collar. He picked him up and shook him vigorously, almost gritting his teeth as he asked, ¡°What did you call me just now? Who taught you this? Who taught it?!¡± This d*mn vulgar TV drama line, which depraved person taught this to Bald Chicken?! He was going to skin that person alive! The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com Mbl dlnjzkdl sq bkp bsxl nzsvblp oyp vss zsspl. Ekvb pwnb y rwzz, bl ynvwyzzu rwzzle bkp qasdv cwvvsd srld. Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p qyka pjkd obknb bl kdblakvle qasx bkp lzq qyvbla oyp alhlyzle, yde lhld hytwl czwpb nswze cl tzkxrple sd bkp nblpv. Ubw Ssdt qlzv vbyv bl oyp ycswv vs lmrzsel. Tl alzlyple Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p nszzya, yde blzrle bkx rwzz wr bkp nzsvblp okvb y eyaj lmralppksd. Tl blze bkp pbswzelap, pvyale kdvs bkp lulp, yde ypjle, ¡°Ebs vbl blzz caswtbv usw vbkp plv sq nzsvblp? Eblal¡¯p uswa vaykdkdt pwkv?!¡± Mbl alynvksd sq vbl svbla ryavu oyp nsxrzlvlzu ekqqlaldv qasx obyv bl bye lmrlnvle. Ckys Hbkuy qkdyzzu alyzkgle vbyv kv oyp oasdt, tyhl bkx y dlahswp zssj, yde sclekldvzu zlv bkx ralpp bkp pbswzelap yp bl alrzkle, ¡°Hbwydt Zw-fkl ralryale vbl nzsvblp qsa xl. Fbl pyke R yx dsv y pszekla yqvla nsxkdt blal yde kv¡¯p dsv yrrasrakyvl vs nsdvkdwl olyakdt xkzkvyau vaykdkdt wdkqsaxp qasx blal sd. Gzps, vbyv¡­ esd¡¯v usw zkjl xl nyzzkdt uswa dyxl?¡± Gp bl prsjl, bkp vsdl qlzz ytykd, yde bkp pxyzz qynl oyp yzps vldpl, vaukdt vs nsdnlyz vbl pyedlpp kd bkp blyav. Ubw Ssdt, obs oyp rzyddkdt vs plde Hbwydt Zw vs vbl qasdvklap, blyae bkp iwlpvksd. Tkp blyav cseu qwzz sq xwaelaswp yway pvytdyvle. Tl qasodle, rkdnble bkp zkxrle lya, yde ypjle, ¡°Yu dyxl? Ebyv?¡± ¡°Rv¡¯p vbyv Tsdlu¡­¡± Ckys Hbkuy alrzkle. Fllkdt vbyv vblal oyp psxlvbkdt oasdt kd bkp alynvksd, bl oyp nsdqwple yde ypjle, ¡°Pkqqknwzv, kpd¡¯v kv? ¡°Rv¡¯p¡ª¡± Ubw Ssdt nswzed¡¯v blzr cwv lmrzsel kdvs polyakdt. Ebld bl nyxl kdvs nsdvynv okvb bkp dlahswp lulp, bl poyzzsole vbl qswz osaep ycawrvzu, alvaynvle bkp byde, vssj swv y esnwxldv qasx bkp prynl cwvvsd, vbalo kv shla, yde kxryvkldvzu pyke, ¡°Fll qsa uswaplzq obyv¡¯p lmynvzu xu dyxl!¡± Mbl esnwxldv oyp sdzu yp ckt yp y ryzx. Ckys Hbkuy nywtbv yde srldle kv. Tkp lulp qlzz sd vbl qkapv vos nbyaynvlap, bkp zkrp xshle pzktbvzu, yde bl obkprlale, ¡°Ubw¡­Ssdt?¡± Mbl uswdt xyd¡¯p hsknl oyp psqv yde nzlya, yp kq kdqwple okvb xytkn, yde vblpl vos osaep bl nyzzle swv olal bkdvle okvb psxl xlzzso yde zshkdt vsdl. Ubw Ssdt oyp lmvalxlzu wrplv. Tsolhla, yp kq bl bye clld eswple okvb y cwnjlv sq nzlya oyvla, bkp kaakvyckzkvu kxxlekyvlzu ekpyrrlyale. Nssjkdt esod yv bkp qzwqqu blye, bl nswzed¡¯v blzr cwv aykpl bkp byde yde tldvzu awccle bkp byka, vbl lxsvksdp kd bkp lulp psqvldkdt. Since the death of his parents, for so many years, apart from his family, no one else had called him so tenderly and affectionately. This bald chicken he picked up on a whim could really please him. ¡°Remember, that¡¯s my name.¡± He kneaded his ears again. The turbulent emotions caused by his call of ¡°Honey¡± thoroughly calmed down.1 Smelling the food aroma in the air, he suddenly felt that the room that used to be just for resting finally had a warm feeling at this moment. ¡­Wait, the aroma of the food? He frowned and looked in the direction of the kitchen. ¡°Chu Rong¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya fondly touched the two words on the top of the certificate and read it softly several times in his heart. The more he read it, the more he felt it appropriate and liked it. A smile unconsciously bloomed on his face. As soon as he looked up to say something, he saw Chu Rong turn his head and look in the direction of the kitchen. Remembering what he had made, his eyes brightened a bit and grabbed his arm shyly but with expectation, ¡°Zhuang Yu-jie said you must be very tired after a busy day. You may want to eat something hot when you come back. I saw that there were fresh ingredients in the kitchen and made some soup. Do you want to try it? The soup is made of vegetables, which is easy to digest and will not affect your rest.¡± ¡°You did it yourself? With no help from the housework robot?¡± Chu Rong retracted his gaze, looked down at him, and did not take back the arm he was holding. Qiao Zhiya nodded and said embarrassedly, ¡°My cooking skills are not as good as my mother¡¯s, don¡¯t dislike it¡­¡± Moreover, he didn¡¯t know how to use the kitchen utensils here and also wasn¡¯t good at operating the housework robots. Therefore, he secretly cooked the vegetable soup in a magic furnace, used fire magic stones, and mixed the taste with homemade spices, which may be different from the taste of the food here. Chu Rong showed some interest, grabbed his back collar, and said, ¡°Go, let¡¯s taste it.¡± For a single man who was accustomed to eating nutrient solutions and simple military meals, the kitchen was a place solely for housework robots to wander around. It was unlikely for him to set foot in this room once in 10 days or so, so Chu Rong was actually a little unfamiliar about the furnishings of his own kitchen. At this moment, he was standing at the door of the kitchen, watching Qiao Zhiya carefully bring out a small pot of hot soup from the insulation box. His eyes slowly lost focus. How long had it been since that battle? How long had he not seen such an everyday scenario? In order to prevent his spiritual power from suddenly hurting his family in his sleep, he insisted on moving here alone. After so many years¡­ ¡°This insulation box is really easy to use, and Xiao A is also extremely considerate.¡± Qiao Zhiya put the soup on the table. While tiptoeing to get the bowls and chopsticks in the top cabinet, he said a good word for the housework robot in this house. A cylindrical robot sitting quietly in the corner flashed a signal light as if responding to his praise. 2 Chu Rong regained his senses and glanced at the robot that he didn¡¯t pay much attention to at all. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya could not reach the bowls and chopsticks deep in the cabinet after a long time standing on tiptoes, the corners of his mouth curled up. He stepped forward and took two sets of bowls and chopsticks down easily, and pulled his ear. He pretended to dislike him and said, ¡°Really useless, couldn¡¯t even get them.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced back at him and somewhat embarrassedly defended himself, ¡°This cabinet is too high¡­¡± In fact, not just the cabinets, all the things in this house were too big and tall for him¡ª the single sofa was wide enough for him to lie down, the coffee table was like a table, and the dining table was a little too high. The countertop in the kitchen was difficult to work on. Even the bathroom mirror was so high that it could only reflect a small part of his body. Not to mention the bathtub, the bed in the guest room, the coat rack on the porch, the lounge chair on the balcony, the towering bookshelf in the study¡­ In short, everything in this house didn¡¯t match his height. He had already discovered that the humans here were very tall, not much different from the elves, so the things they used were habitually made wider and larger. He observed that when he was in the warship, in consideration of women, the furniture structures were still within normal. However, in this personal residence, everything was tailored according to the owner¡¯s height. It seemed very out of place for a dwarf like him to live in. Hearing that, Chu Rong also noticed this. He lowered his head, glanced at his furry head, and then at his hard and cold-decorated house. He frowned, grabbed his back collar, and said, ¡°Tomorrow, I will let someone change part of its interior design. Now, let¡¯s fill our stomach first.¡± ¡°Ah? No, no. I¡¯m not complaining.¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately waved his hand when he heard him and said, ¡°No need to change it. I just need to adapt to the height problem a little. It¡¯s already very good here, much better than where I used to live.¡± Elves were used to living in tree houses while dwarves were used to living in wooden houses, stone houses, or caves. In other words, they lived in very primitive and simple environments. Compared with those places, this place was indeed the standard of heaven. Moreover, he was now living in someone else¡¯s house. How could he bother the owner so much? He would be very troublesome. ¡°I don¡¯t like to listen to your rejection. Serve the soup.¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t like to hear his refusal. He decisively ignored it and after instructing the housework robot to serve the soup, he took him to the dining area beside the kitchen. Although the soup was made of vegetables, it didn¡¯t smell faint at all¡ª the fragrance was even strong. Chu Rong was not hungry at first. At this time, he actually felt a little hungry after being hooked by this fragrance. ¡°The main ingredient is mushrooms.¡± Qiao Zhiya saw him holding a bowl¡ª ready to drink¡ª and added a little nervously, worried that he would not like it. Chu Rong glanced at him and snorted, ¡°I can see it.¡± There were so many small mushrooms floating in the soup. He must be blind if he didn¡¯t know that the soup was made of mushrooms. As if he said a stupid nonsense¡­ Qiao Zhiya blushed and hurriedly picked up his bowl to block his red face. The soup was slightly hot at the first sip, but it¡¯s just comfortably right. A mild spicy hot taste spread in the mouth. Mushrooms and some finely chopped vegetable leaves slid through his lips and teeth. The spiciness was slowly alleviated and mixed with a mild and mellow taste. When the soup entered his stomach, the pungency was completely gone, making his body feel warm and good. Chu Rong squinted his eyes and saw Qiao Zhiya peeking over nervously. He generously praised, ¡°Not bad.¡± Qiao Zhiya let his heart settle. He happily put down his bowl and excitedly said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you like it. I¡¯ll only drink this bowl and give you the rest. You have been busy for a day, so you should drink more.¡± Just like a worried mother. Such a comparison flashed in his mind. Chu Rong reached out his hand to rub his bangs and went on drinking soup in a good mood. After drinking a pot of soup, his body was completely warmed up, the tip of his nose was still sweating slightly, and he felt lethargic¡ª somewhat too lazy to move. ¡°You take a rest and I¡¯ll prepare the bathwater for you, so you can have a good bath.¡± Qiao Zhiya handed the tableware to the housework robot, turned around, and ran towards the bathroom. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t stop him. He leaned on the chair and watched him run away. He slowly tapped his finger on the tabletop and squinted his eyes. CH 26.2 How did he become more stupid the more he goes to school? The first night of their cohabitation passed very harmoniously. On the second day, Chu Rong went to the military headquarters early. Qiao Zhiya, who had been found alone, was taken by Tan Shengwei to register as a temporary Federal resident and obtained his temporary communicator and welfare subsidies. ¡°Your communicator is bound to your identity card, don¡¯t lose it.¡± Tan Shengwei helped him wear his communicator on his wrist, taught the basic operation, and then transferred an amount to his account. He said, ¡°This is your subsidy this month. Underage plus a third-degree disability¡ª a total of two subsidies is equivalent to 5, 000 Federal Units. This amount will be issued at the beginning of each month. Because you¡¯re not sure of your specific date of birth, the government has set your age at 17 according to the bone age test. You can still get a one-year subsidy for minors. After a year, the only subsidy you can get is the one for the disabled, which is 3, 000 Federal Units.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded and silently remembered the amount, ready to check the average living expenses here. ¡°Adaptive education will start in three days. The Chief has enrolled you to the Adaptive Educational Institution run by the Alliance Welfare Department of the Military Department. The teachers are all veterans, and no one will bully you. After the adaptive education is over, you will be sent to the nearest junior college to receive language and basic knowledge education. After graduating from junior college, you will be able to obtain official Federal status.¡± Tan Shengwei briefly described the following arrangements, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder, ¡°Adaptive education and junior college courses are relatively simple, you can do it.¡± ¡°En.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded energetically, smiled at him gratefully, and his eyes were full of anticipation¡ª he was finally about to officially step into this strange world. It took three days to figure out the general expenses of this place. On the morning of the fourth day, Qiao Zhiya got in Chu Rong¡¯s car and they drove towards the Adaptive Educational Institution run by the Military Department. The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com ¡°Gv pnbssz, zkpvld vs obyv vbl vlynbla pyup, yde alxlxcla vs alpkpv kq usw yal cwzzkle.¡± Ubw Ssdt pyv srrspkvl bkx okvb y nsze lmralppksd, qwzz sq vldpksd pkxkzya vs yd ydmkswp qyaxla obs oyp ycswv vs plde bkp zyxc kdvs vbl oszq eld, yde pyke, ¡°Slxlxcla vs jllr uswa nsxxwdknyvsa sd. Psd¡¯v zlyhl. Psd¡¯v awd yaswde yqvla pnbssz. Fvyu kd vbl zkcayau, R okzz rknj usw wr obld R¡¯x esdl.¡± Ckys Hbkuy dseele sclekldvzu. Fllkdt bkp bydep vyrrkdt sd bkp jdllp, bl nsxqsavle bkx kd vwad, ¡°Psd¡¯v osaau, R okzz pvweu byae.¡± ¡°Gal usw sdzu 3 ulyap sze? Ebu pbswze R osaau ycswv usw?¡± Ubw Ssdt alvsavle, qasodle, yde tzydnle yv bkx. Mbl xsal bl zssjle yv bkx, vbl xsal bl qlzv vbyv bkp olzz-clbyhle yrrlyaydnl oswze cl cwzzkle cu svblap. Tl vssj swv y rasvlnvkhl pbklze qasx bkp prynl cwvvsd yde cwnjzle kv sd bkp oakpv, pyukdt, ¡°Psd¡¯v zlv rlsrzl rkdnb uswa lyap. Jlyv wr vbspl obs okzz es, wdelapvyde?¡± Vkdnb uswa lyap? Ckys Hbkuy eked¡¯v wdelapvyde obu bl pweeldzu pyke vbkp, cwv bl dseele sclekldvzu yde wdnsdekvksdyzzu ytalle vs bkp kdpvawnvksdp. ¡°Ebyv yal usw eskdt clkdt ps sclekldv?!¡± Bdnzl Ubw wdlmrlnvlezu lmrzsele.1 Ckys Hbkuy zssjle yv bkx yttaklhle yde nsdqwple. Tl alxlxclale vbl MA plaklp bl oyvnble ulpvlaeyu yde pyke, ¡°Ebu yal usw clkdt wdalypsdyczl swv sq dsoblal?¡± Unreasonable¡ª Uncle Chu choked, fiercely took a look at him, and stopped talking. The suspension car stopped at the Adaptive Educational Institution on the periphery of the military headquarters. Chu Rong watched Qiao Zhiya get out of the car and enter the school gate with a dark expression. He closed the car door only after making sure that he was picked up by the assigned teacher and drove towards his own office building in the military headquarters. The Adaptive Educational Institution, as the name implied, was a school for newcomers to the Federation to adapt to the rhythm of federal life. The enrolled students were even complex as most of them were indigenous people on marginal planets found by the military. Some of them have strange appearances, and Qiao Zhiya was not conspicuous as he mixed in with them. Following the student number and classroom number he received in advance, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze swept through the students who already arrived in the classroom. He tried his best to reduce his sense of existence, found a corner, and sat down. Ten minutes later, as the bell rang, a white-haired and straight-backed old man walked into the classroom. Qiao Zhiya immediately sat upright and prepared for class. He learned from Tan Shengwei that all the instructors in this educational institution of the military were retired old military officers. They came here to teach voluntarily and freely, and they were highly respectable. After the old man stood on the podium, the students in the room consciously quieted down. The old man nodded his head in satisfaction when he saw it. He didn¡¯t say any nonsense, he just entered some letters on the teaching panel and started teaching directly. When Qiao Zhiya saw the familiar row of letters, he immediately realized that the old man was going to teach some basic communication words first and then other lessons. However, he had already learned the language, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of time to learn again? He hesitated but still respectfully took out his electronic tablet, followed the lesson to consolidate his basic knowledge, and decided to wait until the end of class before going to talk to the instructor about it. The bell rang, signalling the end of the class. Qiao Zhiya collected his things to keep up with the old man who was about to leave. When there were fewer people around, he called the other party and asked, ¡°Laoshi,2 I have learned the common language to the extent that I can communicate easily. Can I change to another fast-progressive class? Upon hearing him, the old man stopped, glanced at him from top to bottom, frowned, and reached out his hand to him, ¡°Show me your student card.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurriedly handed over the card that he had only received this morning. If today was the student¡¯s first day of school or if he possessed a third-degree disability, there was no problem with the arrangement of entering the primary special class. The old man¡¯s expression relaxed. After confirming there was no problem with the school arrangement, he returned his card, thought for a while, and said, ¡°Come with me and take a test.¡± Half an hour later, the old man was holding a small test paper answered by Qiao Zhiya. His facial muscles were trembling. He slapped the table, ¡°You have learned the Common Language to this extent, how could you still be here?!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, wondering why he suddenly became angry. ¡°You¡­¡± The old man noticed his look, put down the test paper, and turned to look closely at him. Seeing his obedient, clever, and ignorant appearance, he became increasingly mad and wanted to scold the stupid Military Distribution Division for delaying this child¡¯s studies. He got up and said, ¡°Your Basic Common Language has passed the test. What you lack is some common sense test in daily life. Come with me.¡± Another half an hour passed, and the old man was about to shout abuses in the street. ¡°Familiarity with daily devices: Excellent. You only lack some common knowledge regarding the use of public facilities and public transportation¡­ These things can be easily learned if you find someone to explain them to you. Sending you here is only a waste of time!¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him worriedly¡ª the older man¡¯s mood fluctuated too much which was not good for his health. ¡°Um, Laoshi¡­¡± He said worriedly, ready to persuade him to calm down, but was directly interrupted by the old man. ¡°Go to the second classroom on the fourth floor and attend that class. Take a copy of the textbook and go back to read it. Prepare for admission to junior college. You don¡¯t have to come here tomorrow.¡± The old man waved his hand and struck a big X to the Indigenous Resettlement Division of the Military Department in his heart. He called a young teacher and motioned him to leave with the young teacher. Qiao Zhiya decisively shut up, thanked the old man, and left with the young teacher. After making up for his common knowledge regarding public facilities and public transportation for a day, Qiao Zhiya, who only enrolled for one day, took the student card that had been stamped with the graduation red badge and walked out of the school. Because he had already graduated, he was no longer eligible to enter the library of Adaptive Educational Institution. He sat down at the edge of the flowerbed outside the school, took out the textbooks he received and flipped through it. He looked over many courses and finally settled on the mineral encyclopedia under Natural Sciences, carefully opening it for a closer look. CH 27.1 Murderous! Taking the stone out, he frowned as he looked at it suspiciously. This size and shape were sure to be the mutant red tin ore he threw in before, but what¡¯s the matter with this color? The information he found did not say that the mutant red tin ore would change color after being de-radiated. In order to make sure that he remembered correctly, he put away the magic furnace, returned to his room, searched for the radiation information of the mutant red tin ore with the light brain, and then his eyebrows tightened. According to his researched information material, the color of the mutant red tin ore would not change after being preliminary processed by a machine, but after being sorted by the mecha creator¡¯s spiritual power, the color would only become lighter. This kind of discoloration had never occurred. Advertisements What was going on with the one he¡¯s holding? Was it cooked until burning by the magic furnace? He thought aimlessly. The more he thought about it, the more unreliable he felt. With some worry, he opened the Famous Brands1 official website again and chose free valuation. This time the scanning beam stayed on the mutant red tin mine for a long time, even the light beam flickered and jammed. He swallowed in nervousness and held his breath¡ª this was his last hope. His magic had been exhausted, and he could not think of other ways to make money for the time being. Mball xkdwvlp zyvla, vbl lhyzwyvksd pupvlx sq Wyxswp Jaydep tyhl vbl pnyddkdt nsdnzwpksd. ¡°Fwprlnvle plnsdeyau xwvydv ale vkd sal. Syekyvksd zlhlz: Lsdl. Tygyae akpj: Lsdl. Gnvkhl xyvlakyz: Tktb iwyzkvu. Ayzwyvksd: Uyddsv cl lpvkxyvle. Vzlypl ts vs vbl yrraykpyz nldvla qsa elvykzle xyvlakyz yrraykpyz. Mbl nwpvsxla kp olznsxl vs plzz vbkp nsxxsekvu vs Wyxswp Jaydep. Vzlypl ts vs vbl sqqknkyz olcpkvl qsa pyzlp rasnlewalp yde vlaxp.¡± Rv oyp dsv eydtlaswp, cwv vbl hyzwl pvkzz nswze dsv cl lpvkxyvle? Ebld vbl alpwzv sq vbl hyzwyvksd oyp xldvksdle, bkp blyav tsv pvwnj kd bkp vbasyv. Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p pxyzz qynl yzxspv nalyple vs qawpvayvksd. Nssjkdt yv vbl xwvydv ale vkd sal zukdt iwklvzu sd vbl vyczl yqvla vbl zktbv nszwxd oyp alvaynvle, bl takvvle bkp vllvb yde ldvlale vbl Wyxswp Jaydep¡¯ sqqknkyz olcpkvl vs nsdvynv vblka sdzkdl nwpvsxla plahknl. ¡ªOhld vbswtb kv oyp dsv rsppkczl vs lpvkxyvl vbl raknl, kv oyp dsv zkjl bl nswzed¡¯v plzz kv, vblalqsal, bl oswze fwpv plzz kv! Tl fwpv dllele vs xyjl pwal vbkp vbkdt oyp pyql! Wyxswp Jaydep¡¯ nwpvsxla plahknl alprsdele vs bkp kdiwkau yzxspv kxxlekyvlzu yde eke dsv dltzlnv bkp keldvkvu yp Qwlpv G obs oyp dsv zsttle kd yv yzz. Gqvla tlvvkdt kd vswnb okvb vbl nwpvsxla plahknl, Ckys Hbkuy qkapv ypjle nyalqwzzu ycswv vbl rasnlewalp yde qllp qsa plzzkdt rasewnvp sd Wyxswp Jaydep. Tl vbld ypjle oblvbla bl nswze plzz tssep ydsduxswpzu. Gqvla tlvvkdt yd yqqkaxyvkhl ydpola, Ckys Hbkuy pldv vbl hyzwyvksd alpwzvp sq vbl xwvydv ale vkd sal. Mbl nwpvsxla plahknl alralpldvyvkhl obs bye clld alrzukdt pvsrrle qsa y qlo plnsdep vbkp vkxl yde vbld alrzkle bwaaklezu. Gqvla y obkzl, vbl alralpldvyvkhl eked¡¯v ydpola ytykd. Seeing this, his heart was caught in his throat once again, his mind was full of thoughts, and he had even begun to plan to make some metal dolls for sale if it couldn¡¯t be sold. If metal dolls didn¡¯t work, he might as well set up a stall to sell¡­ Advertisements ¡­Hold on! He suddenly thought of something ¡ª although he didn¡¯t have wood or earth magic stones in his hand, he still had a lot of magic stones with other attributes! Those magic stones called golden jade, sapphire, and ruby jade here were also very valuable! He could also sell them! Thinking of this, he almost cried foolishly due to himself who had been turning around like a headless fly. He hurriedly took out a lot of magic stones with other attributes from his storage ring, touched this and that, and his heart silently collapsed. This was the second time he committed this kind of low-level mistake¡­ Ding-dong. The alert tone of the customer service¡¯s response interrupted his self-reflection. He turned to look at it. Customer Service 112: ¡®Sorry to keep you waiting, how many red tin ores do you have?¡¯ How many? It was only this piece. He answered honestly, then the customer service stopped for a long time, and the last message full of regret came back. Customer Service 112: ¡®Although mutant red tin mine is one of the best and rarest materials for manufacturing mechas, according to the minimum measurement standard of weight and volume of mechas, the single sales weight of mutant red tin ore must be more than five kilograms. Based on the grading, the commodity you provide is high grade and the price will be very high. However, due to the quantity problem, there may be situations where there are many interested people but no one will buy it. If you really want to sell it, I suggest that you classify this secondary mutant red tin ore into mecha model accessories or gem category, and cast it into a mecha weapon model or high-end jewelry before you sell it. Unfortunately, model weapons and jewelry belong to toy entertainment products, and the price will be about five times less than mecha accessories.¡¯ All in all, this thing was too small to sell. At the end of the explanation, the customer service also enthusiastically said that Famous Brands had the willingness to collect this secondary mutant red tin ore. If he was willing to sell, they were willing to set a special price. After setting a specific price according to the weight standard, they would buy it at a slightly higher price, exempt him from all handling charges and give him a member discount card. It¡¯s just that the Famous Brands needed to get the customer¡¯s detailed identity information, which could not be anonymized, but they guaranteed that the customer¡¯s identity would not be disclosed. Qiao Zhiya glanced at the various magic stones piled on the table, thanked the person for his explanation, and declined his proposal¡ª now that he had something more suitable for selling, revealing his identity to sell this secondary mutant red tin ore was really risky, so still wouldn¡¯t sell it. The customer service was even more regretful and reminded him tactfully that if he could get more of this secondary mutant red tin ore, he could sell it once it reached the minimum sale standard. At that time, Famous Brands would give it a reasonable price. Advertisements The other party had always been very patient and answered in great detail. He didn¡¯t try to find out the origin of his mutant red tin ore nor did he calculate anything. Instead, he sincerely gave him advice and helped him analyze a more suitable sales method. He could be said to be conscientious, and Qiao Zhiya was extremely grateful. He promised that if he got more secondary mutated red tin ores in the future that would add up enough to five kilograms, he would sell it here. The customer service enthusiastically expressed his expectation towards his next message. At the end of the conversation with the customer service, Qiao Zhiya opened the shopping software, scanned and uploaded a piece of sapphire with good quality and ordinary appearance, and then put the product on the shelf according to the lowest price recommended by the system. Because of the low price, the blue jade he uploaded was bought soon afterwards. He hurriedly called A12 to help him process the order information. Watching A1 call the courier for him, print the invoice, package the product, and send it in an organized manner, he was so happy that he almost wanted to kiss A1! Robots were so convenient! More than an hour later, the commodity arrived in the buyer¡¯s hands. After the other party signed for the goods, the shopping money automatically entered his account. He finally had money again! CH 27.2 Murderous! At the Famous Brands headquarters, Fan Qi stopped his typing, got up, and gave the seat to the real Customer Service 112. He looked at the middle-aged man waiting on the side and asked, ¡°Have you located it?¡± ¡°No, the other party didn¡¯t log in, so I couldn¡¯t find out the specific location.¡± The manager replied and asked doubtfully, ¡°Young Master, it¡¯s just a mutant red tin ore. Is it necessary for you to be this desperate? If you want, you can take it directly.¡± Why did he also have to deliberately push out the customer euphemistically? Everything he said was meant to advise the other person not to sell. The classes at Federal Military Academy would start soon. The young master came here this time to get a batch of mecha maintenance materials to take to the academy. As a result, instead of checking the maintenance materials, he pretended to be a customer service representative when he saw the pictures of the objectionable commodity reported by the customer service representative¡ª which was against the company¡¯s principles of finding the customer¡¯s location. This behavior was really confusing. ¡°I¡¯m not desperate. I only wanted to have a fair understanding about the customer group.¡± Fan Qi slowly replied, lightly glanced at him, and meaningfully said, ¡°It¡¯s just a mutant red tin ore, but a secondary mutant red tin ore which has never appeared before.¡± Advertisements The manager frowned and still didn¡¯t quite understand his approach: ¡°However, the scan confirmed that the secondary mutation of the secondary mutant red tin ore was artificially formed, not naturally. It can be determined that a new red tin ore has not appeared. This ore variation often occurs when the spiritual power combs the ore, but a red tin ore never emerged from just that. Although the secondary mutation of red tin ore is rare, it has little practicality and research value, so it¡¯s not worth it¡ª¡± ¡°Have you ever thought about why the red tin ore has been around for so many years but there¡¯s never such variation during combing?¡± Fan Qi interrupted his tirade and asked rhetorically. The manager was stunned and replied, ¡°Because the red tin ore was forcibly destroyed by the radiation machine before it was combed by the spiritual power¡ª¡± Speaking of this, he suddenly reacted and his eyes widened, ¡°Young Master, do you mean¡­¡± ¡°Xvbla xkdlayzp okzz xwvyvl obld vblu yal nsxcle clnywpl vblu sdzu byhl kppwlp kd svbla yalyp vbyv yal byaxzlpp vs prkakvwyz rsola. Mblu nyd cl ekalnvzu nsxcle cu prkakvwyz rsola clqsal clkdt rasnlpple cu xynbkdlp. Tsolhla, ale vkd sal nyd¡¯v, nyd dlhla cl, ps kv okzz dlhla xwvyvl zkjl vbkp, cwv blal kv kp, kv dso yrrlyale. Ebyv es usw vbkdj vbkp alralpldvp?¡± Ebyv lzpl nswze kv alralpldv? Ekvbswv y eswcv, y dlo ale vkd sal rasnlppkdt xlvbse bye yrrlyale! Rv oyp y dlo ldqsanlxldv xlvbse vbyv nswze ekalnvzu wpl prkakvwyz rsola nsxckdt yde nswze zlye vs plnsdeyau hyakyvksd okvbswv clkdt qsankczu eyxytle cu vbl el-ayekyvksd xynbkdl! Pl-ayekyvksd oswze alewnl vbl ynvkhl ryav sq vbl sal, cwv vbl ynvkhkvu sq vbl plnsde xwvydv ale vkd sal fwpv dso oyp qya pwrlaksa! Usxryale okvb vbl ¡°elye¡± pvsdlp vbyv bye clld rasnlpple cu xynbkdlp, vbkp plnsdeyau xwvydv ale vkd sal oyp ¡°yzkhl¡±! Rq vbkp jkde sq ¡°yzkhl¡± pvsdl oyp yrrzkle vs xlnby olyrsdp¡­ ¡°El xwpv tlv vbyv rklnl sq plnsdeyau xwvydv ale vkd sal!¡± Mbl xydytla clnyxl ydmkswp, vbkdjkdt vbyv vbl uswdt xypvla bye fwpv elzkclayvlzu rwpble y dlo sal rasnlppkdt xlvbse swv, ps ydmkswp vbyv bl nswze dsv oykv vs nayoz vs vbl nwpvsxla¡¯p bswpl yzsdt vbl Rdvladlv yde vyjl vbl pvsdl! ¡°Tso es usw oydv vs vyjl kv?¡± Wyd Ck yexkale bkp ydmkswp yrrlyaydnl yde ypjle, ¡°Wsa nwpvsxlap obs byhl dsv zsttle kd, vblka zsnyvksd kdqsaxyvksd nyddsv cl qswde. Rd yeekvksd vs oykvkdt qsa vbyv nwpvsxla vs nsxl vs swa essa ytykd, obyv lzpl nyd usw es vs tlv vbyv pvsdl?¡± G zyatl cwnjlv sq knl oyvla pllxle vs cl rswale sd vbl xydytla¡¯p qlhlakpb caykd. Tl clnyxl prllnbzlpp qsa y qlo plnsdep yde alrzkle okvb ekqqknwzvu, ¡°Yyucl ol nyd¡ª¡± ¡°Psd¡¯v vbkdj sq wpkdt ydu nassjle vaknjp vs qkde rlsrzl swv. Kwpv oykv qsa xl. Zsw nyd¡¯v yqqsae vs sqqlde vbl rlapsd srrspkvl. Mbkdj ycswv ydusdl obs byp y xwvydv ale vkd sal alnldvzu.¡± Wyd Ck pyo vbyv bkp xkde oyp pvkzz dsv nzlya, pbssj bkp blye, pyke y qlo osaep, yde rwpble srld vbl essa sq vbl nwpvsxla plahknl elryavxldv. Tl oyhle vs Isdt Zwyd oykvkdt swvpkel vbl essa yde ekalnvzu zlqv vbl Wyxswp Jaydep blyeiwyavlap. Mbl xydytla oyvnble bkx zlyhl, alnyzzle vbl zypv pldvldnl bl pyke, yde alxlxclale vbyv vbl Ubw Wyxkzu bye alnldvzu eayttle y zsv sq xwvydv ale vkd salp cynj qasx vblka xkdkdt pvya. Tl oyp pbsnjle yde nsze polyv pvalyxle esod qasx bkp qsalblye. Starting the hovering car, Kong Yuan glanced at Fan Qi who was staring out the window and didn¡¯t know what he was thinking. He asked, ¡°Did you not take the maintenance materials?¡± Advertisements Fan Qi returned to his senses and casually replied, ¡°Let someone send a batch to the academy.¡± He then thought of something and sent a message to his eldest sister, saying what he saw in Famous Brands, and mentioned the Chu Family. The mutant red tin ore had been scarce for two years and there was almost no mutant red tin ore flowing into the market. An unknown customer who did not log in suddenly came to evaluate a secondary mutant red tin ore. This was coincidental when Chu family suddenly came back with a heap of mutant red tin ores back from their mining star and got something to stimulate the Xiang family at the Famous Brands auction. This connection made people think. There were only a few areas where Famous Brands could not locate; the Chu Family was also in this blind spot. In case the secondary mutant red tin ore was made by the Chu family, the Famous Brands¡¯ intention to earn wealth would not be worth the loss. Moreover, he also wanted to see if the unknown customer could make more secondary mutant red tin ore. If more could be made, it would prove that the new mutant red tin ore treatment method did exist and not just an accidental mutation. New mutant material, ah¡­ Thinking of the weapon bar that could be added on the new mecha, he narrowed his eyes and a smile suddenly revealed on his face. He was really expectant of that simple customer with a serious lack of common sense to not let him down. CH 27.3 Murderous! After buying a lot of high-grade earth magic stones at a great price and confirming that his magic supply would be sufficient, Qiao Zhiya spent two days painting magic arrays on all sides of the jade. On a night after dinner, Chu Rong, who was about to go to the study, was stopped by Qiao Zhiya. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± He asked, reaching for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s long bangs. Qiao Zhiya gripped the pendant in his hand, reached out, and handed it over. He said, ¡°This, I made a new one, which is a bit more beautiful than the last one. Can you return the old one to me and put this new one in your small pouch to carry with you?¡± The old one has been worn for a while, and the magic power had been consumed a bit. The color must had become lighter. In order to prevent the other party from discovering this anomaly, it was better to take it back. Advertisements Chu Rong raised his eyebrows, lowered his head, picked up the diamond-shaped jadeite from his hand, and looked at him again. He then took out the small pouch containing the old one from his chest pocket, put it inside his space button, and tied the new jade pendant to his space button. He rubbed his hair and said, ¡°That mecha model has a good gift in return.¡± During his series of actions, there was no intention of returning the old jade in his small pouch to him at all. ¡°But, but¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was anxious, staring at the space button he was holding, and then glanced at the jade hanging on his space button. He couldn¡¯t help taking a step forward and wanted to reach out, ¡°Let me put it into your small pouch. Hanging it directly this way and it may fall¡ª¡± ¡°Jade is not as easy to break as you think.¡± After receiving a gift, Chu Rong was in a good mood. He unexpectedly pushed aside the bangs covering his eyes, picked him up, and said, ¡°Your hair has already grown so long, I¡¯ll cut it for you.¡± Rd rasvlpv, Ckys Hbkuy jknjle bkp zltp obknb olal vktbvzu blze cu Ubw Ssdt. Tlyakdt vbkp, bl aykple bkp byde yde vswnble bkp zsdt cydtp. Tl vwadle vs zssj yv bkx, ¡°Zsw nyd nwv byka?¡± Ubw Ssdt ydpolale bkx okvb y xlydkdtqwz tzydnl. Mld xkdwvlp zyvla, Ckys Hbkuy pyv sd vbl psqy, zssjle yv vbl pvaydtl xynbkdl kd Ubw Ssdt¡¯p byde, yde cynjle yoyu dlahswpzu, vaukdt vs pyhl bkxplzq, ¡°Rv¡¯p ynvwyzzu dsv hlau zsdt. R nyd vkl y cayke okvbswv vbl dlle vs nwv kv.¡± Tkp byka bye yzoyup clld nwv cu bkp qyvbla obs ryke talyv yvvldvksd vs yrrlyaydnl xydytlxldv. Ebkvl-Tykale Ysdpvla eked¡¯v zssj zkjl y ryvkldv rlapsd vs es vbkp jkde sq osaj. Tl oyp y zkvvzl osaakle. Gdnlpvsa Ubw, obs oyp clkdt eswcvle, clnyxl wrplv. Tl vwadle sd vbl xynbkdl, oyhle bkp byde, yde nszezu pyke, ¡°Usxl blal.¡± Ckys Hbkuy vssj y zssj yv bkx, blpkvyvle, cwv pvkzz xshle y ckv qsaoyae. Tl rwv bkp blye kd qasdv sq bkx yde obkprlale, ¡°Kwpv nwv kv y zkvvzl pbsavla. Yu cydtp yal zsdt ldswtb vs fwpv cl nsxcle wr. R¡¯x tsse yv caykekdt. R cayke xu xsvbla¡¯p byka¡­¡± ¡°Ebu oswze y csu zkjl usw dlle pwnb caykep?¡± Ubw Ssdt rwzzle bkp psqv byka, rkdnble bkp pbyjkdt rskdvle lyap, yde pyke, ¡°Fvyu pvkzz, esd¡¯v xshl uswa lyap.¡± Ckys Hbkuy vakle vs bsze cynj bkp lyap qasx xshkdt, cwv vbl xsal dlahswp bl clnyxl, vbl xsal wdnsdvaszzyczl vblu pbssj. Tl nswzed¡¯v blzr cwv qllz y zkvvzl ydmkswp, pyukdt, ¡°Eykv y xkdwvl, R¡¯zz zlv vblx cl pvkzz qkapv. Eykv y xkdwvl.¡± He was so clumsy. He couldn¡¯t even control his own ears. Advertisements Ancestor Chu stretched out his hand to rub his hair again and pushed the machine down without warning. ¡°Ah!¡± Qiao Zhiya, whose broken hair swept her neck, was so surprised that he almost jumped up. Chu Rong quickly held him down and said, ¡°Stay still, I¡¯m just helping you fix the ends of your hair.¡± ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Qiao Zhiya swallowed his saliva and sat back properly, suppressing his urge to cover his head and avoid. He raised his hand to grab his clothes, closed his eyes, and said like a strong man dying, ¡°You, you cut it. I won¡¯t move.¡± Chu Rong glanced at the paw on his clothes and sneered, ¡°Childish.¡± Qiao Zhiya pretended to be deaf. The next day, Chu Rong, who was about to go out after eating breakfast, looked back at Qiao Zhiya who was lying on the sofa. He paused and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take you out this weekend.¡± Qiao Zhiya gave him a blank look and turned his head. ¡­His temper was quite big. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you another set of mecha models.¡± Ancestor Chu added conditions. After receiving a mockery from the back of his head, he turned his eyes around his dog-gnawed hair, moved his eyes away, and added, ¡°By the way, I¡¯ll take you to have your hair cut again.¡± Qiao Zhiya was finally willing to directly look at him this time. With a sullen face, he moved his lips and whispered, ¡°Drive carefully. Go early and return early.¡± After finally hearing what he wanted to hear, Ancestor Chu nodded reservedly, turned around, and went out. Advertisements After he left, Qiao Zhiya got up from the sofa and ran to the bathroom to look at his messy hair. He frowned and adapted to it for a while. In the end, he turned his head away and ran back to his room, and bought himself a hat using the light brain. After learning today¡¯s course, Qiao Zhiya studied the method of magic potion production for a while. Seeing that it was still early, he touched the hat on his head lifelessly. The money for selling sapphire was almost gone. In the future, he had to make magic potions, buy herbs and pharmaceutical tools. The number of magic stones with other attributes in his hand was limited and would run out sooner or later. Just sitting and eating was not a long-term plan, he had to find a way to make money as soon as possible. He didn¡¯t dare to move the mutant red tin ore anymore. The magic consumption needed to sort out the ore was too much. Selling all the magic stones in his hand and replacing them with earth magic stones might not be enough to resolve mutant red tin ores that reached the sale standard quantity. What should he do now and what should he use to make money? After lying down for a while, he sat up and poured out all the things that could be sold in his storage ring. His eyes scanned around and finally landed on the space button when Tan Shengwei sent him things for the first time. He hesitated on several metal boxes, but still shifted his sight away. Those boxes were filled with jewels and other items found on the warship. They were valuable, but he didn¡¯t want to sell them. After all, they were things of unknown origin, and they weren¡¯t like magic stones that could be used to change shapes and sell them. There were still certain safety risks. Furthermore, selling them was just another way to deplete a mountain of wealth1. What he was looking for now was a way to make money. Looking around again, he thought about it and finally picked up the secondary mutant red tin ore. The customer service representative said that this thing could be sold as mecha model weapons or jewelry¡­ It seemed too impractical to make jewelry, but integrating it into mecha model weapons seemed okay? Moreover, making model weapons somehow had something to do with mecha manufacturing, which was good for his future study. Once this idea came out, he couldn¡¯t stop himself. He hurriedly put everything on the table away, took out the two mecha models that Chu Rong gave him, and removed the weapon of one of the mecha models. The mecha models that Chu Rong sent were the best. If he had spiritual power, he could even use it to control them for battle. If he didn¡¯t choose to use spiritual power, he could do some tricks through manual operation using the remote control. A good mecha model was like a scaled-down mecha, with most of the functions of a real mecha. Also, because of the model¡¯s fun size and nature, certain weapon designs that seemed very unreasonable on real mechas could be used on models. The field of mecha designing weapons for various types of mecha models was a very popular branch of gameplay. Advertisements Mecha driving was limited to those with B or above level spiritual power, which caused most humans to only drive mechas in simulation cabins for their entire lives without having a chance to drive a real one. Their enthusiasm for mechas had nowhere to vent in reality, so they turned to mecha models. In short, the mecha model industry was a well-deserved hot spot in the Federation and the Empire. Qiao Zhiya studied the original weapons that were dismantled from the mecha model. He also searched for the types of weapons with the light brain, and eventually set his sights on the category of handheld cold weapons. He didn¡¯t understand the thermal system and energy system required by hot weapons at all, but he had done forging of cold weapons thousands of times and was already proficient. Since he decided to do it, he could only do his best. After deciding on the direction of weapon production, he logged into the mecha model weapon design forum with his light brain and saw the cold weapons designed by others, as well as various refined production tutorials. After learning these, he searched the existing classic productions of various types of cold weapons, looked at the cold weapons battle videos recorded by online mecha model enthusiasts, and carefully studied the attack rhythm of the mecha models. Finally, he turned his gaze on the two models of the weapons that had been dismantled. He turned his gaze around and picked up the heavier mecha model¡ª it¡¯s you! He touched the empty handheld weapon slot of the mecha model and squinted happily. He built a forging platform with a low-level big earth magic stone first, drew an acceleration magic array, put the fire magic stone in the center of the array, waited for the temperature to rise, and then drew a strengthening magic circle on the other side, and activated it with gold magic stones. Ultimately, he drew a stable method array at the bottom of the basin next to it, activated it with a water magic stone, and filled the basin with water. When he was ready, he took out the secondary mutant red tin ore and put it on the forging table. He took out a small hammer, imagined the outline of the weapon in his head, and hammered it accurately. It took half an hour to produce the embryo of the weapon and another hour to draw the precise weapon size based on the illustration and refine it. The array in front of him exuded bursts of heat. Although there was no open flame, the heat generated when forging the weapon still made him sweat on his forehead. After the weapon was cooled down, he quickly took out his magic pen, condensed the magic power on his fingertips, and drew a magic array on the weapon¡¯s surface. He initially did not activate it and then put the formed giant sword into the strengthened magic array that was relying on the gold magic stone to be continuously active. A soft light rose and the magic array on the giant sword surface emitted a golden light, which quickly swept across the entire sword body and then sank into the weapon. CH 27.4 Murderous! It was rare for Chu Rong to return home on time. As soon as he entered the door, he noticed the out of place wooden coffee table in the living room. He walked over, kicked it, touched it again, frowned, and looked for someone in the living room, but didn¡¯t find the familiar figure. He looked at A1 waiting in the corner of the living room and asked, ¡°Where is he?¡± A1 pointed to the kitchen. ¡°Cooking?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s knitted brows loosened. The light on A1¡¯s head flickered and gave an affirmative answer. Advertisements ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you helping?¡± Ancestor Chu was dissatisfied. A1 stopped in place, and its program started to flash frantically¡ª what should it do when the master asked it not to enter the kitchen while the second master asked it to help? It wasn¡¯t written in the program. ¡°Nevermind.¡± Ancestor Chu took great compassion and did not continue to embarrass the simple housework robot, and walked towards the kitchen. Gqvla tasrkdt qsa y qlo eyup, Ckys Hbkuy bye qktwale swv bso vs wpl xspv sq vbl jkvnbld wvldpkzp. Jlqsal, bl sdzu oyvnble G1 nssj. Mbkp oyp bkp qkapv vkxl rlapsdyzzu nssjkdt okvb vbl xselad wvldpkzp, ps bl oyp y zkvvzl pzso. Myjkdt vbl qawkv rkl swv sq vbl shld yde rwvvkdt kv ypkel, bl oyzjle vs vbl pkel sq vbl rsv, vwadle sd vbl qkal, yeele skz, yde qakle vbl xyakdyvle pvlyjp. Mbl pnldv sq xlyv pzsozu eakqvle swv. Tl yeele y zkvvzl ckv sq plypsdkdt yde kdtalekldvp blal, vwadle vbl pvlyj plhlayz vkxlp vs xyjl pwal kv oyp lhldzu qakle, yde qkdyzzu prakdjzle y zkvvzl ckv sq bsxlxyel plypsdkdt yde pvyavle vbl rsv. ¡°Pke usw cwu vbl byv uswaplzq?¡± G qyxkzkya hsknl pweeldzu nyxl qasx vbl essa. Tl oyp vyjld ycynj, vwadle sqq vbl qkal, yde zssjle shla. Tl pyo Ubw Ssdt zlydkdt ytykdpv vbl essa yde pvyakdt yv vbl byv sd bkp blye. Tl eked¡¯v jdso bso zsdt bl bye clld oyvnbkdt. Tkp qynl vwadle ale, alxlxclakdt vbl casjld nsqqll vyczl. Tl twkzvkzu tallvle, ¡°Elznsxl bsxl. Eykv y xkdwvl, R¡¯zz fwpv tlv vbl hltlvyczl pyzye.¡± Mbl byv nshlale bkp lyap. Gdnlpvsa Ubw dyaasole bkp lulp, pvlrrle qsaoyae vs rknj bkx wr, yde pyke, ¡°Nlv G1 es kv. Wkapv, lmrzykd vs xl ycswv vbl wtzu byv yde vbl nsqqll vyczl.¡± Ckys Hbkuy pvkqqldle, lulp twkzvkzu zssjle yoyu, cwv pvkzz alqwvle, ¡°Mbkp byv kp schkswpzu clywvkqwz¡­¡± ¡°Mpj.¡± Ubw Ssdt oyp qwzz sq ekptwpv yp bl pbssj bkx, ¡°Qs swvpkel yde pll obs oswze cwu pwnb y talld byv vs olya. Ubydtl kv.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my green hat?¡± Qiao Zhiya refused to accept it, knitted his eyebrows, and said, ¡°Green is the most beautiful color. It¡¯s the color of nature and very beautiful! You can¡¯t reject my aesthetics!¡± And the aesthetics of all elves and dwarves! Advertisements Elves liked green the most while dwarves liked green and brown the most! And so, he liked both! He wasn¡¯t accepting objection and negation! Incurably stupid. Chu Rong gave up explaining to him the popular meaning of the green hat here1 and put him on the sofa. After sending A1 to the kitchen, he gestured to the wooden coffee table and asked, ¡°Where is the original one?¡± Qiao Zhiya wanted to find some reason to fool him, but dwarves were born with no ability to lie. After struggling for a long time, he still bowed his head and honestly replied, ¡°I broke it¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± The specially-made composite metal table¡ª fire-proof, explosion-proof, and earthquake-proof¡ª was actually broken? Chu Rong looked at him from head to toe, sat on the wooden coffee table, and asked in a deep voice, ¡°How did it break?¡± ¡°It accidentally split into half¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him carefully, put his hand nervously on his knee, and said, ¡°I was going to buy an exact same one, but the product identification scanner seems to be broken. It can¡¯t scan the material of the table and can¡¯t match the same kind of commodities. I had no way, so I bought this¡­ If you don¡¯t like it, I¡¯ll change it again. There¡¯s still a 7-day warranty for returning and replacement¡­¡± After speaking, he looked at him cautiously. It was a special coffee table. To be able to scan it would be odd. He even knew that the item had a 7-day warranty¡­ Wait a second. Chu Rong suddenly became serious and reached out his hand, ¡°Give me your communicator.¡± Intimidated by his stern expression, Qiao Zhiya, who was already guilty of making a mistake, gave him his communicator obediently, leaned over slightly, and carefully asked, ¡°What happened? Is there a problem¡­?¡± After checking his account balance with an admin authority, Chu Rong¡¯s expression turned dark. He returned his communicator and replied, ¡°It¡¯s a big problem. Be honest. What have you bought at home? Why is there no money left in your account?¡± The habit of indiscriminately spending money had already formed before entering the society. What would happen to him after entering it? It¡¯s not good, how could the child taught by Chu Rong become bad! Unexpectedly, what he asked was this. Qiao Zhiya paused, his eyes were empty, and he was afraid that he would check his own transaction records. Thinking of his haircut, he became bold and confidently replied, ¡°I bought a jade for you and this hat¡­ Am I wrong for buying it? These were all bought because of you! Then give the jade back to me. I¡¯ll sell it and get the money back!¡± Advertisements ¡°No way!¡± Chu Rong immediately rejected. He thought of the jade with beautiful patterns hanging on his space button, and he was once again in a good mood. ¡°The money that should be spent still has to be spent.¡± Qiao Zhiya covered his messy hair and dared not speak in anger¡ª what did he mean about the money that should be spent? Originally, these two clusters of money should not be spent! Seeing his dissatisfaction, Ancestor Chu felt strangely better. He pinched ears, connected Qiao Zhiya¡¯s communicator with his, drew 10, 000 Federal Units, and said, ¡°You can¡¯t always buy jade even though you like it. One piece a month is enough. You¡¯re responsible for the money that exceeds your budget. The children of the Chu family should learn how to reasonably consume.¡± He couldn¡¯t be the same as that prodigal Lao San2. Chu Rong¡¯s face turned black when he thought of his naughty brother who didn¡¯t know where he was going,3 and his elder brother who unconditionally spoiled him. He suddenly felt that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hobby of playing jade was very good, saving money and free from worry. My Chu family¡¯s child¡­ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears shook, and all his anger disappeared. He looked at him brightly, suddenly rushed to hug him, rubbed against his chest, and said in a low voice, ¡°I won¡¯t recklessly spend money. I¡¯ll try to make money.¡± ¡­and earn a lot. ¡°Don¡¯t act like a spoiled child.¡± In just a few days, Chu Rong had become accustomed to his way of expressing intimacy. He naturally pulled him out of his arms. His tone was full of disdain, but he gently touched his head with his hand and said, ¡°You¡¯re going to the junior college right away. Study hard. It¡¯s an adult¡¯s business to earn money. You don¡¯t need to worry about it.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears shook and continued to nuzzle in his embrace. Why wouldn¡¯t he worry? He wanted to make a lot of money and repay the White-Haired Monster. Weekend came. After thinking about it for a few days, Qiao Zhiya uploaded the giant sword to the commodity library of the Famous Brands. He contacted their customer service, assigned the giant sword to the mecha model weapon area, and participated anonymously in a single auction of machine armor model accessories at the weekend. He gave all the valuation and weapon identification to the Famous Brands for processing. The necessary expenses would be deducted together with the handling fees after the product was sold. He only sent the goods and waited for the money to arrive. Advertisements After dealing with all this, he reluctantly took the dark blue hat Chu Rong bought for him and went out with him. ¡°I¡¯ll first take you to buy some school supplies.¡± Dressed in casual clothes, Chu Rong turned over the list that Fan Xiangnan had made for him in advance and arranged today¡¯s itinerary, ¡°After shopping, go to the office, share the transportation card, have lunch, buy a mecha model in the afternoon, take a walk, have dinner, and then go home.¡± Qiao Zhiya objected, ¡°Let me have a haircut first.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s hand flipping through the list paused, and he looked at him. ¡°I want to cut my hair first.¡± Qiao Zhiya raised his head and looked at him, again emphasizing his statement. The atmosphere between them was in a stalemate for two seconds. Chu Rong pressed a hand on his face and compromised, ¡°Fine, let¡¯s have your haircut first.¡± After speaking, he took a look at the list on his hand and irritably turned it off¡ª raising a child was really troublesome. After finding the best barbershop in the nearest commercial district, Chu Rong stuffed Qiao Zhiya inside and said to the hairstylist who came over, ¡°Give him a neat short haircut.¡± The hairstylist nodded to express his understanding. After arranging Qiao Zhiya to sit down, he first admired his beautiful appearance and then took off the hat on his head. ¡°¡­¡± How could this dog-gnawed hairstyle spoil such a beautiful face?! Noticing the hair stylist¡¯s constipated-like expression and Chu Rong¡¯s instantly cold expression through the mirror, Qiao Zhiya moved and asked, ¡°I accidentally made this. Can it be remedied?¡± Chu Rong looked at him through the mirror, his mouth twitched, and he was very satisfied¡ª this child was raised well. Very good. Advertisements ¡°¡­It can be fixed.¡± The hairstylist regained his senses. Maintaining a polite smile, he touched his head, gently brushed the short hair that felt good, and when he was about to praise the luster of his hair, his attention was attracted by a small tip that had been poking out of his hair, and his hand could not help moving there. Eh, this is¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touch it.¡± Ancestor Chu coldly warned. Murderous! The hairstylist swished back his hand, but his gaze was still stuck on the small pointed ears which were different but beautiful, and his eyes were shining. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s back was numbed by his fixed stare, his ears couldn¡¯t help shaking, and the hair stylist¡¯s eyes became even hotter. ¡°Don¡¯t cut, let¡¯s change shop.¡± Ancestor Chu ran out of patience. He strode forward and put on the hat for Qiao Zhiya. He grabbed him and went straight out of the barbershop. He quickly left behind the hairstylist who was about to stop them. Qiao Zhiya regretfully fixed his hat and asked, ¡°Where shall we go to cut it?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to¡­¡± Chu Rong frowned, looked at the people coming and going to the very busy shopping mall, turned around, walked towards a slightly deserted corner, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need a living person to cut your hair.¡± Ten minutes later, Qiao Zhiya was seated in front of a robot, scared witless as he let it cut his hair. The author has something to say: PS. Continuously getting fertilized CH 28.1 How could it be not known? The self-service haircut robot required guests to manually set the desired hairstyle. There were not too many types to choose from, and the complicated ones could not be cut, but it was already enough for boys. Standing in front of the setting panel, Chu Rong waited for the instrument to scan Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head shape and existing hairstyle. After clicking here and there in the options, he finally selected a neat short hairstyle and clicked OK. The robot received the order, extended an arm to hold Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, kept him from moving, and accurately cut with scissors. The sound of kachakacha sounded intensively above his head, and shattered hair fell continuously. Qiao Zhiya sat unable to move, afraid that his ears would move because of too much nervousness, so he simply turned his eyes around and looked around to divert his attention. Chu Rong found him looking around randomly. He thought about it, walked in front of him, took out a free candy from the hospitality jar of the self-service barber booth, opened it, fed it to his mouth, and asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Advertisements The candy was a kind of fruit hard candy with a nice color and a sweet smell. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by his candid action of feeding him sugar. He looked at him, opened his mouth, and ate the candy. He turned the candy with his tongue in his mouth. He wanted to shake his head but found that he couldn¡¯t move and could only say, ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Tan Shengwei will take you to report on Monday.¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t continue to ask this question, but directly changed the topic. He stepped sideways and leaned to the side, looking a little nonchalant. With his casual clothes, he looked a lot more gentle. ¡°I¡¯ve asked him to inform the school in advance. Your situation is special and there may be areas where you can¡¯t adapt. However, since you have chosen a difficult path, you must stick to it. You must work hard and don¡¯t waste this opportunity.¡± His eyes looked calm with encouragement, like a gentle spring breeze blowing head-on. It was completely different from his usual indifference and depth. Qiao Zhiya stared at him. After a short absentmindedness, a gentle feeling spread in his heart and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t let you lose face.¡±1 Ubw Ssdt pllxle vs pxkzl obld bl blyae bkx, cwv kv oyp ynvwyzzu y xlal pdlla. Tkp tldvzldlpp pllxle vs cl yd kzzwpksd. Rd vbl czkdj sq yd lul, bl nbydtle cynj vs bkp wpwyz yrrlyaydnl sq rssa ryvkldnl yde cye vlxrla. Tl pyke, ¡°Wsa vbl vkxl clkdt, zspkdt qynl kpd¡¯v vbyv kxrsavydv. Gp zsdt yp R esd¡¯v jllr zspkdt qynl, kv¡¯p qkdl. Wynl kp lyadle cu pvaldtvb. Xdnl usw byhl pvaldtvb, usw nyd¡¯v zspl qynl zkjl vbkp.¡± Eblvbla bkp osaep olal aswtb sa dsv, Ckys Hbkuy qlzv vbyv bl wdelapvsse bkp xlydkdt yde pxkzle hlau jkdezu. Tl pyke, ¡°Fs usw yal dsv yqayke sq vbspl obs olya obkvl xkzkvyau wdkqsaxp sa vbspl obs olya talld xkzkvyau wdkqsaxp, clnywpl usw byhl y zsv sq qynl.¡± Mbl Dkydt qyxkzu¡¯p yaxu osal obkvl wdkqsaxp obkzl vbl Elk qyxkzu¡¯p yaxu osal talld wdkqsaxp. Mbkp oyp raykpkdt bkx kd ekptwkpl. Mbl nsadla sq Ubw Ssdt¡¯p xswvb pzktbvzu bssjle, pbsokdt y alyz pxkzl vbyv oyp ps pbyzzso vbyv Ckys Hbkuy nswze byaezu pll kv. Kwpv yqvla vbl ascsv nwv bkp byka, bl pvlrrle qsaoyae, vswnble bkp xwnb pbsavla byka, yde alrzkle, ¡°Zswa xswvb kp ps pollv¡­ Xq nswapl, R byhl qynl, ps usw nyd xyjl psxl pxyzz xkpvyjlp okvbkd y alypsdyczl aydtl. R nyd nshla usw.¡± ¡°Mbydj usw.¡± Ckys Hbkuy vkzvle bkp blye ytykdpv bkp ryzx, pxkzle yv bkx ytykd, yde rasxkple, ¡°R¡¯zz pvakhl vs cl pvasdt yde qkde y oyu vs yzps nshla qsa usw.¡± Rv oyp dsv lypu qsa vbl pkel sq vbl rlapsd obs rasvlnvp. Mbl Ebkvl-Tykale Ysdpvla oyp nsze yde byae lhlauoblal, zkjl bl nswze dsv oykv qsa vbl obszl osaze vs elhypvyvl. Rv xwpv cl clnywpl bl, yp y rasvlnvsa, oyp yzalyeu osad swv. Fwnb y tsse rlapsd pbswze yzps cl rasvlnvle cu svblap. Ubw Ssdt awccle bkp byka, zssjle esod yv bkx,rkdnble bkp lya, yde pxkajle, ¡°Gqvla lyvkdt pwtya, uswa xswvb kdelle clnyxl pollv. Qlv wr, kv¡¯p vkxl vs cwu pnbssz pwrrzklp.¡± Ckys Hbkuy xshle bkp lyap, pvsse wr sclekldvzu, oyhle tssecul vs vbl byka-nwvvkdt ascsv, yde qszzsole Ubw Ssdt¡¯p qssvpvlrp. On the fourth floor of the mall, a fat boy poked the tall youth next to him and curiously said, ¡°Chu Yan, I seem to have seen your elder brother. He seemed to be with someone who¡¯s around our age. It¡¯s strange.¡± Advertisements The tall youth was drooling while holding the auction poster. Hearing that, he said without raising his head, ¡°You must be mistaken. My eldest brother can only accompany my sister-in-law when he comes to the mall. It will never be a child as big as us, but a beautiful woman like my sister-in-law.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your eldest brother, it¡¯s your second brother. I can¡¯t mistake that white hair. Quickly look, just in case it¡¯s him.¡± Seeing that he still ignored him, the fat boy became angry and simply took away the poster from his hand. ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re really¡­¡± The tall youth couldn¡¯t stop him and was unable to persuade him to hand back the poster. He reluctantly looked in the direction he was pointing, but he didn¡¯t even see a single strand of white hair. He couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes at the fat boy, grabbed the poster, and said, ¡°Yuan Xiu, did you stay up late again last night? Your young eyes are so bad. How can you enter the military academy in the future? Be careful that your father whips you. My second brother is visiting the mall? If you say this, 80% of the people in the Federation will surely not believe it.¡± The fat boy, that was, Yuan Xiu, was still not reconciled. He looked suspiciously at the place where the figure was no longer visible and scratched his head, ¡°But that man really resembled him, and I slept quite early last night¡­¡± ¡°There are many people who follow the trend and dye their hair white, especially those mecha fighters with high physique¡ª making a lot of people look similar.¡± Chu Yan replied indifferently. He then carefully looked at the bold remarks column on the poster, patted him on the shoulder, and excitedly said, ¡°A mysterious weapon! We¡¯re right this time. It must be a good thing to make Famous Brands promote it like this. Let¡¯s go find Fan Qi first to get some internal information to satisfy our thirst.¡± This time, it was Yuan Xiu who rolled his eyes. He frowned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t always bother Fan Qi. We¡¯re not in the same group as him. He¡¯s now promoted to the military academy and is a reserve soldier. He¡¯s busy. Please stop it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s him who has been promoted to the military academy that can¡¯t stop. Otherwise, what do you think my eldest brother is doing to give his family a batch of mutated red tin ores and let Famous Brand make gimmicks? Fan Qi is a talent. The eldest sister of the Fan family is cunning and neutral. The Fan family is such a huge chunk of meat. When Fan Qi enters the military academy, do you think the others will stop?¡± Chu Yan, wearing an unreliable face filled with baby fat, said scheming words and bluffed Yuan Xiu for a while. ¡°You¡¯re really¡­¡± Yuan Xiu felt that he suddenly didn¡¯t know his good friend. ¡°It¡¯s time to learn the ways of the world, naive boy, okay?¡± Chu Yan carelessly patted him on the shoulder. He craftily broke his act of rigorous schemes and deep foresight in an instant and continued to drool over the poster with greedy eyes, ¡°Erge2 must have forgotten to buy the mecha model I asked him. I have to make up some inventory here and see the latest limited model on the shelves. It¡¯s too handsome! I have to ask Fan Qi to order one privately! ¡°Fortunately, I¡¯m resourceful. I secretly created an escape route using Fan Qi. Look. From now on, we don¡¯t have to worry about our models in the future. Why don¡¯t you quickly thank this bro!¡± Yuan Xiu, ¡°¡­¡± This was indeed the friend he was familiar with. After buying school supplies as quickly as possible, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya into the deserted first floor of the mall and took two strange devices from a custom shop. Advertisements ¡°This is a spiritual power simulator.¡± Chu Rong fiddled with the two earrings, took one of them, pinned it to his ear, pressed the gem button on it, and touched it again. A slightly sharp spiritual force flashed by his ear. The place wearing the simulator was hot, and then a strange feeling came. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help raising his hand and touching the earring. He looked up at Chu Rong, who for some reason had an ugly expression. ¡°In your case, you should have gone to a special college. However, since you want to learn mecha manufacturing, it¡¯s not appropriate for you to go to a special college, so I asked Xiang Nan to send you to an ordinary junior college.¡± Chu Rong pulled his short hair a bit, slightly covering the stud earring inlaid with light green gemstone, and explained in detail, ¡°Ordinary colleges and universities often use spiritual power in their daily classes. If you don¡¯t have it, it will be very inconvenient, so I asked people to make this. This gem-like thing is actually a reminder light. When the spiritual power stored in it is almost exhausted, the gem will turn red, and your ear will feel hot. Remember to remove the ear stud, put on the spare one, and then take the depleted one back for me to replenish its spiritual power.¡± Qiao Zhiya understood what Chu Rong meant when he said that he would encounter a lot of unsuitable places in school ¡ª it turned out that his ¡°third-degree disability¡± was so troublesome even for attending an ordinary college. The White-Haired Monster must have been worried about it. He took the spare ear stud and nodded obediently. Chu Rong looked at his obedient appearance and frowned more deeply. His low tone had a hint of reassurance as he said, ¡°If you wear this, other students may look at you with different eyes. You mustn¡¯t care. If someone laughs at you for this, just beat them back directly. They should not be as strong as you.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had figured out his character a little bit, guessed the reason for his unhappiness. He smiled up at him and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t let people bully me. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t negate his words this time regarding his worries. He ruffled his short hair, which now appeared more youthful just like him after cutting it short, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so stupid all the time.¡± Qiao Zhiya continued to laugh, rubbing against his hand affectionately. During lunch, they found a restaurant with good privacy. After the meal, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to the floor featuring mecha models and bought a set of models for him. He was about to take him to the ancient martial arts training hall when he saw him standing still under the billboard and staring at a poster. He followed his line of sight, read the words on the poster, and became a little bit interested, ¡°Famous Brands¡¯ mecha models and accessories auction?¡± Qiao Zhiya returned to his senses, hurriedly walked to him, and said, ¡°Sorry, I accidentally got distracted. Where did you say we were going? Let¡¯s go.¡± Unexpectedly, the auction of the giant sword was actually held in this mall. Blame him for being careless, because he didn¡¯t know the surrounding environment and didn¡¯t pay attention to the location of the auction. He didn¡¯t expect it to be so coincidental. The mall Chu Rong brought him to happened to be the mall where the auction was being held. At this time, Chu Rong didn¡¯t leave. He stared at the words of the mysterious weapon on the poster. He remembered his brother who was asking him for a model when they met last time. He narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and have a look at this auction.¡± Advertisements ¡°Ah?¡± Qiao Zhiya froze. ¡°Need to buy something.¡± Chu Rong replied as he walked towards the floor where the auction was being held. CH 28.2 How could it be not known? Qiao Zhiya was rendered stupid. He looked at the poster and at Chu Rong, who was already walking away fast with his long legs. He moved a little hesitantly, followed in a panic, and his thoughts were instantly a mess¡ª he shouldn¡¯t have been discovered. He participated in the auction anonymously. A1 also said that as long as he was anonymous, others would not know the real identity of the auctioneer. Confidentiality could be guaranteed, and the robot would not deceive people. Nonetheless, what if it was discovered? In case he was found out, with the White-Haired Monster¡¯s strange temper¡­ His heart beat fiercely. He clenched his fists and felt even more in turmoil. Originally, he decided to sell the giant sword in order to get the money to buy pharmaceutical tools as soon as possible, but now it seemed that method seemed to be too hasty. If it was found¡­ then, then¡­ Just be honest? However, if he was to confess¡­ The magic storage ring, mutant red tin ore, magic power, magic array, secondary mutant red tin ore, the weapon forging¡ª those things that could not be identified with spiritual power¡­ He counted his secrets in his heart, his heart beat faster, and his ears shook uneasily. Advertisements Unknowingly, he had already concealed so many things from the White-Haired Monster. At first, he just wanted to hide the origin of the black hole and his peculiar magic power¡­ Could he just confess about the magic power without mentioning the black hole? He slowed his pace, looked at Chu Rong who was walking ahead, his expression slowly stiffened, his lips tightened, he hesitated, and then accelerated his pace to follow. It was completely different from this world¡¯s power system. It was his last card. It was something that would be investigated in detail once it was revealed. Could he really divulge it? What would the White-Haired Monster do once he knew? Would he think about something else? Additionally, the military forces behind the White-Haired Monster¡­ Tl vwadle bkp blye vs zssj yv Ubw Ssdt clpkel bkx, aykple bkp byde vs vswnb vbl pkxwzyvsa sd vbl lyazscl, qlzv vbl pbyar prkakvwyz rsola nsdvykdle kd kv, yde bkp blyav pzsozu pydj. Usxkdt yzz vbl oyu vs vbl qzssa oblal vbl ywnvksd oyp zsnyvle, Ubw Ssdt pbsole vbl pvyqq bkp pvyvwp sq y pldksa xlxcla, vlxrsayakzu rwanbyple vbl yexkppksd nyae okvb xlxcla rakhkzltlp, yde vssj Ckys Hbkuy kdvs vbl ARV csm sq vbl ywnvksd vbaswtb vbl ARV nbyddlz. Fkvvkdt kd vbl csm, Ubw Ssdt rwpble vbl nyvyzstwl sq rasewnvp qasx vbkp ywnvksd vs Ckys Hbkuy yde pyke, ¡°Zsw yal yzzsole vs cwu vball vbkdtp. Zsw nyd yzps rknj sdl yp y pnbssz srldkdt tkqv.¡± Ckys Hbkuy vssj vbl nyvyzstwl yde nyznwzyvle kd bkp blyav vbl xsdlu Ubw Ssdt prldv sd pbsrrkdt qsa bkx vseyu. Tl pkzldvzu elnkele dsv vs cwu yduvbkdt qsa y obkzl yp bl oyp dsv kd vbl xsse vs nwaaldvzu rwanbypl yduvbkdt. Mblu elnkele vs yvvlde vbl ywnvksd pweeldzu, ps vblu yaakhle y zkvvzl zyvl. Gv vbkp vkxl, vbl ywnvksd bye yzalyeu pvyavle qsa y obkzl. Ubw Ssdt rascyczu qzkrrle vbaswtb vbl rasewnv nyvyzstwl yde pyo vbyv vblal oyp dsvbkdt ryavknwzyazu kdvlalpvkdt sd kv, ps bl rwv vbl nyvyzstwl ypkel, vwadle sd bkp zktbv caykd, yde zssjle vbaswtb vbl qkzlp vs cl rasnlpple dlmv ollj obkzl oykvkdt qsa vbl zypv xupvlakswp kvlx. Gnnsaekdt vs vbl wpwyz raynvknl, vbl xupvlakswp kvlxp prlnkyzzu xyajle cu Wyxswp Jaydep olal tldlayzzu ayal yde tsse vbkdtp, obknb olal osavb oykvkdt qsa. Mbl nkanwzya pnalld kd vbl csm nzlyazu pbsole vbl pnldl sq vbl ywnvksd byzz swvpkel. Ckys Hbkuy zssjle yv kv yde pyo vbyv vbl ywnvksd rasnlpp oyp pkxkzya vs vbspl bl qswde sd vbl Rdvladlv. Tl zssjle yoyu okvbswv kdvlalpv. Tl tzydnle yv Ubw Ssdt, obs oyp nsdnldvayvkdt sd bkp zktbv caykd. Tl csole bkp blye, srldle vbl rasewnv nyvyzstwl, yde vwadle vs vbl zypv xupvlakswp kvlx ¡ª vbl Wyxswp Jaydep¡¯ nwpvsxla plahknl alralpldvyvkhl vsze bkx kd vbl xsadkdt vbyv vbl olyrsd bl xyel oyp yaaydtle qsa vbl qkdyz ywnvksd yqvla clkdt ayvle, cwv bl eked¡¯v lmrlnv vbyv vbl svbla ryavu vwadle vbl tkydv posae kdvs y xupvlakswp kvlx yde xyel pwnb y ckt tkxxknj. The palms of his hands were slightly sweaty. He was a bit annoyed when he thought of the things he had explained when communicating with the Famous Brands. He just thought that anonymity could hide his identity from the outside. Model toys should not be noticed by any big people, but he ignored the possibility that they could be seen and recognized by acquaintances, although he had very few acquaintances here. Advertisements The auction was going on in full swing, but inside the box was extremely quiet. The exquisite and interesting model accessories were bought out. In a blink of an eye, only the last page of the album was left. Chu Rong finally noticed the unusual silence of the person around him. He looked away from his light brain and asked, ¡°There isn¡¯t anything you want to buy?¡± ¡°No, there isn¡¯t.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head and turned the page of the catalogue to conceal his distraction. He looked at him, saw that he seemed to be in a good mood, and started to hesitantly speak, ¡°Chu Rong, if, I mean if, if I made a mistake¡ª¡± ¡°200, 000! Chu Yan, are you not done yet?! You¡¯re addicted to robbery, aren¡¯t you? You took a set of phantom swords at the last auction, and this time, you should let it go for a change!¡± A hoarse voice of a young man in the period of puberty suddenly came out of the loudspeaker. On the screen, at a box window on the second floor of the hall, a delicate young man angrily pushed away the shielding glass and shouted angrily at a box diagonally opposite. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s question was choked back. Chu Rong was also distracted after hearing a familiar name and looked at the box the young man was looking at with a dark expression. ¡°250, 000.¡± Another voice of a lazy youth sounded, and the shielding glass on the box window diagonally opposite was pushed open. A handsome youth poked his head out and said angrily, ¡°Of course, ah! For a change, when I buy this sword, I¡¯m going to dye it and put it on the Pink Princess.¡± The Pink Princess was a set of mecha models whose target customers were girls¡ª nothing aggressive. It was just a beautiful and expensive toy. No matter how powerful the weapon that was installed on it, it would be just a waste. The auctioneer on the stage paused, and the guests in the hall were all frozen. They turned to look back and forth at the two teenagers who were arguing. Suddenly, there was a loud roar. ¡°Young Xiao and Third Chu are on it again. There¡¯s definitely a lot of excitement!¡± ¡°I knew they had to come. Since we can¡¯t even buy the items they are interested in, let¡¯s just watch the excitement.¡± ¡°The price increased to more than 200, 000. It must be nice to have money. It¡¯s worthy of being a famous dandy among the four families.¡± ¡°That dandy is also better than you. We can¡¯t match in terms of proper military academy preparation and talent.¡± Advertisements ¡°It¡¯s rare to see such humble descendants of the four people. Pei, pei, pei!1 Take it! Don¡¯t be such a weakling if you have money!¡± The delicate young man was so mad with Chu Yan¡¯s ¡°Pink Princess¡± that he almost died in anger. He patted the handrail of the box¡¯ glass cover, and said angrily, ¡°300, 000! I want to see how much money you have! Your second brother is back, I don¡¯t believe he will let you spend so much!¡± ¡°400, 000. It sounds like your brother didn¡¯t come back. Oh, by the way, your brother came back from illness. He said he was going to help my second brother share the inspection task. As a result, he became ill as soon as he went. He looks so delicate. My second brother who has been on the battlefield can¡¯t be compared.¡± Chu Yan refused to give up at all. His tone was deliberately careless which made him feel more furious. ¡°You!¡± Listening to the whispers of the people in the hall, the delicate young man turned red. Knowing that continuing to argue would only make his eldest brother appear more ugly, he gritted his teeth and glared at the auctioneer, shouting, ¡°500, 000!¡± It looked like they were going to overwhelm each other in price. ¡°600, 000.¡± Chu Yan continued to raise the price and was so calm that he was angry. From the beginning of these local tyrants¡¯ opposing farce, Chu Rong¡¯s aura began to be wrong. Qiao Zhiya watched him slowly tap the table with his light brain. He then looked at the handsome youth¡¯s face on the screen, which was six or seven points similar to Chu Rong¡¯s. A guess rose in his heart and he asked, ¡°Do you recognize that youth?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more than recognition.¡± Chu Rong replied with a sneer, turned on his communicator, dialed a certain number, and coldly ordered, ¡°Room 233. Get over here.¡± The handsome youth on the screen suddenly paused, turned sideways towards the box, and pressed something. His body became visibly stiff. Without warning, he directly threw down the beautiful young man who roared out 700, 000, lowered the shielding glass, and disappeared. Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong¡¯s cold expression. He was well-behaved as he reduced his sense of existence¡ª this action was indeed more than just recognition. The opponent ran straight away, the handsome young man was taken aback, then he smashed the handrail even more angrily, and shouted, ¡°Chu Yan, you f*cking cheated me again! You wait for me! Next time I meet you, I will beat you to death!¡± There was no movement in the box diagonally opposite. The delicate young man couldn¡¯t sing a one-man show, and he felt bad for the hundreds of thousands he had spent. He turned around and closed the shielding glass hard! Without the excitement, the customers in the lobby withdrew their gaze and talked enthusiastically for a while about the grievances between the Chu family and the Xiang family. After meeting their desire for gossip, they turned their attention back to the next auction. CH 28.3 How could it be not known? In less than a minute, the door of Box No. 233 was carefully opened. A youth with a round haircut not hiding his elegant features came in. He looked around the room and was stunned when he saw Qiao Zhiya. He then quickly jumped over him, looked at Chu Rong who had a dark expression, smiled dryly, and said, ¡°Erge, why are you here? I was just playing with Xiang Kun1. Really, you see, I didn¡¯t spend money indiscriminately.¡± Chu Rong sneered and knocked on the table, ¡°You¡¯re spending less recklessly? Come in. Don¡¯t just stand at the door!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s scalp tightened and he pushed the door open, but didn¡¯t come in. Instead, he turned his head to pull Yuan Xiu who was behind him, but the opponent fiercely resisted. ¡°What are you afraid of? My brother doesn¡¯t bite people!¡± Chu Yan was unwilling to let go. Advertisements Yuan Xiu tried desperately to resist, not daring to look at Chu Rong¡¯s cold expression, and said in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back and be beaten by my dad. Don¡¯t you have friends that are more loyal? Let go!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the one talking about disloyalty here. Don¡¯t run!¡± ¡°If you want to die, die by yourself. I don¡¯t want to die with you!¡± Mbl vos sq vblx olal vwttkdt yv vbl essa cwv eked¡¯v nsxl kd. Ubw Ssdt¡¯p ryvkldnl ayd swv, ekalnvzu pdllale, yde nyzzle swv, ¡°Ubw Zyd.¡± Ubw Zyd¡¯p cseu pbssj, Zwyd Dkw vssj vbl srrsavwdkvu vs calyj yoyu qasx bkp byde, zlyhkdt bkx okvb yd yrszstlvkn zssj, vwadle yaswde, yde pzkrrle yoyu. Ls pldpl sq casvblabsse yv yzz! Tl eldswdnle y tsse qaklde kd bkp blyav. Ubw Zyd psavle swv bkp lmralppksd, csole bkp blye, yde ldvlale vbl assx. Gqvla nzspkdt vbl essa, bl oldv vs vbl vyczl, rwzzle y pvkqq yde caktbv pxkzl yv Ubw Ssdt, qzyvvlakdt, ¡°Oatl, R byhld¡¯v plld usw qsa y zsdt vkxl. R xkpp usw hlau xwnb.¡± ¡°R¡¯hl clld bsxl vld vkxlp yde usw¡¯hl clld yoyu vld vkxlp. Mblal¡¯p ds vaynl sq usw yp pssd yp vbl pnbssz bszkeyu pvyavle. Oktbv swv sq vld vkxlp obld R nyzzle usw, R nswzed¡¯v tlv vbaswtb. R ypjle usw vs nsxl yde vaykd okvb xl. Zsw dlhla nyxl. Rp vbyv obyv usw pyke ycswv xkppkdt xl hlau xwnb?¡± Ubw Ssdt awvbzlppzu vsal vbaswtb vbl ¡°qyzpl¡± casvblabsse clvolld vbl vos, okvbswv pyhkdt bkx ydu qynl yv yzz. ¡°Bb¡­¡± Ubw Zyd oyp prllnbzlpp, bkp lulp vwadle, yde bl pyo Ckys Hbkuy obs oyp zssjkdt yv bkx nwakswpzu. Tkp lulp zkv wr, yde bl nbydtle vbl pwcflnv pvkqqzu, ¡°Ebs kp bl, casvbla, uswa dlo pwcsaekdyvl? Tl pllxp uswdt.¡± ¡°Psd¡¯v nbydtl vbl pwcflnv.¡± Ubw Ssdt qasodle. ¡°Tso kp vbkp y nbydtl sq pwcflnv? Mbkp kp schkswpzu y cypkn nswavlpu.¡± Ubw Zyd yatwle nwddkdtzu, zssjle yv Ckys Hbkuy, yde pyke oyaxzu, ¡°Tlzzs, xu dyxl kp Ubw Zyd, bkp uswdtla casvbla.¡± Sure enough, it was a brother. Qiao Zhiya sat up hurriedly, smiled at him, and introduced himself, ¡°Hello, I am Qiao Zhiya.¡± Advertisements Chu Yan was so happy with his smile that he immediately put aside his second brother and responded more enthusiastically, ¡°Hello, you look so young. It¡¯s hard to follow my brother. Your earring is very beautiful. Where did you buy it? I also want to buy one. I just need it for the masquerade ball at the end of the school year.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression turned dark. ¡°It¡¯s not very hard to find.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at Chu Rong, touched his ear, and explained, ¡°This is not just an earring, it¡¯s the genuine one.¡± Surprised, Chu Yan fixed his gaze on his ears, curiosity reaching its peak, ¡°Really? It¡¯s actually a real one? Looking at your appearance, you¡¯re a recluse?2 Or a native from some marginal planet?¡± Qiao Zhiya froze for a while. Recluse? What was that? In fact, he always felt a little strange. The people here seemed not surprised or disgusted with the shape of his pointed ears, as if they had already figured out the origin of his ears. Not only ears, after the lie detection test on the warship, the White-Haired Monster and his team seemed to have found a reasonable explanation for his origin. Nevertheless, the other party seemed to be cautious about something and never mentioned it in front of him. The Alec Mountains and the Pariet Valley were the only definite information he gave at the time. He didn¡¯t know if the other party had checked these two locations, and what they had ended up finding out. Their acceptance of him had always been incomprehensible and unilateral. This lack of information had kept him very apprehensive, yet he dared not to ask, fearing that showing anything more would cause the other party to overturn his suspicions to his origin, and thus face again the doubtful interrogation he had received when he first arrived. The temporary resident status Tan Shengwei had given him had a line of unfamiliar letters and numbers written on it. He knew it was the planet number, but had no idea what the number represented. He passively followed the other person¡¯s arrangement. Before he got the light brain that wasn¡¯t restricted to child¡¯s mode, all the information he knew came from the discretion of the White-Haired Monster and his team. However, at this point, even Zhuang Yu, who treated him the most affectionately, never revealed anything too much in front of him. It was only after he obtained the temporary identity certificate that he knew that he was arranged as an indigenous person. Tan Shengwei explained that people like him who deviate from the current technological level were called indigenous people, but what was a recluse? He had never heard such a word. The language barrier made him miss the best opportunity to inquire. When he was later able to communicate smoothly and had the chance to inquire about something, the people around him acted as if they had already been told something and tacitly mentioned only the future, never the past, in front of him. This situation of practically having to fumble his way in the dark had always made him wary to open himself up despite being grateful. Chu Yan noticed his silence and paused, thinking that he didn¡¯t like others to inquire about this, and hurriedly waved his hand to explain, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to. You don¡¯t have to answer this question if you don¡¯t want to. I wasn¡¯t looking down on indeginious or reclusive people. Just now, I¡ª¡± Advertisements ¡°Sit down.¡± Chu Rong suddenly interrupted him, moved the auction magazine, and blocked Chu Yan¡¯s gaze from Qiao Zhiya. He gestured to Chu Yan to the opposite couch and asked, ¡°Where have you been during your vacation?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thoughts were interrupted, he turned to look at him, and his eyes a little blank with a hint of struggle. Chu Rong frowned, thinking that he was reminded of some melancholic past by Chu Yan¡¯s words. He pushed that plate of snacks towards him as comfort, looked at Chu Yan who was already sitting down, and asked again, ¡°What have you been doing during your vacation? Why didn¡¯t you call at home?¡± Chu Yan saw the interaction between the two and looked at the hand of his second elder brother that just pushed the snack plate, a cat¡¯s paw seemed to scratch at his heart. He felt that something was wrong but he honestly confessed, ¡°I formed a team with Yuan Xiu to find treasures. Erge, I made an amount during this journey and also met an awesome mine seeker who has agreed to help our family find other missing flagship repair materials.¡± While speaking, he raised his hand to indicate a number with a face full of pride. ¡°Nonsense. What would you do if something went wrong?¡± Chu Rong frowned, mercilessly poured cold water.3 Chu Yan¡¯s expression stiffened. Seeing that he was mad again, he quickly added, ¡°Dage4 sent a veteran to follow me. Yuan Xiu¡¯s family also let him bring people. The places we went to are relatively safe planets. There was no danger at all. You don¡¯t have to worry, Erge.¡± ¡°So Dage also knows about you going out. Are you both hiding it from me?¡± Chu Rong was not comforted at all, but became even more angry. Oops! Chu Yan was so chagrined that he wanted to bite off his own tongue, his hair stood up ¡ª he was too careless. He unknowingly sold out his eldest brother. It¡¯s over. He was completely over. Seeing that he didn¡¯t refute, Chu Rong pulled up the corner of his mouth to reveal a cold smile, as if a storm was about to come. Qiao Zhiya looked everywhere, moving uneasily and trying to ease the mood but not knowing how to do it. Advertisements While the atmosphere was in a stalemate, the hall that had been fairly calm suddenly stirred up. The screen displaying the merchandise went black. After some sound effects, a purple sword with golden lines suddenly cut through the darkness and pierced into the middle of the screen, inserting diagonally into its middle. ¡°F*ck¡­¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in admiration, excitedly leaning over the screen while drooling, ¡°This is the mysterious weapon of this issue? This color, this light effect¡ªamazing! Is the purple weapon made of purple marble? Or quicksand? God, the shape of this sword is so handsome! I just don¡¯t know if it¡¯s strong or not.¡± Chu Yung followed suit and looked over, surveying the sword and frowning. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart was in her throat and her palms were sweating again as he didn¡¯t expect to show the giant sword so soon He hesitated for a few days before listing the giant sword for sale. After asking A1, he searched through most of the auction house terms and determined that once an anonymous auction was selected, no one had the right to access customer information. After that, he felt that selling the giant sword should not lead to any trouble, so he decided to sell the giant sword. However¡­ he glanced at the golden magic array pattern on the giant sword and sweat broke out on his forehead. He made such a rudimentary mistake again¡­ As if aware of the customers¡¯ concern, a heavy mecha model suddenly rushed up from the top of the freeze frame, it gripped the giant sword, and landed firmly on the ground after a sharp flip. Chu Yan excitedly pounded the table, ¡°Master! The person operating this model is a master! The flip just now was so neat!¡± After the mecha model stood still holding the giant sword, another mecha model holding an energy sword quickly rushed out from the edge of the screen and headed straight towards the former to attack. The customers¡¯ hearts skipped a beat. ¡°It¡¯s actually a duel! Looks like Famous Brands attach great importance to this weapon!¡± Chu Yan said excitedly as Qiao Zhiya silently sat back and lowered her head, thoughts swirling in his head. The mecha model with the giant sword blocked the enemy¡¯s incoming energy sword with only a flick of its hand, and then violently counterattacked without waiting for the opponent to retreat. The latter was unable to dodge it and hurriedly blocked it with its energy sword. Advertisements Ka. A crisp shattering sound came, the energy sword broke in half. After the giant sword cut the energy sword, the offensive remained unabated, and the tip of the sword stabbed the induction cabin on the opponent¡¯s chest. Another harsh scratching sound came from the model that was stabbed with a large gaping hole in its chest, losing its energy response and falling to the ground in a smoking heap. The entire fight took less than ten seconds. There was no flashy fighting skills, the two models attacked and blocked each other for a round just like a friendly exchange match, and then the attacker with the energy sword was defeated. It was thoroughly defeated with a single stab. The hall was completely silent. Inside the box which was also filled with silence, Qiao Zhiya moved and felt as if sweat had broken out on his back. The screen stalled for a few seconds, the battle video disappeared, and the specifications of the giant sword appeared on the screen, densely lined up. At the same time, a detailed image of the giant sword¡¯s shape appeared next to the data, rotating slowly at three hundred and sixty degrees. ¡°My God. Top level activity? Hardness is also top notch? Am I dreaming? Mecha weapons rarely even reach these values, is the data of the Famous Goods fake?¡± Chu Yan almost jumped up in surprise, and Qiao Zhiya was almost frightened due to his exclamation. The temperature in the box seemed to drop a little, and Qiao Zhiya was keenly aware that Chu Rong looked his way. ¡°I¡­¡± His ears tensed as he tried to say something, but found that his throat was extremely dry that he couldn¡¯t actually say anything for a while. ¡°Unknown material? What the hell, how could it be unknown?¡± Chu Yan was still muttering about the data sheet, excited and confused, ¡°Could it be that a new material has appeared? Is this a new material used by a master to test the waters? Ah. Sure enough, another anonymous auction. These people are so crafty nowadays.¡± Qiao Zhiya gripped his clothes tightly, not daring to look up. The material unknown was what he asked the Famous Brands to write. He scanned it again with the Famous Brands¡¯ valuator after casting the giant sword, and the result he got was unknown. He later guessed that the change would occur because he had added a magic array on the giant sword and also used it to smelt and forge the material. In order to avoid trouble, he let the Famous Brands, who knew the actual material, put it as that. This could be regarded as a sort of self-protection and market test for him. With the magic array in place, he may come up with more such ¡°unknown material¡± things in the future. While he had not yet officially integrated into society, except for the White-Haired Monster and his team, no one knew he was existing. He could test the public¡¯s acceptance of unknown things which could serve as an introduction in the future. Without a doubt, these were just some ideas that rose up while he was trying to make money. His main purpose of selling the giant sword was still trying to earn money to buy medicine manufacturing tools. Just when their minds wandered elsewhere, the introduction of the sword ended and the auction began. ¡°I have to take this sword. It¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s definitely the work of some master!¡± Chu Yan rubbed his hands in excitement and was about to reach for the bidder on the table, only to be stopped by Chu Rong. Chu Ya¡¯s card was blocked, and realized that there was still a tiger sitting beside him. He tried to unscrupulously touch the bidder under Chu Rong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Ge, I promise to spend reasonably. I swear. I save my pocket money, and I only use the money I earned during my vacation. Let me buy it. This sword is really great¡­¡± As they spoke, people outside had already started to bid, and it was clear that everyone was interested in the giant sword. Xiang Kun,5 the delicate youth who argued with Chu Yan before, even directly quoted a high price of one million, which caused a burst of exclamation. This was just a mecha model weapon. One million was a bit much. It was enough to buy a low grade mecha. Seeing this, Chu Yan became even more anxious, while continuing to reach out, and quickly said, ¡°Ge, I promise that this is the last thing I will buy this holiday. I promise. I will never spend money indiscriminately again. This is unknown material, ah. Xiang Kun is definitely bidding because of the unknown material. We have to hurry¡ª¡± Chu Rong once again fended off his hand and directly hit the bidder for a price of five million. Then, regardless of the exclamations in the hall and Chu Yan¡¯s disoriented voice like he was being strangled, he calmly looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was full of tension, and said, ¡°Explain why the pattern on that giant sword looks so similar to the pattern on the jade you gave me.¡± It¡¯s coming! Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart beat hard, looked up at him, and tightened his grip on his shirt. He knew he couldn¡¯t hide from him today. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, ¡°Because I made that giant sword. The coffee table at home was smashed by that giant sword. I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have kept it from you.¡± With a bang, the auctioneer hit the hammer, and the giant sword was auctioned to Chu Rong for five million. Chu Yan¡¯s jaw almost dropped. The words ¡°home¡± and ¡°coffee table¡± floated all over his mind. He unbelievably looked at them back and forth, and saw the plate of snacks pushed by his second eldest brother. After a moment, he suddenly realized something. His hands were shaking as he groped for his communicator, dialed his eldest brother¡¯s communicator, and called, ¡°Dage! Erge is hiding his wife in a golden house! Come quickly!¡± Chu Rong, who was about to lose his temper, and Qiao Zhiya, who was about to endure his anger, both gave a start and turned their heads towards him, one with a murderous look and the other with a puzzled look, guessing what the unlearned word ¡°golden house¡±6 meant. ¡°Keeping his wife in a golden house?¡± Eldest Brother Chu¡¯s surprised voice came from the communicator, ¡°So Lao Er really did get someone pregnant?¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes widened, looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s stomach, and swallowed, ¡°But, but Qiao Zhiya is a boy¡­¡± While looking at Chu Rong, he said, terrified, ¡°Erge, you¡¯re so powerful. You can actually get a boy pregnant. But, but Qiao Zhiya is not yet adult, right? You, this, this is illegal, ah, Erge.¡± Bang! Chu Rong was so angry at this family of awful brothers that he smashed the table. The author has something to say: PS. This author dare not read the comment area. Everyone discusses the virtue of honesty and mutual trust, so¡­ ahem. This is fluffy even despite not sprinkling dog food and instantly accepting which isn¡¯t a meticulous setting at the beginning. Although Qiao Zhiya will be very cautious when encountering a crisis, he is essentially just a silly pure sweetie who grew up protected by his parents. Also, he¡¯s only a teenager. A child.7 CH 29.1 ¡°You think you¡¯re raising a pig?¡± The auction house wasn¡¯t a good place to settle accounts. After getting the giant sword and compensating for the table, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya, bundled together with Chu Yan, and coldly returned home. On the way, Chu Hai, Chu Rong¡¯s elder brother, sent a message and politely expressed his wish to see his future ¡°sister-in-law¡± and discuss the wedding date. Chu Rong coldly refused. Qiao Zhiya had never seen him look so angry before¡ª extremely cold and silent. He was nervous and apprehensive. His thoughts flew around like a running horse. When they got home, Chu Rong threw them on the sofa and turned to go to the study. Chu Yan, who had already experienced many battles in a way, bumped Qiao Zhiya with his shoulders. He gestured to the wooden coffee table in front of them that was incompatible with the overall decoration theme of the house. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s exactly your relationship with my brother? Did you really make that weapon? What did you use to make it? The furniture in my brother¡¯s place was all specially designed by an expert in order to withstand the violent spiritual power that could happen at any moment. You actually managed to crack it. That¡¯s really impressive.¡± No, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t want to be impressive at all. He was currently experiencing the most stressful and uneasy moment in his more than a decade of living. His mood was somewhat heavy as he replied, ¡°I made the weapon using a mutant red tin ore. Actually, it¡¯s not that powerful at all¡­ I made a mistake this time. What do you think your brother will do to me?¡± After speaking, he looked at him nervously. Chu Yan blinked, and he looked around his face. He coughed, pretended to be serious, and replied, ¡°It¡¯s uncertain. It depends on how far you and my brother¡¯s relationship has developed¡­ So how far have you developed?¡± How far? Ckys Hbkuy qasodle yde alnyzzle bso bl bye tsvvld yzsdt okvb Ubw Ssdt ewakdt vbkp vkxl. Tl blpkvydvzu alrzkle, ¡°R esd¡¯v jdso bso qya¡­ Tl valyvp xl ps olzz. Tl yzps tkhlp xl xlnby xselzp, y czynj fyel, yde talld qawkvp. Ysalshla, bl ynnsxrydkle xl vs raynvknl yde vssj xl vs rkzsv xlnby, pyke vs pwrrsav xl, yaaydtle pnbssz qsa xl, cswtbv xl pnbssz pwrrzklp, nwpvsxkgle xl y prkakvwyz rsola lxwzyvsa¡­¡± Gp bl prsjl, bkp hsknl tayewyzzu qyele, yde bkp lyap eassrle. Rv vwadle swv vbyv vbl Ebkvl-Tykale Ysdpvla bye yzalyeu esdl ps xwnb qsa bkx. Rv¡¯p bkp qywzv qsa jllrkdt ps xydu vbkdtp qasx vbl svbla rlapsd¡­ Ubw Zyd zkpvldle vs bkx okvb yd lmralppksd vbyv kdnalypkdtzu talo caktbvla, yzxspv lmnzykxkdt kd lmnkvlxldv. Rv vwadle swv vbyv vbl xlnby xselzp vbyv bkp plnsde lzela casvbla rasxkple vs cwu qsa bkx olal yzz tkhld vs Ckys Hbkuy kd vbl lde! Tl hyzwle bkp zshla xsal vbyd bkp uswdtla casvbla! Tl lhld tyhl Ckys Hbkuy y czynj fyel! Ebs kd vbl Wlelayvksd eked¡¯v jdso vbyv vbl Ubw qyxkzu¡¯p qyxkzu nalpv oyp xyel sq czynj fyel! Mbkp fyel oyp yzxspv zkjl ydsvbla alralpldvyvkhl sq vbl Ubw qyxkzu! Rd yeekvksd, bkp plnsde lzela casvbla ynvwyzzu tyhl vbyv talld qawkv¡ª vbyv vlaakqukdt vbkdt qsa rynkqukdt sdl¡¯p prkakvwyz rsola! Gaaydtkdt pnbsszp yde pvwqq, vyzjkdt ycswv pwrrsavkdt lynb svbla yde yzz vbyv¡ª plnsde lzela casvbla, vbkp oyp y tyxl sq dwavwakdt, yb! Mpj, vpj. Rv¡¯p dwavwakdt, yb¡­ Ubw Zyd bye y rasqswde lmralppksd yp bl vssj ydsvbla zssj yv Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p zssjp. Tkp lulp qsnwple sd bkp rskdvle lyap yde rywple. Tkp lulp tzlyxle¡ª ps bkp plnsde lzela casvbla zkjle vbkp vurl, yb! Ls osdela bl eked¡¯v zkjl vbl sze ralpkeldv¡¯p qyxkzu¡¯p eywtbvla obs oyp y tseelpp¡­ Ckys Hbkuy zssjle y zkvvzl wdnsxqsavyczl cu bkp pvyal. Tl pbkqvle yde zlydle yp qya yp bl nswze. Tkp blyav psxlobyv qlzv wdlypu¡ª obyv¡¯p vbl xyvvla okvb vbkp zssj? Fsxlvbkdt eked¡¯v pllx aktbv. G zkvvzl ayvvzkdt dskpl nyxl qasx vbl pvweu yp kq psxlsdl oyp zssjkdt qsa psxlvbkdt. Ubw Zyd alnshlale qasx bkp vbswtbvp yde tzydnle yv vbl ekalnvksd sq vbl pvweu. Ekvb vbl rakdnkrzl sq blzrkdt sdl sq bkp sod, bl nyxl dlya Ckys Hbkuy¡¯p lya yde obkprlale, ¡°Nlv xl vlzz usw, Oatl byp y pbyar vsdtwl cwv okvb y psqv blyav. Tkp qynl oyp nsze cwv bkp blyav oyp oyax. Zsw plzzkdt vbkdtp clbkde bkp cynj vbyv xyu nywpl vaswczl, bl xwpv cl qwakswp. Nyvla, yexkv uswa xkpvyjlp yde nau yqvla alnstdkgkdt vblx. Tl¡¯zz pwalzu qsatkhl usw.¡± ¡°Ah? Cry?¡± Qiao Zhiya became nervous once again after listening to him. He also said in a soft voice, ¡°But, but it¡¯s more than that. I¡¯ve kept something else from him. I have no face to cry¡­¡± and he couldn¡¯t cry. ¡°You actually hid something else from Erge? You¡¯re quite bold.¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t believe it. Looking at his well-behaved and honest appearance, the words ¡°you can¡¯t judge a book by its cover¡± flashed in his heart. He sighed again at his second elder brother¡¯s vision of selecting people. Qiao Zhiya became more and more uncomfortable due to his words. The uneasiness that he had just barely suppressed a little bubbled up again. His hands clutched his shirt nervously, he pursed his lips to keep quiet¡ª it¡¯s not a matter of being bold or not, it¡¯s a matter of him not even expecting it and not daring to say anything. He didn¡¯t dare to think about the consequences. Chu Yan slapped his mouth, seeing that he was afraid of such a situation. He suddenly felt a little sympathy and bumped his shoulder again. He said, ¡°What sort of face do we need to consider this time? You¡¯ll be crying in a minute anyway. It¡¯s the time to be honest and confess. If you know your wrongs, you can still turn it around. To die without admitting fault is a death sentence in my second elder brother¡¯s case. Don¡¯t worry, my second elder brother is actually easy to deal with. Just gently stroke him along his fur.¡±1 Death, death sentence? Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind immediately flashed to the cautionary reminder that the encountered creatures from the black hole must be immediately exterminated. His ears straightened, and his heart, which had been prepared to tell everything, shrank back. Another storm brewed in his head¡ª say it or not? What should he say? How much should he tell? What would happen if he confessed? What would happen if he didn¡¯t? What should he say if he did so? Would Chu Rong understand him if he did? Chu Yan wondered why he became even more afraid. Seeing that he looked like the end of the world was coming, he felt that his second elder brother was too much of a bully. He raised his hand and was about to give him a comforting pat but was interrupted by a cold voice. ¡°You, guys, had a good chat?¡± Chu Yan stiffened. He immediately retracted his hand and turned his body back to sit up straight and looked honest. Qiao Zhiya also recovered from his inner turmoil and quickly looked up at him. His internal struggle flashed in his eyes, and he soon lowered his head. Chu Rong took in the whole scene of their reactions and sat down on the coffee table with the two spherical instruments. He coldly said, ¡°Give me your hands.¡± It was the lie detector again. Chu Yan curled his lips out of interest and simply reached out his hands over. Qiao Zhiya also recognized the object. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out his hand as well. After tying up the instrument, Chu Rong crossed his arms and sat on the coffee table facing the two of them. He first looked at Chu Yan, who had a comparatively less issue, and said, ¡°Explain yourself.¡± Chu Yan moved his body and scolded him for being biased. He then honestly opened his mouth to briefly describe how he pestered his eldest brother and promised him to get out for training after the holiday. He also explained how he formed a team, the total number of people he brought, which planets they went to, and what he had experienced. Finally, he concluded his explanation, ¡°I will be promoted to the military academy next year. It¡¯s to go out and for experience now. Erge, you also went out for experience before going to the military academy. It¡¯s a very normal thing. I believe you¡¯ll understand me.¡± Afterward, he looked at him as if he had done it to keep up with his brother. Chu Rong rejected this round-about flattery and sneered, ¡°Is this why you¡¯re hiding from me?¡± Without being able to fool him, Chu Yan silently grimaced. He put on a sincere expression and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hide it from you. At the time, you were busy with the old man¡¯s affairs. Erge, I didn¡¯t mean to¡ª¡± Dididi¡ª The instrument started beeping wildly. Chu Rong tapped his arm, ¡°You go on with your lies.¡± ¡­This damn instrument! ¡°I just don¡¯t want to go training!¡± Chu Yan finally told the truth and began to miserably sell accusations, ¡°The training plans you made are too long! I¡¯ll enter the military school next year, and I will never have such a long vacation anymore. Now, this last vacation, you have to let me have fun. Dage is too busy, you¡¯re always so tyrannical. I¡¯ve grown up and have my own opinions, but you, guys, still treat me like a child¡­¡± Hearing that, Chu Rong looked at him deeply for a few seconds, reached out, and removed the instrument in his hand. He said, ¡°Deduction of allowance for a year. I¡¯ll also tell Dage and sister-in-law not to give you any more money. Since you¡¯ve grown up and have your own ideas, arrange your own team to go out and make money. In the future, you will be responsible for your daily expenses other than the cost of purchasing mechas.¡± Chu Yan, who thought that he had succeeded in selling miserably, froze when he heard his words. As soon as his eyes turned, he wanted to open his mouth and howl. As a result, he was picked up and thrown aside to calm down by Chu Rong, who immediately discovered his intentions through his eyes. Chu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± After finishing one, Chu Rong turned his attention to Qiao Zhiya. Just as he was about to speak, Qiao Zhiya, whose nerves were strained to the limit, immediately sat upright and voluntarily said, ¡°I don¡¯t want any allowance. I¡¯ll earn my own money to take care of my own expenses and also promise not to sell things indiscriminately in the future. I know I¡¯m wrong!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes showed admiration¡ª Qiao Zhiya understood it very well and knew how to make a pre-emptive attack. Chu Rong¡¯s words were swallowed back, and his rhythm was disrupted. He paused, frowned, and said, ¡°Then tell me where you¡¯re wrong.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have sold things behind your back¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him, paused, and when he didn¡¯t respond, he added, ¡°and shouldn¡¯t have failed to take the initiative to explain my wrongs after you found out.¡± Chu Rong finally had a reaction this time. He took out the box containing the giant sword, opened it, put it on the coffee table, motioned the patterns on it and the datasheet on the product list. He indifferently said, ¡°Continue.¡± As soon as the giant sword came out, Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart trembled, and the atmosphere seemed to solidify. What goes around comes around.2 Qiao Zhiya licked his dry lips and touched the spiritual power emulator on his ear. Recalling the candy Chu Rong fed him when he cut his hair, he finally made up his mind. He looked up at him and said, ¡°I have something to show you.¡± Chu Rong looked at him and did not speak. CH 30.1 Hello y¡¯all! This series, quite frankly, has one of my favorite cast of characters in danmei. So of course I must continue the tl so everyone can read it~ Seeing this is sci-fi settings with a lot of jargon, I¡¯ll make sure to match the previous translator¡¯s choice as well so it¡¯s easier to continue! Lastly, the cast is huge. I¡¯ll make a list in every chapter for all the important characters involved. Credit to melon_bowl for the brilliant idea! Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: Mecha master, currently making fully manually-piloted mechas. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother, currently studying in intermediate college. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. A1: household robot in ML¡¯s house. After Chu Huai and Ren Mo came out of the study, they also took away Chu Yan who was pestering Qiao Zhiya1fun fact, MC¡¯s name ¡°ÇÇÖÎÑÇ¡± can be the Chinese version for the Western name ¡°Georgia¡±. However, in this case it¡¯s ¡°Qiao Zhiya¡± since the lingua franca of the setting is Chinese + the previous translator using it + his dad¡¯s name having the surname ¡°Qiao¡± as well. to make a giant sword for him now. Before leaving, Old Man Ren gave Qiao Zhiya a bunch of basic textbooks on mecha manufacturing, asking him to read it when he was free, and call him when he encountered something he didn¡¯t understand. Chu Huai stared at Qiao Zhiya for a while, and finally left him a word before leaving: ¡°Talk to Chu Yan when you have time¡± Talk to Chu Yan more? Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes fell on Chu Yan, who was struggling to leave, and his ears twitched¡ª although the two brothers of the white-haired monster had completely different personalities, their auras were very pure, and their eyes were open and clear. They should be good people. Since eldest brother Chu asked him to chat with Chu Yan more, did he want Qiao Zhiya to be Chu Yan¡¯s playmate? After those three people left, Chu Rong still stayed in the study and did not come out. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t know what he was doing there. He walked around the door twice with some hesitation, but finally did not go in because he¡¯s afraid he would disturb the Marshal. In the end, he turned around and took A1 to the kitchen. As the sky was getting dark, Chu Rong recovered from his contemplation. He glanced at the time, frowned, got up and walked outside. ¡°You¡¯re done.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was waiting outside the door, saw him coming out, and immediately greeted him. His eyes were full of care and flattery, ¡°I cooked soup, fried steak and baked bread, let¡¯s eat.¡± As an underage brat, Chu Yan lived recklessly and rascally, but this one in front of him was always cautious and sensitive. He had never messed around like Chu Yan, even his occasional temper tantrum was moderate and careful. He never wasted his words, never made demands, and instead his secrets stemmed from his way of treating the people around him well. ¡ª¡ªJust like a small animal that broke into other people¡¯s territory and was careful not to be kicked out. Chu Rong lowered his eyes and looked at him. He remembered what his elder brother said before he left, and vaguely realized something that he had neglected before. He stretched out his hand and lightly brushed his bangs, tried to soften his tone, and asked, ¡°You¡­ were waiting outside the door all this time?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears moved, noticing the Marshal¡¯s unusual gentle tone. He leaned his head slightly, and replied, ¡°No, you came out as soon as I finished cooking.¡± He was careful even when he was trying to please Chu Rong, as if he had already been rejected once. Once bitten, twice shy. Suddenly, Chu Rong felt a little uncomfortable. Ancestor Chu has lived this way for so many years, but he has never met such¡­ such a person who he didn¡¯t know how to describe properly. He suddenly remembered the rumors around himself. Was that the reason Qiao Zhiya acted like this? When they started living together, didn¡¯t the youth¡¯s tone seem to be ever-so cautious? Didn¡¯t the youth actively learn to do housework and secretly try to make money as soon as he moved in? All signs showed that the youth did not dare to ask for it. He was careful even when accepting what he asked for, and subconsciously prepared to be abandoned at any time. Seeing that Chu Rong looked at the youth without speaking or responding, Qiao Zhiya began to feel uneasy again. The half-elf slightly retracted his head and asked, ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± After Qiao Zhiya asked him that, he paused again. He then put his hands on the youth¡¯s shoulders and led him towards the dining room. As he walked, he said, ¡°Let A1 do the cooking. If you have something to do, you can come and call me directly. You don¡¯t have to wait for me. Eat first. I have something to tell you after you eat.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body that had just relaxed immediately tensed up. He turned his head to look at the Marshal, and stammered, ¡°S-say, what are you¡­ going to talk about?¡± ¡°What are you afraid of?¡± Chu Rong wasn¡¯t the type of man who could be gentle for a long period of time. His temper flared again. However, he noticed that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small body under his hand was getting stiffer, so he frowned and suppressed his temper. He patted the youth¡¯s shoulder lightly to comfort him, explaining his situation in detail. ¡°I want to tell you some information about the so-called ¡®Recluse¡¯. After you go to school, you will meet more people. It is inevitable that others will ask about your background. You must have a concept of your made-up background. So you won¡¯t say something wrong, causing others to look at you with suspicion in their eyes¡­ Don¡¯t be afraid, I will take care of you until the end. When I say I will support you, I truly mean it.¡± In the end, he added a tactful promise to appease Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya, however, didn¡¯t hear the promise clearly. He focused all his attention on the word ¡°Recluse¡±. His heart beat wildly, and he subconsciously clenched his fist. This means¡­ is Chu Rong going to make an explanation of his origin? Does that mean that as long as he follows this arrangement, his actual identity from the black hole will be completely concealed? What secrets he kept has already been confessed. As long as the problem of his origin was solved, he would no longer have to deceive the white-haired monster, and he would no longer have to be on guard against the other party. He didn¡¯t have to worry about being wiped out, he didn¡¯t have to rack his brains to lie and hide things, and he didn¡¯t have to do things in a sneaky way. He could finally enjoy a stable life¡­ just like his life on the Magic Continent. The burden on his heart was instantly lifted. He couldn¡¯t help showing a smile, but his nose was sore. Afraid that he would cry out in embarrassment, he quickly pulled up his sleeves and wiped his face. As he took two steps forward, he said in a brisk tone, ¡°Then let¡¯s eat quickly, it¡¯s already this late.¡± The soldier¡¯s eyesight and hearing were excellent. Chu Rong immediately noticed something wrong with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice and behavior. He frowned, stretched out his arms, but pulled it back almost immediately. He turned around to look somewhere but the youth. He then laughed angrily, ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you promising? There¡¯s no need to cry. Didn¡¯t I promised that I¡¯ll support you until the end, you¨C¡± After his weakness was found out like this, Qiao Zhiya was reprimanded a few more times. The tears that had been suffocated came out directly. Seeing Chu Rong¡¯s frowning but caring eyes, the youth¡¯s heart trembled. He simply rushed over to hug him, buried his face in sturdy his chest, and no longer hid his tears. He whispered in-between sobs, ¡°Thank you¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I will be obedient in the future, I¡¯m sorry¡­ thank you.¡± Chu Rong choked back his unsaid lecture in his heart. He looked down at the youth¡¯s little head buried in his chest, crying until his ears trembled. He listened to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s vague thanks and apology. Another kind of soreness and irritability completely different from the past rose in his heart, his face was dark, but his hand was gently raised and placed on the youth¡¯s small head. As he fumbled around, trying to comfort the crying young man, he tried his best to convey his lecture, ¡°How grown up, you still cry like this¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, apologized again, and tried to hold back his sobbing, only to sob even harder. ¡°¡­ Forget it,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s other hand hanging by his side also raised up and wrapped it around the youth¡¯s shoulders. With a gentle hold, Chu Rong hugged him. Despite his stinky face, he continued patting Qiao Zhiya clumsily. He couldn¡¯t hold back his frown, though. As Qiao Zhiya was frightened all afternoon, he couldn¡¯t stop his emotions from pouring out, like a dam when it broke. He continued to cry while hugging Chu Rong. Like a small, shriveled tree that had found an oasis, he stuck to Chu Rong¡¯s body. He vented his bottled up emotions with tears, until his eyes swelled up, all sore with dried-up tears. In the end, the Marshal was keen to let his clothes wet from the youth¡¯s tears. The stern ancestor comforted Qiao Zhiya for a long time but it didn¡¯t work. His lack of patience and tenderness went straight to the sky. After another attempt of comfort failed, he simply bent down and picked him up, sat on the sofa with a dark face, and let him stand between his legs. Ancestor Chu pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s long ears with a frozen, emotionally-constipated face. He ordered, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± Qiao Zhiya opened his red eyes to look at him, sniffed, and threw himself into the older man¡¯s arms again. He continued to sob despite his dried-up tears. His small body arched against the Marshal, and his action was full of attachment. Chu Rong sighed, ¡°Raising a child is hard¡­ it¡¯s beyond teaching him a little and providing for him¡­¡± The words Chu Huai said before leaving flashed in Chu Rong¡¯s mind. He put on a dark face for a long time, and finally stretched out his arms and pressed the youth who was arching into his arms to his chest. He rubbed the youth¡¯s hair a little harder, coaxing him: ¡°Cry it out now. You are not allowed to eat if you don¡¯t finish crying today, and you are not allowed to cry like this in the future.¡± After being hugged with a firm hold, Qiao Zhiya finally stopped moving. He laid in the Marshal¡¯s arms with peace of mind, holding the clothes on his chest. Ten minutes later, the sobs finally subsided. Ancestor Chu asked impatiently, ¡°Are you done crying?¡± Qiao Zhiya loosened his grip on the Marshal¡¯s clothes, flopped onto the sofa, and slid down his body. Chu Rong, who noticed the movement, looked down, and then smiled angrily: ¡°You actually fell asleep crying, are you only five years old, really¡ª¡± After falling asleep, Qiao Zhiya was startled by his voice, and moved uneasily. He tightened his limbs and curled up in his arms, using a very familiar posture of self-protection. Ancestor Chu stopped talking. He looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s fluffy head for a long time, then stretched out his hand and gently pinched his ears, ¡°Crying bald chicken¡­¡± After speaking, he thought about something in a daze, and squinted his eyes. On the sofa, he stretched out his arms and lifted the youth up. Raising kids isn¡¯t that simple¡­ he needs¡­ communication¡­? I¡¯ll give Chu Rong A+ for effort I guess¡­? Also, the original schedule is wed and sat, but I¡¯ll upload a couple more chapters before following that schedule! If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 30.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. The next day, Qiao Zhiya, who woke up and remembered what happened the day before, was so ashamed that he hid in the room and refused to come out. Chu Rong went in with a dark face, dug him out of the quilt, placed him on the sofa in the living room, and stuffed him with a lot of material. ¡°Planet F78, a recluse, an orphaned refugee after a planet-wide catastrophe that led to complete annihilation. Remember the terrain and location of this planet clearly, this is your hometown.¡± Chu Rong turned on a three-dimensional map of a planet to show him. He then zoomed in on a part, specifically a mountain range which was completely burned by a wildfire, ¡°Here is the location of ¡®Pariet¡¯ Valley you are talking about, understand?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at the strange scorched valley. He immediately forgot what happened yesterday, instead he focused on remembering his official background, and nodded solemnly, ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Very good.¡± Chu Rong was very satisfied with his cooperation. The Marshal handed him the map and said, ¡°You¡¯re going to report to your new school tomorrow. As for today, you can learn more about the Recluse¡¯s position in the Federation. In addition, I communicated with Master Ren that your mechanical dolls and all the things you created by your special spiritual power can be sold. However, you must use the identity of ¡®Master Ren¡¯s apprentice¡¯. For the laboratory¡¯s access, Tan Shengwei will give you a certified online account tomorrow. Use the identity of that account to sell things in the future.¡± ¡°Master Ren¡¯s apprentice?¡± Qiao Zhiya wondered. ¡°This is just an identity for fooling outsiders. As long as you are hiding behind that identity, no one will know who you are, nor dare to dig deeper. You can go to your school with peace of mind. I will tell Master Ren about other things. That old man will deal with it,¡± Chu Rong explained succinctly. Still, the older man kept playing with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears. He pinched his ear as he continued, ¡°Remember not to say anything. When you become really strong, you won¡¯t need to keep so many secrets. You can stand upright with your true identity, understand?¡± It also meant that Qiao Zhiya could now freely buy and sell things. He didn¡¯t need to worry about being found out and causing trouble, as long as he used this ¡°Master Ren¡¯s Apprentice¡± identity. All possible risks have been eliminated in advance. ¡°Thank you!¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but leaned over, rubbed his head against Chu Rong¡¯s palm, and said, ¡°I will work hard to make money! I will also work hard to train my power and cure your illness!¡± Chu Rong frowned at the mention of treatment. He glanced at the youth¡¯s happy face. It¡¯s clear that this Bald Chicken wanted to repay something immediately. Remembering that made him relaxed. He continued to rub that fleshy, long ear and said, ¡°There is no rush to treat my illness. Your spiritual power is too special, it should be a mutated variant, and not suitable to be publicly known. We will keep the third-level disability appraisal for you, as a kind of protection. Zhuang Yu will pick you up after school tomorrow to take you for a detailed physical examination. Cooperate well, my spiritual power pollution cannot be solved overnight. You don¡¯t have to worry too much, take care of yourself first.¡± Physical examination? Qiao Zhiya blinked, nodded to express his understanding, and at the same time silently decided in his heart to practice magic well and cure the White-Haired Monster as soon as possible. After explaining this, Chu Rong went out, while Qiao Zhiya stayed at home to cram as much information about the Recluse. After learning about the various appearances and different abilities of the Recluse from the book, Qiao Zhiya finally understood why the White-Haired Monster and his group believed his words so quickly ¡ª it turned out that there were people like him in this world. A lot of them did have unique traits exclusive to their race, or at least, different appearance from a normal human. Compared to his unique ability and appearance, they were in the same category! He also understood a little bit why the White-Haired Monster still believed that his ability was one of the mutated variants of spiritual power after listening to his confession. Here, a variant of spiritual power with the same healing effect as his wood magic power also exists. It¡¯s just that after experiencing persecution from a few decades back, these people with mutated-type spiritual power disappeared from the public eye. The only difference between magic power and those mutated variant spiritual powers was that magic power couldn¡¯t be detected and recognized by spiritual power detectors. And this feature was precisely beneficial to him. In the future, when the things he made will be sold on the Internet under his new identity. While in real life, he wouldn¡¯t attract unnecessary attention at all. As long as he kept everything secret, nobody would equate ¡°Master Ren¡¯s Apprentice¡± to him. All the things that he didn¡¯t understand and worried about before, were all explained by this thick pile of papers. He also understood that he was also given extra self-protection. He took out his brand-new identity card, looked at the line on it that represented his origin, and pursed his lips into a smile ¡ª a refugee with special spiritual power. This would be the basis for him to start a new life here. On the day of the report, Chu Rong personally sent Qiao Zhiya to Tan Shengwei who was waiting at the school gate. ¡°Attend the school diligently and don¡¯t get into trouble,¡± Chu Rong frowned as he instructed. Qiao Zhiya, who had already changed into the uniform of the junior college, nodded obediently. He leaned over to hug him with a blushing face, and whispered: ¡°Be careful when driving, I will miss you.¡± Saying goodbye like this was giving a domestic taste to the whole interaction. Tan Shengwei who was waiting on the side widened his eyes ¡ª Qiao1They really called QZY with only ¡°Qiao¡± btw. This was quite unusual in Chinese standards actually. actually hugged the Marshal, my God! Chu Rong was stiffened as he was hugged, but still raised his hand and patted him on the back. He then gently pushed him away, and said, ¡°Concentrate on class, don¡¯t think much about unimportant stuff. Go in.¡± Tan Shengwei¡¯s eyes widened to the size of a saucer ¡ª oh my God, the Marshal actually hugged Qiao back and said such domestic things in a gentle tone. Is it the end of the world? The two men waved goodbye in a warm atmosphere. Chu Rong turned around and got into the car. Before leaving, he nodded slightly at Tan Shengwei. He instantly cooled off into his usual very perfunctory attitude. Tan Shengwei: ¡°¡­¡± Sure enough, this was the familiar Marshal. The suspension car swished away, leaving behind a gust of wind. ¡°Tan-ge?¡± Qiao Zhiya poked the frozen Tan Shengwei, and motioned to the school gate, ¡°We should go in.¡± Tan Shengwei regained his focus. He restrained his gawkish expression, looked the youth up and down in surprise, and stretched out his hand to pat him on the shoulder. The captain exclaimed, ¡°As expected of Qiao¡­ let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll take you to find a grade-examination teacher.¡± On the way to the office building, Tan Shengwei explained to him a little about the federation¡¯s higher education system. Welfare colleges are divided into three types: junior, intermediate, and advanced. Both junior and intermediate were basic education and must be completed. Students could choose whether or not to continue to advanced college. But generally, except for children who were particularly stupid and innately untalented that couldn¡¯t pass the entrance exam, would choose to continue to study in advanced colleges. With the development of science and technology, there were so many disciplines to be studied in the education system. So after completing the courses of the junior college, students would choose their future study direction before being promoted to the intermediate college. After that, they finally went to the specialized intermediate college, usually in the same field of study. Of course, there were people who changed their field of study during this time, but the numbers weren¡¯t much. Most people already know which field they¡¯re good at or bad at by the time they get into the intermediate college. They wouldn¡¯t waste time on the things they weren¡¯t interested in anyways. Basically, the study in the intermediate college is to prepare for the corresponding advanced college in the future. It could be said that starting from the intermediate college, a student¡¯s future development direction was determined. ¡°Junior college¡¯s courses were relatively simple and loose. There were only four classes a day, three in the morning and one in the afternoon. But there are many elective courses. You should choose a few you like to experience and prepare for choosing a specialized field of study for intermediate college in the future.¡± The Teaching Building was within sight, and Tan Shengwei almost finished his explanation. Qiao Zhiya thanked him for his time. His eyes fell on a little carrot-head2a fond way of saying children. I guess because carrots have a little sprout on their top? not far away, who was only about seven or eight years old, but wearing the same style of uniform as himself. He then asked the question he was most puzzled about after entering the school, ¡°Tan-ge, the age of the students in the junior college¡­¡± Tan Shengwei also realized that he had missed this, and looked at him with some embarrassment, ¡°That¡¯s right, because the junior college is the place where children receive the most basic education, the age of the students is all the same¡­ that is to say, they¡¯re still very young.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked straight at him, and continued to ask: ¡°Is there anyone with the same age range as me?¡± Tan Shengwei avoided his gaze, and replied: ¡°¡­there¡¯s none.¡± The junior college3To be honest, I think ¡°college¡± is not quite accurate. It should be ¡°school¡± as it¡¯s more general. But since the previous tl used ¡°college¡± and I thought it was also ¡°college¡± when I first read it¡­ I¡¯ll keep using ¡°college¡± for the sake of consistency. was a six-year program, while the intermediate college was a five-year program. Since children of the Federation usually started attending college at the age of six, people around his age were¡­ normally preparing for the advanced college4If you want an equation: junior college = primary school; intermediate college = middle + high school; advanced college = university entrance examination. The average age of the oldest student at junior college was only twelve years old. Qiao Zhiya was way beyond the average. By seven whole years. The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. ¡°I¡¯m going to skip several grades.¡± Before stepping into the teaching building, Qiao Zhiya said with a determined face, his tone was affirmative and unquestionable. Tan Shengwei understood this sentiment. He glanced at the youth and comforted him, ¡°There are many Exoplanet Natives5I¡¯m going to exert my creative license and use this term instead of ¡°indigenous¡± or ¡°aboriginal¡± because it¡¯s more descriptive. and Recluses like you every year, it¡¯s nothing strange. No need to think too much about it.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently, and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t think too much about it, but I still want to skip grades.¡± As a person who prided himself in his intellect, he would never allow himself to be mixed in with a bunch of naive children. Time was finite, and he needed to rush to get independent as soon as possible. After greeting the teachers in advance, Qiao Zhiya met with the teacher in charge of the exam and was taken directly to the examination room. Meanwhile, Tan Shengwei stayed outside to communicate with the school principal about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arrangements. With a fiery determination to skip as many grades as possible, Qiao Zhiya completed the grade skipping exam ahead of schedule. Five minutes later, the electronic grading machine gave out his result ¨C his grades were just enough to meet the fifth grade standard. However, because there were many missing knowledge points, it was deemed not enough for the fifth grade, but just right for the fourth grade. Tan Shengwei was quite satisfied with this result. The junior college mainly focused on teaching the Common Language and the basics of many fields of studies. When Qiao Zhiya was still living on the warship, Lin Zhen did teach him a lot of these basics. Zhuang Yu also helped, especially in the Biology department. Seeing Qiao Zhiyan¡¯s serious attitude when studying, his knowledge about these things were quite solid. ¡°Then go to the fourth grade. You can slowly¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to the sixth grade,¡± Qiao Zhiya suddenly interrupted him, looked at the middle-aged teacher in charge of grading him, and said, ¡°Please let me go directly to the sixth grade. I promise to use the fastest speed to catch up with the knowledge points of the fifth grade and keep up with the sixth grade.¡± Tan Shengwei was the only one who was stunned by this bold declaration. The gentle teacher wasn¡¯t surprised at all. Instead, he looked at Qiao Zhiya with a warm smile and said, ¡°How do you guarantee your promise?¡± Qiao Zhiya thought for a while, then took out the textbook he got when he graduated from the Adaptive Education Academy. He flipped the book to the correct page and showed it to the teacher. ¡°This is my self-study progress in the past half month, you can take a look.¡± The ¡°textbook¡± was actually an electronic file. It showed a detailed account of all the knowledge points of each subject that Qiao Zhiya has studied. The content was refined, which made it worthy to be used as an evaluation of his current study progress. This textbook should be a commonly-used one within the military. The teacher flipped through the place where the notes were made, and was a little surprised, ¡°How long have you been studying by yourself?¡± ¡°Half a month.¡± Qiao Zhiya was less confident when asked this question. He didn¡¯t need to learn the part about Common Language in this textbook again, so his self-study progress was very fast. But seeing the teacher¡¯s expression¡­ does this mean his progress rate was still too slow? He became a little annoyed. In fact, if he hadn¡¯t been distracted by carving that new piece of emerald jade, making and selling greatswords, and wasting all of his weekend vacations because of that confession, he should have been able to finish this textbook by himself. Thinking of this, he quickly added: ¡°Give me another week¨C no, just give me another five days, I will definitely finish this textbook, and then you can test me again, and I promise to keep up with the sixth grade classes, I swear.¡± Both Tan Shengwei and the teacher stopped talking. It made Qiao Zhiya become more nervous. ¡°Qiao, you are really¡­¡± Tan Shengwei was in a very complicated mood. It took him one day to complete the adaptive education, and half a month to complete the courses of several years in the junior college. Although most of the courses in junior college were very simple, this level of learning ability could be said to be against the heavens. [outrageously good.] The teacher came back to his senses, and looked at Qiao Zhiya with an odd look. He filled in the information on his blank student card, assigned his class, and said, ¡°Your classroom is in Building V, and there will be a teacher there to guide you. You go to that classroom to familiarize yourself with the environment. We welcome you to enroll in our sixth grade class.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took the student card. He was ecstatic, ¡°Thank you laoshi6teacher. I normally translate this, but to keep things consistent with the usage of ¡°Lao¡¯er¡± ¡°Erge¡± ¡°Lao xx¡±, I¡¯m not translating this~, I will study hard!¡± Tan Shengwei had a hunch. With that abnormal learning speed, Qiao would probably skip a couple more grades even when he attended intermediate college¡­ Tan Shengwei left Qiao Zhiya after sending the youth to his classroom. Qiao Zhiya got to know the new teacher and the environment of Building V. He also received new textbooks, followed the instructions to download the student client on his communicator, and was finally arranged into the classroom. Human children in the Federation grew fast. The sixth grade students were all about twelve years old, and their height was basically over 1.6 meters. Girls were generally taller than boys at this age, so when Qiao Zhiya entered the classroom, he found that most of the female students were not much shorter than him, but there were a few male students who were half a head shorter than him. With his tender, youthful looks, at least he didn¡¯t look too out of place when he mixed with this group of radish-heads7again, another fond way of saying ¡°children¡± and carrot-heads. When he was introduced by the teacher, he found that most of the students in the audience were secretly looking at his ears, but their eyes were all very restrained. They were only curious without any bad intentions. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time felt very grateful ¡ª Fan Xiangnan helped him choose the school, and the other party has always been thoughtful and careful in his work. The school he picked was indeed very good. After three regular classes in the morning, Qiao Zhiya and the students around him have almost gotten to know each other. Everyone here was very friendly and polite. They understandably still very childish, but they were easy to get along with. After a morning of study, he finally felt the continuous daily usage of spiritual power in every aspect of life ¡ª connecting to the school network requires spiritual power, starting the school teaching program requires spiritual power, and going to the cafeteria to eat requires spiritual power, and taking even the school bus also requires spiritual power. To be fair, the latter two was to use the door as a measure against strangers with bad intentions¡­ but still¡­ After the official course was over, spiritual power was also needed to enter the elective course program¡­ In short, most of the things he can do manually at home were all driven by spiritual power here. He also vaguely realized that the layout of the White-Haired Monster¡¯s house had probably been deliberately altered to weaken the role of spiritual power in life. After all, the other party had been in a state where he could not use his spiritual power at will because of serious spiritual power pollution. ¡­it also suited his current situation. I applaud QZY for being brave enough to study in the same room with a bunch of twelve year olds. CH 30.3 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. During lunchtime, the classmates who had been arranged by the teacher to take him to tour the college¡¯s facilities noticed the earrings on his ears one after another. Some had strange expressions, some were guiding more intimately, and some just ignored it. Qiao Zhiya pretended not to notice these reactions. He treated them all equally, thanked them one by one for their help, as if everything was business as usual. After the class ended, Qiao Zhiya bid farewell to a couple classmates he knew, took the school vehicle to the gate, and got into the car prepared by Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu was as enthusiastic in spoiling him as usual. She cooed at him until both his face and ears turned scarlet. She also didn¡¯t forget to stuff him full of food, as she complained that his teacher didn¡¯t treat him well despite not knowing his teacher at all. She didn¡¯t mention anything about magic power, magic circle, or spiritual power treatment. Qiao Zhiya knew that Zhuang Yu knew he was hiding these things from her. Seeing her treat him like this, Qiao Zhiya felt more and more guilty. He hurriedly took out several self-made gadgets from the storage box to cheer her up while apologizing sincerely. In response, Zhuang Yu squished his cheeks in a more excited manner. The hover car drove for half an hour and stopped in front of a white building. ¡°Let¡¯s do a small examination first, and then jiejie will take you to eat delicious food,¡± Zhuang Yu took him up to the eighteenth floor by a special elevator, led him into a room full of foreign instruments, and motioned him to enter into a strange-shaped yet familiar medical instrument. It should be the same instrument from the warship¡¯s infirmary. She knew that Qiao Zhiya was a bit nervous, so she comforted the youth, ¡°Just take a nap, and you can eat delicious food when you wake up.¡± This was definitely arranged in advance. The two of them didn¡¯t meet anyone else on the way here. There was no one in the examination room either. Qiao Zhiya glanced at Zhuang Yu, and obediently lay down inside the instrument. After the instrument was turned on, a familiar white mist filled the instrument, and he slowly closed his eyes. ¡°The soothing agent has been absorbed,¡± Zhuang Yu sent the drug data to Chu Rong via the communicator as she continued to explain, ¡°But there is still no fluctuation in spiritual power. Qiaoqiao¡¯s spiritual power is really special.¡± Chu Rong, who just finished attending a meeting, tugged on the collar of his military uniform. His face was still scrunched up in a frown as he inquired, ¡°He said that his¡­ magic power cannot be recovered by himself, and can only be replenished by absorbing the energy in the jade. Have you found the reason for his behavior?¡± Zhuang Yu shook her head and replied, ¡°Since his power cannot be detected by this testing chamber, I can¡¯t do any test. Without any data from the test, I can¡¯t make a good treatment plan for him.¡± In other words, today¡¯s examination was basically useless. ¡°Then check his physical condition first to make sure he has no other physical problems,¡± Chu Rong commanded. After thinking for a while, he looked at the youth sleeping inside the chamber with a softened gaze. ¡°Prepare some spiritual potion for him as a backup. Although his spiritual power is special, the potion should still be able to help him heal.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Zhuang Yu responded. With a hesitation in her eyes, she also asked, ¡°Sir, since Qiaoqiao already has spiritual power, what about the direction of future studies?¡± ¡°It¡¯s up to him to choose,¡± Chu Rong waved his hand, apparently having considered this issue, ¡°His special power has a big flaw ¨C we can¡¯t directly equate it as a spiritual power. All arrangements will remain the same. Send him back immediately after the examination. Don¡¯t take the results with you. Also, let him do whatever he wants after this.¡± After speaking, the Marshal decisively hung up the communicator. Zhuang Yu: ¡°¡­¡± Bah! It took her so long to have a private time together with this little Cutie. Of course she¡¯s going to spend it with him! After the examination, Qiao Zhiya got his physical examination data. Zhuang Yu even explained to him the meaning of each data in detail, and helped him analyze the differences between him and ordinary people, and what should be paid attention to in his daily life. Holding the result, Qiao Zhiya was a little dazed. And then, he felt touched ¡ª he could sense that everyone¡¯s attitude towards him was slowly changing. They no longer treat him as a naive child, one-sidedly arranging everything in his life. But instead, they started trying to tell him the situation and asking for his opinion. After the chat, Zhuang Yu took him to the mall and bought him a lot of things. ¡°This is a return gift~¡± Zhuang Yu escorted him to the door of the Marshal¡¯s house. She suddenly leaned over and hugged him, patted his head, and said in a gentle tone, ¡°Our little Cutie needs to grow up quickly. Believe in yourself, you are one of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure to know.¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by her embrace. He wanted to say something in return, but the older woman quickly let go of her embrace. She turned around, walked away quickly to her hover car, and left. He stood at the door and watched the hover car leave. Touching his head, he still felt the warm pat Zhuang Yu gave him. It easily made him smile. After his confession, everything seemed going in a good direction. The pair of housemates began to communicate properly with each other. Whether it was just a small thing, or asking to spend time together. When Chu Rong was not busy, he would personally send Qiao Zhiya to school. And if he was busy, Qiao Zhiya would take public transportation by himself. Qiao Zhiya has adapted to the rhythm of the college, and he was lucky enough to meet a few friends with good personalities. On weekends, Tan Shengwei and Zhuang Yu would occasionally take him outside for a walk. He even followed Old Man Ren to his personal laboratory once, and saw a magnificent scene of a real-time mecha assembly. Chu Yan also came to see him a few times. But, because the young man also had to go to college, they mostly talked to each other via their communicator. This strange world slowly revealed its true appearance in front of him. He became used to his daily life ¨C go to school, study hard, play with his friends, and such. He also stopped being reckless with his online identity. He only used that a couple times. Despite his passion in building mechanical things, he actually wanted to make a magic potion for treating the White-Haired Monster¡¯s illness as soon as possible. After that physical examination, Chu Rong asked Zhuang Yu to prepare a lot of spiritual potions for him. He even gave him two bottles of special spiritual power purification liquids and a lot of high-quality jade. He knew those expensive medicines had little to no effect on him, but for Chu Rong¡¯s peace of mind, he obediently used them up. The possible negative impact of secretly selling that giant sword also completely disappeared after Old Man Ren (pretending to) make a fuss about his ¡°audacious and stupid apprentice¡±. He scolded his apprentice for ¡°being a idiotic kid and getting fooled to sell his work¡± and ¡°selling his product without checking the identity of customers¡±. The outside world knows that the bad-tempered Master Ren has taken in a secret little apprentice. The rumor was that the apprentice was so precious that the Master hid him well. No one could find out the identity of this little apprentice. In the end, the whole incident was forgotten. As for Fan Qi ¨C the owner of the auction house, who planned to make a big deal out of the product to fish out the true identity of the mysterious seller ¨C tactfully stopped doing this after Master Ren came to his door. He felt a little regretful in his heart because his supposed Golden Goose was actually Master Ren¡¯s apprentice. However, this made sense to him. If this guy was Master Ren¡¯s precious apprentice¡­ well, it¡¯s no wonder he was so simple. This type of people were obsessed with their own research, they basically lacked common sense. It¡¯s just a pity, he originally wanted to get close to the seller by taking pictures of the giant sword, and then asked him to make mecha weapons for him. That giant sword was really good. Of course, he also wanted to figure out the origin of the mutated red tin ore. Fan Qi knew that Master Ren belonged to Chu Rong¡¯s division. So the mutated red tin ore should be something that the Chu family secretly got, but it was accidentally revealed by this brat. After living a stable life for two months, Qiao Zhiya returned home with a stamped student card and a letter of recommendation from the teacher. ¡°The teacher said that it was a waste of time for me to stay in the junior college, and suggested that I immediately attend intermediate college.¡± Qiao Zhiya handed over his report card. He also laid down a copy of the ¡°Study Field Choosing Guide: Let¡¯s Not Waste Your Potential¡± book that the teacher gave to him. Pointing out a page of his report card, he continued, ¡°This is my result. Laoshi gave this to me last week. He asked me to read this book, and then arranged an aptitude test for me. He also asked me to draw a picture. Finally, he suggested that I choose either medicine or art. But I want to study how to make a mecha, so you will agree with my decision to pursue this field of study, right?¡± After speaking, Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong with an expectant look. Chu Rong sat on the coffee table and looked at the youth¡¯s report card. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, ¡°Art? You can draw?¡± ¡°Yes, my father taught me.¡± Qiao Zhiya replied with some pride. He took out a painting from his storage ring and handed it to him, saying, ¡°I painted a sea of ??stars. This was from what I saw on our return journey. The teacher praised my painting.¡± The elf was a race that had pride over their artistic abilities. Their artistic skills could be said to be a heritage thing, taught by parents to their children. Although Qiao Zhiya was only a half-elf, he basically knows what the elves know. Although, he knew he wasn¡¯t as good as his father. On the canvas, the magnificent and beautiful sea of ??stars spreads far away. It was only paint, but Chu Rong swore he could see each star twinkle. Shimmering, brilliant, and yet, it was an overall gentle and quiet piece. It surprisingly could put you in a melancholic mood; it made you realize how small of an existence you are in this vast, vast universe. Then, he noticed something. In the corner of the canvas, a vague mecha-like shape was approaching the center of the sea of ??stars. Full marks for painting skills, full marks for color matching, and full marks for atmosphere expression. No matter how you look at it, this piece was a brilliant work of art. Chu Rong touched the shadow of the mecha in the corner of the canvas, tapped it lightly, and asked, ¡°This is me?¡± With one look, of course he could recognize his own mecha. Qiao Zhiya blushed a little. His ears twitched and flapped. The youth glanced at Chu Rong, only dared to whisper out his response, ¡°It¡¯s us, and I¡¯m also inside.¡± He didn¡¯t observe the appearance of the warship carefully, so he drew the mecha instead. Truthfully, he wanted to draw a scene where the two of them watched the magnificent galaxy together. Chu Rong¡¯s heartstrings seemed to be gently twitched by something. He looked at the blushing young man in front of him. He felt pleased when he noticed that Qiao Zhiyan was becoming more natural in front of him, and less concealing his emotions and thoughts. The youth also trusted him enough to be dependent on him. Emerald-like green eyes, full of shyness, turned upwards to lock on Chu Rong¡¯s. His heart did a funny little flip as he subconsciously smiled shallowly. He patted the fluffy blond hair, and said, ¡°I see¡­ I will let Xiangnan choose the best possible intermediate college for you. Study hard.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded vigorously. Seeing that Chu Rong was in a good mood, he hurriedly said, ¡°Actually, I have already chosen a college. You know, the one where Xiao Yan also goes. What do you think? I looked it up on Starnet1the Internet of this world., and the review was stellar!¡± Chu Yan was the third young master of the Chu family. He might be ill-tempered and lazy with his studies, but the college he attended was the cream of the crop ¨C the absolute standard for the upper class. It was the prestigious Federal Military Academy, a college directly affiliated with the Federation¡¯s army. But that¡¯s not the main point, the point was¨C ¡°¡­that college is a boarding school.¡± The previous warmth in Ancestor Chu¡¯s chest was gone within seconds. Qiao Zhiya nodded, and said sweetly in a silly manner, ¡°I know, don¡¯t worry. I can take care of myself. And with Chu Yan there, he said he would take care of me! There will be no problem!¡± Ancestor Chu¡¯s face darkened. He couldn¡¯t help but to reach out and grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s collar. He picked the youth up and looked at him with a scary gaze. ¡ªDamn it. Of course Chu Rong knew that this Bald Chicken could take care of himself! But living in a school? This country bumpkin has only been in the Federation for a couple short months. He only weighed a few pounds. And he dared to harden his not-fully-grown wings2¡°hardened wings¡± is an idiom that mean ¡°brave enough (or ready, depending on the context) to do things by themselves.¡± and live by himself? Does he not know how deep the waters are in that kind of place? Is he looking for death?! If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 31.1 Double update because I want the plot to progress faster into the more exciting bits. Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Four Great Families in this setting: Chu, Ning, Xiang, Xu Ancestor Chu was very angry. He was afraid this Bald Chicken would be harmed in that kind of muddy environment. ¡°Don¡¯t go to that college.¡± After two months, Ancestor Chu¡¯s domineering problem resurfaced again. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled and aggrieved. The smile on his face disappeared, and he asked in a low whisper, ¡°Why? I promise I won¡¯t cause trouble when attending that college.¡± Chu Rong suppressed his temper. He sat down on the sofa, trying to rein in his irritated state. Uttering as much patience as possible, he began to explain his stance ¨C after two months of getting along with each other, he finally stopped being so negative whenever any disagreement occurred. At the very least, he would explain everything he knew, trying to reach an understanding with the youth. The environment of the affiliated intermediate college Federal Military Academy was complicated, and the relationships inside were intricate. The students there were from military families, rich families, or politically-aligned ones. Even if Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t find trouble, it would find its way to him instead. As the young master of the Chu family, Chu Yan had the capital to walk sideways1do whatever he wants without any repercussions. inside. Not many people dared to challenge him, and the few who dared came from the Four Great Families or from the President¡¯s faction. But Qiao Zhiya was different. He had no background and no strength. Even if the Chu family announced in a high-profile way to cover him and bring him under their protection, those powerful people might not just not care. On the contrary, because Qiao Zhiya was brought into the protective circle by the Chu family, they instead would do something secretly to bring the youth down. The protective umbrella of the Chu family could indeed help Qiao Zhiya avoid some small troubles. But it could also attract those powerful people to pry deeper. Not only that, once the relationship with the Chu family was established, apart from the secret hostility, there would be no good intentions. They might even try to smear the Chu family by attacking Qiao Zhiya. And that Bald Chicken could do nothing but accept being hurt in the crossfire. ¡°The school environment is closed. The elders will not intervene in the quarrel among the juniors, unless the quarrel is particularly large and there are casualties. But these juniors are not human beings, even if you are being bullied, you won¡¯t even know who actually did it.¡± The more Chu Rong analyzed, the more worried he felt for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s prospects for studying here. His face darkened even further. He stretched out his hand and rubbed the youth¡¯s bangs, which had grown a lot. He continued his explanation with a frown, ¡°In other colleges, as long as you keep your true identity secret, no one will know that you are under the Chu family¡¯s protection, and it will not cause any trouble. Your safety can be guaranteed. But once you enter the closed management of the military academy, you have to rely on yourself for everything.¡± With the complete explanation, Qiao Zhiya understood Chu Rong¡¯s worry, and the grievance on his face disappeared. He lowered his head and thought about it seriously, and suddenly asked, ¡°Zhuang Yu-jie and the others, did they also go to this college before they followed you?¡± Chu Rong instantly understood what Qiao Zhiya implied with that question. He continued to frown, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, don¡¯t use other people¡¯s excellence standards on yourself. Their situation is fundamentally different from yours. Your path to study shouldn¡¯t take theirs as a reference.¡± ¡°But I want to follow you in the future,¡± Qiao Zhiya did not flinch, still looked at him with fiery determination and hard-headedness. He even took the White-Haired Monster¡¯s hand, looked into his eyes and said, ¡°For me, their road is the best reference.¡± The hand that clasped over Chu Rong¡¯s was small, with slender fingers, white and tender skin, and smooth palm that was good to touch. He moved his fingers, and suddenly felt that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes were too bright at this time. It blinded him, and he dared not look directly at it. But if Chu Rong wanted to successfully persuade Qiao Zhiya to give up his choice, he had to look at those brilliant emerald-like eyes. ¡°Qiao Zhiya, you¡¯re already following me right now.¡± Chur Rong held the smaller hand back tightly. His brows furrowed ¨C he actually didn¡¯t understand why his heart suddenly raced, so he just insisted on refusing, ¡°You¡¯re not suitable to go there.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was usually very obedient2honestly, I think QZY is very much NOT obedient, he only looked the part. He does a lot of things secretly behind everyone¡¯s back, and is stubborn as hell., insisted so fiercely this time. With a soft but stubborn voice, he said, ¡°Chu Rong, you know what I mean. What I want is to rely on my strength to follow you, not getting unilateral support. I want to be your equal. I want to walk beside you.¡± An unequal relationship wouldn¡¯t be beneficial at the critical moment ¨C when danger inevitably comes, the weaker, dependent party would become the stronger one¡¯s Achilles¡¯ Heel. Afterall, the strength of a chain is measured by its weakest link. Chu Rong, who faced the outside world coldly, had a lot of hidden enemies who wanted to kill him off to bring benefit for themselves. He shouldn¡¯t have such an obvious weakness like Qiao Zhiya. Chu Rong said he wanted to raise Qiao Zhiya. The young half-elf believed in Chu Rong¡¯s character. If that man said he would raise the youth until he became fully independent and strong, Chu Rong would follow it until the end. But prized flowers kept inside a controlled greenhouse wouldn¡¯t survive during the storm. If Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t experience pain and suffering, could he ever become truly independent? Through these two months of understanding, he had a rough understanding of the political power within the Federation, specifically the distribution of power between the big families. It was precisely because of this that he needed to know in advance what kind of people and trouble he would encounter in the future, when he¡¯s out in the open by Chu Rong¡¯s side. He understood Chu Rong¡¯s desire to coddle and protect him. But he also hoped that the other party could understand his desire in return. The Federal Military Academy was an intermediate college with the best teachers, and it was also the most suitable place for those who want to serve the Four Great Families in the future. They could make connections, get the education they need, and flaunt off their strengths to attract attention. Qiao Zhiya wanted to learn everything in advance. He didn¡¯t want his ignorance to be his downfall, especially because he could implicate Chu Rong in the process. Qiao Zhiya seldom called Chu Rong by name directly. If he needed something, he usually waited for Chu Rong to pick up his silent cues, or he could simply become clingy and tell Chu Rong what he needed. That¡¯s why, when Chu Rong heard his name spoken by Qiao Zhiya, it was like getting splashed by ice-cold water. The Marshal really did underestimate the courage and ambition of this small Bald Chicken. He called Zhuang Yu as ¡°Zhuang Yu-jie¡±, Tan Shengwei as ¡°Tan-ge¡±, Lin Zhen as ¡°Lin-laoshi¡±, Master Ren as ¡°Grandpa Ren¡±. He even recalled this Bald Chicken calling Fan Xiangnan as ¡°Fan-ge¡± once. Qiao Zhiya never called him anything besides ¡°Chu Rong¡± or that nickname he accidentally blurted out. Never calling him ¡°ge¡±. Or his military title. Using someone¡¯s direct name without any suffix denoted the equal status of both parties. If Qiao Zhiya called him ¡°Chu-ge¡± or ¡°Rong-ge¡±, that would mean Qiao Zhiya depended on him as a younger brother figure. It should be clear, and yet, Chu Rong had only realized this detail. The White-Haired Monster and the Bald Chicken stared at each other in stubborn silence, refusing to give in. One considers the other¡¯s safety, while the other wants to learn the way of the world so he wouldn¡¯t hold the other party. In the end, it was Qiao Zhiya who spoke first. He moved his hand, which was getting tighter and tighter, and said, ¡°As long as I stay by your side, I will encounter that tight situation sooner or later. That¡¯s why I should learn how to handle it as soon as possible. Federal Military Academy is the perfect environment to learn it, because it¡¯s still a small microcosm compared to the real world. Besides, my perceived strength is too weak to attract attention, so I won¡¯t be specially targeted. If I don¡¯t learn it now, how can I get used to it in the future?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s eyes moved, and he slowly let go of his hand. But Qiao Zhiya held him back again, and continued to argue and persuade, ¡°In school, even if someone came to trouble me, it would not cause any trouble in the grand scheme of things. It wouldn¡¯t be a big loss to me. And when I become stronger in the future, I will have enough experience and can properly support you by your side. I know that your battles aren¡¯t just petty fights among the students, but it can reach planetary-scale. You also said that the elders will not interfere with the affairs of the younger generation. Isn¡¯t that good news for me? It means that I¡¯m actually quite safe, as the real threat will not touch me there. That¡¯s very different from the real world, isn¡¯t it? So, my point is th¡ª¡± ¡°Stop talking nonsense.¡± Ancestor Chu said coldly, interrupting him. Qiao Zhiya shut up, his rare long speech was interrupted. The build-up of courage in his chest dissipated in an instant. Seeing Chu Rong¡¯s pissed-off expression, he became a bit scared. But he still left his final closing statement, ¡°Anyway¡­ my point is¡­ I need to learn, so you will agree with my decision, right?¡± Chu Rong looked at him in complete silence for a moment. By time, he became uncomfortable seeing this overly earnest Bald Chicken. One last time, he reconfirmed with the youth, ¡°Do you really want to go?¡± Judging by Chu Rong¡¯s tone, it seemed that he knew he lost this argument. Qiao Zhiya nodded with a relaxed heart, ¡°I¡¯m going! I really want to go!¡± Chu Rong compromised, ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, I will not stop you. However, I will not ask Xiangnan to arrange the admission for you. If you fail to get into the Federal Military Academy by your own strength, I will also not help you. In fact, if you failed your admission test, you must listen to my arrangement for your future education, at least for intermediate college choice. ¡± After speaking, Chu Rong pinched the twitchy, long ear once again. He then got up and left. Unstoppable Force (QZY) vs. Immovable Object (CR) The force wins! CH 31.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Qiao Zhiya watched the White-Haired Monster leave. He became dazed for a moment, then took out his communicator and dialed Chu Yan¡¯s number. Today was the weekend, so it¡¯s natural for Chu Yan to immediately answered a call from Qiao Zhiya. The blond-haired youth asked him to meet him at the mall, to which Chu Yan immediately agreed. He rushed from school and met him there. Qiao Zhiya wasn¡¯t the type to dilly-dally. After some greetings, he asked Chu Yan what he wanted to ask. ¡°Theoretically speaking, as long as you graduate from a junior college, you can apply to all the intermediate colleges.¡± Chu Yan frowned and analyzed together with him, fingering the straw on his cup. He was a bit distressed when he heard the full detail from Qiao Zhiya. As expected from his emotionally-constipated brother, but still¡­ Chu Yan continued, ¡°But it¡¯s a bit different for the Federal Military Academy. Your admission not only hinges on your grades during junior college, but also on your personal qualifications and whether you have superior or special strengths. All in all, the criteria is very strict, and furthermore, the school has started for two months already. You could technically apply now, as a transfer student. But¡­ I heard that the method of enrollment is way harder than if you enroll during the start of the school period.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned. While he expected the admission would be difficult, he didn¡¯t know that there was a difference between normal enrollment and mid-semester transfer. ¡°Besides, the recommended directions written in your grade book are medicine and art. Our college has medicine as a field of study, but it only accepts students with spiritual power C-grade and above. And, didn¡¯t your spiritual power¡­¡± Chu Yan trailed off. He put down his hands on the table. Thinking hard about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current situation, the young master sighed deeply before muttering to himself, ¡°That Erge of mine¡­ how could he treat his future boyfriend like this, so ruthless¡­¡± With how powerful the Chu family was, it should be a child¡¯s play to send Qiao Zhiya to enter the Federal Military Academy. Didn¡¯t he do that to Chu Yan already? Why couldn¡¯t he also do that for Qiao? ¡°It¡¯s not your Erge¡¯s fault. If I can¡¯t even handle the hurdle of enrolling myself, then what right do I have to talk about independence?¡± Qiao Zhiya could understand Chu Rong¡¯s thoughts and worries. He was just a little frustrated about his own uselessness in this matter. It would be great if magic power could be simulated as spiritual power¡­ he had tried that before, and it didn¡¯t work¡­ ¡°Actually, what I want to learn is mecha manufacturing.¡± Qiao Zhiya spoke fast, as if he was embarrassed in admitting that. Scratching his face, he continued his explanation, ¡°I didn¡¯t think about studying medicine in the first place anyway. And I really don¡¯t have the passion needed to pursue art.¡± Hearing this, Chu Yan raised his eyes and stared at him blankly for a while. Then, he remembered one key detail he forgot. He sat up with a strange, excited cry, and became more vibrant, ¡°My God, Qiao, you sure have high ambition! As expected of my Erge¡¯s bo¡ªcough cough, no, I mean, mecha manufacturing is a good field of study to pursue. My Erge is a mecha pilot in the first place, and if you will be his personal mecha master then that¡¯s a match made in he¡ª no, no, I mean, yeah, I will support your choice. I think you¡¯ll be a fantastic mecha master in the future!¡± Qiao Zhiya, who thought he would be dissuaded, did not expect to receive his unconditional encouragement and support. His eyes lit up, his face flushed, and he looked at him with pure joy radiating from his green eyes. ¡°I heard that the mecha manufacturing course of your school is directly linked to the military-owned advanced college specialized in this field, and the teachers there are all top talents from the military department, is that true?¡± ¡°Of course both are true! The teachers in our school are specifically curated from the best of the best! Sometimes old generals and lieutenant generals will come to teach in person in order to recruit new talents. You can learn a lot just by watching them demonstrating their expertise.¡± Chu Yan was even more excited when he said this. But just as he dreamed of a beautiful future where Qiao Zhiya was his classmate, he remembered a very important yet unpleasant detail. ¡°Uhm.. well, how do I put this¡­ for this field of study, there¡¯s a minimum spiritual power requirement. The admission is only open for C-grade spiritual power and above.¡± The light in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes went out again, but he was not discouraged. He lowered his head and thought for a while, and asked, ¡°From what I heard¡­ the courses in the intermediate college are not bound to the field of study, unlike in advanced college. For example, the mecha driving department also has a mecha manufacturing course. In fact, all mecha-related studies do have this course, right? Is there any field of study that has a lax spiritual power requirement?¡± So long he managed to attend this college first, everything else could come second. After being reminded by him, Chu Yan¡¯s thoughts instantly cleared up. He raised his hand and knocked his own forehead, and said happily: ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of this? Yes, yes, of course, most of the subjects set up in our school are linked to the military department. Almost all the departments for military-related jobs have high requirements for spiritual power, but I think¡­ hm¡­ wait a minute, let me see.¡± After he finished muttering to himself, he opened the school network client on his communicator and looked at the curicullum. A quarter hour later, Chu Yan made a summary table of all possible low spiritual power requirement fields of studies that have mecha manufacturing course in it. He projected the table into a holographic display for easier viewing. ¡°Command, logistics, weapons design, information system technology, mechanical design¡­ probably only these five have low-to-none spiritual power requirement ¡ª wait, no, the command major has a piloting course that also requires spiritual power. As for weapons design and information system technology also has a high baseline of entry, although for these majors you need to have a specialized basic knowledge from an affiliated school. Many of the students here are little geniuses who are specially trained for this since birth. You have only been in the Federation for a few months now, so I don¡¯t suggest you try to apply here. How about logistic major then? It should be easy to apply,¡± Chu Yan suggested as he circled the ¡°Logistic¡± word on his holographic projection. Chu Yan himself was excited, as he was finally able to help his future sister-in-law. Qiao Zhiya only stared in full concentration. Instead of looking at the circled word, he instead pointed at the ¡°Mechanical Design¡± word and asked, ¡°How about this field of study? Does mechanical design have any spiritual power requirement?¡± Chu Yan froze and looked at the admission requirements, ¡°Yes, but not very high. D-grade is enough. If you have any special achievement, you can even enter with F-grade spiritual power. This major relies on IQ, not spiritual power; but the thing is, there¡¯s a factual trend of higher the spiritual power, the higher the IQ. Though I think this ¡®fact¡¯ is flawed. Xiang Kun has S-grade spiritual power, but he is stupider than a pig.¡± The spiritual power requirement was low enough, and this was a major that relied on his personal intelligence. Qiao Zhiya felt that he still had a chance. He then remembered something that Old Man Ren had mentioned to him last time he visited his laboratory. He gradually got an idea in his mind, ¡°To increase my chance of success, can I present to them my patented works?¡± ¡°Ah? You, you already have patents?¡± Chu Yan was shocked. He felt that his Erge failed to tell him this important information. He continued, ¡°But, aren¡¯t you an Exoplanet Native? Since when do you have the time to make anything and patent them? How?¡± While Chu Yan was questioning the world and the sheer difference between their intelligence, Qiao Zhiya immediately made a decision to visit Old Man Ren. Thankfully, Chu Yan understood and left not long after. Besides, he still needed to go back to the college¡¯s dormitory. Qiao Zhiya used to travel alone. He used public transportation to visit Ren Mo¡¯s laboratory. He already told the mecha master about his visit, and Ren Mo was happy to welcome him. When Qiao Zhiya arrived, he was welcomed by Ren Mo himself. The youth wasted no time to explain the purpose of his visit, and Ren Mo was pleasantly surprised. Ren Mo looked at the smaller youth in front of him, nodding at appropriate intervals as he heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s idea. Feeling proud of his ¡°apprentice¡±, he smiled, ¡°You still remember this, good, good. I told you before, that even if I used your improved joint structure for my own mecha research, the original structure is still yours. I just help you with the procedure for the patent. Chu Rong and I will not steal your money or claim it as our own creation. So, if you want to use this patent for your admission, it¡¯s within your rights to do so. You don¡¯t need to ask for my permission. Just go and apply.¡± ¡°I just worry that if I use it without telling you first, it will cause an inconvenience to your research.¡± Qiao Zhiya explained his point of view. He became embarrassed, but still spoke, ¡°And¡­ if it¡¯s not for you, my current understanding of mecha manufacturing will be terrible. It¡¯s thanks to you that I am here right now.¡± ¡°No problem, no problem. Just make sure to study hard when you get enrolled. Strive to bring your current knowledge into line with the current technology as soon as possible.¡± Old Man Ren put down the parts he was holding, wiped his hands clean, and took out a patent certificate from his space button. He gave it to Qiao Zhiya and said, ¡°You can use this for your college admission, this should be enough to count as a special achievement, so your third-degree disability status shouldn¡¯t be a problem. And if you want to sell your patent, you can do it. Don¡¯t worry about me or the Chu family.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt touched. He actually thought that Grandpa Ren helping him to apply it in the first place was enough help, he didn¡¯t think the help would extend this far. After receiving the certificate, he said, ¡°I won¡¯t sell it. I know the significance of this patent. I will allow you to use this exclusively for free. After all, without your improvement and application for the current technology¡¯s mecha, this creation will have no meaning.¡± ¡°This child¡­¡± The smile on Old Man Red¡¯s face deepened, and he could help but pat Qiao Zhiya¡¯s in his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to ask me if you find something you don¡¯t understand. You¡¯re still my apprentice, even if it¡¯s just in name only.¡± Ren Mo was very happy when Chu Rong proposed this obedient and sensible genius to be his apprentice. So, he also needs to exert effort to be an appropriate master to him. Qiao Zhiya also laughed and nodded, ¡°Okay, I will.¡± After receiving the patent, Qiao Zhiya applied for a mid-transfer transfer to the mechanical design department of Federal Military Academy Intermediate College. He attached a copy of his patent, a homemade scaled-down model of his patent ¡ª an improved joint structure design for mecha and weapons ¡ª and also detailed data of the degree of the movement, the overall strength, and weapon fusion enhancement after the application of his design. The procedures for reviewing student information for any military-affiliated establishment was very arduous and strict. Not only were their results checked, their background must be spotless too. While waiting for the answer to his application, Qiao Zhiya got the patent usage money that Grandpa Ren gave him. He also obtained the formal Federal resident status, and a life-long formal identification card with the attached communicator. Chu Rong promised Qiao Zhiya that he could go to any college as long as he relied on his own strength and qualifications. He would let Qiao Zhiya handle his matters by himself, without obstructing it or secretly helping him. His level of overbearing-ness and overprotectiveness has significantly gone down, and Qiao Zhiya was thankful for it. Another half of a month passed. Just when his application result was almost due, Chu Rong freed up his time. The Marshal took him to cut his hair and bought a lot of varied hats to help hiding his long ears. ¡°When you go to college, remember to bring these hats and use them. You also need to bring a space button to cover up the existence of your special storage bracelet. If anyone bullies you, fight back. If you can¡¯t, find Xiao Yan to help you fight.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded in understanding. He looked at the White-Haired Monster¡¯s relaxed expression, and asked in a hesitant tone, ¡°If you¡¯re telling me this¡­ then, you already know my application status.¡± Chu Rong messed up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs. His face was still in his perpetual-frown, but he didn¡¯t have any annoyance in his voice, ¡°Smart.¡± Qiao Zhiya tidied up his messy hair, and smiled in pride. Seeing that he was already busted, Chu Rong told the truth, ¡°There is a hearsay about you, but not about your admission status, but about your file.¡± ¡°In your file, you are rescued by the Chu family¡¯s army from being enslaved in an illegal mine. It¡¯s only natural for you to be under Chu family¡¯s protection, and thus, your file is stored in our cloud server. If the military academy wants to enroll you, they must obtain your detailed information. In order to obtain permission to read your files, they need to ask for an authorized personnel, i.e, Me, to grant them access.¡± Chu Rong explained. But seeing that Qiao Zhiya was still puzzled, he added: ¡°The true reason for your displacement from your hometown was because of black holes. However, this phenomenon has not appeared for a decade. So, in order to avoid unnecessary troubles, I have encrypted your file. If the school admin asks you about this, you have to answer it like this. If an outsider asks you, you just need to mention it, no need to go into details. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded. He felt a bit¡­ complicated. His original lie actually became the ¡°truth¡±. However, it has become another secret he couldn¡¯t disclose to anyone else. At least, he was protected better than before now. He looked at Chu Rong, who was obviously more patient than before, and said sincerely, ¡°Thank you. You¡¯re not a bully, I guess.¡± In response, Chu Rong messed up the Bald Chicken¡¯s not-so-bald fluffy blond hair. But Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t care, and continued to smile. ¡®This stupid Bald Chicken¡­¡¯ Chu Rong continued to rub his head again, this time with a darkened face. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 31.3 Two days later, the principal interviewed Qiao Zhiya via the communicator. In the afternoon of the same day, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s admission notice was sent. He successfully got into the mechanical design department via a special enrollment. He would need to report to the school before the start of the course next week. The moment the notification was sent, Chu Rong also received information on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mid-semester transfer file on his communicator. He opened Qiao Zhiya¡¯s file with supervisor authority, and looked at the newly added word ¡°admitted¡± on it. Suddenly feeling irritated, he tapped his fingers on his table in no particular rhythm. That Bald Chicken needed to report before the start of classes next week. In other words, the latest he could report was Sunday, which was only three days from now. Chu Rong¡¯s bad temper exploded after receiving the notice. The ill-tempered White-Haired Monster carried Qiao Zhiya around with a black face all day long, forbidding him to cook, forbidding him to do housework, letting him eat all day long, and asking Zhuang Yu to come to give him another check-up and another dose of spiritual soothing mist. Qiao Zhiya knew that Chu Rong was unhappy, so he followed his every whim as an appeasement. However, he didn¡¯t forget to mention, ¡°I need to catch up with the curriculum. It may be very difficult for me to come home in the first month or two. But I will still try, because I have to carve another piece of emerald jade for your illness.¡± Chu Rong, who was staring at A1 as the robot was picking today¡¯s dinner, turned his head to look at the Bald Chicken¡¯s bold choice of words, and refused directly: ¡°No, you should pay attention to your schooling and rest now.¡± ¡°But I want to carve,¡± Qiao Zhiya insisted. The middle-level magic circle needed more magic power. This piece of high-level emerald jade was estimated to be used up in less than two months. Before the current one ran out of healing power, he needed to make another. He knew that Zhuang Yu and her master had been researching this ¡°healing magic power¡± after seeing its miraculous effect on Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual pollution problem. However, their research on magic circle didn¡¯t go well, judging by Zhuang Yu¡¯s increasingly frequent complaints. But even so, Chu Rong never asked him to help, only let him do what he wanted. The other party didn¡¯t force him, but he couldn¡¯t ignore it with a peace of mind either. n fact, he was also secretly researching the compatibility between the magic circle and spiritual power, but unfortunately the results were not optimistic. The two were locked into eye contact again, and Chu Rong¡¯s bad temper couldn¡¯t be suppressed anymore. ¡°My answer is still no. Pack your luggage honestly. Don¡¯t dare to be disobedient again.¡± Qiao Zhiya tensed his expression, turned his head away, and angrily huffed, ¡°Then I will make another jade carving secretly, or I could carve a piece at school, and let Xiao Yan bring it to you.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression worsened, ¡°You dare?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t verbally answer, only refusing to look at the Marshal. It was another round of psychological warfare. In the end, Chu Rong couldn¡¯t help getting up and walking in front of Qiao Zhiya, looked down at him, and pinched his twitchy, irritable, long ears:,¡±Qiao Zhiya, you¡¯ve been too disobedient recently.¡± ¡°You¡¯re used to it.¡± Qiao Zhiya mumbled loudly in defiance. Ancestor Chu was speechless. ¡°Okay, fine, fine. Do whatever you want.¡± Chu Rong withdrew his hand, his eyes were cold. ¡°But you better be extra careful and be transparent to me. Stop immediately if something goes wrong.¡± Qiao Zhiya took out a polished piece of jade from his space button without saying a word. The emerald jade was placed down on the coffee table, and he also took out his magic pen. Chu Rong: ¡°¡­¡± This damn child was already prepared! Spiritual power couldn¡¯t sense the magic power. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t see the soft light emitted by the magic circle that Qiao Zhiya painted. In his view, Qiao Zhiya was drawing nothing on the surface of the jade. The youth seemed like he swiped blindly, but when he finished drawing one side of the emerald jade, a complex array pattern suddenly carved onto the surface. Seeing is believing, as they said. Chu Rong¡¯s eyes widened in shock after seeing this mysterious happening. In the middle of carving the magic array, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magic power was exhausted twice. He directly absorbed the power of two earth magic stones in front of him in order to sustain himself. Chu Rong watched as the dark brown stone gradually faded in color and dried out in the tender and beautiful hands of the youth, until it completely turned into an ordinary gray stone. Chu Rong¡¯s heart was in turmoil once again. A few hours later, the last magic circle took shape, and Qiao Zhiya was finally finished. ¡°Here you are.¡± Qiao Zhiya put away the magic pen and happily handed him the rune-covered emerald jade. Chu Rong withdrew his gaze from staring at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s dainty hand. He instead looked at the youth¡¯s slightly tired face, and gave him another pat on his head. Chu Rong took the emerald jade and stroked it gently. He also gave Qiao Zhiya a top-quality ink jade to replenish his spent magic power. Qiao Zhiya noticed the softening of his breath, and felt that the atmosphere was right at the moment, and said quickly: ¡°Actually, I have also studied a method to restore your spiritual power, which is to make magic potions. During this time, I taught myself the basics of making potions. I also bought the appropriate tools, and I want to try it.¡± ¡°Magic potion?¡± Chu Rong recovered from an inexplicable tender emotion. He immediately frowned and said: ¡°Don¡¯t do it, look at how white your face is just carving this jade. Do as I say and finish absorbing this ink jade. After that, go to rest.¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately turned his face away again in a petulant manner, ¡°Then I will secretly make it in the school.¡± ¡°¡­¡± This bald chicken is getting more and more cunning! Ancestor Chu lost his temper again. He wanted to teach this Bald Chicken a hard lesson, but in the end he had to compromise and agreed to let Qiao Zhiya make magic potions. In return, he could only do it after a good night¡¯s rest, and must do it under his supervision. He even wanted to specially call Zhuang Yu over to prevent Qiao Zhiya from hurting herself while making the potion. The next day, when everything was ready, Qiao Zhiya took out the pharmaceutical1Just a memo, there¡¯s a distinction between ¡°pharmacist¡± and ¡°apothecary¡±. Pharmacist is a professional who dispenses prescribed drugs in a hospital or retail pharmacy. While an apothecary is a person who makes and provides/sells drugs and/or medicines. Seeing QZY makes his own medicine, he would be counted as an apothecary. Though, in a medieval fantasy-like setting, I think ¡°potion maker/master¡± would be more appropriate. tools he never used before and set them up. He brought out a pot of very thick and lush plants as the main ingredient of his magic potion2Uh also, from now on, when it said ¡°potion¡± it meant a medicine from QZY¡¯s world. If it¡¯s ¡°medicine/agent/drugs/etc¡± then it¡¯s from the human world.. Zhuang Yu reached out and touched the strange plant as she asked, ¡°What is this, I¡¯ve never seen it before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called stone grass.¡± Qiao Zhiya replied. He snuck a glance at the moody White-Haired Monster next to Zhuang Yu. Remembering the plant¡¯s dubious origin, he hurriedly explained, ¡°I secretly dug it back from that mining planet and raised it. It probably grew a little stronger because it can absorb better nutrients.¡± In just a few short months, the originally thin and weak plant became a healthy one. It now became arrogant, like a real tyrant. Inside his storage bracelet3By the way, ¡°storage bracelet¡± = QZY¡¯s own spatial storage from his hometown. While ¡°space button/space ring¡± = human¡¯s version of that, and it¡¯s wide-spread., this stone grass fought with Qiuqiu every day. The wood magic element contained in the grass¡¯ body was several times stronger than before, which made Qiuqiu very jealous. ¡°Is this actually stone grass? Isn¡¯t it the type of plant that grows in the crevices of rocks?¡± Zhuang Yu was surprised, and observed the overlush stone grass more carefully, as if she was watching some kind of miracle, ¡°I have raised this grass too, but I have been unable to keep it alive. So I thought it was a kind of plant that would wither immediately if it left its original environment.¡± ¡°Actually, it is quite easy to keep.¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed and explained in a low voice, ¡°It absorbs my mag¡ª err, I mean it absorbs my special spiritual power.¡± Furthermore, this grass also had a very good appetite. It was no wonder it became the chonky-equivalent in the Plantae kingdom. ¡°No wonder.¡± Zhuang Yu calmed down when she heard the explanation. She looked at the Cutie with a smile, ¡°The healing-type spiritual power is indeed beneficial to plants. This is one of your advantages. Are you going to use it as a potion ingredient?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded: ¡°It does have a soothing property. It should be able to calm a polluted spiritual power.¡± ¡°Then try it.¡± Zhuang Yu supported his innovation very much. She put on her safety goggles and gloves, and readied herself to supervise Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya glanced at Chu Rong who had been silent all this time and paused in his tracks. He reached out to the stone grass while saying, ¡°Zhuang Yu-jie, my method of making potions may be a little different from yours¡­¡± He silently used his magic to ask the stone grass for a few healthy leaves to spare. After the grass agreed, he plucked a couple of them, then returned the grass to his storage bracelet after giving it his magic power in return. He then put the leaves inside a special container and began to draw a magic circle. Zhuang Yu, who was going to help him extract4If you care about my nerdy rant, you are welcomed to read it in the footnotes below. the plant¡¯s essence, was stunned, and then retracted her hand wisely. First, a purification circle was drawn on the bottom of the container. After the magic array was activated, Qiao Zhiya put the container into the device for extracting plant essence and pressed it open. After finishing these, he took out a bottle of spiritual power soothing agent from his storage bracelet, and poured it into a spare container on the side. A few large leaves¡¯ extract could only fill a small test tube. Qiao Zhiya took it out, felt the rich wood-type magic power inside, closed his eyes, and began to probe it with his magic power. Zhuang Yu blinked in confusion at the Cutie¡¯s actions. But seeing that Qiao Zhiya was still fully concentrated, she was keen on just supervising him. Besides, his methods were far different from what she knew, so she couldn¡¯t actually help him. As soon as Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wood-type magic power penetrated into the potion, the plant¡¯s own wood-type magic responded excitedly. The magic circle immediately purified any impurities contained within the extract. This was a very slow process. Outsiders could only see the color of the plant essence in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand slowly becoming purer and purer. They couldn¡¯t see the ¡°black smoke¡± that came out every time an impurity was cleaned out. After finishing the purification process, Qiao Zhiya drew a fusion magic circle on the table. He poured the plant essence and spiritual power soothing agent together, and after replenishing his magic power, probed into the concoction with his magic power again. The process of purifying, merging, and sorting out the two different compounds couldn¡¯t be interrupted. Qiao Zhiya finished merging the potion when his magic power was about to be exhausted. He felt bleary, but he forced his eyes open and wiped the sweat on his forehead. He carefully inspected the finished potion in front of him. All the magic circles he drew were all correct, and the potion¡¯s color was also correct. It should, at the very least, not be dangerous. He took the bright green potion, sealed it, handed it to Chu Rong, as happily exclaimed, ¡°It¡¯s done! I specially blended the spiritual power soothing agent into it to improve the absorption level.¡± Chu Rong stretched out his hand but didn¡¯t take the potion. Instead, he brushed the youth¡¯s sweaty bangs on his forehead, patted him, and said in a gentle voice, ¡°Thank you, you have worked hard.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not hard,¡± Qiao Zhiya was a little shy. Shaking his head gently, he passed the medicine forward again, looking at him with expectant eyes. Chu Rong took a deep look at him and reached out to take it. ¡°Ah, wait, don¡¯t drink it yet.¡± Qiao Zhiya seemed to think of something, raised his hand, and took out Qiuqiu his storage bracelet. He let the plant ball dip into the potion to test it. After drinking a small portion of the potion, Qiuqiu immediately straightened the tip of its vine, and jumped onto him excitedly, as if he also wanted the potion. ¡°I¡¯ll make it for you later.¡± Qiao Zhiya stroked it and fed it a little of his magic power. He looked at Chu Rong again as he continued, ¡°Qiuqiu said that the potion is fine, you can drink it directly.¡± Chu Rong and Zhuang Yu both looked baffled at the seemingly-sentient plant in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s palm. They have tried to study this guy in secret, but they couldn¡¯t found anything important. They originally thought that this ¡°Qiuqiu¡± was just a native plant of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s home planet. While it did have the interesting ability to wound itself on the youth¡¯s body in protection, never in a thousand years could they guess this plant also could test potions. ¡°Can it detect poison?¡± Chu Rong looked at Qiuqiu and quietly asked. The ball nestled in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s palm seemed to sense danger. It couldn¡¯t help shaking, and rolled scaredly into the inside of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Well, my father found it for me. It is rare and very precious.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t realize that Qiuqiu wanted to hide. He took it out and held it in his palm. He patted it with his finger as he spoke with a smile on his face, ¡°Qiuqiu has always been with me. It is my family. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s very cute?¡± Surrounded by a bunch of scary-feeling people, Qiuqiu began to play dead again. ¡°It is very good.¡± Chu Rong agreed, and he continued, ¡°Take care of it well. Don¡¯t let people find out that it¡¯s special.¡± After speaking, he looked at Zhuang Yu, and the doctor made a gesture of zippering up her mouth shut. That night, Chu Rong took the medicine under the urging of Qiao Zhiya, and was sent to the medical center of Chu¡¯s headquarters by Zhuang Yu not long after. His spiritual power went berserk again. Qiao Zhiya was stunned and wanted to follow, but Zhuang Yu forced him to stay at home because he had to go to school the day after. Besides, he couldn¡¯t afford another attack on his already-fragile spiritual power, so no contact whatsoever with Chu Rong. How could Qiao Zhiya sleep in such a situation? He was terrified all night. He wanted to inquire about the situation but was afraid of disturbing the treatment. All he could do was to pace around the living room until dawn. At some point, he passed out from exhaustion on the sofa. A slight sound of the door opening woke him up. He jolted awake, sat up, and saw a familiar figure appearing at the door. Scrambling to open the door, he threw himself on Chu Rong. During this state, he subconsciously ejected all his remaining magic power, his anxiety made him blabber incoherently over the older man, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t let you drink medicine without any proper testing. I will never dare to do that again. Are you okay? Are you still uncomfortable? What did Zhuang Yu-jie say, you¡ª¡± Chu Rong looked at the anxious Bald Chicken. He brushed the limp blond bangs, then picked him up on his arms. With his body hanging in the air, Qiao Zhiya wrapped his arms around Chu Rong¡¯s neck in pure reflex. He stared at the White-Haired Monster with a blank look, completely stunned speechless. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s face was always indifferent and calm, but his eyes were very gentle, ¡°The pollution value has dropped again. Your potion is very useful in that regard. You haven¡¯t slept all night?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was sleep-deprived, couldn¡¯t answer through his muddled state. He blearily nodded, then shook his head, ¡°I slept on the sofa. So the potion really is useful? Your spiritual pollution level dropped how much?¡± Unknown to both of them, Chu Yan popped out from behind his brother¡¯s back. His face was filled with mirth, full of unsaid gossip. He zoomed into Qiao Zhiya ¨C who was still in Chu Rong¡¯s arms ¨C and hugged him tight. He replied in place of his brother, ¡°It¡¯s not too much¡ª¡± Chu Rong glared at his younger brother sharply, with a promise of a painful death. ¡°¡ªBut it¡¯s already amazing! After ten years of research, Chu family¡¯s sponsored medical research lab only managed to create a new soothing agent, not creating treatment to clear up the root cause. But you somehow managed to do it! Qiao, you are too good!¡± Chu Yan understood the implied murder in Chu Rong¡¯s eyes, so he only said the good things to Qiao Zhiya. That didn¡¯t quell his innate need for gossip, but he knew when to suppress his desire. He coughed and reminded Qiao Zhiya instead, ¡°Look, it¡¯s early in the morning, isn¡¯t it inappropriate for us to stand and talk at the door?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect him to be there, and looked down at what he looked like now. He was held like a child by Chu Rong. Naturally, he got embarrassed and blushed. He hurriedly struggled to get off the man¡¯s embrace, but it was proven to be futile. Through this, he said to Chu Yan, ¡°You two came back so early. You haven¡¯t had breakfast yet, have you? Wait a moment, I¡¯ll make it for you.¡± ¡°Let A1 do it.¡± Chu Rong noticed how squirmy the youth became, but he didn¡¯t put him down. Instead, he continued to walk into the bedroom as he chided, ¡°Go to sleep, I will wake you up when breakfast is ready.¡± Qiao Zhiya struggled: ¡°But I am not sleepy¡­¡± ¡°You are sleepy.¡± Ancestor Chu refused to accept the rejection. He pushed the youth forcefully onto the bed, then turned and left as he slammed the door shut. Outside the bedroom, he glared at Chu Yan, who was trying to sneak into Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bedroom. He motioned to the kitchen, and commanded his younger brother with a tone that clearly took no rejection, ¡°Go to the kitchen and tell A1 to cook.¡± Chu Yan, who was about to take a peek, said: ¡°¡­¡± Gah, this perverted older brother of his! QZY: oh so you want to let me do whatever I want? Hmpphh! I will just do it secretly then~ CR: *angry* IRL, extracting a plant¡¯s ¡°essence¡± wouldn¡¯t be enough for a modern drug. You would need some level of purification of the exact compound you want to extract from the plant, and that involves a lot of steps and solvents. Especially since it¡¯s for health, the control over the impurity level and such is crazy high. Since this purification process is tedious at times, plus waiting for plants to grow usually takes quite a long time, many modern factories used artificial ones (istg if i heard anyone said ¡°artificial one is inferior to natural one¡± without a nuanced argument ready, i will punch them in the face) or engineered microbes to produce those compounds instead. Although extracting the compound from the microbes can be a separate challenge in itself lol. QZY¡¯s method is quite faithful to reality. He just has magic power to make things easier for him. It makes me kinda jealous, ngl. Also, ¡°impurity¡± IRL just means anything that is not your desired compound. It doesn¡¯t inherently mean it is dangerous/poisonous/etc. In QZY¡¯s potion-making, it seems ¡°impurity¡± refers to dangerous pollutants instead (because it¡¯s represented as ¡°black smoke¡±). Credentials: i have a masters in biotech + bachelors in microbio. Though, that does mean I¡¯m not an expert in this field. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 32.1 Sorry for the late update. My college doesn¡¯t understand the concept of ¡°weekends¡± and so I still have work¡­ Today, I¡¯ll upload two chapters because why not. Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Qiao Zhiya insisted that he wasn¡¯t sleepy, but his body betrayed his words. As soon as he touched the bed, he felt the fatigue hit him all at once. He instantly fell asleep the moment he was tucked inside the quilt. This time he slept very deeply, and he didn¡¯t wake up until Chu Rong came in and called him to have lunch. ¡°Go wash up first.¡± Chu Rong picked him up and put him in the bathroom. He was stunned for a while before fully waking up. He looked up at the time and found that it was already past eleven o¡¯clock in the morning. He was startled when he remembered that he was going to report to school today. As soon as he walked out of the bathroom after washing up, Chu Rong grabbed him again. Before he could protest, Chu Rong strode to the dining room and made him sit down in front of the dining table. ¡°Eat.¡± Chu Rong asked A1 to pour him a bowl of soup first, and sat beside him. Chu Yan, who was sitting across from him, withdrew his sneaky gaze and greeted him warmly: ¡°Qiao, good afternoon!¡± ¡°Good afternoon, Xiao Yan.¡± Qiao Zhiya smiled at him. He was about to initiate a conversation before Chu Rong handed him a loaf of bread and blocked Chu Yan¡¯s face in the process. ¡°Eat first. Talk later.¡± Ancestor Chu ordered with a frown, and gave Chu Yan a cold look that promised untold amounts of pain. Chu Yan, who had been getting cold treatment all morning: ¡°¡­¡± Can this miserable day pass already! Under Ancestor Chu¡¯s stern supervision, the meal time was extremely quiet. After the meal, the three of them boarded the hover car and set off for the school. ¡°Can I talk now?¡± Chu Yan asked deliberately after sitting down. Chu Rong set up the automatic driving program of the hover car, side-eyed him coldly, then gave a reserved nod in response. He didn¡¯t forget to reach out to rub Qiao Zhiya¡¯s fluffy hair, pressing down a stubborn strand of hair that was curled up on the back of his head. Qiao Zhiya, who was already used to being rubbed, turned his head to look at him, pursed his lips and smiled. Chu Rong¡¯s eyes visibly softened. He patted his head again, admonishing him in a firm but gentle tone, ¡°How old are you now? Still unable to comb your hair well¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed, and hurriedly tidied up his hair using his palm. Sensing that there was a stubborn cowlick refusing to be tamed, he blushed in self-consciousness. Chu Rong moved his hand to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. He pinched his ear tips that were slowly blushing, and sneered, ¡°Control your emotions. How can a boy blush all the time?¡± His harsh words only did the opposite ¨C Qiao Zhiya blushed even harder, clearly becoming more embarrassed. Inexplicably, Chu Yan felt that the atmosphere in the car was a bit greasy1as in, he feels they are being too lovey-dovey in front of his face.. He couldn¡¯t help but to rub the goosebumps forming on his arms. He opened the school¡¯s exclusive server with his communicator and released the map of Campus B to block this greasy view. The warm atmosphere broke in seconds, and Chu Rong looked at him coldly again. Chu Yan pretended not to see his older brother¡¯s ire towards him. He grabbed Qiao Zhiya and pointed towards the holographic map and said, ¡°Qiao, look here. This is where your classes and dormitory are located. Because there are many specialized courses in research and development majors, other majors don¡¯t have those classes, making them relatively isolated. So, they are all placed in Campus B. The area behind this hill is the dormitory area, the buildings in the middle are for classrooms and laboratories. As for the cafeteria, it¡¯s located here.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s attention was immediately attracted, and he concentrated on remembering all of this important information. ¡°This is Campus C. It is where you take the mecha manufacturing class, and actually, this building is for all mecha-related activities. This study is very popular, so it has a whole separate building to facilitate it.¡± Chu Yan pulled out another image and pointed towards the largest building in the Campus C area, ¡°This is where all the laboratories and workshops are located for mecha classes. After learning the theory, everyone will go there and apply their knowledge in practice. The school will provide corresponding materials and tools. But the material is limited per person, if you waste it, you have to spend your own money to make it up.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded in understanding, and at the same time glanced at Chu Rong. He once thought about returning the money he got from Chu Rong¡¯s giant sword¡¯s purchase, but the White-Haired monster vehemently refused. Instead, he even gave him more ¡°pocket¡± money, saying that it¡¯s for him to buy all kinds of jade. He also said that he¡¯ll get an allowance every month, plus the fee he got from treating Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual pollution problem. On top of that, he still got that patent money that Old Man Ren insisted on transferring to him. Adding all those funds, he could be considered a small-time rich man. Sensing his gaze, Chu Rong glanced at him back with the tail of his eyes. He thought that the Bald Chicken was worried about the material¡¯s cost, so he patted his hair and repeated his earlier promise, ¡°Again, you don¡¯t need to worry about money. You just need to focus all your energy towards studying. If you don¡¯t have enough money, just tell me, and I¡¯ll give you more.¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s enough, no need to give me any more.¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, and quickly waved his hand to express that he didn¡¯t need the money. His face flushed again ¨C this kind of feeling was akin to getting pocket money from his parents. Seeing that he got it from the White-Haired Monster instead, he felt embarrassed. After all, there¡¯s only two types of non-blood-related people who could give you money this casually: your spouse, or your ¡°sponsor2aka sugar daddy lol.¡±. He didn¡¯t think Chu Rong fell into any of those categories, hence his embarrassment and refusal. Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± Ah! So jealous! He was now a poor kid with no pocket money! QAQ Chu Rong was noncommittal, and then turned his head to look at Chu Yan. His face twisted in disgust ¨C compared to this younger brother of his, the difference was like the genuine goods versus the counterfeit one. ¡°¡­This is Campus A.¡± Chu Yan decisively pretended to be stupid and saw nothing. He pulled out another map, pointed to the dormitory area, and said, ¡°I live here, you can come and visit me when you are free. Of course, if there are stupid enough people who bullies you, you can also come to me. I¡¯ll teach them a lesson they will never forget. The various Campus areas are separated by training grounds and sports grounds, and they are not too far away. After you enter the school, buy a school scooter, and travel will be more convenient.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t scrimp on money. Choose the best one for your safety sake.¡± Chu Rong added with a frown. Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently and remembered it. Chu Yan remembered his early intermediate college days. He received the ¡°tough love¡± treatment, with minimum money and strict grade requirements. He was about to cry out of jealousy. There¡¯s a huge difference between him and his Erge¡¯s future-wife! Ah ah ah, so jealous!! Although his Dage spoiled him and spent money for him without principle, it couldn¡¯t balance his Erge¡¯s strict treatment towards him! He has never felt the warmth of being spoiled by his Erge! He wanted to get a taste!! Both Qiao Zhiya and him were seventeen years old. Why was there such a big difference? Was he the picked-up child instead? Full of complaints, Chu Yan gulped all his grievances down his throat. After all, this was not Qiao Zhiya¡¯s fault. In fact, he knew that he was a bit¡­ dandy, so to speak. He did have that ¡°young master¡¯s temper¡±, so he knew that his Erge was strict towards him for a reason. Chu Yan instead continued his introduction to Campus D¡¯s facilities ¨C it was a building mainly for logistics-related classes and departments. While Comprehensive Campus E was where the relatively unpopular departments were located. There was also an open plaza for all kinds of recreational activities. Overall, the college has very complete facilities, as expected for a school of this high prestige. After Chu Yan finished his explanation, all three of them finally arrived at the college. They decided to park at the south gate closer to Campus B. ¡°I won¡¯t send you in.¡± Chu Rong frowned slightly, still with his usual facial-paralysis, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you must come back during the weekend. Call me whenever you need something for me.¡± ¡°Yes, I will,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, leaned over and hugged Chu Rong. The excitement was replaced by the melancholic feeling of temporarily being separated. He continued, but his voice has a twinge of palpable listlessness, ¡°I will miss you. In return, you should pay attention to get enough rest. After your pollution value drops, your spiritual power needs to stabilize for a period of time. You must minimize your usage of spiritual power, okay? Promise me.¡± Chu Rong let Qiao Zhiya ¡°lectured¡± him this time. He hugged the small youth back, and gave him a pat on his back. ¡°I know, I promise. You also need to apply those words towards yourself. Don¡¯t be a crybaby all the time too.¡± Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed by what he said, and let him go. He retorted in a low voice: ¡°I didn¡¯t cry that much¡­¡± Chu Yan, who was ignored in the side, was sure this was a test of his patience. He didn¡¯t have an endless amount of them, so he was going to be a thousand-watt light bulb3third-wheeling at this rate. Better leave them alone, then. ¡­I just realized that out of four (4!!) novels I translated, all of them have something in common: naughty, vivacious, forever-third-wheeling brothers of our main characters. Press F in the comments to respect the forever-suffering Jiang Ying, Chu Yan, and Shen Xingchen. Your sacrifices for dog food will not be forgotten. CH 32.2 Chu Rong glanced at the car door left open by Chu Yan, reached out and took out a small box from the space button there, and stuffed it into Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. He gestured towards the mysterious box as he said, ¡°Go, don¡¯t delay the report.¡± After the car door opened, passing students occasionally glanced in curiosity towards them. This made Qiao Zhiya also agree on not delaying things further. He swallowed down his question regarding the box Chu Rong gave him, nodded, and got out of the car to catch up with Chu Yan. Chu Rong, who wanted to watch him enter the school gate, paused when he saw this. Without speaking anymore words, he closed the car door, and left first. ¡°Welp, he¡¯s gone. Finally,¡± Chu Yan rolled his eyes, looked at the box in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, and asked curiously, ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Qiao Zhiya withdrew his gaze from Chu Yan, then opened the box. He was stunned to see a whole row of spiritual power simulators1earring-shaped device that could emit spiritual power to use them for day-to-day usage. Basically, Chu Rong has to store his spiritual power inside the device for Qiao Zhiya to use. inside. Feeling soft and sour, he said in a low voice, ¡°They said that after his pollution value drops, he should avoid using his spiritual power altogether¡­ and yet, that White-Haired Monster¡­¡± Chu Yan was also shocked by his second brother¡¯s rare thoughtfulness. He heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s trembling voice, and quickly put his arms around the blond-haired youth¡¯s shoulders. Because he was feeling awkward, he deliberately raised his voice and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s not waste anymore time! Yeah, I.. uh, I will take you to report first. Then we can go shopping after completing the formalities. We have¡­ err, we are quite busy today!¡± The gloomy mood dissipated immediately. Qiao Zhiya held back his excessive emotions, and put away the small box. He looked towards the spacious gate of the intermediate college, and the light of expectation rose again in his eyes. Qiao Zhiya completed the formalities in record speed. Thankfully, the procedures were clear and the teachers were helpful towards him. He got a new student card and could log-in to the student¡¯s exclusive school server. His account was bound to his student ID. All activities, including entering and leaving the dormitory, must be carried out through this server through his communicator. This student server-slash-client2think of it like a student-exclusive app. did act as his pass for the school. ¡°Our school¡¯s client is different from other schools. It has a little connection with the military department. You should pay more attention when using it. Although the military department will not monitor a student¡¯s itinerary, if you make a big mistake, the military department will call your student client to check your activities inside the school,¡± Chu Yan told him in a casual manner as he drove his school scooter. He then saw Qiao Zhiya¡¯s nervous face, so he hurriedly comforted him, ¡°But! This is just a very, very rare case! Everyone usually attends classes on campus honestly, and can¡¯t make mistakes if they want to. This protocol is kinda a safety-net for the students done by the military. Like, at least it has strong firewall and anti-virus capabilities, so everyone can use it to communicate without the fear of getting hacked. If you encounter danger outside the school, you can also use this client to call for help, and the military department will respond immediately.¡± Qiao Zhiya thought about it for the same reason, and felt a little relieved. He came here to study. So long he didn¡¯t mess around, he wouldn¡¯t alert the military on him. After turning off his student client, he got on the scooter that Chu Yan had taken out, and reached out his hand curiously to touch the scooter that looked like a square box. The vehicle3Ngl, at first I thought it looked like a motorbike because it used the term ¡°scooter¡±. But I think it looks like those mini-cars instead. was not big, just enough for two people. There were two doors on each side. The overhead window was transparent, which was convenient for observing the outside situation. Compared to the hover car, it had slower speed. However, it was more stable and safe, with a more sophisticated AI technology to prevent any vehicle accidents. ¡°The one above our heads is a protective cover. If you want to feel the outside air, you can put it away. Though, don¡¯t worry, despite its size, it has very good temperature control.¡± Chu Yan pressed a button, closed the car window, and put it on auto-pilot mode. Along the drive, he pointed to various buildings along the road, and explained, ¡°You can also use your student client as a navigator, all school scooters are compatible with it. There are electronic guide signs at every intersection in the campus area, so you don¡¯t have to be afraid of getting lost. Just check the navigation when you can¡¯t find the direction, or input your destination query on the electronic guide signs.¡± Qiao Zhiya recognized the appearance of various guide signs on the roadside, and nodded . ¡°This car has a limited speed and can¡¯t drive fast, but it¡¯s enough for school use. Remember to charge it regularly. It uses electricity. You should also prepare a few spare battery boxes in case of emergencies.¡± Chu Yan diligently explained everything he could think of to Qiao Zhiya in zest. Qiao Zhiya continued to nod, and then smiled gratefully at him¡ªChu Yan looked unreliable, but he was actually a very considerate person. The breeze blew head-on, lifted the boy¡¯s bangs, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of the boy¡¯s eyebrows and mouth. His fluffy, blond hair gave a nice fringe to his emerald-like green eyes. It dyed his beautiful face with a trace of innocence and tenderness, inviting others to approach. ¡®Fuck.¡¯ Chu Yan got a glimpse and instantly felt his face blushed. He quickly turned his head away and looked ahead. While his face was a little hot, his heart was a little cold ¨C he now perfectly understood why his Erge was so nice to Qiao. This kind of beauty who wasn¡¯t fully aware of how devastatingly beautiful he is was fucking lethal. Before, the other party always kept his head down and looked a bit cautious, with long bangs blocking his forehead and obscuring his face. That made him blind to Qiao¡¯s unfair good-looks! Fortunately, he likes girls, otherwise he might have to die in the hands of his own Erge!4CY: Fuck, Qiao looks so beautiful *blush* CY: Thank God I¡¯m straight tho. Me: doubt ¡®Oh shit.¡¯ He then remembered that quite a number of boys in this school do like other boys. With Qiao¡¯s stunning face and cute and lovable personality, he would be like sugar to ants. Could the stinky old bacon of his Erge compete with the young and tender youngster here? It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over, his Erge would probably lose. Let¡¯s hope he won¡¯t be too heartbroken¡­ ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Seeing him suddenly turning his head to look ahead, Qiao Zhiya leaned over and asked worriedly, ¡°Are you uncomfortable?¡± Chu Yan finally snapped out of his thoughts, quickly raised the car window, and turned his head to look ahead in full concentration, ¡°No, no, no. It¡¯s just that I couldn¡¯t open my eyes suddenly because of the wind. Qiao, your bangs are so beautifully cut, please keep it in that style, okay?¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, and raised his hand to touch his freshly-cut bangs. He nodded and replied, ¡°I know, my parents also said that I look good with bangs. I will keep them in this style then.¡± After speaking, he smiled again, as if thinking of something funny in his memory. Chu Yan, who already knew about his life experience, lost all thoughts instantly when he heard his words. He looked at him sympathetically, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and sighed in his heart¡ª Qiao was like this, no wonder his Erge loved him so much. Chu Yan was also an orphan, but at least now he had two older brothers and a sister-in-law. But as for Qiao¡­ well. The shopping area in the campus was very large. It sold many commodities, and also some random shits that the students put up for sale. Chu Yan took Qiao Zhiya to the most central shopping mall, bought some daily necessities and registered the best school scooter for him. After that, he took Qiao Zhiya to Campus A to give him a tour, specifically to show the blond-haired youth the location of his dorm room. Finally, they went to the dormitory of Campus B. Because Qiao Zhiya was enrolled in first-year class despite his age, he was singled out and placed in a senior dormitory building, where he became a roommate with a fifth-grade senior. Fortunately, although the dormitory was for two people, they have separate bedrooms. The bathroom was inside each bedrooms, and the roommates only shared the living room. So there should be no major hindrance if they ended up not getting along very well. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s roommate was not there when they arrived, and the two skipped the process of saying hello and recognizing the neighbors to go directly to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s room. The size of the dormitory room was medium, and the facilities in the room were simple. There was a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. The bathroom was just beside the wardrobe. The most interesting thing to note was a¡­ capsule-shaped device that looked like the healing chamber he saw before. Qiao Zhiya had never seen it before, so he was a little curious. ¡°That¡¯s the star network cabin, or starnet cabin for short.¡± Chu Yan explained, and then remembered that he had no spiritual power, and hurriedly added, ¡°The star network cabin is similar to the photon computer, like our communicator. It does need spiritual power to activate, though. It¡¯s nothing unusual. If you think it takes up space , you can ask the dormitory manager to take it away.¡± Star network cabin? Qiao Zhiya remembered the introduction about this device when he browsed the Starnet using a photon computer. Hearing the spiritual power requirement, he understood that he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it, so he didn¡¯t bother, ¡°I agree. I will inform the dorm manager later. It¡¯s better they take it away, lest I accidentally break it.¡± ¡°Alrighty then, let¡¯s go to the manager when we go downstairs to the cafeteria later.¡± Chu Yan wished that he could take this thing away, so it wouldn¡¯t keep reminding Qiao Zhiya of his third-degree disability. The two tidied up the room a bit. Not long after, they left to eat in the cafeteria. Along the way, they informed their request to the manager. After dinner, it was completely dark, Qiao Zhiya declined Chu Yan¡¯s proposal to escort him back, and drove back to the dormitory by himself in his brand-new school scooter. The process went smoothly and there was no getting lost. When he returned to the dormitory, his roommate still hadn¡¯t come back, and the star network cabin was still there. He inquired about it, and the manager said that the relevant personnel was taking a break today, so it would be collected away tomorrow. He quickly expressed his understanding, thanked the manager and went back to the dormitory. The grey-haired dormitory manager watched him leave. He recalled the small spiritual power simulator latched on the youth¡¯s ear, and sighed slowly¡ªall the children admitted here were the best of their field, hardworking and relatively obedient. For a youth like him to be admitted despite his third-degree disability¡­ he must¡¯ve worked very hard to overcome that. Turning on the light in his dorm room, Qiao Zhiya felt it was too quiet for his comfort. He patted his face, trying to psyche himself up. He decided to freshen up and changed into his pajamas. After washing up, he called Chu Rong via video chat. The Marshal answered it immediately, but because the older man was busy, he only greeted him before hung up again. He did inform Qiao Zhiya that he would call again when his work was done. Qiao Zhiya looked at the place where the image of the White-Haired Monster flickered gone. He slowly slumped his shoulders, and lowered his head. It¡¯s the first day of school, and yet he couldn¡¯t muster up any enthusiasm the moment he was alone. Trapped in his own messy thoughts, Qiao Zhiya tried to snap out of it by checking tomorrow¡¯s class schedule. He forced himself to read his textbook but couldn¡¯t do it. His eyes wandered around in a daze, and finally settled on the star network cabin. Many products and news he saw on the photon computer had a small star logo beside its name. After checking, apparently that star symbol means that the product/news could be viewed simultaneously on the starnet. Different from the external network linked by the photon computer (called Starnet), this star network cabin had a different network for its user. It¡¯s called the Internal Network or Internet5Starnet = our internet; while Internet = VR. It used spiritual power to link the user¡¯s physical senses and projected them into a separate, virtual world. There, they could walk, shop, play, do any activities imaginable. He had seen virtual dating videos recorded and uploaded by others on Starnet. If he hadn¡¯t read the title, he would have thought the location was in the physical realm, not the virtual world. It looked very real and indistinguishable with naked eyes. To be honest, he was very curious to try it for himself. He got up and walked to the starnet cabin and touched its cold, smooth, metallic door. Despite the hesitation in his heart, he decided to lay down inside the capsule. Chu Rong¡¯s house didn¡¯t have this device, and now, there was a ready-to-use starnet cabin in front of his eyes, so of course he would at least try it out. After the user laid down, the cabin automatically closed. The indicator light turned on, and he could hear a series of beeps as the device turned on. He froze for a moment, then quickly raised his hand to push against the cabin door. At the same time, he raised his body and turned his head to see the structure of the star network cabin around his body. ¡°An unbound spiritual power signature has been detected. May I ask if you want to bind your account to this device?¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 32.3 Thank you Kris Xian (the original translator!!) for the ko-fi donation and support o(¨R¨Œ¨Q)o Donation goals to the next bonus chapter (1/2) Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. A robotic voice rang inside his ears. Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment, and then he wanted to sit up excitedly, but he slammed into the closed hatch. ¡°Hiss¡ª¡± He fell back into the cabin, raised his hand to cover his forehead, and the robotic voice repeated its question. This time Qiao Zhiya was prepared, he hurriedly opened the hatch by pushing the switch, and crawled out. He looked at the device with shock in his eyes. What happened? How could this starnet cabin detect unbound spiritual power fluctuations? The power in his body was obviously magic power. Even Zhuang Yu-jie failed to detect his power with various high-end instruments¡­ He raised his hand to touch his spiritual power simulator, but found that the power stored inside didn¡¯t deplete. There shouldn¡¯t be any fluctuation, then? He frowned in doubt. If it¡¯s not because of this, what¡¯s going on? Could it be that this starnet cabin really sensed his magic power? He wanted to try again. But he remembered what Chu Yan had said ¨C most of this school¡¯s equipment was connected to the military headquarters, so he didn¡¯t dare to act rashly. After thinking about it, he briefly summarized the matter, and sent a communication message to Chu Rong. Ten minutes later, Chu Rong sent out a video call request, and Qiao Zhiya quickly accepted. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Chu Rong was sitting in his study with an electronic notebook at hand, obviously busy just now. After seeing him, Qiao Zhiya felt much relieved, and hurriedly explained what happened just now in detail. He asked, ¡°Could it be because of the spiritual power simulator? Though¡­I found that the spiritual power stored inside has not decreased.¡± ¡°No. It can¡¯t be. ¡°Chu Rong frowned, his eyes became serious and explained what he knew, ¡°Firstly, your Starnet account is bound to your spiritual power, as each person¡¯s spiritual power signature is unique. This was made to prevent other people logging in to your account. That¡¯s why you can¡¯t log in to Starnet with the spiritual power in the simulator. Did you use the starnet cabin after that?¡± After listening to the Marshal¡¯s explanation, Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment. He shook his head first, and then asked: ¡°So that means¡­ this starnet cabin really sensed my magic power?¡± If this was actually possible, it was very beneficial for him. His magic power was incompatible with many devices used in this human world. It really hindered his everyday life, and especially his future career. As for Chu Rong, he thought this situation could be a potential hidden danger to Qiao Zhiya. He almost followed his impulse to bring the youth back, but he held back. Thankfully, Qiao Zhiya left the starnet cabin immediately after discovering something was wrong, and did not continue to log in. The overall situation could still be under control. ¡°When the managers come to collect the starnet cabin tomorrow, they will definitely find that it was activated tonight. You tell them that it is because of the simulator. If they don¡¯t believe it, you tell them that the spiritual power in your simulator is at the SSS-grade.¡± Chu Rong fingered his electronic book to vent his irritation. But he kept his tone very calm to not make Qiao Zhiya panic, ¡°Tomorrow I will send someone to send you a special Starnet helmet. Try again to log in. If you can still be detected, then this weekend you must come back. I¡¯ll take you for a checkup.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, seeing Chu Rong¡¯s expression was not good, he hurriedly comforted him, ¡°It was just an accident, I will pay more attention to it in the future, don¡¯t worry.¡± Chu Rong frowned. He didn¡¯t like how cautious Qiao Zhiya looked, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be too careful. Even if something happens, I¡¯m still there.¡± After speaking, he glanced at the youth sitting on the bed in his pajamas. He eased his expression a little and asked: ¡°How is school, who is your roommate?¡± ¡°The college is really good, Xiao Yan took me¡­¡± Afraid that he would be worried all the time, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly answered his question. He deliberately made himself look more excited than he actually was as he described his life. Seeing that he was talking happily, Chu Rong¡¯s expression really eased. He gave appropriate responses during Qiao Zhiya¡¯s answer from time to time. The overall atmosphere gradually became warmer. After talking for half an hour, Qiao Zhiya began to yawn. ¡°Go to sleep.¡± Chu Rong interrupted him, and said in a gentle tone, ¡°Tell me when you know the name of your roommate. Take good care of your studies. I will pick you up on weekends.¡± Qiao Zhiya rubbed his nose embarrassedly and smiled at him, ¡°Then you should also go to bed early. Don¡¯t be too tired. Good night, have a good dream.¡± After rubbing his nose until it¡¯s red, the Bald Chicken looked even more stupid. Chu Rong liked this stupid look, though. The corner of his mouth slightly rose. He whispered, ¡°Good night, good dream.¡± Finally, he hung up the communication first. The holographic projection of Qiao Zhiya gradually flickered off. Particles of light lingered at the place the youth was sitting, leaving only a deserted room. Chu Rong clicked on the communicator, glanced at the unfinished documents on the table, and was still concentrating on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s matter. After returning to his senses, he sent a message to Fan Xiangnan to continue the previous video conference. In the dormitory, the smile on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face disappeared. He made sure all of his devices were shut off. He then turned around and climbed onto the bed, pulled the quilt to cover himself, and closed his eyes. ¡°Boom!!¡± Qiao Zhiya sat up suddenly, stared at the door, and realized that the sound came from the living room outside. It should be that his roommate came back. He ran outside to check, and saw a blurry figure of a taller man. ¡°You, are you okay?¡± The figure who was climbing up froze for a moment, and looked back at him. It was a very cold face with nice features, but his expression was slightly distorted. He looked displeased by something. Seeing that he was frozen and not moving, Qiao Zhiya thought that he had fallen somewhere, and rushed to help him. Anxiously, he asked, ¡°Did you fall and get hurt? Do you want to go to the school infirmary?¡± The stiff man came back to his senses, turned slightly to avoid Qiao Zhiya¡¯s outstretched hand. His previous displeased expression smoothed out into a neutral one. He had a cold face with beautiful brown eyes. However, he had this slight condescending look towards Qiao Zhiya. With a calm tone, he responded, ¡°No, need. Thank you for your concern, are you the freshman who moved in today?¡± The voice had an overall cold yet airy tone. It was very nice sounding. As someone who secretly liked looking at good-looking people, Qiao Zhiya reflexively smiled at him. He introduced himself, ¡°Yes, hello, I am Qiao Zhiya, a first-year major in mechanical design. I just attended college today.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Sang Bu, a fifth-year information system major. Good night.¡± The cold-looking beauty briefly introduced himself. He snuck a glance at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pointy ears, then turned around without changing expression. Maintaining a noble and elegant appearance, he returned to the room. ¡°Boom!!¡± The cold beauty Sang Bu accidentally bumped into a stool on the side again. He staggered a bit before standing still, and then maintained an elegant state. His posture was a little stiff, and he speeded up back into his room, as if there was a ghost chasing after him. The whole process was suspiciously smooth. He didn¡¯t dare to look back. ¡°¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya would just pretend he didn¡¯t see his roommate¡¯s reddened ears. He silently stepped forward to help the stool up, and moved it to a place in the back where it would not be easy to be hit. He pursed his lips into a smile. This roommate of his seemed to be very cute. At 7:30 the next morning, Qiao Zhiya woke up as the second the school¡¯s wake-up bell rang. He got up quickly and changed his clothes. After washing up, he went to the first-grade morning training hall1think of it as a combination of outdoor and indoor gym. according to his class schedule and the navigation guidance. Along the way, he drank a nutrition solution for his breakfast. Because the college was connected with the military department, the schedule of this college was partly influenced by military training. While there was a wake-up bell and morning training, the training time was relatively short. It was also not required to go every day, only needed to fill up a monthly quota. Qiao Zhiya, as a transfer student, didn¡¯t have enough training time to fill out this month¡¯s quota. So for the rest of this month, he must go to morning training every day to clock in. According to the guidelines, he came to the training hall where the first grade was located. He swiped his client terminal to enter the hall, and first went to the testing device to measure his physical power qualification. The device also spat out a training program suitable for his level of physique. He decided to follow along with the program. According to the list, he just needed to find the corresponding equipment for training, then use it accordingly. The morning training lasted for half an hour, and the program asked him to run on the treadmill with a weight load. At first, he was a bit wary of operating this foreign machinery. But thankfully, he just needed to swipe his student client to turn it on. The setting was also easy to navigate, he just needed to input the training time and the load weight. The machine immediately gave him the appropriate equipment. ¡°¡­¡± It¡¯s very convenient. Qiao Zhiya put on the novel weight-bearing equipment. He waited for the treadmill to start, then started running. Both dwarves and elves were species that were used to run in the forest. Running was no pressure for Qiao Zhiya, but running around like this was boring. He simply took out a course-related e-book and read it. There were many basic courses in the mechanical design department, most of which were concentrated in the first three years. The next two years were all professional research courses, mostly actually applying their knowledge to build a prototype. Qiao Zhiya did not have much theoretical knowledge, but had rich practical experience. It seemed that the basic theoretical knowledge was quite short. He made the holographic image to stack up for easy reading. He set out a personal goal: to finish reading it by the time his training time also finished. The physical education teachers scattered around the training hall quickly noticed this strange student. At first, they thought he was being lazy and skipped his training, but they found out that the treadmill was operating normally. In fact, the speed kept increasing, and yet the student had no trouble keeping up while reading something. One teacher was a little confused. The student looked thin and small, but he ran at the most difficult variable speed run. Did the system make a mistake? The teacher was worried that the system made a mistake. He hurriedly ran back to check it, only to find that the student profile corresponding to that machine was actually marked with S-grade physical qualifications. He was immediately stunned. That skinny and petite boy was actually S-rank? He turned his head to look at the boy. He should¡¯ve been running at a fast speed, but he looked like he was just taking a stroll in the garden. He didn¡¯t look exhausted at all. He even had the time to focus his mind at the holographic textbook projection that kept flipping up in front of him. The teacher fell silent¡ªforget it, there were still scarier monsters in school. This boy was probably a new young genius in the mecha driving department. Thinking like this, the teacher directly ignored the words ¡°mechanical design major¡± on his student profile. At 9 o¡¯clock, the first class began. Qiao Zhiya glanced at his five-years-younger classmates with a weird look in his eyes. He gripped the barrel of his electronic pen with prejudice. He vowed in his heart ¨C he must skip grades, as soon as possible! Today¡¯s class ended successfully, and Qiao Zhiya went to the cafeteria to have dinner and returned to his dormitory. There, he found that the people from the starnet cabin tech support had arrived. ¡°Excuse me, are you Qiao Zhiya?¡± The serious-looking middle-aged man asked, pointing to the star network cabin that had been moved to the living room, and asked: ¡°We detected that the star network cabin was activated last night, but according to the data, you don¡¯t have spiritual power yourself. Can you please tell us the specific situation?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who remembered what Chu Rong ordered him, hastily explained according to the rhetoric finalized yesterday. The middle-aged man looked at his colleague in tandem suspicion. They both expressed wanting to see his spiritual power simulator. Qiao Zhiya graciously took off the simulator and gave it to him, adding, ¡°The spiritual power in my simulator is at SSS-level. You should be careful when you handle it, it might backfire.¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s hand holding the simulator froze for a moment, but in the end he still took it. Then, he carefully probed into the device with his own spiritual power. A sharp and domineering spiritual force counterattacked ferociously after sensing his probing. The middle-aged man hurriedly cut off the connection and returned the simulator to Qiao Zhiya with a pale face. Not long after that, the starnet cabin tech support left. Sang Bu, who had been sitting by the side as a mere onlooker, glanced up and down at Qiao Zhiya. His sharp eyes glided over the simulator in his hand, and muttered to himself, ¡°SSS-grade spiritual power¡­ it seems that he is a child of a wealthy family.¡± In the Federation, any people with SSS-grade spiritual power were all in the government or military, and their number was so small that you can count them on one hand. He didn¡¯t expect this newcomer to have such a powerful background. Qiao Zhiya turned to look at him, shook his head honestly, and replied, ¡°I¡¯m not a child of a powerful family, but I was lucky enough to accept their help. Sang Bu, it¡¯s wrong to look at people with colored glasses.¡± He might have misheard, but with yesterday¡¯s stares directed at him, he still had a thought that Sang Bu¡¯s ridicule and disdain wasn¡¯t actually directed to Qiao Zhiya personally. Seeing his earnest eyes, Sang Bu froze, a faint blush suddenly appeared on his face. He got defensive, ¡°I¡¯m not going to use colored glasses to look at a little first-grader. You¡¯ve only been weaned for a few years¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s been fifteen years since I was weaned, and I¡¯m seventeen years old.¡± Qiao Zhiya seriously corrected, ¡°Not a few short years.¡± Sang Bu choked. With widened eyes, he exclaimed: ¡°You¡¯re seventeen years old? I thought you¡­wait, why are you still in the first grade then?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m a Recluse ¨C an Exoplanet Native who just entered the Federation not long ago.¡± Qiao Zhiya thought his wide-eyed look was much cuter than his cold face. He replied with a smile, and pointed to his long, pointy ear, ¡°I thought you had already seen this.¡± ¡°I thought you were stupid and had too much money in your hands, so you made a fake in order to make yourself look special¡ª¡± Sang Bu rambled, but then covered his mouth when he realized he said it outloud. He looked positively ashamed. He apologized quickly, turned around, and ran away ¨C hitting a wall on his way out. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± Again, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t mind that, and decided to take a shower. After washing himself up, the dorm manager sent a message telling him to pick up a package. Thinking of the special starnet cabin helmet that Chu Rong mentioned last night, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up. He hurriedly dressed and ran outside. When he reached the corner of the corridor, he almost bumped into a person head-on. Fortunately, the other person moved to the side nimbly, and he took a step back in time, otherwise the two of them would have ¡°hugged¡± each other fiercely. ¡°Sorry.¡± Qiao Zhiya apologized hastily. As he was in a hurry to get his helmet, he quickly speed-walked downstairs before properly seeing the other person. The tall, gentle-looking man watched him leave. His eyes moved when he thought of the little pointed ears that flashed past, hidden in the half-dried blond hair. ¡°Kongran! What are you doing standing there? Come here quickly, the game is about to start.¡± A big head poked out from behind a dorm room. His voice was booming as he called out to the man. The man regained his senses, took one last look at the empty stairs, and walked towards his friend. After getting the helmet, Qiao Zhiya hurried back to his dormitory room. He locked the door and let Qiuqiu listen to the movement outside. He followed the instruction manual. He dismantled the packaging, inputted the appropriate option, laid down on his bed eagerly as he put on the helmet. After feeling comfortable inside the starnet cabin, he closed his eyes. ¡°An unbound spiritual power signature has been detected. May I ask if you want to bind your account to this device?¡± The familiar prompt sounded again, and he suppressed his excitement and chose to confirm. The next second, some light spots suddenly lit up in front of his eyes. It blinded him until he felt a bit dizzy. After adjusting with the brightness, he opened his eyes. It seemed he was currently inside a huge, blank space of a room. ¡°Welcome to Star Network Cabin Virtual World! After a cursory scan, we found your spiritual power has not been bound to any Starnet Account. Please bind it before signing up. Do you wish to bind and sign up a profile?¡± A prompt appeared in front of his eyes. The transparent panel gave him two choices. Qiao Zhiya looked at all this in amazement. He found that wherever his eyes turned, the corresponding sliding symbols would flash on the panel. Recalling the knowledge of the Star Network that he had learned before, he tried to think of the word ¡°Meissen2the original is ¡°Degu¡± µÂ¹Å which means Antiquated Germany. Since it looks silly as a name, I chose ¡°Meissen¡±, a town in German famous for 15th century architecture such as Albrechtsburg Castle and Meissen Cathedral. With this, apparently Qiao Zhiya is from a German-inspired medieval fantasy world.¡± ¨C the name of the hometown. He found that the name was inputted into the account name query box inside the panel. It really worked! He was overjoyed, and hurriedly continued to fill in the remaining account information, selected OK, and started to set up his avatar¡¯s appearance. The helmet automatically scanned his facial data, so in the image setting column, there was an identical black-haired boy with closed eyes. He wanted to reach out and touch him, but found that the avatar was incorporeal ¨C just a manifestation of his subconscious. After thinking about it, he changed his hair to the same shade of white as Chu Rong¡¯s, adjusted his height to be the same as himself, chose black for the color of his pupils, and chose 30% normalized facial features, so that his avatar wouldn¡¯t be identical to him. After feeling satisfied with the avatar¡¯s appearance, he chose OK again. ¡°The setting is complete, please watch the novice tutorial.¡± The screen changed, and his body became heavy. This time he finally had a physical body, and was taken by the system to start the compulsory novice tutorial. Fifteen minutes later, the tutorial was over. He filled in ¡°mecha manufacturing¡± and ¡°mechanical design¡± as the fields he was interested in, then officially logged into the Internet. In the next second, overwhelming cheers came from around him, and he found that he was randomly sent to a lively square by the system, surrounded by excited people. On the floating screen in the square, a line of large characters with special effects was pulsing: [The 1105th Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition is about to begin, and the countdown is ten, nine, eight¡­ The competition officially begins. Let¡¯s cheer for the players!] The crowd became even more excited, and at the same time a reminder sounded in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. ¡°Would you like to pay 100 star coins to watch the game?¡± Today¡¯s second update will be uploaded¡­ uh¡­ soon-ish, I hope. CH 33.1 Star coins? Qiao Zhiya was puzzled for a moment, then immediately remembered the introduction about star coins in the novice tutorial. He opened his account balance, and sure enough, his current balance was 1,000 coins, which was all given by the system as a first log-in bonus. It was enough to watch the game. After the viewing fee was deducted, his surroundings changed again. He was teleported to the audience seat of a huge amphitheatre. Other people steadily teleported in, filling the empty seats around him. On the middle stage, the host was saying something passionately. Qiao Zhiya was watching all this with awe and wonder, and those around him were also equally as excited. ¡°Xiongdi1brother, but neutral in seniority., aren¡¯t you a rare sight around here? There are not many people like you who insist on wearing the starting clothing provided by the system.¡± A red-haired man suddenly came over, sizing him up, and had a guess,¡±Just signing up your first VR Internet account?¡± Qiao Zhiya found that although the other party looked rough, his expression and tone were very friendly. He nodded and replied truthfully: ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t have spiritual strength before, so I never signed up.¡± People around who heard his answer showed sympathy. They showed extra friendliness towards him. With a familiar tender expression, the red-haired man leaned over and sat next to him. He then proceeded to explain things to him, even telling him to not play too long, as it would be detrimental to his (supposedly) healing spiritual power. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect the people on the Internet to be so friendly. He sincerely gave the red-haired man an appreciation for his concern. Everyone also discovered that he was relatively young, and they all enthusiastically introduced this competition to him. Things about the rules, who the popular contestants were, and even some publicly available information about their skills. ¡°It¡¯s just the preliminary round now. The players are only required to make one part of a mecha, within a two hours time limit. After the time is up, the system will judge whether the part is qualified. Those who are qualified will be promoted, and those who are unqualified will be eliminated.¡± A big-breasted blond lady told him patiently. Her intricate red nails were very eye-catching as it was pointed towards the middle stage, where the host was still upping the audience¡¯s interest. She continued telling him, ¡°When he finishes talking nonsense, the competition will officially start. At that time, all the contestants¡¯ information will be available for viewing. The numbers are arranged in order and you can see it on the big screen on the back. You can also enter your favorite players¡¯ room code to get teleported directly towards their game. However, it does cost extra money. Xiao didi2little younger brother. It¡¯s said in a very flirty manner too., you look so cute. Do you want me to pay for you? If you want, can you accompany me for a drink or two? Don¡¯t worry, you can¡¯t get drunk on the Internet, after all, we¡¯re all just virtual data right now.¡± After speaking, she raised an eyebrow at him. Qiao Zhiya had never been teased like this before. His face blushed very honestly, and the system actually reflected every detail on his avatar. He could even sense the heat on his blushing face, which only made him even more embarrassed. The blond girl covered her mouth to repress a squeal when she saw this adorable scene. ¡°Anna, don¡¯t scare the kids.¡± The red-haired man obviously knew the blonde lady. He reached and patted her shoulder, then signaled to the stage, ¡°Look, the competition is about to start.¡± The host finished talking, and a light screen suddenly descended from the sky and hovered above all the audience. After another round of countdown, densely packed player information appeared on the screen. Qiao Zhiya looked over and found that as long as he moved his eyes, it would hover around a certain player alongside their room code number. If he lingered his gaze around the number, a pop-up screen appeared, asking him if he wanted to spend star coins to watch the game. ¡°Xiao didi, we¡¯re going to watch the game. See you soon.¡± The blonde lady gave Qiao Zhiya a wink, then teleported away in a flurry of light spots. She should have entered a player¡¯s private room to watch the game. The burly redhead followed, but before he left, he sent Qiao Zhiya a friend request. The number of spectators around him dwindled rapidly as the hall gradually became empty. In front of him, the numbers of viewers in each player¡¯s room was rapidly increasing. Although, the distribution wasn¡¯t equal ¨C some players had a sky-high viewer number, while others were only watched by a handful. Not only that, Qiao Zhiya discovered that this light screen extends infinitely outward, that is to say, as long as you look towards the edge of the light screen, a new row of player information will appear where you can see it. Just how many people participated in this competition¡­ Qiao Zhiya was a little speechless. He tried to enter a relatively popular room, and then found that he actually had a five-minute trial benefit. After thinking about it, he guessed that this ¡°benefit¡± was included in the initial 100 coins viewing fee. After the selection was confirmed, the screen changed again ¨C it looked like he was teleported into an identical amphitheatre, but there was a different host and a contestant busy connecting a bunch of mechanical parts. The audience in the hall looked directly at the contestant and kept cheering him on, but the contestant seemed to be unable to hear the audience¡¯s voices, nor could he see the audience¡¯s silhouette. He was fully concentrated in his work, making something without raising his head. ¡°Sigh, Xiao Luoli didn¡¯t open the audience communication option again. It¡¯s a pity that I couldn¡¯t hear his baby-like words of thanks.¡± An auntie-like audience sighed sadly, looking at the contestant with a maternal gaze. Another similar audience member waved the banner in her hand, and comforted this auntie, ¡°It¡¯s normal for him not to open it. Xiao Luoli needed all the concentration he can get. He wants to win, and we must understand his wish.¡± ¡°Mhhm, I agree. He needed extra focus!¡± The sighing auntie got up again, and suddenly shouted hoarsely towards the stage: ¡°Come on, Xiao Luoli! Auntie will always support you! Come on, come on! You are the best!¡± Heralded by this auntie, many other audience members began to shout cheering words. The atmosphere was very high. Qiao Zhiya was frightened by their sudden roar that his body froze, and he couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes ¡ªah, everyone was so excited. Sneaking aside, he turned off the sounds around him and concentrated on watching the game. The benefits of the VR Internet were immediately apparent, even if he was sitting far away, as long as he moved his gaze, the things he wanted to see would immediately be enlarged and became clearer. If he turned around, it would also follow his line of sight. It¡¯s very convenient. The contestant was a young man with a baby face. With nimble movements, he didn¡¯t hesitate one bit in sorting out many small parts. He then assembled them quickly, various tools flying around as he kept switching them in and out. Honestly, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t understand one bit. Although mecha manufacturing was also a kind of mechanical manufacturing, it was a study he was still completely unfamiliar with. Especially because studying it required spiritual power, which he still lacked. Thankfully, he was familiar with mechanical manufacturing, which was the basis of some of the parts used in a mecha. He understood the first step, at the very least. As for the second, third, fourth, nth steps? Well, it looked 100% alien to him. He had only seen the assembled large parts and the assembly of an entire mecha at Master Ren¡¯s workshop. He never actually saw the assembly of the small parts. However, the more he couldn¡¯t understand it, the more he wanted to see it. This completely unfamiliar mechanical production method completely aroused his curiosity and enthusiasm! ¡°The five-minute trial time is over. Would you like to pay 200 star coins to continue watching the game?¡± The enthusiasm that had just been raised was extinguished by the sudden appearance of the prompt. Qiao Zhiya looked at his account, which only had 900 coins left. He shook his head silently, ¡°¡­No, send me out.¡± He really needed a way to purchase star coins. This account was bound to a special-made starnet helmet, which unlike the genuine one, cannot directly bind to his official Federal residency information. This was done to prevent another party using his account as a way to check his identity, which could be troublesome, as he was officially someone with a third-degree disability. This also meant that he couldn¡¯t use his real money to buy star coins. Of course, he could still use the coins he had in this account, but in this way, it could only decrease. The screen changed, and he was teleported to the square he first arrived at. Now that he had confirmed that his magic power could indeed be detected by the starnet cabin. Remembering Chu Rong who was still waiting for his feedback, he reluctantly chose to quit the Internet. He took off his helmet and sat up, and dialed a video communication for Chu Rong immediately. ¡°Can you use it?¡± Chu Rong went straight to the point. The fluttering and excited emotions caused by the virtual world immediately settled down the moment he heard the Marshal¡¯s voice. Qiao Zhiya smiled at him and replied: ¡°Yes, I also watched a mecha manufacturing competition.¡± Chu Rong frowned, pointed at the desktop and thought about something, and asked: ¡°Did you feel uncomfortable after logging in to the Internet?¡± ¡°No.¡± Qiao Zhiya then recounted everything that happened during his time on the Internet. Who he met, what he talked about, and who tried to add him as a friend. So far, it looked like he could log in normally, he could add friends normally, and overall, the starnet cabin system didn¡¯t detect any anomalies with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s account ¨C and to an extent, his magic power. ¡°Go home this weekend, you need a physical check-up to investigate what¡¯s actually happening. During this period of time, don¡¯t use the Internet anymore, and try not to use your abilities outside.¡± Chu Rong instructed, expressing his guess, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, your spiritual power might have become stronger.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned. He frowned as he wondered, ¡°But I didn¡¯t find any signs of upgrading my power¡­¡± And besides, it¡¯s not as easy to upgrade to a high-level magic power compared to upgrading to an intermediate level. It¡¯s very normal that it would be stuck on the same level for decades. ¡°So far, my guess is that your spiritual power somehow upgraded, one way or another. My guess will be verified after Zhuang Yu gives you an examination.¡± Chu Rong insisted on his guess. Seeing that the Bald Chicken looked like he didn¡¯t understand, Chu Rong¡¯s frown loosened, and he explained in a very patient tone, ¡°Starnet cabin has very low requirements for spiritual power, and even the weakest E-grade spiritual power can be detected and logged into the Internet. Since this is the case, if your spiritual power can be detected by the star network, at least it has reached the E-grade.¡± To sum it up, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spiritual power must have improved, even if it¡¯s just a very small increase. Qiao Zhiya half-understood. He looked down at his fingertips, tried to condense a little magic power to feel the change. But he still didn¡¯t sense anything, and became more and more puzzled. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it, study hard these few days, and go to the south gate afterschool on Friday. I¡¯ll pick you up there.¡± Chu Rong decisively ended the topic. He ordered, ¡°It¡¯s already late, go to bed.¡± Qiao Zhiya snapped out of his puzzlement. And it was really late. He feared that he would delay Chu Rong¡¯s rest time, so he hurriedly nodded and climbed onto his bed. He looked at the Marshal eagerly, waiting for him to hang up the communication. Chu Rong, who was going to let him hang up the communication first today, looked back calmly, without moving. The two looked at each other inexplicably for a while, and Ancestor Chu lost his patience. He frowned and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to bed?¡± Qiao Zhiya pulled the quilt, and replied honestly, ¡°You haven¡¯t hung up the communication yet.¡± ¡®And you can only go to sleep after hanging up.¡¯ was left unsaid. This line of thought made sense in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s little head. ¡°You hang up first.¡± Ancestor Chu was silent for a few seconds before ordering coldly. Qiao Zhiya shook his head honestly, not hiding his attachment to the White-Haired Monster at all: ¡°I don¡¯t want it, I can¡¯t bear it.¡± Chu Rong frowned, squinted, and looked at him deeply. The two stared at each other. Ancestor Chu suddenly felt a little irritable, but he didn¡¯t look like he was angry. He wasn¡¯t in a bad mood, but he did look like he was struggling with a mixture of unknown emotions he didn¡¯t fully understand. He glanced at Qiao Zhiya who looked warm on the bed, and asked coldly, ¡°What¡¯s your Internet account ID?¡± ¡°, it¡¯s the name of the village where I used to live.¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, and then wondered, ¡°Why are you angry again?¡± The table beside Chu Rong¡¯s was almost cracked. Again? Was this accusing him of having a bad temper? Ancestor Chu¡¯s face darkened, he obviously didn¡¯t want to be angry, but he was still angry. He glared at him and scolded: ¡°You¡¯re out of luck.¡± After speaking, he ruthlessly hung up the communication, and walked out of the room. Qiao Zhiya blinked with a blank look on his face, then shrank back into the quilt aggrievedly. He retorted in a low voice, full of irritation, ¡°Why is this White-Haired Monster getting mad out of nowhere? I didn¡¯t even do anything wrong. Humph!!¡± He fiercely pouted, then angrily went to sleep. It was a night without dreams. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 33.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. After a few more days, Qiao Zhiya had completely gotten used to life at school. During this period, he went to the multipurpose hall to watch the mecha battle between Chu Yan and his classmates. He also met Chu Yan¡¯s good friend Yuan Xiu along the way. On Friday, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s most anticipated mecha manufacturing course finally appeared on his schedule. Finishing the morning training with a more positive attitude than before, Qiao Zhiya hummed along as he took out his scooter and headed towards Campus C where the mecha manufacturing class was located. On top of that, the mecha manufacturing class was all day long, with theory in the morning and hands-on practice in the afternoon. He loved Friday! There were a lot of people rushing from Campus B to Campus C to attend classes at this time. Some classmates who knew about his situation saw him pass by with unconcealed anticipation and excitement. All of them showed strange expressions towards Qiao Zhiya. As as for why, well, the context was like this¨C They all didn¡¯t know much about his origin. They only knew that he had a third-degree disability, too old for a first-grader, and an Exoplanet Native. Plus, he also lived in Building N1, the fifth-year dormitory building. However, he somehow managed to have close contacts with a bunch of famous students and reserve soldiers on a daily basis, which easily aroused other¡¯s jealousy. Everyone was uncertain about his background, and disdained his identity as an Exoplanet Native and disabled, so they all ignored him tacitly and socially isolated him. However, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s reactions towards this exclusionary behavior of his classmates was also baffling. Whether he really didn¡¯t know or just didn¡¯t care, he also turned his back towards his classmates, only treating them with perfunctory politeness. Outside of his academic life, he also didn¡¯t join any extracurricular activities, didn¡¯t join any study groups, didn¡¯t take the initiative to socialize. He¡¯s an all-out loner, and he looked like he¡¯s proud of it. The first-graders, who were just a bunch of pre-teens, became angry and began to isolate him more seriously than before. Some even came to him to laugh at his strange appearance and disability. However, Qiao Zhiya was still calm. He only told his ¡°bully¡± in a neutral tone that his appearance was a gift his parents gave him, so he cherished it very much. He told them that it¡¯s very wrong to belittle others using their disability, and they would be ashamed when they remember about this action as they grew older. The little carrot heads were choked back. They huffed and puffed in anger, feeling indignant. The more they got lectured, the more rebellious they became. ¡®Who are you to tell me things! Aren¡¯t we all just teens? How dare you scold me when you¡¯re just a couple years older than me!¡¯ ¨Cwas the consensus of these little carrot heads. Qiao Zhiya, who felt that he was an older brother, looked at them with a loving and tolerant gaze. He was not angry at all. He opened his mouth and started to preach to them again. The carrot heads who came to laugh at him turned around and ran away when they saw this. They were obviously very angry, but they felt a little shy for no reason¡­ The confrontation failed again. Some radish heads were not reconciled. Some of them came up with an idea ¨C they should deliberately approach Qiao Zhiya to find out his origin. One day, one of the braver carrot heads went up to chat with him. It took only a few words to get Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gentle treatment, and then it took another twenty words to find out his origin ¡ª genocide orphan, genuine Exoplanet Native, studying hard to skip grades. Skipping grades?! This Recluse actually wants to skip a grade in a place like the Intermediate College portion of the Federal Military Academy1clarification: think of the Federal Military Academy as an elevator school, with an intermediate college section and advanced college section.! The chosen carrot head was scared away, so he talked to his companion about the situation. Everyone who heard about this fell silent. Ah, so QIao Zhiya didn¡¯t ignore them on purpose at all before, but he was too busy studying and didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to other things¡­ Judging from the two encounters, the Exoplanet Native¡¯s personality seems to be gentle, and not annoying¡­ As for Qiao Zhiya, he just wanted to straighten up these carrot heads¡¯ behavior. After all, they¡¯re still very young and ignorant. Their bullying methods also weren¡¯t destructive, so Qiao Zhiya could forgive them. And it seemed that his approach succeeded, and these bunch of carrot heads did stop bullying him, and began to understand that this kind of behavior was ugly and unsightly. In the end, the carrot heads reached a consensus ¨C let this Exoplanet Native suffer through the studying process for skipping grades. They could just let him be and watch a good show whether he failed or succeeded. So like that, Qiao Zhiya was no longer isolated, but there were still not many people willing to contact him. This time it was not because of hostility, but because¡­ because of what? He didn¡¯t know, and he decided to not care ¨C he really didn¡¯t want to waste time understanding pre-teens¡¯ messy thought processes. The truth was, the said pre-teens just really don¡¯t like to be preached like that. It made him blush in shame. But at this moment, the radish heads wanted to talk to him a little bit¡ª while they wanted to see a good show¡­ watching someone without a spiritual power attending a mecha manufacturing class was just¡­ just too miserable! They couldn¡¯t see this!! ¨Cback to the present. ¡°Stop now! Hey, don¡¯t laugh at me! You¡¯re so ugly!¡± A scooter suddenly sped up and passed by Qiao Zhiya. It was a familiar carrot head, one of his classmates. The pre-teen boy had handsome features, but it was softened by his baby fat and milky2milky (something) = baby/childish. Also, milk cat = kitten, milk dog = puppy, etc. voice. Thanks to that, his yelling didn¡¯t seem authoritative. It sounded adorable in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears. Qiao Zhiya heard the voice and turned his head to look. His eyes lit up, and he greeted the carrot head with a smile, ¡°Xiao Chu, good morning. Why didn¡¯t you do the morning training today? I didn¡¯t find you in the training hall.¡± Yun Xiachu¡¯s expression froze when he heard this. After stammering, he replied angrily, ¡°Do I have to report to you when I go to the training hall? You practice on your own, why do you want me around! I don¡¯t want to train with you at all!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, your physique seems to be only A-grade. Your training regimen is different from mine.¡± Qiao Zhiya liked this young boy who took the initiative to chat with him. Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t care about the boy¡¯s sour tone and drove his scooter closer. He took out a small mechanical doll from his space ring and gave it to him while smiling, ¡°Here, I made it myself. I heard you like these.¡± In the past few days, he has taught himself theoretical knowledge of mechanical design. Then, he applied his newfound knowledge into making a few mechanical dolls. He based the design from the Cloud-Collecting Beast3Cloud-Collecting is ¡°ÔÆÂÞ¡± Yunluo, the Yun is the same as Yun Xiachu ¡°ÔÆÏijõ¡± from the Magic Continent. The beast was relatively small and cute, with a round body shape. It looked similar to Yun Xiachu¡¯s puffed-up4as in, when a cat goes angry, it will puff its fur out angry appearance. Yun Xiachu¡¯s face quickly flushed red because of the ¡°physique is only A-grade¡± sentence. He stuttered again, and suddenly gave him a vicious look. He snatched the doll he was handed over, and said with visible disgust on his face, ¡°It¡¯s so ugly.¡± Then he closed the scooter¡¯s window, and asked his companion to drive the scooter a little further, as if he wanted to get far away from Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya watched him in amusement as the young boy drove away from him. His mood was aroused by this episode, and the smile on his face became more obvious. Seeing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s happy appearance from the corner of his eyes, Yun Xiachu, who was far away from him, snorted angrily. He looked down at the fat animal-shaped doll in his hand, pulled its tail forcefully, and muttered something in a low voice. He then put the mechanical doll away. Arriving at the corresponding classroom according to the timetable, Qiao Zhiya randomly found a corner and sat down. He thought that no one else would be seated near him just like usual. He really didn¡¯t want to avoid people, but this way was safer to his secret identity. However, not long after, the 1.5 meters tall Yun Xiachu sat next to him, while his friends sat far away on the other side of the classroom. ¡°Xiao Chu?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him in surprise. ¡°What are you looking at! Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s impolite to stare at people like this!¡± Yun Xiachu huffed without looking at Qiao Zhiya. He buried his head into his textbook, pretending to be studying as he waited for the class to start. Qiao Zhiya immediately withdrew his gaze. After Yun Xiachu opened his textbook, the half-elf couldn¡¯t help but snuck several glances at the young boy. He squinted and smiled in amusement as he whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡± The young boy obviously had no malicious intentions. He was just stuck with his childish pride and pretended to look cool and fierce. In Qiao Zhiya¡¯s opinion, that behavior was very adorable. Yun Xiachu¡¯s expression froze, and he turned his face to the other side, pretending not to hear what Qiao Zhiya said to him. But his ears betrayed him, as it slowly grew redder and redder. At exactly nine o¡¯clock, the teacher stepped into the classroom on time. He asked the students to connect to the online classroom with their student client, then started teaching directly. Qiao Zhiya immediately calmed down, took out the electronic notebook and began to concentrate on listening to the class. He carefully memorized the book, and no longer had the energy to pay attention to other things. Yun Xiachu, who was sitting next to him, was bored listening to the things he had learned at home. From the corner of his eye, he looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s concentration on taking notes. The young boy glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s note-taking hands, then glanced up at his pointed ears. He let out a breath from his nose¡ª ¡®This uneasy Recluse, humph!¡¯¡® The whole morning passed quickly. Qiao Zhiya watched the teacher leave, then took out a nutritional supplement from his space ring and drank it. He started to review his notes during lunch break. After being awkward for a long time, Yun Xiachu, who finally decided to take the initiative to invite him to have lunch, widened his eyes in disbelief. He slapped the table and stared at him, ¡°You, you, you¡­¡± After a long time, he couldn¡¯t say the words he wanted to say. Instead, he angrily put away his textbooks and notes, turned around and strutted out with pronounced footsteps. Qiao Zhiya was actually waiting for Yun Xiachu to finish speaking. Sadly, the young boy walked away before he could speak his mind. He twirled his electronic pen on his finger as he sighed deeply. ¡®Is this a sign of me getting out of touch with the new generation? Kids these days are so incomprehensible¡­¡¯ QZY whenever he saw a ¡°friendly¡± tsundere boy: Must. Befriend. Ultimate tsun magnet AND translator. Tsundere body count (so far): Chu Rong, Sang Bu, Yun Xiachu CH 33.3 [dropdown title=¡±Character List¡±]Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. As students began to exit the classroom, Qiao Zhiya decided to stay. He set an alarm clock to remind him of the class time in the afternoon, then continued to dig through his notes. The midday sun shone warmly through the window, casting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s figure on the table as a long shadow. Ning Kongran, who had just finished his research in the morning, came down from upstairs. When he passed this corridor, he noticed the shadow on the table. What appeared first was a hand holding an electronic pen, then a slender wrist with a beautiful curve, an arm wrapped in a school uniform, and finally, a slender, graceful body. The young man¡¯s fluffy golden hair was lowered, covering up his face and nameplate on his chest. Two prominent, pointy ears were peeked out from the golden strands of hair. Ning Kongran, who was just taking a casual glance, suddenly stopped. He instinctively turned his body to the side, blocking a ray of sunlight that slanted in. Qiao Zhiya, who noticed the change in the light, froze for a moment. He stopped his hand that was just writing down his notes. Then, he looked up at the place where the light changed, and met a pair of gentle amber pupils. He was startled, and quickly sat up straight and moved back a little, his ears subconsciously trembled. Ning Kongran also turned back as if frightened, and took a step to leave. He hesitated for a moment, then took back the foot he had stepped out, turned around, and walked back a few steps. He decided to open the window that Qiao Zhiya was leaning against. As the taller man looked at him, he said in a gentle tone, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to scare you just now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Seeing that the other party was so friendly and polite, Qiao Zhiya quickly sat upright and waved his hands to indicate that it¡¯s fine. He looked at the empty corridor outside and felt embarrassed to ask. ¡°Is it forbidden to stay in the classroom after class? Sorry, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya thought this must be the case. Otherwise, why did this person stand outside and look at him so strangely just now? Ning Kongran finally saw his face clearly. His gaze lingered on the pointy ears, then quickly darted on the nameplate and the e-book scattered on the desk. He replied, ¡°It can be used, as long as you leave before another class starts¡­ Are you a first-year student?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, hesitated for a while before introducing himself, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Qiao Zhiya.¡± He tried to be as polite as possible, but it came out a little stilted instead. The young man¡¯s voice was very nice. It would be even better if there was no hint of caution in it. ¡°Ning Kongran, fifth grade.¡± The taller man then took a step back, leaving a safe distance between the two of them that was neither rude or offensive. With a kind smile and tone, he continued, ¡°I¡¯m here to use a facility near this classroom. Just a friendly advice: if you want to accelerate your understanding in mecha manufacturing, you can go to the Internet. The opening hours of the laboratory building in Campus C are limited, and it is not convenient for students from other campuses to review after class.¡± Ah, so it was possible to practice mecha manufacturing using the starnet cabin? Qiao Zhiya was taken aback for a moment, and immediately became pleasantly surprised after digesting the information. He couldn¡¯t help showing him a big smile, and said gratefully, ¡°Thank you for reminding me. If I have a chance, I will go.¡± This was good news. If there was available teaching material on the Internet, he could learn even faster! When he spoke, Qiao Zhiya subconsciously turned his head to the side, revealing the spiritual power simulator worn on his ear. Ning Kongran, who was wondering why Qiao Zhiya replied like that, immediately had a realization. He looked dumbfounded ¨C no wonder he could feel a hint of annoyance in the youth¡¯s voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that must¡¯ve been rude of me,¡± He apologized again, politely not looking at the simulator in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled and looked at him strangely. Why was he apologizing again? Did he accidentally slight him or something? ¡®It¡¯s been a long time since I saw such pure and clear eyes¡­¡¯ Ning Kongran thought. Suddenly, his communicator¡¯s notification sound rang. While taking a glance at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pure, green eyes, he glanced at the message that was just sent to his communicator. ¡°Well, it is nice to meet you, senior. See you next time.¡± Qiao Zhiya smiled and waved his hands, tactfully posing to end their conversation. Ning Kongran paused as he turned off his communicator. He looked at him gently for a few seconds, put a smile on his face again, nodded and replied: ¡°Me too¡­ See you next time.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± Qiao Zhiya responded with a smile. His review progress was interrupted by this strange man who suddenly appeared. Qiao Zhiya picked up his electronic pen, got up, and packed up his things. He then went to the next classroom ahead of schedule. It should be still in the Campus C area, around the laboratory buildings. On the way there, he met a few senior students returning from dinner. He belatedly had a realization ¨C since Ning Kongran was a fifth grade student, he should be about the same age as Chu Yan, but why did the taller man look so mature? He didn¡¯t look like a seventeen or eighteen year old at all, but looked like he was in his early twenties. Was he repeating a year? He thought of Ning Kongran¡¯s dignified yet gentle aura, and shook his head to deny the guess ¨C it shouldn¡¯t be that case. Such a confident and indifferent temperament did not seem to be exuded by a repeat student. If he couldn¡¯t find the reason, then he should have shelved it for later. He put these doubts behind him, and quickly stepped into the gate of the laboratory building. He could see Chu Rong after the afternoon practical class, and he missed him very much after being separated for a few days. The first-grade mecha manufacturing practice class was very simple. It was the basic of all basics ¨C recognizing various materials and tools. Overall, very boring and dull. Because he had missed two whole months worth of content, Qiao Zhiya had to make up a lot of class materials. Fortunately, he had a good memory, almost photographic in nature, and he made up very quickly. Not far from Qiao Zhiya was a familiar boy, Yun Xiachu. He deliberately lingering around, ready to help the older youth to make up for his lessons as soon as he asked for help. However, since Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t ask him at all, Yun Xiachu¡¯s face became darker and darker. He finally stopped by his side, staring at him with a stern face as he thought: ¡®Hmph! He¡¯s an Exoplanet Native, so why didn¡¯t he ask me about the past lessons? Is he going to give up catching up with this class? You can¡¯t do that! Don¡¯t give up!!¡¯ His gaze was so hot that Qiao Zhiya was finally burned out of the ocean of learning by his eyes. He glanced at the young boy and asked with concern, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, is there something you don¡¯t understand?¡± Yun Xiachu¡¯s eyes that had just lit up darkened again, then glared at him with increased intensity. His milky voice got high and almost cracked, ¡°I-I¡¯ts you who don¡¯t understand!! I learned these basic things when I was five years old, how could I not understand!¡± He turned around and ran away. He was so angry that he almost tripped on his way out. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± Sure enough, he was a pre-teen baby. Such a strong temper, his explosion point was also very incomprehensible. After the afternoon practical class ended, Qiao Zhiya used a communicator to contact Chu Yan. After learning that the other party was going to practice with Yuan Xiu this weekend and therefore would not go home, Qiao Zhiya decided to not go back to his dorm room to change his clothes. Instead, he went to the south school gate, and ran towards a black hover car parked at the corner of the street. Chu Rong opened the car door at the right time, and stretched out his hand to grab Qiao Zhiya who ran up to him. The door of the car was closed immediately. The vehicle then drove off at a speed fast enough that other students nearby did not see anything clearly. ¡°Chu Rong!¡± As soon as Qiao Zhiya¡¯s foot landed, he immediately stretched out his arms and rushed towards the tall man with a cold face, rubbed his head on the White-Haired Monster¡¯s chest, and said excitedly, ¡°I miss you so much, do you miss me? Have you ordered a batch of good jade? When I get home, I¡¯ll make you another potion, okay?¡± ¡°Sit down!¡± Chu Rong let go of his back collar and reprimanded him. But his heart was soft to this clingy Bald Chicken. He rubbed his fluffy blond hair, pinched his pointy ears, and continued his lecture, ¡°How can you run out like that? What would you do if you hit something? Too reckless.¡± Qiao Zhiya tilted his head to let Chu Rong rub his ears better. Despite the White-Haired Monster¡¯s knife mouth, he knew that he actually had a tofu heart1knife mouth, tofu heart = tsundere basically. Insulting/being hard towards something despite actually liking the said thing.. The youth¡¯s happiness was undisguised, and he smiled as he replied, ¡°I¡¯m paying attention; look, I didn¡¯t hit you with my flying hug right? How long have you been here? Have you eaten? Campus C is too far away from here. I could have come out earlier.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you change your uniform out?¡± Chu Rong pushed him away with disgust. He still somehow managed to rub the youth¡¯s ears vigorously before retracting his hand. Then, he tried to clean the stain on his chest as he asked, ¡°What is this? You got into a fight at school? ¡° Qiao Zhiya looked down, shook his head and explained: ¡°No, this afternoon is the practical class of mecha manufacturing, and it¡¯s about identifying the tools used. I think I accidentally spilled some oil while doing maintenance practice on one of the tools there.¡± In fact, Chu Rong knew his course schedule and had already guessed the source of the stain. But he still succumbed to his impulsive nature and asked the youth. The Marshal frowned, feeling a little irritated because of this slight sense of loss of control. His eyes met Qiao Zhiya¡¯s purely joyful eyes, and the irritability immediately dissipated a lot. He raised his hand and brushed the youth¡¯s long bangs, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go for a physical check-up first. After that, we¡¯ll go home and have dinner.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently. Unable to suppress his excitement, he raised his hand and took out a large pile of mechanical dolls from his space ring and put them on the chair. From the pile, he picked the largest, the most delicate and intricate. He then presented it in front of Chu Rong. ¡°I made this for you. Do you like it? There is also a magic stone embedded inside this one, with a magic circle painted on the inner wall. So, you can put this in your study to relieve fatigue.¡± ¡°¡­you actually drew a magic circle at school. What did I tell you before?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened. Qiao Zhiya was stunned. With a careful look, he slowly retracted his hands and lowered his voice. Appearing guilty, he defended himself, ¡°I have locked the door, and I asked Qiuqiu to watch for me, so I won¡¯t be discovered, I swear.¡± ¡°I will not let this one slide.¡± Chu Rong raised his hand and pulled his ear. He took a look at the animal-shaped mechanical doll, put it away under Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expectant eyes, nodded and said: ¡°However, your craft is not bad.¡± With his creation affirmed, Qiao Zhiya immediately became happy. He excitedly started to introduce other dolls to the Marshal. Chu Rong listened to him quietly, responding a few words from time to time, and he gradually softened up. The hover car stopped in front of the white building that he visited last time. Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to the eighteenth floor through a special lift. There, they met Zhuang Yu. Chu Rong immediately asked the doctor to do another check-up like last time. ¡°Some spiritual fluctuations are detected. However, they are very weak and unstable. Only one instrument ¨C the most sensitive one ¨C can detect it.¡± Zhuang Yu reported excitedly. As she reread the test sheet in her hand, she became even more excited with the implication of this data. She was so happy that she wanted to hug Qiao Zhiya and rub him bald2means to rub him for long periods of time, to the point he¡¯ll become bald because of too much rubbing, which leads to hair loss.. Qiao Zhiya, who noticed her intention, immediately hid behind Chu Rong. In return, he got an unpredictable look from Chu Rong. ¡°Can the physical examination at the military academy detect this change?¡± Chu Rong asked. Zhuang Yu immediately put away her joking mood, and replied seriously: ¡°No, the instruments in the military academy are not even comparable to those in the military department, let alone the ones here. But if Qiao¡¯s power grows again¡­ then I can¡¯t predict the outcome.¡± Chu Rong frowned even deeper. He looked back at Qiao Zhiya, and asked, ¡°Are you sure your spiritual strength hasn¡¯t gotten stronger recently?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head. He glanced back and forth at the two of them, and told them his own guess, ¡°I suspect that the change is actually related to the stone grass. To be precise, it is related to the potion made from the stone grass.¡± After that day, he paid special attention to his own power. After repeatedly confirming that his spiritual power did not increase, he began to recall carefully all events that might influence someone¡¯s spiritual power. In the end, he could only pinpoint the stone grass as the most likely culprit. The wood-type magic power contained in the stone grass was very rich, and this was probably caused by the long-term exposure to the energy storm at the red tin mine. Due to the harsh conditions, only the plant that had mutations in this aspect could survive. And that mutations lead to the hyperactive wood-type magical power contained within3this was changed a bit from the original: ¡°In order to increase its survivability, some mutations have occurred inside the stone grass, which made the wood-type magic elements in its body very active.¡± because Evolution Doesn¡¯t Work Like That. I¡¯ll explain more in my nerd-corner below.. To put it into perspective: most normal plants had the innate wood-type magic power of 50. Then, the magic activity of this stone grass was at least 80. He purified the stone grass¡¯ essence when making potions, and later infused it with spiritual power soothing agents. Because he used his own magic power during the process, there¡¯s a high probability that he had absorbed some trace elements of the grass¡¯ magic power. Thanks to that addition, his total magic power had temporarily increased. ¡°¨CAnd I think that activity will be slowly metabolized away. After all, I am not a stone grass, and I don¡¯t have the proper anatomy to support that level of magic power.¡± Qiao Zhiya finished his guess, and then added: ¡°To prove my conjecture¡­ let¡¯s do a controlled experiment with a starnet cabin.¡± Chu Rong immediately signaled Zhuang Yu to fetch a special helmet from the medical room. Qiao Zhiya skillfully put on the helmet again, and this time there was no robotic sound in his ears. He then took off his helmet, looked at Chu Rong and Zhuang Yu, and shook his head, ¡°I can¡¯t log in anymore.¡± In other words, the spiritual power brought by the stone grass had almost completely disappeared. This meant that the spiritual power he used to log into the Internet before was just his magic power that was infected by the activity in the stone grass. Because his magic power at that time was particularly active, it managed to be detected by the starnet cabin and misunderstood as spiritual power. Zhuang Yu¡¯s face fell when she heard his words. She was a little frustrated: ¡°How could this be? I thought I could help you improve your spiritual strength¡­¡± Chu Rong frowned, thoughtful. Qiao Zhiya glanced at their expressions, looked down at the starnet helmet in his hand. He actually felt a little joy in his heart. His speculation had been confirmed. This actually¡­ gave him a hint ¨C if he could find a way to increase his pool of magic power, the devices of this world could detect it as a spiritual power. This was huge for him! Mae''s nerd corner How evolution actually works AKA why it¡¯s called ¡°survival of the fittest¡±: To start, ¡°mutations¡± just mean a part of your DNA suddenly becomes wonky due to various reason (example: UV radiation, or your body machinery just decides to skip its work and fucked up a part of it during DNA replication). This happens randomly to a random part of your DNA! It cannot purposefully change the part that would be beneficial for you. If it somehow does, you just got lucky. Also, most of the time, if a mutation occurs, your body would Eliminate it immediately. Though, there IS something called ¡°epigenetics¡± that could modify your DNA (or the central dogma) depends the environmental condition. But that¡¯s a separate thing and We Don¡¯t Have Time To Unpack That. Go youtube it if you¡¯re really curious. *) central dogma: the process of making an amino acids from DNA. It goes like this: DNA ¨Ctranscription¨C> mRNA ¨C> tRNA ¨Ctranslation¨C> amino acids (outside of central dogma) ¨Cpolymerization¨C> protein. Let¡¯s now talk about those Darwin finches thingie. A flock of finches somehow made its way to the Galapagos, a place very different from its previous environment. Let¡¯s say there¡¯s two groups of finches in a place: Group A and Group B. Group A had a mutation that makes its feather twice as silky, while group B had a mutation that makes its beak shorter but stronger. Group A couldn¡¯t find food that could sustain its population because they had E-level luck for the mutation lottery. While Group B¡¯s mutation accidentally makes them better at eating seeds, which was plenty in this new environment. This means finches in Group A would die of starvation, while Group B would be thriving and able to reproduce. With time, only finches from Group B can repopulate the place. Which means, now all of their children have this ¡°short but stronger¡± beaks, which is different from the original finches. This long, long process is what we call Evolution. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 34.1 Welp, today I got such rotten luck. First, I failed at gaining that sweet, sweet 1,000 USD thesis funding. And second, I twisted my ankle,,,, (¨s_¨t) let¡¯s hope this means I¡¯ll be lucky next time. Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Sang Bu: MC¡¯s roommate. Information System major. Yun Xiachu: MC¡¯s classmate, a first-grader at intermediate college. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. In order to more accurately verify Qiao Zhiya¡¯s conjecture, Chu Rong took him for another inspection early the next morning. It turned out that the instrument that detected Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mental fluctuations yesterday did not detect anything today. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magic was ¡°gone¡± again. Chu Rong put down the test results, glanced at Qiao Zhiya who had just climbed out of the testing instrument, took out a few pieces of ink jade and handed them over. He said, ¡°Make the stone grass potion again.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had expected this result, reached out and took the jade. He then sat at the small laboratory-grade table that Zhuang Yu gave him. A few hours later, the potion came out. Qiao Zhiya laid in the testing instrument again. ¡°Spiritual power fluctuations detected. Grade: E, stability: high.¡± Zhuang Yu handed the test results to Chu Rong. Her expression scrunched up, she was completely unhappy, ¡°It turned out to be stone grass, this is really¡­¡± She was disappointed. She was excited that the Cutie could have spiritual power, but her hope was dashed. Chu Rong took the result and looked at it, frowning deeply. After finishing lunch outside, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya home and motioned him to release his magic power outside. Qiao Zhiya obediently spread his magic all over the house, then looked at him nervously. ¡°I really can¡¯t feel it.¡± Chu Rong finally loosened his frowning brows. He raised his hand to rub the youth¡¯s blond hair, and said, ¡°It seems that the spiritual power simulated by stone grass can only be detected by a machine that is very sensitive to spiritual power.¡± Qiao Zhiya was also greatly relieved. He couldn¡¯t help but tilt his head and rubbed it into Chu Rong¡¯s warm palm. With a grateful tone, he thanked the Marshal. He understood his worry over him. And overall, he was thankful that the White-Haired Monster was very patient with his abnormalities. ¡°Stupid.¡± Chu Rong pinched his ears, withdrew his hand, and sat on the sofa. He thought for a while, and instructed, ¡°The activity of stone grass can last in your body for about five days. During this period, you should pay special attention to this artificial spiritual power you gained. You have to learn how to fool the machine¡¯s detection and make sure nobody can notice how different your spiritual power is from the normal. You can keep the starnet cabin helmet. Since you want to learn mecha manufacturing on the Internet, then learn it hard. Don¡¯t waste your time on unimportant things and don¡¯t reveal your identity online. The account you own isn¡¯t bound to an actual ID. Nobody but me can ever know this fact, understood?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently. As soon as he heard the Internet being mentioned, he finally couldn¡¯t help leaning over to ask a question he kept inside his heart, ¡°I heard Xiao Yan say that your Internet account is at the level of a national idol. What is your ID? Can I add you as a friend?¡± Chu Rong paused after hearing QIao Zhiya¡¯s request. He was silent for a few seconds, shook his head, and replied: ¡°No, you can¡¯t¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, and asked doubtfully, ¡°Why? Is it because¡ª¡± ¡°Because I haven¡¯t logged in to my account for ten years.¡± Chu Rong interrupted his reply. He messed up his own bangs, then gave the youth a small smile, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, it¡¯s not appropriate to disclose the fact that my spiritual power condition has improved. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t log in and add you as a friend.¡± Only then did Qiao Zhiya realize that he had entered a blind spot in his thinking. He forgot that Chu Rong was supposed to be ¡°crippled¡± by his spiritual power pollution. He looked at the Marshal apologetically and embarrassedly, ¡°Then I will wait for you to go online next time¡­ And uhm¡­ you should treat your illness first.¡± ¡®Waiting for you to go online next time.¡¯ It was just a simple sentence, but it made Chu Rong¡¯s heart feel really funny again. He looked at the relaxed and defenseless young man who came to him, and suddenly felt that happiness in life could be very simple. The federal situation, historical hatred, family responsibilities, the future of the country¡­ All the things that weighed heavily on his shoulders blurred and disappeared at this moment. Now there was only a silly youth waiting for him to recover and go online. Huh, this boy really got heavier recently. Did he grow up again? He was still so short¡­ This kind of simple life¡­ was very good. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you grow up slowly.¡± He softly tugged at the youth¡¯s ears, and promised softly, ¡°I can afford to wait.¡± As for what he ¡°waited¡± for, he still didn¡¯t know. But there must be something worthy for him to wait. He thought that it weirded Qiao Zhiya when he said this, but the youth didn¡¯t say anything. He only stared at the Marshal with an understanding gaze. His pointy ears twitched, and his body leaned on his more. He was a bit sleepy. He slept a little late last night because his head was full of thoughts, and it also woke him up early. Now, he could feel how comfortable it was to be held in the White-Haired Monster¡¯s embrace. Somehow, he also became gentler and it slowly lulled Qiao Zhiya to another sleep. Chu Rong tacitly understood what the youth wanted. He let Qiao Zhiya snuggle closer with a comfortable position. Instinctively, he curled up his limbs and closed his eyes. He fell asleep within seconds. Qiao Zhiya ended up sleeping too much during the day. He successfully got insomnia later that night. At night¨C After failing to fall asleep for the third time, Qiao Zhiya finally climbed up resignedly. He glanced at the direction of Chu Rong¡¯s room through the wall, and secretly took out the starnet cabin helmet. Rather than wasting time trying to sleep, might as well play for a while until he felt naturally sleepy. When he went online again, he was still standing in that spacious amphitheater. The big screen that attracted everyone¡¯s attention had disappeared, and there were fewer people around him. The only friend, the red-haired strong man named Raymond, was not online. He closed his friend list, but then he remembered what Ning Kongran said to him. He looked up what he needed with the search engine, and found the mecha manufacturing area in the VR world. There was the coin exchange area, free-trading area, practice area, education area¡­ Qiao Zhiya immediately fixed his gaze and went over to the education area. The screen changed, and he appeared in a classroom. On the screen in front of him were the options of elementary education, intermediate education, and advanced education. He turned to elementary education without hesitation. The screen zoomed back until it covered the entire wall of the classroom, and the previous writing on it disappeared. A teacher walked from the edge of the screen to the middle, looked at Qiao Zhiya, and spoke to him with a friendly smile, ¡°Dear , welcome to the elementary classroom. Please follow your own learning progress and choose a course.¡± At the end of the sentence, another row of options appeared in front of Qiao Zhiya. The first one was the material recognition and tool use that Qiao Zhiya had learned in the Intermediate College. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by the teacher who appeared out of nowhere. As he panicked, he hurriedly got up to greet him politely. But he found that the teacher did not respond to his greeting, and was still waiting for him to choose a course. The starnet system gave him a reminder that all teachers in free class were all AI. If he wished to have a real teacher, he needed to choose a paid class. Qiao Zhiya, a poor man with a balance of only 900 star net coins, sat down silently. He had no choice but to study in the free class. Playing didn¡¯t get Qiao Zhiya addicted, but learning1God please give me this superpower. did! He was like a dry sponge dipped into water, crazily absorbing the knowledge taught to him by the AI teacher. He only needed to be taught once to understand. He even blazed through the mid-class quizzes with glowing full marks. The phrase [congratulations on finishing this subject!] sounded frequently. Not long after, he was kicked by the system out of the classroom because he had been studying for too long. In the end, he had already completed 80% of the course! His learning speed was against the sky. Other students, who were proud of their studying speed, looked at the free class leaderboard2if you are weirded about this, me too. Basically, there is a leaderboard for everything. Mostly for completion speed and/or high score., and ended up abused, crying, shouting, and cursing angrily ¨C who was this ? How could he learn so fast? He must be a master who only came here to shoot fish in a barrel3bullying the noobs! Where was his conscience? Qiao Zhiya, who was kicked off from the class, immediately felt drowsy. He took off his helmet and put it aside, then fell asleep with his head tilted. He slept until the afternoon. The face of Ancestor Chu, who planned to take him to the ancient martial arts hall for training, turned black. ¡°What did I tell you yesterday, why did you stay up late?¡± Qiao Zhiya obediently finished his lunch. He bowed his head and admitted his mistake, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there will be no next time.¡± Chu Rong rapped his fingers on the table in his irritation. He glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bloodshot eyes, and frowned. He waved his hands as he spoke, ¡°Finish your meal and go to sleep. Tomorrow is a school day, so you need proper rest. If this happens a second time, I¡¯ll confiscate your helmet.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who knew he was wrong this time, bowed his head and obediently listened to Chu Rong. He looked particularly pitiful despite his words, ¡°I¡¯m not sleepy anymore.¡± His eyes were red like an albino rabbit now. And he dared to say he wasn¡¯t sleepy?! Chu Rong gave him a cold look. Without a word, he got up, picked him up, and stuffed him back into his bedroom. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t fight back. He limply hung as he was carried, and went back to sleep. After dinner, Chu Rong sent Qiao Zhiya back to school. The hover car stopped at the south gate, Qiao Zhiya stepped forward to hug Chu Rong, and whispered, ¡°I will miss you.¡± Chu Rong raised his hand and patted his head without saying anything. He opened the door and signaled him to get out of the car. Qiao Zhiya looked at him reluctantly, lowered his head and got out of the car. As he watched the car drive away, he felt a little lost ¨C the White-Haired Monster seemed to be very angry this time. He didn¡¯t even reprimand him. Returning to the dormitory listlessly, he saw Sang Bu, his roommate who ran back-and-forth to his laboratory every day. The cold beauty sat in the living room, flipping through books. When he saw Qiao Zhiya coming back, he greeted him actively and ¡°rewarded¡± him with some lovely pastry. Then, he returned to his room gracefully. Qiao Zhiya took a look at the exquisitely packaged, high-end snacks he was given. He also remembered Sang Bu¡¯s very deliberate, slow and ¡°elegant¡± walking posture. The youth¡¯s moody demeanor improved a little. He stepped forward to pick one pastry, pursed his lips and smiled. The pastry was sweet. After washing up, he went to the Internet again to continue his unfinished study yesterday. It took him two hours to complete the rest of the junior courses. Then, he rented a junior laboratory for 500 starnet coins, and started to practice using materials and tools¡ªfortunately, the data on the VR world were all virtual. So, all the materials and tools were very cheap. But even so, his starnet coins were still quickly spent. At ten o¡¯clock in the evening, he quitted the Internet without further ado, took off his helmet and prepared to be a good student who took a break on time. But just as he closed his eyes, Chu Rong¡¯s videocall request popped up. He was taken aback and quickly connected. ¡°Sleep.¡± As soon as the video was connected, Ancestor Chu¡¯s chilly voice was heard. Qiao Zhiya looked at his dark face, and the disappointment when he returned to school in the afternoon was swept away. He raised the corner of his mouth and raised a big smile, nodded vigorously and replied, ¡°Well! I¡¯m going to bed now. You also go to bed early. Good night, have a nice dream!¡± After speaking, he took the initiative to hang up the communication, covered himself with the quilt, closed his eyes and fell asleep. Chu Rong, who was hung up abruptly, froze. He looked at his communicator with a frown, then leaned back in the chair irritably. He subconsciously rapped the table with his fingers for a long time. Finally, he couldn¡¯t rein his temper. He dialed Fan Xiangnan¡¯s number, and as soon as it connected, he ordered, ¡°Tomorrow, send me a starnet helmet. I want to modify it.¡± Fan Xiangnan, who was changing into pajamas and didn¡¯t know any context: ¡°¡­¡± CH 34.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. The new week of classes started, and on Monday morning, Qiao Zhiya met Yun Xiachu in the training hall. ¡°Practice hard, you will grow taller soon.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who knew that the other party was struggling with his height, encouraged him very intimately. He then went to the gravity training room designated for him. Yun Xiachu, who was currently pulling a ring, was so stimulated by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s greeting that he fell off the instrument. Looking at his back, he punched the cushion angrily¡ªwhat qualifications does a seventeen-year-old who is only 1.7 meters have to laugh at? He! He just develops more slowly! His family is like this! Bastard Recluse!! After school, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t go back to the dormitory after dinner. Instead, he went around to the college administrative area and rented a laboratory. He had to find a way to earn some money when he had run out of starnet coins. The rented laboratory was not like the free laboratory provided by the school, which collects and records the experimental process and results of the students. The rented laboratory was completely closed, and outsiders couldn¡¯t find out the situation inside. This was to protect the privacy of their experiments, so outsiders couldn¡¯t easily steal anything. After closing the door of the laboratory, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t even look at the various tools in the laboratory. He took out his forging table and small hammer, and then searched for a piece of green ore that he bought from the school when identifying the materials. With determination in his eyes, he started the spalling1there¡¯s a Mae¡¯s nerd corner in the footnotes explaining about this process. process. This time he learned his lesson. Instead of softening all the impurities and reincorporated them back to the material like when he first processed the mutated red tin ore, he immediately expelled all the impurities. He was trying to prevent the materials from being unrecognizable due to redundant processing. He still needed to keep the secondary mutated red tin ore a secret, so some process needed to be omitted. The texture of the green ore was relatively soft, as it was only a medium-grade material. It was very quick to be processed. After finishing, he found that the color of the green ore has darkened slightly, but its innate properties have not changed. It¡¯s quite resistant from secondary mutation2In this series, secondary mutation refers to ¡°mutation¡± due to external human processing. Though honestly, mutation, by definition, could only be applicable to genetics. I guess mutated ore would be an ore with different crystallization structure?. After finishing the ore, he drew various magic circles on the forging platform. With a carefully restrained magic power, he shaped the green ore into a soft whip. In the middle, the green ore was not shaped enough, so he added a little bit of the ink jade ¨C the black magic stone ¨C to stabilize it. The finished whip was dark green in color, with diamond-shaped lines all over it. The handle was the darkest, almost black, and very beautiful. He played with it fondly for a while, then brought the testing machine in the laboratory and put the whip on it. [Quality: Intermediate, Hardness: High¡­] The machine began to report the data, and it made Qiao Zhiya flabbergasted. High hardness? He wanted to make a soft whip, so the hardness level should only reach intermediate at the most. While he was wondering, he heard the data of [Activity: High]3no, I also don¡¯t know what ¡°activity¡± means. Spiritual? Magic? Some-kind of cosmic energy activity? Idk man, it¡¯s fantasy. reported by the machine again, and his small face wrinkled. The activity level of the giant sword he made last time was terribly high. He did not draw a magic circle on this soft whip, but just forged it according to the method of forging weapons in the Magic Continent. How could the activity be so high? Fortunately, it was only high-level, not super-high level like the giant sword last time, and the data was not too exaggerated, otherwise this whip would definitely not be able to be sold. After the test, the machine gave him an ¡°excellent¡± evaluation of his results. He snapped out of his thoughts, took out the whip, cleared the usage data of the machine, put away the forging table and hammer, and left the laboratory. The high level of hardness should be due to the addition of black magic stones. The activity might be affected by the magic circle on the forging platform, but fortunately it was not crazy high. Excellent spiritual power users could also properly improve certain characteristics of materials. Generally speaking, the data of the whip was still within the normal range. In short, it could be sold! It was completely dark outside, and the trade area was still brightly lit. Energetic students shuttled through it, enjoying the rare leisure time after a day of classes. ¡°Qiao!¡± He heard Chu Yan¡¯s voice as he walked past a mecha accessories store. When he heard the familiar voice, he looked up and saw Chu Yan standing on the railing on the store¡¯s second floor, waving vigorously at him. ¡°Xiao Yan.¡± Qiao Zhiya also raised his hand to greet him, and then walked into the shop. Ten meters away, Xiang Kun, who was also attracted by Chu Yan¡¯s shout, turned his head to look. Just as he was about to rush over and continue the unfinished fight with Chu Yan during the day, he noticed Qiao Zhiya who was stepping in. ¡°Who is that man?¡± He frowned, and asked his friend, ¡°It looks like a new face, did Chu Yan meet new friends recently?¡± His friend shook his head and replied, ¡°No, Chu Yan has been with Yuan Xiu everyday for a while. They stayed together to practice battles and prepare for the end-of-school competition, and it¡¯s been a long time since I saw him go out to play.¡± During the conversation, Qiao Zhiya had already gone up to the second floor and stood with Chu Yan, talking intimately. Xiang Kun became more and more unhappy as he watched. He gritted his teeth, and ordered, ¡°Find it out for me! Dage punished me to death last time, so how can he still be happy every day? He even has the time to meet new friends! No fair!!¡± The friend silently glanced at him and nodded¡ªthis Young Master of the Xiang family was weird. He usually was quite calm and competent, but whenever he saw Chu Yan, some wiring on his brain short-circuited and he became hot-headed so suddenly. They obviously majored in different studies, but he somehow caught up with every gossip of Chu Yan. He really couldn¡¯t understand. On the second floor of the store, after hearing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s plan, Chu Yan thought for a while and replied, ¡°It¡¯s true that you can open a store on the Starnet and Internet4in case you forgot: Starnet = think of it as our Internet; Internet = VR World, but you need money to rent a storefront, and you need to pay money to entrust the store to the system management. I suggest you take the whip to an auction. It¡¯s far easier and less costly. Don¡¯t worry, the items auctioned online like this are more secretive than in reality. Besides, your helmet is specially made, and it¡¯s not bound to an ID card, so others can¡¯t find it if they want to.¡± Qiao Zhiya was completely relieved when he heard the words, and dismissed his worry. He then looked around the shop and asked curiously, ¡°What are you doing here, where is Yuan Xiu?¡± ¡°Yuan Xiu went to the school infirmary. He has diarrhea.¡± Chu Yan cringed when he remembered his best friend¡¯s pale face this morning. But then, he continued answering Qiao Zhiya¡¯s question, ¡°I¡¯m here to buy mecha maintenance materials. Two months from now is my end-of-the-year assessment. We have to participate in a tournament-style mecha driving competition. And as a good mecha pilot, I need to maintain my mecha¡¯s function.¡± All the things listed were expensive. Just by looking at it made Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart skip a beat. He hurriedly motioned Chu Yan to put the list away, and at the same time, a vague idea rose in his mind. He glanced at Chu Yan with a smile on his face. With his face full of baby-fat, he pursed his lips and smiled. After returning to his dormitory, he used the scanning function of his helmet to scan all the data of the whip. He immediately logged on, avoiding famous products, and directly chose the comprehensive shopping mall that comes with the Internet. In the mecha model weapon area, there was a rule for all merchandise ¨C it had three days to be sold, in which people could put a bid on it. If after three days no bid was offered, it would be removed from the shelves automatically. It was getting late after all this was done. He hurriedly got off the starnet cabin, waited until ten o¡¯clock on the communicator after washing up. Once it was ten o¡¯clock, he dialed Chu Rong for a video call, hurriedly said good night once it connected, then hung up immediately. After that, he obediently went to bed early. Ancestor Chu who felt that he was being tricked: ¡°¡­¡± On the afternoon of the second day after the product was put up for sale, the whip was put up for bidding, which meant that the product had been sold. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly followed the system prompts and deliberately sent the whip to a system warehouse ¨C as a means to remain anonymous ¨C and sent it to the courier system. After the closing time of the transaction, the warehouse would directly send the goods to the buyer, and at the same time his account would also receive the payment. This method used the system as a middleman, so the privacy of both parties were guaranteed. With this money, the study on the Internet could continue. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mood improved, and he became more involved in his studies. He didn¡¯t notice the change in the atmosphere in the class at all. ¡°I wonder how he got in here. It turned out that he hugged the Chu family¡¯s thigh5depends on. He looks very innocent and honest. I didn¡¯t expect him to be such a scheming person.¡± ¡°Well, now the mystery is answered. He is an Exoplanet Native, but he could go directly to an Intermediate College after a few short months. Didn¡¯t this mean the Chu family used their big name to take a short-cut? It¡¯s not that unusual, right? It¡¯s one of the Four Great Families, after all.¡± ¡°Who knows, he looks really good¡­ so maybe¡­ you know¡­¡± ¡°Bang ¡ª¡ª!¡± Yun Xiachu forcefully pushed open the bathroom door. With a gloomy eyes, he cynically stared at them, ¡°Huh, so your mouth can only spread baseless rumors? So this is the quality of the childrens from wealthy families. Only at the level as a bumpkin from marginal planets. Disgusting and hypocritical!¡± When they were caught saying bad things, the little carrot heads turned red. After all, they were too guilty to argue. In the end, they could only leave after saying one thing, ¡°What do you know!¡± Yun Xiachu watched them go away with a sullen face. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and cursed, ¡°You bastard Exoplanet Native, such a trouble-magnet!¡± In the blink of an eye, it was Friday, and Qiao Zhiya welcomed his most anticipated mecha manufacturing class happily. As a result, as soon as he arrived at the classroom, he was stopped by the teacher who was waiting at the door in advance. ¡°Are you Qiao Zhiya?¡± the teacher asked. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled. He nodded, and politely replied, ¡°It¡¯s me, is there anything I can do for you?¡± The teacher glanced at the spiritual power simulator in his ear. He then took out his communicator and contacted someone else, and then motioned Qiao Zhiya to follow him. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya became more and more puzzled. He glanced at the students who were already seated and waiting for class, and followed the teacher away in confusion. The students started whispering, and Yun Xiachu side-eyed at the carrot heads sitting in the middle who were happily watching the scene, his expression darkened¡ªa group of trash who pretended to be smart and liked to do dirty tricks! After arriving at the office, the teacher motioned for Qiao Zhiya to sit down on the sofa, and then said gently: ¡°It¡¯s like this, we knew that you have a special physical condition. And since you must have spiritual power to learn mecha manufacturing, in order to help students grow more reasonably, the school doesn¡¯t want the students wasting their time on useless courses. We did some research and decided to cancel your mecha manufacturing class and replace it with a corresponding mechanical research course. We also arrange for you to get in touch with an advanced mechanical design class and a senior student to guide you. Don¡¯t you think this is reasonable?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he heard that. He quickly shook his head, and replied, ¡°Thank you teacher for your kindness, but I want to continue learning mecha manufacturing, and I¡¯m very interested in this.¡± From the standpoint of the school, the teacher who gave this arrangement was very considerate and took care of his own situation, but in his original intention, the arrangement was too bad. The teacher didn¡¯t expect him to refuse directly. He frowned, and continued to persuade, ¡°Student Qiao Zhiya, I advise you to think twice. In your situation, it is very difficult to get a passing grade at the mecha manufacturing course¡¯s final. And if you keep failing the course, you may be expelled from the school.¡± Qiao Zhiya also knew this. On top of that, any respectable Advanced Colleges wouldn¡¯t accept students who failed too many courses. The grades of the mecha manufacturing course were divided into two parts, theory and practice, each of which accounted for 50% of the total grade. Even if he got full marks in the theory class, as long as he did not have the spiritual strength to complete the practical exam, his total grade will be 50%. It was a failing grade. And he was thinking of skipping grades, which required excellent grades in all subjects. Just passing grades was not enough. Before last weekend, in order to cope with this, he planned to use the special mechanical structure of the Magic Continent to modify the mecha parts, improve the performance of current mechas, obtain new patents, and find a way to skip grades. The premise of this method was that he must be able to understand the world¡¯s mechanical manufacturing system and the theoretical knowledge of mechas in a short period of time. Plus, he needed to learn how to integrate the mechanical design methods of the Magic Continent into the mechas. So before that, he had been working hard to supplement his lacking theoretical knowledge. And after the inspection last weekend, he had a new choice ¨C use magic power to simulate spiritual power. With this method, he could pretend that his spiritual power ¡°miraculously¡± recovered, and he could skip grades normally. It¡¯s just that he didn¡¯t expect that an accident would come so quickly. He was still able to attend the mecha manufacturing class last week, and the teachers didn¡¯t have any special consideration for him, a student wearing a spiritual power simulator. ¡°Laoshi, I¡¯ll stick to my choice.¡± Qiao Zhiya still shook his head, and then asked, ¡°Thank you teacher for your suggestion. Class is about to begin. Can I go back to the classroom?¡± The teacher was helpless. He was told to persuade Qiao Zhiya to drop the class willingly, but now, he had no choice. He could only speak clearly. ¡°Student Qiao Zhiya, why didn¡¯t you say that you were a student sent by the Chu family?¡± Why did the teacher suddenly mention the Chu family? Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, his expression slowly became tense, and his eyes became defensive. With a firm tone, he replied, ¡°Laoshi, I was admitted through the normal school application process. I am not ¡°sent¡± by the Chu family. You misunderstood.¡± The teacher took a deep look at him, shook his head, and said meaningfully, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, I checked your admission information this morning. I know about ¡®your¡¯ patents, but everyone is not a fool. You¡­ In short, replace the mecha manufacturing course with my arrangements. Think about this well. You are welcome to change your mind at any time.¡± After speaking, he got up and opened the door, indicating that he could go back to class. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t quite understand what he meant, but he knew that he and the Chu family were underestimated and suspected. So he was very breathless, and said forcefully, ¡°No need.¡± He walked out the door quickly. Ore/mineral processing is called metallurgy, and in general it¡¯s divided into these parts: (if you actually know metallurgy, please help in confirming this! Thank you~) Of course, there¡¯s also hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy, which use water and fire (plasma/high heat) to help in the purification process. You can think of Qiao Zhiya using his magic power to purify any ores from its gangue. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 34.3 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Seeing Qiao Zhiya coming back, there was another commotion in the classroom. Qiao Zhiya finally realized that the expressions of the students were wrong. He frowned, and sat down in a corner seat. Then, he found that the students who originally sat close to him turned away and moved. The movements were also very deliberate, too. Qiao Zhiya opened his textbook and pretended not to see it. When he was reporting on his first day attending the school, he was accompanied by Chu Yan. The two of them also occasionally met and never concealed it. The current situation should be that his relationship with the Chu family has been discovered. It should be that everyone thought that the school was willing to transfer him for the sake of the Chu family. He could understand his classmates¡¯ sudden weird behavior around him. But, the teacher¡¯s sentence of ¡°I know about ¡®your¡¯ patents, but everyone is not a fool.¡± made him very uncomfortable. He was pissed with the implication. Was the teacher suspecting that the Chu family deliberately stole other people¡¯s achievements for him in order to transfer him to this school? The more he thought about it, the more his face became tense. Suddenly, it was dark around him, and Yun Xiachu sat next to him, his expression not much better than his. ¡°The dolls you made are exquisite. I believe you didn¡¯t come in through the back door.¡± It was rare for the young boy not to say anything harsh. Qiao Zhiya glanced at him. His depressed mood improved a little, and said in a whisper, ¡°Thank you.¡± Yun Xiachu snorted vaguely, but did not speak. During class, the teacher who taught the class vaguely glanced at the isolated corner ¨C where the two of them were seated ¨C several times. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pure eyes looked like he didn¡¯t notice this obvious glancing, while Yun Xiachu deliberately close his textbook and glared at the teacher viciously. Qiao Zhiya poked Yun Xiachu with a pen to reassure him. He gave the young boy a new mechanical doll, then smiled at him. Yun Xiachu turned to stare at him, took the doll, and continued to glare at the teacher. The whole morning class passed in such a strange atmosphere. Yun Xiachu invited Qiao Zhiya to have lunch together, but Qiao Zhiya declined. The little boy left angrily again. Qiao Zhiya stayed in the classroom, and first contacted Chu Yan. He told Chu Yan about the teacher finding his ¡°situation¡±, and then asked him about the situation there. Chu Yan, who was busy practicing duels recently, had no idea what was going on outside. He was shocked when he heard this news, and quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll check it out¡±. Then, he hung up the communication. Without letting the accident disrupt his study plan, Qiao Zhiya turned off his communicator. He picked up a pen, and began to prepare for the next stage according to the learning progress on the Internet. It could be regarded as reviewing his notes. Ning Kongran declined his friend¡¯s invitation to dinner by accident, and went downstairs like last week. He passed the corridor outside the first-grade classroom, his gaze slowly gliding past the window of the classroom. The third classroom¡­ that particular window¡­ He stopped, with a smile on his face, and knocked on the glass. Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses. He was stunned the moment he looked at the knocked window. He leaned over to open the window, greeted with a smile, ¡°What a coincidence, I saw you again.¡± ¡°Yes, what a coincidence.¡± Ning Kongran smiled, his eyes swept over the electronic book on his desk, and he was stunned when he saw the content. Then, he quickly came back to his senses, fixed his eyes on the blond¡¯s face, and asked gently: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go to eat?¡± ¡°I have drunk nutritional supplements. Besides, my afternoon class is also here, I don¡¯t want to be bothered going back-and-forth.¡± Qiao Zhiya had a good impression of Ning Kongran, so he was friendly. He continued his reply with a question, ¡°What about you? Are you going to eat now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ning Kongran nodded. He swallowed the words of inviting him to eat together, took out a box of snacks from his space button and handed it over, ¡°Here, my aunt made it by hand, and added some special materials to ease the fatigue.¡± A snack that could relieve fatigue? Qiao Zhiya was a little curious, but he didn¡¯t want to take other people¡¯s things for nothing. So, he rummaged through his space button and found a relatively good-looking mechanical doll and put it in Ning Kongran¡¯s hand. Finally, he took the snack and said, ¡°Thank you. This is a gift in return.¡± The mechanical doll¡¯s metal tentacles were a little cold and heavy. However, the blond youth¡¯s finger rubbing his palm was very warm. Ning Kongran moved away his sight from the pointy ears, and instead looked at the brilliant green-eyes. The older man smiled, and said, ¡°Thank you for your return gift, then I¡¯m going to eat, see you next time.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± Qiao Zhiya waved his hand with a smile. After a short and moderate interaction, Ning Kongran noticed that he was more relaxed than last time. The smile on his face deepened, he nodded to him again, turned and left. The practice class in the afternoon was still about identifying materials and learning to use tools. Qiao Zhiya had already learned these things by his self-study, so he can get started very quickly. His way of handling materials with tools was tenfold faster and more proficient than his classmates, and the teacher gave him glowing praise. This action directly choked his classmates who were about to come over and laugh at him. Seeing this, Yun Xiachu, who was purposely circling around him, strutted proudly. With hands on his hips, he gave the bad-mouthing crowds a triumphant smirk. For Qiao Zhiya, he gave the older youth a thumbs up. The carrot heads were so angry that their hands shook, their tools were crooked, and their materials were wasted. Yun Xiachu laughed unceremoniously, causing Qiao Zhiya to glance at him distractedly. After school, Qiao Zhiya went directly to the school¡¯s south gate. He originally didn¡¯t plan to go home, because he wanted to continue studying on the Internet. However, Chu Yan sent him a message saying that Chu Rong had come to pick them up, so he had to put his original plan away. Some people followed them all the way out of the school. Qiao Zhiya, who was used to stalking prey in the forest, quickly discovered that the stalkers were a few classmates in the same class. He frowned, and because the speed limit of the scooter couldn¡¯t get rid of them, he decided to ignore them and headed towards his destination. As soon as he approached nearer, he saw Chu Yan waiting by the gate from a distance. Out of the blue, Chu Rong got out of the car as Qiao Zhiya got close. Then, he opened the car¡¯s door. ¡°Get in the car.¡± Chu Rong, who originally was sitting in the back seat with a cold face, ordered directly. While Fan Xiangnan, who was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat, turned his head and waved to Qiao Zhiya kindly. The air at the school gate seemed to freeze. All the students passing by looked at Chu Rong. And his stalkers-slash-classmates even forgot to stop the scooter, and ran straight into the flower bed beside the school gate. Qiao Zhiya was also a little stunned. But Chu Yan immediately put his arm around his shoulders, and excitedly raised his voice as he said to Chu Rong: ¡°Erge! Dage asked us to go over to his house this weekend. He asked you to bring Qiao alongside, and there was no more excuse for you not to come!¡± ¡°I reiterate, get in the car.¡± Ancestor Chu became impatient. He directly grabbed Qiao Zhiya by the collar and carried him into the car. After Chu Yan also got into the car, he closed the car door directly and signaled Fan Xiangnan to drive. The black hover car soared into the air and disappeared in place with a swish. Everyone at the school gate woke up like a dream, and then they all became terrified and excited¡ª Fuck, who did they see just now! The little carrot heads got off their scooter with the scrapped protective cover. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and walked aside with sweat on their foreheads amidst the excited discussions of many students around them, asking each other. ¡°Is that really the evil spirit of the Chu family, Chu Rong?¡± ¡°Looking at that aura, it must be right.¡± ¡°He, he personally carried that Recluse into the car¡­¡± ¡°Can that be counted as a hug?¡± ¡°I think it can¡­?¡± ¡°Chu San1Third Chu, because he is the third child of the Chu family. said that¡­ his Dage asked Marshal Chu to take that Exoplanet Native home for the weekend. Do you think¡­?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡ª¡ªThe Exoplanet Native named Qiao Zhiya from the mechanical design department turned out to be hugging not Chu family¡¯s thigh, but Marshal Chu¡¯s thigh! The news spread like wildfire, and before the weekend was over, the entire Intermediate College, and even families in the upper-class circles of the Federation, knew about it. The current Chu family¡¯s members were notoriously nasty and had a bad temper. But Marshal Chu Rong¡­ he was on another level. Nobody could force anything he didn¡¯t want¡­ and to think that Chu Rong actually took an underaged Exoplanet Native home to raise him! What does this mean? What does this mean! Everyone wanted to howl loudly, but no one dared to say it out loud. A strange atmosphere began to permeate the upper class. Everyone was discussing this matter cryptically, and they were tangled in guessing together¡ªMarshal Chu took a child on the cusp of adulthood to raise him. And this raising was¡­ ahem, a ¡°real¡± one, or that kind of raising, or¡­ for a spiritual comfort, in case he might collapse? And all the young masters and ladies who had a little thought for Chu Rong murmured in their hearts. Did they have a strong rival in love this time, or a future step-son? Back in the car. ¡°You must go home every weekend from now on.¡± After getting in the car, Chu Rong said with a dark face. He reached out to mess up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs, ¡°If you want to make up lessons, I will find a teacher for you, and you have to pick up your martial training again. Now the school atmosphere is messy, and it is not suitable for you to stay in it all the time.¡± Qiao Zhiya hadn¡¯t recovered from the scene of being carried into the car just now. With a dazed look, he asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡± The White-Haired Monster should be really busy, right? At least, he wasn¡¯t the type to attract attention and stayed inside the car. But just now¡­ he went directly out¡­ ¡°Of course it¡¯s to stand up for you.¡± Chu Yan sticked to Qiao Zhiya shoulder-to-shoulder with a shit-eating grin, ¡°As soon as I told the situation to Erge, he rushed over from the military headquarters immediately. Hey, hey, how about it? Erge, this behavior of yours is very suspicious~¡± Chu Rong frowned and scolded his stinky younger brother, ¡°Speak well and sit down.¡± ¡°Look, Erge is shy~¡± Chu Yan whispered something in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. He then snuck a quick glance at Chu Rong¡¯s ¡°Torturous Death¡± glare, and it immediately triggered his fight-or-flight response. He flew, climbed to the front seat and sat with Fan Xiangnan, leaving room in the back seat for them. Qiao Zhiya blushed, looked at Chu Rong with mixed emotion, and said, ¡°Thank you, actually, you don¡¯t need to do this on purpose. I can solve those rumors by myself.¡± Chu Rong kept his cold demeanor as he replied, ¡°You just need to study well, and I will handle the rest.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t want Chu Rong to be worried about this little thing. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with it. It¡¯s not your fault,¡± Chu Rong tugged at his pointy and droopy ears. His gaze turned cold, ¡°The rumors this time looked like it was aimed at you. However, from the moment the teacher approached you and asked to change your class, it¡¯s clear that his true target was to tarnish Chu family¡¯s reputation.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned, and asked: ¡°They¡¯re actually aiming at the Chu family? I thought the teacher specially arranged for me to transfer classes to please you¡­ Isn¡¯t it?¡± Chu Rong, deeply looking at him, replied: ¡°Of course not. People who want to please the Chu family through you will not call you away in public.¡± The moment the teacher made a huge show over it, the rumor that Chu family abused their power to engage in privileges in the ¡°pure land¡± of the school would spread far and wide. Then, it would ignite public opinion. If the public opinion was huge enough, it would attract the attention of the military. As a family deeply connected with the military department, this small matter could be magnified, eventually making everyone have this view of ¡°Chu family is relying on their power to control the military academy and manipulate the army¡±. As for the eventual consequences¡­ well, it wouldn¡¯t be good for the Chu family. Chu Yan also thought the same, and he turned his head to look over to Qiao Zhiya in worry. As for Qiao Zhiya, he didn¡¯t understand the twists and turns of those rotten-hearted people. He was simply pissed off by the teacher¡¯s remarks over his own hard work. ¡­wait. He hasn¡¯t told Chu Rong about this matter yet. Well, better late than never. Ning Kongran is giving me second ML vibes, ngl. Also: things are finally picking up!! CH 35.1 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly repeated what the teacher said about his patents, and looked at Chu Rong. Chu Rong tapped his knees, but didn¡¯t answer. Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but sneered first, and he said with anger in his tone, ¡°He is trying to rile you up. He probably hoped that you would retaliate to his untrue words, and with that, he can blow it out of proportion. Although the public will mutter something about stuffing a student into the school, it was still within¡­ understandable range. However, snatching other people¡¯s patents is different. That¡¯s outright intellectual theft, a punishable crime. If this isn¡¯t handled well, the Chu family will be sprayed1being scolded/berated. to death by all researchers. This teacher should be from the Xiang family. That family likes this kind of dirty tactic the most. So disgusting.¡± He curled his lips in disdain, his eyes full of disgust for the Xiang family. ¡°Xiao Yan.¡± Chu Rong called him and gave him a warning look. Chu Yan immediately turned his head and closed his mouth tightly¡ªhe knew the truth that ¡°disaster comes from one¡¯s mouth¡± since he was a child. His elder brother taught him that even if he was dissatisfied in his heart, he could only express it with graceful words. He should rein his temper and not try to choke his opponent to death by his words. And his words just now had crossed the line. During this period of time, Qiao Zhiya, who has often heard the grievances between the Chu and Xiang family, was a little depressed and distressed. He complained, ¡°But how can I prove that the patent is mine? Or¡­or I will go get another patent again. That should prove my credibility, right? I recently researched a new mechanical design theory. I found that I have an axle processing method that can be used on the mecha, which may improve the flexibility of the mecha joints. But I hit a bottleneck because the production method is a bit complicated, and I haven¡¯t fully understood the conventional method yet. I used an unusual alloy as the materials. The load bearing should be sufficient, but it needs further testing. Furthermore, I have an idea I wanted to test ¨C I want to swap one of the metal-mineral mix to the secondary mutated red tin ore I made last time¡ª err, what are you looking at me like that? Did I say anything wrong?¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but look at Qiao Zhiya with a gaping mouth. After the blond youth finished talking, he silently retracted his gaze, looking at the sky¨C ¡®Qiao was super good at studying but¡­ what the hell? I¡¯ve been in school for how many years but my knowledge about mecha is inferior to his¡­ Is this because my IQ is too low? Do I actually have a negative IQ?¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s right, it seems that Qiao has been working hard in school during this time.¡± Fan Xiangnan changed the hover car to automatic driving. He turned around and praised him with a smile, and then added, ¡°It¡¯s within your rights to not respond to that teacher. I think it¡¯s a wise choice to leave him immediately. Qiao, you are getting better and better.¡± If Qiao Zhiya argued with the teacher about this matter at that time, it was tantamount to giving an opportunity to the other party to make it into a big deal. If this happens, the Chu family will become very passive in choosing how to deal with this matter. ¡°It¡¯s a good idea.¡± Chu Rong eased. Again, he patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, ¡°After you go back, you can talk to Master Ren about this. Ask him to arrange someone to do the experiment for you.¡± Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed by their praise. His ears earnestly twitched happily as he replied, ¡°It¡¯s good that what I said is useful, I didn¡¯t think so much when I responded to the teacher¡­ Then after this research is done, can it prove that the Chu family did not rob others¡¯ patents to stuff me to school?¡± He was an Exoplanet Native, and not a human. While he wanted to keep his true capabilities a secret, he also didn¡¯t want others to think he was faking his strength. He was also indebted to the Chu family, so it was natural he didn¡¯t want to be a burden to them. He needed to prove the authenticity of his patents. And as for the method, he could only think of this for the meantime. ¡°Using new patents to prove your past patents is a straightforward idea, but it was very effective.¡± Chu Rong played with the cute twitchy ears. Then, he narrowed his eyes, and changed his tone, ¡°But¡­ why do we need to prove it? ¡° Qiao Zhiya was taken aback and looked up at him. Chu Rong lowered his eyes and looked at him, hooked his lips, and showed an unfathomable expression. With an airy tone, he said, ¡°Your accomplishment is real, and that patent certification issued by the Federation is already the best proof.¡± And now, what everyone doubted now was that proof. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t understand what Chu Rong had implied. He only knew that somehow, he felt that the White-Haired Monster looked very handsome. He blushed a little as he suppressed the urge of hugging and rubbing his head into the older man¡¯s embrace. This thought was too embarrassing. He couldn¡¯t help shaking his ears, lowered his head and tightened his face. Secretly, he took a deep breath to calm himself. Chu Yan had been paying attention to their conversation. He finally understood what his elder brother¡¯s cryptic words meant, so he explained it, ¡°Qiao, have you ever read the words in your patent book? One of the printed words there is about the duration of the approval time. After all, a patent is not something that you apply for today and can be finalized tomorrow. It needed to be reviewed by professionals. Think about it, is it possible that during the time Erge was on his way back to the Capital Planet, he somehow had the thought and the time to search for a newly-minted patent, robbing it for a rescued Exoplanet Native who didn¡¯t even know the lingua franca? Then, somehow, he thought of using the said robbed patent to send him to a very famous intermediate college branch of the Federal Military Academy? That sounds astronomically impossible. If this fact was spoken out loud, nobody would believe the nonsense the Xiang family was spouting, right? Looking at it from this angle, this stupid accusation has too many holes. It¡¯s easy to refute.¡± And actually, this move from the Xiang family looked like a not-so-serious attempt at targeting the Chu family. They probably saw a chance to splash some dirty water while they¡¯re able. Especially since the new round of parliamentary elections was coming, and Chu Huai was a popular candidate. Even if this scandal was small, it was enough to shake him up a bit. But these explanations were too complicated ¨C you need a solid background knowledge about the political landscape and the power balance of the Federation¡¯s big family to understand it. Qiao Zhiya was very new to the Federation, so Chu Yan didn¡¯t bother to explain this. That¡¯s what competition for power was all about. Any little thing could be used by the opponent to catch you, after all, a death by a thousand cuts was still a valid way to kill someone. For example, you could clarify the matter of patents afterwards, but the impact had already been caused, and the loss may have already occurred. The public at large might already have a negative preconception of the Chu family, and Chu Huai¡¯s public approval might be lower than expected. With this, their enemy would have a victory. If they wanted to solve this matter cleanly, they had to start with the other party¡¯s goals. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s enrollment and patents were not the main focus. He¡¯s just a means to an end. Although Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t hear the detailed analysis from Chu Yan, he already had an insight of what¡¯s going on. He sat in the back seat with a blank expression on his face. He was taken aback by the power struggle of humans, and almost doubted this world. Compared to them, he was the simplest creature in the world! Could he really adapt to this cut-throat environment? ¡°Don¡¯t think too much, this matter is easy to solve, you can just concentrate on going to school.¡± Chu Rong raised his hand to stroke Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair, and said in a light tone, ¡°It was still a baseless rumors now. As long as we deal with them in time, all the negative speculation will be gone. There will be no consequences.¡± After speaking, he looked at Chu Yan. Chu Yan smiled triumphantly, and patted his chest: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can count on me!¡± Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses, with doubts in his eyes ¨C how would Chu Yan solve it? A day later, he finally knew Chu Yan¡¯s means. Third Young Master Chu, who seldom went out to cause trouble recently, took advantage of the weekend to go out again. There, he ¡°coincidentally met¡± the Xiang family who was taking a new batch of sponsored students to the mall to buy mecha materials. With a righteous demeanour, he mercilessly scolded Xiang Kun. Very, very loudly. To summarize, he basically had three points: First: ¡°Your Xiang family is shameless. You actually went to my Chu family¡¯s mining planet to steal mines, and even captured underage slaves for forced labor! Your conscience is very bad! If my Erge hadn¡¯t kindly taken in the underage slave and treated him properly, I¡¯m afraid he would have died on that mining planet long ago!¡± Second: ¡°You (Xiang Kun) spread rumors maliciously in the school, causing a serious psychological harm to this simple-minded Exoplanet Native teen. Do you have a grudge on him or something? It¡¯s not easy for a Recluse to live in the Federation. Why are you, a Xiang family who claims to love every student, so narrow-minded!¡± Third: ¡°Why is your Xiang family so vengeful? My Erge has already said that he will not care about the matter of Xiang family stealing mines anymore. But your Xiang family is still deliberately retaliating! It is that poor Recluse who was captured and enslaved by your Xiang family, and now, you are causing further hardship by accusing him of stealing others¡¯ patents! How ignorant! You don¡¯t even look at the approval time on the patent certificate!¡± Finally, Chu Yan asked: ¡°Do you think that Exoplanet Natives are inferior to us? So they can¡¯t have skills that passed down from their ancestors? Because otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t think that he is a thief! Is this how your Xiang family treats talented Recluses? They are called ¡®Exoplanet Native¡¯ because they are from a marginal planet, therefore, didn¡¯t know our common tongue and had to adapt to live here! Are you implying that they are a bunch of incompetent idiots, and couldn¡¯t possibly be a genius back in their home planet?¡± After ranting loudly ¨C and basically making these innocent Xiang family sponsored students into scapegoats by relation of Xiang Kun ¨C Chu Yan pretended to be forced to run away, leaving a bunch of passersby in shock over his words. Now they wanted an explanation of what¡¯s actually going on! These groups of sponsored students were just nobody in the Xiang family ¨C the bottom of the bottom. They had never seen much about the internal matters of the Xiang family, and yet they were somehow accused by Chu Yan without any room for retaliation. The rumor spread more quickly, and they were no longer limited to the upper circles. The public became a member of the discussion of this rumor. The situation was reversed. This time, the target of the rumors was the Xiang family, and the Chu family basically successfully cleaned themselves up from any blame. They suddenly become a charitable family who kindly rescued the enslaved Recluses and took the initiative to help them apply for patents to take root in the Federation. People who felt that the Chu family was very distant due to their iron-blooded and domineering style, somehow turned around and thought that the Chu family was actually very kind and righteous. The Chu family also explained with actions how to counterattack properly. It wasn¡¯t to follow the opponent¡¯s train of thought, entangle for a long time in a situation that cannot be explained clearly, and let the opponent¡¯s ¡°time lag¡± strategy succeed. The right way was to throw their version of the ¡°truth¡± first, and drag the enemy into the muddy water! It¡¯s better to turn around and blame them! Then another day later, the public was talking about the public outburst of the Third Young Master Chu and the mine stealing incident of the Xiang family. Xiang Kun, who was overwhelmed by Chu Yan¡¯s ¡°splashing dirty water¡± move, approached Chu Yan on his own initiative. They met inside a mecha model shop and had a direct confrontation with him. They turned over all kinds of old scores, and finally got into a fight! The public was happy to eat another mouthful of melons from these two young masters¡¯ fight. About the truth of the matter? Well, it isn¡¯t as entertaining as watching these two mortal enemies having a messy fight in public. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 35.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. During dinner, Qiao Zhiya had an extra background song of Chu Yan¡¯s endless diatribe1the original is ¡°108 angry curses¡±. The number 108 is very significant in many Asian cultures. I personally didn¡¯t know much about it, so I don¡¯t dare to tell you here. about the very riveting topic of ¡°Xiang Kun is despicable¡±. It was quite the entertainment, and Qiao Zhiya had to ask, ¡°Why did your fight escalate anyways? You said he¡¯s despicable, can you tell me more about it?¡± Honestly, shouldn¡¯t Xiang Kun be the wronged party this time? He was blamed for many things he might not even know about. Why was Chu Yan the one who was this angry? ¡°Why is he despicable, you ask?¡± Chu Yan slapped the table again, rattling the silverwares and plates on the table. The ill-tempered young master¡¯s wrath was about to rise to the heavens. ¡°That brat Xiang Kun is so stupid that he has become a pig! This time he came to fight with me and was obviously instigated by his family members, because of course. His empty brain makes him the perfect lil¡¯ goody-goody for his family. Bah!¡± ¡°That bastard Xiang family wanted to get rid of us with this one stroke, so we exposed that matter about the mine and your patent. And they dare to twist it by saying it¡¯s ¡®all the children¡¯s nonsense!¡¯ Ptooey! Scheming, slimy shits! Who is a child? I¡¯m a whole-ass adult! Let¡¯s see if they still can use this ¡®children¡¯s nonsense¡¯ and ¡®making things worse that they are seems¡¯ next time to cover up their fuck-ups!¡± Chu Rong, who came out just in time bringing the dishes with A1, heard Chu Yan¡¯s colorful rant. As a responsible adult brother of that brat, he scolded him with a shout, resulting Chu Yan to turn around. With a horrified look, he saw Chu Rong¡¯s very strange yet spine-chilling look. The young master swallowed the rest of his rant, and even took the initiative to help Chu Rong with the dishes. With Chu Rong in charge, the dinner was very quiet again. After eating, Chu Rong stuffed the two of them into the hover car and sent them back to school. ¡°Dage is a little busy this weekend, and he said that he¡¯ll invite you to play next week.¡± In the car, Chu Yan finally calmed down and explained with more grace than he used to display. After all, he didn¡¯t want Qiao Zhiya to think that he was this low-brow brat with a foul mouth. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly waved his hands to indicate that it was okay. He then glanced back and forth at the two brothers, leaned closer against Chu Yan, and said, ¡°Xiao Yan, explain the rumor to me again. I want to understand it thoroughly, so that I can respond properly next time. You said that Xiang Kun deliberately wanted to fight with you, what is his purpose? Can this really expose this matter?¡± Although he had heard bits and pieces about the whole shitstorm from Xiao Yan, it was ultimately interrupted by Chu Rong. Therefore, he still hadn¡¯t got the full picture. One of his goals for going to school was to learn mecha manufacturing, and the second was to get familiar with the twists and turns among the upper echelons of the Federation as soon as possible. He had serious gaps of knowledge to fill. There¡¯s no such thing as ¡°retreat¡± in a dwarf¡¯s dictionary! If he didn¡¯t know, then he would just learn it! Chu Yan, who had already been warned twice by Chu Rong because of this incident, went to see his erge carefully. Seeing that the other party only gave him a faint look, he didn¡¯t mean to stop Chu Yan. He even seemed to be in a good mood. The young master cursed in his heart about this blatant double standard. Then, he turned to face Qiao Zhiya and explained to him in a more objective fashion. Basically, the Xiang family originally wanted to use Qiao Zhiya to dig a pit for the Chu family. So, they tested the water by telling that teacher to imply that Qiao Zhiya was stealing patents to get into school. However, they didn¡¯t expect that Qiao Zhiya was very treasured by the family, and would tell them everything about this incident immediately. In the end, before the Xiang family finished digging the said pit, Chu Yan killed their effort by making a fuss and basically exposed their whole ¡°mishaps¡± about the mine and patent thing. He even added a bit of spice by implying that the Xiang family was prejudiced against Exoplanet Natives. It was a very serious accusation, to say the least. And because Chu Yan was the one who performed the ¡°expos¨¦¡±, the Chu family didn¡¯t cut off all Xiang family¡¯s way of retreat. Chu Yan was still considered a junior, and therefore, his words weren¡¯t very reliable. This meant that the Chu family was kind enough to give the Xiang family a warning, and with the added bonus of reminding them about the mine-stealing incident. Now that the Xiang family knew what was going on, they didn¡¯t dare to come out to clarify the matter of the mine-stealing thing. They were afraid that it would become darker and murkier, and Chu family actually had means to completely exposed it into the public and fucking them up. So, they asked Xiang Kun to confront Chu Yan, divert the attention of the public and control the narrative. They claimed it was just the children¡¯s slapstick, as you know, they¡¯re hormonal and too angry, so of course it¡¯s normal for them to speak nonsense to make things bigger than it seems. In the end, the Xiang family narrowly escaped. Furthermore, Xiang Kun and Chu Yan¡¯s public fights were infamous. They would say all kinds of outrageous things during such fights. Using this as an excuse made it credible. All the Xiang family needed to do was to endure the storm, be nice in public, and this matter would eventually pass. Luckily for the Xiang family, the Chu family understood that it was not the time to destabilize the current power balance between the Four Great Family and the government, so they agreed with the ¡°children¡¯s nonsense¡± excuse. The public was successfully fooled, and everyone laughed at the spectacle. In short, at the end of the matter, no one¡¯s reputation was affected, only Chu Yan became an entertainment for the public again, as usual. This happens everytime he fights Xiang Kun. ¡°¨Cand that¡¯s probably all. I¡¯m used to this, the Xiang family has used me this way many times already.¡± As he spoke, Chu Yan¡¯s face darkened again. He wanted to curse the Xiang family to the heavens, but seeing that Chu Rong was within hearing range, he behaved himself. Seeing Chu Yan¡¯s aggrievedness, Chu Rong gave him a rare gentle comfort, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, although the Chu family can¡¯t really confront the Xiang family in this situation, the Xiang family will stumble. Dage won¡¯t let your effort be in vain.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard those words. He eagerly asked, ¡°How?¡± The moody Qiao Zhiya was at a loss again. He curled up his fist into a ball, and his ears were slightly droopy2it¡¯s like, when a dog or a cat was disappointed/scared/sad, their ears would also flatten.¡ªit seemed that he still had a lot to learn. After returning to school, Qiao Zhiya found that the attitude of his classmates towards him had changed again. They were no longer hostile, but began to approach him with a strange curiosity. The first graders were young and not good at concealing their thoughts, so whether they were genuinely curious or not, Qiao Zhiya could know it after just a little observation. However, despite this newly-found interest in Qiao Zhiya, the blond half-elf was still a loner, putting all his energy into his studies, only chatting with Yun Xiachu, and treating other people¡¯s approach with courtesy and distance. So his classmates began to say that he was arrogant and difficult to get along with. Qiao Zhiya pretended not to hear those remarks. He only let his grades show them his attitude about this matter ¨C so what if he was ¡°arrogant¡±? His arrogance was founded on his effort and honest grades, unlike those so-called elites who need to rely on their family¡¯s wealth to buy them good grades; and could only gossip all day without studying. Two days later, Chu Yan took the time to find Qiao Zhiya¡¯s classroom and came to play with him. He showed his intimacy and familiarity with him in public. He even gave the little carrot heads a few warning glares, scaring them out of the classroom. They no longer dared to provoke Qiao Zhiya again. And in the dormitory, Sang Bu, who had only recently came back crawling from the torture chamber laboratory, gave Qiao Zhiya an icy look when they met. With a mocking tone, he left Qiao Zhiya a sentence before going back to his room to catch some much-needed sleep: ¡°You just come back in such a miserable state. What kind of thigh can you hug? Such nonsensical gossip.¡± In short, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s life was not affected by the rumors, and it was even a blessing in disguise. He reaped Yun Xiachu¡¯s acidic friendship and Sang Bu¡¯s not-so-comforting consolation. In the blink of an eye, it was Friday again. After finishing the morning class, Qiao Zhiya still chose to stay in the classroom to review his self-study. Now he has started to study the next stage of material processing on the Internet. He knew that he needed to exert more effort, because the AI teacher had become ¡°stupider¡± recently. Whenever there¡¯s a thing he doesn¡¯t understand, the AI can¡¯t give him a proper explanation. He needed to explore the answer by himself. Just as he was concentrating on his studies, the window next to him was knocked twice. He turned his head, and smiled when he saw Ning Kongran. He opened the window to greet the older student, ¡°We meet again. Are you going to eat?¡± Ning Kongran nodded, observed his expression, and started carefully probing, ¡°How is your week¡­?¡± Rumors spread like a wildfire, especially since there¡¯s someone fanning the flame from behind the scene. Even if he stayed inside the laboratory every day, he still has heard a couple of things. One of the Four Great Families3he¡¯s referring to the Xiang family.? What a joke. Qiao Zhiya heard his unfinished question. He was grateful that this acquaintance was tactful enough to only hint at it. He replied, ¡°It¡¯s okay, thank you for your concern. The snacks you gave last time were also delicious, let me thank you again.¡± Those snacks were quite special. It should be infused with some kind of compound with a soothing effect on spiritual power. It really could relieve fatigue after eating it, which was amazing. If he had time this weekend, he wanted to try to make some for the White-Haired Monster. ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it,¡± Ning Kongran was relieved when he heard the blond student¡¯s words. He paused for a bit, as if he was thinking about something. His smile was still pure, and he politely commented, ¡°I¡¯ve seen your patent, it¡¯s very powerful.¡± With that, he nodded at Qiao Zhiya, gave him another snack box, then left without waiting for another reply. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect him to leave without saying goodbye. He hurriedly stuck his body out in the window to shout another thanks, but he could only see Ning Kongran¡¯s figure disappearing around the corner. He shrank back, picked up the box of snacks, ears twitching in confusion. ¡®Ning Kongran seemed to be a very good person¡­. Did he come here specially to comfort me this time?¡¯ Because Qiao Zhiyan was going to Chu-dage¡¯s house this weekend, Chu Yan rushed over from Campus A after school and went to the south gate with him. In the car, Chu Yan got excited again, he started rambling. ¡°Hahaha, Dage is so handsome, he actually changed his law-making proposal directly! He used the matter of ¡®your patent being unreasonably suspected by your teacher¡¯ to insinuate that this actually may have happened many times. After all, Exoplanet Natives really didn¡¯t know much when they first got to live in the Federation, so these things might have happened in the past. He proposed a new law to rectify this problem; that is, to help Recluses and citizens in need protecting their intellectual properties against¡­ uh.. you know, those people with power? He also proposed to investigate the shady bureaucracy of the patent certification! I heard that when Dage made that proposal, that old fart¡¯s4most likely Chu Yan was referring to the Xiang family¡¯s representative in the legislation. face turned black. Hahaha, he deserves it! His shitty family must¡¯ve the most shady patents, so that¡¯s why he was so worried! Tsk tsk tsk, what goes around, comes around indeed.¡± Chu Yan said with such exuberance that he looked like about to kowtow to Chu Huai in respect. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard this. He was happy if this incident could somehow help other Recluses like him in the end. ¡°That piece of shit teacher also left. The one that accuses you of the whole patent theft thing.¡± Chu Yan slung his arm around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder, and said with suppressed excitement, ¡°In short, thanks to your response to that teacher, we can win this big! Hahaha, that fake teacher failed so hard in prying at your weakness and gave him a solid reason to attack you. Great!!¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed at his praise and shyly smiled in response. He silently vowed to be more careful about his words and actions in the future. ¡°No need to be overly careful.¡± Chu Rong, who had been quietly listening to their troubles, suddenly opened his mouth. As if he had read Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind, he reached out and brushed at the youth¡¯s bangs as he continued, ¡°Just do what you like.¡± Qiao Zhiya was caught off-guard by this constant reassurance. He looked at Chu Rong, pursed his lips, and returned the brushing gesture by rubbing his head into Chu Rong¡¯s palm like a spoiled cat. Chu Yan withdrew his arm silently, moved to the side, turned his head to look out the window. ¡®Let¡¯s just pretend I am not being a lightbulb.¡¯ The hover car stopped directly at the main residence of the Chu family. After getting out of the car, Qiao Zhiya looked around at the magnificent buildings around him, his ears perked up because of tension¡ªhe had heard that the Chu family had a profound heritage, but he didn¡¯t really realize the actual scale of it until now. It was beyond extravagant or opulent. They were rich enough to use actual magic stones as the material for their stairs. ¡°It was made by my great-great-great-great-grandfather. He had this grand vision of a mansion, but he died before seeing it happen.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s gaze was fixed on the black jade steps, and it was filled with visible disgust. Chu Yan pulled Qiao Zhiya to his side and whispered, ¡°Actually, everyone doesn¡¯t live here. Dage and Dasao5´óÉ© ¡°d¨¤s¨£o¡±, it means eldest brother¡¯s wife. It¡¯s from É©×Ó ¡°s¨£ozi¡±, which means older brother¡¯s wife. This would be the way Chu Yan call QZY when he¡¯s married to Chu Rong lol. And as for how Chu Huai would call QZY, it would be µÜϱ ¡°d¨¬x¨ª¡± younger brother¡¯s wife. live in a separate house because it¡¯s convenient to go to work there. Erge also lives near the military headquarters for convenience. And as for me, I usually live in the school dormitory, and live in my own separate house during weekends. Everyone comes back here only during holidays, like, once or twice a year. Well, since Dage specially called everyone to gather, so he chose this main residence, I guess.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt flattered when listening to the explanation. He withdrew his eyes from looking at the servants, and replied, ¡°There is no need for such special hospitality, and I¡¯m not a distinguished guest.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not for you to decide that, right?¡± Chu Yan knew the blond youth was becoming nervous, so he patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, ¡°Also, no need to worry. Dage chose this house because it¡¯s the one big enough to house us all, as there are many rooms here. See that tall building over there? That¡¯s our own mecha training hall, how cool is that? I¡¯ll ask Erge for a duel later, so you can see how powerful we both are~¡± Qiao Zhiya looked in the direction he pointed, and his nervousness eased. He now was very much looking forward to the promised mecha battle. Last time, he only saw Chu Rong operating his mecha in the cockpit, and he had never seen Chu Rong driving the mecha outside. It must have been an amazing sight. When the three of them arrived at the gate of the main residence¡¯s courtyard, Chu Huai had already waited there with his wife by his side. ¡°Dinner is ready. Your Dasao cooked a big feast for all of us.¡± Chu Huai greeted them immediately when he saw them. The joy on his face couldn¡¯t be suppressed, and they could see flowers6you know, like in those anime/manga, where a character was so happy they were drawn with flowers framing them? appearing on his face. The eldest Chu looked at Chu Rong with a loving, brotherly gaze in his eyes. It was clear what this gaze meant ¨C not to Qiao Zhiya, though. ¡°Dage.¡± Chu Rong nodded to him as a greeting, then looked at the tall, slender woman beside him. With a more relaxed expression, he greeted, ¡°Dasao, long time no see.¡± ¡°Ah, so you know it¡¯s been a long time.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an, the wife of Chu Huai, reprimanded him kindly. Her eyes were also equally loving and sisterly, ¡°The last time we ate together was during the Lunar New Year7¡­tbh, do they have the same ¡°moon¡± here? Idk, but the other option then would be ¡°Chinese New Year¡± and they¡¯re not technically in China anymore so¡­ Lunar New Year it is.. And now, didn¡¯t you say that you¡­¡± Chu Huai coughed and interrupted her. Gu Yan¡¯an shut up. She side-eyed her husband and stopped talking about the apparently-taboo topic now. However, no amount of sneaky coughs could stop her from taking glances on Qiao Zhiya behind Chu Yan and Chu Rong. Sensing her gaze, Chu Rong leaned slightly, pulled Qiao Zhiya in front of her, and introduced, ¡°Dasao, this is Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya, call her Dasao.¡± ¡°Good evening, Dasao.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurriedly greeted politely, his voice a little soft from his shyness. After that awkward greeting, he looked at Chu Huai again with a blushing face, and called out in almost a whisper, ¡°Chu-dage.¡± He finally had enough courage to call Chu Huai that, after much prodding from Chu Yan. In the past, he used to call Chu Huai with ¡®xiansheng8ÏÈÉú ¡°xi¨¡nsh¨¥ng¡±, could be translated as ¡°Mister/Sir/Gentleman¡±. It¡¯s a very polite/respectful way to address a man.¡¯. ¡°Qiao got a little fatter than when we met last time. It seems that he had a good meal at school.¡± Chu Huai patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head affectionately. With this gesture, Chu Rong¡¯s expression also became gentler ¨C he was clearly pleased. He also exchanged glances with Gu Yan¡¯an, who already knew how to interpret his wordless communication. Gu Yan¡¯an then proceeded to welcome them all in. Chu Yan, who was ignored from the beginning to the end: ¡°¡­¡± He was indeed the actual picked-up child! CH 35.3 Gu Yan¡¯an not only looked elegant and gentle, but she had top-notch culinary skills. Although her dishes were very homely, their taste were complex, layered, and very delicious. Her side-dishes were the perfect soulmates for rice. Chu Yan was a growing up boy, so he ate three bowls of rice to save face1clarification: he was saving face in the manner of ¡°proving that he was still very much loved by everyone because no one is going to scold him for gorging his face with food¡±! Qiao Zhiya drank a nutritional supplement at noon, and now he was hungry. With Chu Yan pushing an extra bowl of rice at him and Chu Rong forcing a bowl of soup to his side, he ate more than usual. On the contrary, Chu Huai and Chu Rong, who should have a bigger appetite, only ate a bowl of rice each and then stopped eating. As the chef of this feast, Gu Yan¡¯an was very happy to see everyone was enjoying the crafts. The smile on her face was a little bit brighter, and she took care of the two juniors more thoughtfully. Qiao Zhiya drank the soup obediently. He first glanced at Chu Rong who was whispering something to Chu Huai, then at Gu Yan¡¯an who was serving food for Chu Yan, and finally at Chu Yan who was eating while boasting about Gu Yan¡¯an delicious delicacies. The liveliness of this dinner was very infectious. He was smiling the whole time. As he had guessed, the Chu family was indeed a very good family. This was the first time he felt such a strong family atmosphere since coming here. It¡¯s so good¡­ It feels like mom and dad are eating with him. Chu Rong, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stopped talking. The Marshal turned his head to look at Qiao Zhiya. He took out a napkin and wiped the oil on the youth¡¯s face, then pinched his ears. Nonchalantly, he continued his previous conversation with Chu Huai. Qiao Zhiya froze as his face was wiped clean. He side-eyed the White-Haired Monster, his ears honestly moving frantically as it reddens. Chu Yan, who was stuffing his face with food next to Qiao Zhiya, actually stopped his ungraceful display of glut to wink at Gu Yan¡¯an. Gu Yan¡¯an patted him with a smile, then turned her gaze to Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong. The smile on her face deepened, and it was colored with the kind of feeling you¡¯ll feel when facing an older auntie. She picked up her chopsticks to reward Chu Yan with a piece of fatty meat. After dinner, everyone went for a walk in the courtyard to aid with digestion. Chu Huai walked in the front and talked about the small movements among the various families. Chu Rong accompanied him and talked about the recent movements of the military department. Gu Yan¡¯an followed behind the two as she planned to prepare winter clothes for the whole family and welcome the Lunar New Year. Chu Yan was clamoring beside her to get the New Year¡¯s red envelope in advance. Qiao Zhiya was by Chu Yan¡¯s side, walking behind Chu Rong, watching all this quietly. From time to time, he would input his own opinion, but mostly he just smiled and nodded at proper intervals. After that, the family gathered together to watch a family movie as they chatted and commented throughout its duration. After it¡¯s finished, they dispersed, preparing to wash and go to bed. But then, a problem arose. Because of the negligence of the head butler, a housekeeper ended up forgetting to prepare a room for Qiao Zhiya to rest. Since this mansion was just recently renovated, many rooms were left unfurnished, and it was too late to make temporary preparations. In conclusion, there were only three bedrooms left that could be used. This was a big oversight, but everyone looked at the old head butler with a full head of white hair, and couldn¡¯t say anything to blame him. ¡°Let Qiao sleep with me!¡± Chu Yan immediately stood up, slinging his arm around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders, and patted his own chest, ¡°I am about the same age as Qiao, so we can chat while sleeping together, yeah?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had never been invited for a sleepover, was looking forward to this event. So he didn¡¯t object to Chu Yan¡¯s proposal. ¡°No.¡± In the end, Gu Yan¡¯an, who seemed to favor Chu Yan the most, objected first. With a slight frown, she said, ¡°Xiao Yan, have you forgotten that you like to roll around and kick your quilt in the middle of the night? If you two sleep together, Qiao might get kicked out of the bed.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Chu Yan silently withdrew his hand and scratched his face in embarrassment. ¡°Then he should sleep with me.¡± Chu Rong proposed with a frown. He grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s droopy ears and it twitched pleasingly in response to his touch. However, it inexplicably irritated him. His temper flared, and he didn¡¯t want to take no for an answer. The moment everyone nodded to his proposal, he grabbed Qiao Zhiya, picked the youth up, and went inside one of the three rooms. ¡°Boom!¡± The door was closed as soon as the two entered. Chu Yan put down his hand that was scratching his face, the head butler raised his bowed head, Gu Yan¡¯an let go of her frowning brows, and Chu Huai smiled more gently. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s already quite late now.¡± The eldest Chu brother took the lead in speaking, and took his wife back to their room. Chu Yan and the head butler looked at each other, and they also parted away tacitly. From sleeping with his peers to sleeping with his supervisor, Qiao Zhiya became inexplicably shy. His reddened ears kept trembling, while his eyes glanced at Chu Rong from time to time. The tension in his expression was clear as day. ¡°Go take a shower first.¡± Chu Rong put him in front of the bathroom door. He reached out to hold his fluttering ears, and vented out all his hidden irritability as he mumbled, ¡°What with your expression? Do you want to sleep with Xiao Yan that badly? Do you want to be kicked around during the night?¡± With his ears covered, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t hear clearly what the White-Haired Monster had said. The blond youth could only vaguely guess from his dark face that he should be angry, but he didn¡¯t understand why. Does Chu Rong¡­ not want to sleep with him? As soon as this guess came out, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears stopped shaking, and the stars in his eyes also went out. He took a careful look at the older man, and asked aggrievedly, ¡°You don¡¯t want to sleep with me? Then, I¡¯ll take the floor¡­¡± Chu Rong frowned fiercely, and suddenly looked at him with an inscrutable expression. He then let go of his hand and gestured for the bathroom, and said, ¡°My Chu family doesn¡¯t have the tradition of child abuse. Go take a bath, and sleep honestly on the bed after washing.¡± ¡°Does this mean that you are willing to sleep with me? ¡± And even though the White-Haired Monster¡¯s expression was gloomier, the aura on his body seemed to be milder. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up again. He took the initiative to hug Chu Rong and said, ¡°I¡¯ll finish washing soon. You wait for me.¡± After speaking, he went into the bathroom happily. His mind was currently full of the image of sleeping side-by-side with the White-Haired Monster. They¡¯re going to have so many things to talk and chat about! It¡¯s going to be fun!! The opaque glass door covered the happy figure of the young man. Chu Rong¡¯s frozen face gradually eased, and the irritability in his eyes gradually softened. He said something in a whisper, then turned around and went to the bedside to adjust the lights in the room. After taking a shower, Qiao Zhiya obediently climbed onto the bed, covering his body with a quilt and watched Chu Rong enter the bathroom. He patiently waited for Chu Rong to finish while chatting with Chu Yan via his communicator. Fifteen minutes later, the bathroom door made the sound of being opened. He hurriedly turned off the communicator and rolled to the other side of the bed, giving way to the warm place where he was lying, and continued to stare at the door. As soon as Chu Rong came out, she noticed his small movements of rolling around on the bed, squinted her eyes, stepped forward, lifted the quilt and sat on the bed, stretched out her arms to pull him a little closer, and said, ¡°Sleep honestly, don¡¯t move around. ¡° The two were using the same kind of toiletries, but Qiao Zhiya just felt that Chu Rong¡¯s body scent was completely different from his own. He shrunk under the quilt, opened his eyes wide and looked at Chu Rong. The older man¡¯s hair was loose, his eyes were bright, with a cast of languidness that was almost never present in his day-to-day life. This was the first time Qiao Zhiya saw the other party in pajamas. Usually, the White-Haired Monster always gets up earlier than him and goes to bed later at home, and always looks neatly dressed whenever he appears. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Chu Rong actually felt that it was a bit strange that there was someone lying beside him, but he concealed his unaccustomedness very well. With a stern tone, he ordered, ¡°Close your eyes and go to sleep.¡± ¡°Click.¡± After speaking, he stretched his arms and turned off the light. The room was dark, but the dwarf¡¯s excellent night vision ability allowed Qiao Zhiya to still see Chu Rong¡¯s appearance clearly at this time. It turned out that the White-Haired Monster looked like this when he was going to sleep. He looked much younger ¨Cmore like, actually looked his age ¨C and friendlier. After turning off the lights, Chu Rong also lay down, and then closed his eyes. One second, two seconds, three seconds¡­ One minute passed, and Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t wait any longer, he leaned over and asked doubtfully, ¡°Chu Rong, why aren¡¯t we chatting now?¡± What about the sleepover¡¯s famous night talk? What about gossip? What about little jokes between boys? Why are all the things that Xiao Yan told him as a ¡°sleepover¡¯s staple¡± not happening? Qiao Zhiya leaned over, and Chu Ron froze as he could feel the plant-like fragrance emitting from the youth¡¯s body. He quickly opened his eyes and suppressed the inexplicable excitement he was experiencing. He side-eyed the youth, who was rubbing over and clinging to his body. With a stern frown, he asked, ¡°What are you talking about? Now it¡¯s bedtime.¡± ¡°Just, just chat casually.¡± Qiao Zhiya was dazed, and couldn¡¯t help tugging at him under the quilt, and said, ¡°It¡¯s not ten o¡¯clock yet, and it¡¯s not time to go to bed yet.¡± Moreover, he also wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with the White-Haired Monster. Chu Rong¡¯s pajamas were gently pulled, and it made his body become more stiff. Now he not only felt itchy in his heart, but also felt itchy all over his body, which was a very alien feeling to him. Without getting a response, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but tug at his clothes again, and called out a little closer, ¡°Chu Rong?¡± A warm breath blew on the Marshal¡¯s shoulders, and the young man¡¯s voice seemed a little soft after being lowered. Like a little hook. Chu Rong sat up suddenly, looked at Qiao Zhiya with a frozen face, and said, ¡°Speak well!¡± Qiao Zhiya, who could clearly see his expression, was stunned by the sudden scolding. He sat up and looked at him, a little aggrieved. He retorted, ¡°I was talking well¡­ Chu Rong, why are you suddenly angry? Are you sleepy? Yes, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He lowered his head as he spoke. His ears were flattened as well. The room was too quiet and spacious, and there was an echo. When Chu Rong heard his fierce words he just said, his expression froze, his brows frowned, and he became a little annoyed and irritable. ¡°Sorry, my voice is too loud. That was uncalled for.¡± He stretched out his arms and gently pressed the boy back on the bed, covered him with a quilt, turned sideways to face the other party. With a more eased expression, he asked patiently and cooperatively, ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± ¡°?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at his gentle expression, and his emotions gradually calmed down. He moved forward a little and thoughtfully said, ¡°If you¡¯re sleepy, go to sleep. It¡¯s almost ten o¡¯clock.¡± ¡°Ten minutes left¡± Chu Rong felt his approach and didn¡¯t move to dodge him. Instead, he ruffled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s blond hair. ¡°I¡¯ll chat with you until ten o¡¯clock.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s talk until ten o¡¯clock!¡± Chu Rong curled his lips and rubbed the youth¡¯s trembling ears. The two stared at each other in the dark, waiting for the other to start talking. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Five minutes passed. Ancestor Chu became impatient, his face darkened, he stretched out his arms and pulled Qiao Zhiya closer. He covered the youth¡¯s eyes with his hands, and said, ¡°There are still five minutes to ten o¡¯clock, and I am starting to feel sleepy now, go to sleep!¡± Unbeknownst to Chu Rong, Qiao Zhiya, who stared at the White-Haired Monster¡¯s face for several minutes, blushed a little. He closed his eyes obediently, and his little heart beat a little faster¡ª That Chu Rong¡­ just laying there with his hair loose, he looked so, so handsome. The unwinded appearance scratched his heart, as it was a very different attractiveness he was used to seeing. This languid yet casual appearance¡­ Qiao Zhiya wants to rub it. Thinking of this, he couldn¡¯t help but secretly reach out and grab Chu Rong¡¯s pajamas. Chu Rong noticed his movement and felt itchy for a moment. He reached out, patted the quilt on him lightly, and clumsily coaxed Qiao Zhiya to sleep. Thanks to Qiao Zhiya¡¯ accurate biological clock, he soon became sleepy and confused. He couldn¡¯t help following the desire in his heart, and rubbed himself into Chu Rong¡¯s arms, curled up his limbs, and fell asleep peacefully. Chu Rong raised his arms to accommodate the youth curling up inside his¡­ embrace. The tufts of blond hair were pressed up against his chest. He hesitated as he grabbed the youth¡¯s pajama collar, but in the end, he let it go. Chu Rong slowly hugged him through the quilt, closed his eyes and let sleep take him. In his sleep, Qiao Zhiya vaguely sensed a familiar wave of spiritual power. With his subconscious, he probed against the spiritual power with his own magic power. Carefully and happily, he rubbed against it. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 36.1 Character List The moment the magic power passed by, the familiar spiritual power gave feedback, but it was not a friendly response. The magic power that was almost ¡°bitten¡± by the spiritual power trembled and retreated. However, this confused the spiritual power, who wanted to chase it but couldn¡¯t find it. Then it stopped still, as if in a daze and didn¡¯t know what to do. Qiao Zhiya in the dream felt a little strange. He had already confirmed that this trace of spiritual power belonged to Chu Rong. He had treated him twice, and he would never admit this even under a threat, but he had protected his spiritual power during the second treatment. Why now? If the spiritual power could talk, it probably would say, ¡°I can¡¯t see you¡±, ¡°Who are you?¡± and ¡°Don¡¯t mess with me.¡± The magic stealthily circled around the spiritual power a few more times, and thankfully, the spiritual power never noticed its existence. Now Qiao Zhiya, who relied on instinct to drive his magic power, couldn¡¯t mask his emotions at all ¨C it really influenced how the magic power moved inside¡­ Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual sea? Is that the correct terminology of it? At first, he was overly cautious in this alien place. However, his true stubborn personality shone through. He was like a child spoiled by his parents. The more you ignore him, the more he wants to pester you. So the magic power floating in the air no longer just circled around the spiritual power, but rubbed against it again. As it rubbed, it released a condensed magic energy into the spiritual power. Although the spiritual power couldn¡¯t ¡°see¡± the magic power, it still could ¡°feel¡± its presence. It didn¡¯t like this arrogant ¡°infringement¡±. In return, the spiritual power ¨C which was powerful, considering it was SSS-grade ¨C immediately counterattacked on instinct. However, it seemed to be worried about something, as it did hold back on this counterattack. In result, the strength of the counterattack was too weak, on par with just rough play. Qiao Zhiya misunderstood it. His magic power happily chased after that trace of spiritual power, and even tried to ¡°counterattack¡± towards that spiritual power. Ancestor Chu, who was lying on the bed, frowned, half awake ¨C he felt as if he had been molested by a strange yet familiar little bastard. Just when he was about to wake up from the unbearable harassment, the magic power ¡°counterattack¡± accidentally overdid its strength. It successfully made a cut as it swished along the floating spiritual power, cleaving it cleanly. Chu Rong¡¯s subconscious was a little surprised at how unprepared he was to this mischievous force, and was about to drive him out. But this feeling¡­ was comfortable. Despite his spiritual power being cut, it didn¡¯t hurt. If anything, it brought him into a deeper, restful sleep. After the magic power cut, it again rubbed against the spiritual power like a mischievous child. Thanks to this, the spiritual power could detect its presence, and it wrapped up the magic power, dragged it to float deeper, and prepared to teach it a good lesson. The magic power was being honest now, letting the spiritual power attack back. As it was dragged deeper, it felt uncomfortable ¨C it just found those disgusting black spots that bullied itself during the last treatment. It stank and felt slimy. The magic power hated it. With prejudice, the magic power rudely probed into the black spots. At the same time, the earth-elemental magic power was withdrawn, while the wood-elemental was casted into a wide net. Both elementals actively spread deep along the force of the spiritual power. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyelashes moved, showing signs of awakening. He subconsciously made his magic power getting closer, into those things that made the White-Haired Monster sick. He moved in his sleep, arched more tightly towards the arms of the sleeping Marshal in front of him. He even wrapped his thin limbs into Chu Rong¡¯s waist, hugging him tightly. Qiao Zhiya knew Chu Rong would feel better right away, as long as he successfully cleaned these black spots up. The spiritual power¡¯s forceful action diminished, and it began trying to expel the magic power as far from the black spots as possible. It was afraid those pollution would hurt the magic power. Qiao Zhiya ignored it, and only used the mildest wood-elemental magic power to block the spiritual power, and persistently drilled towards the place where the black spot was. The spiritual power didn¡¯t dare to forcefully drive him away, but followed him protectively, pulling him out of danger from time to time. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t know how long he had been drilling, but just when he thought he felt wrong, his brain suddenly thumped, and he ¡°saw¡± a vast sea. The sea water was white and beautiful, exuding a soothing atmosphere. But, the bottom of the sea was polluted with black, ominous scums. Qiao Zhiya immediately recognized that it was the black spot that had been mixed with the white spiritual power that had attacked him. Seeing that it was being suppressed by the white spiritual power (that behaved like sea water), he hurriedly drove the magic power around the sea. Avoiding the spiritual power that still wanted to drive him away, he found a corner position, carefully penetrated into the pollution source. The magic power dragged out the trapped black spot to wrap it up, devoured, and purified it. In reality, Chu Rong frowned in his sleep. He instinctively hugged the youth in his sleep, protecting him in his arms. Qiao Zhiya noticed his movements, but didn¡¯t dare to be distracted. He could only leaned closer into his arms. Different from the ¡°lively¡± scene last time, the black spot this time was like a wild beast whose limbs have been pulled out and bound. It could only be passively pulled down by the wood-elemental magic power, and then watched helplessly as it was being devoured by the magic power. After the spiritual power found out it was impossible to drive away the magic power, it decided to guard the magic power instead. When he was devouring the black spot, he silently protected him and prevented him from being hurt by the sneaking black spot. This boring work made people sleepy, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s consciousness became even more blurred again. He lightly rubbed the broad and warm chest in front of him, tilted himhead, and fell into a deep sleep again. Only his magic power was still instinctively carrying out the purification work. In the early morning, Qiao Zhiya, who had dreamed of fighting with the villain in black all night, opened his eyes in a daze. And then, he was shocked silly by the crowd of people surrounding his bed. He instinctively backed away into a corner, cocooning himself with the quilt. He stammered, ¡°W-why are you all here? It¡¯s early? Yeah?¡± ¡°Good morning,¡± The head butler put away a strange instrument, and nodded to Chu Rong who was sitting by the bed with frowning eyes. His eyes were bright as replied calmly, ¡°Master Qiao Zhiya is fine, you don¡¯t have to worry too much, but you¡ª¡± Gu Yan¡¯an raised her hand and pressed the butler¡¯s shoulder and patted it lightly, interrupting his words. She looked at Chu Rong and then to Qiao Zhiya. Gratefulness was clearly coloring her voice. ¡°Thank you for helping Xiao Rong to treat his illness. If you¡¯re still sleepy, go back to sleep. After you wake up, you can wash up and go downstairs. I¡¯ll make sure you have a meal ready for you in time.¡± Chu Yan, who was full of curiosity and gossip, was forcefully driven away by his older brothers. Finally, only Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya were left in the room. Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong who was still sitting on the edge of the bed with a dark face. The youth was clearly confused by the situation, and asked, ¡°Why are you all here? Did I get up too late?¡± After speaking, he blushed a little. He understood that it was rude to wake up late when he was a guest at someone¡¯s house. ¡°No.¡± Chu Rong stuffed him back under the quilt and touched his forehead. His brows were still frowning, as if he was displeased with something. ¡°You were in a coma.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned. Chu Rong tucked the youth with the quilt, then took out a few pieces of ink jades from his space button. He placed those jades around Qiao Zhiya, then patted the youth in the head. With a low voice, he said, ¡°If you feel uncomfortable, continue to rest. I¡¯ll help you get your breakfast.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not feeling sick¡ªhey, why is my magic power empty?¡± Qiao Zhiya probed into his empty magic pool, and suddenly remembered what happened last night. His eyes lit up, and he hurriedly lifted the quilt. Sitting up, he threw himself in front of Chu Rong excitedly, then started rambling, ¡°I helped you yesterday, didn¡¯t I? After those black spots were suppressed by me, they became much more purified than before. I can¡ª¡± Chu Rong looked at the youth¡¯s eyes ¨C it was full of joy and anticipation. His heart began to skip beats again, and it felt itchy. He couldn¡¯t help stretching out his arms to hug him, pressing the fluffy blond head on his shoulder, face smushed into the crook of the Marshal¡¯s neck. How can there be such a stupid person like this Bald Chicken? He¡¯s clearly exhausted, but still chose to ask about Chu Rong¡¯s situation and disregarded his own¡­ Dumbass Bald Chicken. ¡°¡­Chu Rong?¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by his embrace, and the ink jade he was holding fell onto the quilt. Because his face was rested by the taller man¡¯s shoulder area, his voice came out muffled. The hug was also quite tight, he could only helplessly wriggle around. He tugged the White-Haired Monster¡¯s clothes, trying to get his attention. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Is it because my behavior of probing your spiritual power yesterday was not very good? I¡¯m sorry, you¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Chu Rong rubbed the back of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head vigorously. As he slowly let go of the stupid Bald Chicken, he picked up the ink jade on the quilt and stuffed it back into the youth¡¯s hand. Chu Rong kept his usual tone as he scolded, ¡°Don¡¯t be so reckless in the future, don¡¯t just poke into it casually. Do you know the danger?¡± ¡°It was a very dangerous behavior to probe another person¡¯s spiritual power. One of its innate defense mechanism was to counterattack it, and the backlash might be dangerous. Thankfully, it was my own spiritual power, and my subconscious could smell the your magic power from a mile away. If you change it into someone else, you might get attacked. I picked you up on the weekend to let you rest, not to let you explore and exhaust yourself. There¡¯s no second chance of this happening again. Or else.¡± When he opened his eyes, he saw the now-filled out1as in, he¡¯s heavier than before. Bald Chicken lying in his arms with a pale face. This kind of experience was really not wonderful, and he didn¡¯t want to experience it again. After Chu Rong woke up, he tried to wake up the youth. However, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t respond, and the energy inside the ink jade beside him showed no sign of being absorbed at all. Thankfully, his dasao came to call them for breakfast and used her medical expertise to confirm that Qiao Zhiya was just sleeping normally. To soothe his paranoia, she asked the head butler to bring the physique-monitoring device over, and repeatedly confirmed that Qiao Zhiya was fine. If Qiao Zhiya¡¯s health was deteriorating because of him, his mental state would affect his spiritual power. It would get out of control, endangering himself and his family. However, he knew he was still disturbed, so the moment he felt the control his spiritual power begin to weaken, he directly left. There was a strange emotion in his heart that was eager to destroy something, but he suppressed it. He refused to let others notice his agitation. But, the moment he saw Qiao Zhiya open his eyes as usual, this violent urge disappeared completely. Only worry and anxiety was left, overpowering the last embers of anger he felt. This stupid Bald Chicken was too weak and pitiful. He couldn¡¯t lash out to him ¨C he only used 1/10th of his¡­ irritation when he scolded the youth. After that, he couldn¡¯t help the concern bleed over as he asked, ¡°Does it hurt?¡± ¡ªHis original military majesty melted away, and it left the frosty Marshal as a normal young man who was very, very worried. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t care less, however. Qiao Zhiya, however, didn¡¯t know the whirling thoughts inside Chu Rong¡¯s mind. He focused on making sure Chu Rong stopped worrying over him. ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± Then, he happily leaned over, asking, ¡°So I helped you, right? Are those black spots the thing you suppressed? That vast white sea is the thing called ??spiritual sea? It¡¯s so beautiful, I really want to see how it looks when it¡¯s not corroded by black spots¡­ I will help you purify it every weekend from now on, okay? There are so many black spots, the sooner you purify, the sooner you can recover¡ª¡± ¡°No.¡± Chu Rong recovered from his own thoughts, and the more he heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s rambling, the darker his face became. Without hesitation, he refused the offer. Pinching the youth¡¯s pointy and twitchy ears, he reprimanded, ¡°No. And don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned and covered his ears, puzzled and unwilling, ¡°Why, this treatment is much faster than using other methods! Plus, I didn¡¯t get attacked by your power, unlike what happened in the warship! You, you just need to let me do my thing, I am capable of eroding those pollution using my mental power! I promised I won¡¯t be in any danger, okay?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like the feeling of being spied on by others,¡± Ancestor Chu got impatient, and found an excuse to fool him. He picked up the short young man and stared into his emerald-green eyes, hoping to chip away those stubborn determination within. ¡°It seems that you don¡¯t want to rest anymore, get up and have breakfast, and go to martial arts training later.¡± Qiao Zhiya stretched out his hand and pulled him, still unwilling to give up, ¡°I can just stay in the corner of your spiritual strength and treat your illness. I won¡¯t run around and spy on your thoughts! Or, or¡­ you can take the initiative to divide some black spots and let me purify them for you! Chu Rong, I want to help you cure your illness.¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t control the source of pollution. If I do anything besides actively suppressing them, I know it will just climb out into the surface to cause spiritual riots.¡± Chu Rong continued to refuse. ¡°Then, then I promise not to run around in your sea of ??spiritual power. Really, I will not be in danger. When my magic power is almost exhausted, I will automatically exit. As long as you hold down the black spots and prevent them from following me out, I will not ¡ª¡ªMmmpphff!!¡± Chu Rong simply covered the Bald Chicken¡¯s talkative mouth with his hand, preventing him from saying anything that would make him feel even more irritated. Qiao Zhiya rushed to pry off the White-Haired Monster¡¯s hand. Ancestor Chu ignored him, put him in front of the toilet, and said coldly, ¡°You keep squirming like this. Do you want me to help you take off your pants?¡± Qiao Zhiya froze. Ears flushing crimson, he struggled to push the stupid Marshal¡¯s big body off him. When he succeeded, he bolted into the bathroom, then closed it with a loud ¡°Bang¡±. CH 36.2 During breakfast, Gu Yan¡¯an, who was a licensed physician, gave Qiao Zhiya a spirit-soothing medicine. She carefully asked him about his situation. Qiao Zhiya took the medicine and thanked her, and hurriedly followed with convincing her that there was nothing wrong with his body ¨C his magic power has been replenished, he was full of strength, and he can start the second round of treatment on Chu Rong at any time. Chu Yan, who was sitting opposite him and eating pancakes, stopped when he heard this. He glanced at the blond¡¯s rosy face, feeling very grateful at his friend. Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an looked at each other with joy on their faces. The old butler standing by the table twitched his eyebrows, looking at Qiao Zhiya as if he was looking at a savior. The atmosphere at the dinner table was unprecedentedly harmonious, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s strategy of pleasing the Chu family to be allowed to treat Chu Rong was about to succeed. ¡°I¡¯m done eating.¡± Chu Rong suddenly put down his chopsticks, forcefully breaking their ¡°harmony¡± and ¡°full tacit understanding¡±. He stretched out his arms and grabbed Qiao Zhiya, and forcefully led him out of the gate of the main house. Everyone at the table silently watched him take Qiao Zhiya away, and then sighed in unison. ¡°It seems that the Lao¡¯er is not willing. So let¡¯s treat it slowly. Anyway, his illness has been around for a decade or so already, no need to rush it now.¡± Chu Huai said, reluctantly comforting everyone. Gu Yan¡¯an also quickly cleared up her emotions, and echoed her husband¡¯s sentiment. ¡°Let the two of them arrange this matter by themselves. Qiao is still young, and his strength cannot be tested and improved for safety. It is normal for Xiao Rong to worry. Haste makes waste.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s not easy for Master Qiao Zhiya as well,¡± The old butler sighed as he thought of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s weak and pitiful appearance when he was lying on the bed in the morning. It drew another deep sigh. They all understood. Chu Yan, who suddenly had an epiphany, put down his pancakes and snuck a glance at the door. With an excited whisper, he commented, ¡°There is no rush to treat Erge¡¯s disease, that¡¯s the point of today¡¯s discussion, right? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange that Erge actually let Qiao go deep into his spiritual sea? Isn¡¯t the self-defense mechanism of the spiritual sea the strongest when we are asleep? So, when I heard Erge say this in the morning, I almost thought I heard it wrong! Even if it¡¯s because Qiao¡¯s power is hard to detect and has healing power, it¡¯s still unusual. The spiritual sea is notoriously private, even parents won¡¯t easily be allowed to enter. The only exception is, you know¡­ husband and wife pair! I bet that Erge was partially conscious when Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magic power ran around. And when he woke up, he didn¡¯t feel anything wrong. So, what does this imply?¡± What does it imply? Of course absolute trust and¡­ This sentence woke everyone up to the core of the ¡°anomaly¡±. Their rationality came back, and they started to excitedly gossip about Chu Rong¡¯s future love live in a hushed voice. Outside the main house, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya and strode into the building next door. He opened a training room, put him on the ground, and began to take off his coat. The plan to use the Chu family to pester Chu Rong was halted. This led Qiao Zhiya into pouting because he was annoyed. Looking around the training hall, he immediately realized what he was going to do. Like a petulant child, he deliberately squatted on the ground, and said in a muffled voice, ¡°If you¡¯re not going to let me heal you, I won¡¯t practice.¡± He used his most bratty tone to emphasize his point. Chu Rong paused as he unbuttoned his coat, looked down at the stupid Bald Chicken for a few seconds. He took out a nutrient supplement and a box of green fruits from his space button and threw them to him expressionlessly as he undid the remaining buttons. Finally, he took off his coat and threw them away. Going to the side, he activated an equipment in the training hall, pointed to the emerald jade hanging on his belt, and said, ¡°Old rules, I will let you use both hands. You come at me to grab the emerald jade hanging on my waist. If you grab it, I will allow you to continue your treatment.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was about to have a cheeky temper tantrum and make him compromise, stopped when he heard the White-Haired Monster¡¯s promise. His eyes lit up, and he immediately picked up the nutritional supplement and drank it in one gulp. He stood up and said, ¡°You promised this, don¡¯t go back on your word.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Chu Rong sneered, raised his hand and pulled at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, and motioned to the equipment next to him, ¡°Go warm up first.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at the jade in Chu Rong¡¯s hand, and remembered their last spar. He steeled his resolve to win this time. He needed to treat the White-Haired Monster as soon as possible. He decided to act obedient for the time being, and smiled as he went to the training equipment for a warm up. ¡®Really stupid.¡¯ Chu Rong thought as he watched the Bald Chicken walk away. His mood improved; he played with the emerald jade hanging from his waist. He walked to the other side and started warming up. Half an hour later, the two stood in the opposing part of an arena, ready to start the mock fight. The rest of the Chu family also came over together, scattered around in the training room and started their daily training. Chu Rong frowned, glanced at the family members scattered in various directions, and adjusted the position of the jade around his waist. He looked at Qiao Zhiya who was waiting in full force, relaxed his brows, and turned his hands behind his back, signaling him to start. Qiao Zhiya, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed over immediately, with the goal of winning! Chu Rong, who had insight into his intentions, curled his lips. With practiced ease, he was easily able to dodge. ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Plop!¡± ¡°Snap!¡± ¡°Crash!¡± ¡°Gululu¡ª¡± The two were fighting in full swing, and the people watching the show were equally as excited ¨C as much as possible as they were currently training. Chu Yan looked at his erge who was ¡°flirtatious¡± with Qiao Zhiya from the corner of his eye. It¡¯s clear the Marshal was only playing around ¨C his movement was slower with clear tells, which kinda made Chu Yan want to gag. He whispered to Chu Huai, ¡°Dage, why do I feel that Erge is deliberately taking advantage of Qiao¡­ you know, eating his tofu with some movement? Look at that ¡®pressing¡¯ move he just used. Tsk tsk tsk¡­¡± ¡°Lao¡¯er is not that kind of person,¡± Chu Huai also took advantage of the situation to stop his very perfunctory training movements, and retorted with a serious face. He glanced at Chu Rong who threw Qiao Zhiya to the ground and pressed his legs down again, and his calm facade cracked a little. Unable to hold on, he coughed and said, ¡°Lao¡¯er can¡¯t use his hands, he can only use his legs. Qiao likes to attack close to the body, so when he fights, it will inevitably appear that their distance is suspiciously too close. Laosan, don¡¯t think too much about it.¡± Chu Yan looked at him with a disgusted face, he said in a drawn-out tone, ¡°Heh, what kind of stupid reason is that? I¡¯m neither blind nor five years old! So even if Erge is not taking advantage of Qiao, he is deliberately teasing him. Which was not the case when he practiced with me.¡± Remembering the training sessions with Chu Rong easily brought Chu Yan to bitter tears. This was so unfair! He was being tossed around like a wet rag, while Qiao was just gently being pushed! He was flying because he was thrown, while Qiao was just held down on the ground! In short, this was double-standard! He was unreconciled! ¡°Go, go, what do you need to do, Laosan.¡± Chu Huai waved him away like a fly, and then glanced at his younger brother who was obviously full of relaxed smiles in the field, but wanted to put on a disgusted face to concentrate. He couldn¡¯t help showing a kindly smile like an old father. ¡°Qiao is still young, and your Erge may not be enlightened yet. Let them get along like this first, and cultivate their relationship slowly. You are not allowed to make trouble, or your bank account will be frozen!¡± This threat was really vicious. Chu Yan shuddered when he heard his dage¡¯s words. He retaliated by aiming from the side of Chu Huai¡¯s guts, striking a sneak attack towards his dage¡¯s lower body. Chu Huai¡¯s eyes sharpened and dodged neatly. He didn¡¯t forget to childishly give his younger brother a middle finger. He also had a serene ¡°fox smile¡±, which only enraged Chu Yan further. As a result, there was another pair of mock battle. Seeing this, Gu Yan¡¯an smiled and shook her head, and went to the sidelines to discuss the lunch menu with the old butler. The morning sparring ended with the tragic result of Qiao Zhiya being crushed again. He couldn¡¯t even brush against the ever-so-elusive emerald jade. He gave Chu Rong a dull look, lying on the cushion with his ears flattened, letting the sweat drip from his forehead to his eyes. ¡°Crying?¡± Chu Rong let go of him, stretched out his hands behind his back, and pinched his flattened ears upright. ¡°I didn¡¯t cry.¡± Qiao Zhiya tilted his head and straightened his ears, still looking sullen. Chu Rong pinched his pointed ears again. He was in an excellent mood, which led him into holding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s waist tightly and lifting him up, making the youth sit in his arms. He walked away out of the room as he lectured, ¡°Excellent! Go back to take a shower, and have your lunch. After that, I will take you to watch the mecha battle in the afternoon.¡± Qiao Zhiya was unprepared when he was picked up in this manner. He hurriedly circled his arms around Chu Rong¡¯s neck to stabilize his body. His ears stiffened in shock, then it flushed red as soon as he realized this strange and intimate posture. This, this posture¡­ ¡°You put me down.¡± He blushed and pulled Chu Rong¡¯s clothes while flailing his legs around. Qiao Zhiya has only been picked up this way by his father¡­ when he was a child. This never happened again when he grew up. Before, the White-Haired Monster would only pick him up and at most, throw his over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Why¡­ did he suddenly carry him this close? This was¡­ if he was laying horizontally, this would be called a bridal carry, right? Hearing this, Chu Rong looked at him with the corner of his eyes, and asked with an inscrutable expression, ¡°Are you sure?¡± In fact, it was very comfortable to be carried like this by the White-Haired Monster. He didn¡¯t hate it, and actually felt being pampered this way. If anything, the mortification of realizing he wanted to be indulged this way was bigger than his embarrassment. Thinking this way in his heart, he still nodded his face and insisted, ¡°Let me go down, I will go by myself, this is too strange.¡± He would be laughed at. Chu Rong was noncommittal, and put him down neatly. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect him to be so straightforward. It took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings and let go of his arms. He tried to stand still, but his knees suddenly gave way, and he fell down on his butt. ¡°!!!¡± He widened his eyes and let out a strangled scream. His mind was still blank, and his reflex didn¡¯t kick in. Chu Rong quickly grabbed him before he rushed to the street, picked him up again, and said, ¡°You have been fighting with me for a whole morning, and I kicked you a few times. Now you suddenly relax, and your muscles are probably too sore to contract properly. It¡¯ll be fine in a while, so rest honestly.¡± ¡®It turned out to be like this¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya turned to look at Chu Rong, remembering the few times he kicked his leg lightly and hard. Afterwards, a strange thought popped up in his mind. Thinking about it, he blurted out and asked, ¡°You kicked me on purpose? Do you want to carry me like this?¡± Seeing that Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened for a moment, he hurriedly closed her mouth, tilted his head and rubbed his head flatteringly at the White-Haired Monster. He appeared docile and obedient, once again circling his arms around Chu Rong¡¯s neck and hugged him closer. Chu Rong felt the soft and perky ears rubbed against his neck. It was itchy. A waft of plant-like scent trickled his nose, making him feel more¡­ comfortable? ¡°Don¡¯t act like a baby.¡± Ancestor Chu reprimanded him with a dark face and stretched out his arms to straighten his scrambling head. He looked ahead and strode towards the main house, and coldly scolded him, ¡°Next time, do warm-up exercises before training. Well, you can¡¯t be perfunctory, or this will happen again in the future.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who obviously had a proper warm-up exercise: ¡°¡­¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 36.3 Just so you know, a typical chapter in this series is about 7k-8k words. While in Fake Master, it¡¯s about 4k-5k. No wonder translating this series feels like crawling at times,,,, Character List Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Gu Yan¡¯an: Chu Huai¡¯s wife. A doctor/physician. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. On the balcony of the main house¡¯s second floor, the Chu family watched this event going down. They collectively retracted their gaze, and looked at the sky with complicated emotions¡ª ¡®Lao¡¯er really hasn¡¯t been enlightened.¡¯ ¡®Erge is so stupid.¡¯ ¡®Hopefully the Second Young Master is not a fool and will make a proper move soon.¡¯ Qiao Zhiya found that the Chu family members suddenly became more enthusiastic about him. Although yesterday they were also very enthusiastic, it was on a completely different level than today, as if a layer of gold had been attached to him. After thinking about it, he guessed that their change of attitude was because he cured the White-Haired Monster last night. This made him more determined to treat the White-Haired Monster himself every week! In the afternoon, everyone moved to the mecha training hall. Chu Rong took out his black mecha, and Chu Yan took out his silver-gray mecha. After doing a set of basic training moves, they stood in the battle arena. Qiao Zhiya sat on the lifting platform. A protective layer of barrier was erected to protect the spectators. With bright eyes, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s attention was glued onto Chu Rong¡¯s very cool black mecha. ¡®Last time I just took a quick glance and couldn¡¯t see clearly. Now that I look carefully, that black mecha looks a thousand times cooler! Thankfully, my understanding of mecha has deepened, so I can judge his mecha with a more critical eye.¡¯ For example, the golden pattern on the mecha body was made from a material extracted from space beasts. When applied to the shell of the mecha, it can deter and mislead the enemy¡¯s spiritual power scan. Probably aware of his gaze, the black mecha suddenly turned to the side. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly averted his gaze. After being found out, his ears honestly reddened and he was too embarrassed to turn back. He forced himself to look at Chu Yan¡¯s silver-gray mecha instead. Chu Yan¡¯s mecha was smaller than Chu Rong¡¯s. It had slender limbs to match its smaller frame. It didn¡¯t look as menacing, if anything, it looked a bit inconspicuous. ¡°Xiao Yan¡¯s mecha is custom-made. It prioritized nimbleness and speed to match his preferences in fighting.¡± Chu Huai, who was sitting next to him, explained as he pushed a plate of dimsum in front of him. Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses. He thanked the eldest Chu brother, suppressed his over-excited emotions, and concentrated on waiting for the match. After both parties got ready, the silver-gray mecha pulled out an energy blade, disappeared in place and left only afterimages. When it appeared again, it had already attacked the black mecha. The shumai Qiao Zhiya had just picked up dropped back into his plate. His eyes widening at the unimaginable speed he couldn¡¯t properly see. Seeing this, Chu Huai showed a satisfied smile, and said, ¡°It seems that Xiao Yan gained a lot from the experience during the holiday. He is faster again.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an, who was quietly accompanying him, nodded with a smile, agreeing with her husband¡¯s statement. The silver-gray mecha attacked fiercely, but the black mecha stood still. Then, when the silver-gray mecha approached, it slowly raised its hand, and directly blocked the tricky strike of the silver-gray mecha with its arm.. ¡°Boom!¡± The energy blade collided with the black mecha¡¯s arm, making a piercing metallic sound. In response, the black mecha mercilessly raised its foot, as it was about to kick the silver-gray mecha. ¡°Erge! My end-term examination is near! Don¡¯t destroy it or I can¡¯t fix it!!!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s voice came from the silver-gray mecha, and at the same time the black mecha quickly flashed to the side. The black mecha paused, retracted its leg and did not kick him. He also dodged to the side, and then an impatient voice came out, ¡°Come again.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes fell on the silver-gray mecha. The energy blade was made using minerals that resonate strongly from spiritual energy, thus it would amplify its reactions. However, those materials couldn¡¯t be used in thermal weapons1aka hot weapons. Any weapons that use gunpowder.. A good mecha master could greatly improve the energy reflection of the energy blade, allowing the energy blade to exert greater power when attacking, and he just learned this part recently. Judging from its appearance, the energy blade in Chu Yan¡¯s hand should be made of the highest-grade gray snake ore. Although colloquially referred to as an ¡°ore¡±, it¡¯s actually the bones of a high-level beast, the Gray Snake. Gray snakes were mostly born in areas with strong radiation, like the M76 planet, and live underground. They were not venomous, huge in size, omnivorous, and aggressive. Its whole body was full of treasures, the most valuable being its bones. And to make the gray snake¡¯s bones into a weapon, the process steps required were also very complicated. It¡¯s not something you could succeed at the first time trying. He suddenly remembered the situation and production process when he dealt with the mutated red tin ore last time. Though this also brought out the unpleasant memories of being enslaved in the mines. He whipped his head, trying to forget it. In order to ensure the safety of the students, the use of thermal weapons was banned in school competitions. Each student was only allowed to equip one cold weapon2In comparison, this refers to anything not using gunpowder, but also made of metal. So, things like crossbows couldn¡¯t be categorized as cold weapons. on the mecha, so the performance of cold weapons was particularly important in the competition. Maybe he could help Chu Yan improve the performance of the energy blade, so that Chu Yan might be able to get a better ranking in the final competition. While thinking wildly in his mind, there was a sudden ¡°clang¡± sound from the field, and the energy blade in the silver-gray mecha¡¯s hand was actually cut in two by the black mecha. ¡°Ahhhhh!!¡± Chu Yan immediately collapsed, manipulating the mecha to pick up the broken energy blade, crying loudly, ¡°Erge!! I said that the end-term exams are soon! Why on earth did you break my weapons!!! What will happen to my exams!!!¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t expect that to happen. He was distracted by thinking about that stupid Bald Chicken, and he accidentally broke Chu Yan¡¯s weapon. He retracted his attention and apologized, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll take you to buy a new one later.¡± ¡°I want two weapons! I also want two mecha models!¡± Chu Yan immediately sat on the ground and raised the price, taking advantage of this situation. Chu Rong didn¡¯t speak, just manipulated the black mech to turn his head to his side, and raised his hand. ¡°One! One weapon! But you have to give me two mech models, don¡¯t be so stingy!¡± Chu Yan immediately stepped back, very spineless. The black mech waved his hand, agreed to his request. Then the black mecha stopped in place. The cockpit opened, Chu Rong emerged from the inside, looked at Qiao Zhiya who was lying on the protective cover and staring directly at the energy blade. His brows furrowed again as he beckoned, ¡°Come here, let¡¯s go buy a mecha model.¡± ¡°Can I go too?¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately moved his gaze to him, and his eyes lit up. Seeing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze shifted, Ancestor Chu was finally satisfied, nodded and said, ¡°Yes, but only two models are allowed.¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly waved his hand and said that he didn¡¯t want models, as long as he could follow along to see the store that sold energy blades. Hearing this, Chu Rong¡¯s expression became more gentle, and he took the initiative to say, ¡°Then I will buy some materials for you first, and I will buy the model next time.¡± Chu Yan who just jumped out of the mecha: ¡°¡­¡± Ah! He is so jealous! Jealous to death! Saying goodbye to Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an, Chu Rong went outside with the two juniors. In the car, Qiao Zhiya walked up to Chu Yan, stars glittering inside his green eyes, ¡°Xiao Yan, what will you do with your broken energy blade?¡± Glancing at his erge, he complained, ¡°That energy blade was custom-made for me by Master Ren, and it¡¯s troublesome to repair. I¡¯m sure I won¡¯t be able to catch up with the final competition. The weapon I¡¯m used to is broken. My combat effectiveness in the competition will probably drop by 30%!!¡± Chu Rong ruthlessly exposed Chu Yan¡¯s exaggerations, ¡°You said the same thing when your dagger broke last time, and then you put the dagger away on the second day after you got this energy blade. Not long after that, you forgot all about your dagger, and didn¡¯t care when it broke when you spar against Yuan Xiu.¡± ¡°B- but this one is custom-made! Made-to-order!¡± Chu Yan retorted, never admitting that he likes the new and dislikes the old. Qiao Zhiya, who probably heard the status of the energy blade, moved forward again, tugged on Chu Yan¡¯s sleeve, and asked carefully, ¡°Then can I try to repair that energy blade? Although your energy blade is already a finished product, and has already been combed by other manufacturers with spiritual power¡­ well, it means it cannot be mutated again to improve its performance. What I¡¯m trying to say is that with my fire magic array, the melting and repair of weapon will be much faster, and I found that the magic array can partially improve the performance of weapons. So are you willing to let me try? Of course, it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t want to, I haven¡¯t done this before, and I haven¡¯t done it yet¡ª¡± ¡°Eh, just take it.¡± Chu Yan simply threw the space button with the broken energy blade to it. He nonchalantly added, ¡°If you want to fix it, you can fix it. Anyway, I¡¯m going to buy a new one now, right, ge?¡± Chu Rong rarely indulged in this embarrassment of a brother. But this time, he nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a new one.¡± Glancing at Qiao Zhiya, he added, ¡°Two.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard that, and then he became indignant¡ªerge was really biased, and he was not allowed to ask for two before! Unexpectedly, the exorbitant request he made would be immediately agreed. Qiao Zhiya felt warm, held the space button tightly, and promised, ¡°I will fix it properly! I will definitely fix it for you!¡± This was the first time he handled a real mecha weapon. He must do well, and must not disappoint Chu Yan¡¯s trust in him! Seeing his blushing face full of fighting spirit, Chu Rong curled his lips, and reached out to stroke Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs. With Chu Rong¡¯s capital, he could buy these juniors many mecha weapons without sweating. Chu Yan knew this, so when they arrived at the shop, he didn¡¯t hesitate to pick two of the most expensive energy blades, he even picked one that had hidden weapons inside of it. Qiao Zhiya obediently didn¡¯t ask for anything, but looked around curiously and gained a lot of knowledge. In the end, Chu Rong took the initiative to buy him a batch of elementary materials, saying that they were for his practice. After buying the weapons, the three of them went to the mecha model shop again. Chu Rong bought two models for each of the two younger ones, and then brought them home. After dinner, the old butler said that the new room had been cleaned, and Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t have to squeeze with Chu Rong anymore. Chu Rong paused when he got up, didn¡¯t say anything, and went for a walk in the yard with everyone to calm down as usual. While Chu Yan pulled Qiao Zhiya to the back, lowered his voice as if they wanted to share secrets. Chu Rong and Chu Huai went to the study to discuss things, Chu Yan took Qiao Zhiya to study the mecha model, Gu Yan¡¯an and the old butler went to discuss the usual management of the main house. They all did not gather together again. It was very late after talking with Chu Huai. Chu Rong glanced at the room next door that had been sorted out for Qiao Zhiya to rest. He went up to knock on the door, but was afraid of waking him up. In the end, he went back to his bedroom with a frown. There was a small, dim light inside his bedroom, but it was enough for Chu Rong. He went directly to the bathroom, and came out wearing only a bathrobe after taking a shower. While wiping his hair, he walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. He stretched out his arms and turned off the small lamp beside the bed, threw away the towel for wiping his hair, took off his bathrobe, lifted the quilt and lay down on the bed¡­ Then his body tensed up quickly. ¡ª¡ªThe quilt was warm. And lumpy. He finally registered a shallow breathing sound from inside the lumpy quilt. The mattress moved, and a small body huddled in the corner rolled closer to Chu Rong, as if sensing a familiar presence. Without any shred of shame, the lump rubbed to Chu Rong, then a thin limb stretched out from inside to hug his waist. Not content with this level of clinginess, the Bald Chicken¡¯s blond head poked out of the quilt, then inched closer to Chu Rong¡¯s lap. The sound of heartbeat and breathing became too clear. It echoed inside his ears, and it traveled far down into his heart. Chu Rong, who was almost naked, immediately stretched out his arms to grab the man in his arms. He covered up his temporarily blank mind with anger, shook him vigorously, and asked with a growl, ¡°Qiao Zhiya! Why are you here?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was shaken violently, opened his eyes and looked at him in a daze. He was still half-asleep and didn¡¯t register what Chu Rong said. Instead, he hugged the older man even closer, and even put his head in the crook of Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder. Chu Rong didn¡¯t give up. This was improper. He must be too tired from today¡¯s exercise and shopping trip, but still. He let go of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s collar he held, the veins on his forehead popped up and down, and the muscles on his body were almost stretched out of irritation. He pulled him out again, and said, ¡°Go to sleep next door! That¡¯s your room.¡± ¡°So noisy. Shut up.¡± Still half-asleep, the good-tempered Qiao Zhiya also started to lose his temper. He couldn¡¯t help reaching out to pat him, and hugged him harder, and said anxiously, ¡°I want to sleep next to you. Don¡¯t bother me.¡± Ancestor Chu¡¯s hands froze, and his strength loosened, allowing the clingy blond to stick to his body again. Five minutes later, Qiao Zhiya fell asleep again, but Chu Rong was still sitting with stiff muscles. Another five minutes passed, and Qiao Zhiya began to move uncomfortably¡ªChu Rong¡¯s muscles were too hard to sleep comfortably on. Chu Rong¡¯s patience was at its limit, but he managed to swallow it down. He took several deep breaths before he moved. With a dark face, he raised his arms around Qiao Zhiya, and stroked his hair in comfort. He laid down next to the youth, covered them up with a quilt, then closed his eyes. ¡®It really is troublesome to raise a child!¡¯ CH 37.1 Uh¡­ I hope you like schemes and politics! (I do c:) In the middle of the night, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magic began to sneak around in the subconscious again, plotting mischief. Chu Rong, who had been spiritually prepared for a long time, opened his eyes immediately. He looked down at Qiao Zhiya who was sleeping in his arms but wanted to make trouble, and squeezed his pointy ears with a darkened face, causing the youth to sink down further into the thick quilt. After satisfying his irritation, he took out his space ring from his bathrobe¡¯s pocket, and retrieved a few pieces of emerald jades and ink jades. He gently stuffed them under their shared pillow, and closed his eyes again. The youth in his arms was still sound asleep, while Chu Rong locked his spiritual power firmly in his head, and slowly fell asleep. The magical power probed around but couldn¡¯t detect any hint of the spiritual power. It spun around in frustration a few times, before it keenly sensed a strong fluctuation of magical power under the pillow. It rushed over excitedly, absorbing it like a gluttonous little hamster. Qiao Zhiya slept more soundly, and even let out a few soft snores in comfort. In the early morning, Chu Rong opened his eyes on time. As listened to the little snoring near his ears, he lowered his head, and couldn¡¯t help pinching Qiao Zhiya¡¯s flushed face. He gently lifted a corner of the pillow, and saw the jades he stuffed in last night. The color of all the jade stones became lighter, and one piece of emerald jade had even started to turn gray. His lips curled up and he snorted. Sure enough, this Bald Chicken preferred the emerald jade. ¡°Picky eater.¡± He put down the pillow. He then glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was sleeping soundly and even messed up his pajamas. Lifting the quilt, he got up, picked up his bathrobe and draped it over his body. At breakfast, Qiao Zhiya ate his fried eggs listlessly, his ears flopping down. Seeing this, everyone except Chu Rong secretly made eye contact, feeling a little regretful in their hearts¡ªthis reaction, it seemed that Qiao¡¯s treatment plan last night was unsuccessful. After breakfast, Chu Yan took Qiao Zhiya to the small study on the third floor on the grounds of reviewing their homework. After closing the door, he asked eagerly, ¡°How is it? How did Erge react in the morning? You didn¡¯t succeed?¡± ¡°When I got up, he had already washed up, and he sat on the sofa to finish his paperworks¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was even more shriveled when he said this. He walked to the desk and lay down in visible slump, ¡°Two days before, I can still sense his spiritual power with my subconscious. But I suddenly failed yesterday¡­ He actually put jades under my pillow, and I stupidly fell for it!¡± He tilted his head and raised his hand to pull his hair. He actually forgot about the healing immediately after sensing the fluctuation of the magic stones! Although he was in an instinctive state after falling asleep at the time¡­but he prioritized absorbing the magic stones before helping the White-Haired Monster to heal the disease. He¡¯s so heartless!! The dwarf boy couldn¡¯t accept his depravity and hypocrisy, and his mood was very depressed. Chu Yan was also shocked, and rushed over to ask, ¡°You mean, you failed the treatment last night because Erge put emerald jades under your pillow to seduce you? Then you didn¡¯t wake up in his arms this morning? Didn¡¯t get up ear¨C erm¡­¡± ¡°He put not only emerald jades, but also ink jades. It¡¯s my stupidity¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya instinctively defended Chu Rong, and then continued with a blushing face, ¡°He always wakes up earlier than me. I prefer snoozing when I¡¯m able. Besides, what¡¯s the point of waking up early during the holidays? Eh¡­ uhm, what¡¯s your last sentence again?¡± Facing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s innocent and ignorant eyes, Chu Yan felt that he seemed too evil, so he quickly shook his head to express that it was nothing. Seeing the blond wilt back again, seemingly blaming himself for not being able to heal successfully because of his gluttony, Chu Yan whispered in consolation, ¡°It¡¯s normal that you didn¡¯t succeed in healing last night. You were able to heal successfully on the first night because Erge¡¯s spiritual strength just recovered not long ago. He trusted you and had no defense put up against you, so you¡¯re able to sense him in your sleep. But he saw through your little trick last night and locked up his spiritual power. There is a gap in strength between you and him, and it¡¯s big. If he hides his spiritual power, it¡¯s only natural you won¡¯t be able to detect it, let alone heal it. I don¡¯t blame you for that.¡± After listening to the explanation, Qiao Zhiya became even more wilted. He was so depressed that he almost cried, and said in a low voice, ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s because of me. I¡¯m still too weak¡­¡± So weak that he couldn¡¯t even find the White-Haired Monster¡¯s very familiar spiritual power, and couldn¡¯t resist the temptation of the magical stones¡­ Chu Yan couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡®No wonder Erge likes Qiao Zhiya so much. If there¡¯s a lovely person who sincerely cares about me, I would also be tempted! Ahh, I¡¯m so jealous of my own Erge! How can that stinky iceberg meet such a simple and lovely Qiao! It was as if it was predestined by God that Qiao just happened to be able to treat Erge¡¯s illness. God, this is unfair!! Send me my predestined lover too!!¡¯ 1God: you¡¯re just blind of your fate, sweetie. Unable to see Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gloomy mood, he dragged the blond up and started pouring chicken soup2motivational words. You know, like the series ¡°Chicken Soup for the Soul¡±. I used to have them back when I¡¯m younger lol.: ¡°Qiao! Failure is the mother of success! I think Dage is right, you have to take your time to heal a disease. If you fail once, then try twice! If you fail twice, then try thrice! If you fail thrice, then continue until success! Weakness is not an excuse to give up, as long as you work hard to become stronger, you will get it. What, you¡¯re afraid that Erge will leave you in the future if you¡¯re too weak?¡± After listening to his encouragement, Qiao Zhiya Although he felt that something was wrong, after thinking about it, it seemed to be so reasonable. He quickly cheered up, tightened his face and seriously said, ¡°Yes! You are right! The root of the problem is that I am too weak, so Chu Rong won¡¯t let me heal him because he was worried. The solution is simple, I just need to work hard to get stronger! Xiao Yan thank you!!¡± ¡®Hey! The point is not to get stronger! You should comfort him by cuddling together instead!!!!!!¡¯ Chu Yan roared in his heart, but seeing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s innocence and full of fighting spirit, he swallowed his words silently. He patted his future sister-in-law on the shoulder, then nodded, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! You work hard to get stronger. Don¡¯t stop trying, keep going! I believe in you.¡± The rest of the Chu family watched the two young men who had finished filling the chicken soup rush into the training ground, training in full swing, with confusion plastered on their faces. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to review your homework?¡± Chu Huai questioned. Gu Yan¡¯an put the refreshments on the table, sat down beside him, looked towards the direction of the training ground, and said with a smile, ¡°Xiao Yan¡¯s temperament means that he¡¯s not suited for theoretical learning. He learned better by practicing, so let¡¯s just let them learn at their own pace. Plus, he¡¯s still growing, he might be restless from his pent-up stamina.¡± Chu Rong, who was sitting on the side, heard the word ¡°still growing¡± and remembered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ¡°has stopped growing¡± physical examination results. He frowned, and his good mood suddenly turned sour. ¡°The Empire wants to send a few children to our school.¡± Chu Huai changed the subject, bringing everyone¡¯s attention back to the business. With a cold face, he glanced at his second brother with a hidden meaning. ¡°I heard one of them is the son of Netaxi, the number one warrior of the Empire. I heard he¡¯s about the same as Xiao Yan.¡± Although there have been rumors about this matter, when he finally heard the exact news at this time, Chu Rong¡¯s mood became worse. He asked with a deep frown, ¡°Who else?¡± ¡°There is also the most precious pair of twins of the Imperial family, Imperial Prince An Ting and Imperial Princess An Lin.¡± Chu Huai picked up the floral tea, and traced his finger across the teacup¡¯s rim. ¡°You defeated Netaxi before, right? Now, his son and the two troublesome Imperial Royals are here. A little bird told me that the princess said that she fell in love with you at first sight. Sigh, Your Excellency An Lin, your calculations are too obvious¡­¡± Gu Yan¡¯an frowned when she heard her husband¡¯s lament, and said: ¡°The president is not afraid of this¡­ situation? This is akin to luring wolves into the pasture¡­ I¡¯m getting more and more confused about his thoughts.¡± ¡°He is old, his term of office is about to expire, and he only has two children, a son and a daughter. His son is very mediocre and incompetent. His daughter is good, but how could the Four Great Families allow him to raise his daughter as his successor3no, it¡¯s not because of misogyny, even if the President wants to raise his son instead, they will also prevent him as much as possible. so easily? Although the Xiang family and the Wei family are biased towards him, they definitely have an interest in inserting their people as the President. He was about to lose his favorable situation, so he wanted to create a diversion to get the Four Great Families¡¯ attention. It just so happens that the Empire is interested, so they hit it off.¡± Chu Huai explained in a dry tone. Then, he glanced at his younger brother, and spoke to him with a sudden gloating tone, ¡°Lao¡¯er over here is the perfect target for the President¡¯s hatred. He has it all: position, money, ability, and a gold medal4as in a medal honored to him for his sacrifice in defeating the Zerg Queen, so he gets an exoneration if he ever gets a death penalty. to avoid death. The President failed to beat him before, so this time he should be aiming for revenge. Sure enough, incompetent people in power are the most afraid of a tiger pretending to be a pig5a strong person pretending to be weak.. Since Lao¡¯er is too strong, he must be gone to ensure his position.¡± Chu Rong, who was compared to a pig, had a completely dark face full of irritation. He almost growled, ¡°We must try to find a way to prevent them from coming.¡± ¡°Well, seeing your¡­ excitement with this prospect, of course the Xiang-Wei family will be eager for those Imperial exchange students to come over. The president has calculated too well, knowing that a few juniors won¡¯t attract the vigilance of the Xiang-Wei family. Instead, he knew that it will only make them wanting to use this opportunity to hold you back. Besides, this might deepen the conflict between our family, and might also allow the Xiang-Wei family alliance to plot other things. If they had the time, there¡¯s a huge chance that it¡¯s impossible for us to stop. And as for the Ning family, they¡¯re always neutral, so they shouldn¡¯t further muddy the water.¡± Chu Huai took a sip of his floral tea, keeping a smile on his face all the time. His serene expression made it as if this situation wasn¡¯t a big deal. And in fact, it really wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°Then let them come.¡± Chu Rong put down his teacup a little too hard, making a shrill ¡°clang!¡± sound of porcelain hitting each other. He shifted his gaze towards the training ground, and said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s good to teach those people a hard lesson when they come here. Let¡¯s give them our warm greeting.¡± Chu Huai prevented Gu Yan¡¯an from trying to comfort his younger brother, and replied, ¡°Well, they should come next year. I think they wanted them to enroll as freshmen of the Advanced College branch of the Federal Military Academy.¡± Since today is currently in the middle of the year, the exact time should be a little over half a year from now. Chu Rong nodded to express his understanding. After greeting his brother and his sister-in-law, he got up and walked towards the training ground, his unhappiness was written all over his body. After he walked away, Gu Yan¡¯an cast a sidelong glance at Chu Huai, and asked, ¡°Why are you purposefully angering him? I never knew you¡¯re such an older brother.¡± Seeing that she was unhappy, Chu Huai leaned over to coax her, and explained his reasoning, ¡± I didn¡¯t mean to annoy him, but I wanted him to recognize the essence of this conflict ¨C a honey trap. Everyone wants to dig a pit for us using his marriage as the initial crack. He has to know it.¡± ¡°He wasn¡¯t aware of this before?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an retorted angrily, and didn¡¯t feel coaxed at all. She continued grilling her husband for answers, ¡°The President¡¯s daughter is one, and the Empire¡¯s Princess is another. Even some members of the Four Great Families are into him for this reason! I don¡¯t even know how many of them in total, since there must be some still in hiding. Are you trying to annoy Erzi6¶þ×Ó; second child to death?¡± She didn¡¯t believe that her husband couldn¡¯t prevent these annoying flies from bothering Chu Rong¡¯s love life. Chu Huai hugged her, and waited for her to vent her emotions before continuing, ¡°The thing is, he might now but didn¡¯t care before. But now he has Qiao Zhiya, so he must be more aware of this situation. Just as you say, the President¡¯s daughter and the Imperial Princess both have this ambition, do you think I could easily prevent them? Besides, even if I succeeded in holding off a couple of them back, there¡¯s still too many of them. It¡¯s not effective to deal with them my way.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an stopped talking. She wasn¡¯t stupid, she understood the current situation very well. She does agree that letting the opponent come in public like this is much more favorable than cornering them and forcing them to come in secret. Seeing that she understood his reason, Chu Huai patted her and comforted her, ¡°So don¡¯t worry, no one can force Erzi to do what he doesn¡¯t want to do, marry someone he doesn¡¯t want to marry. Remember when his spiritual power exploded during the fight with the Zerg Queen? The moment he fell, everyone immediately rushed over to finish him off. And even now, they¡¯re still plotting against him because they still think he¡¯s not getting better. But now¡­ thanks to Qiao, his spiritual pollution is recovering. Once he¡¯s fully recovered, I¡¯d like to see if those unscrupulous people could still sing.¡± There¡¯s currently four Marshals in the Federation. One of them is from the Wei family, one of them is from the President¡¯s wife¡¯s natal family, one of them is Chu Rong, and the last was a commoner ¨C he¡¯s theoretically neutral. The one from the President¡¯s wife¡¯s natal family was too old to actually come to the front line. The one from the Wei¡¯s family was concealed by the family and has only been in office for ten years, and has never fought a real battle, so he¡¯s useless. The one born as a commoner was in his prime and had strong strength, but he came out from the previous Marshal Chu¡¯s platoon. He was neutral on the surface, but he secretly favored the Chu family. The president hated this. During the last war, Chu Rong won a gold medal because of his achievement in finishing the Zerg Queen. He had high prestige and status, but there was only one problem: his spiritual power was polluted. In the past, everyone dared to plot against Chu Rong because they thought that he would fall at any time. Plus, they thought that the Chu family¡¯s power in the military headquarters seemed strong, but in fact it might disperse at any time, so they had nothing to fear. Some people want him to die early so that they can share his things, while others want to monopolize his things before he dies. Xiang-Wei¡¯s family is the former, and the President is the latter. The ridiculous thing is that they are still in the same camp. They all thought that they still had time to plot against them, and feel that they¡¯re already halfway to winning. But they didn¡¯t know what Chu Rong was actually recovering, and their plans would come to nothing. The Chu family¡¯s things have always been given to their own family members only. But now, Chu Rong¡¯s illness was gradually improving, and those calculations were just jokes in the face of his steady strength. ¡°The president can be changed, and the Four Major Families can be defeated. They seemed to forget that the pillar of the Federation is the people, not them. Such fools are blinded by greed.¡± Chu Huai said slowly. When he looked at Chu Rong who was coming out of the training ground with Qiao Zhiya, he was smiling like a fox. ¡°I really want to see the expressions of those people when they know that Lao¡¯er condition is getting better, and go against their wishes and find an Exoplanet Native who has nothing to do with them as a partner. It will be very exciting.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an also looked over at Chu Rong. Then, her gaze landed on Chu Yan who was howling and chasing after him. She sighed as if she was burdened. ¡°Xiao Yan should grow up fast too¡­¡± Before, Chu Rong was convinced that his pollution wasn¡¯t curable, and he was afraid that he would fall into someone¡¯s plot and die. So, he kept whipping up Chu Yan to shape. He was strict with Chu Yan¡¯s training, because he was afraid Chu Yan couldn¡¯t defend himself when Chu Rong was gone. But now, he knew that he was going to be cured. He immediately became more lax about Chu Yan¡¯s matter, no longer hounding him into training 24/7. However¡­ with the Empire¡¯s threat looming over them, Chu Yan might not have a long time to remain as a naive young man. Chu Huai glanced at her, raised his hand to help her tuck her hair behind her ears, and smiled softly. Everything will eventually be alright, he knew this. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 37.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. When he was taken out halfway through the training, Qiao Zhiya felt unwilling, and said sullenly, ¡°Xiao Yan said that he wanted to teach me boxing¡­¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t mastered the basics yet, what kind of boxing do you want to learn?¡± Chu Rong shook him like a rag doll and strode in. He put the blond youth on the sofa unceremoniously. ¡°I know you still want to make potions in the afternoon. Go rest now, don¡¯t mess around.¡± ¡°To me, making potions means rest.¡± Qiao Zhiya retorted petulantly. He straightened his upper body and knelt on the sofa. Looking up at him, he said seriously, ¡°I¡¯m too weak now, I want to become stronger!¡± ¡°You want to become stronger?¡± Chu Rong sneered, he messed with the Bald Chicken¡¯s bangs to vent his frustration and said, ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you continue your martial art training first? Also, didn¡¯t you promise you will make me a mecha someday? Where¡¯s the mecha you promised? Qiao Zhiya, if you do things half-heartedly, it will only accomplish nothing. Don¡¯t make me look down on you.¡± The chicken blood1excitement. inside him was extinguished by this sentence. Qiao Zhiya blushed, and after holding back for a while, he whispered: ¡°I am also studying mecha manufacturing¡­¡± ¡°Then keep working hard to study it well. Don¡¯t think much about other things. Focus on the things that matter the most. So, go rest now.¡± Chu Rong pushed the leaning youth back, picked him up easily, turned him around, then pointed to the big-screen TV in the living room, and ordered, ¡°Watch anything, We¡¯ll have lunch later.¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed from being manhandled like this. He held his breath, then turned to look at Chu Rong with a wide-eyed look. He picked up the remote control to turn on the screen, searched out the cartoon ¡°The Adventures of the Bald Chicken¡±, and picked an episode at random to start playing . After a burst of balloon special effects, the main character ¨C a cute little chicken with sparse feathers, chirped towards the audience. Chu Yan, who came in after the two stepped in, was taken aback when he saw this. He wondered out loud in pure shock, ¡°Qiao, why did you suddenly look at this? This bald chicken is very stupid. I no longer watched this IQ-lowering show after I turned three years old!¡± ¡°But there are people who are almost thirty years old and still watch it.¡± Qiao Zhiya grumbled. He gambled on the chance that Chu Rong wouldn¡¯t change the channel. Chu Rong, who was going to walk away: ¡°¡­¡± This damn child! Qiao Zhiya¡¯s huffiness continued until he finished the potion and went back to school. After arriving at school, he refused to give Chu Rong a parting hug. ¡°Come here.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened, and he closed the hover car¡¯s door which had been opened by Qiao Zhiya. He wanted to speak to the youth, who was about to get out of the car completely. In fact, Qiao Zhiya has lost his temper after lunch, but he has no experience of actually throwing a temper tantrum, so¡­ he actually just didn¡¯t know what to say to Chu Rong. Now that Chu Rong took the initiative to talk to him, he quickly stopped and turned to face him. ¡°Learn well at school. The end of the term is coming soon. You missed more than two months of class. Remember to make up for it.¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t know how to placate this Bald Chicken, so he just said nonsense. As usual, he pinched the youth¡¯s pointy ears and put on his stern face. But he couldn¡¯t hide his softness as it spilled over to his voice. ¡°My condition is not stable enough for high-intensity treatment, and I might hurt you if I ever go berserk. Understand my worry?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at the White-Haired Monster¡¯s gentle eyes. His temper subsided immediately, and the youth couldn¡¯t help but to throw himself into his arms, and laid his hands on his chest. After rubbing his face for a while, he replied with a pouty voice, ¡°Understood, I will make more potions for you¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t lose my temper.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay to make a fuss once in a while.¡± Touching his hair, Chu Rong was finally satisfied. He patted the youth as a signal for him to go. ¡°Okay, enough stalling. Go to school. Eat lunch well, don¡¯t just drink nutritional supplements. I will know.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, rubbed him again, and made up with him. He mumbled a couple of ¡°I miss you¡±s before finally got out of the car. This parting was extremely sticky and greasy. Chu Yan, who got out of the car first, couldn¡¯t watch this anymore. His teeth were about to rot off by this amount of dog food! This didn¡¯t make sense! This was just a petty fight, why is the made-up scene this sickly sweet! He¡¯s going crazy!!! As the end of the term approaches, the atmosphere in the school slowly becomes tense. Everyone was preparing for the final assessment and wanted to go home with a bright result for the New Year. There were fewer people who paid attention to gossip, and even fewer people who bothered Qiao Zhiya. Sang Bu began to take permanent residence in his laboratory to prepare for his test. His home was on another A-level planet far away from the Capital Star, so he needed to buy a starship ticket to go home. Yun Xiachu had a lot of free time. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya was actively self-studying the following courses, he also followed up with his own self-study. He refused to be left behind in his studies. However, he wasn¡¯t very worried. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t worry much about the final exam either. He did last year¡¯s mock exam on Starnet and got full marks. He felt that this year¡¯s exam should be fine. What worries him more now was the matter of skipping grades on the next term. According to his current self-study progress, as long as he catches up with the material during the winter vacation and solidifies his theoretical knowledge again, then he should be able to apply for the grade-skipping exam when the school starts next year. His goal was to skip directly to the fourth grade, and then work hard to complete the fourth and fifth grade courses in the second half of the year. He strived to graduate with Chu Yan and enter the Advanced College branch of the Federal Military Academy. But the problem now was that he was a bit uncertain about jumping to the fourth grade. The first three years of the intermediate college were laying the foundation ¨C so, it was mostly theoretical knowledge. There¡¯s a lot of things to memorize and concepts to understand. This was something he could breeze with a couple weeks of focused study. But from the fourth grade onwards, the focus of the course began to shift towards practical application. Which needed spiritual power. The thing he currently lacked. Plus, those courses were something that needed to be done to be understood. All in all, there was too much to learn and not enough time. Despite all these roadblocks, he couldn¡¯t stop. Even if he failed to skip directly into the fourth grade, at least he must reach the third grade. Qiao Zhiya was studying harder than before, and even woke up an hour earlier every day to learn a little more before going out for morning training. At night, he speeds through his homeworks to save time for another round of studying. After dinner, he would go back to the dormitory to wash up and take online classes on the VR World. Then, he would say goodnight to Chu Rong at ten o¡¯clock before going to bed. After following this rhythm for three days, Qiao Zhiya finally couldn¡¯t bear the AI teacher¡¯s limitation. He began to look for a paid class. If he wants to speed up his learning progress, he must find a good teacher. He knew that more advanced courses were hard if he learned by himself. He needed guidance. After turning his attention to paid classes, Qiao Zhiya found that he was still too poor. Good teachers were very expensive, and the money he got last time from selling his creations has been spent on buying materials, tools, and renting laboratories. He desperately needed money. After school on Thursday, he came to the trade area again and rented a larger laboratory than last time¡ªhe wanted to repair the energy blade along the way. After entering the laboratory, he first took out the weapon material alloy he prepared in advance. He processed it into a long knife in record time, then tested it. After confirming that there was no problem with the data, he put away the long knife and took Chu Yan¡¯s broken energy blade. Mecha weapons were huge, and this energy blade was no exception. Qiao Zhiya put away his forging table that was too small for this energy blade. First, he took out the protective cover that Chu Rong gave him. He stretched the material to cover the energy blade from himself properly. Then, he took a deep breath, and started drawing a magic circle at the bottom of the protective cover. ¡ªLarge magic circles would definitely have a huge impact on the surrounding environment, even if it¡¯s just a rudimentary magic circle. In order to prevent the magic circle from touching the laboratory¡¯s self-defense mechanism and leaving traces, he came up with this method of isolating energy. After drawing the formation, he spread the top-level fire magic stone at the center of the formation. He didn¡¯t activate it for the time being, but first used magic power to probe into the energy blade to have a look. Different from unprocessed ore, the internal structure of this energy blade was very beautiful and intricate. It¡¯s obviously done by a master. None of its structure was superfluous ¨C everything had a function. Satisfied, he withdrew the magic power. He then pieced together the broken parts of the energy blade and put it in the center of the formation. He took out his hammer, and finally activated the formation at the bottom of the protective cover. The hammer was too small, hitting the energy blade directly would have no effect. Qiao Zhiya tightened his palms, he decided to try to transfer the earth-type magic power to the small hammer until it completely enveloped the tool, then concentrated his energy to start activating the small yet complex magic array inside the hammer. Half a minute later, the magic circle inside the hammer was activated for the first time. With a loud bang, a surge of powerful earth-type magic power suddenly burst out from the hammer, and then burned blazingly around the hammer. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up, and his little face flushed with excitement¡ªthis was the first time he used the full potential of this birthday gift. The section of the energy blade began to soften under the magic circle. The intense energy spilled over, reacting with the mineral and causing intense sparks. He collected his mind, with the proper angle and position, he began to hammer down the energy blade. ¡°Bang!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The moment his hammer made contact with the energy blade, an explosion of sound rang loudly inside his ears. Earth and fire magics collided, causing a burst of energy to be released over to Qiao Zhiya. It blew up his bangs. His eyes closed in reflex. ¡®So strong! The little hammer turned out to be so powerful! Fortunately, this laboratory is soundproof, otherwise that loud sound just now would definitely attract everyone outside the laboratory!¡¯ He became more and more excited. As his blood boiled, he raised his hammer again. Another strike, another burst of energy turned into heat2this is surprisingly faithful to science. Look up exothermic reactions if you want to know. and blew to his face. Gradually, this section of the broken blade merged and took shape again. It took all the energy inside of the fire magic stone and three jades to replenish his own energy for the energy blade to be reconnected. The dwarf¡¯s exquisite craftsmanship was fully reflected at this moment. Without using magic power to probe into the internal structure, nobody could guess this blade was actually a repair-job. Wiping off the sweat on his forehead, Qiao Zhiya touched the small hammer and put it away. He hummed as he turned the energy blade around, admiring his excellent work. Now that the blade has been reconnected, he needed to do the most important part ¨C repairing the internal function of this ¡°energy¡± blade. He needed to make sure the energy circulation channel was proper, and the internal combustion wiring properly working. However, at the moment he condensed his magic power at his fingertips, his communicator rang. CH 37.3 He froze for a moment, the magic power of his fingertips dissipated, and he lowered his head to connect to the communication. ¡°It¡¯s time to sleep¡­¡± Chu Rong¡¯s originally gentle voice sank instantly when he saw the background Qiao Zhiya was in. His face darkened as he asked in a deep voice, ¡°Where are you? Why are you still outside this late?¡± Qiao Zhiya blinked in confusion, moved his eyes to the clock in the laboratory. He belatedly became surprised when he saw the time. ¡°It¡¯s already ten o¡¯clock? So fast?¡± He obviously just repaired a section of the energy blade! After hearing his rhetorical question, Chu Rong¡¯s expression became even more terrifying. He glanced coldly at the energy blade behind him and his soaked clothes, and said solemnly, ¡°Now, immediately go back to the dormitory to sleep. If I found out you are actually fiddling with that energy blade instead of sleeping¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t hear the full threat, he was irritated by Chu Rong¡¯s tyrannical attitude. But he still hurriedly put away the energy blade, packed his things and prepared to go back to the dormitory. He made a mistake the day before, so Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t dare to mess around anymore. The next day, he also tried to be obedient. Unlike his usual self-study during lunch, he chose to go to the cafeteria to eat a proper lunch. But he remembered Ning Kongran who he usually met here. He searched for a window near the corner, then left a small metal doll there. He also left a paper slip near the metal doll, so he could be sure that Ning Kongran would see this gift for him. Then, he finally walked towards Yun Xiachu, who was starting to become impatient. Together, they went to the cafeteria. After eating, Qiao Zhiya went back to that window. He saw that the paper slip and doll in the corner of the window were gone, and there was an extra box of snacks hanging under the window. He squinted and smiled¡ªthis Ning Kongran was indeed a nice guy. On the opposite building, Qiu Guangji finally found his friend. Seeing him leaning on the railing of the corridor and looking at the opposite side, he looked like he was lost in his thoughts. He bumped into his friend with a smile and asked, ¡°Why do you have time to bask in the sun today instead of doing experiments?¡± Watching the thin figure disappear into the corner of the corridor, Ning Kongran withdrew his gaze, shook his head and replied, ¡°I¡¯m not doing experiments today, I have to go home later.¡± ¡°Go home?¡± Qiu Guangji¡¯s expression became strange. He worriedly asked, ¡°Is it because of your father or your grandfather1Ò¯Ò¯ ¡°y¨¦y¨¦¡±; paternal grandfather.¡­?¡± Ning Kongran shook his head with a grim expression, ¡°No. My aunt2¹Ã¹Ã ¡°g¨±g¨±¡±, father¡¯s older sister. asked me to go back.¡± When Ning Kongran mentioned his relatives, his tone was very light yet indifferent. He elaborated, ¡°It has been confirmed. The Empire will indeed send a few people to school, including my cousin3±íµÜ ¡°bi¨£od¨¬¡±, younger male cousin from your aunt. In this case, this particular Aunt¡¯s son.. My aunt asked me to take care of him when he started to attend the Federal Military Academy, she even specifically asked for me.¡± Qiu Guangji snorted, raised his hand and grabbed his naturally curly hair. Ning Kongran was one of his closest buddies; he could immediately symphatize with him. ¡°Let¡¯s be real here, she¡¯s probably still pissy about being married off to the Empire. So when an opportunity like this came up, she immediately seized it so she could get a piece of the Ning family¡¯s pie. Well, she¡¯s probably going to use her son to do it, she¡¯s not brave enough to do it herself, anyways. Sigh¡­ Kongran, sometimes I really feel wronged for you. Is it a blessing to be born in the Ning family? Your family might be rich, but day by day, all I see is you suffer¡ª¡± ¡°Guangji.¡± Ning Kongran interrupted him, glanced around, and said, ¡°Speak carefully, the walls have ears.¡± Qiu Guangji patted the railing, and simply refused. But he knew Ning Kongran was probably too uncomfortable with this subject. So he changed it. ¡°The mecha manufacturing competition on the VR World is coming to the final, do you want to continue participating?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Ning Kongran glanced at the opposite corridor again, then finally said, ¡°Out of all this year¡¯s participants, Xiao Luo is definitely the dark horse. In the final, I know he¡¯s going all-in.¡± ¡°All-in?¡± Qiu Guangji was surprised. His eyes were a little complicated, and he persuaded his friend in a whisper, ¡°Kongran, you don¡¯t have to work so hard. You still have five years before you graduate from advanced college too. You¡­¡± Ning Kongran shook his head, turned to look at him. Unlike his desperate crazy look on the Internet, he looked calm and collected. ¡°Guangji, time is running out. If I want to leave the Ning family smoothly after graduating from the Federal Military Academy, I will need an astronomical amount of capital. The grand prize from this competition will help me make a significant dent on that amount.¡± Plus, what he wants is not only to leave the Ning family. He also wants to get rid of the enmity from his mother¡¯s family and takes what¡¯s left of his younger brother4of his younger brother, not from his younger brother, to be clear.. Chu Yan stayed at school for training again this week. After school, Qiao Zhiya came to the south gate alone, got into the black hover car ¨C still being stared by his classmates ¨C and went home together with Chu Rong. ¡°Go to the ancient martial arts hall tomorrow.¡± After he got in the car, Chu Rong ordered him with a no-nonsense attitude. Then, he added, ¡°Master Ren also wants to give you news about your patent experiments. He asked me to take you to his lab when you have the time. But basically, the experiment can start anytime. I think you can go tomorrow¡¯s morning if you want.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go there then,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded very obediently to the arrangement. He looked at Chu Rong¡¯s stinky face. He slinked closer to the grumpy Marshal, then put his gloved fingers to his pointy ear. With a childish-tone whisper, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that day. I really forgot the time when I started to repair the energy blade. I promise I will pay more attention in the future.¡± Chu Rong wouldn¡¯t pass up this opportunity to play with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s squishy ears. It¡¯s a good stress-reliever. He especially liked it when he could feel the spiritual power simulator earrings on Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Did you eat well at noon?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded again, ¡°I do.¡± Then, he began to smile and asked back with more affection, ¡°As for you, did you have a good meal? Is the military department busy now?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s mood has completely calmed down. He still gently pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears, though. He skipped the first question, then replied, ¡°Not busy. When will your winter vacation begin? I just have time to train with you.¡± Training? Qiao Zhiya froze, strained his ears, and looked up at him carefully. ¡°What¡¯s with your reaction?¡± Ancestor Chu narrowed his eyes and became unhappy again. ¡°I, I want to skip grades next term. So¡­ I have to make up classes during the winter vacation¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya replied. Seeing the White-Haired Monster¡¯s face darken suddenly, he hugged him, rubbed his face into the Marshal¡¯s chest like a small animal, and quickly explained: ¡°I just want to learn faster , go to school earlier, so I can make mechas for you earlier. You understand me¡­ right?¡± After speaking, he looked up at him expectantly. ¡°Sit down properly.¡± Chu Rong reprimanded him, but he didn¡¯t push him away. Half of his anger was wiped away by him, and seeing him looking up so pitifully, he couldn¡¯t help but raise his hand to cover his face. He pushed back the Bald Chicken, and finally reluctantly compromised,¡±You still must persist in the morning training every day.¡± He¡¯s not in a hurry to train the Bald Chicken. So long as he gradually improves with each session, it¡¯s fine. Next year, Xiao Yan will enter the advanced college branch of the Federal Military Academy, so if the Bald Chicken could join him together because of his grade-skipping, it¡¯s great. Xiao Yan could prevent any sort of bullying. Thinking of this, he rubbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair again, and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t study hard, your helmet will be confiscated.¡± The White-Haired Monster agreed so easily! Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment, and then immediately became pleasantly surprised. He couldn¡¯t help hugging him for a while, and said happily, ¡°You are so kind, you are the best! I will study hard, and try to skip a few more grades!¡± ¡®Stupid Bald Chicken,¡¯ Chu Rong pinched his ears again. He glanced at the military uniform with many buttons sewn on the chest, and began to think about wearing training uniforms with no buttons as much as possible at home during the holidays. With the permission from the White-Haired Monster, Qiao Zhiya officially began to select paid classes after putting the long knife up for sale. He has now completed the most elementary material understanding and tool use courses in mecha manufacturing, and he has also learned part of material handling. The next focus was to learn the ratio of multi-material combinations for creating useful alloys and many ways to make primary parts. The fourth grade course focused on the former, while the fifth grade focused on the later. After learning those basics, only then could the students truly enter the door of mecha manufacturing. If he wanted to successfully skip to the fourth grade, that alloy-making must be mastered quickly. This was the kind of knowledge that the AI teacher couldn¡¯t teach him effectively. His eyes turned around the paid classrooms that met his requirements. He chose a few of the most famous and popular classrooms, and paid the trial class fee. Two hours later, Qiao Zhiya, who had only the last trial fee left, stood in the course selection square with his brows deeply furrowed. The more famous the teacher, the more students there were, and the less energy the teacher allocated to each student. He has to keep up with the schedule. This kind of teacher with many students was obviously not suitable for him. Moreover, the knowledge taught by these popular teachers was too general. What he wanted to learn was the real application, not listening to the teacher explaining to him the content of his textbook. Holding the last trial fee, he skipped those paid classes with high popularity and many students. Instead, he looked around at the options where the teaching quality was judged to be excellent by the system, but the number of students was relatively small. Finally, he selected the class with zero students. It was a teacher who preferred giving private lessons. This should be perfect for him. After the system deducted the fee, the scene around him changed, and he appeared in a classroom. The short-bearded old man who was sitting behind the podium flipping through the textbooks immediately looked over. His blood-red eyes were a little gloomy, making Qiao Zhiya¡¯s scalp numb when he saw the teacher was looking at him. ¡°Uh¡­ Hello, teacher.¡± Qiao Zhiya obediently greeted. In the real world, his ears twitched nervously. Thankfully, his avatar¡¯s ears didn¡¯t move at all. Qiao Zhiya understood the reason why the popularity of this classroom was so low despite the excellent quality. The teachers in other popular classrooms all made themselves handsome and beautiful. This teacher¡­ was unique in his appearance, to say the least. He looked intimidating, for one. This must have looked unpleasant to the majority of students, which were children. The old man put down his textbook, scrutinizing him, then nodded his head. He stood up and asked, ¡°You come to try my class?¡± His voice was hoarse, not too pleasant to the ear. But his attitude was gentle. Qiao Zhiya relaxed, smiled at him, and replied, ¡°Yes, I do. I¡¯m going to trouble this teacher.¡± ¡°Which lesson do you want to learn?¡± The old man didn¡¯t talk much. He opened the textbook and asked directly. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly talked about his current learning progress, especially explaining that he needs to catch up with the progress now, and it was best to teach at a fast pace. ¡°Fast pace?¡± The old man glanced at him, got up suddenly, and pressed the button on the podium. He pointed to the three virtual materials that suddenly appeared in mid-air, and said, ¡°The trial class lasts for a quarter of an hour. If you can follow along before the end, then I will continue to teach you.¡± After finishing speaking, he picked up a part of the lesson, and started to teach while operating the hologram. Qiao Zhiya did not expect that he would start teaching directly, so he was caught off-guard. Honestly, he was confused. Seeing the system, he should be the one who chose the teacher, right? So why was this old man said that he¡¯s the one who chose him instead? If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 38.1 Sorry for the late update! My real life is kicking me in the ass right now lol. Anyways, today I uploaded a bonus chapter, sponsored by the lovely Kris Xian and Jess Crafting! Next ko-fi donation goals for bonus chapter (0/2 ko-fi) Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Yun Xiachu: MC¡¯s classmate, a first-grader at intermediate college. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. For the three virtual materials, the bearded teacher demonstrated their processing methods. He quickly explained their respective characteristics and which mecha part they were suitable for, and finally cross-explained the effects of their respective combinations and matching. It seemed with every iteration of combination, the function would also change. It was quite confusing. The teacher¡¯s material handling was proficient and beautiful. Although the speed was fast, he had a sense of rhythm, which allowed Qiao Zhiya to see every subtle movement with careful eyes. His explanation was also very concise and to the point. Overall, it was very easy to understand. The more Qiao Zhiya listened, the brighter his eyes became, and the more excited his mood became¡ªas expected of a classroom rated as excellent by the system, the teaching content was really sufficient and neat! Much better than those big-name teachers with multiple students! When the fifteen minute trial was up, the bearded teacher put down the materials, chose to extend the trial class time, and said to Qiao Zhiya, ¡°I¡¯ll give you another fifteen minutes to show how much you learn. How about you remake what I just demonstrated?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t bother to answer that verbally. He immediately got up and walked to the three virtual materials, took out the notes just written down, took a deep breath, and did it. He was exceedingly nervous, but he knew that he must stay in this classroom! Because of anxiety and unfamiliarity with the materials, his attempt was several levels worse than the teacher. But he knew his limits, so he just tried his best. He aimed for quality, not speed. Although his method of materials handling was jerky at best, his steps were all correct. The end product was expected, as the ratio and placements were good enough. After he finished the assembly, he explained his work. He even put forward some opinions of his own, which showed that he has a solid foundation in mineral knowledge. The bearded old man listened to his explanation quietly, nodding his head from time to time, his eyes tolerant and encouraging. Qiao Zhiya was influenced by him, and his tension gradually eased, and his speech gradually became smoother. After the fifteen minutes time limit expired, Qiao Zhiya put down the materials ahead of time, but he knew that his presentation this time was unqualified¡ªhe had not processed one of the materials, and only repeated its characteristics and functions. The bearded teacher extended the trial class time again, walked up to the material, and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you deal with this material? You obviously have time.¡± With the time left, it might not be enough, but he probably could finish it halfway through. There was indeed time, but¡­Qiao Zhiya gave him an embarrassed look, and replied in almost a whisper, ¡°Sorry laoshi, my level of spiritual power is not enough to handle this¡­¡± This last material was one that needs to be processed directly with spiritual power. For now, his access to the Internet was thanks to the Stone Grass, which only gave him E-level spiritual power. While material processing here was different from the real world, it still had the same spiritual power requirement, which was C-level. E-level spiritual power was too fragile, and it was rare to be able to move freely in the VR world. If he overdraft his spiritual world, the safety protocol of the Starnet Cabin would kick him out. Long story short, his current level of spiritual power was only enough to log him in. The bearded teacher only stroked his long beard, the redness in his eyes seemed to become deeper. He looked at Qiao Zhiya silently, as if he was looking at someone who looked stranger than him. Qiao Zhiya was uncomfortable by this staring. If anything, he became more embarrassed. ¡°I have carefully observed the way you handle the materials. What you need to deal with the materials with spiritual power is stability and tolerance. I wrote this down, and I will improve my spiritual power later. And¡­ when the time comes, you, you¡­¡± After successfully simulating spiritual power with magic power, he would be able to freely process materials in the VR world. He hoped that the teacher could continue to teach him by then, but by now, he still didn¡¯t know how to convert magical power into spiritual power. He wanted to make a promise so the teacher would continue teaching him, but he couldn¡¯t come up with a sufficient one. Finally, he just lowered his head dejectedly, bowed to the bearded man, and said, ¡°Thank you for your teaching, I hope to have the opportunity to be your student in the future, I¡¯m sorry for wasting your time. ¡° The teacher even extended the trial class twice, which signalled his sincerity. On the other hand, he, as the student, could repay him properly thanks to his deficient spiritual power level. If the teacher had a bad temper, he might not be able to resist beating him up. With other paid teachers, he could have the cheek to suggest that they only teach the parts of the material that didn¡¯t need spiritual power to process for the time being. But in front of this teacher, he felt guilty for no reason, probably because the other party also showed the idea of ??selecting students. With other teachers, he was the one who chose with money. The bearded man never replied, which only further aggravated his embarrassment. He bowed as he apologized again, and prepared to leave the classroom. ¡°No need for the future.¡± The bearded man suddenly said a second before he left, and he immediately stopped the exit button and looked up at him. ¡°I¡¯ll accept you as a student. But with a special condition. If your spiritual power hasn¡¯t improved by the time we got into the course that requires that level of spiritual power, then you leave directly.¡± The bearded man compromised. If Qiao Zhiya looked carefully, he might have spotted the teacher¡¯s hidden smile. The older man continued, ¡°Go to pay the course fee, I¡¯ll wait for you in the classroom.¡± The surprise came so suddenly, Qiao Zhiya stared wide-eyed, fully stunned for several seconds before he bowed excitedly to the bearded teacher again. ¡°I¡¯ll continue¡ªuh¡­¡± The weapon hasn¡¯t been sold yet, and he has no money now¡­ Seeing him looking over with that embarrassed look again, the smile on the bearded man¡¯s face disappeared, he frowned slightly, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± After finally meeting a smarter student, why are there so many hindrances? ¡°Well, can I come back in two days? I don¡¯t have the money to renew right now¡­ sorry!¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed as he spoke, and quickly apologized again. Fuck. Why did he forget to obtain the money¡­ The bearded teacher began to look at him in silence with that deep look again, but this time his silence was shorter. Soon, he waved his hand and said, ¡°Two days later, no matter whether you have the money to renew, come and see me once. You can log off now. It¡¯s getting too late, go to sleep.¡± After finishing speaking, he left the classroom directly. The teacher left, the paid class was automatically closed, and Qiao Zhiya was escorted out by the system. Standing in the course selection screen, he looked at the locked classroom, and couldn¡¯t help showing a satisfied smile ¡ª this teacher seemed to have a good temper, although his appearance was a bit strange. After logging off, he looked at the time and saw that it was not ten o¡¯clock, so he hurriedly got up from the bed, first put away the helmet, then drank a large bottle of water. Finally, he picked up his pillow and sneaked into Chu Rong¡¯s room. The door wasn¡¯t locked, and it opened with an easy push. He poked his head in and took a look, and heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom. He was overjoyed by his luckiness, ran to the bed with a silent trot, lifted the quilt, and quickly climbed up. After Chu Rong took a shower, seeing that it was just ten o¡¯clock, he wiped his hair casually, put on his bathrobe, left the room, and walked to the next door. Qiao Zhiya, who was hiding under the quilt, froze when he heard the opening of the door. He hurriedly rolled into the bed and pretended to sleep on his side. He also covered his ears with his own smaller pillow, trying to pretend that he couldn¡¯t hear the sound and was already asleep. No one answered the knock on the door, Chu Rong thought that Qiao Zhiya was still on the Internet. His face darkened, and he turned the doorknob to go in, but what he saw was an empty bed and a pillow that was obviously missing from it. He immediately understood what was going on. With raised eyebrows, he turned and walked towards his own room. On his bed, there was a small lump inside the quilt. There was a peek of light blue pillow, and on top of that, was a tuft of messy blond hair. ¡°Qiao Zhiya.¡± He stood by the bed and called out to the quilt. The quilt didn¡¯t move, as if the person inside had fallen asleep. But Chu Rong knew how the youth would really sleep ¨C his breath was different. The rate of the was too uniform, so this Bald Chicken definitely was only pretending. Ancestor Chu sneered, bent over to lift off the quilt, pulled out the pillow and pulled him over. Seeing that he was frowning and closing his eyes, trying to pretend to be asleep, he laughed angrily, and pinched his nose with his hand. Qiao Zhiya was slowly blushing, so stupid that he didn¡¯t remember to breathe through his mouth until he was out of breath, and his ears were quivering with tension. This was really¡­ Ancestor Chu couldn¡¯t get angry anymore, but he couldn¡¯t laugh either. He let go of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s nose, turned to pinch his ears, and ordered coldly, ¡°Open your eyes, and go back to your room to sleep.¡± The long eyelashes trembled, but he still refused to open his eyes. ¡®No, no. I must continue! I must try to treat this White-Haired Monster again. Dwarves never give up!¡¯ Very resilient. Ancestor Chu looked at him deeply for a few seconds, then suddenly stretched out his arms and picked him up, then turned around and strode towards the next room. ¡°!!!¡± The youth¡¯s slender body was picked up like a sack of potato, making Qiao Zhiya open his eyes in reflex. He hurriedly wrapped his limbs around the Marshal to try stabilize his body¡¯s balance. With a strong grip on the taller man¡¯s clothes, he protested, ¡°No! Don¡¯t¨C! I want to sleep with you!¡± ¡°Finally stop pretending to sleep?¡± Chu Rong was unmoved, asked coldly, and then ruthlessly refused, ¡°You are already an adult, go sleep by yourself.¡± ¡° ¡°But the treatment¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Chu Rong couldn¡¯t bear this squirmy mass of Bald Chicken. He messed up the blond hair ruthlessly as a warning. His irritability level shot up. He was fine with Qiao Zhiya making a fuss out of petty things, but he¡¯s a responsible guardian, so he would stop him if it threatened his health. Qiao Zhiya shut up, held his breath, and clung to him even harder ¡ª he would try it until the end! When the two came to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s room, Chu Rong bent down and tried to put him on the bed, but he was entangled even tighter. ¡°Qiao Zhiya.¡± He frowned. Qiao Zhiya reached for the bed, then swished the bed back into his storage storage ring ¨C making it disappear ¨C then turned around and continued to hug him. Chu Rong: ¡°¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was doing willful things but was very weak in his heart, explained weakly, ¡°I want to sleep with you, and I promise not to use the in-depth treatment method before. I came up with a gentle method ¡ªAh! my ears!¡± ¡°Get off me.¡± Ignoring the youth¡¯s squeals, Chu Rong grabbed his ear with a dark face and tugged it threateningly. Qiao Zhiya pouted, looked at him with red eyes, then coquettishly buried his head on the older man¡¯s shoulder. With a soft voice on the verge of (fake) tears, he whined, ¡°It hurts¡­¡± He shook his ears pitifully as he spoke. Chu Rong¡¯s hands froze, and he let go of the tip of the ears he was pinching just now. Seeing that it was indeed a little red, he frowned ¡ª it was obvious that he didn¡¯t use much effort, and it was just a little bit heavier than the previous pinching force. This ear was so sensitive? ¡°Sorry.¡± He touched his ear lightly again, his tone eased, and he explained with a frown, ¡°Still, get off me. As I said, the current treatment won¡¯t work¡­ not even mild ones.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unspoken explanation was directly blocked back. He blushed ¡ª ashamed of lying and pretending that his ears hurt and deceived him just now. His reddened eyes were the result of using his magic powers to slightly irritate his eyeballs. While his shaky voice was just his natural voice after being prodded by his own guilty conscience. As he gently grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s clothes, he whispered: ¡°Then I will die, I don¡¯t want to sleep alone. Mom and Dad slept with me¡­¡± ¨Cbefore the age of five. Chu Rong looked down at him. Qiao Zhiya looked back with red eyes, with obvious anticipation and longing on his face. ¡­forget it. He was the Bald Chicken¡¯s parental-figure now. He has¡­ an obligation to fulfill. Stupid Bald Chicken. Chu Rong frowned as he soothingly rubbed the reddened ears. Then, he hugged him, turned around, and walked towards his own room. With a slight frown, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll allow it only for today. Qiao Zhiya, you are already an adult, so you can¡¯t rely too much on your parents.¡± Qiao Zhiya rolled his eyes secretly. But he still hurriedly lowered his head to cover his expression, rubbed his face to Chu Rong¡¯s solid chest endearingly and nodded. In Chu Rong¡¯s eyes, the stupid Bald Chicken looked pitiful buried into his chest. He sighed, and nodded to the youth with a frown. ¡®Maybe tomorrow night too¡­¡¯ He frowned and thought, raised his hand and rubbed his pointed ears that were no longer shaking from the pain. Sleeping with Chu Rong as he wished, Qiao Zhiya happily put his smaller blue pillow next to Chu Rong¡¯s gray pillow. He laid down obediently, and looked at him expectantly with wide eyes. Chu Rong paused when he lifted the quilt. He first turned off the lights, then he waited until he could no longer feel the youth squirming as he tried to find a comfortable position. He hugged the youth¡¯s body across the quilt, patted it lightly, and said, ¡°Close your eyes and go to sleep, it¡¯s past ten o¡¯clock.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded cooperatively, reached out and grabbed the corner of his pajamas, and closed his eyes obediently. Because of his habit, he quickly fell asleep. Chu Rong knew how disobedient this stupid Bald Chicken actually was, so he waited until Qiao Zhiya fell asleep before stuffing his pillow with a few pieces of jade. But later, he was worried that the jade would make the pillow too hard, so he set it aside near the pillow instead. Finally satisfied, he locked his spiritual power and closed his eyes to sleep. CH 38.2 In the middle of the night, the big bottle of water he drank before going to bed worked, and Qiao Zhiya was successfully woken up by needing to pee. Sure enough, there were a few jades besides his pillow, and this time they were all his favorite wood-elemental magic stones. And indeed, his magic power was immediately drawn to these jades. He looked at the sleeping Chu Rong. His cheeks puffed up in irritation, forcibly withdrew his magic power, then condensed it into a thin thread, and surrounded Chu Rong with them. Chu Rong, who was sleeping, seemed to have noticed something. He frowned and was about to wake up, Qiao Zhiya hastily increased the output of wood-type magic power, and even specially separated some to turn around his head. The wood-type magic power has a soothing and healing effect, and the hypnotic effect was also very good. Chu Rong, who could not sense the specific location of the magic power, was quickly affected, his frowning brows slowly relaxed, and he fell into a deep sleep again. He breathed a sigh of relief, controlled his magic power to surround Chu Rong, then carefully climbed out of the bed, and ran towards the bathroom barefoot ¨C he really needed to pee now! Chu Rong, who was sleeping while being blanked by the magic power, was completely unaware of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s brief departure. By the time Qiao Zhiya came back, the added weight on the mattress instinctively made Chu Rong try to hug him in his sleep. Now both of them were surrounded by wood magic. Qiao Zhiya adjusted his posture, rubbed his head against Chu Rong¡¯s chest ¨C which might be hard, but the muscle felt rather nice. He was not lying when he said he had come up with a mild treatment method. Just treat the surface in a roundabout way. He slowly removed the magical blanket, only to condensed it into a thread and circled it around. He used his fingers as a guide to shape this thread into a magical array. If he can succeed, the White-Haired Monster¡¯s illness will heal faster. It was quite a difficult task for his level of control. Fortunately, there was emerald jade next to the pillow, making it very convenient to replenish his magic power. Finally, the magical array was finally completed with difficulty. After finishing the last stroke, white soft light flashed, and an emerald green complex magic circle ¨C that only he could see ¨C formed in mid-air. It slowly rotated towards the two of them on the bed, releasing rich healing magic power. Qiao Zhiya relaxed his body as if he was exhausted, touched a wood-elemental magic stone to replenish his magic power, and looked at the healing magic circle in midair with some joy. It¡¯s done! Although the maintenance time would not be too long, the effect of the magic circle drawn entirely by magic power is much better than the magic circle activated only by the magical stones. This effort was not in vain. ¡®Now the White-Haired Monster¡¯s illness will heal faster¡­¡¯ He thought happily. He was exhausted, and he fell asleep not long after. Chu Rong, who was lying next to him and should have been in a deep sleep, suddenly frowned, and instinctively tightened his hold on the youth. In the morning, Qiao Zhiya woke up late thanks to his midnight secret excursion. The strange thing was that Chu Rong didn¡¯t scold him, but kept looking at him with unfathomable eyes while he was eating breakfast, and touched his head from time to time. Qiao Zhiya was very guilty, and guessed that Chu Rong must¡¯ve discovered something. But so long he didn¡¯t speak first, he wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to expose himself. He could only bury the entanglement in his heart, and obediently followed Chu Rong to a house near the ancient martial arts hall. The name of the hall was very ordinary, with only one word ¡°Îä1¡°Wu¡± ; martial/military¡± written on a wooden sign with a gorgeous calligraphy work. The inside was very large and spacious, there were many students, and the facilities looked very high-end. ¡°Marshal!¡± Seeing them coming in, a slender, middle-aged man greeted them with a formal smile. With a happy tone, he said, ¡°Everyone has been talking about you for a long time, it¡¯s been a long time since you came here! Do you want to practice with everyone?¡± Chu Rong suddenly felt a lot more relaxed than usual. He nodded in response. ¡°I can stay for a day, and I will practice with you in the afternoon. Where is Lao Xu, let him come over.¡± By then, the man noticed that there was a young man behind Chu Rong. Thinking of the news he heard a while ago, he thought for a while, and probably understood the purpose of his visit this time, and replied, ¡°Lao Xu2Old Xu, it¡¯s a common nickname for a close person older than you OR about your age group. is upstairs, I¡¯ll tell him to come down right away, just wait a moment.¡± After speaking, he took out the communicator to find this person¡¯s number and sent a message. When they were communicating, Qiao Zhiya had been looking at this ancient martial arts hall. Seeing that the students scattered in the hall showed surprise after seeing Chu Rong, his ears moved. He snuck several glances at the White-Haired Monster. ¡®He must come here often. Everyone is familiar with him and likes him very much.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t be absent-minded.¡± Chu Rong suddenly turned around and rubbed his bangs, and said,¡±Old Xu will help you stretch your body in a while, it will hurt a little, bear with it.¡± Stretching exercises? Another warm-up or cool-down? Qiao Zhiya nodded with half understanding, and walked in with him. After a while, a gray-haired spiritual old man ran down from upstairs. He greeted Chu Rong with a smile on his face, then set his eyes on Qiao Zhiya. The old man looked him up and down carefully, frowned, and signaled to the staff behind him to take Qiao Zhiya to change into his training clothes. Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong, to which Chu Rong nodded in response, so he obediently followed the staff and left. While waiting, Chu Rong and Lao Xu entered a separate training room and sat down at a table in the corner. ¡°His physical development has stopped?¡± Lao Xu frowned, thought for a while, and replied, ¡°The bone strength of teenagers is not as strong as that of adults. Even if he has S-level physical aptitude, he may not be able to practice at S-level in the end. The training plan has to wait until we can be sure of his skeletal strength.¡± Chu Rong also frowned, looking at him quietly, like a parent who was unwilling to accept the teacher¡¯s comments on their underperforming child. ¡°He is very strong, and his physique is beyond S. He actually may be closer to SS.¡± This shocked the old man, as this was the first time Chu Rong denied his analysis with such a childish tone. He frowned, but smiled not long after, as if he had found the secret of the world. ¡°People said that Marshal Chu suddenly adopted a child that he loved very much, to the point of taking him to school every time. I didn¡¯t believe it at first, but now I believe it.¡± ¡°Since I¡¯m his legal guardian now, I naturally will be a responsible one.¡± Chu Rong replied flatly, not answering the question at all. Lao Xu tactfully stopped going into this topic, and turned the topic to the arrangement of the training plan. Qiao Zhiya followed the staff to the training room after changing into his training clothes. After being ordered by Chu Rong to complete a set of warm-up exercises, he walked to the middle of the field and lay down on his stomach under the request of Lao Xu. An hour later, Chu Rong took him to the bathroom with a blank expression, feeling that his limbs were no longer his own. After arriving at the bathroom, Chu Rong took off his soaked clothes, tried the water temperature in the tub, and after confirming that it was suitable, he bent down and put the youth into the tub. He helped him wipe the sweat from his forehead, and said, ¡°Soak for half an hour. This is a medicinal bath, it is good for your body.¡± Qiao Zhiya stretched his sore muscles and laid on the edge of the bathtub. ¡°Did you do the same when you were practicing martial arts?¡± When he was changing clothes, he had already learned from the staff that this ancient martial arts gym was actually run by Chu Rong. And as for the students, they actually were the first batch of mecha fighters trained for purely manual mecha driving. They were all spiritual-power ¡°disabled¡±. He compared the training schedule with his school¡¯s schedule. It was clear that this schedule was hell compared to that one. But Chu Rong only called this ¡°bitterness¡± a little pain. In order to climb back to the peak¡­ How much of this ¡°bitterness¡± did he have to force down his throat? Chu Rong looked at his distressed eyes. His expression softened as he rubbed the youth¡¯s wet hair. ¡°Everyone is like this. Are you afraid?¡± Many people just give up at the first step. Human beings spoiled by spiritual strength simply cannot bear this kind of long-term physical suffering. ¡°Not afraid.¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately shook his head. He tried to massage his sore back as he firmly said, ¡°Since you can do it, So I can do it too. It doesn¡¯t hurt that much, I can bear it.¡± His body felt like unbaked bread dough ¨C kneaded until all the gluten developed, so it¡¯s all soft and stretchy. Maybe his bones also have been reshuffled and rearranged, judging on how boneless he felt. It was the most difficult at the beginning, but after getting used to the pain, he didn¡¯t feel that uncomfortable. Reaching out like this, Chu Rong¡¯s clothes were wet and stuck uncomfortably on his skin. But he didn¡¯t care, he insisted on patting the blond¡¯s head and replied, ¡°You are raised by me, and I don¡¯t allow you to practice too hard and ruin your body. But still, I believe in you.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, then hugged him with a smile. Because of the hug, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body protruded a lot out of the water, exposing half of his chest. Chu Rong was uncomfortable. He was obviously fine looking at the half-naked Qiao Zhiya just before. But now¡­ it felt weird. It felt like he shouldn¡¯t be looking at Qiao Zhiya like this. He gave the youth one last headpats, then promptly left. Qiao Zhiya watched him go, the smile on his face disappeared. He gently rubbed the arm that Chu Rong hugged just now ¨C it really hurts, Lao Xu really wasn¡¯t kidding when he said that Chu Rong has a grip of an iron claw! Soaking in a medicated bath was also a very uncomfortable thing. At the beginning, it felt like insects were gnawing on his body, which was painful and itchy. In the later stage, the pain and itching gradually disappear, but it feels like it burns instead. It made him wanna cry. The heat felt like boiling his body, steam coming out from every pore of his skin. He sweated profusely. Not long after, the color of the bath water became cloudy, and at this point, Qiao Zhiya finally could relax. Strength came back to his body, and his vein felt cleaned up. Qiao Zhiya took a shower as fast as he could and changed into new training clothes. He opened the door and found Chu Rong who was training with Lao Xu on the field. His eyes lit up and he rushed up without hesitation. The target was the belt! Chu Rong noticed the change in the airflow behind him, and hurriedly turned to block it, but he didn¡¯t expect that the opponent just made a feint, changed his offensive stance, and grabbed the belt of his training uniform at a speed that surprised him. ¡°I succeeded!¡± Qiao Zhiya held on to his belt, his face full of unconcealable excitement. Old Xu was startled by his speed then took a step back to stop the attack. Chu Rong also withdrew his hands, glanced at his half-dried hair and rosy face and the smile of the stupid Bald Chicken¡¯s lips. He instantly took back his belt and poured a bucket of cold water of reality at him. ¡°Sneak attack is not counted, and it¡¯s a one-on-two, victory is useless.¡± Qiaz Zhiya pouted, but he knew this too. ¡°Then I will win you fair and square next time.¡± ¡°Mn. I¡¯ll wait.¡± CH 38.3 Chu Rong messed up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair again. He then turned to Lao Xu and solemnly said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave the rest to you.¡± Lao Xu quickly waved his hand to show that Chu Rong didn¡¯t have to do this, and replied, ¡°This is what I should do.¡± Qiao Zhiya fell into Lao Xu¡¯s hands again, but this time it was a normal basic inspection to see the youth¡¯s skeletal structure and health. Half an hour later, Old Xu flipped through the list in his hand, dazed and pleasantly surprised, ¡°Although his bone is slender, its hardness is much higher than that of an adult, and it is also very strong. It doesn¡¯t look like it has prematurely stopped growing and is damaged. This qualification¡­¡± Chu Rong straightened the cuffs of his training clothes slowly. ¡°Can he reach S-level physique, then?¡± With a glance, Lao Xu shook his head amusedly. ¡°Marshal, you are really¡­ sigh. Oh well. I can design a training plan for him. As long as he practices properly, it will be just a matter of time before this kid achieves success.¡± Chu Rong was finally satisfied. He snuck a glance at the excited-looking Qiao Zhiya, and a smile blossomed on his face. He really loved this feeling. After the training plan was drawn up, Qiao Zhiya finally understood the reason why Chu Rong didn¡¯t let him learn boxing with Chu Yan last weekend ¨C learning martial arts should be adjusted to one¡¯s ability. Chu Yan was suitable for boxing, but it might not be the case for him. And he also learned that since Chu Yan was ten years old ¨C that is, seven years ago ¨C he had come here regularly to adjust his training plan every month or so. He was a small master of martial arts, but he has no chance to show it off. After a day of training, Qiao Zhiya was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as she got in the car. After returning home, he ate and took a shower as if sleepwalking, and then was put on the bed by Chu Rong ¡ª the bed in his room was still in the storage ring, so Chu Rong had no other choice but to let Qiao Zhiya sleep in his bed again. Without the help of drinking a lot of water before going to bed, he slept until dawn, and naturally he couldn¡¯t do his treatment plan. He was so angry that he beat his forehead twice after getting up, and then secretly made an extra dose of potion and kept it at home. After bidding farewell to Chu Rong and returning to school, Qiao Zhiya, who finally got the money for selling the knife, immediately logged into the Internet. He found the classroom was still locked until he could pay the fee, so the paid it off immediately. He then reviewed what he learned in the last trial class while waiting for the teacher to arrive. This classroom was unique, as other classes normally were open 24 hours a day to accommodate students from different time zones and planets. Usually, there were multiple teachers in a class rotated into a shift. Compared to the bearded teacher classroom, which only had him as the sole teacher, and it was only in operation for 2 hours a day. But Qiao Zhiya doesn¡¯t care about these, he only has time to come up at night and on weekends. For him, as long as he can have a fixed meeting time with the bearded teacher during these time periods, he would be satisfied. For the rest, he could self-study. At 8 o¡¯clock in the evening, the classroom of the bearded teacher finally opened. He entered it immediately, showed him a payment card, and said excitedly, ¡°Good evening, laoshi. I have renewed the fee. Look!¡± The bearded man nodded. He motioned the youth to sit down, operated something on the podium, then directly took out the textbook. ¡°Do you remember what I taught you last time?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had been preparing for a long time, nodded immediately. He was going to tell the teacher, but he stopped the youth. Instead, he opened the textbook and said, ¡°Alright, I know you remembered it. In that case, I¡¯ll teach you something new. I¡¯ll start with the material handling, from the ones that started with A.¡± Qiao Zhiya definitely liked this learning rhythm! Very efficient! At the end of the full two-hour teaching, the bearded teacher handed him a document for him to read in his free time. They agreed on a fixed schedule, which is every Monday to Thursday from 8:00 to 10:00 pm, rest on Friday and Saturday, and resumed on every Sunday from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm with a 1 hour break in the middle. Qiao Zhiya left the classroom with a lot of enthusiasm, noticing that this paid classroom was actually marked as full of students, he was stunned, and then squinted and smiled ¡ª he seemed to be lucky enough to meet a super good teacher. A new week of classes begins, the end-of-term review month has officially arrived. This also meant that the school¡¯s mecha pilot competition has also entered the final preparation period. The time for the evening was arranged. Qiao Zhiya was worried that the energy blade could not be repaired before the start of the game, so he squeezed out the lunch break at noon, and planned to seize the time to fix Chu Yan¡¯s energy blade before the game. After all, this competition was also responsible for a huge chunk of Chu Yan¡¯s grade. After school in the morning, he turned to the campus trade area and rented a laboratory. He took out the energy blade, condensed the magic power on his fingertips, touched the repaired section of the energy blade, and penetrated the magic power into it. The energy reaction where he hammered it down with magical power last time was very chaotic. He drove the magic power around in a circle, first to appease the energy of the ore itself that was a little bit at a loss during the forging, and then along the place where it wasn¡¯t perfectly smelted. Little by little, section by section, he processed it. This was a meticulous job, but Qiao Zhiya did not have enough time, so the progress of the weapon¡¯s repair has been slowed down indefinitely. A week passed in a hurry, and it was Friday again. Qiao Zhiya left a note in the corner of the window before eating as usual, with his communication number written on it¡ªthe uncertainty of leaving a note to communicate is too high, and it was better to use a communicator. The note at the window had disappeared when he came back from the meal, and there was a box of familiar snacks in the corner. At the same time, a message came from an unfamiliar communication number, wishing him good grades in the final exam. Qiao Zhiya put away the snacks, sent a thank you message in return, and changed the name of the unfamiliar number to ¡°Ning Kongran¡±. And as for the weekends, Qiao Zhiya was taken to the ancient martial arts hall by Chu Rong to stretch his tendons several times. By the fifth time, he no longer felt pain, and he didn¡¯t feel any special feeling after taking a medicinal bath. His whole body seemed to be light. After a lap, his strength seems to have increased a bit. With results fully visible, it meant this part of his training was successful. Old Xu praised him as a natural martial arts seedling, and wanted to keep him in the ancient martial arts hall for a long time to train. Chu Rong¡¯s face turned black when he heard it, and he refused the invitation mercilessly for him, and ended the day¡¯s training ahead of schedule. This meant that starting next week, he didn¡¯t need to train there. He just need to follow the training plan at the house¡¯s gym instead. When the first snow fell on the Capital Planet, the final exam of the Intermediate Academy began. ¡°Bah. The exam this time is waaaay too easy.¡± Coming out of the exam room, Yun Xiachu snorted in arrogance. He glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was quietly watching the snow. Then, he coughed uncomfortably, and continued, ¡°I heard that your roommate finished class early and went home already. I-if, if you are afraid of living alone, I, I can take you in as an emergency ro-roommate or something! I can give you half of the bed. Of course, you have to bring your own quilt! I will not sleep with you in the same quilt! ¡°After speaking, he put on a straight face, raised his hand and pulled the hat on his head, covering his slightly hot ears. Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses and was amused by the young boy¡¯s awkward look. He helped him straighten his hat and replied, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, but the mecha competition is about to start. I have a xiao di there and I want to watch him compete.¡± The fifth grade exam was scheduled at the end, so he planned to live in Chu Yan¡¯s dormitory to cheer him up. As for the title of ¡°xiao di¡±¡­ He firmly believes that he, who has grown up in the Magic Continent, is older than Chu Yan! ¡°The younger brother you mean is Chu Yan?¡± Yun Xiachu¡¯s face stopped blushing, and he immediately said in distaste, ¡°He actually has the nerve to treat you as his caretaker. Isn¡¯t he so shameless? Anyway, just go if you like. Take care of him or something. I-I¡¯ll be fine, of course!! And uhm. Anyways, I¡¯m going home after the exam¡­¡± As he spoke, his voice became more unsteady while he blushed furiously. In the end, he hastily said something before running off, ¡°I will bring you a special product from my hometown!¡± Qiao Zhiya watched him go, squinted his eyes and smiled. Then, he went to his own dormitory. After tidying up the things in the dormitory, he first sent a message to Chu Rong, and then went directly to Chu Yan¡¯s dormitory in Campus A. Chu Yan¡¯s dormitory was also shared by two people. His roommate is Yuan Xiu, his best friend. They all know each other well, and it¡¯s fun to live together. At this time, technology showed its convenient and quick side. Chu Yan removed the sofa in the living room, took out a mobile simple cabin and placed it against the wall, and adjusted the position a little, so a separate one-bedroom, one-bathroom was installed in the living room. This was where Qiao Zhiya will live for the next few days. ¡°This is from Erge. Aiyah¡­ he really doesn¡¯t want me to have a sleepover with you huh. He said that I kick and snore in my sleep, so I¡¯ll definitely annoy you to death if we share a bed.¡± Chu Yan looked at it with disgust and hatred. He actually knew that his Erge was just overprotective over Qiao Zhiya, his future¡­ sister-in-law. Blergh. Qiao Zhiya, who was curiously observing the room, rolled his eyes. Chu Rong wasn¡¯t here but his presence could piss Chu Yan off. It¡¯s honestly awe-inspiring. ¡°Damn it! Xiang Kun actually lived next door to us! He said he was going to help Liu Hongzi overhaul his mecha and install new weapons! He¡¯s targeting us, isn¡¯t he?¡± Yuan Xiu barged in with a loud howl. ¡°What?¡± Chu Yan exploded immediately when he heard it. He rolled up his sleeves and rushed out, cursing, ¡°Okay, these two idiots actually combined together. Just in time, let¡¯s see if I don¡¯t beat them to death! Two birds in one stone, baby!!¡± Yuan Xiu was stunned and ran to him. He hugged Chu Yan¡¯s waist pleadingly and held him off. He tried his best to persuade his explosive best friend. ¡°Don¡¯t fight, don¡¯t fight, the game is about to start, you can¡¯t fist-fight them!!¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 39.1 I¡¯m back!! This chapter gets a little too detailed/technical on the forging/weapons-making side, so I have to edit it extensively until it makes sense and isn¡¯t too repetitive. While Yuan Xiu and Chu Yan were still chattering at the door, Xiang Kun had already walked out from the next door with a strong young man. ¡°I heard that your precious energy blade is broken?¡± When passing by the door of the two, Xiang Kun taunted the crazed Chu Yan without fear of death. His original plan was to run away after stimulating them. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Qiao Zhiya who came out of the living room with a cloud on his face. As soon as he saw the blond student, the provocative look on his face poofed. He frowned, glared at Chu Yan, and huffed, ¡°Why is this native here?¡± ¡°!!¡± Chu Yan choked. With subdued anger, he stabbed Yuan Xiu behind him to let him go. Then he straightened his messed up clothes, took a step sideways to block Qiao Zhiya who was approaching, and also put on a calm face. With a slightly provocative look, he glanced back and forth between Xiang Kun and Liu Hongzi, who also glared at him back. Chu Yan mustered his fiercest look, snorted coldly, and said mockingly, ¡°Ah, so the two losers teamed up. What is your team¡¯s name? Super loser?¡± ¡°You!¡± Xiang Kun immediately exploded impatiently, his delicate face twisting into an angry look. Liu Hongzi raised his hand without saying a word, clenched his fist and threw it directly at Chu Yan¡¯s face. ¡°Damn it! It¡¯s really a fight!¡± Yuan Xiu exclaimed, pulling Qiao Zhiya back to make room for Chu Yan to fight. Liu Hongzi¡¯s name might sound ancient and literary, but he looked very strong and rough. His body was full of bulging muscles, he was half a head taller than Chu Yan. His punch was fast enough to have a whistling sound as it flew into Chu Yan¡¯s face. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes sharpened, and seeing that Chu Yan did not hide at all, but instead raised his fist into his face level. It was a classic boxing posture, the one that Qiao Zhiya remembered. Thinking of Chu Yan¡¯s match the day after tomorrow, he hurriedly broke away from Yuan Xiu¡¯s hand with ingenuity, dodged over, and firmly grasped Liu Hongzi¡¯s hand from the side. He abruptly blocked his fist at a distance of 20 centimeters from Chu Yan¡¯s face. ¡°What do you want!¡± He yelled sharply, but because the voice itself was too soft, it had no deterrent effect. Chu Yan, who was ready to fight back: ¡°Uh¡­?¡± Yuan Xiu, who was easily broken free: ¡°?¡± Xiang Kun, who was standing beside Liu Hongzi, ready to attack Chu Yan: ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°!!!¡± ¡°Private fights are not allowed, or I will report it to the dormitory manager.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned and warned solemnly, bumping Chu Yan behind his shoulder to protect him. The blond¡¯s eyes swept across the faces of Xiang Kun and Liu Hongzi threateningly. With his free left hand, he took out a piece of black stone known for its hardness from the storage ring and crushed it lightly, then shook Liu Hongzi¡¯s arm, which could not be retracted no matter how hard he tried, and said, ¡°If you are injured now, you will not be able to catch up with the game the day after tomorrow. Do you want to get a zero across the board for your final exam?¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes fell on the black stone that was crushed like tofu, and their eyes were filled with fear. ¡°Fuck¡­ it¡¯s crushed¡­¡± Yuan Xiu could only comment. If he remembered it correctly, it was a black stone, so hard that it could only be cut by a machine. This Qiao Zhiya¡­ scary. Chu Yan immediately stunned, then laughed crazily. He pretended to hide behind Qiao Zhiya, glanced at Liu Hongzi¡¯s face that flushed like a pig¡¯s liver, and said deliberately, ¡°Yes, yes, be careful or else you¡¯ll get zero points for injuries. Even if you are tired of being the second placer, you can¡¯t directly jump down all the way to the bottom placer, yes? Hehehe~¡± Xiang Kun was a student in the mecha manufacturing department. He understood the hardness of the black stone better than them, and he could tell that the one crushed by Qiao Zhiya was a black stone that had not been processed by the machine. The original stone was even harder than the processed one. This Exoplanet Native was more powerful than he thought. He definitely wasn¡¯t held back by his third-degree disability and needed to be protected by others. Thinking of what his elder brother said at home, he patted Liu Hongzi unwillingly, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± Glaring at Qiao Zhiya, then looking at Chu Yan who was hiding behind Qiao Zhiya, he gritted his teeth and said angrily, ¡°Don¡¯t be complacent, Chu San! This time the second placer won¡¯t be us anymore. I¡¯m going to make sure you¡¯ll never win first place! Heh, you can cry for your weapons now.¡± After speaking, he turned around and left, regardless of whether Liu Hongzi¡¯s arm was still in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. Hearing the word ¡°weapon¡±, Qiao Zhiya frowned. He let go when Liu Hongzi pulled back his hand again, stared fiercely at him to leave, then closed the door and turned around. The seriousness on his face collapsed into a worry. With an adorable frown, he asked Chu Yan, ¡°Xiao Yan, did that big man come here often to trouble you just now? And that Xiang Kun¡­¡± Yuan Xiu stared dumbfounded at his transformation from a little tiger back into a little rabbit in a matter of a second. He covered his heart area, feeling like it almost jumped out from the sheer fear and shock ¡ª as expected, as long as they were connected with the Chu family, they couldn¡¯t be normal. ¡°No, no, a reckless man like Liu Hongzi can only be cruel. I usually ignore him, and besides, I don¡¯t have time to talk to him. I need to train.¡± Chu Yan spoke lies without blinking, and patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder twice in a comforting gesture, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will definitely win the first place this time, and I will piss them off! Hahaha!¡± Then, he got up and continued, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that kid Xiang Kun to help Liu Hongzi. He used to be a complete loner. He thought that the students in our Campus A were not worthy of his skills. Although he has a bit of a temper, he is still a member of the Xiang family. I hate to admit it, but he was rather skilled in mecha manufacturing.¡± ¡°In my analysis, looking at your condition objectively ¨C your main weapon, the energy blade was broken, and you haven¡¯t gotten used to your new one. In the likely case that Liu Hongzi got a new weapon thanks to Xiang Kun, you are¡­ more likely to lose.¡± Chu Yan was dissatisfied and glared at him as a result. He barked back, ¡°Are you so unconfident in my strength? Weapons are not good enough to determine the result! As long as I can maximize my strengths and cover up my weaknesses, I can use my skills to kill them. What are you talking about Yuan Xiu? Huh?¡± ¡°¡­hey, that was just an analysis! I know you worked hard.¡± Yuan Xiu immediately said after giving Qiao Zhiya a wink as a signal. ¡®What face is there to hold on to now, won¡¯t it be more shameful if you lose?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya, who had been listening silently without making a sound, noticed the change in Yuan Xiu¡¯s expression. With a tense face, he side-eyed Chu Yan who was optimistic with his own strength. Thinking of the energy blade that was about to be repaired, he felt hesitant to say anything for now. After tidying up the room, Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu went to the training hall of Campus A for training, while Qiao Zhiya came to the trade area and rented a laboratory again. It took two hours to sort out the last part of the energy blade to be repaired. He took a long breath and took out a magic stone to replenish his magic power. Looking at the energy blade that had been repaired in front of him, he reached out and touched it gently. After hesitating for a moment, he put it away first. After returning to the dormitory, the three of them got together to have a lively meal. Then, Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu got together to think about tactics, while Qiao Zhiya went back to his temporary dormitory room to take classes on the VR World. Of course, he kept this as a secret, to the point he had to lie to Yuan Xiu who thought he was going to bed early. After all, the matter of him using his supposedly-empty ¡°spiritual¡± power has to be kept on the hush-hush. Early the next morning, Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu rushed to the main auditorium to participate in the opening ceremony of the final competition in Campus A. Qiao Zhiya did not join in the fun, but came to the trade area again, set the communicator to the ¡°do not disturb¡± mode, and took out the energy blade. The energy blade, which has been alienated from its internal structure, has returned to its previous power. Because it has been tempered by magic powers, its performance was higher than before. It must be enough for the competition. But¡­ remembering Yuan Xiu¡¯s analysis, he became concerned. With Xiao Yan¡¯s personality, losing to Liu Hongzi and Xiang Kun would definitely be hard for him. In order to deal with the possible secret weapon, he planned to add a layer of insurance to the energy blade. After replenishing his magic power, he covered himself and the energy blade with a protective cover, then squatted on the energy blade. With a condensed magic power on his fingertips, he began to draw a magic circle on the energy blade. This was the second time he has drawn a magic circle on a weapon. The first time was for a giant sword, which almost got him into trouble. This time he thought about it for a long time, and decided to draw a magic circle on Chu Yan¡¯s energy blade. However, he had made preparations in advance. By asking the bearded teacher and looking through the mineral encyclopedia, he found a translucent mineral that could be used to decorate weapons, and bought a lot of them online! He decided to draw the most common augmentation magic array, which was not difficult. But because it covered a huge area, it required a lot of magic power and had to be done in one go. It was a challenge to the stability and patience of his magic power output. Two hours later, when the last stroke landed, he withdrew his hand that was drenched in sweat. Instead of activating the formation, he took out a magic stone with a pale face to replenish his-almost dry magic pool, and took a breath before taking it out. He put a top-level metal-type magic stone in the center of the magical array, then activated the formation first. With that, he could try to mobilize the energy of the stone itself to carefully fuse the two parts together ¨Cso that the magic circle and the energy blade are connected into a whole, evenly covering every corner of the weapon. After doing all this, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s stomach was already screaming with hunger. He took out a nutrient solution and drank it. While doing that, he looked all over the energy blade, which now was covered with dark-and-golden gorgeous lines. He was quite satisfied with his work. However, this attempt couldn¡¯t be counted as successful, as its power was directly halved thanks to the lack of magic particles in the air. Plus, he didn¡¯t need to bother to integrate the energy of the stone itself into the array to prolong the activation time of the formation. This meant that the formation would run out of energy faster than usual, especially because the weapon itself was huge. Sure enough, model weapons were easier to make as they were smaller, and thus, could be strengthened by just drawing a basic magic circle. For example, the giant sword did not need him to add magic stones to increase its effect, and he did not need to find a way to fuse¡­ Wait¨C Why don¡¯t he¡­ just use the energy of the stone to fuel the magical array? Qiao Zhiya was still fundamentally exhausted, and so his brain circuit was lagging. He sat up abruptly and looked at the energy blade. After realizing what he had done, he quickly squatted down on the energy blade again, stretched out his hand, and sensed the magic power circulation inside the energy blade. It slowly lit up, which made him shriek in joy. Yes, how could he forget! The energy in the stone can also be added to the power cycle of the magical array, as they were fundamentally the same ¨C energy was energy! Although there were no magic particles flowing in the air in this world for some reason, the creatures themselves all contain the source of magic elements¡ªlife force! Although stone was not a living thing, but because of its own energy storage and indispensability to nature, it does contain some level of magical energy. In the Magic Continent, everyone would use the magic array to assist in casting weapons. Some masters would try to carve a magic array into the weapon to improve the function and power of the weapon, such as his small hammer. But because ¡°magic¡± itself was ubiquitous there, only a handful of people would use the stone to ¡°power¡± the circuit of the array. Because compared to the power inside the stone, the magical particles in the air were much more abundant! Moreover, fusing these two parts was also a very exhausting task, and in the end, it wasn¡¯t cost-effective enough to be a common practice. But in here¡­ it was a completely different story. It was different from the giant sword, where he used the array only for the forging process. This time, the array was directly used for strengthening and giving extra effect on the energy blade. That¡¯s why he needed to power it up. By extension, if this method of fusion formation was applied to minerals, or to draw attack formations on weapons¡­ the effect should be¡­ explosive. Oh¡­ he couldn¡¯t wait to experiment with it!! He needed to make a continuous formation, so it could be self-sustaining. Which was quite a monumental task for an array newbie like him. Falling deep into his thoughts, the blond elf touched the dark golden lines on the energy blade that seemed to be shining, his little face flushed with excitement. After studying this thoroughly, maybe he would be able to produce a large number of secondary mutant red tin ore, and Master Ren would no longer have to worry about the test data of the giant sword. The White-Haired Monster should also be very happy¡­ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes flashed with excitement as he blinked. He couldn¡¯t help but show a big smile, too. CH 39.2 After the opening ceremony of the final competition, Qiao Zhiya called Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu to the trade area with a communicator, and led them into a mecha battle training room rented in advance. ¡°Qiao, what are you renting this for? There is a free mecha combat training room in Campus A, and Yuan Xiu and I can use it casually.¡± Chu Yan asked with confusion in his voice, feeling a little sour in his heart. Renting a training room was not cheap, this one was the most high-end one, and naturally, the price was super expensive. Since Qiao really looked casual when renting it, that means his pocket money must be more than enough. Erge really has a ridiculous double-standard! Qiao Zhiya first turned off the video recording function in the training room, then took out a space button and put it in Chu Yan¡¯s hand. With a smile, he said cheerfully, ¡°Here, I promised to fix it for you.¡± ¡°What is thi¡ª huh? My energy blade? You really fixed it for me?¡± Chu Yan was so startled that he almost jumped up after seeing the contents of the space button. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, and then at the energy blade in the space button that seemed to have been restored to its original appearance. He rarely stuttered, but this time, he did, ¡°You, how did you do it? I thought you¡­¡± ¡°Go and try it out, the competition is going to be tomorrow. So you should find out how it feels for you.¡± Qiao Zhiya urged, looking at Yuan Xiu again, and continued, ¡°Xiao Xiu, help him try out the weapon. Don¡¯t try it with your own weapon, use this training room¡¯s normal standard weapons that are provided free.¡± The shadow of the giant sword smashing the table was still there, so he didn¡¯t dare to gamble with Yuan Xiu¡¯s weapons. Yuan Xiu was still in shock, and asked in surprise, ¡°Qiao, can you still repair mecha weapons?¡± ¡®Isn¡¯t this guy in the direction of mechanical design? Isn¡¯t it spiritually weak? Doesn¡¯t he have a third-degree disability? Has the federal definition of a third-degree disability changed?¡¯ ¡°I just blindly repaired it, and I also asked the teacher for help¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya replied vaguely in embarrassment. Seeing this, Chu Yan hurriedly bluffed to divert his friend¡¯s attention, took out his own mecha first, and shouted loudly while getting on the mecha, ¡°Yuan Xiu, come quickly, help me to try the weapon.¡± ¡®It turned out that there was a teacher to help¡­¡¯ Yuan Xiu calmed down a little, looked at his friend¡¯s gray mecha, and couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes. He reluctantly took out his mecha and got ready. He was used to be Chu Yan¡¯s sparring partner, so he could do this on the fly. After the two got on the mechs, Yuan Xiu went to the side of the training field and picked up a standard weapon in his hand, while Chu Yan took out the energy blade. Chu Yan held it, waved it casually, and found that the feeling in his hand was not bad. Didn¡¯t the energy blade break before? He was a little surprised that it looked flawless. At the beginning, when Qiao Zhiya said that he would help him repair the weapon, he gave it away without thinking it might be repaired perfectly. He didn¡¯t want to break Qiao Zhiya¡¯s confidence, so he put on a carefree face. He didn¡¯t think that the blond youth would really repair it. After all, Qiao has only been studying with mecha manufacturing for a short time, so he probably didn¡¯t even recognize all the materials, and repairing weapons was too different from what he studied. That boy Xiang Kun has learned how to make mechas for so many years, but he could only check and repair the mechas on a daily basis and fix minor problems on the parts. Qiao was already very good at being on this level for now. Thinking like this, he reached out to open the internal communication of the mecha, connected the voice with Yuan Xiu, then turned off the external speaker, and said, ¡°Just hold the weapon and make casual gestures, don¡¯t use too much force, so as not to damage this energy blade again. I don¡¯t want Qiao to suffer.¡± Yuan Xiu rolled his eyes again, turned off the loudspeaker tacitly, and replied, ¡°Understood, then I will stand still, while you can use the weapon. You can decide how hard you use it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After the two communicated, Yuan Xiu¡¯s red mecha stood still, and only raised his weapon and assumed a defensive posture. While the gray mecha that Chu Yan was driving attacked him with an ¡°aggressive¡± energy blade swing. ¡°Boom!¡± The two weapons collided without any sparks splashing, and then there was a sharp ¡°crack¡± sound. One of the weapons cracked under pressure, broke in two, then the broken part flew directly due to the momentum and fell to the ground. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Yan immediately panicked, ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, Qiao! I broke the energy blade again with too much force, and it¡¯s all my fault!¡± ¡°No.¡± Yuan Xiu manipulated the mecha until it was in front of Chu Yan¡¯s mecha. Then, he stretched out the standard weapon that was broken in half so Chu Yan could see it. He continued with an absentminded-look on his face, ¡°It¡¯s the weapon in my hand that broke. It¡¯s gone.¡± The gray mecha froze in place, slowly lowered its head, and looked at the intact energy blade in his hand. ¡®¡­Oh my God, we seem to have seen a miracle.¡¯ They did not turn on the external loudspeaker when they communicated, so in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes, the two mechas stood ¡°intimately¡± together after the fight. They chatted while looking at the broken weapon, while Chu Yan¡¯s mecha hand seemed to be waving the energy blade around. The energy blade was more powerful than he had imagined, and he let go of the shackle in his heart. Qiao Zhiya turned off the protective cover of the spectator seat, walked to the feet of the two mechas, turned on his speaker, and asked, ¡°Xiao Yan, how does the energy blade feel? Are you still used to it?¡± When repairing and strengthening the blade, Qiao Zhiya still used extra material that made the weight of the blade increase. He was afraid it would affect Chu Yan¡¯s weapons balance when using it. The gray mecha looked down at him, paused for a while, and then Chu Yan¡¯s voice came out, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say about the hand feel. Qiao, you go back to the spectator stand first, and I will try it with Yuan Xiu.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded in understanding. He turned around and returned to the spectator seats, opened the protective cover, and continued to watch their battle. Coaxing Qiao Zhiya back with excitement, Chu Yan hurriedly took out the replacement energy blade that Chu Rong bought for him and threw it to Yuan Xiu, saying, ¡°Quick, let¡¯s give it a good fight this time!¡± Yuan Xiu also returned from his daze. Fascinated, eager to try, he caught the energy blade and said, ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s fight hard!¡± After the two became serious, the level of the battle immediately became fierce. Qiao Zhiya, who didn¡¯t know how to drive mechas at all, was very confused and couldn¡¯t keep up with their movements. The speed of their attacks made the blond youth a little anxious ¨C if he couldn¡¯t see it clearly, he didn¡¯t know how to objectively evaluate the strength of the magical array on the energy blade. ¡°bang bang bang!¡± The sound of weapons clashing kept coming. After fighting for about five minutes, Chu Yan had completely adapted to the current feel of the energy blade, so he stopped restraining his strength and raised the energy blade to swing the weapon at Yuan Xiu with all his strength. He put all his weight into this one strike! ¡°Boom¨C!¡± After the impact, there was a slight cracking sound, and the expensive energy blade in Yuan Xiu¡¯s hand broke after it withstand Chu Yan¡¯s attack for five minutes. The two mechas stopped in tacit agreement, and looked at the broken energy blade on the ground in unison. ¡°This weapon is really¡­¡± Yuan Xiu was excited and jealous, not daring to say, ¡°Is this really your custom-made energy blade? The power is too exaggerated. Don¡¯t say that Xiang Kun has a secret weapon, even if his father has a secret weapon, it won¡¯t be a match against yours!¡± ¡°Hahaha, God has really helped me!¡± Chu Yan was so excited that he laughed exaggeratedly, put away the energy blade, and then rushed down from the mecha. He ran towards Qiao Zhiya on the sidelines with excitement. With a jump, he hugged while babbling, ¡°Qiao, you are amazing! The energy blade is completely fine! No, not only is it okay, it¡¯s great! Great! This time I will definitely bring back the first place¡¯s medal to show you!¡± Infected by his emotions, Qiao Zhiya also became happy. The blond youth hugged him back, and encouraged him with a wide smile, ¡°Well! I believe you will definitely get the first place.¡± Yuan Xiu stepped off his mecha, and looked at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who were happily hugging. He glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s beautiful and harmless appearance, and remembered his shy and soft speaking tone. He wiped the cold sweat on his face. ¡®Even with the help of a teacher, this level is still¡­ of a monster¡­¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 39.3 On the next day, the final competition of the fifth-grade mecha driving competition officially kicked off. The competition lasted for five days, and the first three days were random matching points competitions. One point was awarded for every win, while one point was deducted for every loss. Students need to reach 100 points to qualify for the tournament. For those who failed to qualify, their result would be ranked according to the points they got. For three days, the game time was eight hours a day, and the maximum time for each game was ten minutes. If there was no winner after ten minutes, the system will judge the winner based on the damage inflicted and the degree of the damage to one¡¯s mecha. Deducting the intermission time from the total eight hours, as long as the student kept competing, there¡¯s about 40 battles a day. Even if they keep winning, it would take almost two days to accumulate enough points to qualify. During breakfast, Qiao Zhiya made up his mind after learning about the competition system. He was very worried, ¡°How can you bear such a long battle? If the mecha is damaged during this period, won¡¯t you be unable to participate in the subsequent qualifying competitions?¡± Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu were taken aback when they heard his question. Then they all laughed out loud, and hurriedly helped him to understand how it actually worked. It turned out that the school has a self-developed competition program using the VR World. The random match points competition in the first three days was not a real mecha battle, but a virtual battle. The mechas used by everyone in the virtual arena were the standard ones provided by the system. It ensured the fairness of the competition ¨C so it was 100% skill-based, but it also made sure that the student¡¯s mecha wouldn¡¯t be damaged early. Plus, virtual simulation wasn¡¯t as tiring as the real one. Qiao Zhiya suddenly realized, shaking his ears in embarrassment, and continued to ask, ¡°Then how do I watch the match? I thought everyone was competing in the training hall¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it was indeed done in that hall. Because it is a virtual competition, the competition process will be synchronized to the school¡¯s client. You can write down the student numbers of me and Yuan Xiu. After the competition starts, you can directly search for our numbers to watch it. Plus, the school also invited the family of the student¡¯s, so the audience will be lively.¡± Chu Yan patted him on the shoulder and continued explaining with a smile, ¡°To make you less bored, how about I solve the battle in a day?¡± ¡°One day?¡± Qiao Zhiya was flabbergasted by Chu Yan¡¯s confidence. He asked, his face full of confusion, ¡°No, if it takes ten minutes for one match, in eight hours you can only¡­¡± ¡°Who said it will take me ten minutes for one measly match?¡± Chu Yan interrupted him. He looked at Yuan Xiu and smiled confidently, ¡°One minute is enough to deal with those rookies.¡± There were only a few in the whole grade who could match his strength. For him, fighting those normal students was just one-sided abuse. After breakfast, Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu went to the information building of Campus A, where the virtual competition was held. Qiao Zhiya returned to the dormitory, opened the school client, and found the viewing page. He entered Chu Yan¡¯s student number in advance, and entered his audience-only view to wait for the match to start. At exactly eight o¡¯clock, the picture appeared in the dark room on time, and an ordinary standard mecha appeared in the middle of the screen, with Chu Rong¡¯s student number displayed on the top of the mecha. Qiao Zhiya subconsciously held his breath. Just by looking at the words ¡°Randomly matching opponents¡± displayed in the middle of the screen, his palms were already sweating nervously. After Chu Yan¡¯s opponent was decided, the screen changed, and Chu Yan was teleported into the battlefield. Opposite of him, stood a mecha that looked exactly like him, but had another student number on its head. After the ten-second protection time passed, the two mechas rushed together. Thirty seconds later, Chu Yan easily defeated his opponent and scored his first point. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± He silently wiped off the sweat from his palms, remembering what Chu Huai once said that Chu Yan likes quick battles. His expression became calm ¨C if he wins at this speed, Xiao Yan would indeed qualify soon. Afterwards, Chu Yan continued to play in this efficient one-hit kill mode, accumulating points crazily. By the end of the four-hour battle time in the morning, he already racked up more than 50 points, and was ranked first in the standings. The second placer, Yuan Xiu, has a big difference in points compared to Chu Yan¡¯s ¨C it was more than ten. During this period, he still had time to chat with Qiao Zhiya who was watching the game for a long time. He also wasted some time waiting for the system to match his opponent, so this result could be said to be very scary, but also very impressive. Qiao Zhiya was so excited that he counted the time and rushed out of the dormitory to the information building, found Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu, and happily invited them to the cafeteria for a big meal during the break time. In the afternoon game, Chu Yan met several players who were within the top ten of the standings, and fought a few battles for five to ten minutes. The speed of gaining points slowed down, but it still increased steadily. By the end of today¡¯s game, he only needed five more points to qualify ¨C all his matches ended in his victory. After getting this result, Qiao Zhiya was even more excited than Chu Yan himself. He hurriedly prepared dinner and fruit for him, told him not to play too late, and ordered a full set of leisure massages for him. He wanted Chu Yan to relax, so he would be full of energy for tomorrow¡¯s matches. Chu Yan, who had never had such an experience of being this pampered by his family during an exam, was first flattered, then embarrassed, and finally moved. He hugged Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thigh, and while howling, he decided in his heart that such a good saozi must not get away! His erge must marry him! He will make sure of it! Qiao Zhiya looked at his aggrieved and touched look, patting his head with complicated emotions. He sighed as he thought, ¡®Xiao Yan is still a child¡­ he definitely needs extra care.¡¯ At ten o¡¯clock in the evening, Chu Rong¡¯s good night message came on time. Qiao Zhiya sat upright on the bed, and when Chu Rong¡¯s figure appeared in mid-air, he spoke solemnly first, ¡°Chu Rong, we need to talk.¡± Chu Rong, who was distractedly flipping through the documents, frowned at the words, withdrawing his gentle look. He looked at the blond youth with deep eyes, and answered with an equally deep tone, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, if you can¡¯t give a reasonable explanation for your very inappropriate attitude now, I will talk to you when you come back here for vacation.¡± Inappropriate attitude? The seriousness on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face was instantly broken. He tugged at his clothes helplessly, his ears trembled nervously, but still tried to maintain a ¡°serious¡± look that actually appeared sullen for Chu Rong. He replied, ¡°I think my current attitude is very suitable for the topic I am about to talk about.¡± A topic that was very suitable for this expression of ¡°I want to talk about breaking up with you?¡± Does this damned Bald Chicken want to run away? Chu Rong closed the document, sat upright, put his hand on the armrest of the chair and tapped it lightly. With an inscrutable look, he lightly ordered, ¡°Alright, say it.¡± Maybe he has been too indulgent to the Bald Chicken recently. It actually caused him to have some thoughts that he shouldn¡¯t have. So in fact, Bald Chicken¡¯s insistence on staying in school to watch Xiao Yan¡¯s competition after the holiday is a kind of temptation? Tentatively leaving Chu¡¯s house, out of his sight¡ª¡ª ¡°This year¡¯s final competition is Xiao Yan¡¯s last competition in the Intermediate Academy. Next year, he will prepare for the Military Academy¡¯s entrance exam.¡± Qiao Zhiya said seriously, suppressing the nervousness when facing Chu Rong¡¯s cold face. He still put on a brave face as he continued, ¡°As Xiao Yan¡¯s parental-figure, shouldn¡¯t you pay attention to Xiao Yan¡¯s performance in school? I have noticed that other students¡¯ competition rooms have parents entering and watching, but Xiao Yan¡¯s competition room is always only me alone. As his older brother, can you watch? Tomorrow is the weekend, so I think¡­ y-you shouldn¡¯t have work to be done, right?¡± At the end, he couldn¡¯t help but soften his tone, and his serious expression collapsed. He looked up to Chu Rong with an adorable and pleading look. Chu Rong¡¯s finger pointing at the handrail froze, and the more he listened, the more unpredictable his expression became. He squinted his eyes and looked at the youth, and looked at the trembling pointy ears. He wanted to ask why Qiao Zhiya used that kind of expression, but instead he asked, ¡° ¡­Is this what you want to talk about?¡± ¡®Tell me to watch Chu Yan¡¯s final match?¡¯ ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded. He was so frightened by the Marshal¡¯s unpredictable attitude that he stuttered, and asked back almost immediately, ¡°W-what else?¡± ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­ my attitude is inappropriate for this topic as well¡­?¡¯ Ancestor Chu finally understood why Qiao Zhiya looked like that. He didn¡¯t want to admit it, thinking about Qiao Zhiya ¡°going independent¡± frightened him. He even entertained the idea to scare off the stupid Bald Chicken if he ever had that dangerous thought. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go to watch it.¡± He nodded, agreed to the invitation very eloquently, then pointed to Qiao Zhiya with deep eyes and a cold tone, and said quietly, ¡°And you, after the holiday, I have something to talk to you about.¡± After speaking, he hung up the communication directly. Qiao Zhiya was so frightened by Chu Rong¡¯s parting words that his heart almost stopped. He stared blankly at the half-empty space where the hologram was seen for a long time before standing up and turned back to his room. ¡®What does the White-Haired Monster want to talk to me about? That, such a terrifying expression¡­ is it possible that he discovered my origin?¡¯ ¡®No, no, no, I have been obediently going to school recently, without doing anything suspicious. It is impossible for the White-Haired Monster to find out my origin. He should want to talk about other things.¡¯ ¡®The only unusual thing is¡­ helping Xiao Yan to repair his energy bl¨C¡¯ ¡®Oh shit.¡¯ ¡®Could it be that Chu Rong is blaming me for secretly adding a magic circle to the energy blade? No, it shouldn¡¯t be. I didn¡¯t even tell Chu Yan about that, let alone Chu Rong.¡¯ Thinking hard to no avail, the simple dwarf boy was so frightened that he couldn¡¯t eat well or sleep soundly, and even the fact that Chu Yan qualified for the finals with a complete victory the next day couldn¡¯t make him jump in joy. Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu were concerned and asked, but he denied everything and only said that he was afraid his mood would affect their future matches. At ten o¡¯clock in the evening, Chu Rong¡¯s good night message didn¡¯t come. Qiao Zhiya changed from waiting anxiously to being depressed. Half an hour later, he climbed onto the bed and wrapped himself in a quilt. After sending Chu Rong a good night message, he closed his eyes and fell asleep pitifully. In the study room, Chu Rong looked at the newly sent message, and knocked on the table irritably¡ªno, he couldn¡¯t give Qiao Zhiya the carrot all the time¡­ plus this stupid Bald Chicken didn¡¯t even initiate the call. He shouldn¡¯t¡­ reply it¡­ ¡®It¡¯s really hard being a guardian¡­¡¯ After another day of rest, the highlight of the competition finally arrived. There are a total of more than two hundred qualified students. The school¡¯s examination system divided the students into four groups according to their strength. First, there will be an elimination competition within the group, and then the five winners from each group will compete for the final top 20. Chu Yan perfectly avoided his friend Yuan Xiu and his old rival Liu Hongzi, and entered Group D with the largest number of players alone. Qiao Zhiya came to the training hall early to find a seat, waited for the game to start, and looked forward to Chu Rong¡¯s arrival. They hadn¡¯t contacted each other for two days, this was the first time this happened this long. He was not used to it. Other students came to watch the tournament one after another, and the parents of some qualifying students also rushed over. The seats around him gradually filled up, and the training hall became more and more lively. At eight o¡¯clock, the competition officially started. All the students entered the arena and came to their respective battle areas, waiting for the competition to start. Qiao Zhiya withdrew his gaze from the entrance of the training hall, and pulled the strap of the communicator. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t come¡­ probably busy again¡­ Then, there was a sudden exclamation from the edge of the crowd, followed by suppressed whispers and excited screams. Both the competitors and the teachers all looked at this commotion. Then, after they saw what caused it, they looked like they had seen a ghost. Xiang Kun, who deliberately changed his seat so he was behind Qiao Zhiya and was about to ¡°stimulate¡± Chu Yan during the game, also widened his eyes and almost fell off his chair in fright. What, what¡¯s going on? Why did that evil spirit of the Chu family come here? At a glance, Chu Rong saw the lost little figure lying on the front railing. That stupid Bald Chicken has slumped ears, making Chu Rong¡¯s brows furrowed. He forcibly suppressed the impatience of being looked at by everyone like a monkey, although his expression still froze. He walked over quickly, treating everyone around him as air. The turmoil in the arena was too obvious. Qiao Zhiya was a little confused at first, then his heart jumped when he noticed Chu Yan¡¯s expression, directed to his seating area. He wanted to turn his head to look but didn¡¯t dare. ¡®Is it the White-Haired Monster? Is he really here? Didn¡¯t he ignore my request? If n¨C¡¯ ¡°Why do you look like that? Sit down properly.¡± A familiar indifferent voice sounded above his head. Then his back collar was pulled, pulling his body closer into contact with a firm chest with a familiar scent. ¡°Chu¡­¡± He murmured, and finally couldn¡¯t help turning his head, and then he let out a low cry of surprise after seeing that familiar cold face with impatience. He turned around and hugged the Marshal¡¯s arm with bright eyes , looked up at him, and said happily, ¡°Are you here? Are you really here? I, I¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up, you¡¯re looking stupid now.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s bad mood finally got better, and he sat down next to Qiao Zhiya. On the chair, he turned his head and glanced coldly at the eavesdropping onlookers. His eyes stopped on Xiang Kun, then he turned around and frowned and tidied up his hair. He raised his voice to all the onlookers, ¡°Concentrate on watching the game.¡± Qiao Zhiya was so happy that he got carried away. He sat down obediently and nodded vigorously when hearing Chu Rong¡¯s command ¨C which wasn¡¯t directed to him, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s watch the game. Come on, Xiao Yan! If you win, I¡¯ll treat you to lunch!¡± Affected by Chu Rong¡¯s strong aura, the people around them immediately bolted away. Even the seats next to them were immediately vacated. They honestly fixed their sights on the arena, and no longer dared to look around again. ¡®It¡¯s really Chu Rong, damn it, this final competition is really exciting.¡¯ An audience member thought. On the arena , Chu Yan looked at his erge and his future er-saozi sitting next to each other, and his heart was full of vicissitudes of tears¡ªhe was competing, while those two were being all lovey-dovey. According to his previous experience, after the competition, he definitely would be criticized by him¡­ My God, this was simply the worst end of his semester¡­ At the same time, the communicators of some parents in the Intermediate College received messages from their own children: [The evil god of the Chu family came to the school to watch Chu San¡¯s game! The atmosphere was terrifying! Help!] CH 40.1 The teachers in the field were also brought back to their senses by Chu Rong¡¯s words, and they all withdrew their impolite scrutiny. They began to arrange the students to fight in an orderly manner, with a calm face and a broken heart. This was the first time they have seen such important parents of students in the final competition! This was the Marshal and the national hero! Where was the Director of Campus A? Where was the principal? Come on, come on, you don¡¯t hide in the toilet in fright, right? Was the rumor about the director being abused by the then-student Marshal Chu actually true? Oh no! They don¡¯t want to stay under Marshal Chu¡¯s gaze, they also want to hide! The students and their parents, who were still excited about the battle, saw the teachers regaining their senses so quickly, and they were very impressed. As expected of teachers of such a prestigious Intermediate College, their mental quality was very good. It was worth their trouble to send their children here. All kinds of turmoil on and off the field, everyone¡¯s inner drama and small actions almost broke the sky. But from the surface, it was just a little bit of commotion caused by Chu Rong¡¯s arrival, and then everyone calmed down quickly, and behaved very well to focus on the competition. The students in the arena felt panicked¡ªbeing watched by the federal marshal for the final competition, the pressure was great. A student in the same group as Chu Yan swallowed tremblingly, carefully poked Chu Yan who was numb beside him, and asked in a whisper, ¡°Classmate Chu, you, your Erge¡­ no, no, Marshal Chu, what, what? He came? To see your competition?¡± ¡®Didn¡¯t Erge hate this kind of event the most? Where there¡¯s so many people who would gawk at him? Why do I feel that Qiao is responsible for this¡­¡¯ Although he was roaring in his heart, Chu Yan¡¯s face was very calm. He tilted his head and raised the corner of his mouth to show him an erratic smile, and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡®Erge came here to watch a bunch of chicks pecking at each other? How is that possible? Of course he¡¯s here to be with Qiao! Hehehe¡­¡¯ The poor little classmate was stimulated by Chu Yan¡¯s smirk, took a step back, and shrunk. ¡°C-Classmate Chu, I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to pry into your family¡¯s privacy, I, I just wanted, wanted to¨C Please, you can, can you at least make me not look totally awful when I lose?¡± After speaking, he turned and hid behind the teacher, not daring to approach him again. Other students and teachers in the same group: ¡°¡­¡± Ah! what to do! After a while, their group would definitely be under Marshal Chu¡¯s scrutiny! It¡¯s over! QAQ Chu Yan¡¯s Group D has the largest number of people. He needed to fight twelve people in total, and basically had no rest time today. That is to say, if Chu Rong wanted to watch his whole game, he basically needed to stay in the school all day. Wait. That sounds absolutely horrifying. What if he¡¯s also here tomorrow¡­ The students, teachers, and audience members wanted to cry when realizing this. Only Qiao Zhiya who looked very happy about this. Before Chu Yan started his first match, Qiao Zhiya lightly tugged on Chu Rong¡¯s sleeves, looking at him with bright, sparkling eyes. He moved around on the seat like a child who couldn¡¯t sit still, and asked, ¡°Will you be here all day today? Then, what about tomorrow? Will you come tomorrow?¡± Because of his excitement, the youth¡¯s face was flushed slightly, and his ears were moving happily. He had clenched fists that tugged at his own pants, as if trying to restrain his joy. He looked very obedient and cute. Chu Rong, who has always disliked this kind of event, originally had a very bad mood. But once he saw how happy this Bald Chicken was ¨C not contacting for two days notwithstanding ¨C his ire immediately disappeared. The youth¡¯s soft and intimate voice also made him want to smile. In order to suppress the inexplicable flood of confusing happiness, he frowned and froze his face, raised his hand and grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s back collar to adjust his sitting posture. He put the squirmy youth to sit properly, then gently pat the blond head. ¡°Sit down, don¡¯t move around. I won¡¯t go back on what I promised, don¡¯t question my words.¡± The audience members who overheard this gasped, and then looked at the ¡°poor Exoplanet Native¡± who was ordered with such a harsh voice. They immediately had sympathy and pity in their eyes. ¡®That blond kid is really too miserable. Heh, that rumor outside saying that Marshal Chu favoring him truly was a fart. This kind of commanding tone is only used on subordinates!¡¯ One of them thought. Sensing the gaze of the crowd behind him looking at Qiao Zhiya, Chu Rong¡¯s disguised black face turned into a real black face. He simply took out a hat from his space button and put it on Qiao Zhiya, covering his fluttering ears, then turned to face the crowd behind him with a dangerous glare. ¡°!!!¡± Everyone looked away in unison, staring at the arena with their backs straightened, the sympathy in their hearts almost broke through the sky ¨C Marshal Chu even covered the little Exoplanet Native¡¯s ears that were different from ordinary people with disgust in his eyes! He must hate him so much! ¡®Sure enough, this evil god is just like the rumors ¨C very domineering and unreasonable. Oh, that poor blond boy¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya, who was wearing a hat, didn¡¯t notice the sympathetic gazes of the crowd behind him. He raised his hand and touched the brown hat with the small green leaf pattern. His joy shot off the roof. ¡°You bought it for me? I like the color and pattern so much! Thank you, thank you, Chu Rong!¡± Chu Rong looked away, didn¡¯t answer, and patted his head lightly, signaling him to concentrate on watching the game ¨C Chu Yan has already played. Parents in the back row: ¡®Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Marshal Chu hit him!¡¯ Chu Yan, who was sitting in the mecha in the arena and saw the situation outside clearly: ¡®Stupid parents, hehe.¡¯ The internal communication of the mecha suddenly flashed, and his opponent requested to talk. Chu Yan came back to his senses and answered the communication. ¡°Chu, Classmate Chu, can you let me lose¡ªah!¡± The countdown to the competition just ended, and the next second, the cyan mecha was hit by Chu Yan, who was in a bad mood, with a more violent and wilder posture than before. It was a one-hit-one-kill, and the cyan mecha was directly kicked out of the battle zone. The teacher who controlled the field was stunned for a moment, until the competition system automatically reported the results of the competition. The teacher then hurriedly came back to check the situation of the students in the cyan mecha. After confirming that the students in the cyan mecha were not injured at all and the mecha was fine, the teacher couldn¡¯t help but glance at the gray mecha with appreciation. As expected of the Chu family, they were really strong, and their fighting qualities were very good! Although the third young master was a little out of character and bluffed a bit, he was very measured in his strikes. He knew how hard to hit without actually hurting his opponent, so his opponent¡¯s next battle wouldn¡¯t be affected. The parents watching the battle were shocked by the high-efficiency match. After a few seconds of silence, they all looked at Chu Rong, who was sitting upright in the front row. The Marshal still looked frightening, making them swallow dryly. They began to worry about their own child who was still on the court¡­ Qiao Zhiya turned his head in doubt, and asked, ¡°Is the move that Xiao Yan used just now the one you used on him during the sparring session last time? But the force he kicked out seems not as strong as yours.¡± Because he felt that Qiao Zhiya indirectly praised him, the Marshal was in a good mood. He leaned back on his chair, tapped his fingers on his knees, and said in a light tone, ¡°He does exert less force than me, but that¡¯s appropriate for this match. His kicking angle also is a bit off than mine, otherwise the right leg of the mecha opposite could be crushed. Xiao Yan is merciful.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded half-understanding, and briskly said, ¡°Everyone has to continue the next game, it¡¯s not good if the mecha is broken. Xiao Yan is so caring.¡± The audience in the back row: ¡®Is this merciful? Such a brutal one-hit kill kicking the opponent out, causing the opponent to lose so hard, how can it be called caring? Is the Chu family all so scary? Ah?¡¯ Suddenly there was a loud noise in the arena, and then the siren of the examination system rang crazily. Everyone¡¯s attention was drawn in an instant, and then they all frowned when they saw the scene where the alarm was located. One of the parents sitting in the corner stood up directly, and ran towards the field anxiously. Qiao Zhiya also looked over, and then froze for a moment after seeing the situation clearly, the joy on his face disappeared. At the place where the alarm sounded, a golden mecha was holding a mace-shaped weapon and standing in the battle zone. And opposite of it, a small streamlined mecha was lying quietly on the ground. Its chest was caved in, a deep pit was smashed. A black smoke from the impact steadily rising. Occasionally, there was a flash of electricity from a broken cable. The control teacher and the waiting doctor rushed over together, quickly opened the cockpit, and helped out a petite female student from inside. ¡°You actually hit a girl like this¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wood-elemental magical power with healing ability was alerted by his worry. Chu Rong frowned, and raised his hand to block his sight by pulling off his hat. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s the first time I use this weapon, and I didn¡¯t control the strength well.¡± A low hoarse voice of a teenager came from the golden mecha. And then the cockpit of the mecha opened, and Liu Hongzi jumped out from inside. The field control teacher looked back at him, frowned, turned sideways to help the frightened girl to stand up. The teacher also comforted the anxious parents. Before going back to Liu Hongzi, the teacher also made sure the school doctor could do their job properly. The teacher said to Liu Hongzi with a very stern voice, ¡°Student Liu Hongzi, the arena is indeed an uncontrollable place, but your behavior of directly attacking the opponent¡¯s cockpit just now is really inappropriate! This is not a battlefield, it¡¯s just a final assessment. Unfamiliarity with weapons can¡¯t be used as a reason for that. There can be no next time! Otherwise, your final grade will be invalidated!¡± They wanted to train soldiers with qualified character for the military academy! Not a utilitarian who could attack a classmate¡¯s cockpit in an assessment for the sake of victory! Before the start of the final competition, the teachers had repeatedly emphasized this over and over again ¨C the students should know the limit, not to be aggressive and ruthless. Sadly, in the first round of the tournament portion, there was this incident. This was a complete contempt and provocation to the school rules! Being reprimanded in public, Liu Hongzi was very dissatisfied. He thought he hadn¡¯t hurt anyone and had already apologized, so he shouldn¡¯t be scolded like this. But he couldn¡¯t directly confront the teacher. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Chu Yan, who had already gone to the spectator seats during the intermission. With a frown, he said, ¡°Teacher, I really just didn¡¯t control my strength well. I¡¯m far more than the only person who directly attacked the cockpit. There¡¯s also another¡­ student who did this also. You can¡¯t treat him differently just because he has a strong background and I¡¯m just a commoner student.¡± With this reply, the teacher almost fell down with his anger. He pointed to the other arena and almost yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t learn other people¡¯s tactics if you don¡¯t have the skills! Those ¡®students¡¯ you spoke off actually know how to control their strength, so none of them actually hurt their opponents! Go to the sidelines and reflect on your mistakes! Before you figured out why I ¡®treat¡¯ you differently, your match is indefinitely postponed!¡± Other students in the same group as Liu Hongzi breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this. They secretly glanced at Liu Hongzi, who had a terrible expression on his face, and then at Chu Yan, who had already walked to the side of the spectator seats with a joyful expression. They all had bitter feelings in their heart. They¡¯re really unlucky to be in the same group as this lunatic Liu Hongzi. If you lose to Chu Yan, it might be very embarrassing to lose very fast, but at least they wouldn¡¯t lose their mecha. Xiang Kun in the auditorium immediately attempted to contact Liu Hongzi the first time something went wrong, and just arrived at this time. He hurriedly dragged Liu Hongzi to a corner, frowning and talking to him. Yuan Xiu also just ended his battle, and took advantage of the intermission to go to Chu Yan¡¯s side. He first greeted Chu Rong who was sitting behind the railing tremblingly, and then lowered his voice and said to Chu Yan, ¡°Hey, look at his weapon. That mace can smash the protective shell of the mecha like smashing tofu. Your mecha gave up part of the shell protection in pursuit of maximum speed, right? This weapon is really aimed at you.¡± Qiao Zhiya overheard this and couldn¡¯t help interjecting in concern, ¡°Xiao Yan, the thorns on that weapon are a bit strange. If you run into him, you must avoid him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know it,¡± Chu Yan withdrew his gaze from the other side, patted his friend comfortingly, then grabbed Qiao Zhiya with his outstretched arms. After going back to sit, Chu Rong¡¯s mouth corner twitched, and Chu Yan asked in an unwelcoming manner, ¡°Erge, why are you here?¡± Chu Rong also noticed the weirdness of that weapon, gave him a light look, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t want me to come? Just play well.¡± Seeing that Qiao Zhiya still had worried eyes, the Marshal frowned, and added, ¡°Don¡¯t embarrass the Chu family.¡± ¡°¡­¡± This was truly prioritizing his boyfriend over his younger brother! Chu Yan directly dragged Yuan Xiu out of the spectator stand, and decided to unilaterally ignore his second brother for two hours! Yuan Xiu followed passively, looking back at Chu Rong who didn¡¯t care about their departure at all. Finally he asked the question that had been in his heart for many years: ¡°Chu Yan, your Erge treats you so coldly¡­ are you actually picked up from somewhere?¡± ¡°Look at my face.¡± Chu Yan looked at him with a glare, gritted his teeth with a distorted expression, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for this face, I would have thought I was a picked up child too!¡± ¡®¨Cand Qiao is the real child!¡¯ was left unsaid, because he still cherished his doggy life. Within the three Chu family¡¯s sons, Chu Huai looks like the mother, Chu Rong and Chu Yan look like the father. That is to say, Chu Rong and Chu Yan looked alike, they could be identified as blood-related brothers at first glance! ¡°¡­I see. You¡¯re right.¡± Yuan Xiu could only choke out such a barely consoling sentence. Chu Yan was so angry that he threw his best friend out, and walked to his battle zone with heavy steps. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 40.2 After the intermission, Liu Hongzi went to the teacher to admit his mistakes and deeply reflected on himself. His attitude was very sincere. The teacher who had lost his strength forgave him and took him to apologize to the frightened female student. Then he instructed the burly student to resume his game after a few words. Seeing this scene from a distance, Chu Rong stretched out his hand and patted Qiao Zhiya, who was obviously worried and uneasy, and glanced at Xiang Kun standing at the corner of Liu Hongzi¡¯s competition area. His eyes deepened. Not long after, there was another commotion from the edge of the spectator seats ¡ª another big shot came! The person who came this time was Xiang Hui, and he was accompanied by several federal officials of high status. Upon closer inspection, those officials were all parents of students. It seemed that parents of students came together to watch their children¡¯s games¡­ Some of the parents of the students who were in the same camp as them immediately stepped forward to greet each of them, while those who were not qualified to join the heirs of the Four Great Families shrank tacitly and became obedient melon eaters. Xiang Hui¡¯s entrance seemed very lively, completely different from the situation when Chu Rong came. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya subconsciously tensed his face, glanced at Chu Rong, and whispered, ¡°Did they bully you on purpose¡­¡± This obviously isolating the Marshal, which was very repulsive behavior in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s point of view. ¡°It¡¯s just a petty old trick. No need to worry about it.¡± Chu Rong glanced over there lightly, his brows were slightly frowned, and his eyes were impatient. ¡®They¡¯re like a swarm of haunting flies.¡¯ the Marshal thought. Noticing his irritability, Qiao Zhiya leaned toward him comfortingly, and whispered, ¡°Then let¡¯s not watch them. Just watch Xiao Yan¡¯s game, he is about to play.¡± Chu Rong looked down at him, stretched out his hand and tugged at the youth¡¯s ears. It seemed Qiao Zhiya was also affected, which only worsened his mood. He took out his communicator and sent a message. Xiang Hui finished greeting everyone with a smile, and then was surrounded by everyone as he walked to the front row where Chu Rong was sitting. Just as he was about to say some polite words to fight back with the Marshal, the director of Campus A, who had disappeared for a long time, hurried away with his people to come over. They greeted Chu Rong graciously, and said, ¡°The place has been arranged, please come with me.¡± Chu Rong stood up directly, picked up the confused Qiao Zhiya, and walked around Xiang Hui who was still smiling. Behind him, the officials with different expressions followed the staff arranged by the director to the real special viewing area set up on the mid-air lift platform in the training hall. The play was cut off before it even started, the smile on Xiang Hui¡¯s face faded. He looked at the director of Campus A who was still there, glanced at the special viewing area, and asked indifferently, ¡°Director, what are you doing for him? Are you giving him special privileges?¡± ¡°Of course not, I am doing it for the sake of everyone¡¯s safety,¡± The director quickly waved his hands and sighed sadly, ¡°Everyone knows that Marshal Chu¡¯s spiritual power has been polluted. There are so many people here and the environment is so noisy. If the Marshal sits here and loses control of his spiritual power due to the reckless behavior of some people while watching the battle, wouldn¡¯t that harm everyone present? So I thought about it carefully and decided to rectify this immediately. Let the Marshal go to the temporary viewing area to watch the game alone. Thankfully, he cooperates so well. He¡¯s truly understanding and righteous.¡± Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± This reasoning was really solid. He couldn¡¯t accuse the school of giving Chu Rong a special privilege like this. The smile on Xiang Hui¡¯s face almost faded. He was silent for a few seconds, and then said, ¡°Then I¡¯d like to be wronged, and go to accompany Marshal Chu. He¡¯s alone there, so deserted.¡± The director didn¡¯t agree, he glanced at him, and said hesitantly, ¡°This, this is not good¡­¡± ¡°Why?¡± Xiang Hui was so angry that he showed a more gentle smile, and said softly, ¡°I¡¯m willing to listen to your reason.¡± The director looked at him in embarrassment and said, ¡°Well, today is the final exam for mecha piloting, and it seems that there are no students in your family participating in the competition¡­ But, you¡¯re still a family member of a student here, so our school welcomes you, but¡­ Cough, Marshal Chu¡¯s level of spiritual power is too high. In case he really loses control, there is a protective shield over there to block it, and it won¡¯t affect this place. But if you go in, since you only have an A level of spiritual power, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± The director actually meant that Xiang Hui wasn¡¯t good enough to sit next to Chu Rong. This level of spiritual power difference has always been a pain in Xiang Hui¡¯s heart. At this time, he was compared with Chu Rong in public, the smile on Xiang Hui¡¯s face disappeared immediately, and he said coldly, ¡°Then the child who is with Marshal Chu also belongs to SSS-grade? That¡¯s why he¡¯s allowed there?¡± The director turned his head and glanced over there, and replied honestly, ¡°Oh, that child. That¡¯s not true, he has a third-degree disability and has no spiritual power at all. So, he won¡¯t be injured by the Marshal¡¯s spiritual riots. I.. cough, I thought you knew about this, Colonel.¡± The reasons were too good, and the director alluded to the rumors some time ago. They couldn¡¯t find another reason. Just at this time, Chu Yan in the arena kicked his opponent out of the arena with another clean blow, causing the students in the same group to exclaim, as if they were applauding the director¡¯s words. The expressions of the melon-eating crowd watching from a distance also became strange ¡ª here again, another scene where the Xiang family chased the Chu family to target, but was quickly choked to death by the Chu family. ¡°Well, Colonel Xiang, how about I arrange for you a seat in the front row suitable for watching the battle?¡± The director was the first to break the silence at the moment and asked intimately. Xiang Hui gave him a cold look, smirked, turned around and took the people to sit in the spectator seats. He looked at Liu Hongzi¡¯s match, pretending to concentrate on watching the game. The director subconsciously followed up and exchanged some pleasantries, then cared about other parents of the students, and finally retired with a simple and honest smile on his face. Xiang Hui¡¯s arrival seemed to be a signal, and then other ¡°student parents¡± ¨C who were big bosses in their respective field ¨C arrived one after another, and the atmosphere in the spectator area became more and more strange. On one side was the official group led by Xiang Hui, on the other side was Marshal Chu who was in the special viewing area of ??the lifting platform. This auditorium was filled by so-and-so military higher-ups from many factions, but there¡¯s also small shrimps who weren¡¯t qualified enough to talk to them. In just a few hours, this small grade competition has gained the attention of most of the top leaders of the Federation. But the match was in full swing, and there were not many people in the spectator area who were really watching the game. Everyone exchanged greetings and contacted each other in different ways, turning this small spectator area into a small Federal upper-level gathering. Seeing this, Chu Yan, who had already cut through the mess and finished the morning competition, once again confirmed that this was his worst end-of-term! ¡°Sure enough.¡± In a private room inside a restaurant in the school¡¯s trade area, Chu Yan poked a piece of pork ribs. He was beyond annoyed, and said angrily, ¡°Why are those people so idle? Why don¡¯t they fuck off somewhere not here. Especially that Xiang Hui. It¡¯s so obvious that he regards you as his imaginary enemy, Erge. Hahaha, does he think that he¡¯s qualified to stand opposite of you? He is just a Colonel, and everyone praises him because he is the young master of the Xiang family. Bleh, it¡¯s as if he has some personal merits. He only relies on his family name, and yet he thinks so highly of himself.¡± Chu Rong let him vent for this time. After watching the turbulence all morning, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s excitement and joy had been completely worn away. Hearing what Chu Yan said at this time, he finally realized something. He glanced sideways at Chu Rong who had been calmly peeling shrimp and didn¡¯t speak, and asked, ¡°Xiao Yan, what¡¯s going on with those people? They don¡¯t look like the parents of students who came to watch the game, they are all weird¡­¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s strange! Few of those people really have children going to school here! Most of them only have nephews and nieces of their second cousin, third uncle, neighbor¡¯s second sister, or those kinds of relations to the students here. They just came here to watch the fun or to join in Xiang Hui¡¯s cause ¨C or whatever the hell he wants anyway.¡± Chu Yan simply put down his chopsticks and patted the table. He looked like he was reminiscing of something, ¡°Those people, especially the one from the Xiang family, are simply dog plaster that cannot be shaken off! As long as there are similar occasions, once my Erge goes, that Xiang Hui will be like a fly that smelled meat. Not only did he go by himself, but he also brought a group of bedbugs who belonged to the Xiang family¡¯s faction. Then, on top of that, some ¡®idle¡¯ people will follow to spectate! I know they¡¯re just a bunch of sycophants who want to ingrate themselves to the Four Great Families. Bah! in the past, it will end up in this ghost situation.¡± This was also the reason why Chu Rong despised going out and had a bad attitude when he saw those people. Who would still have a good face when being constantly pestered by people like this? Chu Rong wasn¡¯t a saint. Qiao Zhiya frowned when he heard that, and then held his breath and said, ¡°Why do they do this¡­¡± How annoying this kind of life must be. ¡°Of course it¡¯s to stimulate Erge¡¯s polluted spiritual power. The angrier he became, the easier it would be for his spiritual power to riot. They wanted to kill him off, so to speak.¡± Chu Yan sneered, growled, and said sarcastically, ¡°Unfortunately, they have been doing this for a decade at this point, but they haven¡¯t been successful even once. Pah, so ridiculous!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small face was tense, and he turned his head to look at Chu Rong again. With pursed lips, he leaned over limply. He patted the Marshal¡¯s arms consolingly, and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know¡­ Don¡¯t worry, I will cure your illness as soon as possible!¡± Chu Rong glanced at him. He put a plate of peeled shrimp meat in front of him, served him another bowl of soup, patted his head, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think about it. Eat well, and learn to peel the shrimp yourself. Drink the soup first.¡± After speaking, he glanced at Chu Yan lightly. Chu Yan choked when he saw Chu Rong, and his anger completely fell silent. He glanced at the plate of shrimps with the eyes of a dead fish, hummed in a low voice with jealousy and sourness, and stuffed the ribs into his mouth angrily. Sensing his younger brother¡¯s displeasure, Chu Rong also served him a bowl of soup and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this situation won¡¯t last for too long.¡± Chu Yan was taken aback when he heard this, then suddenly realized something, and turned to look at him, excitedly said, ¡°What do you say? Are you and your eldest brother holding back some bad ideas?¡± CH 40.3 Chu Rong actually smirked in satisfaction, ¡°It is about to be put on the agenda and start to be organized. This year, in order to call on all walks of life to pay attention to the living conditions of the Exoplanet Natives, Dage went against the odds and added a content in the solicitation of opinions ¡ª he directly propose the theme of ¡®experiencing the life of Exoplanet Natives¡¯ for this year¡¯s celebration.¡± The Federal Year-End Celebration, the largest traditional festival in the Federation, lasts for 15 days, and the theme is different every year. In order to let the people have a lively and good year, and have a basic understanding of the main policy direction of the Federation in the next year, the government will list several theme options related to the policy of the coming year for the annual celebration theme. Then, all the options will be put on the Starnet to be chosen by the public. In this most important festival of the year, the Presidential Palace and the Four Great Families¡¯ representatives will also take the lead in experiencing the theme of the year. For example, last year¡¯s ¡°Mecha Modeler¡± theme, all the representatives tried to do the work of a mecha master, and their creation was competed against each other. In addition, there¡¯s also a mecha piloting contest, which allowed them to show off their skills. In short, this year-end celebration is a national festival in which all of them participate, and the big family must cooperate with the people¡¯s wishes. ¡°Experience the life of Exoplanet Natives?¡± Chu Yan was taken aback for a moment, and glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was obediently eating soup, with a glint in his eyes. He asked for the details, ¡°How did you and Dage propose this topic to be done?¡± Chu Rong pulled out a napkin to wipe the oil stain on his hand, then leaned back. He had this inscrutable expression on his face, ¡°Since the theme is that, of course the representative must actually experience an Exoplanet Native¡¯s day-to-day life. They must go to live on a primitive planet where they live. Living there without our technology, integrating with nature, and all of that.¡± Integrating with nature? Chu Yan almost couldn¡¯t help laughing out loud. Let the pampered young masters and ladies of the Federation go to eat dirt on a primitive planet? Such an amazing idea indeed. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea! Let¡¯s do it like this! I will mobilize my classmates to vote hard!¡± He slapped the table excitedly, sweeping away his previous depression. Qiao Zhiya, who seemed to be eating soup seriously, was actually eavesdropping on their conversation. He glanced back and forth at them, and moved his ears¡ªa day in contact with nature? Isn¡¯t that the greatest enjoyment? It really is a holiday! He wants to participate! Maintaining this good mood, Chu Yan continued to kick his opponent cleanly in the afternoon game, and finally qualified with a complete victory, leaving the field early, and left with his second brother proudly. He didn¡¯t forget to cast a disdainful glance at Xiang Kun who was sitting with Xiang Hui, and gave him a malicious smile. Xiang Kun was so angry that he wanted to rush over to beat him, but was stopped by Xiang Hui. ¡°Calm down, everyone is watching.¡± Xiang Hui patted him and asked, ¡°Are you sure the student you picked will face Chu Yan in the first round? Xiang Kun replied in a whisper, ¡°Everything has been arranged, this time I will not only prevent Chu Yan from getting the first place, but also kick him out of the top ten in the grade!¡± As long as the mecha was damaged in the first competition, he wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in the subsequent competitions. Then Chu Yan¡¯s score would be zero, and he would be directly ranked 20th! Xiang Hui nodded, feeling more relaxed. That night Qiao Zhiya was directly carried home by Chu Rong, and was not allowed to live in Chu Yan¡¯s dormitory. Early the next morning, Qiao Zhiya, who had failed to do treatment again, woke up in Chu Rong¡¯s arms. He couldn¡¯t help but hit him on the chest angrily, and then stared at the few small green fruits lying by the pillow, almost crying out of anger. Green jade and green fruit, and he was not allowed to drink more water before going to bed. He was addicted to the double temptation of the magical stones and green fruit in the middle of the night, and he couldn¡¯t wake up at all. The White-Haired Monster was too bad! Chu Rong was woken up by him, frowned and looked down at the fussy Bald Chicken. He patted the sleep-mused blond hair, picked him up, and took him to the bathroom. The two stepped into the training hall on time, and then found that the atmosphere in the field was a little weirder than yesterday. A middle-aged man who also brought a lot of people sat on the other side of the viewing area and started a fight with Xiang Hui on this side of the hall. ¡°Marshal Chu.¡± Seeing Chu Rong come in, the middle-aged man on the opposite side immediately stood up, gave a military salute to this side, and said in a loud voice, ¡°It¡¯s a great honor to watch the competition with you. The game is about to start.¡± ¡°That is Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, Lieutenant General Yuan.¡± Chu Rong gave an introduction to Qiao Zhiya, then nodded to Yuan Lie as a greeting. He ignored Xiang Hui and others again, and took Qiao Zhiya to the special spectator seat. ¡°Marshal Chu still doesn¡¯t care about us.¡± Lieutenant General Wei sat next to Xiang Hui, using his spiritual strength to spread his voice far away, so that the people in the field could hear what he said clearly. Chu Rong, who had already entered the lifting platform and was about to sit down, paused when he heard the words. He reached out and turned on the loudspeaker in this area, and said, ¡°Lieutenant General Wei, the release of spiritual power at will is not allowed by the federal law. Let¡¯s not do this, it¡¯s a bad example for a military man like you to make.¡± After speaking, he turned off the loudspeaker and sat down with Qiao Zhiya in his arms. Hearing this, Wei Xiongchang¡¯s expression was rigid, and he wanted to explode. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at his old enemy Yuan Lie, who was looking at him with piercing eyes, and forced himself to hold back his anger. He snorted unhappily, and said in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say! ¡° ¡°Why are you getting angry with a junior?¡± Xiang Hui, who was sitting next to him, turned his head to comfort him. Then glanced at Yuan Lie who sat at the opposite area, and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s hard for you to find time to come and watch my Xiao Kun¡¯s game. Before I came here, my father told me that the batch of mechas you asked for last time should be out of the warehouse soon.¡± Wei Xiongchang finally got better when he heard that. He nodded, and replied with a smile: ¡°I watched Xiao Kun growing up, and he can be considered similar to my own child. Of course I should come to watch his games.¡± The little shrimps who couldn¡¯t participate in the rivalry between the bosses could only huddle together and watch quietly: ¡°¡­ ¡° ¡®As expected of a boss, he is very good at talking to himself! Why don¡¯t they know that Xiang Kun, who is in the mecha manufacturing department, has a competition today?¡¯ The director of Campus A stepped into the training hall, glanced at the multi-corner confrontation in the spectator seats making his cheeks twitched. He could only pretend not to know the turbulence among the big guys. He walked to the middle of the field and said some words of encouragement to the students, and then announced the start of the game. The 20 qualified students went forward to draw lots under the teacher¡¯s signal. After confirming their respective numbers, the system randomly matched opponents for a battle. The top 20 competition has resumed the points system again. Everyone will play against the other 19 players in a round-robin format. One point will be awarded for each game won, and one point will be deducted for each game lost. The time for the game is limited to ten minutes. If the points are the same, the two students with the same score will compete again, and the rankings will be determined by winning or losing. After the determination, the rankings of all the players behind them will be moved down one. The first round of system matching ended, Chu Yan and Liu Hongzi¡¯s names were matched together, and they were divided into the first competition area for the battle. As soon as this result came out, the atmosphere in the viewing area immediately changed. Through the turbulent undercurrent all day yesterday, the little shrimps already knew that Liu Hongzi, who destroyed his opponent¡¯s mecha armor yesterday, was supported by the Xiang family. The Xiang family was at odds with the Chu family. And the first match was a direct competition between them? Very interesting. And the weapon used by Liu Hongzi was problematic at first glance, and Chu Yan¡­ wait, it seems that Chu Yan has never used a weapon since yesterday? The shrimps froze for a moment, frowned and thought about it, and then became another commotion. He really never used any weapons! The third young master of the Chu family has always fought with bare hands during the competition, arrogantly kicking his opponent out of the field with his legs! ¡°Hmph, if you have the ability, you continue to use no weapons in this match.¡± Xiang Kun snorted contentedly from the sidelines, as if he had seen Chu Yan kicked off the first place and lowered his proud head. Qiao Zhiya also became nervous, and couldn¡¯t help lying on the protective cover to look at Chu Yan who was already in the mecha on the field. Chu Rong looked at his inappropriate posture, frowned, but still didn¡¯t reach out to grab him back. This time, he let Qiao Zhiya watch as he liked. The gray mecha and the golden mecha stood opposite each other in the field. The golden mecha arrogantly made a hammering movement, took out the weird mace and waved it. The gray mecha was indifferent, and only looked at the field control teacher, urging him to start the game as soon as possible. The teacher still remembered how the female classmate¡¯s mecha was destroyed yesterday. He frowned, and reminded through the internal competition communication, ¡°Student Chu, please take the competition seriously.¡± Chu Yan, who still did not take out his weapon, replied seriously, ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m serious.¡± ¡®¨CAnd I can¡¯t wait to see that mace snapped in two.¡¯ He thought gleefully. The teacher was helpless, and pressed the countdown to the start of the game. The countdown ended, and the light screen separating the two mechas disappeared. The golden mecha moved immediately, raised its mace and rushed towards the gray mecha. At the same time, all the spikes on the mace unexpectedly waved. The two spiky balls were now separated by a thin chain, and both of them surrounded by the gray mecha. Everyone who was watching the game gasped, and Chu Rong frowned. The color of that chain, that weird luster¡­ that definitely was a corroding chain! The Xiang family was really generous. They actually equipped this mace with a corrosion chain, a rare disposable item that was extremely difficult to make. The ¡°corroding¡± part referred to its unique property ¨C it could violently react with the protective shell of the mecha, eating it away until it was gone. Liu Hongzi definitely wants to make Chu Yang¡¯s mecha into a scrapped one! Just when everyone was worried, the gray mecha finally moved. It waved its arms and threw a silver net towards the corroded chain to block the spikes, directly soared into the air, drew out an energy blade, and slashed at the mace cleanly! ¡®So fast! But probably not effective¡­¡¯ An audience member commented. Everyone was stunned, the mace could even smash the protective shell of the mecha, how could an energy blade be able to cut it! Everyone knew it¡¯s unrealistic just by looking at its body shape! There was a sneer at the corner of Liu Hongzi¡¯s mouth, and he recognized that the energy blade in Chu Yan¡¯s hand was the one that had been broken before. He felt very disdainful, and raised his mace to face his attack without dodging or evading. An energy blade that was repaired after it was broken, even if it was customized, would not be a match for the weapon in his hand. ¡°Boom¨C!¡± The ear-piercing sound of weapons colliding came, and the friction between the two brought out a series of sparks, and then a clear cracking sound came out through the speakers in the opposing theater. Xiang Kun smiled smugly. Xiang Hui and General Wei exchanged satisfied glances, thinking that this time at least the Chu family would be ridiculed. They all felt relieved. Chu Rong on the lifting platform turned dark instantly, looked at the energy blade in Chu Yan¡¯s hand, which should still be in two pieces, and looked at Qiao Zhiya, whose ears were trembling with excitement, lying on the protective cover. ¡®This Bald Chicken¡­¡¯ ¡°Patter.¡± The sparks disappeared, and the two mechas separated. Chu Yan landed smoothly and put away the energy blade, while the golden mecha froze for a while, then fell down on his knees. The mace in his hand broke into two irregular pieces. It fell to the ground, surrounded by the black ash left by the reaction between the corrosion chain and the silver net. The field control teacher came back to his senses and directed the robot to clean up the remaining corrosion chains. At the same time, the system announced that Chu Yan had won and scored a point. The viewing area was quiet, and then Yuan Lie took the lead in giving Chu Yan an applause. The smile on Xiang Kun¡¯s face froze. He stood up and lay down on the railing in disbelief, watching the weapon he carefully developed was broken into two pieces and lying on the ground. His voice was beyond frustrated, ¡°How could this be? No! I don¡¯t Believe it! Chu Yan must have cheated!¡± Xiang Hui and Lieutenant General Wei frowned and looked at the ordinary-looking energy blade in Chu Yan¡¯s hand. On the lifting platform, Chu Rong got up and walked behind Qiao Zhiya, reached out and grabbed him by the back collar to lift him up, and said quietly, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, did you forget to tell me something about that energy blade? Qiao Zhiya froze, looked back at him, and turned her ears back guiltily¡ª ¡®It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over! I was so excited that I forgot to tell the White-Haired Monster that I repaired the energy blade!!¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 41.1 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Liu Hongzi looked incredulously at the inactive operation panel in front of him. His hand trembled as he took off the protective helmet, stretched out his hand to press it a few times, and tried to connect the spiritual power again. His attempt all failed, which led him into quickly opening the cockpit and immediately looked at the state of his mecha¡¯s chest. He saw a thin and deep crack extending along the right arm ¨C which was holding the weapon ¨C all along to the chest area. The deep crack stopped at the energy core part under the cockpit, directly destroying the power system of the mecha. The lifeless mecha could only kneel on the ground like a pile of scrap metal. ¡°This is impossible¡­¡± His eyes were full of shock and disbelief. He reached out to touch the crack to confirm its existence. But his feet slipped, along with his body, almost falling from the cockpit. A big gray mecha¡¯s hand moved over to prevent Liu Hongzi from falling. Then, Chu Yan¡¯s mocking voice came from above, ¡°Sorry, sorry! My weapon just got repaired two days ago, and this is the first time I¡¯m using it, that¡¯s why I can¡¯t really control my strength.¡± After speaking, Chu Yan pushed Liu Hongzi back into the cockpit without tenderness. Then, he withdrew his mecha¡¯s hand and waved to the applauding Yuan Lie as a thank you gesture. Then, it provocatively turned a little to face Xiang Kun, who was going crazy. With a spring on his steps and a smile on his face, he happily trotted away to the waiting area, waiting for the next game. A familiar scene, a familiar rhetoric. Liu Hongzi, who was unwillingly pushed into the cockpit, couldn¡¯t help growling. He raised his hand and punched the cockpit floor hard. His expression was twisted from sheer anger. ¡®That damned Chu Yan! So fucking arrogant!!¡¯ ¡°Ge, did you see Chu Yan¡¯s expression just now? He was laughing at me. I¡¯m going to beat him up!¡± Xiang Kun¡¯s temper was boiling without a method to vent. Xiang Hui hurriedly grabbed his younger brother¡¯s arm and pulled him back. With a deep frown, he whispered, ¡°Sit down! Think about it clearly for a second! You can remake a weapon again. But the key point is Chu Yan¡¯s energy blade. It is very suspicious.¡± Xiang Kun refused to accept this reasoning. He retorted, ¡°But that mace is the first weapon I made, I¡ª¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t understand the weirdness of that energy blade, then the second, third, and countless weapons you make in the future will be broken by Chu Yan¡¯s hands! By those Chu family¡¯s hands! Do you understand?!¡± Xiang Hui could feel Xiang Kun¡¯s grip tightened. He sighed, then with a gloomy voice, he continued, ¡°Now sit down and calm down. Show your noble bearing befitting a Xiang family member. Remember, that mace is just some you made casually. It¡¯s nothing in the grand scheme of things.¡± Xiang Hui¡¯s tone was too gloomy, and his eyes looked crazy; it looked completely different from his usual gentleness and tolerance. Xiang Kun, who rarely met him because he lived in school, directly trembled from instinctive fear when he saw his brother. His voice was wavering, and his pupils were shaking. He didn¡¯t know what to do to respond to his brother¡¯s weird state. Because Xiang Kun was silent, it made Xiang Hui believe that his brother finally saw reason. He eased his expression and helped him straighten his messy hair, while saying, ¡°The mechas and weapons used by the students in this competition must pass the school¡¯s inspection in advance. Go find the data. It is very important for us to get them. Be clever when inquiring about it, got it?¡± All the things Chu Yan used were custom-made by the Chu family. That energy blade could easily cut off Xiang Kun¡¯s mace made from various precious ores , and even scratched the protective shell of the mecha and destroyed the power system inside. It must have used some secret thing that has not yet been released to the market! And judging from the recent news, the material used was most likely that mysterious secondary mutated red tin ore. The seniors in the family have been researching the mutated red tin mine for more than a year, but there has been no progress. Now Chu Yan has shown off a strange energy blade produced by the Chu family to the world. This was a golden opportunity. It¡¯s foolish not to figure it out. After his expression eased, the sense of strangeness quickly faded away. Xiang Kun gradually calmed down. Seeing that his older brother was so eager, the family affection took the upper hand. He suppressed the uncomfortable feeling of losing his first craft, and nodded obediently. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get the data.¡± ¡°Good boy.¡± Xiang Hui withdrew his thoughts, raised his hand and touched his younger brother¡¯s head with a smile. He continued to comfort him, ¡°Don¡¯t be sad, I¡¯ll transfer another batch of materials for you. Don¡¯t talk about only making weapons this time, even if you want to directly build a mecha, I will support you.¡± Seeing Xiang Hui¡¯s usual gentle smile directed to him, Xiang Kun completely relaxed his emotions. Thinking about what his older brother proposed, Xiang Kun did find it reasonable. As long as he had materials, what kind of weapon he couldn¡¯t make? This time, he really cheered up and showed Xiang Hui a confident smile. As he patted his chest, he said, ¡°Ge, don¡¯t worry. I promise to help you get the data of that energy blade!¡± After speaking, he let his annoyance to his eternal nemesis take over, and shouted ¡°Chu Yan cheated!¡± as he rushed off the viewing platform1clarification: he acted bratty to mask off his actual purpose: some good ol¡¯ corporate spying.. The arena became lively again because of Xiang Kun¡¯s sudden charge. The teacher was tormented by his persistent yelling. After asking Chu Yan for his opinion, the teacher announced the test data of the energy blade and explained, ¡°Student Xiang, the competition has always been carried out under the supervision of the teaching body. Therefore, it is impossible for Chu Yan to cheat. Although the data of this energy blade is much higher than other energy blades, there is no violation of the rules. However, Liu Hongzi¡¯s mace did exceed the safety value during the test. But after discussing it with other teachers, we considered that dampening the student¡¯s enthusiasm for new weapons and the creativity of actively exploring different weapons and tactics would be detrimental. So, Liu Hongzi¡¯s weapon was approved. Then, we saw what happened to a female classmate yesterday, it turned out that the weapon was indeed, far too dangerous for this competition.¡± As the teacher talked, he not-so-discreetly glanced at the black ash that hadn¡¯t been completely cleaned up on the ground. Things like corrosive chains were still too dangerous, and he personally felt that those teachers who agreed on this usage must¡¯ve had their brains kicked by a donkey. Xiang Kun, who had walked a little bit behind the door on the matter of reviewing the mace, choked when he heard the teacher¡¯s words. He saw that Chu Yan looked over with a half-smile. This infuriated him even further until his face slowly flushed. He couldn¡¯t help glare at him viciously. But, he couldn¡¯t continue to stand here and became a shameful sight, so he immediately turned around and left. In the spectator area, Xiang Hui frowned as he looked at the released energy blade data. The composition of the energy blade was actually only Gray Snake Ore, without adding other minerals. This was not normal, the data of Gray Snake Ore couldn¡¯t be this high. Something is wrong. There must be something else hidden. Lieutenant General Wei, who had been watching quietly all this time, finally couldn¡¯t help to ask, ¡°Has the Chu family come up with something new?¡± ¡°It should be.¡± Xiang Hui came back to his senses. He clenched his hands slowly, and said in a low voice, ¡°Ren Moze can no longer help the Chu family continue to innovate, so they must get new talents.¡± The Xiang family relied on mecha manufacturing to gain a foothold in the Federation. If they were caught up by the Chu family, wouldn¡¯t the Xiang family become a joke? On the lifted platform, Chu Rong looked at the announced test data at a glance. With a suspicious look, he glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was obediently hanging his head and his ears. He asked in a cold voice, ¡°Just now, Xiao Yan only used 60% of his strength for that blow. The data of that energy blade is definitely beyond the level announced. Tell me, what¡¯s actually going on?¡± Qiao Zhiya gave him a guilty look, grabbed the Marshal¡¯s clothes in a pleading manner, and replied honestly, ¡°I, I drew a magic circle on the energy blade. But, I also hid the magical signature in advance, plus drew a temporary suppressing magic circle as a cover-up¡­¡± Compared to what happened last time with the giant blade, it could be regarded as impeccable in doing things. Really promising, this Bald Chicken actually knows how to deceive the eyes. ¡°Does Xiao Yan know what you¡¯re doing?¡± Chu Rong continued to ask, full of incoming storms. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body became stiffer, his ears stretched taut and down. He stopped pulling at his clothes, and instead leaned over to rub his head against the Marshal¡¯s chest with extra pleading eyes. Chu Rong immediately knew what Qiao Zhiya actually meant! No wonder Xiao Yan agreed to the teacher¡¯s request to release the data of the energy blade so easily. It turned out that Chu Rong had been kept from knowing in the first place! Chu Rong couldn¡¯t help tightening the hand holding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s back collar. His chest was burning with anger. Secretly repairing weapons, secretly drawing magic circles on weapons, secretly using cover-ups to avoid detection, and even trying to cover up the magic circle patterns on weapons! Compared with the almost ¡°fair and just¡± selling of the giant sword last time, this time the Bald Chicken¡¯s trick was very advanced; so advanced that it actually fooled everyone! If he let this damned, bold, and clever Bald Chicken continue like this, sooner or later, he would be able to toss himself to the sky2out of Chu Rong¡¯s reach.! Chu Rong only felt that there was a gloomy energy rising from the soles of his feet, straight to the air. The spiritual power locked in the sea of ??spiritual power could not help but move, escaping towards the outside world. In the next second, a force with a healing power rushed towards him without fear of death, and Chu Rong couldn¡¯t even feel where the other party was! ¡°Boom¨C!¡± Just like fuel poured into a small fire, Chu Rong¡¯s ¡°single fire¡± directly started a forest fire. ¡°Qiao Zhiya.¡± He raised his hand to hold the small head on his chest, and said grimly, ¡°I think we need to talk.¡± After realizing the familiarity of the spiritual power, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but continue rubbing his head against Chu Rong¡¯s chest, while his heart froze. Immediately, he looked up at the Marshal. His mouth slightly opened, his ears trembling, and his body stiffened like a piece of dead pork about to be put on the chopping board. ¡®Ah, ah, ah! An apology is not enough to douse the fire!¡¯ Not long after the first round of competition ended, Chu Rong left the field, followed by Xiang Hui and Lieutenant General Wei. The rest of the big shrimps looked at the big whales leaving one after the other. Only Yuan Lie, his supporter and the real parents of the students were left. The little shrimps couldn¡¯t help whispering. ¡°Why did everyone leave?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because Marshal Chu left first.¡± ¡°Marshal Chu doesn¡¯t want to continue watching the game?¡± ¡°Well, Chu Yan already defeated the second most powerful student just now. Maybe he thought that Chu Yan would win easily, and there¡¯s no suspense over the result. So he just left early. I think it¡¯s normal.¡± ¡°Then, can we cheer for our children?¡± ¡°But Lieutenant General Yuan is still there.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The little shrimps continued to be silent spectators, wanting to cry but had no tears. Living like this, pushed by the big dogs, truly was miserable! Chu Yan noticed his erge¡¯s departure, and also noticed Qiao Zhiya who was being carried by him. He glanced at the published energy blade data, and lit a candle for his future ersao3second sister-in-law. in his heart. He was the user, so of course he knew whether the data and real power were truthful or not. Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya weren¡¯t ¡°enlightened¡± yet, so it was his solemn duty to create conflicts and opportunities for the sake of their relationships¡¯ progress. And he was successful so far! CH 41.2 White-Haired Monster & Bald Chicken heart-to-heart talk part 2 lol Chu Rong directly carried Qiao Zhiya home, without even giving Qiao Zhiya a single look. Qiao Zhiya was extremely anxious on the way home. After entering the house, he directly pleaded even harder, giving Chu Rong his best apologetic look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean not to tell you. I just forgot, that magic circle is actually¡ª¡± ¡°Sit down.¡± Chu Rong interrupted him coldly. He pulled the youth¡¯s back collar so Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t plaster his body onto his, spraying his neck with his warm breath until he felt shiver down his spine. Qiao Zhiya, who hadn¡¯t been given such a cold order by him, froze in place. He could let his body sag as Chu Rong manoeuvred it as he pleases. Seeing that Chu Rong was really, really angry at him this time ¨C no manner of pleading was effective to quell it ¨C and refused to meet his ears. His ears collapsed like a sulky cat. His mood sank into the bottom of the ocean. ¡®It¡¯s over, the White-Haired Monster is really angry. And he doesn¡¯t want to look at me anymore¡­¡¯ Chu Rong, who was just giving orders as per his habit, saw that Qiao Zhiya actually sat down on the ground obediently. He frowned, and his mood became worse. He picked the youth up again, put him on the sofa, while he himself sat down across the coffee table. With a sharp glare, he directly ordered. ¡°Confess.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up at him, then lowered his head. He honestly described the process of repairing the energy blade, and then focused on improving the magic circle. He also mentioned that he was studying the use of magic circles to deal with the mutated red tin ore, as a last ditch effort in improving Chu Rong¡¯s mood. It¡¯s a pity that Chu Rong was still angry. His face became darker the more he heard it. After Qiao Zhiya finished speaking, Chu Rong finally suppressed his temper and asked with a less cold voice, ¡°So, since more than a month ago, you don¡¯t take a good lunch break everyday. Instead, you go to the laboratory to repair weapons secretly. Do you even understand how dangerous it is? You were saying that you were experimenting with the magic circle usage with such volatile, new ore we haven¡¯t researched fully! Qiao Zhiya, do you want to actively endanger yourself? On top of that, this has been going on for over a month. And you never think of telling me, or anyone, about this matter?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned when asked about this. He immediately became defensive and tried to explain his reasoning. ¡°No, no.¡± He quickly waved his hand. He glanced at Chu Rong, and explained more carefully, ¡°The method of adding the energy of the ore itself to the circulation of the magic circle has always existed, although my people rarely use it. But I know it will not be dangerous, and safety can be guaranteed. For lunch break, I eat proper nutrition! Plus, I go to bed at ten o¡¯clock every night and get up at six o¡¯clock in the morning. My resting time is enough, and there is no need for extra during lunch break. As for more than a month¨C¡± ¡°You get up at six o¡¯clock every morning?¡± Chu Rong almost screeched as he squinted, interrupting Qiao Zhiya again. His expression became unreadable, ¡°Morning training starts at eight o¡¯clock, and the first class starts at nine o¡¯clock, but you get up at six o¡¯clock every day. What are you doing so early?¡± Qiao Zhiya shut his mouth. He stared at the Marshal with wide eyes, and two big words flashed in his mind: ¡®It¡¯s over.¡¯ Ancestor Chu was beyond pissed. Of course, the consequences were serious. For the first time, Chu Rong used his authority as Qiao Zhiya¡¯s guardian to retrieve the life track recorded on the Qiao Zhiya school client. He checked his daily schedule at school in detail. And this look was the nail in the coffin. Breakfast was basically ignored, as Qiao Zhiya never went to the cafeteria. He obediently went to the cafeteria for lunch, but then he immediately went to the laboratory after eating, without resting at all. After school, he also finished dinner as quickly as possible, and then went back to the dormitory and stayed there until he answered Chu Rong¡¯s communication request before going to bed at ten. There were no extracurricular activities, no rest and entertainment, nothing. There¡¯s only one hour blank after he got up early, doing whatever in his dormitory; and also before bed. A teenage student, but his life was more busy and boring than office workers. He hadn¡¯t been sleeping well, eating well, working from six to ten with minimal rest. Such an unhealthy life schedule. ¡°What are you doing after getting up early and before going to bed?¡± Chu Rong turned off the client and asked in a cold voice. Qiao Zhiya tightly grasped his trousers, knowing that he had to be frank and truthful. He gave a nervous glance and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m taking virtual classes¡­¡± Chu Rong saw Qiao Zhiya¡¯s collapsing and trembling ears. The irritability in his heart mixed with a sour emotion, made him unable to lose his temper, but he was also unable to speak soft words. He knew about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s virtual classes. The two had a conversation on this topic before, and he expressed his support at that time. He knew Qiao Zhiya¡¯s high intelligence, and knew that the school¡¯s teaching progress was far from meeting the self-study speed of this smart child. He also hoped that the other party would skip a grade and go to the military academy with Chu Yan earlier to keep him company, so as not to be alone and bullied. It made him take a laissez-faire attitude towards the youth¡¯s behavior of making up lessons on the Internet. It was normal for a teenager like him to have his own plans, and Chu Rong understood to be less authoritarian and overbearing. But he didn¡¯t expect that this daring Bald Chicken would spend all his time studying, eating, sleeping, and going to class. He even got up an hour earlier and sacrificed sleep time to speed up his learning progress. This was not in line with his expectations. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t figure out why a teenager who didn¡¯t need to worry about his livelihood would have any reason to squeeze himself dry like this. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± He suppressed his explosive anger. He reached to lift Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head up, and let them have direct eye contact. Chu Rong¡¯s brows were tightly frowned because of the strange emotions rushing in his heart. With a lower, tired tone, he asked, ¡°Why are you so desperate? What is your reason to spend all your waking time studying? Is it because I¡¯m urging you? Or is it because your schoolmate¡¯s ire towards you? Or is it just your own initiative, or is it something else? Please give me a reasonable explanation. Please¡­¡± This was an unexpected turn of tone. Qiao Zhiya stared at him blankly, feeling that he might have had an illusion. He actually saw a trace of frustration and helplessness in Chu Rong¡¯s eyes. There was a sudden tug in his heart, and all other messy emotions disappeared in an instant, leaving only his distress for the taller man in front of him. He didn¡¯t know why he felt guilty. Chu Rong was angry, and Qiao Zhiya kinda understood why. But he instinctively felt that if he didn¡¯t comfort Chu Rong now, the Marshal would probably be secretly sad for a long time. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He didn¡¯t lower his head again this time, but stood up, met Chu Rong¡¯s gaze, leaned over and hugged tight. The blond youth¡¯s height was short, so when he had to cross over a coffee table like this, he could only barely reach Chu Rong¡¯s chest. He pressed his head on Chu Rong¡¯s chest, and draped his arm on Chu Rong¡¯s neck. He reached to stroke Chu Rong¡¯s hair, just like what Chu Rong used to comfort him in the past. With a barely-heard whisper, he said, ¡°I just want to learn faster¡­ Xiao Yan will go to the Advanced College next year, and I want to attend it with him. And I also want to become stronger as soon as possible¡­ Don¡¯t be sad. I¡¯m not tired, really. I¡¯m sorry, I made you worry.¡± Chu Rong was stiffened by this hug. By pure reflex, he wanted to push Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arm, but after feeling the touch on the back of his head, he silently put down the half-raised hand on his lap instead. For the first time in many years, he actually felt the feeling of being carefully coaxed and comforted like a child. This scene was too absurd and weird, but it was strangely¡­ warm. Comforting. He wanted to indulge in it for a while. Chu Rong¡¯s ear was pressed near Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart; he could hear the youth¡¯s steady heartbeat. His nose was also close to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s neck line; he could smell the refreshing, grassy, body scent. It was warm and healing. Chu Rong¡¯s mood strangely calmed down. Then, a weak emotion secretly appeared in his heart, which made his voice go lower, with a hint of tremble. ¡°Why do you want to become stronger?¡± Chu Rong asked as he moved his fingers, feeling an urge to tightly wrap the youth tight in his arm. With the steady thud-thud-thud of heartbeat he heard, it was enough to suppress that urge. With a hoarse yet calm voice, he continued, ¡°Do you want to become stronger quickly, and then¡­leave the Chu family¡­¡± ¡®Leaving me also?¡¯ was left unsaid. Chu Rong wasn¡¯t brave enough to ask it out loud. The Bald Chicken he picked up has already obtained the official federal resident status and was about to come of age. If he wanted to leave, Chu Rong couldn¡¯t keep him from doing that. In fact, when he first took in this Bald Chicken, he had already expected that he would leave after he became an adult. After all, this Bald Chicken didn¡¯t want to stay by his side at the very beginning. At that time, he had thought of taking a roundabout way to fulfil this wish. He would first arrange for the youth to study and work on the planet under the jurisdiction of the Chu family, and slowly cultivate his talents. Then, after he had matured, he finally would be transferred to the Capital Planet. But now that they have been together for so long¡­ It¡¯s impossible to even think about leaving. This Bald Chicken was picked up by him, so the study and work must be carried out under his nose! Thinking about this, he finally couldn¡¯t help himself to return the hug, holding Qiao Zhiya very close in his embrace. The sparks of warmth and weakness poofed into thin air. Then, his original irritation reared its ugly head once again. With such a thin body, this stupid Bald Chicken probably wouldn¡¯t be able to live for a month without his supervision. ¡°You want to be independent with that shitty lifestyle and self-care? Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± ¡®Leaving the Chu family?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya was dumbfounded by Chu Rong¡¯s sudden words. He loosened his arms and tried to see the Marshal¡¯s expression, but was suddenly hugged tightly and couldn¡¯t move. His face was smushed into Chu Rong¡¯s firm chest, and despite squirming, he still wasn¡¯t able to escape this death grip. ¡®Wait¡­ Is the White-Haired Monster¡­ acting like a baby? So sticky!!¡¯ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, and a strange light glinted as an out-of-nowhere thought emerged. He could only look at Chu Rong¡¯s wide chest, but his ears excitedly moved with his improved mood. His lips uncontrollably upturned into a sly smile. ¡®Could it be that the White-Haired Monster has been worried about me leaving him?¡¯ ¡®Ah, he relies on me so much?¡¯ ¡°No!¡± With his sudden excited mood, his ears no longer trembled, nor his voice weak. He even stroked Chu Rong¡¯s hair boldly, hugged him back and patted him. With a big smile, he said, ¡°I really want to hurry to make mechas for you. Aren¡¯t you waiting for that? I also want to treat your illnesses and get you a lot of good things. Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯ll always be here, by your side.¡± As he spoke, he twisted his body triumphantly, and touched Chu Rong¡¯s head again, his eyes full of affection. He got it now. The White-Haired Monster was just an affection-starved child who needed to be coaxed gently when he was sick. He¡¯s just like Qiao Zhiya¡¯s father, who despite being a reliable and stable man, really needed to be coaxed by his mother. They were both awkward yet warm people. But then, Chu Rong patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, then pulled his hair, and rubbed his ears. Even with such a promise, Chu Rong still remembered what kind of ¡°effort¡± Qiao Zhiya had done to achieve that. He quickly broke from his warm thoughts, while his expression darkened at a rapid speed. Finally, his temper erupted. He yanked Qiao Zhiya from sticking to his body, standing up, and shook the youth. He sneered, ¡°Bald Chicken. Are you proud?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s fatherly smile froze. He quickly was brought back to the current situation. Full of guilt, he averted his gaze as he stammered, ¡°N-no¡­ no¡­.¡± As he spoke, he glanced at the Marshal¡¯s messy white hair, while his ears trembled and shook. ¡®Ah¡­ I got carried away¡­ QAQ¡¯ Chu Rong saw the youth¡¯s guilty and scared look. Again, he pushed down his anger and put the youth down. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Without even looking, he ordered A1, who was waiting in the corner, ¡°Go buy a bed online and come back. Put it in the second bedroom.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears stood up in fright. Without caring about anything else, he turned around and threw himself into Chu Rong, stuttering and asking, ¡°What, what are you buying a bed for?¡± ¡°Qiao Zhiya.¡± Chu Rong raised his hand to press the stupid blond¡¯s head. He rumpled the blond strand until it looked like a chicken¡¯s haystack, and vented his anger into pinching and rubbing the trembling pointy ears. ¡°You are almost an adult. You should sleep by yourself. If you miss your parents, I can customize a set of dolls for you, you can sleep with the dolls.¡± After speaking, he let go, and went to the study without looking back, leaving Qiao Zhiya with a cold back. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave with wide eyes. After a long time,she covered her face as if the sky had fallen¡ª ¡®Am I going to sleep in a separate room? Then Chu Rong¡¯s treatment¡­ No!!!! QAQ¡¯ CH 41.3 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Meanwhile, at school¨C Chu Yan won the first place in the final exam without any suspense, while Liu Hongzi missed his next competition because of the damage to his mecha. He ranked 20th with a score of zero, failing to sit on his thousand-year-old second place. The holiday came as promised, and the students walked out of the school gate while talking and laughing, as they were excited at the prospect of finally going home. After completing the exams for this semester, Chu Yan slumped in the back seat of the suspension car like a boneless creature. After listening to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s crying rant via his communicator, he was silent for a while with a strange expression. He asked for confirmation, ¡°So the current situation is¡­ my Ge is angry with you and won¡¯t let you sleep with him?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice was weak, sounding very listless, ¡°He¡¯s still staying in his study, and his lunch is settled with nutritional supplements. He didn¡¯t even eat the steak I fried for him.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s expression became even weirder, and he complained in his heart. ¡®Oh my god, my Erge, who is always cold-faced, unexpectedly lost his temper childishly!! He wants to sleep in a separate bed with Qiao Zhiya! And refused to eat Qiao¡¯s delicious cooking!! Fuck, even I, Chu Yan, hasn¡¯t used this naive method since I was seven years old! Truly¡­ this was¡­¡¯ ¡®An eye-opener!¡¯ ¡®Shocking news!¡¯ ¡®Unheard of!¡¯ He sat up. As he recalled the bloody and tearful history of being bullied by Chu Rong in the past, he thumped the seat hard to vent his excitement at the moment. Then, he realized and tried to stabilize his breathing. With a sincere tone, he replied to the softly sobbing Qiao Zhiya, ¡°Qiao, you know of Erge¡¯s temper right? If you don¡¯t admit your mistakes sincerely, he won¡¯t forgive you easily¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± He sobbed harder. At night, Qiao Zhiya finished his virtual class, then he flipped listlessly on the newly bought bed. After a while, he crept to the door of the study, and put his ear on the door as he tried to eavesdrop. But he couldn¡¯t hear anything. After hesitating, he carefully opened the door of the room. At the bathroom door, Chu Rong, who was about to go in with his pajamas, looked coldly at the peeking blond head. He asked, ¡°It¡¯s ten o¡¯clock, are you here to be locked up by me?¡± Withdrawing his head, Qiao Zhiya slammed the door and ran back to his room. About twenty minutes later, the door of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s room was pushed open from the outside. The moment the door was opened, Qiao Zhiya immediately sat up. He hugged the pillow in the corner of the bed and looked over pitifully. With flattened ears, and teary eyes, he whispered, ¡°Chu Rong, I can¡¯t sleep¡­¡± Chu Rong, who came inside the room to take a peek at Qiao Zhiya, didn¡¯t expect that the Bald Chicken was still awake. His body froze, and he quickly hid his emotions with a frown and impatient expression. He took out a few pieces of emerald jade and a box of green fruits from the space button and threw them over. ¡°Go to sleep!¡± After speaking, he quickly closed the door. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slumped ears flinched in fright at the sound of the door closing. He picked on the pattern on the pillow aggrievedly. He glanced at the emerald jade on the bed, pursed his lips, and directly ignored them. After that, he bravely ran out of his room ¨C pillow included ¨C and stood at Chu Rong¡¯s room. After hesitating for a while, he still didn¡¯t knock on the door. Instead, he turned around and went back to his room, took out his quilt, and spread it out at the door of Chu Rong. Then, he laid down on the makeshift futon. The sound of rustling at the door disappeared. Chu Rong walked around the door twice, silent for tens of seconds, before finally opening the door. ¡°Ah!¡± A soft exclamation sounded. Chu Rong felt as if he stepped on something soft. Hhis heart tightened, and he quickly stepped back and looked down at the door. Qiao Zhiya, who was lying on the ground, retracted his hand pitifully, sat up and looked at him with reddened eyes. He picked up his pillows, looking as if he was licking his wounds and about to go back to his room. Chu Rong¡¯s eyebrows jumped, and he rationally told himself that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s cry of pain just now was fake, because he knew he didn¡¯t actually step on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. Then, he remembered that the Bald Chicken really should be sensitive towards pain. With a complicated mood, he decided to inspect the hand with a deep frown. ¡°Which part did I step on? Is it painful?¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately climbed up to hug and rubbed his head endearingly. With a muffled voice, he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt¡­ Can you sleep with me? I want to sleep with you.¡± ¡± ¡­Qiao Zhiya.¡± Chu Rong let go of his hand, frowned and called him. The two were stuck in a stalemate for a few seconds before Qiao Zhiya slowly let go. ¡°Then, good night¡­¡± He whispered, bent down to pick up the pillow on the floor, and continued with increasingly floppy ears, ¡°It¡¯s very late, sorry to disturb you for so long¡­ What do you want to eat tomorrow morning? I¡¯ll cook it for you.¡± Chu Rong looked down at him, and it made his Adam¡¯s apple roll. With a fierce frown, he turned around, cursed inwardly, picked up the quilt on the floor, and came back into his room. ¡°Fine. Come in.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned around and hugged his neck, buried his head on the taller man¡¯s shoulder, and rubbed happily while giggling. ¡®The White-Haired Monster is really the best and the most soft-hearted!¡¯ ¡°Sleep honestly. Starting from tomorrow, eat well, and properly manage your time reasonably.¡± Chu Rong stuffed the short youth onto the bed. Seeing him nodding obediently, he finally let out the breath he was holding. He then turned off the lamp and went to bed. Qiao Zhiya immediately hugged him, leaned his head gently on his shoulder, and said in a low voice, ¡°I will be obedient.¡± Chu Rong returned his gesture by patting the fluffy head. ¡°Go to sleep.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded happily, rubbed himself harder, and closed his eyes. After two seconds of thinking, he opened his eyes, then kissed Chu Rong on the face. Then, like a little thief, he shyly shrunk into the quilt, and said in a soft whisper, ¡°Good night, sweet dreams.¡± It was long after the usual rest time. Qiao Zhiya immediately fell asleep after letting go of the messy thoughts he had. He also naturally burrowed into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. But Chu Rong, who was about to fall asleep immediately, opened his eyes and froze in shock. He let the youth arched into his arms, and reflexively stroked the youth¡¯s back. It took him several seconds before he realized what he had done. Raising his hand to touch his face, he repeatedly recalled the soft touch and the feeling of leaving just now. His traitorous heart beat erratically. Five minutes later, Chu Rong, who finally fully digested what had happened, sat up from the bed at once. He looked at Qiao Zhiya who was sleeping peacefully with a complicated emotion. Finally, he reached out and grabbed Qiao Zhiya, shook him with burning red ears, ¡°Damn Bald Chicken, what did you just do! You actually kiss, kiss¡­ who taught you! Who!¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had already begun to have a sweet dream, was brutally awakened. He stared at him for a long time with misty eyes, stretched out his arms to hug Chu Rong in aggrieved pout. He burrowed even deeper, and mumbled, ¡°White-Haired Monster, let me sleep. I wanna sleep¡­¡± White¨C Ancestor Chu got even angrier. He pulled the stupid blond again and shook him, ¡°What did you call me? How dare you call me that, Qiao Zhiya, you¡ª Mpff¨C¡± The dauntless and extremely sleepy Qiao Zhiya leaned over to block the source of the noise¡ª With his own mouth. The world was finally quiet. He just dreamed that his parents had quarreled and finally reconciled. Qiao Zhiya withdrew his head, smacked his lips, and flung himself forward to hug Chu Rong again. He imitated the way his father would coax his mother ¨C kissing her, then coaxed her out of her anger. He patted Chu Rong¡¯s hair while saying sweet, soft words. ¡°Hey, kiss me and stop making trouble¡­¡± As he spoke, his voice began to peter out, and he fell asleep again with his head on Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder. Chu Rong let go of the hand that was holding the youth¡¯s back collar. His thin lips, which were rudely smacked by another pair of lips, were drawn thin. He slowly raised his hand in disbelief to cover it. ¡®¡­what just happened?¡¯ Without support, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body slid down. The youth quickly stretched out his arms to hug Chu Rong. While the Marshal looked down at the curled up young man on his chest, softly snoring. His blond hair looked messy. He looked innocent. Chu Rong, meanwhile, could only stare into the nothingness in pure shock. ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡®¡­what the hell happened?¡¯ ¡®That sensation against my lips¡­..¡¯ He pursed his lips unconsciously, and traced it with his own finger. Again, he glanced at the peacefully sleeping stupid Bald Chicken ¨C still in his arms ¨C and his eyes immediately locked on the youth¡¯s rosy, parted lips. His thoughts were completely messed up. At seven o¡¯clock on the next morning, Qiao Zhiya, who was sleeping drowsily, was packed by Chu Rong with a particularly dark expression and sent to the Chu family¡¯s branch house. While he himself stayed at the military headquarters on the same day, saying that he would reorganize his squadron for the year-end preparation. Chu Yan, who was brushing his teeth, heard the movement and came down from upstairs. He saw Qiao Zhiya standing at the gate with aggrieved eyes, looking out of the door like a kicked puppy. Seeing his saozi so downtrodden like this, it took Chu Yan a full two seconds before he could fully register what happened. With an undisguised surprise in his voice, he asked, ¡°Qiao, why are you here? Am I sleepwalking? Where is my Erge?¡± Qiao Zhiya turned to look at him. He sniffed, his eyes were really red this time, and whispered, ¡°He went to the army. It¡¯s over, he made me spend my winter vacation here. He even sent me here without even eating breakfast, and didn¡¯t even look at me when I left¡­ He must think I¡¯m too disobedient. He doesn¡¯t want me anymore¡­ ¡°As he spoke, there was actually a hint of sobs in his voice, although in the end he held it back firmly. Also confused by this situation, Gu Yan¡¯an hugged his shoulders to comfort him. Frowning, she didn¡¯t understand what Chu Rong was up to this time. The year-end reorganization of the military department was finished early tomorrow. ¡®Oh my god¡­¡¯ Chu Yan thought as he wiped off the toothpaste foam. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who looked downcast and seemed to be abandoned, and looked at the door that was still open. He raised his hand to scratch his hair in confusion. ¡®What¡¯s going on? How is this going? Erge doesn¡¯t want Qiao Zhiya anymore? The sky is falling?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sky had indeed fallen. He was sent here inexplicably and hadn¡¯t received a single word of instruction. In his understanding, he was abandoned. Gu Yan¡¯an finished making breakfast and went to work. Chu Yan sat next to Qiao Zhiya with a bun in his hand, slinging his other arm around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder to comfort him. ¡°Qiao, be more optimistic. If my Erge really doesn¡¯t want you, how could it be possible to send you here? In Erge¡¯s eyes, only his family can come here. So don¡¯t think too much, ah.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s dull eyes finally had a spark of hope inside them. He turned to look at Chu Yan as if he finally grasped a life-saving straw. With a trembling voice, he asked, ¡°Really? Chu Rong still wants me?¡± ¡°Of course. My Erge loves you so much. He must really be busy, that¡¯s why he acted like that,¡± Chu Yan continued to comfort him. ¡°Then when will he come to pick me up?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Seeing his hesitation, the light in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes went out again. He lowered his eyes and said in a hoarse whisper, ¡°I know, I was too willful this time. It is normal for him to be angry with me, I should have gone back to sleep by myself the first time he asked me to go to sleep honestly¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have been pestering him¡­¡± Because he felt that things went south because of his meddling, Chu Yan shifted his butt guiltily. He quickly patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder to attract his attention, so as not to let him continue to immerse himself in this depressed mood. With a quick smile, he changed the subject and asked, ¡°Why did you pester him yesterday? Can you tell me the details of what happened yesterday? Didn¡¯t you do the secret big move I suggested?¡± Thinking of the secret big move, Qiao Zhiya blushed. He temporarily withdrew from his depressed mood. He nodded and replied, ¡°Used, used, but I fell asleep later, I don¡¯t know how he reacted¡­ No, there was a reaction, that is, he sent me here this morning¡­¡± As he replied, he withered back again like a shriveled up sprout. He finally thought about the reason he had been abandoned, and it made him almost cry. Hearing this, Chu Yan felt even more guilty. Then suddenly he realized the current situation. ¡®Qiao kissed Erge last night? Then throw him here today? Still dare not talk to Qiao?¡¯ ¡®This is definitely tricky!¡¯ Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up, and he patted Qiao Zhiyha on the shoulder again. With a serious voice, he said, ¡°Qiao, now that things have come to this, there is only one way to get Erge to to take you home!¡± Startled, Qiao Zhiya glanced disbelievingly at Chu Yan, and stammered,¡±Wh-What method?¡± ¡°Fight poison with poison!¡± Chu Yan pumped up his fist in excitement. Seeing his confident expression, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help feeling hopeful in his heart, and asked expectantly, ¡°How to fight poison with poison? I¡¯ll go back by myself?¡± ¡°No!¡± Chu Yan gnawed a mouthful of steamed stuffed bun, roaring proudly, ¡± Let¡¯s run away from home and scare Erge shitless!¡± Lol I really loved whenever the text goes [Qiao Zhiya said, ¡°I¡¯ll be obedient¡±] and he proceed to be absolutely disobedient because he was fucking stubborn on things going his way. CH 42.1 Chu Yan was extremely effective at things he had put his mind into. After suggesting that, he acted before Qiao Zhiya even fully comprehend what Chu Yan meant. He dragged the blond youth out of the house, stuffed him into a hover car, and left the Chu family¡¯s branch house with a whiz. Qiao Zhiya was completely stunned at this moment. He hurriedly pulled Chu Yan who was setting the route of the car, and said anxiously: ¡°Xiao Yan, you are not allowed to run around! What should you do in case of danger? Your Dage and Dasao will be worried.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry! Both of them are experienced with me running around during holidays like this. They won¡¯t worry.¡± After setting the route, Chu Yan sat back to look at his blond companion. He suppressed the desire to laugh, slung his arm again around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders and comforted him, ¡°We won¡¯t run far, I swear. Let¡¯s go out and have fun for our holiday! We¡¯ll still be in the Capital Planet too, so if we need to come back fast, we can~ Heh, when Erge comes back from his work, he will go home immediately. When the time comes, you will admit your mistake to him and act coquettishly. He will definitely take you home immediately after he realizes how miserable he was when you are away! I bet he won¡¯t even scold you at all!!¡± Hearing Chu Yan¡¯s explanation, Qiao Zhiya, the good boy, couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious and guilty. But then, he remembered how cold Chu Rong was to leave him without saying a word. He pursed his lips, took a breath, and steeled his expression. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go out to play for a few days¡­ Are you sure that Dage and Dasao will not worry, and there will be no danger?¡± Chu Yan understood Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worry, so he sent a message explaining his departure to Chu Huai. Then, he decisively switched all their communicators to do-not-disturb mode and stuffed them into the space button. Qiao Zhiya was a little puzzled by this. Seeing this, Chu Yan hurriedly explained, ¡°The communicator can be located, but it will not work if it is inserted into the space button to isolate the signal. Don¡¯t worry, I have cash. We can have fun without a communicator.¡± The two of them disappeared without a trace, and the housekeeping robot at home frantically sent messages to Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an¡ª¡ªChu Yan has a lot of criminal records of running away, so the housekeeping robot¡¯s AI didn¡¯t think much about it. But it still sent a signal to the Chu Huai. At the Federal Government Headquarters, Chu Huai, who had just finished the morning meeting, turned on the communicator. First, he accepted the signal from home first, then opened a message from Chu Yan. He smiled after reading it, commenting to himself, ¡°Take Qiao Zhiya to experience the beauty of modern society¡­ sigh¡­ what messy words.¡± After saying that, he shook his head, closed the message without any worries, and returned to the office. Meanwhile, at the Federal Military Department, Chu Rong, who also finished the morning meeting, returned to the office and knocked on the table with his index finger for a while with a frozen face. He couldn¡¯t help but take out his communicator and opened it. He saw a message from Qiao Zhiya, and remembered that he had left without an explanation this morning. He remembered that the Bald Chicken looked aggrieved and dazed. He felt upset suddenly, so put down his communicator and knocked on the table for a long time before suppressing his emotions and turning on the communicator. The message from Qiao Zhiya was very short, only one sentence: [Do you still want me?] His eyebrows twitched, his face darkened, and he got up and walked outside his office without thinking much. ¡®When did I say I didn¡¯t want this bastard Bald Chicken! I just need a little time to cool off¡ª¡¯ ¡°Sir, what are you doing?¡± Fan Xiangnan just opened the door and came in. Seeing the Marshal pacing around in front of his office, he quickly moved to his side and said, ¡°His Excellency suddenly wants to come to inspect. The liaison department just sent a message to ask you to prepare in advance.¡± Chu Rong stopped abruptly in place. He glanced in the direction of the presidential palace with unkind eyes, tightened his hand holding the communicator, frowned fiercely, and lowered his head to open it. He replied to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s message, then turned around to face Fan Xiangnan as he ordered, ¡°Let everyone gather, prepare well, and try to send the president away quickly.¡± After speaking, he entered his office again. With a terrible expression, as if someone had robbed his wife. Fan Xiangnan looked suspiciously at the closed office door again, and shook his head, ¡°No, it should be an illusion. Sir is¡­ still single¡­ yeah¡­¡± After mumbling, he thought of the president who came over suddenly alongside his daughter. His head pounded, as he felt that he might have come up with an aneurysm with the implication behind this visit. ¡®It¡¯s better for the Chief to get a partner as soon as possible¡­ Otherwise, these rotten peach blossoms won¡¯t stop coming. Annoying¡­¡¯ The hover car also has a positioning system. After arriving at the shopping mall in the city center, Chu Yan got out of the car and sent it home. Then he took Qiao Zhiya to buy some new clothes that were less conspicuous, and also got a few new hats for him to cover his pointy ears. When changing clothes, Qiao Zhiya suddenly wanted to take out the communicator to check to see if Chu Rong had replied to him, but thinking of Chu Yan who was busy outside for him, he silently suppressed this impulse. ¡®No, Xiao Yan thinks of me so much, I can¡¯t destroy Xiao Yan¡¯s plan.¡¯ After changing his clothes too, Chu Yan took Qiao Zhiya to call a public hover car with cash, and set the route as it drove in a direction opposite to the Chu family¡¯s residences. ¡°Xiao Yan, where are we going?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who ran away from home for the first time, still felt uneasy. Chu Yan flipped through the cash in his hand, making sure it was enough, then looked up at Qiao Zhiya just to mysteriously replied, ¡°Let¡¯s go to a good place and show you a lot of knowledge.¡± ¡®Knowledge? How?¡¯ Two hours later, the two people who changed the hover car several times came to a small island on the edge of the mainland. ¡°Look! Real Adventure Island! I¡¯ve been looking at this theme park for a long time, but unfortunately I haven¡¯t had time to come here because it¡¯s too far away. Let¡¯s go in and have a good time! Go buy tickets first!¡± Chu Yan paid for the ride on the public suspension car in cash. As he took off the winter clothes on his body, he led Qiao Zhiya excitedly towards the gate of the park, with obvious happiness and excitement on his face. Although it was winter, it was still warm thanks to the temperature control device inside the isolated dome around the island. From a distance, the theme park was filled with greenery. Qiao Zhiya had his gaze subconsciously glued to the forest on the island, took a deep breath of the fresh air, filled to the brim with the scent of grass, of trees, of nature. He glanced around at the tourists who got off the car and walked towards the island one after another like them. Finally, he was no longer nervous. The forest, the sunshine, the people walking happily¡­ it all reminded him of his hometown. The dwarf boy who hadn¡¯t been running in the forest for a long time finally showed his first smile after running away from home. The island was very big. They arrived at one of the entrances that was closer to the forest adventure project. The ticket office was a huge building in the shape of a tree. The staff inside were all dressed in green, forest-themed clothes, which was very eye-catching. ¡°Xiao didi, although you can use cash to buy tickets, if you want to rent a small yard, this money is not enough.¡± The sexy female staff member in a short tube top smiled and shook her finger. Looking back and forth at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya standing side-to-side, her smile deepened. Ah, this pair must be another young sweethearts who secretly ran out on a date to avoid their parents. They were unwilling to pay the bill with a communicator because they were afraid of being found at home and taken back. How cute. ¡°How could it be not enough?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s excitement was replaced by collapse. He flipped through a brochure in his hand, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t fool me, I have read your brochure, and this money is definitely enough.¡± The staff also noticed the brochure in his hand, a flash of understanding flashed in her eyes. With a patient tone, she explained, ¡°The holidays are coming, there are more tourists, and there are more celebrations held on the island. So, while the prices of some attractions have not changed, other additional items, including accommodation and catering expenses, all increased a little bit.¡± The price has actually increased! When Chu Yan heard the explanation, he was really going to collapse. He couldn¡¯t help cursing at the profiteer capitalist bastard of an owner! He never expected such a price increase. If he knew about it, he would¡¯ve taken a little more cash for backup! Qiao Zhiya, who had been silently listening to their conversation, suddenly took a step forward. He took out a gold-type high-level magic stone from his storage ring¨C that is, gold jade ¨C and handed it over. He looked at the staff and asked, ¡°Can I use this to pay the bill? You can charge more, just think of it as the handling fee.¡± Chu Yan was reminded by him, and he came to his senses. He hurriedly put away the cash, took out a few pieces of black jade, and asked excitedly, ¡°I have this too, do you accept this? Or if I sell this to you at a discount and you give us some cash, isn¡¯t it a good deal?¡± The staff looked at the high-end jade being handed to her, then at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expectant eyes. She raised her hand to cover her chest¡ª ¡®God, this young couple is so foul! So handsome, so cute, and so rich¡­ my old single old dog¡¯s heart hurts.¡¯ ¡°Yes.¡± She accepted the gold jade with a slightly lower value, and finally couldn¡¯t help stretching out her thief¡¯s hand to pinch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face before giving his cheek a quick peck, and replied softly, ¡°I can also give you a 30% discount.¡± After all, this blond youth was so cute. The ticket was successfully bought, but Chu Yan was not happy at all. Angrily, he dragged Qiao Zhiya out of the ticket office, took out a handkerchief and wiped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face vigorously, and said angrily, ¡°Despicable! That staff member must have done it on purpose! She deliberately asked you to pay the bill and get the ticket! Then she took the opportunity to kiss you! It¡¯s too much! Erge isn¡¯t there yet¨C it¡¯s too much anyway! I want to complain!¡± ¡°No, forget it.¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed, took the handkerchief and wiped the lip marks on his face, and pointed to the surrounding area. He then pointed to a tourist who bought a ticket like them and was about to enter the island, then he whispered, ¡°Some of the tourists also were kissed like me. She wasn¡¯t malicious, it¡¯s probably something of her job? On the contrary, it was very kind of her to give us a discount.¡± Chu Yan glanced at the kissed tourists ¡ª all of them were giggling children. The corner of his mouth twitched as he complained in his heart, ¡®This is different matter!! If Erge knew about this, I¡¯m dead!!!!!¡¯ A dozen meters behind them, Qiu Guangji and Ning Kongran stepped into the ticket office together. Seeing the staff inside chatting excitedly together, he bumped his shoulder to his friend and said, ¡°Kongran, your employee management can¡¯t be too loose. It¡¯s not efficient for the staff to chat like this during working hours.¡± After leaving the Ning family¡¯s house and arriving at his own property, Ning Kongran relaxed a lot. Hearing this, he just smiled, shook his head and said, ¡± I just invested in this place, I¡¯m not responsible for the management. Plus, their chatting isn¡¯t holding back from them doing their job. This is an amusement park after all, let them have fun. It¡¯s good for the atmosphere too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re such a casual boss.¡± Qiu Guangji curled his lips, glanced at a familiar figure, and hurriedly raised his voice as greeted, ¡°Rebecca, you are not staying in your management office, why did you come here, hey! What are you gossiping about, there¡¯s guests!¡± Rebecca heard the call and looked at Qiu Guangji. She showed him a bright, mischievous smile, and waved the card in her hand at him. ¡°Of course I¡¯m talking about fun things! I just received a couple of lovely customers, probably dating behind their parents¡¯ backs. They didn¡¯t bring enough ticket money, and didn¡¯t want to use the communicator to transfer the money. I teased them a little when I saw it, but they actually took out a bunch of high-grade jade and said they wanted to use those as payment instead. But I was terrified, so I gave them a discount ¨C don¡¯t get mad, the discount is basically the price they would normally get because of the discount in the brochure. Look, this it¡¯s a gift card signed by one of the cute little guys, isn¡¯t it beautifully written?¡± The staff next to her couldn¡¯t help interjecting, ¡°Rebecca also secretly kissed him, and the little guy¡¯s boyfriend¡¯s face was so angry. His expression was so dark, and I heard him clamoring to complain.¡± Rebecca hurriedly reached out to cover her mouth, and told her not to talk nonsense with a smile. The girls immediately made a fuss and started to gossip in a lively manner. Seeing this, Qiu Guangji couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes. Just as he was about to reach out to take a look at the gift card, a very familiar hand came over and gently pulled the card away. ¡°Huh?¡± He was taken aback, turned his head to look, and saw his friend holding the gift card looking deep in thought. He asked in doubt, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Rebecca gave away things indiscriminately again?¡± ¡°No,¡± Ning Kongran shook his head, touched the very familiar handwriting on the card, and thought of a simple boy he hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. He looked at the girls who had noticed his arrival and gradually calmed down, and asked, ¡± Where do these two guests live?¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 42.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Yan¡¯s rented yard was located on the mountainside of the forest area, and there was a small and exquisite wooden cottage ¨C it had two bedrooms and one living room, just big enough for two people to live in. There was a natural-looking pond that was the swimming pool in front of the house, a big tree planted beside the pool, and a double swing hung on the said tree. ¡°Yahhoo!¡± Chu Yan climbed onto the swing as soon as he arrived, sat down and swung high, let go when he reached the highest point, and plunged directly into the swimming pool. He swam two laps comfortably, and then looked at the swing standing on the shore. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who looked at him with excitement, and waved at the blond youth vigorously. ¡°Take off your hat quickly, and take a swim to cool off.¡± Seeing his happy look, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help showing a smile. He took off his hat, but didn¡¯t go into the water. Instead, he expertly climbed up the tree, and stood on the tallest branch and looked at the not-so-high hillside, squinting his eyes comfortably against the sun. It¡¯s been a long time, this feeling of being surrounded by nature. Chu Yan was stunned by his agility in climbing the tree. Thinking of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s identity as an Exoplanet Native, he suddenly became interested. He swam under the tree, looked up, and asked loudly, ¡°Qiao! What is your hometown like? Are there many trees too?¡± ¡°Well, there are many, many trees.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked down at him, and the smile on his face gradually widened, smeared with a hint of nostalgia. ¡°Everyone lives in the forest, and Dad likes to be surrounded by thick canopies the most. In the early morning, he would sat on a tree branch and play the leaf flute, accompanying my mother who would play a small drum, and the sound was crisp and pleasant¡­ Xiao Yan, do you want to hear the sound of the leaf flute?¡± Chu Yan looked at the blond youth¡¯s blurred expression covered by the leaves. Listening to his soft and pleasant voice, he felt melancholic all of sudden. But he still raised his voice to reply, ¡°Yes! Can you play?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, raised his hand and took out a flute made of vines from his personal storage ring, and put it to his lips. In the Magic Continent, the first musical instrument that every newborn elves learnt was the leaf flute. It was symbolic of their hometown and racial identity. The sound of a flute as light as a bird¡¯s chirping fluttered out, and Qiu Guangji, who was passing by the foot of the mountain in a sightseeing car, couldn¡¯t help but look up at the place where the sound came from. He raised his arms to support his cheeks, and shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful! The tune that is, but why does it sound so lonely¡­ Kongran, is this also a new holiday activity?¡± ¡°No.¡± Ning Kongran followed the sound and looked towards a small courtyard in the forest accommodation area. His eyes seemed to penetrate the trees, seeing the young man sitting on the highest branch playing with his eyes closed. Fell into a deep thought, Ning Kongran¡¯s gaze slowly drifted away, and he murmured back, ¡°This is the sound of a lost bird looking for a companion¡­ he wants to go home.¡± ¡°What?¡± Qiu Guangji didn¡¯t hear his friend¡¯s words clearly, so he leaned over and bumped into him again, and asked, ¡°What did you just say? By the way, how are your family affairs going? Is your cousin really coming next year?¡± Ning Kongran suddenly returned to his senses. Once he heard the mention of his family, he frowned and turned around as if to block the pure sound of the flute from the secular world, and replied, ¡°It is confirmed that he will come, but the Federal Military Academy is not something he can easily enroll in. He will still have to take the exam after he comes here, but the admission requirements will be relaxed.¡± ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s really unfair,¡± Qiu Guangji curled his lips in disgust, raised his hand to grab his messy curly hair, and asked again, ¡°Then what major does your cousin want to study? His father is a general, so he should be a mecha pilot, yeah?¡± ¡°No.¡± Ning Kongran¡¯s tone became lighter when he mentioned this, and he continued, ¡°He wants to major in medicine and do pharmacy. I think he said he wanted to be a Pharmacy Professor or something.¡± ¡°Pharmacy?¡± Qiu Guangji was surprised, his expression immediately became indescribable. ¡°It seems that he is determined to go to the Ning family. You tried your best not to learn medicine, but he¡­ tsk tsk , then it will be lively again.¡± The sound of the flute was completely inaudible. Ning Kongran recalled the soft tune he had just heard, and strangely calmed down immediately. ¡°The old man at home probably has other plans, and he may not be able to fulfill his wish. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡± Qiu Guangji nodded to express his understanding. He glanced at his friend¡¯s overly calm expression, and sighed inwardly. ¡®Such troubles¡­ the Ning family¡­.¡¯ Chu Yan was keenly aware of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unhappiness, worried that he would continue to indulge in these emotions, he tidied himself up casually, and dragged Qiao Zhiya straight to the deep-sea recreation area next door. Technology once again showed its power. Qiao Zhiya was led by Chu Yan, walking in the deep sea as if walking on land, looking at the surrounding deep-sea plants decorated with brilliant lights and the ornamental fish leisurely coming and going. He was full of amazement, and didn¡¯t think of anything else. Seeing this, Chu Yan was finally relieved. He reached out to help him adjust the protective clothing, and led him to go deeper. Meanwhile, in the military department. Chu Rong sent the president away with a cold face, and after hastily arranging a few words for his subordinates, he took out the hover car and drove directly to the Chu family¡¯s branch house. His frowning face was full of anxiety. It¡¯s very strange that the Bald Chicken didn¡¯t reply to his message or answer his communication all day. Gu Yan¡¯an opened the door, and seeing that it was Chu Rong, the surprise on her face disappeared. She sighed sadly, and said, ¡°Xiao Rong, you came just in time. I was just about to contact you. Xiao Yan ran away from home again, this time he even took Qiao away with him.¡± Chu Rong paused as he stepped into the door. His expression froze for a moment, then he frowned even deeper. There was a tinge of anger in his voice as he asked, ¡°What? Running away from home? Qiao Zhiya? His temper exploded. ¡°No need to try, I can¡¯t locate their communicator. Xiao Yan is experienced in this, I bet he has taken care of it very well.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an rubbed her temples because of an incoming headache. She glanced at Chu Rong, whose anger was clearly brewing, and kept trying to dial the youth¡¯s communicator. She hesitated before continuing, ¡°Xiao Rong, when you said you wanted to raise Qiao Zhiya, neither your Dage nor I objected. I also thought it would be nice to have someone to be close to you, but how could you be so irresponsible? Raising a child is not just a play, it¡¯s a very tough responsibility. I¡¯m actually a bit angry at you. You really just send him away the moment you become unhappy? Did you know that Qiao almost cried after you left today, and he said that you¡­¡± ¡°¡­crying?¡± Chu Rong paused. He looked at her with shock in his face. His brows relaxed, and he asked, ¡°He really cried?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an nodded, and sighed again. ¡°He didn¡¯t cry, but his voice was clearly nasally. His eyes were also red. He probably was afraid he¡¯ll worry others if he really cried, so he held back. Xiao Rong, teenagers like him are normally quite disobedient. They¡¯re in a rebellious period. Plus, he isn¡¯t like Xiao Yan, who has rough skin and a big heart. Qiao is rather sensitive. The moment you sent him here today, he immediately thought you abandoned him.¡± Listening to her, Chu Rong remembered the message he received in the morning. He subconsciously rubbed the communicator with his fingers, and directly fell silent for a while with a cold expression on his eyes. His teeth clenched tightly, and he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to let him go, it¡¯s just¡­¡± He trailed off, a trace of anxiety gradually appeared on his face. His fingers began to tap his communicator impatiently. Seeing Chu Rong in this state made Gu Yan¡¯an understand what he meant. She adjusted her expression to appear gentler, then poured water for him while comforting him, ¡°I know you still want him around. Don¡¯t worry much, I asked the immigration department, and there is no record of Xiao Yan¡¯s appearance, which shows that he has a sense of propriety, and he didn¡¯t take Qiao too far. He should still be near here. He probably wanted to cheer Qiao up, so he took him somewhere to relax. When hen Qiao feels better, he will come back naturally.¡± ¡°No, we must look for them!¡± Chu Rong directly refused. With a heavy expression, his words were full of turmoil and emotions. Gritting his teeth, he continued, ¡°I must look for them! This habit of running away from home must be broken!1Lol, when the MC and ML both have abandonment issues¡­¡° ¡®What if¡­ this becomes a habit? Then, one day, Qiao Zhiya leaves and never comes back to me? He hasn¡¯t experienced life yet, so will he be able to thrive outside¡­?¡¯ ¡®No.¡¯ ¡®Even if he can, that Bald Chicken must always stay by my side!¡¯ Gu Yan¡¯an hadn¡¯t seen Chu Rong lose his composure for many years. She became more and more sure of what happened last night, so she continued to add fuel to the flames unceremoniously. ¡°So what if you find them? If you really don¡¯t stop this habit from forming¡­ Qiao may run away from home next time! Though, I think it¡¯s good for him to go out by himself like this. Sooner or later, you will get married and have your own children. Qiao is also about to grow up and reach the age of independence. He can¡¯t stick to you forever in the future, and parting is a matter of time. In conclusion, it¡¯s good for both of you to get used to this slowly from now on.¡± ¡°No! There will never be such a thing as parting!¡± Chu Rong denied this possibility without thinking. ¡°Why are you so sure? Erzi, you can¡¯t be with Qiao for the rest of your life. Even if you don¡¯t marry and have a child, then what about Qiao? I know that he¡¯s someone who will want a family of his own in the future. Then, what identity do you want to use to refuse your separation from him? His father? His brother? Or just a legal guardian, who can be severed off at any given moment? If you throw the child out a few times so casually, with Qiao¡¯s heart, he will leave sooner or later with a cold heart. In what capacity are you going to get him back?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an continued to question without giving in. ¡°No next time, not at all, I¡ª¡± Chu Rong¡¯s thoughts became more jumbled. He subconsciously imagined the possible future of Qiao Zhiya growing up and left his side after getting married. The more he became disturbed, the more his chaotic spiritual power became unruly. It directly broke off from his strict control, alerting the housework robot into making a shrill siren. ¡ª¡ªThe intensity of the spiritual riot in the room began to exceed the safe range. CH 42.3 Gu Yan¡¯an was taken aback. She didn¡¯t expect Chu Rong to be mentally unstable because of a few questions. She hurriedly withdrew her aggressive tone, took out a spiritual power soothing medicine and handed it over. She was beyond anxious. ¡°Xiao Rong, first calm down. Those are just hypotheses, Saozi just hopes that you can think about how to communicate with Qiao correctly in the future, you¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Chu Rong interrupted her, took a deep breath to suppress his emotions, and politely declined the medicine. He took out a sealed green potion and drank it. All the irritability in his body was suddenly suppressed. Tightening the grip on the potion bottle, he got up, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go get him back.¡± After saying that, he immediately left using his hover car. Gu Yan¡¯an chased him and watched him leave. She frowned deeply, couldn¡¯t help but take out the communicator and dialed Chu Huai. She scolded, ¡°What kind of bad idea did you come up with?! It almost made Xiao Rong so angry his spiritual power was out of control! What kind of big brother are you!! Don¡¯t come back tonight, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t help but poison you to death!¡± After speaking, she turned off the communicator with extra force. She went back to her room with full anger towards her husband. Chu Huai, who was on the way home: ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Aren¡¯t we trying to solve the family problems of Erzi? Why does it seem that it has more problems now?¡¯ Hurrying back to his own house, Chu Rong called Fan Xiangnan, Lin Zhen, and Zhuang Yu over. His subordinates were all loyal and competent. It took them a short time before they came over. ¡°They will definitely change to public transportation when they travel. Check all the travel records paid in cash today.¡± Chu Rong sat on the sofa, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples to control his restless spiritual strength. He looked at Lin Zhen when giving him orders. Lin Zhen nodded, and immediately sat aside his work after receiving the order. ¡°They might change their clothes, check the nearby shopping malls, and pay attention to the shops that sell hats.¡± Chu Rong looked at Fan Xiangnan again and instructed his second-in-command. Fan Xiangnan accumulated a lot of questions and wanted to ask them, but seeing that the expression on his Boss was really bad, he swallowed the questions silently. He obediently went to do his job. In the end there was only Zhuang Yu left. Chu Rong looked at her, and she looked back with a straight face. ¡°You¡­¡­¡± ¡°Sir,¡± Zhuang Yu spoke first. With a hard expression and a hard tone, she asked, ¡°Can you tell me the reason why Qiao ran away from home this time first? It¡¯s very important.¡± Such an obedient child like Qiao would actually run away from home? Ridiculous. Chu Rong frowned. He didn¡¯t answer, and instead began to tap on the armrest of the sofa irritably again. ¡°Only after I know the reason can I analyze where Qiao might go based on his personality.¡± Zhuang Yu added. She was trying her hardest not to shake her stupid Boss out of frustration. Plus, she minored in psychology during her study, so she has some expertise in this. Chu Rong paused for a moment, before replying with a frown, ¡°He thought I didn¡¯t want him anymore.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Zhuang Yu was so startled that she almost jumped up from the sofa. She looked at the Marshal in disbelief, and asked almost accusingly, ¡°Qiao is so dependent on you, you actually let him think that you don¡¯t want him? God, what have you done? This¡ª¡± ¡°So where might he be going?¡± Chu Rong interrupted her. His spiritual strength began to become unstable again, and he added a little anxiously, ¡°Xiao Yan is by his side, which may affect his thoughts. Where do you think they will go?¡± Sensing her Boss¡¯ chaotic spiritual power, Zhuang Yu resolutely shut up. She knew the consequences of stimulating him when he was in this state. She suppressed her worries inside her heart and began analyzing. ¡°With Qiao¡¯s character, if there is such a misunderstanding, then he will only have two options: one, come back to you secretly, hoping that you will soften your heart; two, hide and feel sad alone, and go to a place where he feels safe. Probably also staying there and never appearing in front of you again.¡± In these two possibilities¡­ the first one wasn¡¯t possible. Chu Rong already told Qiao Zhiya that he was heading to the military headquarters, which was closed to any outsiders. And as for the second one¡­ Chu Rong refused to accept the second possibility. Anxiety mixed with some strange emotions flooded his heart. Chu Rong pressed his temple again, looked at Zhuang Yu and said in a deep voice, ¡°He just ran away from home for a short time, not a permanent one. You just need to tell me where he might be now.¡± Instead of giving some assumptions that made him want to destroy something! ¡®The Boss¡¯ eyes are really scary¡­¡¯ Zhuang Yu silently moved back, organized her thoughts, changed her tone and continued, ¡°Of course, Qiao is a good child. If he really decides to leave completely, he will definitely choose to deal with everything first. Make a formal farewell before leaving, instead of disappearing suddenly. Because there¡¯s an external factor ¨C that is, Third Young Master Chu, I think this running away should be instigated by him. So, the place should be chosen by him too. Let¡¯s analyze his thought¡ª¡± ¡°Get to the point.¡± Chu Rong interrupted her long analysis with a frustrated expression. Zhuang Yu paused. She directly summarized, ¡°You can check the places Third Young Master Chu is particularly interested in recently or the places he used to go to. He should take Qiao there.¡± The places Chu Yan is interested in? That¡¯s a lot! So many that if all of them are gathered together, you can play for half a year without repeating any of them! Thinking of this, Chu Rong¡¯s face completely darkened. They were in dire straits here, while Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya in Real Adventure Island were having a great time. The entire amusement park was a very large island. It was divided into ten themed play areas. The deep sea was just one of them. If you want to play all the attractions on this island, it probably isn¡¯t possible to do it in a week. Coupled with the increased entertainment celebrations and events during various holidays, the two teenagers in the cusp of adulthood almost died of joy on the island. After the first day of uneasiness and depression, under the influence of Chu Yan, the vivacity in Qiao Zhiya was completely mobilized. He had fun in the forest every day. Not only catching a few wild rabbits and raising them for play, but also chatting with the birds flying over, which made Chu Yan very happy. Two days passed in a blur, Lin Zhen and Fan Xiangnan finally sorted out some clues from the various data they gathered. They found their Boss, who looked normal, but his oppressive aura was really terrifying. They didn¡¯t waste time before reporting their findings. ¡°After cross-checking the purchase of clothes and public transportations with cash, and excluding several places that Third Young Master Chu went to very frequently and thus, will be easily found, the final analysis determined seven possibilities¡ª¡± ¡°Tell me the result directly.¡± Chu Rong interrupted them. His patience was wearing dangerously thin. Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen looked at each other, stepped forward and handed over a list, and said, ¡°Because of the Federal Privacy Protection Act, we can only find out a general direction of travel, and we can¡¯t determine more detailed ones.¡± Chu Rong frowned even deeper as he read the list. There were a total of seven locations, but they were completely different from each other, distributed in several completely different directions. Basically, it was impossible to check all of them in a short time. In these past two days without seeing Qiao Zhiya, some things became more and more clear in his heart. Chu Rong squeezed the list tightly, and repeatedly slid through the message that Qiao Zhiya sent before leaving. He glanced at the open photon computer on the table. In the past two days, Chu Rong¡¯s heart, which was so overwhelmed by various emotions that he couldn¡¯t calm down, finally sobered up for a moment. He suddenly thought of something. He looked at Fan Xiangnan and asked, ¡°The batch of customized Starnet helmets I got from you last time, can you locate its login location?¡± Fan Xiangnan was speechless when he heard this. Then he nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, as long as it has been online.¡± Hearing this, Chu Rong was determined. Without a word, he got up and walked out the door, and ordered, ¡°At eight o¡¯clock in the evening, let someone locate the position of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s helmet. He will definitely be online.¡± At eight o¡¯clock in the evening¡­ Fan Xiangnan received a call from his subordinates. He looked at Chu Rong who was sitting in the hover car, and replied, ¡°A signal is received in one of the seven locations. It¡¯s a real-life adventure island in South Sixth District.¡± This was definitely a place that Chu Yan would visit. Chu Rong¡¯s expression darkened. He closed the car door, and drove directly towards South Sixth District. With impatient hands on his knees, myriad suppressed emotions rolling in his eyes¡ª ¡®That Bald Chicken ran away for two whole days. I¡¯ll make him sure that he will never think about leaving him in this life!¡¯ Chu Yan was very speechless about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s behavior of coming out to play on vacation and still thinking about studying. But he couldn¡¯t bear to reject his little hobby, so he had no choice but to cooperate with his pace and minimize the entertainment in the evening. He went out and had fun by himself. After finishing tonight¡¯s study, Qiao Zhiya took off his helmet. He glanced at the next room where the lights had been turned off, touched his empty wrist without a communicator, and remembered the habit of saying good night to Chu Rong at ten o¡¯clock every night when he was in school. The longing finally washed over his heart. He listlessly laid down on his bed, ears slumped with a stupid dazed facial expression. ¡®What is the White-Haired Monster doing now? He must have known about me running away from home, won¡¯t he be very angry? I am so self-willed this time, will the White-Haired Monster end up not really wanting him¡­¡¯ His heart suddenly tightened. He sat up in a panic, shook his head to shake off the messy thoughts in his head, and gently left the room to cool his head. After leaving the room, he skillfully climbed onto the tree in the yard, and stretched out his arms to hug the trunk. ¡®Nature really is still the most reassuring¡­¡¯ He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the cool night air, and looked up at the sky full of stars. His thoughts drifted away again. ¡®Will there be my own hometown on these planets? If I can go back¡­¡¯ He subconsciously raised his hand, gathered his magic power, and once again drew a bloodline traction magic circle in the air. In the management center, Rebecca, who was putting on nail polish, was so frightened by the sudden siren that she almost fell off her chair. After seeing the image from the alarm area, she threw away the nail polish and dialed the communication in the main office. ¡°A black hover car drove directly into the island regardless of the alarm! It also ordered us to check customer information! My mother, do these people have no manners?! So arrogant!!¡± Still in the main office, Ning Kongran, who was checking the account, paused when he heard Rebecca¡¯s call. He glanced at the gift card on the table, was silent for a few seconds, and replied, ¡°No, turn off the alarm. Let it go directly, and then send the coordinates of the small courtyard it requested. Also, don¡¯t forget to send someone to reassure tourists spooked by the sirens.¡± ¡°Area C 123? Isn¡¯t that the yard you ordered someone to take special care of, so inside¡ªhello? Hello? ¡° Hanging up the communication, Ning Kongran turned off the holographic ledger. He gazed at the watery night outside the window, dialed his friend¡¯s communication, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back tomorrow, the ledger has been checked, it¡¯s time to prepare for the year-end celebration.¡± In the end, he knew that he still had to go home, just like that junior. The magic circle formed, soft light flashed, and the hair in the center of the circle began to spin wildly after being wrapped in blood. Looking at it, Chu Rong¡¯s face suddenly appeared in his mind. His own magic seemed to have sensed his longing. It suddenly stopped turning, then pointed straight to a certain direction, and finally turned into a wisp of black ash and dissipated in the air. Qiao Zhiya froze in place, his shoulders slumped, and he leaned against the tree trunk again. It was true that strong emotions could affect magic, and this time¡­ But, how was this possible? How could he suddenly think of that person? The two of them shouldn¡¯t be separated by such long distance, so how¡ª A vaguely familiar roar of a hover vehicle suddenly approached quickly. Then, it was followed by the sound of the gate being pushed open. The rumbling sound stopped, but now, he could hear footsteps approaching. Qiao Zhiya widened his eyes and couldn¡¯t help looking over. As if aware of his gaze, Chu Rong, who was walking in quickly, stopped suddenly. He turned his head and looked straight in this direction, then frowned, his face darkened, turned around and strode over, raising his voice and admonishing the youth, ¡°Damn Bald Chicken, it¡¯s so late already! What are you doing climbing up there, go down¡ª¡± There was a flash of excitement in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s dull emerald eyes. He was stunned for a few seconds, and pinched himself in shock. Then, all of sudden, he smiled wide. He let go of the tree trunk, opened his arms, and threw himself straight at the incoming Marshal. ¡°White-Haired Monster! ¡° Chu Rong reflexively stopped in place when he saw Qiao Zhiya jumping from the tree, then rushed over to catch him. Once the weight of one Bald Chicken settled on his arms, he breathed in deeply the soothing fragrance of nature ¨C the scent of Qiao Zhiya ¨C and his thoughts finally relaxed. He tightened his grip on the youth¡¯s body, rubbed the messy blond hair, then angrily reprimanded. It was full of mixed worry and anxiety. ¡°What are you jumping about! What if I failed to catch you! Also, if you dare to run away from home in the future, I will break your legs. ¡° ¡°I will not go!¡± Qiao Zhiya hugged him happily, wrapped his limbs tight around Chu Rong, and desperately arched his head into his arms. Rubbing against his chest, he excitedly continued, ¡°I won¡¯t leave ever again. I miss you so much, I¡­¡± As Qiao Zhiya spoke, his eyes turned red. He pursed his thin lips, and buried his face on the Marshal¡¯s shoulders. The emotions he had held back for two days finally couldn¡¯t hold back, and he directly bursted into tears, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I will be obedient¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ please don¡¯t leave me¡­¡± ¡°¡­I will not.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple moved. He rubbed the youth¡¯s head again, then turned around and sat on the swing, Qiao Zhiya still held him in his arms. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he lowered his head and kissed the pointy ear. Chu Rong¡¯s embrace was tight, full of resignation. His voice was also low, as if it was a secret whisper that only Qiao Zhiya is allowed to hear. ¡°Why are you crying¡­ I will never abandon you. Never. I will always want you by my side.¡± Chu Yan, who was awakened by the movement in the yard, got up in a daze and looked out the window. Then he woke up suddenly after seeing the very familiar two people hugging each other on the swing. He focused hard on his erge¡¯s face. Seeing that rare longing expression, Chu Yan fell back on the bed with a long sigh. He rolled up into the quilt, then sighed in pain this time. ¡°Ah¡­ the days of freedom are over¡­¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 43.1 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Qiao Zhiya felt embarrassed as he continued to cry and sob. He wiped the dripping tears with his arm, drilling his body further into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. Trying to adjust his emotions, he tried to speak. But after a few minutes of trying, he was too tired to stay awake. In the end, he fell asleep directly. Chu Rong noticed the youth¡¯s body had relaxed in his hold. He couldn¡¯t help himself but touch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, carefully lowering the youth¡¯s body for a more comfortable grip. With a gentle touch, he pushed back the messy blond bangs, and it revealed the flushed face and puffy eyes of the stupid Bald Chicken. Again, Chu Rong touched it. ¡®The Bald Chicken is getting more and more stupid¡­¡¯ He thought with a mixture of fondness and disgust. He pressed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slightly parted lips, all slack and dumb-looking in his sleep. Then, he tightened his grip, picked him up, and walked towards the wooden cottage. There were two rooms in the wooden house. One of the rooms had its door closed, while the other was opened. It was no-brainer to which room he picked. But, before he entered, he sneakily opened the door to the other room with a small crack, and said with a terrifying cold tone, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of you tomorrow.¡± After finishing his threat, he entered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s room and closed the door, blocking the peeping sight from the next door. Chu Yan, who was hiding behind the door and peeping, froze when he heard his brother. Then, he threw himself back on the bed in a silent collapse, rolling on the bed a few times, trying to forget the absolutely-fucking-nightmare expression of his erge. He let out a long breath. ¡®Forget it, who made me to have such brotherly love? I even sacrifice my small life for the sake of the big¡­ Ahhhh¡ª!! My life is over!!!¡¯ QAQ Sleeping until dawn, Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes in confusion. He stretched out his wandering hand and poked the generous chest in front of him. Then, he shamelessly rubbed his head into Chu Rong¡¯s wide chest again. The drowsiness faded away, and his memory gradually came back. Thinking of what happened last night, he felt a thump in his heart. He held his breath, rubbed back a little, and slowly raised his head to sneak a peek. ¡°Are you awake?¡± Chu Rong looked at him with a casual drowsy glance before pinching Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shaking ear. Then, he sat up and straightened the button on his clothes ¨C that was somehow opened during his sleep ¨C and said, ¡°You¡¯re already awake. Get up, it¡¯s time for breakfast. ¡°After saying that, he got off the bed and went straight to the bathroom. ¡°Boom!¡± The bathroom door was closed. Qiao Zhiya blinked stupidly, then sat up abruptly. First, he looked at the military coat on the bedside table, then at the extra pair of shoes at the door. His eyes widened suddenly, before bolting out of the bed and went straight to opposite room. Trying not to panic, he knocked on the door and whisper-shouted in a hurry, ¡°Xiao Yan? Xiao Yan? Wake up, your Erge is here.¡± There was no response. The room was as quiet as a tranquil pond. ¡°Xiao Yan?¡± Qiao Zhiya became more and more anxious. Seeing that there was no response from inside, he was worried that Chu Yan had already been beaten black and blue, so he looked back at his room, grabbed the doorknob and unscrewed the door directly. He probed in and whispered, ¡°Xiao Yan, yesterday¡ªhuh?¡± The room was empty. The quilt on the bed was rolled up haphazardly, some daily necessities that hadn¡¯t been cleaned up were scattered on the floor, and there was a note on the wall, saying: [I¡¯m going home first, have fun by yourself, okay?] Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± An inexplicable pressure came from behind. After the ¡°thud-thud-thud¡± of an approaching footsteps, Chu Rong¡¯s voice came from above his head. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of him when I get home.¡± Immediately afterwards, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s back collar was tightened, and his body was turned around. He was face-to-face with Chu Rong¡¯s inscrutable expression. ¡°And as for you¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body stiffened, and he stared at the Marshal with wide eyes full of nervousness, like a prisoner waiting to be sentenced. Chu Rong looked at him condescendingly, stretched out his hands to pinch his trembling pointy ears and tugged them lightly a couple times until he was satisfied. He squinted his eyes to cover the emotions in his eyes, and said in a soft voice, ¡°Be good to me, or¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was so frightened that his heart beat wildly, while his eyes bulged out. But his thoughts were a jumbled mess ¨C somehow, it was focused on all the wrong things. He was ultra-focused on Chu Rong¡¯s wet face and hair (¡®Ah, he must have just washed his face¡¯) and how handsome he looked. But after a moment of distraction, he snapped back due to his instinct going haywire. It told him not to be distracted by the handsomeness and instead try to save his life. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± He seemed to have been opened up to his Ren and Du meridians, and somehow gained superpower ¨C after that quick apology, his ears moved out of his control. He flexibly bent over to walk around the Marshal, swished back to his room, and finally locked himself in the bathroom. He sat on the toilet, shivering in fear. ¡®What, what should I do?¡¯ He thought as he almost cried. He was caught running away from home, and he cried so embarrassingly yesterday. ¡®How would the White-Haired Monster punish me? He was strangely not too cold, but he felt a little weird¡­¡¯ Somehow, Chu Rong¡¯s ¡°strangeness¡± made Qiao Zhiya flush uncontrollably. With nothing in his hand, Chu Rong turned around and watched the scaredy-cat rush back to the room, with an unfathomable expression on his face. The Marshal raised his eyebrows slightly, walked over there in a good mood, and knocked on the closed bathroom door. ¡°Hurry and wash up, come out and have breakfast after you finish.¡± Then, he casually walked to the living room. Qiao Zhiya in the bathroom was startled and turned his head to look, only to feel that Chu Rong¡¯s tone was strange and indescribable. In desperation, he hurriedly took out the communicator from his space button, trying to call Chu Yan who ran away first for advice. In the end, before he could find Chu Yan¡¯s number and send a message, a lot of missed calls and a message from Chu Rong came in. his communicator ¨C which had been set to the ¡°do not disturb¡± mode by Chu Yan ¨C kept vibrating until his hands felt numb. ¡®So¡­ so many missed calls¡­¡¯ This only made him panic even further. ¡®The White-Haired Monster was so impatient, but sent so many call requests. He must have been super angry at the time.¡¯ In a panic, he noticed that after the request was automatically rejected, a message popped up, which was sent not long after he ran away from home. Thinking of the message Chu Yan left to Chu Rong, his heart was in a tremor. Subconsciously, he held his breath and opened the message. Chu Rong: [Stay in place and be obedient. I¡¯ll pick you up when you are done.] He let out his breath, and all the tension and panic in his heart paused for a moment before dissipating into thin air. He reread this message a couple more times. Now, his heart felt sore. His stiff body slowly relaxed, and finally, he bent slightly to hold his head while whining. His last message was: [Do you still want me?] And the White-Haired Monster¡¯s reply was: [Stay in place and be obedient. I¡¯ll pick you up when you are done.] But he ran away from home instead. To be able to find this place, the White-Haired Monster must have been looking for him for the past two days. Qiao Zhiya gripped his communicator tightly, flipped through the numerous call requests, and his expression tightened with each one. He was silent for a while before getting up and walking to the exit. ¡®I have to admit my mistakes. The White-Haired Monster must have been worried for these past two days. I can¡¯t keep making him unhappy like this.¡¯ Chu Rong didn¡¯t expect Qiao Zhiya to come out of the bathroom so soon, and even came over and sat beside him. The corner of his mouth curled up in a small smile, and he rubbed the messy blond bangs. Ancestor Chu asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid?¡± The Marshal knew Qiao Zhiya was afraid. But still, the youth looked up at him, and suddenly held his hand with a serious face, and put his hand on her head. He said with an equally serious voice, ¡°You can hit me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Rong¡¯s raised mouth flattened into a deep frown. He rubbed and pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears while reprimanded him, ¡°What nonsense did you say this early in the morning? Why should I beat you?¡± The youth was enlightened about his mistakes after a period of self-introspection. He firmly said, ¡°Blind doting will only make people want a foot after being given an inch. Hit me, so I will remember this lesson.¡± Then, he turned his back to theMarshal, and even took the initiative to lie down on the chair so Chu Rong would have an easier time to spank his butt. Chu Rong¡¯s eyebrows twitched in irritation, and he made a note to himself to increase Chu Yan¡¯s punishment in the future. He glanced down at the youth¡¯s back ¨C it looked thinner, although his butt looked quite plump and fleshy. But then, he couldn¡¯t help himself but glued his eyes on that buttocks. After a long pause, his face turned black as he came back to his senses. He hurriedly looked away, and bent down and dragged Qiao Zhiya to sit up. He pointed to the breakfast on the table, and coldly ordered in an attempt to distract both of them, ¡°Eat your breakfast. Don¡¯t listen to nonsense, the Chu family doesn¡¯t have a bad habit of beating children!¡± ¨CThere is, however, a good tradition to give them ¡°extra special¡± training. Seeing that the White-Haired Monster seemed to be angrier than before, Qiao Zhiya was at a loss. He didn¡¯t dare to talk nonsense anymore. He sat down at the table honestly, took a careful look at him, then took another look, before finally trying to flatter Chu Rong by actually putting a small bun into his bowl. Seeing this, Chu Rong paused for a second. He also helped himself to a portion of the breakfast, trying to suppress the inexplicable fluttering emotions budding in his heart. He successfully calmed down before asking, ¡°After breakfast, what do you want? Wherever you go, I will accompany you.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment. Then, his eyes lit up, and he leaned over and asked carefully, ¡°Aren¡¯t we going back directly? You, you are not busy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Chu Rong saw this sudden excitement, and compared it to his wilted expression that day when he sent him away. He felt a little guilty, so he compensated for it with a gentle head pat. ¡°I was wrong before. I¡¯m sorry. I am not busy anymore, you can enjoy the holidays and I will stay with you.¡± ¡°No, no need to apologize.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head quickly, almost flying with joy. Immediately, he wanted to say that he still wanted to go to the forest and visit the animal friends he met along the way. But then, he remembered his ¡°sin¡± of running away. He immediately swallowed up with guilt, so he kept quiet. He sat up straight and shook his head, then obediently replied, ¡°There is nothing I want to play anymore. Let¡¯s go home, I miss home.¡± Chu Rong showed a faint smile on his face. He reached out and pinched his ear, and then motioned him to continue his breakfast, but did not respond to his words. Qiao Zhiya thought that he had acquiesced in his proposal to go home. Although he felt a little reluctant, he was still glad he said this the moment he saw Chu Rong¡¯s good mood. He tilted his head to give Chu Rong easy access to pat his head, and ate breakfast happily. In actuality, his head was full of beautiful images of spending the holidays with Chu Rong here. After breakfast, Qiao Zhiya took the initiative to go back to his room to pack his things. Meanwhile, Chu Rong went to the yard and called Chu Yan, but the other party refused to answer his call. So, Chu Rong sent him a ¡°warning¡± text message. Not even a minute later, Chu Yan took the initiative to call him. ¡°¡­Erge,¡± Chu Yan greeted cowardly. The background sound was very noisy, as if he was in an environment with many people. Chu Rong thought, ¡®Sure enough,¡¯ and looked back at the door of the wooden cottage. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya hadn¡¯t come out, he solemnly said, ¡°I know you haven¡¯t left yet. I will allow you to stay here for a few more days.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s tone immediately pitched up in surprise. Then, he replied in a flattering whisper, ¡°Oh, Erge, you don¡¯t need to thank me. We are brothers, these are what I should do¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll settle the account with you when I go back,¡± Chu Rong added. ¡°¡ªYou really are my brother,¡± Chu Yan withered again. Chu Rong suddenly realized that¡­ Chu Yan¡¯s crooked ways might have been encouraged by his and Chu Huai¡¯s parenting methods. As his older brother, he must rectify this immediately. He couldn¡¯t allow Chu Yan to grow up wrong. He remembered the countless black history of his younger brother, and the veins on his forehead popped up. But then, he heard the rustling sound from the cottage behind, so he knew that Qiao Zhiya was coming out soon. He frowned, trying to suppress the desire to scold Chu Yan, and asked, ¡°What has Qiao Zhiya been playing these days?¡± ¡°¡­What? Erge, why are you asking this?¡± Chu Rong suddenly became angry. His cold voice now became outright threatening. ¡°Do you want me to double your training after this?¡± CH 43.2 Chu Yan was baffled, and suddenly he was enlightened with the notion of ¡°too much bullshit¡±. While he was in the state of shock, he hurriedly coughed in an effort to suppress it from showing. Then, he started to ramble, ¡°Qiao prefers to be quiet. He also tried to raise a litter of wild rabbits in the house, but was later found by the staff and forced to let them go¡­ oh yes, there are also birds¡­¡± The door of the cottage opened, and Chu Rong resolutely cut off the communication. He looked back at Qiao Zhiya who was happily running over after packing up his things. The youth¡¯s eyes were full of the joy of latching close to Chu Rong. As he ran close, Chu Rong reached out to pat the wavy blond hair. He asked, ¡°The scenery here is nice, come with me for a walk?¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback for a moment, then pursed his lips before showing a big smile. He nodded vigorously with an agreement, ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go for a walk.¡± The sun danced along the gaps in the branches and leaves, enveloping the pair¡¯s bodies in comfortable warmth. After entering the forest, based on the principle that good scenery must be shared with his family, Qiao Zhiya excitedly led Chu Rong to the good places he discovered these days. Chu Rong was by his side, and followed him to see the family of rabbits that he wanted to raise but couldn¡¯t. He also heard the youth¡¯s chirpy bird calls, somehow summoning a small flock of beautiful songbirds close. They flew near the blond, as if guarding him as he climbed upwards several branches to pluck wild fruits. Finally, they stopped by a small, clear stream, where Qiao Zhiya splashed around and pointed out beautiful pebbles he found within. Qiao Zhiya, who entered the forest, seemed to be a different person. He was no longer overly cautious and shy. Instead, he was full of vitality and always had something to say about the nature around him. Lively, cheerful, vibrant, radiant. He had a never-ending smile, and it was like clear emeralds reflecting the brilliance of a shimmering stream. ¡°Look! I caught a fish!¡± Qiao Zhiya suddenly ran over from the stream to the shore. He showed Chu Rong a beautiful little fish cupped in his hand, then hurried back to release it after Chu Rong saw it. He watched it swim away with a smile and a hum. Turning back to face Chu Rong, he continued to talk about various interesting things he learned about catching fish. He said it was something he learned from his mother in his hometown. Chu Rong leaned against the tree and listened quietly. He had a calm expression, deep eyes, and was a little lost in thought. He had never seen Qiao Zhiya like this before. He was like a bird flying over the clouds or a fish swimming into the ocean. He exuded a free and happy atmosphere all over his body, attracting the attention of people around him, unbeknownst to himself. Qiao Zhiya was one of those hermits1aka Exoplanet Natives, right? A group of people who abandon technology and rely on nature. Was it really right to bring such a pure man into a complex Federation? ¡°I¡¯ll grill fish for you when we get back!¡± Qiao Zhiya excitedly claimed. However, because he didn¡¯t hear Chu Rong¡¯s response, he turned his head to look at him with confusion in his eyes. Seeing Chu Rong leaning against a tree, seemingly because he was bored, Qiao Zhiya blushed in shame. He cleaned his hands and feet on the clear stream, then put back his shoes. Running back to Chu Rong, he tugged at his sleeves, and said, ¡°It¡¯s almost noon, let¡¯s go home.¡± ¡®Home?¡¯ Chu Rong came back to his senses. He looked down at the undisguised attachment in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes, making him smile subconsciously. He rubbed the youth¡¯s hair, then suddenly bent down and picked him up. He let Qiao Zhiya sit on his shoulder, stabilizing the youth by gripping his knees. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go home.¡± This was the person Chu Rong chose. This was the person that called Chu Rong¡¯s residence as ¡°home¡±. So for him, no matter what happened in the past, Qiao Zhiya should live together with him. They should form a family together. If he likes the forest, then Chu Rong will simply plant a dense patch of trees around his home so Qiao Zhiya will be happy. Feeling the sudden weightlessness, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly bent down to hug Chu Rong¡¯s head in an effort to balance his body. He found that the height was just enough to reach the first branch of a tall tree. He plucked a fresh fruit, wiped it clean, then bit a little to taste. Offering it as a treasure to Chu Rong, he said, ¡°Try it, this tastes good! It¡¯s not poisonous, I¡¯ve tried it before.¡± hu Rong ate the wild fruit, squinted his eyes, and nodded. ¡°Yes, not Bad.¡± It made Qiao Zhiya even happier. After hesitating for a while, he turned his head around to search for another wild fruit. Suddenly, he felt a wave of healing power floated near him, surprising him. He looked back and around, wanting to feel it again. Unfortunately, he found nothing. ¡°Qiao Zhiya, you need to grow up quickly,¡± Chu Rong suddenly said. ¡°What?¡± He came back to his senses, and immediately forgot the illusion-like healing power he felt just now. Chu Rong patted his leg, shook his head, and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡ªQiao Zhiya is too young. The person he likes is still too young. So, he is willing to wait2if this feels too icky for you, remember: QZY is actually an adult (his body can no longer grow.), CR and everyone around him only thought he was underaged because he looks like one. Also: this is fiction, so what if QZY is barely an adult anyways.. Under the trees, several meters underground, a group of doctors in white coats opened the emergency isolation cover in panic. They found the white-haired old man guarding a patient¡¯s bed in the central ward of the underground laboratory. Full of anxiety, one of them asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on? How could the spiritual power of the hermit suddenly collapse?¡± The white-haired old man looked at his old and thin friend on the bed. He used his palm to close his eyes. Lips trembling, he forced a reply in a hoarse voice, ¡°Notify the young master¡­ the hermit died. Let him stay for one more day.¡± The doctors were taken aback when they heard the old man¡¯s words. They were all focused on the dead hermit, eyes steadily turning red. When they came back to their senses, they lowered their heads, and finally wept. ¡°I hope the hermit¡¯s prophecy will come true.¡± Someone whispered, full of tears. With that sentence, everyone remembered the prophecy ¡°salvation appears, life disappears¡± left by the hermit after his serious illness. From the murky despair, a glimmer of hope rose again. At the exit of Real Adventure Island, Ning Kongran¡¯s communicator suddenly received a message from an encrypted channel. He opened it and glanced at it ¡ª then, his fingers froze mid-air, before slowly putting it down listlessly. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down even when his hand was clenching painfully tight. After a long moment of silence, he looked at Qiu Guangji with a forced, pale smile. ¡°I remembered I still have a ledger I haven¡¯t inspected yet. So I¡¯ll stay here for another day. You should go back first.¡± Qiu Guangji, who was using a communicator to talk with his family, was surprised with Ning Kongran¡¯s sudden request. He quickly said a few words to hang up the communication, then looked at his bestfriend with a confused frown. ¡°No, I will accompany you again until tomorrow. You have to pay attention to your health, Kongran. I never see you rest. Look at your face.¡± Ning Kongran listened to his friend¡¯s concern. He looked back at the island paradise planned and established by himself, and remained silent. From today onwards, except for the blood-sucking parasites of the Ning family¡­ he no longer has any blood-related relatives he could call ¡°family¡±. After visiting the forest, the two who had no interest in other exciting attractions. So, they set off to return after finishing their lunch. The two of them first went to the Chu family¡¯s branch house, met Gu Yan¡¯an, and calmed her down. Chu Rong also called Chu Huai and mentioned that Chu Yan would continue to stay on the island to play for a few days. He asked his older brother to send someone to pay attention to Chu Yan¡¯s safety, and finally took Qiao Zhiya home. The house was still the same as it was before they left. Except for one thing: the newly bought bed in the second bedroom was gone. ¡°A1 is aesthetically challenged. The bed it bought was too ugly, so I returned it,¡± Chu Rong casually put the blame on the innocent household robot. He moved the dolls customized for Qiao Zhiya to his room, and put them on his gray-quilted bed with a little disgust. Qiao Zhiya watched him do all this with a smirk. Then, he rushed into the kitchen, excitedly preparing to grill fish. A1, who had been blamed, silently walked to the youth¡¯s feet. It circled around him a few times, pleading for comfort, and then diligently helped him. It placed orders for fish, vegetables, and milk. After dinner, Qiao Zhiya walked around the room to aid digestion, then quickly rushed to take a shower. He ran to the study to say hello to Chu Rong, and finally plopped down happily on Chu Rong¡¯s comfortable bed, Starnet helmet tucked in his arms. After rolling around excitedly on the calming-scented bed, he put on his helmet and logged into the Internet. The bearded teacher showed up in the classroom on time, and quizzed him with yesterday¡¯s homework as usual. After getting a satisfactory answer, he did not start today¡¯s lecture immediately, but ruthlessly said, ¡°There are three more days, so there¡¯s no need to learn this part of spiritual power processing. You have also known the correct rations and techniques. With your learning efficiency, you should have basically mastered it. You can read more about the rest of the content by yourself. Just review the materials I gave you, and you don¡¯t need to continue to attend this class.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect such a turn of events. The good mood he had all day immediately poofed into thin air. His expression collapsed like a wilting beansprout. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for ruining your good mood,¡± The bearded man noticed his emotional change. He inwardly sighed, but still continued his blunt explanation, ¡°If your spiritual power still hasn¡¯t been upgraded after three days, then it¡¯s too late. Unfortunately, our class will have to end immediately. I no longer have any materials I can teach you.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him apologetically, and said in a low voice, ¡°I will try my best.¡± ¡®¡ªBut how hard should I try? A problem that can¡¯t be solved in a month, what can be done in three days?¡¯ Seeing him like this, the bearded teacher couldn¡¯t bear it. He didn¡¯t want to teach a hopeless case like this, but his heart was too soft to say anything more. Instead, he shook his head, opened the textbook, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s start today¡¯s lesson. This is a special kind of mineral only found on E91 Planet. It¡¯s called¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya cheered up and began to attend the class, but his downtrodden mood stayed the same during the whole lesson. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 43.3 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. The next day, Chu Rong went to the military headquarters to go through the procedures for taking an early leave. As for Qiao Zhiya, he stayed at home alone and started making potions. It took a day to make five potions. He experimented with different concentrations, different production methods, and even adding different auxiliary medicinal materials, but the activity left in his magic pool only increased a little. It¡¯s far from reaching the threshold of E-ranked spiritual power that was required for using the Starnet helmet. When making those potions, he needed magic power. After completely drying him out, he used the magic stones as a replenishment method, but sadly, the magic power contained within the stones weren¡¯t as active compared to the stone grass¡¯. Despite many trials, the result was a resounding failure. He slumped on the sofa, completely absent-minded for a while, until A1 slid over to remind him that Chu Rong was coming back soon. He came back to his senses, cleaned up the messy coffee table, and went to the kitchen with vigor. For the next two days, he made various attempts, but all failed miserably. After finishing the third day of online class, he watched the bearded teacher leave. The system even cold-bloodedly reminded him of the expiring class session, making him extra frustrated. He looked at the locked classroom and left the VR world listlessly. ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s going on these days?¡± Just as he took off his helmet, a familiar voice rang above his head. He froze for a moment, looked up, and saw that Chu Rong went to bed early for the first time. The older man was leaning on the headboard, clad in his pajamas. He helped Qiao Zhiya in pulling off the helmet, as if he was waiting for him to finish class. ¡°Why are you unhappy?¡± Chu Rong put down his photon computer. Then, he played with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sweaty bangs. In the past few days, because of the online courses and Chu Rong¡¯s going to the military to go through the vacation procedures, the two have not had a chance to communicate properly. At this time, they finally had the opportunity to lie down and chat together, and the atmosphere immediately warmed up. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s depressed mood improved a little bit. He put away his helmet, then sat up next to Chu Rong. He told him about the course he was enrolled in, and his various attempts in increasing his spiritual power in the fast few days. In sheer frustration, he said, ¡°If I fail in improving my spiritual power level, I will not be able to process those materials. Without that ability, I won¡¯t be able to skip grades next year¡­ Most of the mecha manufacturing courses after the third grade are related to spiritual power. When I take the exam, my grades will definitely fail¡­ ¡° ¡ªand if he failed too many times, he would need to drop out of the school. The more he thought about it, the more hopeless he felt, and he couldn¡¯t help but sighing bonelessly. Although he could use magic power to process materials, rashly exposing the magic power was completely courting death. He was afraid he would be targeted if he showed off having special powers. Chu Rong didn¡¯t expect that he was worrying about this recently. Firstly, he felt that he needed to give Qiao Zhiya some boundaries, ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed to make potions continuously in the future. It¡¯s dangerous for your health. And as for your plight, it¡¯s actually not impossible to improve your spiritual power.¡± Qiao Zhiya was surprised by Chu Rong¡¯s words. As excitement filled his head, he looked over with an eager expression, ¡°Then, what can I do to improve it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take you to Zhuang Yu tomorrow,¡± Chu Rong patted him on the head. Then, he pressed the youth to lie down on the bed before laying down next to him. Seeing the youth looking comfortably, he hugged Qiao Zhiya across the quilt. ¡°Since the reason for your ability to sign-in the Internet was due to the stone grass, I think that¡¯s a feasible venue to explore. Go to sleep, I¡¯m sure Zhuang Yu would have an idea for you to try tomorrow.¡± A hope rose again in his heart, making Qiao Zhiya too excited to fall asleep. He wanted to ask in detail, but Chu Rong directly pulled out a couple of his beloved emerald jades to appease him. Not long after, Qiao Zhiya fell asleep in Chu Rong¡¯s embrace. After the person in his arms was completely asleep, Chu Rong opened his eyes. He looked down at the sleeping youth for a while, closed his eyes and kissed his forehead lightly. With a slight frown, he pulled him even closer. With the Bald Chicken in his mind, Chu Rong fell into a peaceful sleep. Seeing Qiao Zhiya again, Zhuang Yu was very excited. She wanted to give him a bear hug, but was stopped by her own boss with ¡°freezing eye-laser¡± and ¡°threat of painful death¡±. ¡®This stingy tsundere¡­¡¯ Zhuang Yu withdrew her hand unwillingly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya poking his head out from behind Chu Rong and smiling at her, she finally felt a little more comforted. With new machinery on her side, she pointed at it and said, ¡°First thing first, I will need to check for Qiao¡¯s physicals before solving his problems.¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately came out and lay down in the instrument obediently. He was already familiar with this routine. The test result was quickly spat out by the instrument. Zhuang Yu picked it up to have a look, handed the result to Chu Rong, and said, ¡°It¡¯s still the same, Qiao¡¯s strength is still undetectable. This spiritual power spike here is definitely from the stone grass.¡± Chu Rong, who had already expected this, nodded and understood. ¡°How is the research on stone grass going?¡± ¡° ¡°There has been some progress,¡± Zhuang Yu replied, giving Qiao Zhiya some spark of hope. He looked at her with such reverie, making her smile. ¡°But I need to give Qiao a medicine first.¡± Qiao Zhiya sat obediently on the chair. Zhuang Yu used a strange pocket-sized instrument to place a few spots on the back of his head. After the strange instrument was fitted, he was given a strange-looking helmet to put on. ¡°Remember to tell me how you feel later. If you feel uncomfortable, wave your hand immediately, and I will stop the medicine application.¡± Zhuang Yu explained, then adjusted the data of the instrument. She took out a medicine liquid that was so opaque that it was almost black, and poured it into the helmet¡¯s grooves. Then, she pressed start. The slight humming sound of the instrument was heard, and some light green smoke suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled at first, and then he recognized them with surprise in his eyes ¡ª this smoke was actually made of stone grass, and the purity was very high. ¡®Could it be that Zhuang Yu-jie has researched another way to use the stone grass?¡¯ Before he had time to think about it, the smoke was inhaled into his body. It actually stirred up the wood-elemental magic power inside his magic power pool, causing it to become slightly restless. It felt like nimble hands playing with his hair ¨C light tugs and pets. He immediately became excited. He remembered why the stone grass allowed him to fool the Starnet helmet, and used it as a motivation. He fused the vaporized stone grass into his own magic pool, then absorbed it. He wasn¡¯t fully aware of how long the process took. But he could feel his magic power pool gradually heating up. At some point, the heat felt quite unbearable ¨C it might be caused by too much inhalation. There was even a feeling of fullness deep in the brain, warning him to stop the absorption immediately. Suddenly there was a beep. The smoke disappeared, and his helmet was taken off. ¡°The value will no longer increase, and it may be dangerous to continue,¡± Zhuang Yu said. She used the instrument on the back of his head to read the value displayed on it. She seemed pleased, judging by her smile. Then, she turned to Qiao Zhiya and said, ¡°If you want to become stronger, you can¡¯t be greedy. Moderation in the key. Alright then, please lie down on this instrument. I need another check on your physicals.¡± The feverish feeling on his body still persisted. Digesting what Zhuang Yu said to him, Qiao Zhiya was happy that it really meant that his spiritual power could be increased. He hurriedly laid down on the testing instrument, anticipation filling every crevice in his heart. ¡°Congratulations, you have a D-grade spiritual strength!¡± Zhuang Yu handed the new result to Chu Rong. While the Marshal was reading it in detail, she walked to the instrument and helped Qiao Zhiya up. She took her chance in squeezing his face, making her bloom into a big smile. ¡°Qiaoqiao has become stronger! You have a D-grade spiritual strength!¡± ¡®It¡¯s really possible?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t help hugging Zhuang Yu gratefully. ¡°Thank you!¡± Zhuang Yu was so satisfied with being hugged, she patted his head again. With a wide smile, she said, ¡°Learn and work hard! But remember, this method can only be used temporarily. Just now, Ijust tried to extract, compress, and purify the activity in the stone grass, so that you can absorb it as much as possible. However, If you want to continue to study for a long time with a stable spiritual power, this method cannot be used. You still have to find a way to use your own power to simulate spiritual power. ¡° ¡°I understand!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded earnestly, still very grateful despite the temporary nature of this method. He would continue to work hard to find a way to have a permanent upgrade of his spiritual power. But before that, Zhuang Yu and Chu Rong gave him the opportunity to continue learning. Thinking of this, he looked up at Chu Rong, who was standing not far away. Qiao Zhiya saw that the Marshal was frowning and staring at the instrument that had just pierced the back of his head. He froze for a moment, then squinted and smiled. He will study very, very hard. After the attempt was successful, Zhuang Yu handed over the remaining two finished stone grass purification concoctions to Qiao Zhiya. She told him to wait until his spiritual power was downgraded before using them. She reminded him not to over-absorb them, otherwise side effects might occur. Qiao Zhiya nodded. He could guess the cost of these two small potions. The thought that had always existed in his heart came up again. After that, they went to Chu Rong¡¯s home again. It¡¯s been quite a while since the start of their vacations, and Chu Rong¡¯s vacation days were actually close to being over. Basically, he¡¯s still on leave until the voting results for this year¡¯s year-end celebration theme come out. ¡°Move to the main house?¡± As evening came, Qiao Zhiya was about to log on to the Internet to contact the bearded teacher. But he was carried into the room by Chu Rong, and asked him to pack up and prepare to move to the main house. ¡°Yeah,¡± Chu Rong pinched his ears, first put his doll in front of him to signal him to put it away, then put away the photon computer, e-book, and other things in neat boxes. ¡°Xiao Yan is back. It¡¯s time for your vacation training to be put on the agenda.¡± ¡°Vacation training?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, thinking of those miserable vacations mentioned by Chu Yan, his heart tightened. He stammered out a response, ¡°I, do I have to practice too? You, you promised me that you would let me make up lessons on the Internet during the holidays.¡± Chu Rong paused after packing up. He straightened up and looked at the youth¡¯s dumbfounded look. He huffed and sneered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will keep my word. You only need to practice for two hours in the morning every day, so it won¡¯t delay your study.¡± ¡®It turned out that I only practiced for two hours¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya breathed a sigh of relief, and with a smile on his face, he asked, ¡°What about Xiao Yan? Is it also two hours?¡± As Qiao Zhiya just thought of how Chu Yan¡¯s account on how sadistic and scary the White-Haired Monster should be exaggerated, Chu Rong said¨C ¡°Him?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression quickly turned cold, and he squinted slightly. He sneered and said, ¡°He¡¯s going to be admitted to the military academy next year, of course he has to practice all day.¡± Qiao Zhiya was forced to shut down his initial thoughts. He backed away silently, lowered his head, and decided to make more delicious comforting foods for Chu Yan after the training started. He also lit some candles for Chu Yan in his heart. Chu Yan, who had been playing wildly outside for several days, was caught by his eldest brother and sent to the main house as soon as he returned home. Then his second brother who just arrived took over and dragged him directly to the training hall. He wanted to cry, but he had no tears left. ¡°Dage, help me!! Erge is going crazy!! AH¡ª!!!!¡± Chu Huai, who had slept in the study for a few days, pretended not to hear his youngest brother¡¯s cries. He boarded his hover car, and hurried home to coax his wife. He wanted to sleep next to her, he missed her terribly. ¡°Come on, Xiao Yan¨C!¡± Qiao Zhiya encouraged him from a distance. Then, like the good friend he was, he left him alone to suffer. He instead laid down on the couch in the training hall, put on the Starnet helmet, and logged into the Internet to contact the bearded teacher. Chu Yan was shocked. He looked at Qiao Zhiya who was lying comfortably on the sofa and playing; and then at his second brother who was in front of him with the face of Hades, and finally started yowling, ¡°We both ran away from home, why is my punishment so severe?! This is injustice!! Unfair!! I don¡¯t accept it! I want to play on the Internet too!! I don¡¯t want to train!¡± Chu Rong sneered, violently suppressed Chu Yan¡¯s whining and crying, and threw him in front of the warm-up equipment. He coldly scolded him, ¡°Let¡¯s count all the training sessions you missed thanks to your running away. Do you know how many hours you have to pay? This time, I¡¯ll give you 30 minutes to warm up. If you haven¡¯t finished warming up by that time, then all the training for the next three days will be replaced by mecha battles with weapons.¡± ¡®Mecha battle with weapons? Isn¡¯t my mecha going to be scrapped?¡¯ Chu Yan¡¯s back felt cold, and he didn¡¯t dare to howl anymore. He rushed to the training room to warm up. Meanwhile, in the VR World, it was still early, so the bearded teacher hadn¡¯t appeared yet. Qiao Zhiya first left a message to the bearded teacher, then rented a laboratory by himself, and tried to use the newly obtained D-level spiritual power to experience the feeling of combing materials with spiritual power. Using spiritual power to comb through materials was much slower and rougher than using his magic power. Qiao Zhiya guessed that this difference was because his current level of spiritual power was too low. He remembered than in the real world, there¡¯s a reason why learning mecha manufacturing had the baseline of C-grade spiritual power. Because he was studying, Qiao Zhiya immediately suppressed his wandering thoughts. He buried his head in the virtual material and tried to get familiar with it, hoping that the bearded teacher would not dislike him because of his D-level spiritual power. He hoped his teacher would still continue teaching him. After this round of familiarization, it was time for dinner, and yet the bearded teacher still did not go online. He logged off, had dinner with Chu Rong and Chu Yan, comforted the devastated Chu Yan, and promised to make another weapon for him. After being bribed with a brand new model weapon, Chu Yan looked more energized than before. With a more relieved chest, Qiao Zhiya went back to his room to wash up, and then logged in to the Internet again at eight o¡¯clock. The bearded teacher was finally here this time. Qiao Zhiya hurried into the classroom, and was about to speak when the bearded teacher stopped him. ¡°Course resumes tomorrow. Let¡¯s go to watch the competition today,¡± The bearded teacher was still gentle, but the slightly joyful eyes still revealed his good mood at this time. Qiao Zhiya stopped talking, and was a little embarrassed by him. He asked with a shy smile, ¡°What competition are we watching?¡± ¡°Mecha manufacturing competition. Today is the final round, and my student was one of the finalists,¡± The bearded man sounded a little proud. As he said that, he turned off the classroom directly while giving him an address to the new room, ¡°Come in first.¡± Then, he disappeared in a flutter of pixels. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly entered the room number and clicked to enter. After hearing the system¡¯s fee deduction prompt, he was stunned. He chose to pay, and then the screen around him flashed, teleporting him away into the finalist¡¯s room, which was packed full with spectators. A nearby auntie was screaming in excitement, ¡°Ahhhh, come on, Xiao Luo Li! Don¡¯t care about the rankings! It¡¯s great you have made it this far! You are the best!¡± Next to her, a young lady dressed in a literary style also shouted hoarsely, waving the banner in her hand. Not to be outdone, another auntie followed suit and shouted, ¡°Come on, come on! Xiao Luoli flies bravely, and your fans will always be with you!¡± ¡°Bang bang bang,¡± A bunch of system fireworks were launched by the excited aunts and sisters, and fluttering ribbons floated all over the place. ¡®This vaguely familiar feeling¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya moved his body stiffly, looked at the young player who was sitting quietly in the field whose expression was indifferent and cold. ¡®Ah¡­ it was this contestant again, the one I watched last time. But beyond that¡­¡¯ Seeing Luo Li, who was still calmly sitting down as he waited for the final to start, Qiao Zhiya suddenly turned his head and looked straight towards this side. He squinted and smiled after seeing his bearded teacher. ¡°Ahhh!¡± The aunts and sisters went crazy in an instant. Then Qiao Zhiya realized something¡ª Both his teacher and Luo Li¡¯s eyes were the same exact shade of red. CH 44.1 ¡°His name is Luo Li, and he¡¯s my apprentice.¡± The bearded man waved his hand at Luo Li who came over, stroking his beard proudly, and said, ¡°Look carefully at how he assembles the mecha later. It will be beneficial for your future studies. Watch and learn.¡± Probably because the screams from the audience were too loud, Luo Li quickly turned his head back, stretched out his hand to operate something on the table in front of him, and then continued to sit with his head bowed and wait for the game to start. Qiao Zhiya regained his focus, looked sideways at the red eyes of the bearded man, and recalled Luo Li¡¯s red eyes again. Curiosity overflowing in his mind, he finally whispered out his question, ¡°Laoshi, his eyes and yours¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s your senior brother,¡± The bearded man interrupted him, said something vicious on purpose, and then explained with a smile, ¡°You can customize your avatar here. He originally wanted to make it the same as mine, but the system did not allow the existence of the exact same avatar, so he settled for the next best thing ¨C a boy who was a little taller than me with a beard. But I thought his beard was too intrusive, so I asked him to shave it off. I didn¡¯t expect these little girls to like his appearance now, and even became his fans.¡± As he said that, the bearded teacher¡¯s expression turned, as if he was thinking something that bothered him. Qiao Zhiya imagined the baby-faced Luo Li¡¯s avatar with a beard. After a moment of weirded-out silence, he asked again, ¡°Then he¡­¡± The bearded teacher retracted his expression, and stared at him fiercely again. ¡°I mean, senior brother¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately corrected his appellation, a bit embarrassed while doing so. ¡°I think he seems to be younger than me. Is it a bit inappropriate for me to call him senior¡­¡± ¡®If I¡¯m calling him that, isn¡¯t it insinuating that he¡¯s old? Will he be angry?¡¯ ¡°He¡¯s younger than you?¡± The bearded man raised his voice subconsciously, and suddenly became angry. He couldn¡¯t help but glare at Luo Li on the stage as he said, ¡°He¡¯s not young anymore. He¡¯s probably a couple decades older than you. Bah! He should¡¯ve gotten married ages ago if he stopped being so picky about his partner! People his age already have children, but all he does all day is clinging to his cigarettes, making his throat hurt! Sigh¡­ I don¡¯t know what he is going to do, he has been teaching for half a year, something I helped him to arrange. Now that there¡¯s a competition going, he put a leave on his career to participate, saying that after he won, he¡¯ll go back teaching in an upright manner. But isn¡¯t my arrangement upright? All I did was give the school his resume and my recommendation¡­ Many people want his position, but he doesn¡¯t cherish it. I really¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, completely unable to match the bearded middle-aged man ramble thanks to the noise from the excited fans of Luo Li. So the quiet boy on the stage was actually a smoking uncle? This, this is too much for him to handle. He was dumbfounded when he heard it, but the auntie and sisters around him were so angry that they couldn¡¯t help but turned their heads and yelled at the bearded man, saying, ¡°Why do you anti-fans keep slandering him! Can you stop already! Do you think he made it to the final by pure fucking luck?! Yes! Xiao Luo Li did not use his real face, and he did turn on a voice changer, but who doesn¡¯t change his appearance on the Internet? We might like him for his appearance and character, but we like his skills also! It¡¯s useless for you to be jealous!!¡± The aunties and sisters were so excited. After one roared, thousands of people would follow suit. The momentum was overwhelming. Qiao Zhiya, who was subjected to cyber violence for the first time, was flabbergasted. Meanwhile, the bearded teacher had a shit-eating grin on his face, as if he was holding back a laugh. But soon, he couldn¡¯t help but glare at Luo Li ¨C who was shot lying down, really ¨C on the stage, then dragged Qiao Zhiya to another position where there were fewer people. They sat down and opened the privacy screen for watching the game. ¡°Why haven¡¯t I seen this bastard attract girls so much in the real world!¡± The beard on the bearded man¡¯s face was raised up and down. Obviously he was very angry, so Qiao Zhiya hurriedly comforted him, full of lingering fear. ¡®Is this the power of fans? It¡¯s too scary.¡¯ With a sound cue, the final finally started. A large screen suddenly fell from the sky, and a two-hour countdown box for the time limit of the match appeared. The auditorium gradually quieted down, and the bearded man also calmed down. He pointed to the countdown card and explained, ¡°The production of mechas on VR World does not need to use various instruments like in the real world, so it saves a lot of time and the installation speed will be faster. You will mainly look at your senior brother¡¯s mecha sorting method. The system will use the energy perspective to display the process, so please watch carefully.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded to express his understanding, and concentrated on watching. This mecha manufacturing competition has lasted for more than a month. In the previous competition, the players have produced most of the parts needed to assemble a mecha in batches according to the content of the competition. So the final round was a test of the players¡¯ ability to assemble a complete mecha with the parts they made in the previous competition. This kind of schedule was to test the players¡¯ ability to make mechas, and the second was to test the players¡¯ ability to design mechas. It could be said that the winner was almost equal to being recognized as a real mecha designer and manufacturer. Before the final product came out, no one knew what kind of mecha these contestants would assemble. Luo Li, who had been sitting quietly all this time, finally moved after the start of the match. He walked to the huge manufacturing platform very calmly, took a look at the pile of parts displayed on it after the start of the game, and started assembling it directly. The aunties and sisters screamed again, as they thought his calm and confident appearance was very cute. The bearded man pretended not to see the overly excited faces of the audience around him. He only asked Qiao Zhiya to watch Luo Li¡¯s assembly technique carefully. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mecha manufacturing learning progress was still at the most elementary stage of material processing, and he has never even touched the parts. He was completely unfamiliar with the assembly of mechas, and had only seen it once in Master Ren¡¯s workshop. At this moment, he watched Luo Li skillfully and quickly assemble the various parts together, and slowly put together the appearance of a mecha. This gradual build-up really excited him. ¡®It¡¯s amazing, I hope I can learn this step as soon as possible and make a real mecha!¡¯ It only took Luo Li half an hour to put together the skeleton of the mecha, and then he spent another half an hour carefully adjusting the connections and positions of the various parts of the mecha, and then finally, he gave the mecha an armor as the protective outer shell. With one hour left in the match, he stood in front of the mecha. He put his hand on the mecha, and did not move. ¡°It¡¯s started.¡± The bearded man reminded Qiao Zhiya in a low voice. Qiao Zhiya hastily leaned forward and looked more carefully. The moment Luo Li put his hand on the mecha, the mecha model standing on the spot suddenly and slowly became translucent. The inner parts turned into gray blocks of different shades, clearly showing the structure of the internal parts. Then a ball of white light appeared from Luo Li¡¯s palm, spreading towards the whole mecha from the connection of his hand. ¡°This is the penultimate assembly process ¨C spiritual power combining. The purpose is to connect the various parts of the mech in a unified way, clear the channel of spiritual power, so the mecha fighters can drive more smoothly without worrying about the possible clog. If such things happen, it could be fatal in a battlefield, as the mecha can move sluggishly or even freeze,¡± The bearded man explained carefully. Qiao Zhiya nodded, feeling suddenly enlightened. No wonder spiritual power was so indispensable in the manufacturing of mechas. It turned out that not only the material processing, but also the final assembly process of the mechas required the usage of spiritual power. And the quality of the spiritual power did directly affect the process and the result. The white light spread very quickly, covering the entire mecha almost immediately. Then Luo Li moved again. He sat on the ground, his hands still pressed against the mecha, and closed his eyes. ¡°Spiritual power has fully covered the mecha, and it is about to start the washing and combining process,¡± The bearded man continued his explanation. After closing his eyes, another ball of white light appeared under Luo Li¡¯s palm. The white light covered the whole body of the mecha at a faster speed than before, and then after wrapping the mech completely again, it slowly penetrated into the mecha. It connected the spiritual power channel, the circuitry, and the various internal connections within. And as the white light washed away, the colors of parts with slightly different transparency in the perspective view of the mecha gradually unified. The appearance and color of the mecha became more complete and uniform, looking like an actual finished mecha. Qiao Zhiya looked at the perspective view of the mecha displayed in the middle of the field, excited but also frustrated. Excited, as he finally came into contact with the most important part of mecha manufacturing; but frustrated because it was because of this that he realized how difficult the manually-piloted mecha that Chu Rong and Master Ren had researched was. After watching today¡¯s almost show-like mecha assembly process, if he hadn¡¯t gotten to know Master Ren and Chu Rong first, he might have thought that manually-piloted mechas were just a joke. Innovation was already so difficult, but what Chu Rong and Master Ren had to do was far more than that. Another half an hour passed, and the mecha was thoroughly sorted out. Luo Li stood up amidst the encouragement of the audience, and started the last assembly process ¡ª installing the driving system and protection system of the mecha. Ten minutes before the end of the game, a small silver-white mecha finally took shape. It stood quietly in place, like a pearl waiting to be picked up, exuding a fascinating brilliance. ¡°It¡¯s a small mecha specializing in speed. This is a good attempt,¡± The bearded man nodded in relief, and didn¡¯t pay attention to the results of the competition. He took Qiao Zhiya back to the classroom in a daze, handed him a new textbook, and then went offline to rest. Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses, looked down at the textbooks in his hand that were full today¡¯s materials. He suddenly felt inadequate in comparison, so he just directly went offline. After taking off the helmet, he found that Chu Rong had gone to bed early again. The Marshal was sitting against the headboard, flipping through his and Chu Yan¡¯s training schedule with a face full of impatience and disgust. Qiao Zhiya stretched out his arms to hug Chu Rong¡¯s waist, put his face against his waist, rubbed it lightly, and whispered, ¡°Come on, I will work hard for you. Let¡¯s realize your wish together.¡± Chu Rong was rubbed until he became stiff. His expression became a little tense. He moved his legs, put away the training schedule to look at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s tender eyes. Class has resumed?¡± ¡°Yes, my class will officially start tomorrow,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, arching his body upwards so he could lean against Chu Rong¡¯s chest instead. Then, Qiao Zhiya turned over and rolled into the quilt, closed his eyes and said, ¡°Early to bed and early to rise. I can study more efficiently with a healthy mind. Good night.¡± ¡®Good night? Sleep now?¡¯ Chu Rong thought as he looked at the youth¡¯s small figure rolled into a stupid-looking burrito. His expression was a bit dark, but he relented and waited for him to fall asleep before turning off the lights. After that, he laid down, hugged Qiao Zhiya, and tucked the youth¡¯s head into the crook of his neck. ¡®This Bald Chicken sleeps after teasing me. Truly a pig.¡¯ CH 44.2 Sorry for the late update! I seriously forgor that yesterday was Saturday, not Friday¡­ Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Gu Yan¡¯an: Chu Huai¡¯s wife. She¡¯s a doctor. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. For Chu Yang, his holiday life has begun ¡ª the painful edition version, that is. After finishing the training in the morning, Qiao Zhiya waved at the pale-faced Chu Yan, then retreated to take a shower and changed his clothes. He ran to the training room ¨C thankfully alone ¨C and took a piece of the mutated red tin ore. ¡ª¡ªFrom today on, besides studying, he was going to do one more thing, which was to process the mutated red tin ore in batches! The White-Haired Monster must have spent a lot of money to fund Zhuang Yu-jie¡¯s stone grass concoction study. He had to find a way to help him with money. And if Qiao Zhiya had enough money, he could use them as extra funds for his study of the manually-piloted mecha! As soon as the ore was taken out, the siren in the room began to roar wildly. He was takenby surprise for several whole seconds, then quickly put the radioactive ore back. However, he was too late. Chu Rong and Chu Yong, who had heard the siren, had already rushed over. As soon as Chu Rong came in, he noticed the residual red tin ore radiation in the air, and hurriedly blocked Chu Yan outside by his body. He stood at the door and motioned for Qiao Zhiya to come over, and asked, ¡°Are you playing with the mutated red tin ore?¡± Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± Play? Is the mutated red tin ore something playable? Qiao Zhiya twitched his ears in guilt. He ran up to Chu Rong quickly and took out a soothing potion to signal him to drink it, then explained why he just took out that ore. Finally, he cautiously pleaded, ¡°Can I use it for a while? I¡¯ll make sure to clean up the radiation after I finish processing it.¡± Chu Rong drank the potion to eliminate the effects of radiation, frowned and rubbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs. He was silent for a while, and then relaxed, and said, ¡°Be careful, call me if you are met with difficulties.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded immediately, and stepped forward to hug him gratefully. Chu Rong hugged him back and cradled the youth¡¯s head. He head, then patted him on the shoulder to signal him to let go before turning around and walking to the control panel to turn off the alarm. He also turned on the isolation protection setting and set up a monitoring robot in the corner. Chu Yan, who was being dragged for being an innocent passerby, glanced at his brother¡¯s dark and obviously unhappy expression. He couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity, and asked, ¡°Erge, are you really going to let Qiao fiddle with the mutated red tin mine by himself? Wouldn¡¯t the radiation¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Chu Rong answered; his expression getting gloomier by the seconds. But he still said, ¡°Let him do it, he knows his limit.¡± ¡®¡­this level of tolerance¡­¡¯ Chu Yan thought with a complicated expression. In all honesty, Chu Yan always thought that Chu rong was the most likely person in his family to have a wife with an equally strict personality as his. Who would¡¯ve guessed that he would fall for such an unprincipled (still prospective) wife like Qiao Zhiya? The world is unpredictable indeed¡­ With the permission of his guardian, Qiao Zhiya felt more at ease. He took out the mutated red tin ore again, recalling the way Luo Li wrapped the mecha with spiritual power to process the parts. He sat on the ground and started frantically flipping through his magic book. If he wanted to mass-produce secondary mutated red tin ore, he would not be able to rely solely on his own magic power. He could only find a way to use other things to simulate the effect of combing ore with magic power. If it were in the Magic Continent, this kind of simulation would be easy ¨C just draw a few magic circles on the ore, and it would be done. But there¡¯s no magic particles in the air here, so that kind of method couldn¡¯t be sustained for a long time. But Qiao Zhiya was sure there¡¯s an alternate way to do this. Last time, he used a magic stone as the power source of the magic circles to a resounding success. Combined that with what Luo Li did yesterday, he had an idea that might work. He needed to find a way to draw out the magic power inside the stone to power the magic circle just last time, but now, he needed that power to automatically process the ore. But that¡¯s easier said than done. He needed the magic power not only to extend the duration of the functionality of the magic circle, but he also needed it to eliminate the radioactive properties of the ore, and to purify it until it¡¯s good enough to be used. On top of that, he needed to make the whole process automatic and forever looping. Before, because he wanted to treat the White-Haired Monster at the shortest period of time, the formations he used were limited to the ones he knew. Now that he¡¯s not restricted by such a deadline, he could find a better alternative to solve this situation. It took almost an hour to flip through the book before he finally found a few combined arrays that were promising. He was forever grateful to his father for organizing his notebook so cleanly. Combined arrays, as the name suggests, was a formation composed of several arrays linked together. After choosing the formation, he first took out a large pile of magic stones as a backup, then familiarize himself with the drawing method of the formation several times. He took a deep breath, and began to draw around a huge chunk of mutated red tin ore ¨C it was about the size of two basketballs. First, he drew a refining magic circle to extract the magic power in the magic stone, then drew a traction magic circle so the power extracted can wrap the ore inside the circle. After that, a heating magic circle and a fusion magic circle were added to the mix, forcing the radioactive parts of the ore to be purged and assimilated to further power the circle. Finally, he drew a purification magic circle and a rendering magic circle to purify the ore and render the effect of the entire comprehensive magic circle. Finally, his work was finished. Several pieces of dried-out magic stone were scattered on the ground. He was about to strike while the iron was hot to activate the formation, but his attempt was haltedc by Chu Rong¡¯s cold voice coming from the door. ¡°It¡¯s time to eat.¡± That snapped Qiao Zhiya out of concentration. He turned to look at the dark-faced Chu Rong at the door. But he was so close to finishing, so he hurriedly speeded up his attempt ¨C he took out magic stones of different attributes and spread them at the focal point of each arrays, activated them in conjunction, then turned and hurried towards the door. After finishing lunch as quickly as possible, Qiao Zhiya ran back to the training hall under Chu Rong¡¯s unfriendly sight. When he was inside the room, he saw the mutated red tin ore in the middle of the array was slowly turning purple from the outside in. Qiao Zhiya let out a noise in delight, and ran over to see it from close by. In fact, he didn¡¯t have much hope for this attempt. He was already prepared for a long-term struggle, so he didn¡¯t keep an eye on it after activating the array. He didn¡¯t expect that this combined formation would succeed in just one attempt! He paid attention to the trajectory of the flow of magic power in the combined array, and was pleasantly surprised to find that, unlike the chaos he had imagined at the beginning, the last rendering formation that looked very negligible actually balanced the magic power flow between the various magic arrays very well. It made sure that the magic power didn¡¯t overflow, and stay put within the circle and the ore. Basically, everything looped out nicely, and there¡¯s no leakage of magic power. It¡¯s a success! This combined array was more powerful than he imagined! And because of the effect of the fusion circle, after the magic power was spread on the ore, it naturally began to penetrate into the ore, driving the purified ore energy to spread evenly inward, which was much more stable than his own processing! Marvelous! He took out his father¡¯s notebook again, kissed several times excitedly, so happy and grateful and proud. This is the work of his father, a genius elf magician who is constantly innovating in various magic circles! Another few hours passed, and the mutated red tin ore in the array completely turned purple without any impurities. It looked like a huge chunk of purple gemstone. And because the power of the formation was circulated rather than directly consumed, the magic stone in the refinement formation was not actually used up much. In other words, as long as the magic stone in the refining array was always sufficient, and there¡¯s plenty of radioactive impurities inside the processed ores, this array could be left to run as an automatic secondary mutated red tin ore processing machine!! This was a surprise. Qiao Zhiya simply put a new mutated red tin ore in the middle of the formation, then excitedly picked up the processed, pretty ore into his hand. He ran towards the training room next door and yelled in joy as he ran towards Chu Rong, ¡°Chu Rong, Chu Rong! Look! I succeeded!! The red tin ore is fully processed!!¡± Chu Rong had stopped when he heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s chaotic footsteps, and turned his head to look at the youth. Chu Yan first bent down and supported his knees to take a breath and wiped off the sweat on his forehead before looking up. He was startled by the scene of Qiao Zhiya running over with a big gemstone in his arms. ¡°That¡¯s a huge gemstone, Qiao. Where did you get it? This color is so pretty¡­¡± Chu Rong frowned, stepped forward to take the secondary mutated red tin ore while his other hand tidied up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sweaty and messy bangs. ¡°Don¡¯t run around. Be careful to not fall. How did you process this? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve run out of energy again?¡± He thought that Qiao Zhiya wanted to play the mutated red tin ore because he was planning to create another weapon like the giant sword. He didn¡¯t expect it to be something¡­ potentially worse to Qiao Zhiya himself. ¡°No!¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, then nodded again. He excitedly replied, ¡°I just drew a magic circle. The ore is processed by that magic circle. The array can be used continuously as long as there¡¯s sufficient magic stone ¨C I mean, jades, around. What I¡¯m trying to say is, the secondary mutated red tin ore can finally be mass-produced!¡± Chu Yan, who finally understood their conversation, was stunned speechless. He rushed to Chu Rong to see the secondary mutated red tin ore he was holding with one hand, and reached out to touch it carefully. After finding out it¡¯s real, he patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder excitedly. He happily exclaimed, ¡°Qiao, you are amazing! The secondary mutated red tin ore is so beautiful. I thought the color of the giant sword was something you added as a decoration, but it turned out to be the color of the ore itself. It¡¯s incredible!¡± Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed by his praise. His ears twitched in excitement and shyness, while his bright eyes were locked on to Chu Rong. His voice was full of expectation as he asked, ¡°Did I help you? Is this useful? Can it help you make money? That array should be able to process other ores, you can try several more, not limited to this one.¡± There¡¯s something in Chu Rong¡¯s mind that snapped when he finally understood the underlying motive of Qiao Zhiya. He pinched the youth¡¯s constantly-fluttering ears and asked, ¡°You are studying this for the sake of helping me make money?¡± ¡°Yup! So, did it help you?¡± Qiao Zhiya happily tilted his head so it rubbed into Chu Rong¡¯s palm, like a cat begging for a pet and praise. Chu Rong looked at his star-studded eyes, his Adam¡¯s apple moved as he felt a spark start bubbling inside his chest. He continued to rub Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears and cheek, nodded, and said in a slow voice, ¡°It helped, it was very useful, you are very powerful¡­ and very good.¡± ¡®So good that I want to hug you close and kiss you.¡¯ Qiao Zhiya subconsciously detected the strangeness behind Chu Rong¡¯s gaze, somehow making him blush uncontrollably. He suddenly didn¡¯t know what to say, so he held back for a long time, turned around and ran back to the training room. Chu Rong watched him leave, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a faint smile. Chu Yan, who was treated as air by the two of them: ¡°¡­¡± Ah! He can¡¯t stay in this family anymore! He needs to run away from home again!! CH 44.3 The secondary mutated red tin ore was of great importance. Chu Rong suspended the training, called Master Ren over by communicator, and asked him to bring a batch of mineral processing equipment and testing equipment. After getting the news, Master Ren immediately stopped what he was doing and rushed over as quickly as possible. After that, Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an, who had also gone through the leave procedures, also rushed over to Chu Rong¡¯s house. Everyone gathered in the training room where the magic circle was drawn, staring at it with excited gaze. Their eyes were bright as if they were watching a miracle happening in real-time. ¡°The test results are out,¡± Master Ren announced, a list held in his hand. He looked at the data on it with an enthusiastic expression, matching the tone of his voice, ¡°All the parameters have much higher value than normal mutated red tin ores. I have to say, the difference is big enough to list this material as a new, separate category of mineral!¡± There was a gleam of joy on everyone¡¯s faces. Chu Huai couldn¡¯t help but reach out and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder, boasting, ¡°Good job! Thank you for your hard work!¡± Qiao Zhiya was praised one too many times today, the flush on his face was a permanent fixture at this point. He quickly waved his hands and said some humble things before hiding behind Chu Rong, deciding to be a non-existent bystander lest his body would be engulfed in too much blush. Seeing this, Chu Huai smiled. His sharp eyes caught Chu Rong¡¯s protective gesture, a flash of understanding sparked inside his eyes. He exchanged glances with Gu Yan¡¯an, not teasing Qiao Zhiya anymore. Before dinner, they tried to process a big batch of unprocessed ores, and the result proved that the array can indeed, mass-produced this. It was a downright miracle. Then after that, Qiao Zhiya finished washing up and went back to his room to log on to the Internet while everyone moved to the training room. The room now looked completely different, as it was changed to accommodate the need for extra secrecy. A group of people sat down on the ground, surrounding the innovative process happening inside the array. Master Ren wanted to get such a combined magic circle in his personal laboratory for detailed research. Chu Rong didn¡¯t want Qiao Zhiya to spend any more energy drawing such a formation, so he directly vetoed it. Instead, he suggested that Master Ren brought a set of equipment over and conduct research at this house instead. Both of them insisted on their own opinions. In the end, Chu Huai chose Chu Rong¡¯s suggestion in consideration of confidentiality, and said that he would issue rewards and mineral processing commissions to Qiao Zhiya in accordance with the standards for new scientific patents. In the end, everyone agreed on this decision. Chu Rong was very satisfied with this, and asked them not to disturb Qiao Zhiya excessively with this matter. After leaving them the processed batches of ores, he dragged Chu Yan, who was eavesdropping, to continue the tortu¨C the training. ¡°Erzi is really¡­¡± Chu Huai shook his head in amusement and fondness. He glanced at the strange array pattern and the processed ore inside, and smiled again. He bid farewell to Master Ren, then took Gu Yan¡¯an back home to rest. So after Qiao Zhiya finished his online class and went offline, he saw his bank account got flooded with a huge amount of money. ¡°The Chu family bought that array from you, and you are responsible for the follow-up maintenance. The Chu family will continue to pay you a share of the profits for the mineral processing,¡± Chu Rong put down his photon computer and lay down beside the youth. He faced the youth in this side-by-side position, then reached out to straighten up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s helmet-mused hair. Chu Rong continued to look deeply at Qiao Zhiya. Then, he decided to indulge himself this time. He leaned in closer, and kissed the corner of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s half-lidded eyes, then whispered, ¡°Qiao, keep this in mind. I keep you here because I want to, and you don¡¯t need to do anything in return. So take it easy with your work and study sometimes. Go to sleep now. Good night.¡± After speaking, he touched the youth¡¯s face again, hugged him tight, patted his back, and closed his eyes before he fell asleep. Qiao Zhiya was completely limp and speechless as all of this happened. He was staring into nothingness before his face, ears, chest, shoulder all flushed red in embarrassment. He was so embarrassed that he wanted to wiggle out and bury himself into the quilt, but he couldn¡¯t escape Chu Rong¡¯s tight embrace, so he could only burrow deeper instead. ¡®A-ah¡­ he kissed my eyes¡­ a-and.. Chu Rong¡¯s address towards me¡­ ahhhhhhhhhhh¡ª¡¯ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears were fluttering madly. He curled up in a fetal position and covered his out-of-control face. For the first time, after everyone had been calling him ¡°Qiao¡± affectionately for so long, the White-Haired Monster finally used that nickname. He didn¡¯t expect that the taste was so different. It was so¡­ gentle. He kinda likes it. Chu Rong, who had his eyes closed, noticed the youth¡¯s wiggling movements. He frowned in his sleep, and hugged Qiao Zhiya even tighter. Qiao Zhiya had no choice but to smush his face into Chu Rong¡¯s chest, lulled to sleep as he listened to the older man¡¯s steady breaths. Qiao Zhiya suddenly became busy. After finding out that Master Ren had moved his laboratory here, he consciously ran to help him after training. There, he helped Master Ren to study the method of combining the magic circle with spiritual power or other types of power native to the Federation. He also utilized this chance to ask Master Ren various questions regarding mecha manufacturing when he¡¯s available. There was enough time in the holidays. The bearded teacher took the initiative to change the class time to the afternoon, and the two-hour class was extended into four hours. So Qiao Zhiya¡¯s holidays also began to get even more enriched, and he was as busy as a small spinning top every day. Driven by his zealousness, Chu Yan¡¯s attitude towards training was no longer so resistant. He became more active and diligent. The main house was shrouded in a positive atmosphere, and time passed in the blink of an eye. Half a month later, the vote on the theme of the end-of-year celebration on the Internet finally came to a close, and the result was as expected. The theme of ¡°Exoplanet Natives¡¯ Life¡± won, which meant that Chu Huai¡¯s proposal, the ¡°Exoplanet Natives¡¯ Patents Protection¡±, successfully became the government¡¯s focus for the next year. After the theme was finalized, preparations for the celebration were officially put on the agenda ¨C leading to the end of Chu Rong and Chu Huai¡¯s holiday. On the last day of Chu Rong¡¯s holiday, before going to bed, Qiao Zhiya arched into Chu Rong¡¯s arms, hugged his waist and did not speak or sleep. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Rong frowned, rubbed his bangs, and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t mess around, go to sleep.¡± Qiao Zhiya was whining as his face was against Chu Rong¡¯s chest. He was very sullen-sounding. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stay in the main house alone. I want to go home with you.¡± ¡®Ah, it turns out to be this.¡¯ Chu Rong laughed angrily, pinched his ears, and said, ¡°This is why you are staring at me with half-lidded eyes? You¡¯re sleepy already. Calm down and think for a moment. My vacation is used up, so that means I will just go to work every day. I will still go back home to rest.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt elated. He raised his head and asked him, ¡°Really? Are you still coming back every day?¡± Chu Rong simply covered his eyes with his hand, and ordered, ¡°Sleep.¡± Since Chu Rong didn¡¯t refute, that must mean a ¡°yes¡±. Qiao Zhiya was finally relieved. He happily let out a soft whine, then yawned. He fell asleep not long after, looking very peaceful. After making sure that he was asleep, Chu Rong let go of his arms a little. He stared at the Bald Chicken¡¯s stupidly-lovely sleeping face for a long time¡­ then kissed his forehead. Another week passed in a blink of an eye, and the celebration was efficiently prepared with the cooperation of various ministries. The Four Great Families and Presidential Palace would take lead in experiencing the celebration the moment the festival would begin. ¡°Travel to the newly discovered primitive planet for a week? And live broadcast it to the whole Federation?¡± Chu Yan read it out loud. He choked on pure air, and his eyes bulged in pure shock. He coughed several times before continuing, ¡°Why the hell should it be broadcasted live? Who came up with this bad idea? The Xiang family and the Ning family actually agreed on this?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an took out a handkerchief to wipe his face, and replied with a helpless tone, ¡°They probably didn¡¯t expect your Dage¡¯s proposal to come true, making the Xiang family so angry that they took the initiative for this format. The Ning family also love this kind of attention, so they didn¡¯t object either. Both the President and the Wei family support the Xiang family, so the matter of live broadcasting has been settled like this.¡± It took Chu Yan a while to accept the live broadcast, and he said firmly, ¡°There is a conspiracy! There must be something wrong with the proposal of the Xiang family. I don¡¯t believe that the ¡®proposing this purely out of anger¡¯ motive! Although this is a chance for gaining public¡¯s recognition and approval, with this kind of show, it¡¯s really weird! Why would they broadcast the young masters and ladies¡¯ hardship and clownery while they tried to live on a primitive planet? There¡¯s no way they wanted to be seen as a joke!¡± Isn¡¯t this throwing the face of the Presidential Palace and the Four Great Families to the ground? If some joke happens during the live broadcast and the majesty of the Presidential Palace and the Four Great Families is demolished, wouldn¡¯t the loss outweigh the gain? In short, it¡¯s impossible there¡¯s nothing hidden inside this move. ¡°I don¡¯t know if there is a conspiracy,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an was amused by his reaction. But she frowned after laughing, and said, ¡°But this event does have some restrictions¡­. That can mitigate the possible embarrassing situation.¡± An ominous premonition rose in Chu Yan¡¯s heart. ¡°What are the restrictions?¡± Gu Yanan glanced at him and replied, ¡°This one-week trip only allowed the juniors to participate. The age limit is under 22 years old, so even if it is embarrassing, it can be excused by the age of the participants. With proper PR guidance, it can be used to win the hearts of the citizens ¨C especially if they wound up liking the heir. If the juniors behave well, it can be used as a signal that the family has good education. In short, the performance of the juniors of each family will directly affect the success of each family¡¯s recruitment of talents next year.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Yan wanted to scold the Xiang family for being shameless again! As for which of the five families was the most pretentious, if the Xiang family dared to be the second, no one could take the first place! And as for which family has the junior with the worst image, although he didn¡¯t want to admit it, Chu Yan was definitely ranked first with his stinky, hot-headed, confrontational reputation! And because of this damned age limit, the President¡¯s family didn¡¯t have to send out anyone at all! Even if they must, they could only send the President¡¯s wife¡¯s natal family, and the embarrassment from that couldn¡¯t be thrown against the President! The Wei family and the Xiang family were in a collusion, so they definitely would take care of each other. The Ning family had a good tutor, and the children they taught are relatively low-key and stable. The current heir of the family, Ning Kongran, was known for his mild and good temperament. After all the calculations, he was the only one who could screw up in the live broadcast! Without the live broadcast, he could still watch the liveliness of the other delicate young masters and ladies. With the live broadcast, they all would be watched as entertainment. There was no worse situation than this! This was fucking directed at the Chu family!! Moreover, he was the only junior in the Chu family, in contrast to several from the other families. He would be singled out in a heartbeat. Chu Yan¡¯s expression was distorted, as if he was swallowing a sour lemon whole. Gu Yan¡¯an kinda wanted to laugh at the silliness, but she understood Chu Yan¡¯s distress. She patted him in comfort, then glanced at the worried-looking Qiao Zhiya. She then added, ¡°Not only that, your Dage also said that the Xiang family planned to let Qiao participate in this event, and the reason was quite logical. They said that since the goal is to experience the life of an Exoplanet Native, it¡¯s only natural to bring them along. Since Qiao was affiliated with us, and he¡¯s the one whose patent was questioned last time, he was the one most suitable to go.¡± There¡¯s still something about Qiao? Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but slap the table and got up, and was so angry that he wanted to run away and scream. ¡°Despicable, despicable and despicable! The Xiang family is a bunch of shameless and despicable pieces of shits! Qiao doesn¡¯t even have spiritual power, and there are many unknown dangers on the primitive planet. Xiang family is just so fucking nasty with their own insecurities!!¡± Qiao Zhiya was also stunned. He didn¡¯t expect that he would be involved in this event. Seeing Chu Yan so angry, he thought about it and got up to comfort his friend, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, Xiao Yan. It¡¯s good to go together, so I don¡¯t have to worry about you without being able to help. We can go together and be each other¡¯s support.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about that, but¡­¡± Chu Yan wanted to explain but couldn¡¯t find the perfect words to do so. After getting frustrated, he messed up his hair in anxiety, and looked at Gu Yan¡¯an instead. ¡°Has this matter been settled? Is there any way to change it?¡± ¡°No, the list of participants for the event has been finalized.¡± Chu Rong suddenly came over with a cold face, with a serious and terrifying expression. He directly ordered the head butler, who was waiting on the side, ¡°Go and prepare some things that can support them to live on a primitive planet. Apart from you two, I will also be going as a supervisor of the Chu family. We¡¯re leaving in three days.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an was taken aback. She frowned as she asked, ¡°Three days? Why the rush?¡± I just realized: with the amount of mentions of ¡°QZY smushing his face on CR¡¯s chest¡±, this means that CR has massive tiddies. Probably hard enough because he¡¯s muscular, but soft and bouncy enough to make QZY constantly have his face on it. QZY is truly #lifegoals. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 45.1 Thank you Yue for the ko-fi donations! As for the CFFMR bonus chapter, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to wait a couple more hours¡­ Ah yes, the chapter that becomes the reason I have this Chara list¡­ Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Gu Yan¡¯an: Chu Huai¡¯s wife. She¡¯s a doctor. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Qiuqiu: MC¡¯s special plant pet he kept inside his storage bracelet. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Bearded Teacher (not real name): Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. The newly discovered primitive planet is a four-day flight from the Capital Planet, coupled with the four-day flight return, plus a week staying there; it all dded up to a total of half a month-long trip. At the same time, in order to ensure the safety of the juniors, the President proposed that each family select one or two guardians-slash-supervisors to follow and protect them; as to prevent them in case of accidents and causing casualties. After discussion, the Chu family decided on sending Chu Rong. After listening to the explanation, Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change for the better, but worsened. She frowned and said with anger in her voice, ¡°Who in the entire Federation doesn¡¯t know that your spiritual power is polluted and you can¡¯t use it easily? The situation is complicated and changeable. If you are stimulated there and your spiritual power goes berserk, and you cannot get timely medical treatment, how dangerous the situation will be! Letting the juniors go is nothing more than a small hassle ¨C it doesn¡¯t matter much. But if something goes wrong with you, the strength of the Chu family will collapse by half! Tch. Their calculations are really blatant!¡± Chu Yan, who had already calmed down a little, actually started getting angrier after hearing Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s words. He almost jumped out righteously, full of irritation, ¡°I wonder why the President is suddenly so kind, and agreed to let Erge go along. It turned out that he was expecting to catch a big fish with a small bait! Despicable! I don¡¯t agree, let¡¯s change it, Dage isn¡¯t weak, let him go!¡± ¡°Only I can go,¡± Chu Rong replied, trying to fool Chu Yan and Gu Yan¡¯an. His eyes were heavy, and he said in a cold voice, ¡°This time the theme was promoted by Dage alone, so this kind of counterattack by the Xiang-Wei coalition has long been expected. Don¡¯t worry, nothing will happen.¡± As he spoke, he looked at Qiao Zhiya, who also looked very worried. Chu Rong suppressed the anxiety burgeoning inside his heart ever since the candidate was finalized, and reached out to use his communicator. He ruffled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair gently, trying to soothe the youth, ¡°They will not get what they want. Not even the tiniest bit. I swear.¡± Whether it was a small fish or a big fish, no matter how many Chu family members went there, they all must come back hearty and hale. Nothing less was allowed. Qiao Zhiya noticed his unstable mood. The youth looked up at Chu Rong, tilted his head and rubbed into Chu Rong¡¯s palm, in search of comfort. He lowered his gaze, his mouth curled up into a pout. He knew that if Chu Rong wanted to go too, he would need to save his spiritual strength, and couldn¡¯t use Qiao Zhiya¡¯s healing or potions. The matter was a foregone conclusion. Everyone calmed down after a while, and started to detail travel preparations. Qiao Zhiya asked for a leave from Master Ren, and secretly hid in the room to fiddle with new potions. He was trying to get another layer of insurance for Chu Rong¡¯s illness before the departure. Everyone just thought that he was making stone grass potions, which wasn¡¯t dangerous, so they didn¡¯t probe him further. However, Chu Rong reminded him not to make too much ¨C one or two vials only ¨C and instead save his energy to deal with the trip. Qiao Zhiya nodded and agreed obediently on the surface, but actually immediately put the words behind him when he went out to work. Qiao Zhiya had one spiritual power soothing liquid per month given to him, which he had saved for more than half a year ¨C occasionally Chu Rong would also give him extra. After he counted his savings, he already had as many as ten vials on his hand. Considering that this was his first time using this kind of ingredient as a basis to make his potions, he was extra careful. He used his magic power to directly take out two purification liquids and put them aside for later use, then took out Qiuqiu and a few pots of plants. After repeatedly confirming that the plants were in tip-top conditions, he took out his father¡¯s handbook and looked at the method of making intermediate-level potions recorded on it, and began to replenish his magic power. These pots of plants were all found by him after he confirmed that the stone grass was indeed unique. He searched their identities through the illustrations in the Federation¡¯s Plants Encyclopedia. He¡¯s afraid that if these plants¡¯ vitalities were low, their efficacy would also be low. With that low dosage, he¡¯s afraid that he¡¯ll instead help Chu Rong¡¯s body to develop a drug resistance without actually curing anything ¨C after all, such a thing was inevitable with prolonged drug usage. It¡¯s a pity that plants with strong magical power like stone grass were really rare. After searching for so long, he finally found some of them that did contain magical power, albeit lower than the stone grass¡¯. few plants that contain a little bit more magic elements, such as stone grass, but none of them turn up. But he was not without gains. The magical power in the stone grass were rich and highly active, but it didn¡¯t have a good healing property. In contrast, some of the plants he found had the inverse of that, so it should be effective to be made into potions. He just needs a huge quantity of them. This was also the reason why he didn¡¯t start making potions immediately after finding these plants. The plants bought from the Federation were all grown sub-optimally, and the healing property was lost as a result. He had to grow them by himself, while showering them with his wood-elemental magical power. And after saving for so long, the plants in his hand were only about enough to make an intermediate-level potion. So if it was successfully made, this potion could only be used in case of emergency, not for daily consumption. After replenishing his magic power, he separated the plants¡¯ parts in batches. Instead of using instruments to refine them, he did all of them with his magic power ¡ª this would ensure the healing properties weren¡¯t lost, but in return, the speed would be sluggish. Sure enough, it took him two whole mornings to just extract the plant¡¯s essence, consuming a lot of wood-type magic stones to barely complete it. Fortunately, Chu Rong rewarded him after he made the secondary mutated red tin ore purification device. He had a lot of top-level jade. Otherwise, with his consumption rate, his stock of magic stones would have been used up long ago. The day before departure, Qiao Zhiya spent another morning to complete the remaining preparations, and then ran back to the room early after dinner to do the final concocting. Unlike making stone grass potion, which only needed one fusion of plant essence, this intermediate-level potion he tried to make used five different types of plants, on top of the spiritual power soothing medicine he used as a base. All in all, the fusion process was very complicated. Thankfully, it ran smoothly; until he actually tried to fuse the soothing medicine into the mix. His magic lower couldn¡¯t help but want to absorb the said medicine. The feeling of not being able to eat delicious food right in front of him was really bad. Fortunately, he was very self-aware and took out two bottles of purification liquid for backup to quench this temptation. The finished potion was beautiful milky white, and it exuded a strong plant-like fragrance, which wafted all over the room. After Qiao Zhiya sealed the potion and put it away, he dealt with the pharmaceutical tools first. Sniffing the air, he felt distressed with the strong smell, so he ran up to open the window. As soon as Chu Rong returned to the room, he smelled the strong fragrance of plants in the room. He paused, looked at the quilt on the bed, and heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s obviously awake breathing sound. He stepped forward and dug the Bald Chicken out of the quilt. With a frown, he asked, ¡°What are you doing secretly in the room?¡± The fragrance hadn¡¯t faded yet, and Qiao Zhiya knew that he was in trouble. So he pretended to sleep in hope that Chu Rong would deal with it later. But seeing that he had been busted now, he directly tried to play it off. He rubbed against Chu Rong in a pleading manner, and dodged the question clumsily, ¡°You are done with your work, when will you set off tomorrow?¡± ¡°At ten o¡¯clock, set sail from the port of the military headquarters,¡± Chu Rong replied, not being fooled at all. He rubbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s blond bangs with narrowed eyes. Then, he reiterated his previous question, ¡°Honestly, what are you hiding? Messing around again?¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly waved his hands and shook his head to say no, then hesitated for a while. He took out Qiuqiu while saying, ¡°Uhm¡­ going to a primitive planet this time will definitely make me use Qiuqiu¡¯s ability. So, I wanted to make it more energetic. For that, I fed it a little bit of my magic power, and it suddenly bloomed, making the room filled with the fragrance of flowers¡­¡± Lying in the palm of his hand, the scapegoat-plant-ball called Qiuqiu twitched its vines. Under Chu Rong¡¯s piercing gaze, it forced itself to bloom a small white flower. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°!!!¡± Chu Rong glanced at him, his voice still thick with suspicion, ¡°You seem to be more surprised than me that it does bloom.¡± ¡°Nope!¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly suppressed his surprise and tightened his hold on Qiuqiu, then replied, ¡°I¡¯m just a bit surprised that the flower¡¯s color is white, because previously it was yellow. Yeah, isn¡¯t it a bit strange?¡± The plant ball froze again, then stretched out a vine that suddenly produced a yellow flower. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s blooming, and it should still bear fruit,¡± Chu Rong looked down at the very suspicious plant ball. Qiao Zhiya tried his best to suppress the urge to exclaim, so he lied bluntly, ¡°Qiuqiu is a magical plant¡­ It¡¯s only natural that you can¡¯t treat it with your common sense. It¡¯s quite special, and no one has figured out how it species actually reproduces, so¡­ so¡­. Uh¡­.¡± ¡°Puchi.¡± Qiuqiu entangled two flowering vines together, and from the place the flower touched, its petals suddenly fell, leaving behind two small fruits the size of mung beans. Though, rather than ¡°fruits¡± it was more like a seed instead. Qiao Zhiya stopped talking. He didn¡¯t expect Qiuqiu to be able to add drama by itself so much. Chu Rong also stopped talking. He retracted his gaze from staring at the plant ball, and instead focused on rubbing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs again. He admired the stupid look on the Bald Chicken¡¯s face. Truthfully, his moods these days were quite good. So he only mysteriously smiled, then went to the bathroom. ¡°Bang,¡± the bathroom door closed. Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses, held Qiuqiu and the two ¡°born¡± fruits, and was dumbfounded, ¡°Qiu, Qiuqiu, what is this? It¡¯s¡­ your children?¡± Qiuqiu rubbed its vine shyly. Then, the tip of the vine rolled up the seed and stretched it out in front of Qiao Zhiya, waving it as if asking for praise. ¡°¡­It turns out that you can still have children.¡± Qiao Zhiya took the two seeds and carefully put them away. He touched the plant ball for a daily long time, feeling a little guilty he put Qiuqiu in a tight spot like that. Then, Qiao Zhiya had an epiphany. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¨CIt turned out that Qiuqiu needed magic power to reproduce. He had been unable to feed it with magic power for more than ten years, so it didn¡¯t accumulate enough power to breed offspring until this late. He felt guilty about that, too. Reproduction was the instinct of plants, and Qiuqiu actually ¡°gave birth¡± to two children after only feeding it with magic power for more than half a year. Still in this situation, it can be seen how malnourished it was for the past years. Qiuqiu was able to sense Qiao Zhiya¡¯s emotions. It rubbed its vine in order to comfort its master, hoping it would help make him happy. Qiao Zhiya pursed his lips into a warm smile. He hugged the plant ball and shrank into the quilt, and played with it for quite some time. Both Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya slept very soundly that night, and the fragrance of plants condensed in the room was absorbed by them in their sleep, soothing their spiritual power and magic power. Little by little, the fragrance eventually dissipated into thin air. CH 45.2 At nine o¡¯clock in the morning of the next day, everyone gathered to go to the port of the military headquarters. Apart from the two younger ones and Chu Rong, the Chu family also had an extra Fan Xiangnan in the team. ¡°Long time no see,¡± Fan Xiangnan took the initiative to greet Qiao Zhiya with a cordial attitude. ¡°Xiangnan-ge!¡± Chu Yan ran over excitedly, thumped his chest familiarly, and said happily, ¡°Are you going too this time? That¡¯s great! I¡¯m relieved to have you with Erge.¡± Qiao Zhiya was also very happy to see Fan Xiangnan. But after greeting him, he was a little puzzled, and looked at Chu Rong, full of unasked questions. Chu Rong understood what he meant in a second. ¡°Xiangnan is a student sponsored by the Chu family, and his files are attached to the welfare home of the Chu family. He is considered to be a member of the Chu family, so he can also follow us as a supervisor.¡± ¡®Ah, so it¡¯s like that¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya nodded in understanding. He looked at the smile on Fan Xiangnan¡¯s face, and felt a little sad ¡ª because it meant that Fan Xiangnan was an orphan. When they arrived at the port of the military headquarters, they were not far away from the departure time. While waiting, people from several other families had already arrived and were gathering to greet each other. There were also many media wearing temporary passes waiting, and some video equipment in the shape of birds and insects floated in the sky. With the media present, the supervisors of the team all looked happy and friendly¡­ except for Chu Rong who arrived at the end. ¡°Count the number of people and get ready to go,¡± After Chu Rong arrived, he ordered directly. He then called the captain of the warship, and entered the warship first for the final warship inspection. He completely ignored the surrounding media waiting for interviews and the other supervisors who tried to come up to say hello. Seeing this, Lieutenant General Wei Xiongchang straightened his sleeves and said with a smile, ¡°Marshal Chu is really in charge. This time he will lead the team. This event will definitely end successfully.¡± ¡°That¡¯s natural,¡± The Xiang family was led by Xiang Lingyun, the current head of the family. He echoed Wei Xiongchang¡¯s words with a gentle smile and a kind bearing. ¡°Although Marshal Chu is a bit reticent and serious, he is capable and very responsible. He is a role model for all children. Xiao Hui, you are also in the military, remember to ask Marshal Chu more if you don¡¯t understand.¡± Xiang Hui nodded quickly in response, with a humble and gentle attitude. The four juniors standing behind them looked at each other and smiled politely. They all put on the airs of the noblemen with a tense posture, trying to let the camera record their best side. Xiang Kun wasn¡¯t an exception to this. The head of the Ning family¡¯s team, Chairman Ning Tianyan, glanced at them with an indifferent attitude. He didn¡¯t speak to them. Instead, he looked sideways at the three juniors who participated in the event, and said, ¡°While we are serious in this participation, there¡¯s no need to show off. Kongran, take good care of your younger relatives.¡± Ning Kongran nodded, looking stable and reliable. Ning Konghua and Ning Kongting took a look at this cousin1Ìøç tang ge; an older male cousin from your father¡¯s brother. who was older than themselves but was still studying in an intermediate college. They smiled on their faces, but the emotions in their eyes were very disapproving. Overall, they weren¡¯t very close. As expected, the Presidential Palace¡¯s representatives were from the president¡¯s wife¡¯s natal family, the You family. There were only two juniors: You Xia, who is in the second grade at the Advanced College of the Federal Military Academy; and You Yuanyuan, who is in the fifth grade at an intermediate college. The supervisor of the team is the President¡¯s daughter, Long Baorou, and her younger brother, Long Ruizhang. Long Baorou¡¯s name2Áú±¦Èá; Long = dragon, Bao = precious/treasure, Rou = soft/supple sounded very intimidating, but she was the dream lover of many second generations of the Federation. She was tall, cool, and had outstanding abilities. Although her face was always expressionless, her works were perfect, making it hard for people to nitpick her. She was the perons responsible for all contact between the team and the media this time. When Chu Rong arrived just now, she was talking to the person in charge of the port. She didn¡¯t take the initiative to say hello, but she didn¡¯t expect that Chu Rong didn¡¯t greet her either. The Marshal directly ignored her and called the captain directly to enter the ship. She frowned and was a little dissatisfied. But seeing that Lieutenant General Wei and Chairman Ning, who were only a little lower than Chu Rong in terms of ¡°rank¡± also didn¡¯t say anything, she hid her dissatisfaction. She glanced at the direction of the warship entrance, and turned sideways. You Xia, who was standing not far behind her, took all this into his eyes. He suddenly understood something. ¡°Tsk tsk, she still put on airs because I thought Erge would give her his time. Haha, what a joke. If she doesn¡¯t have a good father, or with her status as a fifth-year military student who has not yet graduated, what qualifications does she have to be a supervisor? Don¡¯t worry Qiao, Erge hates her type the most. You know, the ostentatious ones.¡± Seeing Long Baorou¡¯s appearance, Chu Yan, who was left behind to wait for the count, couldn¡¯t help complaining in a low voice. He also prevented any rotten peach blossoms of his brother, so Qiao Zhiya wouldn¡¯t misunderstand. Qiao Zhiya, who was observing the crowd at the scene, came back to his senses. He glanced at Long Baorou¡¯s very eye-catching tall figure, and a strange feeling suddenly bloomed inside his chest. He pursed his lips, trying to figure out what this unpleasantness meant. Chu Yan patted him on the shoulder again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Xiang Kun who was pretending to look like a goody-two-shoes. Out of pure reflex, he rolled his eyes at his enemy, then simply turned sideways to see nothing. Fan Xiangnan, who stood in front of them and helped them cover, sighed helplessly in his heart. Seeing that it was almost time to board the ship, he hurriedly turned around and told them to keep a low profile and be as quiet as possible. At ten o¡¯clock sharp, the media began to broadcast the sailing process live. Chu Rong finally walked out of the ship, counted the number of people with the captain, and then arranged for everyone to board the ship. The family members who were watching the live broadcast saw this ¨C with the exception of Chu Huai ¨C and all frowned. As for Chu Huai, he smiled in satisfaction. With Chu Rong¡¯s icy expression, there was no festive atmosphere. If anything, it felt like everyone was going on a dangerous mission. One of them thought, ¡®It seems that the idea of ??this live broadcast is well thought out. With Chu Rong¡¯s cold face, the people¡¯s gratitude, tolerance, and admiration for him because of the battle ten years ago will wear off sooner or later.¡¯ This event naturally attracted many, many online netizens. The number of people watching through various networks had reached a record high. It was very lively. At ten o¡¯clock, the live broadcast officially started, and the screen flickered to live. A lot of familiar big bosses and juniors from various families appeared on the screen, and then Chu Rong walked out with the captain with a serious expression. He did his job without extra nonsense, and didn¡¯t even look at the recording equipment around him. If anything, with his frown, he even showed faint impatience towards these equipment. It was a stark contrast to the attitudes of other families in the scene, who all greeted the audiences from near the cameras. The netizens have different reactions to this. Some think that the military style of Chu Rong was very handsome, some think that the style of the Xiang family was more friendly to the people, and some boast that the genes of each family were very good ¨C the children brought out were very good looking. In short, there were all kinds of discussions. There¡¯s even people here who come here to witness the demeanor of the President¡¯s daughter ¨C their goddess ¡ª and take the opportunity to spread gossip. Until today¡¯s live broadcast was over, the comments were generally still in a relatively moderate state. The masses have maintained a certain degree of goodwill towards these big shots without knowing them in depth. After everyone boarded the ship, the warship set sail and the fireworks went up to celebrate. This time, the fun with the people officially started, and the live broadcast of the first day of sailing ended. In view of the high status of all the participants in this event, the military department sent them a medium-sized warship with relatively high specifications. They even thoughtfully arranged a separate accommodation area for them based on the family as a unit, so as to avoid friction between each families. The Chu family¡¯s accommodation area was in Area B, with a total of five rooms. Each person could live in one room, with an extra one for emergency usage. This time, Qiao Zhiya could no longer sleep in the same room with Chu Rong. There were too many people on the ship. If they found out, he knew he would be annoyed to death by people inquiring about it. ¡°Sleep on time at night,¡± Standing in the corridor, Chu Rong frowned and ordered him. Seeing the sagging, downturned ears, he pinched at them. Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently, then hugged him reluctantly while telling him, ¡°Come to me if you feel uncomfortable spiritually. I will help you treat it. Don¡¯t bottle it up yourself.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think about it,¡± Chu Rong replied with a restrained manner, even if he hugged Qiao Zhiya back. Then, he looked at Chu Yan, enduring his unwillingness to hug such a stinky, big boy, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t roll around at night. Cover yourself up with a quilt properly. Don¡¯t stay up late.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s hairs stood up in fright. He quickly stood up, nodded his head to express his understanding, and ran to hide behind Fan Xiangnan in a panic. This feeling of an out-of-nowhere ¡°brotherly love display¡± was very foreign and wrong. CH 45.3 The room arrangement finished during lunchtime. In order to let everyone have a sense of collective honor, everyone had to go to the restaurant on the fourth floor to eat together during the few days on the ship to cultivate their relationship. ¡°I will definitely suffer from indigestion when I eat in front of the Xiang family,¡± On the way to the fourth floor, Chu Yan dragged Qiao Zhiya to complain, his face full of disgust. Qiao Zhiya honestly believed Chu Yan¡¯s extreme words. He seriously said, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I prepared some digestive aids. I will share half of them with you later.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s mouth twitched. Then, he patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder with a complicated mood. ¡®He even prepared a digestive aid¡­ so virtuous.¡¯ When they arrived, there were quite a few people in the restaurant. Everyone was talking together in a group of twos and threes. On the surface, it seemed very harmonious and lively. Seeing Chu Rong¡¯s arrival, Lieutenant General Wei greeted him with a ¡°kind¡± smile. Chu Rong frowned impatiently, and looked back at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya who were muttering together, and suppressed his impatience. He glanced at Fan Xiangnan, who immediately understood what the Marshal wanted. He stepped forward to block Lieutenant General Wei¡¯s greetings, and took the initiative to lead him into the small group where other supervisors gathered. Lieutenant General Wei was stunned for a moment by his rare cooperation. Thinking of Long Baorou, who was chatting with Chairman Ning, he smiled knowingly, and began to speak more ¡°kindly¡±. The supervisor group got together and backstabbed back and forth, leaving the juniors to fend for themselves in the restaurants. ¡ª¡ªNow there was no live broadcast, there¡¯s no need to pretend that everyone was ¡°friends¡± to each other. ¡°Hey, there are actually snowflake fish. Qiao, try this. The climate of the Capital Planet is not suitable for the growth of snowflake fish, so I don¡¯t usually eat this at home. I didn¡¯t expect this to appear on the menu,¡± Chu Yan excitedly called Qiao Zhiya over, pointing to a plate of white fish. He also motioned him to pick up a few pieces. ¡°Hmph, bumpkin,¡± Xiang Kun, who just turned to this side, snorted coldly when he heard Chu Yan¡¯s introduction. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was called over, with palpable disdain. Wei Lan, the youngest child of the Wei family following behind him, followed suit and gave Qiao Zhiya a disdainful look. ¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ Chu Yan¡¯s face darkened, and he was about to explode when he saw that Qiao Zhiya, who was being ridiculed, was not angry at all. Instead, Qiao Zhiya looked up at them back and forth, lowered his head and took out a black stone from his storage ring¡­ and showed it off. That is, he showed how he could casually snap it in half, and throw it on the side of the snowflake fish¡¯s plate. Then, he gave Xiang Kun a friendly smile, before continuing to eat his food. Seeing this, Xiang Kun¡¯s face froze with pure fear. He immediately remembered the horror he experienced during the final exam. He glared at him impatiently, and said angrily, ¡°Don¡¯t be arrogant! Isn¡¯t it just more strength? What¡¯s the use? I will take revenge on you for destroying my weapon sooner or later!¡± After finishing speaking, he stopped eating. He walked away angrily with Wei Lan, who was a little surprised by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s strength. ¡°Hahahaha, look at how cowardly he is!!¡± Chu Yan taunted them unceremoniously, and happily moved to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side. He bumped him with his elbow, and said, ¡°Hey, why did you come up with such a brilliant move? I almost threw the fork in my hand just now.¡± Qiao Zhiya picked up the black stone and put it away, shook his head, and explained honestly, ¡°This is not something I came up with.¡± Chu Yan was stunned in confusion. ¡°Then who came up with that? Xiangnan-ge?¡± ¡°No,¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head. His ears twitched happily when he smelled the fish¡¯s delicious fragrance, then he replied, ¡°This idea is what Chu Rong said. He said that quarreling is the most useless and meaningless behavior, and don¡¯t use your mouth to solve problems that can be solved with strength.¡± Chu Yan shutted up, looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s simple and contented appearance while eating fish, and wisely decided to leave it as is. ¡°Ge, what are you looking at?¡± You Yuanyuan, who looked ordinary among all the handsome men and beautiful women, gently tugged on her brother¡¯s sleeve and asked in a low voice. You Xia retracted his gaze, patted her on the head with a smile, and replied, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Yuanyuan. Remember not to get too close to our cousin and let¡¯s treat this as a vacation trip, understand?¡± You Yuanyuan nodded. Her delicate eyebrows were furrowed, her eyes showed a bit of maturity that didn¡¯t match her age. ¡°I understand, our cousin¡¯s heart is crooked. So I will keep a distance from her.¡± On the other side, Ning Kongran also retracted his gaze, and looked at Ning Konghua and Ning Kongting who were deliberately talking together to isolate him. A faint hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes, and he turned around and found a corner to sit down. With the ¡°prelude¡± that was Xiang Kun finding fault with Chu Yan and getting angry, the juniors all became honest. They all ate within their groups, and this lunch passed in a safe manner. After the meal, Chu Rong was invited by Long Baorou to discuss some matters about the trip. While Chu Yan took this opportunity to go to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s room. Before the blond youth went to attend his online class, Chu Yan took out a list and said, ¡°Come on, knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to win a hundred battles. I will bequeath this to you.¡± Qiao Zhiya paused, his hand still clutching his helmet. He glanced at the time, and said, ¡°I still have half an hour.¡± Chu Yan rolled his eyes, patted him and said, ¡°I can explain this in five minutes.¡± ¡ªSimply put, there were 11 juniors that participated in this activity. The Xiang, Wei, Chu, You families each have 2 juniors; while the Ning family have 3 juniors, and they are all older ¨C even the youngest, Ning Kongting, was already 19 years old. Of all the 7 supervisors, there¡¯s 2 from both the You family and the Xiang family, of which Long Baorou and Xiang Hui were not too old, so they must be here to make up the number. The Wei, Chu, and Ning families each had 1 member with a high standing. ¡°In addition to Xiang Kun, the Xiang family also has Xiang Jing, who is not very favored at home. She is Xiang Kun¡¯s cousin1Ìýã; tang jie, the female equivalent of tang ge, a third-year military academy student, and she is 22 years old. She has a good personality, so don¡¯t be particularly wary of her. It¡¯s Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandsons that you should keep an eye on: the older one is Wei Yu, a first-year military academy student, a very proud man; and the younger one is Wei Lan, the one just behind Xiang Kun, who is only fourteen years old, who¡¯s also the youngest here. Though, seeing their capabilities that are akin to a mud that can¡¯t support the wall2idiom; inadequate abilities. There¡¯s this implication that the person in question should¡¯ve been capable., no need to be overly worrying about them. And lastly, there¡¯s the juniors from the Ning family. Ning Kongran is pretty good and can get along with others. Though, you can forget about cooperation with Ning Konghua and Ning Kongting. They both are younger than Ning Kongran, which is 21 and 19 respectively.¡± ¡®Then¡­ isn¡¯t Ning Kongran must be 22 years old? Why is he still a fifth-year in intermediate college, then?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya though, feeling confused. He remembered that Ning Kongran pretended not to know of him, making his frown even deeper. Then, he asked out his doubts. ¡°Ah, about this,¡± Chu Yan scratched his hair and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know why either. What I heard was that Ning Kongran was born in poor health and was sent to another planet by his father to recuperate for several years. So, his education is a bit delayed. But this is just hearsay, and he looks quite healthy. So I can¡¯t tell.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded to express his understanding, temporarily suppressing this doubt in his heart, and motioned him to continue his explanation. The remaining two children of the You family have been keeping a low profile because of their weak family status, and they don¡¯t hang out in the circle very much, making Chu Yan didn¡¯t know much about their personalities. ¡°As for her grades, You Yuanyuan is pretty mediocre, and she studied logistics,¡± Chu Yan finished explaining. Instead, he focused on the name ¡®Long Baorou¡¯ written down in the supervisor group. His tone was serious. ¡°This person, Qiao, you must be extra wary. It should be noted that although she is a supervisor, she is actually only 24 years old and is in the fifth grade of the military academy. If she approaches you, ignore her, and don¡¯t believe a word she says, understand?¡± Qiao Zhiya also felt that this Long Baorou was a little strange. He nodded quickly upon hearing this, promising to actively avoid her. Satisfied, Chu Yan patted him on the shoulder again, stopped disturbing his class time, got up, and went back to his room. After going through the relationship charts in his mind, Qiao Zhiya logged in with a heavy heart. After class, he asked the bearded teacher for a leave, saying that she had something to do at home, and he would be away for about ten days. The bearded man expressed his understanding. The holiday was coming soon, and every family had to prepare for the occasion. It was normal to have no time. In fact, it was very rare for Qiao Zhiya to persist in class until today. ¡°The method of sorting out materials with spiritual power is actually the same. I will give you another textbook. You can read it more when you are free. You don¡¯t have to come to class for now, and you can come back after the festival is over. Just go and enjoy the festivities, okay?¡± The bearded man passed a textbook to him as he spoke, and went offline first. Unexpectedly, he got a long vacation. Qiao Zhiya looked at the textbooks in his hand and estimated his current self-study progress. After feeling that the extra vacation seemed to have no effect, he went offline with peace of mind. Everyone gathered for dinner again, and the atmosphere was still neither electric nor dull. Chu Rong was sent away by Long Baorou again, and Qiao Zhiya felt even more weird when he saw this. He even missed two bites of his meal. This situation continued until the last space jump was completed, the day before everyone was about to arrive at the primitive planet. At night, Qiao Zhiya stood behind the door and listened to the movement in the corridor. He waited until after nine o¡¯clock in the evening to hear the familiar footsteps. He felt quite desperate at this point. When the footsteps stopped at his door, he immediately opened the door and asked with concern, ¡± Are you done with your work? Are you tired?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s hand, which was about to knock on the door, paused. Instead he placed it on top of the blond¡¯s head and rubbed it gently. His cold expression eased. ¡°I¡¯m done, and I¡¯m not tired. You¡¯ve been waiting for me?¡± Hearing his seemingly gentle voice at this time, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears happily twitched. He replied with a hint of blush across his face. ¡°I didn¡¯t wait. I was reviewing my homework¡­ and not long after that, I just happened to be¡­¡± Feeling the soft sensations of the pointy ears against his palm, Chu Rong¡¯s heart moved. He simply stepped forward and entered his room, turned around and closed the door, and hugged the youth in his arms. With a light touch, he ran his fingers through the golden locks, feeling his tightly-wound body relaxed with the added warmth against his chest. He then leaned down and kissed the top of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head lightly. Sure enough, it was more comfortable to stay with his Bald Chicken. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart beat a few beats faster as he was hugged. His ears trembled, but he still reflexively burrowed deeper into the embrace, and even hugged Chu Rong back. With his ears pressed against Chu Rong¡¯s chest, he could hear the calming heartbeat of the older man. Hugging silently for a while, Chu Rong glanced at the time, and had to forced himself to let go of Qiao Zhiya. While patting his head, he said, ¡°It¡¯s time to sleep¡­ good night.¡± After speaking, he turned and opened the door, and strode away, as if afraid that his will wouldn¡¯t be firm enough to leave. Qiao Zhiya watched the Marshal leave with a lost look on his face. His hand touched his head, feeling the ghostly-leftover feelings of fingers running through it. With each seconds passing, he was missing Chu Rong more and more, leading his expression and ears drooped listlessly. ¡®Obviously we meet every day, but I still keep thinking about the White-Haired Monster¡­ Why? I shouldn¡¯t be missing him.¡¯ At half past nine the next morning, the warship landed in a valley on the primitive planet. Eleven juniors got off the warship with their own live broadcast equipment hovering around. ¡°The supervisors don¡¯t go out with us, but just observe the situation above. What if we are in danger and they don¡¯t have time to come over?¡± Wei Lan, the youngest, looked up at the sky and muttered his dissatisfaction in a whisper. The fierce-looking Wei Yu raised his hand and forced himself to pat his younger brother. ¡°Danger is still around, so you need to be more cautious. Especially since you¡¯re still very young.¡± Wei Lan was very afraid of this brother of his, so he immediately stopped mumbling after being reprimanded. Xiang Kun looked around the valley full of plants as far as he could see, raised his hands to touch his stomach, looking troubled, ¡°So hungry¡­ they are so cruel, not giving us breakfast and even confiscating all the food in our space button. ¡° The handsome lady Xiang Jing looked at him upon hearing this, raised her hand to stroke his head pitifully, and began to look around to see if there was anything to eat. Ning Konghua and Ning Kongting were also looking around with a visible frown, showing a little dissatisfied look ¡ª the surrounding environment was too primitive, where do they sleep at night? Even things like simple tents were also taken away. ¡°Find out the surrounding environment first, then prepare lunch. Let¡¯s see if there are any wild fruits for breakfast,¡± Ning Kongran was the first to give an idea, and then looked at the older members Xiang Jing and You Xia. The gentle and handsome You Xia nodded and echoed, ¡°Agreed, let¡¯s act first.¡± ¡°Girls and younger ones stay where they are,¡± Wei Yu interrupted forcefully, fighting for the right to speak. He was unwilling to be the only over-20 member not in control. Ning Kongran glanced at him and acquiesced. In just one discussion, except for the Chu family, the other families tacitly chose the person who represented each family to lead the conversation. As for Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, they both were directly ignored because of their age. ¡°Then do you know which wild fruits are edible and which ones are not?¡± Chu Yan interrupted lightly, gloating inwardly. He didn¡¯t believe that this group of people would understand this! Sure enough, when this question came out, everyone fell silent. The pampered young masters and ladies have never dealt with this kind of situation, let alone distinguishing whether the wild fruit was edible or not. Without the help of various advanced tools, it might take a while for them to light a fire. Xiang Kun was so hungry that he couldn¡¯t take it anymore. He shook his head and shook off Xiang Jing¡¯s hand, glanced at the group of old faces in front of him, finally set his eyes on Qiao Zhiya, and said in a vicious voice, ¡°You! Aren¡¯t you an Exoplanet Native? Since you¡¯re here, then you know the best about living on this primitive planet. We¡¯re hungry and want to eat!¡± Everyone heard Xiang Kun¡¯s harsh words, and looked over at the commotion. When Chu Yan saw this, he immediately exploded. With an almost yell, he said, ¡°Xiang Kun, what kind of attitude is this! If you want to ask for help, why are you speaking as if you can lord over Qiao? If you have the ability, be this annoying after the live broadcast start, you coward!¡± This keyword ¨C live broadcast ¨C sobered them up. Everyone turned their eyes back one after another, then looked at the insect-shaped recording devices around them. They instantly remembered that at ten o¡¯clock, it would be live on time. As they were chatting, the time had passed until there¡¯s only twenty minutes before the time. They must act fast, otherwise they would be caught looking helpless and incompetent by the audiences. Qiao Zhiya saw their reactions in his eyes, then looked around the densely vegetated valley, and pursed his lips into a smile¡ª He liked this terrain. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 46.1 Hoo boy, there¡¯s a lot of characters here. For this arc, I¡¯m splitting them up based on their factions. The juniors¡¯ name who participated on the event is underlined. Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Chairman Ning aka Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Ning Kongran¡¯s father. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. Probably 23 years old. You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. You Yuanyuan: You Xia¡¯s younger sister. The broadcast started at 10 o¡¯clock, and it was already 9:40, so there was no time for them to settle for breakfast. Ning Kongting, the prettiest among the girls, said, ¡°Don¡¯t eat breakfast, pack up and get ready to start the live broadcast.¡± Everyone remained silent, acquiescing to her proposal. Even Xiang Kun, who was the loudest just now, didn¡¯t bemoan his hunger. Instead, he stared at Chu Yan, who returned the rude gesture with an equal amount of rudeness. The temperature on the primitive planet was a bit high. Seeing that breakfast was hopeless, everyone went to find a place to change into lighter summer clothes. Fortunately, the supervisors showed some humanity and didn¡¯t take away their change of clothes. ¡°I suggest that you don¡¯t wear short-sleeved shorts or skirts. Simple and lightweight long-sleeved trousers are the best choice. Be careful of flying insects here,¡± Qiao Zhiya kindly reminded everyone before changing clothes, and then followed Chu Yan to change behind a tree. Several girls paused after hearing his reminder. Among them, Xiang Jing and You Yuanyuan thanked him politely, while Ning Kongting directly ignored him as he brushed her hair. Glancing at Qiao Zhiya who was walking away, she harrumphed and went to the other side with her brother. Ten minutes later, everyone changed their clothes and assembled again. The boys have all changed into their neat training clothes, which was no problem. Among the girls, Xiang Jing and You Yuanyuan listened to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s suggestion. They changed into long-sleeved trousers, and tied up their hair. Only Ning Kongting was different ¨C her hair was still draped freely, while her top was a close-fitting and long-sleeved, which highlighted her exquisite figure; she paired that with a long skirt that looked cumbersome to walk in. Everyone actually listened to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s suggestion, and felt that it would be easier to move around in such a situation where they hadn¡¯t figured out the surrounding environment. It¡¯s natural they couldn¡¯t help but focus on Ning Kongting, the odd one out. Seeing this, Ning Kongting pulled her skirt indiscriminately, revealing the trousers under the skirt. Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± They were all wearing long trousers, why bother to put on a skirt outside. The boys were very puzzled, the girls had strange eyes, and Qiao Zhiya had already foreseen the appearance of this beautiful long dress being scratched and tangled by the roots, branches, or even the flying insects. The time slipped to 9:55 unknowingly, and there were still five minutes before the start of the broadcast. Everyone stared at each other for a while, and fell silent without knowing what to do. ¡®What should I do next? Standing around waiting for the broadcast to start?¡¯ Many of them thought. Ning Kongran, who was still the oldest, suggested, ¡°First, we should find out the surrounding environment, find food for lunch, and find a place to rest in the afternoon. As for the grouping, let¡¯s go with Xiang-Wei and Chu-You. The Ning family already has three people, so this division should be fair. Remember not to divide too sparsely, and make sure that the other two teams are close enough to be reached if there¡¯s an emergency. After an hour, no matter what you find, we will gather here. How about it?¡± This grouping cleverly separates conflicting families, ensuring that each group has a certain combat power and an older person to take the lead. Everyone has no objection to this, but there¡¯s still differing opinions on ¡°each group moves separately¡±. ¡°No, we just arrived here, and the environment is not familiar, so it¡¯s not good to separate directly,¡± Ning Kongting said, and bumped into Ning Konghua secretly. She was obviously a little bit dissatisfied at Ning Kongran¡¯s behavior of standing up to decide the general direction of the team. Ning Konghua, who was also a handsome guy, received the signal from his sister, and nodded in agreement, ¡°Kongting is right, the surrounding environment is unclear, so it is not wise to separate.¡± Wei Yu analyzed the members of his group ¨C Wei Lan, who would be a burden, Xiang Kun, who could only bark without a bite, and Xiang Jing, who was mediocre at best. His frown deepened, and said, ¡°I agree. At least for today, we shouldn¡¯t be dispersing.¡± You Xia didn¡¯t participate in the discussion, and he was willing to listen to others¡¯ arrangements. Chu Yan also pulled Qiao Zhiya to prevent him from expressing his opinions, and watched the show while eating melons. The Ning family, who looked harmonious from the outside looking in, actually had internal strife. This scene has never been played before, so Chu Yan had a ¡°wait and see¡± attitude. Qiao Zhiya was held back, and looked sideways at Ning Kongran, who had been refuted by everyone. His brows were frowned, his little face was a little tense ¡ª in fact, Ning Kongran¡¯s suggestion was the most appropriate. The supervisor group must have their reasons for putting them here; and the biggest possibility was that this place had been cleaned in advance to ensure their safety when they first landed. And within an hour, the road conditions in the forest were complicated. Even if everyone dispersed, they couldn¡¯t go far. If something happens, they could call the other two teams. Separation could increase the possibility of finding food. This was the best choice at present. The atmosphere was at a stalemate. When it was ten o¡¯clock, the insect-shaped camera equipment in everyone¡¯s hands automatically turned on, flapped its wings and flew into the air, and pointed the camera at them ¡ª the live broadcast began. Everyone froze and shut up. On the warship, the supervisors of each family sat together, watching the live broadcast screen, frowning in unison ¡ª what¡¯s going on? Why did they stay where they were when they were deliberately let go half an hour earlier? Long Baorou also frowned, looked sideways at Chu Rong, and said, ¡°Marshal Chu, your decision seems to be wrong.¡± Although it was a live broadcast for the public to watch, there were many operable things in it. For example, they could tell their children what to do before they land, write a script for them, let them act according to it. Or they could arrange the ¡°experience¡± route in advance, giving them a little convenience instead of letting them play freely. Obviously there were many optimal solutions, but Marshal Chu, who has a bad temper, refuses to choose them all, insisting not to resort to fraud. Lieutenant General Wei first took a look at his two precious grandsons, seeing that they seemed to be in good spirits, he was a little relieved. But then he was puzzled, ¡°What are they doing? Why are they standing still and not talking?¡± Ning Tianya looked at the three juniors of his family. Seeing that Ning Kongran seemed to be deliberately rejected by Ning Konghua and Ning Kongting, he frowned unhappily ¡ª these two children were completely spoiled, and they didn¡¯t know how to rein in their thoughts. Out of all the supervisors, Xiang Lingyun was the oldest. This time, he sent Xiang Jing, who was low-key, sensible, and a girl. She complemented well with Xiang Kun, who was still too immature, especially when Chu Yan was within his sight. Thankfully, he¡¯s still underage, so no matter what kind of trouble he¡¯ll get with Chu Yan, Xiang Lingyun had the confidence it wouldn¡¯t turn into a scandal. Xiang Hui was also very calm, and looked directly at the Starry Sky Forum that was open simultaneously ¨C public opinion was the thing that needed the most attention. The melon-eaters were obviously a little confused by the fact that everyone stood still at the beginning of the live broadcast. There were endless discussions about asking about the situation, post after post, and the live broadcast screen was full of question marks from the audience. Chu Rong didn¡¯t respond to Long Baorou¡¯s words, and frowned in dissatisfaction as he looked at the screen. He coldly said, ¡°As a military student, these reactions aren¡¯t adequate. They¡¯re in an unfamiliar environment, and yet, all they do is stand around without doing anything, wasting time and energy.¡± As soon as Chu Rong said his comment, the expressions of the other supervisors all changed ¡ª except for the Chu family, all of the children of the other families had students who had already entered the Advanced College section of the Federal Military Academy. This evaluation was really heartbreaking. Regardless of everyone¡¯s reaction, Chu Rong directly pressed the notification device connected to the camera equipment after saying this, and said in a cold voice, ¡°The experience activity has begun, and I will give you two days to adapt to the environment. After two days, you will be given your tasks.¡± After speaking, he simply turned off his microphone. His sight fell on Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who were standing in the corner of the live broadcast screen. His gaze especially sharpened when he saw the hat on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head. His expression was so unpredictable that people couldn¡¯t understand what he was thinking. The supervisors of the other families looked at each other with more or less the same ugly expressions. They might not say it out loud, but they all had the same complaints in their hearts: ¡®This Chu Rong is really unpleasant!¡¯ Looking at Chu Rong¡¯s handsome but indifferent side face, Long Baorou curled her hair with her fingers, lowered her eyes and took a sip of water. There was a sudden sound from the camera equipment, startling the children who were making eye contact. ¡°It¡¯s the voice of Marshal Chu,¡± You Xia glanced at the camera equipment flying beside him, and spoke first. Then he muttered in doubt, ¡°What does the Marshal mean¡­? Besides experiencing the life of the Exoplanet Natives, do we have other tasks to complete during this one-week event?¡± Someone opened his mouth to break the deadlock, and finally everyone stopped playing the game of staring at each other. The atmosphere slowly returned to normal. ¡°What kind of mission will it be? Is it related to the festival?¡± Wei Lan, the youngest, couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity, and was the second to speak. Xiang Kun shook his head, changed his previous bluffing and viciousness, and replied in a mild tone, ¡°It must be related, but not necessarily. Anyways, let¡¯s pass these two days safely.¡± After finishing speaking, he patted Wei Lan¡¯s head, looking like a good big brother. Wei Yu, who was standing next to Wei Lan, looked down at him and didn¡¯t speak. Chu Yan was about to be disgusted by Xiang Kun¡¯s acting skills, so he simply looked away, out of sight and out of mind. ¡°Then follow what Ning Kongran said before. First spread out to find food, and after an hour gather here, find a place to rest in the afternoon. Everyone, cheers!¡± After speaking, he greeted You Xia, pulled Qiao Zhiya, turned around and left. ¡®The live broadcast has already started, and getting together with the Xiang-Wei people might lead me into a trap. It¡¯s safer to move freely with Qiao Zhiya.¡¯ This decision was exactly what Qiao Zhiya wanted. He followed Chu Yan very cooperatively, thought for a while, then stopped to look and reminded everyone, ¡°The brighter the color of the plant, the more likely it is to be poisonous. If you see a wild fruit that is being eaten by insects or birds, then it¡¯s more likely to be non-poisonous. If you¡¯re still undecided, it¡¯s best to not eat it. Instead, you can hunt some small animals, but don¡¯t touch the babies, it can attract its parents or even its herds.¡± After he finished telling them, he left with Chu Yan without looking at other people¡¯s reactions. You Xia glanced at everyone, smiled and said, ¡°Then our team will go first, and you two teams will work hard, see you in an hour.¡± After speaking, he patted You Yuanyuan¡¯s shoulder and led her to follow in the footsteps of Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya. People from the other three families were left in place, and some did not react. ¡®¡­So we follow the original arrangement?¡¯ Wei Yu frowned, seeing that the team seemed to be a foregone conclusion, he also said, ¡°Let¡¯s spread out, everyone.¡± After speaking, he glanced at Xiang Jing and motioned for her to follow him with Xiang Kun. Xiang Kun¡¯s performance was robbed of the limelight by Chu Yan¡¯s words. He was very unwilling and couldn¡¯t help sighing, ¡°Why is Chu Yan still so out of touch? Splitting up like this is clearly so unsafe.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, why didn¡¯t they listen to my brother¡¯s suggestion?¡± Wei Lan quickly agreed, defending his brother. Xiang Jing and Wei Yu pretended not to hear their exclamations, and randomly picked a direction where the plants looked more lush. Ning Kongran withdrew his gaze from the direction of Qiao Zhiya, looked at his relatives, and said gently, ¡°Then let¡¯s act too, it¡¯s getting late.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± Ning Konghua said, this time very cooperative. He even pushed his sister to follow him, pretending that their group was very harmonious. CH 46.2 Five minutes into the broadcast, the eleven people divided into three teams and dispersed, and the live broadcast screen also divided the screen into three parts very cooperatively, showing the action tracks of the three teams. At the same time, there were eleven personal screens lined up beside them. The live broadcast screen was divided into screens, sorted by age. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya were on the No. 8 and No. 9 screens respectively. Chu Rong moved his gaze to screen No. 9 and paused; then moved to screen No. 8 and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡®They finally acted.¡¯ Other supervisors: ¡°¡­¡± Shameless, he clearly just stared at his family and praised them. The audience didn¡¯t know what happened half an hour ago. Seeing that everyone was reminded by Marshal Chu to start the broadcast, they immediately worked as a team to find food for lunch. They all lamented that children from big families were indeed more reliable. At the same time, the melon-eating crowd finally got a rough look at everyone¡¯s appearance, and then the face-cons boiled over. These young masters and ladies are so good-looking! Even the lowest one is still a beauty! Standing together is really eye-catching! As they were excited, their eyes fell on Qiao Zhiya, who was wearing a hat. This was the only Exoplanet Native in this event? He looked a bit small, and his face was covered by a hat, so it¡¯s hard to see him clearly¡­ There was a sudden noise above the woods. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears moved, he looked up with keen eyes as he touched his waist ¡ª he was feeling around in search for his crossbow. It was made from a vine, and the size was small enough to be mistaken as a toy. Chu Yan, who was walking by his side, also glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s weird movement. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± The voice appeared for a moment and then disappeared quickly. Qiao Zhiya removed his hand from the crossbow, shook his head and replied, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, probably misheard.¡± You Xia, who was walking behind them, added to the topic at the right time, and asked with a smile, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, what is that on your waist, a bow? It looks cute.¡± Qiao Zhiya turned his head and greeted him politely. As he touched his crossbow, he replied, ¡°This is not a bow, it¡¯s a crossbow. I¡­ well, my strength is weak, and I¡¯m not as good at using bows and arrows as my clansmen, so I made a crossbow for daily battles. ¡° When he was in the Magic Continent, he couldn¡¯t use magic. If he used bows and arrows, the lethality of bows was far lower when he couldn¡¯t transfer the magic power to the arrows. So in order to ensure the attack power, he made himself a semi-autonomous crossbow with the help of his father. By increasing the attack frequency, he ensured that his combat power would not be much lower. Hearing this, You Xia recalled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s third-level disability, and showed a trace of pity on his face. He nodded to express his understanding, then changed the topic and said, ¡°There seems to be no wild fruit in this area. We have to find a way to catch some small animals.¡± The topic went back to searching for lunch, making Qiao Zhiya to remember everyone¡¯s state ¨C they hadn¡¯t had breakfast, so they were all hungry. He glanced at You Yuanyuan, the only girl in his group. After thinking for a while, he looked around, then ran to the grass under a tree. He dug something from there, then ran back and handed the soil-stained lump to You Yuanyuan, saying, ¡°If there are no wild fruits, the roots of some plants are also edible. This one smells sweet, and there are traces of insect activity underneath, so it should be non-toxic. Here you go.¡± You Yuanyuan didn¡¯t expect that after finding the food, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t eat it himself or give it to Chu Yan first, but gave it to her first. You Xia was moved, and stretched out his hand to pat her head. She snapped out of her trance, took the fist-sized root that was still caked in dirt with a red face, and hurriedly said, ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡± You Xia also thanked him with a smile. Qiao Zhiya waved his hand to his reciprocity and replied: ¡°It should be like this because Chu Rong said that ladies should be prioritized.¡± Then, he explained to her how to clean and prepare the root to be eaten. After that, he ran back and continued digging. One of the audience members who saw this scene commented: [Wow¡­ their conversation is really pure1pure as in ¡°purely platonic¡±¡­ But why is this Exoplanet Native still wearing a hat? I can¡¯t tell what he looks like.] Several other supervisors on the warship snuck a glance at Chu Rong when they saw this scene, wondering with a strange look, ¡®This evil god can say ¡°ladies first¡±? So strange¡­¡¯ Chu Rong, who was watched by them, frowned and stared at the live broadcast. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was obviously addicted to digging with his back facing the camera. He began to tap the armrest with his fingers irritably. ¡®There is nothing wrong with the whole ¡°ladies first¡±, but¡­ damn Bald Chicken!¡¯2clarification: he¡¯s jealous lol Long Baorou, who was sitting beside him, glanced at him sideways. She pursed her lips and showed an inconspicuous smile, and raised her hand to brush her hair. She somehow felt special; after all, she¡¯s the only lady in the supervisor group. Qiao Zhiya, who grew up in the forest, quickly found enough food for the four of them to temporarily fill their stomachs. Then their team moved on to find ingredients for lunch, and the four of them gradually became familiar with each other. Meanwhile, the situation of the other two teams was not so good. In the Xiang-Wei team, although Xiang Jing found some ingredients, they all fed to Xiang Kun and Wei Lan who were waiting for their elder to take care of them as if they were on an outing. Although they caught a small animal, it wasn¡¯t big enough to satiate all of them. The Ning family team started out smoothly, and soon found some edible wild fruits and traces of animal activities, but¡­ Ning Kongting was afraid of insects. Although she refrained from screaming when she saw the bugs, she still inevitably disrupted the team¡¯s advancing rhythm when she dodged. The team had to stop, drive away the camera equipment, and find a place to change her clothes. Among the three teams, the Ning family¡¯s team received the most attention. After all, the members were older, in good shape, and all very attractive. Xiang-Wei¡¯s team and Chu-You¡¯s team were a mixed bag of attractiveness, so relatively few people paid attention. An hour later, the three teams returned to their original spot. The Chu-You team had the most harvest and seemed the most relaxed. The Xiang-Wei team looked okay overall, but the food they brought back was a bit small. The Ning family team brought back a lot of food, but Ning Kongting looked a bit embarrassed ¨C her clothes were dirty and her hair was wet with sweat. Then the new question came, who will cook? Now that housekeeping robots have become very popular. There were very few people who could cook among the common people, let alone the young masters and ladies of these big families. ¡°I can do some basics,¡± It was Ning Kongran who spoke first, and then continued, ¡°But before cooking, we have to fix the problem of kitchen utensils.¡± Since they were placed on a primitive planet, of course there¡¯s no kitchen around. Everyone remembered to bring weapons, but no one remembered to bring kitchen utensils. ¡°Chu Yan, didn¡¯t you go out to practice during your vacation? Why don¡¯t you know how to cook?¡± Xiang Kun asked ¡°naively¡± with a ¡°curious¡± face, then looked at Qiao Zhiya, and continued asking, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, your clansmen can cook food without housekeeping robots, right?¡± This question sounded reasonable at first glance, just a very simple inquiry by a young man who doesn¡¯t know much about the life of the Exoplanet Natives. But combining the situation at this time and the grievances between the Xiang and Chu families, this clearly one of Xiang Kun¡¯s petty schemes ¨C he directly shoved this problem for Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya to solve. Chu Yan wanted to beat Xiang Kun to death again. ¡®Who the fuck go out practice with kitchen utensils, when there¡¯s perfectly serviceable nutrient solutions? This bitch Xiang Kun asked this because he wanted to use Qiao to serve as a cook for everyone, right? His mind is nasty!!¡¯ Qiao Zhiya patted Chu Yan to calm him down as he glanced at Xiang Kun. He swished out a large black stone from his storage ring and smashed it on the ground. Then he stood up, took out his hammer, looked at Xiang Kun in the eyes and replied, ¡°Thank you for being willing to call me my name, instead of continuing to call me ¡®that Native¡¯. Lunch and kitchen utensils are actually easy to solve, as long as you are resourceful.¡± After speaking, he lightly raised his hammer and tapped on the black stone. With a click, the tall black stone was directly split into two halves. Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± Supervisors from other families: ¡°¡­¡± Viewers watching the live broadcast: ¡°¡­¡± Xiang Kun stared blankly, screaming inside, ¡®Here we go again! This Native is really disgusting!!¡¯ The barrage and live comment section was silent for a while. Then after they digested on what actually happened, tons of exclamations and shouts of disbelief bursted out from all corners. This was the first small climax of the live broadcast. In the eyes of everyone, Qiao Zhiya was a monster who could shape the hard and tough black stone with a small hammer. While they¡¯re still in shell-shocked state, Qiao Zhiya nonchalantly sculpted the black stone into a pot and a flat surface. ¡°Although the black stone is hard, it conducts heat very well. This pot can be used to cook soup, and the table can be used as a cooking surface. However, there is no running water around here. Xiang Kun, you didn¡¯t find any food, so did you bring water?¡± After Qiao Zhiya finished all of this, he put away his hammer. His tone when asking Xiang Kun was also equally as ¡°naive¡± and full of ¡°curiosity¡±. Xiang Kun blushed when he was made to eat his own words. He held his breath and honestly shook his head. ¡® You can¡¯t swear, you can¡¯t swear¡­ Argh!! I didn¡¯t expect this Native who looked very easy to bully to be so bad! If only this wasn¡¯t a live broadcast!!¡¯ Seeing this, Chu Yan almost fell to the ground laughing. He deliberately raised his hand and replied, ¡°I brought water. Although the practice experience didn¡¯t teach me to cook, it taught me the importance of water.¡± ¡°I also brought some,¡± Ning Kongran smiled and spoke, as if he was simply answering the question. You Xia also opened his mouth at the right time and said that he also brought a little water, but not much. Wei Yu was silent, with a grim expression ¡ª this was not the scene of the event he had envisioned. What he was looking forward to was fighting monsters on the primitive planet, not getting a headache for food and water. After the kitchen utensils and water were settled, Qiao Zhiya asked again, ¡°Who will handle the ingredients?¡± He pointed to the food that everyone found, and focused on the small animals. ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Wei Yu came back to his senses, and spoke first, saving some face for not bringing water. Xiang Jing followed suit, saying that she could help wash wild fruits and vegetables. Ning Kongting was silent for a while, and also said that she could help. You Yuanyuan also followed suit and raised her hand to signal that she wanted to help. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go and pick up some firewood as a firestarter,¡± Ning Konghua glanced at them and took the initiative to find something for himself to do. Everyone showed astonishing efficiency in the division of labor. After a while, they dispersed to do their respective jobs, tacitly stabilizing the unity of each family. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 46.3 Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Chairman Ning aka Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Ning Kongran¡¯s father. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. Ning Konghua: Ning Kongran¡¯s male cousin. 21 years old. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. Probably 23 years old. Correction: he isn¡¯t one of the supervisor. He¡¯s just mentioned. You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. The audience watched them eat wild vegetables and fruits and kill strange animals. It made them feel that the ordinary lunch at their hand became a top-rated delicacy in comparison. At the same time, they couldn¡¯t help but sigh again for the stability and reliability of the big family¡¯s children. The supervisors on the warship were quite satisfied with the performance of the juniors, and their expressions were relaxed. After all, the juniors passed the first level of the experience activity smoothly. While cooking, Chu Yan lit the fire with the attack skills of his mecha model, making the audience watching the live broadcast praise him for his wit. When it was ready, Qiao Zhiya was in charge of cooking the soup and providing the seasonings; Ning Kongran was in charge of the barbecue; Wei Yu, You Xia, and older boys were in charge of patrolling around the periphery; and the rest were cleaning and disinfecting the pots made of trees. After lunch, the people did not separate into teams, but set out together to find water sources and a place to rest for the night ¡ª obviously, the water they brought alone would definitely not last for seven days. While looking for water sources, Xiang Kun made another mistake. He confidently analyzed and pointed out where the water sources might exist through the experience accumulated by the Xiang family in searching for materials for so many years. Then he deliberately asked Qiao Zhiya for his opinions. Qiao Zhiya glanced at him, shook his head, pointed in a direction completely opposite to what he said. ¡°Water source is over there.¡± Xiang Kun stared at him. ¡°What evidence do you have?¡± ¡°Water vapor,¡± Qiao Zhiya pointed to his nose and replied bluntly, ¡°I can smell it.¡± ¡°You can smell¡ª¡± Xiang Kun choked again, not knowing how to refute his answer. The audience watching the live broadcast couldn¡¯t help laughing ¡ª it¡¯s really fun to see these teenagers get along with each other. With two polar opposite directions pointed out, they fell into a discussion. In the end, everyone agreed to see both. First, they would go in the direction Xiang Kun pointed to. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t say anything. He simply followed them in the direction pointed by Xiang Kun. An hour later, the speed of the team slowed down. Ning Kongran glanced at Xiang Kun, whose expression was becoming more and more uncertain, and asked Qiao Zhiya, ¡°Can you still smell the water vapor?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, turned around and walked in another direction, pointing out: ¡°It¡¯s over there. The stream should be flowing diagonally from our perspective. The distance is about half an hour walking time from here.¡± Chu Yan followed him first, followed by Ning Kongran, and finally, the rest. Some of them were quite disbelieved by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s deduction, and it showed in their frowning faces. Xiang Kun muttered a few words in dissatisfaction, and then pretended to be depressed and lowered his head when he remembered that it was broadcasted live. Half an hour later, a stream appeared in front of everyone. The audience: [Wow.] Xiang Kun: ¡®What kind of nose does this Native have! He actually smelled it?¡¯ The atmosphere became a little awkward, but the water source was finally found, and everyone no longer had to worry about the lack of water. The next problem to be solved is how to sleep at night. ¡°Qiao Zhiya, what¡¯s your idea?¡± Ning Kongran asked first, as if he had just gotten acquainted with him. Although Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t understand the reason why the older man pretended not to know him, he cooperated with this notion. He pointed to the tall trees by the stream, and replied, ¡°Sleep there at night.¡± Everyone looked over, confused. ¡®Where to sleep? There are just trees over there.¡¯ Obviously, the audience also has this doubt, and the barrage area was full of question marks. The experienced supervisors quickly understood Qiao Zhiya¡¯s intentions. Chu Rong nodded with obvious satisfaction ¡ª in the wild, using the tree as a camping spot is indeed a good choice. Not only can it be a protection from wild animals prowling on the ground, but it also makes a good vantage point to see a broader view. Only Xiang Lingyun and Xiang Hui had ugly expressions. They were dissatisfied by their Xiang family being slapped in the face twice a row just now. The witty and hard-working dwarf boy once again showed his outstanding ability to survive in the forest. He went around the forest with a hammer, and soon dragged back a lot of tree branches. Then, he nimbly climbed to a thick and sturdy tree branch. On the tree, he used his cuttings of branches to skillfully build a simple tree house. ¡°It¡¯s so cool!¡± Chu Yan cheered, and said loudly, ¡°Qiao, I¡¯ll help you!¡± After speaking, he picked up a branch and began to climb the tree. Xiang Kun said, full of doubt, ¡°Is this tree house strong? Will it break down in the middle of the night and throw us down?¡± In the absence of a tent, someone who could set up a house and came out, which seemed to be the best situation. Xiang Jing patted Xiang Kun on the shoulder to remind him to stop talking, and also stepped forward to help. Wei Yu took Wei Lan to greet everyone, and went to the forest to find ingredients for dinner, obviously not interested in building a house. The few remaining people looked at each other for a few seconds, and were busy with their own division of labor, be it helping out, or looking for ingredients. With the cooperation of everyone, the construction speed of the tree house became faster. When the sun was about to set, the three tree houses had already taken shape. Qiao Zhiya took out the insect repellent plant he found in the afternoon and lit it in her hand. He went around the houses so the smoke would permeate around. Then he took out the quilt from the storage ring and spread it inside, and cleaned up the house. Looking at it like this, the audience has been completely captured by his thoughtfulness and ability. There were more people complaining about the hat blocking his face. If anything, they shifted to scolding the cameras for being too stupid and only knowing to fly above their heads. Dinner was soup and barbecue as usual. After the sky completely darkened, Qiao Zhiya dug a bathtub out of a super large black stone, covered it with sheets and other things, and made a simple bathroom for the girls. He also thoughtfully padded a space with stones under the black stone barrel, so that the girls could put firewood to boil water in advance and take a hot bath. The audience shouted that they couldn¡¯t stand it, and shouted that they wanted to marry such a heart-warming good boy. Of course, such comments only pissed off Chu Rong. The boys were fine with not using the bathroom. They took a dip in the stream to wash instead. In the evening, the older boys shared the work of the night watch. Unconvinced, 19-year-old Wei Yu forced himself into the night watch team, and was dubbed ¡°Brother Hardcore¡± by the audience. It was completely dark, the live broadcast screen also went dark, decreasing the number of viewers as they lost interest. Everyone had a very good impression of the first day¡¯s live broadcast, and most of the comments were positive. The supervisors also left late at night. They ordered a couple of officers to watch the live broadcast in case there¡¯s an accident happening in the middle of the night. Out of all the supervisors, only Chu Rong remained in the live broadcast room, resting his chin on his hands and watching the No. 9 screen. The youth inside the screen was helping everyone with their sleeping arrangement. Then, after he finished, he asked Chu Yan to help guard him while he took a bath in the dark. Seeing this happening, Chu Rong¡¯s eyes softened. The Marshal remembered that he asked Qiao Zhiya to not let others touch his ears. As a result, this Bald Chicken, which was surprisingly obedient this time, actually wore a hat the whole time to cover his ears. ¡®Stupid.¡¯ He tapped the armrest of the chair with his other finger, and his posture relaxed. The next day, everyone didn¡¯t move from their resting spot and were still active by the stream. Xiang Kun tried to order Qiao Zhiya again, but was stopped back by Chu Yan with witty words. This almost lit a fire of war between this pair of bitter nemesis. Everyone has basically adapted to life in the forest, and has confirmed that there was no danger around them. Gradually, they let go of their worry. They started to play around in the forest freely ¡ª that is, to show off their respective talents. Chu Yan was disgusted by their bragging and taking the opportunity to show off, so he simply dragged Qiao Zhiya away from them. He chose to explore the woods with Qiao Zhiya, trying to find something useful to prepare for tomorrow¡¯s mission. At ten o¡¯clock in the morning on the third day, the highlight of the live broadcast finally arrived ¨C their mission was about to be released. On various forums, the viewers who have already gotten acquainted with this group of proud sons of heaven have found their favorites. They started to cheer wildly to show their support. ¡°Your mission this time is to search for treasures and climb to the top of civilization. At the end of the event, the family with the most treasures will receive a mysterious gift, and the family with the least treasures will be punished.¡± At exactly ten o¡¯clock, Long Baorou¡¯s hologram was projected from a hovering device. The second her voice fell, a large crack suddenly appeared on the blue sky. It slowly began to spread and peeled off, revealing the real sky outside ¡ª in the vast sky, there were several huge birds that were circling and flying in the sky. ¡°The treasure map, your previously confiscated mechas and various supplies are on these birds. Go and catch them. Come on, the people of the Federation are looking forward to your performance,¡± Long Baorou encouraged them, and then communications were cut off. The audience: [Damn! This play is exciting!] As for the juniors, they were shocked stupid. Xiang Kun finally couldn¡¯t pretend to be reserved and noble, and asked in a surprised voice, ¡°Our things are all on the bird? Could it be that my precious materials are also¡­ No! Who came up with this bad idea!¡± The audience watching could swipe on their screen to see around the juniors. With one glance, they understood the absolute shock the juniors felt. Their objectives and supplies were tied to the birds? How the hell are they going to catch it without mechas? Ning Kongran was the first to come back to his senses, and said with a frown, ¡°Maybe we can use food to trap them.¡± ¡°When I was wandering in the forest before, I found some traces of birds moving. If food traps are not enough, we can still find their nests,¡± You Xia added. ¡°Or we can provoke them, lure them down and kill them,¡± Wei Yu looked up at the ugly giant birds in the sky, and his wild instinct that had been suppressed for two days began to emerge. His eyes were full of fighting spirit. Chu Yan was also very excited, and had already started to rummage through the weapons he carried with him, trying to find something to get those ¡°big money¡± birds down. The audience once again lamented: As expected of a child raised by a big family, their adaptability is really great. If they were faced with this situation, they would definitely not be able to come up with a solution so quickly! Just as everyone was trying to find a way and was distressed, Qiao Zhiya, who had been silent all this time, suddenly took off the crossbow from his waist, removed the arrows inside, and took out a few deep purple gemstones from his storage ring. He put them on his arrow, raised his arm, then shot at a giant bird with a neat movement. ¡°Whoosh¡ª¡± The arrow cut through the air, and flew towards the giant bird in midair with a speed and strength that didn¡¯t match Qiao Zhiya¡¯s delicate appearance. Xiang Kun turned his head when he heard this voice. He glanced at the toy-like miniature crossbow in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, curled his lips, and said, ¡°What¡¯s the use of your toy, the real battle is not something you can do with such a backward thing in your ha¡ª ¡± A piercing hissing of a bird interrupted his words. One of the giant birds hovering in the sky seemed to be attacked by something, suddenly raised its neck in pain and let out a painful cry. Its wings then limply fell as its body plummeted towards the ground. ¡°¡ªnd¡­ Oh my god, what¡¯s going on? What are your arrows made of? It¡¯s weird!¡± Xiang Kun couldn¡¯t help exclaiming, seeing glowing tips of the arrows. The audience who saw this scene were also a little confused. First, they were full of question marks, then they were silent for a few seconds, and then finally roared excitedly: [Is this all right? That toy-like weapon actually killed the bird in one shot? How did he do it? This Native is domineering!] The supervisors also had different expressions, and then they all looked at Chu Rong. Chu Rong raised his eyelids calmly, looked at Qiao Zhiya whose face was half covered by a hat on screen No. 9, and said in a nonchalant manner, ¡°His aim is good. It¡¯s also decisive enough.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Bah! You are the one who only praises your own junior! You become more and more shameless! ¡°Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh¡ª¡ª¡± Several arrows flew out one after another. It hit one bird at a time, wiping out all the birds one after another. Qiao Zhiya put away his crossbow, glanced at the crowd, and said, ¡°Go get the bird! This is the last thing I can do to help you.¡± After speaking, he patted Chu Yan and walked towards the place where the birds fell. Everyone woke up from their trance, and belatedly remembered that everyone is now in a competitive relationship. They hurriedly rushed towards the place where the birds fell. T/N: CR to QZY: Stupid (affectionate). CH 47.1 A total of five birds were shot down, each came with a space button and a treasure map. Qiao Zhiya was the first to reach the place where the birds fell by virtue of his flexible posture and explosive speed, and piled up their bodies first. Together with Chu Yan, they took off the arrows made of secondary mutated red tin ore, wiped them clean and put them away. Then they found the space button and corresponding treasure map that belonged to Chu Yan and put them away. They did not touch other things. When the audience saw this, they praised the juniors¡¯ sportsmanship quality: [This Native is really considerate, polite, sensible, gentlemanly, powerful, and kind. Although he looks small, he is more powerful than the older juniors. He is determined to act, speaks very little, but every sentence is useful and hits the point. His common language is standard, and his voice is also nice. His attitude towards his peers is calm and natural, neither humble nor overbearing, completely obliterating the stereotypes of ¡°Stupid¡± and ¡°Rustic¡± Natives!] [God, how could there be such a heart-warming young man in this world! Compared with the children of other big families, he is like a breath of fresh air!] The audience continued to express their appreciation in droves: [Qiao Zhiya¡¯s speed is too fast! Faster than what was shown in the previous two days! Go up the tree and swing with the vines, and then rise and fall between the branches. God, he¡¯s like an action movie main lead!] The proud sons of heaven were in a delicate mood: ¡®So this Native has hidden his strength in front of them since two days ago?¡¯ ¡®No, it can¡¯t be said to be hiding his strength. It¡¯s more likely he¡¯s just cooperating by adjusting himself with our slow pace¡­¡¯ ¡­This train of thought seemed to be the correct one, but it¡¯s also the more uncomfortable one. Among the group of people running wildly, Xiang Kun ran the hardest. Now his mind is full of the flashing purple arrow, and his curiosity explodes. First came Chu Yan¡¯s energy blade, then the arrows used by this Native ¨C the Chu family really came up with something good again! He must figure it out! It¡¯s a pity that the trust isn¡¯t as sweet as his imagination. Xiang Kun was studying to become a mecha manufacturer. His physique wasn¡¯t in top-shape, so he couldn¡¯t catch up with Qiao Zhiya. Well, it¡¯s not completely his fault. Even the older mecha pilots also couldn¡¯t catch up with the blond¡¯s speed. Then Xiang Kun arrived panting, You Xia, Wei Yu, Chu Yan, and even Ning Kongran, who was a mecha manufacturing major, had already arrived! Everyone stood beside the giant birds¡¯ pile of corpse, looking at the other four space buttons and treasure maps that had not been touched at first glance, all with complicated expressions. The help they received in the past two days made them understand that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gentlemanly behavior at this time was not because of the live broadcast, but because he really just wanted to compete fairly with everyone. This poked their conscience, because they knew if they somehow managed to pull ahead, they would sabotage the others competitors. Although definitely not in a visible way, as they still needed to maintain their image for the public. At most, they would cause an ¡°accident¡± that would lead up to the treasure map being dirtied, the space buttons being damaged, or if they were feeling more ruthless, maybe have them destroyed. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ning Kongran stepped forward to take down the space button and treasure map that belonged to the Ning family, and flipped through it. He took out the snacks he had saved, handed them all to Qiao Zhiya, and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s all because of your hard work.¡± Qiao Zhiya just handed over the space button and the treasure map to Chu Yan, and when he heard Ning Kongran¡¯s words of gratitude, he turned to look at him. His ears twitched, while his lips pursed into a smile. He took the snack, and after thinking for a while, took out a potion. He gave it to Ning Kongran while saying, ¡°Here, this is the antidote I made myself, you may be able to use it.¡± Ning Kongran didn¡¯t expect to get a gift in return. After receiving the potion, he asked, ¡°Do you know how to make medicine?¡± Somehow, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind wandered to Chu Rong ¡ª the Marshal was the only other person who he had given potions as a gift. And that person should be watching the live broadcast now. Thinking of this, his face became redder, his ears trembled guiltily, and he couldn¡¯t help but look up at the camera equipment above his head. The audience: [Huh? Ah? AH!!!!] The melon-eating audience who happened to see this scene were all stunned. Fuck! This Native looks so good! He has a small, cute face; with big, doe-like eyes, emerald green pupils, curly and thick eyelashes, a straight and small nose,a fair and flushed face¡­ Although a fair portion of his head was blocked by a hat, the audience could see a hint of wavy blond hair peeking through. So Exoplanet Natives look like this? They probably had a little misunderstanding of the Natives before! In this society filled with face-cons, one truth stood tall: Good-looking people are highly favored. The live broadcast screen began to be filled with praises again, especially on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s exclusive No. 9 screen. The comments were scrolling one after another, covering the screen. If it weren¡¯t for the power of Starnet¡¯s almighty supercomputer server, maybe the screen would be frozen. The supervisors of several other families couldn¡¯t help but look at Chu Rong again, with different expressions: ¡®This Native actually knows how to make medicines, and no one has found out about this before. Plus, that crossbow¡­¡¯ Ning Tianya, the head of the Ning family who specializes in pharmacy, couldn¡¯t sit still, and asked casually, ¡°That child can make medicines?¡± Glancing at him sideways, Chu Rong replied, ¡°Basic potions can be made by people without spiritual strength.¡± An answer that was not an answer at all, and his attitude was very bad. But Ning Tianya was relieved when he heard this confirmation. He smiled at Chu Rong, and turned to comfort him, ¡°Although there is only one Chu Yan in your family, the Native boy can make medicines. The two of them are not particularly disadvantaged, Marshal. You can relax.¡± This was a mistake of his to think that Chu Rong¡¯s bad attitude was due to the mission. ¡°Yeah, in terms of disadvantages, my family is the worst. Xiao Lan is only fourteen years old, and he can¡¯t help with anything. I¡¯m afraid the treasure hunt will be suspended,¡± Wei Xiongchang sighed with a sad face, as if his family was already in the last place. Xiang Lingyun also opened his mouth to sell his misery: ¡°My family is also the same. Xiao Jing and Xiao Kun are both mecha manufacturing majors. None of them can pilot mechas. It¡¯s difficult.¡± It seems that only the Ning family has an advantage, especially in terms of age. However, Ning Tianya also shook his head and said, ¡°Although Kongran is a mecha manufacturing major, both Konghua and Kongting have learned pharmacy. There are no mecha pilots, and the three of them are not good in the wild. Plus, Kongting is such a frail girl, I¡¯m worried if she ever encounter a danger.¡± Long Baorou, who hadn¡¯t made a statement, suddenly smiled, and said, ¡°My two cousins ??are also in the same area, and Yuanyuan is at the same situation as Kongting. But everyone, don¡¯t worry, when I announced the mission, I didn¡¯t say that team formation is not allowed. It¡¯s up to them to choose, and they still have a chance to ask us for help.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Everyone echoed, and the atmosphere became a little more cheerful. Chu Rong watched them perform with cold eyes. He tapped his fingers to the armrest of the chair. ¡®Team up? In this case, he would rather Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya act alone rather than teaming up with others. What they get may not be help, but sabotage instead.¡¯ While Ning Kongran and Qiao Zhiya were talking, the others rushed to the giant bird one after another. With Ning Kongran taking the lead, Xiang Jing, Wei Yu and You Xia also give some things to Qiao Zhiya respectively, thanking him for his help in the past two days and shooting down the bird. Qiao Zhiya accepted all of them and returned them with gifts. But he only gave them some homemade gadgets that might be useful in the forest, and no more potions were given. Xiang Kun pretended to be curious and walked around the giant birds a few times. Seeing that their wounds all had traces of arrows taken, he stared angrily. But he remembered he couldn¡¯t look savage in front of the camera, so he simply hid behind Xiang Jing to sulk. The materials were obtained, and they just needed to form a team. In fact, it was okay not to form a team, but it was obvious that some family groups were not suitable for acting alone, and forming a team was the best choice. Everyone understood this truth, and somewhat guessed the intention of their supervisors in such an arrangement. After looking at each other for a few seconds, Wei Yu directly took Wei Lan to stand next to Xiang Jing, and said, ¡°Wei Lan is too young, and I will go with Miss Xiang Jing. It¡¯s good to have someone to care for him.¡± This reason was logical, and everyone nodded in understanding. Ning Kongran glanced at the direction of Qiao Zhiya, wanting to go there, but was blocked by Ning Konghua indiscriminately. You Xia, who had already been instructed by Long Baorou, also took a look at Chu Yan and Chu Yan, who didn¡¯t seem to care whether anyone was teaming up with them. He lowered his eyes and hesitated for a while, and still grabbed You Yuanyuan who wanted to lean closer to Qiao Zhiya. Despite his cousin¡¯s hint, his conscience actually prevented him from acting fast. He felt guilty for plotting against such a good person. ¡°It¡¯s enough for Qiao Zhiya and I to be in a single team. He and I know how to pilot a mecha and make medicines. We balanced each other¡¯s skillset. As for Ning Kongran¡¯s team, you don¡¯t have any mecha pilots, while You Xia is an excellent pilot. So I think it¡¯s logical for you to team up. Plus, both of you have girls in your family, and it¡¯s more convenient for them to be in close distance to be each other¡¯s companions,¡± Chu Yan cut off their thoughts by his logical reasoning. With his handsome dandy looks ¨C as if he¡¯s a willful young master who doesn¡¯t know the way of this world ¨C he arrogantly turned around and took Qiao Zhiya away directly. He and Qiao Zhiya walked too fast, and by the time everyone digested what he said, they had already disappeared. Ning Kongran lowered his gaze, tightened the hand holding the potion, took a step back, and no longer took the initiative to stand out. He gave way to Ning Konghua who was standing in front of him ¡ª since someone wanted to take the lead, then just let him take it. ¡°That¡¯s how it is,¡± Ning Kongting was very satisfied with the result, and took the initiative to greet the You family, ¡°Come here, Yuanyuan, let¡¯s go together. In the next five days, everyone has to work hard.¡± You Yuanyuan hesitated, and turned her head to take a look at her brother. You Xia stroked her hair, paused for a few seconds, and nodded lightly ¡ª as long as he wasn¡¯t on the same team as Chu Yan, other team formation methods didn¡¯t matter to him. The situation of the team was settled like this, and the expressions of the supervisors in the live broadcast room began to be twisted again. The Xiang-Wei¡¯s family got along, so their alliance had already been guessed. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, the You family actually formed a team with the Ning family, and the two seventeen-year-old children of the Chu family were left alone. Long Baorou put down her teacup, and her gaze dropped a few degrees. According to her original plan, You Xia should take the initiative to stand up and ask to team up with Chu Yan, leaving the three Ning family members alone. Then, You Xia would wait for the opportunity to get closer to Chu Yan and sabotage him. She hinted at You Xia, and You Xia vaguely agreed, but he actually failed to do the first step! Ning Tianya also frowned, obviously very dissatisfied with this team formation. The Ning family has always been neutral, and this time they specially sent three children to participate in the event, just to prevent such a situation where they had to cooperate with other families. But in the end they ended up getting involved with other families, and it was with the one he wanted to avoid the most ¨C the President¡¯s faction. His family had a daughter who was married to the Empire. Plus, their relationship with the Presidential Palace was already delicate and awkward, so it was really not wise to form a team together now. The most absurd thing is that this team arrangement was made by Chu Yan, who¡¯s just a child. If the juniors didn¡¯t respond, it would be fine. But Ning Kongting actually agreed, and even took the initiative to call You Yuanyuan over to finalize the team directly. He couldn¡¯t believe that Ning Kongting, who usually looked clever, would actually be so stupid! ¡°This is a strong alliance. It seems that the Ning family and His Excellency the President will come out on top this time,¡± Wei Xiongchang, who was satisfied with the current alliances, couldn¡¯t help but smile. He praised his opponent while faking his sadness, ¡°Ah, but such a pity with that child Chu Yan. I estimate that he will ask for the supervisors¡¯ help in a short while. However, the current situation is not suitable for Marshal Chu to use his spiritual power. It¡¯s best to let the people below prepare first, so as not to be too late when providing aid.¡± Everyone came back to their senses and looked at Chu Rong again, all kinds of complicated thoughts gradually settled down. ¡ªThat¡¯s right, no matter what they do, the Chu family is really hanging on. Maybe they will be the first to forfeit from the game. ¡°No need,¡± Chu Rong waved his hand and said, ¡°If they really ask for help, I¡¯ll go in person.¡± The room was silent again. They didn¡¯t believe what Chu Rong had said. But then, they snapped out of their confusion, and began to do what they excelled at ¨C pointed barbs inside honeyed words. Wei Xiongchang and Xiang Lingyun looked at each other, with a hint of joy in their eyes. They half-heartedly lamented at Chu Rong¡¯s subpar conditions. Ning Tianya persuaded Chu Rong to pay attention to his body, while Long Baorou frowned and said nothing. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 47.2 Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Chairman Ning aka Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Ning Kongran¡¯s father. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. Probably 23 years old. Correction: he isn¡¯t one of the supervisor. He¡¯s just mentioned. You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. You Yuanyuan: You Xia¡¯s younger sister. Chu Yan, who was splitting off from the rest, was ecstatically happy while the superiors were fighting each other. He dragged Qiao Zhiya to a relatively flat and open place. He looked back, saw that there were no other people in sight, stopped and put his arm on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder. He directly lifted his hat, began to blame others mercilessly, saying, ¡°Why are you wearing a hat all the time? Isn¡¯t it too hot? Well,it¡¯s just the two of us now, they won¡¯t laugh at your ears. Let¡¯s go treasure hunting now.¡± Qiao Zhiya was caught off-guard by Chu Yan taking off his hat. His ears subconsciously trembled, while he tidied up his messed-up hair. With a smile, he said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s go treasure hunting.¡± In fact, the past two days have not been easy for him. Now, finally only he and Chu Yan were alone, he could have fun in the forest without any scruples. The viewers who were arguing about the team formation result all fell silent when they saw this scene, and then¡­ Audience: ¡­ Audience: ? Audiences: !!! [Can anyone tell me what that pointy thing is? What is it?] [Why did no one say that this Native boy¡¯s ears are like this before! It¡¯s this, this, this¡­ looks like this! And his platinum-blond hair that seemed to be glowing in the sun! Oh my God! Do all Natives look like this? Are they all so illogically beautiful yet low-key?] The supervisors: ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Damn Chu Yan, he took advantage of everyone¡¯s departure, and blamed others for discriminating against the special appearance of the Native! So bad!¡¯ Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s liberated ears, then glanced at the audience¡¯s comments that exploded like a blowout. He frowned, and began to knock on the armrest of the chair again. ¡®Tch. It¡¯s better to be hidden by a hat.¡¯ After freeing his ears, Qiao Zhiya took out water and washed his hair casually ¡ª he had been running around wearing a hat, and he was sweating a lot. After his hair got wet, his ears became more obvious. The audience stared at the Exoplanet Native boy who was squatting in the forest with wet hair. He was drinking water with his head up, while the tail of his eyes were a bit red. [This face looks even better up close! Especially those emerald green pupils, his fluttering eyelashes¡­ the trembling makes people¡¯s hearts melt! And that skin ¨C so white, tender and delicate! I¡¯m so jealous!] [It¡¯s too foul, this look is really too foul!] Chu Yan waited for him to finish drinking water. He took out a towel and threw it over, looked through the supplies except the mecha, frowned and said, ¡°Why did they give this thing, I thought they would give us enough nutrient solutions for five days.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll find something to eat for you,¡± Qiao Zhiya put away the kettle and ran over with a towel. He picked up the treasure map, looked at it, and asked, ¡°I understand the concept of treasure hunting. But what does it mean to climb the ¡®peak of civilization¡¯ mentioned in the mission?¡± When reminded by him, Chu Yan also remembered this. He took the treasure map and turned it over, found a line of words in the corner, and read it out loud: ¡°This treasure map is not complete, please find the clues by yourself. ¡° ¡°¡­¡± Isn¡¯t this nonsense? ¡°I bet this task must be done by the Xiang family! That family has a lot of twists and turns!¡± Chu Yan didn¡¯t care whether he was broadcasting live or not, he didn¡¯t hide his dislike for the Xiang family at all. He put down the treasure map with a frown and continued, ¡°So this map is incomplete, specifically around the valley area. The mission itself is so vague, what should we do next? Just follow the treasure map to find the treasure?¡± Qiao Zhiya leaned over to look at the treasure map carefully, and started to speculate, ¡°Climbing to the peak of civilization¡­ Before we set off, they said that this is a valley. Does this mean that we should go to a high place? On top of a mountain? The peak of civilization¡­ Since it is a civilization, could it be a place for more supplies? Maybe even¡­ the detailed and completed map?¡± The more he speculated, the faster he spoke. He looked at Chu Yan with wide eyes, full of expectation, begging for approval. The audience was itching and howling desperately, this shit made it difficult for people to watch the live broadcast! He was too cute! The supervisors, especially Xiang Lingyun, almost died of shock after hearing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s guess. Basically, his guess was spot-on. It¡¯s so irritating! The juniors of their families were still discussing having lunch after forming a team, planning to discuss the treasure map during lunch; but the two juniors of the Chu family had already analyzed the mission intention first, so smart that it made people itch! Chu Rong endured their envious and jealous eyes, but he was not happy at all. He just stared coldly at the piles of begging comments on the No. 9 screen, his eyes even deepening. After hearing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s guess, Chu Yan thought about it. He hurriedly got together with him to study the treasure map carefully, and finally found a climbing road hidden among the many lines on the treasure map. ¡°To the west, it¡¯s a bit far from our current location.¡± Qiao Zhiya nimbly climbed up the tree, took advantage of the dwarf¡¯s eyesight to find an obvious landmark, and figured out the general direction of the route. He then picked a fruit from the branch, jumped off the tree and threw it to Chu Yan, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s have lunch first before going.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take you flying with my mecha!¡± Chu Yan caught the fruit, wiped it on his body casually, took a bite, and took a nutritional supplement. The decision of the two was crisp and neat. Compared with the dull atmosphere where the other two groups were still eating and arguing about the meaning of the treasure map, they looked relaxed, as if this was just a casual picnic. Naturally, the audiences¡¯ interest was on them. After the results of the previous groupings came out, many viewers worried that Qiao Zhiya would hold them back, causing the two-person team to be eliminated early. Now, seeing the situation, they immediately changed their thoughts. They praised the two juniors for their smartness and perfect cooperation. They were the best partners. This praises, of course, suffocated the supervisors group sans Chu Rong. After a simple lunch, Chu Yan took out his mecha and was about to set off, only to discover another ¡°hidden surprise¡±. ¡°They only left half of the energy in the mecha! Fuck, this is only enough for 4 hours of flight,¡± Chu Yan leaned out of the cockpit, roared angrily, and once again maliciously guessed that this bad idea must have been thought up by the Xiang family. Qiao Zhiya, who was standing below, frowned at that. He raised his head and replied, ¡°Then you put away the mecha, and we will walk to get there. We will stay here for five days. Before we get the supplies, we need to save some energy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the only way,¡± Chu Yan responded, retreated back and turned off the mecha. He then jumped out of the cockpit to put it away, waved and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Work hard for the treasure hunt!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, and the two looked at each other, before running into the forest in perfect sync. Qiao Zhiya has the racial buff and home court advantage, while Chu Yan has the accumulation of blood and tears of Chu Rong¡¯s training sessions. When they ran at full speed together, the camera equipment almost didn¡¯t react and lost them. After catching up, it could only record the rapidly receding forest scene, like a blur of green speed lines. The audience expressed that their eyes were going to be blinded with green. [These two are fucking amazing. Not only they¡¯re smart, their physiques are also top-notch!!] On the other two sides, Xiang Jing took the lead in carefully discovering the hidden meaning of the mission. According to the map put together by the two families, she chose a shorter south mountain climbing route among the two mountain climbing routes. Ning Konghua also discovered the mystery of the mission under the ¡°accidental¡± reminder of Ning Kongran. After combining the map with You Xia, he chose a mountain climbing route in the north. When the two teams were finally about to set off, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan had efficiently reached the foot of the northern mountain, and they were going to climb the mountain after a short rest. The atmosphere in the live broadcast room was a bit dull, and the expressions of the other supervisors were not good-looking. The performance of Chu Yan¡¯s two-person team was so impressive that it completely surpassed the other two teams. But it doesn¡¯t matter, those seemingly fair treasure maps and routes actually hide some intrigues. Thinking of this, they took a look at Chu Yan, who had always been indifferent, and felt relieved. So what if they were ahead temporarily? The treasure hunt was the most important part. The other two teams have two climbing routes and could get two supplies. The Chu family only had one, so they wouldn¡¯t have an advantage in resources. Thinking of this, Wei Xiongchang looked at Long Baorou, who had been silent all along, with meaningful eyes ¨C this little girl of the President¡¯s family also had her own thoughts. The treasure map in You Xia¡¯s hand points to the east. If You Xia and Chu Yan form a team, one of them would be in the east and the other in the west. The distance was too far and it would be too troublesome to go back and forth. Simply put, despite being in a team, they still would be separated. Long Baorou¡¯s attitude towards the Chu family has always been very strange; she looked like she¡¯s biased towards Chu Rong, yet also seemed to be very afraid of him. This made people uncertain. But now, it seems that Long Baorou¡¯s attitude was more inclined to be afraid of Chu Rong. The climbing route arrangement was the best proof. Long Baorou pretended not to return Wei Xiongchang¡¯s gaze. She lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea, glanced at Chu Rong beside her from the corner of her eye, and her lips curled into a smile. CH 47.3 The climbing route had obviously been cleared in advance. Although there were one or two beasts that came out to attack on the road, Qiao Zhiya, who had already noticed their movement, took them down with one arrow as soon as they appeared. Those attacking beasts soon became a part of their food reserve. The audience was fascinated by his neat figure, which was perfectly hidden among the trees and quickly shot. During this period, Chu Yan also showed a strong ability to cooperate. He might not have a combat ability equaling Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, but his strength was impressive enough. The other two teams were in a more embarrassing situation. Because they had to protect a young boy and non-combatant girls, they had to resort to using mechas to defeat the beasts. Although they looked very powerful, they felt like treating a small problem into a big one. At dinner time, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya arrived at their supply point first. They finally found the supply box inside after breaking open a big rock. The audience scolded the person hiding things for being cunning and bullying these juniors. After the two found something, they ate and rested in place, and did not continue to act in the dark. There was a simple tent in the supply box, so they didn¡¯t build a treehouse, and instead opted to sleep soundly inside it. The other two teams arrived at the supply point after it was completely dark. There were two tents in the supply box of the Ning family, and two tents in the Xiang family. It seemed that they were specially prepared for the convenience for the girls to rest alone, which was considerate enough. After discussion, the two teams decided to take the second supply box the next day, and go hunting for treasure after making all the preparations. Another night passed. Going to bed early and getting up early, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan got up alongside the dawn. After a quick wash, they got together to study the complete topographic map and treasure clues in the supply box. A treasure map only points to one treasure, and if they want more treasures, they need to analyze the map to find out. The information in the supply box showed that there were a total of fifteen treasures hidden in the surrounding forest. After the five ones that were pointed by the map, that meant there¡¯s ten hidden treasures. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the treasures they hide are, but hopefully it won¡¯t be anything worthless, or it will be too disappointing,¡± Chu Yan said without any filter in the live broadcast, and then handed the topographic map and the treasure map to Qiao Zhiya, saying, ¡°You decide: should we go for the pointed one or the hidden ones first?¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced back and forth at the map and the treasure map, and recalled the route they took, which was beyond the expectations of the audience and parents. He looked at the topographic map, pointed to one of the places where the water pool was drawn, and said, ¡°There must be something good here.¡± The supervisors looked at the place he pointed, and promptly chuckled while shaking their heads. They were sighing at Qiao Zhiya, who is so ¡°self-willed¡± despite no hidden treasures located there. Chu Rong¡¯s pupils shook, and his movement of knocking on the armrest slowed down. Chu Yan had no objection to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s decision, and followed him trustingly towards the pool. It was another round of galloping in the woods. At noon, the two arrived near the water pool. They found an open space to settle their lunch. Then, Qiao Zhiya plunged into the water pool. After a while, he swam up with a piece of beautiful, dark blue sapphire on his hand. He happily said, ¡°Look! I said there is something good! But there is a little snake protecting it underneath, and I had to beat it to death. Here you go!¡± After speaking, he threw the sapphire ashore. As he climbed back up, he also carried up an ugly big snake ¨C it was as thick as his own waist. Chu Yan was stunned, and ran to him to look at the limp snake, his eyes were blown-out wide, ¡°How did you kill it? I didn¡¯t even notice any movement in the water!¡± ¡°I walked around behind it and hit it with a hammer, it was too rough,¡± Qiao Zhiya climbed ashore, shook his head to help drying off his hair. He picked up the sapphire and said happily, ¡°There are still several pieces of these at the bottom, too! This must be the treasure!!¡± Chu Yan looked at the ugly and ferocious ¡°little snake¡±. It was covered with hard scales all around its body. After a long silence, he reached out and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder, boasting, ¡°You are so amazing. Look at the quality of this sapphire, this must be a treasure, unlike those I found in the Xiang¡¯s family¡¯s office.¡± The audience: ¡°¡­¡± The supervisors: ¡°¡­¡± Xiang Lingyun turned his head to look at Chu Rong, almost couldn¡¯t hold back his anger, and said: ¡°Marshal, is this reflecting the quality of the teaching of your Chu family? Why do you always talk about my Xiang family?¡± Chu Rong glanced at him lightly, and nonchalantly replied, ¡°Chu Yan lost his parents when he was young, and this will happen. Xiang Kun, who has been provoking and pestering him all the time, has contributed a lot.¡± What he actually said was: ¡°It was too generous of me not to settle accounts with you. And yet, you still have the nerve to accuse my family.¡± Xiang Lingyun was choked back, holding his breath in his heart, and it was not easy to calm back down. He had to remind himself that Chu Rong¡¯s parents sacrificed themselves for the sake of the Federation and indirectly saved all their lives. It would be too rude to accuse these orphaned children for not having qualified teaching. But in the end, because he couldn¡¯t get angry, he retorted in a low voice, ¡°Xiang Kun is very sensible.¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t answer, and just glanced at Xiang Kun who was looking for Xiang Jing for food on the screen No. 10, and twitched the corner of his mouth coldly. Xiang Lingyun decided not to talk to Chu Rong for the time being. He didn¡¯t want to lose his lifespan by being excessively angry. Xiang Hui poured him a glass of water and glanced at Chu Rong with a cold look. Seeing that they had finished fighting, Long Baorou reached out and opened the communicator connected to the camera equipment, and reminded them, ¡°Treasures outside the map markers will not be included in the final statistics. There are 15 treasures in total, and there are still four days left. Good luck in your hunt.¡± After speaking, she turned off the communication and flicked her hair. Chu Rong, who had been ignoring her all this time, finally frowned and looked over with deep eyes. ¡°The rules are like that. Please forgive me, Marshal.¡± Long Baorou smiled at him, and offered him some tea. Chu Rong didn¡¯t even look at the cup of tea. He coldly ignored her again, and instead focused on Qiao Zhiya, who was obviously downtrodden after hearing this announcement. He held the sapphire in his hand, his pointy ears were sagging down. The Marshal¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t friendly at all, but he was still silent. He agreed that it¡¯s good to follow the map¡¯s instructions, so as not to encounter unknown dangers. In fact, if they had to go killing a giant snake for a treasure, it was considered too much. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t count, let¡¯s find something else,¡± Chu Yan patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder to comfort him, took out the simple tent and said, ¡°You wipe off the water first and change your clothes. Let¡¯s go find something else in the afternoon.¡± Qiao Zhiya responded positively while stuffing the sapphire into his storage space. ¡°Then I¡¯ll change it quickly. Let¡¯s hurry up and find it. There are only ten treasures hidden, so we have to work harder.¡± The audience looked at his floppy, expressive ears, and it made their hearts itch. [Why is it not counted! Forget it! Look at those sagging ears, how can you bear to make him sad? Isn¡¯t sapphire precious enough?] They were delayed all morning, and the other two teams had already taken advantage of this time to get their second supply, so everyone stood on the same starting line again. After listening to the announcement, Ning Kongran glanced at Ning Konghua who was discussing the treasure hunting route with You Xia, and at Ning Kongting who was holding You Yuanyuan and talking. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. ¡®Experience the life of an Exoplanet Native¡­ But apart from the first two days of acting for the audience, what kind of experience is this game now?¡¯ ¡®Ridiculous.¡¯ Audience: [This young master of the Ning family is so handsome, lick, lick, lick1licking screen!] In the afternoon, the three teams set off almost at the same time, heading for the location shown on the treasure map. Logically speaking, the other two teams needed two treasures to be counted as one point, while Chu Yan¡¯s team only needed one. He actually had an advantage in that. At first Chu Yan thought so too, but when he arrived at the treasure land and found a cliff in front of him, he couldn¡¯t help but sneer. ¡°I know the Xiang family is pitting us!!¡± Xiang Lingyun in the live broadcast room couldn¡¯t help but slam down his teacup ¡ª this Chu Yan was too outspoken! Chu Rong ignored him, and only watched Chu Yan who took out the mecha in the live broadcast and flew Qiao Zhiya towards the cliff. Remembering that when he was on the ship, Long Baorou dragged him to prevent him from concentrating on investigating the surrounding environment of the treasure place. He frowned, and his eyes were a little heavy with suspicion. The audience has gradually gotten used to Chu Yan¡¯s straightforwardness. Hearing him scold the Xiang family again, and remembering the rumors that Xiang Kun and Chu Yan are bitter nemesis ¨C the kind that grew up choking each other ¨C the audience couldn¡¯t help laughing and sighing. This meant that big families were actually the same as ordinary families sometimes. Petty frictions existed. Qiao Zhiya sat in the narrow co-pilot of the mecha, flipped through the treasure map carefully, and said with a frown, ¡°This cliff just separates us from the valley where we were active before, the environment may be different. Xiao Yan, you have to be careful.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know it.¡± Chu Yan said while manipulating the mecha steadily. Seeing that there was a hazy mist under the cliff, and his face darkened, ¡°There is still miasma down there? Shit, this task is set too much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, there are protective suits in the supply box,¡± Qiao Zhiya reassured him. Chu Yan looked a little better, and said, ¡°They still have a bit of humanity.¡± The mecha landed safely, the two changed into protective clothing, and got off the mecha. As they landed, they looked around. Qiao Zhiya pointed to a cave under the cliff, saying, ¡°It should be there. The place shown by the coordinates is not only the cliff, but the cave.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go in,¡± Chu Yan put away the mecha, protected him from behind, and said, ¡°Follow me closely, we can¡¯t separate.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded. Surrounded by miasma, the live broadcast screen became foggy. The audience was heightened by this atmosphere, and couldn¡¯t help becoming nervous. In the other two directions,the Xiang-Wei and Ning-You team have successfully found their first treasure. The supervisors in the live broadcast room were satisfied and chatted easily. The cave was somewhat damp and the soil was very soft, which was completely different from the situation where there were many hard rocks on the cliff. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like a natural cave, but it looks like it was dug out by some kind of beast,¡± With excellent night vision, Qiao Zhiya quickly saw the environment in the cave clearly despite the double interference of miasma and dim light. He quickly analyzed it too. Chu Yan also noticed something was wrong. He nodded and replied, ¡°And there are traces of being tidied up by beasts here. This kind of soil is definitely not from this mountain wall.¡± The soil was indeed soft and sticky. Qiao Zhiya thought of a certain possibility, and hurriedly urged Chu Yan as he felt an ominous premonition bubbling up inside his chest: ¡°Find the treasure first, and then go out immediately. This place is not suitable for staying for a long time. If there is a wild beast attack, we don¡¯t even have space to take out the mecha. It¡¯s too narrow here.¡± After being reminded by him, Chu Yan also realized this. He became more and more angry at the despicableness of the Xiang family, so he hurriedly walked forward a few steps at a faster speed. Finally, he saw a supply box at the corner, alongside a big box around the same side. ¡°Huh?¡± After the box was removed, there was a faint animal whimpering sound from underneath. Chu Yan looked down, and then his body froze immediately. He was about to curse out ¡°Damn it¡±, but he quickly choked his words back. There was actually a pit under the box! There was an egg in the pit! What the hell is this? There¡¯s even a large piece of broken egg, revealing a baby animal with pink skin and sparse hair!! This was actually a cave where a mother beast laid her cubs! What¡¯s even worse was that the person who put the box deliberately broke the egg and hid it right under the box. Their intentions were really sinister! Plus, due to the dim lighting and the miasma, the live broadcast screen would be too blurry for the viewers to notice. And with his toes, he knew that the female beast that was feeding the cub must have been lured away in advance, and it might be on its way back now! Qiao Zhiya realized that something was wrong. He also stretched his head to look, then frowned fiercely, quickly bent down and hugged the egg, and said, ¡°Quick! Get out first, take out the mecha after you get out, and immediately go into the air!¡± Chu Yan was stunned by his order, but still executed it perfectly. He aggressively whispered, ¡°What are you doing with that egg! Its mother may be back soon!¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately followed, carefully guarding the egg, and said seriously, ¡°I¡¯m guarding it. Thankfully, despite the eggshell being broken like this, it shouldn¡¯t actually hurt the cub as long as we can protect it. I can save it.¡± Chu Yan was speechless, and could only keep praying in his heart that the female beast would not come back so soon. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 48.1 Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Chairman Ning aka Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Ning Kongran¡¯s father. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. Ning Konghua: Ning Kongran¡¯s male cousin. 21 years old. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. Probably 23 years old. Correction: he isn¡¯t one of the supervisor. He¡¯s just mentioned. You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. You Yuanyuan: You Xia¡¯s younger sister. The two ran towards the outside of the cave, and the camera equipment flew wildly with them. Because of the uneven ceilings of the cave, it turned up and down, forward and back, causing the live broadcast screen to become a mess in an instant, foggy and blurry. The audience was confused: [What¡¯s going on? Why are these two running again? The picture was already foggy and blurry, but after running like this, it will become even more unclear! The viewing experience is really bad! You said that you want to protect the privacy of the children by not allowing night vision, and let the audience have a sense of immersion, working and resting with the children. This is understandable, but can you provide a defogging function? Or let it fly a little more stable! Even the recording of the sound fluctuates like this, we can¡¯t see clearly or understand!] Just when the audience was complaining and reminiscing about the conversation that happened before the two started running, a roar of a beast that almost deafened the eardrums suddenly came from the live broadcast. It shocked the comment area for a moment. The supervisors of all families sat up straight one after another, their expressions of real or fake worry were hard to discern. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is there the sound of a beast? Didn¡¯t it be cleaned in advance?¡± Xiang Hui asked first, looking at the No. 8 and No. 9 screens. Wei Xiongchang frowned, and said, ¡°Could it be that Chu Yan and the Native boy angered the beasts nearby? Unfortunately, the picture is not clear. I heard them mention eggs just now. Could it be that they snatched some beast¡¯s eggs for fun?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± Xiang Lingyun answered, looked at Chu Rong worriedly, and said, ¡°The foggy weather is not suitable for fighting, and the Native doesn¡¯t know how to drive mechas. If the two really attract a large beast, I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t be able to defeat it. Do you want to send people down?¡± Long Baorou and Ning Tianya also looked at the No. 8 and No. 9 screens, as if they wanted to see what happened there so that they could respond in time. ¡°No need,¡± Chu Rong interrupted their wonderful acting performance. Although he looked at the screen with a very serious expression and was obviously worried, his tone was very calm. ¡°They didn¡¯t ask their supervisors for help, so it proves that they can handle it. The Chu family does not engage in privileges, let them play by themselves.¡± After everyone was quiet, Long Baorou turned his head and said, ¡°But what if¡­¡± ¡°There is no if,¡± Chu Rong looked at her with the tail of his cold eyes, as if he had seen everything through, ¡°They are entering the cave to take the treasure. I have reason to suspect that the investigation work in the early stage of this event was negligent, and if something happens to them, the Chu family reserves the right to hold them accountable.¡± Long Baorou choked on her own words, frowning. She turned her head and stopped talking, obviously dissatisfied with his attitude. Wei Xiongchang frowned and said, ¡°Marshal Chu, I can understand your anxiety, but your Chu family also participated in the investigation, I think¡­¡± ¡°The Chu family is responsible for investigating the current route that Xiang-Wei¡¯s team is taking,¡± Chu Rong unceremoniously cut his words off. Because he was in a bad mood, his patience became worse, and he bluntly said, ¡°If the Xiang-Wei team also encounters such unknown accidents because of our negligence, my Chu family is willing to take full responsibility.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Fuck! Isn¡¯t this like cursing their juniors to get in an accident! The supervisors of the Xiang-Wei¡¯s family kept silent with dark faces. Ning Tianya was able to stay on top of this muddy situation. He would stay silent and neutral so long the situation allowed it. Just as Long Baorou was choked, she also kept silent with a cold face. The atmosphere in the live broadcast room dropped to freezing point, and everyone¡¯s eyes were focused on the No. 8 and No. 9 screens, looking forward to the next development. ¡°Roar¡ª!!¡± The sad and angry roar of the beast was getting closer and closer, and the ground seemed to tremble. ¡°What do you want!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s heart was beating out of his ribcage. He couldn¡¯t help cursing the person who hid the box three hundred times in his heart. Seeing that the hole was in front of him, he hurriedly released the mecha to block the hole. Then, he crawled around into the cockpit from behind and activated the mecha. Seeing him get on the mecha, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly said loudly, ¡°Quick, lift off!¡± Chu Yan started to operate without him saying anything. Seeing a huge black spot flying towards him from a distance, his heart almost stopped beating in shock as he started the machine. The mecha quickly turned around and bent down to catch Qiao Zhiya who just ran out holding the egg, and then went straight into the air. ¡°Boom!¡± A gray, long-haired monster the size of a small house slammed into the mecha. The mecha narrowly avoided it and hovered a few meters above the head of the monster. ¡°Crash!¡± A large piece of rubble fell from the place hit by the giant beast, revealing two deep holes pierced by the horns of the giant beast¡¯s head. ¡°Ho ho ho!¡± The giant beast couldn¡¯t take it down with a single blow, and became more angry. It seemed to smell its cub. It frantically jumped towards the mecha, knocking down the mecha that was hanging in the air against the mountain wall. The edges of its black pupils were red, and the long hair was scattered, looking very scary. ¡°Fuck! What kind of beast is this? It looks so fierce!¡± Chu Yan carefully made the mecha close his hands and held Qiao Zhiya in its palm. Then he looked down at the giant beast below and swallowed, and asked, ¡°Qiao, what¡¯s next? What to do?¡± Qiao Zhiya also saw the giant beast below, and noticed the messy wounds on its body, which looked like they were formed by crashing and climbing in the forest. ¡°Go down until it can see me, don¡¯t let it pounce on you,¡± Qiao Zhiya ordered with a frown. His little face tensed, and he hugged the egg more carefully. Chu Yan trusted him very much, and without saying a word, he controlled the mecha and lowered it a little bit, which caused the giant beast to rush to the mecha and hit the mountain wall even more frantically. ¡°What are you up to?¡± ¡°Save its child and show it,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied. He poked his head out of the palm of the mecha carefully, then opened his mouth and uttered a long cry that sounded like something between a bird and a big mammal. Then, he threw something down outside the mecha¡¯s palm. After going outside, the live broadcast picture became clearer. When the audience saw that the two did not run for their lives immediately, but approached the giant beast, their hearts were raised into their throats. They were so anxious that they swiped their screens in the comment area, screaming at them to run. Especially after seeing Qiao Zhiya boldly looking out, the audience almost exploded in fear. The speed of the barrage became faster. But, a small number of people were curious ¨C what did Qiao Zhiya throw down just now? Chu Yan was obviously one of those few people, so he asked out of curiosity. ¡°It¡¯s food. The beast should have been hungry for many days,¡± Qiao Zhiya simply replied, and then continued to cry softly, while releasing his wood-elemental magic power to wrap the giant beast¡¯s body. After it gradually calmed down, he carefully hugged the egg and made it easier for the beast to see. He then took out a small pot marked with leaves from his storage ring, and poured the light green juice into the broken egg. Seeing this, the giant beast became anxious again, and tried to jump up again. ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯ll be alright soon,¡± Qiao Zhiya whispered in Elvish. After the juice half-soaked the weak cub in the egg, he carefully injected some wood-elemental magic power into the cub¡¯s body, then he took out a mixture of minced green fruit and nutrient solution to feed the cub. Finally, judging by the cub¡¯s movements, he blocked the camera and secretly put a few high-level wood-elemental magic stones into the egg, and drew a magic circle on the egg with his fingers. It was a maintenance magic circle. The cub gradually stopped whining, stretched out its paws and took the comfortable magic stone into its arms. It lay comfortably in the juice and closed its eyes, as if the broken shell wasn¡¯t a problem at all. The mother and the child had a spiritual bond. As the mother beast noticed that its baby¡¯s condition had improved, the beast no longer scratched the ground anxiously. Instead, it hummed a few times towards Qiao Zhiya, crawling down in a friendly manner, looking up at the egg in his hand eagerly. ¡°I¡¯ll return your cub to you right away,¡± Qiao Zhiya comforted it, and asked Chu Yan to fly the mecha to the side. After getting close to the tree, he picked a few leaves from the tree and carefully wrapped the egg as he signaled Chu Yan to land. Chu Yan was a little nervous, and asked, ¡°Can we really come down? It won¡¯t attack us, right? What is that green thing you just poured into the egg? Can it really save this little guy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a juice mixture from the tree of life. It¡¯s¡­ well, it¡¯s a substance that is used in my hometown to pray for newborn babies and newborn beasts. We always carry some with us when we walk in the forest, so that we can rescue animals in need,¡± Qiao Zhiya explained, and then reassured Chu Yan, ¡°It¡¯s okay, let¡¯s go down, it won¡¯t attack us.¡± Chu Yan was relieved, and began to control the mecha to land on the ground. Seeing this, the behemoth-sized beast took a few steps back to make room for them to land, but it still looked at the egg wrapped in leaves in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand without blinking. The hearts of the audience were slightly relieved. They were also still a little excited ¨C they thought they were going to see a fierce fight, but it turned into a warm scene of saving animals. Exoplanet Natives sure are mighty! The supervisors in the live broadcast room all froze, as if they had been slapped in the face by someone. This rang especially true for Long Baorou, whose eyes were uncontrollably gloomy ¡ª Qiao Zhiya¡¯s amazing twist was really unexpected. That cub whose shell has been broken for a few days was also damn vigorous, and it could still be saved! Under the nervous gaze of countless people from the Federation, Chu Yan drove the mecha to the ground, then bent down and gently put Qiao Zhiya on the ground. He got off the mecha himself, and quickly protected Qiao Zhiya. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Qiao Zhiya patted him on the shoulder to calm him down, walked out and slowly approached the giant beast. He stopped when he was two meters away from the giant beast, gently put the egg on the ground and stepped back. He maintained eye contact with the beast, then spoke in Elvish, ¡°The child¡¯s egg is broken. Be careful not to let the tree of life¡¯s sap leak. The wound on your body needs to be treated, can I touch you?¡± The monster seemed to somehow understand what he said. However, there¡¯s still a language barrier between them, so it was still wary. It tentatively took a step forward, saw that Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t back up or step forward, and hummed anxiously. Finally, it couldn¡¯t hold back its motherly instinct ¨C it quickly stepped forward to pick up its egg. Then it took a few steps back, lay down and held the egg on its long-haired front paws. From its mouth, it sprayed out a ball of viscous liquid to paste the whole egg, blocking the hole. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Chu Yan got behind Qiao Zhiya at some point, curiously looking at the transparent viscous liquid on the egg. Qiao Zhiya recalled the wet soil in the cave, and replied, ¡°It should be something that this kind of beast uses to incubate eggs and build nests.¡± While talking, the giant beast has confirmed the safety of its child. It got up to put the eggs into the cave. But it hesitated for a moment, stopped again, turned around a few times in a hurry, and finally seemed to have made up its mind. It brought the egg back to Qiao Zhiya. ¡°What is it doing?¡± Chu Yan was stunned, ¡®Why does this giant beast look like it wants to get help from Qiao?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya was also a little surprised by its behavior. He frowned, looked back and forth at the cave and at the helpless giant beast at this time, thought about it, and asked tentatively in Elvish language, ¡°You don¡¯t want to use the cave as your lair again? You¡¯re afraid it¡¯s not safe, and you want me to take it with you?¡± The giant beast lay down in front of him, rolled the egg in front of him, and whimpered pitifully. It seems that the behavior of the cleaning personnel occupying the lair before has caused a psychological shadow on it. It no longer believed the safety of the nest it carefully prepared. ¡°Oh my God, I¡¯m going to be made to cry by it. Why don¡¯t we take this egg back and raise it? We¡¯ll return it when the cub is ready to hatch,¡± Chu Yan began to come up with an idea, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Qiao Zhiya, who seemed very soft-hearted and talkative, directly shook his head and said, ¡°No, it¡¯s too dangerous for the cub to leave its mother. If the egg is not broken, it should hatch naturally in a few days. It¡¯s not suitable to leave its mother now. It¡¯s like this¡­ the beast is afraid that its cub will have problems again, and it thinks that I can protect it until it hatches safely.¡± CH 48.2 The audience was also confused by what Qiao Zhiya said. There were a lot of comments on the screen discussing whether the cub should be taken away. In the supervisors¡¯ area, Chu Rong¡¯s tense nerves relaxed. He stretched out his hand to take a sip of water. Remembering that the tea was given by Long Baorou, he withdrew his hand very childishly, and looked back at Fan Xiangnan who was sitting behind him. Fan Xiangnan understood what he meant, got up and poured out the cup of tea, washed the cup for him, and poured a new one over. Long Baorou, who witnessed the whole process and was very unhappy, almost couldn¡¯t control her expression. Her eyes darkened, and she said in a loud voice, ¡°Is Marshal Chu not in good health again? You have to bring a servant with you to participate in the event.¡± The supervisors of Xiang=Wei¡¯s families also looked over after hearing her brash words. But they were witty and silent ¡ª based on their experience, Chu Rong would never tolerate others saying that about the people around him. And Chu Rong really lived up to expectations. He took the teacup Fan Xiangnan handed over, and replied lightly, ¡°Xiangnan came here as a supervisor. You made a mistake in registering the list and kicked him out of the supervisor team.¡± ¡°Also, please remember that Xiangnan is my subordinate. I will not pursue this point, but, his military rank is a Colonel. Ms. Long, who has not yet graduated from the military academy, needs to call him an Officer, not a very impolite ¡®Servant¡¯.¡± Fan Xiangnan spoke at the right time, and with a gentle tone to boot, ¡°There¡¯s no need, Marshal. Ms. Long has a different status than mine, and she does have some privileges.¡± These words were like salt into her wounds. Long Baorou¡¯s chest heaved twice, and turned her head and stopped talking. The Xiang-Wei supervisors withdrew their gazes and decided to keep quiet ¡ª Chu Rong¡¯s fighting power was too strong, and he didn¡¯t bother to make superficial efforts at all; they couldn¡¯t stand it. Besides, the matter of the giant beast this time has nothing to do with them, so they can just watch the show. Long Baorou thought that the silence was because Chu Rong would no longer find fault. But he proved her wrong ¨C he didn¡¯t let her go. He put down his cup and continued, ¡°It has been confirmed that there are some mistakes in the investigation. Why is there an egg next to the treasure that was placed in advance? Why is the mother beast nowhere close to it? Why did it come back at this time? It¡¯s such a convenient coincidence, isn¡¯t it? I hope that the person in charge of investigating this trek can give me an explanation to the Chu family.¡± As soon as these words came out, everyone was silent again. The Xiang-Wei supervisors quickly put aside their thorny relationship with Chu Rong and looked away, while Ning Tianya directly looked at Long Baorou. ¡°Naturally, it will be done,¡± Long Baorou took a deep breath and said this. She then got up and left, as if to help Chu Rong ask for an explanation. Chu Rong watched her leave coldly, and motioned to Fan Xiangnan, who understood, turned around and followed Long Baorou. In the forest, Qiao Zhiya comforted the giant beast. He then asked Chu Yan for a silver net and made it into a soft bag to put the eggs in. He ran to the giant beast to chat with it. After a few words, he carefully tied the silver net to the giant beast so that it could carry the egg with it. The giant beast rubbed against him gratefully, raised its claws and gently flicked the pouch on its chest, and growled happily a few times. ¡°It¡¯s still cuter when it hums,¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help covering his ears when he heard the growl. Seeing that the matter was finally resolved, he remembered the cheating treasure box that caused all this, and couldn¡¯t help cursing, ¡°Who put that damned treasure box there? Why are they so irresponsible! Not to mention occupying the beast¡¯s lair, but putting the box on top of the beast¡¯s eggs, do they still have any shred of humanity!¡± The audience cursed with the same hatred, completely sympathizing with Chu Yan. With this rhythm, it was very favorable to the Chu family. This was the power of Third Young Master Chu. Qiao Zhiya touched the giant beast¡¯s long fur, checked its wounds, and replied, ¡°The mother beast will not leave the nest easily when the cub is about to break its shell. She must be trapped for several days. Look at her claws ¨C it¡¯s all worn out. She definitely tried to escape multiple times.¡± Chu Yan had already felt that something was wrong. With these observations, he lowered his head and glanced at the bloody claws of the giant beast, and couldn¡¯t help speaking even louder, ¡°This must be specifically done to target us! How could an egg be accidentally pressed under the treasure box like that? Plus, this treasure hunt has been ongoing for several days. It¡¯s quite the timing for the mother beast to ¡°coincidentally¡± return just in time with us. It didn¡¯t come back yesterday, nor tomorrow. This is definitely purposefully done!¡± Still immersed in the fact that the Exoplanet Native boy helped the beast so amazingly, the audience, who were full of emotions, were taken aback after listening to Chu Yan¡¯s reasoning. After thinking for themselves, they couldn¡¯t help to feel that he made sense. Yes, everything is too coincidental. Plus, they can see other teams too ¨C and as a fact, other teams¡¯ journeys were smooth. In contrast, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya looked positively targeted. Then, they remembered Chu Yan¡¯s dislike for the Xiang family, and their thoughts instantly turned to the Xiang family. They couldn¡¯t help guessing and muttering amongst themselves. Xiang Lingyun looked at all kinds of speculation about the Xiang family in the comment area. His face darkened, and he said coldly, ¡°Marshal Chu, how do you want to settle the account of Chu Yan ruining the reputation of my Xiang family?¡± ¡°Did Chu Yan mention the Xiang family just now?¡± Chu Rong asked back, and then said lightly, ¡°I hope your family will not forget about the whole red tin mine incident.¡± ¡ªwhat Chu Rong implied was: It is easy to destroy your family¡¯s reputation. Once the matter of the mine is publicized, it is guaranteed that the Xiang family¡¯s reputation will be driven to the core of the planet. Xiang Lingyun¡¯s expression froze. He snorted coldly, and stopped talking. Wei Xiongchang hurriedly opened his mouth to comfort Xiang Lingyun, and wisely stopped trying to snipe Chu Rong. Ning Tianya pretended to be stupid and remained neutral. Chu Yan¡¯s principle is that the moment he finds the fox¡¯ tail, he will step it to death! He pretended to be angry and ran back into the cave, and took out a super bright lamp to take a picture of the pit where the eggs were placed and the marks made by the boxes beside the pit, so that the audience could see clearly. After that, he ran out of the cave, looked at the giant beast lying obediently at the cave entrance, and took out the treasure box with a bang. The giant beast immediately smelled the scent of those who drove it out of the cave and the smell of egg liquid left on the box. It stood up vigilantly, and growled at it in a low voice defensively and resentfully. ¡°Look! It reacted so strongly, the person who put the box must have deliberately broken the egg!¡± Chu Yan yelled loudly, for fear that the audience would not be able to see the situation clearly. Qiao Zhiya tensed his face, motioned Chu Yan to put the box away, then stroked the giant beast¡¯s fur comfortingly in Elvish. The giant beast lay back on its back, and then nodded. Chu Yan was curious, ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°I asked it to take us to the place where it was trapped, and it agreed,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, took out the medicine in the supply box, and said, ¡°But before we go, I have to help it treat its wound first, and feed it something to eat.¡± The ¡°Little Snake¡± that Qiao Zhiya hammered to death before became the meal of the giant beast. After helping it treat its wound, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan were signaled by the giant beast to climb onto its back together, and were carried by it towards the depths of the miasma. ¡°Fuck! This is so cool!¡± Chu Yan was very excited. Qiao Zhiya grabbed the horns of the giant beast¡¯s head, touched its head lightly, and smiled, ¡°It seems to be the boss of this area. It¡¯s very powerful, and other beasts are too afraid to get close.¡± This made Chu Yan even more excited. The audience was infected by him, and they became excited too; and at the same time, they became more and more disgusted with those who manipulated behind the scenes. The place where the giant beast was trapped was not far away. The journey only took about half an hour. In front of them was a deep pit that partially collapsed. The bottom of the pit was full of gravel and trees. Judging from the appearance of the trees, it wasn¡¯t long before it collapsed. The traces of the giant beast staying at the bottom of the pit were very obvious. The giant beast stopped at a distance of more than ten meters from the deep pit and refused to go forward. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya got off it and were about to go forward to take a closer look at the situation, but the giant beast stopped it with its tail, as if afraid they would fall. When the audience saw this scene, they all sighed: [This is a good beast that knows how to repay kindness. Although it looks a little fierce and ugly, it has a beautiful heart.] Qiao Zhiya comforted the giant beast for a while, coaxing the giant beast to move its tail hesitantly. ¡°Looks like a natural collapse,¡± Chu Yan walked around the pit twice, pointing to a big rock on the edge, ¡°It crawled out using this rock as a leverage, I think. Judging from the traces, it should be a collapse that enlarges the pit¡¯s entrance, allowing it to jump out. Look, that big stone over there must¡¯ve fallen from the lip of the pit. It¡¯s big enough to partially close the entrance before it falls.¡± After listening to this explanation, the audience became puzzled again, was it really a coincidence? Qiao Zhiya inspected the stone, and suddenly jumped into the bottom of the pit. The anxious giant beast kept circling around the edge. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, he can come out,¡± Chu Yan comforted the giant beast, but unfortunately the giant beast couldn¡¯t understand him. It was Qiao Zhiya who looked up at it and whispered something to calm the giant beast down. After pacifying the giant beast, Qiao Zhiya stepped forward to lift up the stone. Then he jumped out of the hole with a few jumps against the irregularities of the pit wall, smashed the stone to the ground, and finally, he took out his hammer. The audience: [¡­] Although this was not the first time they had seen the strange power of this Exoplanet Native boy, they still haven¡¯t got used to this. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Chu Yan asked suspiciously, and stepped forward to touch the stone, ¡°Is this stone weird?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded and replied, ¡°The pit it left when it was dropped is too shallow, and it doesn¡¯t meet its size. It should be empty inside.¡± After speaking, he lowered the hammer and smashed it hard towards the stone. With a click, the stone cracked; the outer layer shattered, revealing a small strange device inside. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 48.3 Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Chairman Ning aka Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Ning Kongran¡¯s father. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. Ning Konghua: Ning Kongran¡¯s male cousin. 21 years old. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. Probably 23 years old. Correction: he isn¡¯t one of the supervisor. You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. You Yuanyuan: You Xia¡¯s younger sister. The giant beast immediately sat up, staring covetously at the things exposed inside, pawing the ground with its front paws. Audience: [? What is this? How can there be something in the stone?] ¡°It seems to be a monitoring device,¡± Chu Yan fiddled with the strange device, his face darkened, ¡°This stone is a synthetic stone, the same as the one that hid the supply box before. I can almost imagine it used to trap us. Heh, I¡¯m looking forward the culprit to trying to explain this so-called coincidence ¨C the monitoring equipment left after the cleaning was damaged and malfunctioned due to the sudden collapse of the forest, bla bla bla, then it caused the beasts that were driven here to escape. As for the things in the cave, the problem with the egg is because of the negligence of the staff, who didn¡¯t pay attention.¡± Qiao Zhiya comforted the giant beast again, squatted down to check the monitoring device, and dismantled several parts of it to have a look. ¡°It¡¯s really broken, I¡¯ll try to see if I can fix it.¡± ¡°Well, the monitoring equipment has a video recording function. After repairing it, let¡¯s see if we can get the video out and see what¡¯s going on,¡± Chu Yan Ye squatted beside him, still not angry, and muttered, ¡°Those people really treat us as fools. The wild beasts that were driven out in advance are trapped in such a close place, and there is no meaningful cage or comforting equipment. It¡¯s not in line with Federal law at all, and they won¡¯t be able to use that as an excuse to fool us afterward.¡± After listening to their conversation, the audience¡¯s mood of watching the excitement lessened a little, and they gradually became serious. This was the biggest celebration event at the end of the year. It was really disgusting that some kind of conspiracy occurred in this kind of event. Especially when it happened to the juniors. If something unexpected happens¡­ No, no, no, it would be too scary. The atmosphere suddenly became dull and stagnant, as if there was a shadow hanging over the head, exuding an ominous miasma. Fewer comments from the audience scrolled, as everyone seemed to be waiting for the result. The supervisors of the Xiang-Wei family looked at each other, then looked at Chu Rong who was getting colder and scarier. and finally, looked at Long Baorou¡¯s vacant seat. They stopped talking. Although the two of them also wanted to make some small twists and turns for the Chu family during the event, what they planned was to aggravate Chu Rong emotionally until his emotional state destabilize, causing a relapse of his old injury. They never thought of hurting or even killing Third Young Master Chu, especially in a live broadcast setting. The arrangement was indeed their handiwork, but the giant beast had nothing to do with them, so even if Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya could really find something, the fire wouldn¡¯t burn them. Now let¡¯s see how things end this time. As soon as the shell and some parts of the machine were removed, a puff of black smoke suddenly and inexplicably rose from the inside of the equipment, and sparks began to flash on the exposed lines. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Chu Yan stood up immediately, frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s not going to self-destruct, is it?¡± Qiao Zhiya was also taken aback, and hurriedly took out a strange long-handled tool and poked it into the machine. It spat out a pile of white foam-like objects that covered the fault lines. He then accelerated the dismantling of the machine. ¡°Can you stop it?¡± Chu Yan squatted back again. ¡°Yes, I just need to dismantle the self-destruct device,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied calmly, and his hands became faster and faster. When he was learning mecha manufacturing, he didn¡¯t miss the course of mechanical design. It¡¯s a trivial matter to dismantle such a small thing. In less than two minutes, a small self-destruct device installed in the center of the monitoring machine was removed by Qiao Zhiya and thrown directly on the ground. The audience: [¡­] What else does this primitive Native boy know? Compared with him, they were more like the primitive ones instead¡­ After complaining, the audience¡¯s heart became heavier ¡ª the egg that just broke, the sheer coincidence of the timing behind the beast¡¯s return, the monitoring device that suddenly broke down, and an inexplicable self-destruct protocol¡­ this targeting was really super obvious, and it made people want to pretend to be stupid. ¡°It¡¯s not the Xiang family that is targeting us,¡± Chu Yan picked up the self-destruct device and suddenly said something for the Xiang family. The audience who were about to guess over there were taken aback and stopped guessing. The screen in the live broadcast room was dark, and Xiang Lingyun, who was already preparing to find someone to deal with the next public opinion bombardment, stopped and looked at the live broadcast screen in surprise. Did he hear correctly, did Chu Yan speak for the Xiang family? ¡°The Xiang family are all fake smart bunch of idiots. Plus they¡¯re very cowardly. It¡¯s impossible for them to do this kind of poisonous plan aimed at our lives,¡± Chu Yan had a serious face, showing a bit of maturity that was different from usual. His words suddenly became vague, ¡°However¡­ I would say that the person in charge of supervising the safety of the event venue this time is sloppy.¡± For official Federal events, the people responsible for the safety of the venue were naturally the most ¡°capable¡± faction in the Federation. To be more precise, it was the people from the Presidential Palace. He didn¡¯t say it clearly, so he couldn¡¯t be liable for slandering the President¡¯s faction if they made a fuss later. But he also had to say that the Chu family would never suffer like this. If they were wronged, they would bite back. It¡¯s just right to give a little hint like this, vaguely guiding the audience to guess and think for themselves. Compared with the conclusions spoon-fed by others, people were always more willing to believe what they have analyzed and investigated. Qiao Zhiya finished repairing the machine. Hearing this, he hesitated for a while, and only copied the screen recorded by the monitoring equipment, but did not choose to play it. The same concern as Chu Yan¡¯s ambiguous conclusion, he also knew that it was not suitable to continue to tear this matter out. They could let the audience see the situation where they were being targeted, and they could covertly blame other families, but they couldn¡¯t directly give evidence to tear their faces, making other families unable to clean themselves up. ¨CAt least, not directly. Everyone in the Federation was watching this live broadcast, and the Empire must also be paying attention. If there was any big news, it would have a great impact on the situation. Under the circumstances that they didn¡¯t know whether it was suitable for the Chu family to separate themselves apart from other families, they could make small troubles, but they couldn¡¯t actually hurt others. The two left on the giant beast after copying the video, artificially turning the matter upside down. But the audience, who already knew that this matter was not simple, remained silent for a long time, and various speculations slowly emerged. The other supervisors in the live broadcast room were also silent. Only Xiang Lingyun¡¯s mood was complicated. He should have been grateful for being protected by his old opponent at such a critical moment, but Chu Yan¡¯s evaluation of the Xiang family was really not good. It¡¯s nothing more than sugar mixed with shit. Suddenly there was a sound at the door, Long Baorou walked back and said, ¡°The matter has been investigated clearly. The monitoring equipment near this treasure spot was damaged and shut down due to the collapse of the forest terrain, which led to¡ª¡± ¡°The juniors who were supervised have uncovered something too. The beast regained its senses and returned to the entrance of the cave. Just now, the monitoring equipment hidden in the stone almost exploded,¡± Chu Rong interrupted her, and also broke the strange atmosphere in the supervisors¡¯ room. He stood up and looked at Long Baorou coldly, saying, ¡°Miss Long, please leave this room. You have no right to continue to participate in the following activities. Xiangnan, send someone to take over the safety of the event venue, and I will explain this matter to the President personally later.¡± Long Baorou was cut off in the middle of her words, and was driven away so mercilessly. She raised his eyebrows and shouted in a low voice, ¡°Marshal, I understand your anger. However, all punishment must be given according to the rules, but you have no right to¡ª¡± ¡°No, I have the right. I can arrest you now for endangering the lives of minors,¡± Chu Rong interrupted her again, gestured to the live broadcast screen, and said coldly, ¡°Instead of standing here and wasting your time arguing with me, why not think about how to explain this incident to the public.¡± After speaking, he walked around her and left, and went to contact the President with a terrifying aura. The other supervisors in the room knew that today¡¯s matter must be explained as soon as possible. They looked at each other and got up to follow Chu Rong¡¯s footsteps. When they passed by Long Baorou, they all showed indescribable expressions and shook their heads. After all, she¡¯s still a little girl, and she couldn¡¯t grasp her sense of proportion. In this kind of live broadcast, small movements were allowed, but it was not allowed to be too out of line. The Four Great Families will indeed plot against each other, but there was a default bottom line ¨C the lives of the younger generations must not be touched. And even for Chu Rong, their idea was to let his own spiritual power go berserk, thereby weakening the strength of the Chu family, and they never thought of directly killing people. There was the Empire outside the Federation. They could fight among themselves, but they couldn¡¯t fight too hard, allowing the Empire to fish in the muddy water. Because without the Federation, what were the four of them worth? Long Baorou didn¡¯t see the content behind the live broadcast. She didn¡¯t know that Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan had already broken the stone and saw the monitoring equipment inside. At this moment, she was at a loss, annoyed and confused by their reaction. She felt that her reasoning was logical and convincing, so why does everyone have such expressions? She looked at the live broadcast screen to find the reason, but she only saw the picture of Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya leaving on the giant beast. When she was getting more and more confused, she suddenly remembered that Chu Rong had just taken the initiative to bring up the monitoring equipment and almost blew herself up. She was startled. Thinking of something, she quickly took out the communicator to contact her younger brother Long Ruizhang who was supervising safety below. Then, she turned around and walked outside. The official explanation was given quickly, and the accident was finally concluded with the explanation that there were reactionary forces in ambush among the staff responsible for security matters. They pointed out that after searching, it was found that there were also such hidden safety hazards in several other places in the event venue. They also emphasized that Chu Rong was the one in charge of the line inspection in the other half of the venue, saying that because of his seriousness and responsibility, the bad guys did not take advantage of the loopholes in the other half, ensuring the safety of other children. After explaining these things, the officials focused on Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya who were the first to realize the conspiracy. They praised them for their boldness, and announced that they would be given an extra reward after the event. Afterwards, the Presidential Palace took the initiative to admit their negligence in the supervision. They ordered Long Ruizhang, who was in charge of safety, to transfer the supervision power to Chu Rong, and several other factions also issued a statement in cooperation. Some audiences bought into this explanation, while others didn¡¯t buy it. But all the participating factions accepted this explanation. They had nothing to say, they just wanted to see how this would go down. As the sky darkened, the children in the forest found places to rest one after another. The live broadcast screen was also closed for a short period of time after the night fell, allowing time for Chu Rong to take over the security team. In the middle of the night, Qiao Zhiya got out of the tent in a daze, ready to go to the side to solve his physical problems. The giant beast that insisted on following them heard the movement and looked up at him. After seeing that he hadn¡¯t gone far, it lay down and closed its eyes again. Qiao Zhiya smiled at it, then turned his head to stare at the suspicious off-state camera equipment parked on the tent. He raised his hand to scratch his sleepy hair, and went around behind a tree. ¡°Don¡¯t mess around again next time.¡± A familiar cold voice suddenly came from behind. His waist tightened, as he felt that his body was hugged into a familiar embrace. He froze for a moment, and wanted to turn his head to look, but his eyes were covered by a big hand. A familiar voice telling him to not move sounded from above his head. The youth stopped struggling, turned his head to the side, and called out in a low voice, ¡°Chu Rong?¡± His breath steadied. The taller man hugged him tighter. Qiao Zhiya obediently let the Marshal hold him. After a moment of silence, he whispered, ¡°Can you take your hand away¡­ I want to see you.¡± As he spoke, his ears moved in embarrassment, and his face turned red. Chu Rong looked down at his fluttering ears, making him indulge in his desire, kissing the flushed ears. With this sensation, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body suddenly froze in place. Chu Rong frowned, raised his hands and rubbed the youth¡¯s sensitive ears. He loosened his embrace, turned, and left without a warning. Qiao Zhiya, who was freed, immediately turned to look. But he only saw a tall figure who boarded the suspension vehicle and lifted off. He lowered his head in frustration, raised his hand and touched his ear, feeling a little puzzled. ¡®So the previous tactile sensation¡­ was it an illusion?¡¯ CH 49.1 At dawn, the live broadcast returned to normal. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya were the first team to get up again, and the giant beast still insisted on following them, and would not leave no matter how hard they rushed. ¡°What should we do? It really won¡¯t leave us alone,¡± Chu Yan threw a hunted animal in front of the giant beast. He was very distressed when he saw the giant beast burying its head and ate the carcass happily. ¡°Why do I think it depends on us?¡± The giant beast shook its furry tail upon hearing this, and its ferocious and domineering face unexpectedly showed a hint of cuteness. ¡°Oh my God, I must be blind to find it cute,¡± Chu Yan raised his hand to cover his face. He was a bit speechless at this point. The comment area of ??the audience was full of laughter, calling Chu Yan cute and persuading him not to ¡°abandon his wife and son¡±. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help laughing. He threw his teammate a freshly picked wild fruit, tilted his head to look at the giant beast, and gave his guess: ¡°It hasn¡¯t left, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s dependent on us. It¡¯s more likely it wants to take us somewhere.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Chu Yan took a bite of the wild fruit and asked, ¡°Is it going to repay the favor and take us to find the treasure?¡± The giant beast seemed to understand what they said. It suddenly gobbled up the carcass in two-three large bites. Then it ran over and arched at them, turned around and took two steps in one direction. ¡°Damn, we hit the spot!¡± Chu Yan jumped up in surprise, quickly grabbed Qiao Zhiya and climbed onto it, and said happily, ¡°Let¡¯s go treasure hunting. Finding boxes is so boring.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect that the giant beast really meant this. His eyes lit up, and he couldn¡¯t help hugging it, and said with joy, ¡°Sure enough, animals are the cutest!¡± The audience couldn¡¯t help but scream when they heard this: [No no no ! You are the cutest! You are so powerful and heart-warming, you are simply the cutest little guy in the world! Hug me, hug me! Don¡¯t hug the beast!] In the supervisors room, seeing these comments, Chu Rong¡¯s face turned dark. His aura also dropped to freezing point. Xiang Lingyun, who had just stepped inside, paused when he saw this. Thinking that he was still upset about the matter of negotiating with the President yesterday, he hesitated for a while, but endured the bad reaction in his heart, and comforted him awkwardly, ¡°Long Baorou is the President¡¯s daughter, after all. So it¡¯s not easy to punish her publicly. The punishment of depriving her of the right to join the military is already very heavy. If you continue to make trouble, the President might really retaliate harshly, and you won¡¯t get any benefits.¡± Actually, hanging the fact that the President¡¯s daughter didn¡¯t have the crucial piece of evidence was a great decision. Selfishly speaking, they were very envious of Chu Rong. They also want this kind of clue and evidence, because they wanted something to hold over the President. Although the Xiang and Wei families were technically on the President¡¯s side, they were not happy to see the President¡¯s daughter really grown up. What they wanted was a ¡°shield¡± that could be controlled, not a knife that could backstab them at any moment. Chu Rong¡¯s sour thoughts stopped. He glanced at Xiang Lingyun with an irate heart, making his expression even more unreadable. Xiang Lingyun was uncomfortable being watched by him, so he poured himself a cup of tea, changed the topic and said, ¡°Marshal Chu, you have re-examined the safety situation of the venue last night. You must have not had a good rest, why don¡¯t you sleep more today?¡± A care from his old enemy tasted gross. Chu Rong withdrew his gaze, did not answer his question, and only said lightly, ¡°All hidden safety hazards in the forest have been eliminated. With the strength of each team, the remaining ten treasure chests can be found in a day and a half at most. There is one and a half days of activity time left, so we must come up with a plan.¡± ¡®Huh? What does this mean? He said all hidden safety hazards¡­ Does that mean even our innocuous little tricks have all been eliminated too?¡¯ ¡®With the current strength of Chu Yan and that Native boy, this treasure hunt competition was nothing more than an award show to the two boys of the Chu family.¡¯ The tea suddenly tasted like ash in his tongue. Xiang Lingyun put down the teacup, thinking that he who was kind enough to comfort his opponent just now must have lost his mind. With a dark face, he said, ¡°Then, we should wait for the others to come up with an idea together. This event has caused some doubts, and the festive atmosphere has also faded, so we must try our best to repair it in the next few days.¡± Chu Rong nodded, agreeing with his words, then turned his head to look back at the live broadcast, and stopped talking to him. Xiang Lingyun¡¯s face twitched. He decided decisively not to take the initiative to provoke this old opponent. It¡¯s better to plan ahead. Unlike Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who followed the giant beast to find treasures, the other two teams immediately began to analyze and search for the remaining ten treasures after resting. After breaking away from the treasure map, the strength of each team gradually showed differences, and the shining points of each juniors began to appear one after another. In the Xiang-Wei¡¯s team, Xiang Jing, who has always played the role of a good sister, showed strong logical reasoning and observation skills when analyzing the map. She took the lead in analyzing the location of a secret treasure, which attracted the audience¡¯s admiration for her. Wei Yu¡¯s mecha driving skills were also remarkable, and he has gained a group of little fans. Xiang Kun, as the best mecha maker in the Xiang family¡¯s generation, was able to make mecha weapons alone at the age of seventeen. Needless to say, his strength was self-evident. He also gained the love of some audiences. Although Wei Lan, the youngest, has no abilities and is considered a fool by Chu Yan, he was adorable. Under the pressure of Wei Yu, he looked like a sensible and obedient youth, so the audience¡¯s evaluation was not bad. In the Ning-You¡¯s team, Ning Kongting relied on her appearance to attract fans, and she made her character as a strong young lady. After Ning Kongran deliberately kept a low profile, Ning Konghua received a lot of praise for his appearance and smart mind. You Xia has a free and easy personality, but he was not reckless. He also drove the mecha very well, which was unexpectedly very popular with the audience. You Yuanyuan was relatively low-key and mediocre, not attracting much attention. As for Ning Kongran, he has quite a lot of fans, but most of them are fans of his face and character. He was labeled as a caring big brother by the audience. Of the two teams, the Ning-You¡¯s team was stronger, which was obvious. Because of Wei Lan in the Xiang-Wei team, the audiences understood if their progress was slower. From here, the scheme of the Xiang-Wei family could be seen. If they were ahead, it meant that they were strong and could win despite having a child around. If they lose, they have a justifiable reason, so it wouldn¡¯t look ugly. In short, they couldn¡¯t actually lose. Both teams gained a lot of fans, but what people didn¡¯t expect was that they ¨C who purposefully worked hard to perform for the audience ¨C weren¡¯t as popular as Third Young Master Chu, who was just being himself. This was simply unreasonable. Xiang Lingyun secretly compared the number of comments on each split screen, and was so angry that he didn¡¯t want to drink tea even more. The treasure hunt in the forest continues. One morning passed, and the other two teams had each found a secret treasure, but Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya were still on their way to hunt for the treasure with the giant beast. ¡°There is actually a swamp here,¡± Standing on a tree, Chu Yan looked towards the swamp where the fog was so dense it drastically lowered the vision. He turned around and said, ¡°I can only fly over in a mecha, and walk close to the ground. Otherwise, we might sink.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, glanced at the giant beast squatting obediently under the tree, and said, ¡°Take the beast with you too. It has wounds on its paws, so it¡¯s not suitable for walking in this terrain, because it could get infected.¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± Chu Yan took out the mecha without saying a word. He wanted Qiao Zhiya to sit in the co-pilot, but was rejected, so he went in and started the mecha by himself. Then he took out a super-large cage, put the giant beast and Qiao Zhiya in it, and held it in a dangling fashion. ¡°I can only hold it like this. It is too big to hold in the palm of my hand,¡± Chu Yan explained with some embarrassment. Qiao Zhiya comforted the giant beast who seemed a little uneasy after entering the cage, waved towards the direction of the cockpit, and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, go in. Let me point you in the direction.¡± The live broadcast screen became foggy again, and the audience felt numb. They directly resigned to their fate of only ¡°watching¡± it by listening to the sound cues. At the same time, they silently guessed what treasure the giant beast was taking them to find. Apart from Long Baorou, the supervisors had already entered the live broadcast room, and they all began to speculate upon seeing this. Wei Xiongchang asked, ¡°Have you checked here before? What¡¯s in it?¡± ¡°I remember it¡¯s just an ordinary swamp, nothing there,¡± Xiang Lingyun replied. Looking at Chu Rong, he couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity, and took the initiative to provoke him again. He paused and asked, ¡°Marshal Chu, you re-examined the situation in this forest yesterday. Did you find anything in this swamp?¡± ¡°When I checked, I didn¡¯t find anything good here,¡± Chu Rong politely replied. ¡®Then this is strange.¡¯ Xiang Lingyun and Wei Xiongchang looked at each other, each muttering in their hearts. The treasure that Chu Rong didn¡¯t find¡­ It¡¯s either a very rare and good thing, or it¡¯s just a dud¡­ They hope it¡¯s the latter¨C No, it must be the latter! The fog got thicker as the swamp got deeper, and they couldn¡¯t see anything clearly on the live broadcast. They could only vaguely hear some fragmentary conversations between Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan, and they knew that the two seemed to be still flying deep. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t help tightening his hands on the chair, and his mood was a little heavy. He felt something was wrong. During the investigation yesterday, the fog on this swamp was far from being this thick. After entering the swamp, although Chu Yan relied on the scanning and defogging functions of the mecha for a while, as the fog thickened, the defogging functions failed. They basically became blind again. ¡°I can¡¯t see at all. The scanning function is out of order. There is something weird ahead. Qiao, I think we have to evacuate, the situation ahead is unknown, so it¡¯s not suitable to go any further,¡± Chu Yan stopped the mecha and said seriously. The giant beast, which was not affected by the fog, seemed to be surprised why he stopped. It turned its head and roared at the cockpit, and turned a few times in a hurry. ¡°It said that the treasure is just ahead, and we¡¯re almost there,¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was also unaffected, comforted it, thought for a while and said, ¡°Then you open the cage, and I¡¯ll jump off the tree and look to see what¡¯s going on.¡± Chu Yan rejected his proposal without thinking about it. he shook his head and said, ¡°No, what if it is really dangerous, then I might as well go with you!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come back soon,¡± Qiao Zhiya tried to persuade him again. But his words weren¡¯t clear in the live broadcast due to some interference. From a moment ago, he had felt that this ¡°interference¡± was actually caused by magical fluctuations, just like what he experienced on the mining planet not long ago. This time however, it did feel a little different. The magic fluctuations he noticed this time were very weak and sporadic, as if something had hidden the magic fluctuations. The giant beast brought them here specially, and it was definitely not an ordinary treasure that it wished to show. The stone grass he discovered last time on the mining planet could help Chu Rong cure his spiritual pollution. So maybe¡­ this time¡­ it might be of similar properties. Qiao Zhiya insisted that Chu Yan had no choice but to compromise. He opened the cage to let him go to the front to check the situation. As a result, after Qiao Zhiya left, the giant beast jumped out of the cage, and then sprayed water from its mouth when it was close to the surface of the swamp. A large mass of viscous liquid was stuck on it, and he stood firmly, and then ran away and disappeared. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± So this liquid can still be used like this? ¡®Wrong! Now that both of them have run away, what should I do!¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 49.2 Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Chairman Ning aka Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Ning Kongran¡¯s father. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. Ning Konghua: Ning Kongran¡¯s male cousin. 21 years old. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s uncle (her father¡¯s younger brother). Correction: I fucked up and thought he was Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother before¡­ You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. You Yuanyuan: You Xia¡¯s younger sister. Chu Yan collapsed. He drove the mecha around the spot twice with the empty cage in his hand. He wanted to chase after them but was afraid that Qiao Zhiya would come back here later. In the end, he could only wait anxiously at the spot, muttering frantically, hoping that the two of them wouldn¡¯t mess up. The audience was also devastated. From their conversations, they could roughly guess that Qiao Zhiya should have gone ahead to explore the way. They were anxious and hated the live broadcast equipment more and more. ¡°Sir¡­¡± Fan Xiangnan couldn¡¯t help but speak, his eyes filled with worry. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Chu Rong suppressed the impatience in his heart and frowned. He spoke to reassure Fan Xiangnan, but he might also be trying to reassure himself. ¡°If they encounter danger, they will take the initiative to send a distress signal.¡± ¨CQiao Zhiya was also not one to be overwhelmed. Fan Xiangnan nodded and forced himself to calm down. The other three supervisors side-eyed him, admiring his calmness, but also very curious: ¡®So what happened in the fog!¡¯ The magical fluctuations became stronger as they went forward. Qiao Zhiya stopped after probing for a while, resisting the desire to move on, and was about to turn back to find Chu Yan to explain the situation. As a result, as soon as he turned around, he saw a giant gray-haired beast rapidly approaching in a cloud of gray fog. He froze for a moment, then raised his voice and asked in Elvish language, ¡°Why are you going there?¡± The beast didn¡¯t reply. Instead, it opened its mouth and sprayed out a large mass of viscous liquid to envelop Qiao Zhiya. After that, it pulled him onto its back, and rushed towards the depths of the fog. The mucus was very thick, but it felt like soft cotton to the touch. Qiao Zhiya inside of it could only move in a small range, and it seemed to be somewhat soundproof. No malice was detected, so Qiao Zhiya did not resist. However, he was a little worried about Chu Yan who was waiting outside. Before this event started, the supervisors confiscated all their communicators. If he and Chu Yan were separated, they would not know how to contact each other. The giant beast stopped after running for a while. Then it turned its head and put Qiao Zhiya down, squatting on the spot and looking at him like offering a treasure. After landing, the viscous liquid on his body automatically dissipated and disappeared. Without the barrier, the magical fluctuations in the air felt overwhelming. It was thick, like the air in the Magical Continent. Before Qiao Zhiya had time to be amazed that there was a solid piece of land in the swamp, he immediately ran towards the place where the magical aura was coming from. There, he found that the strong magic aura came from huge chunks of massive rocks. Surrounding the rocks was a very thick layer of fog, which actually came from the said rocks. ¡°Ho ho,¡± The giant beast nudged him into the front of the rock. Then it walked up to a smaller rock and smashed it into pieces with a hit of its tail. From inside the smashed rock, Qiao Zhiya could see a foggy white object. The beast, without hesitation, opened its mouth to tear off a piece of the white thing and gulped it down. After eating, it let out a growl of satisfaction. After that demonstration, the beast brought the rest of the foggy white object in front of him as it wagged its massive tail. After the stone was broken, the fog became thicker. Qiao Zhiya was baffled. ¨CThat thing, he knew of it. That¡¯s a ¡®flesh of the stone¡¯. ¡®There¡¯s such a thing here?!¡¯ Flesh of the stone was a strange edible mineral. It was said this mineral was formed during the birth of the universe, and the reason for its formation was still unknown. However, its function was already studied. The mineral itself was very rare and extremely difficult to find. It was usually guarded by guardian beasts. It was recorded in the dwarf¡¯s folklore that there were a total of three pieces of this mineral that were found on the Magical Continent. One of which was claimed by a human royalty, one was taken by the dragons ¨C a race that had long since disappeared, and the last one was buried in the roots of the elf¡¯s Tree of Life, of which is said to be the source power of the said tree. In short, it was very, very, very precious. It was also said that the effect of each flesh of the stone was different. The one obtained by humans was the worst of the three, while the one obtained by elves was the most powerful. But now, he actually saw this kind of legendary thing here far away from his hometown! He looked through the mineral encyclopedia of the Federation and read the teaching materials published by the Empire. There was no record of this mineral. At first, he thought that there was no such thing here, but now it seemed that maybe the people here didn¡¯t even know that such a mineral existed. Seeing that he had been staring at the flesh of the stone without moving, the giant beast arched him anxiously. He returned to his senses. Sensing the increasingly dense magic elements in the air, he couldn¡¯t help hugging the giant beast happily and gratefully for this treasure. What a surprise! Then, this giant beast must be this flesh of the stone¡¯s guardian beast. It¡¯s a miracle that he could actually meet one. Normally, guardian beasts would not easily leave the treasures they guard. After that moment of joy, he then was thrown back to the land of reality. He remembered that this was a live broadcast, and hurriedly looked up to the sky ¨C only to see that the live broadcast equipment was circling in a daze, as if it couldn¡¯t sense the live broadcaster. Seeing this, he was relieved. The fog here was so thick that the live broadcast equipment should not be able to capture anything, and the guardian beast seems to be able to control the fog here. ¡°Thank you,¡± Qiao Zhiya gratefully said as he patted the giant beast. Then, he bent down to pick up the flesh of the stone that was offered by the beast. Seeing that he didn¡¯t eat it, the giant beast showed a trace of sadness in its big eyes, and even whined a few times at him. He hurriedly comforted it with a few words in Elvish language, telling the beast that he planned to store this mineral for a few days and eat it later. Hearing this, the giant beast became happy again. It ran to the edge of the rock pile to slap it a couple times with its paws. It generously took out about half of the mineral and piled it all in front of him, wagging its tail at him. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help laughing, and didn¡¯t show any politeness to it. He put them all away, then observed the surrounding environment. He walked up to the giant beast, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back and find Xiao Yan, he should be waiting impatiently.¡± The beast tilted its head to look at him, then suddenly took a few steps back and squatted beside the stone pile. ¡°Aren¡¯t you coming with me?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked as the smile on his face gradually disappeared. He stepped forward to pet the beast. With a low whisper, he continued, ¡°Do you want to stay here with your baby?¡± He guessed that the guardian beast left its original post because the thick fog would have an adverse effect on its eggs. The giant beast lay down directly on the ground. It protected the egg in the hair on its chest, whined at him a few times, and even licked him. It seemed that the Tree of Life¡¯s sap he poured in the egg made it invulnerable to the fog¡¯s negative effects. Qiao Zhiya touched it again, feeling a little sad ¡ª dwarves generally hate parting, but Chu Yan was still waiting outside. He couldn¡¯t make him wait for too long. Qiao Zhiya quickly collected his emotions. He drew a defensive magic circle around the rockpile first. After that, he took out all the food from his storage ring, piled it up in front of the giant beast together with the small animals that had been hunted in the past few days, and said, ¡°With the magic power emanating from the flesh of the stone, this defensive magic array should last for a long time. Take your baby to rest here in the future, no one can hurt you anymore.¡± Sensing the protection of the magic circle, the giant beast was grateful again. It licked him again, then pitifully whimpered. It even showed off its eggs as it closed its eyes ¨C the beast also didn¡¯t want to part with its new friend. Qiao Zhiya lowered his head to rub against it. He turned around, and ran towards the way he came. Hearing his movement, the giant beast turned its head to look at him quickly, its big eyes become teary, and suddenly raised its neck and let out a roar. With that, the fog mysteriously parted around Qiao Zhiya, guiding him to the way out. The audience was finally able to see some faint images again, but because Qiao Zhiya ran too fast, the images were blurry. Returning along the path cleared by the giant beast, Qiao Zhiya quickly found Chu Yan who was running around in a hurry. ¡°Qiao, you¡¯re finally back! I almost couldn¡¯t help but press the rescue device just now. Come on, let¡¯s go find Xiao Hui1literally ¡°Little Grey¡±. Which is equivalent to nicknames you would give to a cat or dog. and its baby!¡± Chu Yan spoke quickly, and he looked like he was about to run off in a hurry. He even gave the beast a casual nickname. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly stopped him. ¡°The beast just went home, I just said goodbye to it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Chu Yan was stunned. His expression changed, and he suddenly exclaimed, ¡°Okay, so it didn¡¯t come to take us to find the baby, but let us escort it home? It¡¯s too bad! How can there be such a bad beast! And why does it only say goodbye to you and not to me? I also helped in saving it!¡± ¡°Roar¨C!!¡± A vague animal roar echoed loudly. It directly shutted Chu Yan up and made him cover his ears. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help laughing at Chu Yan¡¯s silly look. ¡°Look, it bid farewell to you too. Let¡¯s go, it gave us a thank you gift, I¡¯ll show it to you.¡± Hearing the thank you gift, Chu Yan regained his energy and turned his head towards the loud roar. He yelled out a few words of farewell into the depths of the swamp. He let himself be guided by Qiao Zhiya as they went out. The audience was so curious about their trip to the fog-covered swamp. When they returned to the cliff and the image was clear again, they immediately posted frantic comments, howling for them to show the return gift from the giant beast. After Qiao Zhiya waited for Chu Yan to put away the mecha and ran to the front, he immediately took out a few beautiful crystals. It was translucent with a blue tinge. He showed it directly to the camera, saying, ¡°It let me into its nest, where it hoard these crystals. It gave me a couple of pieces. Look at this.¡± This was something he came up with as he went outside. The flesh of the stone must not be exposed, otherwise he and the giant beast might be hunted by some unscrupulous parties. So, he deliberately faked a gift to fool everyone. There were a lot of messy things in the storage bracelet, and the most common one was the magic stones. But those were considered too ordinary. In the end, he decided to take out this crystal. This was called ¡°spar2most likely this is a fantasy version of ¡°Iceland spar/silfurberg¡±, which is a transparent calcite.¡±, the common currency of the Magical Continent. This crystal was good-looking, but it couldn¡¯t be used as a weapon and it held no magical value. At most, this could be used as jewelry or ornaments. Plus, he remembered that the Federation had a record of this crystal, which was aptly named ¡°ice crystals¡± in the Federation. It was written that only a few pieces had been found. Qiao Zhiya thought that this was a perfect treasure to fool them. He thought that a spar, a crystal with no practical use, should not be too valuable in the Federation. It was probably at the same level as magic stones, and taking it out would not cause trouble for giant beasts. But what he didn¡¯t know was that here, these spars ¨C or ice crystals ¨C were ultra-rare, and all recorded findings were all basically owned by the rich and powerful. Simply put, the price of a measly piece of spar was sky-high. Especially in the Federation, where the ice crystals were rarer than in the Empire. Chu Yan stopped talking, the audience was also quiet, and the supervisors in the live broadcast room were all silent. They couldn¡¯t be jealous of such a thing as luck. ¡°You¡­¡± Chu Yan finally opened his mouth. Seeing that his reaction was wrong, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help shaking the hand holding the spar, and began to inwardly panic. He stammered and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this thing? I- I got into trouble again?¡± In the later part of his question, his voice gradually got lower. It was almost breathless, and his ears also began to tremble in anxiety. ¡°You¡¯re really lucky!¡± Chu Yan finally finished speaking after panting heavily. He excitedly threw his arms around his shoulders, ruffled his hair vigorously, and said happily, ¡°Xiao Hui is so interesting! This thing is super valuable!! Don¡¯t you want to get a set of instruments like Master Ren¡¯s? With this, ten sets can be bought directly!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears perked up and his eyes lit up, saying, ¡°Re¨C really? Is this so valuable? Do you like this very much?¡± ¡°Of course! This is the favorite jewel of the wives of big families! You can make it into jewelry and put it up for auction, so that you will never have to worry about money for the rest of your life!¡± Chu Yan became more and more excited as he talked, as if he had already seen the future where he was rich enough to casually buy mecha models. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart was surging when he heard that, his brain was about to explode, but he managed to quickly calm down. He shook his head, and said, ¡°No, I won¡¯t sell it. I¡¯m sure Dasao3Gu Yan¡¯an should like this very much, so let¡¯s make this into jewelry and give it to her.¡± ¡ªAnyway, he still had a bunch of these in his storage bracelet. Chu Yan also calmed down when he heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s plan. He was a little ashamed of his selfishness, so he easily agreed, ¡°Okay, listen to you! At worst, let¡¯s go back and ask Dasao for a few more red envelopes! The audience envied them but also had their hearts warmed by them. [What a good boy who misses his family!] Some of them had already felt their parents would be jealous and complained at them. [It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over! The women in my family will have to make a fuss when this thing comes out! But whoever dares to ask for something from the Chu family is looking for death¡­] ¡°Well, Marshal Chu¡­¡± Wei Xiongchang, who had a very fierce wife, couldn¡¯t help but speak. Chu Rong didn¡¯t even look at him when he replied, ¡°Federal regulations stipulate that whoever discovers the things on a primitive planet without an owner will have absolute rights to them. Even family members have no right to intervene. Naturally, some of them immediately send someone to look for that swamp, in case there were other ice crystals. There were quite a few people who held this idea, but it was a pity that when the event was over and everyone swarmed down the cliff, they found that the fog had formed a confusing barrier, and it was difficult for everyone to find the trace of the swamp. Even if they spend a lot of money and use instruments to locate the swamp at a high altitude, they would inevitably get lost and find nothing. CH 49.3 Sorry for the late update! After dealing with the giant beast, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya finally got down to business. They took out the map and started looking for the remaining treasures. At this time, the other two teams had each found another treasure, and there were only six undiscovered treasures left. This time, Chu Yan showed his cleverness. He easily found the hidden treasure clues from the map, and then led Qiao Zhiya to the treasure place according to the clues given. From then, it was Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expertise ¨C he communicated with the nearby animals to ask for extra clues. With that, they quickly found the treasure place; and after getting the treasure, he rewarded the animal with a little wood-elemental magic power and food, and left gracefully. The audience was amazed, happy and proud. Their impression of Exoplanet Natives were getting better by the second. The supervisors, meanwhile, gritted their teeth watching this, wishing they could get into the live broadcast and help their juniors get all the other treasures in their pockets at once! At the end of the day, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya had successfully harvested two secret treasures, and the other two teams also harvested the third treasure one after another. The undiscovered treasures in the forest became two. After a night¡¯s rest, the treasure hunt continues. Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya were unlucky that day. The first treasure spot they found was visited by other teams. When they moved towards the second one, Chu Rong¡¯s voice suddenly came from the live broadcast equipment. ¡°Fifteen treasures have been found. The Xiang-Wei family found six treasures in total, the Ning-You family found six treasures in total, and the Chu family found three treasures. The average score of each family is three points. It¡¯s a tie.¡± Xiang Kun, who was celebrating the newly found treasure, looked up at the live broadcast equipment. He looked dumbfounded and irritated. ¡°What? A tie?¡± There were only two members in Chu Yan¡¯s team, but they actually found several treasures? This is unscientific! On the other side, Ning Kongran, who was leaning on the tree and watching Ning Konghua¡¯s analysis map, also looked up at the live broadcast equipment. The corner of his mouth ticked off. ¡®This boring activity is finally over with a tie. Really a result that fits the festive atmosphere.¡¯ ¡°Now I have a new mission for you,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s cold voice echoed in the forest, which seemed to make the entire forest silent. ¡°For this mission, you are free to search, and all valuable treasures obtained in the forest will be counted as points. Your final result will be the sum of all your points. As for the treasure¡¯s points value, it will be calculated based on how valuable it is in the Federation¡¯s currency. After the results are out, the total amount you get will be the baseline for the donation for Exoplanet Natives Protection Organization, but doubled. The deadline is 6 PM tomorrow. Before the time limit ends, please bring your treasures to the top of the No. 1 mountain. If you fail to gather before the stipulated time, your result this round will be invalidated.¡± After this announcement, a big golden number ¡°1¡± suddenly appeared on the top of the south mountain, like half a cloud floating in the sky, exerting its existence. After listening to the content of the mission, the members of each team looked at each other for a few seconds, and then they all complained in their hearts. There were still tasks to do for half a day! This time it was even more inhumane, it was actually a free treasure hunt! If they searched hard and found a lot, that meant they had to donate more, which was a monetary loss but could earn them publicity; on the other hand, if they search perfunctorily, it would be easier to them and less of a monetary loss. But if they did it sloppily, the public would bite into them. Seeing how hard this mission was, this mission was definitely thought up by Chu Rong! On the other hand, after hearing about the new mission, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya both laughed happily. They looked at each other, tacitly stuffed the map into the space button, and galloped through the forest again ¡ª the real festival began! The audience also cheered after hearing the new mission, the unknown treasure hunt. Compared to the previous mission, this was bound to be more interesting! Plus, there was a donation event, which gave it a good look. [Children, come on and find it!] [Whether the Exoplanet Natives can have a good festival depends on you!] The attention of the audience was diverted, and the impact of the giant beast incident gradually faded. The dwarf boy once again showed his amazing treasure-hunting skills. He went up to trees and down to the rivers, drilled holes and climbed slopes. He dug out strange and good things from places that people could not imagine. The pile of ¡°little snakes¡±, ¡°little bugs¡±, ¡°little birds¡± and ¡°little plants¡± made the audience so hooked that Chu Yan almost forgot his last name. In contrast, the situation of the other two teams was very bad. They broke away from the fixed safe route, and their treasure hunting road became tortuous and bumpy. Continuous hurdle after hurdle were waiting for them. Either they almost lost their way, or strayed into the territory of wild beasts, and were chased as a result. The idea of ??worrying about how to control the number of treasure hunts before has become a complete joke, let alone treasure hunts now, they just hope that they wouldn¡¯t finish this empty-handed. What¡¯s even more irritating is that on the top of the No. 1 mountain, the treasure hunting of each team will be broadcast in real time. One after another cloud-like writing flashed in the sky, and it was all broadcasting Chu Yan¡¯s and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s achievements. Xiang Kun was so angry that he almost lost his grip on his cultivated image. He secretly vowed to find a big treasure that surpassed Chu Yan! The atmosphere in the Ning family was also a bit dull. Their team had the most people and the pressure was high, so it was too ugly to be at the bottom. Since the beginning of the event, the most turbulent and most fraught day has appeared. Ning Kongting accidentally slipped down the hillside, ruining the image of the young lady she always carried. Ning Konghua misanalyzed the terrain and made a big mistake. When Xiang Kun discovered a mecha manufacturing material, he was too excited and broke the reserved image he had been pretending to be. He scolded Chu Yan a few times, which weirded the audience a bit. Wei Lan showed his delicate and wilful side, as he could no longer stand the hassle at all. Ning Kongran, Xiang Jing, Wei Yu, You Xia, and You Yuanyuan who have always played in their true colors have always been stable. They were getting more and more brilliant, with their scenes appearing more frequently. As for Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan, the audience has followed Chu Yan¡¯s heartless cheers and calculated how much blood the Chu family will bleed this time, and the joyful atmosphere was the strongest. As the last day of the event approached, Xiang-Wei and Ning-You teams encountered unsolvable situations one after another. They couldn¡¯t help but ask their supervisors to ask for help. With help, they successfully got through the difficulties and harvested some more precious treasures. After lunch, each team made a final count and began to move towards the No. 1 mountain ¡ª the energy of their respective mechas were exhausted, so they could only walk there. Chu Yan stretched comfortably, looked up at Qiao Zhiya sitting on the tree, and yelled, ¡°Qiao! Come down, it¡¯s time to go home!¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was looking at the forest in a daze, was called back by him. Fascinated, he glanced at the No. 1 mountain from a distance, then at the approximate location of the giant beast. He lowered his head, jumped off the tree, and said, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± The audience, who were already familiar with him, looked at his melancholic expression. They also felt a little sad. They have already seen that this Exoplanet Native boy really liked the forest. After being freed from the shackles of the treasure hunting route, he looked so happy as he moved freely in the forest, and his eyes were full of joy. For him, the forest might be a reminiscence of his home. It was only at this time that they realized that those modern civilizations that made them feel superior to the Natives might not be so glamorous at all. They had long had this stereotypical view of various Exoplanet Natives races. Thankfully, they had opened their eyes and corrected their previous prejudices. Chu Yan looked at Qiao Zhiya several times, and finally couldn¡¯t bear to see his lack of energy. He put his arm on his shoulder and said, ¡°It¡¯s the holiday, let¡¯s be happy. You see, the activity is about to end, but we haven¡¯t used ¡®supervisors help¡¯ yet. How about we use it now?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Qiao Zhiya recovered and looked at him suspiciously. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Erge to come down and let him accompany us for a while? The opportunity will be wasted if we don¡¯t use it. The audience must also want to see Erge,¡± Chu Yan said, and deliberately glanced at the live broadcast equipment, and asked seriously, ¡°Am I right or am I right? You all want to see my Erge in the flesh.¡± The audience was stunned for a moment, and then cheered crazily: [Look! The God of War of the Chu family! The youngest Marshal of the Federation! Our savior!] [I wanna look, look, look! Must see! Ahhhh!!!] [This must be holiday benefits! Third Young Master Chu understands me!] Qiao Zhiya was moved by Chu Yan¡¯s words, and his depression eased a little. He took out the supervisor pager from his storage ring, suddenly became nervous, and asked, ¡°Do you really want to use it?¡± ¡°Use it,¡± Chu Yan patted him on the shoulder, smiling so hard that he showed his teeth, ¡°Erge must be waiting to come down.¡± In the supervisors room, other supervisors looked at Chu Rong in unison, with indescribable expressions ¡ª They went down to help the juniors with tasks, but now Chu Rong went down to see the scenery and show off. The difference was too big, and they didn¡¯t want Chu Rong to go down at all! ¡°Sir?¡± Fan Xiangnan asked with a smile as he looked at Chu Rong who was subconsciously sitting up straight in front of him. Chu Rong put down his teacup, side-eyed at the other supervisors. He got up, straightened his military uniform without hiding his good mood, turned around, and strode outside. The supervisors couldn¡¯t help staring, ¡®Wow! Before that bastard went, he used his eyes to sneer, it was so fucking irritating!¡¯ After the button was pressed, a firework shot up into the sky. On the live screen belonging to Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, a black mecha suddenly plummeted from a high altitude, and then stopped steadily when it reached a few meters above their heads. The cockpit opened, and a tall man jumped out of it. The audience cheered and excited: [Oh, the Marshal is here! Hurry up and give Third Young Master Chu a brotherly hug!] The mecha disappeared, Chu Rong landed on the ground, and then strode forward¡­ bypassing Chu Yan and directly hugged Qiao Zhiya who was staring at him blankly. He rubbed his ears vigorously, and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ll pick you up.¡± Audience: ? Was there something wrong with the script? Why did the Marshal hug the cute little Native first, but then left his younger brother aside? Chu Yan, who was directly ignored: ¡°¡­¡± Ah, that¡¯s true, I¡¯m used to it¡­ Ha ha. Xiang Lingyun in the live broadcast room couldn¡¯t help but sneered, and said, ¡°He really knows how to act.¡± Wei Xiongchang and Xiang Hui immediately agreed. Fan Xiangnan gave a low cough, showing his presence. All the supervisors froze, the corners of their mouths twitched. They fell silent while gritting their teeth inwardly. ¡®Don¡¯t even think about doing this bloody shit again!¡¯ CH 50.1 Seeing Chu Rong, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s depressed mood completely improved. After being hugged, he simply burrowed deeper into the Marshal¡¯s hug. He tilted his head to rub against his chest, saying, ¡°I found a lot of treasures, I think our group must be the first. There¡¯s also the crystal and¡­ well, I have something good to show you when we go back. I can¡¯t tell you now, I will tell you secretly later, okay?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Chu Rong was so endeared by him that his heart melted into pieces. He wanted to just hug him, but he knew that they were being recorded now. He frowned again, touched the back of his head, and let go of him. He turned his head to look at Chu Yan next to him, and said with disgust, ¡°Come here.¡± Under the glare, Chu Yan resigned to his fate. He went over and hugged him, and said perfunctorily,¡±Ah, Erge, you are here, I am so happy.¡± ¡®I am so happy to be this shield and acting prop, hehehehe.¡¯ Seeing them hugging each other, Qiao Zhiya pursed his lips and smiled happily. Thinking of something, he suddenly turned around and climbed up the tree, then swished a few wild fruits down. With bright eyes, he saw Chu Yan and Chu Rong finally ended their forced hug. As Chu Rong came over, his ears subconsciously twitched. He wiped the wild fruit with some embarrassment and handed it over, saying, ¡°This is very sweet, try it.¡± Chu Rong pinched the twitchy ears once again as he bit into the fruit. ¡°Not bad, very sweet.¡± Qiao Zhiya became visibly happy. His little face was red, his ears moved around uncontrollably. Now with Chu Rong around, he leaned closer and started to chatter about the happenings on this event. Compared to his previous character ¨C seldom talking, more action, and calm expression ¨C he was 1000x sweeter. The audience: [¡­It turns out that the Marshal gets along with the little Native in private¡­ It turns out that the Marshal who always has a dark face has such a gentle and easy-going side¡­ It turns out that the little Native boy¡¯s ears can be so lively¡­] [I heard that the little Native boy was rescued by the Marshal, and has been raised by the Marshal since then¡­] [Ahhh! Such a lovely Exoplanet Native, I also want a son like him! So jealous!!] [So the wild fruit that the little Native secretly picked and saved was also for the Marshal? Now seeing him coming, why don¡¯t you just pick fresher treasures?] [And the little Native even wiped the fruit before handing it over, Chu Yan didn¡¯t get that treatment!] They wanted to be handed fruit by the little Native! They wanted to pinch his ears! They wanted to be looked at with his dependent and intimate eyes! They wanted to hear his nice voice keep talking in their ears! Not afraid of death, they still want to be patted and killed by the Marshal! The Marshal was too cruel, they didn¡¯t dare to imagine this kind of picture of him being kind to others before! Suddenly they don¡¯t know who to envy and envy, so confused! After a short period of silence, the comment area exploded again, and the atmosphere became unprecedentedly enthusiastic. The audience stared at the Marshal and the Native who were warmly getting along with each other in the live broadcast with green eyes, as if they had discovered a new world. Not enough to vent the turbulent emotions in their hearts! Fan Xiangnan didn¡¯t expect the audience¡¯s reaction to be so strong. He was a little puzzled, but more happy ¨C the public had too many misunderstandings about the Marshal, it¡¯s great to be able to reduce some of them now. The supervisors of several other families felt ashamed to vomit blood when they saw this, and they felt extremely regretful. The purpose of their decision to start the live broadcast was to make the Chu family lose the hearts of the people and defeat Chu Rong¡¯s favorability. But now, this was overturned! Chu Rong usually looked impatient and bad-tempered, but when he was under the live broadcast camera, he suddenly realized and played nice with the Native. What a scheming bastard, they misunderstood him before! Pooh! Somewhere in the forest, Xiang Kun noticed the firework for help suddenly lifted into the sky. His eyes lit up, and he couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°The fireworks of Ning-You and us have already been used up this morning. So it was Chu Yan who set it off? Did they face troubles?¡± Wei Yu looked up to the sky, and noticed that a black mecha was quickly landing towards a certain location in the forest. His heart moved, and he said, ¡°It should be, I saw Marshal Chu¡¯s mecha.¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± Xiang Kun looked over excitedly, and sure enough, he saw the shadow of a mecha. He almost couldn¡¯t help but gloated, but it was Xiang Jing who pulled him to stabilize his expression. Wei Lan didn¡¯t have the energy to pay attention to these things. He frowned and tugged at his sleeves, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go, I want to go home.¡± These days were like nightmares to him. It¡¯s so uncomfortable. Xiang Kun came back to his senses, thought about it, and immediately said, ¡°Then let¡¯s go faster and try to get to the top of the mountain as soon as possible.¡± It¡¯s best to leave Chu Yan¡¯s team far behind! Ning Kongran on the other side also looked up at the sky, noticed the landing of the black mecha, and changed his mind. He looked down at Ning Kongting who was sitting on the rock with her arms outstretched for Ning Konghua to bandage her wound, and said flatly, ¡°Give me the bottle after drinking the potion. It¡¯s something Qiao Zhiya gave me. I want to keep it as a souvenir.¡± Ning Kongting, who was going to keep the bottle and study the remaining antidote inside, froze when she heard this. She wanted to pretend not to hear, but unexpectedly, Ning Kongran, who was always easy to talk to, unexpectedly persisted. He even came over and stretched out his hand to her. That way she couldn¡¯t play dumb. Ning Kongting frowned, and gave him the bottle reluctantly. Just now she accidentally scratched her arm by a poisonous plant, the wound immediately became numb and black, and her head began to feel dizzy. The antidote from the Ning family had no effect. When she was at a loss, Ning Kongran took the antidote given from the Natives. She was very skeptical about the efficacy of this potion. She didn¡¯t want to use it at first, but she was really uncomfortable, so she tentatively poured a little potion on the wound. Unexpectedly, the potion was effective. It receded a lot, and her arms became responsive. So, she just drank all the potion, and when she calmed down, she immediately paid attention to this strange potion. She wanted to take it back to study it, but before she could do it, Ning Kongran slighted her. ¡°Remember to say thank you to Qiao Zhiya when we meet again, he saved you,¡± Ning Kongran took the empty bottle and gave instructions like a good brother who taught his sister to be polite. Ning Kongting nodded, her hands tightened unwillingly. Seeing this, Ning Konghua frowned. He patted his sister reassuringly, and shook his head slightly at her. The You family siblings stood on the other side, pretending not to see the small problems between the Ning family. On the No. 8 and No. 9 screens, the audience¡¯s envious and jealous comments were increasing crazily, and the sour smell was covering the screen. ¡°Xiao Yan is so good this time!¡± Qiao Zhiya did not forget to praise Chu Yan while talking, and asked very intimately, ¡°His mecha¡¯s energy is used up, and there is a little problem with the driving system¡­¡± Chu Rong glanced at Chu Yan whose eyes lit up instantly after hearing this. Remembering his excellent performance in the past few days, Chu Rong nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I will ask Master Ren to upgrade the driving system for you again.¡± ¡®Upgrade the system? Does that mean that I can learn more difficult mecha operations?¡¯ ¡°Erge, you have to keep your word! Don¡¯t go back on your promise!¡± Chu Yan immediately howled out, ran to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side excitedly and bumped into him, and said happily, ¡°Good brother, it¡¯s interesting! I¡¯ll invite you to the club later¡ª¡± ¡°Chu Yan,¡± Chu Rong called out coldly. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll take you to buy mecha models later, and I¡¯ll buy you one set! No, I¡¯ll buy two sets! I¡¯ll use my own savings!¡± Chu Yan immediately changed his words, throwing morality out of the blue. Qiao Zhiya was also very happy, his ears moved back and forth excitedly. He shook his head and said thoughtfully, ¡°No, you keep your little coffers for yourself, and I¡¯ll give you all the treasures we found this time, and it¡¯s more expensive for you to maintain the mecha.¡± Chu Yan was so moved that he was about to cry, and the audience was almost crying when they heard it. What a child¡­ he could make money, was caring, cute, sensible, and¡­ in short, very very very good! [I wanna take him home TT_TT] ¡°Qiao Zhiya,¡± Chu Rong said suddenly, and after Qiao Zhiya looked up, he raised his hand to hide the youth¡¯s ears and said, ¡°After this event is over, there will be many people approaching you with various purposes.¡± ¡°There are both well-intentioned people and malicious ones. Some of them come for you, some for your ability, and more, for what you have in your hands. You have to learn to distinguish them. Your kindness is your strength, but it can also be your weakness. If someone deliberately approaches you with malicious intentions, and you can¡¯t solve them, come back and tell me, understand?¡± said the Marshal, deliberately looking up at the live broadcast equipment coldly. After a few seconds passed, he continued petting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head and ears. The audience who were howling with excitement were shocked by the murderous look, causing a brief period of absolute silence in the barrage area. Then the audience who really liked Qiao Zhiya immediately echoed, shouting that the Marshal was right! [The little Native boy is so powerful and yet so simple. I¡¯m afraid he will easily be fooled by others. It¡¯s better if he¡¯s well-protected and educated!] With some careful thoughts in mind, for example, the supervisors were shocked. Knowing that Chu Rong was giving a tactful warning, he brought Qiao Zhiya into his protection circle in front of everyone in the Federation. Ning Tianya actually noticed the potion Ning Kongting used, and he also had a little thought budding in his mind. Seeing this, he decisively put this thought behind him. He stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s time to prepare for the welcoming ceremony at six o¡¯clock. I¡¯ll go first.¡± Xiang Lingyun and Wei Xiongchang looked at each other, and got up one after another. They greeted Fan Xiangnan, then turned and left, not paying attention to the live broadcast. Qiao Zhiya quickly understood the meaning of Chu Rong¡¯s words. He nodded quickly, and said obediently, ¡°I will.¡± He also tilted his head and rubbed against the Marshal¡¯s palms to express his trust and intimacy. The audience blushed seeing this action, while Chu Yan rolled his eyes at the sweet atmosphere exuded by the two. He couldn¡¯t help stepping forward and inserting himself between the two of them, boldly bumped Chu Rong away, put his arms around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders, and said, ¡°Erge is right! Aren¡¯t you going to skip a grade after next year? Let me tell you, those in the upper grades are much more scheming than the low-grade radish heads you meet now, especially the bunch who get close to Xiang Kun, none of them are good! After you skip the grade, ignore them. If they bully you, you beat them up, but don¡¯t forget to call me so I can be your back-up!¡± ¡°No messing around in school,¡± Chu Rong frowned. He stretched out his long arms and pulled Chu Yan¡¯s arms off Qiao Zhiya, then grabbed Qiao Zhiya by the back collar and lifted him up. Blocking the audience¡¯s vision, he looked at Chu Yan and warned, ¡°You¡¯re going to be admitted to the military academy in the second half of next year, so don¡¯t cause trouble for me.¡± Chu Yan folded his arms angrily, and said in a drawn-out tone, ¡°Fi¨Cne! I promise won¡¯t take the initiative to cause trouble.¡± ¡®But if others provoked me, then don¡¯t blame me for fighting back fiercely, hehe.¡¯ Understanding what he meant, Chu Rong glanced at him again, and said nothing more. He looked back at Qiao Zhiya who was being carried to this side. He patted his hair once again, seemingly never bored of this affectionate gesture. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of causing trouble, if they dared to provoke you. Don¡¯t be bullied.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded vigorously. He looked up and smiled at him, trying to assure Chu Rong, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let anyone bully me.¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 50.2 Character List =The Chu Family= Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Gu Yan¡¯an: Chu Huai¡¯s wife. She¡¯s a doctor. =The Xiang-Wei Family Alliance= Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Liutenant General. Wei Yu: Wei Xiongchang¡¯s grandson. Probably around 20 years old. Wei Lan: Wei Yu¡¯s younger brother. 14 years old. =The Ning Family= Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. =The Presidential Faction= Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. 24 years old. Long Ruizhang: Long Baorou¡¯s uncle (her father¡¯s younger brother). Correction: I fucked up and thought he was Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother before¡­ You Xia: Long Baorou¡¯s maternal male cousin. Older brother to You Yuanyuan. You Yuanyuan: You Xia¡¯s younger sister. The audience was speechless. Why was the Marshal so double-standard¡­ but that¡¯s not the point! What¡¯s the matter with the little Native boy wanting to skip a grade? And what happened to that seemingly incomparably skillful lifting action just now! Didn¡¯t the little Native just arrive in the Federation not long ago, why did he already go to the intermediate college? Did they miss some important information? Chu Yan said he wanted to ask Chu Rong to come down and walk for a while, and that was exactly what happened. After chatting for a while, he took out his black mecha and brought Qiao Zhiya into the cockpit. As for Chu Yan, the Marshal threw a spare mecha energy box at him. He then took off with Qiao Zhiya to the top of the mountain first. Chu Yan took out his mecha with a numb face and replaced the depleted energy box. After entering the mecha, he chased after the black mecha that had already flown to the point where there was only a black spot left. ¡®Boyfriend over brother! Curse your unrequited love forever!!¡¯ Xiang Kun, who had climbed halfway up the mountain, watched helplessly as a black mecha flew over his head, followed by another familiar gray mech. His foot slipped and he almost fell down the mountain, his eyes widened and he shouted in disbelief, ¡°What¡¯s the situation? Why can they fly with a mecha! This is cheating! It must be cheating!¡± Wei Yu looked away, thought for a while, and said, ¡°It seems that Chu Yan¡¯s team didn¡¯t call for help because they were in trouble. He just wants to save some trouble, and be taken directly to the top of the mountain¡­ Let¡¯s go, it¡¯s getting late.¡± There was nothing more frustrating than this. Xiang Kun¡¯s expression twisted, and he thought about venting it by cursing. But seeing Xiang Jing¡¯s worried expression, he swallowed the curse words down. Losing was already a foregone conclusion, so at least they shouldn¡¯t lose too badly. The live broadcast was not over yet, and the show has to go on! Chu Yan¡¯s team was the first to reach the top of the mountain without any surprises. The second was the Xiang-Wei team, and the Ning-You team was the last because of Ning Kongting¡¯s accidental poisoning. It was already sunset when the three teams arrived, and the warm dusklight fell on the top of the mountain. It was a gorgeous view ¨C red, yellow, orange, purple, blue¡­ all the colors were in perfect harmony. The supervisors had already walked off the warship and hugged the children who had worked hard for a week. Then the word ¡°1¡± on the top of the mountain changed into ¡°Happy Holiday¡±. The light gradually dimmed, then, eco-friendly fireworks were shot off, bursting in myriad patterns and colors. The live broadcast stopped at the warm scene of everyone embracing tightly under the holiday greetings and fireworks, and then the screen went dark. As the final greetings for the audience was played, the event was declared over. The audience looked at the blacked-out screen. They slowly recalled what they had seen this week and felt a sense of bittersweet happiness. Then, they all rushed to the forum to post: [This year¡¯s festival is really great!] After being tired for a week, the juniors all went back to their rooms to rest after returning to the warship. Qiao Zhiya also went back to his room. But instead of going to wash and rest, he laid down by the window, looking at the blurry forest below. After distinguishing the position of the giant beast, he touched the window glass lightly. ¡®Without human disturbance, the animals in this forest should be able to live freely and happily again. I hope the fireworks at night did not scare them.¡¯ Suddenly, there was a sound at the door, he came back to his senses and turned his head to look. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you sleeping?¡± Chu Rong walked in with a frown. He saw Qiao Zhiya lying by the window, and went up to hug him. Qiao Zhiya quickly returned the hug and put his head on Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder. He buried deeper, and whispered directly into Chu Rong¡¯s ear, ¡°Mm¡­ I can¡¯t sleep.¡± The warm breath tickling his ears, Chu Rong only hugged the youth tighter. He lifted the youth, then put him on the bed while forcing him to lie down. Then, Qiao Zhiya was tucked into a quilt as Chu Rong laid down beside him and hugged him through the quilt. The Marshal was still frowning as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t think much. Shut your eyes and go to sleep.¡± Qiao Zhiya buried his face in the quilt and smiled. His mood suddenly improved, he rolled up the quilt and arched towards the Marshal, deliberately saying while giggling, ¡°But I haven¡¯t bathed yet.¡± ¡°Do that tomorrow morning,¡± Chu Rong pinched the exposed fluttering ears, gently rubbed the back of his head, and coaxed him in a low voice, ¡°Sleep, I¡¯ll be with you.¡± With this familiar scent enveloping his body, his tense nerves finally relaxed, and a week¡¯s amount of exhaustion finally hit him in the face all at once. Qiao Zhiya covered his mouth and yawned, wriggling inside the quilt as he slowly closed his eyes. He mumbled, ¡°Actually, I miss you so much¡­¡± ¡®Because I miss you, I can¡¯t even fully enjoy myself in the forest¡­¡¯ He buried these words in his heart, and finally fell into a deep sleep. The moment Qiao Zhiya¡¯s breathing became slow and steady, Chu Rong stopped patting the quilt. He leaned over slightly, looking at every perfections and blemishes on the youth¡¯s peaceful sleeping face. For a fraction of a second, he kissed his cheek. During the short return trip, all the families settled down, guarding their juniors and asking about their health, while dealing with the explosion of public opinion after the online live broadcast ended. When the juniors regained their vitality and the supervisors were able to free up their energy to fight with their opponents again, the Capital Planet was already close at hand. Before landing, the supervisors of each family stood at the exit hatch, preparing for the contact with the President and media interviews after landing. Chu Rong still stood alone on the other side with an indifferent face, not getting involved with the others. Seeing him like this, Xiang Lingyun, who was standing with Wei Xiongchang, suddenly felt an urge to call him over. After realizing this, he hurriedly shook his head. This ¡°propinquity¡± thing was scary, making him cultivate ¡°revolutionary feelings¡± towards Chu Rong of all people, regarding his own wish. He suppressed this impulse, but Wei Xiongchang took the initiative to open his mouth and called out, ¡°Marshal Chu, why are you standing there alone? The President will bring the media to greet you later. It¡¯s better for us to stand together.¡± Xiang Lingyun stared blankly. When Chu Rong heard the call, he turned his head and looked over. After thinking for a while, he actually walked up to Wei Xiongchang and stood still, but he still kept his indifferent face and did not speak. Xiang Lingyun¡¯s eyes widened. ¡®What¡¯s going on? Is the confrontation between the Xiang-Wei family and the Chu family going to be over because of a live broadcast?¡¯ Xiang Hui, who was standing behind Xiang Lingyun, saw that Chu Rong had really come, and his expression was a bit complicated. He was the one who handled the matter of public opinion. After the Chu family was targeted, the Xiang family suffered the most suspicion. He originally hated the Chu family to death, even if Chu Yan helped the Xiang family say something at the last moment. No words could alleviate the tension, but later he discovered that the Chu family¡¯s public relations team was secretly cooperating with the Xiang family¡¯s clarification, and shifted the public¡¯s attention to the President without looking suspicious. It made his hate lessen a bit, but that wouldn¡¯t stop the years-long enmity between the two families. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much, the Chu family just disdains being a villain,¡± Chu Rong suddenly said lightly, startling Xiang Hui. The Colonel looked up at him, and saw that he still had a cold face and didn¡¯t look at him directly. Xiang Hui frowned, turned sideways towards the exit hatch. When Xiang Lingyun and Wei Xiongchang heard what Chu Rong said, the ¡°revolutionary friendship¡± that had been in their hearts disappeared instantly, and they stopped trying to talk to Chu Rong. Long Baorou, who was left alone, looked at the scene of them standing together and talking ¡°intimately¡±. She clenched her fingers tightly. She couldn¡¯t help turning her head to see Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya who were standing obliquely behind and ruining her plans. As a result, as soon as he turned his head, Chu Rong, who was standing far away, looked over coldly. The warning and murderous look in his eyes were completely undisguised. She was startled, quickly looked away, and moved behind her uncle Long Ruizhang, with a very ugly expression on her face. ¡°Baorou, you¡¯ve passed this time,¡± Long Ruizhang took everyone¡¯s reaction into his eyes. He turned his body around to block her from Chu Rong¡¯s hostile sight. He whispered, ¡°Even if you want to attract Chu Rong¡¯s attention, it shouldn¡¯t be done that way.¡± ¡°Who said I want to¡ª¡± Long Baorou immediately retorted. Long Ruizhang interrupted her gently, sighed, and said: ¡°Baorou, uncle is someone who has been there, you can¡¯t fool me. Chu Rong is not something you can think of, just give up. Remember, in front of the Four Great Families, what is the identity of the President¡¯s daughter?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think too highly of yourself. If it weren¡¯t for the great war ten years ago that hurt human beings and delayed many things, do you think that your father can sit firmly in the position of President for so long?¡± These words really poked her heart, making Long Baorou stared at him almost fiercely. She outright hissed, ¡°Uncle, you are a coward. Stop making people think that our Long family is like you! My younger brother1uh¡­ I fucked up. I don¡¯t remember about Long Ruizhang character (bc he¡¯s not important in later chapters lol) but I remembered Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother instead. So I thought that those two characters are the same :DDD I¡¯m dumb, I know. has been taught badly by you, so don¡¯t try to teach me badly again! Since some things have been delayed once, then why can¡¯t we continue to delay the second time?¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Long Ruizhang was startled by her outrageous words. He looked at her in disbelief for a few seconds, and was about to say something more. But he was halted by the opening of the warship¡¯s hatch, followed by the overwhelming flashes of the media¡¯s camera lights. He shut up, skillfully put on a diplomatic smile, but sighed in his heart. This overly smart niece was still influenced by his increasingly lost elder brother. The president was a middle-aged man with a good temper. He has an amiable aura and smiles at any time, which was completely different from the icy Long Baorou. Qiao Zhiya stood at the back and looked forward curiously. He saw Long Baorou, who was standing at a corner, suddenly stepped forward and hugged the President. She then forcefully intervened in the conversation between the President and Chu Rong. Somehow, it made him upset. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s still here. Wasn¡¯t she deprived of the right to enter the military headquarters? Do you know why she can be here?¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t bear to look straight at him, so turned his head, and saw Xiang Kun staring viciously at this side. Chu Yan raised his eyebrows, turned up his voice¡¯s volume and mocked, ¡°Hey, that loser over there. What are you looking at me for, jealous?¡± Qiao Zhiya heard the movement and turned his head to look. Ning Kongran, who happened to be showing his figure after Xiang Kun walked away, met his gaze, froze for a moment, and then smiled at the older youth. Ning Kongran smiled back, and then, as if thinking of something, he took the initiative to come over. With a polite smile on his face, he whispered, ¡°At the celebration gala later, Ning Kongting may find someone to approach you on purpose. Remember, don¡¯t split up with Chu Yan, and don¡¯t reveal anything about the medicine. If necessary, tell Chu Rong about it and let him protect you.¡± Chu Yan who heard this sentence raised his eyebrows slightly. He was a little surprised. Ning Kongran smiled at him again, then raised his voice and said, ¡°Thank you for the medicine, it¡¯s very useful.¡± After speaking, he nodded politely, turned and returned to the Ning family¡¯s side. After Ning Kongran left, Chu Yan dragged Qiao Zhiya a little farther, and asked in a low voice, with strange eyes. ¡°You have a good relationship with him?¡± Qiao Zhiya was still digesting Ning Kongran¡¯s instructions just now. He half-heartedly nodded and honestly replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can say we have a good relationship. He and I have known each other in school before, but during the activities he kept pretending he didn¡¯t know me.¡± ¡®So they knew each other before? Why does it feel weird¡­?¡¯ Chu Yan rubbed his chin, then looked back at Ning Kongran. The Ning family, who had always been neutral, suddenly came to remind him to guard against his own family. ¡®¨CDoes Ning Kongran have some thoughts about Qiao?¡¯ CH 50.3 After the media was satisfied, the event ended. Everyone bid farewell to the President and to each other. They still have a celebration gala to prepare, and it happened in the evening. After the gala was over, each family could really close their doors to celebrate their own. At eight o¡¯clock in the evening, the gala began. As soon as Chu Rong arrived, the President sent someone to invite him away, and then a large group of young masters and ladies from unknown families approached Qiao Zhiya at a seemingly elegant, but actually terrifying speed, scaring him. As a result, Qiao Zhiya quickly hid behind Chu Yan. Chu Yan was overjoyed when he saw this, but he still helped him send all the people away very responsibly, and then took him to a corner. Half an hour later, Chu Rong, who had finished his superficial work, left the center circle on the grounds that he was unwell. He found Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who had eaten until their bellies were round. Leaving Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an to deal with the backstabbing politicians, he exited gracefully with the two of them. This move made people who were about to take the opportunity to make trouble extremely angry. On top of that, he also blocked Long Baorou, who was about to find a chance to dance with Chu Rong, until she was fuming with anger all night along. Back at Chu family¡¯s home, Qiao Zhiya took off his slim-fit suit, and finally felt at ease. He couldn¡¯t wait to drag Chu Rong and Chu Yan to the empty mecha battle arena. While carefully taking out the flesh of the stone, he said, ¡°This is the treasure I was talking about last time.¡± As soon as the mysterious mineral appeared, a light gray mist floated out. Chu Rong and Chu Yan showed uncomfortable expressions, and took a step back subconsciously ¡ª they remembered that this fog was dangerous, and they weren¡¯t wearing protective gear at the moment. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback when he saw this. After connecting the dots, he hurriedly put the mineral away, and hurriedly reassured them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot that you can¡¯t directly face the fog, I have an antidote here, you¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re fine, this thing doesn¡¯t seem to be poisonous,¡± Chu Yan covered his nose to explain, raised his hand and waved the fog that hadn¡¯t dissipated in front of him, and said with a frown, ¡°It looks like some kind of irritating gas. It doesn¡¯t smell, but it feels a little uncomfortable after I inhaled it. Don¡¯t worry, it just feels itchy in the nose.¡± Qiao Zhiya was a little relieved after hearing this, but still insisted on handing him an antidote, and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was too sloppy, you¡­¡± The previously silent Chu Rong suddenly raised his hand to press his forehead, swayed his body, and sat down on the ground. Qiao Zhiya was startled, panicked for a moment, hurriedly took out another antidote and stepped forward. Anxiety palpable in his voice, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Is your body affected? Is it because of the fog? I¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t come over,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice dropped a few degrees. He used his stretched-out arms to stop Qiao Zhiya from approaching. His expression distorted, his frowns deepened, as if he was suppressing something. His hand waved, but it was visibly trembling. Through gritted teeth, Chu Rong ordered: ¡°Leave. Contact Zhuang Yu and ask her to come over.¡± Seeing Chu Rong looking pained like this, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worry skyrocketed. ¡°W-what¡­ your body?¡± Something in Chu Yan¡¯s mind clicked. He immediately shouted, ¡°Erge, your spiritual power is rioting!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart stopped suddenly. He stared at Chu Rong with wide eyes, and was shocked to find that the floating fog seemed to be attracted by something ¨C it actually condensed around Chu Rong. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but want to step forward again. ¡°Get out quickly,¡± Chu Rong repeated. He pressed his forehead, eyes shut in pain. At the same time, an indistinct violent spiritual force quickly spread around Chu Rong, and the sirens in the room began to go off crazily. ¡°Damn it!¡± Chu Yan didn¡¯t expect what he thought to be correct. He hurriedly opened the protective barrier around his body and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. He then turned around and ran to the corner of the hall to find the security control device ¨C first to turn off the siren, then to turn on all isolation protection facilities. After finishing this, he turned around and prepared to pull Qiao Zhiya out, but saw that Qiao Zhiya actually picked up Chu Rong, who was already a little unconscious, and ran towards the lounge in the battle hall. ¡°Qiao, what are you doing? Come back!¡± He was dumbfounded, and rushed forward to catch up. Qiao Zhiya was already filled with self-blame. His little face was tense. With panic in his voice, his voice rang high, ¡°I¡¯ll help stabilize him first. Go call Zhuang Yu-jie to come over!¡± Then, he closed the door and locked it up. ¡°Hold on! It¡¯s too dangerous, come out!¡± Chu Yan was so anxious that he pulled the door hard, but it wouldn¡¯t budge. Knowing that any effort to pry the door open would be futile, he had no choice but to contact Zhuang Yu and the rest of his family. Inside the lounge, Chu Rong managed to gain a little bit of consciousness and opened his eyes. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya was still there, his eyebrows immediately furrowed. He withdrew his hand again, and reprimanded in a low voice, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to go out? Why are you so disobedient!¡± Qiao Zhiya placed him on the couch in the lounge. He rummaged through his storage bracelet and found a mid-level potion he brought in case of emergencies. He brought the bottle to Chu Rong¡¯s mouth while saying, ¡°Drink this first, this should be able to slow it down a bit.¡± Chu Rong only felt that his head hurt more, and his consciousness began to waver. He fell back on the sofa, closed his eyes and said, ¡°Get out¡­ This rage is worse than the previous ones, I can¡¯t hold it back for long¡­ Go. Please.¡± Seeing his increasingly pale and pained expression, Qiao Zhiya tightened his hold on the potion. Gritting his teeth, he threw himself at the Marshal, using his body weight to press the taller man¡¯s limbs down. Opening the bottle, he quickly poured the potion into Chu Rong¡¯s mouth and forced him to gulp it down. He then pressed his forehead against Chu Rong¡¯s, and used that as a focal point to focus all of his magical power into ¡ª the influence of this fog was still unknown, so he couldn¡¯t hold back! The potion flowed directly down his throat, burning it with pure power until it reached his stomach. The sharp jolt of sudden magic hit his brain, making his gasp. Out of pure instinct, Chu Rong wanted to reach Qiao Zhiya, who was basically laying down on him. He hugged the youth tight, and the two men looked inseparable. The air was saturated with arrogant black spots, which were denser than usual. These black spots surrounded the healing magical power and ate it almost immediately. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t back down ¨C he took out a couple of magic stones to supplement him. He needed more magic power to fight this out and heal Chu Rong. Under the influence of the potion, Chu Rong regained a little bit of consciousness, vaguely aware that a gentle little hand was trying to heal him with difficulty. He frowned, turned his body sideways and wrapped the youth in a protective embrace. He opened the ¡°door¡± of his spiritual sea, and carefully led Qiao Zhiya to poke in, so he could lock him up for protection. Qiao Zhiya immediately noticed his help, and hurriedly used his magic power to penetrate it. He was horrified to find that the gray fog had actually floated into Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual sea, suppressing his own spiritual power, resulting in the black spots being able to wreak havoc. ¡®How did this happen?¡¯ He was shocked, and his heart sank. Outside the battle hall, Zhuang Yu hurried over with the equipment. As he put on her protective clothing and was about to enter, she was keenly aware of a familiar violent force drifting towards her, shaking her spiritual strength violently. Surprised, she hurriedly took out the instrument in the space button and turned it on, and then heard a piercing siren without any surprise. The expressions of all the people present changed at the same time. They raised their heads to look at the training hall where the isolation protective cover had been opened, and they were horrified. If the protective shield couldn¡¯t stop Chu Rong¡¯s power, then¡­ ¡°Turn on the protection system of the main house!¡± Zhuang Yu tightened her hands, with an unprecedentedly ugly expression, and said through gritted teeth, ¡°Everyone, and I mean, everyone, must evacuate all at once. There should be no living creatures within one kilometer radius from here. Bring all the purification equipment here¡­ The Marshal¡¯s spiritual power is¡­ absolutely in a berserk state.¡± Spiritual berserk was a state where the person no longer had any control over their spiritual power, so it couldn¡¯t suppress the accumulated spiritual pollution. The pollution would inevitably break the spiritual sea, causing irreparable damages. This phenomenon represented only one possibility ¨C complete spiritual destruction. No one dared to think about what this meant. ¡°How could this be¡­¡± Chu Yan was completely stunned, and raised his hand to grab his hair. He didn¡¯t understand how the situation could turn so sharply because he just went to see a treasure with Qiao. ¡®Wait, Qiao!¡¯ He suddenly remembered something, his face paled at the speed of sound. Seeing everyone in a hurry to evacuate, he yelled in panic, ¡°Wait, Qiao is still inside! He said he wanted to help stabilize Erge¡¯s spiritual strength. I will bring him out first!¡± Zhuang Yu was shocked. Her eyes bulged, but she still stepped forward to hold Chu Yan back. She knew the pros and cons. She had to steel her heart and said, ¡°You can¡¯t go. The spiritual radiation emitted is getting stronger and stronger, and its aggressiveness will gradually increase. If you go in, you will die! Retreat now!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡± Zhuang Yu raised her hand to knock him out and handed him over to the assistant who was waiting aside. She looked at Chu Rong¡¯s ¨C and Qiao Zhiya, too, apparently ¨C direction with red eyes, unshed tears welled in her eyes. She shut her eyes, and decisively ran away. It¡¯s not that she¡¯s cold-blooded and doesn¡¯t care about Qiao Zhiya. But the fact is that nobody can control this situation. She can¡¯t exchange other people¡¯s lives for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s life! ¡®After this spiritual berserk, the Marshal was highly likely to lose his spiritual power and become an ordinary person or¡­ or¡­ just goes crazy. But Qiao¡­ no! Qiao has special strength, maybe nothing will happen! As long as I can hurry up, maybe¡­ he¡¯ll be saved. He will be okay!¡¯ In the middle of the dinner, Chu Huai suddenly received a message from home, hurriedly greeted the President and left with Gu Yan¡¯an. The bigwigs of the various families keenly sensed something was wrong. They hurriedly sent people to investigate, but unexpectedly got the news that Marshal Chu, who said he was sick and left early, was really unwell and directly went berserk. The surprise ¨C no, the shock came too suddenly, causing a commotion between them. They hurriedly excused themselves from the gala, then went back home and nervously waited for the result of this berserk. They were looking forward to the arrival of the long-awaited ending of Marshal Chu. Chu Huai rushed to the temporary evacuation spot outside the Chu family¡¯s residence, and asked with a frown, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why did Xiao Rong suddenly go berserk?¡± ¡°Dage¡­¡± Chu Yan, who was nestled in the corner, looked up with red eyes and trembling voice. ¡°Qiao and Erge will be fine, right? It¡¯s all my fault, if I rushed in and brought Qiao out, or if I found something was wrong earlier, he¡¯ll be fine¡­ It¡¯s all my f-fault¡­¡± Chu Yan sobbed and gasped. The Third Young Master Chu was very different from his usual casual and confident self. Chu Huai¡¯s heart trembled, thinking of the dark night when his parents sacrificed themselves many years ago, he stepped forward to hold his youngest brother in a comforting hug. Patting his back, Chu Huai also tried to hold back his tears. ¡°It¡¯s okay, trust your Erge. He will be fine, and he will definitely not let Qiao be in trouble¡­ It will be fine. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her palm. She stepped forward to hug the pair of brothers, praying in her heart. ¡®God, this family had already lost our parents once. Please, please, please don¡¯t let us lose another in such a short time¡­¡¯ In the lounge, Qiao Zhiya was drenched in sweat, and the pain of his empty magic pool made him want to growl, but he had no strength at all. The magic stones had all been used up, while Chu Rong fell into a coma under the influence of the potion. He tried to dispel the black spots, but it was too numerous, and his efforts were proven to be futile. If anything, Chu Rong looked like he was on the verge of another spiritual berserk again. ¡®What to do¡­¡¯ He moved his fingers, grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s clothes, and couldn¡¯t connect his thoughts intermittently¡­ ¡®I can only hold it back this far¡­ but¡­ I must go on. I need to force those black spots even further, or better, purify them. I must go on. I must go on. I need extra magic power. I must go on.¡¯ He blinked subconsciously, full of bitter self-blame. ¡®If I had been more careful, if I hadn¡¯t taken out the flesh of the stone in such a hurry¡­ It was clearly a treasure, but how could it have stimulated the White-Haired Monster to go berserk¡­¡¯ The arm holding him suddenly tightened, waking him up from the spiral of muddled vortex his mind had been pulled in. He remembered that the giant beast ate the mineral. ¡®That¡¯s it!¡¯ A burst of strength suddenly spread all over his body, giving him enough strength to sit up. He carefully took the mineral, and pushed the fog out while pinching a bit of the mineral to feed it into Chu Rong¡¯s mouth. The fog has a negative effect on the baby, but the mineral itself was a positive thing ¨C and that was proven by the giant beast. The flesh should be useful. It must be useful. The foggy white flesh of the stone looked hard, but it softened quickly after being pinched off, and when it was fed to Chu Rong¡¯s mouth, it almost turned into a puddle of liquid. Most of the flesh was fed into Chu Rong¡¯s mouth by him, and a small part was fed into his own mouth. Almost immediately, a warm force spread from his body, and it immediately filled up his dry magic pool. ¡®Very powerful!¡¯ He was overjoyed. He pulled himself together, stood up and tore off another piece of the flesh of the stone. He pried Chu Rong¡¯s mouth open, and fed him another piece. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 51.3 Qiao Zhiya was awakened by the heat. The gray water droplets in the magic pool turned white slowly under the action of the purification circle, fused with the added magic power, and dug towards the depths of the magic pool. The magic power and the white water droplets scorched the wall of the magic pool together, until the wall slowly softened and then the cracks disappeared. In its wake, a stronger and wider magic pool gradually condensed. ¡°Hot¡­¡± He subconsciously refused to be held in Chu Rong¡¯s warm embrace. His whole body began to sweat to expel the excessive heat. Chu Rong opened his eyes and saw Qiao Zhiya was wriggling uncomfortably. His hands had left the emerald jade under him. He frowned, sat up and bent over to pick him up, put him in the healing pod, and called Zhuang Yu in. A cool white mist surrounded Qiao Zhiya, of which he comfortably breathed in. After the heat in his head reached its peak, the white water droplets mixed in the magic power silently melted away and dissipated in the magic pool. His body was completely relaxed, his breathing was slow and gentle, and his face became rosy. There was a light beep from the instrument, and the latest test results were spit out. ¡°The pollution value is zero, Qiao is fine,¡± Zhuang Yu was ecstatic. Flipping through the inspection results in her hand, her eyes quickly scanned the most important data. ¡°All is back to normal. He¡¯s okay! Qiao is completely fine!¡± Chu Yan, who was sitting nervously on the side, immediately jumped up. He excitedly asked, ¡°Really? Is Qiao really okay?¡± Zhuang Yu nodded with a smile, the baggage in her heart melted away. Her shoulder sagged, her voice became lighter. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I knew he would be fine. His power is quite special, and he has a certain level of self-healing. The pollution in his body was eliminated by himself.¡± Chu Yan happily thumped the wall, then turned around and ran to tell his eldest brother and sister-in-law the good news. Seeing this, Zhuang Yu shook her head amusedly. She turned around to persuade Chu Rong to go for a checkup, but saw that the Marshal was already by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side. His trembling hand was pressed against the healing pod¡¯s glass, and it slowly clenched into a fist. She was taken aback. Her heart softened, she lowered her head and smiled. Not long after, she left the room, closing the door on her way out. It was midnight when Qiao Zhiya woke up again. Chu Rong, who seemed to have lost weight, was lying beside him. The youth¡¯s memory was a little fuzzy, and there was a feeling of grogginess after a long sleep. He stared blankly with his eyes open, then got up in a daze. He shook Chu Rong beside him, his eyes a little aggrieved. Chu Rong, who was only half-asleep, opened his eyes immediately. Seeing the youth sitting, he was a little stunned, sat up and touched his forehead, and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is there something uncomfortable?¡± Qiao Zhiya by shaking his head, his response was still a bit dull. He leaned on the taller man, wrapped his arm around his neck, then buried his face on his chest. Then, Chu Rong heard sniffling sounds. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Rong tightened his arms, patted him on the back comfortingly. He bowed down and kissed the youth¡¯s forehead, feeling like his heart had been wrenched open. ¡°Are you feeling uncomfortable? Wait a minute, I will call Zhuang Yu over, do you want emerald jade, you¡ª¡± ¡°Gululu¡ª¡± The rumbling sound of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hungry stomach broke the atmosphere, making the youth feel more aggrieved. He buried his face deeper, and started to complain, ¡°I¡¯m so hungry¡­ White-Haired Monster, why don¡¯t you give me food¡­ you said you want to feed me¡­ I don¡¯t want you anymore, I want to go home¡­¡± While talking, he hugged the Marshal harder. His voice was still hoarse and full of mumbling, obviously still not fully awake. Chu Rong: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to find Mom and Dad¡­¡± It seemed that Qiao Zhiya was so hungry that he actually gnawed on him while he was talking. His small teeth didn¡¯t look threatening at all, and his bite only itched a little. Chu Rong¡¯s body tensed immediately, his hold tightened. Running purely on instinct, he got up with a frozen face, holding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head as he held him up. He directly reprimanded, ¡°Dare to run away? Try it! What home do you go back to? This is your home. Be honest with me, and I¡¯ll take you to eat.¡± ¡°Why are you so fierce¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya really cried out pitifully. Chu Rong froze in the face of this crybaby. He patted the youth¡¯s head, while his expression only stiffened even further. He wasn¡¯t used to appeasing someone, and he didn¡¯t know what kind of expression he should have. He just tried to slow down his speech and made it sound as gentle as possible. ¡°I¡¯m not fierce¡­ What do you want to eat, I¡¯ll make it for you.¡± ¡°Can you cook?¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately stopped crying and raised his head to look at him. There were still drops of tears on the youth¡¯s long eyelashes. It softened Chu Rong¡¯s heart when he saw it. His brows might be furrowed in impatience, but the gentleness of his tone was palpable. He held him firmly with one hand, and freed his hands to help wipe Qiao Zhiya¡¯s tears. ¡°You¡¯re really stupid¡­ I can cook. I¡¯ll make you whatever you want.¡± ¡°Then I want to eat steak!¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately became happy. He tilted his head so he could lean on Chu Rong¡¯s palm, and rubbed his face on it like a cat would. Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened. He refused, stating, ¡°No, you just woke up, and you have been relying on nutritional supplements to replenish your energy. You can¡¯t eat solid food, only liquid food to ease your digestive system.¡± Immediately, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears flattened down. He put his head on Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder, and started to cry again. ¡®Why did this guy become so, so¡­¡¯ ¡°Stop crying!¡± Chu Rong scolded with a fierce expression. Qiao Zhiya tilted his head, his cry subsided, and his body began to tilt downward. He was startled, quickly hugged him, and looked down again. Only to find that the crying youth just fell asleep with his mouth slightly open, as if the commotion just now was just sleepwalking. ¡®This is really¡­¡¯ Chu Rong stood there for a while, his expression changed. With the last thread of his patience snapped, he directly carried the youth back to the bedroom. ¡®¡­What a careless brat!¡¯ The next morning, Qiao Zhiya finally fully woke up, with a ruddy complexion and great energy. He completely forgot what happened last night, and he didn¡¯t remember most of the things that happened after he carried Chu Rong into the lounge. It seemed that he was in too much pain, so his brain directly resetted his memory. Zhuang Yu¡¯s official explanation was as follows: ¡°Although the radiation inhaled by Qiao Zhiya has been purified and healed by himself, it still has some effects. It will take time to slowly eliminate it. It should directly affect his consciousness and behavior.¡± After hearing this conclusion, Chu Rong remembered the troubled scene last night. His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and he couldn¡¯t help but turn his head to look at Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya, who was leaning on the bed and eating porridge, noticed his scrutiny. He looked up from the porridge bowl, wiped the rice grains from the corner of his mouth with a blushing face. His ears shyly fluttered as he pushed the bowl towards him. He whispered, ¡°Are you hungry too? Here, I¡¯ll share it with you.¡± ¡°¡­No, I¡¯m not hungry.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression softened again, and he raised his hand to pat his much longer bangs. He fetched the side dish that was placed far away to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. Qiao Zhiya smiled happily at him. He acted like a particularly affectionate cat. Chu Rong rubbed his ears cooperatively, but frowned slightly. The holiday ended so unknowingly, and the report of the start of the Intermediate College was about to begin, Chu Yan was very distressed about it. ¡°Qiao is not confused, he is completely stupid,¡± Chu Yan lay on the rattan chair in the garden. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was playing with a litter of rabbits on the grass, raised his hand and grabbed his own hair in stress, ¡°This is terrible. What to do, school will start soon. He said before that he¡¯ll take the skipping exam, right? How will he take the exam in this state?¡± Sitting beside him, Yuan Xiu also looked in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s direction, wondering, ¡°What¡¯s so stupid? He is normal, he greeted me just now, there¡¯s nothing wrong with him.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand¡­¡± Chu Yan waved his hands, wanting to cry, ¡°He does look normal at first glance, but as far as I can see, his mind is¡­ muddled, to say the least. He acted like a child! Believe me, the old Qiao couldn¡¯t do such a thing as crying when he was hungry.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yuan Xiu was surprised, and then glanced at Qiao Zhiya not far away. His eyes widened in disbelief, ¡°No way, he cries when he¡¯s hungry? That¡¯s too¡­ then does he still remember what he learned?¡± Thinking of Zhuang Yu¡¯s diagnosis, Chu Yan felt even more despaired. ¡°I don¡¯t know, don¡¯t ask me. Erge is being super overprotective over Qiao, so I don¡¯t dare to ask anything. I hope that Zhuang Yu-jie¡¯s diagnosis is reliable, and Qiao will return to normal after a while.¡± With Chu Rong¡¯s name brought to the discussion, Yuan Xiu finally remembered his original business of coming here in the first place. He turned his head to look around, and asked in a low voice, ¡°What is the situation in your family? What happened to Chu Rong? How is it that Qiao became stupid? The holidays are over, your Dage and Dasao have all gone back to work, but your family has never given an accurate statement. Your Erge also took a long vacation and didn¡¯t go out at all, as if he was hiding something on purpose. Now the rumors are so evil. They said that your family is urgently looking for a substitute.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all a mess,¡± Chu Yan sat up with a frown, waved his hand and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t the news already given? My Erge is already healed. Fully, completely healed. He¡¯s stabilizing his spiritual strength, especially after that decade-long pollution. What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Then, why haven¡¯t you let anyone into your house?¡± Yuan Xiu continued to ask. Chu Yan looked at Yuan Xiu like he was an idiot. ¡°No visitor? Then, how did you come in? Yuan Xiu, is your brain even functioning properly now?¡± Yuan Xiu¡¯s eyes widened and he lowered his head. Looking at himself, scratching his head, wondering: ¡°Yes, then how did I get in?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± A sharp spiritual force suddenly approached from behind. Yuan Xiu straightened his back instinctively, he turned his head and looked in the direction of the spiritual force. ¡°Relax, relax, it¡¯s my Erge. He has been spiritually unstable recently, and he can¡¯t control it, so he can¡¯t go out at all,¡± Chu Yan patted his friend on the shoulder reassuringly. He then looked at Chu Rong, who was striding over with a cold face. He waved his hand and called out, ¡°Erge! Why are you out, where is Zhuang Yu?¡± Chu Rong approached, first glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s direction, and then looked at Chu Yan. After making sure that he was fine, and waved his hand at him as a response. Then he looked at Yuan Xiu and said, ¡°Do you know what to say when you leave the Chu family¡¯s house and go to school?¡± ¡°Ah? Ah¡­ oh oh oh, I know, I understand,¡± Yuan Xiu nodded vigorously. Realizing something, he replied, ¡°But I won¡¯t go to school today, it¡¯s not time for the report yet.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re going,¡± Chu Rong replied, looked at Chu Yan again, and said, ¡°You¡¯re going too. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s grade-skipping exam has been brought forward to today, and you guys should accompany him. Go, help him with the formalities to apply suspension from school.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes widened out of shock, and he asked back, ¡°Skipping exam? Qiao is still in this state?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s aura turned cold. His sharp spiritual power, which was not obvious at first, immediately became stronger. He circled around the two of them without breaking eye contact. Do you think h¡±e can¡¯t handle a mere skipping exam?¡± ¡®Guardians who are blindly confident and have no brains to their darlings are really scary!¡¯ Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu shook their heads in shock. Chu Yan quickly agreed, ¡°No problem, no problem. Qiao will definitely pass the exam. Don¡¯t worry, Erge. I promise to take Qiao out and bring him back later!¡± Chu Rong was reluctantly satisfied. He suppressed his spiritual strength, nodded to them, turned around and strode to Qiao Zhiya. He hugged the youth and the rabbit directly, then walked towards the main house. Yuan Xiu stared dumbfounded at Chu Rong who took Qiao Zhiya away intimately. It¡¯s like a bolt of lighting struck him, a total eureka moment. He snapped his head to Chu Yan, stumbling over his words, ¡°Your Erge¡­ and, with¡­ Qiao, they¡­why would they hug¡­ so¡­¡± ¡°Calm down,¡± Chu Yan patted him on the shoulder and sagely sighed, as if he was an old man who had stormed various vicissitudes of life. With the tone of a wizened elder, he said, ¡°This is fate¡­ Remember to keep it secret. My Erge still holds unrequited love towards Qiao. Before Qiao expresses his reply, you absolutely cannot meddle with this, understand?¡± Yuan Xiu nodded stupidly, feeling like a typhoon passing through. ¡®Just now when Chu Rong mentioned Qiao Zhiya¡¯s state, did I have to keep it a secret too? Must I keep it?¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 52.1 Thank you Yue for the ko-fi donation! I hope you enjoy the updates~ Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Bearded Teacher (not real name): Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. Qiao Zhiya hooked his head and glanced at the basket of rabbits that Chu Rong was holding in his other hand. The little rabbits were squirming around, trying to get out of the basket. ¡°I¡¯m already big, I can walk by myself.¡± Recently, he had always been carried around everywhere. With only eating but not exercising, he felt like he was gaining weight at an alarming pace. ¡°Don¡¯t move. Didn¡¯t you almost fall down the stairs yesterday?¡± Chu Rong frowned and adjusted his posture. Thinking of yesterday, the spiritual energy in his body couldn¡¯t help but float out again, and his face was very dark. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s occasional confusion had no symptoms at all. Sometimes he looks normal all day, and then¡­ his temper becomes a little¡­ childish. Yesterday, he just turned his head to answer the call from Fan Xiangnan, and out of sudden, Qiao Zhiya rolled down the stairs while holding the dirty clothes he just changed. This kind of sporadic flare-ups were impossible to guard against. Hearing him mention yesterday¡¯s incident, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face instantly turned red. He honestly stopped moving, and said shyly, ¡°I¨CIn my previous home, I, I, didn¡¯t have these stairs, so I forgot¡­ I¡¯m sorry to trouble you.¡± After that, his ears drooped down again in frustration and embarrassment. During this period of time, he didn¡¯t know what was going on with him. He always made mistakes and caused troubles for people around him. He was obviously paying attention, but he still made mistakes frequently, which made everyone worry and anxious. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He sniffed and realized that he wanted to cry again. He was stunned for a moment, and felt more like a dead weight. He rubbed his eyes to force back the welled-up tears, mumbling, ¡°I will pay attention next time.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s deep frown immediately eased. He stepped into the house and put the rabbits on the ground, then carried him to the sofa, and made him sit up. He brought a couple of rabbits to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s lap, then petted the youth¡¯s head while saying, ¡°Don¡¯t apologize¡­ also, don¡¯t cry. You have to go to school later, you can¡¯t go out with puffy eyes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not crying,¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice was nasally. He wanted to sort out his emotions, but he found it insurmountable. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to cry, but my eyes were a little out of control. I¡¯ll be fine after a while. Don¡¯t worry, I will work hard for the exam, I¡­¡± Chu Rong couldn¡¯t stand listening to his rambling anymore. He reached out and pulled him back into his arms, patted his back while feeling distressed. He soothed the sniffling youth in a low whisper, ¡°It¡¯s okay, cry if you want, don¡¯t bottle it up.¡± As he said that, he rubbed the youth¡¯s sagging ears, and hugged his whole body in his arms. His heart felt sore. During these days of observations, he found that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s confusion would only occur when facing Chu Rong, even to the point of crying. This discovery made him have mixed feelings. ¡®How stupid is it to rely so much on someone who makes him change? Am I that much of a bad guy in his mind?¡¯ The other party¡¯s embrace was too warm, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unstable mood quickly settled down. He moved his ears carefully, and after realizing that his ears had been pinched again, he smiled in embarrassment. He nuzzled into Chu Rong¡¯s hand like a spoiled child, and replied with a murmur, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡®Thank you for being so patient with my weirdness.¡¯ ¡°Thank you so much.¡± Chu Rong returned to his senses, rubbed his hair again, calmed down, and put him on the ground. ¡°Go take a shower and change your clothes. Xiao Yan will accompany you to school later¡­ Qiao Zhiya, are you sure you want to take the grade-skipping exam?¡± Qiao Zhiya wondered why he was asked this question again, but nodded again very patiently. ¡°Yes! I have been preparing for this exam for a long time, don¡¯t worry, I, I won¡¯t embarrass you!¡± This was not a question of whether he would make Chu Rong lose face or not, but whether it would be a waste of time. Although Chu Rong looked firm and confident in front of Chu Yan, he actually was secretly worried. He swallowed down his doubts, and said some encouraging words to the youth. He then led him out to the first floor, rabbits in tow. ¡®Since you want to take the test, let¡¯s take the test. You happiness is the most important thing.¡¯ After taking a shower and changing clothes, Qiao Zhiya packed up the things needed for the exam, bid farewell to Chu Rong, and boarded Chu Yan¡¯s hover car. After setting off, he found that Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu looked at him strangely. He raised his hand and touched his face, ears bouncing alongside his jilted nerves. He asked in a cautious tone, ¡°Why are you looking at me like that, is there something on my face? ?¡± ¡®Or are my eyes really red and puffy? But when I took a shower, I clearly confirmed that there was no problem¡­¡¯ ¡°No, no,¡± Seeing his nervous demeanor, Chu Yan quickly waved his hands to show that everything was as usual. He pulled Yuan Xiu to help calm Qiao Zhiya down. After making sure his tone wouldn¡¯t worry the blond youth, he carefully asked, ¡°Well, Qiao, your online class is also interrupted. It¡¯s been a long time, are you sure about grade-skipping the exam?¡± ¡®Why is it a similar question?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya blinked, suppressed his doubts, and nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sure. I¡¯ve read the textbooks given to me by the bearded teacher from cover-to-cover, multiple times. I¡¯m sure I can pass.¡± Thinking that Chu Yan was worried about his exam, he smiled heartily, and said to reassure Chu Yan. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Xiao Yan, don¡¯t be nervous, the exam is very easy.¡± ¡®Easy? The grade-skipping exam of intermediate colleges can be described as easy?¡¯ Chu Yan¡¯s heart sank. He licked his lips, and asked more carefully:,¡±Then Qiao, do you still remember that the exams in the mecha manufacturing class after the third grade require spiritual power?¡± ¡®¨CShit! Why did I asked this! No, wait, why is Qiao Zhiya laughing? Is he really stupid now? Ahhhh¡ª!¡¯ ¡°Spiritual power?¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t understand him at all. He stretched out his hand and reached out from his magic pool. He condensed the magic power until it came out from his palm. He waved it around and said, ¡°Is this what you mean? Haven¡¯t I always had it?¡± A very soothing spiritual power was scattered in the car. Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu felt refreshed by being in the vicinity. And this made them stare at Qiao Zhiya wide-eyed. ¡®Fuck! It¡¯s really spiritual power! How is this possible?!¡¯ ¡°You, you, you¡­ When did you have spiritual power? I¡­ But¡­ Wait¡­?¡± Chu Yan got incoherent in record speed, feeling as if he was hallucinating. Yuan Xiu also had an expression of ¡°Who am I, where am I? What happened?¡±. He then reached out and grabbed Chu Yan¡¯s sleeve, and stammered, ¡°This, this strength, Qiao¡¯s spiritual strength is¡­ is at least A?Th-this, this is¡ª What¡¯s going on? Is the standard for third-level disabilities already so high?¡± ¡°I, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡®Maybe even Erge doesn¡¯t know¡­ Wait, Erge!¡¯ Chu Yan snapped back to his senses, and hurriedly lowered his head to press his communicator. Qiao Zhiya was flustered by the reaction of the two of them, and vaguely realized that something was wrong. Thinking of the childish mistakes he had always made during this period, he withdrew his hand and said anxiously, ¡°Why are you reacting this way? I, my spiritual power¡­ Is there something wrong?¡± ¨CAlthough it was simulated by magic power, it was gentler and purer than other people¡¯s spiritual power. So Qiao Zhiya thought it wouldn¡¯t be weird or unusual. ¡°Extremely wrong!¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help answering. Seeing the blond¡¯s uneasy expression, he quickly shut up. He motioned Yuan Xiu to comfort him, and then buried himself in frantically sending messages to Chu Rong, feeling both happy and surprised. The good news was that with spiritual strength, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s future journey would be much easier. Surprisingly, Qiao Zhiya suddenly has spiritual power now, maybe he was healed now! However¡­ this might mean that there¡¯s something wrong with the blond¡¯s body. When his communicator rang, Chu Rong was sitting at home. He still had a stinky face as he stared at the litter of rabbits on the floor. He was trying to cool off his murky emotions with the air-conditioning. He couldn¡¯t even focus on his job at all. The sad and crying appearance of Qiao Zhiya after failing the practical exam kept flashing in his mind, and he was very anxious. The spiritual power on his body fluttered around uncontrollably, and all the housekeeping robots in the room retreated to the corner in fright, gathering together and shivering. Seeing that the message was from Chu Yan, his heart sank. He quickly connected, and asked in a cold voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Qiao Zhiya is confused again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s¡ª Qiao Zhiya who has spiritual strength!¡± Chu Yan roared excitedly. Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed, he stood up in shock, and asked quickly, ¡°What did you say? spiritual strength?¡± The hover car made an emergency stop when it was about to reach the school and turned into an alley. In the car, Chu Yan changed the voice communication to video communication so that everyone could watch it, and then sat next to Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Qiao, you said you have spiritual power?¡± Zhuang Yu, who was hurriedly called by Chu Rong, flipped through a stack of test results and sat beside Chu Rong. Her expression suggested that she was beyond baffled at the moment. Qiao Zhiya was disturbed and nervous by their reactions. His ears were stretched straight. As he glanced at Chu Rong who was sitting beside Zhuang Yu with a sullen face, he nodded, and replied, ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Zhuang Yu set the test results aside, then continued to ask, ¡°When did you have it? Seeing that Chu Rong¡¯s frown was slightly relaxed, the youth;s heart felt more at ease. He answered according to what he knew: ¡°Don¡¯t you know? I, I remember that I told you¡­¡± ¨C¡±When asking to take the exam for skipping grades¡± was left unsaid. Zhuang Yu was stunned for a moment, then didn¡¯t know what to feel. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ¡°remembering¡± was the most unreliable thing nowadays. They couldn¡¯t expect the oft-confused youth to remember clearly what he said or didn¡¯t say. ¡°It may be that his power has become stronger, or it may be affected by that strange flesh of the stone. The specific situation can only be determined after a detailed inspection, but if the spiritual power is simulated by Qiao with his own power, then there should be no problem.¡± She looked at Chu Rong and explained, her spirit was completely relaxed, there was even a hint of joy on her face. So many things have happened these days, but fortunately, it all ended well, which was really great. Chu Rong was relieved when he heard Zhuang Yu¡¯s analysis. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who had obviously begun to doubt and blame himself again, and comforted him, ¡°You did say that, but I forgot to tell them. Can your power be detected by instruments if you don¡¯t deliberately simulate it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Qiao Zhiya was soothed by his words, shook his head, and gave Zhuang Yu a guilty look. During the daily checkup, he always forgot to simulate his magic power into spiritual power for Zhuang Yu-jie to check it carefully. He always thought that he would remember later, but it¡¯s clear he forgot each time. It made everyone worry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± He lowered his head and his ears. Chu Rong frowned, trying to comfort him. But because they were separated by the holographic screen, he could only glare at Chu Yan, trying to communicate what he wanted telepathically. Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± After a false alarm, after some rest and reassurance, the hover car drove into the empty campus smoothly. Yuan Xiu glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was blushing and happily flipping through the mecha model album. He stretched his leg and kicked Chu Yan, winking and making gestures. ¡°Your face twitched?¡± Chu Yan looked at him suspiciously. He did not understand. ¡®Pooh! You just slapped your face!¡¯ Seeing that Qiao Zhiya wasn¡¯t paying attention, Yuan Xiu dragged him to his side and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Qiao had spiritual power? Is there anything else that imitates something? Why can¡¯t I understand?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s expression froze, and then he remembered that this matter was a big hush-hush. Yuan Xiu didn¡¯t know it before, but then he thought, ¡®Since Erge was able to talk about it without any scruples in front of Yuan Xiu just now, I think I can explain it to him in more detail¡­¡¯ Feeling relieved, he roughly explained Qiao Zhiya¡¯s matter, then added in the end, ¡°If someone asks, you can say that Qiao was affected by the spiritual power emitted by my Erge when he was berserk, and fortunately awakened as a result. You have to help Qiao cover it up at school later, he¡¯s been a little out of his mind recently, I¡¯m afraid he will accidentally blab to someone else.¡± Yuan Xiu realized the importance of the matter and nodded his head to express his understanding. He felt that this task was quite the heavy one. CH 52.2 School hadn¡¯t started yet, so there were very few people in the school. Chu Yan drove the hover car directly to the Academic Affairs Center, gave Qiao Zhiya a few encouraging words, and took him to the office for the grade-skipping exam on the third floor. The teacher in charge of the grade-skipping exam had obviously been instructed in advance. Seeing them coming, he didn¡¯t ask any more questions, and directly opened the door of the inner room as the examination venue. After Qiao Zhiya went in, Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu who stayed outside pretended to be doing nothing. After a while, they got together to chat about homework, holiday activities, auctions and what good things came out, and extended to festivals. After exhausting many topics, they finally landed on the matter around Chu Rong. He wasn¡¯t aware that there were two more teachers in the office. One was immersed in checking the teaching equipment, and the other was checking the teaching materials with a list, as if they just came in for ordinary work. ¨CThey were, in fact, both here in lieu of other noble families. Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu pretended not to know that they were here being eavesdropped, and chatted as usual. Chu Yan first complained about Chu Rong¡¯s worse temper after he recovered, and then Yuan Xiu hurriedly echoed, mentioning his lingering fears when he saw Chu Rong just now. He also exaggerated Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual instability. The expressions of the two teachers changed again and again. After Qiao Zhiya finished the exam in advance and came out, they hurriedly pretended to have dealt with the matter and left in a hurry. The theoretical assessment was followed by the practical assessment. By this time, Qiao Zhiya and the teacher had a disagreement. ¡°You want to skip the fourth grade directly?¡± The teacher was surprised, then frowned, and said hesitantly, ¡°Based on your theoretical score, you are capable. However, for your practical score¡­ you should be able to complete the mechanical design exam, but for the mecha manufacturing exams¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Laoshi,¡± Chu Yan stood up at the right time, put his arms around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders to signal him not to speak. He looked at the teacher and replied with a wide grin, ¡°Qiao now has spiritual strength, and can complete the mecha manufacturing exam. However, his spiritual power has just awakened, and he is still a little unstable. After the exam, he needs to suspend his schoolwork for a period of time to recuperate, so we will have to trouble Laoshi to teach us how to go through the formalities.¡± The teacher¡¯s expression was a little confused, and he replied instinctively, ¡°But even if you suddenly have spiritual power, the test of mecha manufacturing requires a spiritual power level of C level and above. The newborn¡¯s spiritual power is too weak, and it may not be possible¡­¡± Chu Yan patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder, and Qiao Zhiya understood, forcing out a little magic power and shaking it in the air. The teacher stopped talking and looked at Qiao Zhiya blankly, as if looking at a monster. Because of his current state, Qiao Zhiya became more sensitive to people¡¯s emotional perception. Although he didn¡¯t feel any malice from this teacher at this time, the overly offensive scrutiny still made him feel a little uncomfortable. Thinking of Chu Rong¡¯s instructions, he hid behind Chu Yan¡¯s back, avoiding the teacher¡¯s line of sight. Chu Yan cooperatively helped him to block his body. He looked at the befuddled teacher, and his grin became wider. ¡°Can he take the practical exam now?¡± The teacher immediately replied, ¡°Yes, I will take you to the practice building.¡± After receiving the application for skipping the grade exam from the Chu family, the school decided to agree after discussion based on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current popularity and his own special situation. If Qiao Zhiya decided to skip the second or third grade, then the mechanical practice exam remains the same, and could be exempted, like many done before for similar situations. As for the fourth grade and above, the school felt that the other party should not be too greedy, so no arrangements were made. Just now the other party asked to skip to the fourth grade. Because he was too surprised and the school didn¡¯t mention it before, he directly explained the requirements for the mecha manufacturing exam according to the normal process, but he didn¡¯t expect that the school¡¯s previous concerns were completely in vain. This Exoplanet Native has actually awakened his spiritual power, and his level seemed to be not low. He just flipped through his student card and knew that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s physical aptitude was S, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spiritual strength level just now was at least A or above. The combination of the two, plus Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ability to easily skip grades¡­ This is directly leapfrogging from a third-level disability to a genius? Thinking about the consequences of publicizing this matter, the teacher couldn¡¯t help but rub his arms as he felt a shiver down his spine. This Exoplanet Native has a large number of fans after the festival, and there were faint signs of being praised as a representative of the Native minority. This was why the school is willing to stagger the reporting time and arrange for the other party to take the skipping exam in advance. Now this representative had suddenly become a genius, and he didn¡¯t want to imagine how crazy those fans would become. After sending Qiao Zhiya to the classroom for the mechanical design practical exam, the teacher who had a lot of questions finally couldn¡¯t help it. Heapproached Chu Yan and asked tentatively, ¡°Student Chu Yan, student Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spiritual strength is¡­¡± Chu Yan waved his hand lazily, and said indifferently, in a loud voice, ¡°Laoshi, you don¡¯t have to be so cautious. It¡¯s just accidental that Qiao can awaken his spiritual power. When my Erge¡¯s spiritual power went berserk, Qiao happened to be beside him. Then he was stimulated and awakened accidentally. Didn¡¯t there have been cases where disabled students were guided by their parents to induce spiritual power before? So it¡¯s not a miracle, Laoshi, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡®Is that so?¡¯ If anything, the teacher became even more puzzled. He couldn¡¯t help looking at the door of the examination room. ¡®What kind of existence is Marshal Chu? To be able to help an Exoplanet Native induce spiritual power above A level, this is really¡­¡¯ The teacher sighed deeply. He was very glad that he was now a teacher on Campus A. It seemed that Marshal Chu has really recovered. Some people¡¯s wishful thinking was doomed to fail, and he¡¯s here to sit back and watch them run around like headless chicken. The practical exam ended successfully, Qiao Zhiya got an excellent result, and everyone moved to the exam room for mecha manufacturing. Because the school¡¯s original plan was to exempt Qiao Zhiya from skipping the third-grade mecha manufacturing exam, there was no preparation for the exam room. When everyone arrived, they were faced with a batch of materials that only fifth graders would be exposed to. ¡°The school won¡¯t start until a few days later. These old materials were disposed of during the holidays, and the new ones haven¡¯t arrived yet, so I can only take out these,¡± The teacher in the examination room said with some embarrassment, and then added, ¡°Of course, because the materials used are a bit out of line, so the passing grade will be lowered accordingly, and you only need to get more than 60 points to pass.¡± Chu Yan frowned slightly, considering whether to postpone the exam, and waited until Qiao Zhiya was given the appropriate ones. His spiritual power only appeared not long ago, and he hadn¡¯t even dealt with the materials of the lower grades. Now he directly dealt with the materials of the fifth grade, so his performance might be dissatisfactory. ¡°60 points counts as a pass? Teacher, although he is an Exoplanet Native, you can¡¯t let him go through the back door like this!¡± An annoying voice suddenly came from the door, and Chu Yan¡¯s thoughts were broken. He turned his head to look at the door, eyebrows raised. Standing up and fuming, he said, ¡°Xiang Kun, why are you bothering us like an annoying fly? School hasn¡¯t started yet, what are you doing here early?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me coming early, you are allowed to come early, while I am not?¡± Xiang Kun stood at the door like a finicky child. Holding his chin high, he deliberately said, ¡°If I don¡¯t come, will you succeed through the back door? Teacher! I want to supervise this exam!¡± Chu Yan was itchy with his shameless rhetoric, and retorted, ¡°How can you supervise? What are your credentials huh? The test results are judged by the system, how do I go through the back door? Don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡± Xiang Kun didn¡¯t know about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spiritual power, and he became more and more convinced that they went through the back door. He was glad that he had sent someone all along. Staring at his mortal enemy, he raised his voice and said, ¡°I think you are guilty! Don¡¯t think that you can do whatever you want with a little popularity. If you do this, sooner or later you will¡ª¡± While they were arguing, Qiao Zhiya had already recognized the materials on the table. After double-checking it, he walked directly to the first material, put his hand on it, and started to use his magic power according to his memory. After a beep, the system indicated that the exam had started. Xiang Kun¡¯s reply was cut off by this beep. He stared in disbelief at the prompt ¡°Using spiritual power to sort out, in progress¡­¡± displayed by the system. He couldn¡¯t help but run inside, grabbed Chu Yan¡¯s sleeve, then pointed at Qiao Zhiya who was sticking his hand on the material. He incoherently said, ¡°What, what¡¯s going on? How could he¡­ Well, you still said that you didn¡¯t go through the back door! You cheated like this and said you didn¡¯t go through the back door! He has a third-level disability, how could he¨C¡± ¡°Let go, let go,¡± Chu Yan pulled back his sleeve with a look of disgust, suddenly lost his temper. He dusted off the non-existent filth on his sleeve, and said calmly: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with a third-level disability? Xiang Kun, this is the examination room, please keep quiet.¡± There was another beep, and the first material was processed efficiently by Qiao Zhiya. The system showed a score of 100. In other words, Qiao Zhiya has sorted out the fist-sized material in just a few words, and the degree of impurity removal was 100%. Xiang Kun, who had never reached 100% completion, stopped talking. He felt that his dignity had been dealt a devastating blow. After processing the first material, Qiao Zhiya did not look at the results, but went directly to the second material and continued to process in an orderly manner. The sound of beeping kept ringing. After half an hour, all five materials were processed. The system judged that the five materials were all 100 points, and finally took the average score, 100 full marks, meaning he passed with flying colors. The teachers on the sidelines could only gape, mind blank. After the results came out, Qiao Zhiya did not stop, but began to match the five materials according to what the bearded teacher told him before. After another half an hour, he withdrew his hand, looked at the teacher next to him, and asked, ¡°Is my result satisfactory?¡± ¡®This is more than satisfactory!!¡¯ With the proficiency in the ratio just now, it was no problem for him to jump to the fifth grade! In fact, he could just graduate directly! ¡°Passed! Passed with a full score!¡± The teacher announced excitedly. Looking at Qiao Zhiya with bright eyes, his voice softened a few degrees, and said, ¡°Student Qiao Zhiya, I heard that you are a student of mechanical design? Actually, I think mecha manufacturing is more suitable for you, if you also like mecha manufacturing, I can¡­¡± ¡°No! It¡¯s impossible!¡± Xiang Kun suddenly howled, rushed to the materials, looked at one and then touched the other. Then, he turned his head to look at Qiao Zhiya, from up to down. He shook his head, shook his head again, pointed at him, and said with a fierce tone, ¡°You are clearly a third-level disabled person! How is this possible, you, you, you¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes wide. Xiang Kun looked positively indignant. His eyes turned red with unshed tears, his ears drooped down. He scampered and ran behind Chu Yan. His voice was trembling, and he whispered, ¡°X-Xiao Yan¡­ he¡¯s so mean¡­¡± Xiang Kun: ¡°¡­¡± Fuck! Xiang Kun looked at Qiao Zhiya who was hiding behind Chu Yan with a distorted expression, feeling that he had been deceived! Why was this person who has repeatedly threatened himself with black stone violence, suddenly about to cry? Not acting like this! When Chu Yan saw Qiao Zhiya like this, he knew that he was in his confused state again, so he quickly turned around and supported Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders to comfort him. Then turned his head and glanced at Xiang Kun, and took Qiao Zhiya away first, so as not to be seen by Xiang Kun. ¡°Hey, why did you just leave? Qiao Zhiya, don¡¯t you really think about changing your major?¡± The teacher still wanted to chase, but Yuan Xiu hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, sighed sadly on purpose, and said, ¡°Laoshi, it¡¯s only been a few days since Qiao awakened his spiritual power, and he¡¯s very easy to be stimulated. Xiang Kun just now¡­ I thought everyone¡¯s discrimination against Exoplanet Natives had improved a lot, but alas. Laoshi, the exam is over, and we¡¯re leaving first. You¡¯ve worked hard, goodbye.¡± After finishing speaking, he caught up with Chu Yan and ran away too. Immediately, only Xiang Kun and the teacher were left in the room. The teacher turned his head to look at Xiang Kun who seemed to be strangled by the neck, sighed, shook his head and said, ¡°Student Xiang Kun, even if you don¡¯t like Qiao Zhiya, you can¡¯t make him cry. It¡¯s wrong to bully classmates, you¡­ Alas.¡± After finishing speaking, he collected the materials and left. ¡°I¡­ you¡­¡± Xiang Kun pointed at him and at himself, feeling that he couldn¡¯t vomit or swallow his breath, and finally roared angrily, and ran back home with a ferocious expression. After completing the procedures for applying a suspension, Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu took Qiao Zhiya back home. CH 52.3 After arriving home, Qiao Zhiya was immediately taken away by Chu Rong who had been waiting for a long time. Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu looked at each other, shrugged, and simply ran to the mecha battle hall to play. Seeing Qiao Zhiya went out happily, but came back listlessly, Chu Rong¡¯s expression looked frosty. He felt that his decision to suspend his school was right. Inching closer to the youth, he leaned over and hugged him to comfort him. After coaxing him to feel better, he took him to the medical room ¨C temporarily arranged for Zhuang Yu. After some inspections, Zhuang Yu flipped through the freshly released inspection results, and was so happy that she almost flew up. With a huge smile, she chirped, ¡°S, it is also an S! And if Qiao doesn¡¯t take the initiative to simulate it, the machine will not be able to recognize his magic power. He¡¯s very powerful!¡± Chu Rong was completely relieved. He took out Qiao Zhiya who accidentally fell asleep during the examination from the instrument, straightened his somewhat messy hair, and asked, ¡°Then when will his state like this end?¡± With this question, the smile on Zhuang Yu¡¯s face became dimmer. ¡°We can only wait for him to get better, but don¡¯t worry, Sir, he has a strong self-healing ability, so he shouldn¡¯t be confused for too long.¡± Chu Rong nodded. Then he turned around and wanted to leave. Zhuang Yu, who hadn¡¯t had a good conversation with Qiao Zhiya for a long time, was a little bit reluctant. She wanted to get close to Qiao Zhiya, so she pretended to chat, followed behind Chu Rong, glanced at Qiao Zhiya who was sleeping soundly on Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder. She pretended to be curious as she patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s blond hair. ¡°By the way, Sir, how did you persuade Qiaoqiao to suspend school? He likes going to school so much that he doesn¡¯t forget to take the skipping exam when he gets confused. You are really good at persuading him.¡± Chu Rong paused after hearing this question. He turned his head and gave her a cold look. He saw that her hand was only a few centimeters away from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face, making his eyebrows twitch in annoyance. He put Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head on his other shoulder, and left at a faster speed. ¡°¡­¡± So lonely! Be careful Qiao hates you later! Zhuang Yu dared to be angry but didn¡¯t verbally express it. Then, she became puzzled ¡ª so how did the Marshal coax Qiao into agreeing to suspend his studies? In the middle of the night, Qiao Zhiya, who had slept too much in the afternoon, opened his eyes. He tilted his head to look at Chu Rong beside him. He raised his hand to touch the large pile of emerald jade beside his pillow, held his breath, and carefully revealed his magic power. The simulated spiritual power met with Chu Rong¡¯s mid-air, and it nuzzled the other. Chu Rong immediately opened his eyes. His eyes were clear as if he was just pretending to asleep. He raised his hand to hold Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, messed it roughly, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t do anything else.¡± Qiao Zhiya withdrew his magic power dejectedly, and buried his head in the crook of Chu Rong¡¯s neck, and whined, ¡°You asked me to suspend school to take care of you, but you didn¡¯t let me help you stabilize your spiritual strength. You lied to me!!¡± Chu Rong quipped back almost instantaneously, ¡°You can simulate spiritual power now, which means you already have spiritual power, so you can¡¯t help me like this anymore.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up at him. ¡®Because apart from parents or spouse, no one would be so intimate with another person to blend spiritually and comfort each other.¡¯ Before, he could deceive himself by reasoning that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s power wasn¡¯t technically spiritual power, and he¡¯s ill to boot. Without these reasons, he could no longer accept such a special meaning of spiritual fusion ¡ª at least until Qiao Zhiya understood the meaning of doing so, he couldn¡¯t let such a situation occur again. Qiao Zhiya, whose mind was a little confused now, couldn¡¯t understand these explanations. Chu Rong lowered his head and rubbed his chin on the top of his head, closed his eyes to cover his emotions, and whispered, ¡°Because you are too young, wait until you grow up¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned, clearly dissatisfied, ¡°I¡¯m not young, I¡¯m an adult.¡± ¡°No, you aren¡¯t,¡± Chu Rong patted him on the shoulder again, and said, ¡°Sleep, or you will never grow up.¡± Qiao Zhiya was angry. He began to squirm around in retaliation, trying to break free from his embrace, raised his head and said, ¡°Even using human¡¯s standard, I will soon be an adult. You said that Chu Yan is already an adult, and you can¡¯t spoil him too much like a child. Why is it that I am too young here? The power of the flesh of the stone in your spiritual sea is too huge, and it will take a long time to digest it yourself. I can help you. My strength and the power of the flesh of the stone belong to the same source. I can¡ª¡± His lips seemed to brush against something warm, he pursed his lips and widened his eyes. Chu Rong, who lowered his head and wanted to hug him back, also paused. The two stared at each other, Qiao Zhiya moved, and whispered, ¡°White-Haired Monster, your heart is beating so fast, I heard¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that,¡± Chu Rong returned to his senses, frowned and pressed him to his chest, not letting the youth see his expression. ¡°Sleep, don¡¯t make trouble anymore! Your own strength is not stable, so how can you help me? Don¡¯t mention this matter again in the future.¡± After that, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sensitive ear picked up Chu Rong¡¯s increasingly erratic heartbeat. He suddenly felt a little shy. He moved, tried to raise his head again, and asked worriedly, ¡°You are so hot, are you sick?¡± Chu Rong became angry from embarrassment, rubbed the back of his head vigorously, and said, ¡°If you are not obedient, you will sleep by yourself tomorrow.¡± This threat was too terrible. Qiao Zhiya shut up decisively, closed his eyes and hugged his waist. He curled up to the older man while quickly mumbling, ¡°Then I won¡¯t talk, good night White-Haired Monster, I¡¯m already asleep.¡± ¡®¡­Didn¡¯t I just tell you not to call me that?¡¯ Chu Rong frowned, took a deep breath to stabilize his emotions, let go of the person in his arms after his body slowly relaxed. He lowered his head and kissed his forehead, said something in a low voice, and closed his eyes. In Qiao Zhiya¡¯s dream, he felt like someone fed something into his mouth, and there was a soft sensation¡­ In the early morning, Chu Rong came out of the bathroom with a dark face. He walked to the bedside and looked down at the¡­ recently grown child. Qiao Zhiya, who had gotten a little fatter, had his lips dumbly apart. He seemed to be saying something in his sleep. Chu Rong leaned over to hear it clearer. ¡°Chopsticks¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya suddenly mumbled in a low voice. He patted his side with his hands, but found no one. His eyebrows were furrowed, face showing a bit of grievance, and he was about to wake up. Chu Rong came back to his senses. He backed off while his expression was getting darker. He laid down carefully, pulled Qiao Zhiya closer and waited until the youth fell asleep again. He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, and raised his hand to rub his forehead. ¡®¡­When will this torment end¡­¡¯ Thanks to Xiang Kun¡¯s bluffing and Yuan Xiu¡¯s publicization after returning home, the news that Chu Rong really recovered spread like wildfire. Alongside that, was Qiao Zhiya¡¯s miraculous spiritual power awakening triggered by Chu Rong¡¯s berserk. Everyone in the big family reacted differently. The Xiang-Wei families were unhappy, while the Ning family kept its neutrality, as if they¡¯re impervious of outside¡¯s hubbubs. As for Chu Huai, he used this golden opportunity to petition and pass several policies that benefited the Chu family. Sensing this change, the Xiang-Wei families were so angry that they secretly got together and scolded the President 10,000 times for his negligence. Then they discussed something and promptly dispersed. The situation in the Federation changed quietly because of Chu Rong¡¯s recovery, while the Empire also held several emergency meetings ¨C it seemed they had made some other arrangements for their initial plan of sending their children to the Federation¡¯s school in the middle of the year. Time passed by in the blink of an eye, Chu Yan went to the school to report after school started, while Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong stayed in the main house ¨C one to stabilize his spiritual strength, and the other to treat his confusion. After taking a break from school, Qiao Zhiya was too bored, so he simply dug out the textbooks for the fourth and fifth grades of the Intermediate College, and planned to log on to the Internet to continue his courses with the bearded teacher and tell the other party the good news of his spiritual power improvement. It turned out that the plan was very good, but in practice it was directly stuck in the first step ¨C his helmet seemed to be broken. ¡°It gave you a ¡®unrecognized spiritual power cannot log in¡¯ warning?¡± Chu Rong fiddled with the helmet he was handed over and asked with a frown. Qiao Zhiya nodded, and asked nervously, ¡°Did I accidentally break it?¡± Chu Rong glanced at him, put down the helmet and thought about it. He then asked Fan Xiangnan to come over before, but the man couldn¡¯t come due to various work-related job. But he still had a spare helmet, so he handed it to Qiao Zhiya, and said, ¡°Try this, if you can log in, do not do other operations after entering, just log out.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, took the helmet and tried it obediently. A minute later, he took off the helmet in a daze, looked at Chu Rong and said, ¡°It can be used! It told me to create an account and bind it to the device, but didn¡¯t I already bind my account, why now¡­¡± With his guess getting evidence, Chu Rong was content. He calmed Qiao Zhiya down and asked, ¡°Do you still have the stone grass potion that Zhuang Yu gave you before?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, and then realized the problem, quickly took out a potion and drank it, took his original helmet and put it on. Another minute passed, Qiao Zhiya took off his helmet, looked at Chu Rong, and replied, ¡°I can log in¡­¡± ¡°Your helmet is bound to the spiritual power of the stone grass disguise, but your own simulated spiritual power and the camouflaged one is different. Simply put, different spiritual power signatures cannot log into the same account, so you can only create a new one.¡± Chu Rong explained. After listening to the explanation, Qiao Zhiya looked back and forth between the two helmets, completely dumbfounded. ¨CThis meant that he could only continue using his D-level camouflaged spiritual power to continue his studies with the bearded teacher. But for some of the later courses, the required level of spiritual strength was minimum at C-level. With this D-level spiritual power, the bearded teacher already told him he couldn¡¯t teach him further. But if he used his new identity to find the bearded teacher¡­ Remembering that the bearded teacher only took one student, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spirit wilted. He seemed to have created a difficult problem for himself, what to do now? If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 53.1 I¡¯m back from my vacation, thank you for all your patience! The update schedule will proceed as usual! ¡±CharacterQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Gu Yan¡¯an: Chu Huai¡¯s wife. She¡¯s a doctor. Sang Bu: MC¡¯s roommate. Information System major. Yun Xiachu: MC¡¯s classmate, a first-grader at intermediate college. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Qiu Guangji: Ning Kongran¡¯s best friend. Bearded Teacher (not real name): Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. Luo Li: The bearded teacher¡¯s first apprentice. He won the online Mecha Manufacturing Contest. Chu Rong saw that Qiao Zhiya was deeply shocked, as if he was facing a world-shaking problem. But then he felt fond over the youth, making his mood improve by a margin. He raised his hand and gently pulled his ear, and said, ¡°Stupid, you use the stone grass-bound account to contact him first. Tell him about the number change, and then create a new account using your own spiritual power and study under him again. Shouldn¡¯t that work?¡± ¡°Ah yes, that should solve the problem,¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears perked up. But then, he shook his head and said, ¡°No, no. I can¡¯t use the new account.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Chu Rong frowned, wondering if he was getting confused again. However, he guessed wrong. Qiao Zhiya not only did not get confused this time, but also became rational and thoughtful, explaining, ¡°I have spiritual power now, and when I go to school, my classmates most likely use this new account to communicate with me. So, this account must be a public identity. If I use this account to contact that bearded teacher, then he¡¯ll know that I¡¯m Qiao Zhiya from the Chu family. What if, hypothetically, he¡¯s a bad person ¨C or not necessarily bad, but just against the Chu family. What should we do then? Then wouldn¡¯t my secret be exposed?¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t expect that this was the matter he was worried about. He thought deeply as his fingers were still rubbing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s perked up ears. In his own conclusion, Qiao Zhiya was right. Two accounts represent two identities. Once there was a connection between the two accounts and the identities were equated, then the fact that Qiao Zhiya had spiritual power before was likely to be inferred by people, and it could get bad real quick for Qiao Zhiya. To be on the safe side, it was better for these two accounts to have nothing to do with each other. But even if this was a problem, thankfully, it was a problem that Chu Rong could easily solve. ¡°Although the Starnet obviously requires a spiritual power to be bound to an account, as a member of the Four Great Family, we have extra privileges we can use. One of them is special gadgets ¨C the special helmet you use is not unique to the Chu family. This kind of gadget is something that every rich family tacitly agrees to. In short, your identity as ¡®Qiao Zhiya¡¯ is still safe regardless.¡± Chu Rong picked up his old helmet and said, ¡°Since you want to separate the two accounts, it¡¯s very simple. I¡¯ll find someone to help you migrate and bind the data of your old account to your new one, so that the two accounts can be separated. You can use the old one as an anonymous account, so to speak.¡± ¡®Anonymous account? So I can switch them at will without compromising my identity?¡¯ ¡°Okay!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, his eyes lit up as the instant burst of joy made him rush over to hug Chu Rong tight. ¡°You are amazing! Thank you!¡± Chu Rong reached out to catch him and rubbed the back of his head. The corners of his mouth slightly raised. Fan Xiangnan was very good at migrating data, so Chu Rong called him over directly. Under Fan Xiangnan¡¯s signal, Qiao Zhiya forced a little simulated spiritual power into the strange instrument he brought. Afterwards, Fan Xiangnan connected the instrument with the helmet and did some operations. After a while, he got a new helmet for his new account. ¡°After you use this helmet to log in to the star network once with your own spiritual power, the data transfer will be considered successful,¡± Fan Xiangnan handed him the finished helmet, and then continued his instruction, ¡°When you create a new account in the future, remember to choose to bind it with your resident ID card, so that the two accounts can exist at the same time. Otherwise there will be conflicts, understand?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded quickly as he thanked him. He cradled the new helmet as if it was his precious baby, eyes glinting with unbridled excitement. Despite his effort to look serious, a chuckle escaped from Fan Xiangnan¡¯s lips. Even his gaze became a little gentler. After being ill, Qiao Zhiya has become more honest in terms of emotional expression. He was no longer as restrained as before. He cries when he feels sad, he laughs when he¡¯s happy, without anything to stop him. He looked extra adorable. The account problem was solved. Qiao Zhiya immediately ran back to his room, climbed onto the bed, put on the helmet, and logged into his old account. The bearded teacher was not online, so he sent a message to the other party, explaining the reason why he hadn¡¯t been online for so long. Seeing that the account balance was running low, he went offline again and went to the training hall to ask Master Ren for some time. The small laboratory was going to put new mecha model weapons on the Internet for sale. He was very proficient in making model weapons now, and soon after choosing the materials, he made a long sword. After finishing, he remembered that he had promised Chu Yan that he would make another model weapon for him, so he simply took out another piece of secondary-mutated red tin ore, and used his homeland¡¯s forging method to make a dagger for Chu Yan. After activating the magic circle, a dark purple dagger with beautiful patterns was finished. released. ¡°Show me.¡± Qiao Zhiya was so surprised that he almost threw the dagger out. He turned his head and stared at Master Ren, who somehow was now standing behind him. His ears were erected, like a frightened rabbit. Master Ren saw this, and instantly felt guilty. He coughed as he cleared his throat, took a step back, and said with a serious face, ¡°Although your method of making cold weapons is different from standard, the effect seems to be better. Have you checked the weapon data?¡± ¡°I, I have tes, tested it. It¡¯s more active and harder,¡± Qiao Zhiya answered with a stammer. He pointed at the dagger and said, ¡°While making this one, I used my own magic power as the energy source for the magic circle. I estimated it to have a higher value than the giant sword I made previously.¡± Master Ren immediately fixed his eyes on the dagger and took a meticulous look at it. After a while, he said, ¡°Come with me. Do a test first.¡± Qiao Zhiya followed the mecha master to the big laboratory and watched him put two weapons into the test equipment. Sure enough, as he predicted, the dagger had a higher energy activity and was much harder than other weapons of the same kind. The dagger¡¯s values were very special, and if the higher upper limit of the test equipment didn¡¯t exist, its data readings would¡¯ve been crazier. Master Ren flipped through the two test results. He picked up the two weapons, touched them, then turned to look at Qiao Zhiya, and asked, ¡°Chu Yan told me that you want a full set of equipment to make mechas?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was confused and distracted, immediately perked up. Little stars lit up in his eyes, and he nodded vigorously, ¡°Yes! Grandpa Ren, do you agree to sell it to me?¡± Most of the instruments here were modified by Master Ren. It¡¯s much better than buying them directly from the original manufacturer. In fact, he has been secretly drooling over them for a long time. Master Ren was very satisfied with his reaction, but he shook his head cruelly, and refused, ¡°No, you don¡¯t need these now, and it would be a waste to buy them back.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± The stars in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes fizzled out. ¡°But as for basic material processing instruments and the subsequent parts assembly, such as the production, testing and maintenance¡­ I can sell this series of instruments to you,¡± Master Ren immediately added. Seeing Qiao Zhiya perked up happily again, the slimmer of guilt in his heart was vanquished. He nodded with a serious expression, took out his photon computer, then projected all the primary materials he knew as a hologram. He changed the subject, saying, ¡°I heard that you plan to take the advanced college exam with Chu Yan in the second half of the year? Then you must learn all the processing methods, ratio, and master the basic knowledge of all these parts. The curriculum of the military school starts directly from the understanding and production of parts, and these are all you have to learn.¡± Qiao Zhiya stared wide-eyed at the numerous holographic parts. He was a bit overwhelmed, but ultimately excited. He stammered as he replied, ¡°I, I can already learn this? Th-then, after learning all of these¡­ can I really assemble a mecha?¡± So his dream of helping the White-Haired Monster to make a mecha¡­ ¡°No,¡± Master Ren cruelly cut his daydream short again. He projected more than 700 intermediate parts in a swish, and said, ¡°After you finish the primary parts, you still need to learn the intermediate and advanced parts, and these are just the basics of all the basics. After mastering this, you need to learn the modifications and mecha installations, which are much more difficult. After that, you can finally design and assemble a mecha by yourself.¡± Qiao Zhiya became more and more excited with Master Ren¡¯s explanation. He quickly said, ¡°I will speed up my learning! Mm, I have almost finished learning all the parts, and then, I should be able to speed through the others too with extra effort!!¡± Because he had many projects in his hands, Master Ren couldn¡¯t teach Qiao Zhiya the basics in person, so he could only give pointers occasionally. Hearing that his learning progress was so fast, he feels relieved and guilty at the same time. His voice slowed down and said, ¡°You worked hard, and this is very good. But Qiao Zhiya, to learn the parts, you have to do it yourself. You must be able to disassemble and reassemble it with a deep understanding of all its functions. That is to say, you must have done it all in reality by yourself until you can do them with your eyes closed.¡± This did not deter Qiao Zhiya in the slightest. Instead, he immediately added, ¡°Then I¡¯ll buy¨C¡± ¡°These parts are very expensive,¡± Master Ren interrupted him, put away the projector with a sigh, and continued, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, I know you are rich now, but you are sitting on nothing. If you want to follow me to study the manual driving mecha, it is not enough to only understand the parts shown in these mainstream textbooks. You must know the types of parts that have been used in various stages of history and various improvement attempts. And in order to learn and master all of these, you need to have an almost astronomical figure.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned again. He buried his head in checking his savings balance, then looked at Master Ren. With a weak voice, he asked, ¡°Then, how much money do I need to prepare¡­¡± ¡°Sadly, that¡¯s just for the parts,¡± Master Ren dodged the question. With a deep frown, he changed his wordings, ¡°When I learn the parts modification and mecha installation design, there¡¯s a lot of scraps produced thanks to the many failures I faced. Sometimes, those aren¡¯t salvageable at all. Qiao Zhiya, a mecha in the market is priced at least several million, how many do you think you can buy? And those are just the primary and intermediate-level ones, not the advanced ones. Well, even for me, the research funds are always not enough.¡± It was such a terrible figure that even a master of Ren Mo¡¯s caliber had trouble with it. Qiao Zhiya began to worry. No wonder everyone said that mecha manufacturing was only available for the rich. Looking at it this way, the seemingly large savings of his was only a drop in the ocean. He had to find a way to make money. On top of that, he still needed to have funds for all the jades he had to buy. He really couldn¡¯t just sit and eat, even during the holiday. Seeing his little face getting tighter and tighter, Master Ren knew that the time had come. He walked up to the youth and patted his shoulder, saying, ¡°Now I have a way to make money here, Qiao, do you want to participate?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears perked up in an instant. He nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking at the ground. ¡°Yes! What can I do?¡± ¡°With your current ability and knowledge, you can¡¯t make firearms, however, you are already very skilled at making cold weapons. I see that you have repaired Chu Yan¡¯s energy blade too, and it was beyond good. I trust your ability in this.¡± Qiao Zhiya caught the implication. He subconsciously held his breath, remembering the sheer elation and pride he felt after he successfully repaired Chu Yan¡¯s weapon. Seeing this, Master Ren continued his persuasion, saying, ¡°My personal laboratory occasionally accepts some custom-made commissions for mechas and mecha weapons. Because it is custom-made, the requirements are high, but accordingly, the payment is also rich. I just took an order, and the other party asked me to make them a unique weapon for their customized mecha, and said that the price is not a problem. The Chu family is just about to push the secondary mutated red tin ore to the world, so that the Xiang family will not be able to stop or spy on us. So, I was planning to create a weapon with that ore for his customer. And I want you to also participate in this commission seeing your creations so far. How do you feel about this proposal?¡± For Qiao Zhiya, this was like a timely umbrella during the rain ¨C it directly solved all his problems in one fell swoop. Qiao Zhiya unhesitantly nodded in agreement. But then, he remembered his academics obligations, so he asked, ¡°I still need to take online classes, so I may not have much time to make weapons¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Master Ren comforted him with a pat on the shoulder. ¡°I know your schedule ¨C you have classes during the weekday, right? You can come over here during the weekends. Online teachers also need rest time too, so your teacher will definitely agree.¡± It seemed logical, so Qiao Zhiya¡¯s last worry disappeared. He hurriedly bid farewell to Master Ren, and was about to tell Chu Rong the good news ¡ª he found a way to make money! Ren Mo: hook, line, sinker B) (hey, at least Master Ren actually told him the truth.) CH 53.2 At dinner time, Chu Rong¡¯s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot after listening to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s jubilant narration. Master Ren was so cunning that he cheated Qiao Zhiya¡¯s weekend time behind his back. In his mind, Qiao Zhiya only needed to ask and Chu Rong would give the Chu family¡¯s many mineral mines and parts factories they had. And as for money, Qiao Zhiya could easily sell all the things he made during his downtime for profit ¨C for the rest, Chu Rong would gladly give Qiao Zhiya all the money he needed. In fact, while you needed a big capital to start learning mecha manufacturing, the income was also equally big in the end. Master Ren was a master in misdirection too, it seems. ¡°You, don¡¯t you want me to make money¡­¡± After Qiao Zhiya finished speaking, he saw Chu Rong with a cold face and not speaking. His excitement disappeared, and he began to feel uneasy and nervous again. Seeing this, Chu Rong quickly restrained his emotions. He raised his hand and touched his head, frowned, and said reluctantly, ¡°You can do it if you want, but don¡¯t overdo it at your expense. As for parts, materials, and other instruments, it¡¯s something that I, as your guardian, will naturally provide, so you can devote your time and effort for your study. No need to worry about this.¡± After hearing what he said, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s uneasiness and tension disappeared immediately. He nuzzled Chu Rong¡¯s palm on his head, then nodded with a big smile on his face. ¨CHowever, in his heart, he thought of something else. ¡®It¡¯s not easy for the White-Haired Monster to make money, so I can¡¯t waste it. I need to make him money instead, fast. I want the White-Haired Monster to be able to live a relaxed life.¡¯ Although he promised Qiao Zhiya to let him take weapon commissions, Chu Rong still had something to say to Master Ren. He insisted on cutting the two days into only one day, and in the process, Ren Mo was so angry at Chu Rong that the material in his hand almost sent flying. When Qiao Zhiya went online again in the evening, the bearded teacher was also online. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly logged into the classroom, apologized again, and then reported on his recent learning results. The bearded teacher wasn¡¯t angry because he didn¡¯t come back to class after so long. Instead, he took a long look at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s avatar, and said, ¡°Did you delay for so long because your spiritual power has upgraded? How much has it reached?¡± Thinking of his current secret identity, he downgraded it by one level. ¡°It¡¯s A-level.¡± ¡®A? Although it¡¯s not as good as Luo Li¡¯s S-level. It¡¯s really still a miracle to be able to raise it this high in a few months.¡¯ The bearded man nodded in satisfaction, and checked his study progress. Seeing that he had gone through all the materials in the textbook, he felt more satisfied. He helped him screen the knowledge points again, and made up some of the points Qiao Zhiya missed. After an hour or so, he ended it early. ¡°Go log off and rest. You have just improved your spiritual strength, and it should not be stable. You should rest more and spend less time online.¡± The more caring the teacher was, the more guilty Qiao Zhiya felt. He insisted that he had fully recovered, and he could continue on the next course. He also said that he was currently on a leave of absence, and he could extend the class time appropriately, except that he might not be free on weekends. Seeing that he persisted, the bearded man hesitated for a moment. He asked him to process a piece of material, and found that Qiao Zhiya could do it with flying colors, without any drawbacks. Seeing this stellar result, he agreed to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s request. ¡°Then, we can resume the arrangement of class every afternoon for the time being. Now that your spiritual strength has improved, you can learn how to deal with advanced materials. I will give you a textbook. After this part is finished, I will give you a systematic review before continuing to the next chapter.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded quickly and happily took over the new textbook. In the next few days, he successively received communications from his roommate Sang Bu and his (ex-)classmate Yun Xiachu. The former asked him if he had been expelled from school, or if he thought he could waste his studies after he became popular. The latter was angry with him for not giving him news. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t come to school after the holiday, and the special products he bought haven¡¯t been given out. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly explained the reason for not going to school, and mailed them the gifts, barely appeasing them. A few days later, Ning Kongran suddenly sent a message, asking him if he had processed five materials during the grade-skipping exam. He was puzzled, and honestly gave an affirmative answer. Ning Kongran was silent for a while, said thank you, and then hung up the communication. Qiao Zhiya was even more confused, not knowing what the older man was thanking him for. Though, he didn¡¯t ask further, and instead mailed him a gift. Intermediate Academy, practical-course building. Looking at the freshly processed parts on the stage, Qiu Guangji was amazed, ¡°Your previous research direction is actually correct. However, your requirement is 100% completion, which is a little too strict, don¡¯t you think? Your performance did improve, though, by at least 50%. In my opinion, this new method of yours is destined to not be very popular.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t need to be popularized,¡± Ning Kongran put the parts away in a safe, and said with a flat intonation, ¡°I¡¯m just proving that the path I chose was not wrong.¡± He learned mecha manufacturing not because he liked mechas, but simply because he didn¡¯t want to follow the road paved by the Ning family. Qiu Guangji glanced at him, and tentatively said, ¡°With your aptitude, you will definitely get good grades if you become a mecha pilot instead.¡± ¡°Not suitable,¡± Ning Kongran shook his head and continued, ¡°That¡¯s too conspicuous.¡± In his opinion, he only had one way to go ¨C that is, to enter the Advanced College of the Federal Military Academy and develop in the military department in the future. However, this want of his was destined to be blocked by his family. Qiu Guangji also remembered his worries, sighed, and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, you can only compete only with mecha manufacturing¡­ By the way, for your graduation exam, you have to complete processing three copies with a similar degree of completion. You can¡¯t give it up to chance. The teacher only gave you materials needed to make one part for your exam too, so what are you going to do with the remaining two parts? Do you want it from that Native boy?¡± Ning Kongran was silent. He touched the safe, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll try it myself first. Can you come up with materials that are 100% complete? If not, go to Qiao Zhiya for help, and I will add his name to the graduation results.¡± ¡°Huh? Add his name?¡± Qiu Guangji was surprised and said, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that help him graduate from the fifth-grade mech manufacturing course? Wouldn¡¯t that be too¡­¡± Ning Kongran knew that he didn¡¯t design this novel part processing, only did it according to the result he saw ¨C it¡¯s most likely a different method from the one that Qiao Zhiya employed, so it was still his. However, he always felt a bit guilty of this supposed ¡°cheating¡± in his conscience. Moreover, the sharing of results was not just as simple as adding a name. Subsequent patents and profit distribution must also be given out after adding a name. Qiu Guangji knew that his friend has been crazy about making money recently. And now, he was willing to actively give away the benefits? ¡°It was him who helped me find the reason why my research was always unsuccessful. He deserves these,¡± Ning Kongran put the safe into his space button. He looked at his friend, changed the subject and said, ¡°Anyways, I can finish this in a month¡¯s time. After that, we can take care of other things.¡± Qiu Guangji saw that he didn¡¯t want to talk about this topic, so he raised his arms and stretched his waist in cooperation, and sighed, ¡°Yeah, I can finally relax, it¡¯s not easy.¡± A month passed quickly, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s emotional state became more stable. His learning progress also was getting faster and faster. Finally, before another weekend came, he finished sorting out material knowledge and could start on the next chapter. ¡°For next Monday, the class time will be changed to two hours in the morning and four hours in the afternoon. Don¡¯t be late,¡± The bearded teacher gave him a new textbook, and after setting the class time, he went offline directly. Qiao Zhiya happily accepted the teaching materials and obediently logged off. He took off his helmet, went around to the study next door, and ran to Chu Rong, who was reading documents at the desk. Without hesitation, he went in for a hug, settling his head comfortably on Chu Rong¡¯s wide chest. Chu Rong retracted one hand to return the hug very naturally, without taking his eyes off the document. ¡°What do you want for dinner? I will allow you to have an extra dessert after dinner today.¡± ¡°I want to eat fried rice, the kind that has a lot of vegetables and meat,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, arching in his arms, while his ears twitched excitedly. He had an unbridled excitement he couldn¡¯t hold back. ¡°I can start learning new parts next week. ¡° Chu Rong finally moved his eyes away from the document. He frowned and pressed the youth¡¯s wobbly body, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t mess around. Tell me, what do you want?¡± When his intention was discovered, Qiao Zhiya blushed and said in a low voice, ¡°I, I bought some instruments and parts from Grandpa Ren. I want to organize a laboratory for myself, which is next to your study. Is that possible? I don¡¯t want to be too far away from you¡­¡± As he spoke, his face turned redder, and so was his ears. He tried to hide them in his bangs, as he felt a tad ashamed of his clingier-than-usual behavior lately. But, he didn¡¯t want to change. A sweetheart in his arms, showing his utterly adorable expression ¨C not even a saint could not bear it. Let alone Chu Rong, who was not a saint. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll ask the housekeeper to tidy up the room next to my study. There will be a room for you at home,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice was a little hoarse. He restrained his desire and only hugged Qiao Zhiya in a polite manner, then put down the documents in his hands. He got up, put the clingy youth on the ground and said, ¡°Let¡¯s eat dinner now.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t care about being shy anymore, and looked at Chu Rong¡¯s eager movements suspiciously. His ears fluttered, and asked in a worried tone, ¡°Your body temperature seems to have risen again¡­ Are you okay? Do you still have a sequelae? It¡¯s happened many times recently¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sick,¡± Chu Rong dispersed his spiritual power to surround himself as proof. He quickened his pace, and said, ¡°This is a natural reaction when the power is assimilated. Well, it¡¯s time to eat, and I will cancel the dessert if you keep delaying it.¡± Qiao Zhiya knew an ultimatum when he heard one. He quickened his pace, and even entered the kitchen one step ahead of him, and said happily, ¡°I want pudding for dessert! With red beans too!¡± Chu Rong slowed down and answered him. He secretly adjusted his breathing, but couldn¡¯t help laughing. ¡®What a greedy Bald Chicken.¡¯ Chu Yan, who came back excitedly to spend the weekend with Qiao Zhiya, exited the living room with a dark face, as if he was struck by lightning. He looked at the butler who came out to greet him, and asked dryly, ¡°My Erge.. .does he often laugh now?¡± The old butler didn¡¯t answer, he only laughed. ¡®Fuck¡­ the power of love is so great¡­¡¯ Chu Yan mulled as he suddenly understood why his dage and dasao insisted on going back to their house. It must be to get away from this dog food force-feeding from his erge and Qiao Zhiya. On top of that, they also wanted those two to cultivate their relationship fast! ¡°I¡¯ll go to Dage¡¯s house for the weekend, I bet Dasao must¡¯ve missed me,¡± After giving out an excuse, he immediately turned around and said with a serious face, ¡°Don¡¯t tell Erge and Qiao that I have been back. I am leaving, goodbye!¡± After speaking, he speed-walked without any regrets. The old butler watched him leave. He glanced sideways at the looming figure in the direction of the kitchen, squinted, and smiled. After ten years, this empty and lifeless main house was finally bustling again, which was a downright miracle. CH 53.3 ¡±CharacterQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Withdrawing his magic power, Qiao Zhiya looked nervously at Master Ren who was waiting quietly behind him, and asked, ¡°After sorting out, shall we test it now? Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to draw a magic circle?¡± ¡°No magic circles, as its existence is not suitable for exposure now. Only using the secondary mutated red tin ore is already amazing enough,¡± Master Ren replied, operating the instrument and putting the newly made weapon on the testing instrument, waiting for the test result. Qiao Zhiya followed suit, waiting nervously. Ten minutes later, the weapon¡¯s detailed data was spit out, and Master Ren immediately projected it into the air, so that Qiao Zhiya could watch it with him. ¡°It¡¯s all so high¡­¡± Master Ren quickly scanned the rows of data, the excitement he hadn¡¯t experienced for a long time rose from his heart. He raised his hand and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder, and said excitedly, ¡°I knew you could do it! The weapon is well done! Very good!¡± Qiao Zhiya also became happy with the result and praise. ¡°Do I need to change it? The material of the secondary mutated red tin ore is more suitable for sword weapons. So if I make it into a sword, will the customer still like it?¡± After all, in his mind, firearms were much more popular than cold weapons. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure the customer will like it,¡± Master Ren gave him a meaningful look, happily put the weapon into his space button, and said, ¡°Go to the mecha battle hall and try the weapon. By the way, record a video for the client to see the finished product.¡± The two moved to the mecha battle hall, and opened the room with settings of the highest protection level. Then, they called Fan Xiangnan who happened to be in the Chu family¡¯s house. They asked him to use the most common standard mecha to test weapons performance. Fan Xiangnan was ordered to get on the mecha, and Chu Rong rushed over when he heard the news, watching from the sidelines. A one-meter-thick protective plate was erected in front of him, and Fan Xiangnan manipulated the mecha to raise the giant sword and simply swept forward. Almost silently, the upper part of the protective plate began to dislocate from where it was hit, and slowly slid to the ground with a loud bang. Fan Xiangnan, who operated the mecha himself, was startled by the terrifying attack power. He took back his giant sword, got off the mecha and looked at Chu Rong, saying, ¡°I suggest not to sell this weapon. With its attack power, it can cut through the battleship¡¯s armor a little too easily. Plus, this also means that it¡¯s too dangerous to be left hanging around unless it was wielded by a highly-skilled mecha fighter.¡± Chu Rong and Master Ren frowned. This was indeed a problem. The power of the weapon was too good to be sold like this. ¡°No, can¡¯t you sell it¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect such a result. He looked at the space button with the giant sword in Fan Xiangnan¡¯s hand with some disappointment, and said in a low voice, ¡°Then don¡¯t sell it, I will make something else¡­¡± ¡°It can be sold,¡± Chu Rong said suddenly, and raised his hand to pat the youth¡¯s head. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears immediately perked up, and he looked sideways at him. Elder Ren and Fan Xiangnan also looked over, with disapproval in their eyes. ¡°Sell me this weapon,¡± Chu Rong added. Then he looked at Qiao Zhiya, rubbed his ear, and continued, ¡°You make another less powerful weapon and sell it to customers. As for the power level, make it only a bit more powerful than what is sold in the market. Can it be done?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately cheered up, and then said, ¡°As long as I don¡¯t inject magic power into the forging, I can lower the strength! This one¡¯s for you. If you like it, I can make another one for you, with a proper magic circle, so it will be even more powerful!¡± ¡®¡­it still can be even more powerful?¡¯ Fan Xiangnan¡¯s gaze was faraway, as he couldn¡¯t full digest the extent of power Qiao Zhiya meant. He suddenly felt it was the Marshal who was the one lucky one ¨C he was fortunate enough to gain Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sincere trust and reliance. Another month passed, and the new giant sword was finished. ¡°Only most of the values ??are very high.¡± Master Ren nodded as he put away the weapon. He handed it to Chu Rong who was waiting on the side, and said, ¡°Go and try.¡± Chu Rong took the space button and raised his hand to help him come over. Qiao Zhiya wiped the sweat from his brow, stepped forward, and was picked up by Chu Rong into the mecha battle hall. Qiao Zhiya froze for a moment, then embraced his neck with a blushing face, and leaned his head on the Marshal¡¯s shoulder. Master Ren, who was forced to watch this: ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Young people nowadays are too brazen!¡¯ This time Chu Rong personally tested the weapon. He was driving his own black mecha. Although he recovered his spiritual power, the flesh of the stone¡¯s energy hadn¡¯t fully digested yet, so any large use of spiritual power would lead to spiritual instability. So, he was still driving his manually-piloted mecha for now. Plus, he was very used to this mecha already. The black mecha stood in front of the metal plate, holding the giant sword and swiping lightly. There was an ear-piercing collision sound, and an extremely deep crack appeared on the metal. It looked horrifying, but it was clear that the attack power of this weapon paled in comparison to the previous one. Satisfied, Chu Rong dismounted from the mecha and handed the weapon to Fan Xiangnan, indicating that the weapon could be sold. When Fan Xiangnan was about to leave to find Master Ren, the Marshal stopped him again and told him, ¡°Tell Master Ren to sell this weapon under the name Qiao Zhiya, as his ¡®apprentice¡¯. And from now on, any weapons Qiao Zhiya made will be handled this way.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Fan Xiangnan nodded. He smiled at Qiao Zhiya, and went out to communicate with Master Ren about the arrangement. After he left, Qiao Zhiya finally couldn¡¯t hold back and rushed towards Chu Rong. He asked happily, ¡°Did I make money?¡± Showing a very shallow smile, Chu Rong replied, ¡°Yes, you do. You¡¯re amazing, and I¡¯ll reward you with a batch of parts. I will ask Master Ren to prepare for you.¡± The youth kissed his neck in response, humming happily along the way. Chu Rong froze, while Qiao Zhiya was also dumbfounded after kissing ¨C his eyes were blown out, and his body was stiff. ¡°¡­¡± The air seemed to freeze alongside them. They still hugged each other, both looking at each other¡¯s lips. Qiao Zhiya subconsciously pursed his lips, as his ears fluttered about. He didn¡¯t understand why he kissed Chu Rong so suddenly. But when he stole a glance at the older man¡¯s thin lips, his heart raced, making his whole face flushed red. ¡®The lips of the White-Haired Monster are so beautiful¡­¡¯ ¡°You¡­¡± Chu Rong tightened the hands supporting the youth¡¯s back, lowered his head and moved closer to him. There¡¯s turbulent emotions brewing inside his eyes, making his voice crack. ¡°Qiao Zhiya, you should know that kissing the lips is completely different from kissing other places.¡± Qiao Zhiya subconsciously leaned back, only felt that Chu Rong¡¯s voice was especially attractive. Thoughts became chaotic, he suddenly remembered the scene where his father kissed his mother, then both decided to rain him with kisses once they saw that their little rabbit was spying on them. His body seized up, while his mind was running a mile a minute. Suddenly, his feet no longer could support his body, and he fell slack, body falling backwards. In a millisecond after that, he suddenly regained consciousness, and flinched as if he was frightened. In pure reflex, he pushed Chu Rong away, then ran away as if his head was catching fire from his full-face blush. Chu Rong watched him run away. He traced his own lips by his finger, eyes squinted in suspicion. Then, he followed Qiao Zhiya, thinking, ¡®Ah, that Bald Chicken is ready to be cooked now.¡¯ The two played hide-and-seek inside the house; with Qiao Zhiya hiding while Chu Rong accurately seeking. Chu Rong felt his heart was scratched by this particularly cute rabbit, while Qiao Zhiya wanted to move away as far as possible from this house ¨C no, this planet. Eventually Qiao Zhiya ran into his own laboratory and locked himself inside. Rabbits would bite if they were cornered, not to mention Qiao Zhiya, a thin-skinned bald chicken. Ancestor Chu was in a good mood, so he was patient, and he didn¡¯t tease him anymore. He knocked on the door and said, ¡°I¡¯m cooking dinner. Before that, come out obediently by yourself. If you don¡¯t, I will tear down this door and pick you up.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who hadn¡¯t gotten out of his embarrassment, threw himself on the sofa, covering his red face with a pillow. Like an ostrich burying its head in the sands, he tried to think of anything but what happened just now. However, all hope was futile. All his chaotic thoughts inevitably lead him towards Chu Rong. And it seemed that¡­ he had strange feelings for the White-Haired Monster. A feeling that he couldn¡¯t understand after thinking about it. As he mired himself deep into his thoughts¡­ he fell asleep. Ancestor Chu, who was in a good mood, cooked and prepared a large table of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s favorite food. As he was getting impatient while waiting, he saw it was dinner time, so he immediately went to the laboratory and knocked on the door. As expected, he didn¡¯t get a response for a long time. He found the key that he asked from the butler in advance, and opened the door with ease. The room was silent, but he could see a small lump of someone laying on the sofa with a pillow in his arms. He approached with light steps, and saw that Qiao Zhiya had fallen asleep on the sofa. Squinting his eyes, he bent over and raised his hand to push his bangs away, then trace the youth¡¯s soft lips with his finger. Qiao Zhiya was woken up by this harassment. He opened his eyes in a daze, still half-asleep. He looked at Chu Rong¡¯s handsome face getting a little bit too close, jolting him awake. He thought of something, quickly pressed Chu Rong¡¯s chest and turned around flexibly to push the Marshal onto the sofa. He then pressed his forehead against his forehead, magic power rushing out suddenly. Anxiety dripping with every word, he asked, ¡°How are you? Are you okay now? Is your berserk contro¨C huh?¡± He stepped back, frowning and looking at his hand. He condensed a little magic power, and was shocked with what came out. It seems that his magic power has been upgraded to a higher level? What happened? His own storage bracelet1a reminder, ¡°storage bracelet¡± is referring to QZY¡¯s personal item that corresponds to his magic power. Qiuqiu lived here. Not to be confused with the ¡°storage button¡± which is the Federal/Empire¡¯s technological creation. seemed to expand again too. He looked around again, and felt that the room he was in evoked a strange sense of deja vu. Some small parts on the table seemed to be familiar to him, but he couldn¡¯t remember when he knew these things. ¡®What¡¯s going on¡­¡¯ He frowned until his eyebrows wrinkled, looked at his expanded storage bracelet, and felt something was wrong inside. After scanning twice, he finally found something. His body froze, and he stood up in surprise, and said, ¡°Where is the flesh of the stone? Why is it missing?¡± Without that, how would he treat the White-Haired Monster? He panicked, and looked at Chu Rong in front of him again. Seeing the Marshal looking at him with a strange expression, he became more and more anxious. He raised his hand to touch his forehead and asked, ¡°Again, are you okay? Where is it uncomfortable? Has your spiritual power calmed down? Your bers¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s over long ago.¡± Chu Rong, who saw all his reactions in his eyes, had a guess in his heart. He raised his hand to pull the youth¡¯s hand off. Holding his hand, sitting up straight and looking into his eyes, he asked coldly, ¡°Bald Chicken, do you remember what we were doing just now?¡± ¡°What?¡± Seeing that his face was ruddy and his breath was stable, Qiao Zhiya felt less worried. He first wondered about his question, then thought of something ¨C his ears folded down, and he immediately thought of the worst. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have taken out the flesh of the stone carelessly. ¡­Is your berserk really over, I, I¡­ I¡¯m really sorry. ¡° As he spoke, he lowered his head, looking as if he was about to cry from self-blame. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m really sorry,¡± He said again, voice trembling and tears welling up. ¡°Don¡¯t cry! ¡± Chu Rong¡¯s face was completely dark. He immediately hugged Qiao Zhiya tight, took out his communicator and dialed Zhuang Yu¡¯s number. Once his call was connected, he immediately commanded the doctor with a murderously hurried tone: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that his confusion will only get better? But what the hell is going on now! He forgot all about it!¡± ¨CAnd worst of all, the Bald Chicken immediately cried once he¡¯s ¡°cured¡±!! CH 54.1 Zhuang Yu hurried over and took Qiao Zhiya, who was frightened by Chu Rong¡¯s anger, to the medical room. After a round of detailed examinations, Zhuang Yu flipped through the examination results. With a slight frown, she explained, ¡°Looking at the situation, he should be recovering soon, but now¡­¡± She glanced downwards in uncertainty as Qiao Zhiya climbed down from the instrument. The youth was standing obediently, trying to get a look at the examination¡¯s result. Zhuang Yu continued her explanation, ¡°All his physical data are normal¡­ My current guess is that his condition is cured, but thanks to a psychological stimulation, his mind is ¡®resetted¡¯ from before the condition occurred, resulting in a short-term memory loss.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s mind was chaotic, causing his spiritual power to be untamed. After hearing Zhuang Yu¡¯s guess, he turned his head and glanced coldly at Qiao Zhiya who was standing by the instrument. After seeing the youth looking so meek and scared, he corralled his emotions, and turned to Zhuang Yu instead. ¡°And your reason for that conclusion is?¡± Zhuang Yu walked closer to Qiao Zhiya, then patted his shoulder in order to comfort him. She replied, ¡°It¡¯s because of Qiao¡¯s self-healing power. But this means that even if this condition recurs, it won¡¯t be so serious.¡± ¡°So his memory will recover in the future?¡± Chu Rong turned his gaze to her hand, squinting. Zhuang Yu put her hands on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders without fear of death, and replied, ¡°Yes, but if you continue to scare him like this, maybe it will reoccur again. Memory is a very mysterious thing. If he¡¯s stimulated again, there¡¯s a chance that he¡¯ll forget again.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power floated out like the cold air. He frowned, looking at Qiao Zhiya. He knew that irritable mood scared the Bald Chicken¡­ Qiao Zhiya looked at him anxiously and pitifully, with hesitation painted clearly on his face. He wanted to cling closer to the Marshal but dare not inch closer. But when he sensed Chu Rong¡¯s gaze fell on him, his ears instinctively pricked up, his back straightened up, and his body stiffened like a board. Having lost his memory for several months, everything that Chu Rong and Zhuang Yu said sounded so foreign to him. It felt like he had time-travelled into the unknown future¡­ In his mind, it was just winter after the festival celebration. But now, it was suddenly spring and everyone had changed, talking about topics he didn¡¯t understand. Even Chu Rong¡¯s attitude towards him has changed and worsened. ¨CThough, his mood was justified. After all, it was his careless mistake that made Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power go berserk¡­ Thinking of this, he pursed his lips, lowered his eyes, suppressed the sadness in his heart. He used his finger to wipe the tears welling up on the corner of his eyes, feeling a little grateful. Fortunately, at least judging from the situation just observed, the berserk did not cause any harm to Chu Rong. He did not cause any major disaster. ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter if the flesh of the stone is gone, the effect of that thing is unknown, it could actually be dangerous¡­¡¯ ¡°What makes your face scrunch like that?¡± The bangs on his forehead were rubbed suddenly, and the familiar intimate movements made him almost feel like he was out of the world. He raised his head with a swish, staring blankly at Chu Rong, who was frowning with an ugly expression. He opened his lips, but no words came out of it. ¡°Don¡¯t overthink. I won¡¯t hurt you,¡± Chu Rong suppressed his irritability. He pulled the youth closest and made Zhuang Yu¡¯s hand let go of his shoulder. He remembered how sticky this Bald Chicken was during this past few months, and how different he looked now ¨C he was all stiff and uncomfortable, neck shrinking, as if he wanted to get away from Chu Rong. Chu Rong clenched his fist, and after a moment of hesitation, he put his hand over the youth¡¯s shoulder. He softened his tone and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, it¡¯s dinner time.¡± Qiao Zhiya turned his head to look at Chu Rong¡¯s handsome face, his ears moved slightly, and a secret joy bursted in his heart. He trusted Chu Rong, and let the Marshal lead him to the kitchen. Little stars lit up in his eyes as he thought, ¡®Ah, Chu Rong isn¡¯t angry about the berserk¡­ great. That¡¯s great.¡¯ Chu Rong saw all his expressions and the medley of emotions changing in his eyes. He felt his heart become heavy. He tightly held his hold on the youth¡¯s collar, but he still didn¡¯t turn to hug him. Instead, he stretched out his spiritual strength and trapped the two of them inside a cage made of the same spiritual power. The atmosphere of the dinner was a bit dull. Chu Rong did not eat or chat as usual, and Qiao Zhiya, who had recovered his memory, was also obedient. He didn¡¯t chatter, didn¡¯t clamor for something to eat, didn¡¯t squirm in his seat and unable to sit still, and didn¡¯t act all childish and clingy, asking for hugs. He became that obedient and well-behaved boy again, even more cautious and restrained than before. Obviously the table was full of his favorite dishes, but he restrained himself to only pick the few dishes in front of him. Chu Rong lost his appetite after eating a few bites. He put down his chopsticks with a frown. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly put down his chopsticks. He looked at him with concern in his eyes. ¡°Is it not to your liking? These dishes don¡¯t seem to be your favorite. Do you want to let the robot cook a few?¡± ¨CHe didn¡¯t dare to say that he would do it himself, as he¡¯s afraid to be rejected. And on top of that, he¡¯s even more afraid of making Chu Rong angry. His small animal-like intuition told him that Chu Rong was in an abysmal mood now, just a hair¡¯s breadth away from exploding. ¡®He¡¯s too sensible!¡¯ Chu Rong clenched his fist, and it really exploded. But it wasn¡¯t because of Qiao Zhiya, but because of himself. If it weren¡¯t for the confusion caused by this accident, he might not have realized that in the previous relationship, it was Qiao Zhiya who had been accommodating his temper ¡ª it was this younger man accommodating his bad temper! For Chu Rong, who wanted to develop an intimate relationship with the youth at this moment, this was a momentous discovery. It was like carrying a basin of ice water in his head, making him feel discouraged and frustrated at himself. Fortunately, Marshal Chu didn¡¯t have ¡°hesitation¡± in his dictionary. Since Qiao Zhiya was too sensible and accommodating, it just meant that he should return it tenfold ¨C it¡¯s time for him to pamper him silly. ¡°I made all these dishes,¡± He said as he picked up his chopsticks again. He served Qiao Zhiya some of the youth¡¯s favorite dishes. Although his expression was still dark because of his bad mood, his tone slowly eased, and he continued, ¡°It¡¯s been almost three months since I went berserk. You are now in a state of suspension. Before the suspension, you skipped a grade to the fourth grade. I have recovered, but you haven¡¯t. You suffered some injuries because you saved me. This memory loss is one of the symptoms of your injury.¡± Qiao Zhiya listened to what he said in a daze. He digested it quickly, eyes slowly lit up. He glanced at the dishes on the table, and asked excitedly, ¡°So I helped you in your recovery? It means you recovered? Also, you cooked all of this?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ancestor Chu¡¯s mood became more irritable, and he suddenly wanted to go around and hug the youth who was happy because of a table of food. ¡°Thank you, thank you, I will enjoy it well,¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him with a blush. He was in such a good mood that he almost flew up. Contrary to his previous restraint in eating, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat joyfully. All the dishes on the table were his favorites, so did Chu Rong cook this table specially for him? ¡®Chu Rong is the best!¡¯ As he ate, his ears fluttered about unrestrainedly, showing his good mood. Seeing this, Chu Rong¡¯s ire abated immediately. He poured a glass of juice and put it in front of Qiao Zhiya, raised his hand and pinched his ear. ¡®Really stupid. Regardless of whether his memory is muddled or not, this guy is just stupid.¡¯ ¡°Eat slowly. There is dessert after the meal, it¡¯s pudding, with red beans added,¡± Chu Rong reached out and rubbed his hair, picked up the chopsticks again, and continued eating. Qiao Zhiya was even happier when he heard that. Not only did Chu Rong graciously cook him some food, he even gave him dessert he loved! He shook his head as he thought, ¡®Is this the benefit of me being sick? What a great day!¡¯ After the warm dinner, Qiao Zhiya took the initiative to help the housekeeping robot clean up the dishes. Then he obediently went to wash up by himself, without disturbing Chu Rong¡¯s next office work. Chu Rong, who was going to have a hug after dinner as usual, watched him run to the room on the second floor, and then walked out immediately. The youth was confused at how the room changed so drastically. Chu Rong immediately understood, and he pointed to the change of his room. ¡°Here, you almost fell down the stairs before, so your room is moved to the first floor.¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback. His face turned red, and he quickly ran downstairs and back to his room, passing by with a whisper of ¡°Thank you.¡± Chu Rong: ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Take a deep breath, don¡¯t get angry. If you are too fierce it will scare Qiao Zhiya, who is very sensitive at this stage¡­ Damn it! Why is he being so polite!¡¯ After washing up, Qiao Zhiya climbed onto his bed and took out his helmet. He logged in, and immediately was hit with a wave of novelty. During dinner, Chu Rong told him that he now took online classes every Monday to Friday in the morning and afternoon. He would go to Master Ren to take weapons commission on Saturdays, and he would rest on Sundays. Today was Saturday, that is to say, he still has one day to understand his current study progress and life rhythm. This was a very strange experience. It was obviously his own life, but I had to be familiar with it again under the guidance of others. The feeling of logging in with his own strength was no different from the feeling of logging in with stone grass, only a little easier. During the process, there was no need to deliberately simulate spiritual power. It seemed that this helmet automatically recognized the part of his magic power that was disguised to have the same property as spiritual power. It also recognized his advanced level of power. The bearded teacher was not online. He opened a laboratory and tried to process the materials. He found that the speed and feeling became similar to processing materials with magic power in reality. He was very pleasantly surprised. After familiarizing himself with these, he went offline. He felt the changes in his magic pool, and then tried to condense some power to his fingertips. Its ¡°properties¡± were separated, fluttering like ribbons in the air. A soothing power slightly different from magic power spread in the air, and he felt a little stunned and helpless ¡ª he understood the reason why he had been unable to successfully simulate magic power into spiritual power before. Magic power and spiritual power have something in common. In theory, as long as you find a way to find out the commonality between the two, they could be interchangeable. All he needed was to cut off the differences, and the world recognized it differently. It¡¯s a pity that his previous strength was only at the intermediate level, and both his magic power concentration and control was not enough. He couldn¡¯t separate the differences. But now that he had upgraded his magic power, helped by the flesh of the stone, it was easy for him to simulate spiritual power. He even could do it subconsciously during his previous state of confusion. After figuring this out, he condensed some wood-type magic power out. A faint green light spot emerged from his fingers. This light indicated that he had become a high-level magician ¡ª unfortunately, he was a magician with no magic power and no attack power. Dwarves still prefer to fight with weapons, and spells are not within their learning scope. Although elves are all natural masters of spells, he has a special situation, so he has never experienced the feeling of fighting with spells. After thinking wildly for a while, he tried to search out other magic powers in a wide range. He found that there were no colored light spots in the air this time, so he was finally relieved. It seemed that as long as he did not release the magic power consciously, the magic power would remain in an undetectable state as before. Afterwards, he tried some other things with his magic power, and finally confirmed that the flesh of the stone not only helped him rise to a high level, but also greatly broadened his magic power pool. His current magic pool should be three to five times that of ordinary high-level magicians, and he no longer needed to replenish magic power frequently. But at the same time, he would need more magic stones every time he replenished it. ¡°Click,¡± the door opened, and Chu Rong pushed the door and walked in. Qiao Zhiya came back from his thoughts. He quickly sat up from the bed, looked at the older man with wide eyes, feeling suddenly nervous for some reason. Seeing him sitting on the bed in his pajamas, Chu Rong frowned and said, ¡°Bundle yourself with the quilt.¡± After finishing speaking, he took the pajamas and went straight to the bathroom. Qiao Zhiya watched him go in, lifted the quilt and lay down obediently. After thinking about it, he moved to the side where Chu Rong used to sleep, and helped him warm the quilt. Fifteen minutes later, there was the sound of the doorknob being turned in the bathroom. Qiao Zhiya moved his ears, rolled back decisively, and then closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep ¡ª he didn¡¯t know why he pretended to be asleep, but this instinct was carved deep already. Chu Rong came out from the bathroom wiping his hair. He quickly discovered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s very amateurish behavior of pretending to sleep. He squinted his eyes, dried his hair faster, walked to the bedside and lifted the quilt to lie down. It¡¯s warm. ¡®¡­this small thing only uses his scheming brain for this kind of matter.¡¯ Suddenly feeling better, Chu Rong laid down. He stretched out his hand and pulled Qiao Zhiya, who was facing away from him, into his arms. He kissed his ear very clearly on purpose, and said, ¡°Good night.¡± After speaking, he relaxed his body, looking like he¡¯s ready to fall asleep. Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes wide in a flash. His ears and face turned red, and he wanted to touch his itchy ears so desperately, but he was brave enough to blow up his cover. He could only tremble anxiously, wanting to confirm the touch just now. ¡°What¡¯s the fuss, why didn¡¯t you sleep?¡± Chu Rong pretended to be disturbed. He raised his hands to prompt up his head, side-laying on the bed. He squirmed even closer, warm breaths all over the youth¡¯s nape. ¡°Qiao Zhiya, did you just pretend to be asleep?¡± Qiao Zhiya turned his head to look at him. His eyes widened, and his breath was taken away. ¡®Chu Rong with loose hair like this is so handsome¡­¡¯ Chu Rong looked at him. He inched closer, and closer, and closer¡­ and fell back to the pillow as his lips were only a couple inches away from touching the youth¡¯s. He rubbed the fluffy blond strands of hair, and patted him on the back. ¡°Go to sleep, I will take you to see the little rabbit tomorrow.¡± ¡®Little rabbit?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya suddenly let go of his held breath, barely recovering from an inexplicable sense of loss, and wanted to look up at him. ¡°Stop looking at me. Sleep.¡± His back was slapped again, and the feeling seemed to be a little different from the past, but it was obviously just a very ordinary back slap. Qiao Zhiya obediently closed his eyes, curled up in the taller man¡¯s arms shyly and happily. He fell asleep amidst doubts and inexplicable excitement. CH 54.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. After a sleepless night, in the morning, as soon as Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes, Chu Rong printed a good morning kiss on his forehead. Then he was picked up skillfully by the older man, sent to the bathroom, and began to wash in a half-asleep state. It wasn¡¯t until the water wet his cheeks that he suddenly woke up. He turned his head in shock and stared at the bathroom door that Chu Rong closed after leaving, his heart beating faster. ¡®What¡¯s the situation? What just happened? I was carried to the bathroom by Chu Rong like a child?¡¯ Before he could get out of his bewilderment, Chu Rong came inside the bathroom again. Seeing that the youth hadn¡¯t finished washing his face, he grabbed a towel to help him wipe his face, scolding him, ¡°Don¡¯t play with water.¡± He walked out with him. He put the short-circuited elf boy in front of the closet, and told him to change quickly. Finally, he left Qiao Zhiya alone. Qiao Zhiya was so irritated that he changed his clothes in auto-pilot mode. Once he finished and went to the dining room, he found that Chu Rong had already prepared breakfast. The table was full of his favorite food. ¡°You¡­¡± He was flattered, and his expression was blank with shock. ¡°Come and eat quickly, you have to drink the milk,¡± Chu Rong motioned him to come over. Once Qiao Zhiya was seated across from the older man, he said in a tone that did not allow rebuttal. ¡°Don¡¯t try to be picky, or you will not be allowed to see rabbits.¡± Qiao Zhiya did as he was told, and really finished drinking his milk. Seeing that Chu Rong seemed to be in a good mood, he asked, ¡°Well, the rabbit is¡­ and this morning¡­¡± ¡° ¡°You were whining about raising a rabbit, so I bought you a pair,¡± Chu Rong replied flatly. He put the bread and jam in front of him, and continued his explanation, ¡°Some time ago, the female rabbit gave birth to a litter, which was now taken care of by the old butler. Don¡¯t be dazed, eat quickly.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurriedly picked up the bread, and after eating a few mouthfuls, his brain finally connected. As he suppressed his excitement, he asked, ¡°The rabbits you bought for me, so it is my rabbits? Do I have rabbits?¡± When he was younger, he raised a litter of rabbits ¨C but since they multiplied far too quickly, it almost became a disaster. Before it could get out of hand, his father released most of the rabbits, only leaving him with a pair of same-sex rabbits that would not continue reproducing. He continued to happily raise them, but rabbits were short-lived after all. Two years from that, both rabbits died from old age. He was sad for a long time, but he always wanted to raise another litter. Unexpectedly, Chu Rong actually helped him realize his childhood wish! ¡°Yes, your rabbits,¡± Chu Rong glanced at him, raised his hand and rubbed his hair. He suddenly smiled, and continued, ¡°If you want anything else in the future, just tell me, and I¡¯ll buy it for you.¡± ¡®La-laugh? The White-Haired Monster actually laughed?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya stared blankly, then blushed uncontrollably. He foolishly lowered his head to cover it up by pretending to enjoy his meal wholeheartedly. He nodded vaguely and replied, ¡°O-okay. Thank you. I-I will¡­ I will repay you.¡± ¡°No need to thank you.¡± ¨CAfter all, it was Chu Rong¡¯s desire to pamper his beloved. Chu Rong secretly stared at the blushing youth, thinking of how cute Qiao Zhiya was. He pinched the quivering ears, and felt how hot it was. Eyebrows raised, his mood completely improved. After breakfast, Qiao Zhiya saw a family of rabbits on the grass. He happily ran over to touch and see them, blushing with excitement. Chu Rong leaned on the side and watched him play with gentle eyes. ¡®That¡¯s it, Chu Rong. Take your time. If the Bald Chicken flies again, I can just catch and cook it again. I can be patient since it will yield sweeter results.¡¯ ¨C After playing with the rabbits all morning, Qiao Zhiya calmed down and began to familiarize himself with his current study progress. Fortunately, although he has short-term memory loss, all his knowledge points were still in his brain. He just needed to jog them up to make sure he was still proficient. Another week passed, and Qiao Zhiya still couldn¡¯t remember the previous two months. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t get confused again, so his life was slowly getting back on track. Soon, the midterm exam of the Intermediate College came, and Qiao Zhiya approached Chu Rong and expressed his desire to take the exam and skip a grade again. ¡°Are you going to the fifth grade?¡± Chu Rong asked for confirmation, flicking his bangs. Qiao Zhiya nodded. After this period of familiarization, he had gradually gotten used to Chu Rong¡¯s closer intimacy. ¡°I learned the parts very quickly, and I have mastered all the materials for the fourth and fifth grades. I will definitely be able to skip grades.¡± ¡°Besides, I want to graduate with Xiao Yan and take the Advanced College entrance exam in the second half of the year, is that okay?¡± ¡°Then go for it,¡± Chu Rong readily agreed to his request. Suppressing the reluctance and unhappiness in his heart, he tried to maintain a calm tone and expression. ¡°Do you want to go back to school after the exam?¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at him, blushed slightly, and shook his head. ¡°No¡­ I can just submit the research result for the final exam of the fifth grade. The experiment on the joints of the mecha has already produced results, so I can just use that.¡± He didn¡¯t know why, but after regaining consciousness, he became very dependent on Chu Rong. Although he usually restrained himself, he couldn¡¯t deceive the budding feeling of something in his heart. He didn¡¯t want to leave Chu Rong¡¯s side for too long¡­ at least after Chu Rong finished his vacation and returned to the army, he wanted to cling to him as much as possible. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll arrange it,¡± The unhappiness in Chu Rong¡¯s heart disappeared. The corners of his mouth hooked up, and he rubbed the youth¡¯s ears again. He found that Qiao Zhiya leaned over his palm, and nuzzled it in return. His gaze softened at the reciprocal action. Three days later, the school approved his request to skip a grade again, but there was one requirement ¡ª his grades in the mid-term exams of the fourth grade must all be above 80, otherwise the grade skip exam would be canceled. On the day of the midterm exam, Qiao Zhiya arrived at the school on time. Most of the fourth-grade exams were practical, and he finished them with ease, getting full marks in all of them. His fourth-grade classmates who had never met before were stunned. After that, he passed the theoretical test again with full marks, which shocked his classmates again. Walking out of the examination room amidst the students¡¯ discussions, he saw that it was still early, so he went back to the dormitory. There, he left some gifts and snacks for Sang Bu, and sent a message to say that he had been there. He went out, and went around to the first-grade classroom. He wanted to find Yun Xiachu, but the boy wasn¡¯t there. In the end, one of Yun Xiachu¡¯s former friends came to tell him that Yun Xiachu was now in the third grade classroom. It was then that he realized Yun Xiachu had also skipped a grade. He was a little surprised, and didn¡¯t notice the strange attitudes of these little classmates who isolated him before. After politely thanking him, he turned and prepared to go upstairs to the third grade classroom. ¡°You, wait,¡± The little classmate suddenly stopped him, took two steps forward, stuffed a space button in his hand, and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the previous thing. I watched the live broadcast, and¡­ you are amazing. Congratulations for successfully skipping a grade.¡± After speaking, the young boy stretched out his arms and gave him a quick hug. Then, he turned around and ran away. Qiao Zhiya froze for a moment, looked down at the space button in his hand, then glanced at the little students in the classroom who tried to cover up and looked away after he looked over. He pursed his lips and smiled, waved to them, and said thank you. Then, he turned around happily and walked upstairs. There were some small gifts in the space button, and each gift had a note of apology and a signature, which warmed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart. ¡®These carrot-heads are not bad at heart. I know they¡¯ll grow up well.¡¯ From the corridor, Yun Xiachu saw a familiar figure slowly approaching. He was taken aback, then rushed out angrily after recognizing the figure. He stared at Qiao Zhiya fiercely for a long time, then suddenly took out a lot of boxes from his space button. He stuffed them all into the older youth¡¯s arms, and said angrily, ¡°You¨C! It¡¯s been half a year! Don¡¯t ask me to bring you special products in the future!¡± Qiao Zhiya was overwhelmed by the numerous special product boxes. He was stunned for a moment, and laughed in a low voice. ¡°W-why are you laughing! You skipped to the fourth grade without telling me! You liar-!!¡± Yun Xiachu became more furious. Qiao Zhiya looked at Yun Xiachu, who had grown a lot taller ¨C to the point of almost his height. He reached out and touched his head with a smile, and said, ¡°Thank you. Sorry that I made you worry.¡± ¡°W-who worry about you?! Don¡¯t touch my head! I¡¯m going to be taller than you soon!¡± Yun Xiachu pulled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand down fiercely. Awkwardly, he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you recovering? Are you coming back to class?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head. Then, he told Yun Xiachu his plan in the future, which was to skip another grade and finish his Intermediate College education by the second half of the year. Hearing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s outrageous plan, Yun Xiachu was shocked. His expression changed, he suddenly gave him a fierce look, and yelled, ¡°Just wait! I will catch up with you soon! Don¡¯t try to be better than me forever! I will grow up too! I-I¡¯ll become taller than you; much, much taller than you!!¡± After speaking, he turned around and left, and quickly disappeared. ¡°Hey, Xiao Chu¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t stop the young boy. The smile on his face disappeared, and he frowned worriedly. After putting away the special products, he hurriedly sent him a message to comfort this awkward kid. ¨C The grade-skipping exam was scheduled for the day after the final exam. The school opened a large classroom for him to complete the full set of exams. Xiang Kun got the news and came to watch again. This time the exam was about the content of the fifth grade. The mecha manufacturing course already involved parts. Qiao Zhiya handled it skillfully and got a full score in all subjects again. Seeing this shocked Xiang Kun to the core. He glared at Qiao Zhiya, who perfectly disassembled a part. He was speechless ¨C he wanted to insult him, but couldn¡¯t find the proper words he wanted to convey. In the end, all he could do was to look at Qiao Zhiya seriously, then ran away. The invigilator who watched the whole process couldn¡¯t help shaking his head when he saw this. ¡°Xiang Kun is excellent at everything. However, he¡¯s still too reckless and headstrong. He needed to mature and calm down¡­¡± A teacher who was familiar with Xiang Kun suddenly sighed in a low voice. Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya glanced at Xiang Kun¡¯s back. He only pursed his lips, and proceeded to go through the formalities for suspension of school. CH 54.3 After finishing, he was about to leave the school. On the way out, Qiao Zhiya received a message from Ning Kongran, who asked him to meet in the practical building of Campus C. Seeing that it was still early, he agreed. He took out his hover car that had not been used for a long time, and drove towards Campus C. Ning Kongran waited at the door of the practical building. He saw him coming from a distance, and hurriedly stepped forward with a smile. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya looked hale and hearty, Ning Kongran greeted him with a warm smile. ¡°Long time no see. I received the gift you sent, Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I heard from the teacher that you seldom been in school recently, and I thought you were not there, so I didn¡¯t come to see you.¡± Qiao Zhiya explained with some embarrassment. ¡°You said in the message that you need my help, what¡¯s the matter?¡± When it came to the topic, Ning Kongran¡¯s smile became lighter, and he motioned for him to go upstairs with him. It was the first time for Qiao Zhiya to come to Ning Kongran¡¯s personal laboratory in the school. It was clean and looked unused for a long time. There were only a few materials scattered about on the table. Qiao Zhiya had a guess, so he asked, ¡°Do you want me to help you deal with these materials?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ning Kongran nodded helplessly, then sighed. ¡°I have tried many times myself, but it doesn¡¯t work, it seems that only you can do it.¡± Qiao Zhiya was puzzled. ¡®Why only I can do it?¡¯ Seeing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bewildered expression, Ning Kongran hurriedly explained in detail. It turned out that the first time Qiao Zhiya came to do the grade-skipping exam, the school had no materials, so the teacher had to borrow materials from Ning Kongran¡¯s laboratory. After the exam finished, the teacher returned the materials back. After Ning Kongran returned to school, he used this processed material to make a newly designed part. He thought it would fail directly like many times before, but he didn¡¯t expect it to succeed. Fortunately, he discovered the reason why the experiment failed all the time before ¨C the processing of the material wasn¡¯t 100% complete. Later, Ning Kongran tried to process the materials by himself, but no matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t achieve 100% completion. In desperation, he had to resort to asking Qiao Zhiya for help. Ning Kongran also promised that in order to thank Qiao Zhiya for his help, he would add Qiao Zhiya¡¯s name to his graduation work. After listening to the explanation, Qiao Zhiya understood the specific situation. He smiled and waved his hand at Ning Kongran. ¡°No need to add my name, it¡¯s just a few materials. My contribution is too low for that.¡± He walked to the test bench, pointed to the materials on it, and asked, ¡°Are these the materials you needed?¡± ¡°Yes, these are,¡± Ning Kongran also stepped forward, and then insisted, ¡°I still had to add your name. I heard that you have skipped to the fifth grade? Now it is only a few months before graduation. It may be too late to prepare for your graduation project now.¡± ¨CThe implication is that Qiao Zhiya can use Ning Kongran¡¯s works to graduate, even if this looks like a shortcut. Qiao Zhiya was touched by Ning Kongran¡¯s sincerity. He replied, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, but I have already prepared my project, and I can submit it to the school in the near future.¡± After saying that, he was afraid that Ning Kongran would keep insisting, so he directly put his hand on the material and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll start. The process isn¡¯t long, you can sit and watch.¡± Ning Kongran knew that this would be a losing battle, so he did what Qiao Zhiya said. He didn¡¯t want to disturb the young man, so he stepped back. First, he simulated some spiritual power as a cover, then Qiao Zhiya used it to handle the materials skillfully. Ning Kongran, who was next to him, quickly sensed the spiritual power that was floating out of him. He was taken aback for a moment, before his heart skipped a beat. Looking at Qiao Zhiya with widened eyes, he could feel his heart palpitate chaotically. ¡®Ho-how could he have¡­ this kind of spiritual power?¡¯ Ning Kongran wondered, trying to calm his expression down. Most people might not be able to sense it; but he, who had special spiritual power all his life, could distinguish the specialness of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spiritual power. This was spiritual power with healing properties! The hermit of his family once said that the next person with healing spiritual power to appear would bring salvation to their group. But how could it be Qiao Zhiya? He was just an Exoplanet Native, and he had just awakened his spiritual power not long ago. He suddenly remembered the day when the hermit died, and his eyes suddenly sank ¡ª at that day, Qiao Zhiya happened to be on the island, specifically, he lived on the forest area, which was directly above the underground laboratory¡­ ¡°Alright,¡± Qiao Zhiya withdrew his hand. He was satisfied to find that his speed of processing materials had become faster. He turned around and saw Ning Kongran looking at him strangely, making him embarrassed. Ears fluttering about, he explained his ¡°weirdness¡± with a stutter, ¡°Well, I¡­ um, My strength is uh¡­ more sensitive to materials, so the processing is a little faster. B-but you can rest assured that I have handled these materials well! I guarantee that it¡¯s better than before.¡± Ning Kongran snapped out of his dazed state. He restrained his emotions and faked a convincing smile. ¡°No, I believe you¡­ just wait a moment.¡± As he spoke, he stepped forward to pick up all the materials and put them into the instrument for testing. The sound of beeps kept ringing, and the completion of the materials was indeed 100%. This only made the knot in Ning Kongran¡¯s heart bundled tighter. The healing spiritual power has a unique affinity for all things in nature, and materials were no exception. It¡¯s no wonder Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spiritual power was above A when he first awakened; it¡¯s no wonder that he has such a high degree of completion in material processing¡­ This type of special spiritual power could always produce miracles, but history shows that it only brings disaster to the user. He tightened his fist. He realized that Qiao Zhiya might not know how special his abilities are. Otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have shown it so recklessly. ¡°Kongran?¡± Seeing the older man standing still in front of the instrument for a long time, Qiao Zhiya became a little worried. He stepped forward and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? You¡¯ve been in a bad mood. Have you been too tired recently?¡± Returning to his thoughts, Ning Kongran moved and adjusted his expression a little. He turned to look at him, and said, ¡°You handled the material very well¡­ it was a great help, thank you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± Qiao Zhiya saw that Ning Kongran was fine, and felt relieved as a result. He hesitated for a moment, and tentatively suggested, ¡°Although I don¡¯t know why your parts need to be made of 100% completed materials¡­ In my opinion, according to the characteristics and ratios of these materials, the reason for your failing parts might be because most of these materials are stone. You might need to swap a couple of the materials so the fault tolerance wouldn¡¯t be so low like this. Although the spiritual power has a certain compensation effect, it is not as stable as the characteristics of the material itself. Maybe you can try adding some softer materials instead, so balance all the hard stones so the final part would be more flexible. Um¡­ for example, there¡¯s this grass from a primitive planet, and it has this, uh¡­ special properties, but¨C¡± ¡°Thank you, I will try your suggestion,¡± Ning Kongran interrupted him. He tried to appear friendlier, and asked, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, your strength¡­ isn¡¯t it a bit special?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears pricked up in fright, and he stammered and asked, ¡°Wh-what? I-I don¡¯t understand.¡± Ning Kongran could see that Qiao Zhiya was far too flustered to be truthful. He felt helpless but a bit tickled. He wanted to sigh at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s simplicity and strength. ¡°Qiao,¡± He leaned sideways on the test bench, did not face him directly, and said in a slow tone, ¡°You are an Exoplanet Native, so you may not know much about the history of the Federation. There are also different types of spiritual power, some of which are special types. And it¡¯s¡­ very rare nowadays. I sensed your spiritual power just now, and found that your power is very special, it may be a kind of special spiritual power ¡ª it has healing properties.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pricked ears trembled. He slowly relaxed, and asked, ¡°Healing? Can you feel it?¡± He has simulated the spiritual power for so long and done so many checks, and no one has found anything wrong with his spiritual power. ¡°Yes, I can sense it, because I¡¯m also a special type. My ability is fusion,¡± to prove his statement, Ning Kongran released a little of his spiritual power that he rarely used. It swayed in front of Qiao Zhiya. He had a wry smile on his face. ¡°This is what the Ning family has always¡­ No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Qiao, you must pay attention in the future. It¡¯s best not to keep 100% completion when handling materials, and try not to let others sense your spiritual power. It¡¯s very dangerous.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned. After finally successfully simulating a spiritual power, it turned out to be another trouble? ¡°After you go back, you can go and find out what happened to people with special spiritual powers,¡± Ning Kongran stood up, surrounded by an air of melancholy. He walked in front of him, raised his hand hesitantly, and slowly put his hand on the top of his head, rubbing it gently. ¡°This is not alarmist talk, Qiao. This world is not safe for our kin. In the eyes of others, we are aliens and¡­ objects that can be used. So¡­ it¡¯s better than we mask our specialness, okay? Also, you¡¯d better tell this to Chu Rong. I know he can protect you.¡± After that, Ning Kongran left. He feared that if he continued to stay, he would say something he shouldn¡¯t. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave. He touched the top of his head that was still warm, looked down at his palm and frowned. He took out his communicator, and walked quickly towards the door. After receiving this news, Chu Rong immediately sent a car to take him home. He asked Zhuang Yu to give him a detailed inspection again. ¡°It¡¯s true that his affinity is very high,¡± Zhuang Yu frowned, feeling a little headache pounding her temple. ¡°Everyone¡¯s spiritual power has different characteristics. For example, mine is more sensitive than yours, and Marshal Chu¡¯s is more aggressive. I thought that this is the same for Qiao¡¯s, but I didn¡¯t expect that his power would fall under this special type.¡± The situation of the special-type spiritual power users in the federation was really delicate. She originally thought that Qiao¡¯s spiritual power was simulated and there should be no problem. But it turned out that she was so horribly wrong. Chu Rong also frowned deeply. He pondered for a while, looked at Qiao Zhiya and asked, ¡°Ning Kongran said that he also has special spiritual power?¡± ¡°Yes, he said that his own is fusion,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, and then said with some frustration, ¡°What will happen if my simulated spiritual power really is special-type? What will happen? Will this hinder my study in mecha manufacturing?¡± In Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind, that was the worst outcome he could think of. Zhuang Yu was amused by his appearance, and replied, ¡°How is it possible? Of course, you can continue to learn, but you must pay more attention in the future. When you must use your spiritual power in front of others, you¡¯d better mask it so it wouldn¡¯t be perceived as different by others.¡± Chu Rong was more straightforward. He took out the spiritual power simulator earrings1this is the device that QZY wore when he still couldn¡¯t simulate his magic power into spiritual power, as the world he lived in requires spiritual power to power devices/log in/enter public transport/etc. It gives out spiritual power of others (in this case, Chu Rong¡¯s), so he can operate those despite his inability to output his own spiritual power. and put them on the youth, as he said, ¡°When you can¡¯t control it, use my spiritual power to cover it up. Don¡¯t be afraid, even if others find out, I can protect you.¡± The familiar spiritual power flowed out from the simulator and entwined around his body. Qiao Zhiya closed his eyes comfortably, blushed, and nodded. His heart was beating a little fast. ¡®Why didn¡¯t I notice it before? Wearing this simulator, it was like being hugged by Chu Rong¡­. It¡¯s too¡­ too¡­¡­.¡¯ Zhuang Yu, who was watching from the side, rolled her eyes. She felt angry at her superior¡¯s shamelessness and possessiveness. ¡®Putting a spiritual power simulator on a person with spiritual power ¨C what is the difference between this and screaming at the world that Qiao Zhiya is yours, you possessive hooligan!¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 55.1 Ahh, sorry for the late update! I had so little time this week, so the updates will be 1 day late¡­ ¡±CharacterQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Yuan Lie: Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, a Lieutenant General. Liu Hongzi: One of Chu Yan¡¯s enemy during the previous semester¡¯s exam. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. A week later, Master Ren sent over Qiao Zhiya¡¯s patent paper on the new processing method of mecha joints he proposed last year. After getting the patent, Qiao Zhiya made several models of new mecha joint parts. Then he submitted the parts together with a copy of the patent to the school for his graduation project of the Mecha Manufacturing major. He used this time to refit and make a housework robot for his graduation project of the Mechanical Design major. After finishing both, there were only some theoretical exams left in his graduation assessment. He then could take the time to go to school to take the exam. Time flew by in the busy study and research on mecha weapons. In a blink of an eye, the end of the semester was approaching. Chu Yan, who hadn¡¯t been to the main house for a long time, suddenly ran over on a weekend. There, he went inside the laboratory and found Qiao Zhiya, who was disassembling some mecha parts. ¡°You can actually disassemble and assemble parts now?¡± Chu Yan was surprised. He walked around his operating table full of parts, picked up a scale model, and asked in wonder, ¡°This is the part of the mecha leg, right? Why does it look different from what I know?¡± ¡°This was an attempt to modify the leg parts done many years ago by a mecha maintenance worker during the mecha reform. Because it was too impractical, it was quickly abandoned. When I learned about it, I found that it still has room for modification, so I figured it out myself.¡± Qiao Zhiya took the time to answer while still working on it. He quickly assembled a new part, then looked at Chu Yan with a happy expression. ¡°Why are you here? You don¡¯t have to go to class today?¡± ¡°Campus A is currently being prepared for our practical exams, so class has been suspended temporarily,¡± Chu Yan replied. He was very curious of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s work, so he touched the finished part carefully. Then, he leaned down, leaning down shoulder-to-shoulder, and whispered in a mysterious tone. ¡°Come on, I have something to tell you. Where is Erge? We have to avoid him temporarily¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was puzzled. He followed him obediently, although still worried. ¡°Xiao Yan, have you gotten into trouble again? Or do you have no money to spend? Why do you want to avoid Chu Rong¡­¡± ¡°Shhhhhh,¡± Chu Yan shushed him, cold sweat dripping on his forehead. He glanced at the study next door after leaving the laboratory, and whispered in an even quieter voice, ¡°No, I need your help with something.¡± The two ran to the corner of the garden where there was no one, and Qiao Zhiya sat on the wicker chair. Looking at Chu Yan who seems to have grown a little taller, he asked, ¡°What do you want me to do? Do you want to make a new mecha model weapon?¡± ¡°No,¡± Chu Yan paused with a strange look on his eyes. ¡°My graduation practical is soon, and the school stipulates that each mecha fighter can invite an additional mecha master to accompany them. To ensure safety, these mecha masters can be anyone, be it students, professionals, or even parents. I want you to go with me, do you want to?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart was moved with this offer, especially after the recent events. He lowered his voice, a mix of wariness and excitement. ¡°You want me to go? But I only learned how to make parts, I may not be able to help you repair if things go south.¡± ¡°If you can do that, it¡¯s enough for minor repairs and upkeep. While the practical exam is a bit more dangerous than the usual, there will be no serious damage to the mecha. After all, we¡¯re only Intermediate College students, they won¡¯t make it too hard for us.¡± Chu Yan reassured him again. Then, he looked a bit antsy, as if he was doing something illegal. He looked around, took out his photon computer and searched for information on a mercenary forum, and said, ¡°I invite you for another reason, and that is this. The planet I¡¯m going to go to is D28, which has a fairly developed civilization. Recently, there¡¯s been a rumor floating around about the possibility of a tenth-level rare material, the Star Sand on it. My family¡¯s warship has been damaged for ten years and has been unable to be repaired. It lacks several tenth-level materials, and this is one of them.¡± Tenth-level materials were things that Qiao Zhiya often heard about, mostly talked by mecha masters dreaming about acquiring one. He immediately read the article on Chu Yan¡¯s photon computer, and sure enough, he saw that there was a word about Star Sand on the forum page that Chu Yan pointed out. But after a closer look, he found that it was mostly ridiculed by the masses. Plus, the original poster was someone who had a bad reputation ¨C many mercenaries had come forward denouncing him and calling him a fraud. He frowned in worry. ¡°Xiao Yan, this news seems unreliable.¡± ¡°Actually¡­ I¡¯ve already contacted this guide,¡± Chu Yan said, looking a bit guilty, eyes flicking left and right. He put away his photon computer, then smiled to reassure Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Trust me! Although this guide has a bad reputation, he does have some skills. He is willing to reveal the news about Star Sand this time because his mother is ill and needs a lot of money for treatment. I helped him solve this problem, so he told me all the details, and promised not to tell anyone else. This post was deliberately guided by him, in order to make people not believe the news.¡± ¡°You have already contacted the guide? How much did you spend?¡± Qiao Zhiya was surprised at how reckless Chu Yan was, and was worried about him getting duped. Suddenly, he understood Chu Rong¡¯s plight in raising such a rambunctious, bull-headed child like Chu Yan. Chu Yan hesitated and said nothing. An ominous premonition arose in Qiao Zhiya, and he asked tentatively, ¡°Your savings¡­¡± ¡°Tenth-level materials are definitely more important than my savings!¡± Chu Yan interrupted him righteously, then became suddenly downcast. He scratched his hair in irritation, and defended his stance. ¡°Qiao, I¡¯m really not willful this time. The geographical environment of D28 is indeed very suitable for the birth of Star Sand. What the guide said is at least 70% true, and I think it¡¯s true. ALso, I always feel that the recent situation in the Federation is a bit weird. The Four Great Families have been unable to repair the Chu family¡¯s flagship even after this long. And if it keeps being broken, it¡¯s clear that we¡¯re at a massive disadvantage.¡± Qiao Zhiya gleaned the important information, and he asked, ¡°Family flagship? A warship? What¡¯s going on? Even if a war is on the horizon, shouldn¡¯t the military send out warships? Why is it like they¡¯re relying on the Four Great Families?¡± ¡°Simple, because the flagship of these four families are simply better than the military-owned ones. They¡¯re quite a relic now, but people still haven¡¯t figured out how to make new ones. Otherwise, why would the Four Great Families have this level of prestige, unmatched by other noble families, to the point not even the President was willing to go against them?¡± Chu Yan hummed listlessly. He then looked at Qiao Zhiya, and started to become more desperate, ¡°Qiao, I heard that you are very good at mining. You were the one who found the mutated red tin mine, and this time, please help me find the Star Sand. Please!¡± Qiao Zhiya also began to hesitate, because it was related to the Chu family and Chu Rong. He very much wanted to go, but it was obvious that Chu Yan¡¯s safety was more serious. Still very hesitant, he decided to bargain, ¡°I think it¡¯s better for you to mention this matter to Chu Rong first. Especially if you ever come into danger¡­ I might not be able to protect you¡­¡± His magic power was still limited. He was afraid that in the face of real danger, it wouldn¡¯t be much of use. ¡®He told me his condition!¡¯ Chu Yan regained his energy, hurriedly approached him, and said with bright eyes, ¡°I definitely will tell him, but not now. Qiao, I didn¡¯t want to be reckless. I just worried that Erge wouldn¡¯t let you come with me, so¡­¡± He swished out an entourage application form and handed it over, then slapped an electronic pen and put it in front of him. ¡°Come, sign. After that, we can tell Erge about this.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Qiao, you are the best¡­¡± Chu Yan employed his utmost best puppy-dog eyes. Qiao Zhiya thought of his recent behavior of being more and more clingy to Chu Rong, and made up his mind. He took the pen and filled in his name on the form, and said, ¡°You already promised that you¡¯ll tell Chu Rong. Also, you are not allowed to sneak around!¡± Chu Yan hurriedly swore an oath, then quickly scanned the form to the student client and submitted it to the school. He finalized the matter of taking Qiao Zhiya to practice together. At dinner time, Chu Yan confessed about this matter at the dinner table. Qiao Zhiya was too nervous to eat, and didn¡¯t dare to look at Chu Rong¡¯s expression. His own younger brother abducted his sweetheart, what expression could Chu Rong have? Of course it was¡­ a blank face. He put down his chopsticks, tapped his fingers on the table, looked at Chu Yan, and said, ¡°You want to add something to your graduation experience, I have no objection.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up, and his heart blossomed in hope. ¡®H-has Erge been so easy to talk to and reason to? Sure enough, love will make people warm¡ª¡¯ ¡°However,¡± Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya, whose ears pricked up. The Marshal¡¯s brows twitched, and then looked at Chu Yan, suppressing his turbulent emotions from leaking out. He picked up his chopsticks again, trying to keep his tone steady, and finally said, ¡°Before I can give you my full approval, I have to confirm your current strength. After dinner, go to the mecha battle arena, and I will spar with you.¡± ¡®¡­Sparring?¡¯ Chu Yan only felt goosebumps all over his body, and he lost his appetite in an instant. Qiao Zhiya, however, thought he had already gained approval, making him relieved. He picked up a ladle, smiled flatteringly at Chu Rong, then scooped a bowl of soup for Chu Yan. He sing-songed, ¡°Well, isn¡¯t your Erge much more reasonable lately?¡± He looked absolutely proud, as if he didn¡¯t pick up any hint of malice from Chu Rong¡¯s tone. ¡®What are you proud of¡­¡¯ Chu Yan sensed the spiritual power that was drifting in the cold on his back, and forced a smile back at Qiao Zhiya. He couldn¡¯t pull his brother¡¯s mask off, so he could only accept Qiao Zhiya¡¯s soup and drank it in big gulps. ¡®Fuck it! If it¡¯s a sparring match, so be it! Treat it as practice, what are you afraid of! My strength has drastically increased!¡¯ After a few hours of one-sided torture tutoring, Chu Yan finally got his approval. He signed a series of compromise treaties, and crawled back to the room with a look of pain. Qiao Zhiya, who was ordered to go to bed on time, naturally did not see the confrontation between the two brothers. He only vaguely felt in his sleep that he seemed to be hugged hard and his nose was bitten. He frowned, and arched himself under the quilt uncomfortably. Then he was patted on the back quickly, and fell into a deep sleep again. CH 55.2 A week later, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya were sent to school by Chu Rong himself. When other parents at the school gate sent their children to participate in the graduation exam, they were dazzled when they saw Chu Rong. They were stunned for a few seconds before realizing that the Marshal who hadn¡¯t shown up for almost half a year actually appeared in public! A miracle! A scare! An absolutely shocking news! That¡¯s half a year, not half a month! If it wasn¡¯t for Chu Huai¡¯s frequent mention of Chu Rong, and rumors about Chu Rong leaked out from time to time from the Yuan family, they would almost have thought that the Marshal had actually died! Lieutenant General Yuan, who specially found time to send Yuan Xiu to participate in the training, was the first to come over to say hello. He asked with sincere concern, ¡°Marshal Chu, how are you? I heard from Chairman Chu that you are going back to the military headquarters recently. Are you in good health?¡± ¡°Thank you for your concern, it¡¯s all right now,¡± When Chu Rong faced Lieutenant General Yuan, his aura became much gentler. He greeted the older man kindly. They walked side-by-side to chat, while Yuan Xiu took the opportunity to get close to Chu Yan. He greeted Qiao Zhiya first, and then said excitedly, ¡°Hey, guess who the mecha master I bring this time! It¡¯s Ning Kongran!! He actually volunteered, and even equipped my mecha with his graduation results in advance. The effect is really amazing!¡± Hearing this, Chu Yan¡¯s expression changed, and he almost jumped up in surprise. He said anxiously, ¡°Ning Kongran? What is the Ning family doing? They are not going to continue their absolute neutrality stance? Are the Ning family crazy?¡± Everyone knows that the Yuan family is a staunch supporter of the Chu family. Now, the eldest grandson of the Ning family is with Yuan Xiu, isn¡¯t this putting the Chu family on fire? Do they think the current situation in the Federation is not lively enough? ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable, I know,¡± Yuan Xiu pulled him back. He pouted in a certain direction, and said in a low voice, ¡°Xiang Kun went to help Liu Hongzi again. I heard that Liu Hongzi is now supported by the Wei family, as one of their cultivated mecha fighters.¡± Chu Yan was busy collecting news about the Star Sand, and he hadn¡¯t confronted Xiang Kun for a while. It was only natural that he didn¡¯t know about this. Chu Yan looked at the direction Yuan Xiu pointed, and sure enough, he found Xiang Kun. He wailed in pure reflex, feeling a pounding headache forming. ¡°It¡¯s over, he came here too. Fuck, he definitely have tricks up his sleeves!¡± As if sensing their gaze, Xiang Kun also turned his head to look over. Weirdly, he didn¡¯t come over to jab at him. Instead of staring at his long-time nemesis Chu Yan, he shifted his gaze towards Qiao Zhiya instead. He paused for a few seconds, his face completely without anger nor joy, then turned his head again. Chu Yan: ¡°?¡± ¡®What the fuck is wrong Xiang Kun¡¯s reaction? Why does it feel weird?¡¯ ¡°Look at his reaction, doesn¡¯t it seem like he¡¯s crazy?¡± Yuan Xiu poked him. Chu Yan frowned deeply, and nodded in agreement. ¡°Not only that¡­¡± ¨CThis reaction didn¡¯t look like he¡¯s going crazy, but rather like he was bewitched. While they were chatting, Ning Kongran finally arrived. Before they had time to say hello, the teacher began to count the number of people and arranged for the students to get on the bus and set off to the port. After getting in the bus and sitting firmly, Qiao Zhiya leaned out the window to look at Chu Rong standing outside. He was full of reluctance to be separated. ¡°After I leave, will you go back to work at the military headquarters?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Chu Rong nodded as he rubbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s newly-cut bangs. He resisted his desire to kiss the youth¡¯s forehead. ¡°I¡¯ve been on vacation for so long, and it¡¯s time to go and have a look. You and Xiao Yan should be safe outside, and someone will be there when you arrive. Don¡¯t forget to contact me and be safe, understand?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently. He leaned out and stretched out his arms to hug him. Once in the Marshal¡¯s embrace, he tilted his head and rested it comfortably against his shoulder, ears fluttering and dropping down. He whispered with a tone full of sulkiness. ¡°You should also pay attention to rest. The power of the flesh of the stone has not been fully digested, so you can¡¯t be careless¡­ I will miss you.¡± He also needed to get the materials. He will try his best to bring them back. Chu Rong returned the hug, patting the back of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head. He then let go of his hand and helped him to sit back properly, then looked at Chu Yan next to him. Chu Yan¡¯s mouth twitched, then he leaned forward to give him a perfunctory hug. Just as he was about to let go, he heard a chilling voice next to his ear:,¡±Don¡¯t mess around, unless¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, Chu Yan could feel the stab of murderous intent inside these unfinished words. He hurriedly withdrew his arm, knowing that his act of abducting his brother¡¯s little sweetheart had provoked him. He didn¡¯t dare to look Chu Rong in the eyes, and instead hurriedly went to his seat. At this time, Yuan Xiu also finished talking with his father. Chu Rong glanced at Ning Kongran, who was quietly sitting in the corner with his head down and holding a book. He frowned, but then looked away. Ning Kongran continued to be immersed in the pages of his book, as if he didn¡¯t feel anything. The car drove away on time, but the parents around were reluctant to disperse, and communicated with cryptic looks. It¡¯s all purely telepathic. ¡®The person who said goodbye to his brother just now with a gentle expression was Marshal Chu?¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, look at his white hair. Nobody would mistake him.¡¯ ¡®So the Marshal¡¯s spiritual power really recovered¡­?¡¯ Just as they gossiped via their gazes, Chu Rong happened to be passing by with Yuan Lie. His expression was indifferent and irritated, and his aura was terrifying as always. It was enough to drop the temperature around him by three degrees. He looked very unfriendly, as if someone had robbed his wife. The parents: ¡°¡­¡± So the mildness is really just an illusion. As Chu Rong boarded his black hover car and went away, they finally came back to their senses. After looking at each other, they all boarded their respective hover cars and took out their communicators. [Big news! Marshal Chu really recovered! It seems he is preparing to return to the military headquarters!] ¨C In the black hover car, Chu Rong frowned after listening to Yuan Lie¡¯s report. In a deep, authoritative voice, he asked, ¡°The Empire is going to let one of the twins marry into the Federation? Is the source of the news reliable?¡± Yuan Lie nodded, his expression was a little heavy. ¡°The news came from the royal family of the Empire. It is absolutely reliable. Marshal, both Prince Anji and Princess Anlin are only 18 years old. If they marry, they should be wed to the juniors of each family. The most likely candidate is¡­¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s most likely to be Long Baorou. Now Long Baorou is deprived of the right to join the military. When the President changes, her road to politics will become tortuous. Marriage is always a good way to forge strong political bonds. However, her condition shouldn¡¯t match with Prince Anji, so this should be impossible.¡± Chu Rong analyzed with a dark face. Then, he pointed to his knees, and said, ¡°So the most likely target is me or the President¡¯s son, Long Xuyang.¡± Yuan Lie nodded and added, ¡°Besides that, I think there¡¯s another likely candidate ¨C Xiang Hui.¡± ¡°No, the Xiang family will not get involved in this trouble. Everyone has watched what happened to the Ning family after their political marriage to the Empire. No one with a brain will want anything to do with the Empire.¡± Chu Rong shook his head to deny his guess. He fell deep into his thoughts. ¡°It is impossible for the Empire to leak this rumor for no reason. If this marriage fails, the Imperial Royal Family will directly become a joke. They will not do such a stupid thing. It is more likely that the Imperial Family has already reached a consensus with the President.¡± ¨CMoreover, the twins were too young, and they came here under the guise of ¡°student exchange¡±. So even if they wanted to marry, it¡¯s very likely they¡¯ll get engaged first, and only promised a wedding in five years or so, after their graduation. There were too many variables in this. But the news somehow got ¡°leaked¡±. For Chu Rong, it¡¯s sending the signal that the so-called marriage is only a tool to provoke the tense relationship between the Four Great Families. Recently, the President deliberately approached the Chu family and alienated the Xiang and Wei families in a superficial manner. This method was subtle enough to go undetected, but Chu Rong bet that the President actually was sowing seeds of conflict. When Yuan Lie was reminded by him, he also grasped the point quickly. ¡°What exactly does His Excellency want to do? He¡¯s too confusing.¡± ¡°He¡¯s getting too greedy,¡± Chu Rong scoffed. He analyzed the President, then said, ¡°After being in power for so long, it¡¯s getting in his head that he¡¯s the rightful ruler of the Federation. He¡¯s getting drunk with his power. Just wait, the Xiang and Wei families will make him sober up; we can watch them dance about. Also, be prepared, the Empire¡¯s education system is a little different from the Federation¡¯s, so the Prince and Princess are likely to come here earlier.¡± This was also one of the reasons why he didn¡¯t object to Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan practicing together ¨C trouble is brewing. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s special status in the Chu family was bound to turn a few eyeballs into him. Now that an occasion lets the youth escape from the Empire¡¯s scrutiny, it¡¯s only natural for Chu Rong to fully utilize it. Because of Chu Rong¡¯s strong return, a huge wave of buzz spread across both interplanetary civilizations. Meanwhile, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who have already boarded the ship, were still happily planning their graduation experience. CH 55.3 ¡±CharacterQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. ¡°Planet D28 has complex landforms and a small living area. It has always been one of the favorite places for mercenaries to explore. The amount of intermediate and high-level materials found every year is almost twice that of other D-level planets, but correspondingly, survival there is harder ¨C there¡¯s more dangerous beasts living there.¡± Chu Yan projected a holographic map of Planet D28 into the air while speaking. He pointed to the large adventure area marked on it, clicked on an area closer to the residential area, and said, ¡°Our training tasks will be concentrated in this area, the low-risk area A.¡± Yuan Xiu counted the time with his fingers and said, ¡°The graduation training will last for half a month, and the teacher asked us to bring three high-level materials from the adventure area. Since there¡¯s both of us, we will need six materials in total. But with Qiao Zhiya here, I think we only need one day to complete the task. For the remaining fourteen days, what will we do? Enjoy the scenery?¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was given such high expectations by him, felt a little embarrassed. ¡°If we are unlucky, or the terrain is complicated, it will be difficult to get six materials a day.¡± ¡°Then two days in the worst case scenario. Still, that leaves us with thirteen days free.¡± Yuan Xiu was very confident in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s prowess. Qiao Zhiya blushed and couldn¡¯t speak anymore. Meanwhile, Chu Yan focused his gaze on Yuan Xiu, grinning fully, white teeth on display. ¡°¡­¡± Yuan Xiu¡¯s back turned cold, he leaned back on the chair defensively, looked him up and down, and said, ¡°Why do you give me such an expression? I feel there is a conspiracy¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not really a conspiracy¡­¡± Chu Yan pretended to be coy by waving his hand. Then, he leaned closer to Yuan Xiu after he couldn¡¯t contain his secret, whispered something near his ears. Yuan Xiu¡¯s eyes widened after hearing this, and he quickly shook his head and refused. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s too dangerous for you to run around! No, I don¡¯t agree!¡± ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon, and you¡¯re calling yourself my best friend?¡± Chu Yan hooked Yuan Xiu¡¯s neck and continued to convince him. Ning Kongran, who sat quietly and listened, looked at Qiao Zhiya suspiciously. Qiao Zhiya, who knew a little bit about Chu Yan¡¯s plan, quickly poured him a glass of water when he saw this. Then he smiled back at him with a little guilt and embarrassment. Five minutes later, Yuan Xiu came back with Chu Yan with a tangled face. He gritted his teeth and nodded. ¡°Fine. I can hold the locator for you and pretend that you stay with me all the time, but you have to make sure you will come back on time. And there will be no danger.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my Erge will send someone to protect me and Qiao at that time, so our safety will be guaranteed!¡± Chu Yan reassured him again. ¡°Actually, this should be even easier than I originally planned. After all, Xiang Kun will not tail after me like usual, so I don¡¯t need to think about how to trick him and can move freely!¡± Yuan Xiu knew that what he said was reasonable, and was finally convinced by him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if Xiang Kun is after you, I will definitely help you to hide from him.¡± He noticed Ning Kongran next to him, and his expression changed. He looked stiff. He then jabbed Chu Yan beside him. Following his instructions, Chu Yan met Ning Kongran¡¯s gaze, rolled his eyes, and jabbed Qiao Zhiya who was obediently sitting on the side. Qiao Zhiya turned his head to look at Chu Yan, and then followed his instructions to look at Ning Kongran. He looked at Ning Kongran silently for a few seconds, moved uncomfortably, and said, ¡°Kongran, will you be free soon? I, I want to talk to you alone.¡± Ning Kongran glanced back and forth at the three of them. He stood up and said, ¡°It won¡¯t take a while, let¡¯s do it now.¡± After speaking, he walked out first. Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Yan nervously. ¡°Qiao, you can do it, come on! Fool him!¡± Chu Yan whisper-shouted, then glared at Yuan Xiu, and said, ¡°Arghh, it¡¯s all your fault. Now Ning Kongran will just be an extra trouble.¡± ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t tell me before that you have other arrangements¡­¡± Yuan Xiu sounded offended. He didn¡¯t want to take Ning Kongran with him at first, but the conditions Ning Kongran gave were too tempting¡­ Qiao Zhiya followed Ning Kongran to his room next door, and before he could figure out how to cover up the matter of leaving the team to find the Star Sand, Ning Kongran took the initiative to speak and said, ¡°Qiao, I have something to do. I need your help.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, do you still need materials? Then I¡¯ll handle it for you now.¡± Ning Kongran was amused by his reaction. He smiled, shook his head, and replied, ¡°No, I might leave the team to do some errands, but my itinerary is not suitable for others to know. So I need you and Chu Yan to help me cover it up.¡± ¡°You, you want to leave the team too?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, and the first reaction after digesting what he said was to frown. ¡°No, even if it is a low-risk area, it is very dangerous for you, a mecha maker, to act alone. What do you want to do? Xiao Yan and I can help you first, you better not act alone.¡± Ning Kongran was warmed by his words, and his expression became more gentle as a result. He comforted him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there will be other people at that time to help me. I will keep a few people to protect Yuan Xiu, so nothing will happen. In fact, I guessed that Chu Yan might take you to participate in this experience, so I partnered with Yuan Xiu for that.¡± Hearing that there will be other people who will be with him, Qiao Zhiya was relieved. Now he was simply confused on why Ning Kongran needed to be so secretive about his itinerary. But thinking about what his plan entails, he could only stay silent. He silently suppressed all doubts, and asked, ¡°Are you¡­ okay, staying in the Ning family?¡± Ning Kongran¡¯s performance today almost directly expressed his closeness to the Chu family and his estranged and guarded attitude towards the Ning family. Plus coupled with his alienation from the Ning family¡¯s other juniors, and the matter of his special spiritual power¡­ it only worries Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m okay,¡± Ning Kongran leaned closer and patted the younger man¡¯s hair, and continued in a hushed whisper, ¡°Qiao, you have to protect yourself.¡± Seeing him like this, Qiao Zhiya only became more worried. ¡°Kongran, you¡­¡± Ning Kongran patted his head again, shook his head to indicate that he didn¡¯t need to say more. Heretracted his hand, and his tone returned to normal. ¡°Now we have reached a consensus. I won¡¯t ask what your plan is, and you won¡¯t pry mine either. This is a little secret between us, okay?¡± Seeing that the older youth didn¡¯t want to talk more, Qiao Zhiya closed his mouth. With pursed lips, he rummaged through his space button and grabbed a lot of potions. He stuffed them all into Ning Kongran¡¯s hands, saying, ¡°You have to come back safely. I will keep the communicator on, so you can send me a message if you need help.¡± Ning Kongran glanced at the heavy potions in his hand. He sighed deeply, but accepted this generous gift. He nodded at Qiao Zhiya with a gentle smile. ¡°Well, you have to come back safely too.¡± The matter of leaving the team was finalized in this way. Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu were very surprised that Ning Kongran would also secretly leave the team, but since they also had their own secret plans, they tacitly did not mention this. Instead, they followed the teacher¡¯s order to get ready. Two days later, the students arrived at Planet D28, and after settling down, they started the last mecha maintenance before the assignment began. The students and their mecha masters gathered in the battle hall, their enthusiasm bursting inside the jam-packed hall. Qiao Zhiya skillfully took out his equipment, and began to help Chu Yan overhaul his mecha. He even sneaked his magic power in order to help him comb through the inner circuitry, making sure that everything was in tip-top shape. ¡°How come that brat Xiang Kun has become so vicious recently? Although he doesn¡¯t come here to make trouble, he always looked at us with this gloomy look. He¡¯s very weird¡­¡± Chu Yan, who was squatting on the side, frowned and muttered. He turned to help Qiao Zhiya block him from Xiang Kun¡¯s line of sight. He was very puzzled with this bizarre situation. ¡°What stimulated that brat? Could it be that his hormonal balance is fucked up because of puberty, so his temparament got all wonky as a result?¡± Xiang Kun seemed to sense this. He turned around, and walked into a maze of mecha, disappearing from their sight. Qiao Zhiya replied, ¡°He was already like this when I went to school to take the grade-skipping exam last time¡­ You are his friend, so please talk to him when you have time. I always feel that something is not quite right about him¡­¡± ¡°Who the fuck is his friends now? Tell me!!¡± Chu Yan almost lost it. He howled at the top of his lungs, while Qiao Zhiya only watched him silently. Realizing his childish outburst, Chu Yan immediately calmed down, cleared his throat, then awkwardly frowned. ¡°Okay, okay, since we have known each other since we are in literal diapers, and since he has provided a lot of jokes for me, I will take care of him. Yes, yes, I think this is just a puberty problem, I won¡¯t beat him up for this kind of¡­ minor infraction¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya stepped forward and patted his head, squinting and smiling. He had already discovered that although Chu Yan acted to hate Xiang Kun, he regarded him as a friend in his heart. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have cared so much about what was wrong with Xiang Kun, and kept talking about it. As for Xiang Kun¡¯s feelings for Chu Yan¡­ Anyway, he didn¡¯t feel any pure evil from Xiang Kun. Most of the friction in the past was just their stubbornness and reluctance to admit defeat from their perceived ¡°nemesis¡±. It was just pure childishness. On the contrary, it was the Xiang family behind Xiang Kun who took advantage of this relationship ¨C most likely, they encouraged Xiang Kun to twist this alternative expression of intimacy with Chu Yan into something more sinister. Qiao Zhiya thought that when Chu Yan said that he was going to beat Xiang Kun, he was angry because of awkwardness, but he didn¡¯t expect¡ª Chu Yang actually went and beat Xiang Kun. Although he didn¡¯t hit hard, he still hit his face. This behavior was still very outrageous. ¡°You¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya rarely felt speechless after seeing the panda eyes on Xiang Kun¡¯s face. Looking at Chu Yan, he didn¡¯t know what to say for a while. ¡°Although this method is a bit rough, if it works, it works¡­¡± Chu Yan felt guilty. He raised his arm and put it on his shoulder, leading him away from Xiang Kun. As he walked faster, he said, ¡°Go, go, faster! It¡¯s time to set off, and it¡¯s time to go.¡± ¡°Bastard Chu Yan! Stop! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Seeing Chu Yan¡¯s figure, Xiang Kun immediately chased after him. Holding a miniature mace, he chased Chu Yan. His expression was filled with seething anger, as if he really wanted to beat Chu Yan to death. Chu Yan immediately quickened his pace without looking back. ¡°Look, isn¡¯t it very effective? He directly returned back to normal, all lively and spry.¡± Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± Xiang Kun noticed a teacher rushed over to stop him, so he had to put away the mace angrily. He raised his hand and nursed his sore eyes, grinding his teeth in anger. But the depression that had been suppressed in his heart dissipated a lot. ¡®That bastard! He¡¯s still really so hateful! Do you think I¡¯m scared because now you have an extra playmate like Qiao Zhiya!¡¯ ¡°You better wait for me¡­¡± He finally snarled under his breath, one hand still covering up his punched eye. His eye sockets were a little red, as if he was angry or because of something else. ¡°Young Master Xiang, calm down. I will help you vent your anger. This mission¡­ huh.¡± Liu Hongzi walked up to him, looked coldly at Chu Yan and the two who had gone away. He handed him an ice pack to express his concern. But Xiang Kun didn¡¯t appreciate it at all. He put down his hand and stared at him, took the ice pack to cover his eyes and emotions, and said impatiently, ¡°Stop thinking about it, I want to win over him fair and square! This time you will fight for me! Don¡¯t you dare use a dirty trick¡­ anyway, just don¡¯t embarrass me!¡± Liu Hongzi¡¯s expression stiffened after being trained by him. He took a deep breath to suppress his emotions, lowered his head, and replied obediently. ¡°I understand.¡± At ten o¡¯clock in the morning, after distributing the locator and rescue device, the graduation exam officially began. Students were free to form teams, so Chu Yan and his group stood together from the beginning, and specially picked a place farthest from Xiang Kun and Liu Hongzi. Xiang Kun noticed their behavior, so he gave Chu Yan a vicious look, and then led Liu Hongzi to walk further away from them. ¡°Hey, Xiang Kun has changed?¡± Yuan Xiu was surprised when he saw this. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. ¡°He seemed to be possessed thanks to his elder brother¡¯s sway just now, so he was gloomy and shit. Although he has recovered a little today, he has learned to only provoke. Who gave him advice? Or did he finally realize that he was stupid when he gave away his head from thousands of miles away?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because he¡¯s grown up, and today is a very important exam,¡± Chu Yan replied in a low spirited manner. He patted Yuan Xiu on the shoulder, changing the subject. ¡°After entering the adventure area, we will go directly using the mecha and speedrun this, roger that?¡± Yuan Xiu looked at him curiously again, and wanted to say something else. But he was suddenly pulled by Qiao Zhiya. He turned his head to look at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s implicit information. He sighed, understanding what the shorter youth wanted to say. ¡®Well, if Chu Yan says he grew up, then he grew up. It¡¯s me who¡¯s still a child.¡¯ The process of finding materials was indeed as smooth as Yuan Xiu expected. Although high-level materials were relatively rare in low-level adventure areas, with the treasure radar of Qiao Zhiya, it was still very easy to find them. It took one day to complete the exam¡¯s tasks, and everyone found a safe place to rest for the night. The next day, the person sent by Chu Rong arrived first, and that person was Lin Zhen, who they hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. After the two parties greeted each other, Chu Yan handed over his team¡¯s materials and the locator issued by the school to Yuan Xiu. He gave Yuan Xiu some instructions, and left with Lin Zhen. In the afternoon, another group of people came and looked at the people arranged from Chu Rong¡¯s side. They tacitly ignored each other, pretending to see nothing. Then, the people from this new group came to take Ning Kongran away, leaving behind his locator behind Yuan Xiu. Yuan Xiu sat on the rock, glanced at the two groups of people around him who were not talking to each other. He raised his hand to support his face, and took a long, deep sigh. ¡®Alas, as expected, I am the only one who hasn¡¯t grown up yet. Everyone is an adult and has secrets.¡¯ Qiao Zhiya was very excited to see Lin Zhen. He chatted with him as they traveled, and Lin Zhen himself was also cooperative as he chatted back. The team members he brought were very surprised. In the end, Chu Yan couldn¡¯t listen any longer, and interjected forcefully into the conversation between the two. He swished a map, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the old days slowly on the road. It¡¯s important to find things. This is the map that the guide drew for me. The Star Sand is located in the most dangerous area ¨C Area D. So, we have to find a way to bypass the beasts in area B and C as much as possible, and rush up to our destination. We should plan the route now.¡± After hearing this, Lin Zhen and Qiao Zhiya ended their reminiscence. They both focused on the map, sharing their opinion and findings. The team members brought by Lin Zhen also cooperated immediately. They tacitly sat around these three, creating a safe and private space for them to talk. A/N: ¡°If you have a same-sex rival for more than a decade, then that is no longer just rivalry; that¡¯s just gay.¡± ¨C Confucius, probably. CH 56.1 The adventure area of Planet D28 covered almost half of the planet¡¯s land area. Even if they use mechas to travel around, it would take three or four days to go back and forth between area A and area D. That is, under the premise that they wouldn¡¯t be delayed by a beast attack or other danger. ¡°It¡¯s best to use mechas to travel, but here¡­¡± Chu Yan tapped on the map, and then drew a big circle on it that almost covered the entire area. His tone was filled with resignation. ¡°This area is filled with dangerous bird beasts. They all can fly, so if we use our mecha to fly, we¡¯re just food delivering ourselves to their mouths. But if we walk from below, there is a cliff and a rapid river at the junction of area B and area D respectively. In other words, we need to fly over, because detouring around it is too time-consuming. Even if we are lucky enough to pass the border without attracting the birds, and walk on the ground immediately after arriving in the area, the travel time is still very long. It¡¯s not as efficient as flying directly there.¡± In short, there¡¯s a lot of trade-off between travel efficiency and safety. Lin Zhen frowned. He took out his own map and asked, ¡°I have studied the map before I came here. I found that there is a passage here, why is there no indication of such a route?¡± Chu Yan leaned over and glanced at his map. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he replied, ¡°Your map is wrong. It was created by the guide to deceive newcomers. I didn¡¯t expect you to fall into this trap.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lin Zhen stared blankly at Chu Yan. Pushing the map back into the space button, he explained, ¡°I received this order from Sir rather abruptly. I came here from another planet and I was not prepared enough.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I understand,¡± Chu Yan nodded quickly. He then brought back his map, and changed the topic back to the original. ¡°Then what should we do now? If we fly hard directly, our strength may not be enough.¡± Because their team wanted to act secretly, they only brought over a few people. After all, if there were too many people, it would be easier for the beasts to detect them. Lin Zhen also thought about this question. He deeply thought about it with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous to fly over, it¡¯s safer to take a detour. A strong mercenary team will have a secret route that they have researched. We can think about it from this aspect.¡± ¡°I thought so too, but¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was standing quietly at the side, finally interrupted. He hesitated for a moment, then took out a small bottle with a simple and quaint shape from his storage bracelet. He held it in front of them, explaining, ¡°Maybe we can fly over directly¡­ This is a kind of animal repellent that is often used in my hometown. It is only used during sacrifices to prevent beasts from entering by mistake. We can try this.¡± This successfully grabbed everyone¡¯s attention and curiosity. Qiao Zhiya felt uncomfortable being the center of attention like this, his ears fluttering shyly. He opened the small bottle, trying to suppress the blush that crept from his ears. ¡°But this potion is made of a magic plant with a special smell, so the scent may be ¡­¡± An extremely pungent smell wafted out, making Chu Yan shake wildly. He reflexively covered his nose and coughing, staring at the bottle with visible horror reflected on his eyes. He looked as if he was looking at a biochemical weapon. Lin Zhen resolutely did not retreat, but looked around, listening to the sounds of the small critters retreating in panic. He praised the concoction despite his discomfort. ¡°The effect of this animal repellent¡­ is truly excellent.¡± Another member directly retched, while another tried his best to hold his breath. This effect was not only ¡°excellent¡± ¨C it was so good that it also drove them like the critters! Seeing their reaction, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly capped the bottle and added, ¡°The smell of this animal repellant can only last for half a day. If we really use it, we may have to stop once in the middle to reapply it. Is this okay¡­?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s use this!¡± Chu Yan came to his side after recovering. He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder in praise, his mood improved rapidly. ¡°You still have this kind of thing! Qiao, you are the best!¡± Lin Zhen also nodded in agreement. ¡°Landing in the middle is safer than walking close to the ground.¡± Seeing that he was helpful, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears fluttered happily, lips stretched in a beautiful smile. Although this would irritate their nose temporarily, the effect was too good to pass up. Their dilemma was solved, so Lin Zhen and his crew immediately planned the finalized route. They then brought their mecha and set off. Qiao Zhiya was finally stuffed in Lin Zhen¡¯s cockpit, leading the flight. It took a day to pass through Area B. On the next day, everyone arrived at the junction of the two areas, a steep cliff. ¡°Let¡¯s start again at night. There are less nocturnal beasts here, so it will much safer to travel on foot by then. We should rest now, and reapply it when we set off.¡± Lin Zhen gave his order, and his team members immediately dispersed to prepare for the resting area set-up. Qiao Zhiya, who had been protected by Lin Zhen in the cockpit, also spread out and did stretching exercises. His limbs were stiff after sitting for a long time. When he walked to the edge of the cliff, his ears trembled suddenly. He turned his head and looked down, a deep frown adorning his face. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Chu Yan happened to come over. Following Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze, he also looked down the cliff. Qiao Zhiya shook his head, felt it carefully again, and said hesitantly, ¡°Maybe I felt wrong¡­ Did the guide say that there is anything under this cliff?¡± ¡°They said that this cliff is very deep, but there are no valuable materials underneath. Instead, it¡¯s full of venomous insects and beasts, so few people go down,¡± Chu Yan repeated what the guide said. Recalling his treasure hunting skills, his eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, ¡°Is there any undiscovered treasure here?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think so,¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head and asked again: ¡°Did the guide say why there are venomous insects and beasts all over here?¡± ¨CHe didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but Qiao Zhiya seemed to have heard a cry of help from a beast just now. The voice was very weak and thin, as if it rang directly in his head. Regardless, he could understand the meaning clearly, and it came from the bottom of this cliff. Judging from other¡¯s behavior, they didn¡¯t hear anything at all. Really strange. Chu Yan¡¯s curiosity was aroused by him, and he continued to look down the cliff and replied, ¡°It is said that the soil underneath is special and suitable for cultivating various toxins. So what is there on the bottom? It¡¯s not a treasure, it¡¯s a monster?¡± Qiao Zhiya replied honestly, ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just heard someone, no, a beast crying for help. It is very painful and weak. It should be under the cliff.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Chu Yan was confused by his answer. After a moment of daze, Chu Yan followed Qiao Zhiya in sharpening his ears, hoping to catch a sound of something. However, he didn¡¯t hear anything. Chill spreading to his back, he hurriedly stepped back, away from the edge of the cliff. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I hear anything, while you did? It might be a lure or something, and it¡¯s searching for prey. You shouldn¡¯t listen, there¡¯s many dangerous beasts lurking here. Don¡¯t you trust it, okay? Let¡¯s get ready to rest, we have to rush to our destination through the night.¡± As he spoke, he led him in the direction of the camp. Qiao Zhiya let himself be led by Chu Yan, but his ears still pricked up, trying to hear the cry. He didn¡¯t answer verbally to Chu Yan. His intuition told him that the animal that was asking for help was not in the situation Chu Yan said, but what Chu Yan said was also reasonable. The situation in the adventure area was complicated, and they had a task ahead of them, so it was better to pay attention to other things. After drinking nutrient solution for lunch and applying the animal repellant, everyone went into the tent to rest in shifts. Qiao Zhiya tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He no longer could bear ignoring it ¨C the shrill cry for help had been ringing inside his ears for hours now, and the cry suddenly weakened just now. Then, the call for help paused for a few seconds, and suddenly became more obvious. As if answering his call. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, and hurriedly threw off the quilt and ran out of the tent ¡ª it was a baby animal calling for help! Lin Zhen, who came over to check the situation after hearing the soft cry, bumped into him, hurriedly pressed his shoulder, and asked with a frown, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Lin Zhen and the others were asked to accompany him on this trip. He didn¡¯t know how to explain this matter, especially because this was a cry for help from an unknown source. Qiao Zhiya was entangled for a moment, but he chose to confess frankly. He told Lin Zhen about the matter, and then looked at the older man with a begging look. Lin Zhen frowned after hearing this. He asked for confirmation, ¡°You mean, there is a baby animal under the cliff calling for you to save it?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s not aggressive; it¡¯s very weak, I¡¯m sure,¡± Qiao Zhiya looked a little anxious. Lin Zhen hung his eyes in thought for a while, turned his head and looked down the edge of the cliff. He opened the map copied from Chu Yan and looked carefully, but did not speak. Qiao Zhiya watched him, impatiently waiting for approval. ¡°I can go with you,¡± Lin Zhen decided. He glanced at the spiritual power simulator on his ear, and added, ¡°But you can¡¯t get close to the bottom of the cliff. If there is danger near the target position, retreat immediately. Everything is for your own safety. Do you agree?¡± ¡°Yes! I have a lot of antidotes here! I also have a self-defense weapon, so I will be extra careful!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded quickly. He actually did not expect that Lin Zhen would really agree to his slightly capricious request. He¡¯s a little excited now. Lin Zhen patted him on the shoulder reassuringly, motioned him to go back to the tent and put on his coat. He then called several team members, and glanced at the sleeping Chu Yan. He took out his mecha and carried Qiao Zhiya, who had just come out of the tent bundled up in a thick coat. Together, they went down the cliff. Compared with the cliffs encountered on the primitive planet, the cliffs this time were deeper and steeper, and the mountain walls were more irregular. From time to time, there would be some strange rocks or plants extending obliquely, and if they were not careful, they could crash into them. Further down, the darker the light, accompanied by floating dark mist. The atmosphere was quiet and scary. ¡°It¡¯s poisonous fog.¡± Lin Zhen glanced at the warning light on the side of the mecha, and asked, ¡°Where is that distress call? The mecha¡¯s external communication system was activated, and it received the weak wail. The cub might have fainted or died, because there was no response for a long time. At this time, the mecha has almost reached the bottom of the cliff, and they could finally vaguely discern the scenery. ¡°Hurry up, we can¡¯t stay too long, we will attract the beasts here.¡± Lin Zhen hovered the mecha in the air. His urging was soft, whispered carefully to Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya became more anxious. He still couldn¡¯t get a response after returning the call, so he simply exposed his wood-elemental magic power as an extension of his senses. Finally, the magic power protruding sensed a weak fluctuation that was completely different from the atmosphere at the bottom of the cliff. His eyes lit up, and he hurriedly confirmed the location of the fluctuation. He pointed to the top with a little surprise, and said, ¡°On top, the cub should be hanging on the mountain wall.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lin Zhen drove the mecha up silently, following the direction he pointed. There, he found a malnourished tree growing on the mountain wall¡­ And a small black snake with the thickness of a finger wrapped around it. Sensing the approach of warm power, the little snake subconsciously poked its head out, and stuck out its tongue. After searching for a while, it headed straight towards Qiao Zhiya, hissing weakly in relief. After confirming its savior, it directly passed out. ¡®Nature is amazing¡­¡¯ Lin Zhen thought. Qiao Zhiya also felt a little embarrassed. He asked Lin Zhen to catch the little snake together with the branch. The little snake was really small, and it can be held with only one palm when coiled up. The scales on its body were a bit dull, and it looked very listless. Qiao Zhiya healed it, fed it some nourishment, and slipped it carefully into his coat pocket. Seeing this, Lin Zhen withdrew his gaze and drove the mecha up. CH 56.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. When it was getting dark, the two finally returned to the campsite. Chu Yan had already woken up. When he saw them coming up, he rushed over and howled at them. ¡°You dare not call me?? Hurry up, what did you find under the cliff? Let me take a look!¡± Qiao Zhiya got off the mecha first, and he heard Chu Yan¡¯s angry yowling. He gently took out the little snake from his pocket, held it in front of him, and said happily, ¡°Look, Lin-laoshi and I found this little guy! Isn¡¯t it beautiful?¡± By the standards of snakes, the little snake was really good-looking. But by the standards of humans¡­ this little black lump was just¡­ a sad-looking lump. ¡°Ah¡­ not bad,¡± Chu Yan¡¯s excitement subsided immediately. He reached out and poked the little snake, which was still in a coma. He perfunctorily asked, ¡°It was the one who asked you for help before? It¡¯s so small, what kind of snake is it? This thing is also so small¡­ How did you hear it? So amazing¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a sound, it¡¯s a kind of power resonance. It has something in common with my power, so I can perceive it,¡± Qiao Zhiya explained in simple terms. He reached out and patted the little snake. Because magic power was inherent in nature, all animals ¨C and even more ¡°aware¡± plants ¨C could resonate with it. This small episode passed quickly. The sky was already dark, so everyone hurriedly packed up and took out their mecha. They started flying across the area in the middle of the night. After crossing the cliff and bypassing a high mountain, a flat and endless forest appeared in their field of vision. There were occasional black spots flying in the sky, which should be the birds and beasts that inhabit this forest returning to their nests. The power of the animal repellant was quickly revealed. All the passing birds seemed to be running away from the mechas. ¡°Qiao, your animal repellant is really good. You can try to make it in large quantities when you go home, and then sell it to the mercenaries here. You will definitely make a lot of money,¡± Chu Yan was nestled in the cockpit of his mecha, so he used their internal communication line to chat with Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya shook his head in reply. But then, he realized that Chu Yan wouldn¡¯t be able to see him, so he verbalized it: ¡°No, this kind of animal repellent is too disruptive to the balance of the forest. If it is used by bad people, it will destroy the ecosystem. I will not sell it.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Chu Yan smacked his mouth, changed the subject again, and asked, ¡°Is Xiao Hei awake? Is it a snake or a pig? How can it sleep so well? The nickname given to the little black snake was simple ¨C it was simply calling it by its scale color. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help laughing. He opened his pocket to take a look. ¡°It hasn¡¯t woken up yet. It should have not slept for many days, plus it¡¯s still a baby, so it¡¯s natural to sleep for this long.¡± Chu Yan muttered, half-jokingly, ¡°Nah¡­ it probably was too ashamed to face you. It hangs on a tree halfway up the mountain, totally embarrassing to the snake-kind.¡± Qiao Zhiya was silent ¨C he was, in fact, also curious about this. Normally, snakes should not let themselves fall into such a predicament. Plus, the little black snake was still so small, it should still be in the stage of being protected and raised by its parents. (Generally, most snakes just lay eggs and book it. They did not raise their young. There¡¯s only very few species of snakes that provide some level of parental care to their young, i.e. pythons.) During the journey, everyone amused themselves by chatting. At dawn, everyone found an open space to rest and reapply the animal repellant. ¡°It can last for half a day at most, so it must be done as soon as possible,¡± Qiao Zhiya handed the empty small bottle to Lin Zhen. He was a little worried. ¡°This can be solved with animal repellent when we go, what should we do when we come back¡­¡± If he knew about it earlier, he would have put more in the storage ring. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is something I should worry about,¡± Lin Zhen comforted him. He hurriedly let everyone get on the mechas, and continued to set off against the gradually brightening sky. When they approached the junction of Area D, the animal repellant had almost evaporated, and everyone encountered a wave of bird attacks. Even a group of bandits plotted against them. Fortunately, the team brought by Lin Zhen was strong, and they all survived without any danger. After passing through, they also snatched a more detailed map and some supplies from the defeated bandits. They looted from the bandits and set off. Chu Yan squeezed into Lin Zhen¡¯s cockpit, nestled in the corner with Qiao Zhiya. Together, they flipped through the newly acquired map. Chu Yan looked excited. ¡°That bandits should actually be an off-shot mercenary team, probably from one of the big ones. They should have some things we don¡¯t have, although our stuff is quite complete. Their map is more detailed than what we have.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had once again seen the ugliness in humans, was a little unhappy. ¡°We are just passing by, why do they want to beat us, and there is no competition between us¡­¡± ¡°Who said there is no competition? Do you know what level of exotic beast that bird you shot down just now? The feathers of that bird are very valuable! They are looking for money.¡± Chu Yan explained. Seeing the blond youth was still listless, he hurriedly put his arm on his shoulder and said, ¡°That¡¯s how being a mercenary is. Wealth is their priority, even if it means facing greater danger. We can¡¯t stop them from having no integrity. Don¡¯t think too much about it. There are still many good people in this world.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, sat up straight and wanted to cheer up. He suddenly noticed a movement in his pocket. His eyes lit up, and he hurriedly lowered his head and took out the little black bag from his pocket. ¡°Yo, is this pig awake?¡± Chu Yan also moved over in curiosity. The little black snake opened its eyes in a daze. First, it instinctively rubbed against Qiao Zhiya¡¯s palm. Then, after opening its eyes and seeing Chu Yan¡¯s big face approaching, its tail straightened up in fright, and then moved along very flexibly. It slithered around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hands and arms, onto his shoulders, hiding behind his collar and looking at Chu Yan sneakily. The tip of its forked tongue sticking out, looking a little scared. ¡°¡­This little guy is really useless, despite its cool black scales¡­¡± Chu Yan retreated speechlessly, thinking that he probably had poor eyesight. Did he just see a snake looking visibly scared? Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect that the little black snake¡¯s reaction would be like this when it woke up. He withdrew his hand, tilted his head toward his shoulder, and called, ¡°Come down, I¡¯ll feed you something.¡± Swinging in the air, the little black snake quickly attracted attention. It tentatively slid onto his hand, and then rolled comfortably around his wrist, completely forgetting about Chu Yan. Chu Yan thinks that the snake was probably a fool, and it can be coaxed to forget the ¡°threat¡± around it with a little effort. Whether it can grow up smoothly was really a problem¡­ Qiao Zhiya fed some magic power to the little black snake. After it settled down, he wanted to feed it some nutrients, but it was actually picky and refused to eat. Its finger-thick body already looked refreshed after eating his magic power. ¡°Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± Qiao Zhiya was a little worried. He pinched its slender body. As he rummaged through his belongings, he took out a homemade potion. He dipped his finger into it, and offered it to the little snake. Xiao Hei immediately raised its head, and swallowed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s drug-stained finger with a whimper. ¡°Damn!¡± Chu Yan was shocked, and hurried to pry its head. He was livid. ¡°You ungrateful ugly noodle! Let go, let go, you¡¯d better pray that you don¡¯t put in the effort, or I¡¯ll cook you into snake stew!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, it didn¡¯t bite me. It just didn¡¯t know how to lick the potion, so it engulfed my finger completely. It has no teeth, so it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurriedly comforted Chu Yan. He pulled off the surprisingly stupid little black snake, and put the potion directly into its gaping mouth. So the little black snake wrapped itself happily around the potion, opened its mouth wide and gulped the potion down. Its forked tongue wriggled inside the bottle. Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± This is really an unusual snake! The two were watching the excitement around the little black snake. Lin Zhen, who was driving the mecha, suddenly slowed down, then switched on the internal communication. He ordered,: ¡°Come up, there are people below.¡± After speaking, he took the lead to go up. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya were taken aback by the seriousness in his tone. They quickly turned their heads to look, only to see a red light flashing across the mecha on the screen showing the outside world. ¡°Is someone exchanging fire below? This is already Area D.¡± Chu Yan immediately recognized that the red light was the shells from firearms. He hurriedly moved to the co-pilot seat, and fixed Qiao Zhiya in place with a silver net, so he wouldn¡¯t fall off from the cockpit due to inertia. ¡°We just arrived in Area D, and haven¡¯t gone deep yet,¡± Lin Zhen replied. He quickly exchanged a few words with the team members, and opened a very energy-consuming depth detection. A roar of a beast came from below. At the same time, the depth detection radar sent back the image of the designated area. The forest and other biomes looked normal on the screen ¨C the problem is, there were several mechas in the forest, chased by a massive beast behind them. After that, the strange beast seemed to be attracted by something, and suddenly turned around. The mecha pilots noticed this, and immediately dispersed and disappeared into the forest. ¡°There is something wrong with that shell just now,¡± Lin Zhen frowned. He then issued several orders, letting the team members fly towards the depths of Area D. The alien beasts chased them relentlessly, and occasionally spit out some strange things at them. What¡¯s worse, a group of bird-shaped alien beasts flew back together and appeared in front of them. ¡°Go down, avoid the flock of birds, and get rid of that strange beast below!¡± Lin Zhen gave the order decisively, accurately found a fairly open place in the forest, and landed directly. They originally planned to land after arriving at Area D, sticking to the ground and approaching the possible location of Star Sand. After all, flying was too dangerous in Area D, where all kinds of eerie beasts congregate. But their plans had to be casted aside, as suddenly there came this group of people who ¡°helped¡± them. ¡°Those mecha pilots are nasty!¡± Chu Yan got angry after he guessed what those people wanted to do. They came out this time in a hurry, but in the end they encountered this kind of mercenary team who likes to drag people down. They were so fucking annoying. Lin Zhen didn¡¯t talk; he instead concentrated on manipulating the mecha. After the mecha dropped to the range where it could attack the beast, he directly showed the cold weapon and attacked the beast ¨C using firearms might have adverse effects in this kind of forest, as the dry leaves here could easily catch fire or the loud sounds might attract other beasts. Using bladed cold weapons was more preferable. Seeing this, the team members tacitly landed in a few positions where the beast could escape. They trapped the beast within a certain range, cooperated with Lin Zhen, and silently and tacitly killed the ferocious looking beast. ¡°The smell of blood will attract other beasts, get off the mecha, and retreat!¡± Lin Zhen put away the corpse of the alien beast, took Qiao Zhiya off the mecha first, Chu Yan followed closely behind. The little black snake nestled in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arms cocked its tail after getting out of the mecha. It turned its head to look in a certain direction, and lazily returned to the potion. Putting away the mechas stained with the blood of the alien beast, everyone quickly left the battle site. They walked to a small stream to rest for a while, and took out the map to discuss the next route. CH 56.3 ¡°The guide said that he found traces of Star Sand in the lair of an unknown beast. At that time, he was in a state of confusion after being seriously injured. The beast itself is a huge reptilian monster that is good at digging holes,¡± As Chu Yan explained, he took out the map given by the guide and placed it side by side with the map he snatched from the mercenary team. Lin Zhen frowned. ¡°Here was the place where he was seriously injured,¡± Chu Yan clicked on the red mark on the map, swiped his finger straight, and clicked on the blue mark a little far from the red mark. ¡°He managed to escape using this route. It can be preliminarily judged that the Star Sand should be around this area.¡± Then he connected the two marks and drew a big circle. Lin Zhen looked at the general terrain of this area, and said while thinking, ¡°The Star Sand can only be formed in dry soil, so it should be quite far from a constant water source. The southwest area can be excluded.¡± ¡°And there must be a volcano near the Star Sand,¡± Chu Yan added, swiping up his finger to click the upper-right section on the circle. ¡°Here, the guide said that this seemingly normal mountain was actually a volcano in the past. It is currently dormant, and this information is only known by select Planet D28 natives. He also learned about it by accident.¡± ¡°Then go to this area first,¡± Lin Zhen made a decision and asked him to put away the map. While they were discussing, Qiao Zhiya had been wandering around the area that had been briefly checked. He picked up some stones, plants, and other things that interest him. He put them all away in his storage ring, which made the team members standing by watching couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡®Why do you look like a child? Picking up a lot of messy things¡­¡¯ The little snake nestled in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pocket poked its head out lazily, watching Qiao Zhiya¡¯s behavior of picking up things. Its tail wagging around, looking very happy. If it could talk, it would say: ¡°Hey, these are all good things. Pick up, pick up more!¡± Everyone set off again, and Qiao Zhiya was finally assigned a task this time ¨C to be the detection radar. Unlike the spiritual power that might disturb the strange beasts in the forest, magic power, as a part of nature, was gentle and undetectable. It was the best detection tool available. ¡°The number of beasts in Area D isn¡¯t many, but all of them are powerful. Using the mecha¡¯s radar can backfire, plus it consumes a lot of fuel, so I can only ask you,¡± Lin Zhen said, handing over a space button full of jade. ¡°Don¡¯t force it, if you¡¯re too tired, we still can use the mecha¡¯s radar.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, took the space button, and saw that it was full of wood-elemental magic stones. He guessed that it was specially prepared by Chu Rong. His ears twitched happily as he walked in front, revealing his magic power. After being promoted to a high level, his magic power reserve increased. The area covered by the magic power was also wider, making it very convenient to explore the environment. Using his guidance, everyone bypassed the main activity area of ??the alien beasts, walked along the border where the two alien beasts intersected, and arrived at the foot of the volcano in just one afternoon. ¡°It¡¯s getting dark, we should rest now.¡± Lin Zhen ordered, so everyone moved again, found a small space surrounded by huge rocks, and pitched camp inside. As night fell, the little black snake slipped out of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s blanket. It bit through a corner of the tent, and sneaked out. Qiao Zhiya had spent too much magic power in the afternoon and slept soundly without realizing it. In the early hours of the morning, Qiao Zhiya was woken up by Chu Yan. Just as he was about to speak, Chu Yan covered his mouth and signaled him that there was something outside. He was stunned for a moment, carefully stretched out his magic power and went out. Sure enough, he sensed that there seemed to be another group of people moving towards their campsite. Probably because it was dark, the other party didn¡¯t notice them hiding in this area. ¡°Pack up the tent first and go out.¡± Chu Yan whispered, relying on the primary sound insulation function of the tent. Qiao Zhiya nodded to express his understanding. He lowered his head and put on his coat, reaching out to the place where the little black snake was sleeping. It was empty. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Yan pulled him by the sleeves, motioning him to hurry up. Qiao Zhiya looked around again, and noticed a hole in the corner of the tent. With a frown, he suppressed his worries, followed Chu Yan out, and put the tent away. The others had all gathered together. Lin Zhen waited for Qiao Zhiya to come out and motioned for them to come quickly. He then opened a small protective shield to cover everyone, and said after cutting off the sound, ¡°The group outside are the ones who caused trouble in the afternoon. That group, they seem to have just gone through a fierce battle. They looked quite rugged.¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s the same group?¡± Chu Yan immediately raised his eyebrows, and his eyes showed a fierce look. Lin Zhen nodded. ¡°Sure, the mechas they were driving were exactly the same as the ones scanned in the afternoon. I found that the tents they took out also had a red mark on them, which was the same as that on the clothes of the mercenaries who attacked us earlier. ¡° In other words, since they entered the adventure zone, it has always been the same group of people who kept harassing them. ¡°What kind of luck is this!¡± Chu Yan was so stunned that he wanted to go out and beat up all those people. He wanted them to taste their own medicine. Lin Zhen glanced at him, and added. ¡°I also found out that they¡¯re looking for the Star Sand.¡± He asked, ¡°Are you sure? The guide clearly promised that it would not be¡­¡± He trailed off, as he finally understood that the guide must have duped him on some level. His face darkened as he sulked. Qiao Zhiya gave him a worried look, then reached out and patted his shoulder. ¡°When they camped just now, I eavesdropped on them. I did hear the words ¡°Star Sand¡±. Their route is highly overlapped with ours, so this should be the case,¡± Lin Zhen explained as he tapped on the eavesdropping device. The device made a ¡°bzzt¡± sound, and it prompted Lin Zhen to make a silencing gesture. He also amplified the sounds from the device. From the small device, a slightly rough voice came out, swearing, ¡°Damn, I said that the information given by the guide is not reliable! Where the hell is that ten-level material! We¡¯ve been walking around in the damn woods for a week now, and we haven¡¯t seen a thing! The supply team sent here doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, and they haven¡¯t arrived yet. What a bunch of trash!¡± ¡°Enough , shut up! If you don¡¯t want to continue looking, get out now, don¡¯t start a fire here!¡± Another lower voice sounded, they sounded very impatient. ¡°There is news from the third team, it seems that a foreign ore-hunting team has entered Area D. If you are as reckless as in the afternoon, you leave this team and search it alone! Stop harming us!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I lure that strange beast to the passing mercenary team in the end¡­¡± The rough voice became weaker. They then made a guess, ¡°Do you think that team we met earlier is actually a vanguard of a rich mining corporation or something? Their mechas aren¡¯t special at first glance; but with that evasion speed, they are definitely high-end modified products. If we robbed them at that time¡ª¡± ¡°The fuck are you talking about?! Don¡¯t cause trouble for me!¡± The deep voice reprimanded him again. ¡°For now, keep a low profile. I heard that a group of rich and powerful students from the Capital Planet came here to practice. Martial law has been fully enforced, and if there is any movement, we will all be in trouble! As for that ore-hunting team, we can¡¯t afford to provoke them, especially seeing the techs of their mechas! We must avoid them as much as we can.¡± Then the two continued their discussion to less important topics. After a while, their voices weakened, so they should be ready to rest. Lin Zhen put away the device with a serious expression on his face. ¡°The guide actually lied to me!¡± Chu Yan gritted his teeth, feeling the dangers of society. ¡°We have to find a chance to leave before dawn. It¡¯s too easy to be discovered here.¡± Lin Zhen looked around the protective circle surrounded by stones and felt a little misguided. This was indeed a good place to camp, but they are surrounded, it is difficult to get out. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face was tense, and he was also very worried; not only because of everyone¡¯s current situation, but also because of the missing little black snake. Area D was full of powerful beasts ¨C it was too dangerous for a powerless baby snake to run around. Just when they were worrying about finding a way to get out, a sudden roar snapped them all out from their discussion. Then a strong light shone down from above, illuminating the entire area ¨C including their campsite. Lin Zhen was startled, and hurriedly adjusted the protective cover to adapt to the environment. His team also immediately jumped into position, protecting Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya as their top priority. The mercenary team that had just rested outside immediately became agitated and looked up warily. ¡°Fuck, a small modified ship! Isn¡¯t this too arrogant?¡± Chu Yan looked at the small ship. He had a rather dramatic guess, ¡°Could it be that the enemy of the mercenary team came to seek revenge? A dog biting dog situation?¡± Lin Zhen watched silently. He felt a little headache incoming. Chu Yan¡¯s guess was actually a little too optimistic. One group of hostile mercenaries was more than enough, and now there¡¯s another unknown group coming from somewhere. No matter who the other party is, their situation will only get worse. Most likely, they have been found by this group. The ship stopped more than ten meters above the head of the mercenary team, and then a lazy voice came out from the ship¡¯s loudspeaker. ¡°We need to use this place, and I will give you five minutes to leave. Run now and you can preserve your life.¡± The members of the mercenary team looked at each other in surprise. They estimated the strength of this unknown party, and immediately ran away in record speed. Chu Yan was dumbfounded, and said in surprise, ¡°Who is this? Why can they just intimidate that group until they become so obedient? What is the origin of the ship crew?¡± ¡°They¡¯re prospectors1a person who searches for mineral deposits, especially by drilling and excavation.,¡± Lin Zhen had already seen the logo on the ship, and he knew of it. He became more relaxed, wondering, ¡°They are members of the Yun family. How could they appear on this D-class planet?¡± Chu Yan, who knew little about this ore-hunter, immediately became curious. ¡°The Yun family? Which Yun family? Are they particularly powerful prospectors?¡± ¡°They have been in this business for a long time. Also, they have cooperated with the Chu family before,¡± Lin Zhen explained. He stood up, and went out with a small flare in hand. He ordered them, ¡°They¡¯ve spotted us, retreat.¡± Chu Yan was startled, and before he could say anything, he was led by other team members to the shadow of a big boulder nearby. The ship over there had already landed, and the lazy voice sounded again, saying, ¡°Five minutes are coming soon! Why don¡¯t you leave?¡± As they spoke, a plethora of guns and other lethal weapons came out from the ship. They aimed directly at the boulder, their intentions were crystal-clear. Sure enough, they have been discovered, and their way of ¡°greeting¡± was too cruel. Qiao Zhiya tightened his hands. He began to think about the possibility of letting Qiuqiu enlarge, wrap them together with the boulder, and then ¡°roll¡± away. ¡°Don¡¯t move, don¡¯t worry, it will be fine, ¡°Lin Zhen comforted the two juniors. He then opened the protective cover directly, went out alone, and released the signal flare that he took out. A black ammunition rose silently. It exploded into a special, easily-recognizable pattern. It flickered faintly under the light. light. ¡°Huh? ¡° A voice came from the ship again, and then the weapons were put away one after another. This time, the lazy voice sounded apologetic. ¡°It turned out to be Marshal Chu¡¯s group. I¡¯m sorry for being rude. Please continue to rest. For this offense, the Yun family will apologize to Marshal Chu in person.¡± Chu Yan, who thought he was going to have a fierce battle, was dumbfounded again. He blurted out, ¡°Erge is that powerful??¡± Little stars lit up in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes. Lin Zhen retreated back to the protective cover, glanced silently at the two ¡°innocent¡± children. He shook his head, took out the tent and said, ¡°Let¡¯s rest, they won¡¯t bother us anymore. No one else will come over, it¡¯s completely safe here. ¡° This situation made them confused! Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya looked at each other. Tacitly, they peeked from a gap in the boulder. This was unbelievable. They saw a group of people suddenly appear in the brightly lit forest. As the front gate of the ship opened, a group of people went in, quickly turned off the lights and left. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Ning Kongran?¡± Chu Yan was completely dumbfounded. Qiao Zhiya was also a little dazed, carefully recalling a certain figure among the group of people just now, and nodded. ¡°It seems to be him.¡± Now, they both have the same question echoing in their heads¨C How could Ning Kongran have anything to do with this ore-hunter? CH 57.1 Sorry for the extra lateness¡­ but my schedule should relax from now on, so I can finally return for the normal update schedule c: Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Lin Zhen: MC¡¯s designated teacher during his stay in ML¡¯s warship. Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college. Ning family current heir. The two looked at each other, then at the sky where the ship had completely disappeared. ¡°To be here at about the same time as ours, Ning Kongran¡¯s team must be very strong.¡± Chu Yan opened his mouth first, musing thoughtfully, ¡°They even made an appointment in the most dangerous Area¡­ What secret action is the Ning family going to do?¡± Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses. Recalling Ning Kongran¡¯s behavior before, he shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think the Ning family has any secret action; instead, this is purely Kongran¡¯s own plan¡­ Xiao Yan, Kongran definitely isn¡¯t in harmony with the Ning family. I can feel that he has no malice towards the Chu family, and he has helped me many times publicly.¡± ¨COn top of that, those ¡°helps¡± were sincere ¨C he helped Qiao Zhiya purely to show his friendship and goodwill. ¡°What you said seems to be true.¡± Chu Yan remembered that Ning Kongran reminded Qiao Zhiya to pay attention to Ning Kongting¡¯s matter in front of his face. Now, he even took the initiative to form a team with Yuan Xiu. Chu Yan seemed to have thought something, he turned his head in surprise. ¡°Wait, why do I feel that he is going to stand in line with the Chu family? What about the Ning family, he doesn¡¯t want to be associated with them anymore? ¡®He acted very reassuring and trusting, and even asked us to help cover him up. It¡¯s as if he was very confident that we would help and would not expose this matter.¡¯ ¡®Where did Ning Kongran¡¯s self-confidence come from? Obviously the Chu family had no contact with him before, but¡­¡¯ Chu Yan seemed to have a breakthrough. He openly stared at Qiao Zhiya, eyes filled with worry. ¡®Ning Kongran should trust Qiao¡­ his trust in the Chu family is just a side-effect.¡¯ Thinking of this, he frowned again, not understanding. Before, he thought that Ning Kongran showed his kindness to Qiao because he had some thoughts about him, but after scrutinizing it, it really didn¡¯t look like it. ¡®If Ning Kongran was infatuated with Qiao, why doesn¡¯t he act upon it, even on a subconscious level? In fact, he always keeps his distance on purpose instead¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya knew the turbulent thoughts of Chu Yan. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to say, ¡°Xiao Yan, Kongran doesn¡¯t like the Ning family. He has never concealed this in front of me.¡± ¡°So the Ning family is really fighting among themselves?¡± Chu Yan pulled back the thoughts that were drifting away, and counted with his fingers: ¡°The President started to approach our house, while the Xiang and Wei families are nesting together. I don¡¯t know what they are plotting. It¡¯s been a bit weird lately, don¡¯t you think? The Ning family is in conflict, the Empire wants to send students here ¨C and we still don¡¯t know what their purpose is¡­ the situation is really going to be chaotic.¡± He sighed and retracted his hand, his jovial attitude diminished a lot. His eyes were lowered in thought, before opening it once again. Once Chu Yan was truly focused and serious, his expression became colder and solemn ¨C in fact, there were faint shadows of Chu Rong, looking mature and reliable. Qiao Zhiya looked at his face in a daze for a moment. His emotions were affected and he fell silent, in complete contrast to his chaotic mind. Looking at this serious Chu Yan made him think of Chu Rong, the Marshal who taught him fiercely. It made his heart suddenly become sore and swollen, while his hand subconsciously touched his communicator. At this point, Chu Rong should have fallen asleep¡­ the two haven¡¯t been in contact these days, and the other party seems to be very busy¡­ On top of that, Chu Rong just returned to work after a long vacation. There must be a heap of backlogs he needed to finish. Now, even the Federation¡¯s situation has become unclear¡­ Lin Zhen glanced at the youth back and forth, feeling helpless. ¡®Raising a child is really a headache¡­¡¯ He put away the tent that he had just taken out, and looked around the boulder circle where there was a danger of escape. He stepped forward and said, ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to sleep, then go ahead and rest when you reach the foot of the mountain.¡± This snapped the two youth out of their thoughts. Chu Yan nodded and replied, ¡°Let¡¯s go, the ore-hunter said just now that a group of alien beasts are gathering here. Although this sounds like a scare, we still have to prioritize safety. It¡¯s better to avoid it.¡± Lin Zhen glanced at him, a little surprised. Why did this childish third young master suddenly become mature and meticulous? Qiao Zhiya also felt that it would be better to leave the boulder circle first. Just as he was about to agree, he remembered the hole in the corner of the tent, became anxious, and said, ¡°Wait a minute, Xiao Hei is gone. It bit through the tent and ran away. I didn¡¯t see it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s mature appearance immediately burst when he heard that. He sounded shocked. ¡°Bite through the tent and run away? Its teeth are so powerful that it can bite through the tent?¡± These were specially made tents, it couldn¡¯t even be cut by knife! ¡°The hole is very small. I didn¡¯t see it before I went to bed,¡± Qiao Zhiya responded in frustration. He blamed himself, and his ears flattened in response. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. I slept so hard that I didn¡¯t notice that it ran away¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t blame you, I don¡¯t blame you. You are too tired from exploring the road during the day, so it¡¯s normal to sleep a little deeper.¡± Chu Yan quickly comforted him. His eyebrows were furrowed, and there was a trace of anxiety inside his eyes. Although Xiao Hei looked stupid and wretched, he was unexpectedly likable. It was still just a baby snake, and yet it ran away in such a dangerous area¡­ Even with its extra-strong teeth, it might not be able to defend itself if it met another predator. Lin Zhen didn¡¯t expect such an episode. Thinking of the strange little snake, he turned his head and ordered the team members behind him, saying, ¡°Look around for signs of snakes leaving.¡± His team obediently fulfilled Lin Zhen¡¯s order. Qiao Zhiya nodded in gratitude towards Lin Zhen. he hurriedly joined in the search. His night vision ¨C a racial trait of the dwarves¡¯ ¨C played a big role again. He quickly found traces of snakes crawling in a rock crevice in the corner, and hurriedly called everyone to see. Chu Yan leaned over, pondered for a while along the direction of the stone crack, and asked in a voice full of doubt, ¡°It¡¯s strange, why does Xiao Hei seem to be climbing towards the direction of the volcano?¡± ¡°Probably a coincidence,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied. He was about to elaborate, but then his ears picked up a sound, and his expression became serious. He turned his head and looked around, his magic power instantly spread out and enveloped everyone, isolating their presence. He hissed, ¡°A bunch of alien beasts are coming, from several directions! I heard their footsteps, hurry up!¡± Everyone was shocked. Lin Zhen waved his hand immediately and ordered, ¡°Let¡¯s go, try to reduce our noise as much as possible. Open the protective barrier!¡± Everyone acted quickly to erect the barrier. They also managed to leave their previous campsite. Not long after they left, several alien beasts of different types all rushed to the boulder. They circled around the boulder a few times, sniffed everywhere, and then one of them smashed one of the stones with its tail. Its yellow-green eyes fell on a very shallow crawling mark, and it immediately raised its neck and let out a low growl from a strange frequency. A few seconds later, there was a faint response from the volcano. The alien beasts suddenly froze as if they had just woken up, and quickly came back to their senses. They glanced at the surrounding environment, and were enveloped by horror and doubt. Then, they turned around and fled away quickly, screaming. After hearing the voice from the volcano, the alien beasts in Area D were agitated for a while. But soon, they settled down, huddled in their lairs. Not one of them even dared to walk around casually. Qiao Zhiya seemed to sense something. He looked up in the direction of the volcano, and frowned. That power fluctuation just now¡­ ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Chu Yan noticed that his speed had slowed down, so he slowed down cooperatively. He said in a gentle tone, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Xiao Hei is so small, it¡¯s easy to hide in danger. Nothing will happen to it.¡± ¡®Maybe it was an illusion?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya nodded, even though his heart was full of uneasiness. He simply spread his magic power wider. After walking for more than an hour, everyone has approached the foot of the volcano. ¡°It¡¯s almost dawn, let¡¯s rest for a while,¡± Lin Zhen looked back at the two children who had obviously lost their energy. He found a suitable place for camping, and stopped the team. After the excitement passed, sleepiness surged up. Chu Yan yawned, as if on cue. Following him, Qiao Zhiya suddenly felt tired too. He rubbed his heavy-lidded eyes. Physically and spiritually exhausted, Qiao Zhiya fell asleep soon after entering the tent despite his worries. He didn¡¯t mend the hole in the corner of the tent, and he didn¡¯t agree with Chu Yan¡¯s suggestion to change the tent, insisting on sleeping on it. Subconsciously, he always felt that as long as the hole remained, Xiao Hei might come back. The two of them slept soundly and didn¡¯t wake up until after nine o¡¯clock in the morning. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched as he slowly stirred up from his sleep. After a few seconds of confusion, he stared blankly at the lump of black object lying on the pillow. He suddenly woke up, sat up with a low cry, and ran back in surprise. He picked up the-still drowsy little snake, and squeezed its noodly body in joy. ¡°Where did you go at night? When did you come back? You can¡¯t be so self-willed next time.¡± The little black snake was woken up by him. It stuck its tongue at him, then hung its head to continue sleeping. Qiao Zhiya was completely happy. He carefully patted the sleeping snake, fed it some magic power, then got up happily, and walked out of the tent. Everyone showed a pleasant and reassuring attitude towards Xiao Hei¡¯s return. Only Chu Yan viciously took a knife and made threatening gestures on Xiao Hei a few times. This pig didn¡¯t run away from the knife, so Chu Yan pinched the snake¡¯s tail. The little black snake was moved by his pinch, and it flicked its tail on the back of his hand without hesitation. Chu Yan howled out, making everyone laugh. The atmosphere became much more relaxed. After a rest, everyone set off again, this time to climb the volcano. ¡°Although the star sand is mostly formed underground, it is generally scattered. It can be pushed out by magma. We need to screen the reptile lairs on this mountain first to determine a rough range,¡± Lin Zhen said as he put away the map. He looked back at Qiao Zhiya, and asked, ¡°Can you still do it?¡± Qiao Zhiya threw the absorbed magic stone into the storage ring, nodding in reply. ¡°I can. Let¡¯s go.¡± Xiao Hei hung lazily in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pocket again, and even purposefully rubbed its body affectionately. It glanced at the bottom of the mountain, flicking its tail. CH 57.2 The crowd set off again, this time Qiao Zhiya leading the way. ¡°There are mineral reactions in the west.¡± Everyone went there and found a pile of high-grade Phoenix Slabs. ¡°There is a mineral reaction in the north.¡± Everyone went again and found a pile of rare Disc Stones. ¡°I sense another mineral reaction 300 m north.¡± Everyone carefully searched, and found a rare metal from a meteorite impact site. The day passed in a hurry, and everyone gained a lot of various minerals. Any minerals they found would cause heated discussions and grabbing from the outside world, but no one felt happy because of it ¡ª after a busy day, they didn¡¯t even find a suspected reptile nest, and no trace of Star Sand was seen. Qiao Zhiya blamed himself and was frustrated. At dinnertime, he even apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for wasting the day.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve already helped a lot.¡± Lin Zhen handed him the simple vegetable soup, and comforted him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there is still time. Star Sand is a tenth-level material, it is normal that it is hard to find. Plus, what the guide said is not trustworthy, maybe there is no Star Sand here at all. We came here to test our luck, so let¡¯s not force a result.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, the guide might be a scammer, so don¡¯t put pressure on yourself. We can treat this as a treasure hunt!¡± Chu Yan joined in. After he finished speaking, his temper flared again, and he started scolding the guide, ¡°Bah! That guide better scram from me, or else I¡¯ll beat his ass if we ever meet again! What kind of reptile lair? We found a bunch of beast lairs, but no reptiles! That fucking liar!!¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by Chu Yan¡¯s passionate rant. Then, something clicked in his mind. He stopped drinking his soup, and started to recall all the lairs they found today. They found bird nests, various mammal lairs, there were even a lake with many fish ¨C they found an aquatic gem here ¨C but¡­ there were no reptiles. No, not only reptiles, they haven¡¯t even seen other relatively large beast lairs. All they found were small animal lairs, and compared to the dangerous beasts below the mountain, this mountain was so quiet and safe¨C Too safe. It¡¯s weird. This kind of situation where there were no large alien beast inside an area, where normally there should be plenty¡­ This only presented one possibility: this place was the territory of a very powerful alien beast ¨C so powerful that any other predator became prey in front of it! Plus, this also indicated that this alien beast was fiercely territorial, so it drove all other competitors out! ¡°Go down the mountain!¡± The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He hurriedly put down the soup bowl and said anxiously, ¡°We can¡¯t rest on the mountain at night, it will be dangerous! The guide is not lying, there are indeed reptiles on this mountain, and we didn¡¯t find its lair¡­ because all of this volcano is its lair!¡± Everyone stopped moving. They turned to look at him, dumbfounded. A whole mountain as its lair? So¡­ they wander around under the nose of an alien beast all day? Lin Zhen frowned, got up without further ado, and ordered, ¡°Pack up your things and go down the mountain now!¡± The tent that had just been set up was quickly put away. They all put their quickest moving speed. After finding a safe place at the foot of the mountain for the campsite, Qiao Zhiya elaborated on his thoughts, ¡°I didn¡¯t detect the existence of the alien beast¡¯s lair at all, and I couldn¡¯t sense the presence of this reptile monster. If my guess is correct, then its ability should be related to confounding spiritual sense ¨C it can mislead, disguise, or even block any attempt of detecting its presence.¡± When he went hunting with his parents before, he also encountered this kind of ability ¨C it led him to fail to detect its location. At that time, the beast almost successfully took him away, and he was saved from being its meal thanks to his father. That beast was already a high-level top-level beast, and it was on the verge of gaining sapience. Not only was it proficient in its blood-related ability, but it also had cultivated magic power. Later, his clansmen gathered together to drive the monster that was close to becoming the Beast Emperor away from their dwarven village. Now this unknown beast had similar abilities. Its strength should be equally as enormous¡­ His team was only a few men strong, so their prospects are worrying. ¡°Under normal circumstances, only high-level power can block the detection of low-level power.¡± Lin Zhen said with a serious expression. ¡°Your spiritual power level is S, so if this beast can block your detection, its spiritual power is also S-level or above¡­¡± ¨CAnd the highest spiritual strength of their team is only S-level. Hearing this, Chu Yan¡¯s expression paled, but he felt strangely happy in his heart. ¡°With such a powerful beast guarding here, the possibility of the existence of Star Sand is almost 100%.¡± There must be treasures around powerful beasts ¨C this is an universal law. So, the guide didn¡¯t lie. But the question is¡­ how can they obtain the Star Sand without messing with this monstrous beast? They all fell silent. ¡°Let¡¯s rest first.¡± Lin Zhen broke the stifling silence, and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder reassuringly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if it doesn¡¯t work, we will withdraw. We can ask the Marshal to send a professional team over here. Our mission has been considered a success.¡± Qiao Zhiya recovered from his contemplation. He glanced at his team members and nodded. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t recommend taking risks.¡± Compared with treasures, everyone¡¯s safety was paramount. ¡°Yes, yes, yes, the big deal is to let Erge come here in person, he is SSS-level.¡± Chu Yan lightened his tone, enlivening the atmosphere. Having come to the conclusion that they wouldn¡¯t force it, everyone just felt that the pressure pushing down on them suddenly disappeared. They were exhausted, so they tidied up and prepared to rest. Lin Zhen was worried, so he assigned a few more people to watch the night in turn to ensure safety. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t sleep well that night, feeling like he was being watched by something. In a daze, he vaguely heard a whistling sound. He immediately opened his eyes, stretched out his hand and firmly pressed the little black snake that was about to sneak away again. He pulled it back with a frown, pinched its tail, and scolded, ¡°Xiao Hei! The mountain next to it is very dangerous, don¡¯t run around.¡± Xiao Hei didn¡¯t expect to be caught. Its body froze for a moment, then it wrapped itself around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arms, pretending to be stupid. It closed his eyes, and put on an honest look. It looked like its getting ready for bed. Qiao Zhiya was amused by its reaction. He poked its head and small body. Fearing that it would be disobedient, he simply took out another potion and stuffed it into its mouth, feeding it a lot of magic power. After that, the snake¡¯s instinct of resting for digestion kicked in, sending it to a deep sleep. The little black snake, whose belly was stretched round, was asleep while being curled up in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wrist. ¨C ¡°Ah!¡± At dawn, a powerful roar broke the tranquility of the forest. Qiao Zhiya quickly opened his eyes, lifted the quilt and checked¡ª the little black snake was still here. He breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly dressed. He stuffed the sleeping snake into his pocket as he walked out of the tent. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, the sound came from the other side of the mountain.¡± Lin Zhen, who was guarding in front of the tent, answered. He frowned and walked up, trying to see the source from a distance. ¡°Why do I feel that this voice sounds familiar? It reminds me of that mercenary group we met that day.¡± Chu Yan came out of the tent with messy hair and ran to the two of them. He also tried to see the source of the roar. After that commotion, the forest returned to calm, as if the roar just now was just their illusion. ¡°Do you want to go and have a look?¡± Chu Yan asked. He had a guess in his mind, ¡°Yesterday Qiao speculated that there is no danger on this mountain, but today there is such a stern roar from the other side of the mountain. Could it be that mysterious beast in this mountain appeared already?¡± Lin Zhen shook his head. He took out a miniature camera from the space button and threw it into the air. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit. Don¡¯t rush in.¡± Fifteen minutes later, a picture came from the device. By the small lake they visited yesterday, several mechas were guarding a wounded strong man. They were surrounded by collapsed tents and camping equipment. Not far away, a large number of alien beasts were confronting them. Each looked fierce, as if they had a deep hatred for this group of people. Chu Yan stared at the picture and commented, ¡°Fortunately, we didn¡¯t camp on the mountain yesterday. But Qiao, your guess seems to be a little off.¡± ¡°No,¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression became more serious, his small face tensed. ¡°Pay attention to the eyes of these alien beasts. Although their eyes are fierce, they are all out of focus, as if they are controlled by someone. ¡° Everyone examined the picture carefully. Sure enough, the more they looked, the more they felt that there was something wrong with the eyes of these alien beasts. Panic started to settle inside their hearts. ¡°So this is¡­¡± Chu Yan swallowed with difficulty. ¡°This mercenary group was driven away by the¡­ king of this mountain,¡± Qiao Zhiya helped him finish his sentence, and continued, ¡°My speculation was not wrong. If anything, I underestimated the beast¡¯s strength. Not only can it block detection, but it can also mind-control other beasts. We walked around the mountain for so long yesterday, and it must have noticed us. This team of mercenaries helped us prevent disasters.¡± In the picture, the mercenary team was forced to give up their camp, their supplies, and their gains. They all ran away with their mechas, full of wounds. This group of mind-controlled beasts chased them away mercilessly. Lin Zhen recalled the device as he looked at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya. ¡°I suggest we return now. The enemy¡¯s strength is unknown, so it is not appropriate to continue to explore.¡± Although it frustrated them, this choice was the most sensible for this situation. ¡°Then we go back. We¡¯ve left Yuan Xiu for so many days, he must have been worried,¡± Chu Yan put his arm on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders. He resolutely chose to give up, even though he desperately wanted the Star Sand. Qiao Zhiya glanced at him sideways, and gave him a nod. He looked down at his pocket, and asked hesitantly, ¡°What about Xiao Hei?¡± ¨CAfter all, the snake was so small, it¡¯s impossible for it to survive alone in such a dangerous terrain. ¡°Then we take it home and raise it,¡± Chu Yan pulled him to sit down. He watched Lin Zhen and the team members pack the tents in the camp, stretched lazily, and sighed, ¡°Oh, this experience is really amazing. Kinda anti-climactic, though.¡± Since Chu Yan said so, he took Xiao Hei back to raise it. Qiao Zhiya lowered his head and touched the sleeping Xiao Hei. He sat down next to Chu Yan, and was infected by his lazy mood. He immediately exhaled and started to relax. With this decision, they finally will go back. To be honest, he missed Chu Rong very much. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. ¡°When we go back, we can ask Erge to send more powerful people over to find the Star Sand,¡± Chu Yan raised his hand to support his chin, and said in a low voice. Qiao Zhiya nodded, his thoughts unconsciously drifting towards a certain someone who stayed in the Capital Planet. The two sat side by side in a daze. The little black snake in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s pocket seemed to have noticed something ¨C it slowly opened his eyes, cocked his tail lazily, then suddenly straightened it up. But it was too late¨C A shadow suddenly engulfed Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, and before they could react, it silently dragged them together towards the dark underground. CH 57.3 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. The two team members guarding the two of them suddenly came to their senses and looked around in absolute shock. After finding that Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who were sitting on the middle stone, had disappeared, they hurriedly called out Lin Zhen to make a rescue. Lin Zhen turned his head, and his expression changed drastically. On a certain mountain wall not far behind the stone, a big hole unexpectedly appeared at some point. On the grass in front of the hole, a piece of emerald jade that had lost its color was lying quietly. ¡°Damn it, what¡¯s going on!¡± Chu Yan seemed to wake up with a jolt. Seeing that both him and Qiao Zhiya were entangled with a black object of unknown material, he quickly dragged both of them away to the ground. His heart was pounding so fast it felt like flying from his ribcage. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned. He wanted to look back at what was dragging the two of them, but found that he couldn¡¯t move at all. He tried to mobilize his magic power, but it seemed to be blocked by something, and he couldn¡¯t sense it at all. But his intuition told him that the beast that dragged them to the depths was not aggressive. He tried to keep his calm and comfort Chu Yan, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this alien beast that grabbed us doesn¡¯t seem to have any intention of harming us.¡± Chu Yan exhaled, and the erratic beating of his heart seemed to have slowed down a bit. He looked at the surrounding situation very carefully, his eyes lit up, and asked, ¡°So we were dragged back to the cave by the boss of this mountain like that guide? Are we going to find the Star Sand then?¡± ¡°¡­maybe, but let¡¯s not be too optimistic,¡± Qiao Zhiya reminded him as he looked around the extremely deep and wide hole.¡±Lin Zhen is still outside. I immediately left him a message after I found out that something was wrong, but I don¡¯t know if he saw it.¡± ¡°What did you leave for him?¡± Chu Yan was puzzled. ¡°An emerald jade.¡± Qiao Zhiya replied. On the ground, Lin Zhen immediately stepped forward to pick up the emerald jade, feeling a little heavy in his heart. He wanted to report the situation to Chu Rong and ask Chu Rong to mobilize the power of the nearby planets for reinforcements, but found that the communicator request had failed. Later, he found that not only the communicator, but all devices that gave off signals of some sort could no longer use that function. ¡°Captain, what should we do now?¡± One of the team members asked anxiously, blaming himself. If it weren¡¯t for their inexplicable distraction, the third young master and Qiao Zhiya would not have been kidnapped. Lin Zhen turned off the communicator that had no signal response and glanced into the cave. With a decisive attitude, he started to plan a rescue mission. ¡°We will go in and save them! First, we need to know how far this signal-jamming area is. We can¡¯t ask for reinforcement, as it will be too long. We will go inside!¡± Meanwhile, with Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan. They didn¡¯t know how far they¡¯d been dragged, but after entering an empty and damp underground cave, their bodies stopped, as their clothes snagged into something. The black unknown ¡°belt¡± was automatically loosened and fell off. Chu Yan immediately led Qiao Zhiya back against the wall, looking defensively in the direction where the unknown material fell off. In the dark underground, a pair of huge blood-red pupils looked down at them. An eerie, bone-chilling hiss reverberated inside the cavern, sounding sharp and shrill in their ears. ¡°Ah¡ª¡ª¡± Chu Yan swallowed back his exclamation with difficulty. He looked at massive eyes, his heart rose to his throat. He reflexively touched the mecha¡¯s space button, trying to take it out for defense. ¡°Give me back my child.¡± The snake¡¯s hissing sound suddenly increased, and an invisible pressure spread over him. Chu Yan felt his spirit sway, and almost fell to the ground with his knees weak. Thanks to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s support, he only slumped against the blond youth. Such a strong spiritual power suppression! ¡°Qiao, I¡¯ll stand in front, you run!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s expression became ugly. Struggling under the pressure of his spiritual strength, he managed to shove Qiao Zhiya behind his back, glaring at the unknown beast. Qiao Zhiya was a little confused. The black-skinned and red-eyed beast in front of him¡­ seemed to be talking? ¡°Can¡¯t you hear it?¡± He tugged at Chu Yan¡¯s arm. ¡°What did you hear?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s movement of holding the mecha was lost by him, sweat was faintly visible on his forehead. ¡°The pressure of this alien beast has become stronger. Prepare for an escape, I will take out the mecha in a while it¡¯s not attacking, you run outside!¡± ¡°Give me back my child!¡± The snake¡¯s hissing became louder again, and the red pupils got closer. Chu Yan huffed with a painful expression on his face, and endured the pain. He couldn¡¯t help raising his hand to press his forehead. Qiao Zhiya was startled. He quickly took out a potion for him to drink, and then walked out to face the monster that was so huge that only its head could be seen. He tentatively asked in Elvish, ¡°Did you just talk to me? ¡° The alien beast moved its head. It fixed its eyes on him, poked its tongue out, and hissed again, ¡°What are you talking about? Damn human, I saved you, but you stole my child! Curse you!¡± The pressure in the air increased again, and with a click, the potion bottle shattered. Chu Yan¡¯s eyes were red from exertion, and finally he couldn¡¯t bear the pressure and fell down. His hand was still reaching his mecha, and he urged Qiao Zhiya to run quickly with a hoarse whisper. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly stood in front of him, feeling a little anxious. The alien beast in front of him is obviously about to lose its mind, and it doesn¡¯t understand the meaning of Elvish like Xiao Hui. But how did the other party speak in his head, it¡¯s obviously just hissing. ¡®Wait a minute, in my head? Xiao Hei seemed to use this method when he asked for help before. But Xiao Hei¡¯s meaning was rather vague, and they¡¯re both black-scaled¡­¡¯ With a flash of inspiration in his mind, he hurriedly took out Xiao Hei, who seemed to be a little stiff, from his pocket. He tried to mobilize the magic power again into a special wave before replying again in Elvish, ¡°Is this your child?¡± The snake¡¯s crazed hissing stopped abruptly, and Xiao Hei¡¯s stiff body suddenly softened. Hanging on his hand, it hid his head by coiling tightly. It seemed like¡­ Xiao Hei was afraid of facing this monster snake? The oppression in the air became weaker, and Chu Yan finally could gasp for air. He felt so much better. Qiao Zhiya once again felt the embarrassing feeling when he rescued Xiao Hei. He handed Xiao Hei forward again, and said in Elvish with extra magic power to amplify his voice, ¡°I rescued it on a cliff wall. At that time, it was hanging on a small tree on the cliff, and was very weak. It has been by my side for the past few days, and it has recovered, you see.¡± The alien beast stretched its head forward again, and gently stretched its parts. The tip of its forked tongue came over, licked Xiao Hei who was pretending to be dead, and tried to wrap it up. ¡°Hiss hiss!¡± Sensing its intention, Xiao Hei immediately revived. Without hesitation, it slid along Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arm to his shoulder and hid himself in deception, his tail flapping angrily, obviously throwing a temper tantrum. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± After Chu Yan regained his breath, he immediately got up, and found that the situation seemed to be a little different from what he expected. He immediately whispered, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya grabbed the slithering Xiao Hei, then glanced at the huge alien beast. Somehow, he felt like the giant snake was sad, somehow. He dryly said, ¡°Xiao Hui¡¯s story is repeating itself.¡± Simply put, they have experienced saving a child, and were approached by the child¡¯s mother. Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± He turned his head to look at the unidentified beast with two red eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched, somehow feeling the situation hilarious. Chu Yan grabbed Xiao Hei from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, and mercilessly threw it towards the huge beast. ¡°Be careful!¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by his action. He hurriedly caught up to Chu Yan, trying to catch Xiao Hei. But he found that the huge beast had already caught Xiao Hei before them, and rolled its small body with its tongue. Xiao Hei began to struggle wildly, hissing and screaming, like a rebellious child who didn¡¯t want to go home. The huge beast took a deep look at them, took Xiao Hei back, and quickly disappeared into the dark cave. ¡°So what¡¯s going on?¡± Chu Yan felt as if the world had gone crazy. ¡°It seems that a human being was rescued by this alien beast, but he stole Xiao Hei and threw it halfway on the cliff. This alien beast should be Xiao Hei¡¯s mother.¡± Qiao Zhiya made a reasonable guess based on what the alien beast said. Chu Yan frowned. ¡°Human? Ah, is it the guide then? Why is he so wicked? So Xiao Hei is blaming its mother for not protecting it?¡± Shouldn¡¯t the normal situation be that the baby jumped into its mother¡¯s arms after seeing its mother again? Telling about the grievances it experienced and looking for comfort? What¡¯s Xiao Hei¡¯s reaction? ¡°¡­Uhh, probably yes,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied vaguely, feeling guilty for Xiao Hei. In fact, judging from his observations of these past two days, Xiao Hei¡¯s situation was more like a playful runaway who was having fun exploring the world without parental supervision and refused to go home. Another point was that Xiao Hei seems to be fascinated by the feeling of sucking magic power. He wasn¡¯t willing to quit that. The two looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Chu Yan¡¯s eyelids twitched and he said first, ¡°Now that the reptile¡¯s underground lair has been found, can we go look for Star Sand? That alien beast should not attack us again.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, and then said, ¡°But Lin-laoshi and the others are still outside¡ª¡± Before he finished talking, he heard a familiar sound of footsteps faintly echoed from the way they came. Lin Zhen and his team found the two lost youths, and he finally heaved a sigh of relief. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t waste time and told him what happened, and Lin Zhen fell silent after understanding the situation. ¡°Let¡¯s look for the Star Sand first, because this powerful beast has no time to take care of us now.¡± In the end, he decisively changed the subject and brought everyone¡¯s attention back to their original mission. Chu Yan looked around since long time ago. He took a small lamp to shine it around, saying, ¡°There are so many holes and forked ways here. Where do we start looking?¡± Lin Zhen looked at Qiao Zhiya, and Qiao Zhiya mobilized his magic power, only to find that it was working as normal. He stepped forward and put his hand on the mountain wall, and said, ¡°Everyone, wait for a moment.¡± After speaking, the magic power penetrated along the mountain wall. The alien beast that wandered somewhere noticed this movement, looked back at the humans who came here. It led Xiao Hei, who was still struggling, to go deeper, while silently protruding its strength. Above the ground, near the entrance of the cave, a controlled alien beast wandered nearby. It quickly dug soil to bury the entrance of the cave, and then tossed around randomly, faking the area as if the alien beasts had fought there. The volcano seemed to have returned to its usual appearance, and no one had noticed anything happening underground. Star Sand was a special type of grinded mineral formed due to intense pressure, as smooth as sand. It was generally found distributed across the ground. It was shimmery white, and could emit a faint white halo. Since it¡¯s found in rich, dark, volcanic soil, it looked like a belt of stars in the dark galaxy ¨C hence the name. Qiao Zhiya used his earth-type magical power as a radar. He spread it across the mountain wall, and he finally received an echo feedback. He was overjoyed, especially because this reaction happened multiple times. He withdrew his hand and pointed in a direction, exclaiming, ¡°Go to that direction!¡± Chu Yan was infected by his enthusiasm. He shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go dig for treasures!¡± Lin Zhen shook his head with a smile, signaling everyone to follow Qiao Zhiya¡¯s guidance. The underground caves here were like a maze. Without solid guidance, it was easy to get lost. Even with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s acting as their guide, everyone was still confused by the winding roads and intertwining caverns. ¡°Behind this earth wall.¡± Walking into the dead end again, Qiao Zhiya did not feel discouraged like before, but became more excited, ¡°The reaction is very strong, the distance should not exceed two meters.¡± In other words, there was no need to go around. They just needed to dig through this wall. ¡°Great!¡± Chu Yan had walked underground for a day, so he was happy to finally find what he seeked. His eyes were dazzled as he excitedly took out his bag. With a mining hammer ready, he exclaimed, ¡°Then let¡¯s start digging!¡± Lin Zhen immediately pressed his shoulder to stop his movement, and reminded him, ¡°Be careful not to make too much noise when digging. This cavern was still underground without a proper structure, so there¡¯s a risk of collapse if we put too much force.¡± Chu Yan nodded. He couldn¡¯t wait to step forward. The remaining team members and Qiao Zhiya were also busy taking out tools to help. Fifteen minutes later, the dead-end wall was dug out. Chu Yan¡¯s pleasantly surprised voice came from inside, ¡°I saw it! Star Sand! It¡¯s right in front of me!¡± Everyone showed happy expressions. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly squeezed to Chu Yan¡¯s side and looked at a small piece of bright white object embedded in the soil. He stretched out his hand to carefully remove it, and then froze ¨C after the Star Sand was dug out, a small hole appeared on the wall. And inside that hole, a ray of white light shone faintly. ¡®Is there something behind the hole?¡¯ The two looked at each other, Chu Yan carefully knocked the small hole big with a hammer. Chu Yan peeked inside¡­ and was stunned in place. On the other side of the hole, in a huge hole covered with Star Sands, a thick black snake was lying. Sensing a movement, the giant snake turned its head and looked over. Its familiar blood-red pupils met Chu Yan again. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± The hammer in Chu Yan¡¯s hand fell to the ground. He thought that this might be the place of his death. CH 58.1 Seeing Chu Yan frozen in place, Qiao Zhiya pulled him. He asked, ¡°Xiao Yan, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Chu Yan turned around and pushed Lin Zhen and Qiao Zhiya back, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, there¡¯s nothing over there, let¡¯s look for Star Sand in other places.¡± ¡°But such a strong white light, it should be a large concentration of Star Sand¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was not easily fooled, and turned his head to look back while talking. Lin Zhen was even more straightforward. Relying on his height and skill, he directly slipped away from Chu Yan¡¯s grip. But then, the ground shook. There was a crash hitting the wall ¨C it shattered and fell down, raining dirt on everyone. The light shone over, revealing the scene on the other side of the wall ¨C it was a mass of black, shiny things. The giant snake poked its head over at some point, looked down at them again, and turned its gaze back and forth, finally falling on Qiao Zhiya. Its blood-red pupils were filled with dangerous glint, and it hissed loudly. ¡°What did you feed my child?¡± Lin Zhen¡¯s expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly protected Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan with the team members. He looked at the monstrous snake in front of him, his posture in full defense. Seeing that he didn¡¯t fool the snake, Chu Yan hurriedly stood up and tried to communicate, ¡°Tha-that, excuse me, w-we didn¡¯t dig up your home on purpose. Please don¡¯t attack, don¡¯t attack, we will repair your home for you. ¡°As he spoke, he motioned for Qiao Zhiya to translate, and stabilize the snake first. The giant snake felt that they were provoking it, and its originally mild attitude immediately turned fierce. It hissed again, but it sounded like a roar. ¡°My child won¡¯t eat anymore! Damn human, what did you use to seduce it!¡± An oppressive force fell on everyone. Lin Zhen¡¯s expression became even uglier, and Chu Yan also felt that something was wrong. They began to slowly pull Qiao Zhiya back. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect that they would actually dig into Xiao Hei¡¯s mother¡¯s lair. After snapping back to alertness, he fully understood what the giant snake meant. He quickly released his magic power to protect everyone from being hurt by the power of the giant snake, and then comforted Lin Zhen and Chu Yan. He tentatively took two steps, condensed the magic power on his fingertips, waved his head, looked into the eyes of the giant snake and replied, ¡°This is something that can nourish the body. At that time, your child was very weak, so I had to use this to temporarily stabilize its physical condition.¡± The wood-elemental magic was warm and soft, completely different from the sharp and cold spiritual power of the snake¡¯s. The giant snake lowered its head, fixed its eyes on his fingers, its eyes became redder. Its power faintly agitated, as if ready to wipe off the finger that tempted its child. Lin Zhen was keenly aware of its attacking intention. He pulled Qiao Zhiya further back, so he could protect the youth better. Chu Yan touched the space button of the mecha, nervously watched the giant snake¡¯s every move, and was ready to fight ¡ª compared with before, the current giant snake has obviously become more aggressive. The pressure in the air increased again. As the pressure became even more suffocating, it was broken with a screeching sound. The Star Sand under the giant snake¡¯s body was suddenly gathered into a small container, and then Xiao Hei got out of it. The little snake slid down to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s feet while hissing and screaming. It slithered along his body and climbed onto his hand, bit his fingertips that had the condensed magic power, hung on it, and refused to budge. Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Damn you!¡± The giant snake hissed in anger, its body began to slither alongside its explosive emotions. Its tail smacked the cave floor irritably, splashing a layer of beautiful sand waves of the Star Sand, and its eyes were fixed on its child. It wanted to attack Qiao Zhiya, but was afraid of hurting Xiao Hei. ¡°I knew that Xiao Hei is an ungrateful snake. Why did it add fuel to the flames like this?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s spiritual strength was disturbed by the snake¡¯s hissing, and his face turned pale. He wanted to strangle this stupid snake who provoked its mother¡¯s wrath at them! Qiao Zhiya was also helpless with Xiao Hei¡¯s behavior. Mothers who have lost their children are easily irritated. They were undoubtedly poking the snake¡¯s inverse scales. (from a legend that says dragons have this inverse scale on its body that nobody (but a select few) can touch. If you touch it, you will face the dragon¡¯s wrath.) The snake must be calmed down first. Thinking this way, he first withdrew the magic power of his fingertips, pulled Xiao Hei off then put it on the ground. He looked at the giant snake, spread the magic power again, and increased the concentration, explaining, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to rob your child. In truth, I hope this child can grow up safely beside its mother. You can feel that my power has a healing capability, and it is not a sinister substance used to tempt beasts.¡± The pressure was so thick, making it hard to breathe. But Qiao Zhiya managed to concentrate this magic power, and it successfully alerted Xiao Hei. It poked its head up, and happily wandered around the place where the magic power was floating, looking like it had overdosed on drugs. The giant snake used to resist the magic power because of the child, but now passively sensed his power. It immediately realized what was wrong, its eyes moved, and slowly stopped slithering. It bowed its head and wrapped Xiao Hei in it, hissing, ¡°Get out of here, and never get any closer.¡± ¡°Okay, we promise we won¡¯t intrude again.¡± Qiao Zhiya breathed a sigh of relief and took a step back. The pressure in the air dropped, and Lin Zhen noticed it immediately. He aggressively whispered, gasping in between words, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Qiao Zhiya signaled everyone to back off, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go first, it has been appeased for the time being.¡± Lin Zhen nodded, glanced at the giant snake that was still staring at them. He first pushed Chu Yan to the side of the earth wall, and then held Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. He led his team back slowly. ¡°But the Star Sand¡­¡± Chu Yan muttered in a low voice, but quickly swallowed it back. Although the object of their mission was within reach, preserving their life was leagues ahead in the scale of priority. This Star Sandwas is the private property of the giant snake. They wanted to grab the Star Sand from under the giant snake¡¯s buttocks, which was tantamount to pulling a tooth out of a tiger¡¯s mouth. Qiao Zhiya also glanced at the Star Sand wistfully. Thinking that it was something that Chu Rong needed very much, and felt a little reluctant, but¡­ He forced himself to look back, and cooperated with Lin Zhen to retreat. Compared with Star Sand, his companion¡¯s life was much, much more important. Just when everyone was about to leave completely, Xiao Hei, who was engulfed by the giant snake, somehow broke free. It slid down again, and hung on Qiao Zhiya flexibly and skillfully, as if he didn¡¯t want him to leave. Lin Zhen stopped, the giant snake¡¯s red pupils widened, and the pressure in the air increased again. Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but swear. The snake hissed again. This time the giant snake was unwilling to communicate, flicked its tail angrily, opened its mouth wide and rushed straight at the crowd. Lin Zhen was shocked, and wanted to take out his mecha, but found that the mecha couldn¡¯t be taken out because of the narrow cavern! ¡°Third Young Master, go first!¡± He decisively pushed Chu Yan further away from the cave, and then pressed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder hard, trying to throw him to Chu Yan¡¯s side. At this very moment, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magical power suddenly increased, and he broke free from Lin Zhen¡¯s hand. He rushed forward to stand in front of the giant snake, blocking the giant snake¡¯s blow with the only earth attack spell he knew. ¡°Your child just likes to eat my power! It¡¯s not going to follow me!¡± He roared loudly, suppressing all the magic power into his voice. He bent slightly to assume a non-aggressive posture, looked up at the giant beast, and said anxiously, ¡°Your child may be about to shed its skin. So it wants my power because it can help it shed. Please calm down!¡± He then lifted Xiao Hei up and brought him closer to the giant snake, indicating that he had no intention of snatching the child. He has just discovered that the Star Sand on the ground was mixed with some shed skins ¨C it should be used as an abrasive material that can help the shedding process, especially because the giant snake¡¯s scales were special. As soon as the giant snake found Xiao Hei, it brought it here, and kept driving them away, probably to prepare for Xiao Hei¡¯s shedding. The giant snake¡¯s attack suddenly stopped, and its eyes were fixed on Xiao Hei who was still in his hand. It began to wriggle anxiously, it hissed as it tried to communicate with its child. It seemed to understand that Qiao Zhiya was telling the truth, especially because the little snake was taking the initiative to go after his magic power. Lin Zhen was taken aback by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s actions. Chu Yan squeezed back directly, eager to step forward to pull Qiao Zhiya back, but was stopped by Lin Zhen who had regained his senses. ¡°Wait, Qiao seems to be communicating with this strange beast, don¡¯t provoke it!¡± After he finished speaking, he forcefully pushed Chu Yan back to the hole, and asked the team members to watch him. He stared at Qiao Zhiya, reading to leap into action the moment this negotiation soured. ¡°In addition to my own strength, I also have this.¡± Seeing that the giant snake stopped attacking, Qiao Zhiya slowed down his speech, and slowly took out a potion. He opened it to let the smell of the potion out. He ignored Xiao Hei who was wriggling happily, eager to drink the potion. He continued, ¡°This is a potion of my people. It also contains a lot of power that is good for soothing the emotions of beasts. If you need it, I can give it to you.¡± Adding the magic power to the potion, Xiao Hei happily ate his fill. Its body slowly relaxed, and it lulled back to a peaceful sleep. The giant snake was happy ¨C its child was very active and naughty, but it was easily pacified into sleep like this. It slowly calmed down, lowered its head, and coiled up around its child to protect it. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya kept the same posture the whole time without stopping, it hesitated for a moment before it took a sip of the potion. A gentle power coursed through its body, warming it up comfortably. It quietly looked at Qiao Zhiya in question and wonder, then stretched its head over to meet him. It used its forked tongue to sniff him, asking, ¡°This is a very gentle force, are you my kin?¡± ¡®Huh? The same kin?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya tentatively retracted his hand. Seeing the snake only looked at him in this strangely gentle gaze, his ears twitched, feeling a little embarrassed. Although this giant snake has gained some level of sapience, it hasn¡¯t reached the level of humans. It thought that those who can communicate were of its kind. ¡°No,¡± He shook his head, with a smile on his face, he replied in Elvish ¨C the language that Lin Zhen and the others couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°However, I¡¯m not human. Look at my ears, they are different from human¡¯s, so I won¡¯t hurt you. If you need my help with anything, you can say it.¡± The atmosphere became completely friendly. The elf-dwarf boy and the giant snake started to properly communicate in an unfamiliar language. Their conversation seemed to be great, which confused Lin Zhen and the others. ¡°Captain,¡± One of the team members called in confusion. Lin Zhen shook his head, motioning for him to keep silent, but did not let down his vigilance. After some exchanges, Qiao Zhiya completely relaxed. He turned his head to signal Lin Zhen and others to rest in place, then took out various materials and pharmaceutical tools, and immersed himself in making the potion. The giant snake stood by his side, and its red eyes were facing Lin Zhen, as if afraid that they would disturb Qiao Zhiya. Chu Yan was about to die from sheer anxiety. He struggled to go forward, wanting to be by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side. Lin Zhen frowned, glanced at the pharmaceutical tools in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, and guessed that Qiao Zhiya and the giant snake had reached a certain consensus. He hesitated, but ultimately decided to let the two have their privacy while they rested on the other side. After making the potion, Qiao Zhiya drew a magic circle. Thanks to the potent power contained in the Star Sand, drawing a magic circle here should be able to last indefinitely. Even if the Star Sand is exhausted one day, there is still the power of the giant snake to support the array. As soon as the formation was activated, a gentle force spread in the cave. The giant snake comfortably closed its eyes and stretched out its tongue. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Qiao Zhiya clapped his hands and put the potion in the center of the magic circle. ¡°These should be enough for Xiao Hei to shed his skin more than a dozen times. In return¡­ may I have a portion of this sand?¡± The giant snake gave him a gentle look, and slid its body to let out a small mound of Star Sand. Lin Zhen and others stared dumbfounded at Qiao Zhiya, who took a large box and unhesitantly scooped a handful of Star Sand directly under the giant snake. They felt that they probably had hallucinations from exhaustion They got the Star Sand like this? So easily? Qiao Zhiya put the box in his storage ring. He then walked forward, closer to the giant snake. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be leaving. I will come to see you and Xiao Hei again when I have a chance. I will send someone to bring some potion and put it on the mountain, please remember to collect it.¡± The giant snake stretched out its tongue as a sign of agreement. It rolled out Xiao Hei to show it to him, then swiped his tail. With that move, Qiao Zhiya and his team were all swept out of the cave. The giant snake slithered off deeper into the cavern, then forced a cavern collapse, sealing the entrance from any human annoyances. CH 58.2 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. After leaving the cave, Qiao Zhiya immediately felt all the tiredness come to him in one fell swoop. He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes ¡ª in order to prepare enough potions, he worked nonstop all night, and even drew a magic circle. He almost hit the limit. ¡°Qiao, you are so amazing!¡± Chu Yan immediately leaned over. Seeing how listless Qiao Zhiya was, Chu Yan turned around and squatted down with his back to him, and said, ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll carry you out, so you can sleep well.¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly waved his hand and said, ¡°No, I can go by myself. Let¡¯s go, Xiao Hei¡¯s mother just promised to help us open the way. I also negotiated a deal with it. In the future, if there is a lack of Star Sand, I will use potions to exchange for it.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Lin Zhen said as he patted the youth¡¯s messy blond hair. He then pushed him onto Chu Yan¡¯s back. ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself, just have a good sleep. Just let Chu Yan carry you out, it will be safer overall.¡± Chu Yan nodded in agreement. Before Qiao Zhiya could react, he carried him on his back and securely gripped him so he wouldn¡¯t escape. ¡°Qiao, you are so light. I don¡¯t feel you much on me.¡± Seeing Chu Yan helping him like this, Qiao Zhiya felt thankful. He no longer struggled, but thanked him with a mumble. And soon, he fell asleep. Lin Zhen took out a blanket to wrap him up, looked back at the blocked beast lair, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, your exam time is almost over.¡± The dwarven youth fell into a deep sleep, and once he woke up, he found himself in Chu Yan¡¯s mecha cockpit. Yuan Xiu¡¯s cheerful voice came from the mecha¡¯s internal communicator, and occasionally he could hear a sentence or two of instructions from Ning Kongran. He privately wondered just how long he was asleep. They continued to do the graduation¡¯s exam tasks, and it¡¯s only with the existence of Star Sand that he firmly believed that the previous adventure with Lin Zhen was real. Seeing that he was awake, Chu Yan hurriedly cut off the call with Yuan Xiu, and said happily to him, ¡°You finally woke up! Xiao Hei¡¯s mother is so powerful, it lets a dozen or so alien beasts clear the way for us! Those nasty birds were almost wiped out by them! The smell of the beast left on our mechas also helps ward off other beasts! It¡¯s so cool!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± He sat up, emotionally infected with his enthusiasm. He looked up at the forest scene displayed on the screen, and said expectantly, ¡°Then are we going home? ¡°It¡¯s been half a month,¡± Chu Yan said excitedly as accelerated the speed of the mecha. He shouted, full of bravado, ¡°Look at how I grind Xiang Kun and the others to the dust!¡± During the break, Qiao Zhiya saw Ning Kongran. However, he behaved as if there¡¯s nothing unusual, and only greeted him with a warm smile. Qiao Zhiya smiled back at him, wanting to ask him about the ore-hunters, but swallowed his words silently. He focused himself on finishing this graduation exam. A few days later, when it was near the deadline, the four of them left the adventure zone with treasures that far exceeded what the teacher asked for. After a day¡¯s rest, everyone set sail back to the Capital Planet, and the martial law on the D28 Planet was finally lifted. Members of a certain mercenary team who had been hiding in Area B for several days came out of the adventure area in embarrassment. One of the strong men with bandages on his body roared in indignation, ¡°That guide is a fucking scammer! Damn it, he fooled us! Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll teach him a lesson!¡± His companion, who always liked to reprimand him, rarely agreed with his words. With murderous intent in their eyes, they silently planned their revenge. They¡¯re obviously very dissatisfied with this adventure trip. ¨C Two days later, on the return ship, Qiao Zhiya put down the communicator with a deep frown. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Chu Yan came over while eating a snack. He bumped into him, and continued, ¡°Do you think Erge will come to pick us up? I think he will. After all, it¡¯s been such a long time¡­ Hehehe.¡± As the old saying goes, a day apart is like three autumns. These two had been apart for so many days, so that must equal to a hundred autumns or so. Qiao Zhiya turned to look at him and shook his head. He felt downcasted, as Chu Rong hadn¡¯t replied to his message or answered his communication requests. This was too abnormal, this had never happened before. ¡°Chu San1previously, I¡¯ve translated this into English. But after much thought, it¡¯s better left untranslated. This roughly means ¡°Third Child of Chu family¡±, but like¡­ kinda casual? It¡¯s a common nickname., you still have time to eat snacks. Do you know that you will soon have another sister-in-law who is the same age as you?¡± Xiang Kun appeared out of nowhere, and squeezed into the middle of the sofa in their resting area, sneering with a raised eyebrow. Chu Yan was taken aback. He glanced at Qiao Zhiya, then back at Xiang Kun, with a flabbergasted expression. ¡°Where did you get the gossip, do you want to be beaten?¡± He didn¡¯t remember saying that his Erge had thoughts about Qiao Zhiya. Yuan Xiu certainly wouldn¡¯t say anything about it, so where did this kid Xiang Kun know, from eavesdropping? If he eavesdropped on them, he swore he would beat him up. Thinking of this, he put down the snacks directly. Cracking his knuckles, he had already planned several moves to rain upon this stinky nemesis. Xiang Kun¡¯s eyes twitched because of his provocative action, and he took a few steps back decisively. He turned up the volume of his voice, deliberately riling him up, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, what¡¯s the matter, am I not allowed to say this? You go to the Starry Sky Forum to see it yourself. The Empire¡¯s Princess has been attached to Chu Rong since she arrived in the Federation. The news of their marriage has spread everywhere. At the banquet at the Presidential Palace two days ago, your erge had a good talk with the princess. This is serious national news!¡± The other teachers and students who were sitting in the rest area also overheard this. They gawked at them in astonishment. Qiao Zhiya was stunned, his heart suddenly became erratic, and he felt a sense of weightlessness. ¡®Marriage? Who? Chu Rong?¡¯ Chu Yan¡¯s expression changed, and he his frown deepened. ¡®Imperial princess? What the hell?¡¯ He faintly realized that something was wrong, stood up and looked at Xiang Kun and said, ¡°Speak clearly to me. What the hell is with this mess? My Erge won¡¯t marry her!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Xiang Kun wanted to confront him, so took a step back and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be complacent, wait until your erge gets married, and see who has the energy to protect you!¡± After finishing speaking, the teacher got up and leaned over, so Xiang Kun hurriedly slipped away. The students around began to whisper, and glanced at Chu Yan from time to time. Chu Yan stared at them, sat back and saw Qiao Zhiya sitting on the sofa with a dazed expression. He felt very irritated, but he still tried to comfort Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to the bullshit that brat spews. Erge will never get married so randomly like that, let alone with someone from the Empire. Don¡¯t believe that, okay?¡± Qiao Zhiya returned to his senses, nodded, and told himself rationally that what Chu Yan said was right. Chu Rong is indeed not a person who will use feelings as a bargaining chip. But still, his heart still flustered in sheer panic, and he couldn¡¯t help himself from religiously checking on the Starry Sky Forum. The forum was divided into many sections. Before he clicked on the page belonging to the discussion about general topics, a post on the homepage stunned him in place. [The Empire¡¯s Princess is in love with Marshal Chu, and she claims to be in love at first sight¡­] Chu Yan just saw the trending news. His face darkened, he quickly snatched the photon computer from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand and turned it off. ¡°This kind of fake news can actually be posted on the homepage. It must be the Xiang-Wei¡¯s family¡¯s nasty scheme! Wait, I¡¯ll ask about the situation with Erge.¡± As he spoke, he was about to take out the communicator and call Chu Rong. ¡°It¡¯s useless. He probably turned on Do Not Disturb, so he won¡¯t answer.¡± Qiao Zhiya pressed his hand together, feeling light headed. His ears flattened, and the sadness on his face was obvious despite his steady voice. ¡°We¡¯re about to land. I¡¯ll call him again when we get back.¡± As expected, the communication he dialed went nowhere, and Chu Yan felt suffocated when he saw Qiao Zhiya¡¯s listless look. ¡®What the hell is Erge doing? Let gossip go around, and he still doesn¡¯t answer the communication. Is he really planning to stage a bloody drama like ¡°the original wife worked hard to find materials, but the husband spent all his time looking for the mistress¡±?¡¯ Bah bah bah! He hurriedly slapped himself on the forehead, shook his head and stopped thinking about those soap opera scenarios. He instead dialed the communication to Chu Huai, which got through quickly this time. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Huai¡¯s gentle voice came over, and Chu Yan felt relieved. He quickly patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder, signaling him not to worry, and then asked through the communicator, ¡°Dage, I just heard Xiang Kun say something about the Imperial Princess. What actually happened? I also saw that post appear on the Starry Sky Forum¡¯s homepage¡­ it¡¯s such a mess.¡± ¡°Ah, that.¡± Chu Huai¡¯s voice didn¡¯t change at all, as if he already knew that Chu Yan would ask him about this. He replied flatly, ¡°The twins from the Empire came within a few days after you set off to practice, and there was some movement when they first arrived. I didn¡¯t expect the news to spread so fast to you. The post was also made by Princess An Lin, so we can¡¯t just remove it; instead, we are going to suppress it slowly. Don¡¯t listen to Xiang Kun¡¯s nonsense, it¡¯s all just lies.¡± While Chu Yan knew that such news was full of crap, he still felt glad hearing Chu Huai¡¯s clarification. He quickly shot a ¡°look, it¡¯s all okay, right?¡± glance at Qiao Zhiya, then ask Chu Huai a few more things about Chu Rong. After learning that Chu Rong had been hiding in the military headquarters for the past few days from the Princess, he was finally fully relieved. Seeing that the ship was about to land, he hung up the call. ¡°What kind of princess is this? She actually made up her own post to create a scandal for herself. This is too unbecoming for someone her status,¡± Chu Yan deliberately complained, pulled Qiao Zhiya up, and continued, ¡°Let¡¯s go, it¡¯s time to get off the ship. We can see Erge at night.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded. His expression was much better, but his heart was still a little swollen. The post haunted the corner of his mind, making his thoughts drift off from time to time. ¡®Even if this princess failed, there will be other people in the future. If Chu Rong married someone else¡­¡¯ He lowered his eyes to cover the sadness in his eyes, and his flattened ears never bounced back. ¡ªWhen Chu Rong got married, it was probably time for him to move out of Chu Rong¡¯s house. And now that Chu Rong¡¯s illness has been cured, he no longer needed to share a room with him¡­ The students disembarked one after another, and some parents even guarded the gate outside for hours in order to pick up their children. Many happy waves and greetings were exchanged between family members. Chu Yan¡¯s eyes turned around in the crowd, and when he glanced at the corner, his eyes lit up. He excitedly tugged at Qiao Zhiya, who was bowing his head, and said happily, ¡°Erge is really here to pick us up. Qiao, look quickly. This way! Erge, I¡¯m here!¡± Chu Rong, who was waiting in the corner, heard Chu Yan¡¯s voice, and immediately glanced at their direction. His eyes fixated on Qiao Zhiya, who stood listlessly beside Chu Yan. The blond youth seemed thinner than when he left, and looked like a frost-beated eggplant. Frowning, he tilted his head and gave Fan Xiangnan a few instructions before striding over. Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment before realizing what Chu Yan said, and hurriedly looked in the direction Chu Yan greeted. Then, he realized that Chu Rong was walking to them at a quick pace. His nose felt clogged. He ran over him without an ounce of hesitation. Chu Rong also quickened his pace, opened his arms and embraced Qiao Zhiya who was rushing over. Rubbing the golden-blond strand over, he said, ¡°Why are you running around? What if you bump into someone.¡± The empty space in his heart was finally filled. Qiao Zhiya shamelessly buried his face in Chu Rong¡¯s shoulder¡¯s crook. He shook his head, finding himself at a loss of words. The students, teachers, and parents around were all stunned, and they always felt that this scene seemed odd. It was normal for brothers to hug after a long absence, but why was it not Chu Yan and Marshal Chu hugging, but the Native Boy? And the hug itself was very¡­ intimate¡­ Chu Yan looked at the two hugging each other, and couldn¡¯t help but look at the stupid crowd around him. He ran over with a loud voice, upped his dramatics, and performed a very convincing ¡°a youth missing his elder brother¡± shout: ¡°Erge!! I won first place! I want a reward!¡± Xiang Kun, who stepped out after he heard this commotion, looked over and just saw the scene of Chu Rong letting go of Qiao Zhiya and hugging Chu Yan. His face immediately wrinkled in displeasure. After scanning through the crowd, he only found the Xiang family¡¯s housekeeper, and none of his family members. He went to the housekeeper, and was led away from the crowd quickly. After getting in the hover car, Chu Yan sat in the front row on the grounds that he wanted to tell Fan Xiangnan about the adventure. He thoughtfully left the back row for Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya to catch up. He even raised the curtain separating the front and back row, giving them extra privacy. ¡®I¡¯m such a thoughtful brother,¡¯ Chu Yan mused. Fan Xiangnan turned his head to look at him, and he smiled back, humming a little tune and pretending not to understand his schemes. After the curtain was raised, Chu Rong hugged Qiao Zhiya, who was sitting silently with his head bowed. He moved the youth into his lap. With a frown, he wiped the youth¡¯s face, and said, ¡°Why are you crying? Don¡¯t think you can fool me by lowering your head, I know you¡¯re trying to wipe your tears. What¡¯s the matter, were you bullied on the ship?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, feeling a little worthless. He simply buried his face on his shoulder again. With the stuffed feeling in his chest, he simply blurted out: ¡°Why haven¡¯t you responded to my messages?¡± ¡°You cry because of this?¡± Chu Rong laughed angrily at him. He felt that his attempt at fattening this Bald Chicken was in vain, as he just lost weight so easily. He put his arms around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body, patting his back. He explained, ¡°There is someone who has been bothering me for the past two days. I can¡¯t just ignore them, so I turned the communication to Do Not Disturb. Later, I will open a special channel for you, so you can contact me no matter what mode I set¡­ Well, I was negligent this time, and I forgot to tell you in advance, don¡¯t cry.¡± It turned out to be like this. Qiao Zhiya tilted his head and rubbed against his neck. After feeling it was enough, he finally stopped. He tried to straighten out his expression, but it wasn¡¯t a clean success. ¡°Is the person who bothers you the Imperial Princess? She, she¡­¡± ¡°What about her?¡± With Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current mood, Chu Rong had a faint guess as to why. His frown loosened, and his tone raised a bit. He raised his hand to brush away his bangs, and looked at him straight in the eyes. ¨CAh, so the Bald Chicken was jealous. It improved his mood somehow. ¡°Qiao Zhiya, what are you thinking about now?¡± ¡®Thinking of what?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya stared blankly at him. His heartbeat suddenly became a little faster, all the messy emotions floating in his heart were gone, only shyness and belated reunion joy remained. He buried his head in his arms again, shook his head, and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Chu Rong, I brought you back the Star Sand. It¡¯s a lot. I also met Xiao Hei. That snake is very cute, it¡¯s a pity you didn¡¯t see it.¡± Speaking of the Star Sand, Chu Rong suddenly remembered Lin Zhen¡¯s report about the whole situation. His hug tightened, and he started to pat Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head. He let out a long sigh, and said, ¡°I know¡­ you have worked hard. Mn, if you like Xiao Hei, I¡¯ll take you to see it when I¡¯m free.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded. He tilted his head and smelled the familiar scent of Chu Rong. His heart was finally at ease, and his eyelids started to droop. In the end, the sleeping Qiao Zhiya was carried down by Chu Rong. He hadn¡¯t had a good rest during this time, and now he returned to the familiar embrace, he completely relaxed, and fell asleep directly. Seeing this, Chu Yan laughed. Instead of showing off the light bulbs on the car¡¯s front row, he immediately left the car with Qiao Zhiya once they arrived at their destination. CH 58.3 Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an moved back to the main house because of the Imperial Twins. Seeing the scene of Chu Rong holding the sleeping Qiao Zhiya home, they shook their heads amusedly. After greeting Chu Yan to enter the house, they tacitly avoided bothering Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya, in his bleary state, only felt warm enveloping his body. It felt like when he felt asleep on his mother ¨C it¡¯s so comfortable and warm and safe that he wanted to continue sleeping. ¡°You woke up? Get up then, it¡¯s time for dinner. You can sleep after eating it.¡± A familiar voice called, awakening him up from his slumber. He felt his hair being rubbed. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s consciousness quickly returned. Ears twitching, he opened his eyes and stared at the familiar pajamas in front of him. Then, he arched over without hesitation, his body chasing the warm and nostalgic embrace. Chu Rong looked down at his little head buried in his chest. With a small smile, he pinched the youth¡¯s ears, and asked in a low voice, ¡°Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, continuing to hug him tightly. ¡°But I¡¯m hungry,¡± Chu Rong bowed his head and kissed his ear before getting out of the bed first. He bent down and picked the youth up, sending him to the bathroom. Putting him in front of the sink, he put his chin on the youth¡¯s head, asking, ¡°I fried steak and made soup for you, do you want to eat?¡± The youth felt a ticklish warm on his sensitive ear, then a warm, steady feel appeared on his back. He also felt the vibrations whenever this familiar voice spoke. Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong through the mirror, and his gaze fell on the curved corner of his mouth. Some images flashed through his mind, but he couldn¡¯t remember what. His face turned red for no reason. ¡®No, something is wrong.; He moved his ears, lowered his eyes to avoid Chu Rong¡¯s sight, and plunged his head directly into the washbasin. The faucet sensed the temperature of the human body, and immediately sprayed a jet of water, which completely wet his hair and ears. The two were too close, and when he bent down like this, the postures of the two became extremely ambiguous. Chu Rong froze, but insisted on ignoring the implication behind this posture. He pulled the youth¡¯s upper body straight, then put a towel to dry his hair. As he wiped the dripping water off him, he said, ¡°What are you doing, are you sleepy?¡± Qiao Zhiya lowered his head and let him move. He turned around, his gaze fixated on the floor, seeing their entangled legs. He stretched out his arms and hugged the taller man¡¯s waist, mumbling, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¨CAlthough, he didn¡¯t know why suddenly apologized. ¡°What are you saying sorry for?¡± Chu Rong gently pulled his ears, and rubbed his hair into a chicken nest. He somehow felt both irritated and sorry for him. With a darkened face, he continued, ¡°There¡¯s no next time. Or else¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya deliberately rubbed a little water on his face onto Chu Rong¡¯s clothes. His ears twitched, and he flicked the towel on his head to prevent Chu Rong from drying his hair. ¡°Spirited again?¡± Chu Rong caught the towel and put it back. His darkened expression softened. ¡°Be obedient, don¡¯t move around.¡± So Qiao Zhiya became happier with this treatment. The two eventually and a late-but-warm dinner. Then Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to visit his litter of rabbits, intending to walk around the yard a bit in order to aid digestion. ¡°Military school enrolls students after a month. The qualifications are screened first, and the exam will be held,¡± Chu Rong led him around in the moonlit yard, helping him straighten his coat and hat while asking casually, ¡°Are you sure you want to major in Mecha Manufacturing?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, smiled at him, and replied, ¡°I will work hard for the exam.¡± Chu Rong rubbed his hair, encouraging him silently. The two stopped talking, and walked around the yard silently. As the night got darker, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya back to his room. After confirming that the person in his arms was asleep, Chu Rong opened his eyes. He looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thinner face, slowly lowered his head¡ª And pressed his lips against his, then immediately backed away. He brushed away the hair scattered on his face with a doting smile on his face. The next day, Chu Rong claimed that he was sick and did not go to the military headquarters. Qiao Zhiya got up and saw that he was still there, so he was jubilant and almost flew up. He hurriedly dragged him to his laboratory, took out the box containing the Star Sand and put it on the ground, and said excitedly, ¡°Look, this is the Star Sand. Xiao Hei¡¯s mother promised me that I can exchange these with potions, and you don¡¯t have to worry about not having this material in the future!¡± After the box was opened, a hazy white light spilled out. Chu Rong looked at his twitching ears. His emotions overflowed, and he hugged Qiao Zhiya while saying, ¡°You are amazing, thank you, Qiao.¡± Qiao Zhiya was a little confused at first, and then his face turned red ¡ª this was the second instance Chu Rong called him with ¡°Qiao¡±. ¡°N-no, you¡¯re we-wellcome, as lo-long as I can help you,¡± He stammered his reply, his eyes darted around, trying to dodge Chu Rong¡¯s burning gaze. His face got hotter and hotter, so he remedied that by lowering his face and pushing him away. ¡°I-I should go find the bearded teacher! S-see you at lunch!¡± After speaking, he bypassed Chu Rong and ran back to his room, shutting himself in the bathroom to calm down. Chu Rong watched him leave. He put away the Star Sand in a good mood, and squinted his eyes in a curved moon. ¡®The chicken is almost ready to be cooked.¡¯ He thought happily. But then, his communicator suddenly rang. It was a message from a special channel. Once he scanned the message, his good mood plummeted to the ground. The lingering Imperial Princess actually went to the military headquarters. The President is really ¡°generous¡±. In order to spread the rumors more truthfully, he actually allowed an Imperial Princess to enter and leave the office of a federal marshal smoothly. This is madness! His expression turned cold, and he sent back a text message, saying, [Take her to the President¡¯s son, Long Xuyang. Also, cause her some trouble on the way. This way, she¡¯ll be busy with them and will not cause further trouble for a few days.] The bearded teacher was actually online, so Qiao Zhiya hurriedly entered the classroom and apologized for asking for leave during this period. ¡°It¡¯s okay, the graduation exam is more important,¡± The bearded teacher motioned him to sit down, and then asked, ¡°Did the exam go well?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded and replied, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I just need to finish two more theory exams before I finish everything.¡± The reason he gave when he asked for leave before was that he needed time to concentrate on preparing for the graduation exam of the intermediate college. The bearded teacher was satisfied with this answer. He sorted out the textbooks in his hand, and asked again, ¡°Then you should go to an advanced college in the second half of the year, which school do you aim for?¡± Qiao Zhiya hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth. ¡°I want to attend the Federal Military Academy, majoring in Mecha Manufacturing.¡± Although he used a fake identity to face the bearded teacher, he didn¡¯t want to tell lies about his studies. Plus, there were so many people who have to take the Federal Military Academy exam every year, so he thought it wouldn¡¯t matter if he told him. ¡°Federal Military Academy?¡± The bearded man was a little surprised. He looked him up and down, smiled suddenly, and said, ¡°This is a good goal. If you have ambition, go for it. I¡¯ll wait for you at the school.¡± ¡®Huh? Waiting for me¡­ at the school?¡¯ ¡°Laoshi, you¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was dumbfounded, and a guess appeared in his heart. ¡°Y-you can¡¯t be¡­¡± The bearded man only mysteriously smiled as he stroked his beard. ¡°I originally was thinking about how to persuade you to come to me for the exam, but I didn¡¯t expect you to actually aim at this school. In fact, I am a teacher at the Federal Military Academy. I took a break for two years because of a slight injury. I came to the Internet when I felt bored while recuperating. Truly, it was fate that made you attend my class. You prepare well, I believe you can do it. I plan to return to school to continue teaching in the second half of the year, and Luo Li will also come by then, so you two can meet.¡± It turned out that his online teacher was a teacher at the Federal Military Academy¡­ Qiao Zhiya stared wide-eyed, feeling that the sky was about to collapse. He was about to meet his teacher in an offline setting¡­ what should he do now? CH 59.1 Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. In the end, Qiao Zhiya waited for the announcement of the entrance exam, and tried his best to dodge every attempt of the bearded teacher in asking for his real name. The bearded teacher thought he was afraid to shame himself if he failed to be admitted, so he did not continue to ask. At the end of the morning class, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s good mood was completely gone. His mind was chaotic, not knowing what to do. Chu Rong reached out and swept his bangs, then met his gaze. Seeing how downcasted he was, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± With flattened, quivering ears, it¡¯s easy for Chu Rong to see his mood. He nuzzled against Chu Rong¡¯s warm fingers, and simply repeated what the bearded teacher had said to him, expressing his guilty confusion and distress. ¡°Federal Military Academy teacher who has been resting for two years due to injury?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s reaction was somewhat strange. He raised his eyebrows slightly with squinted eyes. After recalling things about teachers, he assured Qiao Zhiya, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just tell him straight after passing the exam. It¡¯s okay to meet and reveal your identity. Your teacher is not a bad person.¡± ¡°Wait, huh?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded then looked up at Chu Rong with blank eyes. He understood each word Chu Rong said, but when those strings of words combined, he became confused. ¡°W-wait, does this mean¡­ you know his identity?¡± Chu Rong nodded as he picked up a dish with his chopsticks. ¡°If it¡¯s the person I guessed, then he¡¯s completely safe. Don¡¯t ask me about his identity, you can ask him yourself. Eat, don¡¯t be picky.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not picky¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya whispered as he picked his food in small bites. His mind was filled with questions and unquenched curiosity, but he was obedient enough not to ask Chu Rong more about the bearded teacher. Since it¡¯s someone Chu Rong knew, then the bearded teacher was definitely someone decent at least. But¡­ maybe¡­ he was Chu Rong¡¯s teacher in the past? That¡¯s why he knew and could vouch for his personality? During class in the afternoon, Qiao Zhiya wanted to observe the appearance of the bearded teacher secretly, and compared it with the public information available. However, he found that his facial features were hidden behind his thick beard, and besides his red eyes, he couldn¡¯t observe anything. Plus, there¡¯s a chance that his online avatar didn¡¯t match with his real-life appearance¡­ ¡°When will your last two theoretical exams be held?¡± The teacher asked suddenly. Qiao Zhiya reflexively replied, ¡°Tomorrow.¡± After answering, he looked back and saw the bearded teacher looked at the youth with a hint of disapproval. He panicked, and picked up his textbook again, apologizing for his negligence. Then, he continued to concentrate on studying the lecture given. The next day, Chu Rong went back to the military department, while Qiao Zhiya went to school with Chu Yan to take the last of his theoretical exams. ¡°Hahaha, she deserves it!¡± Chu Yan laughed as soon as he got in the car. He used his photon computer to access the forum, and pointed out one of the posts with visible glee. ¡°The Imperial Princess made a blunder yesterday. She ran into the military, but she was caught directly by a soldier who did not know her identity, and was almost locked up for questioning. Fortunately, the president¡¯s son, Long Xuyang, passed by and recognized her. The poster is really good at weaving a story out of this, and it became viral as a result. But sadly, it seems that Miss Protagonist had caught wind of this post, so this should be deleted soon.¡± ¡®Imperial Princess?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched at the mere mention of her, and he immediately zoomed in on the forum. He saw the ¡°love at first sight¡± posted on the forum¡¯s homepage yesterday had been sunk, and was replaced by the ¡°romantic¡± encounter of a certain Princess AL and Noble Son XY1I paraphrase it so it¡¯s easily understood in English. The original is ¡°Princess A and Prince B¡±. Xuyang is the President¡¯s son, so he¡¯s not a prince in the royalty sense.. This generation of netizens truly had a wild imagination. Knowing that he was interested, Chu Yan narrated in more detail despite the trace of hesitation in his heart: ¡°Yesterday, Yuan Xiu went directly to the military department to find his dad after the training, and saw a little bit of this event. He told me that the Princess even disguised in a male soldier¡¯s uniform¡­ putting aside the whole ¡°crossdress play¡± accusation, she¡­ Hahaha! She was wearing a white uniform, which is the Xiang family¡¯s military uniform! It¡¯s so stupid that she wore that uniform when trying to get close to Erge in the Chu family¡¯s territory!! It was so hilarious.¡± Qiao Zhiya was tense. His upbringing told him that it was wrong to laugh at a girl¡¯s humiliation like that, and gloating over her misery was also frowned upon. But his mood was definitely uplifted by miles. In regard to Chu Rong-related news, it seemed that he had become more machiavellian. ¡°I think this Princess probably watched too many idol dramas and got brain damage because of it. Her mind is nothing but romance fluff. I saw her and Erge during a friendly exchange between the two civilizations seven or eight years ago. At that time, Erge defeated the Empire¡¯s number one mecha warrior. The princess was only a little over ten years old, so I don¡¯t really believe it to be love at first sight as she claimed. Though, I can understand her a bit because Erge in his early twenties was incredibly handsome!¡± Once Chu Yan said that, the topic shifted into some tidbits of the past, making Qiao Zhiya curious. Chu Yan graciously opened up his communicator and flipped out some of the old photos to show his blond friend. ¡°Qiao, you must not have seen Erge when he was young. While he¡¯s not really that old now and only a couple years older than us, the difference is still quite big. In short, he was a fresh-faced handsome young man back then! Much, much cooler than now!¡± He projected the old photo, and Qiao Zhiya immediately took a good look at it. It was a picture of the three brothers. The background was the living room of the main house of the Chu family. Chu Huai, in his early twenties, was standing behind the sofa. Chu Yan, a little radish head, held his hand beside him. On the sofa, sat an impatient white-haired boy with a wrinkle on his forehead, looking focused. His white hair was messy as it clung to his forehead. His eyes were full of pride, like a beautiful proud young lion. ¡°Well, Erge was angry during that fight, and only Father could hold him back¡­¡± Chu Yan said, his eyes drifted away, and he quickly turned back and took the photo down. ¡°Look at this, this is Erge during his first fight in that exchange with the Empire. Isn¡¯t he handsome?¡± New photos slide over. This photo was obviously a sneak shot, and it was taken from relatively far away. Only a slender figure wearing training clothes facing the camera can be seen. Chu Rong, who was still a young man, stood in front of an unfamiliar black mecha. In front of him, lied a scrapped red mecha, likely trashed due to his effort. His white hair was soaked with sweat, and a few strands were stuck on his forehead and ears. His expression was tight and indifferent, his eyes drooped slightly, covering the turbulent emotions inside. He was really handsome, but far too thin. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s intense focus was due to this. Chu Rong¡¯s cheeks were a bit gaunt, making his heart feel sour. ¡°At this time, Erge was actually about to enter a spiritual riot, but he kept on until the previous President Rory left after he gave his speech¡­¡± Chu Yan sighed, and found that the old photos only made the mood more somber. He simply put the photos away and put his hands on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulders. He said, ¡°That¡¯s why, it¡¯s a miracle that Erge¡¯s spiritual sea can heal. Seeing him laugh happily like last time shocked me¡­. Qiao, once again, thank you very much.¡± Qiao Zhiya tilted his head, only to see Chu Yan¡¯s expression matched Chu Rong¡¯s. His emotions collided, and he suddenly wanted to rush to the military to hug Chu Rong. How terrible the battle was then. In just a few years, the young Chu Rong, who was once as motivated as Chu Yan, has become what he is today. There was also the empty main house of the Chu family. With so many buildings, there must have been many people in the Chu family once upon a time. But now, there were only these three brothers and Gu Yan¡¯an¡­ They spent the rest of the journey in complete silence. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s examination room were on different campuses, so they left after entering the school gate. Qiao Zhiya took out his school¡¯s hover car in a spirited manner and drove towards his school district. His mind was in a mess, and it was not until a white car arrogantly blocked in front of him that he finally recovered and stopped the car. ¡°Hey! What are you doing! Have you forgotten all the safe driving rules!¡± Yun Xiachu poked his head out of the white car in a rage. The passing students heard the sound and thought that there was a conflict here, and they turned around and looked at it. Seeing that it was only Yun Xiachu, they turned back again. At this point in time, Yun Xiachu¡¯s temper had spread. At school, they dare not mess with this ¡°short-fused bomb¡± whose background cannot be found. When Qiao Zhiya saw him, a smile appeared on his face, and he got out of the car and stowed it aside. He walked to Yun Xiachu¡¯s car, and invited himself in, saying, ¡°Send me to the school building. I¡¯m going to be late for the exam.¡± ¡°You, who asked you to sit in!¡± Yun Xiachu raised his eyebrows, but did not kick him out. He started the car obediently and drove for a while, then suddenly said, ¡°I have finished the exam.¡± Qiao Zhiya turned to look at him. Once he started to talk, Yun Xiachu actually found it hard to actually speak. After he glared at Qiao Zhiya, he dully said, ¡°I¡¯m going home today¡­ Don¡¯t think I¡¯ll bring you a souvenir this time! I¡¯m not going to cheer for you! Also, after going to the Federal Military Academy, you are not allowed to be reckless, jumping blindly. You¡¯re not a flea, you know!¡± Qiao Zhiya only smiled, and took out a small pendant with a Disc Stone centerpiece from his storage ring and said, ¡°Here, I found this mineral during Xiao Yan¡¯s graduation exam. I heard that this mineral has a good effect on your spiritual strength. Carrying it with you also brings good luck. ¡° ¡°Humph, this is just superstition, how can a broken stone bring good luck?¡± Yun Xiachu said as he quickly took the pendant. He removed the Disc Stone from the center of the pendant with a squint. He snorted and said, ¡°This stone is very valuable. If you give it away, you will not be allowed to ask for it back. I will not return it.¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but raise his hand and patted Yun Xiachu¡¯s head. ¡°Don¡¯t mess around, take your hands down!¡± Yun Xiachu was angry again. He shook off Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, turned his head, and continued to drive. After that, Yun Xiachu only concentrated on driving safely. Even though Qiao Zhiya murmured to himself, he didn¡¯t reply to him. Once he parked the car downstairs, pretended to impatiently say, ¡°Get out of the car now. You¡¯re way chattier than my Mom.¡± Qiao Zhiya stopped talking, rubbed his hair again, turned around, and got out of the car. As he waved his hand at him, he entered the exam building. ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Yun Xiachu poked his head out of the car with a complicated expression. Finally, he somehow got angrier. ¡°Once you attend the Federal Military Academy¡­ don¡¯t you dare get bullied again! Fo-forget it, no matter what you do, I¡¯m not going to care!¡± He then slammed the car¡¯s door, and drove away before Qiao Zhiya could reply to him. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave with a smile. But as he was about to enter the building, he saw Ning Kongran popping his head from the railing on the second floor. He raised his voice to greet him: ¡°Kongran, why are you here? Do you have an exam too?¡± Ning Kongran retracted his peeking head and looked at Yun Xiachu at the distance. He bowed his head and smiled at him, took out a box of snacks from his space button and threw it at him. With a waving hand, he shouted back, ¡°Here, for you. Good luck on your exams!¡± Then, he left. Qiao Zhiya caught the snack and watched his figure disappear, wondering, ¡®So he came here only to give me a snack?¡¯ The theory test was very simple. Qiao Zhiya passed it with full marks, and then said goodbye to the fifth-grade classmates who he met in the classroom for the first time. CH 59.2 ¡°Heh, the missing student has finally appeared at last.¡± As Qiao Zhiya opened the door, he was greeted by Sang Bu¡¯s sarcastic yet indifferent voice. The older youth was sitting on the sofa reading a book. After that, he lowered his gaze back again to his book. When Qiao Zhiya saw him there, a smile appeared on his face, and he pulled him up from the sofa and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and have lunch together. I will introduce my friends to you.¡± ¡°Who wants to know your friend?¡± Sang Bu¡¯s beautiful eyebrows were twisted. He wanted to shake off Qiao Zhiya, but found out that the blond youth¡¯s strength was too strong. He got a little bit scared, and anxiously said, ¡°Let me go, I will go home this afterno¨C ouch, go slower, go slower!¡± Qiao Zhiya decisively took Sang Bu, Chu Yan, and Yuan Xiu to have lunch. After the meal, they dragged Sang Bu together to attend the afternoon graduation ceremony, and took a few photos for commemoration. After the diploma was officially issued, Qiao Zhiya returned to the bedroom to help Sang Bu pack his stuff. They then went to the north gate of the campus to catch a ride back home. After being pulled along for so long, Sang Bu didn¡¯t lose his temper, and his expression actually became warmer. Before he got in the car, he said, ¡°You can test for the Mecha Manufacturing major despite your third-degree disability¡­ then my behavior disorder should be¡­ Hm¡­ well, see you there then.¡± Qiao Zhiya froze, then nodded strongly, and added, ¡°Let¡¯s meet again, I hope we are still roommates when we enter the military academy.¡± ¡°Who wants to be your roommate?¡± Sang Bu frowned, turning his head into the car, no longer looking at him. After sending Sang Bu off, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan returned home together. None of the adults came back, so they were bored. They decided to go to the training hall for mock battles with mecha models. ¡°Qiao, it¡¯s a pity that you don¡¯t drive mecha. You obviously have the physical requirement¡­¡± Chu Yan was once again thrown out by Qiao Zhiya with brute force. He was without any vigor now, just laying down bonelessly on the mat. Qiao Zhiya was too embarrassed to pull him up. He handed him a towel and a muscle soothing agent as he replied, ¡°Well, I prefer to make mechas. If I have the opportunity to drive one, I¡¯ll give it a try.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better to try it now!¡± Chu Yan suddenly came alive, happily threw away the towel around his shoulders, and encouraged him, ¡°I told you that a good mecha maker must be able to design mechas according to the preferences and battle style of its pilots! And, and, the best way to understand those characteristics is by knowing how to drive it yourself. How about it, don¡¯t you wanna try it? ¡° Qiao Zhiya immediately became tempted, but remembered that he had no mecha and quickly withered. ¡°You¡¯re right, but I don¡¯t have mecha¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t have a mecha. For beginners, it¡¯s better to familiarize yourself with the basic operations in the virtual world. Otherwise, they might get hurt by accidents. Let¡¯s go play, I¡¯ll add your account.¡± Because his previous account, named , is basically an anonymous account, it couldn¡¯t be directly added. On top of that, secretive accounts like that were only available for big, rich families, and they¡¯re monitored by other families. If it¡¯s added on Chu Yan¡¯s account, it would turn many heads. In conclusion: Qiao Zhiya better use the account that is binded to his ID. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect it to be so, and quickly said, ¡°I haven¡¯t created one yet. Wait a second, I¡¯ll create it now.¡± To practice mecha driving in the virtual world, it¡¯s best to use the Starnet Cabin with the helmet. Chu Yan asked the butler to bring one over, let Qiao Zhiya lie in, and then take out another for himself. The process of creating an account was no different from the last time, except that there was one more procedure for entering an identity card. After the identity card was entered, his real identity information appeared automatically on the profile panel, followed by a function to hide the information. He chose to hide it directly, using the single word ¡°Qiao¡± as his nickname. He also didn¡¯t change his appearance, so he entered the Star Network so frankly. After the novice tutorial, he chose mecha manufacturing and mecha driving options in the category of interest, and then he was transferred to an unfamiliar square. As soon as Chu Yan¡¯s friend application and voice communication were dropped, he quickly accepted. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the mecha driving square to play some mini-games,¡± Chu Yan was full of enthusiasm and confidence because he was bringing a newbie. ¡®Play mini-games?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya wondered, completely puzzled. To satiate his curiosity, he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to help me learn how to drive a mecha? Why play mini-games?¡± Ten minutes later, after learning the basic forward and steering operations with the AI coach, Qiao Zhiya was taken by Chu Yan to stand in front of a huge puddle. He could only stand silently as he saw the ¡°mini-game¡± ¨C it¡¯s planks floating on water, with balloons in the air. ¡°The game is like this, you need to walk on the plank, balancing a bucket that has water inside. Every drop spilled is -1 point, while every balloon you collected is +1 point. You get 10 points as your initial allowance. The game ends if the bucket falls. Jiayou1Jiayou: literally ¡°add oil¡±, and it more or less means the same as ¡°good luck¡± or ¡°break a leg¡±., Qiao!¡± Chu Yan briefly explained the rules and stood beside Qiao Zhiya while grabbing his hand. Qiao Zhiya sideyed the cheerful Chu Yan. He recalled the operation tutorial that was learned only once, and chose to start the game. The Chu family¡¯s adult trio came home and soon found that the two youths were actually playing in the virtual world. ¡°I was going to take them out for dinner for their graduation celebration,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an said as she tidied up her hair. The spar bracelet she got from Qiao Zhiya glittered brightly. Chu Huai felt a headache starting to build up. ¡°It shows that they are currently using a mecha and cannot be forced offline. It seems we can only tell them via in-game messages. But¡­ can Qiao drive a mecha? What are they playing?¡± The old butler popped up in time, and explained things to Chu Huai, ¡°The Third Young Master said that he would teach Young Master Qiao how to drive a mecha, sir.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chu Huai was speechless, thinking that the two youths really knew how to play. Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya, whose face was flushed in the Starnet Cabin, seemingly having a good time. He raised his hand to unbutton his military jacket, and told the old butler: ¡°Give me a Starnet cabin.¡± All of them immediately looked at Chu Rong in shock. Chu Huai couldn¡¯t help asking: ¡°What are you going to do on the Internet? Join in their game?¡± ¨C¡°Does your heart still have that childish innocence?¡± went unasked, because Chu Huai knew the limits of his question. Chu Rong frowned and looked at his silly elder brother and shook his head. He replied in a cold tone, ¡°No, I¡¯ll call them down for dinner.¡± The Starnet Cabins lined up in the living room became three, making Chu Huai want to cry in the incredulousness of the situation. ¡°It¡¯s been decades since Lao Er¡¯s account went online¡­ and to think, he used it to call those two for dinner. This is really¡­¡± ¡°Really good,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an finished his statement while patting his shoulder, then added, ¡°Anyway you cut it, it¡¯s better for this silly reason than for political ones. Let¡¯s live our own lives and let outsiders guess.¡± Chu Huai nodded. He embraced her with a smile, took her to the sofa and sat down, waiting for his younger brothers to go offline. ¡°Qiao, you are a genius!¡± Ending a round of battle again, Chu Yan opened the battle video of Qiao Zhiya and looked back, excited, ¡°Your combat talent is really good! Although your movement is still jerky, it¡¯s very standard, and your proficiency is increasing at a crazy pace. You can even mimic my attack pattern after seeing it once, so amazing!!¡± This genuine praise made Qiao Zhiya blush. ¡°N-no, I¡¯ve been losing¡­¡± He also lost miserably, basically killed by one blow. ¡°I have learned mecha driving for more than ten years, and it is normal for you to lose to me! I mean, your learning speed is already stupidly fast for beginners,¡± Chu Yan was not happy that Qiao Zhiya put himself down. He continued his encouragement, ¡°Qiao, you are talented in this field. When we go offline, you must buy a real mecha and practice driving it! We can practice together in the future. Hey, why don¡¯t you become my training partner? I don¡¯t want to continue practicing with Erge, it¡¯s more interesting to do it with you.¡± ¨CWhat he actually meant: ¡°It¡¯s more interesting to win than being one-sidedly pummeled into dust by Chu Rong.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him silently. As soon as he was about to speak, he found that Chu Yan¡¯s expression suddenly changed. His avatar wavered, like glitchy pixels that flickered on-and-off before he disappeared. When he tried to contact him, he only found that he got a battle invitation ¨C it¡¯s just a room number, no access without password. Meanwhile, the netizens felt something odd happening. Especially for those in mecha driving area, they were all stunned speechless. They looked at the top of the Battle Rankings, which had a record of more than ten years ¨C specifically the name on the top. It¡¯s normally always gray, indicating that the owner was not online. But now¡­ [The Internet has been hacked?] ¡ª[Marshal was hacked?] (this means replying to the original poster/OP) ¨CSince the Internet as a whole cannot be hacked, what they meant was¡­ [Marshal Chu is online!] ¨C[Marshal Chu, who used to dominate the ranking, is online??] ¨C[Rong Tian is online!] ¨C[The dusty Rong Tian2ÈÝÌì; the Rong is the same as Chu Rong (ñÒÈÝ) and it means to allow/permit. Ìì means sky/heaven. The name itself can be translated as the ¡°sky¡¯s/heaven¡¯s permission¡± or something in that line., who was not online for a decade, is finally making a return!] The most important thing is, this means¡­ Marshal Chu¡¯s spiritual strength was really recovering! Those rumors saying his recovery is fake were broken in just one action! Chu Rong¡¯s log-in became hot news in a matter of seconds. The enthusiasm of the people was suddenly ignited. Their God of War is finally back! If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 59.3 The people who got the news frantically crowded towards the battle square, and wanted to watch the legendary leaderboard king back then. Sadly, they found that the owner had set a password, and outsiders could not enter at all. All mecha fighters ¨C be it old or new, powerful or weak ¨C mourned. Marshal Chu was a man called the ¡°Mecha Operation Textbook¡±. They watched his old battle video for ten years and haven¡¯t found a better one! After wailing, they were jealous of the people who were fighting with Chu Rong, their eyes were bloodshot and they were silent. vs Yan San is Chu Yan¡¯s account. The two brothers played against each other and they did not even have the right to be jealous. The mourning lasted only two minutes, because Chu Yan went offline immediately after getting defeated at a flying speed! But Chu Rong did not go offline! He was still in the battle room, proving that he would continue to fight! The mecha fighters were shocked and busy sending out a battle application to Rong Tian, ??but found that his battle application was actually closed, and then a few seconds later, the battle information in the room became vs . The mecha warriors became jealous again. There was only one possibility that the battle information appeared when it was closed, that is, Chu Rong had actively invited this ! But who was this ? Why could he be invited to battle by Chu Rong? Everyone curiously checked this ¡¯s information, but found that his information was blank except for the purposefully-hidden part. This clean as a whiteboard account meant this account was brand new. ¡°¡­A newcomer?¡± someone wondered. The crowd was stunned, then they were busy checking out ¡¯s match results, and then blinded by the sheer blankness behind this account. Actually a newcomer? What is happening? Sure enough, after a few seconds, the newcomer lost. Just when everyone thought he would go offline immediately like Chu Yan, the battle information after Rong Tian¡¯s name became vs again. Chu Rong actually invited this again! Everyone roared in their hearts: ¡®Who is this mysterious Qiao!¡¯ Some people even guess that this was the Imperial Princess¡¯ side-account. After all, the Federation and the Empire Starnet cannot be shared, so it was impossible to create a Federation account using an Empire¡¯s ID. But soon, someone discovered the truth. ¡°Isn¡¯t this that Exoplanet Native boy, Qiao Zhiya?¡± This realization came from a corner of the battle square, and this one sentence stunned everyone else. This conjecture made sense ¨C Qiao Zhiya appeared alongside Chu Yan in the festival, and they were the same age¡­ but, wasn¡¯t Qiao Zhiya just awoken his spiritual power? How could he be able to drive mecha? But isn¡¯t he fighting against Chu Rong now? What is this, a complete mecha-driving newbie versus the youngest Field Marshal Chu Rong? What¡¯s the difference between that and a baby fighting against an ancient martial arts master! ¡ªSo, was the Marshal really online just to play against this youth? It¡¯s kinda funny ¨C after decades of never logging online, the first thing he did was to play with a teenager. ¡®Marshal, wake up! How can you be so low-key? The public wants to see you climb the PVP battle arena and abuse us all again!¡¯ They screamed in their hearts. Qiao Zhiya looked at the battle application that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, and fixed his gaze on the ID of for several seconds. His breath was subconsciously held, while his head nodded to confirm. After entering the battlefield, a black mecha appeared on the opposite side. He was busy opening the mecha¡¯s communication system, looking forward yet nervous, ¡°Yes, is this Chu Rong?¡± The black mecha beckoned at him, signaling him to attack. ¡®Such a bold gesture!¡¯ His eyes narrowed and he wanted to pounce and tackle him. After raising his legs, he found that he was still in the junior mecha delivered by the system. Thinking of the previous training, his heart was beating faster, while his legs retracted, springing him forward to attack Chu Rong. Chu Rong watched the awkward movement of the gray mecha rushing forward. The corner of his mouth ticked upwards, and he leaned sideways to stretch out his arms to easily stop his attack. Then he directly hugged his mecha and said, ¡°Your speed is too slow. ¡° The picture of the two mechas hugging together was somehow¡­ harmonious, making Qiao Zhiya embarrassed. He struggled to get away from him while saying, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to fight? Why won¡¯t you attack me?¡± Chu Rong instead replied, ¡°Are you sure you want me to attack you?¡± Qiao Zhiya thought of Chu Rong¡¯s handsome photos he saw in the morning, an expectation grew in his heart. He nodded back and replied, ¡°Well, I want to see¨C¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The world turned round, and the mech hit the ground with an impulse. A system prompt popped up, and he lost. Before he was transmitted by the system, another battle application was submitted, and he hesitated to accept it. Chu Rong stepped forward and asked him, ¡°Are you going to attack?¡± The difference in their strength was too big. Qiao Zhiya used to watch Chu Rong and Chu Yan during practice and could barely see Chu Rong¡¯s movements. Now he has become his opponent, and his perspective is limited. He couldn¡¯t even see a sliver of Chu Rong¡¯s mecha before he fell to the ground. ¡°No need,¡± He calmed down a little, obediently shook his head and stopped looking for abuse. He then happily asked, ¡°Why did you come here? Is it okay for you to log in using your spiritual power?¡± ¡°I came here to call you two for dinner,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s chill voice replied. He then casually stretched his arm and savagely dismantled one of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mecha arms. He coldly reminded him, ¡°Next time you are not allowed to play like this. Do you not see the offline request I messaged you earlier? ¡° Qiao Zhiya found out that it was too late. He opened his inbox message, which was filled with offline requests. He became even more embarrassed and quickly went offline. Originally, Chu Rong also wanted to tease him. Seeing him down, he paused, and uninterestedly logged out, leaving a group of netizens absolutely flummoxed. ¡°He actually went offline directly! He only got online for 10 minutes?? Why is he so stingy!¡± Qiao Zhiya crawled out of the Starnet Cabin and saw Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an were also there. He apologized and said, ¡°Sorry, I forgot the time when I played.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Chu Huai waved his hand and asked with a smile, ¡°Is it fun to drive a mecha?¡± Chu Yan, who came out a long time ago, snorted and said excitedly, ¡°Dage, Qiao is particularly talented in mecha driving. He could even compete with those who have learned it for years! I feel like he only needs a year and a half of practice to be able to pass the Military¡¯s Mecha Piloting exam!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you dragged him off to play instead of eating dinner?¡± Chu Rong said as he stepped out of his Starnet Cabin. He stretched out his hands and rubbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s messy hair, then squinted at Chu Yan. Chu Yan¡¯s neck shrank, and he stopped talking in guilt. Because, it was indeed him who dragged Qiao Zhiya to play for hours. ¡®But¡­ it wasn¡¯t that late. It¡¯s only about dinnertime. Erge is really ruthless.¡¯ He muttered indignantly in his heart, only brave enough to complain inside. When Qiao Zhiya saw this, he wanted to defend Chu Yan, but suddenly he was afraid to look at Chu Rong¡¯s eyes. His face stayed hot, with an odd sensation tickling his heart. However, he didn¡¯t know why. They all went together outside, ready to take the two youths for a graduation dinner celebration. As soon as they were ready to return to their rooms to change clothes, Chu Huai and Chu Rong¡¯s communicators rang together. After a while, Gu Yan¡¯an and Chu Yan¡¯s communicators also rang, leaving Qiao Zhiya as the sole person who didn¡¯t receive a call. ¡°I got an inquiry from the President asking you about Lao Er¡¯s log-in,¡± Chu Huai glanced at the communicator, shook his head helplessly, and went over to pick it up. Chu Yan also glanced at the communicator and rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Yuan Xiu called me about it too.¡± With that said, he picked up the call. Gu Yan¡¯an was called by her natal family about the same matter. Qiao Zhiya looked at the three of them back and forth and turned to see Chu Rong. Chu Rong¡¯s communicator has always been in a ¡°Do Not Disturb¡± state. Only a few handful people could bypass this state. He only glanced at the caller before hanging it up immediately, giving the caller a busy tone. Then, he pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s drooping ears and said, ¡°Go change.¡± Qiao Zhiya moved his ears, obediently nodded, and just before turning back to the room, the communicator on his wrist rang. Chu Rong narrowed his eyes, looked at his wrist, and his expression became unsightly. ¡®Who was so daring to call Qiao Zhiya to inquire about my matter?¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s Ning Kongran,¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at the communicator, wondering. He avoided Chu Rong¡¯s scalding gaze and connected the communication request, asking, ¡°Kongran, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression only got darker. His fingers pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear and rubbed them until it¡¯s a bit red. ¡®Kongran? Why has the favored grandson of the Ning family appeared too frequently recently¡­¡¯ ¡°Some people had paid you extra attention lately, so if you must go outside, stick with Chu Yan as much as possible,¡± Ning Kongran¡¯s voice was almost a whisper, as if he was afraid of other people finding him about this matter. He quickly added, ¡°I heard from someone that the Imperial Princess might want to trouble you. Please pay more attention. Be careful.¡± Then, Ning Kongran hung up before hearing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s response. Qiao Zhiya frowned, confused and anxious. This raised two questions. First, why did the Imperial Princess want to target him? Secondly, why was Ning Kongran¡¯s state so weird? It¡¯s rather worrying. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of that princess.¡± Suddenly the back warmed. He found himself being carried from the back by Chu Rong, embraced in the Marshal¡¯s arms. Then, a gentle touch skimmed past, scorching his ears. His head was also patted roughly. ¡°She will be cleaned up soon, rest assured.¡± Qiao Zhiya stiffened, even his ears did not dare to move. His eyes were round, somehow focusing on the decorative pillars of the living room. On those pillars, stood two blurry figures, overlapping with each other. That pillar had a tall mirror. ¡®Just now¡­ is that a kiss? Why does this action feel so familiar¡­..¡¯ ¡°Qiao Zhiya,¡± Chu Rong suddenly raised his eyes, looking at his eyes through the mirror¡¯s reflection. He bent slightly, and whispered in his ear, ¡°You know, I have poor patience. Since you have forgotten something for so long, it¡¯s better for you to remember it quickly. Before you remember it, you will sleep alone at night, okay?¡± The warm breath sprayed on his ears, bringing a strange shudder all over his body. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s legs suddenly became soft, so he had to lean back into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. He was firmly held, turned around so they were eye-to-eye, then pushed. ¡°Go get changed.¡± He passively took a step forward and looked at Chu Rong, only to find that the other party had turned around and was talking to Chu Huai who came back after finishing the communication. ¡®What I forgot¡­¡¯ He glanced at his side and walked forward, his hands covering his burning ears. As his thoughts floated in the clouds, he kept muttering about the thing that he supposedly forgot about. The holiday officially began, and Qiao Zhiya resumed his routine before the exam. He went to online class from Monday to Friday, made weapons on Saturday, and practiced disassembling and reassembling parts on Sunday. He was busy every day. Chu Yan was the one who made sure he was updated to the current news, specifically about the Imperial Twins. Such as: that time when the Imperial Prince took a lot of money to buy a top mecha; the Imperial Princess ran into the president¡¯s son Long Xuyang; the president¡¯s daughter Long Baorou personally accompanied the Imperial Princess to shopping and gave her a precious Ice Crystal Necklace¡­ In short, even if he didn¡¯t go out, Qiao Zhiya knew the movement of those twins. But now he has no time to pay attention to these gossips. He had roped Zhuang Yu and the butler¡¯s help to strengthen his memory, by using medicines or food. Still, his effort was futile ¨C he was still unable to regain those two months¡¯ worth of lost memory. Chu Rong kept his promise. They never slept on the same bed since then, even though they could get along as usual during the day. But this made him even more anxious. If he keeps the pace of pulling his hair in frustration like this, he would end up bald soon. ¡®And that earlobe kiss¡­ No, I can¡¯t think about it. I can¡¯t¡­ I need to do other things.¡¯ It was another Saturday. Qiao Zhiya, who had forced himself out of his slump, used a combination of Star Sand and secondary-mutated red tin ore to make a mecha weapon. He also tried to add a little of Xiao Hei¡¯s mother scale as a finishing touch. Later, because Chu Yan was in a hurry to pull him to learn the mecha driving online, he gave the weapon to Master Ren without testing the data. The account of was almost overwhelmed by various friend requests. Fortunately, Chu Yan was beside him, and he quickly taught him to turn off the friend system and various external communication systems before he finally calmed down. The learning of mecha driving was very smooth. Qiao Zhiya was really talented. In one week, he completed the primary training course and made rapid progress. Chu Rong had actually wanted to personally teach him more, but Qiao Zhiya still remembered his complicated emotions and his out-of-control expression when facing him, so he plainly refused. Chu Rong didn¡¯t say anything, only dragged Chu Yan to have a small sparring session. Later, when Chu Yan took him to learn mecha, Chu Rong didn¡¯t let him play mini-games anymore. He only let him do proper training sets. One day a week later, Master Ren suddenly handed an invitation letter to Qiao Zhiya for a famous auction. He was asking him to attend on account of him only ever staying at home, not taking proper vacation outside. Qiao Zhiya was not good at rejecting his kindness. He went there alongside Chu Yan, who also received an invitation letter, and went out happily. This was also the first time he went out after the holiday. With the invitation in hand, Chu Yan was very excited. After he got in the car, he pulled him excitedly and said, ¡°Master Ren can actually get us this! Let me tell you this, Qiao: this auction is an exclusive invite-only event, and we can only get in after getting an invitation from a senior member! Of course, I haven¡¯t had a chance to attend. Actually, Dage and Erge got an invitation too, but they never allowed me to attend in their places! How stingy!!¡± ¡°That exclusive?¡± Qiao Zhiya was also interested when he heard about it. He turned the invitation back and forth and saw a lot of details attached to it. He curiously clicked it. Chu Yan also came to see the detail ¨C it was actually the items catalog. ¡°Wow¡­ a super mecha! Even the opening item is so hot!¡± ¡°Oh my god, out of print weapons¡­ The creator is a legend, but sadly, he has passed away. Naturally, his works are a rarity to see nowadays.¡± ¡°Fuck! A grade 10 material! Although we have this at home.¡± ¡°Well, what is this? Mysterious weapon as the finale? But this shape¡­¡± During the whole commentary, Chu Yan was only excited. But now, he trailed off and paused, turned his gaze back to his blond friend. Qiao Zhiya blinked confusedly, and repeatedly looked at the shape of the mysterious weapon of the finale. Finally, he hesitantly said, ¡°How does this shape look like the twin daggers I made last week¡­¡± ¡°I think so too¡­ is it really¡­¡± The two looked at each other silently. Chu Yan remembered the strange attitude of Master Ren before they went out, and finally connected the dots. CH 60.1 Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but want to clarify this matter to Master Ren, so he requested a voice call. However, Master Ren hung up directly, and he was given a message stating that he¡¯s currently busy doing experiments and couldn¡¯t accept the communication request. After that, Qiao Zhiya was directly ignored. ¡°Master Ren definitely did this deliberately,¡± Chu Yan pouted, looking at the details of the catalog. ¡°Qiao, I remember Erge said that some of the weapons you make can be sold, and they must be sold under your name. So, is this one of the weapons that can be sold to others?¡± Qiao Zhiya was reminded by him and realized the problem. He shook his head and replied, ¡°No, this one is not for sale. I used not only the secondary-mutated red tin ore, but also the Star Sand. I also added magic power and array when forging. The array is painted on the blade too¡­¡± Although the effect of the magic might look less obvious thanks to the Star Sand, its power was still visible. Even without the precise data, he knew these twin daggers were, by far, the most powerful weapon he ever made. ¡°You also added the Star Sand?¡± Chu Yan was also surprised. The most powerful thing about this material was it could multiply a certain characteristic ¨C simply put, it¡¯s a powerful natural booster. If the secondary-mutated red tin ore was already enough to overturn the sky, then adding the Star Sand was like¡­ ¡°Oh God¡­¡± is all Chu Yan could comment on. Qiao Zhiya was also worried, but also, he did not understand why this twin daggers was sold in the first place. ¡°Master Ren¡­ why did he do this? This is not in line with his principle of doing things.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also the finale. Generally, the final items are the focus of the publicity of the auction. Customers will pay great attention,¡± Chu Yan frowned and said suddenly, ¡°Since this is the case, let¡¯s go and take the weapon back! We can¡¯t let it fall into the hands of others! The weapon you made last time can easily penetrate the shell of the ship, then this one¡­ ¡° Qiao Zhiya suddenly thought of something, and a guess came out in his heart. He embarrassedly said, ¡°Maybe¡­ this weapon is not as powerful as I though¡­¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Chu Yan turned to look at him, wondering, ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched, while his expression became a look of guilt. ¡°The Star Sand that I brought back was mixed with a little of Xiao Hei¡¯s mother¡¯s snake scale. I did it to enhance its appearance¡­ maybe it actually lowered the weapon¡¯s performance, until it was low enough to make Master Ren think it¡¯s okay to sell the weapon.¡± Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± He remembered that Xiao Hei¡¯s mother¡¯s skin had already been tested when it was brought back. It was not up to the standard of the materials. The values ??were all unknown, and the texture was very rough to the touch, just like ordinary snake scales ¡°But that¡¯s mixed with the Star Sand¡­¡± He finally said this sentence dryly. The Star Sand they brought back wasn¡¯t that much. Qiao Zhiya also got half of it because of Chu Rong¡¯s insistence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya bowed his head in shame, his fingers clasped into the corners of his clothes, and his face turned red. When he forged the weapon, he remembered that ear kiss again, and when his head was hot, his mind also became muddled. The two fell silent. In the end, Chu Yan wiped his face, raised his arms on his shoulders, and hurled the invitation, saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay, this isn¡¯t a waste! The daggers are still the finale, so it will sell for quite a profit! You also got two invitation, so definitely not a loss, ah. You can get more Star Sand with potions, so no need to be shy when using it!¡± ¨CThough, the Star Sand was still used by the giant snake for its shedding season. They definitely wouldn¡¯t get much of it. As Qiao Zhiya listened to his unreliable comfort, he felt less ashamed, but still soberly realized his mistake. His face turned serious, and he promised, ¡°I will not be so careless again in the future!¡± Master Ren specially took the twin daggers to the auction and asked him to attend. It must be a euphemism to remind him of the waste of materials. He understood. From now on, he should be more professional and not let his emotions affect his work. ¡°It¡¯s okay! You can learn from it, cheer up!¡± Chu Yan patted him on the shoulder, and said, ¡°It¡¯s a big deal for Erge to take the blame for you. He is tall and stable!¡± Hearing this only made Qiao Zhiya feel worse. He tried to look calm and smile, but it was twisted, and it looked rather silly instead¡­ Chu Yan looked at him, patted his shoulders comfortably, and sighed with a relieved look. ¡®Ah, at least he¡¯s happier now. If he¡¯s happy, then Erge will be the same.¡¯ The two arrived at the destination according to the address on the invitation, and they were surprised to find that the organizer actually reserved a famous place as the site ¨C to be precise, the auction was held in the famous Cloudtop Hotel. ¡°The wall of this hotel is all made of transparent material, suspended high in the air, surrounded by artificially created clouds. Sitting inside is like sitting in the cloud. I came here a few years ago and it was pretty fantastic.¡± Chu Yan took Qiao Zhiya¡¯s well-known roads to the sightseeing elevator directly to the hotel, as the while pointing and explaining the scenery. As they got lifted up high, Chu Yan added, ¡°It looks better here at night. There are many skyscraper buildings, but only this hotel has the most complete and best night view. If the auction ends early today, I will take you around the hotel.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, palms pressed against the glass wall of the elevator, and his eyes were bright as he watched the other buildings gradually getting smaller and the clouds getting closer and closer. It¡¯s really beautiful, as if he was floating up in the sky, surrounded by a thin layer of mist. ¡°Look, a rainbow.¡± Chu Yan suddenly pointed in one direction. Looking down, he saw that at the edge of the thicker clouds, a rainbow straddled over it, like a bridge over the clouds. ¡°Truly, only ¡®Famous Brands¡¯ can give the auction guests such a service. This kind of welcoming rainbow is not available every day. They may also arrange other artificial scenery such as colorful clouds,¡± Chu Yan guessed, looking up at the hotel where no shadow can be seen at present, he murmured something under his breath¨C ¡®Making it such a grand occasion¡­ could it be that the Imperial Princess is invited? This kind of rainbow is usually used to welcome female guests¡­¡¯ After the elevator rose some more, the clouds really slowly changed color. The two youths walked through it, and felt they were transported into a dreamland ¨C the colors cycled through dawn to dusk, spring to winter. It felt unreal. Qiao Zhiya was flushed with excitement and amazement. He felt that it was a pity Chu Rong was not here. After the last layer of colored clouds fell to the soles of his feet, a crystal-like building supported by white clouds appeared in front of his eyes. ¡°So beautiful¡­¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya said in awed, his ears shaking with excitement. Chu Yan smiled and explained, ¡°The exterior wall of this building can change color according to the change of light, like a big gem. I remember there was a dark-themed banquet here last year. The whole building turned black. If I have the opportunity, I¡¯ll bring you here again in the future.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded strongly and added, ¡°We should invite everyone else.¡± Their mood was uplifted with the beautiful scenery, so when they stepped out of the elevator, both had genuine smiles on their faces. They happily handed their invitation letters to the waiters. The atmosphere was very harmonious. Both the guests and the staff members were at peace, but then, some people came in to ruin it. ¡°Such country bumpkins¡­¡± A female voice came from the direction of another elevator, and then a gorgeously dressed blonde girl came out, followed by two servant-like people. The girl did not move her eyes when she spoke. As she went in, she strode straight, ignoring the waiter¡¯s greetings and inquiry of the invitation. She probably didn¡¯t even see Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, who were just beside her. The servant behind her also followed her attitude, and proudly handed a printed invitation to the waiter. She glanced at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, and pursued the girl in measured steps. Chu Yan¡¯s earlier guess really came true. His expression darkened. ¡°You and her are both blond, but how come you¡¯re so polite and that one looks like a hairless peacock?¡± Chu Yan bluntly whispered, even though it was overheard by the waiter nearby. Then, he said to Qiao Zhiya, ¡°The girl just now is Princess An Lin of the Empire. She¡¯s so arrogant. Let¡¯s see if she won¡¯t reach a stumbling block in the Federation later.¡± Qiao Zhiya glared at Chu Yan¡¯s impolite words. He wanted to tell Chu Yan to mind his words, especially towards girls. However, it wasn¡¯t as if he disagreed with Chu Yan. ¡®That¡¯s the Imperial Princess An Lin? I thought she¡¯s only a little ¡°blind¡± or ¡°enthusiastic¡± about ¡°love¡±. But now, it seems that my previous understanding of her was completely wrong.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s not waste our time gawking at her. Let¡¯s go to our private room,¡± Chu Yan patted his shoulder, motioned the waiter to lead the way, and pulled Qiao Zhiya towards their private room1not really a hotel room, but more like a restaurant¡¯s private room.. After they left, an equally blond young man stepped out of the elevator, looked at the waiter waiting at the entrance of the elevator, and asked politely, ¡°Excuse me, who are those two?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Marshal Chu¡¯s brothers,¡± The waiter replied, with a low attitude but a polite smile, ¡°Mr. An Ting, please show me the invitation.¡± The waiter called him with ¡°Mr.¡± rather than ¡°Prince¡±. This attitude already clearly reflected the problem. An Ting¡¯s eyes deepened, knowing that his sister¡¯s attitude had angered the waiter at this hotel. He waved his head toward the servants who followed him, and then looked at the direction where the two young men disappeared. He fell deep into thoughts. ¡®Marshal Chu¡¯s brothers¡­ why is one of them a weird, pointy-eared monster?¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 60.2 after some considerations, I decided to make the Empire character¡¯s name more ¡°fantastical¡± and mix it with western name. So, I¡¯m changing An Lin ¡ú An Leen; An Ting ¡ú An Tyn. I¡¯ll change the previous chapters to match this. Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Princess An Leen: Imperial Princess. Infatuated with Chu Rong. Prince An Tyn: Imperial Prince, An Leen¡¯s twin brother. (fourth in line) The auction did not start until after lunchtime. In the morning, ¡°Famous Brands¡± arranged an entertainment event alongside a rich buffet. Chu Yan sat in the room and enjoyed the food while watching the song and dance performance in the hall. The performance was beautiful, only getting even more perfected by the delicious food. He sighed, ¡°Fan Qi is really good. No wonder his business is getting bigger and bigger.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who was currently peeling shrimps, looked up at him. Remembering the thoughtful and meticulous service of the ¡°Famous Brands¡± auction back then when he wanted to sell his great sword, he nodded in approval. After lunch, the auction officially began. This exclusive auction was attended by VIPs, all sitting in private rooms. The organizer simply set up the auction table in the mid-air level with the private rooms, so that everyone can take a closer look at the items. After the auction table and auctioneer appeared, all the walls of the rooms suddenly disappeared, exposing the blue sky outside, and the floor slowly turned into a cloud of mist. The sofa was placed on the cloud, making people feel as if they were sitting in midair. ¡°This is all special effects, by the way. We are still sitting in the room,¡± Chu Yan whispered in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. Qiao Zhiya glanced at the midair cloud scene. In his eyes, there were only them with the auctioneer. He nodded. ¡°Thank you all for coming, and now the auction of the first item starts.¡± The auctioneer turned, facing Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, as if the auctioneer only talked to them privately. The auction began very straightforwardly. The clouds at the auctioneer¡¯s feet suddenly spread towards the next platform, and then the clouds disappeared, and a mighty mecha appeared on it. ¡°The first item is a new entry of the ¡®Flying Eagle¡¯ series, designed by Master Shang in two years. This is the first generation, super-grade, and comes with a complete set of customized weapons. The starting price is 50 million, and you are welcome to bid. The introduction of the item was very simple, maintaining the consistent style of ¡°Famous Brands¡±. This was quite different from other auction houses, which liked to praise ¨C and even overpraise ¨C the items a lot. Chu Yan did not hesitate to press the bidder, startling Qiao Zhiya. The blond youth quickly asked, ¡°Xiao Yan, do you have so much money? That¡¯s 50 million, not 5 million.¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Chu Yan shook his head frankly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worried wide-eyed look, he immediately explained, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I can still get extra money from my family if I take a picture of the item I want. This mecha is a Master¡¯s work, and a new entry for this series to boot. It must use cutting-edge technology, plus a customizable weapon. That base price of 50 million is a steal. I bet the final price will be around 500 million, just you see. I only place a bid for fun.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned ¨C 500 million just for a mecha. It was indeed an exclusive auction for senior members. The price of goods was not affordable for ordinary people. With Chu Yan¡¯s bid, a price tag with a room number appeared on the top of the mecha, and there was a three-minute countdown bar on the price. Once a bid has not been outbid by others within this time limit, it would be counted as sold. After someone started, other customers who were interested in mecha also began to bid. The number of their room was overwritten by the number of other rooms, and the price of mecha soon rose from 50 million to 100 million. It seemed that these guests were very anxious and did not want to increase the price slowly. Chu Yan didn¡¯t think it was a big deal to see this excitement. He also followed other people¡¯s behavior, directly increasing the current bid by 10 million. It made Qiao Zhiya panic. After the price of mecha exceeded 400 million, the number of new bids gradually decreased. In the end, there were only three people remaining. One was Chu Yan¡¯s 033, one was 022, and one was 011. The numbers look quite neat. ¡°I heard that the Master Shang of the Federation had bad health. It took him two years to build a mecha. He must have worked very hard. The Empire always respected the elders, so I will give a price of 500 million for my mind. This feels really good.¡± A familiar girl¡¯s voice suddenly came from the depths of the clouds. As her voice dropped, the number on the price mark became 500 million. At the same time, the clouds in the southwest corner spread slowly and became semi-hazy. A young girl sitting on a high-backed sofa was revealed. ¡°With that kind of attitude, is she looking down upon our Federation¡¯s masters?¡± Chu Yan was dissatisfied with Princess An Leen¡¯s tone of pity and contempt. He hesitated to bid again, pulling the price directly to 600 million. He angrily said, ¡°Does she think she can say anything about Master Shang? Heh, those Empire people really know how to be a guest!¡± Qiao Zhiya also frowned, calculated his savings, and acquiesced to Chu Yan¡¯s bid. The previously sold weapons plus the regular mineral processing share, his savings has already broken 100 million. It should be enough to won this bid, as long as it does not break one b- ¡°O-one billion! Who¡¯s so bold! The room number 066 never bid so high before, why are they suddenly quoted such a high bid?¡± Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help exclaiming as he looked at the new numbers appearing on the price mark. As soon as Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thoughts were broken, he followed Chu Yan¡¯s line of sight. His ears drooped down, and he said, ¡°Xiao Yan, we can¡¯t escalate the prince anymore, I don¡¯t have enough money ¡­¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t, then don¡¯t. As long as the winner it¡¯s not the Princess, it won¡¯t be a problem. Let¡¯s just watch how this goes down,¡± Chu Yan got excited. He pressed an option to make sure the Imperial Princess was the focus of his screen, then laughed uncontrollably, ¡°Everyone is anonymous in this auction, but she still wants to show her face. Heh, I bet she was ashamed enough to not turn on her anonymous function again. Absolute hilarity!¡± Princess An Leen really couldn¡¯t turn on her anonymous screen again. She just made a bid of 500 million and spoke a brisk word. As a result, her bid was immediately covered by someone else¡¯s, then doubled by another guest. This was a direct slap to her face! What¡¯s more terrible was that she also specially turned her room into a translucent mode. She couldn¡¯t see others, but others could see her. Now she just felt that all the other guests were seeing her like an animal in a zoo, laughing at her embarrassment. A servant beside her bent over and said quietly, ¡°Princess, the Empress said, let you¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± An Leen glanced at the servants, pressed the bid button, selected 1.5 billion, and aggressively whispered, ¡°Chu Rong is also here, I can¡¯t make him look down on me!¡± The two servants stopped talking, and looked at each other. One of them stepped back carefully and walked out of the room to send a message to the Prince. ¡°1.5 billion? The Imperial Princess is so rich?¡± The smile on Chu Yan¡¯s face disappeared. He frowned again, hesitated again, hands hovering over the bidding button. Then, he grinned fully, ¡°Well, this is a matter of the Federation¡¯s dignity! Erge will not blame me!¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at him without stopping him. Chu Yan might have spoken big, but his hand were still only hovering over the button, clearly hesitant. In the end, he only raised the price by one dollar, which was full of ridicule and raised the bar. ¡°I¡¯ve always been one dollar taller than her, she¡¯ll be furious!¡± Chu Yan let out his price and then deflated. He leaned back on the sofa, eyes darting at the Imperial Princess. ¡°Who¡¯s in Room 033, I¡¯m going to beat them up!¡± Princess An Leen used to be arrogant in her home. She was never targeted like this. And now, there was who someone dared to bid like this, it was obvious what the other party¡¯s intention was! She did not hesitate to pick up the bidder again and bid 3 billion. The servant was taken aback by the price. He turned to see that his companion had not returned yet, and now he was very anxious. Although the Princess came with a lot of Federal currency this time, this kind of amount was still too much. ¡°Damn! 3 billion!¡± Chu Yan pushed the table down hard, unwilling, but did not bid again. Although the Chu family has money, it wasn¡¯t that they could throw around 3 billion easily like this. Qiao Zhiya saw Chu Yan¡¯s defeated expression. Ears twitching, he slowly touched the bidding button. ¡®If¡­ if I worked hard to make more mecha weapons and sell spar¡­ I can gain 3 billion¡­¡¯ The price on the price tag changed again. It¡¯s now 3 billion and 1 dollar, by room 033. Chu Yan sat straight, turned his head and stared at Qiao Zhiya. ¡°You ¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya guiltily avoided his sight, put down the bidder, silently pulled out a spar and put it on the table. When he saw that Chu Yan was still staring blankly at him, he took out a few more and whispered, ¡°Just bid if you like, I-I have money¡­¡± ¨CAnyway, as long as they can outbid that Princess. ¡°You are really Erge¡¯s bel¨C hehehe¡­¡± Chu Yan almost said ¡®beloved¡¯, but was able to catch himself mid-sentence. He glanced at the beautiful glittering spars on the table, eyes felt sore all of sudden. He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder, and warmly said, ¡°Qiao, no matter what you want to do, no matter who wants to go against you, I will follow you to the deepest abyssal trenches and the hottest volcanoes! Even if you want to deceive Erge or Dage, as long as you will it, I will do it!¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t need to¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya felt numb being stared at by Chu Yan like this. ¡°G-go bid. Just don¡¯t tell Chu Rong and Dage when they go back, I¡¯m afraid they will hit you.¡± ¡°No need to remind me!¡± Chu Yan still knew how to deal with this. He held the bidder in his hand again and said boldly, ¡°Today, my goal is to infuriate that Imperial Princess to death! Fuck her up!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s 033 again! Damn 033!¡± Princess An Leen was so angry that her hair was going up. She glanced to the position of room 008, and hesitated a bit, and went to the bidder again. ¡°Princess, no! The Prince said, you¨C!¡± ¡°Go away!¡± An Leen waved the servant¡¯s hand and offered a bid again. This time it was directly 5 billion. Obviously her sense of proportion and rationale had gone somewhere. She gritted her teeth and said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that 033 can compare!¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Chu Yan was so rude that he put the bidder back and did not bid again. Although Qiao had money, and had said that he could continue to bid, he wouldn¡¯t waste it like this! It¡¯s enough to push the Princess into spending this much money! ¡°Xiao Yan, you don¡¯t want to continue?¡± Qiao Zhiya saw that he put down the bidder again. He thought Chu Yan was worried about him, so he reassured him, ¡°If you want to continue, just continue, ah. The ores we found last time can also be sold for extra money.¡± ¡°Nothing. This 5 billion prince is equivalent to helping Master Shang to raise his worth. It¡¯s enough to go this far,¡± Chu Yan said as he pushed the spars on the table towards Qiao Zhiya, motioning him to put it away. ¡°Let¡¯s find another chance to anger the Princess in the future, don¡¯t worry! Qiao Zhiya glanced at the hazy figure sitting behind the clouds and frowned, remembering that ¡°love at first sight¡± claim she had. He hovered above the bidding button, but the prince was raised into 10 billion directly. This event was too abrupt. Chu Yan gawked with wide eyes, almost falling off the sofa. ¡°Who is it in Room 066, they can throw around that sum?!¡± ¡°Where did this room 066 come from!¡± Princess An Leen was not only surprised, but also furious. After seeing the bid, she saw that room 033 hadn¡¯t moved, and she felt relieved. But she didn¡¯t expect that the 066 came out of nowhere, and directly doubled the current bid! ¡°Princess, the Prince is calling you,¡± The servant who had gone out to send a message to the prince finally returned. Princess An Leen froze, staring at her fiercely. She sat down and straightened her hair, and took over the communicator. ¡°An Leen, you need to be modest,¡± An Tyn¡¯s voice came from the communicator. It was cold, and it didn¡¯t sound like he was facing his sister. She wanted to defend herself, but her brother interrupted her chillingly, ¡°If you continue to be wild like this, then I can only deport you back to the Empire. Unlike Mother, I won¡¯t be spoiling you.¡± ¡°Ge¡­¡± ¡°You still think I won¡¯t be harsh on you?¡± An Tyn interrupted her once again, his attitude became even more indifferent. ¡°You came to the Federation for a reason but you only continue to make trouble. I can¡¯t afford it anymore.¡± Then, he directly hung up. An Leen froze, then clenched her fist unwillingly, her eyes nearly twisted. ¡®It¡¯s the same again, it¡¯s always the same! Why should I accept this result!¡¯ She glanced again at the direction of room no. 008, and cast her bidder aside with a calm face, turning off the translucent effect of the room. Princess An Leen¡¯s hazy figure disappeared, and the number on the price logo did not change. The three-minute countdown ended. The first item of this auction was sold at a sky-high price of 10 billion yuan, and the winner was the VIP of room 066. The auctioneer knocked the hammer and declared the transaction successful. Then an uncle with a raspy and hoarse voice came out and said, ¡°Thank you for Princess An Leen for your favor. In addition, while this master¡¯s health isn¡¯t very good, Princess An Leen doesn¡¯t need to keep minding it.¡± As soon as this word came out, Chu Yan sprayed water directly. As he coughed, he said, ¡°Ma-master Shang? Is Master Shang in room 066?¡± He froze a bit, then went crazy. He put down the water glass and laughed wildly, ¡°It was actually Master Shang who bought the mecha back again. This was a direct face-slamming rejection of Princess An Leen¡¯s 500 million ¡®mind¡¯. Mother¡¯s teacher is very hard-tempered indeed!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher? Qiao Zhiya looked at it and was a little curious as well. After spending so much time with the Chu family, he rarely heard the Chu family mention the parents, nor had he seen other relatives¡­ Princess An Leen did not expect that the guest in room 066 was the designer of the mecha. She just felt the hot pain on her face and couldn¡¯t help it. She stepped on someone else¡¯s name and showed it off. As a result, she was beaten back again and again, until her dignity was trampled in the mud. The guest in room 066 continued to talk. His attitude was even more ruthless. ¡°Princess An Leen, I heard that your father is looking for a pharmacist in China? Also, your father¡¯s body been¡­ in quite the spot for so long. His health might be falling, so you must have a hard life. They said that good people have good rewards. In our Federation, Marshal Chu fortunately recovered his spiritual power during this year¡¯s festival. Presumably, your father will also have a hope of recovering as well.¡± CH 60.3 As soon as this remark was made, all the guests in the rooms began to gossip. Who is Princess An Leen¡¯s father? His Majesty the Emperor. If the message from the guest in room 066 is true, then the body of the old Emperor really was bad. There were so many royal pharmacists, but they had to look outside for a chance of cure. Combined with the other party¡¯s sudden alliance with the President, trying so hard to marry into the Chu family¡­ Is this to divert the Federation¡¯s attention to the marriage and cover up the Emperor¡¯s serious illness? No, more than that, the Imperial Princess stuck Chu Rong as soon as she came her, looking overeager at times. Can this actually mean that she was looking for a clue of Chu Rong¡¯s recovery instead? ¡®Interesting, this auction really reveals a lot.¡¯ Many people thought so. Princess An Leen kept her head down in her room 022 despite her enormous shame. Meanwhile, in room 008, An Tyn, who was sitting with Chu Rong, performed marginally better. He only looked sheepish while he looked at room 066. Chu Rong, who had been silent, nodded slightly to the table and said with a pointed finger, ¡°It seems that Prince An Tyn really did not know what Princess An Leen was going to this auction today¡­ Maybe you need to go to the bathroom again?¡± This is an obvious attempt to tell him that Chu Rong actually knew. An Tyn, on the other hand, was still trying to obscure the news that the Emperor is seriously ill. An Tyn pulled back his eyes, frowned, and hated his sister¡¯s foolishness even more. But he couldn¡¯t say anything to room 066, nor could he pull back his sister¡¯s careless remark. He can only bear with this situation with a long sigh. He got up and left, no longer sitting here trying to curry favor with Chu Rong, and turned to room 022. The nasty ghost went away, and the cold expression on Chu Rong¡¯s face immediately melted. He showed some irritability, fingers rhythmically tapped his photon computer. He glanced at Fan Xiangnan, who was quietly waiting at the corner. He ordered, ¡°Send someone to contact the guest in room 066 and ask for the source of his news.¡± Fan Xiangnan knew that the relationship between Master Shang and the Chu family was good, so he knew this request was reasonable. He nodded, and got up to leave the room. After the room door was closed, Chu Rong¡¯s gaze fell on the auction booklet. He turned it over, turning his thoughts subconsciously to Qiao Zhiya, who seemed very troubled these days. He frowned. ¡®Last time, my teasing was a bit too much. I should buy something to appease him.¡¯ After guest 066 finished speaking, the auctioneer suddenly smiled and said that because this mecha was the first business of today, the organizer decided to waive the additional transaction fee. After listening to this, Chu Yan laughed even more exaggeratedly. Master Shang spent 10 billion to buy back his own mecha. Originally, he only had to pay for the transaction fee, but since that was waived off, he basically spent zero penny to humiliate that annoying Princess! This sale is worth it! Princess An Leen¡¯s face turned green. Then, the door suddenly opened. An Tyn strode forward and said coldly, ¡°Do not talk rashly, pay attention to your manners!¡± ¡°Ge¡­¡± An Leen whispered softly. In the end, she is his sister, and she had learned a painful lesson today. An Tyn couldn¡¯t say anything more severe. He could only glare at her. Instead of continuing to scold her, he simply sat down and looked at the auctioneer who had already continued as if this was the usual. ¡°This is the Federation¡¯s territory. We are outnumbered everywhere! If you want to stand up, you have to speak with strength. Remember, our main purpose of this auction is near the end.¡± An Leen was reminded by him, thinking of the set of weapons she had specifically auctioned off this time. She became a little calmer, but then, she remembered the finale ¨C a set of mysterious weapons. She frowned again, saying, ¡°Ge, I understand¡­ But instead of using my weapon as the finale, Famous Brand inexplicably got a set of twin knives to press our weapon down. I was furious and just ¡­ ¡° ¡°Stupid!¡± An Tyn couldn¡¯t help but raised his voice again. Seeing his sister¡¯s shrinking neck, he slowed down his anger and said, ¡°This is just a little trick the Federation used to save face. Your main purpose today is to make Chu Rong take that set of weapons, everything else is secondary! Now because of you, I was kicked out by Chu Rong, and I couldn¡¯t continue to chat with him. Father¡¯s sickness was also exposed. You better pray that the weapons are enough to attract Chu Rong, otherwise ¡­ ¡° ¡°How did you get kicked out by Chu Rong? He¡ª¡± An Tyn shutted her up by glaring at her. An Leen froze, swallowed her question, and promised, ¡°Ge, don¡¯t worry, the weapon was customized by Master Brendan according to Chu Rong¡¯s preference. Chu Rong will definitely like it!¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± An Tyn snorted, looking back. After that, the auction became smooth and normal. Chu Yan turned back to the theater mode. While he praised every item, he did not take any of it. He just watched others bidding with joy, occasionally gossiping, and ate snacks. Just simple fun. Qiao Zhiya accompanied him eagerly, waiting quietly for the last item to be on sale. Without knowing it, the auction finally got to the last two items. A cloud of fog gathered and dispersed again. A combination of a mecha¡¯s cold weapon and firearm appeared on the display stand. The cold weapon was a short dagger, and the firearm was a simplified double-barreled cannon, all of which were low-key black. It looked both powerful and aesthetically pleasing. When Chu Yan saw the weapon, he stood up. His frown got deeper and deeper with each passing second, then his expression became serious. Qiao Zhiya also stopped peeling nuts. Looking at the weapons on the stage, he remembered the old photo that he had seen. He had an unpleasant guess in his heart. ¡°This set of weapons ¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly a copy of my Erge¡¯s weapons back then,¡± Chu Yan answered, and brought back that old photo to directly compare it. ¡°Erge¡¯s preference is widely known. He likes short swords or daggers, and for long-range, he likes using double-barreled guns. This set of weapons seems to be tailor-made for him.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t know this yet, because when Chu Rong used the mecha in front of him, he had never used a weapon. This made his heart uncomfortable and his mind hazy. ¡°Will Chu Rong really like it? Then I will bid for them-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t bid,¡± Chu Yan stopped him, and looked away at Princess An Leen¡¯s room. His Young Master radar was tingling. He shook his head as he said, ¡°Believe in me. Compared to the weapon we bought, Erge will prefer the ones you make.¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed at this remark. As he thought about it, he followed Chu yan and gave up trying to bid. ¡®Xiao Yan is right. Since I can design and make weapons, it¡¯s better I make the ones for Chu Rong by myself. Maybe it¡¯s time for me to master firearms-making.¡¯ ¡°Sir,¡± Fan Xiangnan couldn¡¯t help looking at Chu Rong at the table. Chu Rong waved his hand. He looked at the weapons on the booth, sneered, and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that my weapons preferences are still remembered after decades. No wonder the President urged me to come so hard. An Tyn probably had told him.¡± Fan Xiangnan followed and shook his head. With such an obvious bait, how could the Marshal bite so foolishly like that? This time, the Marshal came to this auction not because of the President¡¯s invitation or An Tyn¡¯s urging. The auctioneer on the field reversed the style of the brief introduction before, and detailedly described this set of weapons: ¡°This set of weapons was produced by Master Brendan, the Imperial Royal Mecha¡¯s designer. It uses rare black Thunderstone as the main component. After six months of careful design¡­ ¡° Finally arriving at the main show, Princess An Leen immediately sat upright and tidied her hair. In her plan, she would wait until Chu Rong bid for this weapon, then immediately show up to give this set of weapons to Chu Rong for free. This token of love would definitely spark something up! Five minutes later, the auctioneer¡¯s long introduction was over, and the weapon was announced. Then one second, two seconds, three seconds¡­ one minute ¡­ The reserve price on the price logo was unchanged ¨C no one bid. It was very awkward and deserted. The auctioneer finally had to stand up and promote it again, but no one wanted to bid at it. Seeing that three minutes almost passed, but nobody actually tried to buy it, An Leen was beyond anxious. She reached out to the bidder and said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t Chu Rong bid? The weapon was so perfect. Did he want me to deliver it to him? But¡­ ¡° ¡°Shut up.¡± An Tyn interrupted her ramble, but did not obstruct her bidding. His face turned black. Weapons made by the mecha maker of his Imperial Royal Family must not be bought by the Federation. This was a matter of not only Master Brendan¡¯s prestige, but also the Imperial Royal Family. Princess An Leen made a bid. It was 100 million. Three minutes later, the weapon was sold at a price of 100 million yuan, and the atmosphere in room 022 sank to the bottom. Finally, it was today¡¯s finale. The auctioneer quickly moved on to the grand finale with a wave of his hand. The stage was shrouded in clouds again, and at the same time his brief introduction sounded, ¡°The next item¡­ the finale. Us, Famous Brands, proudly presented, from a second-time seller, a set of twin knives made of a secondary-mutated red tin ore and Star Sand. Feast your eyes.¡± The clouds disappeared, and a pair of knives appeared on the stage. The blades of the knives were dark and purple, shrouded in some kind of mysterious dark lines. The booth light flashed, and the gorgeous blade reflected it. Without waiting for everyone to carefully see the pattern on the knife, a mecha suddenly jumped onto the stage, took out one of the knives, and made a gentle stroke across all the rooms. The knives were smooth, and it split all the clouds in one clean strike. But the rest remained spotless, showcasing the sharpness and quality of the knife. ¡®What an amazing weapon!¡¯ All the guests were surprised and couldn¡¯t help leaning forward. The mecha disappeared, the knife was inserted back on the stage, and a row of weapon data was projected. ¡°As the guests can see, all the values ??of this weapon are all super-class,¡± The auctioneer said with a smile, as if the super was something that was easy to achieve, and there was no need to linger on it. ¡°All super-class?¡± Chu Yan was flabbergasted, looking at Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Can you sell the super-class weapons you made?¡± ¡°No, no,¡± Qiao Zhiya was also equally speechless. Then he took the spar from the storage ring and said, ¡°I-I have the money. Quick, we must buy it back. This kind of special weapon can¡¯t fall in other people¡¯s hands!¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t expect that Master Ren actually took out a super-class weapon for auction! Chu Yan collapsed, mourning while holding the bidder, ¡°What the fuck is Master Ren doing? He can¡¯t send this weapon for Famous Brands like this, is he trying to pit his ally?¡± The Imperial Twins reacted immediately. Princess An Leen spluttered, ¡°It¡¯s all super-class? This is impossible! Even if there is Star Sand, it is impossible! What is a secondary-mutated red tin ore??¡± As if in response to her words, the twin knives on the stand suddenly disappeared and replaced by a dark purple stone. The auctioneer explained with a wide smile, ¡°This twin knives can have such a value, all because of its very special material. This is the real finale of today¡¯s Famous Brands auction ¨C the second-mutated red tin ore from the Chu family. There¡¯s currently a limited supply, one of which was used to create these knives. The opening price is 100 million, and the bid is now open.¡± Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya slumped together, feeling boneless. ¡°What? Secondary-mutated red tin ore?¡± This is¡­ no longer a secret now?¡± In room 008, Chu Rong was satisfied. He took a tea cup and took a sip calmly. ¡®Today¡¯s play isn¡¯t bad.¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 61.1 In Room 011, Xiang Hui, who had watched the whole show, couldn¡¯t sit still. Staring at the secondary-mutated red tin ore on the stage, his expression became equal part gloomy and equal part frantic. With hitched breath, he said, ¡°The Chu family discovered a new mineral treatment method.¡± Xiang Kun, who followed him, opened his eyes with surprise, and suddenly thought of something, saying, ¡°It¡¯s Fan Qi! I heard that Fan Qi finally bought a custom-made weapon for his custom mecha some time ago. It was a sword and its blade was this shade of purple! Last time, Famous Brand also auctioned something similar too!¡± ¡°I know,¡± Xiang Hui¡¯s expression grew heavier as he said, ¡°That mecha model weapon was apparently made by Master Ren¡¯s unknown young apprentice. This kind of design and manufacturing requires a long time, so this means the Fan family has long colluded with the Chu family!¡± This was definitely not good news! The Fan family was one of the best-developed emerging families in recent years. Their business was very extensive, and their connection even more so. To make matters worse, the Fan family was engaged in the auction business. They could find rare materials everyday. What the Chu family needed was exactly those rare materials for repairing their war flagship. With the help of the Fan family, the searching speed would be much faster! Once the Chu family ¡¯s flagship was successfully repaired¡­ To put it simply: even now, when Chu Rong was in a desperate situation, the Chu family¡¯s army was still the strongest. With their flagship repaired, the Xiang-Wei family would basically be left in the dust! Xiang Kun¡¯s thoughts still lingered on the ¡°unknown apprentice of Master Ren¡±. A bold guess popped out in his mind. ¡°Ge, could it be¡­ it¡¯s that Exoplanet Native? His learning speed in mecha manufacturing is¡­ very fast.¡± ¨CActually, it¡¯s not just fast. His products were all top-quality, and it made other people boil in envy! ¡°No,¡± Xiang Hui glanced at him and touched the bidder, saying, ¡°The President arranged for all participants to get a medical examination before that festival. I have seen the physical examination data of that Exoplanet Native. His spiritual power was basically non-existent back then. Not only that, his body has stopped developing. He truly had a third-level disability.¡± ¡°Stop developing?¡± Xiang Kun mumbled out loud. Thinking of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s short stature and his inability to grow taller, it made sense. He asked in surprise, ¡°Ge, you mean he¡¯s only this tall in this life? Even if he has awakened his spiritual strength, with an S-level physique?¡± Xiang Hui nodded. His will firmed. He began to bid directly ¨C no matter what, this batch of secondary-mutated red tin ore must be bought! They must dig up the new mineral processing methods! There were many people who shared the same idea with him. The Wei family in room 055, the You family in room 044, Long Baorou who secretly attended the auction in room 077, and many other families scattered in all rooms. All of them picked up the bidding buttons to participate in this bidding war. ¡°500 million, 600 million¡­ 3 billion¡­ is that 5 billion? Is room 011 crazy? Fuck, it even reached 5.5 billion!¡± Chu Yan was stunned. Then, he squinted his eyes in happiness and rubbed his hands like a fly about to enjoy its meal. ¡°Hey Qiao, let¡¯s make a guess on how much money you¡¯ll get from the dividends this time!¡± Qiao Zhiya was also confused by the madness of these people. Shaking his head silly, he felt the increasingly absurd number became meaningless. Room No. 022, An Tyn, who had been silent, suddenly picked up the bidder. ¡°Ge?¡± An Leen turned to look at him. ¡°That new mutated material, all the super-class attributes¡­ the Federal has something that our Empire doesn¡¯t know at all. We must get it back home for research. Maybe we can reverse-engineer it.¡± and we must shoot it back for research.¡± An Tyn said as he inputted a higher number in the bidder. He also instructed the servants behind him, saying, ¡°Go relay this news ¨C that is, a new weapon material has emerged in the Federation, resulting in all super-class attributes. We need more money, we must win this.¡± The servant nodded, stepping back to the corner and contacting the Empire. The number on the price tag changed again and again. The auctioneer saw the hustle and bustle, so he decided to call a mecha demonstrator to show the power of the twin knives. Then, he put the promotional video on repeat. With a large smile, he said, ¡°This is a model weapon made of secondary-mutated red tin ore. You can look at this power. If you don¡¯t snatch it now, the next available batch might be next year! After all, the processing method is very tedious and difficult, and the stock is severely limited.¡± So the bids of the guests were even crazier. Chu Yan froze as he tried to eat melon seeds. With a smug face, he sighed dramatically. ¡°Aiyah, so sly, so sly indeed. This weapon and ore can be done in 3 days at home. That geezer Master Ren actually took out the twin knives for advertisement. An old fox indeed.¡± ¡°You eat less seeds. We still have dinner, don¡¯t be too full,¡± Qiao Zhiya chided as he took away Chu Yan¡¯s snacks. He glanced at the stage, and saw that there¡¯s only room 011 and room 022 who were still keen on fighting. Feeling numb, he whispered, ¡°How can things escalate this high¡­¡± ¨CAfter all, those secondary-mutated red tin ores weren¡¯t that expensive¡­ Chu Yan obediently put down the seeds. He picked up a fruit, but didn¡¯t eat it; he just tossed it around from hand to hand. ¡°The people in room 022 is the Imperial Princess, probably also her twin brother. As for room 011, I can probably guess. There¡¯s only one faction who is hell-bent on getting those ores. Who else if not for the Xiang family?¡± ¡®The Xiang Family?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya thought of Xiang Kun. Looking at the constantly-escalating number, his ears twitched. ¡°Damn!¡± Xiang Hui bid again, his eyes flushed slightly with ire. ¡°This group of ignorant Empire Baboons!¡± As his brother cursed, the internal connector in the room suddenly rang. Xiang Kun took a look and frowned, and said, ¡°Ge, it¡¯s a communication request from room 022.¡± ¡°Reject it!¡± Xiang Hui answered without thinking. He outbid the current offer again. ¡°Secondary-mutated red tin ores must not fall into the hands of the Empire. They sent a communication request to make an agreement with us. There is only one set of mecha weapons here. Without those and the ores, we can¡¯t tell the difference!¡± In fact, Xiang Kun also felt that those Empire people were very annoying, especially the haughty and arrogant princess. So he didn¡¯t hesitate to hang up the request from room 022. ¡°The other side refused.¡± The servant looked at An Tyn, who was still bidding. An Tyn frowned, hesitated, and put down the bidder. ¡°Ge?¡± An Leen didn¡¯t expect that he would give up directly. Based on her understanding of her brother, this seemed unusual. ¡°We can¡¯t win this,¡± An Tyn¡¯s hand on the table slowly curled up in a fist. ¡°This is the Federation¡¯s territory. We absolutely can¡¯t beat them. Since we know that the ores come from the Chu family, then we can just target them. An Leen, we need you to win Chu Rong over.¡± An Leen frowned. But then, her brows quickly relaxed and nodded. ¡°Ge, I will. I promise I will help you to take the throne.¡± An Tyn heard her firm promise and calmed down. Raising his hand, he gently patted his sister¡¯s head. Instantly, the cold prince was gone, replaced by a caring and gentle brother. ¡°Good girl.¡± The last batch of secondary-mutated red tin ores were won by the Xiang family at an extraordinarily high price of more than 10 billion yuan. This price made a dent in the Xiang family¡¯s liquidated assets. After winning the bid, Xiang Hui didn¡¯t even attend the evening banquet, and left Xiang Kun in a hurry. Knowing this, Chu Rong tapped his finger on the table as he said, ¡°An Leen and An Tyn will definitely stay at the banquet to network with the Federation¡¯s dignitaries. Let¡¯s go home, we will not join them.¡± Fan Xiangnan nodded and opened the door for him. Because they didn¡¯t want to meet anyone on the way home, they took a long, detouring path. When they approached room 033 near the corridor, the door of room 033 suddenly opened, and two familiar figures came out of it. ¡°Ah, the Xiang family actually left. Bo~ring!¡± Chu Yan stretched his back and looked content after watching shit hits the fan. Qiao Zhiya followed him, and felt his stomach was a little empty. He asked, ¡°Are you going to the banquet? The staff just said that there will be a lot of delicious food at the banquet.¡± ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no reason not to go. I¡¯ll take you to see the night view too. Let me tell you, the view of the starry sky from here is just magical, and that pictu¨C¡± ¡°And what picture?¡± Hearing Chu Rong¡¯s voice coming from behind them, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya froze. Both youth¡¯s heads turned around mechanically. Chu Rong was standing two meters away from them. His expression was oppressive, with narrowed eyes and murderous glare. His posture screamed ¡°danger¡±. There seemed to be a visible black aura coming from behind him. Chu Yan was astonished, as if he saw the King of Hell. Purely on reflex, he reached out to close the room¡¯s door. But it was too late, and Chu Rong, who realized his intention, immediately walked over, and stretched his arms to block the door that was about to be closed. He peered inside, and glanced into the room¡¯s trash can. It was full of snack packaging and melon shells. Seeing this, he only said, ¡°Oh.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s body trembled, while Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears quivered. Chu Rong¡¯s sight fell on the room¡¯s number again, and he said lightly, ¡°033¡­ 5 billion for a mecha? You are very good.¡± Chu Yan & Qiao Zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± They were found out. Their life was now finished. ¡°What did you eat at noon?¡± Chu Rong suddenly changed the subject, holding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s quivering ear with one hand, and pressing one hand on Chu Yan¡¯s shoulder with a little force. ¡°W-we ate a steak! Qiao also eats a big lobster! We are so happy to eat!¡± Chu Yan somehow managed to answer smoothly despite his stiffness. He took out his invitation and said, ¡°Erge, Qiao and I were sent by Master Ren. See, we have this invitation from him! He said that Qiao was bored at home every day, so I should take him out to have fun, so I brought him here. Qiao, you said the scenery here is good or not?¡± ¡°Yeah, good, very good,¡± Qiao Zhiya wanted to nod, but his ears were held, so he didn¡¯t dare to move. He only looked up to Chu Rong, but because of the close distance, his chest-height head could only glance at the Marshal¡¯s chin. It was a handsome-looking chin. ¡°Chu Rong, I-I have helped you make money. N-no money was spent, really.¡± He said in truth. That batch of secondary-mutated red tin ore was really sold for a lot of money. He tried to move his ears that were held, so he tilted his head towards it. ¡°Do you like using daggers? I¡¯ll go back and make one for you! I¡¯ll make t-two, okay?¡± After he said that, Qiao Zhiya suddenly was looking forward to actually making it. Chu Rong¡¯s cold expression could not be maintained. He frowned and looked down at him, rubbed his ears and released his hold. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to make a weapon. Take a rest when you have time. Don¡¯t eat too many snacks like this.¡± ¡°Understand, this time it¡¯s because the dim sum here is so delicious¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, a little embarrassed, and raised his hand to touch his stomach. He usually didn¡¯t eat snacks very much, but unknowingly today¡­ he became so gluttonous. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± He whispered, then took out a box of packed snacks from the storage ring and handed it to the Marshal. ¡°This is the best, you can have it.¡± ¡°Are you packing it for me?¡± Chu Rong frowned, rubbed his hair again, and took the snack. ¡°If you like snacks here, buy more and bring them home for later.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, took a step back and looked up at his face. Seeing that Chu Rong was looking at himself gently, his face subconsciously relaxed also, eyes fluttering. ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to buy it specially¡­ you are also coming to the auction, so are you going to the banquet now?¡± Chu Rong nodded, shook his head, and said, ¡°No, but I¡¯ll stay with you.¡± ¡°Then, it¡¯s better if we go home now. I want to go home,¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately thoughtfully said. ¡°How about we watch the night view before going back?¡± ¡°Mm, let¡¯s go.¡± The two walked forward as they talked, leaving Chu Yan standing still, stunned, afraid to do anything. He mumbled, ¡°This, this is all right?¡± ¨CNo tantrums, no punishment, not even harsh words. Just, just fine? It¡¯s all rainbow and sunshine with a hint of pink bubbles?? Since when his Erge was so good at talking! ¡°Let¡¯s go and see the night scene,¡± Fan Xiangnan patted his shoulder, jolting him awake. They followed Chu Rong along as he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that the Marshal would actually be with Qiao¡­ Don¡¯t you think this is great?¡± Chu Yan glanced at him with a loss on his face, and his heart was full of vicissitudes. ¡®Awesome! My current family status is not as good as those fat rabbits raised by Qiao!¡¯ CH 61.2 The two brothers met halfway, so they didn¡¯t attend the banquet. They went directly to the top floor of the hotel and requested a private room. They watched the night view and picked some snacks for Qiao Zhiya. They also had dinner there. ¡°You eat too many snacks, and you need to eat lighter at night,¡± Chu Rong turned the menu in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, not letting him see the greasy meat. Instead, he turned it to the salad, soup, and porridge section. ¡°Only order from this page of dishes. ¡° Qiao Zhiya was in a good mood, and felt that everything was delicious. He obediently nodded and only ordered from here. Chu Yan directly ordered a delicious-looking yakiniku set in anger and decided to choke himself to death. ¡®This is a provocation! There¡¯s no way Erge is so incapable at this critical juncture!¡¯ Downstairs in the banquet room, An Leen glanced back and forth, but couldn¡¯t find Chu Rong. Frowning, she was about to call the servant guarding the entrance of the sightseeing elevator to ask about his location. But then, she saw Long Baorou wearing a blue dress walking over, looking indifferent, as if she didn¡¯t know she was attracting the attention of most young men here. ¡®Such a fake bitch!¡¯ An Leen raised her chin and pulled the corner of her mouth to reveal a disdainful smile. The Federation¡¯s distribution of power was vastly different from the Empire. The power of the President was very weak. The daughter of the President was far less honorable than an Imperial Princess. This Long Baorou was just a civilian girl whose father will step down at any time. What qualifications does she have to strut around like a noble? Before, she was fooled by her white lotus-like demeanor. But now? This Long Baorou was not even qualified to be her handmaid! ¡°Princess An Leen,¡± Long Baorou called out politely after approaching, with a gentle attitude, a diplomatic look, and a high-cold goddess demeanor. She looked as if she was raised as a high-ranking noble girl. ¡°Why is the Princess doing here all alone?¡± She asked softly. ¡°Some people always like to come up and try to gain connection. I¡¯m tired, so I¡¯m just resting here for a moment,¡± Princess An Leen replied coldly. She raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ears, deliberately exposing the astronomically expensive earrings she wore today. ¡°On top of that, I am not alone, I still have my servants here. How about you, Miss Long? Why are you alone? ¡° It¡¯s also ¡°alone¡±, but An Leen has changed the meaning of this sentence. The Federation paid attention to equality of all status. This was unlike the Empire, who still had a rigid nobility rank. People were divided into three groups: the Royals, the nobles, and the commoners; and as for the first two, they usually had servants attending them. At first glance, An Leen politely asked her back as a courtesy. But it was clear she was insinuating that Long Baorou was ¡°below¡± her in status ¨C she was a fake princess. The scene became quiet. Long Baorou saw that her attitude was so bad, knowing that this waste of a princess finally saw the truth and no longer had trust in her. Long Baorou simply discarded her diplomatic mask, and lightened her expression, saying, ¡°Princess An Leen, Chu Rong have already left, and it will be a waste of effort for you to continue to wait for him. In addition, as your current ally, I would like to remind you that the guest in room 033 is Chu Rong¡¯s younger brother Chu Yan, and Master Shang is the teacher of Chu Rong¡¯s mother. What you do today has already offended Chu Rong and Chu Yan together. Finally, the Qiao Zhiya boy you threatened to teach, Chu Rong included him in the Chu family¡¯s protection, and he showed this off to all the Federation. Everyone knows that he had the same standing and importance as Chu Yan, and nobody dared to offend him. And looking at what you did in these past few days, it seems that your dream to become Chu Rong¡¯s wife is¡­¡± She ended the conversation with an unsuspecting chuckle, then shook her head. Glancing back at An Leen, she lifted her skirt and turned away gracefully. An Leen was infuriated by her remarks. Her eyes were dripping with toxin, wishing that she could shed all pretenses and clawed this bitch¡¯s face. When she first came to the Federation, she was unfamiliar with the situation in the Federation and did not understand Chu Rong¡¯s temperament. So, she collected a little bit of news, building up her knowledge little by little. Then Long Baorou came, showing great enthusiasm to help her. She did give her a lot of ideas and news. She told her to be bold in showing her interest, deliberately wearing the opposite military uniform to attract attention, provoking the people around Chu Rong so that the Marshal would notice her uniqueness¡­ But now, it¡¯s all clear that this was a pit that Long Baorou dug for her! At that time, she did not understand. When she was in the Empire, she heard that Long Baorou once refused to politically marry Chu Rong, so she thought that the other party did not like Chu Rong. Her advice sounded sincere too, and she even said that her marriage to Chu Rong would be politically beneficial, strengthening the relationship between the two civilizations. However, those were all just lies! By the time she understood it, she had done a bunch of stupid things! That Long Baorou didn¡¯t like Chu Rong ¨C a lie. She obviously had some romantic interest in him, but couldn¡¯t use her status as the President¡¯s daughter to use it as leverage. She had nowhere to vent her frustrations, so she dumped it all on An Leen, the ¡°common enemy¡±! She¡¯s so hateful and vicious! Today¡¯s auction was carefully arranged for her to restore her image in Chu Rong¡¯s heart, but she did not expect that Long Baorou successfully pitted her again. She knew that Master Shang was the Chu family¡¯s Mecha Master, but not Chu Rong¡¯s mother¡¯s master! Those were two very different levels of importance! ¡°Damn it!¡± She clenched her fists, carefully trimmed nails embedded into her palm. She finally understood what her mother said to her before ¨C ¡°The Federation is full of traps¡±. She regretted that she didn¡¯t bring her mother¡¯s advisor to this trip! ¡°Want to understand?¡± An Tyn¡¯s voice suddenly appeared behind her. She turned her head and looked stubbornly ahead, but her eyes were already red. An Tyn walked over, gently holding her in his arms. He pried open her fist, wiping the blood oozing from her wound. They watched the hall ¨C it was full of Federation people, all important in government. He whispered, ¡°An Leen, you should grow up. Take it easy, I¡¯ll help you get back the anger you¡¯ve suffered during this time. ¡° ¡°Ge¡­¡± An Leen softened her voice. Her arms hugged him tightly. ¡°Shh¡­¡± An Tyn bowed his head, and his bangs covered his forehead, changing his temperament. ¡°A powerless President¡¯s daughter dares to insult you like this. Don¡¯t worry, I will let her pay the price.¡± An Leen muttered, ¡°Ge, why didn¡¯t you tell me before, these people are lying to me¡­ They are all so nasty.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my fault,¡± An Tyn coaxed her warmly and said, ¡°But, how can you grow up without experiencing some setbacks? An Leen, did you remember what I told you before? This trip to the Federation, we both have no way out.¡± An Leen was startled. She broke her hug and asked, ¡°Ge, what do you mean? Father1late notes, but every time An Leen and An Tyn referred ¡°Father¡± and ¡°Mother¡± they actually used something closer to ¡°Father Emperor¡± and ¡°Mother Empress¡±. gave you such an important task, doesn¡¯t that mean he has expectations for you? We¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet, the walls have ears,¡± An Tyn suddenly let go of her, helped her to tidy her hair, and coldly reprimanded, ¡°You can¡¯t even stand such a grievance? What else can you do! Stop crying, don¡¯t make me lose face!¡± An Leen was stunned by his sudden change of face, and when she was confused, she saw that An Tyn suddenly turned his eyes and looked at the servant who was returning with a glass of water. A guess came out in her heart, and her body covered in a sudden chill. ¡®Ears? Are these servants secretly loyal to other Princes?¡¯ An Tyn took the water cup and shoved it into her hand, and urged the servant to take a refreshment. Then, by adjusting An Leen¡¯s crooked necklace, he whispered directly to her ears, ¡°Clear your emotions when you understand. You¡¯re the little princess Father loves most, remember? ¡° The water was warm, but could not warm An Leen¡¯s heart at this time. She nodded numbly and tightened her hand holding the cup. An Tyn looked at her head and smiled slightly. ¡®I wonder if people back home are dissatisfied with the ¡°good show¡± performed by An Leen during this time. But they shouldn¡¯t be too jealous over the Useless Princess and the Cranky Prince2referring to themselves, right?¡¯ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 61.3 Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t know when the banquet was over. He only knew that the night view tonight was so intoxicating, and that Chu Rong was especially gentle. He even gave him a gift. In short, this holiday was amazing and he had a great time. In a blink of an eye, another week passed. Qiao Zhiya secretly made Chu Rong a dagger for self-defense, extravagantly used the last bit of Star Sand and added a little bit of Xiao Hei¡¯s mother¡¯s scales into it. He had discovered that although the snake scale¡¯s value couldn¡¯t be measured, it was still a very good material and a strong dye. Chu Rong liked black weapons, and the color that the scale gave was just right. On the day when the dagger was finished, Chu Yan came again with a bunch of gossip. ¡°I heard that the Imperial Princess fell ill, so she can¡¯t go outside for the time being. Long Baorou went to see her a few times, but it is said they got into a quarrel instead. But because the Princess was sick and wanted to go home, and yet Long Baorous deemed unreasonable, she was blasted for this-supposed bullying by the netizens.¡± ¡°The Princess and Long Baorou are arguing?¡± Qiao Zhiya was surprised, as he couldn¡¯t imagine them in different camps. ¡°Long Baorou actually can quarrel with others until that scale?¡± In his impression, Long Baorou was very indifferent and cold. She seemed to be someone who wouldn¡¯t get into petty fights. ¡°Who knows?¡± Chu Yan shrugged, then waved his hand and said, ¡°These are not the key points. The point is that the Federal Military Academy¡¯s entrance exam will start next week, and so the remaining students from the Empire are about to come here. Can you guess who?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head and gave him the stage to continue. Chu Yan was addicted to being in the spotlight like this. He didn¡¯t give Qiao Zhiya the time to guess, but directly told him. ¡°In addition to the twins, the Empire sent another four students to come over. One is the Emperor¡¯s niece, born from a daughter of the Ning family. The child, named An Lita, also goes by Ning Kong¡¯an. She studies pharmacy just like the Ning family. One of them is the son of the Imperial High Advisor, but I don¡¯t know his name. I heard he had a very simple name and studied History. One is the granddaughter of Master Brendan, named Charmmi, who followed her grandfather¡¯s steps and learned mecha manufacturing. The last one is the son of General Neitaxi, the Empire¡¯s strongest mecha soldier. His son¡¯s name is Jexiu, and he is also following in his father¡¯s footsteps. Heh, there¡¯s no need to worry about Jexiu, after all Erge can defeat General Neitaxi, so his son will not pose a threat.¡± Qiao Zhiya was confused by these names alone. He nodded stupidly, and frowned as he tried to remember the names and backgrounds of these people. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to remember that when they arrive, the President will host a small banquet to welcome them. The juniors will go, and both you and I are also expected to go. You will see them directly at that time.¡± Chu Yan raised his arm on his shoulder, and continued, ¡°Generally, on such occasions, those troublesome adults will surely let the younger generations compete with each other. While the Empire¡¯s courtiers will find opportunities to show their Empire¡¯s strength. Your background is the least solid, and you are likely to be targeted. And top of that, you had the history of having a third-degree disability. In the eyes of others, you¡¯re just a ready-made soft persimmon1the weak link/the easiest to bully. to pinch.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect to be described that way. He frowned, and then said with a clenched fist and serious expression: ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll study hard so I won¡¯t shame the Chu family!¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean that, I mean¡­ forget it,¡± Chu Yan silently swallowed his following sentence: ¡°You can find Erge to protect you¡±. Remembering Qiao Zhiya¡¯s strength and hard-headedness, he echoed, ¡°Well, come on, I believe in you. ¡° ¡®Depending on Qiao¡¯s strength, Erge¡¯s protection shouldn¡¯t be needed. I¡¯m not about to jinx that.¡¯ Four days later, the Empire¡¯s ships landed at the Capital Planet¡¯s military headquarters port. Prince An Tyn and Princess An Leen who were ¡°healed¡±, along with the President¡¯s brother Long Ruizhang went to the port to meet the Empire¡¯s entourage. Surprisingly, the Empire¡¯s entourage was actually brought by the Emperor¡¯s younger brother. He married a woman from the Ning family, and he¡¯s called Prince An Xei. He¡¯s about the same age as the President, with blond hair and gentle and elegant demeanor. It fits his identity as a leisurely Prince and renowned scholar. Long Ruizhang and the Prince performed a warm welcome show at the port. The twins also showed intimacy to their uncle and warmly greeted their cousin An Lita, aka Ning Kong¡¯an. At the surface, the familial relationships of all of them seemed stellar. After some excitement, they were escorted to the Presidential Palace to continue this ¡°intimate exchange¡± between the Federation and the Empire. Chu Huai and Chu Rong all said they were ill, so they had to recuperate. It was ¡°unfortunate¡± for them to miss this lively occasion. The other three Great Families also made a bunch of excuses and did not show up for this meeting between the two civilizations. ¡°Actually letting Long Ruizhang to greet the visitors of the Empire? Long Ruifeng is really going mad,¡± Chu Huai rarely called the President¡¯s name, but he did for today. He put down his tea cup, and shook his head. Chu Rong glanced at him and replied, ¡°I said earlier that he had lost his mind. Rather than sending actual government officials, he uses his younger brother. His intention is already obvious.¡± The Federation paid attention to the balance of the power, and the government officials had a lot of speaking power in the office. But the President directly stepped over that, and instead heavily favoring his family ¨C a blatant nepotism at the very least. ¡°Even the Xiang-Wei families no longer support him. He failed to retain his grip, and no one will want to back him up now,¡± Chu Huai glanced at the table, which was filled with takeaway dimsum. He wondered, ¡°Why do you buy these? Might as well cook it at home, it¡¯s not hard.¡± Chu Rong also looked at the dim sum on the table with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s too monotonous to eat like that every day, so I bought this to mix it up. Rest assured, all of them have been tested, and they are all without any problems.¡± Seeing his brother frowning about these snacks made Chu Huai relaxed. It¡¯s a good sign if the thing that worried Chu Rong was something inconsequential like this. With a smile, he asked with a teasing tone, ¡°Lao Er, Qiao is publicly eighteen years old this year, and is going to the Federal Military Academy right away. He has so many excellent peers there. Aren¡¯t you afraid of something going wrong?¡± ¡°Qiao Zhiya will not be bullied,¡± Chu Rong answered affirmatively, but his expression was betraying his tone. Apparently he had previously imagined the scene of Qiao Zhiya being bullied there. Chu Huai¡¯s lips twitch at Chu Rong¡¯s smoldering anger. He was a bit speechless, too. ¡°I¡¯m not talking about this!¡± He sat up straighter, and emphasized a couple of points. ¡°Qiao Zhiya is excellent in appearance and ability, and he will only become more and more dazzling in the future. If you fail to hold onto him, this carefully-fattened chicken will fly to another¡¯s coop! I¡¯m anxious for you, but you¡¯re so calm like this. Even Chu Yan shares my sentiment. Qiao is obvious in the matter, so why don¡¯t you take the initiative?¡± Chu Rong then realized that he was referring to the ¡°accident¡± in this regard. His face became darker and his fingers were impatiently knocking on the table. He paused and said, ¡°I have a hunch¡­ at this banquet, the Xiang-Wei family will make some small moves, and so will Long Baorou. She must be planning something. It¡¯s a good time, indeed.¡± As soon as Chu Huai heard Chu Rong¡¯s excitement, he knew that he was not unprepared, subsiding his anger. ¡°A good time for what, exactly? This pit you dig¡­ is for whom?¡± Chu Huai wanted to know Chu Rong¡¯s plan. Chu Rong gave him a slight glance, then stood up to say, ¡°Dage, I¡¯ve recovered and Chu Yan has grown up. The Chu family is quite deserted, isn¡¯t it? You and Dasao should hurry up and liven things up.¡± After that, he turned chicly and left. It took a couple seconds for Chu Huai to understand what Chu Rong meant.Then, he picked up his tea cup and angrily threw it to him. ¡°What do you mean by that! Care for your life first! It¡¯s you who should hurry up and bring a new daughter-in-law for the family, not me bringing up babies!!¡± The day before the welcoming banquet, Qiao Zhiya solemnly took out two light green thumb-sized plant balls and put them on the dinner table. He gave one of them to Gu Yan¡¯an and another to Chu Rong. ¡°This is Qiuqiu¡¯s children. I¡¯ll lend you for today, as they can detect the composition of food. As long as the food is not right, even if it is only a little bit, they can tell you.¡± He has watched many stories about this type of event. When there¡¯s an important dignitary talks between two not-so-friendly forces, there¡¯s always a chance the food would be tampered with. It¡¯s always better to be safe than sorry. ¡°You have to be nice to Qiuqiu¡¯s children, they are still small,¡± He then started to worry. He hurriedly took out four boxes of medicine, one for each of them, and added, ¡°There¡¯s an antidote and soothing agent in this pack. There are also several spiritual stabilizers that work well. If you are in danger, you can use them. ¡° After speaking, he wanted to dig out other things, but was stopped by Chu Rong in time. ¡°We¡¯re just going to a normal banquet, not a Hongmen banquet2a trap, dangerous banquet, so to speak., we don¡¯t need these.¡± He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears gently. The blond youth¡¯s expression was scrunched-up. Then he gave him chopsticks and said, ¡°Eat, the dishes will be cold.¡± ¡°Will you use it or not?¡± Qiao Zhiya felt useless. He took a look at Chu Yan who accompanied him watching those TV shows. He saw that Chu Yan had a strange expression, and realized that he might have been acting stupid again. His face turned red, and he wished he could drill a hole for him to jump into. ¡°This is his care, let¡¯s appreciate it. He¡¯s very thoughtful!¡± Gu Yan¡¯an glanced across Chu Rong, and took the lead to put away the medicine. She touched the small plant ball on her hand and asked, ¡°This is Qiuqiu¡¯s child? How old are they?¡± ¡°About half a year old. Qiuqiu has multiplied several times already,¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly answered, the heat on his face still could not go down. Chu Yan saw that he was so embarrassed that his head was going to smoke, and he deliberately got close to him, and said, ¡°This plant balls are given to Erge and Dasao. What about mine? Qiao, you can¡¯t be as biased as Erge. Don¡¯t forget about me!¡± Qiao Zhiya explained his thoughts quickly. He didn¡¯t want Chu Yan to feel left off. ¡°You and I will always stay together, so we can share Qiuqiu together. Dage and Dasao will be together, so they can share one too. That left the last one for Chu Rong. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be biased.¡± ¡®It turned out to be like this!¡¯ Chu Yan thought and was satisfied. He gave Qiao Zhiya a look of ¡°he¡¯s really a good brother, ah.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll stay with me.¡± Chu Rong said suddenly. He picked up the small plant ball and shoved it to Chu Yan¡¯s palm. He reached out and twisted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head back to signal him to eat. Qiao Zhiya froze, and then pursed his ears. He was excited. ¡°I¡¯m staying with you? Always? Really?¡± ¡°Really,¡± Chu Rong nodded and motioned to his rice bowl again. Qiao Zhiya took the chopsticks obediently, his ears twitched happily. Chu Yan was immediately forgotten. Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± Ah, he really can¡¯t stay in this family! The following afternoon, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s clothes were sent over. It was a pure black suit with a gold trim and subtle embroidery. His accessories were crafted from Ink Jade. His style and cut was almost the same as Chu Rong, except the size. Chu Yan was stunned, and stared at Chu Huai, who was drinking tea in a calm manner, winking madly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Huai gave him a look. He then shooed him to try his own suit, saying, ¡°You grew too fast. The clothes we made last month are already ill-fitting for now. It¡¯s a waste.¡± Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± Has his family status fallen so low? Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong took a hover car when they went out, while Chu Yan boarded the same hover car with Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an. After getting into the hover car, Qiao Zhiya patted his suit and touched his specially-treated hair. At last, he felt the custom, pure black spiritual power simulator on his ear, making his cheeks blush like mad. ¡®I¡¯m matching with Chu Rong, and the new simulator is also very good. Before, I just felt that I was held by Chu Rong. Now¡­¡¯ It felt like a slightly sharper force naughtily rubbed against his ears. With pursed lips, he tried to suppress the desire to scratch his ears. ¡°What happened?¡± Chu Rong, who was sitting opposite of him, asked knowingly. He raised his hand and gently touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. Qiao Zhiya almost jumped in shock, his ears trembling violently, and he tilted his head away from his palm. ¡°No-nothing, just a little uncomfortable. M-my hair, it¡¯s just, kinda weird? I ra-rarely styled it so¡­ yeah¡­ hehe¡­¡± He then glanced at Chu Rong, who looked exceptionally handsome with his white hair and black suit. His heart jumped twice, so he shook his head in a panic. Chu Rong looked down at the youth¡¯s styled bangs, which made him look more delicate and beautiful. His fingers reached up, brushing against Qiao Zhiya¡¯s thick, curly eyelashes, feeling the slight touch of his eyes fluttering. Qiao Zhiya blinked a couple times, a bit scared and mostly confused. Chu Rong suddenly asked, ¡°Qiao, the last time I made you think, did you remember?¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s attention was all on Chu Rong¡¯s slender fingers, and it took a moment for him to digest what the Marshal meant. The heat on his face dropped suddenly, his ears flattened, anxiously trembling. ¡°No, sorry, I didn¡¯t remember¡­ Do you really want me to sleep alone? I- I will try hard to think ¡­ ¡° ¡®Why is he so cute?¡¯ Chu Rong¡¯s eyes looked calm, masking his turbulent emotions. He pinched the youth¡¯s ear, making it stand upright like normal. He said, full of hidden meaning, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t remember about it. Let¡¯s just make a new one again.¡± ¡°What?¡± With his ears shut, Qiao Zhiya had to look up and face him passively. Lips slightly open, he looked lost. ¡®Make a new one? Making what? How?¡± ¡°I said,¡± Chu Rong suddenly lowered his head, their foreheads touching, the distance between their faces getting dangerously close. Breaths mixing, Chu Rong gently nudged the tip of his nose. ¡°Don¡¯t forget this memory.¡± This pose was too ambiguous. It took no time for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face to burn again, his heart jumping wildly in his ribcage, beating so noisily. ¡®W-what¡¯s wrong with today¡¯s Chu Rong? He¡¯s so strange.¡¯ CH 62.1 Half an hour later, the hover car arrived at the Presidential Palace. Chu Rong got out of the car first while Qiao Zhiya was about to follow up. But, the taller man turned around suddenly and stretched out his arms very naturally to hug Qiao Zhiya gently. He went down and helped him straighten his clothes. His chaotic emotions started to swirl around again. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body stiffened, and he looked up at Chu Rong who was getting weirder today. His eyes were wide open and his mouth gaped, looking lost and stupid. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, look at the road.¡± Chu Rong stretched out his fingers and pinched his lips, making him close his mouth passively. He then took the youth¡¯s hand, led him onto the carpet, and walked towards the banquet hall. There were guests arriving and getting off the car one after another, and when they saw Chu Rong, they greeted him politely. Chu Rong nodded indifferently as a response, and kept holding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, which attracted those people to look at him several times. Qiao Zhiya passively followed him and walked forward, looking down stupidly at his hand that was being held completely. He tried to wiggle his fingers, but Chu Rong only held him tighter. The cufflinks of the two were of the same style, and they intermittently collided because of this movement. There was a ¡°cling cling¡± impact sound every time it hit, but the sound was so faint that almost no one heard it. As if to match the sound, the spiritual power simulator on his ear suddenly and slowly sent out a wave of fluctuations. It slowly enveloped his whole body, causing him to lose his pace for a second. ¡°Ch-Chu Rong, this simulator¡­¡± He was a little panicked, but also felt a secret joy that he couldn¡¯t understand. The complex emotions that surged up in an instant made his brain freeze, and he faintly realized that if this continued, something might get out of control. Chu Rong stopped in place once he heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice. He turned to look at him, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the simulator?¡± ¡°I-it just¡­¡± Chu Rong stretched out his hand, touched the simulator lightly, and pinched the soft earlobes. Lips hooked into a smile, and said, ¡°That¡¯s all right. Let¡¯s go, Dage and Dasao have already entered.¡± After speaking, he turned around and continued to lead him in. A stronger spiritual power was playfully circling around his ears, brushing against it from time to time. It felt as if someone was gently stroking him. Qiao Zhiya was even more confused, though his face gradually flushed red. He looked up at Chu Rong who was walking in front of him, eyes darting from his snow-white hair to his broad shoulders, and then finally resting at their laced hands. Subconsciously, he tried to pull his hand back, but after he realized what he had tried to do, he relaxed and let the taller man pull his palm. He has been immersed in his own little emotions, so he didn¡¯t notice the strange expressions on the faces of the guests who entered the venue with them. The pair wore the same suit, entering the hall hand-in-hand, and that very intimate caressing motion¡­ The guests also could see that the Exoplanet Native boy seemed to be wearing an earring engraved with the Chu family emblem. The last person with a foreign surname who was qualified to wear something with a Chu family emblem on their jewelry was Gu Yan¡¯an, the wife of the current family head, Chu Huai. But now, this Exoplanet Native boy¡­ was Marshal Chu doing this to officially adopt him to the family, or was there some other ambiguous meaning? If it was the former, then the Chu family would definitely win the hearts of all the Exoplanet Native people and their descendants! If it was the latter¡­ Marshal Chu actually liked a man? But that¡¯s not the point ¡ª the Imperial Princess made such a high-profile of love for Chu Rong while she visited the Federation. If Chu Rong actually courted him, then the situation would only be more interesting to watch. The guests secretly looked at each other and exchanged messages with their eyes. The men were thinking about the possible consequences of the Chu family¡¯s actions, while the women were gossiping wildly and getting excited at the same time. ¡®The Exoplanet Native boy is so good-looking after he puts on the suit and combs his hair!¡¯ One of them thought. Although she already knew that this child was very good-looking from the live-broadcast, she only felt he only got even more good-looking like this! She used to think that this kind of delicate and cute boy was only suitable for fresh and cute clothes, but now she saw that the thick and gorgeous black and gold suit him unexpectedly! ¡®So handsome! Awesome! If this is my own child¡­ Ahhh! If he¡¯s my own son, then I will also keep holding him like the Marshal!¡¯ The waiter and the President¡¯s son, Long Xuyang, were waiting at the door to welcome the guests. Chu Rong glanced over lightly, nodded to the infinitely-less-annoying Long Xuyang, and led Qiao Zhiya directly towards the hall. ¡°Marshal Chu is still so rude.¡± Long Xuyang¡¯s friend who came next, Ding Huazhan, was the young master of the Ding family, which was a second-tier family in the Federation. He walked to his friend and greeted him, but also lowered his voice to apologize for his friend. Different from Long Baorou¡¯s cool and beautiful face, Long Xuyang¡¯s facial features were more like his father¡¯s. His brows and eyes are gentle and had a welcoming aura, and his temperament was also very soft. At first glance, he looked like a good old boy who was easy to bully. ¡°Huazhan, don¡¯t say that. Marshal Chu¡¯s position is very different from mine. To be able to nod to me, the Marshal is already giving me a face,¡± Long Xuyang blocked his friend¡¯s next words with his eyes, and greeted him again. A wave of guests entered the venue, and after the door was vacant, they continued their chat. ¡°¨CAnd this banquet doesn¡¯t need me to welcome the guests at all. Father¡­ Forget it, go in quickly. It¡¯s inappropriate to stand with me at the door, I don¡¯t want my uncle to get angry at you.¡± Although the Ding family was just a second-tier family, they still knew a lot of information. Ding Huazhan himself also tried to keep up-to-date with the latest Federal news, so he understood his friend¡¯s helplessness. This was a banquet for the Federation to welcome visitors from the Empire, not a family banquet for the Presidential Palace. It was not necessary for the president¡¯s son to greet the guests in person. Not only was it unnecessary in terms of Long Xuyan¡¯s status, it was also kind of inappropriate. Ding Huazhan frowned. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the Xiang family coming over with their juniors from a distance. He hurriedly shut up, wanting to back off a bit so that his friends could go up to greet the guests, but the Xiang family didn¡¯t seem to see them. They all entered, ignoring Long Xuyang completely. ¡°How unreasonable!¡± Ding Huazhan said under his breath, angry at his friend¡¯s behalf. He didn¡¯t want him to endure such embarrassment, especially because it wasn¡¯t his fault. ¡°Huazhan,¡± Long Xuyang quickly pressed his shoulders, shook his head at him and sighed. Forcing a polite smile, he said, ¡°Look, I just said, Marshal Chu is willing to take the initiative to nod to me, it¡¯s already considered a good face for me. Go in, Uncle should be in a hurry to come here.¡± Ding Huazhan was dissatisfied, and said, ¡°You go in with me!¡± ¡°You know that¡¯s impossible,¡± Long Xuyang patted him on the shoulder. Then, he pushed Ding Huazhan in, waved his hand at him, then turned back to the door and continued to wait. Ding Huazhan took a few steps forward passively and looked back at him. He knew it was for his own good, so he held his breath and anger. Eventually, he went inside. The guests who had arrived in the hall were scattered everywhere to greet each other freely, waiting for the formal banquet to start. Chu Rong was impatient to deal with this. He took Qiao Zhiya directly to the waiting room where the Chu family was. On occasions like this, although people from each family would not be late, they would not wander around the field too early, and prefer to stay in the lounge. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to greet the President first?¡± Qiao Zhiya followed Chu Rong down the stairs to the lounge on the second floor, his little emotions were washed away by the glitz and bustle coming from the hall. He was successfully distracted. Chu Rong slowed down and walked up side by side with him, frowning slightly. With a hint of impatience, he replied, ¡°No, it¡¯s not necessary.¡± After all, if the President can let his son greet the guest at this kind of event, why should the Four Great Families give him a face in return? Qiao Zhiya nodded. Although he didn¡¯t quite understand why, adhering to the principle that everything Chu Rong said was right, he obediently followed him up and stopped talking. Seeing this, Chu Rong loosened his frowning brows, squeezed his hand reassuringly, and explained in a low voice, ¡°The President will change next year, and the current presidential faction will definitely step down. And yet, he got in line with the Empire, wanting to turn this Federation into a second Empire. Except for Long Xuyang who was standing at the door just now, everyone in the Long family had bad intentions. Long Ruizhang was barely a sensible person, but he didn¡¯t have the power. In conclusion, it¡¯s better to ignore him.¡± ¡®Turning the Federation into a second Empire? That means¡ª¡¯ Qiao Zhiya stared wide-eyed in shock, lowering his head to hide his expression. He tightened his hold, and with a tense expression, he whispered, ¡°I understand, I won¡¯t hold you back.¡± Chu Rong looked at his frowning brows. With a small smile, he replied, ¡°I know you won¡¯t.¡± Qiao Zhiya has been helping him and working hard, earnestly and carefully. Chu Rong always knew. The two held hands and entered the lounge where the rest of the Chu family lived. The atmosphere was warm and sweet. Xiang Kun, who turned up the stairs on the opposite side before his family, saw this scene from a distance. He frowned suspiciously, and then his expression darkened, ¡°Damn Chu family, why do they like to flaunt their family affection recently? This must be a scheme.¡± ¡°What are you muttering about?¡± Xiang Hui raised his hand and knocked on his forehead, pulled him back to his side, and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t run around today, just follow Father or Second Uncle honestly. Be quiet, understand?¡± ¡°Ah, okay,¡± Xiang Kun scratched his head and nodded, trying to be obedient. Similar instructions also appeared in the Wei family¡¯s lounge. While in the Ning family¡¯s lounge, Ning Kongting was pulling her mother. She wanted her mother to ask her aunt Ning Tianwu about her husband, whether or not the Prince-slash-Uncle was really like the rumors, unparalleled in his elegance. Ning Tianxing glanced over there indifferently, then coughed to remind her. ¡°She¡¯s just a romantic girl, like many girls her age. Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯ll mature with time,¡± Ning Kongting¡¯s mother immediately pulled her daughter to calm her down. Ning Kongting shut up, took a look at Ning Tianxing, and calmed down obediently. Although she looked down on Ning Kongran, she was still very afraid of Ning Kongran¡¯s father, her genius uncle, and she didn¡¯t dare to approach him at all. The private lounge fell silent. Ning Tianxing took a sip of tea from his teacup, looked at his eldest son Ning Kongran who was sitting quietly beside him. His eyes softened as he said, ¡°Kongran, you are still too withdrawn. You have to learn to socialize more. I heard that Prince An Tyn is involved in medicine and mecha manufacturing, you can chat with him if you have the opportunity.¡± ¡®Prince An Tyn?¡¯ Ning Kongran immediately analyzed the meaning of what he said, but didn¡¯t show it on his face. He nodded obediently, and replied, ¡°I understand, Father.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Ning Tianxing was satisfied with his son¡¯s temperament. He casually continued, ¡°Are you really not going to continue learning pharmacy? Although you are good at mecha manufacturing, our family¡¯s resources are lacking in this department. If you learn pharmacy, your future will be much easier¡­¡± Ning Kongran knew that he was going to mention this incident. He shook his head, his eyes were stained with some disappointment, and said, ¡°Father, I probably have no fate with pharmacy. Every time I pick up a pharmaceutical tool, I will feel a splitting headache, as if something is about to come out of my brain. I can¡¯t continue at all, I have failed your expectations, I¡¯m deeply sorry.¡± Ning Tianxing¡¯s expression changed when he heard what Ning Kongran said. He stabilized his tone, and tentatively asked, ¡°You said it feels like something is about to come out of your brain? When did this symptom appear? Do you¡­ remember?¡± ¡°Remember what?¡± Ning Kongran turned to look at him, with pure doubt in his eyes, and asked, ¡°Father, have I forgotten something?¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Seeing this, Ning Tianxing was relieved. He took another sip of tea, and said helplessly like a good-tempered father who can¡¯t control his child, ¡°Then you can continue to learn mecha manufacturing. Even if you don¡¯t learn pharmacy, our family will try our best to pave the way for you to come out.¡± Ning Kongran showed a moved expression, and said, ¡°I¡¯ve troubled you, Father.¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 62.2 Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Lieutenant General. Ning Kongran: Ning family current heir. Studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. Long Ruifeng: the President. Long Baorou: the President¡¯s daughter. Long Xuyang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. The President¡¯s youngest child. Long Ruizhang: The President¡¯s younger brother. =The Empire= Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire. Jexiu: Neitaxi¡¯s son, studying mecha piloting. Chu Yan saw Qiao Zhiya, and he wanted to chat with him. However, the blond youth was dragged by Chu Rong again out of the door. Chu Yan snorted angrily. ¡®Why can¡¯t I just borrow Qiao for a while, huh? Erge, you¡¯re so stingy!!¡¯ The seats in the hall had already been set up. The seats of the President¡¯s family and the Imperial Royal Family were placed on the top, and they were raised high. ¡°Hey, this seating arrangement is really interesting. Long Baoruo and Long Xuyang cAn Xeit in front with a high profile, and even Long Ruizhang is honored,¡± As soon as Chu Yan came out, he commented in a whisper, his eyes full of interest. On such an event, there was nothing wrong with the President bringing his wife to sit in front, but it was very problematic to bring his son, daughter, and younger brother with him. After going this far, why doesn¡¯t he drag Long Ruizhang¡¯s family along? Why not bring You family too? Wouldn¡¯t that be more lively? Chu Rong and Chu Huai also saw this seating arrangement, and looked at each other. Chu Huai patted Chu Yan¡¯s shoulder with a smile, and said, ¡°Which seat do you want for the Chu family?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up, and he asked happily, ¡°Really? Can I sit in the front row?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Chu Huai nodded, looking very talkative, and smiled, ¡°Since it¡¯s the President¡¯s ¡®family banquet¡¯, let¡¯s Just be casual.¡± When it came time to take a seat, the Four Great Families showed an astonishing tacit understanding, and they all let their juniors or wives sit in the front seats, while the heads of the family or the elders all leaned back, and disregarded the nameplates on the table. Simply put, they did not get along with the President¡¯s design. Seeing this, the other families in the back looked at each other for a few seconds, and then casually spread out and sat down. Some of them had a good relationship and even switched positions, sitting cross-legged and chatting with each other with their heads bowed. The staff members of the Presidential Palace watched anxiously, and the officials in charge of the banquet were sweating. When the President entered the arena with the Imperial Prince, Lieutenant General Wei took the lead in sitting and applauding, imperceptibly standing up and shaking hands with other officials. He made the banquet into a casual affair. ¡°Everyone is so enthusiastic.¡± Prince An Xei didn¡¯t seem to notice the tricks in the seat at all. He smiled and sighed with the President, then greeted everyone in a very normal way, and finally sat down with the President. As soon as the President came, he almost had a double-take. He almost couldn¡¯t maintain his smile. He adjusted his expression by lowering his head and sitting down, hiding his face. After they took their seats, the Imperial Twins, Long Baorou, and the other juniors who followed them also took their seats one after another. A group of juniors lined up separately, just next to the juniors of the Chu-Xiang family who deliberately sat in the front row. It¡¯s quite harmonious, as if everyone was planning to let the juniors be the protagonists today. But having said that, today¡¯s welcome banquet was originally held for the juniors, so from this aspect, there was actually no problem with such a seating arrangement. Having been the President for many years, Long Ruifeng still has the dignity he should have. Seeing the disrespect from the Four Great Families, he simply chatted with Prince An Xei. The topic revolved around the juniors of the Empire, and he directly talked as if the Federation was his. The Chu family didn¡¯t care much about these superficial tricks. The President could ignore them as much as he liked. After a while, Prince An Xei would definitely take the initiative to bring the topic to the Four Great Families. The only person who would be ashamed would be the President. The Ning family remained neutral. They ate their own food quietly after the food was served, acting very low-key, as if the Prince sitting on the stage was not married to a member of their family, but just a stranger. Ning Kongting took a few glances at the apparently mixed-race boy next to An Xei and the Imperial Twins. She knew that the situation was not right, so she acted more restrained. The attitude of the Xiang-Wei family was a bit subtle. They took the initiative to say hello to Prince An Xei, but they completely ignored the President. They even appeared concerned and asked about Princess An Leen¡¯s condition. Long Baorou, who was sitting behind Long Xuyang, tightened her palms when she heard this inquiry. She turned her head to look at the Xiang family, then inadvertently looked in the Chu family¡¯s direction. She saw that Chu Rong was lowering his head, cutting through his steak, he didn¡¯t pay any attention to her, who was being deliberately embarrassed by the Xiang family. Her eyes sank, then she shifted her gaze at the gemstone necklace around Princess An Leenn¡¯s neck. Finally, she bowed her head and brushed her hair. On the stage, An Xei was introducing the juniors of the Empire. Under the stage, Chu Rong put the cut meat in front of Qiao Zhiya, then brought over the untouched steak in front of him. He helped the youth adjust the napkin on his lap, and said in a low voice, ¡°The dishes on this kind of banquet are quite heavy. Taste it a little first, and don¡¯t force yourself to eat if you don¡¯t like it. If you¡¯re still hungry, I will take you to eat something else later.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± The heat on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face rose again. He picked up the fork and said, ¡°You can eat too, You don¡¯t need to take care of me.¡± Chu Rong found that he kept his head buried the whole time while speaking, without looking at him. He moved his hand under the table, and lightly poked the youth¡¯s waist. Qiao Zhiya sat up straight in a snap, his ears strained, and finally looked up at him. His eyes widened, as if he couldn¡¯t believe that it was Chu Rong, not Chu Yan, who just poked his waist for a prank. ¡°Your clothes are wrinkled,¡± Chu Rong replied flatly. He reached out and pressed his ears down, forked a piece of meat with the other hand, and moved it to his lips. He then ordered, ¡°Open your mouth.¡± Qiao Zhiya opened his mouth reflexively, and then the steak entered his mouth. The hand on his head slid down to wipe the oil on his lips. ¡°Clang!¡± Xiang Kun, who was sitting across from them, accidentally dropped the fork in his hand, his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. The people around all looked over when they heard the commotion. Xiang Hui, who was talking to Prince An Tyn, frowned. He looked back at Xiang Kun, then smiled at the people around them apologetically. He patted Xiang Kun under the table to signal him to tidy his posture. Finally, he called the waiter for an extra fork. Everyone looked away again. Xiang Kun came back to his senses, grabbed Xiang Hui¡¯s clothes, lowered his voice and said excitedly, ¡°Ge, did you see just now? Chu Rong and that Native boy, they, they are¡­ Did you see, they are so strange!¡± ¡°Be quiet!¡± Xiang Hui hissed, worried about being eavesdropped by Long Baorou, who was sitting not far away. After scolding Xiang Kun with an aggressive whisper, he then continued to pretend to have a conversation with Prince An Tyn who sat diagonally opposite of him. Xiang Kun held his breath. He snuck a glance towards the opposite side again, but happened to meet Chu Yan¡¯s provocative gaze, so his attention was immediately diverted, and he glared back viciously! After exchanging greetings with the Xiang-Wei¡¯s family, Prince An Xei really took the initiative to say hello to the Chu-Ning family. The Chu family maintained a polite and reserved attitude and greeted him back. They said some words of welcome, and then naturally ended the greeting. The Ning family behaved similarly to them, they only cared a little more about Prince An Xei¡¯s wife who didn¡¯t come to the Federation, and Ning Kong¡¯an, who was quietly sitting next to the Princess. After all the greetings, everyone began to eat and chat. At first glance, the atmosphere was very good. However, the President knew that he had been targeted by the Four Great Families. They all refused to chat about the topics he raised, and let him sing a one-man show, enjoying the ¡°protagonist halo¡± he craved. This situation was completely different from what he expected. Recently, he followed the public opinion and tilted the policy toward the Chu family, which did offend the Xiang-Wei family a little bit. But, those two families did not express any extremes before, so why did they suddenly tear their faces today? And the Ning family, as the in-laws of Prince An Xei, were not very popular at all. Instead, their presence was getting smaller and smaller. In short, judging from the current situation, this banquet, which was supposed to be a show of his status, was a complete, abysmal failure. The dinner ended in an atmosphere that seemed harmonious but not embarrassing. After that, it was entertainment break time, and everyone moved to the lounge on the third floor. The seating arrangement in the leisure hall was much more casual. The Four Great Families members once again spread out tacitly, and none of them went to the President¡¯s side. Seeing this, the other families did not dare to come forward, and they also sat apart, very ¡°respectful¡± and ¡°hospitable¡±. The big circle position was reserved for the President, An Xei, and their families. The President¡¯s expression could no longer be calm. Seeing this, Long Xuyang was a little worried. He stood up and made a show. He raised his voice and invited people from the Four Great Families to move forward. Prince An Xei also echoed with a smile. The behind-the-scenes maneuver ended with the victory of the Four Great Families. So under Long Xuyang¡¯s ¡°gracious invitation¡±, each of them appointed a person in charge to sit in front, to save the President¡¯s face. The situation finally became a little more normal, and the President¡¯s face looked much better. Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya and sat alone on a double sofa in the corner of the second circle. Chu Yan didn¡¯t want to be a light bulb, so he simply slipped to where Yuan family¡¯s seat was, and sat with Yuan Xiu. The performance started on the stage, and Qiao Zhiya moved uncomfortably. He rubbed his body against the sofa, raised his hand and scratched his ears ¡ª ever since he entered this hall, the fluctuations on the simulator suddenly became stronger. It felt¡­ hot? ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Chu Rong put his arms around him and pulled him closer. Their gap became nonexistent. This feeling of leaning against Chu Rong¡¯s warm body¡­ was a bit ambiguous and romantic. Qiao Zhiya shook his head and hurriedly replied, ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s just a little hot.¡± ¡°Hot? The air conditioner here is fully turned on.¡± Chu Rong frowned. He suddenly bent down to touch his forehead, rubbed it, and said soothingly, ¡°Be patient, it should be like this just after eating, it¡¯s hot. Don¡¯t take off your clothes, be careful of catching a cold.¡± During the process of touching the foreheads together, something soft seemed to rub against his cheeks. With a bang, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s reason was completely wiped out by the heat that exploded in his brain, and his soul flew out of the sky. ¡®That, that touch¡­¡­¡¯ Seeing this, Chu Rong curled his lips. He leaned comfortably on the sofa, withdrew his hand, and held Qiao Zhiya¡¯s palm, playing with his fingers. Xiang Kun, who was sitting not far from them, noticed them again. He yanked Xiang Hui¡¯s sleeves, and hissed, ¡°Ge, look at Chu Rong. There is really something wrong between him and that Native boy, just now they¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Xiang Hui held down his hand and gave him a warning look. With a scolding whisper, he said, ¡°Calm down. Don¡¯t make any noise.¡± ¨CAfter all, the performance was about to begin. It was not the time to raise a fuss. Xiang Kun was extremely aggrieved. He kept looking back and forth at the people around him, but found that no one seemed to notice what was wrong with Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya. He scratched his head anxiously. CH 62.3 After a few performances, Prince An Xei really started to ¡°demonstrate the Empire¡¯s national power¡± and asked his niece An Leen to play a piece of music. Not to be outdone, the President asked Long Baorou to play another musical instrument. Back and forth, it seemed to be a draw. Prince An Xei then boasted General Neitaxi¡¯s son Jexiu, saying that he had always wanted to see Chu Rong, who had competed with his father back then. Chu Rong, whose ¡°Bald Chicken Stew¡± project was interrupted, suppressed his annoyance and impatience. He pushed Chu Yan up, so Chu Yan was forced to compete with Jexiu. In the end, it was a draw. The situation was still very harmonious. Just when everyone thought that the ¡°demonstration of national power¡± event was about to pass, An Xei changed the subject and suddenly brought up Qiao Zhiya. Everyone was shocked, knowing that today¡¯s highlight was coming. ¡°I heard that this Exoplanet Native boy skipped many grades in one year and completed the studies that ordinary children need ten years to complete. Did he come over today?¡±An Xei asked with a smile, as if he just mentioned it casually. The president answered casually and looked in Chu Rong¡¯s direction. Chu Rong¡¯s expression faded, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s soul finally returned to his body. ¡°Sure enough, he is a very good kid,¡± An Xei followed the President¡¯s line of sight and looked towards Chu Rong. His eyes fell on Qiao Zhiya next to him. His smile became gentler. He waved to his side and said, ¡°Jian, didn¡¯t you keep talking about meeting him? Go, say hello to him.¡± Following his words, a young man with black hair and black eyes sitting in the corner stood up. Everyone looked over and wondered. ¡®Strange, was there such a child sitting beside Prince An Xei before?¡¯ After all, his features ¨C black hair and black eyes ¨C were uncommon in the Empire. It¡¯s strange that they didn¡¯t notice it earlier. Qiao Zhiya also looked at the boy, then frowned. Somehow, the fluctuations in this hall suddenly started to go wrong. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, you can ignore this if you don¡¯t like it,¡± Chu Rong thought he was uncomfortable, and squeezed his hand reassuringly. The spiritual power on the simulator began to fluctuate again, so the feeling of something wrong disappeared. Qiao Zhiya felt a little uneasy, but the black-haired boy had already walked over, so he could only suppress these feelings in his heart. He shook his head at Chu Rong, and stood up to politely greet the boy. ¡ª¡ªHe is representing the Chu family now, so there is no need to be ashamed. Jian looked about the same age as Qiao Zhiya. He¡¯s not very tall with fair, unblemished skin. However, unlike Qiao Zhiya¡¯s rosy parlor, he appeared rather sickly. His dark eyes were big, looking innocent. Qiao Zhiya was not a person who judges people by their appearance. The other party extended his hand politely, and he took advantage of the opportunity to shake it. He first said some polite words such as greeting and welcome, and then smiled at him. ¡°Hello,¡± Jian greeted back, as his eyes fell on the curved corner of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mouth. His voice was a little soft, but not unpleasant, and people could even feel his good mood and friendly demeanor. Suddenly, he held Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand tightly, and whispered, ¡°You can feel it right? Someone¡­ is planning something bad¡­¡± He immediately let go of his hand after speaking, nodded to Qiao Zhiya, turned and sat back. An overly short and simple greeting, completely different from the tit-for-tat that everyone expected. ¡°This kid is rather shy.¡± An Xei opened his mouth to draw everyone¡¯s attention back, and took the initiative to bring up other topics to the President, ending the ¡°demonstration of national strength¡± activity initiated by him. ¡°That¡¯s the end? Qiao wasn¡¯t targeted?¡± Chu Yan, who was sitting in the back, widened his eyes, feeling extremely inconceivable. Yuan Xiu glanced at him and replied, ¡°I think you watched too many TV dramas. In this case, it¡¯s rather rude to target him so blatantly. They would only show how ruthless and unfriendly they are, while they¡¯re going to study here. That¡¯s just asking for a beating.¡± Chu Yan felt Yuan Xiu¡¯s reasoning was solid. But then, he glared at Yuan Xiu, ¡®Hey! Isn¡¯t he just despising my IQ level! Looking for death!!¡¯ Qiao Zhiya tried to maintain a normal expression and sat down. But then, Chu Rong immediately held his hand. ¡®Huh?¡¯ Chu Rong raised his eyebrows, tightening his grip, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡®Is he familiar with that Jian boy?¡¯ ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± Qiao Zhiya lowered his voice, leaned closer to him, and continued, ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the spiritual power fluctuations in the hall. That Jian just noticed it too, and he¡¯s reminding me.¡± Chu Rong grabbed his shoulders and comforted him with a gentle pat. He touched the simulator on his ear, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just some spiritual stimulation waves. It¡¯s definitely the Xiang-Wei family, who was trying to trick Long Baorou. Let¡¯s just watch the show.¡± Then, the Marshal glanced at Jian with squinted eyes. This spiritual power stimulation wave has always existed since entering the lounge. Except for special circumstances like Qiao and spiritual power users above SS-level who can detect it, others couldn¡¯t feel it at all. This Jian, the son of the Imperial High Advisor, was quite odd in this aspect. The fluctuations on the simulator became stronger again, covering up that something was wrong. Qiao Zhiya froze for a moment, then looked up at Chu Rong. ¡®The Xiang-Wei family has some tricks to set up Long Baorou?¡¯ While he was wondering, Long Baorou, who had been sitting quietly all this time, suddenly stood up and walked towards An Leen, who was very honest today. With an uncontrollable expression on her face, she bent down and grabbed the necklace around her neck. Everyone was taken aback by her sudden movement, but An Leen immediately snatched the necklace back, glared at Long Baorou and said, ¡°What are you doing!¡± ¡°I respect you as the Imperial Princess, so I put up with it. I didn¡¯t expect you to have ulterior motives and want to hurt the relatives of our Federal Marshal! Let me ask you, what are you doing wearing this!¡± Long Baorou suddenly shouted, grabbing the necklace around her neck again. She tore it off forcefully and threw it on the ground, causing it to bounce with a shrill sound. During the movement, her fingernails scratched across An Leen¡¯s neck, leaving a deep red mark. As the necklace fell, it broke. The gemstone pendant on it fell off, and rolled to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s feet. Qiao Zhiya looked down, and immediately sensed something was wrong. He bent down to pick up the pendant, and with a light movement of his fingers, he easily squeezed away the supposedly hard gem, revealing a gray stone inside. He took out a small barrier from his spatial ring and put the gray stone in. Looking at Chu Rong, he frowned and explained, ¡°It¡¯s a radiation stone.¡± This stone was widely known, nicknamed as the ¡°Stone of Sin¡±. It¡¯s a highly illegal material, and especially dangerous to people who only awakened their spiritual power in under a year. In the past, this stone was secretly installed in the hospital by a terrorist organization, destroying the spiritual power of hundreds of babies born there. The impact was massive. He had been surrounded by Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power before, but he didn¡¯t notice the fluctuation of this stone. Chu Rong¡¯s expression worsened. He reached out to take the stone and inspect it over. Then, he glanced at the direction of the Xiang-Wei family with the corner of his eye. Throwing the stone to the ground, he coldly said, ¡°There are more than one hundred people present here. And amongst us, the only one who has awakened spiritual power for less than a year is my fianc¨¦, Qiao Zhiya. I think I am owed an explanation for this stone.¡± ¡°Fianc¨¦?¡± There was a burst of surprised questions in the hall. The President immediately turned to look at his daughter in shock. While Long Baorou, could only look at Chu Rong. She was full of anger. Now, she was stunned for a moment when she heard this declaration. Her expression went blank for a moment, before her anger erupted once again. She raised her voice and pointed at An Leen with extreme prejudice. ¡°An Leen! I thought you were joking when you said you are going to ¡®deal¡¯ with Qiao Zhiya! I didn¡¯t expect you to actually do it. How can you be so vicious in your pursue of Marshal Chu! Your jealous face is so ugly!¡± ¡°Baorou, what nonsense are you talking about! Apologize to the Princess!¡± The President was taken aback by her totally inappropriate accusation. He didn¡¯t understand why she suddenly broke out in public. He winked at Long Xuyang while drinking. Long Xuyang came back to his senses and stepped forward to pull Long Baorou. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± An Xei said suddenly, the smile on his face had disappeared long before Long Baorou treated An Leen rudely. He got up and walked to An Leen to face the crowd, and said calmly, ¡°Miss Long, may I take the liberty to ask, how did you find the radiation stone in An Leen¡¯s necklace?¡± This was indeed a good question. There were so many people present, and there were many people who were spiritually stronger than Long Baorou, and yet, no one suspected her. It was too strange to discover that there was something wrong with An Leen¡¯s necklace, including Qiao Zhiya who was targeted and hurt. Moreover, An Leen¡¯s shocked expression after seeing the radiation stone also clearly told everyone that she didn¡¯t know why there was such a thing in the necklace. Everyone couldn¡¯t help looking at Qiao Zhiya, who was sitting stupidly next to Chu Rong, with unclear meanings in their eyes. ¡®Maybe it wasn¡¯t the radiation stone, otherwise why didn¡¯t this Exoplanet Native boy feel it at all before? And his fiance status, when did this happen? Does An Leen know that Marshal Chu, whom she is pursuing in a high-profile way, likes a man?¡¯ The guests wondered. Chu Rong embraced Qiao Zhiya, who was obviously stunned by the word ¡°fianc¨¦¡±. He turned the youth around and hugged him in his arms to block his face from being seen by others. He stroked the back of his head soothingly, with a look of protecting his frightened lover. Gently, he also touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, as if he had insight into everyone¡¯s psychological shock. He explained it to the shocked guests: ¡°He has been under the protection of my spiritual power.¡± And thus, wasn¡¯t affected by the radiation stone. Everyone suddenly realized that, following Chu Rong¡¯s movements, all their attention fell on the spiritual power simulator with the Chu family emblem engraved on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. To actually bring a spiritual power simulator to a person who has awakened them¡­ was a very bold declaration. Wait, it seems that the two of them are wearing the same clothes? It¡¯s so obvious, why didn¡¯t they find this before? Faced with An Xei¡¯s questioning, Long Baorou¡¯s eyes suddenly froze for a moment. She then raised her hand and pressed her forehead, as if she didn¡¯t understand what was going on. She looked back and forth at the people around him, frowned, and tried to maintain her composure and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter everyone?¡± She obviously just finished her musical performance and left the stage, why was she suddenly standing here now? And why were the expressions of the people around her so strange? An Leen recovered from the double bombardment of radiation stone and Chu Rong¡¯s ¡°fianc¨¦¡±. She didn¡¯t have time to worry about when Chu Rong had an extra fianc¨¦. She only knew that if she was really convicted of ¡°attempting to harm the relatives of the Federal Marshal¡± , then her life is finished! ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She stood up, walked to An Xei, pointed to the necklace on the ground and the red mark on her neck, and said angrily, ¡°I want to ask you what¡¯s wrong! You arranged for someone to take me to buy this necklace! You encouraged me to speak out and intentionally distorted what you said about Mr. Qiao Zhiya, but now you are hitting me back. Long Baorou, if you like Marshal Chu, go after him. If you can¡¯t catch up, why bother to bully others! I admit I do like Marshal Chu, but I never did something horrid as hurting his beloved or purposefully making a ¡®rival in love¡¯! Long Baorou, you want to use me to hurt Mr. Qiao Zhiya, and kill two birds with one stone! You¡¯re a horrible human being!!¡± After speaking, she turned and faced the President frankly. She held up her skirt and performed an elegant Imperial Lady¡¯s salute, straightened her back, raised her chin, and said proudly, ¡°Your Excellency, I, An Leen, wasn¡¯t the mastermind of this conspiracy. You can check the origin of the necklace. Regarding your daughter¡¯s slander today, I hope to get an explanation as soon as possible.¡± Then, without giving the President time to react, she walked in front of Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya, and bent down to give Qiao Zhiya, who was still being held by Chu Rong, a sincere-sounding blessing. ¡°I have caused trouble to you and Marshal Chu some time ago. I¡¯m sorry, please forgive this young girl¡¯s impulsiveness. I hope your relationship will be blessed henceforth.¡± Then, An Tyn walked to her side at the right time, supported her comfortingly, and nodded to Chu Rong. An Tyn greeted An Xei, while his sister, who showed a ¡°heartbroken but not losing her temper¡±, left early. He followed her, as if trying to comfort her. The protagonist of the incident walked away, and everyone¡¯s eyes fell on Long Baorou. Long Baorou finally realized that something was wrong, and looked back and forth between the crowd and the radiation stone on the ground. She was trying to explain her stance, but a sudden sharp pain hit her head, and she passed out immediately. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 63.1 ¡°baorou!¡± long xuyang¡¯s expression changed, and he hurriedly stepped forward to support her. seeing this, an xei frowned. unable to continue questioning, he greeted the president casually, and left directly with the empire¡¯s people. the banquet was completely messed up. the president¡¯s face sank, and he didn¡¯t even care about his daughter. he chased after prince an xeie out of the lounge with long ruizhang. seeing this, the other guests looked at each other for a few seconds. they saw that the elders of the xiang-wei family got up and prepared to leave one after another. meanwhile, those elders glanced vaguely at chu rong who was still hugging his ¡°fianc¨¦¡± to comfort him. the lounge became almost empty in a blink of an eye. chu rong was satisfied. he raised his hand and tugged at qiao zhiya¡¯s ear, and directly whispered, ¡°little coward, how long do you want to hide?¡± qiao zhiya had already fully cognizant ever since princess an leen came to apologize. however, because he was too embarrassed, his mind was filled with the word ¡°fianc¨¦¡± that he couldn¡¯t think of anything else. recalling the way chu rong said lightly before, his face blushed so hard that he couldn¡¯t bear it, so he kept hiding in chu rong¡¯s arms and pretended to be dead. at this time, it was obviously just a small movement of his ears being pulled, but he was like a rabbit whose tail was suddenly grabbed. his body shook violently in shock, and his ears jolted and stood up. he reflexively gripped on chu rong¡¯s clothes, while his body actually shrunk deeper into the marshal¡¯s embrace. his embarrassment was clearly written all over his body. chu rong let go of his hand in a good mood. he stopped pinching his ears, and hugged him instead. lowering his head, he kissed the top of qiao zhiya¡¯s fluffy blond hair as he murmured, ¡°it¡¯s time to go home. are you this clingy because you want me to carry you out?¡± ¡®go home? yes, yes, go home.¡¯ ¡®carry me? no, no, no, no carrying, no carrying! but if he let me go¡­ don¡¯t i have to face chu rong if he lets me go?¡¯ ¡®no, no! no!¡¯ qiao zhiya stared wide-eyed at the buttons made of ink jade in front of him, and focused on it hard until his eyes gradually lost focus. he even almost became cross-eyed. seeing that the youth¡¯s soul was about to leave his body again because of sheer embarrassment, chu rong¡¯s voice rang again above his head, shocking him out of stupor. ¡°then i¡¯ll kiss you.¡± the youth¡¯s chin was tilted up suddenly, then a shadow fell on his sight. something soft was pressed against his lips, and then¡­ it was lightly rubbed. ¡°badump¨C!!¡± the magic power in qiao zhiya¡¯s body boiled and spread around. his eyes widened, looking at chu rong¡¯s deep eyes that were a little too close. as his eyelashes trembled, the focus of his eyes slowly fell on a strand of bangs that fell down from chu rong¡¯s slicked hair. chu rong backed away, and kissed the youth¡¯s eyelid again. he saw that the ink jade buttons on his clothes quickly faded to gray, so he stopped teasing qiao zhiya. instead, he got up, hugged him directly, and said, ¡°don¡¯t let your power go around. close your eyes.¡± qiao zhiya made a small sound and closed his eyes. as his strength recovered, his body completely softened and he collapsed completely into chu rong¡¯s arms. ¡°i¡¯m too dizzy. don¡¯t talk to me.¡± ¡°your eyes are still moving,¡± chu rong couldn¡¯t help but tease the youth again. qiao zhiya, who was blushing like mad, froze. his expression smoothened, but his trembling eyelashes betrayed his calm facade. he turned his head and hid his face in chu rong¡¯s body. the other three members of the chu family had already leaned over, smiled tacitly when they saw this. then they all turned over, leaving these two in their two-person world. chu yan was a little not reconciled. he wanted to stay and continue watching the fun, but was dragged away by chu huai. at this time, there were only a few waiters left in the hall, and all the guests had dispersed. chu rong walked out with his freshly baked ¡°fianc¨¦¡± in his arms without any psychological pressure, and took the special elevator in the corner to go down to the empty basement floor. there, he went to a special passage before he took out his hover car. qiao zhiya was being carried into the car. along the way, he continued to pretend to be dead. after they arrived, chu rong took him straight back to chu rong¡¯s bedroom. ¡°i need to leave for a while to discuss something with dage. you can take advantage of this time to calm down,¡± chu rong sat on the edge of the bed, brushed qiao zhiya¡¯s loose bangs, and looked at the restless eyes under his eyelids. with a hooked lips, chu rong suddenly bent down and whispered to qiao zhiya¡¯s ear, ¡°open your eyes.¡± qiao zhiya was used to being obedient. he opened his eyes in a flash when chu rong asked him to. but hurriedly tried to close them after he realized it. chu rong gave a low laugh and leaned closer. first, he kissed qiao zhiya¡¯s tightly closed eyes again, then slowly moved down, kissing the youth¡¯s lips. in a low voice, he continued, ¡°wait for me to come back.¡± after that, he patted qiao zhiya¡¯s face and left. ¡°bang!¡± as the door shut, qiao zhiya sat up from the bed with a swish, blushing and dizzy. then, he got out of bed, biting his fingers as he circled around the room. ¡®chu rong kissed me. the white-haired monster kissed me. we kissed!!¡¯ ¡®first my eyes, then¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya¡¯s hand subconsciously pressed his lips that still felt that ambiguous touch. his expression was blank for a moment, and his steps slowly stopped. then he withdrew his hand as if he had been burned, and walked faster in circles. ¡®no, no, this is wrong, how could chu rong kiss me, how could he? we kissed? this won¡¯t work, not at all¡­ could it be that the white-haired monster likes me? otherwise¡­ otherwise why would he kiss, kiss¡­¡¯ his face was hot again. he rushed into the bathroom with his ears straightened, and put his head under the faucet. sensing the temperature of the human body, the faucet starts to automatically discharge water. the water that came out first was at a constant temperature, and it seemed to make his head even hotter. he was stunned again, and his thoughts disappeared for a while. then, as if he suddenly woke up, he pursed his lips and adjusted the temperature, so that it was cold water that hit his head. ten minutes later, he came out of the bathroom with a numb mind. regardless of his dripping hair and wet suit, he knelt down on the floor and began to draw the bloodline traction magic circle. when the magic circle was about to take shape, he stuffed his hand into his mouth and wanted to bite his finger to squeeze some blood. suddenly, the image of chu rong scolding him for hurting himself flashed across his mind. taking out his fingers, he pulled out only one hair and put it in the formation. the formation was lit up. this bloodline traction magic formation was drawn with high-level magic power and was stronger and more durable than the previous ones. he looked at the hair twirling around, feeling shy and anxious. he leaned over and asked in a low voice, ¡°mom, dad, can i¡­ can i find a partner?¡± then, the hair ignited without fire and turned into ashes. ¡°s-so¡­ you agreed, right? right?¡± he asked in a softer voice. his body almost lying on the floor, eyes moist, shy and expectant. the formation has disappeared, as it couldn¡¯t give him an answer. only a pinch of ashes on the ground silently greeted him. ¡°i-i¡¯ll take it as if you agreed,¡± he said carefully to the ashes. then, as if he was ashamed of himself, he turned his head and reached out to wipe the ashes away to destroy the evidence. he got up with twinkling eyes, climbed onto the bed as if sleepwalking, folded his hands on his stomach and lay down neatly. finally, he closed his eyes peacefully. ¡®fianc¨¦¡­¡¯ he sat up in a panic, jumped up again with his head smoking. circling around the room, he bit his fingers nervously. ¡®why, how did i become his fianc¨¦? does ch-chu rong say that he likes me? could it be that imisunderstood? after all, we didn¡¯t do much before¡­¡¯ the image of chu rong taking the initiative to hug him out of the car and hold his hand as he walked suddenly flashed in his mind. he stopped abruptly, raised his hand and grabbed his ear. ¡®so, if chu rong is really ha-happy¡­ then i am happy too. happy to be chu rong¡¯s¡­¡¯ as if a huge tinnitus exploded in his head, he quickly withdrew his hand. covering his wet and messy hair, he ran to the lab. after discussing the situation and various arrangements with chu huai, chu rong went back to the room in a good mood. he made sure his movements were light when entering the door, thinking that qiao zhiya was so shy, and now he might have fallen asleep in self-avoidance. ¡­but there was no one on the bed. the bathroom door was open. there was a puddle of water on the ground, with many water-stained footprints beside it, as if someone had walked through the room violently. the sheets and pillows were all wet, with wet hair strands on it. there was also a faint wet silhouette of a boy lying down on it. the smile on chu rong¡¯s face disappeared. he frowned and walked around the room with a black face, then turned and walked towards the laboratory. ¡°bang bang bang, bang bang bang, bang bang bang.¡± there was a busy scene in the laboratory. qiao zhiya took out his homemade forging table, disassembled and assembled parts as he forged weapons. sometimes, he even broke some ores. he was so busy that he was sweating profusely. his body was dry, but the hair on the back of his head was still wet, sticking to the head in strands, which looked very funny. the suit was wrinkled and covered with ore dust. the sweat and dust were mixed on his white face, and there were faint lines of them being wiped off. the bald chicken turned himself into a fugitive in the blink of an eye. the veins popped on chu rong¡¯s forehead, and he asked coldly, ¡°what are you doing?¡± ¡°bang! crackle!¡± qiao zhiya was taken for a surprise. the small hammer on his hand flew out, hitting the forging table, punting the parts away. those parts flew and landed on another table, rolled around, and finally scattered around on the floor. frightened by this series of sounds, his ears stood on end. he turned his head and glanced at chu rong who appeared at the door at some time. seeing that his face was as deep and imposing, he looked around shyly and helplessly. he buried his head and ran over to pick up the hammer and held it in his hand, then stood there with his head bowed, stuttering for a long time without saying a complete word. ¡®¡­obviously frightened.¡¯ chu rong frowned even tighter. he stepped forward and touched his messy hair. seeing that qiao zhiya was shaking in shock, his hands paused, angry and distressed in his heart. he immediately picked the youth up, and carried him to his room. ¡°why are you panicking, do you think i¡¯ll eat you?¡± ¡°yes, i¡¯m sorry.¡± qiao zhiya finally found his voice and apologized immediately. he stretched out his arms and hugged him tightly, his mind was still a little confused, so he stammered, ¡°y-you¡­ don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t be angry. i was¡­ i was wrong¡­¡± ¡®sure enough, he¡¯s shocked stupid.¡¯ chu rong didn¡¯t verbally answer him. he raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head, went back to his room and put him in the bathroom. glancing at the hammer the youth was still holding firmly in his hand, as he reached to take off his crumpled suit, he ordered, ¡°put away the hammer.¡± ¡°huh? uh, uh.¡± qiao zhiya lowered his head and put away the hammer. staring straight at chu rong¡¯s hand unbuttoning his coat, he became absent-minded as he couldn¡¯t process this shocking visual information. when he realized what was happening, he grabbed chu rong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°i-i unbutton myself. you¡­ you first. get out.¡± chu rong immediately held his hand back, frowned, and asked, ¡°are you sure you can do it?¡± ¡°y-yes,¡± qiao zhiya lowered his head, not daring to look at him, and pushed him away sullenly, as his face began to blush again. chu rong remembered how he looked just now, and didn¡¯t dare to tease him anymore. he slowed down his voice and gave a few instructions, then walked out and thoughtfully helped him close the door. but instead of leaving, he leaned on the outer wall and listened to the movement inside. after the rustling sound of undressing, the sound of water echoed, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground. then a small exclamation came, the sound of water stopped, and then it continued to sound after a while. ¡®he must¡¯ve knocked off the toiletries.¡¯ ¡®really stupid.¡¯ chu rong¡¯s brows loosened. looking down, he found his hand, which had held qiao zhiya¡¯s hand for this day. with a low snort, he felt better again. qiao zhiya took a long hour to wash in the shower. he was extra careful when he opened the door, so he poked his head out to have a look. seeing that there was no one in the room, he let out a sigh of relief, and walked to the bed. apparently, the bedding has been changed. remembering his stupid behavior of lying on the bed with wet hair before, he blushed as silently lifted the quilt and got in. after doing some strenuous work and taking another hot shower, his broken and chaotic emotions finally calmed down a little. he stared stupidly at chu rong¡¯s coat suit on the bedside table for a few seconds, and his eyes fell on the now-gray ink jade button. shyly buried his head in the quilt, he closed his eyes in self-deception. ¡®let¡¯s sleep for now. when i wake up tomorrow¡­ maybe i¡¯ll know whether or not today is a dream.¡¯ CH 63.2 chu rong sat in the study, waiting for a green signal from the breathing sensor connected to the bedroom before getting up and going back to the room. sure enough, qiao zhiya had already fallen asleep with the quilt rolled up, and he was still holding his coat suit in his arms. judging from his movement, it should be that he smelled a familiar scent when he was drowsy, so he stretched out his arms and fumbled for the coat. ¡°coward.¡± chu rong bent down and touched his hair, carefully pulled out his coat, and covered him with the quilt. he looked at his sleeping face up close for a while, lowered his head, and kissed his forehead¡­ before kissing him on the lips, lightly. the sleeping person noticed his harassment. he muttered something, then buried his face deeper in the quilt. he curled up his mouth. he looked at qiao zhiya quietly as the youth dozed off deeper into his dreams. then, he took his pajamas and walked towards the bathroom. in qiao zhiya¡¯s dream, his body felt like it was pulled into a familiar embrace. his subconscious decided that this felt safe, so it relaxed and fell into a deeper state of sleep. some vague images emerged from the depths of his mind, as if at some point, he happily embraced the person beside him who subconsciously wanted to rely and trust. he instinctively expressed his love with kisses. ¡®i like him¡­ just as dad likes mom¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya curled eyelashes trembled, and then his eyes slowly opened. his body was nestled in a familiar embrace, in a posture he used to have before. ¡°are you awake?¡± his long ear was pinched lightly. a dear voice sounded above his head, and then a soft touch flashed on his ear. his body was hugged tightly and then released. as qiao zhiya started to wake up, he moved on auto-pilot. ¡°when you wake up, go wash up, you should eat¡ª¡± hearing this, his drowsiness quickly faded. he stretched out his arms to hug the half-up man, moved his body to lean half of his upper body against his chest. he then tilted his head, and put his ears against chu rong¡¯s chest. he muttered, ¡°chu rong, do you like me?¡± the hugged body froze, and then slowly lay back. the other party¡¯s impatience was clear, but he reined it in. he asked, ¡°what do you say?¡± ¡®since he doesn¡¯t refute it, then chu rong must like me.¡¯ it turned out, qiao zhiya was so lucky to be liked by a person who looked fierce on the outside, but very gentle on the inside¡­ it was great. (qzy: being liked by a tsundere is an achievement.) his ears twitched happily. qiao zhiya held chu rong closer, burying his body as if he didn¡¯t want to part with the taller man. ¡°then, can i like you? i will be good for you.¡± ¡°badump, badump, badump.¡± clear sound of heartbeats was picked up by qiao zhiya¡¯s ears. it was speeding up, but the owner of the heartbeat seemed to be suddenly angry. he stretched out his arms and pulled him down, sat up, and said coldly, ¡°don¡¯t act like a baby in the morning! get up and have breakfast.¡± he sat up passively, looked up at chu rong who was frowning, joy rose little by little until it filled his chest. ¡°you can¡¯t scare me anymore,¡± a grin eased off his face, and it slowly morphed into a big smile. he rushed to hug chu rong, rubbing his face and body against the white-haired man¡¯s shoulder and neck. ¡°you like me, i know. the white-haired monster likes me!¡± chu rong was thrown by him and almost fell on the bed again, and when he heard this, he pressed him into his arms in anger, rubbed the back of his head vigorously, and said, ¡°shut up, it¡¯s time to get up.¡± ¡°i don¡¯t want to get up!¡± qiao zhiya climbed onto him, and hugged him in that position with rare willfulness. his ears were happily moving. ¡°i will hunt a lot of food for you. i will¡­ i will make you a lot of beautiful gadgets, dig a lot of useful mines, and build you the largest and most comfortable tree house! white-haired monster, i will treat you very well! just like dad treats mom!¡± the simple youth who talked about love became even more beautiful, and chu rong¡¯s heart was tickled by him. it got to a point that he actually blushed, so he pressed qiao zhiya even more closely into his body, preventing him from looking up and seeing his expression. he felt that qiao zhiya was going to continue making him blush, so he wrapped the youth up in a quilt, and said in a hoarse voice: ¡°shut up, these are the things that i should do.¡± ¡°i won¡¯t shut up. white-haired monster, you like me. i know you like me!¡± qiao zhiya struggled under the quilt. like a child with sugar-rush, he went crazy with joy. chu rong violently suppressed him, and even spanked his buttocks through the quilt. qiao zhiya, who was hit, simply laughed under the quilt, happily arching around, unable to calm down for a moment. since he was restrained in a quilt burrito, he could only bow his head and laugh to express his joy. his ears also moved happily, honest like its owner. chu rong listened to his laughter through the quilt, his expression gradually softened, as a smile appeared on his lips. he lowered his head close to where the youth¡¯s head was, rubbed it lightly, and said in a slow voice, ¡°yes, i like you.¡± ¨Cand if he was to be honest, he didn¡¯t know when he started to love qiao zhiya. the laughter in the quilt stopped. qiao zhiya slowly calmed down, and obediently leaned against him. ¡®this is really a super good summer morning,¡¯ they thought in unison in their hearts, and their eyes were full of tenderness and joy. in the dining room, chu yan gnawed on the steamed stuffed bun and glanced sneakily at the direction of chu rong¡¯s room, muttering, ¡°erge and qiao haven¡¯t woken up yet, could it be¡­ ah!¡± chu huai flicked his forehead. then, he withdrew his hand and used his chopsticks to point at him, warning him. ¡°qiao is thin-skinned, do you know what to do?¡± chu yan covered his forehead. he only looked at chu huai, dared not to speak against him. he only silently nodded, then gnawed on his bun even harder. ¡®ahhh! i want to run away from home today!! i must go!!¡¯ ¡°for now, stay at home honestly. don¡¯t go out and wander about. long baorou¡¯s affairs with princess an leen are not over yet, don¡¯t go out to get involved.¡± chu huai knew that his skin was itchy again when he saw his expression, so he warned him again. chu yan had a mouthful of steamed stuffed bun stuck in his throat, choking until his face was red and his neck was thick. fortunately, gu yan¡¯an gave him a glass of water in time to avoid his almost-death by choking. ¡°why don¡¯t they finish their business, are they going to make a fuss?¡± as soon as the bun was swallowed, chu yan came to life again. his attention was immediately diverted, and he asked, full of gossip. seeing this, chu huai gave him a disgusted look, but still explained it to him: ¡°long baorou woke up after only fainting for a while yesterday. after an leen found out, she decided that she was pretending to be dizzy because of a guilty conscience, and asked to investigate the necklace in detail. the investigation really found long baorou¡¯s trace on that necklace. radiation stones are a forbidden item, and there are only a few channels that actually sell them. no matter how careful long baorou¡¯s arrangement is, with the xiang-wei family fanning the flame, she was still found out.¡± ¡°then the federation is bleeding a lot this time?¡± chu yan felt unhappy again. it¡¯s a good thing that long baorou was hit by this, but she has a special status ¨C her father still represents the federation. if she lowered the dignity of the federation in front of the empire because of her own hubris, it would be a rotten thing. the president¡¯s daughter framed the visiting imperial princess. if the news spread, the federation would definitely be slaughtered by the empire! ¡°don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not that bad. long baorou won¡¯t be so stupid as to admit it. she should have found out that she has been tricked by the xiang-wei families long ago. now as long as she makes someone bear the blame, it will be impossible for the empire to identify her as guilty, because the evidence found is not conclusive enough. in this regard, the xiang-wei families still have a sense of proportion. moreover, the current situation of the empire should not be very good because of the old emperor¡¯s poor health. they want steadiness, and not be too aggressive. in short, this matter will definitely become a third party¡¯s fault in the end, so it will casted aside and be tied up neatly in the end. the true masterminds will continue to persist in the dark.¡± chu yan¡¯s expression told chu huai that he was deep in thought. he stretched out his hand again and said, ¡°this time, the involved parties are the presidential palace, prince an xei, and the xiang-wei elders. the president definitely wants someone to bear the fire aimed towards them, so they will be extra eager to drag uninvolved parties to the mud. don¡¯t mess with them.¡± ¡°i won¡¯t, i won¡¯t!¡± chu yan hurriedly covered his forehead and hid, suppressing his ¡°nefarious plan¡±. he picked up another bun to look honest, but then, he leaned over and asked, ¡°dage, then this means¡­ the xiang-wei families really broke ties with the president.¡± chu huai couldn¡¯t do anything about him. he nodded and replied, ¡°they did. the xiang-wei families¡¯ involvement was very obvious. once this incident is over, not only most of the federal families won¡¯t dare to ally with the president, even the empire will think twice about it. the nature of what long baorou did this time is too bad.¡± she was daring enough to target an imperial princess, even using a very dangerous radiation stone. this kind of lawlessness and viciousness, who would dare to ally themselves with someone like this? the xiang-wei¡¯s plan was really ruthless. using long baorou as their borrowed knife, they made sure the presidential faction offended both the chu family and the empire, cutting any possibility for them to ally in the future. plus, if qiao zhiya was really harmed, the chu family would be weakened. however, the remaining ning family who had nothing to do with them still had a little relationship with princess an leen ¨C that is, through ning kong¡¯an ¨C which directly isolated the president. the president is now the grasshopper roasted on the fire, and the only way out is to continue to go back and be a puppet for the xiang-wei families. sooner or later, his career would be dead. chu yan also quickly figured out the twists and turns inside. he couldn¡¯t help but gloat twice, and said happily, ¡°let that long baorou play tricks again, she deserves it!¡± CH 63.3 sorry for the late update, i was rather busy this week. long baorou: the president¡¯s daughter. long xuyang: long baorou¡¯s younger brother. the president¡¯s youngest child. =the empire= an leen: imperial princess. an tyn: imperial prince, an leen¡¯s twin brother. an lita aka ning kong¡¯an: the emperor¡¯s nephew, born from prince an xei and ning kongran¡¯s aunt. studies pharmacy. an xei: the emperor¡¯s younger brother. a prince and a scholar. charmmi: the imperial royal mecha master brendan¡¯s granddaughter. studies mecha manufacturing. jian: the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. jexiu: neitaxi¡¯s son, studying mecha piloting. when qiao zhiya walked out of the room blushing, chu huai, his wife and chu yan had already gone out. after that chu rong stepped out and grabbed him by the collar. he brought the blond youth to the dining room. ¡°remember to drink some medicine after breakfast. you were drenched last night. avoid catching cold.¡± ¡°yes,¡± qiao zhiya replied as he was being obedient in chu rong¡¯s arms. he was still rather shy though, not daring to look directly at chu rong. seeing this, chu rong gently stretched out a finger to scratch his neck. that pair of ears were twitching as his neck was tickled, while the youth himself was staring at him with widened eyes. this reaction satisfied chu rong, so he withdrew his adventurous fingers. but then, he carried qiao zhiya up. if anything, this worsened qiao zhiya¡¯s blush. he knew that he couldn¡¯t move around much, so he slung his arm over chu rong¡¯s neck while his head rested upon the marshal¡¯s shoulder. after breakfast, chu rong went to the military headquarters, and qiao zhiya reluctantly accompanied him until he boarded his hover car. stunned in place, he was still touching his forehead that had been kissed just now. even when he walked to his room, he was still blushing. in his room, he took out his starnet helmet and put it on ¡ª the entrance exam for the federal military academy was near, so he had to ask for a leave again. after the usual class time had passed, qiao zhiya first apologized to the bearded teacher. then brought up the need to ask for leave to take the exam. ¡°okay, i¡¯ll give you a few more days off. you don¡¯t have to come to class until the entrance exam is over. i don¡¯t want to distract you,¡± the bearded teacher waved his hands very eloquently, and seemed to be in a good mood. seeing this, qiao zhiya was a little curious, and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°laoshi, did something good happen to you?¡± ¡®otherwise, why would you be so happy?¡¯ he inwardly wondered. ¡°is it so obvious?¡± the bearded man restrained his expression a little, but found out that he couldn¡¯t. so he simply stopped covering up and said happily, ¡°it¡¯s not a big deal, it¡¯s just that the son of one of my students finally found their significant other¡­ this solved a worry of mine, and now only luo li is left¡­ by the way, meissen, how old are you? are you an adult?¡± was his old id, but the teacher only knew him by this name, so he was called by this. ¡°i¡¯m 18 years old, already an adult.¡± he answered honestly. the bearded man nodded. his tone was earnest. ¡°since you are an adult, you should start to search for your future partner. don¡¯t be too indifferent. if you do, you won¡¯t have a candidate when it¡¯s time for you to start a family. ah¡­ you know, i really want to hold my grandchild1not really blood-related, but more like luo li¡¯s child. the teacher doesn¡¯t consider luo li his ¡°adopted son¡±, but since he¡¯s his direct disciple, there¡¯s a relation in this angle. this is the norm in those cultivation sects, for reference., but i can¡¯t.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s mind flashed the word ¡°fiance¡± that chu rong said last night, making him flushed red. in a shy whisper, he stuttered out his reply, ¡°laoshi, i-i¡­ already¡­ ha-have a p partner.¡± ¡°hmm¡­. huh?¡± the bearded man stopped stroking his beard. he leaned over and asked eagerly, ¡°you have already got a date? so early?¡± qiao zhiya was even embarrassed further by his question, but he still answered, ¡°w-we just con¡­confirmed the relationship. he¡¯s2he uses Ëû ¡°t¨¡¡± which is indistinguishable from Ëý. the former is masculine/gender-neutral, the later is feminine. much older than me, so it¡¯s not¡­ that early for him.¡± ¡°much older?¡± the bearded man looked him up and down, guessing that his student should be dating an older man ¨C in his eyes, it seemed less likely his student would be dating a woman. ¡°just get along well, and bring him to meet me when you have a chance. it¡¯s better for you to worry about it, unlike your senior brother. be it boy or girl, it doesn¡¯t matter who you¡¯re dating, but your senior brother¡­ he just won¡¯t look for a date at all. regardless, all you need to focus on is preparing for your exam. don¡¯t forget to get adequate rest; don¡¯t let overexhaustion be the factor that fails your exam.¡± qiao zhiya was so ashamed that he just wanted to run away, so retreat he did. he hurriedly said goodbye and went offline, lying on the bed as he waited for the heat on his face to subside. he was simply far too shy to introduce chu rong as his ¡°boyfriend¡±. he never introduced such an intimate relationship to anyone. one day before the entrance examination, the investigation results of the radiation stone incident came out. it was concluded that someone controlled long baorou¡¯s spiritual power, deliberately guided her thoughts, and induced her to do some irrational things. the motive was to ruin the friendly relationship between the two civilizations. in the end, various clues pointed out that this conspiracy was carried out by a new reactionary force that infiltrated the presidential palace. because her spiritual power was controlled, long baorou¡¯s spiritual sea was damaged, and she needed to recuperate to another planet for a while. after princess an leen learned the truth, she went to visit long baorou in person. she generously forgave her previous rude behavior, and the two settled their suspicions. prince an xei also said that he no longer cared about this matter, and had a simple conversation with the president on behalf of friendship. from the occurrence of this matter to its resolution, and then to the official explanation, all the news was locked in the upper layers of the federation and did not flow out. so the public only knew that marshal chu suddenly announced his love affair at this welcome banquet, and his fiance was the exoplanet native boy he rescued. after learning about this incident, long baorou, who has always had a crush on marshal chu, was overly sad and decided to go to other planets to heal her wounds. princess an leen, who had previously pursued marshal chu in a high-profile manner, generously sent her blessings, stabilizing the demeanor that a princess should have. the rumors of the marriage dissipated immediately, and another rumor about long baorou slowly emerged. the danger that chu yan and qiao zhiya encountered during the festival was brought up again. an anonymous account came out to swear that the incident was actually designed by long baorou to hurt qiao zhiya. she saw marshal chu¡¯s feelings for qiao zhiya, and wanted to kill off that relationship. however, not only she failed to do so, it actually progressed their relationship and led it to become public. in a manner of speaking, long baorous ¡°healing her wounds¡± was actually her running away because she was afraid being retaliated by marshal chu who knew the truth. the public was skeptical about the official explanation at the beginning. but now that the rumors came out, combined with the details that chu rong immediately took over the security protection team with a high profile and replaced long ruizhang after chu yan¡¯s team had an accident, they believed it almost immediately. this statement showed contempt for long baorou¡¯s behavior. love was such a beautiful thing. as the president¡¯s daughter, long baorou would be fine if she didn¡¯t set a good example and acted irrationally. however, she used such a sinister method to ¡°clean up¡± a pure, naive exoplanet native boy who just reached adulthood. she was simply too evil! at the same time, they recalled the rumors that marshal chu had secretly fallen in love with long baorou, but because his spiritual strength was polluted, he felt inferior and dared not approach her. the netizens sneered, hating that they were fooled by such rumors. to vent their anger, they ran to the forum to whip the corpses. [marshal chu likes boys, and yet you¡¯re brave enough to say he has a crush on you! ptooey! don¡¯t think so highly of yourself!] then, the public¡¯s eyes fell on chu rong and qiao zhiya, a newly public couple. there was a weird silence for a while, and then they all turned over the live broadcast at that time. [although the age difference was a bit big¡­ but this interaction! marshal chu¡¯s gentle eyes! the native cutie looked so dependent! the romantic encounter between the two could be called the prince saving the ¡°princess¡±!] [were us blind at the beginning? why couldn¡¯t we see the sparks of love between these two! marshal chu¡¯s fondness for the boy was so obvious!] [yes, yes, marshal chu, who looks like an evil god, needs a soft, cute and innocent boy like him to match. they simply looked like a match made in heaven!] overall, the netizens were very much enthusiastically accepting this couple. in contrast, an leen was very depressed, but there was nothing she could do about it. ¡°ge¡­¡± she looked at an tyn, who was sitting by the bed, her face had a hint of grievance. she asked in a low voice, ¡°marriage is no longer possible, what should i do now?¡± an tyn recovered from his contemplation, raised his hand, and gently patted her face. ¡°it¡¯s okay, i¡¯ve wronged you this time. since we can¡¯t win over the chu family, then i¡¯ll just change to another one.¡± an leen froze. she tightened her hands on the hem of her skirt, lowered her head, and asked with a choked voice, ¡°change to which one?¡± seeing her compromise and reluctance, an tyn stood up. he hugged her and patted her back comfortingly. ¡°i haven¡¯t decided yet. but, you don¡¯t need to sacrifice yourself this time. all you need to do is study well at school, leave everything else to me, okay?¡± an leen¡¯s tense body relaxed, her nose sore, and finally, she regained the feeling that she could rely on her brother wholeheartedly. she raised her arms to hug him back, and said with a choked voice, ¡°i can help you. i will help you, ge. don¡¯t tire yourself.¡± ¡°i¡¯m not tired,¡± an tyn lowered his head. his hazy eyes then immediately became firm. in an equally low whisper, he replied, ¡°shh¡­ our lives will be better. even if one thread is cut, another one can still be spun. there will always be another way.¡± ¨Cas long as their father was not dead, there was still a chance. an leen nodded, and tightened her hug. the next day was the day of the entrance examination. chu rong took the time to send the two youths to the school. ¡°don¡¯t run around after the test, i¡¯ll wait for you outside,¡± chu rong instructed, reaching out to help qiao zhiya straighten his bangs. qiao zhiya blushed, tilted his head and nuzzled his palm. chu yan was very tired of being the third-wheel, so he agreed very perfunctorily, and got out of the car first ¨C recently this family has become more unbearable. ¡°the-then i¡¯ll go down too.¡± qiao zhiya withdrew his head back, looked up at chu rong¡¯s face, and quickly moved away. even after a few days, he still couldn¡¯t look at chu rong naturally for a long time. knowing that he was shy, chu rong didn¡¯t tease him. as he reached out to pinched his reddened ears, he said, ¡°go.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s feet quickly retracted as soon as he stepped out. gathering up his courage, he turned around¨C giving chu rong a hug, and a peck in the cheek. after that, he quickly got out of the car. he then dragged chu yan, who was waiting outside, towards the academy¡¯s gate. chu rong was taken aback by the kiss. absent-mindedly, he touched his cheek. then, he closed the car door with a slight smile on his lips. there were many students and parents coming and going at the door, and those who recognized the black hover car were all watching curiously from afar, all with a glint of gossip in their eyes. at first, when only chu yan got out of the car alone, they thought that the two subjects of the gossip were not in the car. but then, after a while, a beautiful boy with a red face jumped out of the car in a hurry. they all understood ¨C the two of them weren¡¯t absent, but had such a good relationship that they needed to be alone for a while. the car door closed slowly, and after seeing a pair of vaguely long legs, they became more and more sure of their guess. when they saw that the black car did not leave, but waited around the corner outside the school gate, their hearts burst out in pink bubbles ¨C the marshal was definitely waiting for his fiance to finish his exam! they never expected that marshal chu, who seemed to have a bad temper and a short patience, would be so considerate when it comes to love¡­ but speaking of it this way, when will marshal chu plan to hold an engagement banquet with that exoplanet native boy? the gate of the federal military academy was very majestic, more than three times larger than the intermediate academy. the students walking among them look more mature and taller, all of them have long legs. qiao zhiya was not tall and had a tender face. he was like a lost teenager mistakenly walking into the world of grown-ups. a year later, chu yan, who was only half a head taller than qiao zhiya back then, was already a head taller than him. he was about the same height as chu rong, but his body was thinner. qiao zhiya was both gratified and depressed about this. ¡°everyone is so tall¡­¡± after entering the campus, qiao zhiya gradually pulled away from his shyness. he glanced at chu yan next to him, and then at the test-takers. his ears flattened. as a dwarf-elf mixed child, he actually knew that his parents had expectations for his height. but later this expectation was completely washed away by his inability to cultivate magic power. later, his parents saw that he exhibited more of his dwarven heritage, so they simply took him back to live in a dwarven village, where he was the tallest among the dwarves. in so, although he had no magic power, he never felt inferior compared to his peers. he has always been proud of his bloodlines and felt that he was an undeniable proof of his parents¡¯ love. in fact, before him, there has never been a dwarf-elf couple who gave birth to an offspring. after coming to this strange world, he has always thought this way, so he has never felt inferior because of his height. but now that he has established a relationship with chu rong, he suddenly feels inferior. chu rong was so good ¨C compared to him, he seemed too weak. chu yan was keenly aware of his negative thinking, and hurriedly raised his arms to put them on his shoulders to distract him and cheer him up. ¡°what¡¯s the use of being tall? i¡¯m taller than you, but i¡¯m not as strong as you. not only can you run faster, you can also make very powerful weapons. dage once said that i grew so fast that i keep needing new clothes, which is just a waste of fabrics and money. i think you are doing well, and erge likes you very much. he always wants to hug you.¡± ¡°xiao yan¡­¡± qiao zhiya blushed at chu yan¡¯s last remark. he waved his hands in front of him, preventing him from continuing to say something embarrassing. ¡°it¡¯s the truth¡­ oh well, okay, okay. i¡¯m not talking anymore. otherwise, if erge finds out, he¡¯ll drag me to another ¡®sparring session¡¯.¡± chu yan deliberately made fun of himself. they arrived at a perfect time. when they entered the inspection hall, the exchange students from the empire had just finished their aptitude inspections, which caused some commotion. ¡°that jian actually has ss-level spiritual power! with such heaven-defying aptitude, he actually went to study history! what a waste!¡± several students huddled together, commenting at the big screen in the hall, which displayed the result of the aptitude test. ¡°that princess an leen who pursued marshal chu actually has an s-level spiritual aptitude, just like her brother. it¡¯s unbelievable,¡± another female student couldn¡¯t help sighing, as if she couldn¡¯t accept this fact. CH 64.1 chu yan and qiao zhiya turned their heads sideways once they heard the content of the commotions. following others¡¯ gaze, their eyes also landed on the big screen. this group of students from the empire should have been carefully selected, and their spiritual aptitudes were all minimum at s-level, and the unique jian, the history major, was even more outstanding ¨C he was actually ss-level! in terms of physique, jexiu was the best, being s-level; followed by an tyn, ning kong¡¯an and charmmi, being a-level. princess an leen had a b-level physique, while jian had the lowest, being d-level. ¡°b-level was basically the lower limit of having a healthy constitution. that jian guy doesn¡¯t seem to be in good health,¡± chu yan commented. in the distance, he saw the imperial exchange students coming in with long xuyang as their guide. he patted qiao zhiya on the shoulder, and said, ¡°let¡¯s go and avoid them. erge is still waiting for us, so it¡¯s not good to get entangled with them.¡± qiao zhiya nodded, turning sideways to avoid them. but while they wanted to avoid each other, the other party greeted them immediately after seeing them. ¡°chu yan!¡± the one who shouted first was the serious-looking jexiu. he had the same short brown hair as his father, three-dimensional facial features, and brown eyes. at a first glance, he looked rather stern and fierce, not easy to get along with. his voice was relatively deep and rough. he didn¡¯t have to shout to have his booming voice heard clearly. he easily drew the attention of half of the people in the hall. chu yan and qiao zhiya stopped in their tracks. plus, everyone looked over, so it was impossible for them to pretend that they didn¡¯t see jexiu. relying on his height and long legs, jexiu approached them quickly. he had a serious expression on his face, as if he was here to find fault. qiao zhiya frowned, turned slightly to block chu yan, and prepared to deal with the most powerful general¡¯s son immediately in case a fight broke out. chu yan noticed his defensive posture. he quickly raised his hand to press his shoulder, and comforted him, ¡°don¡¯t be nervous, this guy should come to say hello. plus, there¡¯s so many people around us, he definitely isn¡¯t here to pick a fight.¡± he saw jexiu, who was standing two steps away, and greeted with a smile, ¡°hello. is there anything that mr. jexiu need from me?¡± chu yan¡¯s facial features were very good-looking. his smile was very hearty and pleasing, and his attitude was very polite and friendly, making it impossible to find fault. however, jexiu¡¯s brows actually tightened further. he replied in a firm tone, ¡°last time during our competition, i know you take it easy on me. next time, i will beat you fair and square.¡± with his declaration, the expressions of prince an tyn and his entourage became unsightly . ¡ª¡ªthere are so many people in the hall, and yet, jexiu said in public that chu yan went easy on him during the competition. isn¡¯t this just making the empire lose dignity? ¡°third young master chu, mr. qiao zhiya.¡± an tyn stepped forward with a smile and stopped jexiu behind him. he directly inserted himself into their conversation, preventing jexiu from continuing to talk nonsense. he then greeted chu yan and qiao zhiya, then smoothly changed the topic. ¡°are you two also here to test your aptitude?¡± this was a bit of a useless question. after all, if not for that purpose, what were they doing here? chu yan complained silently in his heart, but still kept a smile on his face, and replied politely, ¡°yes, it¡¯s a pity that we were delayed by erge, who insisted on waiting at the academy¡¯s gate, so we came rather late. otherwise, we could be tested together.¡± he directly made it clear that chu rong was waiting for them close by. it was also a warning ¨C they better not try to find trouble, and should leave quickly. an tyn understood what he meant. hechanged his mind, smiled more gently and kindly, and said, ¡°that¡¯s just right. my sister an leen blamed herself for the troubles she caused marshal chu and mr. qiao. she wanted a chance to invite the two of you to have a meal with her. so, what do you think? shall we had a lunch together after the test?¡± chu yan almost lost his temper and cursed out loud. ¡®apologize? let a lovelorn girl apologize to the person who rejected her for his lover? isn¡¯t this just pure bullshit? if such a thing happened, everyone will only see that erge is such a bully to a little girl whom he had rejected.¡¯ ¡°no, it is chu rong and i who should apologize to princess an leen.¡± qiao zhiya, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up. he took the initiative to walk in front of princess an leen and took out a small flower, which was carved from a piece of spar he had. he presented it to her, saying, ¡°thank you for your blessings before. there¡¯s nothing wrong with loving someone, the only wrong thing is if you let your love make you do bad things. so, you don¡¯t have to blame yourself. i also wished you good luck, i hope that you¡¯ll find someone who loves you back. here, this is for you.¡± he smiled at her, shyly and sincerely. the dwarf¡¯s excellent craftsmanship and the beauty of the spar made this small flower look extremely enchanting and eye-catching under the light. the melon-eating students who were secretly paying attention here were all attracted by this flower. while marveling in their hearts that the chu family was really rich, they also marvel at how gentle and generous marshal chu¡¯s fianc¨¦ is. even if his rival in love pursued so frantically and was hit by many unsavory rumors, he managed to comfort her and sent her gifts ¨C of which, many students knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to do this. seeing this, the smile on chu yan¡¯s face deepened, and he was relieved. ¡®qiao looks innocent, but he is still very powerful at critical moments!¡¯ an leen looked at the flowers that qiao zhiya handed over, coupled by his pure and sincere eyes. she could feel that his simple blessings really did come from his heart. the reserved mask on her face almost cracked ¡ª she obviously wasn¡¯t very ¡°sad¡± or ¡°heartbroken¡±. moreover, she should consider him as her ¡°enemy¡±. but for some reason, once he said something about ¡°someone who loves you back¡±, her eyes almost shed a tear. ¡®probably because he¡¯s too non-aggressive¡­¡¯ she made excuses for her sudden weakness, and blinked vigorously by bowing her head to catch the flower. she knew that qiao zhiya could detect her trembling fingers. but so what? now she was a ¡°heartbroken girl¡±, it¡¯s normal to have trembling fingers, right? ¡°thank you.¡± the flower was cold and hard, like a beautiful and strong shell that every princess must have. in the royal family, how can one simply look for a lover who can truly love them back? a ¡°princess¡± must be beautiful, but she must also be invincible. in the face of the power of her father and brother, what is the love to a ¡°princess¡±? ¡°thank you,¡± she subconsciously repeated again, this time in a breathless voice. she looked up at qiao zhiya and showed a perfect smile that a princess should have. she pulled up the hem of her skirt and saluted him, and whispered, ¡°i hope your relationship will be blessed.¡± this time, her words were sincere. she really appreciated an honest and powerful man like chu rong, but she understood that her feelings weren¡¯t pure love, but rather her desire to pursue someone in a position of power. that¡¯s why her behavior was rather unhinged and irrational. at this moment, she was grateful, grateful to this young man who seems to be weaker than herself. at this moment, he did not use a victor¡¯s attitude to show mercy to her, but gave her a genuine, comforting blessing. she didn¡¯t like that she lost, but she allowed herself not to be jealous and hate him for now. qiao zhiya could feel the softening of her aura, and he was a little puzzled. ¡®why is she not as rude or annoying as during the auction?¡¯ he hesitated for a moment, then took another doll made in the shape of a rabbit. she handed it to her and said seriously, ¡°girls¡­ uhm¡­ girls are much more liked when they smile.¡± ¡®¨Cso please stop being so rude, or you will be hated by many people¡¯ is what qiao zhiya really meant. ¡°i know, thank you.¡± an leen took the little rabbit and held it in her hand. she smiled at him again, then walked to an tyn¡¯s side and took his arm. she showed her spoiled attitude to him. ¡°ge, i¡¯m tired¡­ let¡¯s go back and rest.¡± an tyn looked at her thinner and haggard face. his ¡°princely¡± facade melted, and he lowered his gaze in silence for a few seconds. then, he stroked her head and nodded. he nodded at chu yan politely, then took her away. jexiu and the others looked at each other and followed him. long xuyang, who was on the sidelines, watched qiao zhiya skillfully defuse the invisible gunpowder. thinking of his sister who was driven to another planet by his father, his mood became mixed for a moment. he nodded to the two of them, turned, and followed an tyn¡¯s footsteps. ¡°the craftsmanship of the carving is good.¡± jian praised qiao zhiya in a low voice when passing by qiao zhiya. the cute charmmi beside him also gave him a friendly smile, while ning kong¡¯an, who was walking on the far side, nodded at qiao zhiya, then shifted his gaze to chu yan. a brief greeting ended after passing each other. chu yan walked up to qiao zhiya, took him to the testing hall, and helped him cover the sight of gossiping students around him. he whispered, trying to dampen his excitement. ¡°qiao, you are amazing, this counterattack is great!¡± qiao zhiya looked up at him in confusion. ¡°counterattack? they didn¡¯t attack us.¡± ¡°¡­yes, they didn¡¯t attack us, they just said hello,¡± chu yan raised his hand and wiped his face, feeling that he probably made up some superfluous things in his brain. but then, he suddenly frowned. ¡°after this incident, the imperial twins¡¯ attitude have changed a little bit. they used to be so high-profile and radical, but now¡­ and that ning kong¡¯an¡­ he feels a little strange to me.¡± qiao zhiya didn¡¯t pay much attention to the mixed-race boy with blond hair and black pupils, but only vaguely remembered that he was good-looking, a typical elegant and noble boy. he really inherited his father, prince an xei¡¯s, appearance. he asked curiously, ¡°what¡¯s so strange about him?¡± ¡°it¡¯s just¡­ a feeling, i can¡¯t really verbalize it.¡± after digging in his mind for a long time, chu yan couldn¡¯t find a suitable adjective, so he waved his hands to dismiss this train of thoughts. ¡°anyway, let¡¯s finish the test first. erge is still waiting for us.¡± if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 64.2 qiao zhiya: half-elf, half-dwarf mc. chu rong: marshal ml. zhuang yu: a doctor in ml¡¯s army. chu yan: ml¡¯s younger brother. is the same age as mc. chu huai: ml¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. yuan xiu: chu yan¡¯s bestfriend. xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. sang bu: mc¡¯s roommate from when they¡¯re in intermediate college. information system major. yun xiachu: mc¡¯s ex-classmate, about first-grader age, but skipped a couple of grades to match mc¡¯s pace. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. qiu guangji: ning kongran¡¯s best friend. master shang: chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. =the empire= an lita aka ning kong¡¯an: the emperor¡¯s nephew, born from prince an xei and ning kongran¡¯s aunt. studies pharmacy. an xei: the emperor¡¯s younger brother. a prince and a scholar. jian: imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. the aptitude test was very quick and efficient. they just need to swipe their communicator to an id reader and let the system read their information. after that, they just needed to stand inside an instrument and wait for a while before a result was calculated. the two lined up at the back of the line, waited quietly for a while, and they arrived. chu yan went in first, and a minute later, the big screen automatically showed chu yan¡¯s test results. both his spiritual strength and physical fitness were s-level, but this time, his physical fitness was upgraded into ss-level. his result was pretty good. after the melon-eating students saw it, they were shocked by the series of s aptitudes of the students from the empire. but now, with chu yan¡¯s test result, they regained a little confidence in the federation. ¡®see, our federation has no shortage of geniuses!¡¯ ¡°qiao, come on!¡± after chu yan came out, he waved to qiao zhiya. qiao zhiya smiled, swiped the communicator on the instrument, and stood in. there were many sensors and other devices inside the instrument. on the instrument¡¯s internal screen, there¡¯s a prompt: [please release your spiritual power as much as possible]. he quickly followed suit and tried to simulate the spiritual power without ¡°impurities¡± so as not to be detected by the machine. at the same time as the spiritual power was released, a beam of light appeared in the instrument covering his body. he only felt his body warmed up. he guessed that the beam of light was testing his physical strength, so he obediently let the beam of light scan his body. two minutes passed, and the light indicating that the test was completed on the instrument hadn¡¯t turned on yet. qiao zhiya was puzzled, but obediently continued to release his spiritual power. another two minutes passed, and he began to feel uneasy, and hesitantly turned off the spiritual power simulation. ¡®it¡¯s too long. chu yan¡¯s test only took one minute, why did it take so long for me? did the instrument find something wrong with me?¡¯ just as he was thinking anxiously, the indicator light inside the instrument finally turned on. he felt relieved, and hurriedly walked out. he quickly found chu yan who was waiting outside, passed the other students who seemed to be shocked by something, and tried to keep as calm as possible. with a normal expression, he whispered to chu yan, ¡°xiao yan, why did my test take so long, did it come out¡ª¡± ¡°ss spiritual power qualification! and almost reached sss!¡± he exclaimed as he kept staring at the big screen. his loud voice shocked qiao zhiya, who jumped in surprise. the students around him also came to their senses and started to talk with each other. qiao zhiya was taken aback, and quickly turned to look at the big screen. on the right side of the screen, a piece of information with his name was slowly scrolling upwards. the data of spiritual power ss and physical constitution ss were very eye-catching. there was also a small ¡°+¡± sign on the spiritual power ss, indicating his spiritual power was possible to be advanced. he was stunned, why are they both ss? he clearly remembered that when he used a more sophisticated instrument for the physical examination at zhuang yu¡¯s place, all the measured data were s. ¡°qiao, you are so amazing!¡± chu yan patted him on the shoulder excitedly, as if he was the one who got double ss qualifications. seeing all the people around him looking over, he proudly puffed out his chest and put his arms on his shoulders happily. ¡°let ¡®s go out, let¡¯s go out and tell the good news to erge, he will be very happy too!¡± then, they both walked out. after they left, the students in the hall looked up at the big screen again, and the voice of discussion suddenly became louder. ¡ª¡ªdouble ss qualification! they haven¡¯t seen any for so many years, but they actually met two in one day! one of them was a third-degree disabled person! forget about ss-level spiritual power, but his physique was also a terrifying ss-level! he also was good-looking¡­ if there are no sss-level geniuses who are against the heavens, this qualification is the highest this year, right? god, they were all compared to a former third-level disabled! and that disabled person is an exoplanet native who crazily skipped grades! they heard that the spiritual power of this native was awakened by the influence of the marshal. this, this is really¡­ the teachers who were watching the students¡¯ tests in the background were also stunned. after a while, they realized that a genius with double ss-level had just appeared. they quickly hurried up to pull qiao zhiya¡¯s information alone and report to their higher-ups. chu yan and qiao zhiya leisurely walked out the school gate. there, they found chu rong¡¯s hover car and got on it. after the car door was closed, chu yan couldn¡¯t wait to tell qiao zhiya¡¯s qualifications, clamoring for a reward. qiao zhiya became more and more embarrassed and puzzled, so he ended up asking chu rong about it. chu rong thought for a while, raised his hand to help him brush his bangs, then finally replied, ¡°your last physical examination was a few months ago. at that time, your simulated spiritual strength was already above s-level, and there were signs of upgrading. so, it was not a surprise that this time the result came up to ss-level. it should be that your method of simulating spiritual power has become more proficient than a few months ago. in terms of physique, it¡¯s normal for you to rise to ss-level. it¡¯s the effect of your daily training. don¡¯t worry, we can always go back and check on you again.¡± qiao zhiya was relieved when he heard that, and nodded. but chu yan immediately got excited, looked at qiao zhiya with green eyes, and said, ¡°qiao¡¯s simulated spiritual power is ss-level, so his own power is also sss-level like you, erge?¡± ¡°no,¡± qiao zhiya said straightforwardly as he shook his head. ¡°i used up all my original power to simulate the spiritual power, so i didn¡¯t hide anything.¡± as he spoke, he glanced at chu rong, and his ears moved. he was now qualified as a grand magic magister, and the level of spiritual power he simulated was ss-level. when he advances to the next stage and becomes a saint magic magister, the spiritual power he simulated should be able to become sss-level, and he could also compete with chu rong. they should be a better match¡­ his height couldn¡¯t be changed, but his strength was still okay. just like his father and mother, an equal. ¡°don¡¯t think about it.¡± chu rong raised his hands to cover his trembling ears, and gave him a warning look. he blushed, and hurriedly brought back his floating thoughts. after returning to the chu family¡¯s house, chu rong immediately took qiao zhiya to zhuang yu¡¯s clinic for a detailed examination. the results of the examination were similar to what chu rong speculated. at the same time, zhuang yu happily announced that qiao zhiya should have recovered from the radiation. its influence has completely disappeared, his strength was healthy, and his memory should have been restored. chu rong raised his eyebrows at that diagnosis, and side-eyed qiao zhiya who was standing beside him. he saw that qiao zhiya¡¯s ears were standing up stiffly, looking stupid as if someone had caught him red-handed. with a slight smile on his lips, he grabbed the blond youth by the collar and took him to a private room. ¡°your memory has recovered?¡± chu rong sat on the bed, trapped qiao zhiya between his legs, and raised his hand to press his forehead. qiao zhiya blushed, and looked away from him. ¡°when did you remember?¡± chu rong pinched his face, forcing the youth to look at him. seeing that he couldn¡¯t escape, qiao zhiya blushed even more, and replied vaguely, ¡°just, just on the¡­ se-second day of the welco¡­welcome banquet¡­¡± ¨Cin fact, he remembered because of what he dreamt that night. ¡®the second day of the banquet? that didn¡¯t take long.¡¯ chu rong let go of his face. he looked at him quietly for a few seconds, pointed to his lips, and said, ¡°come here.¡± ¡°wha-what?¡± qiao zhiya was a little confused. chu rong narrowed his eyes, snorted lowly, and did not speak. qiao zhiya had never heard him ¡°snort¡± in such a tone before, making his heart beat faster. seeing the taller man¡¯s gaze at him, his ears curled back in shame. he took a shallow breath, then held it, bowed his head, and got closer. chu rong hooked his lips and raised his head slightly in cooperation. the closer he was to chu rong, the faster his heartbeat became. when he was about to touch the taller man¡¯s body, he felt a familiar warm breath rushed straight to his face. his heart trembled and his breath became rapid. then chu rong suddenly raised his head and looked at him. he planted a light kiss on his lips, then bit it down. qiao zhiya stared wide-eyed, and finally couldn¡¯t stand it any longer. his legs softened and he fell down, straight to sitting on chu rong¡¯s lap. he buried his face in his shoulders and stretched out his arms to hug him tightly, unwilling to raise his head. his ears and face were flushed with shame. ¡°nothing.¡± chu rong hugged him as he stroked his back. after feeling satisfied, he stopped teasing him and changed the subject. ¡°after the aptitude test, there will be another round of exams. xiao yan¡¯s should be the mecha operation assessment, and yours is a mecha manufacturing assessment. are you sure you can pass?¡± qiao zhiya nodded sullenly, still not looking up, obviously such a question was not enough to pull him out of embarrassment. ¡°after the assessment, the admission notices for the federal military academy will be issued one after another. the academy also requires you to live on campus. will you miss me?¡± chu rong continued to ask, pinching the back of his neck with his fingers soothingly. the heat on his face was slightly lowered by this topic. qiao zhiya turned his head, rubbed against his neck in pure reflex, and replied in a low voice. ¡°yes¡­¡± ¡®i will miss you very much, every day.¡¯ ¡°that¡¯s enough.¡± chu rong lowered his head and kissed his unknowingly lowered ears. his mood became a little less pleasant, and he said with a dark face, ¡°i will miss you too.¡± three days after the test, the notice of the exams was sent to the communicator of the applicants. chu rong took the time to send the two youths to the school again, but this time instead of waiting outside the school gate, he followed them to the place where chu yan took the exam first. after chu yan entered the exam room, he took qiao zhiya with him and found themselves in the family seating area. they arrived earlier, and chu rong deliberately chose a seat in the far back corner, so that they were not noticed by other parents who were nervously paying attention to their children¡¯s exams. the content of chu yan¡¯s assessment was indeed a mecha operation, and he needed to enter an analog system of the military academy alone. after driving the mecha and passing the customs safely, he could only be considered qualified if he got a score of more than 60 points. it was very easy for him, it only took a quarter of an hour to pass the assessment after entering, and got a brilliant score of 98 points. the students and parents who were waiting in the back didn¡¯t realize that they had just sat in the same seat as marshal chu until he came out of the analog system and greeted chu rong, who was sitting in the corner, to leave together! many of them regretted that they missed the opportunity to get close to him. putting the commotion in the mecha driving test venue behind him, chu yan accepted chu rong¡¯s question obediently, and then, as expected, he was reprimanded. ¡°the more basic the task, the less you should make mistakes. you have been slacking off recently.¡± chu yan actively admitted his mistakes, bowed his head as he listened, and was very guilty. he was distracted around this time. ¡®gah, the gossip during this time is too juicy to pass up!¡¯ ¡°but the full score is only 100 points, and 98 points is already very good!¡± qiao zhiya spoke at the right time, praising chu yan while tugging at chu rong¡¯s sleeve. chu rong looked down at him, his expression softened a bit. but seeing that chu yan was a little languid, he frowned and added, ¡°but your advanced movements are very well done, not bad.¡± so chu yan became very happy again. the three chatted and walked, and soon arrived at the test site for the mecha manufacturing major. qiao zhiya bid farewell to the two, swiped his communicator to enter, and finally entered alone to the examination room. in order to prevent candidates from being disturbed by others, the examination room-slash-hall was divided into small rooms one by one. they could take the test whenever they come, just swipe the communicator to verify their identity. the test system in the room would automatically grade them, which was very user-friendly and trouble-free. there were a total of three such random examination halls in the federal military academy, which were more than enough to handle all candidates, so there was no need to queue up. qiao zhiya randomly picked a small room to enter, and was a little surprised to see several materials and a blueprint lying on the workbench inside. unexpectedly, the assessment content of the federal military academy was not a single material processing or parts disassembly and assembly, but a combination of the two ¨C it was a complete manufacturing of a part, from processing the materials, making accessories, and assembling them all into one functional part. the system showed that the exam time was two hours, which was a bit long, so he hurriedly took out the communicator and dialed a message to chu rong who was waiting outside. since it was that long, it¡¯s fine if chu rong didn¡¯t wait for him in place and instead walked around. then, he finally started to do his exam. he was very proficient in material handling, as well as disassembling and assembling parts. what was relatively unfamiliar was the linking of the small parts into one functional one. fortunately, he has rich forging experience. once he took out his small hammer, he didn¡¯t even need to use the provided instruments. a complete set of a functional part was quickly formed. after assembling and putting it into the testing grading instrument next to him, he pressed the button to complete to signal his completion. he glanced at the time, and saw that only an hour had passed, which was not too long. there¡¯s still time to meet up and go to lunch together. with a beep, the part inspection was over. [all the values ??are qualified, and the overall score is 100 points.] he squinted his eyes and smiled, looked at the test results synced to the communicator, opened the door, and left happily. chu rong and chu yan actually waited outside, instead of going around first as he told them to. he became happier, and his trot had a hint of bounciness to it. while he tried to suppress and calm down his tone, a hint of joy still spilled out. ¡°i passed! 100 points!¡± ¡°let¡¯s go home. i¡¯ll give you a reward,¡± chu rong raised his hand to touch his face. he ended up lightly pinching it while praising him. ¡°you¡¯re amazing.¡± chu yan rolled his eyes. ¡®heh. erge, you¡¯re so moony-eyed and don¡¯t even try to hide it. so annoying!¡¯ ¡°n-not that amazing¡­¡± qiao zhiya felt embarrassed. seeing the students around him looking at him nonchalantly, he suppressed his desire to be clingy, but his ears still excitedly fluttered around. ¡°let¡¯s go eat, it¡¯s noon already.¡± chu rong also noticed that people were starting to look at them. he nodded, got up and took him and chu yan away. CH 64.3 not long after, xiang kun entered the examination room alone with a dark face. he saw qiao zhiya¡¯s name hanging high on the screen at a glance. with a huff, he chose a room and went in. more than an hour later, he left the examination room with a score of 98 and his face became even darker. three days later, all exams were over. the teachers of the school began to process the students¡¯ exam results in batches. ¡°huh?¡± a teacher from the mecha manufacturing department suddenly picked out one of the many exam¡¯s mecha parts. he carefully assessed it with spiritual strength, and found that his previous feeling was indeed correct. he exclaimed in his heart, and quickly turned around and put the part into a grading instrument. seeing him like this, another young teacher asked curiously. ¡°what¡¯s the matter? there is a problem with the grade?¡± ¡°no,¡± he waved his hand, looked at the instrument with bright eyes, and waited for the test result to pop up on it. he let out a breath slowly, and said with a smile. ¡°sure enough.¡± the young teacher looked at the instrument¡¯s result. he was also equally stunned. ¡°100% fusion? the instrument isn¡¯t broken, right?¡± ¡°no, the instrument is fine. it¡¯s just been overhauled recently,¡± the teacher picked up the parts again, turned around and handed them over, and said, ¡°you will know if you feel it with your spiritual strength.¡± the young teacher reached out to take the parts, and dubiously probed into it with his spiritual power. ¡°huh?¡± he widened his eyes in surprise. he felt it several times in disbelief, and couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°this smoothness¡­ the students who made this part have completed the material processing very well.¡± ¡°their assembly technique is also superb,¡± the previous teacher added with a satisfied expression on his face. ¡°this batch of students is very good.¡± ¡°what are you talking about?¡± a gentle voice came in, and the two young teachers immediately turned their heads. they found out it was master shang, who had just been reinstated as a teacher this year. he walked in and the two young teachers respectfully greeted him. they then explained about the parts they were marveling about. master shang has black hair and red eyes. he has a gentle temperament and elegant appearance. although he doesn¡¯t talk much, he is very kind. after hearing their explanation, he became interested. he took the parts and probed into them. he asked, ¡°do you have any information about this student?¡± ¡°yes, each part has numbers on them. let me see¡­¡± the older of the two hurriedly checked the list of students for this exam in the database, and quickly found the corresponding student¡¯s information. after reading it, he was stunned for a moment, and replied, ¡°the student¡¯s name is qiao zhiya.¡± everyone knew that master shang was chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher and still has a good relationship with the chu family. qiao zhiya is chu rong¡¯s fianc¨¦, so master shang should know about him. ¡®qiao zhiya?¡¯ master shang remembered the shy and beautiful child he heard about. he looked at the parts in his hand again and smiled. he looked at them and asked, ¡°can i take this part?¡± ¡°of course, these parts were originally intended to be discarded anyways,¡± the teacher replied quickly. ¡°thank you.¡± master shang then put the parts into his space button, turned his eyes around the other parts, and asked, ¡°can you send me a copy of the student¡¯s profile with a spiritual power of a-level? it would be very useful for me.¡± master shang had a special status, so it was possible to request a student¡¯s information that was already in the system, but the strange thing was¡­ why master shang only asked for a-level spiritual power? normally, people would ask for s-level and above? the teachers were puzzled, but it was not easy to ask about this. so they quickly responded and turned around to transfer the data. a few days later, chu yan and qiao zhiya¡¯s admission letter arrived together, along with two new student cards and an activation code that allowed them to log-in into the federal military academy¡¯s student client. the two logged-in with the activation code, and then received a school start notice from the client. they also got an official suggestion list from the school, which listed the things they probably needed to prepare for school. ¡°why is the medical kit ranked first, and why is it highlighted? doesn¡¯t the academy have a school infirmary?¡± chu yan was puzzled, a little confused about the significance of this official suggestion list. chu rong and chu huai, who graduated from the federal military academy, looked at him in unison, and then looked away in unison. chu huai replied casually, ¡°the school will also send a medical kit, but it is probably not enough. it is better to prepare another one.¡± chu rong nodded. then, he frowned and touched the back of qiao zhiya¡¯s head. ¡°i¡¯ll let zhuang yu prepare it for you later.¡± ¡®why do you think it¡¯s needed?¡¯ chu yan glanced back and forth at them, and secretly winked at qiao zhiya. hoping his question would be asked by qiao zhiya. after receiving his signal, qiao zhiya hesitated. he looked sideways at chu rong, and asked, ¡°do you need me to prepare some more potions?¡± ¡°prepare some, and i will ask zhuang yu to prepare some for you,¡± chu rong seemed to have thought of something. his brows frowned even tighter, he paused, and added, ¡°after it starts, pay attention to rest.¡± ¡®huh? what does he mean by ¡°it¡±?¡¯ chu yan became even more confused. when chu huai was in the federal military academy, he was too young to remember anything. when chu rong was in the federal military academy, the war was finishing up. he was always taken care of by the old butler, and he didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to chu rong¡¯s life. ¡®is there something special? did i miss any important information?¡¯ one day later, he knew what he had missed. yuan xiu, who got the news from his father, rushed over and told him that after being admitted to the federal military academy, all freshmen had to undergo a one-month training. ¡°i know there is training. it¡¯s all a routine, why are you so excited?¡± chu yan still didn¡¯t quite understand. yuan xiu silently approached him, and asked in a whisper, ¡°then do you know that the training of the mecha driving department and the command department is hell-level difficulty every year?¡± ¡°hell-level difficulty?¡± chu yan became interested and asked, ¡°how hellish is it? what about other majors?¡± yuan xiu was about to be overwhelmed by his attitude, and hurriedly said, ¡°the difficulty of other majors is only a teensy bit less than ours, and ours is¡­ about comparable to that of regular soldiers. the instructors are all military officers who have fought on the front line. on top of that, many of them came from the xiang family¡¯s army. have you seen the school¡¯s recommendation list? i think you and i need more than a medical kit.¡± training under the hands of the xiang family¡¯s officers, they knew some trouble was ahead. hearing this, chu yan finally understood why his two elder brothers reacted in such a way. it turned out that the key point was here. ¡®the xiang family¡­; he was silent for a few seconds, then looked at yuan xiu with a serious face, patted him on the shoulder, and said, ¡°you¡¯re right , what we need is more than a medical kit.¡± ¨Cwhat they need is a full set of protective equipment! after a month under the hands of the xiang family, he will probably shed several layers of skin! before going to bed at night, chu rong gave qiao zhiya a comprehensive lecture about the training. ¡°the training of the mecha manufacturing department and the mecha driving department are separate, and your training intensity will be much lower. with your physique, it should not be difficult to cope with it.¡± qiao zhiya was still a little worried. he raised his head and asked, ¡°then xiao yan¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s okay, he¡¯s been too slack recently, it¡¯s just right to go to practice,¡± chu rong raised his hand to cover his eyes. ¡°sleep. it¡¯s already this late.¡± qiao zhiya blinked, then closed his eyes obediently. as he settled into a comfortable position, his mind drifted on how he would make more potions for chu yan to take with him. chu rong looked down at the top of his head, his gentle expression cracked, showing a little irritability. he hugged the youth tightly, and closed his eyes, albeit still slightly frowning. at the hottest time of summer, the new students of the federal military academy started their schooling. the campus structure of the federal military academy is similar to that of the intermediate academy. it was also divided into various campuses. the campuses are separated by various public facilities, but each campus is many times larger, and the architectural style is more majestic. chu yan and yuan xiu once again lived in a dormitory, which was obviously arranged in secret. there were also traces of secretive arrangement on qiao zhiya¡¯s side ¨C his roommate is still sang bu. ¡°i heard that you won first place in the entrance examination for the mecha manufacturing major. congratulations.¡± sang bu sat on the sofa and flipped through the book as usual. looking at a row of boxes on the table, he said, ¡°my hometown specialties, take it. i¡¯m going to pack up.¡± after speaking, he got up. he walked to his own room, opened the door and entered the room, leaving him with a chic back. the surprise was not over yet. the door of the next bedroom opened suddenly, and ning kongran walked out, stood at his door, waved to him, and said, ¡°qiao, good afternoon.¡± ¡°good afternoon,¡± qiao zhiya happily replied. ¡°you live next door to me? fortunately¡ª¡± xiang kun suddenly appeared from ning kongran¡¯s room. he snorted coldly at him, and muttered ¡°short-stack.¡± under his breath. then, he strode out and walked away with heavy steps. ¡°¡­¡± ning kongran smiled helplessly. ¡°as you can see, my roommate is xiang kun.¡± qiao zhiya looked at him, speechless. after he regained his bearings, he said, ¡°you are welcome to come to my bedroom often as a guest.¡± ¡°i will,¡± ning kongran laughed again. he was about to say something more, when he saw ning kong¡¯an and jian walking over together from a distance. his smile faded and he shut his mouth. qiao zhiya turned his head to look. jian and ning kong¡¯an stopped across from qiao zhiya¡¯s dormitory. jian looked at qiao zhiya and greeted him, ¡°hello, qiao.¡± ning kong¡¯an looked at ning kongran, smiled, and called out, ¡°cousin, why didn¡¯t you wait for me? we could come together.¡± ¡°prince an xei will return to the empire in two days. i don¡¯t want to disturb your father-son¡¯s private time, so i came here first,¡± ning kongran explained with a smile, then looked down at his communicator. ¡°guangji is still waiting for me, sorry.¡± after speaking, he nodded to jian and qiao zhiya respectively, and left. jian turned his head to look at ning kong¡¯an, and said, ¡°your cousin doesn¡¯t seem to like you very much.¡± ¡°my cousin just hasn¡¯t gotten to know me well,¡± ning kong¡¯an frowned and replied. after nodding at qiao zhiya coldly, he immediately went inside his room with a loud bang. he wasn¡¯t at all as low-key and polite as he had shown to the outside world before. ¡°you see, people with power are just so annoying,¡± jian shrugged his shoulders towards qiao zhiya, his tone remained unchanged ¨C his emotions were always light, as if he was simply stating a fact. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t know how to answer his topic, so he just smiled politely and didn¡¯t answer. in fact, he wants to go back to the dormitory and talk to sang bu even more now. this jian gave him a very strange feeling. on the one hand, he didn¡¯t feel any malice from the other party. on the other hand, he felt that the other party¡¯s proactive greetings these few times didn¡¯t seem to be very friendly, and his words were also weird, which made him feel uncomfortable. subconsciously, it made him become vigilant. seeing that he didn¡¯t answer, jian suddenly raised his hand and gestured at the similar height of the two of them, and said, ¡°i heard that you stopped growing and will always be this tall in the future. that¡¯s great, just like me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± qiao zhiya only felt strange. ¡°although i am studying history, i will be on the same team as you in training,¡± jian looked at him, as if looking at some cute baby, with the corners of his mouth curled up. ¡°you must save me, then i can repay you.¡± after speaking, he waved his hand and turned to enter his room. qiao zhiya watched him enter the room, bewildered. ¡®help him? repay? what does he mean?¡¯ if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 65.1 t/n: i just realized i¡¯m very inconsistent when it comes to capitalizing names, e.g the major names and item names. so, i hope you¡¯ll excuse me. =the federation= qiao zhiya: half-elf, half-dwarf mc. chu rong: marshal ml. chu yan: ml¡¯s younger brother. is the same age as mc. yuan xiu: chu yan¡¯s bestfriend. sang bu: mc¡¯s roommate. used to be information system major. xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. xiang jing: xiang kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. 22 years old. ning kongting: ning kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. you yuanyuan: you xia¡¯s younger sister. =the empire= an leen: imperial princess. an tyn: imperial prince, an leen¡¯s twin brother. after everything was packed, qiao zhiya invited sang bu to have lunch with him. but sang bu refused, saying that he was going to buy some daily necessities, and that he would drink nutritional supplements for lunch. qiao zhiya had no choice but to leave some snacks he brought for him and went out alone. ¡°i wondered before why i live with yuan xiu again, but it turned out to be specially arranged. do you know who lives opposite me? prince an tyn and that jexiu! it¡¯s so deliberate and blatant, as their only defense was because we are all mecha pilot majors!¡± chu yan ranted as soon as he saw qiao zhiya, feeling a little agitated. qiao zhiya frowned at the situation. ¡°ning kong¡¯an and jian live across from me. the former is a pharmacy major, and the latter is a history major, neither of them is a mecha manufacturing major. also, xiang kun and ning kongran live next door to me.¡± ¡°xiang kun and ning kongran live together?¡± chu yan¡¯s expression was contorted as he muttered, ¡°who arranged this accommodation, why does it feel so weird?¡± xiang kun and ning kongran actually lived together ¨C it was a miracle that these two people who couldn¡¯t get along were forced to be roommates. ¡°not only that, princess an leen and master brendan¡¯s granddaughter charmmi both lived in the building of the art academy, and ning kongting also moved from the dormitory of the pharmacy major to the opposite of them.¡± yuan xiu added. an leen was studying art, a fairly unpopular major in the federal military academy. she focused on the very specific subject of spiritual power assistance. her studies involve how to integrate spiritual power into various artistic activities to improve enjoyment, which was very suitable for her. and in order to accommodate her as the imperial princess, charmmi had to live in the art building rather than in the mecha manufacturing building. there was no problem with this arrangement, but ning kongting, who is already in the second grade, was specially arranged there¡­ it¡¯s weird. the three of them fell silent, frowning and thinking about the purpose of this dormitory arrangement. ¡°every imperial student is surrounded by children from the four great families¡­¡± chu yan pointed at the table, unknowingly imitating chu rong¡¯s little habit. ¡°looking at it this way, it¡¯s only the three of us who live in the same place. at the very least, our arrangement is very comfortable, we like our roommates.¡± qiao zhiya looked at him. as he mulled over something, his ears twitched. ¡°when i was in intermediate college, chu rong once asked me for sang bu¡¯s name and checked his background. he didn¡¯t tell me the result of the investigation, but only said that sang bu is fine. and now, he lives with me again.¡± yuan xiu was taken aback with this information. ¡°could it be that marshal chu made this dormitory arrangement?¡± ¡°no, i think it should be after the four great families made a compromise with each other. but my erge must have the upper hand,¡± chu yan shook his head as he replied. then, he unknowingly snorted, then began to gloat, ¡°anyway, it must be erge who arranged ning kongran and xiang kun to live together, let them keep each other in check. with xiang kun¡¯s temperament, i think he¡¯ll be angry every day by living with ning kongran.¡± qiao zhiya hastily tugged at him, signaling him to keep his voice down. after all, they were sitting in the hall of the cafeteria, not a private room. chu yan quickly calmed his expression down. ¡°but ning kongting¡­ i don¡¯t understand this arrangement,¡± yuan xiu frowned to express his opinion. chu yan no longer struggled with this, raised his arm and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°you don¡¯t need to understand. isn¡¯t the ning family hellbent on being neutral? it¡¯s just right to arrange ning kongting there. xiang jing, who represents the xiang family, and the president¡¯s wife¡¯s natal family¡¯s you yuanyuan isn¡¯t suitable for getting too close to princess an leen. there are only a few girls of the right age in the four great families. the older ones are married, and the younger ones are still in junior and intermediate colleges. isn¡¯t there only one ning kongting left? besides, the ning family has always been¡ª¡± yuan xiu suddenly poked him, and pointed to the cafeteria door with his eyes. the three looked over and saw ning kongting and princess an leen walking side-by-side, chatting and laughing. they seemed to have a good relationship. ning kongting¡¯s attitude was very enthusiastic, which did not conform to the usual low-key and neutral style of the ning family. chu yan smacked his lips and squinted his eyes. ¡°the ning family has been a bit interesting recently.¡± all the seniors of the ning family kept a distance from prince an xei, but the juniors had frequent contact with each other. ning kong¡¯an chased ning kongran every day, and now ning kongting is getting close to princess an leen. it culminated in an odd feeling. qiao zhiya withdrew his gaze, and said hesitantly, ¡°maybe it¡¯s just a coincidence? after all, both ning kong¡¯an and an leen have some close relatives with the ning family.¡± in this case, no matter how young they are, everyone is a genius. even if they are a little stupid, such as xiang kun, the adults in their family will still discipline you wisely. chu yan changed his mind, and he didn¡¯t want to let him worry about it, so he nodded along with his words. putting on a jovial bluff, he said, ¡°i guess so¡­ forget it, let¡¯s not talk about it. i¡¯m so hungry, why hasn¡¯t the food come out yet?¡± after lunch, everyone went back to their dormitories to pack their things, and they didn¡¯t get together for dinner ¡ª the distance between several campuses was not close. plus, the training was tomorrow, so everyone needed to get ready. qiao zhiya cleaned the room and made the bed, and adjusted the starnet cabin provided by the school. after everything was done, he saw sang bu walk in. he hurriedly went out to call him, handed a small box over, and said, ¡°tomorrow is training, here¡¯s for you.¡± sang bu glanced at the living room where all the ¡°clutter¡± had been taken away, leaving only sofas and a few pieces of furniture. he was moved. he looked at qiao zhiya as he took the box and asked, ¡°what is it?¡± ¡°i made some potions,¡± qiao zhiya replied, and added with a little embarrassment, ¡°the one with the silver package is a medicine made by a doctor, while the one with the green package is a potion i made. the silver one is better, and when you¡¯re tired from training, you can use them.¡± surprised, sang bu asked, ¡°you can make potions?¡± ¡°only the basic ones,¡± qiao zhiya replied, a little guilty. in fact, after his magic power was upgraded again, he was able to make high-level potions. however, mid-level and high-level potions were too powerful, so he only gave sang bu low-level ones so he wouldn¡¯t appear suspicious. ¡°thank you.¡± sang bu put away the medicine, looked him up and down again, then suddenly stepped forward to hug him. ¡°for the next five years, please give me more advice.¡± a smile appeared on his lips as qiao zhiya enthusiastically hugged him back. he nodded vigorously too. ¡°yeah!¡± after delivering the potion to sang bu, while xiang kun was away, he went next door to deliver a box of potion to ning kongran. in return, the older student gave him a box of snacks. dinner was settled with sang bu in the dormitory. sang bu took out a bunch of kitchen utensils from his space button and cooked a table of dishes in the dormitory. qiao zhiya was dumbfounded. of course, the reason for staring at him was because of the ¡°little situations¡± that sang bu keeps on getting. his physical behavior disorder1not as in his personality or having a mental disorder. but more like he has an unspecified inability to do complex physical tasks smoothly. for example, he has poor hand-brain coordination, lesser physical constitution, etc. became more serious when he was doing some complicated things, but it could be seen that he was trying to overcome it. after the meal was served, sang bu put away the kitchen utensils and explained calmly, ¡°this is a practice method i came up with myself. mecha manufacturing requires hand-brain coordination. i still have a long way to go.¡± qiao zhiya remembered his previous experience. originally, sang bu was studying information system, which mainly used his mind. since he transferred to mecha manufacturing, qiao zhiya knew that he must have made a lot of effort to accomplish that. sang bu looked at him, a slight smile appeared on his expressionless face, and then disappeared quickly. before going to bed, qiao zhiya hesitated for a while before going to the starnet cabin. but in the end, he didn¡¯t go, and instead hid himself inside the quilt with his head tucked in. ¡®ah, wait, wait, wait. i¡¯ll wait until the training is over. after that, i¡¯ll confess and apologize to the bearded teacher.¡¯ at six o¡¯clock in the morning, a piercing siren sounded from the school¡¯s public address equipment, resounding throughout the campus, awakening all the freshmen in their sleep. then, a serious voice sounded, ¡°assemble in the main square in a quarter of an hour. after gathering, line up according to your major. the major with the worst efficiency will be punished to run 5 kilometers.¡± qiao zhiya woke up instantly, got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. when he left the room, he heard the sound of sang bu falling down. thinking of sang bu¡¯s condition, he rushed over and opened the door. seeing sang bu fell on the ground in a panic, he hurriedly stepped forward to support him and asked, ¡°where did you fall? does it hurt?¡± sang bu shook his head and walked along the road. he stood up relying on his own strength with a frown. ¡°let¡¯s go. we need to go fast, you go first.¡± he fell down again when he walked, and it was even worse when he ran. if they walked together, he would only slow qiao zhiya down. qiao zhiya frowned. he simply turned around and walked in front of him, with his arms carrying sang bu behind his back, he rushed towards the door of the dormitory. ¡°you¡­¡± sang bu was stunned. ¡°hey, it¡¯s okay to ask someone to help you. you¡¯re not less independent for that,¡± qiao zhiya interrupted him and rushed downstairs. ¡°we both need to gather quickly. let me help you this time.¡± looking at his wind-blown hair and ears pricked in between, sang bu¡¯s eyes softened. he slung his arms around the blond youth¡¯s neck and nodded. stretched his arms around his neck, and nodded. ¡°okay,¡±he mumbled. there were many students pouring out of the building, and after leaving the dormitory building, everyone took out their space buttons. after getting out of the school-issued hover car from it, it turned out that the vehicle was out of order. after being stunned for a while, someone cursed the inhumanity of the school and started running towards the main square. qiao zhiya was the first to notice something wrong with the fluctuations in the air, likely a wave to disrupt the vehicle from working. knowing that, he kept running past many people, galloping quickly and leaving shocked students with his chic-looking back. ¡°fuck! who is that, running so fast and leaving everyone behind!¡± someone couldn¡¯t help exclaiming. jian slowly speed-walked past the exclaiming student. he looked at qiao zhiya, who had turned into a black speck in the horizon. he replied in a light tone, ¡°he¡¯s the only double ss-level genius this year, the fiance of your federal¡¯s marshal, qiao zhiya.¡± the interjected indifferent answer stunned him for a moment, and then he noticed that jian was running very slowly but looked pale and dying. he rolled his eyes and took the initiative to pick him up and put him on his back while running. ¡°for the sake of everyone being a professional, let me help you. really, you are so weak. how did you get in?¡± jian looked at the back of his dark head and replied flatly, ¡°i¡­ i¡¯m not a professional. i¡¯ll repay you later.¡± the boy who carried him waved his hand indifferently and said, ¡°okay, okay, let¡¯s save some energy and talk less, there¡¯s still training today¡­ really, the school is big, so there must be all kinds of strange people mixed about.¡± CH 65.2 the main square was located next to the art school building. it was the farthest from a campus, where the mecha piloting department and command department were located. the next farthest was b campus, where the mecha manufacturing department was located. qiao zhiya ran with the school¡¯s map on display. within 10 minutes of arriving, he found the location of the mecha manufacturing major. he put sang bu down, looked around without blushing nor panting, and flipped through the school map. ¡°the location of this main square is really perfect.¡± simply put, it just allowed each major to run a distance that met the minimum physical requirements of the major. ¡°yeah,¡± sang bu nodded, and found that they were the first mecha manufacturing students to arrive. he glanced at qiao zhiya again, and silently looked away. some things are really incomparable, and the comparison hurts feelings. a quarter of an hour is obviously not enough time for all the professionals to come here, and those who could come here within the specified time were all the best in physical strength, and there were only a few couple ones for each profession. at a quarter past six, all the lights in the square were turned on. a serious-looking middle-aged soldier led a group of fearsome officers to the high platform in front of the square. with a harsh glare, he looked at the students arriving below. ¡°you are the squad leaders for the next month. i will give you a quarter of an hour to complete the team integration!¡± qiao zhiya was taken aback, but before he could react, the two people next to him raised his hand and said, ¡°report!¡± in unison. the officer on the high platform looked over and motioned for them to say. sang bu put down his hand, and looked back at jian who was also letting go of his hand behind him. he vaguely knew that the other party¡¯s identity was unusual, so he turned sideways and motioned for him to speak first. jian was not polite, pointed to the tall and strong man beside her, and said, ¡°sir, i was carried by him, not by myself, so i am not qualified to be the squad leader.¡± the officer frowned then scrutinized him. he saw that jian wasn¡¯t in good health, so he didn¡¯t say anything. then, he looked at sang bu again, motioning for him to speak. ¡°i was also carried here.¡± sang bu didn¡¯t expect that someone was in the same situation as himself. after a simple answer, he pointed to qiao zhiya beside him, and replied in detail, ¡°i have symptoms of physical behavior disorder, and i can¡¯t walk or run fast. it was my roommate who carried me all the way from the dormitory.¡± the officer did not expect that two weak chickens would appear before the freshman training started this time. his eyes swept back and forth between qiao zhiya and the tall youth, and finally landed on qiao zhiya. he carefully scrutinized his appearance. but based on the principle of trusting the students, he still looked away and said, ¡°it¡¯s good to know how to help comrades in arms. then you two will be the squad leaders. in addition, since you two helped people to the end, i¡¯ll leave the training to you two. alright, let¡¯s line up.¡± jian immediately looked at qiao zhiya and said, ¡°hi, squad leader, please take good care of me.¡± qiao zhiya: ¡°¡­¡± the strong and tall youth¡¯s mouth twitched. looking back and forth between the weak chicken jian and the beautiful sang bu, finally at qiao zhiya who was also equally beautiful, weak-looking, but physically strong, he only helplessly looked at the white sky. he introduced himself resignedly, ¡°my name is ling yi. i¡¯m majoring in mecha manufacturing, class 3.¡± ¡°qiao zhiya, mecha manufacturing major, class 1.¡± ¡°sang bu, mecha manufacturing major, class 1.¡± ¡°jian, history major, class 1.¡± ling yi looked at jian, and jian looked back, and said plainly: ¡°i told you that my major is different from yours, but i will train with you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± the training intensity of the history major was much easier than that of the mecha manufacturing department. and yet, this weak chicken came here¡­ is he trying to court death? as time marched on, students arrived one after another. ling yi looked at qiao zhiya again, scratched his hair as he grew bewildered. ¡°it¡¯s time to line up, but how can we make everyone listen to us?¡± they must have heard what the officer said before. but they were all at an age when their ego was ballooning up, so how could they easily obey the arrangement of a strange peer? hearing this, qiao zhiya looked at the students who were loosely gathered in the mecha manufacturing area. he glanced at ning kongran who was quietly standing behind, and xiang kun, who clearly just woke up with messy hair. he walked to the front, and took out a large piece of ore emitting a faint halo and smashed it to the ground with a loud ¡°bang!¡±. they were all students of the mecha manufacturing department, and they were very sensitive to materials. when something came out from his side, everyone¡¯s eyes moved over. qiao zhiya took out his small hammer again, and smashed the hard ore easily, making a loud noise to refresh everyone¡¯s minds. finally, he raised his voice and ordered, ¡°class 1 stands here, and you all line up in two lines according to height. ¡° everyone looked at each other and didn¡¯t move. qiao zhiya looked at them silently, easily picked up half of the broken ore, put it on the other side, and said, ¡°class 2 will stand here, also go line yourself according to height.¡± still no one moved, only ten minutes left on the clock. qiao zhiya ignored them, and took out a few ores of different textures, arranged them one by one according to the class, until eight classes were filled, and then walked to the front of the crowd. he glanced at the time, and touched the spiritual simulation on the ear. using spiritual power, he amplified his voice and imbued them with power. ¡°there are only five minutes left, are you going to run 5 kilometers?¡± obviously his tone was the same as before, but everyone suddenly felt a little chilled, as if there was a very sharp force floating around them. a smile flashed in ning kongran¡¯s eyes. he walked out first, standing next to the ore representing class 2. xiang kun glared at qiao zhiya in an even more unhappy mood, but he also stood in the area for class 2. because he was shorter than ning kongran, he stood in front of ning kongran very reluctantly. the members of the four great families followed suit, and the rest of the people looked at each other and began to stand in line one after another. seeing this, ling yi glanced at qiao zhiya, and hurriedly stepped forward to help organize them. at the time limit, the mecha manufacturing majors stood in sixteen lines according to the their class. although it didn¡¯t look very neat, it was barely okay. it was much better than the situation where some other majors were still clustered together. the officer on the high platform took a step forward on time, without saying nonsense, he pointed to a mountain on the side of the military academy that was converted into a training ground. ¡°i will give you one morning to climb to the top of the mountain, and the warships of the military department will be there waiting for you. and you¡­¡± he pointed to the art major, whose lines were the poorest. he ordered, ¡°run 5 kilometers before you can start climbing.¡± the students of the art major let out a wail. the officer stopped sharply and said, ¡°add another kilometer! start now! run!¡± the students immediately quieted down, and looked at each other. reluctantly, they walked to the runway beside the square, and started running sullenly. after they started running, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from the corner, following them with neat steps and serious expressions. only then did the students of other majors realize that there were actually a lot of soldiers hidden in the area around the square where the lights didn¡¯t shine. they froze in their hearts, calmed down, and followed the instructions of the officers on the high platform to line up and run towards the mountain. ling yi couldn¡¯t stand jian¡¯s slow speed and his in-verge-of-death expression. so he picked him up again. qiao zhiya also picked up sang bu and ran at the forefront of the mecha manufacturing major. ¡°this is not appropriate,¡± sang bu frowned, thinking about running up the mountain by himself. qiao zhiya shook his head and replied. ¡°it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s not completely bright yet. the road up the mountain is too steep, it¡¯s safer for me to carry you up.¡± ¡°actually, it¡¯s better for us to change,¡± jian said leisurely on ling yi¡¯s back, analyzing, ¡°qiao¡¯s height is more suitable for carrying me, ling yi is more suitable for carrying sang bu. why don¡¯t we change?¡± sang bu hesitated, but he knew that jian was right. he was taller than both qiao zhiya and jian. it would be easier for qiao zhiya to carry jian than him. ¡°no, thank you,¡± qiao zhiya directly refused, and then speeded up again. he felt jian was strange, he didn¡¯t want to be too close to him. the corner of ling yi¡¯s mouth twitched, and he wanted to throw this person on his back. despite his best effort to keep civil, he inevitably said, ¡°ss-level freak.¡± ¡°sorry, i¡¯m also ss-level. when you curse, you can add more specification to avoid insulting the wrong people,¡± jian casually commented. ling yi said angrily, ¡°you¡¯re the one i¡¯m scolding! aren¡¯t you going to repay me? if you don¡¯t speak up, that¡¯s the best repayment for me!¡± h he had already learned from others just now that this guy had a ¡°brilliant¡± background. ! as expected, jian shut up. after a while, he quietly said, ¡°the reward you asked for is really expensive.¡± ¡°¡­¡± so why did he have to be so mean to others before! at the back of the team, xiang kun couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°ss-level freak!!¡± running so fast while carrying another, why is he still so full of energy! ning kongran, who was running behind him, suddenly spoke, and said lightly, ¡°i heard that chu yan¡¯s physical aptitude is about to rise to ss-level.¡± xiang kun¡¯s expression twisted even more. he said angrily, ¡°i¡¯m scolding him too! why the fuck does the chu family members so monstrous! just wait for me!¡± ¡®after arriving at the real training ground and entering the xiang family¡¯s territory, let¡¯s see how they can act!¡¯ on the other side, in the art major area, charmmi looked worriedly at an leen, who was almost out of breath. ¡°princess, are you okay?¡± although an leen¡¯s physical aptitude is not low, she rarely exercises. it must be hard for her to run such a long distance. ¡°it¡¯s okay¡­¡± an leen tried her best to adjust her breathing so that her physical strength would not be exhausted too quickly. with a certain kind of firm light in her eyes, she said, ¡°i can do it¡­ definitely can do it.¡± ¡®i can¡¯t embarrass my ge, absolutely not!¡¯ running from dawn to the full rise of the sun, qiao zhiya climbed to the top of the mountain. he took a look at the large warship parked on the top platform with the hatch door wide open as he brushed away his sweaty bangs. he put down the sang bu, and put away the ore that had been collected before to arrange his major¡¯s line. after he stepped up, ling yi let go of jian, and directly collapsed on the ground. he was panting so hard he couldn¡¯t speak. jian squatted beside him and poked him with his finger. ¡°you can¡¯t lie down, get up and walk around slowly, drink some medicine to help you recover.¡± ling yi rolled his eyes, turned his back to him. it¡¯s better to ignore this annoying boy. ¡°didn¡¯t you want a reward?¡± jian said lightly behind him, and added: ¡°here you go.¡± ling yi couldn¡¯t help but sit up, brushed his sweat-soaked hair, and looked at him speechlessly. as he panted, he managed to say, ¡°you¡­ huff, huff¡­. what kind of repayment are you¡­ i¡¯ll take a break before walking, please forgive me.¡± jian took out a potion and stuffed it directly into his mouth, shaking her head. ¡°you can¡¯t rest lying down like that. resting immediately after exercising has a chance of sudden death.¡± ¡°¡­don¡¯t curse me, i beg you,¡± ling yi resigned to his fate and stood up, walking very slowly with the medicine in his mouth, regretting that he helped this weak-chicken freak. for more than an hour after that, students kept arriving at the top of the mountain. during this period, the officers came up on the hover car, stood in the cabin of the warship, and watched them. they didn¡¯t say to let them board the ship, and there were no other arrangements. the mecha manufacturing major students automatically lined up according to the ore after arriving, and then sat down to rest on the spot. they were completely convinced by qiao zhiya¡¯s abnormal physical strength. after all, when they were all resting breathlessly, qiao zhiya was still full of energy. he was no longer comparable to them. similar to qiao zhiya¡¯s relaxed response, chu yan¡¯s side also went smoothly. he went up the mountain with yuan xiu early on, saw qiao zhiya looking over from a distance, and waved happily, attracting all the students around to look at qiao zhiya. an tyn, who usually lacked exercise, stood not far from chu yan in a slightly embarrassed manner. he turned his eyes around jian behind qiao zhiya, frowned, and looked away. at about eleven o¡¯clock, the last student almost reached the top of the mountain by climbing. the officer finally made a movement and waved behind him. then several rows of officers came out in line, and each of them spread out to stand in front of the professional teams. ¡°formally assemble the team before lunch, and then set off.¡± after the order was issued, all the officers who came in front of the professional teams got into action, and began to organize the students efficiently. during the action, they all skillfully called out the name of each student. qiao zhiya was placed at the front because of his height, and he was separated from sang bu and ling yi. next to him was jian, who was equally as short. ¡°remember to save me,¡± jian suddenly whispered as soon as the officer walked to the back. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 65.3 xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. an xei: the emperor¡¯s younger brother. a prince and a scholar. ning tianwu: an xei¡¯s wife, ning tianxing¡¯s younger sister. jian: the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. qiao zhiya looked at him from the side, and was agitated by the words he mentioned again. he asked him to ¡°save¡± him¡­ was jian in danger during this training? after the detachments were completed, all the teams boarded the ship one after another under the leadership of their instructors. there, they had lunch, then the warship took the students to a small training ground in the military headquarters. as they arrived at the training ground, each major was taken to a different area by their own instructors, completely separated from the students of other majors. after the team was assembled, the training officially started. there were obviously modern installments for them to use, but the instructors didn¡¯t allow them to use them. instead, they were ordered to stand under the sun and feel the ¡°enthusiasm of nature¡±. first, there was a half-hour warm-up run, and then a series of traditional military training items. qiao zhiya completed it easily, but jian, who was beside him, became paler and slower. his movement became even more sluggish, then he slumped, falling to the ground. ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡± the instructor immediately ordered the team to stop and walked to jian. qiao zhiya squatted down to help jian who had passed out, and just about to answer, he was shocked to find that jian was not breathing. qiao zhiya reconfirmed it again, and sure enough, jian really had no heartbeat and pulse. his ears perked up in fright, while the instructor rushed to him and glanced from overhead. ¡°re-report¡­! instructor, he¡­ he has no heartbeat,¡± he hugged jian and replied in a daze. the instructor¡¯s expression paled immediately. he hurried forward to check the situation. seeing that jian really had no heartbeat, his heart sank. he called the officers to take away the students around him, and squatted down to give jian first aid. the officers guarding the field reacted quickly, and immediately sent someone to clear the students away, and notified the field doctors. relying on his status as the young master of the xiang family, xiang kun insisted on staying. looking at jian on the ground, his expression was a little bewildered, but also a little serious and dignified ¡ª if the son of the imperial high advisor died in the federation, especially in the xiang family¡¯s territory¡­ he bit his lip and turned around twice, then took out his communicator. two minutes passed, jian didn¡¯t respond, and his face even turned blue. the instructor¡¯s forehead was covered with sweat, and his expression became uglier. this was the first time for qiao zhiya to face such a situation. seeing that the doctor was delayed, he felt anxious and flustered. he had studied with zhuang yu for a period of time, and he knew that if the heartbeat and pulse continued to disappear for more than a certain period of time, the human brain would shut down, leading to a brain death. ¡°why hasn¡¯t the doctor come yet?¡± he couldn¡¯t help asking. only then did the instructor realize that he hadn¡¯t left yet, but he didn¡¯t have time to chase him away, so he shook his head and continued to give first aid without daring to stop for a moment. another two minutes passed, and the doctor hadn¡¯t come yet. jian¡¯s face was getting bluer and paler, while the first-aid instructor even showed signs of giving up. he remembered what jian had asked him before, so he immediately pushed the instructor away while grabbing a couple of potions from his storage ring. it was the only high-level potion that had not yet been tested. he squeezed jian¡¯s chin and poured it into him, and then took the position of the instructor, giving him first aid via chest pumps while injecting him with his healing wood-type magic power. he muttered anxiously, ¡°hold on, i¡¯m here to save you. didn¡¯t you ask me to save you, hold on, don¡¯t die, you can¡¯t die.¡± ¡°what are you doing!¡± the instructor was taken by surprise by qiao zhiya¡¯s unexpected herculean strength. then, he hurriedly stepped forward to stop it. as if aware of his attacking intention, the spiritual power simulator on qiao zhiya¡¯s ear suddenly flashed, and then a huge sharp spiritual power spread around qiao zhiya, causing the instructor who rushed over to fall directly to the ground with a groan. ¡°this¡­ stop!¡± the instructor was so anxious that he wanted to get close but couldn¡¯t resist the stimulation of sss-level spiritual power. he could only yell at qiao zhiya. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t care about him. he just kept pouring wood-type magic power into jian¡¯s body, washing his body over and over again. during training, he didn¡¯t sweat at all, but now his forehead and back was drenched due to anxiety and exhaustion. ¡°wake up, wake up soon¡­¡± he kept mumbling, his eyes were reddening. the field doctor finally arrived late, with a couple of officers in tow. but because of the sharp spiritual power floating around qiao, they couldn¡¯t get close at all. the officer was so anxious that he wanted to take out his pistol and shot qiao zhiya, but was stopped by the doctor. ¡°after such a long time, the patient may have¡­ go inform marshal chu to come. tell him that his fianc¨¦ blocked the rescue and caused the death of the son of the imperial high advisor. in short, this matter has nothing to do with us or the xiang family, understand?¡± ¡°you¡­¡± the officer turned his head to look at the gray-haired doctor in disbelief. he was about to shake his head instinctively, but remembering his younger siblings who were still receiving funding from the xiang family, he gritted his teeth, turned and walked aside, and began to report the situation. xiang kun, who had just finished communicating with his family, turned his head and saw that qiao zhiya was giving first aid to jian. after being stunned for a while, he immediately wanted to go forward, but was also stopped by the doctor. losing his temper, he shouted, ¡°human life is at stake, that native is stupid, and yet you just watch and let it happen?! aren¡¯t you a doctor, go there and save him!¡± ¡°young master!¡± the doctor pressed his shoulder and said seriously, ¡°do you want the xiang family to become the first sinners that caused the war?¡± xiang kun was shocked by his exclamation. he turned his head to look at qiao zhiya, who was still insisting on first aid, especially on his sweat-soaked back. his expression changed, and he suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard. ¡°young master!¡± the doctor didn¡¯t expect xiang kun to slap himself. he hurriedly stretched out his hand to see his face. ¡°go away!¡± xiang kun pushed him away. then, he saw xiang hui rushing over from a distance, then looked back at qiao zhiya who was still giving first aid. he turned and ran away with red eyes. xiang hui also saw xiang kun running away, but he didn¡¯t have time to care about him. he only let his subordinates chase after him, and then hurried to the doctor to ask about the situation. before he finished understanding the situation, chu rong, who received the signal from the spiritual power simulator, drove over in his mecha. with a glance, he immediately made a judgment about the situation. he stepped forward to protect qiao zhiya, without dispelling the spiritual power. he looked at xiang hui and asked in a deep voice, ¡°what¡¯s the matter?¡± xiang hui didn¡¯t expect him to rush over so quickly. he couldn¡¯t help but glared at the doctor, and then explained the situation as briefly as possible, emphasizing that qiao zhiya blocked the treatment, and finally asked him to dispel the spiritual power and take qiao zhiya away. chu rong¡¯s expression became more serious, and he looked back at qiao zhiya, who was focused on saving the boy. he thought for a few seconds, then shook his head and replied, ¡°no, let him try to save that student.¡± xiang hui was very satisfied that chu rong would take the blame. but he pretended to be shocked and said seriously, ¡°marshal chu, think twice! qiao zhiya is just a student who has just grown up, how can he save anyone? if jian dies, you know better than me what the consequences will be. are you blocking the treatment because you want the federation and the empire to go to war?¡± ¡°stop talking about high-sounding things,¡± chu rong was in a very bad mood, so his words became more merciless, ¡°if there is a real war, your xiang family will be the first to be aimed at by my chu family¡¯s guns.¡± these words were too cold-blooded. xiang hui¡¯s expression immediately darkened. he stopped acting in this scene, and took a step back to watch coldly. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t notice the outside situation at all. he tried his best to guide the wood-type magic power to jian¡¯s head, trying his best to prevent brain death due to long-term lack of oxygen. at the same time, he kept using the wood-type magic power to stimulate his heart with potions to help. he hoped to restore his heartbeat quickly. sweat had already soaked his training clothes, and as he was on verge of giving up, he felt a slight fluctuation under his palm. he became refreshed, and hurriedly concentrated his magic power on it, stimulating it gently. maybe only a moment passed, maybe it took a long time, but the heart started to slowly beat under his palm. it became clearer and stronger, and jian¡¯s complexion also began to improve. his breathing resumed, his eyelashes trembled, and he finally opened his eyes. ¡°ah¡­ as expected, you saved me. thank you,¡± jian said with a weak voice. he still insisted on showing a smile. qiao zhiya looked at him for a few seconds without reacting. his head was muddled as he let his hand go. his nose felt sore, his body went limp, and he sat down on the ground completely. he lowered his head, hiding that he was wiping the tears that formed in his eyes. ¡°hello?¡± jian stretched out his hand and tugged at his clothes, still with a flat expression. ¡°i was the one who almost died, why are you crying¡­ don¡¯t cry, the ground is so hard, i feel uncomfortable lying down.¡± qiao zhiya shook off his hand childishly, took out a quilt from his storage ring and threw it on him. then, he stood up with red eyes and a sullen face, wanting to leave. however, he bumped into a familiar embrace as soon as he turned around inside. ¡°incompetent.¡± chu rong hugged him, wiped his face lightly, then removed the spiritual power simulator on his ear. he side-eyed xiang hui and his group who were confronting him, then his gaze finally fell at the doctor in the corner. his voice was cold, full of sarcasm, ¡°the officers of your xiang family trained him until his heart stopped beating, and now my people from the chu family saved him. the doctors of the xiang family¡­ do they know how to take care of a patient?¡± jian, who was lying on the ground, silently rolled inside the quilt. he glanced at xiang hui and his entourage, and nodded calmly. ¡°yes, i need help very much, that native boy is using too much force, i suspect my ribs are broken.¡± qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t help but poked his head out and stared at jian. he looked angry and on the verge of tears, eyes red like a rabbit. the bubbling emotions he held on bursted on the spot. ¡°shut up!¡± chu rong¡¯s eyes moved when he heard qiao zhiya, and he raised his hand to touch his head. he instantly felt his mood uplifted. ¡®this bald chicken can even imitate my tone so cutely.¡¯ xiang hui didn¡¯t expect qiao zhiya to actually bring jian back to life, and his expression changed. first, he was glad that he hadn¡¯t alarmed the empire if a big incident happened; but at the same time, he secretly hated that he missed a good opportunity to make the chu family stumble. if chu rong hadn¡¯t arrived quickly and blocked everyone so that qiao zhiya could treat jian with peace of mind, jian might have died long ago. ¡°go and send young master jian to the medical room to take good care of him,¡± xiang hui waved his hand and ordered his subordinates. he casted a deep glance at qiao zhiya nestled in chu rong¡¯s arms¡­. then strode away unwillingly. ¡°ah, why doesn¡¯t the xiang family here send condolences to me?¡± jian commented as he watched xiang hui leave. he cooperated with the doctor to move himself to the mobile hospital bed. he ignored the field doctor¡¯s stiff expression, and instead looked at chu rong, who was still embracing qiao zhiya. he gave him a kind reminder, ¡°he has sweated a lot, and now he has cried again. he may be a little dehydrated. i suggest you let him go to the medical room with me.¡± chu rong saw that this imperial high advisor¡¯s son was still calm despite almost dying. he scrutinized him as he said, ¡°qiao used a total of eight potions on you. remember to pay for them. he did a good job.¡± ¡°i will repay you well,¡± looking at qiao zhiya¡¯s protruding pointed ears, jian said happily, ¡°very, very good repayment.¡± chu rong frowned, expressing that he didn¡¯t like the way jian looked at qiao zhiya at this moment. CH 66.1 jian was carried away, while qiao zhiya was brought back to chu rong¡¯s office. although the xiang family¡¯s training ground and chu rong¡¯s office area both belong to the military headquarters, they were quite far apart. when chu rong rushed over, he drove a mecha, and when he returned, he chose a hover car because he was holding qiao zhiya. ¡°change the wet clothes first,¡± chu rong touched the back of qiao zhiya¡¯s head, very dissatisfied with the sweat-soaked hair. nestled in the familiar embrace, qiao zhiya slowly calmed down. hearing this, he nodded obediently, but did not move. his mind was still scrambled by what just happened. chu rong looked down at him, frowned, and touched his head again. knowing the state of qiao zhiya¡¯s mind, he simply took out the black dagger qiao zhiya gave him from his space button. after carefully tearing off his training clothes, qiao zhiya¡¯s fair and delicate skin was exposed in large swaths. chu rong paused for a moment, then immediately turned his head away. without seeing, he groped around to tear off qiao zhiya¡¯s clothes, then took out a big blanket to envelop him. finally, he quickly tore off qiao zhiya¡¯s pants ¨C it was stuck to his skin due to sweat ¨C at a lightning-fast speed. after stripping him down until the youth was only clad in a pair of shorts, he took out a towel and wiped qiao zhiya¡¯s sweaty hair until his hair stood up in a comical way. finally, he felt a little more relaxed and kissed his cheek. with a low voice, he teased, ¡°will your soul return now?¡± after being tossed like this, qiao zhiya finally regained his senses slowly. after blankly staring ahead for a few seconds, he finally realized the state he was in, and hurriedly shrank his limbs and grabbed the blanket to hide. his hedgehog-like hair sprouted out foolishly from the tight-wrap, shaking in embarrassment. ¡°don¡¯t be so reckless next time,¡± chu rong hugged him from outside the blanket. remembering the sudden panic when he received the news, he just wished he could keep the youth locked inside his room. ¡°i¡¯m sorry¡­¡± qiao zhiya said dully, his whole body was sluggish. ¡°jian must know that my power is odd. although he lost consciousness, after the magic power enters the body, there will be a part left, and it will take a while until it completely dissipates. he must have noticed, and i fed him so many potions¡­i¡¯m sorry, i caused trouble¡­¡± during that time, he was far too anxious to care about anything else. now that he had calmed down, he realized that everything could lead to problems. it would be a catastrophe for jian, a boy from the empire, to discover his special power. ¡°chu rong, will i implicate you?¡± he took a peek, helplessly looking at chu rong with worry and self-blame, imagining all the situations that would cause chu rong to be spied on by the empire. the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. despite this, he still stretched out his hand from under the blanket and grabbed his clothes. the blanket was only loosely wrapped, but when he let go, the blanket slid down, exposing his almost-naked body. chu rong choked back all the comforting words he was about to utter, and quickly stretched out his arms to wrap the youth so he wouldn¡¯t be able to see such a¡­ lewd view. then, he bent down to pick up the blanket and rewrapped him. he said with a frown, ¡°don¡¯t think about it, it¡¯s not that serious. sit down and don¡¯t move around.¡± qiao zhiya lay passively on his chest, their bodies pressed together, with only a thin layer of summer military uniform in between. he clearly noticed chu rong¡¯s sudden rapid heartbeat and slightly elevated body temperature, and he understood the cause. as a result, his ears and face flushed bright red. he propped up his body slightly, lowered his head, and looked towards a certain bulge located under his buttocks. ¡®isn¡¯t that¡­¡¯ ¡°don¡¯t you dare to lower your head and see it.¡± a chilly voice sounded above his head, and then his ears were pinched threateningly. he couldn¡¯t lower his head, and his obscene intentions were discovered. qiao zhiya¡¯s body stiffened, his ears trembled, but he still slung his arms around chu rong¡¯s neck, feeling a little shy and inexplicably happy. chu rong felt that the air-conditioning in the hover car was not cool enough. he quickly stretched out his arms to hold him down, hugged him tightly with a blanket and put him aside, keeping at least an arm¡¯s distance from him. ¡°don¡¯t rub your body on me. put on clean clothes first.¡± ¡°you like me.¡± qiao zhiya teased. he sat restlessly, his exposed toes moved around. his gaze drifted dishonestly towards the taller man¡¯s crotch area. then, he added a shy but extremely shameless whisper, ¡°you are like this because you like me¡­ um¡­¡± ¡®it turns out that mom was right. people¡¯s bodies are honest, and i can easily tell when someone loves me. so that¡¯s what mom means¡­¡¯ 1t/l: pretty sure that¡¯s not what your mom means, qiao zhiya chu rong felt that he was being molested, and probed deeper at qiao zhiya¡¯s honest gaze. ¡®he¡¯s obviously a naive young man, but occasionally he will be like this¡­.¡¯ ¡°are you okay?¡± qiao zhiya asked shyly, both happy yet embarrassed. the veins on chu rong¡¯s forehead popped up, and he ordered fiercely, ¡°close your eyes!¡± qiao zhiya shook his head, ears twitching happily in mischief. fearlessly and innocently, he instead said, ¡°but i want to change clothes. i can¡¯t change with closed eyes!¡± ¡®does he become more courageous after being frightened? or has he lost his mind?¡¯ chu rong looked at his naughty face, blushing cheeks and fluttering ears. he reached out to press his shoulders, moved him to the side. with a bowed head, he directly kissed the youth¡¯s lips. it was no longer a fluttering, shy touch. he directly pried open the youth¡¯s lips and teeth, meeting the youth¡¯s frozen tongue. arrogantly, he licked it, sucked on it, hooking it into a dance. qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes widened in shock. all he could know is that his breath and thoughts were taken away, leaving him to receive chu rong¡¯s domineering and powerful movements. he was passive, being led away by the taller man. chu rong ended the deep kiss with a quick peck. then, he stepped back as he put his hand on his shoulders once again. he touched qiao zhiya¡¯s flushed cheeks and red lips as his eyes narrowed. he quietly asked, ¡°do you want to get dressed now, or do you want to continue?¡± it¡¯s as if something exploded in his head. qiao zhiya looked straight at chu rong, who was towering over him. with fluttering eyelashes, he shyly lifted the blanket to cover himself. then he turned back, took out his spare clothes and changed into it at a record speed. he was too embarrassed that he wanted to roll himself into a burrito. ¡®ah, a real kiss is like this¡­ so, so embarrassing.¡¯ chu rong looked at him hiding in the blanket and changing his clothes stupidly with a smile. he leaned over and kissed the top of his head through the blanket. fan xiangnan received the news early and waited at the door. when he saw the black hover car approaching, he hurried forward a few steps. after the vehicle landed safely, he walked over and asked anxiously, ¡°sir, how is the situation? i¡ª¡± the car door opened, and the torn clothes and blankets rolled up on the ground were exposed first. then qiao zhiya with rosy lips and flushed face appeared next to chu rong with messy clothes and hair. everyone here is an adult. it is difficult for fan xiangnan to control himself without his mind going straight into the gutter. ¡°good afternoon, fan-ge,¡± qiao zhiya got out of the car and greeted fan xiangnan, trying to maintain a normal expression, but shyness still showed from the corners of his brows and eyes. ¡°¡­good afternoon,¡± fan xiangnan greeted back, and then looked at chu rong who had got out of the car. he looked like a beast dressed as a gentleman. he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°sir, qiao just came of age.¡± chu rong frowned. he looked at him inexplicably, stretched out his hand to grab qiao zhiya, and said as he walked in, ¡°get something for him to drink first.¡± qiao zhiya whispered in his hand, ¡°actually, it doesn¡¯t matter, i just drank a potion and i am not dehydrated¡± ¡°it¡¯s not your decision whether you are dehydrated or not,¡± chu rong shook him, strode into the elevator, and went to his own office on the top floor. fan xiangnan who was left behind: ¡°¡­¡± since their relationship was revealed, his boss has become more and more ¡°indifferent¡± to other¡¯s gaze. fortunately, he cleared the scene in advance, otherwise his image in front of his subordinates would suffer. this was qiao zhiya¡¯s first visit to chu rong¡¯s office area in the military headquarters. he was a little curious, so his eyes kept flitting about. chu rong let him go. after entering his office, he put him on the sofa, pointed to the direction of the bathroom, and said, ¡°go take a bath and relax.¡± qiao zhiya wanted to refuse, but was stopped by chu rong with a look. all he could do was to obediently walk towards the bathroom. fan xiangnan quickly came over with a drink, chu rong motioned him to put it down, and asked, ¡°has the news spread out, and what is everyone¡¯s reaction?¡± although xiang kun deliberately blocked the news just now, but jian has been rescued, he and qiao zhiya were delayed on the road for a while. things inevitably spread, and everyone knew about the incident to some degree. ¡°it¡¯s been rumored that jian fainted suddenly during training and was sent to the doctor in time to get better. before you came back, the president and prince an xei had already left to visit jian in the medical room of the training ground. the wei family and the ning family also said that there was nothing special about it.¡± fan xiangnan put down the glass of juice and continued, ¡°sir, what¡¯s going on this time?¡± so far, he only vaguely knew that something happened to jian and it¡¯s related to qiao zhiya, but he didn¡¯t know the specifics. chu rong¡¯s tense expression relaxed a lot. it seems that the xiang family is planning to make this incident a small one. all he needs to do now is to see prince an xei¡¯s reaction after knowing the truth. with some calculations in his mind, he briefly explained the cause and effect of this incident to fan xiangnan, and then whispered a few follow-up arrangements. when he heard the movement from the bathroom door, he stopped talking and waved his hands to instruct fan xiangnan to leave. qiao zhiya came out with wet hair, and saw that chu rong was the only one in the room, and asked in confusion, ¡°i seem to have heard fan-ge¡¯s voice, where is he?¡± ¡°he is having dinner,¡± chu rong made up a random reason. he pulled the youth over and made him sit down, then gave him a glass of juice. after that, he took out a tower and hair dryer. being taken care of so carefully, qiao zhiya felt both warm and embarrassed. he lowered his head and took a sip of the sweet fruit juice. he suddenly remembered what he was worried about before, and turned his head while thinking about it. ¡°by the way, jian¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t move.¡± chu rong held his head to prevent him from turning around, and replied flatly, ¡°don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s nothing wrong there. judging from the situation, he didn¡¯t talk nonsense, and neither did the xiang family.¡± qiao zhiya was relieved, but he was still a little uneasy. ¡°what if jian falls asleep and just hasn¡¯t had time to tell the truth yet? and those medicine bottles, i forgot to take them away just now, if someone picks them up¡­¡± ¨Cafter all, there¡¯s also a bottle of high-grade potion in it. it was made purely by refining magic power, which was completely different from traditional pharmaceutical methods. if it was researched, it would be known. once his hair was dry, chu rong put away the hair dryer. he then took out eight empty medicine bottles from the space button and put them on the table and patted him on the head. ¡°don¡¯t be so sloppy in the future. don¡¯t worry, i will send someone to keep an eye on jian. i¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t talk nonsense, and i¡¯ll be in charge.¡± qiao zhiya didn¡¯t expect him to be so careful, and remembered to put the bottle away. finally, his uneasiness eased. ¡°but¡­¡± ¡°no but,¡± chu rong rubbed his ears, sat next to him and hugged him, not letting him see the cold light in his eyes. his tone was affirmative as he said, ¡°jian is a smart person, he knows what to do.¡± ¨Cbefore he could deal with that boy, absolutely nobody could know what they shouldn¡¯t know. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 66.2 =the federation= qiao zhiya: half-elf, half-dwarf mc. chu rong: marshal ml. chu yan: ml¡¯s younger brother. is the same age as mc. chu huai: ml¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. gu yan¡¯an: chu huai¡¯s wife. she¡¯s a doctor. yuan xiu: chu yan¡¯s bestfriend. qiuqiu: mc¡¯s special plant pet he kept inside his storage bracelet. xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. liu hongzi: one of chu yan¡¯s enemy. xiang kun is currently affiliated to him. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. ling yi: a mecha manufacturing student who helped jian before. =the empire= an leen: imperial princess. an tyn: imperial prince, an leen¡¯s twin brother. an xei: the emperor¡¯s younger brother. a prince and a scholar. jexiu: neitaxi¡¯s son, studying mecha piloting. feng: the imperial high advisor. jian: feng¡¯s son. studies history. the night gradually deepened, and the people who came to visit came and went. after the ward was completely quiet, jian, who had been pretending to sleep, opened his eyes and looked at the nurse who was guarding the corner without any sense of presence. he said, ¡°i¡¯m not talking nonsense, can you stop releasing the soothing medicine?¡± this kind of medicine was nothing to normal people, but for a weak person like him who has just experienced a near-death experience, it¡¯s enough to make him unable to sleep. the ordinary and harmless-looking nurse raised her gaze at him as he spoke. then, she got up and turned off a small device in her pocket. as she walked to his bedside, she reached out and pushed the operating device next to the bed a few times. a protective cover slowly rose on the hospital bed, covering jian completely. jian looked back and forth curiously, asking, ¡°are you a person from marshal chu? is he going to kill me?¡± the nurse looked at him again. she suddenly threw him a communicator that was flashing, then completely turned off the protective cover. it adjusted into opaque mode, and walked to the door of the ward to guard. jian glanced at the dense protective cover around him. as the communicator connected, he saw chu rong sitting in a heavily decorated study. he struggled to sit up ¨C he didn¡¯t like to be loomed upon when they were negotiating. ¡°your father¡¯s name is feng. he appeared in the empire twenty years ago. he was once a good friend of the current emperor¡¯s second brother1clarity: so, the current emperor has two (known) younger brothers: prince an xei and prince an lunn., prince an lunn. after the great war ten years ago, he was specially conferred the title of king because of his meritorious service in helping the emperor and the people,¡± chu rong closed the information in his hand, looked at jian with a calm expression, but the tone of his voice was rather fierce, ¡°but prince an lunn unfortunately died in that zerg raid, with all of his guard with him.¡± jian¡¯s pupils shook, but he suddenly laughed. ¡°marshal, why did you suddenly mention this?¡± chu rong observed his expression, the corner of his mouth twitched while his gaze was still frosty. he put aside the folder and said, ¡°jian, there are only two ways in front of you now, take the initiative to shut up, or be silenced forever.¡± his tone indicated finality. jian sighed regretfully in his heart, lowered the smile on his face, and resumed his usual expressionless look. ¡°marshal chu, don¡¯t be overly nervous, i have no malice towards qiao zhiya. on the contrary, i still rely on him to continue to live. believe me, i don¡¯t want people to discover his special power even more than you.¡± ¡°what do you know about it? and how do you know it?¡± chu rong was not fooled by him, and asked the key point directly. this jian was obviously coming for qiao zhiya, and all the clues point to one thing ¨C this jian has long known about qiao zhiya¡¯s special power, and all he did was to get close to qiao zhiya and force him to save him. the so-called ¡°repayment¡± was probably another conspiracy. he hated the feeling of someone he cared about being so unscrupulously conspired on, even if it¡¯s for his sake. jian was helpless, the man qiao zhiya was looking for was really reckless, and his patience has long turned thin. he didn¡¯t want to negotiate anymore, he wanted to dominate this talk and force jian to do his bidding. jian, meanwhile, just wanted to sleep. ¡°marshal, you specifically mentioned prince an lunn, so you must¡¯ve already guessed. yes, there¡¯s something fishy about prince an lunn¡¯s death back then, and it had something to do with my father2he¡¯s referring to the imperial high advisor, feng., but i must state my position on this matter,¡± he compromised as he untied the hospital gown on his body. he wiped his thin chest, revealing a fiery red mark emblazoned on it. ¡°actually, i am the biological son of prince an lunn.¡± chu rong frowned, his expression became serious. spiritual branding, a unique symbol of the imperial family. it could only be passed on from father to child. the branding method was very special, and it¡¯s only known to the main branch of the imperial family. that¡¯s why this mark absolutely confirmed jian¡¯s bloodline. he did find out some information, guessing that the imperial high advisor might have betrayed prince an lunn back then, and helped the current emperor get rid of the thorn of his eyes. however, he didn¡¯t expect the facts to be far more complicated than he guessed. feng¡¯s son was actually an lunn¡¯s biological son, so there must be a hidden story behind what happened back then. ¡°secrets are exchanged for secrets. now the marshal should believe my sincerity.¡± jian wiped his chest again, and the mark disappeared. he fastened the button of the hospital gown again, looked at him, and said, ¡°marshal, what else do you want to say? if there¡¯s none, then please let me sleep.¡± ¡°there¡¯s one more thing,¡± chu rong leaned back in the chair and continued asking him, ¡°what do you know about qiao zhiya¡¯s power, how do you know about it, and what is your purpose?¡± ¡°¡­¡± jian could only curse internally. even with such a shocking revelation, the marshal hasn¡¯t forgotten about this topic. ¡°it seems that you want to choose to shut up forever,¡± chu rong once again showed his extremely impatient side. he said irritably, ¡°i don¡¯t like the deviousness of you smart people. if i can, i prefer to use absolute strength and force to solve the problem. the imperial high advisor, that is, your adopted father, does not have any real power. it¡¯s not difficult for me to kill such a person.¡± plus, unlike jian¡¯s rare ss-level spiritual power, the imperial high advisor only had an a-level spiritual power. on top of that, he had black hair and black eyes, signaling that he¡¯s ethnically foreign within the empire. it¡¯s no trouble for chu rong to assassinate him. jian¡¯s expression faded, and the faint aura of indifference that had been on his body also disappeared. he looked at chu rong with dark eyes, and there seemed to be a coldness flowing in it. ¡°your mood now is my mood when you were scheming on qiao zhiya,¡± chu rong looked at him without giving way, ¡°jian, you should understand that a person who holds the emperor¡¯s power will be removed by him sooner or later. i don¡¯t have to do it myself.¡± jian¡¯s grip on the quilt tightened, he lowered his gaze, then looked up after a few seconds of silence. he then said, ¡°my adopted father¡­ just like qiao zhiya, he also has special spiritual power. however, to use his power, he must consume his life force. a year ago, he figured out a way to extend my life at the cost of blindness.¡± chu rong relaxed, his fingers tapping the desk in front of him. ¡®the emperor has been in poor health since a year ago. jian also said his life was extended a year ago¡­ such timing could not be a coincidence. so, the reason why the imperial high advisor can hold onto his position for such a long time must be because of this power. is he trusted by the emperor because he could prolong his life?¡¯ ¡®and a year ago, for the sake of the adopted son¡¯s life, the imperial high advisor chose to use his power on the adopted son and gave up the emperor. then the emperor¡¯s move to search for a pharmacist may not be a real pharmacist, but a substitute for the imperial high advisor.¡¯ ¡®in this way, his position should no longer be stable.¡¯ various clues and speculations went around in his mind, and the coldness on chu rong finally calmed down a bit. he took out a small medicine box and put it on the table, and said, ¡°your adoptive father sent you here so you can find a way to extend your lifespan, and als to keep you away from the emperor¡¯s harm.¡± jian¡¯s eyes immediately fell on the medicine box. after such medicine was used on him by qiao zhiya, he knew the meaning of this box. ¡°i can provide this to you, and let your adoptive father use this as a cover to continue to ¡®extend your life¡¯ for the emperor. this can keep your adoptive father¡¯s status and safety as the imperial high advisor.¡± chu rong threw out the bait, and seeing jian¡¯s eyes widen subconsciously, he knew that his guess was spot-on. he continued, ¡°in exchange, i will put a spiritual lock on your brain to ensure that you will not reveal anything about qiao zhiya.¡± ¡°i promise!¡± jian immediately agreed. once his father came into the conversation, he lost his calm. he eagerly said, ¡°as long as i can save my father¡¯s life, i can promise you anything.¡± chu rong was very satisfied with his reaction. he replied, ¡°this is of course the best. in addition, i want to know the reason why prince an lunn was murdered by the emperor.¡± jian trembled and pursed his lips. ¡°i only give you a minute to think about it. everyone knows that my patience is not very good.¡± chu rong looked at him leisurely, and dialed the communicator on his wrist, ¡°time is precious, you should think clearly.¡± jian struggled. he looked up at him, his mouth opened and closed intermittently. after a minute passed, he said, ¡°my biological father was killed by the emperor when he was secretly investigating something. he suspected something about ¡­black holes. in fact, we prefer to call it a wormhole, and suspect that its appearance is not due to natural causes, but¡­ man-made.¡± as jian¡¯s voice weakened, chu rong paused. his expression changed suddenly, remembering the cause of his parents¡¯ death. his spiritual power immediately surged. with a deep voice, he asked, ¡°do you understand what you are talking about?¡± jian blinked, looking at chu rong¡¯s harsh glare. he raised his voice slightly and said. ¡°how can i not understand? marshal, haven¡¯t you been investigating this all these years? have you found out the clues to the ship that my biological father abandoned on the mining planet your family owns3yes, this is the planet chu rong met qiao zhiya back then. they got trapped inside a ¡°foreign imperial spaceship, most likely owned by the royal family¡±.?¡± finally, a thread end was pulled out of the ball of yarn. chu rong slowly relaxed his tightened palms, suppressing his spiritual strength. after some time staring at the black-haired youth¡¯s face, he finally restrained all his bubbling emotions. ¡°i need to talk to your adoptive father in person. the imperial high advisor must¡¯ve known some things. i¡¯ll contact you later.¡± with that, the communication ended. CH 66.3 after sleeping peacefully at home, qiao zhiya was sent to the training ground by chu rong himself the next day. he learned from him that jian lost a part of his memory, most likely because his brain was deprived of oxygen for quite some time. let alone what happened yesterday, he doesn¡¯t even remember what happened a year ago. his self-cognition is a bit impaired. qiao zhiya was relieved and worried at the same time. although he felt that jian was a little strange and a bit scary, he still rescued him by his own hand. knowing that he was still injured because of this, it was inevitable that he felt a little uncomfortable. ¡°if only i could be more decisive and save him sooner¡­¡± he lowered his head, depressed. chu rong stroked his head reassuringly as he said, ¡°it¡¯s not your fault, it¡¯s the xiang family doctor who came too late, and you¡¯ve tried your best.¡± ¡°but¡­ thankfully i¡¯m not discovered. i¡¯m sorry, i was too sloppy this time. i¡¯ll pay more attention to it in the future. by the way, those people who saw me saving him¡­¡± ¡°i have everything, the potions you used are with me. it will also be revealed to the public that it is a new product developed by the xiang family,¡± chu rong bowed his head and kissed his ear, then pinched his face. as he pointed to his own lips, and said, ¡°did i help you a lot this time?¡± qiao zhiya immediately understood his hint. his face flushed, but his worries were immediately dispelled. his ears shyly fluttered, his eyes closed, and he took the initiative to give chu rong a peck. chu rong pursed his lips as he felt qiao zhiya¡¯s met his own. he lowered his head and hugged the youth tightly. the person involved lost his memory, so the xiang family was unwilling to expose the fact that their doctor arrived too late. the chu family wanted to expose this matter as soon as possible so as not to involve qiao zhiya, so jian¡¯s cardiac arrest on the training ground was treated as an ordinary ¡°too physically unfit¡± incident. however, it soon became overturned, as the blame ultimately fell on the instructor, who gave them ¡°unreasonable training¡±. the instructor was replaced, and the students who were cleared away were also specially appeased. the xiang family¡¯s army pretended to be frightened by this incident, and claimed that there¡¯s a chance that many of the students have an invisible illness, which invisibly takes away their attention. qiao zhiya¡¯s return caused a little uproar among the students, which was quickly put down by the new instructors. thanks to jian¡¯s incident, the difficulty of the freshman training was slightly reduced this time, which made the students feel lucky. chu yan made a call to ask about the situation during the training break, and qiao zhiya comforted him. after hanging up the call, he found that xiang kun had been wandering around him. but when he glanced at him, he quickly looked away. three days later, jian returned to the training ground with a pale face. the students let go of their hearts and warmly applauded him for returning to the team. standing behind them, xiang kun looked at jian¡¯s complexion carefully and secretly relaxed. he took a deep breath, then glanced at qiao zhiya, lowered his eyes, and moved away silently. ¡°i heard that you saved me.¡± jian, who lost his memory, became much more cheerful. during the break, he took the initiative to go to qiao zhiya, smiled at him, and said, ¡°i will repay you. do you like ¡®ilu¡¯ flowers? that flower is hard to cultivate, but it¡¯s extremely beautiful. i can give you a pot.¡± ¡®ilu?¡¯ qiao zhiya wondered. after all, in the ancient lingua franca, ilu also means ¡°hometown¡±. it was only for a moment that he was distracted, and the appearance of ilu flower appeared in qiao zhiya¡¯s mind. after a moment of silence, he nodded and said, ¡°i like it, ilu flower is really beautiful, thank you for your reward.¡± jian laughed happily as he leaned closer to him. he whispered, ¡°then this is a secret between us, you can¡¯t tell others.¡± qiao zhiya was taken aback by his sudden approach, and leaned back a little embarrassingly, thinking, ¡®after his amnesia, this strange son of the imperial high advisor seems to become a lot more naive.¡¯ he then suddenly remembered the stupid things he did when he lost his memory, making him blush. now he was not so afraid of jian. instead, he smiled at him, as if to coax a child. nodding cooperatively, he said, ¡°okay, this is our secret.¡± the training continued, and jian was allowed to practice less for a while because of his physical condition. but jian refused to admit defeat and insisted on practicing with them for a whole day, even though his pace was much slower than the rest of them. when he couldn¡¯t follow it, he would take the initiative to apply for a break. everyone was moved by his hard-working attitude, they quickly took the initiative to befriend him. after losing his memory, jian was very easy to get along with. qiao zhiya slowly let go of his vigilance and accepted this frail friend who came over on his own initiative. to be on the safe side, he specifically told chu rong about this matter, and chu rong didn¡¯t stop him, only letting him make friends according to his own heart, no need to worry about other things. a month passed in a hurry, and the xiang family was unwilling to reconcile with the final group training stage, so they insisted on having an extra special training session for students with s-level and above physiques. qiao zhiya finished it easily, and got first place in the special training. chu yan was second, and thus successfully promoted his physique level to ss-level. xiang hui, who was watching the special training, was so angry that he just shook his face and left. jexiu came in third, so he at least saved the empire¡¯s face. but surprisingly, ling yi from the mecha manufacturing department came in fourth, ahead of yuan xiu, liu hongzi and other students from the mecha driving department. after the joint training was successfully completed, the warship carried the students back to the military academy. the campus where only freshmen arrived before leaving was already crowded with students from grades 2 to 5. the weekend came after a day off, and all the freshmen who lived nearby chose to go home. chu yan and qiao zhiya were also picked up by chu rong. after the lively dinner, the chu family all went for a walk in the yard to help food digestion. at this moment, there was an obvious change in them. in the past, chu rong and chu huai walked in front, and gu yan¡¯an and the two younger ones walked behind. now it was chu huai and gu yan¡¯an who led chu yan to the front, and chu rong and qiao zhiya were left in the back. ¡°preferring boyfriend over brothers,¡± chu yan rolled his eyes angrily. because of the training, his skin tanned, so his eyes looked particularly striking. chu huai patted him amusedly. ¡°i didn¡¯t love you enough when i was a child? it¡¯s all your fault that you were too naughty and annoyed lao er. well, don¡¯t make trouble with them. lao er will go to the empire in a few days. he and qiao zhiya won¡¯t be able to see each other for a while, let them talk more.¡± ¡°what? go to the empire?¡± chu yan was surprised, and asked anxiously, ¡°what¡¯s going on? why is erge going to the empire? exchanging hostages? then this exchange is not worth it, i think it is more cost-effective to send xiang kun there.¡± ¡°what are you thinking about?¡± chu huai glanced at him and explained, ¡°lao er is going to deal with some border issues. there are a few mining planets owned by our family that are on the border between the federation and the empire. since we are going to start mining them, we are bound to make a lot of movements, so that could lead to a lot of misunderstanding. it¡¯s best for us to take the initiative and greet the empire first, so no friction will be caused.¡± with this explanation in mind, chu yan calmed down. with a bored look, he muttered, ¡°it¡¯s really troublesome. those planets are obviously ours, but we have to greet our neighbors first when we mine them. what do you think our ancestors will think? when they occupied those planets, why did they find the ones near the border?¡± chu huai and gu yan¡¯an looked at each other, then shook their heads together and laughed. ¡®chu yan¡¯s thoughts are too simple.¡¯ meanwhile, chu rong and qiao zhiya also talked about this matter. ¡°how long will it take to come back?¡± qiao zhiya held chu rong¡¯s hand, his expression contorted due to his reluctance. chu rong intertwined their fingers together before squeezing them reassuringly. ¡°i don¡¯t know the precise time, but the shortest possible time is 10 days. it really depends on the current political climate of the empire. now the old emperor is not in good health, so many of the adult princes are making a lot of moves behind his back. after i arrived there, i might be held back.¡± qiao zhiya became more worried. his rare willfulness flared. ¡°can you not go?¡± chu rong let go of his hand, his steps stopped. he turned around, plucked his bangs, and shook his head. ¡°qiao, when the president changes next year, it seems that the xiang and wei families are not going to appoint another puppet leader. instead, they¡¯re going to want to put someone from their family in the presidential seat. we must fight for that seat, and it¡¯s already this late into the year, so it¡¯s time to make some preparations.¡± this preparation naturally includes military strength, and the flagship of the chu family has not been repaired for a long time. in order to bear the pressure of the xiang-wei families, it¡¯s necessary to improve their strength in many places. therefore, they needed massive mineral reserves. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t quite understand the power struggle, but he was very clear about the importance of minerals. knowing that chu rong¡¯s trip was a foregone conclusion, he pursed his lips, hugged him, and said in a low voice, ¡°i will miss you ¡° ¡°just thinking about me is not enough,¡± chu ronghui hugged him back, then suddenly whispered something in his ear. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears shook as he looked up at him suspiciously. ¡°qiao,¡± chu rong rested his forehead against the youth¡¯s and said, ¡°you are already an adult. when i come back, are you willing to be officially engaged with me?¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, his heart raced. ¡°en¡­engaged?¡± ¡°yes, you are still too young, so we¡¯ll get engaged first. we can get married after you graduate,¡± chu rong raised his hand and touched his face, and his voice was rather slow. ¡°there¡¯s no need for a formal banquet or something like that if you don¡¯t want it, we can just make an announcement. i want you to officially stand by my side, so are you willing?¡± qiao zhiya thought of a lot in an instant, including his parents who were still in his hometown, his anxiety when he first arrived here, and his own history of coming out of a black hole. his thoughts were in a mess, so he was about to blurt out his refusal. but looking at chu rong¡¯s serious eyes, what came to his mouth became another sentence: ¡°i am willing.¡± he heard his own voice, and saw the instant joy in chu rong¡¯s eyes. his thoughts slowly settled down, he buried his head in the taller man¡¯s chest, tightening his hug. as he closed his eyes, he reiterated, ¡°i am willing.¡± chu rong loved him so much, and so was he. of course he was willing to spend the rest of his life with him. but¡­ ¡®¨Cit would be great if mom and dad were around. it would be great if i could go back to my hometown before the marriage¡­¡¯ ¡°i will work hard.¡± he whispered, his tone firm and solemn. as long as he works hard, he will definitely find his way home. then, he will take chu rong back to meet his parents. finally, he¡¯ll stay with chu rong forever, never to be separated again, just like his parents. chu rong pursed his lips as he heard qiao zhiya¡¯s declaration. he petted the youth¡¯s fluttering ears, and said, ¡°what¡¯s the use of trying, stupid.¡± for the next two days, qiao zhiya locked himself in the laboratory. no matter how loud chu rong yelled, he refused to come out. he even secretly welded the door to death with a large ore, which couldn¡¯t be smashed open. he forced his way in and was afraid of hurting people, so chu rong was so angry that he almost demolished the main house. on sunday afternoon, qiao zhiya walked out of the laboratory covered in dust and sweat, and handed chu rong a dagger for mecha and a whole box of advanced potion. ¡°i wanted to make another double-barreled gun for you, but it blew up, and i failed.¡± he muttered in dissatisfaction. then, he took out qiuqiu from his pocket, stuffed it into his hand. ¡°bring qiuqiu with you. treat it well, don¡¯t scare it. you can feed it with potions.¡± as soon as qiuqiu got into chu rong¡¯s hands, it pretended to be dead, and secretly stretched out a vine to hook it tightly qiao zhiya¡¯s wrist, silently expressing its unwillingness to be separated from its master. ¡°i¡¯ll wait for you to come back.¡± qiao zhiya squeezed the ball to let it put away its vines, and then threw it into chu rong¡¯s arms. chu rong¡¯s anger disappeared in an instant, and there was only distress in his heart. he immediately hugged him tightly and rubbed his hair. ¡°don¡¯t be too reckless again. look at your dark circles¡­ go take a bath first , and then go to bed.¡± ¡°you sleep with me,¡± qiao zhiya said pitifully. chu rong¡¯s heart became weaker and his face darkened. he picked the youth up directly and led him towards their room. after washing the bald chicken and stuffing him on the bed, chu rong lay down and hugged him. he found that qiao zhiya was obviously sleepy but still insisted on opening his eyes, so he personally covered them up. lowering his head, he kissed him, while slowly releasing his spiritual power to surround their body. qiao zhiya responded shyly. his body slowly relaxed, and finally his eyes closed completely, falling into a deep sleep. chu rong backed away, looking at his sleeping face for a long time. after pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead, he groped around to search for the youth¡¯s hand. finally, he put on a black ring engraved with the chu family emblem in the youth¡¯s ring finger. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 67.1 /came back 2 days late with starb*cks. uh¡­ as an apology, i¡¯ll give 2 bonus chapters today? as for tomorrow, there will still be 2 chapters update! qaq xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. bearded teacher (not real name): qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha teacher in vr. master shang: chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. qiao zhiya was woken up by the alarm clock. he opened his bleary eyes, clearly still hasn¡¯t woken up, before finally realizing that he was currently in the school¡¯s dormitory. the person who patiently lulled him to sleep was no longer around. the alarm clock stopped and the door was pushed open. sang bu stood at the door, gesturing at the breakfast in his hand, saying, ¡°your fianc¨¦ sent you here in the early morning. get up and have breakfast.¡± qiao zhiya froze for a moment before realizing that the fianc¨¦ that sang bu said was chu rong. his eyes shifted to the breakfast in sang bu¡¯s hand, his ears collapsed ¨C chu rong left without even saying goodbye, while qiao zhiya really wanted to say something first¡­ ¡°morning exercise will start in half an hour. i¡¯ll wait for you in the living room.¡± after finishing speaking, sang bu closed the door considerately, leaving the space for him. qiao zhiya finally fully awoke. he sat up and pulled his hand to lift the quilt. however, he was stunned once he realized that he now has a ring on his finger. a familiar black ring, adorned by ink jades, finished with a certain family crest. ¡°¡ª¡ªwhen i come back, you will be officially engaged to me.¡± what chu rong said flashed through his mind. he raised his hand to touch the ring between his fingers, rubbing it with reverie. then he clenched his fist, lifted the quilt, and got off the bed neatly ¨C he must work hard, and then wait for chu rong to come back! the schedule of the federal military academy was actually no different from that of the intermediate academy branch. it even had fewer courses with a lot more free time, which was completely different from the busy military life he imagined. ¡°it¡¯s not that exaggerated. although we are a military academy, we have to wait until the fifth grade to join the army for internship. we won¡¯t have regular training in the real sense until the fourth grade. the first three grades are mainly to learn the theory and improve strength. it is more free, because the school sets free time for us to practice. for those of you who majored in mecha manufacturing, you¡¯re probably going to make your own parts and experiments. as for me, a mecha driving major, i¡¯ll have, well, mecha driving practice. this is also the same for the command department.¡± on the other side of the communication, chu yan explained it to him in a high-spirited tone. he was clearly in a good mood. qiao zhiya suddenly realized, glanced at the training form just spit out by the system, remembered that he had also been promoted to ss-level physical qualifications, and hurriedly asked about it. chu yan lowered his tone once he heard qiao zhiya inquired about this. he sighed, ¡°don¡¯t mention it, the training intensity on my side is definitely higher than yours. different majors have different qualifications, after all. ah, let¡¯s stop the call for now, yuan xiu is calling me. let¡¯s have dinner together at night?¡± after qiao zhiya gave a yes, he turned off the communication, walked to the gravity room according to the guidance of the training table, and started his first morning exercise in the military academy. the other first-year students watched him walk into the gravity room that only students with s-level and above physical qualifications could enter. they looked at their tall body, compared that of qiao zhiya¡¯s slender figure, and fell silent for a moment before changing their minds. they had to work even harder, then. in the corner, xiang kun, who came to train half an hour earlier, raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face. he glanced at the direction of the gravity room, and increased his training intensity again. the mecha manufacturing major is divided into eight classes. except for some relatively simple theoretical courses and public courses, all other practical courses are separated between the classes. both qiao zhiya and sang bu are in the same class, so there is no separation, all their classes are together. after the morning training, the two took a school-issued hover car to the classroom together. sang bu checked the schedule and the school forum, then said, ¡°i heard that the homeroom teacher of our class is a new teacher named luo li. he just won a big prize.¡± ¡®luo li?¡¯ qiao zhiya was taken aback when he heard the name. he quickly opened his own class schedule to check it himself. and indeed, their homeroom teacher of their class is named ¡°luo li¡±. as he fell into his thoughts, he covered his mouth with his palm, feeling that his iq might¡¯ve dropped a couple points after chu rong left. the bearded teacher is a teacher who was rehired after a two-year break, not a new teacher, and his name shouldn¡¯t be luo li, like his senior brother. he is just too sensitive. ¡®had i checked this before, i would¡¯ve asked chu rong about the bearded teacher¡¯s identity¡­¡¯ but it was too late, as chu rong had long boarded his ship to the empire. his thoughts were unknowingly drifting, and when he came back to his senses, both he and sang bu already arrived in class 1¡¯s classroom. a man who is suspected to be their homeroom teacher was stepping into the classroom. ¡°hello everyone, i¡¯m your homeroom teacher for the next five years, luo li. i¡¯ll be starting the roll call now.¡± he was tall, long-legged, unshaven, and casually dressed. overall, a sloppy-looking yet decadent uncle. he was leaning on the podium with half-opened eyes, slowly opened the roster, and without looking at the students below, he called out, ¡°qiao zhiya.¡± ¡®he¡¯s our homeroom teacher¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya was stunned for a moment before stretching out his hand to answer the call. looking at the man on the podium, he definitely was full of an unreliable aura. his eyes were half-closed, looking like he had a killer hangover. qiao zhiya was puzzled ¨C why would a prestigious academy hire teachers like that? he thought that all the teachers would be rigorous and serious. luo li looked at him after hearing his voice, as if he glanced at him or simply raised his eyelids to refresh himself. he tapped his finger on the electronic roster, and continued to call the next name. the other students were also obviously shocked by the ¡°unreliable and unrestrained¡± image of their homeroom teacher, and they all looked at the podium in a daze. this state didn¡¯t recover until the roll call was finished. ¡°ah, good. you¡¯re all here. everyone is diligent, indeed.¡± luo li closed the roster, gave a very perfunctory compliment, turned around and turned on the teaching equipment. he inputted a set of options, and then turned on the examination systems on all consoles. he took out a space button from his pocket, and from that tiny device, took out an astounding amount of materials to the ground. ¡°in the first class, let¡¯s get to the bottom of it first. you can pick any of the materials from the ground, and use them to make the best parts you can make so far. i¡¯ll let the system score your work. after you finish it, you can leave the class for today. let¡¯s start.¡± the students looked at the messy pile of materials on the ground that even contained scraps of paper and dirt. any fanciful and optimistic bits they had on their teacher poofed into nothingness. ¡®such a teacher? can he really teach something useful for the next five years?¡¯ ¡°huh? none of you moved? well, there¡¯s no need to worry about paying for any of the materials. you can ask the school for reimbursement. don¡¯t you know that the military gave subsidies to military academy students?¡± luo li looked at them suspiciously, completely unaware of the real reason none of the students stepped forward. it¡¯s not because of money, but their concern about their future education. when the atmosphere was stagnant, sang bu was the first to stand up, walked slowly to the pile of materials, squatted down and picked them up¡ªhe could only ¡°work slowly and carefully¡± because of his uncoordinated behavior, but he didn¡¯t waste time. seeing this, qiao zhiya came back to his senses, and stepped forward to pick materials with him. luo li glanced at them, nodded in satisfaction, and said, ¡°i appreciate active students like you two. don¡¯t say i didn¡¯t remind you, the materials are all available, but only the early birds can get the worm, after all. don¡¯t cry if you can only pick the scraps if you move too slow.¡± these words awakened the students, and the rest of them looked at the pile of materials on the ground that seemed to be a lot, but in fact it seemed that there were not enough materials for everyone to share equally. they hurriedly got up and went to the pile of materials. when the throng of students finally stepped forward, sang bu just took all the materials and was about to go out. when he turned around, he was almost hit by other students rushing over. qiao zhiya quickly reached out to protect him, but his arm suddenly hurt, and then his back was hit by someone who bumped into him. he let go of his hand, and the material he picked fell to the ground, and was kicked back into the material pile. ¡°how is it?¡± sang bu hurriedly touched his arm, and at the same time looked coldly at a tall college student who deliberately bumped into qiao zhiya. the student looked away guiltily, quickly bent down and picked up a piece of high-grade ore that qiao zhiya got, but had been kicked back into the material pile. then he squeezed behind the pile of people, avoiding their line of sight. ¡°it¡¯s okay,¡± qiao zhiya shook his head, seeing that his materials were gone, he simply reached out to help sang bu stabilize his materials, sent him out of the crowd, and then turned around to pick out another material. but at this time, the material pile was already surrounded by a group of tall and burly students, so there was no gap for him to approach. ¡°that man did it on purpose just now. he took a fancy to the material in your hand.¡± sang bu put his own material into the space button, so as not to repeat qiao zhiya¡¯s ¡°accident¡± just now. ¡°it¡¯s just a piece of material, it¡¯s okay,¡± qiao zhiya reassured him in turn. he smiled at him, stretched out his hand and pushed him to the side of the operating table, and continued, ¡°get started quickly, or it will be too late. i¡¯ll also quickly gather my own materials.¡± sang bu was not as strong as him, so he passively walked to an operation desk, frowned, his face was full of displeasure and coldness. ¡°why are you so easy to bully? with your current status, no one in class should be able to trample you. i¡¯m telling you, that person was testing your bottom line just now. once you give him a leeway, that kind of jerks will just continue to use you as their stepping stone.¡± qiao zhiya offered to help him open the material processing equipment, and said soothingly, ¡°i know, but we are all classmates. it¡¯s just a small scuffle, if they really dare to bully me in the future, i¡¯ll beat them stupid.¡± although he¡¯s a kind dwarf-boy, he¡¯s not easy to bully. the first time may be a misunderstanding or carelessness, he can understand to this degree. but if there¡¯s a second time, he will retaliate directly with his fists. sang bu thought he was just making an excuse, so he still had a trace of unwillingness in his eyes. but he couldn¡¯t budge qiao zhiya, so he waved his hand and asked him to pick up materials again. after he turned around, his eyes fell on the crowd again, and his eyes were even colder. the big pile of materials was only a small mound now. when qiao zhiya walked over, the last student just picked up the last few relatively complete materials. he took out a piece of ore from the materials and put it on the ground, then nodded slightly cautiously towards qiao zhiya, took the materials and walked to an operating table in the corner of the classroom to stand still. qiao zhiya watched him leave, moved his ears, looked down and saw that besides the ore, there were only some leftover materials ¨C gray-brown soil scattered on the ground and a few scraps of paper. he pursed his lips, and lowered his head to pick up the ore. all the other students were secretly observing his reaction, and luo li, who had been silent on the podium, was also looking down at him. the last student who left was very kind. what he left behind was a piece of source tin mine that could be used as the main material for parts. qiao zhiya picked it up and observed its condition, and found it was not bad. with a little peace of mind, he glanced at the scraps on the ground. he quickly passed through the main and auxiliary materials needed for various primary parts in his mind, screened out several plans, and moved his hands accurately towards the scraps that could be used. luo li, who was leaning on the podium, straightened up a little when he saw this, and widened his eyes a little. picking up all the leftover materials that could be used, qiao zhiya was about to stand up and leave, when he glanced at the scraps of paper scattered on the ground. he saw the few incomplete information listed on it, and felt it was vaguely familiar. he squatted back again, and stretched out his hand to collect the scraps of paper to put them together. luo li¡¯s eyebrows were raised high. he put his hands on his chest, and rubbed his beard under his chin. seeing this, the other students muttered in their hearts, all with strange expressions. ¡®this exoplanet dwarf was lucky to become the marshal¡¯s fianc¨¦, so he¡¯s not stupid. but why is he picking up those junk papers? is it because he came from a backward planet, where even a piece of garbage paper is considered a treasure?¡¯ after the scraps of paper were pieced together, a detailed material analysis appeared in front of his eyes. this material was very malleable, and it was an auxiliary material with strong adhesion. ¡®wait, an adhesive?¡¯ CH 67.2 he thought of something, looked down at the leftovers in his hand, then looked suspiciously at the scattered gray-brown soil on the ground. he stretched out his hand to grind those loose soil onto his hand, and began to observe them carefully. seeing this, the other students couldn¡¯t help showing a speechless expression on their faces, and some even laughed inwardly. ¡®isn¡¯t this native the number one in this major? not only was he interested in paper scraps, but he also stared at those garbage-like dirt?¡¯ ¡®a bumpkin is indeed a bumpkin, even if he clung into golden thighs, he is still a bumpkin. do you think it is still a primitive society, where mud can be burned into tools?¡¯ the particulates of the ¡°soil¡± are rough, with a relatively high humidity compared to normal soil. on top of that, it felt sticky to the touch. after qiao zhiya took a closer look, he found that this ¡°soil¡± is actually composed of two kinds of granular objects. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears fluttered, and he couldn¡¯t help but look up at luo li. luo li raised his eyebrows at him and asked, ¡°why, does this student need help?¡± ¡°no,¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s lips pursed into a smile. he shook his head with bright eyes. ¡°i¡¯ll use the materials given by you, laoshi. it¡¯s very satisfying, so thank you.¡± luo li inexplicably replied with a grunt, then returned to his half-awake hangover look. qiao zhiya happily collected all the ¡°soil¡±. he walked to the table next to sang bu and stood still, his figure the focus of many other students who looked down on him with disbelievement or mockery. seeing sang bu looking over worriedly, he tried to reassure him. then, he finally started to process the materials happily. he was very skilled in handling materials, and his speed was also fast. even if he took a little longer than other students to select materials, he was still the first to handle the materials well. the instrument beeped non-stop, disturbing the surrounding students who couldn¡¯t concentrate at all ¨C they all peeked at him from time to time. one after another, the processing results of the materials kept popping up on the system panel, the completion rate was 98%, 99%, 96%¡­ the peeking students were getting more baffled as time passed by, their eyes becoming wider and wider. finally, they were shocked to find that all the materials, as long as they were processed by qiao zhiya, were more than 90% complete. ¡®this, this is really¡­¡¯ the student who laughed at him before was completely speechless. first, qiao zhiya processed the raw tin ore, then cleaned up some usable leftovers, and finally fuse and refine them to make some kind of alloy. after the preparations were completed, qiao zhiya took out his hammer in an unconventional way. under the sight of other students ¨C who all looked at him as if looking at a monster ¨C he completely put aside the school-provided instrument and pounded the finished alloy fiercely. once they were shaped, they were tested on the instrument one by one, and the size was actually exactly the same. ¡®damn¡­¡¯ the other students stopped their movements subconsciously, from peeking to looking openly, their faces full of shock that couldn¡¯t be concealed. sang bu glanced at them with the tail of his eyes, his thin lips slightly hooked upwards. finally, his worries disappeared completely. he continued to ¡°slowly¡± process the materials. after hammering out the auxiliary parts, qiao zhiya didn¡¯t even need to use blueprints. he put together a fine part of the mecha¡¯s hand joints and put it into the testing instrument. he also picked up the pile of ¡°soil¡±. luo li on the podium had stood up straight at some point, his eyes had been completely opened, and he was carefully observing his movements. the other students came back to their senses one after another, and felt a sense of urgency after comparing themselves to qiao zhiya¡¯s blistering pace. they wanted to quickly devote themselves to making their own parts, and at the same time, they wanted to continue to see what this native wanted to do with a pile of soil. it was inevitable that in their hurry and unfocused state, they would make a lot of mistakes. for a while, the alarms of material handling errors in the classroom frequently sounded. ¡°there is only one set of materials. if you waste it, it will be gone. do you want to fail on your first day?¡± luo li said suddenly, his gaze firmly at the blubbering students. when the distracted students caught his sight, for some reason, their hearts suddenly jumped in their ribcage. they didn¡¯t dare to be distracted anymore, so they hurriedly lowered their heads and concentrated on their own materials. qiao zhiya, who found it difficult to notice the outside world once he concentrated, held a pile of soil and observed it carefully. as he frowned, he tried to probe into the ¡°soil¡± with his simulated spiritual power. after a while, he reached an understanding. that¡¯s right, this ¡°soil¡± is not actually soil, but two high-grade minerals that have been ground into sand and mixed together. it¡¯s also colored with a dye to disguise it to look like normal soil, and that scattered scraps of paper was the clue. each mineral reacted differently when it came into contact with spiritual power, and the same was true for magic power. after using magic power to find out the structure of the two materials, ¡°separation¡± became much easier. after a while, a pile of ¡°soil¡± on the table was divided into two piles of sand with different colors. after separating them, qiao zhiya carefully washed off the pigments on them with an instrument, and finally got a piece of ground silver dragon ore and a piece of dried pear wood resin powder. the student standing behind noticed the change in the pile of ¡°soil¡± out of the corner of his eye. he was so surprised that one of his hands was unsteady, and the newly formed parts were crooked a little and were discarded immediately. he suddenly came back to his senses and couldn¡¯t help wailing: ¡®help, there is only one copy of this material!!¡¯ now, he could only recast the accessories now, but recasting¡­ he has all kinds of equipment at a glance, but there¡¯s just no available operating table for the recasting instrument, and now he wanted to pull his hair out in frustration. he was not the native next to him, who could easily mold a part with a toy hammer. ¡®what should i do now!!!¡¯ he really wanted to wail. silver dragon ore and dried pear wood resin were materials that could only be processed with spiritual power. qiao zhiya abandoned the instrument and put his hand on it. after a burst of power fluctuations that almost no one noticed, the two piles of powdered minerals on the table slowly gathered together, and the color gradually changed. luo li on the podium rubbed his beard again and let out a low sigh. after processing the high-grade materials, qiao zhiya also processed some of the leftover scraps. then he took out the reaction instrument, put the scraps and the refined material, and finally got a large piece of silvery-gray mixed alloy. he was about to take out the small hammer to make parts again, when a hand suddenly stretched out from the side, took away the mineral he had just finished, and put it in the testing instrument. with a beep, the test result comes out, showing that the material is 100% complete. qiao zhiya was taken aback, and looked around, and saw luo li appearing at his desk at some point, staring at the various detection attributes under the degree of completion, all scattered on his table. ¡°uh, laoshi¡­¡± luo li raised his hand to stop him, got up and printed out the test results, then picked up the alloy, looked at him and asked, ¡°what parts are you going to use this for?¡± not knowing what luo li was going for, he replied honestly, ¡°the adapter shaft at the joints of the mecha¡¯s legs. using this refined alloy, it will have the proper degree of hardness and fusion.¡± the adapter shaft was already considered an intermediate part. primary parts were all relatively fragmented and small in size, while intermediate parts were larger. such a small amount of alloy was definitely not enough to make a complete shaft part. it should only be possible to make a model to scale. luo li glanced at qiao zhiya again, turned his hand and stuffed the alloy directly into his space button, picked up the part he had made, and said, ¡°i¡¯ll give you 100 points for this exam. in addition, do you want to be the class¡¯ monitor?¡± ¡®huh?¡¯ qiao zhiya was stunned, then shook his head quickly, saying, ¡°thank you for your kindness, laoshi. but i have to go home to help on weekends, and i usually have a lot of odd jobs to do, so i don¡¯t have time to take care of class affairs. i¡¯m not qualified to be the class¡¯ monitor.¡± ¨Cmoreover, he plans to find time to teach himself how to make thermal weapons. he really has zero spare time. ¡°what a pity,¡± luo li said in a very perfunctory tone, and then looked at sang bu next to qiao zhiya. sang bu was keenly aware of his gaze, stopped his slow production movements and turned to look at him, and said flatly, ¡°laoshi, i¡¯m very busy and i don¡¯t have time to do chores for you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®aiyah, none of these students are cute!¡¯ luo li sighed as he closed his eyes again. then, he suddenly turned around to look at the dull student who had left a piece of tin ore for qiao zhiya before. he called the boy out: ¡°it¡¯s just you then. jin li, right? you¡¯re now the class¡¯ monitor, and i won¡¯t let you refuse me. i will give you all the materials left in class from now on as a reward.¡± jin li looked up stupidly: ¡°???¡± the other students all looked at jin li who was stunned in the corner and didn¡¯t understand what happened. but they all realized ¨C being the class¡¯ monitor was a paid job! plus, this could get into a resume, which was a great thing. a taller student couldn¡¯t help but protest: ¡°laoshi, why did you pick him? he seems to be really slow.¡± ¡°no, he¡¯s a great choice,¡± luo li turned to the taller student and waved his hand as he walked back to the podium. he turned his gaze to the protesting student, and said in a flat tone, ¡°cao tian, ??remember to apologize to qiao zhiya later. you hit his arm until it turned blue.¡± now all the students immediately looked at cao tian. sang bu even stopped his work and glared at him with chilling eyes. cao tian didn¡¯t expect luo li to be able to call out his own name accurately, and he could even see the previous events clearly. seeing everyone looking over, he felt more guilty, his eyes darted around, and he quibbled: ¡°i didn¡¯t mean to. yes, classmate qiao zhiya is so short, so i didn¡¯t see¡­ i¡¯m sorry.¡± he looked at qiao zhiya very perfunctorily, and apologized reluctantly. ¡°it¡¯s okay,¡± qiao zhiya rarely lost his expression, looked at him seriously, and said, ¡°then you should be more careful in the future and look down more. the girls in the class are all about the same height as me. their bodies are not as strong as mine. if you hit them, it could result in injury.¡± hearing this, the scattered girls in the class all looked at him, their expressions softened, and then they looked at cao tian and the male students around him with a sharp glare. when they first picked up the materials, these people were all very ungentlemanly. the girls were the last to go up to get the materials, and the materials they got were not very good. boys at this age paid attention to the opposite sex. they didn¡¯t feel it when they first grabbed the materials. now that they are glared at by the girls, they immediately feel uncomfortable. cao tian blushed even more and said in a meek voice, ¡± got it.¡± then he lowered his head and pretended to continue his work, but didn¡¯t look up again. the classroom was quiet again. qiao zhiya had already finished his parts, and had nothing to do. he didn¡¯t want to leave class early, so he simply sat down behind his table, took out his textbooks and started previewing. luo li raised his eyebrows when he saw this, and sent him a textbook through the user terminal. qiao zhiya was taken aback after receiving the textbook. helooked up at him, remembered what he asked cao tian to apologize to him just now, and smiled at him, giving out a friendly and grateful gesture. unknowingly, another half an hour passed, and other students completed the parts one after another. the material processing of sang bu¡¯s step by step finally came to an end, and the production of parts began. qiao zhiya became nervous, put away the textbooks and stared at him, ready to find a way to help remedy if there was a problem on his side. sensing his gaze, sang bu glanced sideways at him. with a small smile, he started making his own part. qiao zhiya gradually discovered that although sang bu¡¯s movements are very slow, they are actually done in a very meticulous manner, mainly because of his physical disability. all the procedures were standard and correct, and there was no redundant movement, trying to maximize the efficiency. and probably because of the slow and meticulous work, he has a high degree of completion in material processing, and the things he made were all extra fine. he was relieved, and stopped staring over there so nervously, and buried himself in the textbook again. CH 67.3 ¡°that¡­¡­¡± a thin female voice suddenly sounded behind him. he looked back and saw a beautiful long-haired girl standing by his table, holding a broken part in her hand. seeing him finally looking at her, she felt embarrassed. ¡°it¡¯s like this, my part was accidentally broken, but there is no recasting instrument here. i just saw that you are very proficient with that hammer, so i would like to ask if you can help me fix this¡­¡± as she spoke, she seemed to feel that her request was a little too much, and her tone was too harsh, so she hurriedly added, ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter if you can¡¯t, and thank you for helping us girls just now.¡± qiao zhiya glanced at luo li, who didn¡¯t stop the girl from asking for help. he put down his textbook and got up, replying in a friendly tone, ¡°what¡¯s broken? let me see for you.¡± the long-haired girl¡¯s eyes lit up, her gaze subconsciously landed at qiao zhiya¡¯s slightly-fluttering ears as he got up. strangely, her face turned red, so she hurriedly handed over her part. with a small voice, she said, ¡°the interface is broken, and it¡¯s too small for me to fix it¡­¡± qiao zhiya took the part and turned it over in his hands, and found that the interface was a little uneven, which affected the assembly. he reassured her and asked for her patience as he took his small hammer. he removed the hammer¡¯s handle, revealing an even smaller hammer, about the size of his pinky finger. he used it to gently smooth over the uneven surface of the part. the long-haired girl didn¡¯t expect that there was a smaller hammer hidden beside the hammer. her eyes widened, blatantly staring at the increasingly-bouncy ears. her fingers fiddled with the hem of her clothes, her eyes seemed to be brighter. a few minutes later, the girl who introduced herself as yi lian left happily holding the repaired part. the other students who accidentally tossed the broken parts saw this, hesitated, and tentatively asked qiao zhiya for help. they thought that the other party would refuse, but they didn¡¯t expect that the native was unexpectedly kind and easy to talk to. he didn¡¯t care about the matter of grabbing materials before, and patiently helped them repair all their parts. so they all felt guilty, sincerely apologized to qiao zhiya, and became friendly. sang bu glanced at qiao zhiya while assembling his part. seeing qiao zhiya¡¯s blushing face after being praised by everyone around, his ability to win respect and love of their classmates really moved him. his expression immediately softened. the morning class was successfully concluded. except for cao tian who was stubborn and refused to ask qiao zhiya for help, everyone handed in a complete set of parts and completed their first class assessment. ¡°i think you already know what you are missing.¡± luo li glanced at them before the class ended, projected a tool classification map into the air, and said, ¡°before the next class, i ask you all to bring a copy of this tool. mecha manufacturing is indeed inseparable from various sophisticated and high-end instruments, but in the case of missing or damaged instruments, you must be able to find a way to solve the problem with your hands. okay, class is over.¡± after finishing speaking, he turned off the projector, and was the first one to leave the classroom. only then did the students understand luo li¡¯s purpose for arranging this assessment. they all looked at qiao zhiya and saw that he was tidying up his table. they quickly followed his lead. the theory class in the afternoon was held in the large classroom, with all eight classes together in one room. ning kongran came over and sat with qiao zhiya, and got to know sang bu on the way. xiang kun sat quietly in the front row, burying his head in flipping through his notes, without even looking at them. qiao zhiya watched him suspiciously for a while, and found that he had been concentrating on reading. he also touched his own textbook, his ears fluttered about. in the evening, after washing up, he laid down in the starnet cabin solemnly, ready to confess to the bearded teacher. a minute later, he crawled out again with a blushing face, laid down on the bed and took out the special helmet ¨C he hadn¡¯t been online for a long time, and he actually forgot that his account could only be logged in with the special helmet. the bearded teacher was not online, and there were several messages lying in the mailbox, all sent by him. he also found that the bearded teacher¡¯s class has been canceled, and the class fee he paid in advance has already been refunded by the system. ¡®isn¡¯t the bearded teacher going to continue teaching me?¡¯ he was taken aback for a moment, then panicked, and hurriedly opened the latest message sent by the bearded teacher and read it. the message was very long, and the beginning of the message was to comfort him that it didn¡¯t matter if he didn¡¯t get into the military academy. he could study hard in other schools. he also left him a communication number, telling him that if there is something he doesn¡¯t understand, he can directly dial the communication to ask him. the teacher also encouraged him to continue to work hard, and explained that the reason for closing the class was because he would be very busy after returning to school to teach, so he didn¡¯t have time to hold his vr class, not because he didn¡¯t want to teach qiao zhiya anymore. the panic disappeared, qiao zhiya looked at this message full of concern from the teacher, his heart filled with guilt. he hasn¡¯t been online since his entrance examination. the bearded teacher must have thought that he failed the exam, so he disappeared without a trace. after blaming himself, he looked at the remaining few messages. the other messages were all earlier, and they were all from the bearded teacher who asked about his exam status and encouraged him. one of them mentioned luo li, saying that he also went to the military school to work as a teacher, and joked that the two of them might also become ¡°master and apprentice¡± teacher duo. qiao zhiya was sad to see it, so he hurriedly wrote down the communication number of the bearded teacher and logged out of the vr. not giving himself a chance to hesitate, and regardless of whether the current time was right, he entered the number of the bearded teacher and dialed it directly. the communication was quickly connected. lo and behold, the voice that answered him was that familiar hoarse and deep voice, specifically the one he heard all morning. ¡°hello? who is this?¡± ¡®wait, not only i heard it this morning¡­ that slight voice cadence¡­¡¯ ¡°why don¡¯t you talk.¡± the voice grumbled, and simply requested a video call. then, the voice became a little farther away, as if calling from afar. ¡°master, help me answer this call. sigh¡­ the number is unfamiliar, maybe it is your mysterious baby apprentice. i have requested a video chat for you, come quickly.¡± there was a sound of footsteps, and then a familiar gentle voice called out, ¡°really? if not, i¡ª¡± qiao zhiya stared wide-eyed, watching his homeroom teacher luo li appear in mid-air after the video call was connected. then an elegant middle-aged man with black hair and red pupils appeared in the camera. instantly, qiao zhiya connected that his homeroom teacher and senior brother should be the same person. then, he became stunned silly once he remembered that this old man¡¯s voice matched with master shang, who appeared in that auction in room 066. xiao yan said that master shang was his mother¡¯s master. chu rong said that if the bearded teacher was the person he guessed, then he must not be a bad person. the bearded teacher said that his apprentice was too old to find a partner, and he also was happy that his student¡¯s son finally found a partner¡­ the middle-aged man completely revealed his figure, and his red pupils became more and more obvious. no, that¡¯s right, this red pupil, this look¡­ is the bearded teacher. luo li called him master, but luo li¡¯s master is obviously master shang, so the bearded teacher who has been teaching him is¡­ ¡°qiao zhiya.¡± shang hongsen looked at qiao zhiya who was looking at the hologram stupidly, clad in pajamas. the expectation in his eyes disappeared a little, but his expression was still gentle. ¡°why are you calling at this time? is this the number xiao rong gave you? what¡¯s the matter?¡± qiao zhiya looked at him blankly, shook his head absent-mindedly, then nodded quickly. he fixed his posture, and replied in a small voice, ¡°laoshi¡­ no no no, master shang, good evening¡­ i, i¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry, speak slowly,¡± shang hongsen sat down on the sofa and motioned him not to worry. still with such a gentle attitude, qiao zhiya was certain of his guess. he closed his gaping mouth, trying to find proper words. he lowered his head, his long ears popped straight as he confessed in one breath, ¡°i¡¯m sorry, laoshi, i¡¯m meissen. i lied to you, i don¡¯t have a-level spiritual power, it¡¯s s¡­and later it became ss.¡± shang hongsen still looked at him gently, remained silent for a few seconds, then suddenly glanced at luo li, who was about to fall asleep. ¡°what did your junior brother just say?¡± luo li raised his eyelids and said in a disrespectful tone, ¡°master, you always recognized him as my junior brother, so don¡¯t pretend you didn¡¯t understand, okay? i¡¯ve been thinking about it for more than a month. i searched the freshman¡¯s roster countless times, and finally found him. don¡¯t pretend as if you weren¡¯t happy with his profile. i swear nobody will laugh at you.¡± ¡°¡­bastard, go back to your own dormitory, don¡¯t rely on me.¡± shang hongsen tore off his gentle expression. he kicked his big apprentice out of the camera mercilessly, then looked at qiao zhiya with a serious face, but remained silent. qiao zhiya was disturbed by his look, and apologized again, ¡°yes, i¡¯m sorry, i shouldn¡¯t deceive you. i was in a special situation at the time, so¡­¡± ¡°stop,¡± shang hongsen interrupted him as he looked closer at the blond youth. suddenly, he took out a somewhat familiar part from his space button, and asked, ¡°did you make this?¡± qiao zhiya immediately recognized that it was the part he made during the entrance examination, so he quickly nodded. ¡°yes, i made it. is there something wrong? why is it in your ha¨C¡± ¡°meissen is your side account?¡± shang hongsen interrupted him again, put away the parts and asked. qiao zhiya shut up and nodded obediently. his ears dropped down again. ¡°what is your main account?¡± ¡°i just applied for it not long ago, my id is qiao¡­¡± ¡°have you verified your resident status?¡± ¡°it has been verified,¡± qiao zhiya continued to answer obediently. satisfied, shang hongsen tapped his communicator as he found the website he searched for. he then sent a link, saying, ¡°okay, go sign up, today is the deadline, so hurry up. after class at noon tomorrow, go to the fourth floor of the no. 1 practice building, in the mecha manufacturing department. look for me, i have something for you.¡± after speaking, he hung up the communication. qiao zhiya was bewildered by his straightforward arrangement, and was stunned for a moment before raising his hand and clicking on the link master shang sent him. after the webpage popped up, he saw a line of big characters written on the header of the website¡ª¡ª [welcome to the sign up page for the 1106th star network mecha manufacturing competition! we wish all contestants a satisfactory result.] ¡®isn¡¯t this¡­ the competition luo li participated in last year?¡¯ CH 68.1 qiao zhiya browsed through the registration page and hesitated for a while. after thinking for a while, he honestly filled in the registration information, then clicked submit. the system reacted very quickly. immediately after submission, it showed that he had been successfully registered, and sent him his number. he read the competition details and number that is bound to his id. in less than a minute, he became the 500,123,456th player in the 1106th starnet mecha manufacturing contest. he silently counted the digits of his number, and found that the popularity of this competition far exceeded his imagination. the entire federation has billions of people, and there are more than 500 million people participating in this competition. not only was registration still open, each participant could only register one per id, and they couldn¡¯t participate in two competitions in a row. so far, he could only make primary parts. will he lose in the first round? and in the final, the contestant must assemble a complete mecha with all the parts they made in the previous rounds. that is to say, if they want to win the competition, they must have made all the parts with the final design in mind. more strictly speaking, they have to be able to completely design and manufacture a mecha before the competition, otherwise they will not make it to the finals. but mecha assembly and design¡­ that¡¯s a fourth-year course in the academy. qiao zhiya began to worry again. ¡®the bearded old man ¨C no, he¡¯s master shang now ¨C was confident in letting me participate in this competition. if i don¡¯t live up his expectation and failed in the first round, then¡ª¡¯ his communication device rang suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted. his ears turned upright in shock, and then he glanced at the time. seeing that it was exactly 10 o¡¯clock, he immediately jumped up for joy, hurriedly received the call request, and happily looked up at chu rong¡¯s holographic figure projected in midair. ¡°chu rong!¡± chu rong, who was sitting in his ship¡¯s office, saw him like this. his expression immediately relaxed as he asked, ¡°how was the first day of class?¡± qiao zhiya leaned forward a little bit, happiness and longing were all written on his face. he hurriedly chattered about his day, focusing on the fact that master shang was actually the bearded teacher. ¡°sure enough it¡¯s him,¡± chu rong flexed his fingers, itchy to rub qiao zhiya¡¯s bouncy blond hair. when he realized he couldn¡¯t actually pat him, he became irritated, but he didn¡¯t let it show in his face. then, he said slowly, ¡°master shang is very happy. well, you can rest assured to use your ability in front of him, even if he finds out something, he won¡¯t say anything. it¡¯s late, you should go to bed.¡± the joy and anticipation on qiao zhiya¡¯s face disappeared, and his ears slowly drooped down. with an expression full of reluctance, he whispered, ¡°let¡¯s talk for a moment more. ten minutes, just ten minutes more, okay? then, i¡¯ll sleep. now i don¡¯t have to go to class at night, you can find me earlier, i¡¯ll always be here.¡± his feelings were sincere and undisguised, and the reluctance in his heart was fully revealed. seeing him like this, chu rong¡¯s heart softened a long time ago. his emotions made him want to agree, but reason told him no. qiao zhiya only stayed up late on the weekend, and got up early this morning to go to class. now is the time to take a good rest, even if it is ten minutes, he doesn¡¯t want to delay it. ¡°tomorrow,¡± chu rong answered, his adam¡¯s apple moved, and his tone was almost coaxing, ¡°tomorrow i will come to you earlier, today you go to bed on time. if you can¡¯t sleep, touch the simulator, you need to rest.¡± ¡°but¡­¡± qiao zhiya was still reluctant. he whispered in a trembling voice, ¡°but i miss you very much¡­¡± chu rong¡¯s heartstrings were tugged harshly. he turned over his head and pressed his forehead, letting out a sigh. then, he looked at qiao zhiya again and said, ¡°i¡¯m going to rest too. i have to get up early tomorrow, as xiangnan and i have to arrange some things. i will be very busy.¡± qiao zhiya looked at the movement of his forehead and guessed that he must¡¯ve had a lot of work to do when he first boarded the ship. he felt sorry, as chu rong must have been very tired. so he obediently lifted his quilt and laid down, replying in a sensible tone, ¡°then i will rest, and you go to bed early, good night.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s cute appearance made chu rong subconsciously reach out, wanting to pat his head. but halfway through, he reacted in time and paused midair. he then turned off the communication. the white-haired monster¡¯s holographic figure disappeared. qiao zhiya lowered his gaze, slid down and buried his head into the quilt. after a while, he got up again and turned off the light. once it was dark, he really touched his spiritual power simulator earring, trying to find a trace of chu rong from it. a familiar force immediately seeped through, so he finally closed his eyes and drifted off to dreamland. meanwhile, on the chu army¡¯s ship, chu rong stared at the empty air, when just a minute ago held a holographic image of a blond youth. he then got up, and got out of his office, only to find fan xiangnan who was waiting by the door. ¡°let¡¯s go, we have a meeting to attend.¡± as a reply, fan xiangnan only politely nodded his head. he let the marshal walk out first, and he trailed him with the knowledge that chu rong must¡¯ve been in an irascible mood. he inwardly sighed. ¡®he must¡¯ve been too busy to properly chat with qiao. this parting is definitely very difficult for him. after all, they just established their romantic relationship, but the current situation¡­ sigh¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya didn¡¯t realize until the next day when class was about to start that he forgot to tell chu rong that he was going to participate in the starnet mecha competition. he hurriedly sent a message, and then waited for a long time holding the communicator with anticipation in his eyes. but, he didn¡¯t get a reply, so the anticipation in his eyes disappeared, and he laid down on the table like a wilted spinach. sang bu, who was sitting next to him, stretched out his hand and pulled his ear. qiao zhiya jolted and sat up straight. he looked over with wide eyes, disbelieving that the person who ¡°bullied¡± his ears just now was sang bu, who has always been cold and logical. ¡°be more energetic, class is about to begin,¡± sang bu withdrew his hand with a flat face, pushed a box of snacks in front of him, and said, ¡°didn¡¯t you say you want to participate in that competition? the first round will be in a month, so you should prepare well from now on.¡± xiang kun, who was passing by, stopped in place once he overheard. he leaned over on his own initiative. he spoke to qiao zhiya in a mild manner, and asked, ¡°participate in ¡®that competition¡¯? what competition did you sign up for?¡± qiao zhiya turned to look at xiang kun. he felt that this young man had become a little strange lately. like chu yan, xiang kun grew a lot taller this year. after losing a bunch of baby fat, his delicate facial features shined through. he definitely had this gentle and demure physical quality typical of the xiang family. he¡¯s almost like a different person, like a flower that suddenly bloomed in the blink of an eye. a subtle feeling of ¡°i watched this child grow up¡± suddenly appeared in his heart. subconsciously, qiao zhiya¡¯s lips curled up in a smile, and he replied gently, ¡°it¡¯s the star network mecha manufacturing competition, are you participating too?¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s tone was definitely gentle, but unexpectedly xiang kun frowned and thought about it for a while. ¡°i will sign up, thank you for reminding me.¡± after speaking, he walked away. ¡®but the deadline for registration is over¡­¡¯ his explanation was halted by xiang kun¡¯s quick retreat, and he didn¡¯t have time to say it. sang bu looked at xiang kun¡¯s back and frowned slightly, ¡°what¡¯s wrong with him? the change is too great.¡± in the past, xiang kun liked to take his ¡°followers¡± along wherever he went in the intermediate academy. if not for his excellent grades, he definitely looked like a slacker-slash-bully. so why did he suddenly become like this now? qiao zhiya could feel that the aura on xiang kun¡¯s body had really become warmer, so this change wasn¡¯t because of him pretending. it¡¯s all genuine ¨C he seemed to be suppressed by something heavy. his aura became very cold yet thin, not as cheerful and happy as before. ¡°he grew up,¡± he replied, a little relieved that xiang kun changed for the better, but also worried about the other party¡¯s dullness. he thought for a while and muttered, ¡°maybe he needs a fight to relieve his pent-up emotions.¡± sang bu looked puzzled by his muttering. he remembered chu yan¡¯s special ¡°encouragement¡± method. with fluttering ears, he smiled at sang bu. after class at noon, qiao zhiya bid farewell to sang bu and went to no.1 practice building. on the way, he sent a message to chu yan about xiang kun. chu yan was very active after hearing this, and hurriedly said that he would go to xiang kun to ¡°cheer him up¡±. the no. 01 practice building of the mecha manufacturing department is very large, and it is the most important and most admired by the students. it¡¯s because this building is full of laboratories for all the master-level teachers. so, only related personnel can even enter. this also made the road to no. 01 practice building very deserted, and few hover cars drove over. qiao zhiya followed the navigation and turned into the obviously narrower road leading to no. 01 practice building at the fork in the road, which attracted the passing students to stop and look at him with a little envy in their eyes. those who can go here are basically the cream of the crop. qiao zhiya was stopped by the gate guard, got out of the car and dialed a communication to master shang. master shang answered it quickly, asked him to wait, and then hung up. in less than five minutes, luo li, who looked more ¡°professional¡± than yesterday, came out with a yawn. he opened the door for him with his pass, and said while leading him in, ¡°i¡¯ll take you to register for your pass later. you can come here to use the laboratory here, it¡¯s way quieter and safer. by the way, junior brother, i heard that you have signed up for the starnet mecha manufacturing competition? then your current learning progress is not good, so you have to hurry up.¡± qiao zhiya was stunned by luo li¡¯s natural way of calling him. he didn¡¯t know how to answer. luo li is his homeroom teacher. logically speaking, he should call the other party ¡°laoshi¡±. but because of their relationship with master shang, it somehow feels¡­ inappropriate. but if he calls him ¡°senior brother¡±¡­ ¨Cit felt like it¡¯s equally as inappropriate. he¡¯s not qualified to call his homeroom teacher with that. in short, he¡¯s very tangled with the current predicament. ¡°junior brother?¡± luo li waved his hand in front of his eyes, brought him back to his senses, and led him into the downward elevator. then he raised his arm and stroked the stubble on his chin. ¡°junior brother, do you think it¡¯s not good to lie to master?¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s ears very obviously shook. the guilt and self-blame on his face could not be suppressed, and said in a low voice, ¡°i¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s okay,¡± luo li answered shamelessly, and continued, ¡°actually, i lied to master like this back then. you see, that old man didn¡¯t beat me to death, so i think he should have forgiven you now. take it easy, you can very easily coax him. if you don¡¯t believe me, try calling him master later.¡± ¡®huh?¡¯ qiao zhiya glanced at him with the corner of his eyes, curiosity reflected in his emerald-like eyes. ¡°oh, it¡¯s just a little mistake i made when i was young,¡± luo li then gazed upward, recalling his past. he retracted his arm and stroked his hair, and said, ¡°well, back then¡­ i pretended to be a pitiful girl and approached master. in total, i played this persona for two years. i even lied to him that i¡¯m a lonely orphan, and things like that. hey, master didn¡¯t beat me despite all of that. he¡¯s very soft-hearted, yeah?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°so it¡¯s okay,¡± luo li patted him on the shoulder. once he saw the elevator open, he stretched out his hand to push him forward. ¡°go, call him master.¡± outside the elevator was a large laboratory room. inside, there¡¯s a lot of high-end instruments arranged neatly. several experimenters in dark overalls were shuttling inside. hearing the movement of the elevator, all of them ¨C still holding their e-notebook ¨C turned over to see. next to them was master shang, who was talking with these people. he looked over as well, then stopped his current work and walked over to qiao zhiya. qiao zhiya stopped walking forward and looked at the ¡°bearded¡± teacher. he¡¯s a bit taller than his avatar. suddenly, a little courage rose in his heart. when the other party approached, he took the initiative to call out: ¡°laoshi, good afternoon.¡± ¨Cthe title ¡°master¡± felt too intimate to him. he still didn¡¯t dare to use it. ¡°en,¡± master shang¡¯s reaction was very normal, as if he had never experienced deception or concealment, as if they had always been ordinary teachers and students. ¡°have you eaten yet?¡± ¡®how could he answer like that? really not blaming me?¡¯ qiao zhiya was stunned for a moment and didn¡¯t follow, then was patted lightly by luo li. he quickly walked a few steps to catch up with master shang, nodded, and replied, ¡°no, i haven¡¯t eaten yet.¡± ¡°then eat here,¡± master shang slowed down to match his pace, and glanced at luo li, who raised his eyebrows at him. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t notice that their eyes were looking at each other, so he became happy belatedly. he smiled and vigorously nodded. ¡°okay! let¡¯s eat together.¡± ¡®ah, the bearded teacher is still as good-tempered as ever!¡¯ master shang withdrew his gaze and looked at him, remembering the news he got from chu rong in the morning, he was more satisfied with this little apprentice. on the other hand, he became more and more displeased with the unreliable big apprentice, wishing to personally press him to shave off his beard, change his clothes, and pack him to a blind date! CH 68.2 after that, they had a simple lunch together. after the meal, master shang took qiao zhiya to a small laboratory in the deepest part of the fourth floor. ¡°you can use this lab in the future. i heard that you have prepared a batch of instruments yourself, which are better than the ones in the school. that¡¯s good, so i won¡¯t help you arrange it, you can clean it up yourself.¡± qiao zhiya looked at the laboratory, which was not small and had complete protective facilities. he nodded and said gratefully, ¡°thank you, laoshi.¡± master shang looked at him with a smile in his eyes, and said, ¡°no need to thank me. also, where did you hear about me?¡± qiao zhiya was taken aback, and a tall figure immediately appeared in his mind. immediately, he slightly blushed as he whispered, her face blushed slightly, and she whispered, ¡°from chu rong. i know you are his mother¡¯s teacher.¡± ¡°ah, so your seniority is a bit jumbled,¡± master shang acquiesced and made a joke. then he took him to his own laboratory on the fifth floor underground. there, he took a space button that was hidden inside a safe and gave it to him, saying, ¡°inside this, there¡¯s xiao rong¡¯s mother¡¯s notebook from when she was studying under me. you can take a look at it. it contains the mecha she designed for xiao rong¡¯s father and some ideas for weapon modification. xiao rong¡¯s mecha driving is learned from his father¡¯s style, so you can use this as a reference.¡± qiao zhiya never guessed that the item master shang wanted to hand him was this. he understood that this should be under chu rong¡¯s request, otherwise master shang wouldn¡¯t randomly give him chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s relic to him. his heart became warm. rong¡¯s hand. he hurriedly stretched out his hands to take the space button carefully, and said, ¡°thank you, i will take a good look at it.¡± ¡°i heard that you have designed good mecha weapons. this is your advantage, as a mecha¡¯s weapon can net you a great bonus points in the competition. luo li was lazy and gave up this part last year, but you shouldn¡¯t follow his footsteps. you can try to add weapons to your mecha.¡± with this reminder, qiao zhiya became worried again, and said frankly, ¡°laoshi, i only recently learned about parts-making so far. i may not be able to go too far in this competition.¡± he knew his own strength, and this large-scale competition was obviously too hard for a beginner like him. master shang especially liked his down-to-earth and non-aggressive nature. hearing this, his expression became more amiable. ¡°i don¡¯t ask you to go too far this time, just try your best. i let you participate mainly because i want you to learn more styles from other contestants. take a look at how other excellent mecha masters make mechas, broaden your thinking and horizons, and feel the atmosphere of the competition. when you¡¯re in third grade, you can participate again, and i know you can get a satisfactory result. so don¡¯t be stressed.¡± so it turned out that the teacher had already helped him think about the future. qiao zhiya became grateful, the worry in his heart finally dissipated. he stopped hesitating, and said seriously, ¡°laoshi, i will work hard!¡± master shang smiled and reached out to touch his head. three days later, xiang kun entered the classroom with a dark circle under his eyes. his expression was very irritated, as if he could explode at any given moment. but overall, he really looked much ¡°livelier¡± than before. after qiao zhiya saw him, he picked up his communicator with a guilty conscience. ¡®xiao yan really¡­ but at least, only one of xiang kun¡¯s eye sockets is bruised, so at least he held back. i just hope that xiang kun can be ¡°lively¡± longer this time.¡¯ sang bu also noticed xiang kun¡¯s bruised eye. with a frown, he seriously said, ¡°don¡¯t you dare to fight in the military academy, are you not afraid of being punished?¡± qiao zhiya withdrew his gaze, his eyes fluttering as he replied, ¡°maybe¡­ his condition was from a sparring match?¡± ¡°well, at least it wasn¡¯t a fight. it¡¯s almost time for class, let¡¯s read.¡± sang bu looked at him suspiciously, and saw that his ears were stiff with guilt. with squinted eyes, he retracted his curiosity and no longer dwells on this problem anymore. he opened his textbook. after school on friday, qiao zhiya, who learned that chu yan was going to have extra training on the weekend, returned to the main house alone. chu huai and gu yan¡¯an welcomed him, asked about his life at school, and had a somewhat deserted dinner with him. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t wait for chu rong¡¯s communication that night. according to the time, the other party should have arrived in the empire today, and he was probably busy. he tossed and turned on the bed and couldn¡¯t fall asleep. so he simply got up, found a piece of chu rong¡¯s clothes from the closet and stuffed it under the bed, using it as chu rong¡¯s substitute. with a familiar smell near him, he could pretend that chu rong was by him. relaxing, he leaned against the bed and took out the space button that master shang gave him a few days ago. in the past few days, he has been busy adapting to the rhythm of school and dealing with various trivial matters. he has never had time to look at the things in this space button, but now, he finally had the time. there was no spiritual imprint on the space button, so he took out the contents easily. there were not many things. there¡¯s an old electronic book, some manuscripts, a few paper-books, and some tools and materials. they were all well maintained, as if they were still used recently. he touched these tools and manuscripts one by one, and carefully put them into his storage bracelet, leaving only one electronic book in his hand. after the electronic book was opened, a long list of directories jumped out. the names of the directories ranged from material knowledge to mecha design, and they were arranged in strict accordance with the learning order of mecha manufacturing. once he tapped one of the directories, he could jump into that entry. obviously, this was a study note that has been carefully organized. his breath became lighter. he clicked on the first line of the directory with a solemn attitude of touching a piece of history. [i don¡¯t know who will open this notebook first. will it be lao da¡¯s1lao da = one of many endearing ways to refer to your oldest child, more commonly for boys. lao is ¡°old¡±, da is ¡°big¡±. lao er is for second-born, and lao san is for third-born. partner? or will it be lao er¡¯s or lao san¡¯s?] the first line of the note was actually a row of diary-like words. he was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously tightened his grip on the electronic book, and read it intently. [i gave birth to three children, but none of them followed my path. i didn¡¯t know whether to cry or beat them all up. but those are three children, even if they don¡¯t learn mecha manufacturing, one of their future partners must learn this, or maybe my future grandchildrens? ah, i suddenly look forward to the day when i become a grandma.] qiao zhiya thought of chu huai and gu yan¡¯an, who had been married for nine years but had never had children, and suddenly felt a little sad. he heard from chu yan that chu huai and gu yan¡¯an met just after the war was over. at that time, chu huai was injured, but he didn¡¯t want to stay in the hospital. he wanted to take care of chu rong, who was spiritually polluted. as his attending physician, gu yan¡¯an was so angry because she couldn¡¯t stop him. in her anger, she yelled at him and slapped him, which knocked chu huai, who was extremely weak at the time, into fainting. the two got to know each other like this. gu yan¡¯an accompanied chu huai to get through the most difficult period of the chu family, but because of this, the two of them never dared to have children. a child is too fragile and needs too much energy to take good care of them. at that time, the chu family may collapse at any time ¨C chu rong¡¯s life was teetering on the edge, and chu yan was far too young to hold any responsibility. as a result, chu huai and gu yan¡¯an have exhausted their energy taking care of the chu family. at that time, chu huai had just graduated from the military academy, and was younger than xiang hui now. while chu rong, who was only eighteen years old, witnessed the death of his parents and relatives. he became traumatized, and the damage to his spiritual strength almost made him disabled¡­ qiao zhiya shook his head to pull himself out from this spiral. he clenched his fist and beat his constricted chest to cheer himself up, and continued to look down. there were still a few lines of diary-like text, all of which are mrs. chu¡¯s small expectations for life. at the end, mrs. chu solemnly greeted the person who will get this note in the future, and ended the entry with a smiley face. qiao zhiya also smiled at the cute, drawn-too-sharply emoji. it took him a long time before he moved on to the next page. mrs. chus¡¯ notes were in the style of master shang, concise and easy to understand, without a word of redundant nonsense. after starting reading, qiao zhiya found it hard to stop. it wasn¡¯t until the lights in the room gradually went out due to the dawn that qiao zhiya recovered from this trance. he had read through the intermediate parts chapter. he realized that he just pulled an all-nighter, so he hurriedly put away the electronic notebook and hid himself under the quilt. after only sleeping for more than an hour, gu yan¡¯an called him up. he opened his bleary eyes, got out of bed with a firm attitude, and secretly used a potion to lift his spirits. after washing up, he tried his best to go to the dining room as usual. chu huai and gu yan¡¯an have also been busy recently, rushing to go out to do errands, so they didn¡¯t realize that qiao zhiya secretly stayed up late and was severely deprived of sleep. qiao zhiya sent them to the door, turned around and went to master ren¡¯s laboratory. he helped master ren make a weapon for the whole day. during dinner-time, his exhaustion finally caught up to him, so he immediately rolled himself into the quilt once he touched his bed. in the palace provided by the empire for distinguished guests, chu rong¡¯s call requests were all ignored. he frowned and immediately called the old butler instead. the old butler hurriedly checked qiao zhiya¡¯s room. he fondly shook his head when he saw the bulge on the bed, and moved closer to take a picture of qiao zhiya sleeping for chu rong to see. chu rong¡¯s face turned black. the old butler was puzzled, and asked in a low voice, ¡°second young master, what¡¯s wrong with him?¡± ¡°he must¡¯ve stayed up late,¡± chu rong replied coldly, looking at the dark circles under qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes and the unchanging clothes on his body. he wanted to scold the youth, but couldn¡¯t bear to wake him up. after a few seconds of silence, he hung up the communication in a cold manner. full of rage, his finger frantically tapped his armchair. ¡®i didn¡¯t agree to his request yesterday, and he stayed up late as a result? heh, he dared!¡¯ fan xiangnan knocked on the door but got no response, so he sighed helplessly, pushed the door open and walked in, saying: ¡°sir, the imperial high advisor is here.¡± he hoped that the marshal wouldn¡¯t be so distracted anymore. chu rong regained his senses, the irritability on his face subsided. he got up and said, ¡°lead him to the guest lounge. turn on the signal jammer. is someone tailing after him?¡± ¡°he came with a servant,¡± fan xiangnan answered, opened the door for him, and stepped aside. CH 68.3 the next day, qiao zhiya, who wasn¡¯t woken up by anyone, didn¡¯t wake up until lunchtime. as soon as he crawled out of the quilt and was about to get out of bed to wash up, he was held down by the elusive old butler. then, a communicator was held to his face, showing a certain familiar someone. ¡°are you awake?¡± chu rong¡¯s cold voice came from the communicator¡¯s screen. his dazed consciousness immediately snapped back into place and he stared wide-eyed at the communicator in the old butler¡¯s hand. ¡°go take a shower first, and i¡¯ll call you in half an hour.¡± the communication hung up, and qiao zhiya looked up at the old butler. the old butler patted him on the shoulder, sighed, and said, ¡°you didn¡¯t answer the communication last night. second young master was confused, so he asked me to take a look¡­ young master qiao zhiya, your health is very important, you can¡¯t stay up all night.¡± ¡®stay up¡­ all night?¡¯ ¡°chu rong knows about that?¡± he was so frightened that his ears perked up, flustered. the old butler looked at him sympathetically. he nodded and left. he was stunned as he watched the old butler leave. after a few seconds of pure silence, the realization hit him and he immediately hid inside the quilt again. ¡®it¡¯s over, it¡¯s over, chu rong is about to get angry!¡¯ after washing up anxiously, he sat at the dinner table, brunch foods served for him. he obediently called chu rong. the other side picked it up immediately, and the holographic figure of chu rong sitting on the sofa appeared in the air. the two looked at each other silently for a few seconds. chu rong squinted his eyes and said, ¡°eat breakfast first, don¡¯t be a picky eater.¡± qiao zhiya immediately straightened his posture. he took a bun into his hand, and was about to chew it, when he thought of something. he looked up at chu rong again, and asked, ¡°you, do you want to have breakfast with me?¡± chu rong looked at his expectant expression, which was muddied by a hint of caution. the depression that had been suppressed all night easily dissipated, and he clicked on the communicator, and then the mid-air image disappeared. in its place, a clear, 3d holographic projection of qiao zhiya, the food, and the table appeared. he got up, picked up a stool and put it on the projected table, and sat down opposite qiao zhiya. qiao zhiya, who had never used this mode to communicate with others, stared in shock. he reached out to touch chu rong, who looked very realistic. his eyes lit up, and he called, ¡°chu rong, you¡ª ¡ª¡± his hand passed through chu rong¡¯s body, so the projection blurred. qiao zhiya almost threw himself on the table. chu rong stretched out his hand to help him, but it was empty. after a pause, he silently withdrew his hand. he suddenly felt that it was a mistake to choose this chat mode, and explained, ¡°this is the realistic holographic chat mode1clarification: there¡¯s normal call, video call, projected hologram ¨C you can think of it as a bigger screen projected into mid-air, so the image is still flat, but it¡¯s all holographic. this one, the holographic image is realistic and 3d.. what we see each other is each other¡¯s projection. it¡¯s all light reflection.¡± qiao zhiya stood up straight with his arms propped up, observed carefully, and found that his figure was indeed abnormally transparent. slowly, his expression became more downcast. ¡°so it¡¯s a projection¡­¡± ¡°let¡¯s eat,¡± chu rong stated. because this was still a long-distance call, chu rong didn¡¯t know how to comfort him, so he just eased his expression and gestured to the food on the table. ¡°take a good rest after eating, and don¡¯t stay up late anymore.¡± ¡°¡­okay,¡± qiao zhiya nodded. forcing to cheer himself up, he picked up the bun again. then, he had an idea. he dragged a stool closer to his side. then, as he glanced at chu rong, his ears fluttered. ¡°this way we can get closer.¡± chu rong put his arms on the back of his chair, making a pose of trying to hug him. he nodded. ¡°well, eat quickly, or it will get cold.¡± qiao zhiya hastily moved to his side again, and smiled happily at him. as he bit into his bun, he had a silly smile on his face, clearly satisfied. ¡°stupid.¡± chu rong¡¯s eyes softened. subconsciously, the corner of his mouth turned up. chu rong was very free that day, so he patiently ate with him, watched an after-meal movie, and accompanied qiao zhiya as he played with his nest of rabbits. he only hung up his call once fan xiangnan approached him with news during dinner time. the familiar figure around him disappeared. qiao zhiya moved to the area where chu rong ¡°sat¡± just now. he grabbed the sofa¡¯s pillow, and buried his face into it. after returning to school, qiao zhiya was busy with his pre-match preparations. although master shang didn¡¯t ask for the result of the competition, he still did his homework as thoroughly as possible, and even secretly studied a bunch of mecha blueprints for inspiration. he knew that with his current learning progress, it was impossible to make a real mecha, so he thought of a shortcut ¡ª he would temporarily abandon the traditional mecha manufacturing method. instead, he would incorporate the magical mechanical method, which he was already familiar with. thankfully, he was very clear about the dwarven ways of crafting. in the past two days, he flipped through the books left by his parents, and finally found a magic mechanical product that was very close to the mecha ¡ª a magic puppet. magic puppets, as the name suggests, are puppets driven by magic. it came with various shapes and sizes. they are a kind of anthropomorphic machinery that the dwarves once designed as weapons, but in the end they were reduced to toys. in the past, because he had no magic power, he could only specialize in weapon forging, and had little contact with magic puppets. in addition, this thing was reduced to a toy in the end, and the production method was simplified to the very basic. when he came into contact with it, it had become very ordinary, similar to other mechanical dolls, so he didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. but now, it became a treasure in his hand. different from the toy-shaped magic puppets, the magic puppets originally designed as weapons were very close to the mechas of this world. however, unlike mecha, both the circuitry, power supply, and control commands were driven by magic stones. also, compared to mechas, magic puppets moved very, very slowly. it was bulky and cumbersome, unable to be driven manually or fly. it could only be moved by magic power. it was powered by various arrays and magic stones, but the power conversion wasn¡¯t efficient. the cost performance was too low, and that¡¯s precisely why it¡¯s no longer used as a weapon. the production method had long been abandoned. in short, this puppet looked daunting and scary, so it¡¯s only used to scare off hostile parties. while its fighting power wasn¡¯t too bad, it wasn¡¯t as efficient as a frontal assault using traditional weapons. qiao zhiya¡¯s father is a knowledgeable elf who likes to study new things. after accompanying his wife and children to the dwarf village, he immediately noticed the existence of the magic puppet and became very interested in it. after studying it for a while, he left behind many notes, and from these notes, qiao zhiya learned about the history of magic puppets. now, he regretted that he didn¡¯t look through the things his father gave him because he didn¡¯t have magic power, but he was also thankful that he listened to master shang¡¯s words and participated in this competition, thus discovering this. flipping through this, he found that the magic puppet gave him far more surprises than that. first of all, the magic puppet was cumbersome and slow because its joint connection method was not advanced enough and the dwarves had not invented a high-tech driving system. but here in the federation, the joint connection method and advanced driving system were all ready-made. as long as he mastered the magic puppet¡¯s production method ¨C that is, the mechanical parts ¨C he could think of a way to improve its old parts. with this method, he may be able to go to the end of this competition and make a unique mecha; secondly, the production method of the magic puppet was similar to the federation¡¯s traditional parts-making, so it¡¯s easy for qiao zhiya to learn all of them. one month should be enough for him to master this. finally, and most importantly, he found that the method to drive the mecha puppets was different from traditional mechas. it does not rely on spiritual power at all. if the magic crystal core, the source of power of the magic puppet, is replaced with a mecha engine, the joints and driving system of the puppet are fixed, and then the magic array induction method on the magic puppet is applied to humans¡­ then this would be a real, purely manually-driven mecha. the reason why the magic puppet can be controlled is that all the important joints on its body are engraved with magic circles that can sense the fluctuation of magic power. the driver only needs to wave their hands imbued with magic power to control it. if the principle of this magic array induction is transferred to the driver, so that when the driver is attacked and wants to fight back and give a physical response, the mecha can immediately sense and give a response synchronously. with this kind of driving method, wouldn¡¯t its attack efficiency be the same as traditional mecha? ¨Cthe thing is, the reason why manually-driven mecha isn¡¯t comparable to spiritual power-driven ones is that its input method is less intuitive and far longer. with spiritual power-driven mecha, the pilot can drive it with their easy body motions, while manually-driven ones rely on a series of button inputs. this is the biggest weakness of the manually-driven mechas! now, if he succeeded in changing that¡­ if he could make the manually-driven mecha be controlled by the pilot¡¯s intuitive body movements¡­ wouldn¡¯t this completely eliminate that weakness? but in this way, pure manually-driven mechas would inevitably have high requirements of the pilot¡¯s physical fitness, and even their martial arts ability. some high-end movements that could be performed with spiritual power might not be able to be performed by manually-driven mechas, because piloting the former only requires far simpler gestures compared to the real mecha movement, as it would be transmitted via spiritual power¡­ maybe¡­ can this be remedied by improving the performance of the mecha? but if he wanted to improve the performance of the mecha¡­ no, no, these are the things that should be considered after the mecha is successfully manufactured. the first thing to consider is how to synchronize the body movements of the mecha and the driver¡­ his train of thoughts were interrupted by a sudden communication request. qiao zhiya immediately looked, and it was a call from chu rong. overjoyed, he hurriedly put away all the materials, and crawled under the quilt to answer the call. in the next second, a projection of a figure appeared beside the bed, as if chu rong was really in front of him. ¡°can you sleep with me today too?¡± he asked expectantly, his eyes bright. chu rong also went to his bed and laid down, adjusted the projection position so that the two of them seemed to be lying side by side on the same bed. he whispered, ¡°sleep, i will accompany you.¡± qiao zhiya immediately smiled and narrowed his eyes, inching closer to the projection. he closed his eyes. chu rong looked at him, raised his hand and landed on his projection. he traced the youth¡¯s outline, then leaned over to ¡°kiss¡± his forehead. a few days later, news came from the empire that the old emperor was in good health, and chu rong was praised as a ¡°lucky star¡± by him, and he refused to let chu rong come back home. at the same time, the imperial high advisor suddenly received a large reward and was frequently called into the palace by the emperor. time passed quickly, and just when qiao zhiya had thoroughly mastered the method of making the magic puppet, the first round of the 1106th star network mecha manufacturing competition finally kicked off. at 7:30 in the evening, qiao zhiya entered the player¡¯s room on time to wait for the game, feeling very depressed. it has been a month, and chu rong has been unable to come back since then. plus, he has not been in contact with him for several days. according to chu huai, it was because chu rong was dragged to some stupid planet by the emperor to recuperate, and he cannot escape temporarily. ¡®i thought that chu rong would come to see my first game¡­¡¯ just as he was thinking about it, a line of words suddenly flashed in the middle of the screen: [your special attention friend is online.] CH 69.1 xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. chairman ning aka ning tianxing: ning family¡¯s head. ning kongran¡¯s father. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. bearded teacher aka master shang: qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha teacher in vr. chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. luo li: qiao zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. he won the online mecha manufacturing contest. now qiao zhiya¡¯s (and sang bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. an leen: imperial princess. charmmi: the imperial royal mecha master brendan¡¯s granddaughter. studies mecha manufacturing. feng: the imperial high advisor. jian: feng, the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. now has a forced amnesia. qiao zhiya was confused at first, and then stood up excitedly. he wanted to teleport out of the player room to see chu rong, but found that the room had been sealed and he could not go out before the end of the game. just as his anxiety creeped up, chu rong¡¯s call request came up. then he remembered that he could still use this contact, so he hurriedly connected it. trying to suppress his bubbling excitement, he carefully answered: ¡°chu rong?¡± ¡°it¡¯s me,¡± chu rong replied. after his voice came out, a flash of pixel materialized in front of him, then finally, his avatar appeared in front of him. qiao zhiya was stunned. then, with a low exclamation, he pounced on him without hesitation. chu rong opened his arms and hugged him contentedly, tightened his arms, lowered his head and rubbed the top of his head. he whispered, ¡°sorry, i haven¡¯t contacted you in the past few days.¡± ¡°it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, i know you are busy.¡± qiao zhiya wanted to see his face, but was reluctant to let go of him, so he squirmed in his embrace, trying to raise his head but only able to see the taller man¡¯s chin. with a surprised tone, he asked, ¡°the contestant¡¯s room is closed before the start of the game, and the audience can¡¯t come in. how did you get in?¡± ¡°i used a little privilege,¡± chu rong replied, sitting on the player¡¯s chair on the side and holding him on his lap. account is indeed special. it has fewer restrictions than ordinary people. as long as it does not affect the fairness of the competition, he can come in as the contestant¡¯s relative to encourage them. the system will not stop it. after sitting down, qiao zhiya saw chu rong¡¯s face and found that the image of his account was exactly the same as his appearance in reality. it didn¡¯t look like the avatar he used since a decade ago. therefore, he should¡¯ve resetted the appearance recently. the last time the two met on the vr, they stayed in their respective mecha and did not meet directly. this was the first time the two of them used their online avatars to actually face each other. ¡®¡­it¡¯s a pity that i couldn¡¯t see what chu rong looked like ten years ago.¡¯ qiao zhiya thought with some regret, but immediately became excited again. he took the initiative to rest his head on chu rong¡¯s shoulder, tilted his head and rubbed his face with his ears. both of them still retain their real-life appearance, so his pointy ears were also retained in his avatar. this is not bad, both of them use their real appearance, and it feels like they are meeting in reality. feeling qiao zhiya¡¯s rubbing against him, his expression softened. he leaned in and kissed the soft pointy ear. after more than a month, he finally hugged this clingy guy again. although they were just a bunch of data, it was much better than the projection that could only be seen but not touched. the two hugged each other quietly for a while, and qiao zhiya¡¯s excitement gradually calmed down. remembering that chu rong had not contacted him in the past few days, he sat up slightly, raised his hand and gently touched chu rong¡¯s face. his tone clearly indicated his worry. ¡°how are you doing in the empire? has the emperor given you any trouble?¡± when he mentioned this, the warmth on chu rong¡¯s face dissipated into a frown. seeing that it only made qiao zhiya more worried, he quickly relaxed his brow and raised his hand. he rubbed the back of his head and adjusted something on his account before replying, ¡°it¡¯s okay, the old emperor just wants to use me as a shield to delay the time until he could fully recover his health. this is a preventative measure to halt the adult princes and their subordinates¡¯ conspiracy. their opposition started to wane once they realized that the old emperor started to recover. i helped him survive this time. he gave me two kinds of tenth-level materials that the chu family didn¡¯t have. it was a good deal.¡± qiao zhiya found that his voice suddenly became very low, ringing in his ears. he immediately understood that it was not safe to talk about this here. he pursed his lips and changed the topic. he leaned over again, his nose was basically stuck to the taller man¡¯s neck. it somehow felt nostalgic. ¡°then when can you come back? the rabbits miss you too.¡± ¡®those rabbits only know how to eat and play. do they even miss me?¡¯ chu rong was amused by his implicit expression, and it drastically improved his mood. he hugged him tightly again and raised his hands to play with the youth¡¯s ears. ¡°come on, i¡¯m on the ship returning to the empire¡¯s capital planet now. i will set off back to the federation immediately after arriving. i can get home in a week at most.¡± ¡®a week? i can spend next weekend with chu rong?¡¯ as the youth¡¯s mood soars, he hugged chu rong with a big smile and fluttery ears. his face flushed slightly red, and he said in a shy but firm manner, ¡°then i will wait for you at home. i will take off the ring and wait for you to come back. i want to see you put it on my finger with my own eyes!¡± chu rong¡¯s pupils shook. his chest was filled with a soft, fluffy feeling. the taut of his eyebrows were gone, and now they were rounded with gentleness. he stroked the youth¡¯s back slowly, then nodded. ¡°once i put it on you, you can¡¯t take it off.¡± inside that private room, the two separated fiances were being intimate, trying to chase away their feelings of loneliness. meanwhile, the online public was going crazy. the atmosphere was like boiling water, and the heat reached its peak. ¡ª¡ªmarshal chu is online again! ¡ª¡ªrong tian, ??who ranks first in the mecha battle rankings, is finally online! ¡ª¡ªbut he cunningly hid his movements! unless he unlocked the privacy settings on his battle and let the system display the room number, the public won¡¯t be able to see him at all! the fans were devastated. after a few months, marshal chu finally came online again, but this time they were even worse than the last time. they didn¡¯t even have the chance to watch or participate in a duel against him. he kept staying in his private room! they have no way to peek at him! everyone was scratching their heads to find out chu rong¡¯s location. some rich people even bought the all-star network overhead broadcast to solicit chu rong¡¯s location. however, the result was even those rich people joined the commoner masses and scratched their heads alongside them. the internet, which was already bursting with people thanks to the starnet mecha manufacturing competition, became even more lively. the number of people online continued to increase. the relevant forums were full of posts looking for chu rong¡¯s location. fans and passersby alike were constantly posting in those forums. then someone made a post and reasonably speculated: [today is the first round of the star network mecha manufacturing competition. is marshal chu online just to watch the competition? i heard that marshal chu¡¯s fianc¨¦ studied mecha manufacturing after being promoted to an advanced college. did he participate in this competition?] that speculation woke up the masses. just as they were getting excited, a netizen who studied mecha manufacturing poured cold water on him. passerby a: [but isn¡¯t this cute exoplanet native boy still a first-year student? he hasn¡¯t really started yet, so he probably won¡¯t be able to participate in the competition. does he want to lose in the first round?] when everyone thought about it, they all agreed that it made sense. a big family like the chu family, would not let their fianc¨¦ embarrass themselves by losing the first round in such a big competition. however, this was the only reasonable guess at the moment. after some hesitation and entanglement, they all rushed to the main square of the competition with expectations, entered the official website of the star network mecha manufacturing competition, and searched for player information. there¡¯s about 500 million contestants, so the search was tiring. however, they actually found a participant with the id of . after repeatedly confirming that the id number was indeed that of qiao zhiya and not someone else with the same name, the people went crazy. [big news! marshal chu¡¯s fianc¨¦ signed up for the star network mecha manufacturing competition!] [marshal chu¡¯s exoplanet native fianc¨¦ signed up for the star network mecha manufacturing competition before he officially started manufacturing mechas and only learned how to make elementary parts!] [marshal chu¡¯s fianc¨¦ is about to lose in the first round of the competition!] this news spread across the star network like wildfire. the fans that qiao zhiya attracted during the holiday live broadcast event were moved by the news and rushed towards the mecha manufacturing square with a faint green light in their eyes ¨C this little cutie rarely ever went online to begin with, and those handful of times were spent playing with third young master chu. they have been waiting to see him for a long time! in the corner of the mecha manufacturing square, chu yan glanced at the growing number of excited melon-eaters around him. the corner of his mouth twitched, then he put a face-blurring decorative mask on his face. he poked yuan xiu next to him, and said, ¡°it¡¯s just a competition, why are they¡­ so exaggerated?¡± ¡°celebrity effect, with your erge¡¯s status and qiao¡¯s popularity, it¡¯s not unusual for this to happen. now i¡¯m starting to worry about the servers.¡± yuan xiu also wore a funny mask as he scanned the increasingly-thick crowd of onlookers. chu yan smacked his lips, and suddenly thought of something. ¡°more than half of these people will enter the stadium to watch qiao¡¯s game, but there is a fee to watch the game, and the players can get a share. with this number of people, qiao will really make a killing.¡± when yuan xiu was reminded by him, he also thought about this. he silently calculated it in his mind and became jealous. ¡°in this day and age, popularity is money.¡± ¡°it¡¯s a pity that the first round of the competition is not open for betting, otherwise we can gamble in favor of him,¡± chu yan¡¯s eyes flashed with money. he continued with a whisper, ¡°these people don¡¯t know qiao¡¯s mecha manufacturing capabilities, they will definitely bet on him losing, so qiao¡¯s odds will be lopsided. then when i bet, i will win a fuck-ton of money¡­ hehehe.¡± ¡°despicable.¡± chu yan was stunned for a fraction of a second. then he frowned at yuan xiu with raised eyebrows. ¡°you actually called me despicable. aren¡¯t i sharing with you the way to make a fortune?¡± yuan xiu looked back at him, confusion clearly all over his face. ¡°who scolded you? i didn¡¯t say anything just now.¡± ¡°where did that voice come from? it sounds so familiar.¡± the two looked at each other for a few seconds, and then they both indeed felt like they were being stared at. in unison, they turned their heads and looked behind them. at some point, a third person actually appeared in their hidden corner. that person was very frank and did not wear a mask like them. he showed the disdain on his face to them. seeing them looking over, the young man snorted and cursed in a louder voice, ¡°damnable leech.¡± yuan xiu¡¯s face immediately darkened. he tensed his muscles and was prepared to fight. ¡°xiang kun, are you eavesdropping on us?¡± chu yan¡¯s reaction was rather strange. he raised his hand and patted yuan xiu¡¯s shoulder reassuringly to tell him to calm down. then he looked at xiang kun very gently and asked sincerely, ¡°xiang kun, is your uncle here again?¡± ¡°uncle? what do you mean?¡± yuan xiu turned to look at him in confusion. xiang kun¡¯s face suddenly darkened, then he flushed crimson as his voice went pitch-high. he raised his hand and pointed at him angrily. ¡°you, you, you!!!¡± he couldn¡¯t say a complete sentence for a long time. finally, he glared at him fiercely and said, ¡°just wait!¡±1a popular euphemism for menstruation/having your period is ¡°(my) aunt is here/ (my) aunt is visiting. because xiang kun is a boy, chu yan teased him with ¡°uncle¡± instead. he¡¯s basically saying that xiang kun¡¯s awful temper is because of pms. then, he went offline. yuan xiu showed admiration at him. ¡°you are still cruel, but what happened to xiang kun recently? he always feels a little weird.¡± ¡°he deserves a beating,¡± chu yan answered lightly, raising his arm to put on his shoulder, and changed the subject. ¡°the game is about to start, prepare to teleport. do you still remember what qiao¡¯s room number is?¡± yuan xiu rolled his eyes. ¡°you recited it 800 times already, how can i not remember it?¡± CH 69.2 five minutes before the start of the game, chu rong let go of qiao zhiya. he stood up, touched his head, and said, ¡°i have to go out now. i¡¯ll watch you from the audience seat.¡± qiao zhiya nodded reluctantly and said, ¡°then i will communicate with the audience.¡± chu rong frowned. ¡°it¡¯s better to turn that feature off. there are too many people and it will disturb your game.¡± ¡°no,¡± qiao zhiya refused, his ears twitching as he showed a smile. with twinkling eyes, he looked like the fox that caught the chicken. ¡°when i signed up, i chose to not publicize the room number, and i only told xiao yan and a couple other friends about my participation. so not many people will come to watch the competition. you can still be in the audience when the time comes.¡± seeing him like this, chu rong couldn¡¯t bear to tell him that his account probably had set off a huge chain of events that killed the youth¡¯s privacy. he was silent, and instead raised his hand to brush his bangs. ¡°then open it first. if you think it¡¯s noisy, just turn it off and i¡¯ll come find you after the game.¡± if it weren¡¯t for the privilege of rong tian¡¯s account, which allowed him to see qiao zhiya in advance, he would actually prefer to use an anonymous side account to watch his game. this main account of his was too troublesome. ¡®after the game?¡¯ qiao zhiya¡¯s focus was on the last sentence. he nodded vigorously, and the smile on his face immediately brightened. chu rong then bent down, and kissed the youth squarely on his lips. in the next second, the tall figure flashed and disappeared. qiao zhiya was stunned as he raised his hand to cover his lips. his ears twitched shyly, and his face slowly turned red. with one minute left before the start of the game, a countdown prompt appeared above the player room. qiao zhiya sat back on the player¡¯s chair and waited for the game to begin. the content of the first round of the competition is parts production. he was very sure about this, so he was still in a relaxed mood. when there were only ten seconds left in the countdown, he turned to look at the auditorium, hoping to see the first person entering the competition venue was chu rong. the countdown ended, and on the stage, things needed for the competition appeared on the operating table. off the stage, chu rong was the first to appear in the audience, sitting in the middle of the first row closest to the contestants. qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t help but raise a smile on his face. just as he was about to call him, he heard a boom, and a scream that almost lifted the roof suddenly erupted in the auditorium. then his eyes blurred, and the empty auditorium suddenly transformed into a jam-packed one, filled with numerous spectators in every square inch of the ¡°seat¡±. his call was choked in his throat, his eyes widened in shock, and his ears pricked up. he was dumbfounded. ¡®wha-why are there so many people?¡¯ chu rong, who was sitting in the first row, suddenly became gloomy. he immediately used the figure-blurring mask, and then motioned to qiao zhiya to turn off the audience communication channel and concentrate on the game. ¡°ahhhh! come on, little cutie! you are the best!¡± ¡°where is the marshal? where is he? have you found him?¡± ¡°wow, little cutie is very cute indeed. haha, he looks so frightened. hey, he looked at me, did you see it, he looked at me!¡± ¡°come on, qiaoqiao! let those bitches who say you will lose in the first round eat their own words! qiaoqiao, you are the best!¡± deafening cacophony filled the air, all kinds of broken roars made his eardrums ring. this¡­ was even livelier compared to that round where luo li played. he opened his mouth and glanced at chu rong, who went unnoticed after using his mask. he also looked at the crowd behind him who were waving and screaming at him crazily. he moved his butt stiffly, stood up and bowed towards the audience. he bowed and said with a stutter, ¡°thank¡­ thank you for your encouragement, i, i¡­ um, thank you, i have to concentrate on the competition, so, uh, mask¡­ i¡¯m sorry, thank you.¡± the crowd was quiet for a moment. then, intense screams echoed. not daring to delay any longer, he hurriedly sat back in front of the table and hurriedly turned off the audience communication, blocking all sounds from the system. his ears finally escaped the torture of the noise, and he breathed a sigh of relief. he couldn¡¯t help but glance at chu rong, who was sitting in the first row. chu rong caught his eye and nodded to him as encouragement. qiao zhiya¡¯s heart, frightened by the scream, immediately calmed down. he smiled at him, turned back, and set his sights on his crafting table. upon seeing this, the audience immediately realized that qiao zhiya might have only turned on the lowest sound option and not completely muted the all audience-related sound. the reason why he did this was probably because he wanted to see a special person sitting in the audience. like what happened just now. and what makes qiao zhiya feel special must be¡­ marshal chu is really here! he¡¯s watching the game too! right next to them! the audience became excited and looked around, and soon they realized that chu rong should also have disguised himself, hiding his figure. except for the owner of the room, qiao zhiya, no one else could see him at all. the screams turned into howls, and gradually, the auditorium became quiet. the audience gradually turned their attention to qiao zhiya who was assembling his parts. when qiao zhiya watched the game on the star network for the first time last year, he was amazed by luo li¡¯s mastery in assembling parts, which was very pleasing to the eye. now the audience watching the qiao zhiya game thinks the same way. they saw two fair and beautiful hands alternately picking up the small materials on the table. one by one, he put them together flexibly and skillfully without any unnecessary movements. those fingers seemed to dance to its own pleasant rhythm. in order to increase the difficulty of the game, some of these materials need to be further processed, but this does not seem to be a problem for qiao zhiya. he took out a small hammer customized for the system from the tool box and struck it on the material. after the white light representing spiritual power flashed faintly, the material took shape. after that, he directly installed the material onto the semi-formed part and placed it without thinking twice, which made the audience tremble with fear. they were always worried that he would make a mistake, but he never made a mistake. every hammered material seemed to be tailor-made, fitting like it was precisely casted to its place. there are no errors. time felt meaningless as it floated at different speeds. once the movement of his fingers stopped, a complete part was placed on the table by qiao zhiya. at the same time, the system judged it: [round complete. value: special-grade. contestant successfully advanced to the next round.] the audience was stunned and then had several different reactions. the fans cheered enthusiastically, as if it was lunar new year; some of the melon-eaters who came to watch the excitement were attracted by the quality of his work, so they also clapped happily along, although with more restraint; some people who had malicious intentions or were jealous to the gills fell silent with complicated expressions. for the last type of people, they teleported directly out of the room. chu yan, who was disguised and blended along with the audience, slumped in his chair and sighed, ¡°sure enough, i said that there is no suspense in the first round.¡± yuan xiu sneered at him. ¡°gee, i wonder who was so nervous just now, until he cannot sit still?¡± chu yan glared at him. yuan xiu raised his eyebrows in response, and then the two of them teleported away in tacit understanding ¨C chu yan told yuan xiu that it¡¯s time for them to practice. not far away from them, xiang kun, who was online again, retracted his gaze from looking at the parts on the crafting table. after remaining silent for a few seconds, he chose to log off. in different corners of the auditorium, chu huai, gu yan¡¯an, master shang, master ren, luo li, sang bu, ning kongran, yun xiachu¡­ and even princess an leen, jian, and charmmi, also chose to go offline. qiao zhiya on the stage was unaware of the quiet arrival and quiet departure of these acquaintances. after finishing the round, he immediately looked at chu rong¡¯s position and saw that he was still there. his emerald eyes squinted as he smiled brightly. the spectators who had not yet left were excited when they saw this. some of them looked in the direction he was looking, and some of them waved and screamed at him frantically, trying to attract his attention. qiao zhiya moved his eyes to the enthusiastic audience. he turned off the sound mute option, stood up, and waved to them shyly. ¡°thank you for your encouragement and time. goodbye.¡± after saying that, he bowed and directly teleported out of the player room. at the same time, chu rong also stood up and teleported himself out. soon, fans noticed that chu rong¡¯s battle room lit up, with the words ¡° vs ¡± appearing behind it. two minutes later, rong tian chose to admit defeat and logged off immediately, followed by qiao. everyone started scratching their heads again, and a subtle sense of understanding arose in their hearts¨C watching the game in person, playing against each other immediately after the game, actively admitting defeat during the game, not caring about his own record, and logging off together after losing. this is love. well, this really is true love. those conspiracy theories out there seem particularly ridiculous at this moment. there was also the look in qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes looking towards somewhere in the audience during the game just now. his joy and admiration were completely undisguised¡­ ahhhh! at this time, only screaming can express their complex emotions! after going offline, qiao zhiya immediately climbed out of his starnet cabin, took out his special helmet and logged in to his anonymous side account. a minute later, an account named sent a friend request. qiao zhiya hurriedly accepted the request, and then an invitation came, which he accepted. the next second, he was teleported into a warmly decorated room, in which stood a tall, dark-haired man with an unfamiliar appearance. ¡°chu rong?¡± he asked carefully. the black-haired man¡¯s eyes fell on the youth¡¯s white hair. he squinted, stretched out his hand towards him, and said, ¡°it¡¯s me, come here.¡± with the familiar voice and familiar eye expression, the hesitation in qiao zhiya¡¯s heart immediately disappeared, and he happily rushed over. without any hint of hesitation, he buried his face in his arms and nuzzled him. ¡°how long can you stay with me?¡± ¡°you must go to bed on time before 10 o¡¯clock.¡± chu rong hugged him and rubbed his fluffy white hair. he deliberately asked, ¡°why do you have white hair on this account?¡± with this question, he immediately remembered that he subconsciously chose white hair at that time1just a reminder, chu rong¡¯s rl hair is white~. instead of verbally answering, he blushed, and buried his face further into chu rong¡¯s embrace. his squirming motions signified his embarrassment, and it looked a tad like he was silently asking to be pampered. when chu rong saw this, the corners of his mouth turned up, and he hugged him tightly, enjoying the silent expression of love from his lover. the two of them sat together for a while, and were discussing whether to go to the online shopping mall for leisure. chu rong suddenly stopped talking and sat upright. he looked at the place where the system prompts appeared. the smile on his face disappeared and it turned into a tight frown. ¡°what¡¯s the matter? did something happen?¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s heart jumped once he realized chu rong¡¯s sudden expression change. his face was filled with worry. ¡°no,¡± chu rong quickly adjusted his expression, touched his head, and explained, ¡°it¡¯s xiangnan calling me to log off. it should be for a meeting. sorry, i have to break my promise.¡± qiao zhiya felt relieved. he nuzzled his palm, then stood up obediently. he suppressed his reluctance and said in a sensible manner, ¡°it¡¯s for work right? don¡¯t worry, it doesn¡¯t bother me. i will go to bed on time, you should also go to bed early, good night.¡± chu rong felt distressed again. he stood up, then bent down to kiss the youth¡¯s forehead. ¡°i¡¯ll find you when i get back. good night.¡± after that, he hurriedly logged off. ¡°okay¡­i¡¯ll wait for you.¡± qiao zhiya whispered as he watched chu rong¡¯s avatar flickered off. he touched his forehead in silence, then properly logged off. on the ship, chu rong took off his helmet, looked at fan xiangnan who was waiting aside with a frown. ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°a black hole suddenly appeared on our return route.¡± fan xiangnan¡¯s expression was solemn. he spoke faster than usual to summarize all the key points as succinctly as possible. ¡°a team has been sent to check the situation. there is no sign of zerg activities¡­ yet.¡± after hearing the news, chu rong was unexpectedly calm. he put away his helmet and looked sideways at the beautiful star-filled space outside the window. he said coldly, ¡°sure enough, it has appeared. this artificial¡­ ¡®gift¡¯ finally appeared after being missing for over a decade. that old emperor is indeed a good bait to use.¡± fan xiangnan didn¡¯t expect this calmness from chu rong. he felt worried. ¡°sir?¡± ¡°let¡¯s go and have a look.¡± chu rong withdrew his gaze. he stood up and walked out while sneering. ¡°i killed the zerg queen with my own hands back then. i want to see what can be drilled out of this ¡®black hole¡¯ now.¡± if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 69.3 after the game, qiao zhiya became famous again in the school, and even had a group of little fans who came to him specifically to take photos with or get his autographs. the newly-popular youth was so embarrassed that he hid in the dormitory after class, not daring to stay outside at all. after a few days, the enthusiasm of fans gradually subsided and they no longer chased him everywhere. he breathed a sigh of relief and began to look forward to meeting chu rong at the weekend. he worked hard to survive until friday. after school, he immediately said goodbye to sang bu. he didn¡¯t even go back to his dormitory. he took out his school-issued hover car and drove out of the school. on the way, he called chu yan. when his request got through, he said happily, ¡°xiao yan, are you going home this week? i¡¯m on my way to the school gate, where are you?¡± ¡°qiao.¡± chu yan¡¯s voice came after a pause. it sounded a little low, like his mood was down. ¡°dage is at the school gate. let¡¯s meet there. i¡¯ll hang up first.¡± the call was hung up. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears twitched in confusion. after thinking about it, he quickly put chu yan¡¯s problem at the back of his mind and sped up his vehicle. ¡®dage came to pick us up in person. it seems that chu rong is coming back and everyone is getting together again!¡¯ arriving at the school gate with a smile on his face, qiao zhiya quickly found chu huai¡¯s hover car. he ran over and knocked on the door. after the door opened, he immediately got in. seeing that gu yan¡¯an was there, the smile on his face became brighter. he happily called out, ¡°dage, dasao, why are you all here? aren¡¯t you busy today?¡± chu huai and gu yan¡¯an looked at each other. just as gu yan¡¯an was about to speak, chu yan opened the car door and sat in with an ugly expression. he asked quietly, ¡°dage, i heard from yuan xiu that something happened to the old emperor and erge. what happened? why didn¡¯t i hear anything? what did you hide from me?¡± ¡°something happened?¡± qiao zhiya asked. after a moment, he suddenly panicked. he held chu yan¡¯s arm, asking with a smidge of eagerness in his tone. ¡°xiao yan, what are you talking about? what happened? isn¡¯t chu rong coming back? you¡­¡± as he spoke, he looked at chu huai and gu yan¡¯an. seeing that their expressions were a little ugly, his heart sank a little bit. he trailed off, no longer able to find his words. he looked back and forth at them helplessly, and his face slowly turned pale. he opened his mouth and asked dryly, ¡°chu rong¡­ what happened to him?¡± ¡°let¡¯s go home first,¡± chu huai said, trying to make his expression normal. ¡°lao er and the emperor¡¯s ship encountered a black hole just as they traveled to the empire¡¯s capital planet. because of that, their ship was destroyed, and all the people on the ship were missing. the only thing i can be sure of now is that lao er¡¯s safe and his life is not in danger.¡± ¡®black hole?¡¯ qiao zhiya¡¯s eyelashes fluttered as his mind blanked. he lowered his head and clenched his fist. chu yan¡¯s expression immediately became solemn. ¡®encountering a black hole while sailing is the worst situation, erge¡­¡¯ he glanced sideways at qiao zhiya beside him. the youth¡¯s expression was covered by his blond hair. after hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and patted his shoulder, silently comforting him. the hover car arrived home. chu yan asked about the situation in detail and learned that the news of chu rong and the emperor¡¯s accident had actually been sent back two days ago. the news had already spread in the empire. in order to stabilize the citizen¡¯s anxiety, the emperor¡¯s oldest son was pushed out to temporarily take charge of the emperor¡¯s affairs. rescue teams searching for the emperor and chu rong had been sent out several times, but no news came back. ¡°as they said, no news is good news. lao er¡¯s spiritual strength has been restored. as long as he does not encounter another zerg queen, he should be fine.¡± chu huai comforted himself and everyone, and affirmed his guess, ¡± i have notified the people on the border mining planet and asked them to secretly launch a search. news will be sent back as soon as possible.¡± chu yan couldn¡¯t help but curse in a low voice, ¡°these damn black hole monsters! they have all disappeared for a decade already, why can¡¯t they disappear forever?!¡± qiao zhiya, who was sitting next to him, was so frightened by the undisguised murderous hatred in his tone that he could no longer sit still. he stood up and said hurriedly, ¡°i-i¡¯m sleepy. i¡¯ll¡­ go back to my room to rest. good night everyone.¡± after saying that, he turned around and walked quickly towards his room. on the way, he accidentally tripped on a furniture and almost fell. when the old butler saw this, he hurriedly tried to help him, but qiao zhiya quickly stabilized his body and returned to the room without looking back. there was an unsettled atmosphere all over his body. chu huai frowned when he saw this. he looked at chu yan and said, ¡°xiao yan, try not to mention black holes in front of qiao in the future. his village was destroyed because of a black hole. although he lost the memory of that time, he is still afraid of these things subconsciously.¡± chu yan frowned. he didn¡¯t expect that there was such a hidden secret. he always thought that qiao was just a simple rescued mining slave. thinking of qiao¡¯s appearance just now, he felt worried and wanted to comfort him, but was stopped by gu yan¡¯an. ¡°let him stay alone for a while.¡± gu yan¡¯an shook her head. with sorrow in her eyebrows, she let out a long sigh. ¡°things have come to this¡­ take a rest for a while, i¡¯ll brew you a cup of hot tea.¡± after passing a space jump point, fan xiangnan checked the damage of the mecha and said urgently, ¡°sir, the mecha can¡¯t hold on any longer. we must land as soon as possible.¡± ¡°find the closest planet to land on, and then contact the military.¡± chu rong¡¯s voice came from the mecha¡¯s internal communicator. ehe old emperor¡¯s painful groans were also mixed in the background. fan xiangnan immediately heard the implication of his words and asked, ¡°sir, aren¡¯t you going to land?¡± chu rong controlled his mecha to speed it up again, ignoring the old emperor¡¯s pained grunts in the co-pilot seat, and also the imperial head advisor who silently sat in a corner of the cockpit. ¡°i will go home directly.¡± ¡®go home?¡¯ fan xiangnan was stunned, and immediately disagreed with that. ¡°sir, there¡¯s still another space jump point before you can reach the capital planet. your mecha will not be able to survive.¡± ¡°my mecha can,¡± chu rong replied, his tone flat, as if they just went out for a walk and were now discussing which route to take home. ¡°i promised qiao to spend the weekend with him. the closest planet from here is the b07 planet. there¡¯s the chu family¡¯s troops stationed on it. you land there, this is an order.¡± ¡°¡­yes.¡± fan xiangnan had no choice but to compromise. suppressing the momentary speechlessness in his heart, he operated the mecha to prepare for landing. the two mechas separated in the vast and beautiful universe, one headed towards the nearest planet, and the other flew to the next space jump point. chu rong took advantage of a marshal¡¯s privilege and passed all the jumping points in the name of the chu family¡¯s mineral transport ship. once he saw the capital planet within his field of view, he opened a special communication channel and ordered, ¡°lin zhen, get me permission to enter without delay. i want to land directly at the main residence of the chu family.¡± lin zhen, who was nervously waiting for the news in the capital planet, was stunned by his sudden voice. he immediately reacted, responded excitedly, and hurriedly called his subordinates to arrange it efficiently. the imperial high advisor, who had been leaning silently in the corner, raised his head when he heard the marshal¡¯s words. he glanced at the now-unconscious old emperor in the co-pilot seat. a trace of joy appeared in his narrow eyes, but it quickly disappeared. his hand touched the wound on his arm and slowly pinched it. he used the stabbing pain to keep himself awake. ¡®finally¡­ that dirty and rotten empire is falling apart.¡¯ qiao zhiya hugged his knees and huddled inside his quilt. everytime he closed his eyes, he always saw the image of chu rong being swallowed by the black hole. but he also saw the image of him being rejected by a disgusted chu rong, who came from a black hole. various emotions of panic, fear, and worry were mixed together, overwhelming his brain. he was confused, his heart was beating too fast, cold sweat broke out on his palms and forehead. ¡®no, it will be okay. chu rong is so powerful and will definitely come back safely. chu rong will not look at him like that. no, no way.¡¯ he raised his hands to cover his face. the uneasiness that had been eliminated by the stable life began to fight back fiercely. his thoughts were in a mess. but then, he suddenly thought of something. he hurriedly climbed out of bed and knelt on the ground to start drawing a magic array for searching. this time, he put his ring to search chu rong, instead a way to go back to his hometown. ¡°it¡¯ll be okay, it¡¯ll be okay¡­¡± he kept mumbling. the strand of hair started to spin around in the array, causing his reddened eyes to widen. half a minute later, the rotation of the hair slowed down, and finally pointed straight at him, and then stopped. he was stunned, stood up and looked behind him, but of course he didn¡¯t see anything. his mood became more and more chaotic, and he was on the verge of collapse. ¡°why is it malfunctioning? please, please succeed once and let me find him. please¡­¡± he knelt down and drew the formation again, then put all the things chu rong gave him at the eye of the array. in order to increase the effectiveness of the formation, he bit his finger and dripped some blood into it. the array glowed, and once again, the hair rotated wildly. then, it suddenly stopped, pointing at him. ¡°how could this happen? don¡¯t, don¡¯t fail again, please¡­¡± he shook his head and waved his hands randomly to erase this ineffective array, trying to concentrate his magic power on his fingertips again. as a result, as soon as his finger came close to the floor, a drop of blood dripped, as his injury got wider. he felt like he was hallucinating. he could hear the sound of his own blood dripping, mixed with the roar of a mecha engine from far away. his ears twitched and his eyes suddenly widened. he looked at the bloody hair that was wiped aside on the ground, and he felt something in his heart. a guess formed in his heart. he quickly looked up, then immediately got up from the ground and rushed out of the room. chu huai and others in the living room were startled when they saw him suddenly running out with some blood stains on the floor on his clothes. they stood up and approached him. gu yan¡¯an was the first to ask, ¡°qiao, what¡¯s wrong with you? why are you not even wearing any shoes? what¡¯s going on with all this blood?¡± qiao zhiya ran past them as if he didn¡¯t hear anything. he quickly ran to the yard, and looked up at the sky full of stars. ¡°qiao!¡± chu yan quickly chased after him. he frowned and pulled him to the living room, his voice trying to be soothing, ¡°don¡¯t worry, erge will be fine. you go back to the room with me first and put on your shoes. then we can clean all this blood on your body.¡± ¡°he¡¯s back,¡± qiao spoke, almost like in a trance. he broke free from chu yan¡¯s grip, and stared at the sky without blinking. his eyes darted back and forth, as if he was looking for something. his ears were straight in alertness. ¡°i-i¡­ i heard him. he¡¯s back.¡± after hearing this, chu yan also looked towards the sky, but saw nothing. he felt more and more that something was wrong with qiao zhiya¡¯s current state, as if he was crazy. he frowned hard and reached out to pull him again. ¡°qiao, you need to ca-¡° ¡°chu rong!¡± qiao zhiya suddenly took a step forward, dodged his hand and waved vigorously towards the sky, shouting towards the sky as loud as he could: ¡°i¡¯m here! chu rong! i¡¯m here!¡± chu yan¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly put his arm around his shoulders to stop him from running forward. he was so anxious that he said, ¡°qiao, calm down, erge, he¡ª¡± a mecha roar came faintly, and then the sound became clearer and clearer. his words stopped abruptly, and he looked up in shock. in the distant sky, a small black dot suddenly appeared. as it gradually got bigger, it¡¯s clear that the small black dot was actually¡­ a black mecha. ¡°fuck¡­¡± chu yan was stunned, watching the black mecha quickly approach the ground at an incredible speed. then it decelerated precisely dozens of meters away from the ground, very steadily. it stopped on the lawn in the courtyard, making chu yan so shocked he was speechless. ¡®so qiao really heard it? this kind of hearing¡­ i thought this can only happen in dramatic tv shows.¡¯ the air flow from the landing of the mecha hit the door directly. qiao zhiya immediately ran over there and shouted, ¡°chu rong!¡± the cockpit of the black mecha opened in response, and a tall figure jumped out of it, and then ran towards qiao zhiya, who was also running towards him. as the two finally met in the middle, qiao zhiya immediately buried his face in the side of the taller man¡¯s neck and took a deep breath of his light grassy breath. the nerves that had been tense for several days finally relaxed. chu rong took a deep breath, then whispered, ¡°i¡¯m back.¡± ¡°yes!¡± qiao zhiya hugged him tightly, with a big smile on his face, but his eyes were reddened, and his voice was muffled with a cry. as he nodded vigorously, he said, ¡°welcome back, i know you will definitely keep your word, definitely¡­¡± he sniffed, suddenly buried his head in his shoulder. he tightened his hold, bit his lips and started crying. CH 70.1 chu yan was stunned for a moment before rushing over, excitement and surprise painted all over his face. ¡°erge, you¨C¡± ¡°i¡¯m fine. i¡¯ll leave the people in the cockpit to you,¡± chu rong interrupted him as he picked up qiao zhiya and went inside the house. one the way, he met gu yan¡¯an and chu huai, who ran out once they heard the commotion. chu rong nodded to them hastily. without having time to say anything, he just carried qiao zhiya, who was shaking and crying, back to his room. ¡°this is¡­¡± gu yan¡¯an was happy and worried at the same time. she turned around and wanted to chase chu rong¡¯s room to ask about the situation. chu huai hurriedly pressed her shoulders and motioned her not to go. on the other side, chu yan, who climbed into the cockpit of the mecha out of curiosity, was so frightened that his eyes widened. he quickly turned his head and shouted, ¡°dage! come on! there are two people in erge¡¯s cockpit! one of them had his hand covered in blood, and another one had fainted. call the doctor quickly!¡± chu huai and gu yan¡¯an were shocked. they ran towards the mecha quickly, ignoring chu rong who seemed uninjured. inside his room, chu rong glanced at the small objects and sporadic blood stains scattered on the floor and frowned. he walked to the single sofa to put qiao zhiya down, but qiao zhiya seemed to be frightened and hugged him tighter, crying. his voice was quieter, intersped with hiccups. ¡°don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t leave¡­¡± his voice was thin, like a murmur. mixed with sobbing noises and uncontrollable hiccups, he sounded very pitiful. ¡®he actually cried like this.¡¯ chu rong only felt that his heart was ripped to pieces with the voice, and he felt like he was breathless. he no longer tried to let him go, instead tightened his arms and stroked his back, whispering, ¡°okay, i won¡¯t leave, but you¡¯re injured, i have to help you take a look.¡± qiao zhiya just shook his head and mumbled ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter¡± while tilting his head and rubbing his face. his ears were half-folded, and he felt limbless, lethargy claiming his body. chu rong turned his head and kissed his ear, turned around and sat on the sofa, put him in his arms, and looked down at the blood on his body. most of the blood stains were on the knees of his trousers. he touched his knees first, but did not find a wound. he turned his eyes and found a few vague bloody fingerprints on his clothes. he frowned and wanted to pull qiao zhiya¡¯s arm, but the youth¡¯s grip on chu rong was tight. he asked, ¡°is your hand hurt?¡± qiao zhiya thought that qhu rong was about to let go of him again, so he tightened his grip even more. he even pushed chu rong so he would sit on top of the taller man. he shook his head and was very much unwilling to be left. chu rong had no choice but to let qiao zhiya handle him as he pleased until he calmed down. slowly, he released his spiritual power to surround the two of them. a familiar aura surrounded him, and the chest he leaned on was real and warm, no longer like a piece of pixel like the vr¡¯s avatar. qiao zhiya¡¯s mood gradually calmed down, his crying gradually became weaker, and he laid on him obediently. nudging him gently from time to time until he stopped moving. ¡°don¡¯t worry, i¡¯m fine,¡± sensing his silence, chu rong rubbed the back of his head and comforted him in a low voice, then tried to touch his arm and said, ¡°didn¡¯t you say you would look at me when i come back? do you want me to put the ring on you personally? i will put it on you now. once you have that ring on, we will never be separated again.¡± qiao zhiya, who was still a little resistant, slowly relaxed his arm after hearing chu rong¡¯s promise. he relaxed one of his hands, but the other still had that iron grip. his left hand was pulled off first. although there was some dried blood on it, there was no wound. chu rong frowned, kissed his ear, and continued to coax him, ¡°not this hand, the other one.¡± qiao zhiya slowly regained his senses, so he obediently took off his other hand and leaned closer into his arms. after stretching out his right hand, chu rong immediately frowned at the thin blood stain covering half of his palm and the wound on his index finger that was obviously bitten by teeth. he held his wrist and took out one from the space button. the medicine washed the wound, and when chu rong saw that the youth was shrinking back in pain, a flash of hot anger and sharp distress washed over him. ¡°did you bite this yourself? why did you do that?¡± qiao zhiya lowered his head and put his face against his chest. he let chu rong hold his hand obediently. chu rong couldn¡¯t ask any more, so he quickly treated his wound with gentle movements. he held his face, lowered her head and kissed his lips. ¡®they say that to comfort your frightened lover, it¡¯s better to use home remedies.¡¯ qiao zhiya was stunned. he immediately raised his arms to wrap around his neck, and responded awkwardly. the kiss was passionate and long. it wasn¡¯t until qiao zhiya began to lose his breath that his body was soft enough for chu rong to pry easily. the taller man then touched his forehead, looked at the youth¡¯s swollen eyes with glistening tears. he whispered, ¡°i¡¯m sorry for making you worry.¡± qiao zhiya shook his head and squirmed in chu rong¡¯s embrace. chu rong hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head lovingly. his eyes swept over the scattered objects and blood stains on the floor. when he saw that the ring he put on qiao zhiya was mixed in that mess. the more he thought about it, the more something was wrong. the ground was full of things he had given to qiao zhiya. with qiao zhiya¡¯s character, he would definitely not leave these things lying around, especially the ring. but now they are scattered on the floor haphazardly, with qiao zhiya¡¯s blood stains around them. combined with qiao zhiya¡¯s behavior of waiting in the yard in advance, his strange powers and the weird things he knows, these things and the blood stains seemed to have a purpose. ¡°don¡¯t hurt yourself like this again.¡± he felt increasingly sad and couldn¡¯t help but whisper. qiao zhiya¡¯s calmed down mood got out of control again because of his familiar reprimand. he didn¡¯t want to be discovered, so he simply turned his head and buried his face on his chest, and started sobbing. his breath became short instead. chu rong immediately noticed that he was crying again. he gently stroked his back, and said in a slower voice, ¡°i¡¯m not really lecturing you.¡± qiao zhiya mumbled his response, but he still couldn¡¯t suppress his crying. chu rong was so distressed that he simply put him on the bed. he leaned over and touched his face. seeing the wet eyelashes and red nose, he lowered his head and kissed the corner of the youth¡¯s eyes. then, he moved lower and kissed his lips again. this time the kiss was more intense than the previous one, and qiao zhiya soon forgot to cry. he clung onto chu rong, tried to breathe through his nose. he opened his mouth slightly, raised his head and accepted his intimacy request readily. after a long time, chu rong¡¯s movements gradually became gentler. finally, he carefully pressed qiao zhiya¡¯s already red and swollen lips, stepped away and lay beside him, pulled him into his arms, and pulled up the quilt to cover him. ¡°go to sleep. i¡¯ll make breakfast for you when you wake up.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s mood finally calmed down. he looked up at him and asked in a low voice, ¡°will you still be here when i wake up?¡± ¡°yes,¡± chu rong said as he brushed qiao zhiya¡¯s messy bangs. he leaned over to kiss his forehead. ¡°i¡¯ll always be here.¡± the warm, familiar aura blanketed over him. qiao zhiya hazily nodded, feeling comforted by the gentle patting on his back. once he closed his eyes, he quickly fell asleep, still clinging on chu rong. after making sure that the youth was asleep, chu rong took out his arm, touched the mental simulator on his ear, then took out a few pieces of jade and put them on the pillow. he quietly stood up, covered up qiao zhiya with a quilt, and went to the bathroom to get a basin of warm water. after helping qiao zhiya briefly clean up, he tidied up himself. chu rong then finally got back into bed, and cuddled with qiao zhiya. after days of constantly being alert, pushing himself to the limit, he now finally felt safe. sleepiness quickly got a hold on him. qiao zhiya woke up several times in the middle of the night, and chu rong also woke up every time. the two of them finally slept well until the early morning, and of course they both slept late the next day. qiao zhiya was the first to wake up. after opening his eyes, he stared at the buttons of chu rong¡¯s pajamas for a while, then finally jolted completely awake. after hurriedly moving a little, he looked up at chu rong¡¯s face. he saw that chu rong was still fast asleep. there were shallow dark circles under his eyes. he put his arms around chu rong¡¯s waist, inching closer until he could put his ear on chu rong¡¯s chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat. ¡®he¡¯s really back. it¡¯s not a dream.¡¯ he felt at ease and drifted off to sleep again. when qiao zhiya woke up again, he was alone. he sat up in panic and heard a vague sound of water coming from the bathroom. he quickly got out of bed and ran over, opened the door and walked towards the bathroom. the figure who was standing under the showerhead and taking a shower rushed towards him. the hot water spilled immediately wetted his hair and clothes. chu rong was knocked back by him and took a step back before he could stand still. he hugged him back and immediately turned off the shower. he frowned and asked, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? ¡° qiao zhiya nuzzled against chu rong¡¯s chest and said aggrievedly, ¡°you said you would always be here.¡± chu rong looked down at him, sighing silently in his heart. he touched his wet hair, glancing at the half-wet pajamas on his body. after a pause, he asked, ¡°do you want to take a shower with me?¡± qiao zhiya didn¡¯t care what he was asking, he only knew that he didn¡¯t want to leave chu rong now, so he nodded vigorously and tightened his hold. ¡®alright, then let¡¯s wash together¡­¡¯ ancestor chu, who really enjoyed his sweetheart being sticky, nodded. he stretched out his arm and turned on the shower again, then smoothed a handful of qiao zhiya¡¯s semi-wet hair. he put his hand on his shoulder, slowly slid down, grabbed the hem of his clothes and suddenly lifted it up. qiao zhiya passively let go, letting chu rong stripped his top pajamas off. the warm water was poured directly on his skin. he put down his hands in a daze, looked down at his naked chest, and then at chu rong¡¯s equally naked body. his eyes moved to a place he shouldn¡¯t have. in a fraction of a second, he finally realized where his eyes had wandered into. his face turned red, he turned around and wanted to run away. chu rong easily pulled him back, threw away the pajama shirt in his hand, and glanced at qiao zhiya¡¯s wet pants, which had stuck onto his skin. some lewd pictures flashed through his mind, and his lower abdomen felt hot. as he frowned, he decisively stripped the pants too. shaking off his disharmonious thought, he said, ¡°you didn¡¯t take a shower last night. let¡¯s shower together. don¡¯t run away.¡± a mere bald chicken can¡¯t beat a fully-fledged wolf, so qiao zhiya could only stand under the shower with a red face and naked body. his ears curled up shyly, hands covering his crotch area. he let chu rong slather soap all over his body, knowing that chu rong touched him all over. chu rong also felt uncomfortable. his body was already very excited, but he relied on his extraordinary willpower to squash any untowards thought thoroughly. then he quickly pulled off a bath towel, wrapped it around the youth and sent him out of the bathroom. he closed the door and changed the setting of the shower into fully cold. seeing his hard work and forbearance, qiao zhiya felt ashamed and distressed. the panic in the morning had disappeared, so he quickly wiped himself dry and dressed up. then, he patiently waited for chu rong to finish showering, ready to have breakfast with him. when chu rong came out, he saw qiao zhiya was waiting for him like a shy little wife. his little ¡°wife¡± looked at him with an adoring look, giving him a smile without any hesitation. without much thought, he gently pulled the youth into his arms, and started to kiss him deeply. ¡®if i can¡¯t have the full-course meal, i can settle for a dessert.¡¯ CH 70.2 feng: the imperial high advisor. jian: feng, the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. now has a forced amnesia. an lunn: feng¡¯s dead boyfriend. jian¡¯s biological father, the current emperor¡¯s second younger brother. as a result, by the time the two of them walked out of the room, it was already almost time for lunch. one of them looked completely refreshed, while the other had an extremely red face and a swollen mouth. chu huai and the others were waiting in the living room. once they saw this pair, all of them had various expressions with profound meanings. ¡°let¡¯s have some porridge to fill your stomachs first, and then we¡¯ll have lunch later.¡± gu yan¡¯an was the first to break the absolute silence. she stood up to greet them in the dining room as usual. chu yan on the side wanted to say something with gossipy eyes, but chu huai, who had quick eyes and quick hands, stuffed him back with a pillow. chu rong pretended not to notice the little moves between his older brother and younger brother. he greeted them one by one and then took qiao zhiya to the dining room. qiao zhiya was very good and quiet while eating porridge, but his face was always flushed red. chu rong was in a good mood. he pushed the side dish in front of him, and said, ¡°i¡¯m going to discuss some things with my dage later, and i have to settle the people who came back with me. do you want to follow me or go to master ren¡¯s workshop?¡± today is saturday, and as usual, qiao zhiya would usually go to help master ren make weapons. ¡°i¡¯ll follow you,¡± qiao zhiya immediately put down his spoon as he spoke. he found that his tone was too eager, so he added in a lower voice as his ears shyly curled down, ¡°you said you would spend the weekend with me¡­ of course, if you¡¯re too busy, i understand, i won¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°don¡¯t worry.¡± chu rong¡¯s heart felt soft. he reached out and pressed qiao zhiya¡¯s red and slightly swollen lips. his speech was rather slow as he said, ¡°i will let the old butler handle it later. i¡¯ll bring you the rabbit. dage and i are talking in the study, and you can play with the rabbit in the corner of the study for a while, okay?¡± qiao zhiya quickly nodded, and seeing that his hand hadn¡¯t moved away, he raised his eyes to look at him. unable to suppress the joy in his heart, he opened his lips and gently bit his finger. then, as if he was shocked by his own actions, he immediately pulled out chu rong¡¯s finger and buried his face. he gulped down his bowl of porridge as his face became redder and redder. chu rong was stunned by this sudden bite, then looked at him deeply, stretched out his hand to rub his ears, and said: ¡°eat slowly, don¡¯t choke.¡± qiao zhiya immediately slowed down his movements accordingly. ¡®he¡¯s so good that i want to take him away in a bag, then eat him up.¡¯ chu rong thought. after finishing the porridge, chu rong and chu huai went to visit the old emperor who was placed in the guest house. seeing that the emperor was still in a coma, chu rong and chu huai went to visit the imperial high advisor who was less injured. qiao zhiya, who had been led by chu rong, also went to visit him. the imperial high advisor is named feng, has no surname, with black hair and black eyes, and is about 1.8 meters tall. according to the height standards of adult men here, he is a little short. his facial features aren¡¯t like imperial people, but more similar to the federation¡¯s. his eyes are narrow and long, with the ends of the eyes raised. his face is slightly pale, and he has this fragility, as if he¡¯s a high-ranking man who has fallen from his altar. he seems to be only slightly older than chu huai. it is hard to imagine that he actually has a child as old as jian. however, this situation is considered normal. thanks to the existence of spiritual power, humans in this place have longer life spans. he also ages more slowly, so maybe this imperial high advisor just looks young. ¡°marshal chu, chairman chu, thank you for your rescue. i will never forget it.¡± the imperial high advisor stood up and gave them a strange salute. his tone was very sincere, but his pronunciation of the common tongue was a bit awkward ¨C he has a slight accent and odd sense of rhythm. qiao zhiya looked at him curiously, but he didn¡¯t expect that the imperial high advisor would also look at him. the two looked at each other. qiao zhiya was a little embarrassed and greeted him politely in a low voice, ¡°hello, i am qiao zhiya.¡± ¡°hello to you too,¡± the imperial high advisor responded gently, saluted him, and continued, ¡°i know you, thank you for saving my child.¡± qiao zhiya felt that he seemed to see an illusion ¨C he felt like¡­ feng saw him with a gentle and warm eyes, as if he¡¯s an elder who is fond of a junior. he waved his hands and said, ¡°no need to be like this, jian is my friend, and it¡¯s only right for me to save him.¡± as a result, the imperial high advisor¡¯s gaze became even fonder. chu rong frowned, stepped forward to stand in front of qiao zhiya, and said, ¡°mr. feng, emperor an ge is still in a coma. do you need me to help you spread the news of the rescue back to the empire?¡± after hearing this, the imperial high advisor¡¯s eyes moved towards him/ his eyes became distant and polite, and he replied, ¡°thank you for your kindness, but i hope you will not disclose the news that we have been rescued and are in the federation for the time being. everything will be decided by the emperor after he wakes up.¡± chu huai fell into thoughts as he heard feng¡¯s considerations. ¡®let the emperor decide when he wakes up? with his current state, it will take at least a few days for him to wake up, and the empire may be in chaos by then. does the imperial high advisor deliberately want to make the empire more chaotic by making such a request?¡¯ everyone here was smart and could understand each other¡¯s intentions without saying anything. now the chu family and the imperial high advisor are temporarily allies. since he made such a request, chu rong agreed. it was beyond lunch time, and when the business was finished, chu huai politely invited the imperial high advisor to have lunch with him in the main house. the imperial high advisor declined and thanked him, saying that he wanted to rest for now. so the three of them took their leave, and the imperial high advisor escorted them to the door. when he was about to go out, qiao zhiya suddenly felt a warmth in his palms, and something thin slipped into it. he tightened his grip reflexively, stopped for a moment, and turned back to look at the imperial high advisor, who was standing by the door. the imperial high advisor nodded towards him and then touched his lips in a ¡°silent¡± gesture. chu rong noticed his pause and turned to see him turning his head to look back. he stretched out his hand to hold his ears and turned his head back. when he turned around and saw that the imperial high advisor had closed the door, he frowned and said, ¡°this imperial high advisor has a lot of secrets surrounding him. don¡¯t get close to him, he is not completely harmless.¡± qiao zhiya felt the flakes in his palm seemed to have human body temperature. he hesitated for a moment but did not say anything; instead he nodded, and did not look back. after lunch, chu rong and chu huai went to the study room, and qiao zhiya followed them. chu rong put him and the rabbits on the couch in the corner of the study room. after a few words of comfort, he turned around and walked to the desk to talk to chu huai about his trip to the empire. qiao zhiya realized that he couldn¡¯t hear their conversation and knew that they must have turned on some privacy setting in the study. it was because they were talking about something that was not convenient for him to know. so he lowered his head and put down the basket containing the rabbits, touched the female rabbit¡¯s head, then turned sideways. from his palm, he carefully took out the thin slice from it. it was an oval-shaped, white, translucent, hard¡­ something. the texture was a bit like the scales of some kind of animal, and there was a very gentle power fluctuation on it, a bit like the feeling brought to him by the sap of the tree of life. ¡®what¡¯s this?¡¯ he frowned, turned the item over and looked at it, a little confused. he subconsciously did not tell chu rong about the existence of this thing before, because his intuition told him that this thing should not be seen by chu rong. but why? although the dwarf¡¯s intuition is very accurate, sometimes he himself can¡¯t figure out what his intuition is trying to tell him. and did the imperial high advisor¡¯s gesture of tapping his lips mean that he wanted to keep it a secret and not tell chu rong about the existence of this item? while he was distracted, the little rabbits in the basket suddenly seemed to feel something powerful. they all jumped out of the basket, as if they wanted to get away from the thin item in his hand, while the female rabbit shivered in front of him. standing behind them, his eyes were fixed on the item in his hand. ¡®what¡¯s going on here?¡¯ he was stunned and saw that a little rabbit was about to fall to the ground. he bent down to pick it up, but unexpectedly the female rabbit suddenly bumped into his other arm. he quickly stopped his hand and the item accidentally slipped off. just as he was about to fall to the ground, the thin piece suddenly emitted a layer of warm light, drifting straight towards his slightly opened lips, then penetrated into his mouth and turned into a warm stream that merged into his body. ¡°cough!¡° he was startled and reached out to touch his throat. he didn¡¯t forget to hug the little rabbit with his other hand, so he lost his balance and fell on the sofa. he was also hit by the female rabbit. chu rong turned his head when he heard the noise and saw the youth and the rabbits rolled into a ball. his eyes warmed up. he relaxed and looked away. he looked at chu huai and continued, ¡°it has been confirmed that the zerg has completely disappeared after the death of the zerg queen. the blue galaxy has disappeared, and the fake black hole this time should be the creation of someone who wanted to warn, or threaten, the emperor. there¡¯s also a chance that this person also wanted to kick me away from the empire.¡± chu huai didn¡¯t expect the truth to be like this. he frowned and asked, ¡°what appeared in the fake black hole this time?¡± ¡°i encountered some monsters that look like a zerg. however, they were much weaker, although plenty in number. i believe there are some secret agents planted in one of the ships that releases those monsters at us. in the end, i can only abandon the ship and leave the emperor with the imperial high advisor, giving the illusion of being defeated and avoiding possible pursuers.¡± ¡°do you know who did this?¡± chu rong shook his head and frowned. ¡°no, the emperor¡¯s mental state has been locked up by someone¡¯s spiritual power. he cannot tell others about the zerg, nor can he bear the burden of his memory being searched by someone else¡¯s spiritual power. everything i know now is all found out bit by bit by the imperial high advisor over the years. the current situation in the empire is more chaotic than we previously expected, and some forces hidden in the dark have not been dug out.¡± chu huai also frowned, thought for a moment, and continued to ask, ¡°the imperial high advisor formed an alliance with you? what request did he ask?¡± ¡°revenge,¡± chu rong replied, remembering the way the imperial high advisor mentioned the emperor and the zerg. ¡°the emperor planned an lunn¡¯s death back then, while he and an lunn were lovers. this relationship has been a secret for some reason. jian is a child secretly cultivated by an lunn by combining their genes. in essence, feng is not jian¡¯s adoptive father; rather, he¡¯s jian¡¯s second biological father. he has worked hard to extend the emperor¡¯s life over the years. firstly, it was because he wanted the emperor to live everyday in pain. secondly, he said he wanted to dig out the real mastermind through the emperor and uproot those who led the zerg into the blue galaxy. thirdly, he wanted to give jian a superior living environment so that he can grow up safely¡­¡± jian was actually a genetically cultivated child, no wonder he was in such poor health. chu huai was a little surprised and a little sad. unlike the federation, the imperial royal family still maintains an ancient set of pedantic, outdated rules. members of the royal family do not allow same-sex unions, and they strictly prohibit genetically cultivated children from bearing the royal surname. they feel that it would tarnish the bloodline and smear the image of the royal family. when an lunn secretly raised his child, he should have been ready to abandon his royal status and get together publicly with the imperial high advisor. however, fate had a twist, and the zerg suddenly appeared, breaking the peace of the blue galaxy at that time. after sighing, he suddenly thought of something. ¡°wait a minute, since the zerg were artificially created and have been destroyed, what happened to the genocide of qiao zhiya¡¯s hometown?¡± the zerg disappeared ten years ago, and the black hole should not appear again. mentioning this, chu rong¡¯s expression turned cold. he looked back at qiao zhiya, who seemed to be muttering something to the rabbit with his back to the side. he paused, then said, ¡°the appearance of this fake zerg must be another incident. i still haven¡¯t found the tail of this new conspiracy, but i believe that qiao zhiya¡¯s situation is related to this. we have to find out.¡± chu huai was confused. ¡°but didn¡¯t he lose his memory? what are you going to do¡­¡± ¡°if the black hole is synthetic, then his amnesia and the stop of his physical development shouldn¡¯t be affected by the black hole. instead, it should be caused by something else.¡± as chu rong spoke, his breath sank first, and he tapped his fingers on the table impatiently, looking very irritated. in fact, after learning from the imperial high advisor that the real zerg had really been wiped out, the first thing he thought of was the origin of qiao zhiya. he believed that qiao zhiya did not lie when he first told his situation. he believed that everything he did after being rescued had no malice or purpose. after spending so much time together, he knew that qiao zhiya¡¯s simplicity and ignorance of the world were not disguises. but this matter was indeed a hidden danger. qiao zhiya¡¯s origin was likely to be related to the emergence of the fake zerg. if this connection was not clear, qiao zhiya may be in danger at any time. he hated this feeling of being out of control, being in the unknown. seeing that he was in a bad mood, chu huai glanced at the innocent-looking qiao zhiya on the sofa. he lowered his voice and asked, ¡°then what are you going to do, ask him again? maybe after a year of stable life, a part of his memory has recovered a little¡­¡± chu rong suppressed his emotions and looked back at qiao zhiya. remembering how he cried muffledly with blood on his hands after being frightened last night, his heart trembled. he looked back, shook his head, and replied, ¡°no, he is timid. he subconsciously is very resistant to these questions, and asking him directly would be only rubbing salt to his wound. i have¡­ to perform a spiritual fusion to probe his memory, it seems.¡± ¡®spiritual fusion?¡¯ chu huai, who is usually calm, lost his composure and blurted out, ¡°lao er, qiao is still young, you can¡¯t be such a beast!¡± chu rong couldn¡¯t help but give him a cold look and explained, ¡°i¡¯ll just probe him unilaterally after paralyzing his perception and strength. i won¡¯t perform a true spiritual fusion.¡± chu huai became a little embarrassed. he coughed and said:,¡±i just hope you can pay attention and don¡¯t hurt him. although you are close, it is still too offensive to explore memories¡­¡± ¡°i understand.¡± if he could, he didn¡¯t want to use this method, but¡­ chu rong looked back at qiao zhiya, feeling slightly irritable again, and said, ¡°i must know something about this hidden danger, and then make preparations in advance. i won¡¯t pry into his other memories, and with his current state, i¡¯m worried¡­¡± ¡°i understand, i understand, calm down,¡± chu huai interrupted him, pushing the tea in front of him, signaling him to take a sip. chu rong also found that he had become too agitated. he took a sip of tea, lowered his eyes to adjust his emotions, and changed the topic, ¡°how is the situation in the federation these days? everyone should already know about my ¡®disappearance¡¯ .¡± chu huai sighed in his heart. he readily switched the topic, skipping the discussion about qiao zhiya altogether. CH 70.3 on the sofa, qiao zhiya touched his belly and throat in a panic. he found that the warmth had completely disappeared, and the rabbits had returned to normal. he frowned, tried to mobilize his strength, and found that everything was normal. ¨Cso, he became confused. ¡®so what exactly is that item? if i eat that, will there be any problems? what if this is some evil thing that can manipulate other people¡¯s brains and control me to harm chu rong while he is sleeping¡­¡¯ he was so frightened by his wild guesses that his ears stood up. he looked back at chu rong, becoming more and more flustered, and hurriedly mobilized his magic power to do a full-body scan. however, he still didn¡¯t find anything wrong. he was so anxious that he began to regret that he had not told chu rong about the thin flake-item-thing before. now he wanted to admit his mistake, but he was afraid of disturbing the conversation between chu rong and chu huai. after thinking about it, he simply stood up and hugged chu rong. he put the rabbit into the basket and ran out of the room, heading towards the medical room which was temporarily closed after zhuang yu left. chu rong noticed his departure and thought he might have gone to get some snacks, so he just glanced at him and ignored him, and continued to talk to chu huai about the current situation in the federation. after arriving at the medical room, qiao zhiya turned on the testing equipment and checked himself. then he took the test results to find zhuang yu¡¯s assistant who was transferred to the guest house to take care of the emperor for her interpretation. zhuang yu had accompanied chu rong to the empire and stayed in the chu family¡¯s warship, still stationed in the empire. so, she had not returned. before she left, she specifically asked her assistant to pay attention to qiao zhiya¡¯s physical condition at all times, so the assistant¡¯s attitude was very cordial when he approached her. she took the test results, turned over them, nodded and said, ¡°well, you are right to take the initiative to check.¡± qiao zhiya immediately became nervous. ¡°is there something wrong? for example, something foreign that mixed into my body?¡± ¡°so you also know that you haven¡¯t eaten well during this period?¡± the assistant lady put down the test result. while chu rong and zhuang yu were not around, she boldly reached out and pinched his face, and lectured him in a gentle tone, ¡°look at your thin face. remember to eat well in the future and don¡¯t stay up late. if you keep going like this, you might get sick. look at your weight. you¡¯ve lost weight again. you can¡¯t do this anymore.¡± qiao zhiya was confused. he asked, ¡°so i¡¯m just losing weight?¡± he spent the past month learning how to make magic puppets. he often relied on nutritional supplements for all his three meals, and at times, actually forgot to eat altogether. it was inevitable that he lost weight. ¡°what else?¡± the assistant girl pinched on his ear again, waved her hand towards him and said, ¡°no need to worry, you can go out and play. jiejie still has something to do. remember to ask the marshal to prepare more delicious food for you. eat well and be healthy.¡± the inspection result came back in vain, and qiao zhiya was a little worried as he walked back. he even wanted to go to the imperial high advisor to ask, but he was afraid that he would be stuffed with something strange again, so he backed down silently and slipped back to the study to wait eagerly for chu rong to finish his business. when chu rong saw him sneaking out and running back, still looking at him, he guessed that he was bored. so he quickly ended the conversation with chu huai, stood up, walked to him, and asked, ¡°bored?¡± qiao zhiya hurriedly stood up to greet him, waved his hand and said, ¡°no, it was me just now¨C¡± the door was suddenly pushed open, and gu yan¡¯an appeared at the door and said quickly, ¡°the emperor is awake.¡± ¡®so fast?¡¯ chu rong frowned, raised his hand to touch qiao zhiya¡¯s head, and coaxed him in a low voice, ¡°you play by yourself for a while longer, and i¡¯ll go see the emperor.¡± after that, he and chu huai hurried out the door. qiao zhiya watched him leave, even more confused. the emperor did wake up, but he simply opened his eyes and talked some nonsense, and was not fully conscious. his illness was somewhat similar to chu rong¡¯s. both were affected by radiation, but the radiation dose they received was different, so it only damaged his physical body and not his spiritual power. the imperial high advisor also rushed over after receiving the news. he took a look at the fat and old emperor on the hospital bed and said, ¡°he can¡¯t die, at least not now.¡± of course chu rong knew that the emperor couldn¡¯t die now. in fact, he could die wherever he wanted. ¨Cjust not in the federation, in his chu family¡¯s territory. thinking of this, he frowned, took out a high-grade potion, poured it directly into the emperor¡¯s mouth. then he motioned to zhuang yu¡¯s assistant to come over for treatment. the emperor¡¯s situation was somewhat repetitive, and it was not until dinner time that he completely settled down. chu rong returned to the main house, and qiao zhiya hurriedly greeted him. just as he was about to speak, the butler came to call for dinner, so the whole family ate again first. after the meal, he stuck to chu rong returned to the room and was sent to the bathroom by chu rong before he could speak. he felt that everything was a little weird today, as if everything was preventing him from confessing to chu rong. so he took a bath obediently and prepared to talk to chu rong when he went out. but after he went out, chu rong asked him to drink a glass of milk again. after drinking the milk, he didn¡¯t know what happened, and he immediately felt sleepy. ¡°no, i have something to tell you¡­¡± he struggled to open his eyes, too sleepy to speak clearly. chu rong kissed his forehead, covered him with a quilt, surrounded him with spiritual power, and asked in a low voice: ¡°tell me what?¡± ¡°there is something strange¡­ in my stomach¡­¡± he was too sleepy. after holding on to say what he wanted to say, his breathing slowed down and he fell into a deep sleep. chu rong touched his face and looked at him quietly for a while. after the sedative took effect, he lowered his head and touched his forehead, and then used his spiritual power to reach out into qiao zhiya¡¯s brain. in his dream, a familiar sharp force floated over. qiao zhiya subconsciously wanted to use his magic power to rub against it, but found that the magic power seemed to have fallen asleep with him, too lazy to move. ¡®so lethargic¡­¡¯ he muttered, feeling that the familiar force was approaching him on its own initiative. he felt at ease again, and his consciousness drifted to a darker place. perhaps because of the long-awaited embrace and sleep, he had a dream that night. in the dream, he was just a little baby, living with his parents in the territory of the elves, and being carried around by his father every day. then the scene changed quickly. he had grown up a little, and his body was obviously smaller than other elf babies. he was often bullied. his father sighed more and more, and finally decided to take him and his mother to live in a dwarf village. the scene changed again. for some reason, he and his parents failed to go to a dwarf village and continued to live among the elves. he grew up little by little, and when he reached about his current age, a black hole suddenly appeared in the sky, and a strange ship emerged from the black hole. the ship¡¯s hatch opened, and countless giant monsters that looked like bugs flew down and rushed towards the elves. as the sun went down, the previously peaceful village became a hellscape. various bodies of injured and dead elves scattered everywhere, blood pouring down the ground as if it was a red river. he walked through it in confusion and despair, looking for his parents, but suddenly the scene changed again, and he appeared in a laboratory-like room. in that room, his limbs were tied. he was sometimes injected by an unknown agent, and sometimes, something was extracted out of his body. his captors were unknown people clad in sterile-white garbs. around him, there were several other strange-looking people who were also suffering the same treatment. then there was an explosion, an earth-shattering one¡­ and the scene flashed to when he was abducted by a group of strange people. finally, he was stuffed into a dilapidated ship and transported to an unknown place. there was a sudden stabbing pain in the depths of his brain, and the feeling of eating that strange flake-thing in the afternoon emerged again, and then slowly disappeared. he opened his eyes, was stunned for a second and then immediately sat up, holding his head in shock and fear. ¡®what happened? how could i dream of these things that i had never experienced before?¡¯ of the things he dreamed just now, only the first few things from his childhood were true, and the rest were all false. it was as if someone had implanted a set of memories to his brain. ¡®what exactly is going on?¡¯ ¡®wait, that flake-thing! it has a faint power fluctuation, so could those memories by feng¡¯s? but why did he put these into my mind, and changed the protagonist to look like him and let me dream about all this? what is the purpose of-¡¯ ¡°don¡¯t be afraid.¡± his body was suddenly hugged very tightly. he was surrounded by chu rong¡¯s smell, his back was patted comfortingly. his strange-toned voice came from his head, as if he was trying to conceal something. but qiao zhiya, who was distracted, didn¡¯t notice it at all. ¡°did you have a nightmare? forget it. it¡¯s okay. don¡¯t be afraid. no one can hurt you anymore.¡± his thoughts stopped and the fear in his heart disappeared. his mind was confused for a moment. sleepiness suddenly surged up, and then he slowly closed his eyes. as he was in a muddled half-asleep state, he vaguely thought, ¡®what on earth was the imperial high advisor doing? what was the point of letting me have such a strange dream? want to scare me? and the feeling when the thin flake disappeared, it was warm like a mother stroking the top of my head, so strange¡­¡¯ the emperor¡¯s condition is caused by a huge amount of ionizing radiation in a short period of time, as a black holes do let out a fuckton of those. simply put, the radiation can rips electrons out of its proper place, creating many free radicals, so it leads to many cell and dna damage. very fun indeed. free radicals are oxygen-containing molecules that are highly reactive (very much can and will bond to a lot of things) and unstable (they do not like being in the structure they currently are, because of the ¡°wrong¡± number of electrons). they¡¯re formed when molecules or atoms gain or lose electrons. this results in an unpaired electron that can easily react with other molecules. these unpaired electrons don¡¯t like being alone, so they search the body for an electron to pair with, which means, they will rip out the normal bond of molecules in your body for themselves, resulting in many damages. yes, ¡°anti-oxidants¡± can fight those, by bonding with them. but not for radiation poisoning-level of damage. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 71.1 xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. xiang lingyun: xiang family¡¯s head. xiang kun and xiang hui¡¯s father. sang bu: mc¡¯s roommate. transferred from information system to mecha manufacturing. yun xiachu: mc¡¯s ex-classmate, about first-grader age, but skipped a couple of grades to match mc¡¯s pace. qiu guangji: ning kongran¡¯s best friend. bearded teacher aka master shang: qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha teacher in vr. chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. luo li: qiao zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. he won the online mecha manufacturing contest. now qiao zhiya¡¯s (and sang bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. an leen: imperial princess. neitaxi: general from the empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the empire. feng: the imperial high advisor. after qiao zhiya woke up the next day, his mind was still a little unclear. he always felt that he had forgotten something, which was very distressing. after chu rong learned about it, he just told him not to think too much and gave him a high-level material to divert his attention. in the afternoon, chu huai and chu rong went out together. it was not convenient for qiao zhiya to follow them, so he found a sunny spot in the yard to sit down and immersed himself in preparing for next week¡¯s game. the star network mecha manufacturing competition would last approximately three months. except for the first three games, the interval between each subsequent game would be five days. the first round of competition has ended, and the second round of competition is scheduled two days from now. the content of the competition should still be parts-making. the difficulty of the competition gradually increases. according to luo li, during the competition, the production of primary parts would last about a month, and the production of intermediate and advanced parts would last about one and a half months, which would also involve parts modification. the second half of the second month is for the most important engine production. once the engine is completed, only the final step is left ¨C the assembly of the mecha. in other words, if he wants to persist through the entire round of the competition, he must simultaneously learn the intermediate and advanced parts during the early stage, then he should start to learn about the engine production. bit by bit, slowly persisting throughout the entire event. if he fails even once, then his game will be over immediately. in such a short time, it is obviously impossible to learn a complete set of intermediate and advanced parts. so, he must design a blueprint as fast as possible to limit which part he should learn to make. when he was serious, he tended to ignore the things around him. so it wasn¡¯t until a slender and beautiful hand pushed a glass of juice to his hand that he came back to his senses. he was trying to ¡°translate¡± magic puppet-making into mecha-making. he looked up, and finally met with the hand¡¯s owner. ¡°i can see that you are very relaxed here.¡± the imperial high advisor retracted his hand as he saw qiao zhiya finally looking at him. he smiled lightly at him, and asked, ¡°did you sleep well last night?¡± it was as if the spell had been broken, and a certain blurred memory in his mind suddenly woke up. a lot of unfamiliar pictures flashed past. his hand shook, and a long drag mark was pulled out by the electronic pen on the half-drawn design draft. he immediately retracted his hand and touched his stomach. he looked around and found that the butler who had been walking rabbits around just now was gone. there was no one in the yard, and it was eerily quiet. something is wrong. he became vigilant, looked at the imperial high advisor across from him with a straight face. he remembered the strange flake-thing that flew into his mouth for no apparent reason yesterday. he pursed his lips, and his magic power was ready to activate. he touched the communicator with one hand and prepared to take out the hammer with the other. ¡°relax, i don¡¯t mean any harm. mr. butler is going to prepare some snacks for you.¡± the imperial high advisor saw his precautions clearly and placed his hands naturally on the table. he relaxed his body and exposed all his vital parts openly to his eyes, expressing his harmlessness and non-aggression. at the same time, he said in a gentle tone, ¡°you saved jian, so you are our benefactor. i will only repay you, and will not hurt you.¡± qiao zhiya still couldn¡¯t relax, what happened yesterday to today felt so odd and eerie. it¡¯s as if¡­ the reality itself was preventing him from confessing to chu rong about the flake. he would never believe it without the manipulation of the imperial high advisor. ¡°sure enough, it is the reaction that a cub would have.¡± seeing him qiao zhiya was still on high alert, the imperial high advisor sighed strangely. he then lowered his head and brushed the back of his hand, stretched his arm under his eyes, and said gently, ¡± you see, we are the same kind, so don¡¯t be afraid.¡± qiao zhiya frowned, looked away, and then his eyes widened in shock. he saw a small piece of¡­ scale-like thing suddenly emerge from the man¡¯s originally smooth skin. judging from the size and color, it was exactly the same thing that floated into his mouth! he couldn¡¯t help but hold his throat, suddenly feeling like vomiting. ¡°what a sad reaction. don¡¯t worry, what you ate yesterday was my power, not real scales.¡± the imperial high advisor brushed his arm again and the scales disappeared. he suddenly turned his head and glanced in the other direction of the yard, sighing regretfully. he stood up and said, ¡°good times are always short. qiao zhiya, remember, don¡¯t tell others your true origin and the fact that you are not human. that would be a disaster.¡± ¡®my real origin¡­? the fact that i¡¯m not human?¡¯ qiao zhiya was stunned, and then his heart tightened. seeing that he was about to leave, he hurriedly stood up and asked, ¡°what do you know? you¨C¡± ¡°shh,¡± the imperial high advisor walked past him, raised his hand and pressed him gently on his shoulder. he whispered, ¡°if one day those humans you trust no longer want you, remember to come to me and i will help you.¡± the warm power on his shoulder disappeared in a flash, and he was stunned for a moment before regaining consciousness. at that time, the imperial high advisor had disappeared, and the old butler was walking over with a smile carrying a basket of snacks. the sun was shining, and everything in the courtyard was still as warm as before, as if nothing had happened. ¨Chowever, qiao zhiya felt that his limbs were numb. ¡®not human¡­¡¯ he sat back on the chair and mechanically thanked the old butler who brought the snacks. he lowered his head and picked up his pen. he looked at the shadow of himself on the table. his eyes fell on the pointed ears as his grip slowly tightened. nowadays, his increasingly stable life has really made him forget that he was fundamentally different from chu rong. even if he looked like a human in appearance, he was not human. if chu rong knew¡­would he really abandon him? his eyes fell on the half-drawn blueprint on his e-book. as his mind drifted onto the days he lived with chu rong, a smidge of panic started to grow and take root in his heart. ¡®if chu rong, who hates the zerg so much, knew that i¡¯m not human and had the same origin as the zerg, would he give me a scolding and then accept me¡­ or would he equate me with the zerg and avoid him from now on?¡¯ ¡®or¡­ he would simply kill me off?¡¯ if chu rong knew that he had concealed or even deliberately misled and obscured his origins, what would chu rong¡¯s reaction be based on his character? anger? ignore it? or¡­ hatred? his heart trembled, and he quickly shook his head. ¡®no, no, chu rong is not such an unreasonable and cruel person, he is so good¡­¡¯ ¡®¨Cbut what if? my own identity will still affect our relationship to some extent.¡¯ his pen stopped moving, his thoughts spiraled out. chu rong came back before dinner and found that qiao zhiya was not in good spirits. he was worried that he had been injured by the semi-spiritual fusion last night, so he hurriedly found an excuse to take him for a detailed examination. qiao zhiya, who had been thinking wildly all afternoon, became more and more panicked by chu rong¡¯s decision. he didn¡¯t understand why chu rong suddenly asked him to do a full-body check. he was so confused that he completely forgot to tell him about the scales, and became even more depressed. the examination results showed that everything was normal in qiao zhiya. the only problem was that he had lost weight because he hadn¡¯t eaten well recently. chu rong¡¯s face turned dark and he scolded him. in the middle of the scolding, he saw that the youth was wilting. he stopped talking again and raised his hand to brush his bangs, then carried him back to the main house. after dinner, it was time for qiao zhiya to go back to school. because chu rong wanted to temporarily hide the news of the emperor¡¯s rescue, he couldn¡¯t be seen outside for now, so it was inconvenient to send him to school. ¡°you must eat well at school and don¡¯t use nutritional supplements as a complete substitute.¡± chu rong frowned and told him. he rubbed his hair and pinched his ears when he found that the youth was oddly stiff. he deduced that something was wrong, and wanted to keep the youth with him for detailed observation for a few more days. but he couldn¡¯t find a reason and was worried that it would affect his studies. he paused for a moment, before lowering his head and kissed his lips. qiao zhiya looked up at him, his eyes finally regaining some clarity. ¡°we will get engaged after the emperor¡¯s affairs are dealt with.¡± chu rong stepped back and touched his forehead, with a hint of tenderness deep in his eyes. then we will be together forever, so don¡¯t be afraid anymore, i will always be with you.¡± ¡®forever?¡¯ qiao zhiya¡¯s heart trembled. his tangled thoughts were blown away, and the cloudy sky had turned clear. he suddenly became firm, looked at him seriously, and said, ¡°chu rong, can we get engaged later? let¡¯s wait until the competition is over. it should be the holidays by then.¡± ¡°after the game?¡± chu rong straightened up with a frown as he touched the youth¡¯s face. he asked, ¡°are you sure?¡± after all, that means it would be pushed back by a couple of months. in fact, he hoped to get engaged as soon as possible. ¡°well, i want it at that time.¡± qiao zhiya nodded, smiled at him, and explained, ¡°i will have a gift for you then. you gave me a ring, so it is only fair that i also give you something.¡± chu rong saw his expression gradually become cheerier, so his worry finally eased. he deliberately asked, ¡°are you going to prepare a love token for me?¡± qiao zhiya was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and hugged him. he didn¡¯t actually answer him, and instead said, ¡°i¡¯m going to school now. see you next weekend.¡± after saying that, he nuzzled against chu rong¡¯s chest. then, he finally let go and ran towards the hover car waiting by the door. chu rong thought he was shy so he only watched him leave, squinting his eyes slightly and raising the corners of his mouth ¨C in hindsight, waiting until the holidays for the engagement is good. he could have more time to prepare. after arriving at school, qiao zhiya and chu yan said goodbye at the school gate. they took out their school-issued vehicles and sat on them. once the blond youth lowered his head ¨C so, when his face was obscured ¨C the smile he maintained on their face disappeared. he turned on the navigation and automatic driving, sitting blankly. there is no doubt that he likes chu rong. now he even dreams of being with him forever. but his mother once said that lovers must trust each other and be honest. he agreed with this statement and felt that if a relationship wanted to develop in a long-term and healthy way, concealment and deception must be avoided as much as possible. the words of the imperial high advisor today reminded him that he was hiding the biggest secret from chu rong. chu rong had the right to know the truth before he and chu rong agreed to be with each other for life. he didn¡¯t want this matter to become a weapon that anyone could use to shake their relationship, such as today¡¯s imperial high advisor. confession is necessary, but before fully confessing, he wanted to do something more for chu rong. he had promised to build chu rong a purely manually-driven pilot mecha that was tailored for him. he gave himself three months to complete the detailed design of this kind of mecha in this competition. after he finishes in three months¡¯ time, he will confess. at that time, whether chu rong accepts him or not, he will accept the result calmly. ¡®if chu rong didn¡¯t accept me in three months¡¯ time¡­¡¯ he looked at the brightly-lit military academy campus outside, his eyes dimming little by little. ¡®then it was probably time for me to leave.¡¯ life is an unpredictable, hateful thing, always pushing him into the mire of trouble again whenever he manages to fly freely in happiness. sang bu found that qiao zhiya suddenly became much calmer after returning from the weekend. although he was still gentle and friendly to others, he spoke less and less and didn¡¯t smile much. it was like he had gone from being the pampered and cared angel, to growing up into an adult with a subtle smile. only when someone loves and protects you can you remain innocent. when suffering is staring at you, there¡¯s only two choices ahead: adapt and grow up, or die. he frowned, thinking about the rumor that was gradually spreading in the school, and felt a little worried. ¡°qiao, you¡­¡± he couldn¡¯t help but say. hearing this, qiao zhiya looked sideways at him. he smiled at him first, and then asked, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± sang bu glanced at the unfamiliar part that was about to be formed in his hand, so he swallowed his words. he shook his head and replied, ¡°nothing, i just want to ask you what this part is. i haven¡¯t seen it before. are you preparing for tonight¡¯s game?¡± ¡°well, the game will involve parts modification, so i have to practice more,¡± qiao zhiya replied. his tone was still full of energy, but his expression and demeanor were completely different from before, lacking any semblance of pure joy. ¡°then come on, i will cheer you on during the game,¡± sang bu replied, suppressing his worries in his heart, and decided to wait until after the game to ask him about the rumors. CH 71.2 at 7:30 in the evening, qiao zhiya appeared in the players¡¯ room on time and started to stay still. the emperor hasn¡¯t woken up yet, so chu rong¡¯s main account cannot go online. today, he should use his side account to watch him. that account has no special privileges, so it couldn¡¯t enter this room before the game started, and he also couldn¡¯t add him as a friend to his main account. if there were still as many viewers today as last time, then he would definitely not be able to find him in the crowd. that last time, when he could hug him¡­ was already a faraway history, fleeting like a dream¡­ his mood was uncontrollably depressed again. he quickly came back to his senses, patted his face to cheer himself up, and recalled today¡¯s strategy. he should have started to learn about intermediate parts-making soon ¨C his blueprint was about to take shape, and he had roughly screened out the production for this time. he was currently working hard to become familiar with the intermediate parts used in mechas. mrs. chu¡¯s notes were of great help in this process. this time he studied out of the outline, and the process was very jumpy and messy. it was not easy to bother master shang and master ren all the time, and self-study would be too inefficient. with such a concise note, he took a lot of shortcuts. when he was recalling this, time seemed to fly very fast. before he could figure out an intermediate part, the countdown card for the start of the game appeared above. he raised his head and looked over there, and was surprised to find that there was a line of text followed by ¡°?:?¡±. the words ¡°promotion¡± and ¡°elimination¡± were marked above the question marks. then, the question marks changed into a number. so far, the number of the ¡°elimination¡± is smaller, and vice versa. the two sides were constantly changing, and the gap was getting wider and wider. ¡®what¡¯s this?¡¯ having never been exposed to gambling, he was very confused about this and silently guessed, ¡®could these be the audience¡¯s support for me? there are more people who support my promotion, but there are a couple of people who support my elimination?¡¯ thinking of this, his ears twitched as he recalled the audience who cheered and supported him last time. he thought he had found the correct answer. he felt warm in his heart and quickly cheered up. he decided to take the competition more seriously this time and not to waste everyone¡¯s encouragement and expectations for him. outside the player¡¯s court, chu yan looked at the crazy odds behind the qiao zhiya room number and sighed, ¡°sure enough, everyone thinks that qiao will be eliminated. look at the odds. it¡¯s really unreasonable. not many believed that he could be promoted.¡± 1clarity: say that the current odds payment is promotion : elimination 2.6 : 1.4. qzy thought that there¡¯s 2.6x more people that support his promotion compared to people who support his elimination. but in truth, more people thought that he¡¯ll be eliminated; and if he¡¯s promoted instead, people who bet for this happening will get their bet 2.6x yuan xiu looked at him speechlessly and said, ¡°stop thinking much about it, buy it quickly. this will be closed when the game starts.¡± ¡°i¡¯ll buy it now, why are you in a hurry?¡± chu yan rubbed his hands without hesitation. he brought all the money in his account to advance, so the odds gap instantly narrowed, and then began to slowly widen again. yuan xiu¡¯s eyes widened and he turned to look at him, ¡°how much did you buy? you can actually bring the odds so much closer. where did you get so much money?¡± ¡°well¡­ you know, it¡¯s not convenient for my erge to show up for the time being, so he expressed his support for qiao through me with this slight amount.¡± chu yan rubbed his hands and made a gesture of counting money, smiling like the fox who successfully stole the chicken. yuan xiu: ¡°¡­¡± ¡®¡­this is a ¡°slight¡± amount???¡¯ to be able to bring the odds so much closer, he must have bought a lot of money in order to support his qiao zhiya. unexpectedly, chu rong looked serious and not easy to mess with, but he could be so irrational when it came to his fianc¨¦. while he was speechless, he saw that the odds that had been extended had shrunk a lot again. it was obvious that someone had bought a large amount of money to advance. ¡°damn it, where did this lunatic come from again?¡± yuan xiu was shocked again, and at this moment he suddenly felt so poor. chu yan narrowed his eyes and thought thoughtfully, ¡°there is actually someone with a sharp eye for pearls. who could it be? the xiang and wei families definitely won¡¯t be confident in qiao zhiya, and the ning family definitely didn¡¯t participate. there are so many families watching the fun¡­ could it be? president? then this is going to become a scandal. the president personally participates in gambling¡­¡± ¡°stop, let¡¯s not worry about whether or not the president is bored enough to watch the fun here. let¡¯s just talk about the fact that your erge is also participating in gambling personally. wouldn¡¯t this be a huge scandal if this went out?¡± yuan xiu couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes at him. although the military department did not explicitly prohibit it, the officers tacitly suggested that it was best not to participate in activities such as gambling. chu yan really had no position to criticize others on this matter. ¡°hey, this is a special situation! what¡¯s wrong with supporting his fiance¡¯s career financially? besides, my erge did not place the bet personally, and this is obviously a legal entertainment activity of star network. it is not a problem.¡± chu yan waved his hand, clearly not caring about the legalities of this at all. seeing that the game was about to start, he urged, ¡°let¡¯s go, it¡¯s time to teleport.¡± on the other side of the mecha manufacturing square, qiu guangji muttered to his friend that he bought this bet, saying that qiao zhiya would definitely win. he tried to sway his friend. however, his friend didn¡¯t believe it. he thought that it was too courageous to invest such a large sum of money in a first-year mecha maker without hesitation. however, there are still many brave people like this. master ren, master shang, luo li, yun xiachu, sang bu, jian , and even princess an leen and xiang kun all invested money to bet on qiao zhiya¡¯s promotion. some of them do it to support and encourage, some because they trust qiao zhiya, and some to buy peace of mind. others, such as xiang kun and princess an leenn, don¡¯t know why they bet on this. the odds were obviously so against in their favor. the countdown ended, the game began, the betting was closed on time. the wildly changing odds information stopped instantly, the audience was teleported into the player¡¯s room, and at the same time, the content of the game appeared on the contestant¡¯s console. the overwhelming cheers suddenly appeared just like last time, and the originally empty auditorium was filled in an instant. qiao zhiya, who was mentally prepared, was not frightened again this time. he turned his head to look at the audience, took the initiative to stand up and greeted them and thanked them. his eyes swept across the front row, and sure enough, he couldn¡¯t find chu rong¡¯s side account¡¯s avatar. after pursing his lips and bowing to the audience, he sat back in front of his crafting table, muted the audience¡¯s voice, and started today¡¯s game. outside, the same conversation occurred in countless corners: ¡°is chu rong online to watch the game?¡± ¡°no way.¡± the melon-eaters thought that chu rong was still in the empire, so they didn¡¯t speculate too much about him not being online. those members of the four great families who knew the inside information were certain that chu rong was indeed missing. with the level of concern he had shown for qiao zhiya before, it would have been impossible for him not to watch the game online if something had not happened. after receiving the news, xiang hui immediately found his father xiang lingyun2i checked the previous chapters and my notes, and sure enough, xiang hui¡¯s father¡¯s name should be xiang lingyun. but in this chapter, his name is xiang lingzhi. maybe the author forgot? uh¡­ i¡¯ll use the original one instead, and try my best to refer him without his name lol and said, ¡°chu rong is missing, and he is still with the emperor. this matter can lead to a huge conflict. the chu family is obviously at a disadvantage, should we use this occasion to strike?¡± ¡°no.¡± xiang lingyun directly rejected his proposal and said, ¡°the reaction of the chu family is wrong, and the situation in the empire is unclear. remember, muddy water cannot flow. in the future, don¡¯t pay attention to these anymore. it¡¯s important to develop yourself well. it¡¯s not worth the loss for us to deviate from the center and entangle with the chu family.¡± xiang hui was unwilling to give in. the chu family had dared to be so unbridled all these years because of chu rong¡¯s strength and the military power he held. now that something happened to chu rong in the empire, it was like a golden opportunity to bring down the chu family. it would be a pity to waste it away. ¡°father, the chu family is the best at making up these falsehoods. the calmer chu huai and chu yan act now and the more nonchalant they are, the higher the possibility that something has happened to chu rong. i still feel that this opportunity cannot be missed-¡± ¡°xiao hui!¡± his father raised his voice to interrupt him. his energy was gone, he looked at his son seriously, and said solemnly, ¡°you are over the top. as the heir of the current generation of the xiang family, you can¡¯t even be calm and consider the overall situation. if you do that, how can i continue to trust you!¡± these words were too serious, and he also used spiritual power to intimidate him. xiang hui was shocked, clenched his fists, and lowered his head. ¡°xiao hui, you must understand that fighting must be moderate. this is only a struggle for power between the xiang family and the chu family. this is not a blood feud. besides, the time is not right. our struggle against each other must be carried out on the premise of not destabilizing the federation, as we both have a bottom line we must not touch.¡± seeing xiang hui looking scared, xiang lingyun softened his tone. he patted his son¡¯s shoulder, and said seriously, ¡°the disappearance of chu rong this time involves too many parties. as a federal citizen, we can fight amongst ourselves, but we must never do it in front of the empire. entertain this possibility: chu rong¡¯s disappearance is just an illusion, and he and the emperor are safe. then once the xiang family makes some small moves, after chu rong returns¡­ wouldn¡¯t we be in trouble?¡± xiang hui was stunned when he heard this rhetoric. he subconsciously started to think along his train of thought. if chu rong¡¯s disappearance was false and he was still staying with the emperor, then when they return, the imperial princes who are currently fighting madly in the empire would probably be in trouble. anyone who tries to make a fuss now is likely to be killed by the chu family. people who expressed his downfall would be pushed as a scapegoat and used to guide the public opinion in the chu family¡¯s favor. let alone the competition for the presidential election next year, those who intervene may not even be able to preserve the existing public support. he was shocked when he thought of this, and realized that what his father said was indeed right. chu rong¡¯s status was too special, and he must be cautious when facing things related to him. ¡°sorry, i lost my composure.¡± he lowered his head and sincerely admitted his mistake. the xiang family¡¯s patriarch nodded happily and said, ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter. it¡¯s normal for young people to make mistakes occasionally. just correct them if you know they are wrong. in short, we can just watch chu rong¡¯s incident this time. whoever can¡¯t help but have a wrong idea first, will be used as an example. remember, don¡¯t act rashly before the situation is clear.¡± if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 71.3 xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. xiang lingyun: xiang family¡¯s head. xiang kun and xiang hui¡¯s father. sang bu: mc¡¯s roommate. transferred from information system to mecha manufacturing. yun xiachu: mc¡¯s ex-classmate, about first-grader age, but skipped a couple of grades to match mc¡¯s pace. qiu guangji: ning kongran¡¯s best friend. bearded teacher aka master shang: qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha teacher in vr. chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. luo li: qiao zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. he won the online mecha manufacturing contest. now qiao zhiya¡¯s (and sang bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. an leen: imperial princess. neitaxi: general from the empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the empire. in the contestant¡¯s room, qiao zhiya looked at the parts and accessories on the table. he recalled the mecha design drawings in his mind, and let out a shallow breath. finally, he took out his hammer ¨C it was a customized item he made for vr ¨C picked up a material and started to hammer it carefully. from now on, every part he made will be slightly different from its traditional counterpart. in other words, from this game on, all the parts he makes are modified parts ¨C in order to complete his unique mecha, he can only do this. during this period, as long as he incorrectly makes a part, his mecha will fail. so he must treat every game with 120% concentration. the knowledgeable audience were stunned when they saw him like this. they looked at the material in his hand repeatedly and frowned ¨C what¡¯s going on? that material has obviously been processed and does not need to be processed anymore. what is qiao zhiya doing? luo li, who was sitting in the corner, raised his eyebrows with interest in his eyes, ¡°junior brother, are you planning to make a big move?¡± master shang waved his hand to silence him. ¡°look carefully, he is more agile than you in this aspect of modification. go learn from him.¡± one material after another, time passed unknowingly. after the audience discovered that qiao zhiya had reprocessed almost 30% of all the provided materials, the mutterings became louder, and they even thought that qiao zhiya already knew he couldn¡¯t advance to the next round, so he directly gave up with this move. the audience who bet on his elimination were happy, and the fans who bet on his promotion were nervous. the audience gradually became quiet, all staring at qiao zhiya¡¯s beautiful and flexible hands and the very primitive tool hammer in his hand. chu rong, who came in with his side account to watch the game, heard the audience¡¯s discussion. he frowned in impatience, then directly muted the audience. after all, how could the person he fancied so readily give up on this kind of problem? modifying materials was a time-consuming job. by the time qiao zhiya put down his hammer, half of the two-hour game had passed. some spectators in the audience chose to leave one after another because they were impatient to watch him mess around with the hammer. qiao zhiya did not look at the auditorium. he put down the hammer, cracked his fingers, and officially started assembling his part. luo li in the audience subconsciously sat straighter. the parts needed for today¡¯s game were more complicated than those for the last game. it would take an average person about an hour and twenty minutes to successfully assemble them. originally, the two-hour game time was more than enough, but qiao zhiya wasted a full hour on parts modification. with this duration, it¡¯s unclear whether he could complete them on time. not to mention that he has changed so many materials, so most viewers have given up hope on his promotion. chu yan, who had always been confident in qiao zhiya, couldn¡¯t help but become worried, leaning forward with a nervous expression. after picking up the first material, qiao zhiya never stopped moving. he skillfully installed the materials into the appropriate position one by one, just like a machine with a preset process. there was no pause or adjustment. every step was the most suitable and perfect installation angle. he was like in a trance, flowing freely like a cloud, or maybe, a clear stream. the impetuous mood of the audience gradually calmed down. five minutes passed before he knew it, and he finally picked up the first modified materials. the knowledgeable audience couldn¡¯t help but become nervous, and then watched helplessly as he put the unrecognizable materials into a place they had never thought before. however, it fit perfectly in place. they seemed to hear a soft click when the modified material was perfectly installed, and then without giving them time to react and digest, another modified material was picked up and installed in another position that they had not expected at all. the subsequent installation process became completely unfamiliar. qiao zhiya¡¯s movements were still smooth and even faster, as if the part itself was meant to be installed this way, but the audience was already confused. ¡®what are you doing? have you really given up the game?¡¯ the audience was in commotion again, and soon they realized they were wrong. the parts gradually became complete, its rough outlines became clearer, and it really vaguely became more familiar-looking. the audience stared wide-eyed at the parts in qiao zhiya¡¯s hand. it obviously had a strange installation process, but it was gradually changing towards a familiar shape. they were speechless in shock ¨C qiao zhiya was preparing to use completely unfamiliar materials, with a strange installation method, but it became something familiar? before they knew it, more than 40 minutes passed, and the last material was inserted and the part was formed. the shape was no different from the one they were familiar with, but they knew clearly that the internal structure of this part was completely different. the system prompt pops up at the right time: [round complete. parts value: special-grade. contestant has successfully advanced to the round.] qiao zhiya let out a long breath then laughed. he then no longer muted the audience, stood up, bowed to the stunned audience, and said with a smile, ¡°thank you everyone for your support. see you next time.¡± after saying that, his eyes swept across the audience, but he still couldn¡¯t find chu rong, so he directly chose to log off. chu rong, who couldn¡¯t make eye contact with him, frowned and followed him in logging off. the audience looked at the empty crafting table, lonely materials scattered about. they were stunned for a few seconds, and suddenly burst into loud cheers¨C they must watch today¡¯s game video several times! amazing! surprisingly, after modifying so many materials, this familiar part can be put together in a completely unfamiliar way! the value is still special-grade! genius! this exoplanet native boy who skipped grades continuously within one year and successfully entered the federal military academy is indeed a genius! in a corner of the auditorium, chu yan smacked his mouth and said, ¡°it¡¯s over. everyone has discovered that qiao is very good. the odds of the next game will be ruined.¡± yuan xiu looked at his arrogant and smiling face. he rolled his eyes and went offline. on the other side, xiang kun looked at the parts on the table with complicated eyes and clenched his fists¨C he really has to work harder. qiao zhiya is definitely better than him, and he knows that there are many people way better than them. if people who are smarter and more talented than him are working hard, then what about him? he can no longer take things easy as before. in the dormitory, as soon as qiao zhiya walked out of the star network cabin, chu rong¡¯s communication request popped up. he rubbed his face and answered the call. when chu rong appeared, he immediately said happily, ¡°chu rong, i have entered the third round!¡± ¡°i saw it.¡± seeing how happy he was, chu rong¡¯s expression softened. ¡°you are great, i¡¯m proud of you.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s ears fluttered, and his smile became brighter. ¡°proud of you¡± ¨Che really likes this phrase. seeing the pure joy in his face, chu rong¡¯s lips upturned in a gentle smile. the next day, the news that chu rong and the emperor were attacked and disappeared suddenly broke out. the atmosphere in the federation immediately changed. people began to worry and pray for blessings, and several conflicting public opinions arose. the president, who had been low-key for a while, suddenly became high-profile and took the initiative to contact an imperial prince and dispatch an additional rescue team. the people became more and more worried after seeing this. some opinions twisted, saying that chu rong had long been doomed. chu yan and qiao zhiya in the school fell into the center of public opinion. people they knew or didn¡¯t know kept coming to ¡°give their condolences¡±. this annoyed them very much, but they couldn¡¯t show it. sang bu finally asked about his worries and reassured qiao zhiya. qiao zhiya was surprisingly calm. after thanking him for his comfort, he firmly stated that he believed that chu rong would be fine. some people heard him say this, and thought that he was only comforting himself, or that he was too naive. some looked at him with even more sympathy, while some gloated in his perceived misery ¨C qiao zhiya¡¯s current identity was all given by chu rong. if chu rong was gone, could he live as comfortably as now? of course not! he¡¯ll fall off his high perch, into being just ¡°another exoplanet native¡±. qiao zhiya ignored all the malicious speculation from the outside world and concentrated on perfecting his design. he became more and more ¡°shut-in¡±. two days later, the president¡¯s relationship with the imperial prince suddenly became good because of this incident, he also had been trying to build an exalted image of himself and win the hearts of the citizens under the banner of worrying about chu rong. then, the news that chu rong had been found came out. the news came back from a checkpoint at the border. they reported that a few days ago, the detection equipment had tracked traces of chu rong¡¯s mecha near the b07 planet, and they speculated that chu rong might have fled back to the federation with the emperor. the empire and the federation sent search and rescue teams one after another, but only found fan xiangnan, who was seriously injured and unconscious on planet b07. they found no trace of chu rong or the emperor. hopes were an all-time low. everyone increasingly believed that chu rong and the emperor might have encountered something unexpected, resulting in their demise. fan xiangnan was chu rong¡¯s most trusted subordinate. now that the subordinate has been found but not his superior, the outcome was almost foreseeable. a few days passed like this, and when the weekend arrived, qiao zhiya returned to the main house under his classmates¡¯ sympathetic and gossipy eyes. when he arrived home, he enthusiastically greeted chu rong and said goodbye to him. ¡°how long will this trip be?¡± he handed chu rong the potion he took the time to make and asked with visible concern. chu rong took it, kissed his forehead as he cradled the youth¡¯s face. ¡°i will come back as soon as i send the emperor back. it won¡¯t be long.¡± after all, he still needed to get his warship back, including zhuang yu and all his other subordinates. otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t make this trip. qiao zhiya nodded, stretched out his arms to hug him. he tilted his head back and said seriously, ¡°don¡¯t rush, safety is the most important thing. i¡¯ll wait for you to come back.¡± chu rong looked at him for a few seconds, suddenly showed a slight smile, then lightly pulled his ear. ¡°i know, i know. you¡¯re a grown-up bald chicken now.¡± qiao zhiya, who hadn¡¯t been called that for a long time, was stunned for a moment. he buried his head in his arms, nuzzled against it, and muttered in a low voice, ¡°you are the bald chicken. plus, i have grown up since a long time ago.¡± after saying that, he remembered that he had cried several times recently, so he hid his face in chu rong¡¯s face in shame. after that, he let go of him, waved, and said, ¡°have a good trip.¡± chu rong patted and rubbed the youth¡¯s head. then, he brushed against his ear, and found that he was no longer stiff. he felt relieved and gently kissed him on the lips. after a pause, he turned and walked towards the guest house next door ¨C in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he was not prepared to let the old emperor see the chu family members except himself. the black mecha soared into the sky, and qiao zhiya leaned against the window as he watched him leave. the mecha¡¯s shape design, which he had been unable to imagine for a long time, was suddenly perfected in his mind. in the past, he only thought green and brown were the most beautiful colors in the world, as they were the colors of nature. but now he has added two more colors, white and black, to his list of stunningly beautiful colors. a new week has arrived, and the midterm exams at the military academy have begun. qiao zhiya got the first place in the grade with perfect scores in all subjects, putting a strong blow on those malicious speculations that he was ¡°overly sad and would fail the midterm exam¡±. at the same time, news came from the empire that chu rong returned with the emperor and the imperial high advisor. arriving at the empire¡¯s capital planet, the emperor was safely sent to general neitaxi¡¯s office. the rumors proved to be self-defeating. the melon-eating people cheered happily, and the imperial prince was shocked. the president quickly cut off contact with the imperial prince and canceled the subsequent press conference planned to win the hearts of the people. the old emperor, who returned to the empire, immediately deposed his eldest son. he bluntly stated that the attack was done by him in the name of rebellion. he sincerely thanked chu rong for his rescue, gave him many priceless treasures, and took the initiative to give him his blessing. he mentioned that for chu rong¡¯s marriage, he would attend to congratulate him in person. afterwards, chu rong set off back to the federation under the escort of the emperor¡¯s personal guards; and at the same time, the empire began a secret purge of its political officials. on the day chu rong arrived in the federation, the third round of the star network mecha manufacturing competition began. CH 72.1 at 7:30 in the evening, qiao zhiya went online on time. after being transferred to the contestant¡¯s waiting room, he took out his electronic book and made final confirmation and modifications to the finalized mecha design. after finishing the last touch-ups, as he was about to appreciate his design as a whole, a familiar hand stretched out and took away the electronic book from him. at the same time, a familiar voice sounded above his head, ¡°is this the mecha you designed?¡± qiao zhiya was stunned, and quickly looked up. seeing chu rong standing in front of him, his eyes lit up. he happily walked around his crafting table and rushed over to him, asking, ¡°why are you online? aren¡¯t you on your way back?¡± chu rong moved the electronic book and hugged him, then replied, ¡°the ship is landing, so i came up to take a look. i have to wait until i get home to continue watching the game.¡± ¡®ah, it turned out to be like that¡­ he took the time to come up specially for me.¡¯ hearing this, qiao zhiya¡¯s smile got brighter. ¡°you¡¯re still on the way, no need to rush online¡­¡± chu rong didn¡¯t answer, only smiled back at him. hesuddenly lowered his head and kissed him, then looked at the electronic book in her hand, and repeated his previous question, ¡°is this the mecha you designed?¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s attention snapped back to this question. he glanced at his drawing, a black-and-gold mecha, and sheepishly nodded. ¡°well, this is the final design. do you¡­ do you like it?¡± it was a very domineering and powerful-looking mecha. it was big, but not bulky. it was taller than traditional mechas, too. there were no unnecessary add-ons or accessories on the mecha. and in fact, it seemed that the mecha was very likely to be designed after a human¡¯s body proportion, full of sleek lines and hidden power. the mecha was like a human warrior clad in a black-and-gold armor, watching its prey, ready to strike at any time. the current development of mecha design was not like this. nowadays, the appearance design has slowly begun to develop in a more high-tech and cool direction, especially that of the xiang family. their current design philosophy is that if they can¡¯t come up with a new fresh trick to enhance its ¡°coolness¡± factor, then the mecha is not special. under the leadership of the xiang family, the current mecha design trend has become more and more ¡°fancy¡±, and almost all the new generation of mecha manufacturers have been led astray by this design philosophy ¨C form over function. although some ¡°fancy¡± mechas do become more powerful when used properly, chu rong doesn¡¯t like them ¨C he even hates them on principle. he vastly preferred neat and clean design, which reflected on his subordinates¡¯ mechas ¨C all of them used ordinary-looking gray mechas. no matter how many tricks a mecha had, as long as its basic attack power iwa guaranteed, the strength of the mecha warrior was the key to determining the victory of the battler. sometimes, an overly complex design could be detrimental. distraction was the most taboo thing in battle. with so many tricks available, people would inevitably feel that their concentration was split. now even the driving system has been developing in the direction of simplicity and refinement. the xiang family has lost their minds and neglected to do research on the driving system. they insist on fighting with the mecha shape, and they were still complacent about it. the mecha on this design drawing was black, tall, neat, and clean in appearance, all elements he liked. it was obvious that this was a customized mecha. judging from the body proportions of this mecha, it¡¯s clear it was 100% tailored for him, and him only. ¡°i like it,¡± he answered simply. how could he not like it? of course he likes such a carefully prepared gift. chu rong suddenly remembered what qiao zhiya had said before, about getting engaged and giving him a gift after the competition. his heart moved, and in his mind, this design became even more satisfying. he even showed some blind confidence and pride. ¡°the mecha you made must be the best.¡± he boasted in a domineering and affirmative tone. hearing this made qiao zhiya blush even deeper, so he hurriedly explained, ¡°actually, this is just a semi-finished product. i haven¡¯t finished the most critical part yet. i still need to study it thoroughly.¡± chu rong patted the youth¡¯s head, and casually replied, ¡°is it the engine? take your time, i believe you.¡± qiao zhiya was stunned. he tilted his head to accommodate the patting. no words were exchanged between them during this time. for qiao zhiya, the key to the success of mecha production was not the engine. he was confident that he would fully master the engine production method by the time the competition progresses to the engine part. even if he couldn¡¯t make an advanced-level one, he should be able to make an intermediate-level one. what he was unsure about was the sensor system of the manually-piloted mecha. for this competition, he planned to only make a prototype of this mecha. when assembling it, he would first install the conventional spiritual power driving system to mislead those who were paying attention to the competition. he planned to secretly study the true manually-piloted sensor system. when the research results are available, he would give the results to master ren, and then actually build this mecha in reality. the two chatted thoughtfully for a while. when the game was about to start, chu rong put down his electronic book, kissed qiao zhiya¡¯s forehead again, and then operated something on the communicator before going offline directly. qiao zhiya was a little confused about his last operation. after sitting back on the crafting table, he casually raised his eyes and looked up, his eyes widening reflexively. what he saw was the countdown, and also the betting odds of his game. for the first time, he saw that more people betted on him getting promoted. in other words, there were actually more people who betted on him to win instead of the opposite! qiao zhiya, who already knew what these odds meant, was struck silence. then he was dumbfounded after seeing a familiar id that suddenly appeared next to the odds ¨C specifically to the sky-high price bets that followed the id name. one could participate in the star network mecha manufacturing competition with their real name or anonymously. if they chose to be anonymous, no matter how much they bet, the system would not show it to others. on the contrary, if they chose to use their real identity, then if they became the one with the highest bet, their id would be displayed simultaneously beside the odds, followed by their amount. there was no such information behind the odds of the previous game, only a few asterisks were displayed. that was because the relatively large bets at that time were all anonymous. for relatively small bets, there were too many ids betting the same amount, so it wouldn¡¯t be displayed for the sake of fairness for all. and this time, no one could compete with the amount that bet. because, except for the four great families and some invisible tycoons from other planets, it was estimated that no one in the entire federation could come with such a high amount of money at once. outside the waiting room, the melon-eaters who noticed that chu rong was online then got offline in record time had no time to wail and express their emotions. they were shocked by this sky-high price bet from , and then almost instantly, the amount representing the odds for the ¡°eliminated¡± changed. it was crazy ¨C so many zeros! if qiao zhiya was to be eliminated, those who betted on this would make huge profits! there were many people who held this idea. after being shocked by qiao zhiya¡¯s previous game, the people who were ready to bet on his promotion began to hesitate. after some thoughts, most people betted on his elimination with the mentality of giving it a try. only a small number of people followed chu rong and insisted on betting on his promotion. the odds started to get crazy again. after a while, the odds for qiao zhiya getting eliminated got stable, and it was competing with the other. it was obvious that someone ¨C or a huge amount of people ¨C had betted on qiao zhiya losing. at the corner of the square, chu yan smacked his lips and followed his erge to bet on qiao zhiya¡¯s promotion without any hint of hesitation. yuan xiu had just finished counting the row of zeros after chu rong¡¯s id. he was silent, and then took out his pocket money. then he looked at chu yan and asked, ¡°your erge has just emptied out his coffers, right?¡± ¡°bah, bah, bah, you¡¯re the one who emptied his coffers.¡± chu yan waved his hand to drive away this unlucky statement. he gave him a stink eye, and said, ¡°you underestimate the amount of my erge¡¯s savings. these are just small amounts of money. remember, didn¡¯t i tell you about the xiang family¡¯s price for buying the secondary-mutated red tin ores? they had to cough up around 10-20 billions. all of those money went directly to erge¡¯s and qiao zhiya¡¯s pockets.¡± ¡°also, that president was so paranoid. half of the time, the military¡¯s request for funding was rejected. our chu family¡¯s army depends entirely on erge, and dage doesn¡¯t have that much money.¡± yuan xiu suddenly remembered about the funding issue ¨C after all, his yuan family¡¯s army is attached to the chu family. that is to say, every year, whenever he heard about the massive amount of funding the army received, his heart trembled. with a whisper, yuan xiu asked, ¡°how did your erge earn all this money? i didn¡¯t see what kind of business your family was doing¡­ did you rob someone or something?¡± ¡°who do you think we can rob?¡± chu yan couldn¡¯t stand his ignorance. while rolling his eyes, he hooked his hands over yuan xiu¡¯s shoulder. he opened his super-secret ledger with his special encryption, then explained, ¡°who said my family doesn¡¯t do business? my family just doesn¡¯t do the business that everyone expects. on the surface, the ning family is a pharmaceutical industry giant, while the xiang family is in the mecha-manufacturing industry. you would think that they make a lot of money relying on those, but you would be wrong.¡± ¡°while they¡¯re not poor by any means, the money they made from those businesses pales in comparison from the real source of money. you see, all four great families made money from collecting taxes from our respective planets. you can count them yourself, aren¡¯t the planets where our army is stationed the most full of rich people? and we stationed those armies to protect them. my erge also has a side business, under his industry, he held many patents on various civilian and military items in the energy section, and even some star network-related ones.¡± ¡°for example, right now on the internet, half of the famous mecha warriors on the online rankings were secretly trained by my erge. how many viewers would watch their battle? how much commission could they get? how many hidden benefits does it contain? xiao xiuzi1xiao = small, xiu = yuan xiu¡¯s name; -zi = endearment suffix for calling children., you are still too young.¡± yuan xiu was dumbfounded, especially about the tax matters. everyone knew that in the federation, the chu family¡¯s army was the absolute strongest, the most disciplined, and the best in welfare. most of them are stationed on border planets and several important trade transit planets, and they do have a firm grip on the federation¡¯s transportation network. ¨Cthis does not include some other relatively wealthy a-class or b-class planets. if all the taxes paid by these planets are included every year, it will be enough to support the entire federation, let alone the army. but the problem is how did these taxes get into the chu family¡¯s pockets! seeing his doubts, chu yan patted him again and said seriously, ¡°don¡¯t think too much. when you¡¯re older, i know your father will tell you about this. hey, actually, why don¡¯t you ask him to teach you early? you¡¯re the sole heir of the yuan family, after all. you should learn about your family¡¯s management.¡± ¡°i¡¯ll simplify it this way: in terms of taxes, everyone will take some proportionally, otherwise how can we protect those planets? the soldiers still need to be fed! as for the amount, it just depends on whether you take more or get less. do you think that the ning family has always been neutral and only has pharmaceutical companies? their family tradition seems to be good, so they ask for the least amount of taxes? no, no, no. on the contrary, the ning family gets the most and issues the harshest taxes. in recent years, the federation¡¯s medical field has become worse, with substandard drugs overflowing the market and basic medicine in decline. if the ning family solely rely on their pharma, how can they still thrive, then?¡± it was as if a door to a new world had been opened before his eyes. yuan xiu looked at him in confusion, speechless. ¡°learn more. the cake of the federation has long been eaten by the four great families. military strength and interests were the fundamental reasons why other emerging families cannot compare to these four. even the president must also pretend to be subservient in front of the four great families. anyway, the game is about to start. let¡¯s go.¡± with that, chu yan swiftly ended the topic. he let yuan xiu digest that infodump by himself. he didn¡¯t say this in the past because the situation in the federation was still very stable, so yuan xiu could slowly mature with time. but that¡¯s not the case now. the situation was getting worse, it¡¯s only not visible on the surface. it would reach a breaking point sooner than later. the youth of his generation needed to grow up fast to keep up. living in ignorance is the same as suicide. t/l: i hope y¡¯all like this kind of worldbuilding. no, i also did not expect the author would get detailed on the whole taxes thing tt _ tt that whole spiel is relevant for the plot tho if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 72.2 yuan xiu followed him into the arena in an absent-minded fashion. the countdown ended and the odds stopped changing. qiao zhiya looked down at the leg joint parts and materials that appeared on the table and wiped the sweat from his palms . ¡®chu rong had paid a lot of money. what if i got eliminated?¡¯ he was not nervous at first because of chu rong¡¯s large bet. he turned his head to look at the auditorium that was once again occupied by the crowd. he stood up and said thank you as usual, then sat back and turned on the muting function. after calming down, he picked up a material and took out his hammer. when the audience saw him starting to fiddle with the materials again, they miraculously found that they were no longer surprised. they were silent and began to guess what he was planning to do this time ¨C was he going to make a major replacement of the materials in the joints? but they guessed wrong. qiao zhiya only changed the material of the adapter shaft this time, and left everything else unchanged. the assembly started quickly, and the audience looked at his still smooth operations. the audience who wanted him to advance felt relieved, while those who wanted him to be eliminated became anxious. then soon, the reactions of the two groups of viewers were reversed. the leg joint parts that needed to be made for this competition were at the knees. two parts were required, which was simpler than the ankle parts. however, the parts of the mecha¡¯s leg joints were quite special and were classified into many categories based on their effectiveness. for elementary-level parts, it could be assembled in under 30 minutes, an intermediate-level part could be assembled in around 40 minutes, while the advanced-level part needed 1 hour at the least. there were a total of six base materials provided on the console, two for each level. players can choose according to their own level. at first, as the audience expected, qiao zhiya took the elementary-level ones, but after five minutes of installation, he turned his hands to the advanced-level material and started to ¡°transform familiar materials into completely unfamiliar ones¡±. then, he installed them. after that, he solely focused on the advanced-level materials. the audience was confused. ¡®what was going on? are you planning to make a hybrid part?¡¯ but qiao zhiya was a first-year student ¨C no matter how talented he is, he wasn¡¯t someone with rich experience under his belt. even if he learned beyond his study level, there¡¯s only so much competition time. how could he make a hybrid part, that was leagues harder than advanced-level ones? does he want to finish the game? it¡¯s as if someone began to light fire under their feet ¨C the audience began to stir up debate. luo li couldn¡¯t understand anymore and asked in confusion, ¡°what are you doing, junior brother? do you want to challenge yourself here?¡± ¡°no,¡± master shang shook his head. frowning slightly, he looked thoughtful, ¡°i talked to master ren once, and he said that qiao had a patent for a modified mecha joint adapter shaft. the first part that qiao changed was that part, but now it seems that he didn¡¯t just change that one part.¡± luo li still didn¡¯t understand. ¡°even if he did that, there¡¯s no need to mix materials of different grades. in this way, the final parts are likely to be different due to the different quality of each material. there¡¯s a chance that the system would judge it as unqualified.¡± master shang recalled the place where the elementary-level materials that qiao zhiya first installed. something flashed in his mind. ¡°let¡¯s continue to watch him. don¡¯t be anxious.¡± time passed little by little, and as the competition progressed¨C by the 50th minute, the joint parts in qiao zhiya¡¯s hands were roughly formed. they looked obviously thicker than ordinary mecha joints, but in terms of precision, they were at the level of high-end parts. when an hour was up, qiao zhiya finally stopped. he put the bulkier part aside, and started making the second part. he still started on using the elementary-level material, then switched to the advanced-level ones midway through installation. the audience still couldn¡¯t figure out his intention. seeing that he actually made a joint part that seemed to be quite successful, they began to murmur in their hearts, secretly looking forward to the system¡¯s judgment after he completed both joint parts. watching qiao zhiya¡¯s installation process again, master shang finally confirmed his guess. with a smile on his face and said, ¡°he is feeding parts.¡± luo li was confused and asked: ¡°feeding parts? why would he do that?¡± ¡°simple, he ¡®feeds¡¯ the elementary-level ones to the advanced-level ones to make it bigger.¡± master shang replied with a smile, pointed to the part he had made, and explained, ¡°the mecha he designed must be larger than the maximum size of ordinary mechas. the materials provided by the competition only count for standard mecha sizes, and can only be changed into smaller ones using the system. in order to increase the size of the parts he made, he used relatively large low-level materials as cushion, as they are not as precise as the high-leveled ones. it¡¯s very suitable for ¡®feeding¡¯.¡± luo li frowned and understood. this was indeed novel, so he was awed by his junior. ¡°master, you mean that he had designed a mecha before the game? he wanted to compete until the end?¡± ¡°that should be the case.¡± master shang nodded happily, a smile formed despite his effort to suppress it. ¡°he is more ambitious than i thought, and his thinking is very open and flexible. unlike you, who is completely rigid. his attempt this time is very good, breaking the public¡¯s understanding of various levels of parts.¡± after hearing this, luo li looked at qiao zhiya who was immersed in installing parts on the stage. he was silent for a few seconds and couldn¡¯t help shaking his head and laughing. this cheap junior brother looks cute and has a soft personality, so he didn¡¯t expect him to be so decisive and unconventional in making mechas. he used novel practices, showing his ingenuity and vast knowledge. his practical ability involved in this was simply terrifying. ¡®surely, the future generation is terribly good.¡¯ with 10 minutes left in the game, chu rong finally came online and teleported in, still using his main account. but the audience had no time to pay attention to him. all their attention was on the parts in qiao zhiya¡¯s hands. there were only a few high-leveled materials left on the table, and they would wait at most 3 minutes before deciding whether the two bulkier hybrid parts could pass the system review and whether their bet would make or lose money. as soon as chu rong came in, he saw the bulky joint part on the countertop. thinking of the design drawing he saw before, the veteran mecha warrior god leaned on the back of his chair, assuming an inscrutable look for the first time in a long while. ¡°bang!¡± the sound of the last part being installed seemed to ring in his ears. qiao zhiya put the parts on the table and waited for the system to judge his work. the audience also waited with bated breath. however, as if teasing them, the system prompt that usually displays the results as soon as the parts are completed, didn¡¯t appear on time. qiao zhiya was confused. he stood up, picked up the two parts, placed them in the center of the console, and then looked towards the mid-air where prompts were popping up. the audience also followed suit. there was still no announcement, no notification, nothing. the game time was about to end, and it drove the audience crazy. under normal circumstances, the system would give a clear result regardless of whether the player was promoted or not. what does it mean that there was no accurate result now? also, the game time was almost over but there was no result yet. if the time ran out, would it count as promotion or direct elimination? it was the last 30 seconds on the timer. qiao zhiya finally became anxious and moved the parts around, hoping it would fix it. still no response, his ears stood straight up with worry, and he started looking for a communication method to contact the competition officials. chu rong also frowned, his eyes were cold, as if he wanted to bore two holes in the console. his fingers began to tap his knees impatiently, thinking about how to go to the competition official to settle the score. in the last 5 seconds of the countdown, just when qiao zhiya finally found the player help button and sent a communication to contact the official, a system prompt appeared. [round complete. parts level: advanced. parts value: special-grade. contestant has successfully advanced to the next round.] ¡°ding!¡± just as the countdown reached zero, the odds representing qiao zhiya¡¯s promotion light up with green light, and the system begins to settle accounts for all bettors. not only did qiao zhiya succeed, his part was also valued as special-grade. qiao zhiya breathed a sigh of relief. he stood up and started to communicate with the audience, bowed towards the audience, thanked them, and glanced at chu rong on the stage. his ears twitched in satisfaction, then he directly chose to log off. the audience was stunned for a few seconds. after repeatedly confirming that the level of the part was special-grade, they all exploded into cheers of joy, disbelief, or fury. chu rong narrowed his eyes and listened to the crazy yelling of the audience who wished qiao zhiya to be eliminated for a while. he snorted coldly and chose to go offline. ¡°it¡¯s amazing. a first-year student can actually make special-grade, advanced parts. that¡¯s at least¡­ a third-year curriculum, right?¡± qiu guangji sighed in the corner of the auditorium. after taking a look at the gambling money he had received, he logged off with satisfaction. after qiao zhiya logged off, he forgot about this game and began to prepare for the next round. however, a big debate started on starnet about his performance in this round. first of all, the system did not give out the result after qiao zhiya finished the parts. is it because they ¨C the competition officials ¨C were worried about qiao zhiya¡¯s identity and chu rong¡¯s large bet, so they secretly tipped it in qiao zhiya¡¯s favor? secondly, was qiao zhiya¡¯s modification like this allowed by the system? if he could pass the competition with such chaos, then what¡¯s with the qualification standards for this competition? finally, as a marshal, was there any problem with chu rong personally participating in betting? this debate became even more heated, and it gradually turned into a national-scale debate. as time passed, the popularity increased instead of decreasing. even the empire was alarmed and joined in the discussion. qiao zhiya¡¯s name was also officially passed on all over the blue galaxy. t/l: fun fact: i almost got crazy during translating this chapter¡¯s long passage of technical/engineering stuff! i hate physics!!! CH 72.3 over the weekend, qiao zhiya frowned and scrolled through various discussions and analyzes on the event forum, and retorted dully, ¡°what kind of behind-the-scenes operation, i didn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°oh, don¡¯t look at those. these people are just watching the excitement and don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal.¡± chu yan said as he snatched the photon computer from his hand and said comfortingly, ¡°let them argue. the official will clarify and explain whether there is any behind-the-scenes manipulation in the game. it has nothing to do with you. as for the issue of erge¡¯s betting, everyone has their own opinion. we can¡¯t control what other people think, so just let them be.¡± qiao zhiya still felt unhappy and said, ¡°a lot of people are saying bad things about chu rong¡­¡± ¡°that¡¯s just the people who lost money venting their dissatisfaction.¡± chu yan raised his hand to put on his shoulders and continued, ¡°let¡¯s just wait. by the time your next game is over, the wind will blow in our direction.¡± ¡®¨Cand then, someone else will die. killed by erge¡¯s wrath.¡¯ chu yan inwardly thought. qiao zhiya was confused, wondering why the wind direction would change. chu yan gave up and said with a sly smile, ¡°anyway, just wait and see.¡± before the start of the fourth round, the official finally gave a detailed explanation of the controversial issue of why the result of the game against qiao zhiya was so odd. attached to the report is a piece of parts inspection data. although the things on the star network were all virtual, parts made by different people would yield different values. although the part made by qiao zhiya uses elementary-level materials, the finished product was an advanced-level part. which means, that part was a special-grade part. so the system determines that he has passed the round with flying colors. the reason why the system did not produce results for a long time at that time was because the values ??of the two parts needed to be verified using an in-depth inspection by an actual expert, not by the preset system. later, the official said that the mecha manufacturing competition would compare the creativity and hands-on ability of the players. there would also be a competition specifically for parts modification in the future. therefore, all changes to the parts made by the contestants during the competition would only be judged in its usability in the end. although the production process of qiao zhiya¡¯s parts this time was unconventional, the finished product was fine, so the result was naturally fine. moreover, the entire competition was recorded. if someone feels that there was something wrong with the modification and it¡¯s not up to the standard, they are free to raise an objection after submitting reasonable evidence. the official welcomes everyone¡¯s technical corrections, but does not accept unreasonable attacks. [simply put, it¡¯s impossible there was a ¡°behind-the-scenes deal¡±. everything depends on the data. please treat this competition with a professional and rational attitude.] the competition¡¯s organizer¡¯s post ended with that. the people who argued were stopped. indeed, the parts that qiao zhiya made were completed under the eyes of the audience. every game was recorded for review. the possibility of unfair dealings was too low and too easy to be exposed. those who wanted to cause trouble were unwilling to give up, and turned to focus on chu rong¡¯s gambling incident. however, everyone¡¯s discussion of this matter was obviously not as enthusiastic as before, and chu rong¡¯s special status in the people¡¯s mind once again played a role¨C [why couldn¡¯t the marshal have a private life and entertainment? which law stipulates that off-duty officers are not allowed to participate in small entertainment activities on the star network?] [why are you being so nosy of other people¡¯s wallets, anyway? do you have no other things to do?] just when everyone was tired from arguing, the fourth round began. chu rong went online early, and then once again betted on qiao zhiya¡¯s promotion at an unabashedly high price, and the amount was more than last time. the gossiping netizens who had argued about this matter before only felt they were stuffed full by facts. ¡ª¡ªthey are arguing here day and night, and the real tycoon is not affected at all. if he wanted to be ¡°entertained¡± by betting an obscene amount of money¡­ what¡¯s the point in fighting that? their own savings were only a fraction of the said bet, on top of that. when the countdown ended, qiao zhiya saw that today¡¯s round was to make the parts for a mecha¡¯s shoulder and neck. qiao zhiya was stunned for a moment seeing the scattered materials on the table. after regaining his focus, he stood up and greeted the audience politely, then sat back in front of the table, analyzing the materials. ¡ª¡ªthe materials given for this round were actually intermediate-level materials. he originally thought it would be relatively simple primary materials, and would be asked to be made the main structure of the limbs. but it doesn¡¯t matter. the parts of the shoulder and neck were the focus of his previous study. he was already prepared and was not blindsided. however, to make parts for this section, he may need extra materials. the number of materials given this time was limited, and he has nothing to ¡°feed¡±. the parts for manually-piloted mechas were naturally different from spiritually-piloted ones. the driving style of spiritually-piloted ones could be more elegant, while the driving style of manually-piloted mechas was destined to be ¡°barbaric¡±. in order to cope with this ¡°barbaric¡± style, the parts that link the joints must be modified to a certain extent. the most basic thing was to make them thicker and heavier¡­ before the cheers in the audience subsided, qiao zhiya on the stage pressed the player help button. thanks to the system¡¯s delay in giving results last time, he finally noticed that there was a help button for the player. the audience, who were ready to see him ¡°making nonsense¡± again, were stunned and wondered ¨C what was he going to do this time? was he going to give up because of the intermediate-level materials? the official response was quick, and a staff member came in to inquire about the situation. qiao zhiya quickly wrote down the names of several materials he needed, and applied to get them. applying for additional materials during the parts installation competition was one of the contestants¡¯ rights as long as it was still reasonable. the staff didn¡¯t understand qiao zhiya¡¯s approach, but he did not ask any further questions and quickly delivered the materials requested by qiao zhiya. audiences were then treated to a glimpse of qiao zhiya¡¯s ultra-fast and ultra-efficient material handling process. they saw the white light representing spiritual power being spread randomly into the material, and the material changed its appearance, showing that it had been processed. the audience fell silent and began to doubt themselves ¨C was it so simple for spiritual power to penetrate into materials? why weren¡¯t they as proficient despite all the hard training they did? qiao zhiya carefully controlled his magic power, trying to simulate it as spiritual power before infiltrating it into the material, so as not to be discovered by the audience. during this process, his speed in processing the materials was inevitably a little slower. the competition time was limited, so he did not dare to delay any more. after processing the materials, he immediately took out his hammer. he quickly molded the materials into the shape he wanted. finally, he finally took whiskers grass1ºú²Ý; literally ¡°beard/mustache/whiskers grass¡±, the most puzzling materials he asked. he roughly extracted its juice, and then threw it all over the officially provided materials and self-made ones. finally, he let them soak in it. the audience: ¡°???¡± are they watching some kind of house game? his material processing and parts manufacturing methods were so cool, why was his subsequent action so confusing? luo li wanted to ask again, but seeing his master looking at him intently, he swallowed his words silently and prepared to think on his own. whiskers grass was a relatively popular medicinal material that was rarely used outside of that domain because it has a special effect ¨C increasing the viscosity of liquids. so this was actually a kind of thing that could turn medicinal liquid into pills. it had a narrow use and was basically useless. there were countless materials that are more useful than it, and it has been gradually phased out in popularity outside medicine. ¡®now qiao zhiya is using it here. what does he want to use it for? whiskers grass should have no effect on metal.¡¯ luo li mused. in fact, qiao zhiya used this plant¡¯s juice here just to lubricate the accessories to speed up the installation process later, and it has no lofty meaning. the juice of whiskers grass would evaporate naturally, eliminating the need for cleaning them up, and has moderate lubrication, making it much easier to use than other special lubricants. those were the reasons that qiao zhiya used them. he took out the soaked materials, looked at the game time, lowered his head, and started to install them. the same but different installation routine as before began ¨C ¡°feed¡± first, and then officially started the installation. however, during this installation process, he would occasionally pause and make some small adjustments that were incomprehensible to the public. it made his speed a bit slower than before. time passed by, and the parts in qiao zhiya¡¯s hands were slowly taking shape, and they were obviously much bulkier than ordinary standard parts. there were 5 minutes left when qiao zhiya installed the last materials into place. the audience breathed a sigh of relief and couldn¡¯t help but began to urge him to put the finished part on the judging console, fearing that the system would have to ¡°deeply detect¡± again this time. qiao zhiya, who couldn¡¯t hear their voices, did not do what they expected. he turned the parts over and looked at them. then a layer of white light representing spiritual power flashed, and the parts rolled slightly. it took another 2 minutes of grinding before qiao zhiya thought it was finished. sure enough, the system jammed again, and it took another two minutes to give the result: [round complete. parts level: advanced. parts value: special-grade. contestant has successfully advanced to the next round.] this modified part was once again judged as high-grade by the system, even though it contained a lot of qiao zhiya¡¯s homemade stuff. this time the audience quickly came to their senses. when qiao zhiya stood up to thank the offline, they cheered before him and called his name crazily. qiao zhiya was stunned for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and smiled happily. his expression was obviously still shy, but his attitude was much more confident. he bowed and said, ¡°thank you everyone for your encouragement. see you next time.¡± then, he logged off amidst the audience¡¯s cheers with a hand wave. ¨C after another round of competition ended, qiao zhiya did not relax, but kept a close eye on the public opinion on the internet ¨C chu yan said that after this round of competition, the ¡°wind direction¡± will change. one day passed, and the audience was discussing his game enthusiastically, without mentioning chu rong¡¯s gambling at all. two days passed, and the audience began to speculate on the content of his next round and analyze what other ¡°nonsense¡± behavior he would do. he became anxious, and finally on the third day, the audience, who had temporarily lost their memory, once again thought of chu rong, who had participated in gambling with a sky-high bet. : marshal chu really loves the native qiao zhiya. he would rather be scolded than not publicly support his fianc¨¦. i bet he didn¡¯t even think about betting anonymously at all. if someone did this to me, i would laugh so hard even in my sleep. in the forum, an emotional post suddenly appeared. it was very obvious among the analysis posts. the audience was reminded by the post and remembered this topic that they had been eating up about before. at this time, their rationality returned. they recalled their experiences of watching these games, and they sighed after realizing it. yes, it¡¯s definitely true love. chu rong went to the empire for a business trip and didn¡¯t forget to watch the game. he disappeared once and still watched the game when he came back. even though he knew his fianc¨¦ was only a first-year student, he didn¡¯t hesitate to bet a large amount of money on his advancement. this domineering ¡°spending all my wealth as a sign of my trust¡± style really made the netizen¡¯s heart race. moreover, chu rong was only 29 years old this year, but he has experienced more than anyone else. he has shouldered so much pressure and suffered so much in these years. a war destroyed his boyhood and his family. after the war, he was tortured by illness for a decade. now he is finally feeling better. he has recovered from his illness and found someone he likes. why can¡¯t he have fun like an ordinary person, support his lover¡¯s competition, and such? why scold him? can¡¯t a marshal live an ordinary life? he was not an excessive gambler, nor did he gamble while at work, nor did he violate any federal laws. why should everyone be so harsh on him? the people sighed and lamented, and couldn¡¯t help but cry out for chu rong. they began to criticize the people who had scolded chu rong before ¨C they must¡¯ve been living a cushy life, and cannot empathize with chu rong¡¯s harsh life. who are they thinking they are? an ancestor that can dictate other people¡¯s lives? after crying out, the netizen recalled the various high-profile press conferences held when chu rong disappeared. the president hinted that chu rong might have encountered something unexpected, plus, the president was very close to the now-deposed imperial prince at that time. they weren¡¯t fools. they immediately sniffed out something¡¯s wrong and turned their attention here again. as they know, long baorou ¡°sadly left¡± because chu rong announced his love affair. the president¡¯s overly high-profile performance when chu rong disappeared¡­ must be because of something fishy. as a result, public opinion suddenly turned to the president. posts with analysis and speculation emerged one after another. all the posts discussing chu rong were quickly suppressed. no one questioned chu rong¡¯s remarks about gambling anymore. qiao zhiya stared at all this with his mouth open. his brain, which was not good at following such twists and turns, could not figure out how everyone¡¯s topic extended from the competition to the president who had nothing to do with this competition. it happened to be the weekend at this time. chu rong passed by the living room and saw him sitting on the sofa, staring at his photon computer. he squinted his eyes and walked over with light steps. he suddenly bent down and came close to him, face-to-face. there was only a slight gap between their lips. qiao zhiya was startled, and his gaze subconsciously fell on chu rong¡¯s lips, staring at the corner of his mouth. it¡¯s as if he was bewitched ¨C he leaned over, then took a small lick. chu rong, who originally just wanted to tease him, immediately switched gears. he took away the youth¡¯s photon computer, held his face, and kissed him deeply. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 73.1 bearded teacher aka master shang: qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha teacher in vr. chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. luo li: qiao zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. he won the online mecha manufacturing contest. now qiao zhiya¡¯s (and sang bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. long ruifeng: the president. long baorou: the president¡¯s daughter. long xuyang: long baorou¡¯s younger brother. the president¡¯s youngest child. an leen: imperial princess. an tyn: imperial prince, an leen¡¯s twin brother. an lita aka ning kong¡¯an: the emperor¡¯s nephew, born from prince an xei and ning kongran¡¯s aunt. studies pharmacy. jexiu: neitaxi¡¯s son, studying mecha piloting. charmmi: the imperial royal mecha master brendan¡¯s granddaughter. studies mecha manufacturing. feng: the imperial high advisor. jian: feng, the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. now has a forced amnesia. the discussion on the starry sky forum about the president was getting fiercer as the day went on. their goodwill has long dissipated ¨C there¡¯s news about the president¡¯s wife snatching an exoplanet native¡¯s patent during her youth. this year, chu huai has been cleaning up the protection of exoplanet natives¡¯ patents. the xiang family sniffed about this early, so they have long painfully cleared up their patents. they were clever enough not to fight with chu huai. in fact, they stole chu huai¡¯s concept ¨C they fought with him, earning them a good reputation of ¡°quick responses to good policies and supporting the exoplanet natives¡¯ heritage¡±. at the beginning, the president was happy to see that the internal fighting weakened each other, and he even wanted to stir up further disagreement. he did not obstruct chu huai about this policy, so his operation could advance very smoothly. now that the cleaning activity has come to an end, and the year is almost over, everyone¡¯s attention has already been removed from this incident. however, the chu family did not return the favor ¨C instead, they turned around and burned the president instead. the president has long been abandoned by the four great families. first, the xiang-wei family no longer supported him, and now, the chu family even joined in the mud pit and stepped on the president alongside them. anger rose in his heart and he could no longer put on a good face ¨C of course, he only let his temper run amok inside the privacy of his own house. ¡°you, why did you do this kind of scandalous thing! why didn¡¯t you tell me what you did! are you not satisfied until i fail miserably!¡± he yelled at his wife and snarled, his expression contorted into something hideous. you susu has never been treated so poorly like this by her husband. the long family was not that prosperous, so long ruifeng had to climb into the position of the president relying on the xiang-wei families¡¯ support and the you family¡¯s military forces. so, her position was quite high and her life has been comfortable. in fact, she could always pose as more ¡°noble¡± compared to her husband. this was not the first time that her husband belittled and berated her like this. the first time was when long baorou had an accident. at that time, she did not give long ruifeng a chance to get angry. she sent her to another a-class planet to escape the treacherous situation. how could she endure such treatment this time? ¡°tell you? i don¡¯t even remember this, how can i tell you! what¡¯s so scandalous about it? it¡¯s just a recipe for a flower-flavored tea. if you use it, you use it. what family doesn¡¯t have this kind of thing nowadays? can¡¯t you see that the chu family is trying to stir up trouble by nitpicking every single thing? if you have time to get angry here, why don¡¯t you go and think of a solution!¡± she politely turned back. then, she shouted louder than him, and in a more straightforward manner than him. she started to blame him. ¡°if you weren¡¯t too high-profile before, stepping on the chu family while chu rong was missing, would chu huai retaliate against you like this? do you think he would spare his time to dig up such old, unimportant news?¡± long ruifeng was stunned by her words for a moment. if this was the usual, he would certainly admit that he had made a small mistake. but now he just felt more angry. he roared, ¡°you still made a scandal! i¡¯m doing this for the sake of the family. you know that the presidential election will be held soon, and i¡ª¡± ¡°whatever you are, you are a waste!¡± you susu didn¡¯t wait for him to finish his words and turned back again. her face sank, her voice shrill. ¡°i let my you family support you in the past, so you don¡¯t always need to rely on the xiang-wei families. so i asked you to return the favor, but you always denied my wishes because you were afraid that the you family will grow bigger than you can control. did i say a word about that? didn¡¯t my father support you for all your career? didn¡¯t i tell you to be careful about the xiang-wei families, and be less involved with them? i told you to be more honest during your work as the president. but you never listened! you are too greedy. now you¡¯ve kicked the hornet nest and the chu family is hot on your heels. you think those three elders of the chu family are fools? don¡¯t you understand? you can¡¯t touch the juniors!¡± as she kept ranting, she unburdened herself of all the years of unaired grievances accumulating in her heart like a stubborn plaque. she looked up at her increasingly foreign husband, wondering at what point he felt like a stranger to her. she raised her hand to touch her shawl, and swallowed the rest of the old accounts she chose not to say. instead, she said, ¡°i messed up with that patent, so i¡¯ll be responsible for it. similarly, for the work that you do yourself, please also be responsible for yourself. don¡¯t drag xuyang into this murky water. i have been with you for decades. when you were poor, i never hated you. when your career was on the brink and everyone suppressed you, i have always been loyal to your cause. i have always encouraged and supported you. long ruifeng, i have always been kind to you. but now, since you are so guarding against my natal family, assuming that it was the tarnish of your resume, then let¡¯s part ways. let¡¯s get a divorce.¡± long ruifeng was shocked. ¡°what do you mean? you are threatening me? right now, don¡¯t stir up even more trouble!¡± ¡®threat? stir up trouble?¡¯ they¡¯ve been together for decades. but these careless words were more than enough to destroy any semblance of relationship built over the years. you susu¡¯s heart was completely cold. she gave him a slight glance and turned to leave. long ruifeng thought she was losing her temper again, and he was unwilling to wait for her to calm down. he let her be. a few minutes later, the steward of the presidential office hurried in and said in a panic, ¡°sir, madam returned to her natal house and took young master xuyang!¡± long ruifeng was baffled, and his emotions hit rock bottom. he waved his hand and said, ¡°let her go! she thought that i would bow my head if she took xuyang away. i am not a fool! i¡¯m too busy to care for such petty means!¡± the steward looked at him with sorrow and anxiety. the expression of the madam just now did not look like she just wanted to force her husband to bow his head by returning to her natal family¡¯s home. the day after this scandal broke, elder you personally took you susu to hold a press conference to explain the flower-flavored tea patent and invited the exoplanet native auntie whose patent was supposed to be stolen. the auntie explained the matter. she was rescued by the you family at that time, and has been in their care for all these years. when you susu was very young, she got angry at her and impulsively ran away with this recipe and somehow ended up registering it as a patent. the auntie once thought about getting it back, but since you susu never got any money with this patent, she just let it slide, as this was just a trivial matter. now, the scandal became a silly, but embarrassing story between her and the then-young you susu. everyone expressed their understanding and praised the wife of the president for taking responsibility. just when everyone thought that the press conference was about to finish, you susu suddenly stepped forward and dropped a bomb ¨C she was going to divorce the president long ruifeng. she said that because of what long baorou had done to the two juniors of the chu family and what she did when she was young, she now realized she was an unqualified mother and role model, so she decided to get divorced, reflected on her mistakes, and finally tell the young people in the federation to learn from her mistakes. long xuyang has been standing by her side. when she finished speaking, he stepped forward to embrace her, and apologized to the public again. he then announced the end of the press conference and left with his maternal grandfather and his mother. the reporters were stunned into silence, before breaking into a loud commotion. they immediately put forward a report with shocking headlines. the press conference was broadcast live across the federation, and everyone heard it ¨C the president is divorcing his wife! just because of a small mistake she made when she was young! no wonder this press conference was hosted by elder you and you susu, and the president did not show up throughout the process. it turned out to be this! no wonder the situation felt odd before. in the presidential palace, long ruifeng, who was thinking about how to cover up the scandal, stood up in disbelief after learning the news. he was busy looking through the video of the press conference, and then he heard you susu say divorce. when long xuyang was standing beside her to show his support, he felt that his eyes were blurred and he almost fainted. but he couldn¡¯t faint. if even his wife had abandoned him, what was left of him now? he was busy taking out his communicator and dialing you susu, but was transferred to a busy tone. obviously, he was blocked by you susu. he turned to long xuyang¡¯s number and called him. thankfully, he picked it up. however, while his tone was kind, he made it clear that he wanted to spend time with his mother and not return to the presidential palace for the time being. for the first time, his docile and obedient son hung up on him. his wife and son all left, and he finally couldn¡¯t bear the blow. his spiritual strength became chaotic ¨C he felt faint and passed out with his eyes rolled. the four great families learned about this matter and they showed their ¡°goodwill¡± by delivering medicine to the presidential palace. on the surface, they were concerned, but secretly, they were cold-blooded and delighted by the turn of events ¨C he was still the president, so he still needed to hold up for the time being. at the time when the entire federation was full of excitement due to the president ¡¯s divorce, the fifth round of the star network mecha manufacturing tournament began. this time, they were tasked to build a mecha limbs. this was very simple, and was more testing of the contestant¡¯s speed rather than skill. this was qiao zhiya¡¯s forte. after asking for extra materials from the competition official, he immediately dived into the production. everyone has gradually gained confidence in his strength, and the odds in this round have finally become balanced. without those weird ¡°foolish¡± operations, qiao zhiya¡¯s parts-making process was once again pleasing to the eye. of course, what¡¯s even more pleasing was his nimble actions of climbing up and down the giant mecha limbs to install the parts. ¡°ah ah ah ah!!! i saw it! he just crawled into that tight space, he¡¯s so cute!!!¡± ¡°wow, qiaoqiao¡¯s jumping ability is great! so amazing!¡± ¡°hey hey, when the little cutie was looking up, his clothes were lifted. i saw his waist, so white and thin.¡± ¡°¡­¡± chu yan, who was ¡°fortunately¡± sitting next to chu rong, quietly muted the audience. he took a peek at chu rong, whose expression was dark, but not furious. he wiped his sweat, thinking, ¡®thankfully, i muted them in time before erge could hear. otherwise¡­¡¯ before he could finish his thoughts, qiao zhiya on the stage suddenly raised his hand, tied his bangs, and exposed his forehead. the audience froze, staring at the little ponytail and his exposed forehead, exposing his delicate and beautiful face even more clearly. after looking at him for a few seconds, the audience broke into various loud screams. ¡°crack.¡± chu yan felt as if he heard the sound of erge cracking his knuckles. ¡ª¡ªalthough no sound can be heard, they could still see the expression of the audience. ¡°that¡­ his bangs are long, so it blocked his view. it¡¯s normal for qiao to do this. erge, you¡­¡± chu rong looked at him with a cold face, and asked quietly, ¡°i¡¯m what?¡± ¡°¡­no, nothing. qiao¡¯s avatar should be¡­ edited in future? he could shorten his bangs so it wouldn¡¯t obstruct his view again?¡± chu yan suggested. chu rong sneered, unclear to whom. he turned his gaze to look at the excited audience around him, and scoffed. chu yan shuddered and felt that it was too stressful to sit next to chu rong this time. he now missed yuan xiu who didn¡¯t watch the game because he ran away to learn his family¡¯s management (under chu yan¡¯s suggestion earlier). although the skeleton of the limbs was simple to make and easy to change, his design was very bulky. due to that, it took him 1 hour and 40 minutes to complete. finally, he rechecked everything to make sure everything was perfect. five minutes before the end of the game, the system judged that he succeeded in advancing to the next round. the audience cheered, qiao zhiya bowed before logging off. this time, the audience found that chu rong actually did not follow the offline, but instead teleported to the mecha driving square, where he abused third young master chu by pummeling him to the ground multiple times. then, he challenged the leaderboard. the netizens were beyond excited ¨C after watching qiao zhiya¡¯s competition, they could now watch chu rong¡¯s mecha battle, and it was public this time! hey, the marshal and his wife truly joined hands and sent benefits to the netizens today!! everyone rushed into chu rong¡¯s battle room, and found that the atmosphere seemed a bit wrong ¡ª chu rong was too quick, too cold, too aggressive, too¡­ scary. ¡°boom!¡± his first opponent¡¯s mecha was scrapped in under three moves. ¡°crack!¡± his second opponent was defeated in under 10 seconds. ¡°blam!¡± his third opponent was slightly stronger and lived for 2 minutes, but died the worst. the battle proceeded at a high-efficiency rhythm. one after another, the mighty and domineering top-ranked players were all turned into trembling chicks under chu rong¡¯s tyrannical moves. one of the players with the id ¡°your little waist¡± was the worst. he was obviously not the most powerful, but was challenged by chu rong the most. the audience held their frightened little hearts and now felt that they understood something. ¡°crash!¡± the ¡°little waist¡± guy fell to the ground again, the system determined that chu rong was victorious. just when the audience thought that there would be another game, chu rong turned off the challenge, and then operated the mecha coldly and swept the audience seat. he turned on his speaker, and spoke with a chilling, murderous tone, ¡°do you think his waist looked good?¡± after speaking, he went offline directly. the audience was stunned, then became agitated afterwards. finally, he carefully guessed something: it was rare that the marshal even participated in the public leaderboard. but now, he spare the effort to torture this guy with the id ¡°your little waist¡±¡­ was he possessive? and turned his anger towards them?? ¡°¡­¡± the audience was silent, and then looked up at the sky as they lamented¡ª ¡®well, today¡¯s marshal is really¡­ eh¡­ forget it, it¡¯s a good moonlight tonight.¡¯ CH 73.2 five days later, the president and his wife officially announced their divorce. that night, the sixth round of the star network mecha manufacturing tournament commenced. starting this round, there would be no more primary-level materials on the contestants¡¯ workbench. qiao zhiya glanced at several wrist joint parts and materials on the workbench. he emulated what he would be doing inside his brain, then took out his small hammer. in the amphitheater-shaped auditorium, the audience looked at qiao zhiya¡¯s short-cut bangs and his newly-changed overalls. they stared at each other in a tacit manner, and started to watch the game with serious faces. ¡®¡ªah, this pair of newly-minted lovebirds¡­ it¡¯s normal to be a little more possessive. nope, we absolutely didn¡¯t see the marshal¡¯s careful thinking at all.¡¯ two hours later, qiao zhiya¡¯s sixth round of the game ended successfully, and he was promoted again. he wasn¡¯t like a freshman who just entered an advanced college at all. master shang looked at qiao zhiya, who bowed to thank the audience. he was both relieved and awed. ¡°this urgent and high-pressure rhythm is obviously a more suitable learning environment for him. it¡¯s only been more than a month. he has been careful when processing primary-grade parts in the first round, and now, he could handle intermediate-grade and advanced-grade parts without much worry. the school¡¯s learning progress is too slow for him, and maybe soon, he will skip grades again. ¡° and it¡¯s hard to imagine that more than a month ago, qiao zhiya was still worried about whether or not he could survive the first round. luo li felt the same. remembering qiao zhiya¡¯s recent performance in the classroom, he nodded and echoed, ¡°in every practical class he completed first, and then the rest of the time was devoted to his own self-learning about intermediate and advanced parts. he searched for them on his own, and the teachers couldn¡¯t keep up with him at all. more than one teacher had come to me to report that he was giving the other students lessons instead.¡± master shang frowned, and after thinking for a while, said, ¡°then i¡¯ll find an opportunity to talk to him. if he can¡¯t fit into the first-year course, just let him follow me directly.¡± ¡®is master shang ready to officially take him as his apprentice?¡¯ luo li glanced at him side by side, rubbing his eyes then rubbing his chin, thinking, ¡®i heard that qiao previously operated under the identity of master ren¡¯s apprentice. now this cheap master is really going to steal him like that? has he ever talked to qiao¡¯s previous master?¡¯ at the end of the sixth round of the game, qiao zhiya took out his mecha design and chu mother¡¯s notes immediately after logging out, then began to study the mecha engine. this piece would be the most difficult part for him to overcome for this competition. the main frame of the mecha could be compared with the method of making the magic puppet, and then the existing mecha parts could be modified according to his needs without much worry. but for the engine part, he had no shortcut. he needed to study it from zero. according to the current progress of the competition, the engine would be the subject of a round at most half a month later. he must seize every opportunity possible. turning on mrs. chu¡¯s note of the engine, he just read a few lines, and found that the note was a bit¡­ odd. there was a trace of life energy on it. this kind of electronic book only had a recording function, and it had no energy response. so, there was only one possibility for a power fluctuation to appear ¨C that is, someone has intentionally left something on it. the owner of the electronic book is mrs. chu¡­ so the life energy is also hers? he immediately got serious. he traced his finger on the book, and turned to the front and back rows of catalogs to explore. apart from this engine section, the rest of the pages had no such trace. ¡®was it left by accident?¡¯ he guessed as carefully explored the trace with his magic. as soon as a thin sheet of magic was laid over the book, there¡¯s a response. gradually, a faint glow appeared, and it condensed into a line of word: ¡°ssss¡± ¨Ceven more frightening was¡­ the word was actually drawn by blood. an electronic book would automatically remove all stains. blood stains should also be cleaned up. however, if the blood was treated by spiritual power, it would attach itself to the spiritual power, so it couldn¡¯t be cleansed completely by the book¡¯s mechanism. normally, this kind of minuscule blood trace couldn¡¯t be detected by normal equipment, but magic power was nature¡¯s life force, and therefore, could easily sense and manifest this kind of trace of life. he took a deep breath as goosebumps appeared all over his body. he realized something was horribly wrong, so he immediately called chu rong. half an hour later, chu rong hurriedly drove in a hover car and took him back to chu family¡¯s main house. everyone in the chu family gathered in the living room, looking at the electronic book he took out with a serious expression. ¡°you all should be able to sense spiritual traces with your own spiritual power, but this¡­¡±qiao zhiya once again flooded the electronic book with his magic. and soon, a large swatch of ominous red appeared faintly. he retracted his hand, glanced at chu rong, and continued, ¡°this is a bloodstain reaction, i can sense it with my magic power.¡± chu huai and chu rong¡¯s breath hitched. chu yan¡¯s expression also sank as he said, ¡°i remember this relic was found in mother¡¯s office, not carried by her. why is there¡­ blood on it?¡± this was the reason behind chu huai and chu rong¡¯s reaction ¨C such a large blood stain couldn¡¯t be accidental. ¡°mother is a mecha maker, but she died before father did. at that time, this point appeared suspicious to me, and i have doubts surrounding the situation.¡± chu rong stepped forward to pick up the electronic book. his fingers trembled, afraid to directly touch the dark-red stain. holding on to the border of the electronic book, he continued, ¡°now it seems that mother wasn¡¯t killed during the battle, but instead was murdered in her office. the murderer must¡¯ve¡­ moved her corpse to give off an illusion on where she died.¡± at that time, their parents¡¯ death was very fast, as the sudden appearance of the zerg queen wasn¡¯t expected by anyone. mrs. chu died first, followed by the rest of the chu family members. the rescue was rather timely, as chu rong managed to come and kill the zerg queen. at that time, mr. chu was on the verge of death. however, his injury was too grievous, and he died before he could even say a word to chu rong. so even if mrs. chu died before that battle, nobody had the chance to tell the truth. chu huai sat on the sofa, raised his hand to cover his forehead, and whispered, ¡°i arranged the funeral for everyone, the body¡­ i also saw them myself. mother¡¯s fatal injury was on the back. i thought it was caused by a zerg¡¯s sneak attack, now it seems¡­ my conjecture was wrong.¡± mrs. chu¡¯s office was nestled safely in the center of the flagship. how could a zerg enter that deep so easily? ¡°i need to take a look at the flagship.¡± chu rong closed the electronic book. he put it in his own space button instead of giving it to qiao zhiya. he looked at the youth and said, ¡°i will make another copy for you, okay? i will keep the original.¡± qiao zhiya nodded. he took a step forward and took his hand, comforting him silently. chu rong immediately felt the warm weight on his hand. he swallowed, voice sounding as if he¡¯s in a thick daze. ¡°can you detect such blood traces even after treatment?¡± ¡°not necessarily, i need to try it first,¡± qiao zhiya replied, hugging him close to comfort the taller man. ¡°but i will work hard.¡± chu rong hugged him tightly and whispered, ¡°thank you.¡± everyone went to the laboratory and experimented with animal blood first. after completely cleaning the blood traces so it couldn¡¯t be detected by any instrument, qiao zhiya stepped forward and spread out his magic power. after a while, a layer of dark red traces appeared. it can be done! qiao zhiya was relieved and looked back at chu rong. ¡°go to the flagship,¡± chu rong said, his eyes were colder than ever. the chu family¡¯s flagship has always been stored in the chu family¡¯s safe, and it took the spiritual power of the three brothers together to unlock it. the flagship itself was massive ¨C it needed to be parked in a special place. so everyone took the hover car and headed for the private training ground of the chu family. after more than an hour, the hover car landed on the edge of a large training ground. at this time, it was almost midnight ¨C but nobody was drowsy, and instead, everyone¡¯s mood was heavy. chu rong took out the black and gold space button with the flagship inside and waved it towards the center of the training ground. qiao zhiya only felt that he suddenly couldn¡¯t see, as all light disappeared. in fact, his line of sight was blocked by a massive black vehicle. on top of the flagship, he could only see a line of the starry sky above. his eyes were wide open once he realized why chu rong took them to stop at the edge of the training ground and take out the flagship. the flagship was too big ¨C standing there, he couldn¡¯t see how big it was, couldn¡¯t see the edge of it. all he could see was the flagship¡¯s wall. he was like an ant standing in front of an elephant. no wonder chu yan previously said that because the chu family ¡¯s flagship was not well repaired, their strength was affected. its strength is very affected. if the other three great families have such a marvel of technology but the chu family doesn¡¯t, they¡¯re definitely losing out. ¡°go up.¡± chu rong¡¯s voice broke qiao zhiya¡¯s floating thoughts. his mood was mixed once he saw this flagship ¨C it¡¯s been quite a while since he saw his old partner. he took hold of qiao zhiya and said, ¡°it¡¯s late, hurry up.¡± in front of the crowd was the flagship¡¯s head. chu rong directly opened a hatch in the head and took everyone in, then boarded the elevator platform and headed towards the flagship center. qiao zhiya found that the internal structure of the flagship was very similar to the internal structure of chu rong¡¯s warship. his heart trembled, then he glanced at chu rong¡¯s expressionless face, and tightened his grip on his hand. the atmosphere was silent as everyone walked inside this behemoth. without knowing how long he had walked, qiao zhiya only stopped once chu rong stopped first. he said, ¡°here it is.¡± qiao zhiya peered forward. different from the cold and hard style of other areas of the flagship, the area where they arrived was obviously renovated. it was painted with warm tones, and there is even some children¡¯s graffiti on the wall. ¡°this must be my assignment during primary college,¡± chu yan commented as he walked forward, his hand traced the childish drawing with reverie, glossing over the small signature in the corner. there was sadness in his eyes. with a bowed head, he continued, ¡°so mother took it here, no wonder i never saw it again. ¡° there were too many past memories on this ship ¨C and the people involved in those memories were long gone. after ten years of repression, now those bottled-up emotions gushed forward, like a feral beast kept locked inside a cage. it extended its claws at their heart, dripping blood everywhere it scratched. chu huai was the first to stabilize his mood. he leaned to gu yan¡¯an, who was equally affected, then walked to a door, saying, ¡°this is mother¡¯s office. qiao, you ¡­¡± ¡°i¡¯ll try.¡± qiao zhiya interrupted him as couldn¡¯t bear to hear chu huai¡¯s trembling voice. he hugged chu rong before stepping forward, spreading his magic power slowly. soon, the dark red stain appeared on the floor and the door. it started at the center of the floor, stretching towards the door, as tragic as a scene of a horror movie. chu huai and others no longer have time to recall the past. their solemnity dissipated as the murderous volatility fluctuated. qiao zhiya was also scared by the brutality on the scene. his hands clenched, avoiding the blood on the door and twisting the door away, extending his strength towards the dim office. more blood stains and messy footprints gradually appeared. for the first time, he thought that his night vision was a cruel ability. he didn¡¯t know when chu rong stood behind him, but all of sudden, the taller man covered his eyes, preventing him from looking at the tragic remnants of that year¡¯s incident inside the dim office. purely from reflex, chu rong extended his spiritual power to cover the corridor, and it shook the lights until it gave out. ¡°at that time, there might be a traitor inside the flagship.¡± he took out the electronic book again, looked at the ¡°ssss¡± letter, and said, ¡°this is a reminder left by mother, but we have never been able to find what she meant.¡± he even gave this electronic book to master shang, who was grieving after the death of his apprentice at that time. the next day qiao zhiya took a leave. he was busy all night to check any possible blood remains all over the flagship. it was finally determined that mrs. chu was attacked when she was on the way returning to her office after repairing something in the armory. the murderer¡¯s method was very brutal ¨C they didn¡¯t quickly kill her, but instead injured her and chased her until she entered her office. they probably interrogated her or demanded something from her. qiao zhiya did not experience that battle, so he didn¡¯t understand chu huai and chu rong¡¯s discussion about this matter. he slept on the sofa, and was returned later by chu rong. CH 73.3 yuan xiu: chu yan¡¯s bestfriend. qiu guangji: ning kongran¡¯s best friend. bearded teacher aka master shang: qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha teacher in vr. chu rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. luo li: qiao zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. he won the online mecha manufacturing contest. now qiao zhiya¡¯s (and sang bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. long ruifeng: the president. long baorou: the president¡¯s daughter. an leen: imperial princess. an tyn: imperial prince, an leen¡¯s twin brother. the xiang-wei found that the recent atmosphere of the chu family was a bit strange. they kept rectifying and adjusting their own army, and the personnel changes were very frequent. the two families made a lot of guesses and looked around, but they couldn¡¯t find the reason why. all they could do was to prepare for all kinds of situations, if the chu family decided to suddenly attack them. the president lost the support of the you family and was powerless. at the same time, there was news from the empire that the old emperor decided to recall prince an tyn and princess an leen because of the recent turmoil of the empire¡¯s political landscape. he cited that due to his first son¡¯s sudden coup, he decided to more strictly cultivate his remaining children. a few days later, it was confirmed that besides the imperial twins, several other imperial students would also leave with them at the end of the current semester. this represents the complete breakdown of the alliance between the president and the empire. obviously, the president¡¯s previous approach with the first prince angered the emperor. the old emperor cleared up all those officials and reorganized everything. on this day, princess an leen did not go to the seventh round of the star network mecha manufacture match. instead, she sat in a hotel room in the military trade area with prince an tyn and exchanged information about the empire. ¡°it¡¯s finally here.¡± an leen, who looked more mature than before, gently turned the tea cup in front of her. she casted aside her extravagant clothes and accessories, opting to only wear her simple school uniform. with her long hair tied up, she looked like a different person, with a hint of valor between her brows that she didn¡¯t have before. ¡°i used to think that the empire was the best, but now i find that the federation is so good, i don¡¯t want to go back.¡± she sighed, watching her hands roughened by the morning exercises every day, showing a hint of trembling. she once mocked long baorou as a ¡°fake princess¡±. now, it seemed that the ignorant person was actually herself. even if long baorou was a fake princess, she was better than her. she could be herself, and chose her own path in life. she didn¡¯t need to fake her entire personality all the time. she didn¡¯t have blood-related siblings that appear nice on the outside, but secretly stabbed her in the back. she¡¯s envious of such freedom. the imperial royal family maintained an ancient tradition. the emperor could have multiple wives. her mother was just a civilian girl that was collected on the emperor¡¯s whim. she had no political power or wealth. an leen once thought that she was the most honorable of all her sisters, as she was the emperor¡¯s most favored daughter. yet the truth slapped her hard in the face. in order to win over an upstart noble, her father actually wanted her to marry an uncle that was older than her by multiple times. it could be said that this ¡°study abroad¡± trip saved her. at the time, she was so aggressive in pursuing chu rong for this reason also. ¡°ge, you are right. we have no way back. this time, father will definitely marry me off. and you¡­¡± she looked at an tyn with sad eyes, ¡°there is one less prince. but there¡¯s still the second, the third, and the fourth¡­ what will you do?¡± similarly, an tyn, who had become more mature, reached out and took her hand. his tone was firm. ¡°no, you will not be married off at all, and i will be fine. i was confused before, always holding the identity of a ¡®prince¡¯. no need to worry, we have a way to escape. everything will be resolved.¡± an leen understood what an tyn left unsaid. she anxiously asked, ¡°what do you want to do? don¡¯t be impulsive.¡± ¡°nothing, i¡¯ll just apologize to the chu family.¡± prince an tyn clenched her hand tightly and laughed at himself, saying, ¡°this time i have carefully observed the situation of everyone in the federation and found that your choice was not wrong. chu rong is indeed the most worthy person to win over. however, our previous method is used wrongly and we have put ourselves in the wrong position.¡± ¡°ge?¡± an leen became more worried. an tyn smiled at her, then got up and hugged her. ¡°don¡¯t be afraid, i will protect you.¡± the content of the seventh round of the competition was to build a mecha¡¯s arms. this is an important piece. it is the key to the mecha¡¯s flexibility in using weapons. qiao zhiya did it very seriously and completed the game before the timer ran out. this time chu rong didn¡¯t watch the full game and only made a bet to show his support before going offline ¡ª he has been too busy lately. after a few more days, the ning family heard news that elder ning had relapsed and his health deteriorated. as a grandson, ning kong¡¯an decided to stay at the ning family as a sign of filial piety in place of his mother. he didn¡¯t return to the empire for the time being. the old emperor who learned of this matter praised his filial piety vigorously, and sent a batch of rare medicinal materials for elder ning. immediately after, jian chose to stay in the federation on the grounds of his poor health, as he couldn¡¯t stand too much interstellar travel. this was too unreasonable, but the old emperor still agreed, and indirectly expressed kindness and tolerance towards the imperial high advisor. jexiu and charmmi were to return to the empire alongside the imperial twins. jexiu challenged chu yan multiple times while he still could and got defeated. charmmi secretly participated in the mecha manufacturing competition but lost in the fourth round. in the end, only ning kong¡¯an and jian stayed. time slowly slipped away as the situation in the federation shifted to the worse. however, the mecha competition still went on unimpeded. qiao zhiya passed the next few rounds of competitions. he skillfully crafted special-grade parts of intermediate-level and advanced-level. he also modified a lot of them. this refreshed the audience¡¯s perception of his strength. from autumn to winter, the star network mecha manufacturing tournament ushered in the most important round of competition before the final ¨C engine production. at the end of the countdown, a large pile of materials and spare parts appeared on the console. qiao zhiya took a look at the betting odds ¨C it had widened to his favor as the competition went on. he gave the audience a customary bow. the audience had watched him since the beginning. they had long thought of him as their own child. they understood that engine production was not easy, so they did not want him to be pressured. before he muted the audience, they tried to encourage him, letting him know that he just needed to do his best, not to be stressed, and it¡¯s not shameful to fail after getting this high in the competition. qiao zhiya wasn¡¯t worried. he smiled at them, then looked at chu rong sitting in the front row, and for the first time said something other than thanks. ¡°i¡¯ll be promoted,¡± he said confidently, pointing to the odds above his head, narrowing his eyes and smiling brightly, ¡°i have to help chu rong to make money.¡± after waving, he turned and muted the audience by putting up a soundproof barrier. the audience froze as they looked at the odds. complicated feelings washed over their minds, but they ended up cheering loudly and encouraged qiao zhiya. those accusations of the marshal¡¯s spending so much money because he wanted to manipulate the competition officials disappeared. at this point, it¡¯s clear chu rong¡¯s betting wasn¡¯t for that, and instead just a sign to show his support towards his fiance. plus, any sign of cheating would be too conspicuous. it really is true love. the audience was sighing, and suddenly hoped that qiao zhiya could win all the time, until he could make a complete mecha that the system would judge as the winning one. qiao zhiya¡¯s skillful operations were still a delight to watch. luo li leaned on the chair and couldn¡¯t help shaking his legs. he asked, ¡°master, why haven¡¯t you formally accepted him as my junior brother?¡± master shang¡¯s face was dark, and he stared at him from the side, trying to sound calm as he explained the situation. luo li gleefully wheezed. it¡¯s clear that his master¡¯s attempt at digging qiao zhiya was a failure. there¡¯s no way that old man ren wouldn¡¯t be possessive towards his precious apprentice. the engine that qiao zhiya wanted to make was also larger than usual. because engines were delicate and intricate, ¡°feeding¡± wasn¡¯t the appropriate way to make it bulkier. instead, he designed one from scratch, and therefore, the materials provided from the competition wasn¡¯t enough. at first, the audience saw him working on the materials and thought that he was trying to ¡°feed¡± as usual, as he was calm as always. looking at the results, they began to mumble ¨C ¡®why does qiao zhiya keep making small parts? there shouldn¡¯t be a point in making those, right?¡¯ half an hour passed and qiao zhiya was making small parts. another half an hour passed, and he still did the same. of course, this only made the audience even more worried. because the engine was more complicated, the time of this round was slightly extended ¨C 3 hours in total. however, qiao zhiya has used half of that only to make small parts. in theory, even if he started to install the engine now, he shouldn¡¯t have enough time. the audience began to whisper to one another, making a commotion. they started to get pessimistic: ¡®qiao zhiya¡¯s first sentence was actually a joke, right? he knew he was going to be eliminated this time, so he started violently giving up?¡¯ CH 74.1 qiao zhiya put down his hammer and took a look. there was only an hour and a half left. he was busy refining the whiskers grass essence before throwing all the parts into it. after doing this, he took out a forged table prepared in advance, and put down his small hammer. instead, he took out a big hammer from the toolbox provided to the players by the competition officials, and used that to modify his small hammer. the engine needed to be perfect. the small hammer he used was good enough to modify the previous parts, but he never used it to install the said parts. he prepared a set of self-made tools for this engine production. he originally had a specialized hammer, which was the same as this small hammer, but bringing that was against the rules. so he could only modify a small hammer during the competition. time was running out, so he needed to hurry up. the audience saw that he finally stopped making parts, and thought he finally realized that there was not enough time to start the formal assembly. however, they didn¡¯t expect him to bring out an antique-looking forging table¡­ and used that to modify his small hammer. this move of giving up was a bit too pathetic. he even messed up his own tools! despite the incoming deadline, qiao zhiya was still ¡°fooling around¡±, and the audience started to get frustrated. some of the viewers who couldn¡¯t stand watching even leave the audience seat with a heavy heart. the rest of the audience had no expectation of him getting promoted¡­ but they never thought that qiao zhiya would be eliminated like this! he had been doing useless things instead of the engine production, his loss was too humiliating! master shang frowned, both in confusion and worry. ¡°ah, junior brother, why aren¡¯t you in a hurry to assemble the engine? what is the use of the hammer? during the assembly, the hammer is not a very useful tool, there¡¯s better tools to do that more efficiently.¡± luo li put away his optimism and frowned. master shang shook his head, and couldn¡¯t figure out what this unexpectedly young apprentice was planning this time. ¡°take a closer look, i don¡¯t think he will actually sabotage his own work.¡± time passed minute by excruciating minute. as the countdown ticked down to the last hour, qiao zhiya finally ended the transformation of the small hammer, looking up at the time. he then took out a large box, put it in alongside the soaked parts. the audience guessed helplessly and speechlessly. ¡®what is this? what¡¯s in the box? a good engine?¡¯ ¡®haha, this joke is not funny at all.¡¯ qiao zhiya poured out all the parts and arranged them in the order of installation, which took him ten minutes. there are only fifty minutes left in the game, and the audience began a chat amongst themselves: ¡°i no longer have any expectations.¡± ¡°yeah, there¡¯s no need for him to actually compete. let¡¯s just accompany him to the end.¡± in the corner of the auditorium, yuan xiu was eager to hold chu yan¡¯s arm with a grim expression. ¡°i used up all my pocket money to bet on qiao¡¯s promotion. if he loses¡­¡± chu yan hurriedly pulled off yuan xiu¡¯s iron claw-like grip, then rubbed his sore arms. he tried to calm his best friend down. ¡°you have to believe in qiao¡¯s strength. there¡¯s still about an hour left, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°it¡¯s fifty minutes left! forty-nine now!! if you lose everything, your erge will reimburse you, so of course you wouldn¡¯t worry!¡± yuan xiu couldn¡¯t calm down at all, his temper almost burst out. chu yan moved quietly to the side, but in fact he was a little anxious ¨C he also used up all his coffers to bet on qiao zhiya¡¯s promotion. on the other side, qiu guangji slumped in the audience seat, and his soul has returned to the heavens above. this year¡¯s betting scene had been crazy, and if he lost it all now¡­ he¡¯s not sure if he would still be alive. after the parts were lined up, qiao zhiya opened a large box next to it, exposing a strange set of tools inside. the little curiosity that the audience had just raised was immediately extinguished ¨C it¡¯s clear qiao zhiya would continue to play around. he even had his toys ready. then the next second, their slumped bodies sat straight. he seemed to be¡­ moving strangely? in front of the workbench, qiao zhiya condensed his magic power, then simulated it into a spiritual power. he divided it into several strands and used them to control several tools at the same time. after doing this, he continued to do the same with his other hand. after that, a miraculous showing began. the parts and tools connected by a thin thread of spiritual power cross back and forth in the air. the dazzling parts were installed one by one without any pause. a white light flashes between each installation of the parts, signaling a perfect fusion occurring using spiritual power. piece by piece, layer after layer, the arranged parts on the workbench disappeared at a terrible speed, and the engine dragged by the spiritual force thread in the air slowly formed, and became bigger and bigger, showing the correct shape of an engine. what the fuck! the audience was shocked, glanced at the installation scene in front of their face. seeing the myriad threads of dancing spiritual power, they almost couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. what in the ever loving fuck is this!! what kind of tawdry operation is this!! except for asking ¡°what¡±, they don¡¯t know what to say! it was already considered great if someone could maintain the stability of their spiritual power output. but this boy ¨C an exoplanet native who only recently awakened his power ¨C could actually divide his spiritual power and control one, two, three, four¡­ innumerable! amount! of them! perfectly! at the same time!! oh my god, how did this native boy do it! why isn¡¯t his brain melting! an engine is so complicated, that every known mecha maker is always very careful and slow when assembling it! but he actually used this production method to treat it casually! the audience¡¯s jaw dropped, brain exploding, and started to scream: ¡°jiayou!¡± it started a chain reaction, and it led to numerous people screaming the same, as if they were finally awake from a crazy dream. ¡°jiayou! jiayou! if it can be assembled successfully, if he can be promoted¡­ oh my god, this is a miracle!¡± many of them suspected that qiao zhiya threw his game before, and they felt like they were now enlightened. this native boy¡¯s declaration previously was not a joke! he really wanted to do his best and get promoted! he was also confident he could do it with his strength! master shang also briefly froze. he looked at the spiritual powers controlled by qiao zhiya, raised his hand and touched the fake beard on his face, sighing wistfully. ¡°i¡¯m old.¡± this time luo li was too baffled to talk back to his master. his level of spiritual power is s, and he mastered the fine control of spiritual power. he perfectly knows how difficult the thing qiao zhiya is doing now. he probably knows it better than most people. ¡®this cheap master is really¡­¡¯ he couldn¡¯t even sigh, just watched intently, hoping to learn something from this extreme installation that his junior brother is doing. yuan xiu in the corner had gone mad, and chu yan began to wonder. qiu guangji, on the other side, sat up in shock and died. the burnt-up candle of hope in his heart reignited. qiao zhiya was fully concentrating on his operation, completely ignoring the rest of the world. from time to time, he hit the modified parts with his transformed-hammer to make them more closely connected. before coming to the competition, he experimented with the process of making the engine in reality. at that time, it took two and a half hours ¡ª with the entire installation process taking him half an hour to forty minutes. but at that time, he subconsciously used magic power during the installation, and saved time by not trying to simulate them into spiritual power. today, he made it with fifty minutes left. can he finish it before the end of the game? he is actually a little bit tired, but it¡¯s very taboo to get distracted while doing a spiritual power installation. despite his fatigue, he held on. the ticking-down timer suddenly felt suffocating. the audience¡¯s eyes kept darting between qiao zhiya and the countdown board. their nerves were tense, fried to the edges. forty minutes, thirty minutes, twenty minutes¡­ the engine in front of qiao zhiya was already very large, and he had to use a lifting platform to raise himself up a bit to make it easier to observe the installation process. it only became even more nail-biting as the timer continued to run out. their eyes were staring closely at the still-dancing gallops in front of qiao zhiya, their bodies subconsciously leaning forward. in the last ten minutes, there were not many spare parts left on the workbench, and the engine was basically formed. obviously, this engine was also a lot larger than the standard-issue ones. qiao zhiya frowned, slowing down a bit. this kind of fine operation consumed a lot of power. he had already used a bit of his magic power when processing the materials, and consumed part of it when he simulated the magic into spiritual power. so it¡¯s only reasonable that his magic storage was about to reach rock-bottom. plus, this is vr, and he can¡¯t absorb magic stones to replenish it ¨C those virtual magic stones are just normal jades. chu rong, who had been watching calmly, noticed this subtle change in the youth¡¯s expression. he himself frowned. he took a look at the spiritual force in front of him, guessing that qiao zhiya might not have enough strength. subconsciously, he leaned forward. in the last five minutes, with three components left uninstalled, all the spiritual thread in qiao zhiya¡¯s hand suddenly broke. the engine fell straight towards the console. the audience screamed. at a critical moment, qiao zhiya stepped forward and gently placed the engine on the console. he then massaged his throbbing forehead, picked up the tools that had fallen on the console, and started manual installation. ¡°he can keep it up for so long, truly astounding.¡± luo li sighed, admiration tinkling inside his eyes. if it was him, he definitely couldn¡¯t hold on that long. ¡°there are four minutes left, and he still has three parts left. in total, there should be seven circuit connection points to be installed too. time is very tight.¡± master shang¡¯s tension was also shown clearly on his face. one part done, two parts done¡­ the audience watched as qiao zhiya trudged on and their shouts got louder every time. finally, the whole amphitheater resounded in unison to cheer qiao zhiya. a sudden rush of chicken blood injected into the audience, and they all stared in excitement at qiao zhiya¡¯s action. they also started to count down, hoping for a miracle to occur. when the countdown reached the last ten seconds, qiao zhiya¡¯s movement became faster. at the last few seconds, he struck his hammer down one final time, then he looked up at the countdown board. the number has jumped to ¡°2¡±. at the next second, his evaluation jumped out: [round complete. engine value: special-grade. contestant has successfully advanced to the next round.] the moment the prompt pops up, the countdown goes to zero and the round ends. qiao zhiya was so relieved that he laughed. the audience digested in silence for a few seconds, then ruptured into an ear-piercing excited scream, the loudest sound yet. countless people stood up and threw hats and various objects at hand into the air, and some even paid to set up celebration fireworks, blooming beautifully in the virtual sky. ribbons and balloons floated across the sky, and various special effects that cost money were lifted up, decorating this player¡¯s room like a festival celebration. ¡°awesome!¡± yuan xiu couldn¡¯t help but stand up, waved wildly on the stage, and shouted, ¡°qiao, you are the best!¡± chu yan has begun to spend money on gifts. in countless corners of the auditorium, the same praise was issued from different populations. qiao zhiya on the stage turned his head and looked at chu rong sitting in the front row. seeing that he was applauding with a wide smile, qiao zhiya returned that gesture with an equally sunny smile. ¡°i¡¯m promoted!¡± chu rong¡¯s eyes were gentle and proud. ¡°yes, you are great.¡± despite being separated by a soundproof barrier, they both understood what the other meant. qiao zhiya immediately laughed even more brightly. he turned off the muting option and looked at the festive amphitheater. he raised his voice and said, ¡°thank you!¡± the scream broke through the roof again, and qiao zhiya waved at them before logging off. chu rong, sitting in the front row, suddenly frowned and followed suit. t/n: in case you haven¡¯t seen the announcement on knoxt discord: i¡¯m taking a short hiatus (2 weeks or less) because i got a new job! sorry for the inconvenience, and wish me luck! this is technically a small cliffhanger, and the next update is two weeks from now. so if you¡¯re curious: click meqzy logged off because he¡¯s exhausted. cr is worried. CH 74.2 hello readers, i¡¯m back~ a quick reminder: we are living in a shit timeline, when literal genocide are happening, and yet the world leaders just turn blind-eye over it. so, i hope you can educate yourself and support palestine, be it by boycotting, protesting, donating e-sims, petitioning your govt, or via social media. thanks y¡¯all! inside his bedroom, qiao zhiya crawled out of the star net cabin as he panted. he sensed a faint magic source, so he immediately took it ¨C it was a piece of jade. he immediately absorbed it. his communicator suddenly rang. as he glanced at it, he noticed that it was from chu rong. he quickly connected and smiled at him, and said, ¡°i helped you win your bet, do you want to give me any reward?¡± his deliberate brisk tone could not completely hide the weakness in his voice, not to mention that he still held a piece of jadeite that was gradually becoming lighter, and his face was slightly pale. chu rong frowned even tighter and said, ¡°lie on the bed, i¡¯ll pick you up now.¡± qiao zhiya shook his head and tried to reason: ¡°i¡¯m just tired. i have lots of potions to refuel my magic pool, no need to worry. i¡¯m waiting for you to pick me up at the weekend.¡± chu rong looked at qiao zhiya¡¯s pale face. it¡¯s clear that he tried his best to show that he¡¯s fine. his gaze deepened, and he suddenly called out: ¡°qiao zhiya.¡± ¡°huh?¡± after he absorbed a bit of magic power, his magic pool began to faintly heat up. qiao zhiya suddenly felt a little sleepy. ¡°i¡¯m here,¡± chu rong said, his voice muffled, ¡°so no need to hurry to grow up.¡± with this word, his drowsiness disappeared. chu rong looked at his wide eyes and noticed a trace of fragility hidden inside. he wanted to touch him, but could only touch empty air where qiao zhiya¡¯s holographic image was projected. ¡°wait for me, i will be here soon.¡± the communication was hung up, and qiao zhiya looked at the empty air. he raised his hands a few seconds later, blocked his eyes and leaned on the bed. ¡®yeah, with you ¡­ but how long can i live with you?¡¯ ¡®the finals are coming.¡¯ qiao zhiya went downstairs in the bedroom and waited, but accidentally encountered jian who had just returned from the outside. ¡°qiao!¡± jian, whose face was rosy, ran over and asked with a smile, ¡°are you going home?¡± qiao zhiya has become accustomed to his guessing-like speaking style. he nodded, and returned the smile. ¡°why are you still outside this time, what did you do?¡± ¡°i was talking with prince an tyn, he asked me something.¡± jian replied as observed qiao zhiya¡¯s face carefully. suddenly he took out a familiar piece of a hard, disk-like item and put it on his forehead, then hugged him. ¡°don¡¯t rush to grow up. not now.¡± then, he turned around with a smile, then proceeded to hum a strange tune in minor key. after the item was pasted on his forehead, it pulsed with a gentle force, and the heat inside his magic pool dissipated. qiao zhiya felt much better. going back, he wanted to turn to catch up with jian and ask what he meant. however, he immediately caught chu rong¡¯s figure in his field of vision. he turned around and stopped. with a smile on his face, he happily pounced towards chu rong. ¡°look, just as i say, there¡¯s no need to worry! i just need to absorb some power and i¡¯ll be fine.¡± chu rong hugged him back and saw that his complexion had indeed returned to normal. his heart felt relieved, but his brows were still wrinkled. he raised his hand and gently pulled his ears, saying, ¡°next time, don¡¯t do that. you can participate again in the future even if you get eliminated now; your body is more important.¡± qiao zhiya listened to his caring reprimand and answered with obedient hums. he arched his head into his arms, and ran into his chest affectionately. the smile in his eyes disappeared when he bowed his head, leaving him a little sad. ¡®-how long can i stay in his embrace like this?¡¯ on the returning journal, qiao zhiya¡¯s biological clock made him feel asleep in chu rong¡¯s arms. chu rong looked at his subconsciously frowning brow, raised his finger and rubbed gently, his expression faintly agitated. as the game progressed, qiao zhiya¡¯s mistakes and odd demeanor became more obvious. he thought about it, and only guessed that qiao zhiya might be stressed because of the pressure. that, or he was scared by what he saw on the flagship that day. all chu rong could do was to spend as much time as possible together, but that wasn¡¯t effective in calming the youth down. ¡°no more of this damned competition!¡± he cursed in a low voice, tightened his arms and kissed his forehead. his expression long turned black. engagement. once the competition is over, they will be engaged. this type of dangerous and tiring competition¡­ qiao zhiya must not be allowed to participate in the future! that will be bad for his health! time passed in a hurry. on the weekend, chu rong was asked to go out. it took him all morning to come back. after he returned, he immediately took out qiao zhiya, who was helping master ren in his laboratory, and forced him to rest. qiao zhiya was pressed by him on a rattan chair in the yard. in front of him was a pile of snacks and a couple of baby rabbits. he fell silent for a few seconds, but then secretly tried to dig out his notebooks. ¡°if you dare to do anything other than eating snacks and playing with rabbits, i will dare to do you today.¡± chu rong exclaimed as he saw qiao zhiya¡¯s sneaky hand movements. qiao zhiya froze and looked at him, wondering, ¡®what does the word ¡°do¡± mean?¡¯ chu rong narrowed his eyes and deliberately approached him, like a fox grinding his teeth in preparation of eating a chicken. he first blew into his ears, and then quickly squeezed his quivering ears and prevented him from moving. ¡°specifically, i¡¯m going to do what papa bunny do to mama bunny so she can gave birth to a litter of baby bunnies. qiao, you¡¯re an adult, i know you understand.¡± ¡®what papa bunny does to mama bunny so she can give birth?¡¯ qiao zhiya froze, and then stared in bafflement, his heart beating a mile an hour. chu rong put his hand on his back in a timely manner. his warm fingertips slowly approached down, inch by agonizing inch. he was still gently biting on the youth¡¯s ear. ¡°boom¨C¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s face and neck were all red. his body stiffened and he tried to run but was embraced by chu rong. he looked at him from the side in astonishment and embarrassment. ¡°i, i.. bu-but, we¡¯re in public¡­¡± ¡°it¡¯s okay, i¡¯ll be gentle.¡± chu rong squeezed his waist suddenly. he took a piece of snack and took a bite first, then passed the remaining half to his lips, and transferred it directly to qiao zhiya¡¯s closed lips. qiao zhiya subconsciously put out his tongue and licked the older man¡¯s lips. the sweet taste of dessert spread in his mouth, but he still wanted to run away. today¡¯s chu rong was so strange. plus, all of sudden, the youth felt that his legs were soft¡­ the word ¡°do¡± was really dangerous, qiao zhiya did not dare to mess with it. he honestly ate snacks and played with his rabbit under the gentle sun. when chu rong¡¯s grip slacked, he immediately ran with the rabbit into the yard. his forehead was sweating and his face was flushed, and his ears were quivering. ¨Chowever, he was actually happy. it has been a long time since he started to participate in the competition, he never really rested for even one day, his nerves have been tense, and today he has only slightly relaxed. chu rong sat side by side to play with him, and the worries in his eyes finally disappeared. before going to bed at night, chu rong kissed him fiercely. for the first time, his hands roamed into qiao zhiya¡¯s clothes, messing with his body and exploring every inch of it. once the wandering hand went down into the youth¡¯s pants, chu rong gently soothed qiao zhiya¡¯s erection, letting the simple dwarf boy experience the splendor of the adult world for the first time. qiao zhiya laid softly on top of the quilt. his forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat, while his chest was oscillating wildly as he gasped for breath. chu rong has found out from his jerky reaction that this was the youth¡¯s first time. he felt his own reaction, but tried his best to ignore it. instead, he kissed the youth¡¯s forehead, then wiped his wet hands with a tissue. he stripped qiao zhiya¡¯s sweaty pajamas and clothed him with new ones, then wrapped him under a quilt. as he gently stroked his back, he said, saying, ¡°sleep, it¡¯s late.¡± qiao zhiya turned over, his heavy breaths were still visible. shy and confused, he squirmed inside the quilt, whispering, ¡°but you ¡­¡± ¨Cjust now, he felt something hard poking him. chu rong must also be very ¡°excited¡±¡­ probably even more than him. ¡°shh.¡± chu rong held him tightly again. he put his chin on top of qiao zhiya¡¯s head, and said, ¡°it¡¯s time to sleep, there will be a match tomorrow.¡± qiao zhiya was hugged by him like this, easily enveloping himself with chu rong¡¯s distinct aura. he felt both trapped yet safe, but he still could feel something of chu rong. he mumbled, ¡°next time ¡­ i¡¯ll help you ¡­¡± chu rong kissed the top of his head again and did not speak. after a good rest day, qiao zhiya ushered the free round. before officially starting the assembly of the mecha, the official thoughtfully arranged such a less important final event for everyone to adjust their state, plus to let them equip their mecha with extra finishing touches. most people chose to make a weapon for their mecha. and this competition actually provided a batch of secondary-mutated red tin ore as a material candidate. after the secondary-mutated red tin ore was made public for the first time through the auction, this new super-grade material has been slowly known by the public. the virtual version of the secondary-mutated red tin ore is still controlled by the chu family. for balance¡¯s sake, its parameter was as faithful as possible to reality, but even in the virtual world, it was still quite pricey and only available in limited quantities. there was no doubt that the secondary-mutated red tin ore at this star network mecha manufacturing competition was sponsored by the chu family. it was absolutely a big deal. normally, normal people could only be angry at the sky-high prices of this material, but now they could try it for free. ¨Ca certain someone who spent billions to purchase this ore at that auction was probably even more angry, though. at the end of the countdown, qiao zhiya greeted the audience as usual, and then opened the soundproof barrier. he did not hesitate to choose the secondary-mutated red tin ore as the main material, and he did not dare to look at chu rong who was sitting in the first row. he only had one thing in mind: make daggers. the audience hadn¡¯t seen him make weapons, but they had no reason not to be confident in him ¨C qiao must be able to make a mighty weapon! for sure! soon after, qiao zhiya took out a larger version of the ¡°original¡± forging table and took out the hammer again. the audience: ¡°???¡± ¡®wait wait, why do you use such precise tools? why don¡¯t you use a bigger forge this time?? hey, don¡¯t start using it, that high-powered smelting furnace is not so useful!¡¯ without the help of the magic circle, qiao zhiya could only handle the secondary-mutated red tin ore with the help of an instrument. but after powering it up, he began crazily hammering down the ore. as he kept hammering it, a dagger slowly took shape. audience: ¡°¡­¡± is this all right? still this kind of operation? wouldn¡¯t other mecha makers cry seeing you able to use primitive tools and make better weapons than them? how long are you going to use this hammer?? after the dagger was formed, qiao zhiya repaired it slightly, then dyed the dagger to black with a weapon-specific paint, then engraved some golden complex patterns with his own hands. some art students looked silently, and suddenly wanted to chop off their own hands. this junior mecha maker is better at drawing than them! what use do they want for these hands! during the two-hour match, qiao zhiya spent only one hour making weapons, and then spent 40 minutes dyeing and drawing patterns on the weapons. finally, a short dagger with sharp lines and black gold color was finally completed. the audience applauded numbly. ¡®very good, you are great, we absolutely have no idea that marshal chu likes black the most.¡¯ the system gave the results in a timely manner. most of the weapons¡¯ values ??were super, and qiao zhiya advanced without any doubt. witnessed the birth of a super-grade weapon, but the audience was not surprised. ¡®ahh suddenly jealous of the marshal!! i want to steal such a cute and powerful qiaoqiao!¡¯ CH 74.3 afterwards, the official held two rounds for the rest of the categories. time flew by and for qiao zhiya, his first semester was completed after finishing the final exam with flying colors. on the third day after the official holiday, the most important round ¨C the final ¨C began. at 7:30 in the evening, qiao zhiya teleported into the player¡¯s room, took out his own design and looked at it again, then he breathed out. finally only the last step left, he must be successful. he must be. flashing in front of him, chu rong¡¯s figure appeared in front of him, reaching out to him. ¡°come here.¡± qiao zhiya smiled, rushed forward without hesitation, then kissed him. chu rong bowed his head and kissed him back. touching his head, he said, ¡°i will look at you from below.¡± ¡°mn.¡± qiao zhiya nodded as he rested his head on chu rong¡¯s chest. he listened to his heartbeat and said with conviction: ¡°i will succeed.¡± the two held each other silently. chu rong left before the game began. qiao zhiya sat back in front of the console and opened the soundproof barrier in advance ¨C this time, he couldn¡¯t be distracted at all. at 8:00, all the parts he has made since the first round of competition appeared on the workbench. he immediately got up, recalled the installation sequence he had familiarized himself with, and started to move. the audience who did not get the usual greetings saw him start the assembly directly, stopped to cheer and scream, but looked nervous. first, the youth set up the basic skeleton, then vacated the position of the engine, and slowly installed the parts outward from the center, layer by layer, point by point, until the final protective shell was installed. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t know how long the time had passed, he didn¡¯t have time to pay attention. he only had this mecha in his eyes. compared to complex engine production, assembling mecha was actually simpler, which can be seen from the competition time. it¡¯s like building with lego. the lego parts are all available already, and he only needed to put them together. finally, he carefully installed the engine, and then installed the outer mecha shell. a black-gold mecha that was much taller than the regular mecha appeared in the middle of the stage. the audience could not help but begin to be jealous of chu rong again. especially when they watch that qiao zhiya started to carefully dye the outer shell with black paint. qiao zhiya took a step back and looked at the outside that seemed to have finished. but only he knew that it was actually a semi-finished tall mecha. then, as luo li did last year, he sat at the mecha¡¯s feet, and started to gather spiritual power. the second-to-last step in the assembly of the mecha, the spiritual force combing, has begun. in the eyes of the audience, the black mecha on the stage gradually became translucent, and each part became colored based on their degree of finishing. then they were shocked to find that the color of all parts of the mecha was actually uniform! in other words, this mecha in qiao zhiya basically does not need to be combed, because it has reached perfect fusion at the time it was made! fuck! how can this happen? so far, no mecha maker has been able to perfectly control the spiritual force response between them when making mecha parts, even a famous master! the spectators got agitated, and then started urging qiao zhiya to immediately start the final step of assembling the mecha ¡ª installing the driving system and protection system, and complete the game as soon as possible! they can¡¯t wait to see how the completed mecha moves! on the stage, qiao zhiya did not do as they wished, but slowly spread his spiritual energy into the mecha. instead of scouring the mecha as luo li did, he began to use spiritual power to strengthen the joints of parts of the mecha. manual driving will depend heavily on the performance of the mecha, so he wants to insure it to be as perfect as possible. besides the typical spiritual driving system, he treated this mecha as a manually-driven one. the audience stopped urging and only blankly looked at qiao zhiya, puzzled. ¡°this kid is ¡­¡± master shang couldn¡¯t help but chuckled and looked at luo li. ¡°master, don¡¯t talk, i know i¡¯m not as good as my junior brother. please show me some mercy.¡± luo li quickly waved his hand to block his words, and has long been completely convinced by his junior brother¡¯s mightiness. master shang¡¯s words were blocked, so all he could do was to glare at luo li. he turned to look at qiao zhiya, who was sitting quietly on the stage, smiling even more happily, ¡°the younger generation is very good, indeed.¡± he believed that not long after this, the federation will have another mecha master. finally strengthening the joints to his satisfaction, qiao zhiya stood up, suppressed the urge to immediately begin to study the manual driving system. with a stretched face, he installed the spiritual driving system and said silently in his heart, ¡®i¡¯m sorry, i have to wrong you for the time being. i¡¯ll install the correct system sometime later.¡¯ after installing the driving system, he turned to the mecha¡¯s weapon slot and installed the short dagger. the installation and commissioning of the protective system began only after completion. three minutes before the game was over, everything was finally done. he took a deep breath, climbed into the mecha cockpit, and turned the mecha on. ¡°hello, my maker, please give me a name.¡± an electronic voice suddenly sounded in the cockpit. qiao zhiya took a moment to look at the mechanical smiley face on the screen, his heart jumped with excitement. he whispered, ¡°rong tian, ??your name is rong tian.¡± [ding! congratulations to , who finished the round. your competition position will be announced in ten minutes. please take a break.] a system prompt rang. he sat cross-legged in the cockpit, letting out a long sigh. he suddenly felt a sense of emptiness after completing a certain goal. at this step, he was already satisfied. he doesn¡¯t care what the ranking is, and there are too many changes he wants to make for this mecha in the future. plus, it¡¯s necessary to reserve a place to install a pure manual driving system, there will definitely be some redundant data on the test data he will discard. plus, because of the mismatched driving system, the overall performance will definitely be lower. it¡¯s not that the spiritual driving system is inferior, it¡¯s just that the different adjustments made cannot be efficiently used by the spiritual driving system. all in all, there are thousands of finalists, and he doesn¡¯t think he will get a good ranking, there are too many people better than him. if it weren¡¯t for the maximum age set in for the competition, he might not have even won the top 1,000. ¡®so¡­ it¡¯s over, isn¡¯t it time to confess?¡¯ the manual driving system has not been developed yet, and he has not been able to successfully make a firearm. he has just thought of a way to increase the power of the attacking magic array for firearms, but he has not had time to conduct further experiments. outside of the mecha, the audience cheered to celebrate the end of the game. seeing that qiao zhiya was slow to come out, they guessed that he might be crying inside the cockpit. five minutes later, a mid-air system prompt popped out ¨C a new bet had begun. there is no such thing as promotion and elimination in the finals. they can only bet on the ranking a contestant will place, so the bet will only be opened after a contestant finishes their round. this bet is also the last and the most exciting bet of all. on the holographic screen there are options: whether to bet the contestant will place within top 3, top 10, top 50, top 100, or top 1000. each with different odds, with the top 3 had the highest odds and payouts. the bet is restricted to the audience in the player room, so it means that the audience in qiao zhiya¡¯s room can only bet for qiao zhiya¡¯s ranking placement. qiu guangji in the corner saw this bet as he thought of ning kongran¡¯s explanation. oor the first time, he didn¡¯t follow his friend¡¯s suggestion and did not place a bet. ¡®he¡¯s kinda crazy, but i¡¯m not. there were many powerful players in this competition. although qiao zhiya¡¯s performance is very eye-catching, placing in the top 3 is still impossible. ahh¡­ kongran, you are going nuts lately.¡¯ other relatives and friends who have always supported qiao zhiya in betting for his promotion also hesitated. then dispelled the idea of ??betting ¨C the ranking thing really is not accurate, and might as well not give money to the competition¡¯s officials. audiences other than them have nothing to worry about, and have started betting one after another. the amount of money for the ¡°top 100¡± and ¡°top 1000¡± options began to increase madly. in contrast, the bet amount and the number of people in the ¡°top 3¡± and ¡°top 10¡± is zero. on the whole, the audience ¡¯s expectations for qiao zhiya ¡¯s ranking are not too high. after all, qiao zhiya is too young. this is his first time assembling a complete mecha. ranking in the top 100 is already a sign of his amazing skill. chu rong was very worried about qiao zhiya, who didn¡¯t come out from the cockpit. seeing that there were still some people who bet on ¡°top 1000¡±, his mood became even more unpleasant. he operated his own system console, and soon, the id of ¡°rong tian¡± appeared, hanging high in the first place, and the amount of bets was more than any previous time. the audience was shocked. marshal chu actually bet on qiao zhiya placing in the top 3? some of them are even afraid for betting on the top 100, and yet, marshal chu dared¡­ ah, he really went crazy because of love. if the youth knows that the marshal is giving money to the tournament official, will he be angry with him? the amount of money on the betting screen stopped for a moment, and then slowly increased again. again, nobody dared to buy beyond ¡°top 100¡±. chu yan stared at the tall and mighty mecha on the stage, remembering the miracles repeatedly created by qiao zhiya¡­ and bought ¡°top 3¡±. ¡°are you crazy?¡± yuan xiu couldn¡¯t help pulling his arm. ¡°you also said that erge will reimburse my loss. if i, as qiao¡¯s family, doesn¡¯t support him, wouldn¡¯t he be sad?¡± chu yan said, his gaze swept across the open cockpit door of the mecha with worry. ¡®this is not right. why didn¡¯t qiao come out to find erge after finishing? is he really crying with excitement?¡¯ time suddenly slowed down like molasses. five minutes later, the betting game was closed. a large number of ribbon fireworks suddenly floated over the player¡¯s room. then, big, bold, golden-lettered words appeared mid-air, reflecting everyone¡¯s shocked face. [congratulations to the contestant qiao for winning the 1106 star network mecha manufacturing championship! thank you for your wonderful experience! the awards ceremony will begin later, please be prepared for transmission.] the audience froze, qiao zhiya froze, all looking up at the line of golden reminders, full of question marks. ¡®first place? how can it be?¡¯ if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 75.1 the ribbons are still floating, the fireworks are still playing, but the champion has not come out of the mecha. the audience is still shocked silent, and time feels suspended. at this moment, no one believed that qiao zhiya actually won the championship. ¡°fucking amazing!¡± someone from the audience cursed with emotion. and that¡¯s the first stone that breaks the silence. first they looked at each other for a few seconds then at the ground, and then sighed in disbelief. ¡®the first? really first? marshal chu actually won the bet too?¡¯ ¡®no no no! how can that be! qiao zhiya is just a freshman, he is only 18 years old! before this competition, he had never made a mecha in reality!¡¯ ¡®all the other famous players in the competition have been bulldozed by such a complete mecha-making newcomer? all the intermediate and advanced mechas they made were lost compared to this guy¡¯s creation?¡¯ ¡®this is unscientific! we are prepared for this mecha to be unusable! we were all ready to wait for qiao zhiya to come out of the cockpit and applaud him! the fans even prepared a comfort salute in advance!¡¯ ¡°oh my god¡­¡± qiu guangji in the corner stared at the golden system reminder still hanging mid-air. he poked it, then blinked a few times to make sure he wasn¡¯t seeing hallucinations. he then slapped his forehead as he nursed a budding headache. he really placed first. he didn¡¯t believe his friend, and he can only hope ning kongran would be content in letting qiu guangji change his surname and not chopping him down. in his defense, he never imagined that this native, freshman boy could really take first place. this is unscientific! he¡¯s over!! meanwhile, chu yan was flabbergasted, and yuan xiu besides him couldn¡¯t believe his eyes either. ¡®qiao won first place? won the whole competition? he¡¯s really the champion? is the system an error??¡¯ master shang was also looking at the golden prompt in mid-air. after his mind returned, he smiled and touched his beard. ¡°he really won.¡± luo li looked at him and asked, ¡°what is it? master, did you expect it earlier? why?¡± ¡°why? that¡¯s a good question. you are all deceived by qiao¡¯s age and thin resume. his mecha is completed under all of our eyes. if you think about it, you will know why.¡± master shang waved his hand and continued to sigh, ¡°to this day, ren mo and i are no longer qualified to be qiao¡¯s masters. he is too good to get today¡¯s achievements at such an age. we are nothing compared to him. you are right, he is a genius, and a genius who can learn on his own. we can only be the one who leads him and provides him with learning resources. we cannot be his master. ¡° luo li froze, finally realizing what his master meant. ¡®not qualified to be a master of qiao zhiya? does this mean that qiao zhiya will become a master with them in the future? or even ¡­ higher?¡¯ not far from them, master ren, who came alone to watch the game, suddenly raised his hand and applauded merrily. he watched qiao zhiya grow step by step to the present. at this moment, he felt very fortunate. after discovering the peculiarities of his metal dolls back then, he immediately brought qiao zhiya, who was not very familiar with the common language at that time, into the mecha manufacturing world. such a genius. if they all missed him, it would be the greatest loss to the federation and humanity. qiao zhiya in the mecha raised his head and repeatedly confirmed that the system prompt was true. then he walked out of the mecha cockpit with suspicion, and put the mecha into a space that the system requested. then he turned off the soundproof barrier. he immediately zeroed in on chu rong. with a dumbed expression, he whispered to him, ¡°i won.¡± chu rong looked at his frightened look, and felt tickled. he replied, ¡°it¡¯s only right.¡± in fact, the two could not hear each other¡¯s voice. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t open up, and the auditorium was very noisy. everyone vented their emotions, and they didn¡¯t even find qiao zhiya to speak. the audience who had slowly recovered from the shock was screaming and cheering at him. the consolation salute prepared before became a celebration salute. the sky above the auditorium was again drowned by special effects such as fireworks and various ¡°congratulations¡±. it was very colorful and festive. qiao zhiya looked at all of this, and gradually faded away, looking sideways at the space button lying quietly on the console. he realized that he could frame the winning certificate and gifted it to chu rong. excited and joyous feelings came to mind. he looked at chu rong again, then slowly turned his eyes to the cheering and noisy auditorium. in the end, he could only repeat, ¡°i won.¡± the auditorium was quiet, and then the audience cheered and screamed more enthusiastically, responding wildly to his words. ¡°yes! you win! at the age of 18, you won the star network mecha manufacturing competition! the youngest champions ever! you created a record!¡± ¡°you are the best!¡± various shouts came from all directions. qiao zhiya stood in the center, but only looked ahead again at chu rong. for the first time since this round began, chu rong showed a clear, genuine smile. qiao zhiya looked back. his chest felt stuffy. he blinked then lowered his head. ¡®it turned out that chu rong¡¯s real smile was so good-looking. ahh, i¡¯m so glad i won.¡¯ ¡°thank you all.¡± he looked up, shouted loudly with red eyes, and bowed towards the auditorium for a long time. some emotional audiences saw him flushed and couldn¡¯t help crying. they followed him for three months, and it¡¯s all so worth it! the system prompt appears at the right time. the countdown starts and all spectators and players will be teleported into the awards room. the space button on the console disappeared, and qiao zhiya stood up at the end of the countdown, looking at chu rong sitting in the middle, grinning a silly smile at him. chu rong¡¯s eyes moved suddenly. he got up, straight across the barrier between the auditorium and the player¡¯s seat, came forward, and hugged him tight. the audience watched as chu rong¡¯s figure suddenly appeared on the player¡¯s platform, and then held qiao zhiya in a very natural and domineering manner. the countdown was over, and before the fireworks flower bloomed, they had appeared on the official in the awards room. ¡­curses! the audience was crazy. the husband-husband pair finally show some pds action, but the official just had to block them from seeing with their horrid timing! qiao zhiya did not expect that chu rong would suddenly come forward and hug him, but he had no time to hug him back. the moment his vision returned, he already appeared on a gorgeous stage. there were two uncomfortable uncles standing next to him, separated by a virtual barrier. the uncle who was a little fatter on the left saw him appear, looked at him with his face down, and hummed coldly, ¡°champion? you¡¯re the champion? it¡¯s really different if you had a background supporter.¡± the thinner uncle on the right also followed, glancing at him, but kept silent. his expression wasn¡¯t good, though. his inquiring eyes held a smoldering anger beneath them, as he was obviously questioning the result of the competition. qiao zhiya glanced back and forth, and finally fell on uncle fatty, saying sincerely, ¡°thank you for boasting that chu rong is my supporter, i will tell him truthfully.¡± uncle fatty was stunned, and turned away angrily before daring to say anything unpleasant. the official seems to be doing something deliberately. actually, the spectators of all players are separated accordingly. the player ids that they support are also placed in front of the area, so the audience of the top 3 players next to the audience area is not pleased with each other. the audience in qiao zhiya¡¯s area, in particular, became a thorn in the eyes of the other two audiences. the 2nd and 3rd places are long-established mech makers. they have many other awards and masterpieces. there are many other powerful players like this. in the eyes of outsiders, after entering the final, the battle for the 1st and 2nd places are between those two. as a result, although everyone in the final top 10 places was basically occupied by popular players, the championship was won by a young ¡°idol1as in, qzy is young, good-looking, and popular. celebs with those attributes have a tendency of relying on their looks to hide away their lacking skills.¡± contestant. how can this not make people angry! it¡¯s like he¡¯s getting secret support, totally unfair! the qiao zhiya¡¯s audience was baptized by the eyes of all the other players¡¯ supporters. in their hearts, they felt a mix of feeling wronged, happy, and confused. in all honesty, it felt good being the subject of envy, but they were also not sure about qiao zhiya¡¯s championship, so this cool feeling felt fleeting at best. seeing them like this, the audience of other players couldn¡¯t help humming, and became more and more certain that there was a problem with the game result. when they decided to wait to announce the winner of the game, they would boo qiao zhiya, regardless of his status as the marshal¡¯s fiance! in any case, they refuse to accept this clearly unjust result! cheaters have no rights to win! there was no lively celebration at the awards ceremony at all. instead, there was a dark tide among the audience, filled with the smell of hidden gunpowder2they¡¯re in a middle of a fight breaking out.. the host didn¡¯t seem to notice the strange atmosphere of the auditorium at all, or were deliberately ignoring it. after some usual necessities, he mysteriously smiled and stopped talking nonsense. ¡°now, we shall showcase the magnificent creations of the top 10 contestants! first, let¡¯s welcome the 10th placer, lu renjia! he came from an a-class planet, and his mecha is well-known for having a high strength, high¡­¡± as the host prattled on, a mecha that looked very mighty and intimidating appeared on the stage. it was not like a human, but a bit like a gorilla. it had a large arm and a fist to match, and it looked very destructive at a glance. afterwards, its data ¨C which was projected on top of the mecha ¨C also proved its look. the enthusiasm of the audience was finally mobilized, and their attention was drawn back to the mecha. they began to discuss the unique shape of the mecha. the mecha¡¯s data is listed in the next column of the host¡¯s introduction. the last data is the overall rating of the mech, and it is no surprise that it is high-grade. although this mecha is powerful, it is a bit too bulky and cumbersome to drive. it clearly has problems with its speed and flexibility, so it only ranks 10th. the knowledgeable mecha pilots and makers alike nodded and agreed with this evaluation. indeed, although the performance of this mecha is high-grade, its weaknesses are too serious, and it can only be deployed in very specific situations, such as places with high gravity. it¡¯s not suitable for a daily-use, main mecha. followed that, was the 9th place. when the mecha by the 9th-ranked contestant appeared on the stage, the 10th-ranked one automatically slid to the corner, but its data was still highly visible. the audience is accustomed to this, because this is the feature of the awards ceremony of the star network mecha manufacturing competition ¨C mecha ranking showcase. all of the top 10 contestants¡¯ creations will be displayed for all people to see, and the audience will be free to comment. the 9th-ranked mecha was also a high-grade mecha, with balanced performance and no special highlights, a true jack-of-all trades but master of none. the 8th-ranked mecha was another specialized mecha that emphasized its speed and light defense, its shortcomings particularly obvious but not as glaring as the 10th¡¯s. and it goes like that, with each higher ranking showing particular highlights but also its shortcomings, but the audience could clearly see why they¡¯re placed within their ranking. CH 75.2 finally it was time to showcase the top 3. the seven mechas already announced on the field had been arranged to the side, leaving only the middle position empty. then, 3 beams of lights suddenly appeared, illuminating those empty spaces. the audience unconsciously sat up straight ¨C the most exciting part of the awards ceremony finally arrived. the host did not care about everyone¡¯s impatience, and began to announce the mecha of the 3rd-ranked contestant. at the same time, a small white mecha appeared under the light beam on the left. the mecha¡¯s body lines were smooth and thin, which was obviously a design razor-focused on women. ¡°huh?¡± luo li raised an eyebrow. master shang frowned, and then snorted coldly. instead of giving the 3rd-ranked contestant cheers and congratulations, the audience fell into hushed whispers of frantic discussions. as everyone knows, xiao luoli, the champion of the last star network mecha manufacturing competition, won the championship with a small mecha that is known for its speed. at that time, it caught the eye of everyone. and now, the 3rd-ranked contestant¡¯s mecha seemed to be very similar to luo li¡¯s work. both are small mecha that are painted in a sleek, all-white dye. even the shoulder-to-waist line is similar. the biggest difference is that luo li¡¯s mecha is not specifically designed for women, while this 3rd-placer clearly did. it bore the design of the amalgamation of various popular mecha that is popular with women. only the blind would say otherwise. mecha driving is not gender-restricted, and after centuries of development, the typical driving style of male and female mecha warriors have clear differences. while both are equal in overall effectiveness, male mecha pilots typically have a more aggressive spiritual power, and thus, more rough, ¡°barbaric¡± fighting style. in contrast, female mecha pilots typically have more ¡°tolerant¡± spiritual power, which makes their fighting style more detailed and thorough ¨C less brute force, basically. although this distinction is not absolute, this trend still rang true for many people. this also causes mecha makers to have a clear bias when designing a mecha for different sexes. but mostly, this deviation is generally reflected in the choice of changing the mecha weapon and various auxiliary functions to suit one¡¯s preferred fighting style. and as for this mecha on the stage, from body shape to style, to weapon design, it is obviously tailor-made towards girls. the creator of this mecha is obviously trying to please the female audience, but also subtly grasped the enthusiasm that xiao luoli created. to put it frankly, it¡¯s obvious that he wanted to win by reading the ¡°meta¡±, and this reflected on his face. it kinda left a bad taste in the mouth for many. on the stage, the host is still announcing the performance of mecha. naturally, the mecha itself is fantastic. because it mimics the design of xiao luoli¡¯s, it is also very dazzling in terms of speed. he also installed an anti-sneak automatic protection settings on its back, which was shaped like a pair of sharp, blazing wings. in all honesty, it looked pretty cool. in addition, some areas of the mecha actually reached special-grade. this reflected the maker¡¯s great skill ¨C and for many audiences, its glaring shortcomings is the maker¡¯s paradigm, which they didn¡¯t want to support. except for the audience who have already supported him, the audiences of other players couldn¡¯t fully endorse this design philosophy. in fact, they wished he didn¡¯t get as high as 3rd place, even if he made various special-grade parts. the thing is, xiao luoli donated the design patent of his mecha after winning last year¡¯s competition. whoever wants to use the design can do so as long as they donate a sum of money to charity. however, using that to participate in this competition feels¡­ purposeful1simply put, the audience doesn¡¯t like that he won by ¡°pandering to a specific audience¡±, especially since he clearly based it on the previous champion¡¯s hype.. the audience applauded sparsely, and the response was not as enthusiastic as when the 4th place was announced. uncle fatty, who was still standing behind the barrier, was flushing red with indignation and anger. qiao zhiya turned to look at him, and then looked at the small but unrecognizable mecha, and stood slightly aside, with his hands behind his back. he couldn¡¯t say anything without making it awkward. but he clearly was pissed. his senior brother-slash-teacher¡¯s design was misappropriated, nay, stolen, in such a frank way, and it was used to enter a competition. he wanted to hit that uncle fatty a bit. after responding to the 3rd-placer with indifference, the host immediately announced the 2nd-ranked mecha ¨C it¡¯s a tall mecha, dyed in black and gold. qiao zhiya was stunned, so was qiao zhiya¡¯s audience. in stark contrast to the 3rd-place, the 2nd-place¡¯s mecha is tall and heavy, obviously more designed for male users in mind. it has a black body with various golden embellishments on its body, and it looks like a black panther waiting to attack. the enthusiasm of the audience immediately rekindled, they fell into a lively discussion. the mecha itself is designed like a weapon. its shape was full of spikes and sharp angles, reminding people of danger. this mecha is really beautiful and cool, but with its overly flashy design, it¡¯s clear that it¡¯s design is not for the battlefield, but rather to be collected by rich people. after the appearance of the mecha, with the host¡¯s introduction, the performance of the mech was listed on the top of the head. the audience listened and watched, their eyes could not help but widen. the host was very satisfied with their response. he raised his voice as he continued, ¡°yes, all the combat aspects of this mecha are indeed special-grade! strength, hardness, parts integration¡­ but also its weapon, a cannon, all of them are special-grade in value! this mecha is almost a super-grade mecha as a result!¡± the audience roared, almost in unison: ¡°super mecha! no, it¡¯s almost a super mecha!¡± ¨Calthough some aspects of the mecha have only reached high-grade, being classified this way is already amazing! they actually saw this amazing mecha in this competition. to scale, in the entire blue galaxy, the number of mecha masters that can make a super mecha can be counted with one hand. and a lot of those masters were eccentric hermits, rarely appearing in the eyes of the public, let alone enter a competition. and now, they are fortunate enough to see such an excellent prospector mecha master-to-be making a mecha! how can they not be excited! the audience who originally supported the 2nd-ranked contestant started to cheer. and from time to time, they used their eyes to scorn at the 3rd-place and at the unannounced champion, as if saying: look! this is the player they support! making real mecha using their original design! he didn¡¯t use their special privileges, only needed to prove his worth using his strength! the true uncrowned champion! the audience of the 3rd-ranked contestant was embarrassed and angry, but could not respond. the audience of qiao zhiya¡¯s responded strangely, watching the mecha on the stage with strange eyes and clapping clumsily, making other people wonder whether they were embarrassed or otherwise. from beyond the barrier, qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t help looking at uncle skinny. uncle skinny noticed his gaze, glanced back at him indifferently, the corner of his mouth twitched. then he turned his gaze away, as if looking at qiao zhiya was enough to dirty him. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears twitched, silently retracting his gaze, and his fist gripped the hem of his shirt. ¡®how did it happen? not only do we both make tall and large mechas, but both are also colored with black and gold. then, when my mecha will be announced, wouldn¡¯t¡­¡¯ now, all the runner-ups¡¯ mecha has been introduced, and the enthusiasm of the audience has been completely mobilized. the anger and suspicion that the champion was taken away by qiao zhiya was burned by the warm atmosphere just now, and it has swelled. the runner-ups are so powerful. the champion must at least make a super mecha, but can qiao zhiya do it? they stared at the only beam of light in the middle of the stage where no mecha had appeared yet, rubbing their palms in anticipation. after this, no matter what kind of mecha appeared there, they would have to jeer at it. they had to prove that nobody can abuse their special privileges! a huge percentage of the audience think this way. finally, the host suddenly raised his voice and announced that he would exhibit the work of the champion next. echoes of booing came from the runner-up¡¯s audience immediately, and before the whole arena could be enveloped by this sound, a colossal mecha ¨C much, much bigger than the other 9 mechas ¨C appeared in the middle. the audience¡¯s boos were interrupted prematurely. standing side-by-side, there were two mechas with the same coloring of black and gold. naturally, they would get compared within seconds. both are black with gold embellishments. however, qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha was obviously better looking ¨C the color was more beautiful, the pattern was more exquisitely carved, the body size was also larger, the mecha body lines were sleeker, the body proportion was more perfect and eye-catching¡­ there¡¯s no comparison, the youth¡¯s mecha looks leagues better than the one next to it. it stood there silently, making the 2nd-ranked one look like a baby panther in comparison. it has a genuine, sharp sense of danger than only a wild animal could have. compared with it, the other 9 mechs felt all ¡°dead¡±, only passively waiting for people to drive. this tall mecha was ¡°alive¡±, as if a dragon who laid patiently, waiting for a dragon knight to bring it to war ¨C proud and powerful. even the qiao zhiya¡¯s audience who watched this mecha built before their own eyes couldn¡¯t help but scream in awe. it was majestic-looking before, but now, when it could be compared to other mecha, it looked even better. with the spotlight hitting on it, it triggered a sense of deja vu they couldn¡¯t fully describe. they¡¯re thinking hard, trying to describe the feeling in their hearts at this moment. ¨Cthen, someone gasped ¡°marshal!¡±, and this was enough to make them all nod in agreement, all looking even more excited. that¡¯s right! this mecha felt like their own marshal chu, as if the real person was standing before them, full of hidden power and danger. it wasn¡¯t just them who felt this way. the audience of other contestants was also slowly convinced that this mecha is truly¡­ deserving of its placement. they swallowed their jeers. uncle skinny behind the barrier looked at qiao zhiya with trembling pupils. he frowned, and his breath became deeper. uncle fatty showed a shocked look, as if unbelieving at what he looked. qiao zhiya¡¯s expression was calm, but his ears betrayed his facade. ¡°isn¡¯t it only a bit more good-looking? it¡¯s not more powerful than the others¡­¡± an audience of a runner-up contestant reluctantly made an excuse. those who heard their words quickly echoed and convinced themselves. that¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it just looking better? mecha is about strength, appearance is secondary. this native boy is really shameless! to please the marshal, he even went to such a length! he¡¯s so young, but his boot-licking prowess is unmatched already. qiao zhiya¡¯s audience who faintly heard these contemptuous speeches couldn¡¯t help glaring at them, but couldn¡¯t find the right words to refute, because they really had no knowledge of the performance of qiao zhiya¡¯s mecha. in the end, they could only silently glare at them, feeling a hint of humiliation flashing inside their chest. so the contempt of the other audience members became louder. on the stage, the host felt that he had stirred enough interest via the mecha¡¯s appearance. he made some small talk, then he waved his hand, catching the audience¡¯s focus. ¡°as for the performance of this mecha, everyone can see for themselves. i can only say ¨C this is a nearly perfect mecha! no! in my mind, it is already perfect!¡± this statement drew their aggro immediately. the audience moved their eyes to the data listed above the mecha, ready to see how perfect this ¡°stupid big¡± mecha is! the first data shown is the data of the shape of the mecha, all of which are special-grade, all written in a golden font. the eyebrows of the audience who are ready to pick a fight furrowed. they reasoned: well, the outward shape is secondary. the performance is much more important. then the next second, mecha performance data jumped out, their furrowed eyebrows froze. the first is the hardness of the mecha¡¯s shell ¨C special-grade. then, the degree of fusion of the various parts of the mecha ¨C special-grade. strength, endurance, joint flexibility, engine quality, fuel-consumption efficiency¡­ all special-grade. even flexibility and speed, both of which are notoriously finicky to tune for such a big mecha, are special-grade. the auditorium quieted slowly until the final mech evaluation jumped out, and finally they couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath. [super mecha] this¡­ this is really a perfect mecha! the most terrible thing is that this mecha has almost no obvious shortcomings. it is powerful, speedy, flexible, with high defense and endurance. this is the dream mecha of all mecha warriors!! they want it for themselves, ah! super mecha, they actually saw a real super mecha! the host stepped out in time to show a dazzling smile, adding, ¡°not only that, this mecha is also a completely modified mecha. that is, from its smallest part to the engine, all of them are made from modified parts with original design. of course, this also means that its assembly structure is special, and its size has broken the convention! all parts of this mecha have undergone fine and strict transformations! and all of them have been successfully done with the highest degree of fusion! and as for its supporting weapon, this dagger, is also a super-class weapon!¡± the audience was shocked again. while qiao zhiya¡¯s audience ¨C who now had the ground for boasting him ¨C began to nod their heads madly. that¡¯s right, their little cutie did modify all the parts. although the engine only undergoes a small change, it is massive compared to a normal engine! this breakthrough is already very powerful! ¡°furthermore, all the modifications are all beneficial. even the simplest primary parts have greatly improved performance after being modified.¡± the host said, pointing to the joints of the mecha, and continued, ¡°in addition, i can personally say that the joints are what amazed me the most. everyone knows that mechas have a maximum height. this limitation existed because once it exceeds this height, the joints of the mecha will easily wear out and be destroyed in battle because it simply cannot hold up its mass. this also applies to the skeleton.¡±2this is true to life, btw. it¡¯s called square-cube law. ¡°but, qiao zhiya solved this problem. he made a change in the adapter shaft at the joints and the subsequent assembling. with this genius change, humanity now can break through that size limitation! qiao zhiya, i would like to personally thank you for your contribution! we all should be proud of him! he may be a novice in matters of experience, but his creativity and skill has left many in the dust!¡± after his reminder, the audience once again paid attention to the colossal body of this mecha ¨C indeed, it was much bigger than the typical mecha. at this point, looking at this mecha, they couldn¡¯t speak any more. not only was this mecha a super mecha, it¡¯s also a completely modified one that defies conventional wisdom. it broke the existing ¡°rules¡± and brought new changes, opening new avenues for new mechas. on top of that, this was made by an 18-years old freshman! its maker only studied for what, 2 years at max? geniuses are indeed geniuses. they have witnessed the birth of a miracle and the arrival of a new era! ¡°it¡¯s actually like this ¡­¡± luo li finally understood what master shang had said before. looking at the glittering golds of the [special-grade] values, he recalled at qiao zhiya¡¯s previous results ¨C indeed, he always got [special-grade] at all the parts he made. after that belated realization, he knocked his forehead as he said, ¡°i was so stupid. of course he would make a super mecha with those levels of parts! this is obvious!¡± master shang glanced at him with a smile, moved his gaze to the stage, and sighed contentedly. although the host didn¡¯t say it, he could still see that this mecha still had some insignificant small flaws, but there is no doubt that this is an epoch-making mecha. he can witness this mecha made from its smallest part until it was completed. he¡¯s satisfied. chu yan took the lead in lighting up the special effects fireworks, and the qiao zhiya¡¯s audience finally cheered and celebrated ¨C their little cutie won by strength! extremely powerful! amongst the flying confetti, the host formalized the crowning of the competition¡¯s champion. the barrier wall disappeared, and qiao zhiya alongside the two top 3 appeared under a harsh spotlight. chu rong¡¯s gaze landed at the mecha then at qiao zhiya, who looked fluffy and cute under the light. he raised his hands and slowly raised his palms. his eyes were gentle, full of pride and fervor. this is the person he chose to spend the rest of his life with him. his companion, the most dazzling, is more than enough to have him in his life. qiao zhiya noticed his gaze, facing the crowd with him across the mecha. his ears jolted happily, and he gave chu rong the biggest smile he could muster. in the real world, specifically in biology, this is the reason why giant animals cannot exist. to put it very simply: the bigger they are, the heavier they become, and the denser their bones and muscle mass have to be in order to support its mass. however, having those traits also means a heavier body, so this problem continues until it meets a perfect sweet spot where its mass can be supported by its bone and muscle. as to why it¡¯s called ¡°square-cube law¡± in the first place, it¡¯s because it follows the mathematical principle of surface area vs volume, wherein volume grows (a3) faster than surface area (a2) when scaling up something. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 75.3 early morning, the day after. qiao zhiya woke up in a familiar embrace, and after a few seconds, he buried himself deeper into chu rong¡¯s arms. ¡°you¡¯re up?¡± the familiar voice sounded above his head, jolting his body. he looked up, stared at chu rong looking down. he blinked, and unhesitantly kissed the taller man. chu rong was caught in surprise. but he immediately kissed qiao zhiya back, softly and full of lingering sweetness. they kissed until they¡¯re both breathless, qiao zhiya sighing softly as chu rong swept the youth¡¯s sleep-mused bangs. he still felt the kiss after they parted. he licked his lips and said in a gentle voice, ¡°giving me a good morning kiss? let¡¯s get up, i asked the butler to prepare your favorite meat porridge for breakfast.¡± when he finished speaking, he lifted the quilt and got out of bed. qiao zhiya, who held his hand firmly, yanked and fell promptly. in reflex, he pulled back the quilt once his body hit the soft duvet, staring speechlessly at the taller man with wide eyes. ¡°what happened?¡± after chu rong got out of bed, he turned and looked at the groggy youth. he pinched his ears, and asked, ¡°you want to laze around?¡± qiao zhiya shook his head. as the previous day¡¯s happenings filled his head, he smiled. he slung over his arm at chu rong¡¯s neck, then tightened his hold onto it, leaving the youth half-hanging lazily. ¡°the prizes should be sent today. i should get the tenth-grade material red leaf rock. can this be used for repairing the flagship?¡± this was an unexpected delight. every year, there would be a mysterious prize given in this competition. last year was an out-of-print, ancient blueprint of a mecha. this year is a tenth-grade material. the official is indeed very generous. ¡°it can be used, yes. in fact, we lack this material. the red leaf tree is almost extinct, of course red leaf rock1yes, the ¡°rock¡± is from a tree. maybe it¡¯s an amber?? who knows, i¡¯ll just translate it literally. is hard to find.¡± chu rong replied, content with hugging qiao zhiya as they walked to the bathroom. he bowed his head and kissed the youth¡¯s ear, saying, ¡°thanks for your help, you really solved a big problem.¡± qiao zhiya was happy with this praise. he tightened his arms, making their bodies pressed closer. ¡°that¡¯s good, if only the flagship can be repaired quickly.¡± ¡°no need to rush, the situation in the federation is currently stable, and the materials can be collected slowly. there are already two other tenth-grade materials that the fan family had gathered in our stead, so we are almost there.¡± chu rong put him in front of the sink. he hugged the youth from behind, and helped him to squeeze his toothpaste. then he rested his chin on top of qiao zhiya¡¯s head as he continued, ¡°do you want to go out for the holidays? i¡¯ll take a vacation with you.¡± thinking of his confession, qiao zhiya took the toothbrush into his mouth, shook his head while brushing his teeth, and said vaguely, ¡°no, i want to stay at home with you.¡± chu rong looked at his messy hair, raised his hand, and rubbed it. he hugged his waist, and nodded, ¡°okay, i¡¯ll follow what you want.¡± after breakfast, chu rong went to work at the military department. qiao zhiya asked master ren for a larger laboratory. he took out a new batch of star sand, traded recently from xiao hei¡¯s mother, and took out a large piece of secondary-mutated red tin ore. then, he brought out his weapon blueprint. now that the competition ended, he finally had time to do the missing part of the mecha ¨C the firearm. he still had no clue on how to make a manually-piloted system for the moment. so, he could only prioritize what he knew first. if he can, he actually wanted to help chu rong with finding all the materials needed to repair the flagship, but this is very unrealistic. tenth-grade materials are very, very rare. it¡¯s only a pipe dream to gather them easily. the double-barreled gun is the most basic type of mecha firearm. it has a simple shape, a medium attack range, and a medium power. the values ??are very mediocre, and it is easy to make. it belongs to the entry level. qiao zhiya himself studied it for a few days at most, during lunch breaks. the only thing he hadn¡¯t studied was how to integrate magic arrays for firearms in general. there are five types of magic attributes: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. he himself is confident in water, earth, and wood elements. while they can be used for firearms, they are much more suitable for bladed weapons. out of all these elements, it¡¯s only natural that fire element would be suited for firearms. unfortunately, fire-type magic attributes rarely appear on elves and dwarves, so there¡¯s less research on fire-type magic. it was used only for forging weapons, so qiao zhiya was very unfamiliar with this one. he first designed the shape of the double-barreled gun, then split the internal structure of the double-barreled gun little by little, analyzed its attack principle, and pondered how to apply the fire magic. it was a busy day, and when chu rong returned in the evening, various drawings had been scattered in front of him. ¡°what are you doing?¡± chu rong asked at the entrance of the laboratory with a frown. he was very dissatisfied with his behavior during the holidays. qiao zhiya looked back from his research on the magic circle, stared at him for two seconds before finally reacting ¨C he got up and rushed forward, immediately throwing himself to chu rong¡¯s body. ¡°¡­i see that you¡¯ve mastered the way of coquetry.¡± chu rong frowned but still hugged him back. as he patted the youth¡¯s hair, he snuck a glance at the scattered drawings on the ground, and saw all the beautiful patterns inked on it. he was familiar with the internet structure of the double-barreled gun ¨C once he saw it, his heart squeezed. he then asked, ¡°what are you doing?¡± qiao zhiya shook his head and pushed him out, ¡°i¡¯m hungry. i want a beef steak.¡± this reaction definitely because the youth had something he tried to conceal. thanks to his superior height, it¡¯s easy for him to see the drawings. the corner of his lips curved upwards, but he still pretended as if he saw nothing. instead, he said, ¡°you need to have a good rest during the holidays, and don¡¯t stay all day long in the lab. else, i¡¯ll drag you for an interplanetary vacation.¡± qiao zhiya stepped forward and huffed as he smacked the man¡¯s back, protesting silently. chu rong looked back at him, and stretched his hands back, taking the youth¡¯s hand into his own. two days passed after such a weary life, qiao zhiya finally developed a method to apply the fire attack magic array to the energy cycle of the double-barreled gun. he also added an additional fire-based magic stone to the double-barreled gun to provide energy to the magical array. this modified double-barreled gun not only needs to be filled with ammunition in time, but also needs to periodically replace the fire magic stone ¨C that is, ruby ¨C otherwise it will lose its effect. after the weapon was completed, qiao zhiya didn¡¯t tell chu rong first. after saying hello to master ren, he called chu yan to let him try the gun with his mecha. the two came to the mecha battle room again and opened the highest-level protective barrier. then, chu yan fired the double-barreled gun against the protective barrier. ¡°boom¨C!¡± from the gun¡¯s muzzle, a bullet with white flame tail rushed straight towards the protective barrier, then easily broke through it. after breaking into several walls, it fell straight to an empty guest house next to the mecha battle hall. once it reached that room, it exploded. as the guest house collapsed, the ground shook in response. it felt like an earthquake. the highest level of warning rang, and everyone rushed out of the house. at the same time, chu huai and chu rong all received an emergency alert on the communicator alarm device connected to the home. the chu family house is under attack! the expressions of the two changed, and they hurriedly stopped at the matter at hand and rushed towards the guest house. inside the battle hall, qiao zhiya stared at the big hole in the wall and the faint building ruins outside. they¡¯re both overcome with fear and guilty conscience. they swallowed their saliva. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears collapsed. ¡®the increased effect of the magic array and stone seemed¡­ slightly2yes, qzy actually think ¡°slightly¡± stronger than i thought¡­¡¯ chu yan also froze. he almost threw out the double-barreled gun in his hand and turned his head to look at the equally baffled qiao zhiya. his voice came from the mecha speaker: ¡°about that¡­ qiao, let¡¯s run away from home.¡± ¨Cit¡¯s important to stay alive!! CH 76.1 chu yan¡¯s escape plan died in the cradle. the old butler rushed in at a speed that did not match his old age, and opened the highest barrier level of the battle hall. he sealed all exits, and alongside his stern expression, raised his voice, ¡°third young master, please get off your mecha. eldest young master and second young master will come home right away.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± qiao zhiya raised his hand weakly and took the initiative. ¡°this is all my fault. xiao yan just helped me to test the weapon¡­¡± ¡°young master qiao zhiya.¡± the old butler turned to look at him again, adding, ¡°second young master will arrive home first. please prepare yourself.¡± prepare what? prepare to¡­ accept his death? qiao zhiya¡¯s hand shook and he shrank his neck down silently, all his instincts screaming for him to run away. the two were ¡°escorted¡± by the old butler and sent to the living room of the main house. the main house¡¯s barrier was also turned on, severing all the possibility to escape. ¡°qiao, actually i know a way to get o¡ª¡± ¡°third young master.¡± the old butler who had already left suddenly popped up again, raised his hand and pressed chu yan¡¯s shoulder, and said quietly, ¡°the protection program that you secretly modified was repaired a month ago. in addition, please don¡¯t teach bad things to young master qiao zhiya. he¡¯s a good boy that is responsible for his actions. remember, running away won¡¯t solve any problems.¡± chu yan quietly shrunk his head, sitting beside qiao zhiya. looking at his eyes, it¡¯s clear that he was still trying to use all possible avenues to save his life. his body slack, looking listless, as he quietly sighed, ¡°grandpa butler, you weren¡¯t like this before. you used to¡ª¡± ¡°at most, you would break the glass. you wouldn¡¯t destroy a whole house.¡± the old butler mercilessly cut his words short. then, he ¡°kindly¡± patted his head, followed by a deep sigh of sorrow. ¡°third young master, you weren¡¯t like this before. you used to take the initiative to admit your mistakes¡­ ¡± chu yan shut up and sat paralyzed on the sofa. the butler patted his shoulders with a satisfied smile. the living room quieted down, and qiao zhiya stole nervous glances at chu yan, his eyes filled with anxiety and guilt. ¡°i¡¯m sorry, i¡¯ve implicated you. i don¡¯t know that the power of that weapon would be¡ª¡± ¡°that weapon is really cool!¡± chu yan¡¯s excitement suddenly revived. unlike his listless appearance before, he sat up and held the blond youth¡¯s shoulder, his eyes brimming with zeal. ¡°qiao, please make one for me too! there is no need to use the star sand or the secondary-mutated red tin ore as the main material. if that is too powerful, use ordinary advanced materials. i can provide all the materi¡ª¡± ¡°what do you want to provide?¡± a murderous, chilling, familiar voice suddenly came from the door. and at the same time, there was a sharp spiritual force that flew from that direction. chu yan jolted in place, staring at qiao zhiya with a rigid expression. then in unison, they both turned their heads towards the door. at the entrance, chu rong stood straight. he was backlit, so his expression couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. however, both of the youths knew that he was beyond enraged. this can be seen from his uncontrollable spiritual strength. qiao zhiya¡¯s own magic power began to move, trying to get past it. chu rong turned his head to look at him. because of that, the lighting on his face changed, accentuating the cold arc of his flattened lips. his terrifying voice echoed again: ¡°don¡¯t you dare come and try.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s magic flinched and shrank back. his ears were flattened, his pupils shook, and he was squirming in discomfort. subconsciously, chu yan moved behind him, trying to diminish his presence as much as possible. ¡°yo-you¡­ you¡¯ve co-come back. i¡¯m sorry, i just yanked xiao yan to test a weapon with me, and then¡­¡± chu rong strode closer. not giving him a chance to finish his speech, he reached for his back collar to hold him up like a pitiful kitten. then, he glanced at chu yan who tried to hide, simply stating, ¡°this time the responsibility is not with you. go find dage and admit your mistakes.¡± after speaking, he took qiao zhiya and strode toward the room without even giving chu yan another glance. chu yan, who thought he would be punished and tortured, could only watch qiao zhiya taken away. at first, he was in disbelief. he touched his intact limbs, feeling like his soul has returned to the heavens above. ¡®not punished? oh my god, erge actually said so logically that the blame is not on me. has a miracle happened? has he finally regained his brotherly love? what about qiao? is qiao going to be unlucky?¡¯ ¨C ¡°bam!¡± the door was slammed close. qiao zhiya shuddered, holding chu rong obediently. he bowed his head, already surrendered to fate. chu rong put him on the ground, looked down at him, and asked, ¡°what weapons?¡± qiao zhiya, who thought he would be reprimanded, hesitated and took the space button with the arms in his hands and passed it, apologizing again, ¡°i¡¯m sorry, i didn¡¯t expect that the power of this weapon would be so great, i was too careless and arrogant.¡± chu rong took the space button and glanced into it. sure enough, he saw a black double-barreled gun. he squinted his eyes, while his hand reached for qiao zhiya¡¯s quivering, flattened ears. he continued his question, ¡°when is this done?¡± conscious of being interrogated, qiao zhiya dutifully confessed, ¡°yesterday afternoon.¡± instead, chu rong pinched his ears and continued to ask, ¡°why don¡¯t you tell me to let me test it? xiao yan rarely fights with firearms, and he hasn¡¯t learned proper measures. you shouldn¡¯t ask him for this.¡± qiao zhiya felt even more guilty. he whispered, ¡°this weapon is for you. i wanted to test it first, and then give it to you as a surprise gift¡­¡± ¨Chowever, the surprise gift turned into a surprise fright. ¡°i¡¯m sorry.¡± he apologized for the third time, thoroughly wilting. chu rong felt better as he kept pinching the trembling ears. but then, his tone suddenly changed, as he continued, ¡°why not open the maximum level of the protective barrier of the battle hall before testing the weapon? what if you and xiao yan got hurt? what¡¯s more, if that guest house isn¡¯t empty, but is occupied by people, or someone happened to pass by the small guest house at that time¡­ have you thought about the consequences?¡± if this is the case, then it wouldn¡¯t end up with only the destruction of a house. but the death of a person. qiao zhiya thought about this consequence and shook his head, his head lowered, and he couldn¡¯t even say sorry anymore ¨C he made too many mistakes this time, and he felt that he didn¡¯t even have the qualification to say sorry. ¡°do you know what you did wrong?¡± chu rong persisted and kept asking coldly. qiao zhiya clenched his clothes, nodded slightly, drowning in self-blame. chu rong saw that he had realized his mistake. he rubbed his ears gently, and toned down the fury in his voice. ¡°then, you will be forbidden to enter your lab for a month. any objections?¡± qiao zhiya nodded instinctively, and then looked up at him. he asked in confusion, ¡°is this a punishment?¡± ¡ªwhat is the difference between this and no punishment? chu rong touched his face, bowed his head, and replaced his answer with a kiss. after receiving an alert and explanation from the butler, at first, he was relieved that nobody was hurt. but then, the relief was eclipsed by pure anger ¨C anger at their recklessness and incomprehension. his mind was about punishing the two youths until this lesson was hammered into their minds. but when he entered the door, he was greeted by the two of them, sitting in the living room, safe and sound. his mind blanked. he was beyond glad that everyone was safe. their problems could be dealt with slowly. qiao zhiya then realized that he was kissed by chu rong. the taller man¡¯s expression was gentle. a surge of affection appeared in his heart. he closed his eyes, then returned the kiss. the gentler chu rong was, the more afraid qiao zhiya became. he¡¯s afraid that chu rong would face him with a cold expression, then separate from him¡­ but what should he do? he hated his indecisive self. he was determined to confess his origin after the competition¡¯s final before. but now, he¡¯s¡­ he hugged chu rong as if he had grasped a life-saving straw. the destruction of the building ended with chu yan being fined his pocket money and forced to clean up the ruins. as for qiao zhiya, he was also fined, and additionally banned from entering his lab for a month. knowing that chu yan was financially punished, he felt guilty. so he reimbursed chu yan with his own ¡°pocket money¡± and helped him clean up the ruins. ¡°erge actually gives you so much per month?? oh god, you don¡¯t know how much i got, do you? he¡¯s so generous towards you!¡± chu yan threw the broken stones into the garbage collection truck, as he furiously ranted. qiao zhiya lifted a large piece of crushed stone into the garbage truck and said, ¡°i didn¡¯t know it before¡­¡± he was already very rich and usually doesn¡¯t spend much money, so he never checked the balance of his account or how many entries there are. if he hadn¡¯t checked the account yesterday, he wouldn¡¯t know that chu rong had given him pocket money every month, and the amount was quite a lot. chu yan froze, staring at him with envy dripping on his gaze. just as he was about to continue, he found that qiao zhiya¡¯s mood seemed a bit wrong, and his mind turned quickly to calm him down, ¡°are you nervous because of the incoming engagement banquet? don¡¯t worry much about it, okay? it¡¯s just a meal with extra guests. it¡¯s not that formal, so relax.¡± when qiao zhiya heard this, the rock in his hand fell to the ground. he looked up at chu yan in pure shock, and asked hurriedly, ¡°what engagement? what banquet? what are you talking about?¡± ¡°your engagement banquet- wait, you don¡¯t know? everyone has already begun preparations. it¡¯s just one month from now, and the invitations are all sent¡­ shit! does erge want to surprise you? fuck¡­¡± covering his mouth, his eyes darted around. qiao zhiya was completely stunned, then turned around and ran towards the main house. in the study, chu rong was discussing the details of the engagement banquet with the old butler. in view of the sudden destruction of the small guest house, the layout for the guests¡¯ accommodations had to be changed. when qiao zhiya pushed himself inside, he saw the courtyard layout projected into the air. it was clearly winter, but the courtyard on the map was full of flowers and plants. it was as beautiful as a meadow, fullbloom in spring. he stared at the log-colored tree house in the middle of the various flowers. his heart sank. ¡ª¡ªall arranged according to his preferences. while he was still hesitating, chu rong was already secretly preparing for their future together. he suddenly felt that he was so, so bad. chu rong didn¡¯t expect that qiao zhiya would come in suddenly. he quickly turned off the holographic projection. he waved to the butler to leave, and then he got up and helped him straighten his windswept hair. he frowned and asked, ¡°why did you come here suddenly, what happened? are you hurt?¡± the butler tried to weaken the presence as much as possible and left, thoughtfully closing the door on his way out. the finger flicking his hair was very gentle and soothing. qiao zhiya¡¯s lips trembled. looking at chu rong¡¯s warm and tolerant eyes, he suddenly became certain¡ª he can no longer run away from telling the truth. after taking a quick inhale, he said: ¡°chu rong, i can¡¯t get engaged to you. i lied to you, i¡¯m a liar.¡± if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 76.2 chu rong¡¯s hand was stiff, all the mild concerns on his face disappeared. he looked at the youth deeply, saying, ¡°qiao zhiya, you don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s courage was instantly dissipated by his sudden cold expression and glare. he tried to suppress the months¡¯ amount of worry and panic, chasing his thoughts and luring him to run away. but the words were already half-formed, stuck on his throat. he neither can run away, nor vomit it out. ¡°i¡¯m a liar.¡± he let go of chu rong¡¯s hand, stepped back and leaned against the door, head bowed as his eyes refused to meet chu rong¡¯s. he started to babble, as his thoughts began to jumble into this entangled ball of knots. ¡°i have been deceiving you ever since i met you. i am not an exoplanet native, i am not even a human! i deliberately misled you to make you think so. in fact, you should think of me as a monster. i wanted to confess to you before the competition, but i was afraid, i was afraid¡­¡± ¡°chu rong, i was transported here from a black hole, and i don¡¯t know why this happened. i was clearly separated from my village that time, because i was going to forage for herbs and flowers in a forest, but the next second i remember, i appeared on that mine planet. sorry, i lied to you and i¡ª¡± suddenly his arm was pulled, yanking his limp body into a familiar embrace. his torrential words stopped abruptly, his fingers trembled, and he murmured, ¡°chu rong, why are you ¡­¡± ¡®¨Cwhy are you hugging me?¡¯ chu rong rubbed his hair, hoping he could offer some comfort as he whispered, ¡°it¡¯s okay, don¡¯t be afraid, it¡¯s me that¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡®chu rong is the one that¡¯s wrong? what?¡¯ qiao zhiya didn¡¯t expect him to react like this. he was confused, but a faint hope inevitably rose up in his heart. like a shy touch-me-not, he carefully asked, ¡°¡­chu rong, why don¡¯t you kill me, i am a monster¡­ i came out from a black hole. you¡­¡± ¡°no, you are just qiao zhiya.¡± chu rong interrupted him, bowed his head and kissed the top of his head. he pressed the youths¡¯ head to stop him from tilting his head up, preventing him from seeing his solemn expression. with a calm voice, he said, ¡°the real black hole disappeared ten years ago. it¡¯s gone now, so you can¡¯t come out from it. don¡¯t think about it, there¡¯s no way i will ever kill you.¡± black holes disappeared ten years ago? qiao zhiya was stunned, the panic in his mind disappeared, but his confusion grew instead. ¡°if there is no black hole, how did i come here? i clearly saw it, an oppressive black void in front of my eyes, sucking me in. and it has the same appearance and behavior as the one i saw on the internet. it must be the same. plus, i¡­ still can¡¯t contact my parents. if i didn¡¯t come out from it, then who brought me here? if it¡¯s not a black hole, if it¡¯s¡­ not¡­ a black hole¡­ then¡­¡± he trailed off, as despair flared after the panic subsided. the black hole is his only hope of going home. if that thing is not a black hole, what could it be? how can he find his way back? can he still go home? can he still find his parents? can he ever see them again in this life? a sudden bout of drowsiness struck, his thoughts became dull and slow, and he raised his hand to hold onto chu rong¡¯s clothes. ¡°what on earth is that thing then¡­¡± he mumbled. his tight body slowly relaxing, leaning weakly on chu rong¡¯s arms, closing his eyes, his voice gradually lowered, ¡°chu rong, i want to go home¡­¡± the body in his arms softened, so he quickly dropped everything else to hug qiao zhiya, who had fallen asleep. he carried the youth calmly towards the infirmary. after a detailed inspection, zhuang yu frowned anxiously at the test results and commented, ¡°there¡¯s no problem. theoretically, memory probing will not have such adverse side effects. plus, i know you take all the precautions before doing so. and giving a soothing agent to qiao should be fine too¡­¡± ¡°but this problem started more than three months ago.¡± chu rong frowned, guarding qiao zhiya, who was still in the medical cabin. his mood was irritable. ¡°his mood has been tense these three months. he was still a nervous wreck, even after the competition finished with his win. at first, i thought his nervousness came from the psychological pressure from the competition, but that shouldn¡¯t be the case. it looks like that my memory probing should be the root of all of this. he thought that he¡¯s a monster, his hometown wasn¡¯t destroyed, his parents were still alive, and he even thought that i would kill him.¡± in conclusion, this should be the side-effect of that memory probing ¨C a serious memory disorder, and also a lack of personal sense of security. zhuang yu turned the test result over again, glancing at chu rong¡¯s troubled expression from the corner of her eyes. she was hesitant, but still said it regardless: ¡°then, any test we can do is totally meaningless because nothing can be detected from it. my suggestion is to wait until qiao wakes up, then you will have a good talk with him. find out his memory problem¡¯s degree of severity. in addition, you better ask him in detail if he has been exposed to any dangerous things during this time.¡± ¡°his situation is too strange now. we must prioritize to soothe his emotions, don¡¯t let him make outrageous conclusions, or else it could affect other aspects of his mental ¨C or even physical health. and those memories you saw before¡­ well¡­ in short, we must handle this with utmost care.¡± talk to qiao zhiya again? chu rong turned to look at sleeping qiao zhiya, the frown on his face was as clear as day. he slowly clenched his fists, and agreed with zhuang yu¡¯s suggestion. ¡°i will talk to him again.¡± ¡°it¡¯s best not to stimulate him anymore, qiao¡¯s state of mind is fragile.¡± zhuang yu reminded him. chu rong didn¡¯t answer. instead, he got up and took qiao zhiya out of the medical cabin. inside qiao zhiya¡¯s mind, a myriad of scenes flashed by. then, all of sudden, a yawning nothingness of black hole suddenly appeared in front of him, swallowing all of his being inside it and¨C green eyes opened in panic as qiao zhiya startled awake. ¡°you woke up?¡± the top of his head was gently patted. his consciousness gradually returned to him, and he found that he was lying on the bed in his room, surrounded by a familiar warmth and smell. his erratic heartbeat calmed down. he sat up and looked up at chu rong who was looking at him. he opened his mouth, as if to say something, but no words came out. instead, he was washed away with a sheer feeling of bewilderment. ¡®what did i want to say again? i don¡¯t remember¡­¡¯ there was a flash of warmth inside his magic pool. he couldn¡¯t help raising his hand to support his forehead, then suddenly remembered something. he looked at chu rong, words tumbling out from his hesitant lips, ¡°chu rong, i am not a human, nor is the imperial high advisor. he¡­ he had scales on his hands, he gave me a part of his power, and instilled a bunch of memories that were not mine. that night, i had a weird dream ¨C there are ships, places like a big laboratory. i¡­ i don¡¯t know what are those. those aren¡¯t my memories; they¡¯re fake. and also¡­ jian also put a scale on my forehead, just after i finished making that engine. i was so exhausted then, and my magic pool got abnormally hot. but as soon as that scale touched my body, the problem went away. i wanted to tell you about it before, but i always forgot¡­ ¡± he then froze in place, face contorted into a confused expression. he mumbled, ¡°yeah, why did i forget, i obviously wanted to tell you this a long time ago¡­¡± chu rong digested his words. he pulled down his hand, sat up and faced him, raised his hand and touched his face, and said, ¡°do you remember anything else? say it all.¡± qiao zhiya met chu rong¡¯s gaze, all gentle and tolerant. if anything, it made him even more nervous. he took his hand as he leaned forward, asking, ¡°chu rong, i lied to you. why don¡¯t you get angry with me? aren¡¯t you shocked? these things i said aren¡¯t¡­¡± chu rong looked so calm. chu rong looked at him cautiously, his throat rolled, he pressed his urge to hold him in his arms, and nodded calmly. ¡°i am angry.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s hand trembled. he slowly let go of chu rong¡¯s hand, and lowered his head and continued to ask, ¡°will you kill me? i swear, i never thought of hurting humans. i just kept my history a secret to protect myself. i do not want to hurt you¡­ y-you¡­ do you hate me?¡± ¡°if you tell everything you hide from me, i won¡¯t hate you.¡± chu rong touched the youth¡¯s sweaty forehead, then tilted up his head so they could lock gazes. he leaned closer, emphasizing his words. ¡°remember, everything hidden will someday surface. it¡¯s an inevitability.¡± does this mean he has a chance to be forgiven? with hope in his eyes, qiao zhiya looked forward. ¡°s-so¡­ i just have to confess?¡± chu rong nodded, pulled him to the bed, then bundled him up with the quilt. he then patted him gently. ¡°tell me, and i¡¯ll listen to you.¡± qiao zhiya froze again, taking a look in his arms ¨C their bodies were very close, as if this was just a normal bedtime story. it felt odd ¨C he had been stressing about this ¡°confession¡± for so long, and yet, he wasn¡¯t met with any hint of fury. there¡¯s a spark of joy when he heard he could be forgiven, but a sense of confusion permeated too deep for him to bask in the joy for long. then, he started to talk. chu rong listened quietly, and patted his back gently with his hands, without showing any overly intense emotions and without interruption. after he finished speaking, he even poured a cup of warm water for him. qiao zhiya, accustomed to being taken care of by him, drank the water without question. he even nuzzled chu rong to express his thanks, purely subconsciously. after he realized what he was doing, he remembered that he¡¯s a ¡°guilty¡± person right now. he laid stiff, wanting to climb out of chu rong¡¯s arms. ¡°if you run away, i will not forgive you.¡± chu rong spoke suddenly, and qiao zhiya stiffened and leaned back. putting the cup on the bedside table, chu rong held him tightly and looked at the youth with widened eyes. finally, he couldn¡¯t curb his urge, so he directly kissed him. after that, he asked, ¡°did you finish talking?¡± qiao zhiya was nervous again and nodded. ¡®now¡­ is it time for the ¡°trial¡±?¡¯ chu rong raised his hand and pulled his straightened ears, then slowed down and said, ¡°i know everything about you, and forgive you. now, it¡¯s time for me to confess to you. whether or not you forgive me¡­ i¡¯ll let you decide.¡± qiao zhiya was surprised. ¡°you also¡­ concealed something from me?¡± he never thought that chu rong would do such deceitful things. ¡°yes,¡± chu rong nodded, adding, ¡°not only that, i did something much, much worse than what you¡¯ve done to me.¡± qiao zhiya was baffled. he tried hard to think about what chu rong had done to him to warrant such a reaction. suddenly, his mind flashed over the day when chu rong stripped him naked and touched him all over. his face flushed as he whispered, ¡°it¡¯s okay. i consented to all of that stuff. i like you, and i like doing that with you. you can do whatever you want¡­ ¡± ¡°it¡¯s not the kind of thing.¡± chu rong immediately rebuked. he tightened his hold, stomping this inconvenient burning desire inside his lower stomach. he tried to forget qiao zhiya¡¯s shy, blushing expression ¨C but it¡¯s hard. finally, he sat upright with a frown, adjusting his position properly before continuing, ¡°i mean, i did a memory probe to you. i explored your memory a few months ago, and you¡­ didn¡¯t know of it. so, i already know your origin. don¡¯t be afraid, i won¡¯t kill you, and i will never hate you for it. i know you are not malicious to me. ¡° ¡®memory probling? what is that?¡¯ qiao zhiya hesitated for a moment before realizing what it meant, and asked, ¡°so you¡­ saw my memories? then i ¡­¡± ¡°you have an uncle named qiao xi. he likes you very much. when your father decided to leave his home village, your uncle sent you a crystal token.¡± chu rong interrupted him, raised his hand and patted his hair. then, he let out a light laugh. ¡°qiao, you were very cute when you were a kid. you had long hair back then. i wish i could meet you sooner.¡± ¡°qiao xi¡± ¨C although this was the lingua franca version of it, it was as correct as it could be ¨C after all, it was originally in elvish. he did have an uncle named qiao xi, who gave him a crystal token to protect him. he did have long hair when he was a kid, and he only cut it short because it was unusual in the dwarf village. qiao zhiya was in a mess and suddenly didn¡¯t know what to say. chu rong actually explored his memory without his permission. this was a great offense. he should be angry, as he did something wrong without his permission. but, but¡­ ¡°did you probe my memory because you don¡¯t trust me?¡± only this question was asked in the end. ¡°no.¡± chu rong shook his head. afraid of emotionally stimulating him, he cupped the youth¡¯s face and replied, ¡°it was because we decided to formally get engaged at that time. i am too special in the federation. if you become my legal fiance, everyone will inevitably try to dig into your past. so, i decided to clearly identify your origin in order to protect it better. but i know you guarded your origin very tightly, and so, i can only use this disgusting method out of my cowardice. i apologize.¡± after he spoke, he caressed his face and asked, ¡°will you forgive me? or, would you blame me, or even hate me? qiao zhiya, if you decide to abandon me, i will accept it and pursue you again.¡± it turned out to be just a pre-engagement insurance process¡­ blame chu rong? hate chu rong? abandon chu rong? no no no, he can¡¯t do it, he still likes this person and wants to be with him forever. it¡¯s just memory probing. it¡¯s just his past. he can understand. and he wants to understand. ¡°it¡¯s okay.¡± he persuaded himself almost immediately. he stretched his arms around chu rong¡¯s neck, leaned over to nuzzle his face, and even comforted him in turn. ¡°i know you won¡¯t hurt me, so it¡¯s okay. i won¡¯t hate you, and i forgive you. chu rong, i like you. ¡° this is also good. since they are both in the wrong, they can forgive each other¡¯s slight. it turned out that his so-called secret was no longer a secret. it turned out that his fears and fears during this period of time were superfluous. chu rong already knew his origins, but even so, chu rong still decided to be engaged with him and spend the rest of their life together. ¡°thank you.¡± he couldn¡¯t help tightening his hold, his heart finally settled down. ¡°i¡¯ve been hiding you for so long, sorry.¡± chu rong hugged him back, touched the back of his head, and said, ¡°no, it¡¯s me who has to apologize. i¡¯m sorry.¡± for this time, and for many previous self-assertions and concealments. CH 76.3 the two hugged quietly for a while. chu rong knew that qiao zhiya was crying secretly, but he pretended not to know, and just hugged him to comfort him. after qiao zhiya fell asleep, they still hugged for a long time. but then, chu rong released his hold and gently tucked him on the bed, giving him a forehead kiss before going to the study. the old butler, who was anxiously guarding the outside, saw chu rong get out of his room. he stepped forward and cared and asked, ¡°how is young master qiao zhiya, is he seriously ill?¡± ¡°he has been soothed.¡± chu rong replied, the tenderness on his face subsided. then, he ordered, ¡°take out all the monitoring regarding the imperial high advisor. he should be living in the guest house around three months ago. check it frame by frame. he has been in contact with qiao zhiya, and his problem right now is probably related to his doing.¡± the old butler was surprised. he frowned as he turned quickly to leave in a hurry. half an hour later, the surveillance of the garden was cut off separately and sent to chu rong¡¯s study. ¡°the high advisor approached young master qiao zhiya when i was away.¡± the old butler blamed himself as he gave this recording. it was truly his carelessness. ¡°i didn¡¯t know what happened that day. that time, i went to get the snack in person and let young master qiao zhiya stay in the garden by himself. now i remember that both you and eldest young master have clearly explained that i can¡¯t leave young master qiao zhiya and third young master alone. i should¡¯ve let the robot get the snacks.¡± chu rong took the video and replied, ¡°i don¡¯t blame you. the power of that imperial high advisor is really wrong. if there¡¯s someone to blame, it should be me. i let him live in our house without much thought. well, you can go down, help me watch over qiao now.¡± the old butler nodded quickly and turned around. after he left, chu rong opened the surveillance video. the surveillance was recorded from the direction facing qiao zhiya. at the beginning of the recording, qiao zhiya was sitting on a wicker chair and immersed himself in front of the electronic book to draw something. then the high advisor in a white suit suddenly walked into the recording and sat very naturally. when he came across qiao zhiya, he moved the juice in his hand, and qiao zhiya, who was normally attentive, didn¡¯t notice it. chu rong frowned fiercely, his aura turned murderous. soon, qiao zhiya realized that someone was coming over, and when he looked up to see who it was, he immediately looked around, finding that nobody besides the imperial high advisor was in the vicinity. he looked cautious. afterwards, the high advisor, who was facing away from the camera, said something. he then stretched out his hand. qiao zhiya looked down at it, then looked up. suddenly, his hand went to his own throat, as if he wanted to vomit out something.¡± then the high advisor got up and tried to walk away, and qiao zhiya followed and tried to chase after him. finally the two brushed past each other, and as they crossed paths, the older man raised his hand and pressed it against qiao zhiya¡¯s shoulder, and the youth¡¯s eyes were noticeably listless for a moment. not long after that, he sat back on his chair, and his mood began to falter. he didn¡¯t touch the electronic book on his desk again. ¡°bam!¡± chu rong smashed his desk in pure rage. his spiritual force leaked out with his fury, directly breaking some of the furniture in his room. he quickly forced himself to calm down and called out to the old butler to ask for all the surveillance during that period of time. he personally began to review all the footage of the imperial high advisor and qiao zhiya during that time. an hour later, his face sullenly paused a piece of surveillance footage taken in his study. the fury in his body intensified as he watched the figure of qiao zhiya covering his throat and collapsing on the couch. after that, he called up all the surveillance cameras that had captured qiao zhiya at the chu residence that day. he found that the youth had first gone to the infirmary to give himself a checkup after leaving the study, then looked for a medical assistant to look at the results of the checkups. finally, he ran back to the study and waited for him, as if he wanted to tell him something. but the emperor suddenly woke up, and he and chu huai left without giving qiao zhiya a chance to speak. he had been discussing things with chu huai during the dinner, but he still hadn¡¯t paid attention to the situation in qiao zhiya. as for the dinner¡­ he remembered qiao zhiya, who was stuffed into the bathroom by himself and then fed with that ¡°soothing¡± milk. his wrathful aura sank a little, replaced with a moody one. after finding something wrong, qiao zhiya always wanted to tell him about it, but he didn¡¯t pay attention to him and didn¡¯t give the other party a chance. then that night, he probed qiao zhiya¡¯s memory, which caused qiao zhiya¡¯s memory to be confused. exploring memory may not have serious side effects, but what about the power of that imperial high advisor? he leaned back in his chair, took out his communicator, and called the imperial high advisor director. when the call was connected, he immediately asked, ¡°what have you done to qiao zhiya?¡± the high advisor who was awakened from his sleep first looked at him in doubt, and then his pupils moved, as if suddenly remembering what he had done. he raised his hands and folded his coat, and smiled, ¡°it seems to be you have found nothing of importance, just a few tricks of mine. well, you put a spiritual lock on my son¡¯s mind, so i have to pay back something to you to be fair. don¡¯t you agree?¡± chu rong¡¯s expression became deeper and he said, ¡°i think our cooperation is over.¡± ¡°marshal chu, i advise you to think twice.¡± the high advisor raised his hand and frowned, then smiled at him again. ¡°i just gave qiao some spiritual hints and disturbed him a little¡­ his thoughts might be muddled, but it¡¯s harmless otherwise. but what you gave my son would be fatal. isn¡¯t it a bit unfair? pplus, don¡¯t you want to figure out qiao¡¯s past, so you can find people who harmed him and get revenge in his stead? he has just participated in the star network mecha maker competition and has built quite a reputation. those who had eyes on him may have noticed him, and i can probably help him avoid some trouble. ¡° chu rong squinted his eyes and couldn¡¯t hold back his murderous aura ¡ª this imperial high advisor really knew too much. feng felt shivers down his spine, but he tried to keep his expression flat and calm. he stared back and continued, ¡°i know you are wondering how i know qiao¡¯s past, and even guess if i was the one who caught him. i can tell you clearly about this, i ¡¯m not his enemy. you know, my power is a bit special, i can use it for a lot of things. marshal chu, as long as you remove the spiritual lock in my son¡¯s brain, i can help with your troubles.¡± of course, he had to clean up the person who had hurt qiao. but that doesn¡¯t mean to let this person go easy. chu rong¡¯s thoughts ran in a circle, slowly concentrating his murderous aura, and he rapped his finger on the armrest of his chair. after a long time, he opened his mouth again and said coldly, ¡°i can remove the spiritual lock in your son¡¯s brain. however, there are several things i must figure out first.¡± after hearing this declaration, feng¡¯s heartbeat calmed down a little. he closed his jacket again, and nodded back, ¡°okay, tell me.¡± ¡­¡­ after talking for a long night, chu rong finally hung up the communication with satisfaction. meanwhile, feng sat motionlessly on the sofa. he suddenly had an epiphany, which made him shake his head with a bitter smile gracing his lips. ¡°little guy, how can you find such a man¡­ ¡° still trusting him so much, just like he trusted himself so much back then¨C his mind floated, and after a long time, he finally snapped out of it and stood up with his coat. ¡®this is just a matter of hiding it this time. i hope that little guy will have a better life in the future. not like¡­ back then, when i¡­¡¯ suddenly, chu rong¡¯s face flashed in his mind. he stepped forward and walked forward again ¡ª ¡®no, it won¡¯t be the same. chu rong is not an lunn. until the dust settles, as long as the little guy doesn¡¯t reveal his identity, then it will end differently.¡¯ early in the morning, when qiao zhiya woke up, he sat on the bed for a while, then raised his hand and held his forehead. strangely, he seemed to have felt a great amount of sadness last night. but what was it? why didn¡¯t he remember it? the door suddenly opened, chu rong stepped in and saw him sitting on the bed, covering his forehead. he frowned, touched the youth¡¯s forehead himself, then gave him a bit of his spiritual energy. ¡°what¡¯s wrong, are you uncomfortable?¡± qiao zhiya looked back and looked up at him. remembering that the two of them confessed to each other last night, his eyes brightened, and finally felt like the stone in his heart had been dropped. he happily stretched out their arms and hugged him, clinging close. he happily called: ¡°chu rong, chu rong, chu rong¡­¡± seeing him like this, chu rong let his heart down, his expression softened, and he returned the hug. ¡°what are you calling me to do? you want to sleep?¡± ¡°no.¡± qiao zhiya shook his head hard. there¡¯s no more secrets between them. his heart felt so light, as if it was a bubble floating up. he held onto his shoulder, his ears animatedly perking up. he suddenly gave him a bright smile and said, ¡°i like you, i like you¡­ and i will always like you.¡± chu rong looked at him deeply and kissed the top of his head. qiao zhiya closed his eyes shyly. as their breaths started to entangle, qiao zhiya felt his magic pool suddenly warming up, as if something had completely disappeared. his eyelashes shook, and soon he was taken away by chu rong¡¯s more intense kiss. CH 77.1 yuan xiu: chu yan¡¯s bestfriend. xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. sang bu: mc¡¯s roommate. transferred from information system to mecha manufacturing. yun xiachu: mc¡¯s ex-classmate, about first-grader age, but skipped a couple of grades to match mc¡¯s pace. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. ning kongting: ning kongran¡¯s female cousin. ning tianxing: ning kongran¡¯s father, ning tianya¡¯s older brother. an leen: imperial princess. an tyn: imperial prince, an leen¡¯s twin brother. an lita aka ning kong¡¯an: the emperor¡¯s nephew, born from prince an xei and ning kongran¡¯s aunt. studies pharmacy. feng: the imperial high advisor. jian: feng, the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. now has a forced amnesia. the next day, jian came to the chu family¡¯s house to visit qiao zhiya, and chu rong sought an opportunity to chat with him for a while. that night, chu rong talked to him about confession and the past after feeding qiao zhiya a glass of milk. he found that qiao zhiya had no memories of that. it¡¯s as if qiao zhiya¡¯s brain was automatically cleaned once, so some memories were lost, unlike his situation. chu rong thought that his oblivion had something to do with ¡°reclaiming¡± power of the imperial high advisor, so he was relieved. after coaxing him to sleep, he got up and went to the study to give the news to the imperial high advisor. in the empire, he finished dealing with chu rong, and instead contacted jian. jian has been waiting for this contact. he immediately asked, ¡°dad, why do you deceive and mislead chu rong? qiao¡¯s memory is obviously forged by you. i think chu rong¡¯s concern for qiao zhiya is genuine. even if he knows qiao zhiya¡¯s blood is special, he won¡¯t do anything to him. why did you become this bad guy and make chu rong misunderstand?¡± ¡°i just don¡¯t want the tragedy to repeat itself.¡± he looked at his son with a gentle look, but with a trace of sadness. ¡°chu rong may indeed accept qiao zhiya, but in case someone will extract chu rong¡¯s memory like what happened to your father back then¡­ then, who can bear the consequences? will chu rong choose to kill himself like what your father did to protect us?¡± thinking of the past, jian was silent. ¡°jian, in the future, try to keep a distance from the chu family.¡± seeing that his son was so busy, the high advisor said, ¡°wait for me to pick you up. at most, it will take two years.¡± jian looked at his father who seemed to be haunted by something. he nodded obediently. ¡°okay, i will.¡± ¨C chu yan felt that he couldn¡¯t stay with this family at all. the atmosphere was too suffocating. in the living room¨C ¡°can these two styles be used for the suits? xiao rong wears black, you wear white, and all the accessories use ice crystals. i didn¡¯t use the ice crystals you gave me last time, so you can use it this time instead.¡± gu yan¡¯an turned around with a booklet on her head, asking qiao zhiya carefully. qiao zhiya blushed, looking at the two sets of suit in the booklet that were very similar in style but different in color. he imagined what chu rong would look if he put it on, and nodded shyly. the clothes were simple and neat, and they were all suitable for chu rong¡ª no, it¡¯s more like chu rong looked good in anything. if he wore this simple-styled clothing, he would shine brightly. gu yan¡¯an looked at him side by side, and finally couldn¡¯t help raising her hands and smacked her forehead, jokingly said, ¡°what are you ashamed of? these are all necessary procedures. if you are dissatisfied, tell us. let¡¯s change them. engagement and marriage are only done once in life.¡± ¡°i know, i know, thank you dasao.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s face turned redder. his head even lowered as he squirmed in place. he looked ashamed and wanted to run away. gu yan¡¯an was amused by his reaction and turned to laugh. in the courtyard¨C chu rong stood at the place where the original small guest house was located, researched the layout, and ordered, ¡°change this place into a flower house, get a few more layers of protection. after the external battle hall¡¯s barrier has been repaired, you need to strengthen the protective layer again. all supporting facilities have been replaced with the latest ones, and now they are too useless. ¡° every year, the old butler was the one who replaced the supporting facilities of the battle hall. he nodded solemnly. ¡°¡­yes.¡± in training hall¨C fan xiangnan commanded the private squad that was transferred over, and kept commanding, ¡°you can¡¯t keep equipment here, on the day of the engagement this place will be converted into an activity room, it has to be rearranged¡­¡­ don¡¯t move it into that room either, lock it up. that¡¯s the lab that qiao usually uses to make weapons¡­ don¡¯t bother master ren, he¡¯s doing research¡­. wait, this is where the flower pots are to be placed, empty it out.¡± in infirmary¡ª zhuang yu greeted her assistants. these young men and women gathered together, flipping through the potions book while saying excitedly, ¡°what¡¯s the name of the new relaxing agent i told you about last time that has the effect of making people happy? quickly, help me look for it, i¡¯m going to prepare a big bucket of it so that everyone will be happy that day.¡± ¡°but isn¡¯t this drug hasn¡¯t passed review yet¡­¡± muttered one of the female assistants. zhuang yu harshly glared at her and said, ¡°it¡¯s just a general relaxing agent. there¡¯s no need to pass any review, it¡¯s not an actual drug. unless, you don¡¯t believe in my craft?¡± the female assistant shut up immediately, and followed her through the potion book. in the guest house¡ª lin zhen, who was called to help, took an photon computer and directed a dozen housekeeping robots. this army of robots quickly cleaned the guest houses, and then they were put away and set off towards the newly-cleaned banquet hall. chu house¡¯s courtyard¨C tan shengwei counted the members of the team with a serious face and ordered them, ¡°our task today, in conjunction with the housekeepers here, is to check the security settings of the entire chu house. we need to be extra detailed, understand?¡± ¡°understand, captain!¡± the team members responded in unison, all imposing and disciplined. tan shengwei nodded with satisfaction and said with a wave of his hand, ¡°then start with area a1!¡± since before dawn, everyone was busy with their own tasks. chu yan could see people preparing the engagement banquet wherever he went. the whole family has only one idler left¨C oh no, there was one more. he looked numbly at chu huai, who was sitting next to the rattan chair and flipping through the documents. his lips lined up and asked, ¡°dage, you don¡¯t help?¡± ¡°what can i help?¡± chu huai looked at him strangely and said, ¡°this is the lao er¡¯s engagement banquet. he can do whatever he wants, as long as it¡¯s not illegal. i won¡¯t step in. when you have your own engagement banquet, you will prepare it yourself. lao er and i will not intervene. but i reckon your dasao and qiao will want to help you.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± turning the page over again, chu huai didn¡¯t wait for chu yan¡¯s wail. he looked at him with a surprised look, and asked, ¡°you finished?¡± isn¡¯t chu yan usually as talkative as a chatterbox, unable to stay still for a moment? what happened today? chu yan looked at him with a pair of salty fish eyes, then laid by the table. chu huai was amused by his appearance and poked at him, saying, ¡°from today, everyone will be busy until the day of the formal banquet. now it is only in the early stage, so everyone is as busy as a bee. and i know the intensity will only increase as it goes on. if you are bored, go to yuan xiu to play. qiao should not be able to accompany you.¡± everyone was busy, how could he possibly be idle? chu yan rolled his eyes, seeing qiao zhiya ran out of the main house and fell into chu rong¡¯s arms. he thought of something. he straightened up his posture and looked at chu huai, who was still immersed in his own document. he whispered, ¡°dage, are those people from the empire really planning to wait until after attending the engagement banquet before returning?¡± chu huai looked at him again, simply closed the file and put away his photon computer. he sat upright facing him, nodded and said, ¡°this is what the old emperor meant. he was originally going to attend in person, but since the situation in the empire isn¡¯t stable, he¡¯s needed there. so he asked his children to give us his blessings in his stead.¡± ¡°that ¡­¡± chu yan trailed off, looking warily at his surroundings before continuing, ¡°i heard that after the engagement banquet, the federation will send someone to escort prince an tyn and princess an leen back to the empire. who will be sent to do this?¡± chu huai looked at his suspicious behavior and raised an eyebrow. ¡°you want to volunteer yourself?¡± chu yan shook his head frantically. he was not stupid. wouldn¡¯t it be too dangerous to visit the empire during this time? the chu family is currently in the spotlight. it¡¯s better to stay at home honestly. ¡°then, why are you asking this?¡± chu huai asked as he tidied up his documents. chu yan quickly held his arm and said quickly, ¡°i just heard a bit of gossip. that is, the ning family recently became strangely close to prince an tyn. this is just between the juniors, or is the elder als¡ª ah!! what are you doing to me!!¡± ¡°i¡¯m hitting you so you won¡¯t think about this useless thing all day.¡± chu huai retracted his hand, gave him a warning look, and said, ¡°you go to your school well, and stop caring about who gets close to who. this kind of superficial hearsay is the most unreliable thing. it¡¯s the end of the year, and the new year¡¯s festival theme is about to be voted on. instead, you worry about other things.¡± after shaking his head, chu huai got up and left. chu yan watched him go away, frowning in doubt. ¡®festival theme? isn¡¯t there more than a month left? why worry about that thing this early?¡¯ a few days later, the team leader who escorted prince an tyn and his entourage back to the empire was finalized. the team leader was ning tianxing ¨C he¡¯s ning kongran¡¯s father, and someone who had a degree of kinship with the imperial family. on the second day after this news, this year¡¯s festival theme voting event was launched suddenly, more than a month earlier than in previous years. the reason given by the president for this move was that this year¡¯s theme options are more important, so he hoped there would be more time for people to think about their choice. after a round of screening, there were five options left to the public to choose from: each topic was important in its own way, and it really required a long discussion to choose which. in the chu family house, chu yan pulled qiao zhiya, who had just finished trying on a suit. he found it difficult to stay idle while everyone was busy with something. he told qiao zhiya about this matter and then proceeded to give his opinion. ¡°the topic brought by the xiang family and the wei family are obviously aimed at our family. it is normal. the president wants to pull the citizen¡¯s votes, so they use this topic to please the masses. what is the ning family doing? do they think the price of medicine is not high enough? ¡± qiao zhiya, who often listened to zhuang yu¡¯s medical woes, knew about the many deformities of the current federation pharmaceutical industry. he frowned and said, ¡°this one has the most votes, and everyone seems to think that drugs in general is very expensive.¡± ¡°that¡¯s because the masses think that this topic was about how pricey the drugs are, so the cost would be regulated and lowered. but this is absolutely impossible ¨C the ning family is just playing with the wording. that family wanted to raise the drug prices even more.¡± chu yan groaned, feeling a headache forming. ¡°the ning family has been jumping more and more recently. i always think that there is a conspiracy behind all of this. qiao, has erge disclosed any tidbits of information to you?¡± qiao zhiya shook his head, glanced at him, and replied a little with embarrassment, ¡°chu rong has recently stopped me from paying attention to this. he told me to not be stressed and take a good rest, treat this as a vacation.¡± ¨Cas he told the youth that, he also always gave him some soothing concoctions to drink, saying that he was afraid that he would be nervous. in qiao zhiya¡¯s honest opinion, the nervous one was chu rong instead. but he didn¡¯t dare to say that, because he know it would annoy chu rong even further. chu yan froze, watching his face flushed with joy and shyness. he gazed at the distance, feeling like he had just seen the truth of the heavens. ¡®sure enough, i¡¯m now ¡°alone¡± in this family.¡¯ the family. time passed in a blur. discussions were again booming due to the festival theme¡¯s voting. in this case, the chu family¡¯s situation was a complete opposite to last year¡¯s. after giving the topic, they concentrated on preparing chu rong¡¯s engagement banquet. they were not disturbed by other forces. they did not care about the five issues raised. aptly, their topic was also the one with the least number of votes. the other three great families were unable to wait for the chu family¡¯s follow-up response, and finally determined that this family was really not ready to join the fun this year. so they set aside the chu family for the time being and started a confrontation between themselves. the starry sky forum became particularly lively. today, a hot discussion about the sky-high pricing of drugs despite its low-cost production broke out. tomorrow, they would condemn many mecha masters¡¯ price gouging. the next day after that, they would raise the question about whether or not the federation army would let the empire¡¯s spies come in. the camps of the people were torn apart, and the festival atmosphere was gone. qiao zhiya stayed at chu family¡¯s house and made various preparations for the engagement. in addition to occasionally listening to chu yan¡¯s rant, he didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to outside affairs. coupled with being supervised by chu rong, he only focused on eating, drinking, and sleeping. instead of worrying about other affairs, he was fattened up by the chu family. the day before the engagement banquet, the number of votes for the chu family was still at the low-bottom. the xiang family suddenly emerged, and the number of their topic¡¯s votes suddenly increased, rising to the same level as the ning family¡¯s topic. at present, the theme of this year¡¯s event should have emerged from these two topics. chu rong took qiao zhiya¡¯s photon computer away. he bent over and hugged him to put it on the bed, and said, ¡°we have to wake up early tomorrow. let¡¯s sleep now.¡± ¡°but it¡¯s only 9 o¡¯clock now¡­¡± qiao zhiya retorted boldly, expressing a slight protest against chu rong¡¯s behavior of raising him like a pig during this time. chu rong didn¡¯t answer, he bowed his head and kissed him, hugging him and slowly falling to the bed. ¡®again¡­?¡¯ qiao zhiya stretched his arms around his neck and couldn¡¯t help but bit him. chu rong acted suddenly, deepened the kiss, and his hands began to naughtily explore the youth¡¯s body. he slipped through his back, pulled up his clothes, then probed around. ¡°mmh¡­ no.¡± he blushed and stopped. during this period, chu rong often touched him all over until he climaxed. but each time, chu rong clearly wanted more, and yet, he always refused qiao zhiya¡¯s offer to do the same to him. but he really wanted chu rong to feel the same pleasure he got, and he wanted to give chu rong that pleasure1this passage has been decensored because the censored version is kinda silly sounding. but this time, instead of their usual routine, chu rong held his hand and bit his ring finger. then, he whispered, ¡°it¡¯s only 9, just enough time for us to do something else.¡± he whispered, instead, chu rong held his hand, pulled back a bit and bite him, and whispered, ¡°it¡¯s only nine o¡¯clock, just enough for us to do something else.¡± after saying that, he skillfully pulled the pants off his waist. so all the protests inside qiao zhiya¡¯s throat were choked back. his thoughts became fragmented, he didn¡¯t know what to say. that night, even though they didn¡¯t go all the way, they still reached harmony together. CH 77.2 qiao zhiya had a weird dream after falling asleep. he stood inside a thick forest, filled with mist and familiar plant aromas. it again that night. in front of him were his parents, hazy beneath the thick fog. once he saw a glimpse of them, his eyes brightened and he happily rushed forward. ¡°baby, how are you doing?¡± his mother¡¯s voice came, blurry as if it went through thick molasses. his ears twitched as he sped up his steps. ¡°mom, i¡¯m fine! now, i have someone i like. his name is chu rong, and we¡¯re about to get engaged. you will come¡ª¡± both the forest and his parents suddenly disappeared. he stood in a completely dark space, eyebrows furrowed. two familiar light bands suddenly appeared and drilled towards the center of his eyebrows, his mother¡¯s voice seemed to be ringing in his head. ¡°baby, wait¡­¡± then, it all coalesces into nothingness. he opened his eyes, and was greeted with a cute rabbit with a ribbon around his neck. ¡°woke up?¡± the familiar voice called him beside the bed. he looked up, and then found chu rong¡¯s serene and tender look. the taller man patted his head, and swept his bangs. ¡°get up and wash, the guest is coming soon.¡± he sat up in a daze and realized that the room had changed at some point. it was decorated by various floral arrangements, dotted with fresh plants, bursting with pastoral charm. the usual decorations on the walls were removed and replaced with pictures of him and chu rong, some of the walls were even replaced with wallpaper, and a family of rabbits that were never allowed to be carried into the room were freely hopping around on the floor, all of them wearing pretty little decorations. ¡°chu yan claimed that you will like this. fortunately, you didn¡¯t wake up before we finished the surprise.¡± chu rong saw that the youth¡¯s eyes fell on the rabbit, and suddenly he found a black rabbit-headed spiritual power simulator in his pocket. he put it on the youth¡¯s ear, then moved his hands to frame his own face, asking, ¡°does the rabbit look better than me?¡± qiao zhiya looked up at him, his gaze moved from his full forehead to his deep eyes, then sliding down towards the straight bridge of his nose, and finally at his thin lips, bent into a gentle smile. his heartbeat sped up, but he masked this by jumping over into chu rong¡¯s outstretched arms. ¡°you look the best!¡± chu rong smiled and hugged him, bowed his head and kissed his forehead. ¡°then you just look at me today.¡± in the ning family¨C ning kongran changed his clothes and walked out the door. as soon as he went downstairs, he saw ning kong¡¯an sitting in the living room talking with elder ning. he stopped and raised his hands to arrange his coat buttons. a usual smile appeared on his face as he politely greeted, ¡°grandfather, cousin.¡± elder ning heard his voice and turned his head. he saw that ning kongran had changed, so he reached out to him and asked with a kind expression, ¡°is the car ready? is the gift ready? i didn¡¯t expect the chu family¡¯s qiao zhiya would invite you to the noon engagement private banquet. remember to keep a low profile and try to talk to them as little as possible. don¡¯t be fooled by them.¡± ¡®sure enough, these orders again.¡¯ ning kongran smiled and nodded, looking very sensible and steadfast. ¡°the gifts are ready, they are some of our home-made potions, not too outdated, and sincere enough. i did not expect qiao zhiya to invite me to the private banquet¡­ he probably did that because he has too few friends, and i happened to be one of his school acquaintances, so he sent me an invitation to liven things up. grandfather, rest assured, i have a sense of proportion.¡± elder ning liked his dependable nature very much. the eldery man nodded with satisfaction at ning kongran¡¯s words, then pulled ning kong¡¯an¡¯s hand beside him. ¡°it¡¯s good that you understand these things. i have always been at ease with you, kongran. however, it would be too lonely for you to go there alone. kong¡¯an here happens to be free, bored at home everyday, might as well¡­¡± ¡°grandfather.¡± ning kongran interrupted his words and refused implicitly, ¡°it¡¯s the first time since years since the chu family held this kind of personal banquet, and today¡¯s protagonist happened to be chu rong. this banquet isn¡¯t the same as a formal lunch. all guests are related to the chu family. even i was surprised i got an invitation ¨C but i supposed it was because i was someone from the ning family that qiao zhiya somewhat acquainted with, so i became the ning family¡¯s representative of sorts. i heard that prince an tyn and princess an leen will attend, but only to greet them then they will go home. although jian also received an invitation, he didn¡¯t attend to avoid suspicion. he only sent blessings and gift over¡­¡± ¡°you see, it¡¯s the end of the year, and many¡­ things happened this year. your arrangement would be¡­ somewhat improper, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± ning kong¡¯an has a special identity ¨C he is a citizen of the empire, and of royal blood to boot. in this kind of private event, if such a person was to become an invited guest¡¯s plus one¡­ chu rong¡¯s temper is not very good, and it¡¯s the end of the year again. this year¡¯s festival theme voting has reached the most critical time. in case the ning family accidentally slighted someone today, chu rong¡¯s unhappiness could turn everything on its head. he might even have pulled the hind legs to the ning family, but that was quite unlikely. elder ning quickly understood the meaning behind ning kongran¡¯s words. he quickly put ning kong¡¯an¡¯s hands down, then looked at ning kongran with a genial expression. ¡°ahh, grandpa is confused. yes, it must be my age. well, you go out now, don¡¯t be late. your father will come home in the evening, so come home before him.¡± ¡°mn.¡± ning kong nodded, looking at ning kong¡¯an, who had been sitting quietly next to him. the young man seemed very quiet and obedient, so ning kongran pretended he didn¡¯t see the slight frown and sneer, and instead gave him a very understanding expression at him. pretending not to see his slightly frowning frown and unpleasant eyes, smiled kindly at him and said ¡°cousin, please accompany grandfather at home, okay?¡± ning kong¡¯an smirked at him and replied, ¡°cousin is polite. i heard that your graduation work has a qiao zhiya name on it. i think your relationship is very good. i have to trouble my cousin on my behalf and give my blessing for him. after all, we have been roommates for this semester.¡± this remark was odd, but it also implies that ning kongran¡¯s relationship with qiao zhiya was actually closer than it appears, and he was lying through his teeth. ning kongran also understood what ning kong¡¯an was trying to do. however, instead of replying, he only let out a helpless smile, then nodded towards elder ning. finally, he walked out of the room. ning kong¡¯an didn¡¯t expect ning kongran to do that. he frowned as he tried to analyze ¨C he had been trying to smear ning kongran¡¯s pristine reputation in front of elder ning. as he turned his face, he was surprised to find out that elder ning looked displeased¡­ at him. so he inquired with an innocent look on his face, ¡°grandfather?¡± elder ning looked at ning kong¡¯an eyebrows, which were identical to his daughter. the doubt in his heart dispersed, but the frown remained. he said in a serious tone, ¡°kong¡¯an, you can¡¯t speak like this in the future. qiao zhiya¡¯s involvement was due to kongran¡¯s teacher¡¯s arrangement, as qiao zhiya was the only person available to do what kongran had planned since the year before. it¡¯s not a personal relationship. you shouldn¡¯t make such a wild guess, it¡¯s easy to get into trouble at a critical moment, understand?¡± ¡°¡­understand, grandfather, i was wrong.¡± ning kong¡¯an admitted his mistake with an obedient look, but inwardly, he was very unwilling. he came to the ning family for half a year, and all the people in the ning family have been fooled by his attitude, and was somewhat won over. only ning kongran won¡¯t accept oil or salt, will not eat soft or hard1ÓÍÑβ»½ø£¬ÈíÓ²²»³Ô idiom; someone who refuses to be influenced or persuaded, regardless of the approach or manner used. aka unyielding and stubborn, which was actually repeated multiple times by ning kong¡¯an on this passage to emphasize the degree of this trait.. he clearly understood what ning kong¡¯an was doing but always pretended otherwise. a truly stubborn and unyielding, will not accept him be it in life or death. with his soft yet reliable persona, all the elder in the ning family very much liked him. if ning kong¡¯an wanted to be more involved with the family, he had to pull ning kongran into his camp. during the holiday this month, he tried countless times to try to give ning kongran some trouble or pull him over, but every attempt has been futile. upstairs, ning kongting noticed his unwilling expression, and this jolted her memories of that time when princess an leen said to her. immediately, a flash of schadenfreude sparked inside her eyes ¨C she originally thought that ning kong¡¯an was a noble prince who came back to visit his relatives, but it turned out that he¡¯s just a poor beggar trying to make money from the main family. utterly ridiculous. around 10 am, the guests arrived one after another, but the heavens seemed to be jealous of such a happy occasion, so it gave them a rain of snow instead of endless sunshine. fortunately, the chu family had already prepared for this, and immediately opened the protective barrier of the entire house, so the snow never reached the ground. ¡°such a big residence, and yet, this barrier can cover it up fully¡­ just how much energy this device burned?¡± yuan xiu couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°no need to raise a fuss, it¡¯s not you who will pay for it anyways.¡± a very familiar voice came from behind him. yuan xiu was startled, and he turned his head in disbelief. what he saw was shocking ¨C it¡¯s xiang kun, dressed neatly in a white suit. he immediately exclaimed, ¡°why are you here!¡± xiang kun snorted disdainfully, instantly destroying the elegance and gracefulness inherent of his outfit. he took out an invitation card from his space button and waved it in front of yuan xiu¡¯s face, saying, ¡°how else?¡± after that, he sauntered inside the chu family¡¯s house. yuan xiu watched him leave like a ghost, raised his hands and rubbed his eyes, mumbling to himself, ¡°oh my god, xiang kun can actually get the invitation for the private party. did the chu and xiang families really break the ice? i didn¡¯t hear chu yan say anything about this, ah¡­¡± in the courtyard, yun xiachu, who had arrived early, stuffed a packed gift into qiao zhiya¡¯s hands with a pout. ¡°congratulations.¡± he quickly cast a glance at chu rong, who was standing next to qiao zhiya. his eyebrows tightened as he added, ¡°it¡¯s just an engagement. if he is not good for you, you can throw him away and get a younger and better man to marry you. ¡° chu rong immediately glared at this underaged brat with a tight frown. his spiritual power was about to fly off. yun xiachu looked back indifferently, clearly taunting him back. however, he was hiding his now-taller body behind qiao zhiya, complaining, ¡°look at him closely, don¡¯t get blinded by his looks. you dare to pick such a violent person as your future husband, aren¡¯t you afraid of him beating you up in the future?¡± qiao zhiya didn¡¯t think that yun xiachu was purposefully riling chu rong up. he thought that the young boy just expressed his concern in an awkward manner. he patted his head, and replied with a smile, ¡°no, chu rong is good to me. thank you for your blessing.¡± yun xiachu shook his head and hands away, looking at qiao zhiya¡¯s pure eyes, full of shyness and joy. a dull pain throbbed in his heart, but he ignored it in lieu of hugging him tight. ¡°don¡¯t pat my head like that ever again! i¡¯m a big boy now, you¡ª¡± before he finished speaking, the spiritual force simulator on qiao zhiya¡¯s ear suddenly strengthened the fluctuations. he was forced to release his hand and stared at the rabbit simulator with a hate for a while, then glared at chu rong before running away. qiao zhiya looked at chu rong around him ¡ª he finally found the true purpose of this spiritual power simulator, and that was to bully children. chu rong looked at him with a black face. he first reached out and touched his face, took his hand and wiped it with a handkerchief, patted his shoulders as if there was something dirty on it, and finally hugged qiao zhiya close. qiao zhiya: ¡°?????¡± standing next to them, chu yan almost burst into a laugh. he saw his older brother¡¯s stinky look towards barely-a-teen boy¡¯s escaping back, then shook his head and sighing. ¡®unexpectedly, erge would declare sovereignty against a little boy. tsk tsk tsk, at the very least, this means qiao will never inadvertently gather rotten peach blossoms. this little ghost is lucky and so brave ah, he dared to pry erge¡¯s corner! a newborn calf really isn¡¯t afraid of tigers!¡¯ as he cackled inwardly, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the corner of his eye. he had a certain look in his eyes. after confirming what he saw was true, he stared at it, then shouted, ¡°xiang! kun! how are you here! fuck, if you dare to mess with my erge¡¯s engagement banquet, see if i won¡¯t strangle you!¡± xiang kun, who heard his annoying shout, turned his head and saw chu yan running towards him. his eyelids twitched, but he decided to avoid that bundle of trouble. ¡®today isn¡¯t a good occasion to pick a fight with that dumbass.¡¯ he rationalized. seeing that he was about to escape, chu yan felt that xiang kun was even more suspicious. he quickly speeded up to catch up. hearing the commotion, qiao zhiya shook his head sheepishly, no longer wondering about chu rong¡¯s sudden embrace. he took the initiative to bury himself into his chest, pretending he hadn¡¯t seen anything. chu rong also saw the appearance of xiang kun. he frowned, then glanced down to see qiao zhiya¡¯s obvious guilty conscience. he simply moved the youth inside the house, and tasked chu huai to greet the guests. in a corner of the courtyard, sang bu, who was sitting alone in the lounge area eating buffet, felt someone was sitting next to him. once he saw that it was ning kongran, he took the initiative to greet him. ¡°you didn¡¯t go there and give them your blessing?¡± ¡°i have given that long ago,¡± ning kongran replied. he looked at sang bu, and asked back, ¡°how about you? you didn¡¯t say hello to them?¡± ¡°i¡¯ve greeted qiao via communicator. he knows i¡¯m here.¡± sang bu put down his empty plate, then moved on towards eating the dessert. he looked at the bouquet of flowers on his hands, still dotted with dew. ¡°the tree house in the middle is very pretty, isn¡¯t it?¡± ning kongran followed his gaze towards the quaint and beautiful tree house in the courtyard. he took a moment¡¯s attention, nodded, and replied, ¡°yes, it¡¯s beautiful.¡± and this kind of beauty was something that no one present at the moment, including the yun family¡¯s precious young master yun xiachu2ning kongran has some support from the yun family, who is an ore-hunter family., could afford to give. only chu rong was able to give qiao zhiya such a thing. t/n: i can¡¯t believe chu rong was about to throw hands at a 13-something boy at his own engagement party¡­ on the other note, after much thought, qzy befriending (?) xiang kun makes sense. he¡¯s a tsundere magnet and minder. so xk¡¯s prickly personality only meant that qzy took it as a challenge. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 77.3 the noon banquet was only attended by friends and family, and everyone present was very supportive. even chu yan and xiang kun, that pair of dogs and cats, behaved themselves, ensuring the harmony of this private banquet. every pore on qiao zhiya¡¯s body radiated happiness. although shy, he still insisted on entertaining the guests in person. his ears were constantly animatedly moving, his face was flushed, and he kept giving chu rong a bright show of love every so often. chu rong¡¯s usually-cold aura also dissipated. he always had a slight smile on his thin lips. the scene where the two exchanged their rings was very eye-catching. qiao zhiya was in a white suit, while chu rong was in a black suit. this matching pair stood face-to-face, one with a flushed, shy face, and the other with the biggest smile many people ever saw on chu rong. they held hands together, in front of a majestic, yet quaint tree house. snowflakes gently falling from the heavens, and now they dotted the protective barrier, giving them a serene white backdrop. it looked like an artwork. sitting in the front row, chu yan busied himself by taking many candid photos, then upload a couple of them to various social media accounts he rarely used. helping chu rong to show off his affection to all citizens. recently, the atmosphere of the starry sky forum was rather suffocating, all because of the theme voting. and that oppressiveness was washed away by this photo, the netizen finally found a sense of holiday cheer and spirit¡¯s, instantly uplifting them. seeing this good-looking pair looking all lovey-dovey, some of them became touched. many of the older generations watched marshal chu grow up from an upstanding young man to the marshal he¡¯s known today. many netizens accompanied the native boy qiao zhiya who won the star network mecha manufacturing competition and finally completely integrated into the federation fully. truly a match made in heavens, like a fairy tale come to life. chu huai noticed chu yan¡¯s small movements, deepening his smile. instead of stopping him, he held gu yan¡¯an hand close. gu yan¡¯an glanced at chu huai¡¯s expression, then she leaned closer, radiating happiness. xiang kun sat in the corner, watching the happy family. remembering his family¡¯s suffocating family atmosphere, a flash of envy and loss flashed in his eyes. he subconsciously raised his hand to touch the place where chu yan had just mercilessly beat him. as he did that, he clenched his sleeves. ¡®everyone grows up and can no longer live as carefree and wantonly as before¡­ but why is ¡®growing up¡¯ necessary in the first place?¡¯ in the center of the crowd, qiao zhiya shook his hands unhurriedly to help chu rong put on the ring. after that, chu rong held him close, pulling him into his arms. ¡°take it easy, don¡¯t cry today.¡± chu rong patted his back and whispered in his ear, ¡°you¡¯re happy today, aren¡¯t you?¡± qiao zhiya hugged him back, took a deep breath to calm his emotions, then nodded hard. a flash of heartache bloomed in his heart, but he didn¡¯t want to show it on his face. ¡®such a happy scene, yet my parents aren¡¯t here to accompany me¡­¡¯ he was busy suppressing these emotions, holding chu rong more tightly, tilting his head and nuzzling against his chest. ¡®it doesn¡¯t matter, i will find a way home. i will.¡¯ ¡®and when that time comes, i will take chu rong to give my marriage vow in front of mom and dad.¡¯ after the banquet, qiao zhiya¡¯s invited guests were taken to rest in the training hall arranged in advance. there, they could enjoy the entertainment provided. as for chu rong¡¯s friends and relatives, chu huai took them to the guest house to rest. at 6 pm, the formal engagement banquet was about to begin. guests came in large droves, one after another. chu huai and gu yanan are greeted at the door of the chu family banquet hall, which was decorated in advance. chu rong and qiao zhiya were currently changing their attire ¨C for this more formal banquet, they have a different suit arranged. ¡°wait a minute.¡± qiao zhiya pulled chu rong suddenly before he left the house. he immediately condensed his magic to draw an array on the back of his hand. then, he kissed the center of the array as he said, ¡°mm, this will be fine.¡± chu rong only felt warmth on the back of his hands, like being covered by a layer of heat pad, but it was gone before he could enjoy it. ¡°what is this?¡± ¡°that¡¯s the array that will introduce you to my parents.¡± qiao zhiya replied, and touched the back of his hand again, and raised his head and smiled at him. although he knew he would probably not succeed, he explained in detail, ¡°it has my magic on it, and through that my parents can sense you, and at night they might come running into you to talk to you about¨C wait, sense? ¡° he suddenly thought of something, and quickly let go of chu rong¡¯s hand. he pulled out a pile of magic array books and mecha design drawings from his storage ring, and sat cross-legged on the ground and turned his head upside down. chu rong watched and watched his little fiance who immediately changed from kissing his hand to burying his head into his books. regardless of his attire or the occasion, he still managed to focus on his mecha work. immediately, chu rong felt a bit displeased. he asked, ¡°what are you doing?¡± ¡°shh, don¡¯t make a noise.¡± qiao zhiya waved his hand timidly, picked up the book and started flipping through it. he quickly said as he sorted out his thoughts: ¡°i just thought of something suddenly. the reason why the spiritual driving system can make the driver and the machine achieve perfect synchronization is because the spiritual power is a very efficient information transferring medium. i have been trying to find a substitute out of the human body that also can sync with both the pilot and the mecha, but it seems that my previous train of thoughts were horrendously wrong. if such a material existed in the first place, humans must¡¯ve long found it already! so it can¡¯t be something from humans or a material that has been cataloged. this must be something that has spiritual power, but not from humans. using that, i can create an artificial ¡®spiritual¡¯ link between the pilot and the mecha, just like this magic array, where i use my magic to introduce you to my parents. so we can¡ª eh?¡± suddenly the book in his hand disappeared, and he looked up. chu rong looked at him with a stormy face, pointed to the door of the suite, and pointed to the ring on his hand, and asked quietly, ¡°bald chicken, have you forgotten where we are and what we were going to do?¡± qiao zhiya first wondered, then reacted violently once he realized. his ears stood stiff, looking at his own cross-legged sitting position, then his now-rumpled suit. he quickly stood up and rushed into chu rong¡¯s arms, burying his head pitifully as if begging for mercy. ¡°ah.¡± chu rong didn¡¯t buy his act. he raised his hand and held his head, and threatened to pinch his ears. he said coldly, ¡°i¡¯m giving you a minute to collect your books and other trinkets. otherwise¡­¡± as he said that, he slid his hand into tracing the youth¡¯s spine, down to his hips, where he rubbed it gently. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears and body were stiff, remembering what chu rong said about bunnies mating, his whole face was flushed. he broke away from hugging chu rong and immediately putting everything into its proper place. after that, he linked his arms with chu rong¡¯s then pulled him towards the door. ¡°let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. dage and others are waiting for us.¡± chu rong took a deep look at him. he felt the weight of qiao zhiya¡¯s hand holding his arm, then walked forward and opened the door. with chu huai here, the atmosphere in the banquet hall was pretty good. at least everyone showed a kind gesture on their faces, hiding their internal calculations and politicking in secret. after chu rong showed up with qiao zhiya, everyone applauded and congratulated. they all gave the two of them what they should give. qiao zhiya is not very used to this kind of occasion, especially when he¡¯s the one under the spotlight. he felt that many of them put him under such intense scrutiny, making him a little uncomfortable. fortunately, chu rong was always by his side, and the simulator on his ear was also releasing his spiritual power. others did not dare to approach him easily, always greeting chu rong first. in the evening at the banquet, chu rong avoided the ring exchange, and only took qiao zhiya off the scene and took him back to the suite upstairs to rest. in his eyes, the little banquet at noon was the real engagement banquet between him and qiao zhiya. in the evening, it was just public entertainment that had to be dealt with. there was no need for qiao zhiya to suffer. this decision aligned with what qiao zhiya wished too. after contacting chu yan and the old butler to make sure that the guests he had invited were well placed, he immediately took out his magic array book that he had only flipped halfway through before, and continued to read. then as he flipped through it, the excitement in his eyes disappeared. that eureka moment he had before is correct. however, there are big problems in his way. although there were many perception magic arrays using third-party power as the medium, few people apply them directly to the human body. firstly, it was because different people have different constitutions, so each array has to be customized. secondly, not everyone can afford to draw the perception magic array directly on the body. many people could feel nauseous or sick when they get a new ¡°sense¡± on top of what they have, especially when this new sense is artificial. and lastly, there¡¯s always a chance of backlash due to the conflicting power of the array, the medium, and the human¡¯s own spiritual power. CH 78.1 perception magic wouldn¡¯t work. what other medium that could connect the human body and the mecha? master ren¡¯s vision of connecting via machinery wouldn¡¯t do. for those connections to be feasible, they need to install a nanochip into the pilot¡¯s body. and that still had a massive health risk, the consequences would be¡­ ¡®wait, install a chip¡­?¡¯ qiao zhiya sat up straight, a dash of hope flashed inside his eyes. since his goal was to forge a connection between the mecha and the human body using a third-party¡¯s power, why not install the perception magic array onto the third-party instead? since the human body couldn¡¯t withstand continuous perception magic array usage, why don¡¯t he search for a material that could stand it? mecha pilots need to change into their combat uniforms when driving a mecha. it is not reliable to install sensor chips in the pilot¡¯s body. he remembered that master ren had made similar attempts before, but he gave up because of the poor synchronization thanks to the combat uniform¡¯s interference. but now, his perception magic array could bypass that, he only needed to find a suitable material! ¡®this medium must have similar life force to human¡¯s, must be able to detect spiritual power, be able to withstand the continuous magic array, must be able to synchronize with the mecha¡­ minerals are too rigid, plants are too weak, so that leaves¡­ beast materials! those alien beasts are undoubtedly the most suitable!¡¯ the more he thought of the prospect, the more excited he got. he took another book out of the storage ring and started rummaging ¨C he remembered that his father had recorded a note about the usage of animal materials for a magic array, and the magic array runs as normal. in that note, his father seemed to be experimenting using the tendons for witchcraft purposes, but qiao zhiya didn¡¯t exactly remember how his father had done it. as he flipped through the book with gusto, qiao zhiya¡¯s attention was fully on to the information. he didn¡¯t discover that someone had snuck inside his room. ¡°qiao, you are too unguarded.¡± jiane¡¯s voice suddenly sounded a few steps away. qiao zhiya was stunned, put down the book and looked at the direction of the sound. he touched the simulator on the ear, wondering, ¡®strange, how could the simulator not alert me that someone had entered?¡¯ ¡°i borrowed a bit of my father¡¯s power to shield me from being detected by spiritual power.¡± jian saw his movement and made a guess as to what qiao zhiya was thinking. he took a few steps forward, took out a small box and put it on the coffee table in front of him, and said, ¡°i came here secretly. your fiance is too fierce. i dare not meet him directly. this is for you. congratulations for your engagement.¡± it turned out to be a gift. ¡°thank you.¡± qiao zhiya immediately demonstrated what it means to be ¡°unguarded.¡± he looked at him foolishly and justified chu rong¡¯s vigilance. ¡°you don¡¯t have to be afraid of chu rong. he just looks fierce. he¡¯s actually very nice. plus, you are my friend, he wouldn¡¯t hurt you.¡± jian remembered his previous communication with chu rong, and his father¡¯s subsequent negotiation with chu rong. in both accounts, chu rong looked downright murderous. he suddenly felt that his father¡¯s decision to hide their relationship from qiao zhiya was correct. the youth was very trusting, and could be the breakthrough point. his defenses was far too simple, while chu rong wasn¡¯t someone to poke at all. he wondered what kind of parents had such a simple child as qiao zhiya¡­ before his thoughts could float away, jian snapped back. he looked at qiao zhiya¡¯s smile and soothing trusting eyes, which made jian himself feel warm. he smiled back, saying, ¡°the box contains some of the ¡®medicine¡¯ that my father refined. you can eat one when you are uncomfortable. rest assured, it is harmless, you can test it if you want. i should go, the party is too boring, i want to go back to sleep. ¡° qiao zhiya got up quickly and said, ¡°i¡¯ll send you off.¡± ¡°no, chu rong is coming back soon, he will be anxious if he doesn¡¯t see you.¡± jian waved his hand as he left. qiao zhiya insisted on sending him to the door and called for a waiter to show him the way. he watched his figure disappear at the corner of the corridor before closing the door and walking back. he looked at the small box on the table and reached for it. eight crystal ball-like things laid neatly in the box, each the size of a thumb, with some kind of white liquid contained within. he took one out and carefully smelled it. it really had a soothing property, just like at that time when he swallowed a ¡°scale¡±. regardless, it still felt a tad sketchy to him, so he quickly put back the ball. although he trusted his friends, he still had some vigilance. ¡°qiuqiu, try this for me.¡± he said, and gave qiuqiu one of the crystal balls. qiuqiu immediately stretched out a vine to poke into the crystal ball, and then, it immediately went slack on his palm, as if it was overdosing on drugs. the liquid inside the crystal ball vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye. qiao zhiya was taken aback, busy pulling out its slack vines. he then covered up the crystal ball ¨C now only containing half of its liquid content left. he anxiously asked, ¡°what¡¯s wrong with you? is there something wrong with this thing?¡± qiuqiu rolled lazily in his hands, indicating that it was full but still wanted more. ¡°¡­¡­¡± qiuqiu then started to beg, acting spoiled as it rolled around and entangled its vine in qiao zhiya¡¯s fingers. ¡°no.¡± qiao zhiya held qiuqiu with a frown. he glanced at the crystal ball, and appeased the bundle of vine by feeding it his magic. ¡°receiving too much power at one time will affect your digestion. would you like to become an obese vine ball?¡± they reached an agreement. qiuqiu obediently rolled in his palm again. he was relieved, touched it again, and put it back inside his storage bracelet. with qiuqiu¡¯s reassurance, he finally felt relieved and put the crystal ball in the box and put it away. after such an interruption, he had no desire to continue to read the book. remembering the plethora of guests he had invited, he went up and walked out. outside, he only walked a few steps before he met chu rong. he then remembered what jian said just now, and once again sighed at his ¡°foreknowledge¡±. after that, he happily went with chu rong to entertain the guests. at 10 o¡¯clock in the evening, the banquet was almost over and the guests left one after another. sang bu and yun xiachu were staying at the guest house for one night because their home was not in the capital planet. the chu family arranged someone to accompany them home the next day. it¡¯s almost 11 o¡¯clock after all the guests had left. still buzzed with adrenaline, he¡¯s not sleepy at all despite the hour. he went for a quick wash, and was still not sleepy. but he still slipped into the quilt, next to chu rong. the taller man had just finished washing-up too, and he quickly cozied up to him. he yawned, then said, ¡°a month has passed, can i enter the laboratory?¡± his cheeky statement made chu rong frown. he tucked qiao zhiya with the quilt, ruffled his hair, and saw that the youth was fighting his drooping eyes. he covered his eyes with his palm as he said, ¡°yes you can. however, if you don¡¯t sleep on time again, the punishment will be prolonged.¡± almost immediately, qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes closed and his body relaxed. chu rong opened his hand and looked at his sleeping face for a while, then silently turned off the light, and fell asleep cuddling the youth. tonight, it was chu rong¡¯s turn to have a weird dream. in his dream, there were two vague figures chasing after him aggressively. he kept running and avoiding them as he ran through a primeval forest, but he strangely didn¡¯t know ¨C or want ¨C to counterattack. the forest, but strangely had no idea of ??counterattack. if anything, he actually had some thoughts of giving up and letting them catch up on him. this was totally inconsistent with his principle of doing things, so he woke up in a bad mood the next day. even worse, he was abandoned. his freshly-baked fiance entered the laboratory after sending his friend home on the second day of the engagement. then, he and master ren had a ¡°date¡± everyday and completely forgot about his own fiance. ¡°well, marriage is like this. over time, feelings gradually fade, and then when the two of them get tired of each other¡­¡± ¡°and then what?¡± chu rong didn¡¯t know when to appear, raised his hand and pressed on chu yan¡¯s shoulder, inquiring quietly. chu yan¡¯s body was stiff. first, he used his eyes to condemn yuan xiu, who was sitting opposite him, who should have seen the ¡°enemy¡± but did not report it. then his eyes turned and he naturally said, ¡°and then a little goodbye is better than a new wedding¡­¡­ uh, uhm, erge! isn¡¯t the ship that escorts the prince and princess sails today? why are you still at home?¡± he abruptly changed the topic. chu rong did not answer his question, but signaled the battle hall, saying, ¡°beginning next semester, the military academy will organize students to do on-field training once a year. you have played for a month, and now, it¡¯s time for your training to get back on track.¡± after speaking, he turned and walked towards the training hall. the back was very cold and unreasonable. yuan xiu silently got up and started to walk away. chu yan looked at his retreating bestfriend with a fervent plea in his eyes. then, he hissed at him, ¡°you¡¯re my bestfriend, aren¡¯t you? you want to improve your skill and strength, right? let¡¯s get stronger together.¡± ¡°i don¡¯t want to.¡± yuan xiu refused cruelly, looking at chu rong¡¯s back, and said quickly, ¡°i just came to tell you that the mecha piloting competition you were waiting for is finally open again after 4 years. i heard that this year¡¯s competition has expanded in size, and the empire will also participate. now that you¡¯re 18 years old, you¡¯re old enough to qualify. don¡¯t forget to sign up.¡± ¡°registration is open now?¡± chu yan was surprised. his grip loosened, and yuan xiu immediately snatched this opportunity to run away. ¡°you can see it for yourself. on their website, the registration has been open since yesterday. i guess you must haven¡¯t noticed.¡± yuan xiu added, and then he ran away without looking back. chu yan was too surprised to care about yuan xiu running away. he instead opted to take his photon computer and started searching for this long-awaited competition. t/l: about chu rong¡¯s ¡°weird dream¡±¡­ hm¡­ i wonder if it has something to do with the magic array qiao zhiya told him yesterday¡­ if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 78.2 thank you cl for your donation! since you didn¡¯t specify which series, i¡¯ll use it for sick villain, so expect an update tomorrow~ in the laboratory, qiao zhiya glanced back and forth across the three beast materials. with hesitation in his move, he picked up the leftmost one. master ren unexpectedly asked, ¡°are you sure you want to use the muscles of this bird-tailed beast? you know, it¡¯s not the best choice.¡± ¡°i know,¡± qiao zhiya replied, picking up the thunder wolf¡¯s blood again, and continued, ¡°no single beast material could achieve the result i wanted. so i wonder if i can combine them.¡± master ren glanced at the two materials he picked up, analyzed the characteristics of each of the two materials, then nodded once he realized what qiao zhiya had seen. he could not help showing a smile, saying, ¡°you are still very creative, i can¡¯t think of that.¡± qiao zhiya showed an embarrassed smile and said, ¡°no, the existing mecha manufacturing system rarely uses animal materials. it¡¯s natural for you to not think of it.¡± ¡°don¡¯t comfort me, i know my limits.¡± master ren waved his hands and urged him, ¡°come on, i can¡¯t wait to see the effect.¡± after studying for so many years, now he finally has a clue how to progress his experiment, of course he can¡¯t pretend to be calm. qiao zhiya was also looking forward to seeing the finished product, so he nodded and went to his laboratory with two materials in hand. the conventional mecha manufacturing system generally used mineral materials, and animal materials were rarely used. even if they were used, it would be the animal¡¯s bone, feathers, or claws. materials like muscles have never been used. blood or toxins were more typical of the pharmaceutical. the scope of application was also very narrow, mostly on protective covers and weapons. qiao zhiya recalled that most existing textbooks did not even deal with a detailed classification description of the beast materials. they paid no attention to this kind of material. with a frown, he simply abandoned the rough and general beast materials processing method used in the federation. he used his magic instead. he first took out the muscles of the bird-tailed beast, and then he used his magic to poke it. soon, a sense of resistance came from the inside of the material ¨C this is the energy left in the body of the alien beast, instinctively resisting the invasion of external forces. generally, the stronger the sense of resistance, the greater the strength of the material itself. bone, claws, and such could be counted as ¡°hard¡± materials. in contrast, ¡°soft¡± materials like muscles and blood usually still have a trace of the alien beast¡¯s original ¡°consciousness¡± even after being severed from its body for quite some time. if the beast itself is strong enough, even if it dies, its ¡°consciousness¡± will be fully recorded in its blood. then, this ¡°consciousness¡± will resist and counterattack any attempt of prodding, as if it¡¯s still alive. this is the bloodline heritage of alien beasts, especially with strong spiritual power. it can be said that soft materials such as blood are the essence of the beast¡¯s power. unfortunately, the use of beast materials in this world is still in a very primitive and in primary stage, and they¡¯re basically forgotten. the bird-tailed beast is just a medium-level beast. the energy contained in its body is not high. qiao zhiya quickly became accustomed to this sense of resistance, and then carefully spread his power little by little, acclimating the material and ¡°training¡± it to not recognize his magic as a hostile force. after appeasing it, he quickly poured the thunder wolf¡¯s blood into it. at the moment the blood poured in, a very fierce ¡°attack¡± swiftly rushed at him after detecting the fluctuation of his power. it¡¯s full of murderous intentions, as if it was pouncing at the enemy in a tit-for-tat manner without letting it go. qiao zhiya knew that if he wanted to use this powerful beast material, he must first tame it. he must prove himself as its ¡°superior¡±, scaring it into obedience. this is the nature of the alien beasts. they obey only the strong, as the weak are all food in their eyes. the thunder wolf is a high-level beast. the consciousness in the blood is very strong. qiao zhiya spent a lot of time taming it, and then carefully infused the blood into the severed blood veins of the bird-tailed beast, making a brand-new material out of it. his magic disappeared halfway, and qiao zhiya retracted his hand and looked at the strange red light on the console, and his ears drooped slightly ¨C he really hated this approach of removing the left-over consciousness of the material. it felt as if he was killing the beast all over again. but his annoyance was obviously superfluous, because the alien beast that provided the material has already died. ¨Chowever, this one had died long ago. what about others that he will need? if this manual-piloting system made of beast materials is really successfully developed, then in order to promote this system and mass produce it, humans will definitely start collecting animal materials on a large scale. then, what will happen to the alien beast? how can humans, who have seen how great this material is, ever let it go? will they overexploit them until they hunt it down to extinction? nature is cruel, after all, it runs on the rule of the jungle ¨C survival of the fittest1btw, ¡°survival of the fittest¡± does not mean ¡°survival of the strongest¡±. ¡°fit¡± here refers to how it can fit into its current environmental niche. example: lions are very strong, but they won¡¯t survive in the arctic because they don¡¯t fit in that niche.. but if this foreseeable future is caused by him, he will never be able to forgive himself. both dwarves and elves are races that love nature. a beast, no matter how scary it is, is a child of nature. he can hunt them for his survival, but he can¡¯t just kill them just to fulfill someone¡¯s wish, even if that person is chu rong. the excitement of finding a breakthrough disappeared a little. he touched the red muscles on the console. imagining the death of this alien beast, he became downtrodden. he really, really wanted to help chu rong to complete it. chu rong¡¯s damaged spiritual power had gone for a decade, so he had mastered using manually-piloted mecha. but now, chu rong has recovered, and this research may be the cause of the slaughter of many lives. so¡­ what is the significance of his research on this? is it just to fulfill the promise in his heart? after being confused for a while, he finally thought of something¡ª since he made this because of a promise, can¡¯t he just make a manually-piloted mecha only for chu rong? after that, he¡¯ll persuade chu rong to not mass produce this, making this mecha purely a secret between them? after all, a manual-piloted mecha system seemed to have become less necessary. his eyes lit up a little, as he consciously found a way to not harm those alien beasts. he lowered his head and looked at the red muscles on the table. he will study this system first. when the research is done, he will go to chu rong and talk about it. chu rong is a good person, he will understand his thoughts and agree to his request. a week passed in a hurry. finally, the voting on the festival theme came to fruition. eventually, the ning family¡¯s proposal overwhelmed the xiang family¡¯s with a small advantage of around a dozen-or so votes. immediately, the four great families and the presidential palace had a discussion with the citizens about what sort of activities they wanted for this year. everyone decided to hold a medicinal plant exhibition to allow the people to spend this year¡¯s festivities surrounded by the calming aromas of medicinal flowers. the greenhouse just built by the chu family just came in handy. batches of medicinal plants were transported over, filling all corners of the chu family house. after qiao zhiya finished his research and came out of the laboratory, he was immediately shocked by the sight of plants everywhere in the house. seeing that chu yan came in with a pot of familiar plants, he hurried over to ask what was going on. chu yan put the flower pot on the coffee table, stepped back and slumped on the sofa listlessly. he looked annoyed and tired. ¡°you finally came out of your cave. nothing happened, don¡¯t worry. everyone is just preparing for the festival. we need to move that pile of pots outside to the chu family¡¯s exhibition area in the star celebration square for tomorrow.¡± qiao zhiya, who had been studying the manual driving system for a long time, really didn¡¯t know about the activities. seeing chu yan¡¯s condition, he took out a potion and handed it to him, trying to help him regain his energy. chu yan took the potion but did not drink it. it seemed like something had suddenly occurred to him. he patted his forehead and said, ¡°yes, i almost forgot. zhuang-jie called you over and said that i would talk to you about the stone grass potion.¡± stone grass? qiao zhiya looked down at the pot of stone grass that was moved in by chu yan on the coffee table. he was confused ¨C why was he suddenly talking about this? soon, without waiting for him to go to zhuang yu, she learned that qiao zhiya had come out of his seclusion and immediately ran to him. she gave him two documents in a hurry, saying ¡°hurry up, sign here. these days you were sequestered in your lab, and the marshal forbid me from bothering you. the submission deadline is almost expiring, i¡¯m almost dying from worry.¡± qiao zhiya was too busy pouring her a glass of water to apologize. he then flipped through the documents in his hand and quickly scanned it. seeing that it was a pharmaceutical use authorization and purchase contract of the stone grass potion, he asked in confusion, ¡°zhuang yu-jie, i said that you can use his potion as you wished. no need to pay for it.¡± ¡°it¡¯s not me who buys it, it¡¯s the chu family.¡± zhuang yu took a sip and calmed herself down, then proceed to explain it in detail. breath and eased his breath, explaining in detail: ¡°it was all because of the ning family. the pharmaceutical industry is already full of chaos, and yet they are still stirring things up. sir wants to clear up the currently messy pharma industry, so he decided to offer the stone grass potion for free during this exhibition, which means he¡¯ll publicly introduce it. then after the festival, he wanted to sell it at a low price, impacting the medicine market so the ning family¡¯s inflated prices would settle down.¡± qiao zhiya heard this and understood why chu rong was so busy nowadays. he immediately signed the legal document, saying, ¡°honestly, there¡¯s no need for you to buy it. the production method and formulation is all developed by you, zhuang yu-jie. i¡¯m not qualified to collect the money.¡± zhuang yu raised an eyebrow and pushed the contract back, saying, ¡°this is what sir wants. my formulation is based on your original potion, plus marshal chu has already paid me the research fee, so the patent is yours. if you have a differing opinion, please take it to him.¡± qiao zhiya froze and asked, ¡°research fees?¡± zhuang yu saw this reaction and knew that chu rong must not have told him about it. she couldn¡¯t help showing a meaningful smile, and replied with a teasing tone, ¡°yeah, the research fee. since the beginning, sir has ¡®paid¡¯ me to research the manufacturing process and optimization of the stone grass potion, so the medicine itself is yours. i¡¯m just a r&d member who was hired. sir has been thinking about you since then. he doesn¡¯t want you to eat a loss.¡± this teasing made qiao zhiya flustered. he remembered that last night chu rong was so angry that he was still thinking about improving the system before going to bed. with a reddened cheek, he pushed the contract back at zhuang yu and whispered, ¡°wait a moment.¡± then he got up and walked to the corner to call chu rong. ten minutes later, he walked back with an even redder face. his fluttering ears were crystal clear to zhuang yu. ¡°take the formulation and use it as you wish. i have donated the rights to use and produce to the chu family. i¡¯ll give you the updated contract later.¡± ¡°i knew it would be like this. you and the marshal has been one family in the end. aiyah, you can just blow something on his pillowside to get things done2she speaks as if qzy is a concubine/empress who influence cr from the bed (after sex) lol.¡± zhuang yu deliberately raised her voice to ¡°complain¡± and saw that qiao zhiya was so flustered that he wanted to dig a hole to the center of the earth and jumped into it. she felt refreshed despite still being burdened by this ning family matter. finally, she returned to the infirmary with a spring on her steps, documents in hand. CH 78.3 in the evening, chu rong came back very late. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t go to the laboratory late this night, but obediently waited for him in their bedroom. as soon as the door was pushed open, qiao zhiya immediately looked up and saw chu rong appeared at the door, his eyes lit up, and he threw away the electronic notebook in his hand. he hung onto chu rong, hands clawing at the taller man¡¯s neck and back. he then asked, ¡°are you tired? do you eat a delicious dinner?¡± chu rong was thrown back by his sudden jump, after he stabilized himself, he hugged the youth back. the cold expression on his face disappeared instantly. he raised his hands and rubbed the soft hair on the back of his head, and said, ¡°i¡¯m not tired. i have eaten. why aren¡¯t you in the lab, waiting for me? ¡° when qiao zhiya heard his answers, it became apparent to him that he had been too embroiled in his research these days. he nodded his head first, then tip-toed to kiss him. ¡°sorry, i won¡¯t do this in the future.¡± chu rong, who had not blamed him, listened to his apology with an expression that became even more gentle, lowered his head to kiss him back and said, ¡°it¡¯s okay, you haven¡¯t been in the lab for a month, and you¡¯re already very well behaved like this.¡± qiao zhiya tilted his head again and pawed at him. thinking of the purpose of waiting for him today, he squirreled out of his arms, then took chu rong¡¯s hand. he tugged it as he walked to the table, excitedly saying, ¡°i¡¯ll show you something. ¡° chu rong liked the way qiao zhiya presented his treasure, so he sat obediently at the table and showed his anticipation towards his ¡°surprise¡±. looking at him like this, qiao zhiya suddenly felt a little nervous, and carefully released a tall black mecha model from the storage ring after releasing his hand. the model looks very familiar, almost the same as the mecha made by qiao zhiya on the vr world. chu rong¡¯s eyes immediately darted over the mecha. he asked, ¡°what did you do?¡± qiao zhiya nodded, without speaking, took out a water magic stone with a magic circle and three connecting wires on it, then opened a shell at the center of the back of the mecha model, and connected one of the wiring into the mecha¡¯s interface. the other two wiring was connected to the magic stone itself and the magic circle circuitry. chu rong realized what he was going to do, and subconsciously sat upright. after finishing all the connections, qiao zhiya took out two strangely-textured finger-glove-like things and connected the connection line with each other. he gestured at chu rong to come over. chu rong glanced at him and stretched out his hand with great confidence. qiao zhiya fitted the finger-glove on chu rong¡¯s fingers. after making sure it fitted snugly and the wiring were all correct, he carefully jump-started the magic array by giving it his magic power. chu rong only felt that there was a wash of warmth followed by several jolts of coldness coming from the finger-gloves. after that, it cycled back to warmth. he felt something akin to ¡°excitement¡± from the gloves. ¡°how is it feeling?¡± qiao zhiya looked at him nervously. it was fitted very snugly to his skin, almost like a second layer of skin. after he adapted to it, it wasn¡¯t uncomfortable. in fact, it felt a bit cozy, thanks to the human-like temperature from it. chu rong tried to move his fingers. as soon as he was ready to move it, he saw that the mecha on the table also moved, so his eyes fixed on it immediately ¡ª just as he moved his fingers, the same finger of the mecha model also moved. even the precise arc and angle of the movement was exactly the same. in order to determine it, he moved his finger into a different direction, and the mecha model followed it again. he raised his arm, and the mecha model did the same. however, the movement of the mecha model looked a bit bizarre, maybe because of the difference in anatomy between him and the model. perfect synchronization. although the actions weren¡¯t exactly the same, there was no time-lag between input and output. chu rong turned to look at qiao zhiya, his lips were tight, his eyes were deep, and there was some kind of intense emotion flowing inside. ¡°as you see, i found a way to achieve perfect synchronization, although only in a small area.¡± qiao zhiya was embarrassed by his intense staring, so he bowed his head to avoid it. he helped chu rong to removed the finger-gloves and the connecting wires, then explained his findings in details: ¡°if this system is really successful, then the next thing we need to do is to modify the cockpit. this synchronization method completely gives up keyboard operation. but as the pilot must be standing in battle, the existing cockpit is too narrow. of course, if you want to keep the keyboard operation, you can ¨C after all, the pilot¡¯s physical strength will be consumed quickly, so we must build a fail-safe method by making sure they can still drive the mecha via keyboard operation if they¡¯re too tired. also, this system will use water-based magic stones, which is sapphire, because it has the lowest active strength and it is also the calmest when it comes to foreign spiritual power. it will not lash back at anything. because of that, we need to make sure there¡¯s an additional device to replace the sapphire if it depletes during battle. this system must have several fail-safe, as it is very integral to the whole system. we need to carefully place it where it can¡¯t be damaged during battle, but it¡¯s easy enough to replace or fix it if nee¡ª ah!¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, startled by chu rong¡¯s sudden kiss. chu rong held his back and kissed him deeply. after pressing his lips, he pried open the youth¡¯s mouth, plundering his tongue and teeth. he then raised his hand to cover his eyes, prolonging the fierce kiss. perceiving his excitement, qiao zhiya slowly closed his widened eyes, relaxed and giving himself to chu rong. he responded to the kiss, feeling some satisfaction in his heart. he was very happy that he has researched something that can get such a passionate response from someone he loves. ¡°thank you.¡± at the end of the kiss, chu rong pressed him into his arms. his voice was a bit rumbly and wavered. he perched his chin on top of the youth¡¯s head, his gaze fell on the mecha model sat on the table. he whispered and repeated: ¡°thank you, qiao.¡± qiao zhiya arched in his arms, raised his hand and touched his back, soothing chu rong¡¯s visible emotional outburst. the two hugged for a while, chu rong calmed down and did not let go of qiao zhiya. he let him sit on top of his lap, as he reached out and picked the mecha model on the table. ¡°you can change the cockpit. even if you have to remodel the mecha completely, you can do it. no need to worry about failure. i¡¯ll ask master ren¡¯s team to cooperate fully with you. ¡° qiao zhiya heard chu rong¡¯s promise and looked up at him. he reorganized his previous thoughts, sorting out his words before saying, ¡°chu rong, this system is made from the blood veins, muscles, and blood of alien beasts, combined with a magic array. you know, a magic array is something that only i can draw in the federation, and magic is something i can only sense. until we develop a method to use the magic circle extensively, this system is destined to be unpopular ¡­ ¡° ¡°it¡¯s fine.¡± chu rong thought he was distressed by this. he tried to soothe qiao zhiya by kissing the top of his head. ¡°we can slowly overcome this problem. i remember you said that the magic circle is essentially an energy that can communicate the power of nature. maybe we can find a way to replace this aspect by fiddling with spiritual power. magic circles are yours, i¡¯ll keep it a secret forever if i have to.¡± qiao zhiya was stunned, but he didn¡¯t expect that he immediately thought of a solution to this problem. his mind short-circuited, but he finally remembered the point of his discontentment. ¡°it¡¯s not that¡­ actually, i have been studying how to localize a magic array and such. what i really want to say is¡­ chu rong, i will help you make a purely manually-piloted mecha, but¡­ can you not mass produce it?¡± finally speaking out his requirements, he looked at chu rong a little nervously and watched his reaction carefully. ever since he knew chu rong, he keenly knew that the taller man had been intensely researching this matter, pouring countless time and money into it. he even cultivated a group of manual mecha pilots. it¡¯s very clear that he wanted this kind of mecha to enter the market. this request he made this time¡­ is basically asking for chu rong to give up his decade-long ¡°ambition¡±. just now chu rong¡¯s joy and excitement were obvious, and now, he suddenly became uncertain. looking at it from another perspective, what¡¯s the difference between his current behavior and taking advantage of chu rong? he just gave chu rong a hope, but now he upfrontly asked him to give up his ¡°ambition¡±. but this request must be mentioned, he must be responsible for his work. the two looked at each other, and unexpectedly, chu rong did not show any intense emotions about his ¡°excessive¡± request. he only raised his hands and squeezed his flattened ears, and asked, ¡°why make this request? what are your concerns?¡± qiao zhiya is not a willful person, and he rarely asks people to do what he wants. today he suddenly said this, so there must be his own reasons. he believes in qiao zhiya, so of course he isn¡¯t angry at him. qiao zhiya was stunned, and his anxiety and tension were calmed by his gentle tolerance. he tilted his head and nuzzled into his palm, his heart suddenly feel settled. he pointed to the three connecting wires on the table, and said, ¡°that¡¯s my concern. those beast-based materials i used.¡± the smallest mecha was about 7-8 meters high. to set up an induction system that connected the entire body of the mecha, the number of muscles needed will be huge. he estimated that to make one mecha to this scale, at least a dozen of alien beasts must be hunted down. if he upscaled the number, even the thoughts of it sent chills down his spine. his heart tightened uncontrollably, it was as if it was he who was being coveted, hunted, skinned, and bled. this thought had been running relentlessly inside his mind for a long time, getting worse day by day. he was beyond nervous. ¡°once the manually-piloted mecha is open to the public market, we must account for the number of materials needed to upscale the production. with the current number of blue galaxy¡¯s mecha pilots, some beasts will be hunted down to extinction to fulfill the market¡¯s demand.¡± he said, his face tight and worried. for example, thunder wolf, as a beast who lived alone, has a small number. even if all of its population hunted down to make mecha, all of their blood could only make around 20,000 mechas. in comparison, there¡¯s about several billions of mecha pilots and hopefuls. he dare not imagine how many high-level beasts like thunder wolf will be extinct in the future. he looked up at chu rong and said, ¡°the existing mecha system is already mature. manually-piloted mecha may not be necessary, so can this never go to the public market and be mass produced? let¡¯s just make one for ourselves and perfect it, okay?¡± after listening to his words quietly, chu rong raised his hand and rubbed his tensed eyebrows. he pondered for a while, then said, ¡°your concerns are not unfounded. i will find a way to solve this problem. what you need is alien beasts soft materials, right? the part that has high spiritual power activity? then, as long as you find a way to artificially cultivate a similar material, this problem will be solved. and¡­ manually-piloted mecha are necessary to be mass produced.¡± qiao zhiya listened for a moment, then opened his eyes and asked eagerly, ¡°can this material be cultivated artificially? is the technology mature?¡± ¡°mature. not only this kind of spiritually-active material, but even children can be cultivated. we only need a little bit of genes from both parents.¡± chu rong suddenly turned, his head bowed against his forehead, then continued in an ambiguously sensual tone, ¡°so even if we are both ¡°males¡±, a little ¡°baby bunny¡± can still be born between us1just a reminder: jian is one such child btw.¡± ¡®ba-baby bunny? a ¡°baby bunny¡± that looks like chu rong???¡¯ qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t help but imagine a baby who looks like chu rong and calling him ¡°papa¡±. his little heart trembled, his face flushed, and he couldn¡¯t stand this stimulus. he broke away from his arms and ran to the bathroom. ¡°i-i will take a shower. it¡¯s late, it¡¯s time to sleep.¡± chu rong¡¯s lips upturned. he looked at his pajamas, and deliberately said, ¡°that¡¯s right, i want to take a shower, let¡¯s go together.¡± qiao zhiya had just stepped into the bathroom and shook his head. he didn¡¯t even dare to look at him. he turned and walked towards the bed. he yawned very stiffly and said, ¡°i suddenly remembered that i had taken a shower. silly me. i¡¯m sleepy. good night.¡± after speaking, he opened the quilt and hid himself on the bed, and even buried his head inside. chu rong was very pleased by his cute, flustered look. he took a glance at the mecha model on the table, and then the bundle of quilt on top of the bed. he stepped forward, carried the whole quilt ¨C of course, with qiao zhiya inside ¨C regardless of the youth¡¯s protest. he then whisked him away into the bathroom. ¡ª¡ªthis cute fiance of his has helped him so much. he must ¡°reward¡± the youth. after a round of ¡°comfortable¡± bath, qiao zhiya was already sleepy as he limply carried into the bed. but he managed to stay away regardless. he grabbed chu rong¡¯s collar and asked, ¡°why is it necessary to mass produce manually-piloted mecha? is this for all those pilots you cultivated?¡± chu rong lay aside and flicked his hair, looked at him with half-lidded eyes, and shook his head, ¡°no.¡± ¡°why is that?¡± qiao zhiya asked curiously. chu rong¡¯s eyes moved away, as if recalling something, then he suddenly lay down and leaned his forehead over, touching his cheek, and said, ¡°qiao, i want to do this for a long time, and as compensation for the last time i snooped through your memories without your consent, i¡¯ve decided to open up my memories to you.¡± by the time qiao zhiya began to hesitate, it was already too late to ask. a huge force suddenly surrounded him, his thoughts were drawn, and he was caught in a spiral of chaotic emotions uncontrollably. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 79.1 sorry for the late update, life has been crazy for me lately¡­ when his consciousness became clear again, qiao zhiya found himself standing in the courtyard of the chu family¡¯s house. but this courtyard was a little different from the one he usually saw every day, plus, a lot of children¡¯s toys have been added. ¡°dage! dage! i¡¯m going too!¡± a child¡¯s voice came from the direction of the door of the main house. he thought of moving, and he immediately moved to where he wanted. a younger version of chu huai stood in the middle of the uniform wearing a typical preschool uniform. he was helplessly flailing around as he stuck himself to a younger chu huai¡¯s leg. chu huai coaxed the child, ¡°xiao yan, gege is going to school. i¡¯ll see you on the weekend.¡± this child version of chu yan was very cute ¨C full of baby fat, but he appeared even naughtier. ¡°no! i want to go to school too!¡± chu yan hugged his leg tighter, opened his mouth and began to wail. he also tried to climb up chu huai¡¯s body as if it was a tree, trying to clung himself to chu huai¡¯s arm. chu huai couldn¡¯t help him, and he was afraid he would fall, so he had to bend over to support his back, and looked at the communicator from time to time, as if to rush to do something. ¡°dage, you shouldn¡¯t spoil him too much, he¡¯ll get used to it.¡± a cold-toned boy¡¯s voice suddenly came from behind, and qiao zhiya turned to look around, then stopped in place. a small white-haired teenager around his early teens had appeared behind him at some point. the young teenager was wearing a training outfit, his hair sticking to his forehead because of his sweat. it¡¯s obvious that he was just finishing his training. it was as if he had not seen qiao zhiya standing out in front of him. he went straight past him, walking over to chu huai. he mercilessly pried off chu yan from chu huai, and frowned, ¡°chu yan, you have grown up. you¡¯re not allowed to cry any more, otherwise i¡¯ll beat you up.¡± chu yan was obviously very afraid of him and did not dare to pretend to be pitiful. he blinked his eyes at chu huai, signalling for help. already knowing his true face, chu huai shook his head with a smile, crouched and patented his head. ¡°dage will come back to see you next weekend and bring you a gift. will a warship model be good? i¡¯ll put one together for you myself. chu yan¡¯s eyes lit up immediately and said, ¡°i want it to be like the one at home!¡± ¡°yes.¡± chu huai agreed, pinching his face, and stood up again to look at the frowning young man. his smile deepened, and he took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, ¡± xiao rong, you don¡¯t have to train that hard. your bones haven¡¯t grown strong yet, keep your exercise at a moderate level. do you have any gifts you want? dage will bring it back for you next weekend.¡± this teenaged chu rong seemed to have a worse temper compared to now. he frowned in impatience, waved his hand and said, ¡°why are you more nagging than mom? go, go, go, go, i¡¯m not xiao yan, i don¡¯t want a gift.¡± ¡°that¡¯s okay.¡± chu huai had a ¡°i can¡¯t help it¡± expression. he gave him a handkerchief and hurried out of the door. qiao zhiya looked at this teenaged chu rong, who was actually very gentle and careful. he held chu yan firmly, preventing him from squirming and running away, then wiped him with a handkerchief. despite his stinky face, he clearly loved chu yan, and it showed in his movements. looking at this scene, qiao zhiya subconsciously smiled. ¡®it turned out that chu rong was like this when he was a teen¡­ that¡¯s great.¡¯ after chu huai left, only chu rong and chu yan were left at the entrance of the main house. just when qiao zhiya thought that chu rong would pull chu yan into the house like the fierce look he showed before, chu rong suddenly squatted down and pinched chu yan¡¯s chubby face, frowning and asking, ¡°you want to go to school?¡± chu yan stared at him with wide eyes. he knew he cannot behave in a spoiled manner, so he honestly nodded. chu rong showed a distressed expression, and then seemed to think of something, saying, ¡°okay, i¡¯ll take you to school. but you have to promise me that you can¡¯t cry in the future. you¡¯re a big boy, crying is shameful.¡± chu yan, who was bearish and silly as a child, sniffed and nodded his head obediently. he had heard this sentence from his brother multiple times. ¡°let¡¯s go.¡± chu rong was satisfied and took his hand, although his expression was still stinky. qiao zhiya watched chu rong take out a hover car and climbed up with chu yan, then drove directly out of chu family¡¯s house, but there was no one in the family who followed or stopped him. he looked in a hurry, and qiao zhiya wanted to follow. however, the scene immediately changed, and suddenly he stood in the middle of an early childhood center in a shopping mall. he was a little embarrassed as he realized that he was in chu rong¡¯s memory at this time ¨C not really time-travelling. so, he looked around for chu rong and chu yan. in front of the digital education board, chu rong accompanied chu yan to sit at the small table and watched him follow the teaching system to learn the numbers and get rewards. his fingers were always impatiently on his knees, and his face was still a little irritable ¡ª obviously, ancestor chu¡¯s patience has been bad since childhood, but he put up with it for his little brother. qiao zhiya¡¯s anxious heart fell back, remembering that chu huai once said that chu rong was more fond of chu yan when he was a child, and that chu rong had always taken good care of him. his heart felt warm and he could not help but step forward and sit with chu rong at the small table. the content was a typical preschool education, supplemented by a couple of games in-between study sessions. chu yan was very happy. when he finished his studies and wanted to go home, he still did not want to leave, but this time he obediently did not cry, but asked chu rong and was rejected. after the answer, he followed chu rong very obediently and went out. the two got in the car outside the mall, and qiao zhiya quickly followed. ¡°dage is going to be admitted to the federal military academy this year. he will be very busy, so you have to be well-behaved.¡± inside the car, chu rong held chu yan¡¯s chubby hand as he educated him. he then continued, ¡°come over to me if you want to. the intermediate college class is very easy, i have time for you.¡± chu yan gave him a hesitant look, and whispered, ¡°but erge, you have to train. mom said you are tired from training¡­¡± chu rong paused for a moment, then his expression eased, he raised his hand and touched his head. ¡°i¡¯m not tired, i still have time to play with you.¡± ¡°it¡¯s to accompany me to class.¡± chu yan corrected. chu rong messed up chu yan¡¯s short hair and was about to continue talking. but then, his hover car suddenly issued a harsh alarm. with a change of expression, he was busy holding chu yan in his arms, and qiao zhiya was startled, his thoughts were drawn from the warmth of the brothers. the hover car suddenly shook after the alarm sounded, apparently being attacked from outside. chu rong was busy opening the multi-layered protective barrier of the car, but did not expect that the suspension car to shake again, and the barrier was directly broken, the power system was destroyed, and it went straight down. ¡°damned empire!¡± he hissed, hugged the frightened chu yan, and opened the door of the hover car and jumped out. at this point the hover car drove just above an ornamental lake, full of water below. qiao zhiya was frightened when he saw the situation, and he jumped down to try to save them. he instinctively tried to throw qiuqiu, but came out empty. then he realized again that he only saw part of the memory, which happened in the past. he cannot affect anything. after chu rong jumped, the hover car exploded. he hugged chu yan and fell freely. after leaving the enemy¡¯s attack range, he immediately pulled out his mecha and a silver-colored net. using the net, he could ease his falling speed. then he entered the cockpit sturdily, and when the mecha was about to fall into the lake, he manipulated the mecha to fly out. behind them, a large, heavily-suspended vehicle, apparently modified, was in hot pursuit. qiao zhiya found that his perspective cut into the inside of the mecha¡¯s cockpit. chu rong drove the mecha with a grave situation, constantly sending a distress signal to his family. when he found there was only one vehicle chasing him, he was relieved. but soon, his expression froze. the mecha¡¯s alarm sounded suddenly, while the screen in the cockpit began to flash, and the mecha¡¯s speed became slower. ¡°they have a spiritual power disturbance device? isn¡¯t this shit illegal?!¡± chu rong cursed, busy giving his protective helmet to chu yan. as his fingers quickly operated on the mecha¡¯s console, his face paled, but thankfully, he could increase the speed of his mecha. qiao zhiya, who already had a full understanding of mechas, immediately understood ¨C because of that device, chu rong simply increased his spiritual power output to stabilize his connection with the mecha. ¡°it¡¯s too dangerous!¡± he couldn¡¯t help but scream. in the case when someone¡¯s spiritual power is being disturbed while they¡¯re connected to the mecha in an high-intensity driving, it would greatly damage the pilot¡¯s own spiritual sea. the flow is disturbed, and much spiritual power is wasted on nothing. the consequences are very serious! qiao zhiya wanted to help but he could only watch. his thoughts were chaotic, the scene in front of him suddenly changed, and the mecha disappeared into an alley. chu rong was holding chu yan hidden in the corner of a building, his face was a little pale, but his expression was very grave. there were footsteps approaching, and then a hover car with the chu family crest came down from the sky, followed by a small convoy, so the footsteps hurried away again. seeing the arrival of his family, chu rong finally felt relieved, and actually passed out. qiao zhiya¡¯s breath was taken in a sigh of relief, and in front of him, the scene changed again. this time, he appeared in the study of the chu family. a more grown-up ¨C but still a teen ¨C chu rong turned anxiously, looking at something like a battle report, and said calmly, ¡°i¡¯m going to the frontline.¡± ¡°you¡¯re not allowed to go anywhere, be obedient and to go to school!¡± chu huai, who had already reached adulthood, frowned and directly dismissed his words. he raised his hand and rubbed his brow, saying, ¡°you¡¯re not a regular soldier, what can you offer with your enlistment? moreover, the zerg appear completely at random, and this capital planet needs people to guard it.¡± chu rong frowned and didn¡¯t speak again. the screen is turning faster and faster, just like the atmosphere that became more and more tense after the zerg suddenly appeared. this time, chu rong appeared even older, probably on the cusp of adulthood. the people of the chu family went to the front line one by one. qiao zhiya finally saw the appearance of mr. and mrs. chu. and he also saw that the main house, which once upon a time, was lively and filled with many relatives, slowly became empty. he remembered the current situation of the chu family¡¯s house ¨C all of the sub-houses, where those relatives lived, were now closed and empty. he felt sick. battles, injuries, zerg that would come out of nowhere, new casualties every day, the situation kept changing from good to worse, from bad to hopeful. the zerg were destroyed wave after wave, but could never be completely exterminated, as their ability to reproduce was just too strong. it was almost like an endless fight. qiao zhiya also finally saw a real zerg. it was huge and ugly, arrogantly killing people as it saw fit. without mechas and all kinds of weapons, humanity ¨C even with spiritual power ¨C had no chance to fight against such monstrosity. they can only run away. obviously, it was a cruel and terrible scene, but he didn¡¯t feel scared because the scenes of the war were all dim and fast-paced. plus, the zerg was blurred and incomplete, as if someone intentionally did not want him to see the complete passage of this memory. after realizing this, he became more and more uncomfortable ¨C chu rong was consciously protecting him who is now watching the memory, but who really protected chu rong after experiencing these? the human-zerg war that lasted for many years exploded to its peak after the zerg queen suddenly appeared. humans desperately found that the zerg queen can actually pollute and interfere with spiritual power. no one can operate normally in front of it except those with s-level spiritual power and above. throughout the federal ministry of military affairs, the chu family has the most s-level spiritual officers, so the chu family stood at the forefront without hesitation. eighteen years old chu rong¡¯s life was filled with endless war. it¡¯s all he knew. the zerg queen suddenly attacked, all the zerg madly broke out, causing innumerable losses for the human race. the front line kept retreating. only the chu family stood steadfast in its defense, giving people a last bit of hope. but soon, there was news on the front line that the chu family was defeated ¨C the zerg queen¡¯s power was upgraded, and even the s-class spiritual power could stand a chance. the people began to panic. the president ordered the evacuation and refused to give reinforcements to the chu family. they only said that they would fight back after the madness of the worms had subsided. now sending reinforcements was tantamount to sending them to die. chu huai, who just entered the military internship, disobeyed the military order. after handing over chu yan to the old butler. he held the conviction of going as a reinforcement to the last remaining troops of the chu family, even if it meant his death. however, chu huai was knocked out sneakily by chu rong. he then quickly drove his mecha alone towards the location of the flagship of the chu family. the scene suddenly blurred again, all the gruesome battle scenes all faded away, and when his vision cleared again, all that was left in front of qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes was the gigantic corpse of the zerg queen, alongside the crooked and already disfigured black mecha in front of the corpse. the surroundings were pitch black, but he could hear someone ¨C or something ¨C wailing and howling. and in front of his eyes, there was a hole with a white light around it, but the scene outside the hole was completely unrecognizable. qiao zhiya suddenly realized that this was inside a black hole. chu rong was chased into the black hole and completely killed the zerg queen while the bug tried to escape by using this1this is¡­ physically impossible, as black holes have massive gravity, so it would crush you before it could teleport you anywhere. but it has been a popular trope for many years, so¡­. ¡°no, you can¡¯t stay here.¡± he was anxious as he rushed towards the mecha, trying to pull chu rong out of it¡­ only to find that his hand passed directly through the shell of the mecha. stunned, he fell to his knees in front of the mecha. ¡°chu rong, come out, you can¡¯t die here.¡± he tried in vain to move the mecha, his voice trembling in fear. although he intellectually knew that this was just a memory, and chu rong will definitely escape alive in the end, he was still confused. his heart felt like it was about to stop beating. the white hole was slowly closing in, the darkness was getting thicker and thicker. just when he was almost in despair, the mecha in front of him suddenly moved, and he was so happy that his emotions fluctuate violently. he blinked his eyes, and the scene changed again. healing, funerals, and being judged as a disabled person¡ª the empty placation and false sympathies from the president and four great families¨C he was given the marshal position, but it was like a handout because of his condition¨C this ridiculous situation without spiritual power, without subordinates, only hollow honors. then he rebuilt the chu family little by little, slowly gaining a foothold in the military department, facing all the doubts and ridicule of everyone. he climbed back to the top by relying only on his physical qualifications, replacing his father as the backbone of the chu family. all these difficult situations were skipped at a fast forward speed, as the federation gradually restored the peace and prosperity before the war, and the chu family once again secured the position of the top four great families at a terrible speed. this chu rong slowly became familiar to qiao zhiya, and then the scene changed into that fateful mining planet. chu rong, who was unable to use his spiritual power, sat in the mecha driven by fan xiangnan, and saw him who had just climbed out of the hole. ¡°catch it.¡± sitting in the co-pilot seat, spoke with an inscrutable face, and the perspective shifted as if he had once again become that wretched outsider who had just escaped from the hole in the ground, staring blankly at the metal giant. suddenly again, his consciousness suddenly returned, and he opened his eyes. ¡°woke up?¡± familiar greetings, then he was kissed in the forehead. CH 79.2 he looked up, looking at chu rong¡¯s relaxed and gentle appearance with a daze. he arched into his arms, and hugged him tightly ¡ª fortunately, this man survived and got better and better. ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± chu rong immediately hugged him, touched the back of his head, and asked, ¡°did you sleep well?¡± ¡°no.¡± he shook his head, tilted his head and put his ears against his chest to listen to his heartbeat, and said seriously, ¡°chu rong, you¡¯re right, manually-piloted mecha is necessary. it¡¯s imperative to produce for the masses..¡± humans are evolving, but the enemy is also evolving. it¡¯s not enough for humans to rely on their current tech to fight against them. if.. if that time the chu family had a manually-piloted mechas and could use them skillfully, of course, the results of the war might not be so bad. yes, the zerg is really gone now, but who can guarantee that there will not be a second coming of zerg in the future? even if zergs aren¡¯t in the equation, there¡¯s still the rampant conspiracy among humans. when human beings want to hurt someone else, even the stupid people know that it is better to start wrecking their opponent¡¯s spiritual power first, just like the attack that chu rong faced as a teen back then¡­ he thought it was too simple before. chu rong was thinking about longer-term things, which is an important thing to pay attention to. ¡°i will help you.¡± he added, feeling stronger than ever before, promising, ¡°i will help you to completely improve the manually-piloted mecha and promote its popularity.¡± of course, he would do it without harming the alien beasts as a population. chu rong heard his declaration, and wordlessly touched his nape, bowed his head, then kissed his eyes; all in silent thanks. qiao zhiya got spirited, and immediately after breakfast, he wanted to continue his research in the laboratory. chu rong saw all of this with a dark expression, and successfully dragged him into a hover car and drove out. ¡°where are we going?¡± qiao zhiya wondered, holding the electronic book in his hands, a little unwilling. ¡°i was going to continue my¡­¡± ¨Che was going to make the mecha in the star network into reality. chu rong frowned, took his e-book, pushed up his bangs, and said, ¡°go to the exhibition area, there is an event in the celebration plaza today.¡± qiao zhiya was stunned, and then he remembered that the festival was still under way. he looked at him embarrassedly, then secretly hid his e-book into his storage ring. chu rong pretended that he didn¡¯t see his sneaky movements. he hugged him and pinched his ears. he said, ¡°the stone grass medicine will be distributed today. because of the ning family¡¯s targeting, the creator¡¯s identity is hidden. remember not to tip them off. the distribution of this medicine is only the first step. the rectification of the pharmaceutical industry must also be carried out with the help of the gu family. in short, you should pay more attention to this time, keep a distance from the ning family, and don¡¯t let them discover anything.¡± the gu family is gu yanan¡¯s natal family, who has been engaged in basic medicine business since a long time ago. it has always been relatively low-key. their development focus is outside of the capital planet, avoiding key areas of the ning family¡¯s influence. qiao zhiya understood that the chu family was about to make a big move, and nodded obediently, indicating that he remembered his orders. this city¡¯s festival celebration plaza is not special, it¡¯s just a general name for such a plaza. chu rong refers to the main plaza, which is a large area in the center of the largest and most prosperous area of ??the whole planet. the main branch of the four great families and the presidential palace¡¯s exhibition areas are here. the place is divided into upper, middle, and lower levels, and is connected by an escalator that surrounds the plaza. there are also some artificial floating islands floating above it. each island has different entertainment facilities, and all connected by cloud-like bridges. the bottom of the island and the cloud bridge are painted with different patterns. from the bottom to the top, it looks like a beautiful big balloon connected by ribbons, majestic and festive. the main exhibition area is located on the third floor, all sectioned in different areas. the public can use their communicator to enter for free. everyone can take a pot of medicinal plants back before leaving, making it a freebie. qiao zhiya listened to chu rong¡¯s general introduction. after getting out of the car, he looked up at the ¡°big balloons¡± above his head and asked, ¡°the third floor is the exhibition area. what about the second floor? is it also the exhibition area?¡± ¡°no, it¡¯s a leisure area, there are all kinds of entertainment facilities, all of which are open to the public for free. if you want to play, i will accompany you around.¡± chu rong explained, holding his hand and taking him towards the plaza. ¡°don¡¯t run around now. there are many people and it¡¯s easy to get separated.¡± qiao zhiya looked around at the landing site where few people were present, and he was puzzled by the words ¡°many people¡± in his mouth. soon, he saw what was called ¡°many people.¡± after passing through the passage, the sight of the plaza spread out in front of him ¨C countless small houses and plants stretched to the end of the line of sight, among which were dotted by countless people. the noise of the crowd came along with the brisk music in the square, full of celebratory atmosphere that put a smile on his face. a child ran by holding a plant-shaped balloon. when qiao zhiya and chu rong came out of the passage, he turned around curiously, and the young mother who followed the child also followed, and was shocked after seeing qiao zhiya. ¡°qiao¨C¡± chu rong immediately stepped forward and blocked qiao zhiya behind him, glancing at the young mother sharply. then the young mother¡¯s eyes widened, covering her mouth and staring at him wordlessly. chu rong¡¯s face turned black, and he promptly took qiao zhiya to the sightseeing elevator by the aisle. outside the elevator, the young mother finally squealed. this led the security patrol to think that there was an emergency accident and ran over. qiao zhiya¡¯s ear twitched as he pulled chu rong¡¯s hand gently, asking, ¡°are we going to cover our faces?¡± chu rong frowned, then he tightened his grip on qiao zhiya¡¯s hand and replied, ¡°no need. let¡¯s wait for the event to begin. no one will be able to pay attention to us then.¡± qiao zhiya nodded indifferently, and his attention was quickly taken away by the lively scene outside the elevator. the exhibition area on the third floor of the plaza is not open yet, and it¡¯s cordoned to the public, so it¡¯s pretty empty. but for the sake of insurance, chu rong took qiao zhiya from the special passage to the chu family exhibition area, and found chu yan and yuan xiu who were being dragged by zhuang yu for free physical labor. ¡°qiao, you are finally here.¡± chu yan couldn¡¯t help but yell out, busy pulling yuan xiu to stand up, and said, ¡°i¡¯ll leave this place to you and erge, yuan xiu and i will go down to play.¡± after saying that, he pulled yuan xiu and ran away, completely not giving chu rong a chance to stop him. ¡°they really can¡¯t sit still.¡± zhuang yu muttered amusedly, sorted out the freshly placed grass, greeted chu rong and qiao zhiya, and said, ¡°all are ready, but i have a¡­ bad news here.¡± chu rong first set qiao zhiya aside and sat down, then asked, ¡°what¡¯s the news?¡± ¡°the ning family seems to be preparing to launch a new drug while taking advantage of this event.¡± zhuang yu said what she found in the morning, adding in detail, ¡°i smelled a little bit of the drug when i passed the ning family exhibition area before. it¡¯s a bit special, i have never smelled it before. then i went to the manager of the exhibition area to check it a bit, and found that the ning family suddenly shipped a large number of medicine boxes on the record.¡± it wasn¡¯t filed until this morning. this means that this batch of drugs was either a temporary decision to launch in a hurry, or it was intentionally done so in order to catch a few other competitors off-guard. however, this year¡¯s festival theme was something that the ning family won. they have no need to launch a surprise attack, so this could only mean that this move was a ¡°counterattack¡± they use to suppress the chu family¡¯s new drug release. it¡¯s a targeted move. the chu family¡¯s actions in preparing to launch the stone grass medicine isn¡¯t a tightly-guarded secret. those who are interested can speculate with a little effort. sitting next to qiao zhiya, chu rong heard and thought for a while, then asked back, ¡°can you find out what type of medicine the ning family launched this time?¡± zhuang yu knew that he was going to ask this, pointed at her nose and nodded. ¡°if my sense of smell didn¡¯t lie to me, then ning¡¯s new potion should use withered grass. it has a calming, meditative property, so the new drug that the ning family launched should be for spiritual power soothing.¡± qiao zhiya, who had been quietly listening to them, frowned. withered grass, he knows that it is a poisonous herb with very tenacious vitality. it does have the effect of meditative calmness, but this effect is more like a short-term stimulus after usage. after the effect of the medicine disappears, it can make the brain feel ¡°foggy¡±, with other side-effects. of course, it still can be used as a medicine. however, the cost to isolate it from its toxic compounds is great. now that there are milder and better-made soothing medicines on the market, why would the ning family launch such a drug in a saturated market? aren¡¯t they afraid of losing money? CH 79.3 chu rong immediately confirmed that the launch of the new medicine by the ning family really targeted the chu family. the optimized stone grass medicine has a strong soothing and calming effect on the spiritual power, which is much milder than the potion made by qiao zhiya himself. it was suitable for ordinary people and was cheaper and better than any existing spiritual power soothing agent available. if the ning family introduced a soothing agent this time, then the two would definitely be compared by the public this time. the ning family has been the pharmaceutical giant for so many years. the people have great trust in the ning family, and the chu family would naturally lose. ¡°no, it may not be a soothing agent.¡± qiao zhiya said suddenly. he frowned, the asked in a hesitant manner, ¡°i want to go to the ning family¡¯s exhibition area to confirm it myself, is that okay?¡± chu rong and zhuang yu looked at each other immediately. chu rong groaned and acquiesced, ¡°okay, i¡¯ll go with you.¡± the ning family¡¯s exhibition area was at the most central position on the third floor. after all, they were the winner of the holiday¡¯s family topic selection. they definitely got some benefits. as soon as qiao zhiya stepped into the central area, he smelled a refreshing fragrance. his ears immediately stood up alertly, his expression became more serious, and his grip on chu rong¡¯s hand tightened. ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± chu rong immediately squeezed his hand in comfort, asking about it. ¡°let¡¯s go back for now.¡± qiao zhiya didn¡¯t answer him. he only glanced at the still-closed ning family¡¯s exhibition area, motioning chu rong to go back. the two turned around, and after confirming that no one was around, qiao zhiya immediately said, ¡°it¡¯s not a soothing potion, but an irritant. i won¡¯t know the specific details unless i have a sample to tinker with. i smell not only withered grass, but also branched pomegranate flowers.¡± it¡¯s a flower from the empire that has a paralyzing property towards spiritual power. after the initial paralysis, it induced the illusory sensation of an increased spiritual power. it¡¯s one of the main ingredients in many legal drugs that some imperial nobles like to smoke. before, he felt something was off when he heard withered grass was one of the ingredients. there are so many herbs that can be used as a soothing agent. withered grass is definitely not the best choice. but he didn¡¯t know what kind of effect those two ingredients combined would have, but he was willing to bet that it wouldn¡¯t be positive. zhuang yu¡¯s face turned black, and she angrily cursed, ¡°what the hell is the ning family doing? are they going crazy?¡± ¡°definitely.¡± especially after being in contact with prince an xei. chu rong opened his mouth and patted qiao zhiya¡¯s head. he looked at zhuang yu and said, ¡°go to the ning family¡¯s area to buy one and check it. if there is a problem, you must find a way to stop the medicine from spreading. ¡° zhuang yu nodded and was busy looking for someone to delegate this task to. at 9 o¡¯clock, the celebration officially started. all the exhibition areas on the third floor were open at the same time. fireworks began to be displayed on the square. the floating islands began to be engulfed in various celebration special effects. the powerful sound system began to play cheerful music, and the arrange live performer also began to play in the middle of the plaza, mobilizing the enthusiasm of the citizens. the chu family¡¯s exhibition area was also opened on time. chu rong asked zhuang yu not to distribute the stone grass medicine for the time being, but to first observe the situation on the ning family¡¯s side. however, the ning family made no move. the ning family¡¯s approach was already obvious. chu rong no longer waits unnecessarily, and waves at zhuang yu, saying, ¡°began to distribute medicine.¡± zhuang yu nodded and took out the communicator to inform the chu family outside. after receiving the order, the chu family who stayed in the exhibition area effectively put out all the shelves on which the medicines were placed. at the same time, the introduction of the stone grass medicine was placed on the periphery of the exhibition area, and the information of free medicine was issued. ten minutes later, the people who stared at the ning family exhibition area returned with news. the ning family also posted a slogan for the free distribution of medicines. they also placed advertisements on the first and second floors of the square, making their area more popular compared to the chu family. in addition, in order to show the preciousness of the medicine, the ning family announced that the medicine would be given away free of charge for 100 people per day during the event. if others wanted to purchase it, they needed to pre-order it. the ning family¡¯s reputation has always been good, so as soon as the news came out, the people who participated in the celebration immediately swarmed towards the third floor and showed great interest in the new medicine launched by the ning family. one hundred free places quickly filled up. the ning family gathered people, officially took out the drug, and began to introduce the efficacy of the new drug. all the people who did not get the qualification to get them for free all stayed in the exhibition area to watch the excitement. when the person in charge said that the new drug was a spiritual power-enhancing drug, everyone first held their breath, and then the atmosphere exploded. ¡ª¡ªit¡¯s actually a spiritual power booster! this problem was actually overcome by the ning family! as everyone knew, there were zero agents that could boost someone¡¯s spiritual power! there are some drugs that can help them ¨C such as spiritual power soothing agents ¨C but the improvement of spiritual power by such agents was very small, and it was not as effective as cultivation by oneself. if this new drug really can boost someone¡¯s spiritual power, doesn¡¯t this mean that spiritual power cultivation would be easier and there will be more and more people with high-level spiritual power in the future? after the shock, some people began to doubt the effect of this spiritual power boosting drug. in case the effect was actually minuscule, then it would be comparable to the existing method of normal training-spiritual power soothing agent combo. why would they get excited about that? as if seeing their doubt, the person in charge of the ning family immediately arranged for the first group of people to drink the drug in public. they also made sure there¡¯s a ning family¡¯s on-site pharmacist to wait and observe the situation to ensure their safety. as a result, the public¡¯s doubts have disappeared, and their perception of the ning family is better. the drug was originally free. the ning family not only sent the drug but was also responsible for any side-effects. it was really considerate and kind. the ning family who acted low-key and only did practical things. one hundred people drank the drug in front of everyone, and the spiritual strength tester on the field immediately started to monitor their spiritual strength data. the results jumped out quickly, and the spiritual strength of all the people who took the drug increased significantly. one of the mecha warriors who had been trying to upgrade from b-level to a-level actually broke through. ¡°it¡¯s really a-level, i¡¯ve risen to a-level!¡± the upgraded mecha warrior was very excited. when he broke through, some unstable spiritual power spread outward, and all the people closer felt the change. everyone no longer doubted. their cheers and shouts of awe exploded, and a lot of them immediately put a pre-order for the drug. the person in charge of the ning family exhibition area did not take the opportunity to immediately sell the medicine, but put on a responsible and credible appearance, explaining carefully: ¡°the effect of this medicine is the best for first-time consumption, and the effect will gradually decrease afterwards. then, it will stop until it¡¯s at the level where your body can adapt. because everyone¡¯s body is different, not everyone will get good results after taking this drug. so those who want to buy it are best to think about it carefully, because the drug is not easy to make and the price is very expensive.¡± on the contrary, his careful attitude was appreciated more, driving people¡¯s enthusiasm into the roof. some people even said that they can understand even if the medicine effect does not meet their expectations, after all, each body is different. the ning family¡¯s exhibition area was jam-packed by the excited crowd, and all the other family exhibition areas on the same floor were left out, especially the chu family exhibition area. it was decorated simply, with minimal flair and medicines stocks on the shelves. the person who went to the ning family¡¯s exhibition area to observe the situation quickly returned and reported their findings: ¡°there is no queue, the pre-ordered drug can only be obtained after one month. all the 100 drugs sent out were drunk on the spot and is not available.¡± zhuang yu sneered in response, ¡°it¡¯s too late to do anything else when the festival is over in a month. there¡¯s a person whose spiritual power jumped on the spot, right? i didn¡¯t expect the ning family to do this either.¡± everyone here was familiar with the pharmaceutical industry, so they weren¡¯t easily fooled.the ning family made the exhibition area look like a cult scene, which was a real eye-opener. qiao zhiya frowned, a little bit distressed. without a sample, he cannot check the true effect of the drug. spiritual power is a type of life force, which is generated by the human body. there is absolutely no compound that can greatly improve a person¡¯s spiritual power by simply consuming it in a matter of seconds. even if the drug contains a lot of raw spiritual power to supplement what the human body lacks, it also needs the human body to have processed and assimilated it. it¡¯s just like that time when chu rong needed to ¡°digest¡± the spiritual power from the flesh of the stone to cure his spiritual sea pollution. this kind of thing is absolutely impossible with over-the-counter drugs. it¡¯s a scam. in short, there must be something weird about the ning family¡¯s new drug. chu rong thought for a moment with a calm face and said, ¡°i¡¯ll think of a way to contact the 100 people who drank the drug today. it is best to buy a few and bring them for a detailed examination.¡± qiao zhiya recalled something, adding, ¡°or bring it to me.¡± wood-elemental magic is more sensitive to drugs. he also has qiuqiu, which can more quickly detect what is wrong with the drug. ¡°i always think there¡¯s a trick behind all of this.¡± zhuang yu commented. with a rarely-heard sharp language, she continued, ¡°the ning family has made such a big wave with this show. they can¡¯t be only doing that in order to suppress our limelight. they might make another move to prevent other families from succeeding as well to guard their own interest. yes, i think, the ning family still have something else.¡± CH 80.1 speaking of which, the person in charge of the exhibition area suddenly stepped forward and reported, ¡°no, there is a person who claims to drink stone grass medicine. after drinking it, his spiritual strength suddenly started to be unstable. after testing, his spiritual strength did show signs of disturbance, but he vehemently refuses to go to the hospital and be treated. instead, he insisted on a statement and made a lot of noise.¡± zhuang yu snorted and laughed in anger. ¡°what did i just say, look, isn¡¯t this not the trouble they arranged? sure enough, some people aren¡¯t satisfied unless they make a fuss during this festival.¡± ¡°go and see.¡± chu rong stood up. zhuang yu quickly discouraged him. ¡°i suggest you don¡¯t go. if this is ning family¡¯s insidious move, then with your special status in the hearts of the citizens, it¡¯s not good for you to get caught in the middle.¡± ¡°even if i stay here, the ning family will still find something to slander me with.¡± chu rong dismissed her with a wave of his hand and walked. qiao zhiya got up to keep up, took his hand, and said, ¡°i¡¯ll go with you.¡± chu rong looked at him from the side and took his hand. the two left together, and zhuang yu collapsed to the chair and supported her forehead. ¡°it¡¯s over, don¡¯t think about it today.¡± chu rong and qiao zhiya¡¯s fame together, things will only get bigger. her female assistant took a look at her and whispered to remind her, ¡°zhuang-jie, why do you insist on sir staying here? if he doesn¡¯t go out now, the ning family can turn around and claim that he ¡®disregards the wellbeing of a citizen, he is clearly on the scene, but just let things be.¡¯ isn¡¯t it better for him to go to the scene to address the situation?¡± zhuang yu was reminded by her, raised her hand and patted her forehead and scolded herself with a low voice. then, she immediately followed those two. when they came down, the center of the exhibition area was surrounded by onlookers. the vague voice of a man and the staff advising him to go to the hospital to stabilize the situation could be heard. the onlookers were all whispering amongst themselves. there were also some unopened stone grass medicines around. there was a hint of unstable spiritual power in the air, and qiao zhiya could feel it. his ears shook, and he spread his magic towards the center of the crowd. ¡°tell them to spread out, spiritual instability will affect the people around them, triggering a chain reaction.¡± chu rong frowned. the person in charge of the exhibition area nodded, took out the communicator and said something to the other side, and soon a group of security personnel came in and began to maintain order on the scene and evacuate the crowd. ¡°what are you doing! do you want to separate me and bury the truth? i tell you, it is impossible! i have relatives outside, and they all know that i have been harmed today! i trusted the chu family, but i didn¡¯t realize that you¡¯re actually harming people with faulty medicines! if you¡¯re not in this business, then don¡¯t come here to participate with your shallow knowledge! you¡¯re just greedy for money!¡± after the crowd spread out a little, the screams of the troublemaker became more and more obvious. the evacuated crowd heard his words, and the whispers became louder. some people still refused to leave. they wanted to see the development of this incident. the troublemaker¡¯s aura has also faintly changed, full of excitement of making a big controversy. emotions are contagious. gradually, the crowd begins to riot, and more people refuse to evacuate, and they want to come around again. ¡°someone is behind him,¡± said the person in charge of the exhibition area, frowning, anxious, and worried. ¡°sir, what should i do now?¡± while the troublemaker seemed not threatening and insignificant at first glance, it¡¯s possible the public opinion consequences could be very serious. if it¡¯s not handled well, not only the product would be questioned, but also the reputation of the chu family. his magic power quickly detected something. qiao zhiya frowned, withdrew his magic, and gently pulled chu rong¡¯s hand, and whispered, ¡°chu rong, he is not spiritually rioting. he is deliberately using a spiritual simulator. he installed a small chip to impact his own spiritual sea and made the illusion of a spiritual disturbance, but he¡¯s actually alright.¡± chu rong heard his verdict and became relieved. he squeezed his hand back, and asked, ¡°are you sure?¡± qiao zhiya nodded. he wore a spiritual simulator every day and was very sure about the feeling. he can¡¯t be wrong. their conversation was in whispers, so the head of the exhibition area who kept a polite distance did not hear what they were talking about. seeing that the situation of the crowd was getting more and more out of control, on the verge of a conflict breaking out, he couldn¡¯t help but get panicked with each passing second. he nervously called out: ¡°sir.¡± ¨Cit¡¯s not that he wants to obstruct these two romance, but the conflict hasn¡¯t been resolved yet. chu rong waved his hand to indicate that he was listening, squinted towards the center of the crowd, and commanded, ¡°launch the hall monitoring, and broadcast the chaos here.¡± since the other party wants to use public opinion against their medicine, he will make good use of it in turn. ¡°sir?¡± the head of the exhibition area was taken aback by his order. ¡®live broadcast? isn¡¯t this incident big enough already? does he want to add fuel to the fire?¡¯ ¡°do it as soon as possible.¡± chu rong urged him then fell into a brief thought.¡±the channel used by the ning family to advertise just now is good. go, contact the person in charge of the plaza and say that i, the chu family, also want to buy an advertising spot this time.¡± the person in charge of the exhibition area became even more confused. he wanted to ask why, but it¡¯s clear that chu rong was impatient already. out of his trust towards chu rong, he immediately did as he was ordered to. after he left, chu rong raised his hand and squeezed qiao zhiya¡¯s ear, asking, ¡°can you find that spiritual simulator device?¡± qiao zhiya nodded. he had measured the position of the spiritual force simulator just before the detection. it was easy to find out. ¡°then should i help you by showing up?¡± ¡°no, you don¡¯t need to show up this time, so as not to attract the ning family¡¯s attention to you.¡± chu rong replied, placing him in a corner with few people to protect him. then, he stepped forward alone, using a bit of his spiritual power to intimidate the onlookers. some of them instinctually retreated a little, parting apart into making a way for him to walk to the troublemaking man in the center, who was still sitting on the ground and howling. finding himself approached by someone, the middle-aged man¡¯s yelling stopped. he turned around and looked behind him, shouting even louder, ¡°what do you want to do! illegally detain m¨C chu, chu¡­ chu¡­.¡± chu rong gave him a faint glance, ignored him, and turned to look at the shocked people who gradually became quiet because of his sudden appearance, saying, ¡°a spiritual riot is very dangerous. it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to leave, but please isolate a relatively spacious room for the patient.¡± after saying that, he waved his hand to the surrounding staff and motioned them to arrange seats for the people who wanted to watch, so as not to let them continue to be so rowdy.1 ¡°marshal chu?¡± ¡°it¡¯s really marshal chu! marshal chu is actually in the exhibition area!¡± the crowd became noisy once again, but this time it was mostly in joy and excitement. chu rong¡¯s appearance was like a dose of heart-strengthening medicine. he calmed them down and reassured them with his presence alone. it¡¯s as if, as long as he was here, any problem would be resolved. the troublemaker was overcome with mixed emotions when he saw chu rong actually appeared in person. he then got panicked, stared at him from a distance, backed away and wanted to run, but was ¡°accidentally¡± stopped by the staff who arranged the seats, and got blocked from running away. ¡ª¡ªhe has been shouting around a lot and didn¡¯t pay attention to his surroundings. with chu rong, a powerful air-conditioning blowing chilling cold air, the crowd is no longer afraid to sit down. they sat down according to the arranged seat and soon sat around the ¡°patient¡± in the middle, as if watching a monkey dancing. the middle-aged man looked back from the shock of seeing rong chu, and his forehead slowly exuded cold sweat. if he made trouble in this exhibition area and the person in charge is around, he wasn¡¯t afraid. but out of nowhere, chu rong actually appeared here? chu rong has an sss-level spiritual power, in case he finds his trick¡­ no, there¡¯s no way! thinking of the place where the device was hidden, he was at ease again ¨C even chu rong could never see through his disguise! after all, he even used anti-detection equipment. ¡°so what if you¡¯re the marshal? can¡¯t a marshal be responsible for the medicine produced by his family?! i was fine before, and my spiritual strength started to be unstable after drinking your medicine! i must say something about this!¡± the scream of the middle-aged man suddenly came out of all the loudspeakers in the square, and the lively festival music was severely suppressed. at the same time, all the screens that were playing the celebration screen flashed, becoming the chu exhibition scene. the joyful people were gazing at each other and looked at the big screens in their respective areas in wonder. ¡ªwhat is this? a new holiday celebration? on the first floor of the square, chu yan, who was playing a simulated battle with yuan xiu, saw that the scene of his exhibition area was suddenly put on the large screen in the event hall. he was so stunned that he lost the game he played. ¡°what¡¯s going on? why is the view of my family¡¯s exhibit on this big screen??¡± yuan xiu was also baffled. he looked around and found that everyone was reacting to them. he reached out and patted his shoulder, pointed out and said, ¡°about that¡­ look outside.¡± chu yan turned his head and looked out, and all the screens that he saw were actually replaced with scenes in his family¡¯s exhibition area. it¡¯s as if every screen was hacked. after a momentary shock, he quickly realized something: ¡°no! there must be something wrong in the exhibition area! let¡¯s go back now!¡± in the ning family exhibition area, chairman ning tianya, listened to the latest report as he sat down. with a frown, he waved and said, ¡°let them go, no matter how the chu family handles this matter, and the final result is already set in stone. it has nothing to do with my ning family. sweep clean all evidence.¡± the responsible person heard his orders, nodded his head, and turned to leave. at the corner, ning kongran frowned and retracted his eyes. after thinking about it, he sneaked out and took out his communicator. in the exhibition area of ??the chu family, the middle-aged man saw that chu rong wouldn¡¯t talk back. he was so imposing that he became even more intimidating. he didn¡¯t know that his current ugliness had been live-broadcasted simultaneously. ¡°today, you chu family want to use your power to oppress people and minimize the damage! do you think you can get away with selling faulty medicine? everyone came here because they trust you! as a result, you treat us like this? selling us problematic medicine that harms us instead?¡± the middle-aged man¡¯s tone grew more righteous, as if he was the messenger of justice, and he was fighting the oppression of a big family who fooled the masses. chu rong watched this clown perform with a calm face, while instructing the staff to take good care of him. he then walked towards the shelf, took one stone grass potion, and drank it all. ¡°there is no problem with the medicine.¡± the people who had been shaken by the middle-aged man¡¯s claim immediately calmed down. if chu rong dared to drink it so casually like that, it proved that the medicine was really okay. the chu family has always been reliable and never falsified such things, so this time they should be righteous as always. the yelling of the middle-aged man was choked by this move. the staff took the opportunity to enter the protective cover and placed him on a soft sofa. they also moved a small table with water, snacks, and a small spiritual power detection equipment. the scene looked even more weird, as if it was a bizarre tea party. before the staff left, they turned on the spiritual power detection equipment, and then there was a sizzling sound from the device. the middle-aged man was stunned, and the idea of ??being stunned returned again. he pointed at the testing instrument on the small table more vigorously, and said, ¡°so what¡¯s going on? after i came to the celebration, i could drink your potion. i have n¡¯t eaten or drink anything else! when i entered the communicator, my spiritual strength was normal. after drinking the medicine, there was a problem. how do you explain this? everyone knows that each body type has different reactions to the medicine. if your potion really induces some users to become spiritually violent, then you shouldn¡¯t push it out! you¡¯re playing with everyone¡¯s life! ¡° the middle-aged man froze, choking on his words before connecting his thoughts back, pointing more and more vigorously at the detection instruments on the small table, saying, ¡±then what¡¯s going on here? i¡¯ve only drunk your medicine since i came to the festival, not anything else! when i used my communicator and came in, my spiritual power was still normal, but after drinking the medicine, something went wrong! how do you explain this situation! as we all know, everyone¡¯s physique reacts differently to drugs, and if your medicine really induces some users to go spiritually rioting, then you shouldn¡¯t have pushed it out! you¡¯re taking everyone¡¯s lives as a child¡¯s play!¡± he made a certain point. the people around him were stimulated by the alarm sound of the instrument, and hesitated again ¡ª yes, didn¡¯t the ning family say that when they pushed the new medicine, everyone¡¯s acceptance of the drug would be different. if the medicine of the chu family is really likely to cause serious consequences after use, even if it is only a small probability event, the medicine should not be provided, even if it is for free. moreover, the chu family has never been involved in the pharmaceutical industry before, and now suddenly responding to this year¡¯s festival theme to launch a new drug. their intentions may be good, but as they say ¨C the road to hell is paved with good intentions. the chu family is a novice in the pharmaceutical industry, facing some roadblocks are normal. in the face of everyone¡¯s doubts and the aggressiveness of the middle-aged man, chu rong was still calm, and not even a hint of ire appeared. after waiting for the middle-aged man to speak, he calmly asked, ¡°i can guarantee that this medicine has no problem and there are no side effects, and they will not cause a spiritual riot. however, can you guarantee that everything you say is true? ¡° the middle-aged man froze for a moment. his eyes darted everywhere, but he eventually puffed up his chest and said, ¡°of course i can! what are you doing, is the chu family preparing to slander me for deliberately making a noise? it turned out that this is how your chu family handles the problem, making the victim take all the blame?¡± ¡°no, i¡¯m not putting the blame on you, i just want to give you a medical treatment first.¡± chu rong looked at zhuang yu, who was standing on the side, and waved his hand, ¡°stabilize his situation first.¡± he would still do what he should do, and the chu family would not do such things as ¡°fail to save someone¡¯s life¡± or ¡°question patients in cold blood¡±. zhuang yu nodded, trying to get into the protective cover. but the middle-aged man was very guarded, and said, ¡°i don¡¯t want your pharmacist from the chu family to treat me. who knows what tricks she will use to harm me! don¡¯t try to silence me, i demand a third, unrelated party to keep things fair and op¨C¡± a large screen suddenly descended above the exhibition area. the split screen above shows the situation on the first and second floors of the square. the words of the middle-aged man were taken aback once he saw various censored faces on the screen. the people on the plaza outside also rioted. ¡°rest assured, the image of everyone involved, except from the chu family, will be covered in mosaic. we will not violate anyone¡¯s privacy.¡± chu rong explained, then pointed to the screen, looked at the middle-aged man, and said in a casual manner, ¡°what you ask for is fair and open treatment. all people with medical qualifications on the first and second floors of the square can come to the chu¡¯s exhibition area to supervise or participate in this treatment. if you want, i can even ask for anyone in the federation to treat you. i¡¯ll even invite a witness if you insist, so the chu family will have zero chance to harm you. now, mr. ¡®victim¡¯, will you receive medical treatment? after all, a real spiritual riot is very harmful.¡± the middle-aged man stared stupidly at himself on the screen, knowing that he had fucked up in a spectacular matter. he glanced at chu rong, who looked as if he had unveiled all his acts. his heart shook, and he couldn¡¯t let out a sound. CH 80.2 sorry for the late update. i¡¯ve been crazy busy with work recently¡­ so see you next year~ there were many people who wanted to know the truth. as soon as chu rong¡¯s words fell, some of the people sitting below immediately raised their hands, indicating that he was a doctor and could participate in the treatment. chu rong waved to the staff, and asked the staff to come forward to check this man¡¯s doctor qualification. after being proven so, he let him come over. one by one, other doctors have come forward or come from the first or second floor. the middle-aged man couldn¡¯t say anything to refute, and enjoyed a ¡°special¡± treatment surrounded by many doctors. in order to ensure the innocence of the chu family, zhuang yu only provided the instruments needed by the doctors, and all the other things were left untouched. soon, the doctors discovered the problem. the middle-aged man did show signs of spiritual riot, but it was only a symptom. apart from this, his physical condition was very normal, and he did not have any dizziness or confusion due to the rioting spiritual power. aside from a mild headache, he wasn¡¯t sick at all. the people who eat melon also found something wrong and looked at each other ¡ª how did the doctors use so many instruments and do so many treatments, but the ¡°victim¡¯s¡± condition neither eased nor became more serious, but was ¡°fixed¡± on a certain baseline? spiritual riot is a very serious spiritual trauma and should not be so ¡°steady¡±. everyone muttered in their hearts, and they always felt that something was wrong. the middle-aged man turned red and sweated more on his forehead. he didn¡¯t know how to cope with the current scene. in order to make this play more real and not to be discovered, the position of his spiritual stimulation device was very hidden. however, it was concealed so much that he couldn¡¯t turn it off sneakily. but if he made a big move, he wouldn¡¯t be found out immediately. he now regrets this to death. in the presence of so many people, he was against the chu family, how could he continue to live on peacefully! everyone noticed that his expression was off, and suspicions began to grow in their hearts. the doctors also ceased treatment, scrutinizing him with doubt, as if trying to discern something extraordinary about him. seeing that the atmosphere almost reached a bursting point, chu rong stepped forward to look at the middle-aged man in a timely manner, and said, ¡°be honest. if not, i¡¯ll treat this as slanderous words, and will go through a formal legal process. i¡¯ll even broadcast the whole thing live so the whole public can watch it.¡± this means that the middle-aged man can get away as long as he confesses. if he keeps being stubborn, he will be dealt with according to law, in a ¡°fair and just manner, open to the public.¡± the middle-aged man stared ahead, his hands trembled. he avoided looking at chu rong¡¯s cold glare towards him, it¡¯s as if the marshal was looking at garbage. he then darted his eyes towards the big screen, where countless censored faces were broadcasted. finally, his gaze rested at the skeptical doctors and onlookers. at long last, his psychological defense line was broken. he reached out and slowly touched his back, swallowed, and said, ¡°i, i¡¯ll confess, this time ¡­¡± in the corner, qiao zhiya¡¯s communicator suddenly rang. he took it out and saw that it was a message from ning kongran. he was puzzled ¡ª ning kongran hadn¡¯t contacted him for a long time. why would he suddenly send a message to him today? the message popped up with a very simple sentence: [timed, beware of sudden riot.] he was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized something, turned his head to look at the middle-aged man at the center. his hand was touching his lower back. ¡°¡­i¡¯m being threatened this time-ah!¡± the middle-aged man said that, then half of his face suddenly turned white. his head lolled as his body hit the ground. at the same time, a violent spiritual force floated from him, shaking the expressions of the surrounding doctors, and the detection equipment began to rang noisily. ¡°h-he is really spiritually rioting! there is really a problem with the medicine!¡± someone suddenly shouted out loud. the people in the venue immediately descended into chaos and couldn¡¯t sit still. som wanted to come forward to see it with their eyes, others wanted to run away. many of them screamed and panicked. oh god! that spiritual stimulation device seems to have exploded! this will not only affect middle-aged man, but even the doctors around him will be affected! ¡°quickly spread!¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s face tightened quickly, and after shouting, his voice was drowned in the screams of the people. his anxiety jumped through the roof. he reached out his hands and rushed away from the people around him, running towards the center. he spread his magic to wrap the middle-aged man, so that the spiritual stimulation device on his body will not affect other people, and then use his magic to comb through his whole body. he immediately zeroed into the man¡¯s waist area, then crouched down and easily flipped the non-stop struggling middle-aged man backside up, and reached out to tug on his pants. everyone was stunned by his sudden emergence, but chu rong was still calm, his eyes stopped in his hand pulling the middle-aged man¡¯s pants, and his face was dark and he ordered the staff to call out the doctor. then he stepped over and added another layer of protective barrier, walked in, and helped qiao zhiya with the middle-aged man, who was writhing in pain. some doctors were reluctant to leave, questioning qiao zhiya¡¯s reckless behavior, and the crowd around them continued to turmoil. chu rong patiencedisappeared, irritability erupted, and he cried, ¡°be quiet! close the exhibition area! no one is allowed in or out!¡± chu rong was really fierce. everyone was shocked and had no courage to make a noise again. they obediently invited the staff to stay out and keep quiet. the unclear sight fell on qiao zhiya who was picking his pants¡ª ¡ªthey¡¯d like to see what the marshal¡¯s fiance would do with his sudden appearance. all the people watching the screen on the first and second floors of the square also stirred up, and various opinions emerged. chu yan, who was blocked in the elevator, saw the situation become like this, and was so anxious he could explode. he couldn¡¯t figure out why such a bullcrap thing could happen during this festival! inside the protective barrier, with the help of chu rong, qiao zhiya moved a lot. he pulled open the waist of the middle-aged man, and quickly found a strange small black device from the stitching of his underwear belt. he quickly covered it with an isolation barrier and threw it aside. he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but his face suddenly changed, and he reached out his hand. pressing on the position of the middle-aged man¡¯s right upper hip, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he extended his hand to chu rong, saying, ¡°short dagger.¡± chu rong¡¯s gaze looking at his hand was almost frozen, his expression was murderous, but his hands were not slow, and he immediately took out the short dagger and passed it. the people was puzzled when they saw qiao zhiya throw a device out, and then they saw him take a beautiful short dagger in pure black from chu rong¡¯s hand. after unwrapping the sheath, he directly slashed at the middle-aged man¡¯s buttocks, and they exclaimed out of fright in unison. ¡ªwhat is he doing? he is ill, why is qiao zhiya aiming at his buttocks, ah. on the first and second floors of the plaza, the people who were paying attention to this matter were also stunned at what qiao zhiya had done. there¡¯s no tumor or something in the man¡¯s buttocks area, why is he slashing them? then a thrill happened. qiao zhiya cut through the skin of the middle-aged man and stretched his fingers into the wound to dig something up. he actually pulled out a blood-stained black metal box. ¡°!!!¡± everyone gaped in utter bafflement. just what that is? why is there something like that in the man¡¯s body? after the metal box came out, the alarm of the detection instrument became louder. zhuang yu, who had just changed into a special protective clothing, entered the barrier. she immediately frowned. she pulled out an isolation covering device to cover the mysterious metal box, and said, ¡°it¡¯s actually a spiritual power induction device. just who in the world would actually put such a thing into a human body?¡± induction device plus stimulation device, no wonder this man¡¯s spiritual power rioted. after hearing this, the onlooker couldn¡¯t help but exclaim: ¡°induction device? isn¡¯t that a a strictly-regulated item?¡± the middle-aged man had shouted in pain, his voice was getting weaker, and his face was getting paler. qiao zhiya moved away and asked zhuang yu to help the middle-aged man to deal with the wound. seeing him so uncomfortable, he intuitively wanted to touch the medicine in his storage bracelet. but then, he remembered that he hadn¡¯t entered the laboratory for more than a month, and so lately concentrated on mecha manufacturing. he really doesn¡¯t have any medicine stock in his person. he frowned, his gaze swept across the medicine box scattered on the ground. then his eyes brightened. he rushed to pick up a few boxes, then knelt beside the middle-aged man, took out the stone grass medicines in the box and opened them one by one. he poured them into the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth. the original purpose of the stone grass medicine was to treat chu rong¡¯s spiritual power pollution. this means the medicine has a certain soothing effect on spiritual power riot, so it is an effective solution for this current problem. the people watched him feed the ¡°culprit¡± into the mouth of the middle-aged man. some people could not help reminding him: ¡°there is something wrong with this medicine. his spiritual riot must be caused by this, don¡¯t use that on him.¡± qiao zhiya turned his head and looked at the speaker. he corrected with a frown, ¡°it wasn¡¯t caused by this medicine. his riot rage was caused by those two things.¡± he pointed to the stimulation and induction device thrown aside. everyone¡¯s eyes moved along, and then they remembered these two strange devices tossed from the middle-aged man, and became silent. the middle-aged man was getting weaker and consciousness was about to be lost. chu rong frowned. seeing that zhuang yu had dealt with the wound, he turned him sideways to make him feel better. he pressed his fingers quickly on several places on his scalp. then, he whispered, ¡°don¡¯t faint now. you¡¯ll lose everything if you do.¡± the middle-aged man heard his threat and opened his eyes, subconsciously swallowing the medicine. as soon as zhuang yu saw this, she took out several treatment instruments and started to connect it to his body. qiao zhiya continued to feed the potion and secretly soothe his body with his wood-elemental magic. the spiritual strength level of the middle-aged man was not high, and his situation was obviously improving. when zhuang yu connects the last treatment device to him, the alarm sound of the spiritual strength detection device was almost gone. qiao zhiya stopped feeding medicine in time and watched the middle-aged man¡¯s complexion getting rosier. he reminded him, ¡°try to mobilize your spiritual power to amplify the medicine¡¯s effect.¡± the middle-aged man instinctively followed suit, and his spiritual power moved with the warm current brought by the medicament. soon, the alarm sound of the spiritual power detection instrument completely disappeared, and his condition stabilized. ¡°it¡¯s okay. fortunately the device was dismantled in time.¡± zhuang yu breathed a sigh of relief and motioned the staff to move a couch to put the middle-aged man up. qiao zhiya wanted to get out of the way, but because he squatted for too long and didn¡¯t notice that a medicine bottle was lodged near his feet, his numb feet immediately stepped over the bottle and he almost fell. chu rong¡¯s arm quickly supported him, and he threw the middle-aged man to the care of others. he stood up holding qiao zhiya, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood and medicine on his hands. he frowned while looking at the isolation device on the ground. he looked at the exhibition area staff and supervisor to instruct them: ¡°turn off the live broadcast, and then report to the police. the spiritual force induction device is a strictly-regulated product. this time, the matter must be investigated clearly.¡± the person in charge of the exhibition area turned around and went to do it. meanwhile, the onlookers were taken aback by his exclamation. they glanced at the two strange devices on the ground, and looked at chu rong, who was holding qiao zhiya to wipe his hands with a cold face. after a few moments of silence, they suddenly erupted into applause. spiritual riot was a problem that everyone was afraid of and may encounter. now, watching a spiritually riot patient rescued, everyone was somewhat excited. qiao zhiya was held in public by chu rong. as his hand was wiped clean, his ears trembled in embarrassment. with a flushed face, he whispered, ¡°don¡¯t wipe, this one that can¡¯t be wiped off, you have to wash¡­¡± chu rong looked down at him, remembering that he was brought here to play today, and his mood became more and more unpleasant. he simply caught him and blocked him, and took him directly and turned away. CH 80.3 everyone couldn¡¯t help but want to follow those two, but zhuang yu stood up at the right time, and while the live broadcast was not yet closed, she raised her voice and said, ¡°everyone has seen that stone grass medicine will not induce spiritual riot. on the contrary, it will help to soothe and stabilize any spiritual power disturbance. during this event, the chu family will distribute this medicine for free, one for each person, and everyone is welcome. of course, you are not welcome if you come here to make trouble.¡± as soon as her announcement fell, the holographic screen over the sky disappeared, and the live broadcast in the square was over. zhuang yu was satisfied with the advertisement and waved her hands at everyone, letting the staff handle the middle-aged man. the exhibition area was quickly restored to the previous appearance by the staff. after that, the police force arrived and was invited by the supervisor to talk to the backstage area for details. in the exhibition area, there were only the people who watched the lively people. they all came to the same conclusion as they raced towards the medicine shelves: this medicine has a soothing effect on spiritual instability and riot. the effectiveness is high! this is simply a helping hand to those who were preparing to advance their spiritual power! the screens in the first and second floor of the plaza were all changed back to the previous celebrations. everyone else also understood ¡ª after a few seconds of digesting new information, they were all heading towards the chu family¡¯s exhibition area ¨C a medicine that can calm down a burgeoning spiritual riot? and it¡¯s free? you would be an idiot to not pick it up! the situation of the people rushing to the ning family¡¯s exhibition area turned into a situation where everyone went to the chu family¡¯s exhibition area together. and because of the (generously limited) freebie, the current popularity of the chu family¡¯s exhibition area was far better than the ning family. with goodies for all, the third floor of the plaza is finally getting a little festive. in the ning family exhibition area, ning tianya had no time to take care of this situation by himself. he did not expect that qiao zhiya could find the induction device buried in the pawn¡¯s body and dug it out in public. now chu¡¯s family wants to report to the police, so the situation will grow unpredictably. after finishing his current work, he must arrange his plans well. around the corner, ning kongranwithdrew his line of sight, the corner of his mouth coldly hooked, and he turned to leave. in the backstage lounge area, chu rong grabbed qiao zhiya¡¯s hands and washed them again and again, his face getting even darker. he still aptly remembered that qiao zhiya just touched another man¡¯s butt¡­ he must wash it again! wash it well!! qiao zhiya took a careful look at him, tried to pull his hand, but it did not budge. he blushed and asked, ¡°are you jealous? because i touched¨C¡± ¡°i dare you to say that word.¡± chu rong coldly interrupted him. qiao zhiya shut up, tried to stop a grin from forming. he leaned over, putting his head on the crook of chu rong¡¯s neck, then nuzzled him. he awkwardly tries to appease the older man. ¡°it¡¯s nothing. i don¡¯t even remember the sensation of touching it.¡± ¡°do you still want to remember?¡± chu rong¡¯s face turned darker, and even his spiritual power buzzed dangerously. ¡°¡­¡­¡± qiao zhiya decided not to speak, just hugged him obediently and continued to act flatteringly. chu rong also knows that he was being unreasonable but¡­ but¡­ how can this situation not anger him! he stretched out his arms and held his obedient fiance in his arms, looking sideways in the direction of the ning family exhibition area, with a murderous look ¨C there¡¯s no way in hell he will let those crooks get away unscathed! on the first day of the festival, two big news bursted out: first, the ning family researched a spiritual power booster; second, the chu family launched a spiritual riot soothing agent. both are good things that benefit the country and the people. the people were ecstatic! soon after, they learned another thing. the chu family¡¯s new medicine had been maliciously slandered by an unknown person on the day of launch, almost causing it to be unsellable. fortunately, marshal chu and his fiance qiao zhiya were present at the time to clarify the matter. they even rescued the troublemaker. immediately after that, live broadcast monitoring images came out at the time, and the people began a lively discussion on this matter. because the target was the chu family, they immediately zeroed in on the xiang family ¨C after all, those two families have been at odds since forever. was this matter caused by the xiang family? the innocent xiang family, of course, was angry by this baseless accusation, but they understood where it came from. thankfully, the chu family was very powerful, and they cooperated with the police to quickly announce the results of the investigation: the middle-aged man has recovered and pleaded guilty, confessing that he was bought by a pharmaceutical company to deliberately cause trouble. at the same time, he said that he did not know when the induction device was installed in the body, and the police are investigating the origin of the induction device. the result became a bit muddied, but the point was clear: the guilty party is a pharmaceutical company. the xiang family made mecha, and that is clearly reflected in their exhibition area. there were no medicines or wellness items. they only gave the public some flowers and medicinal herbs. so their suspicions were quickly washed away. so after a discussion, the people moved their eyes to the ning family, and conspiracy theories slowly floated out ¡ª the two launched a new medicine on the same day, and the ning family had no trouble, while the chu family clearly had some. could it be that the ning family secretly did it to block the chu family? the crowd seemed to have caught the little tail of the big family fight, dug up along this line, and then the situation started to spiral out of control. they even managed to dig up some other shady things the ning family had done in the past. for example, some of the spiritual soothing agents currently circulating in the market actually had low production costs, but due to the ning family¡¯s control of the patents, they were priced high. additionally, although the ning family appears to be the most low-key and amiable, behind the scenes, they were aggressively suppressing their competitors. for many years, no other pharmaceutical family has dared to establish itself, fearing the influence of the ning family. they also still remembered the capture and research operation against special-type spiritual power users years ago ¨C it was also initiated by the ning family. finally, the most crucial and concerning point for the public was that the theme proposed by the ning family this year for the festival is not aimed at regulating and reducing drug prices. instead, it was an attempt to raise drug prices once again, and the introduction of spiritual power-boosting agents was just the beginning. their strategy to market this new drug was to limit stocks and pre-order. it¡¯s clear they wanted to drive price speculation. the conspiracy got thicker. more truths were dug up, and the public¡¯s goodwill towards the ning family was dwindling at an alarming pace. as the festival continued, there were still many people lining up for drugs in the ning family exhibition area, but fewer people actually pre-ordered it. although everyone wanted to improve their spiritual strength, they did not want to be used as a tool to drive up the prices. and this time, the drug to boost spiritual power was really too expensive. they¡¯d rather cultivate by themselves using conventional means. chu yan, who was blocked by the elevator that day and couldn¡¯t look at the commotion with his own eyes, focused on the current gossip with interest. he then reported to qiao zhiya without fail throughout the day, telling him the latest developments of the gossip as well as what scandals had been unearthed in the ning family. qiao zhiya also paid great attention to this incident. chu rong¡¯s investigation of ning family¡¯s new drug has not been smooth, and he has always felt uneasy. the thing is, even though there¡¯s people everyday who drank the ning family¡¯s new drug, and there¡¯s gossip of the supposed amazing effect, chu rong couldn¡¯t actually find the real person who consumed it. it¡¯s as if they were all disappearing into thin air after getting the drug. chu rong also tried to get his people to line up, but no matter how early ¨C even queuing up all night ¨C the ning family has a way to say that today¡¯s quota was gone. later, chu rong also tried to get people to get the medicine from the ning family, but the ning family was very careful this time. they were all very closed-up, so nobody else could get it. in short, the investigation made no progress and the situation stagnated for a while. CH 81.1 xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. sang bu: mc¡¯s roommate. transferred from information system to mecha manufacturing. luo li: qiao zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. he won the online mecha manufacturing contest. now qiao zhiya¡¯s (and sang bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. jian: feng, the imperial high advisor¡¯s son. studies history. as the festival went on, the ning family¡¯s spiritual power boosting drug became more and more famous. thanks to that, qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t keep up his festive mood. everyone also felt the same dismay, preferring to rest at home when they were free. not long after the festival, the military academy opened, and qiao zhiya was preparing to skip a grade again. chu yan, who learned of this matter, was full of rawness and felt that he was a salted fish ¨C everyone came out of the same family, but the difference was so great that he might have grown a fake brain. ¡°master shang has promised me to put my name as one of his project¡¯s researchers. thanks to that, i can jump two grades. i think it¡¯s appropriate, since at that grade, it¡¯s far enough along in the curriculum to get to learn about advanced parts. i will have room to make up for the classes i fell behind in when i was skipping parts earlier to get ready for the tournament.¡± qiao zhiya was talking about his plan while dismantling the middle-level part model in his hand. his face was rosy, looking pleasing and cute. chu yan¡¯s gaze turned towards the blond youth¡¯s flexible fingers, trying to see his movements, but he couldn¡¯t follow. finally, he returned to his chair decisively. ¡°with the efficiency of your self-study, it would only take you two months at most to catch up with the rest of the students. that leaves you with a total of four or five months of free time. what are you going to do with the remaining months, spend them in the classroom?¡± ¡°no, i can suspend classes properly after applying for a research fellowship. as long as i pass the final exam, i will return to study the manually-piloted mecha after the suspension. at that time, i should have finished collecting all the materials i need, so i can properly start to make an actual mecha.¡± qiao zhiya shook his head, finally assembled the part, looked at it with satisfaction, and then checked the learning progress of this part in the electronic book before continuing to learn the next one. chu yan was amazed at his ability to learn while chatting and still not make mistakes on both sides. he asked casually, ¡°collecting materials? you¡¯re still short of materials?¡± with the extent of his erge¡¯s favoritism towards qiao zhiya, basically, if he asked for materials in the morning, the house would be piled up with materials in the afternoon. apart from a few rare level 10 materials, what materials he didn¡¯t have in the house? does he still need to collect them himself? qiao zhiya heard chu yan¡¯s confusion. he turned his head towards him, putting down the parts on his hand, and began to explain it in detail. ¡°the parts and accessories provided at the beginning of the star network mecha manufacturing competition were made from data, specifically, the average value of each material. the real material will have different values than the virtual version. except for the shell and other important parts of the finished product on the star network, most of the other parts were made from feedings. so, if i wanted to build the mecha in reality, i need to procure and modify them one-by-one until the exact value matches ¨C or exceeds ¨C the virtual prototype. plus, this is the first manually-piloted mecha i have ever made, and also the first of its kind. i need to discuss the details with chu rong first so i can use the best-fitting materials.¡± that is to say, if he had the ability, he would get the best of the best, a level-10 material if need be. there¡¯s no upper limit, only a bottom limit he must exceed. in addition, master ren also specifically instructed that his current thinking of mecha making is completely different from that of the conventional method. therefore, he shouldn¡¯t be constrained with conservative ideas when making mecha, he needed to be even more out-of-the-box for this groundbreaking mecha. normally, the conventional wisdom dictates that one has to learn each and individual parts first, then on how to assemble and deconstruct them. assembly starts slowly from elementary to intermediate and advanced, but he is not the same. he has a unique assembly system of his own. of course he also needs to learn all of the parts, but he also needs to learn how to modify them to suit his needs. thanks to his different understanding, he also isn¡¯t suitable with the slow teaching system, he has to self-study them at his own pace. he has to consolidate the necessary basic knowledge to go to the super class customization. master ren said that it is most important for him to develop new things now. as for the popularization of this kind of thing, he can instruct a team down the line to mass-produce it. his energy should be used for research and development, not the production side. although he was beyond flattered by master ren¡¯s confidence in his skill, he also felt that since he wanted to do it, he should do his best. only by touching the limit of the manually-piloted mecha at this stage can he be confident to properly standardize it and mass-produce it for the masses. in addition, it takes time to research and cultivate alternatives to the alien beasts materials required for this driving system. before the formal research of the synthetic version, he intends to use the real alien beasts materials the chu family has to make a top-level driving system. all in all, whether it is the best material required for mechas or the high-end alien beast soft materials required for the driving system, these things need time to prepare. chu yan nodded knowingly, remembering the real purpose of his coming here to pull him in for a chat. after this topic finished, he pressed his voice down and asked, ¡°qiao, since you won¡¯t be able to finish this matter in a short time¡­ why don¡¯t you relax at this time? surely, you have spare time now, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± no, he doesn¡¯t have any spare time. he has to make up lessons, study the driving system, and prepare materials in advance. he has so many things that he can¡¯t wait for two days to pass. but chu yan¡¯s eyes were too sparkling, full of hope and anticipation. he couldn¡¯t bear to extinguish all of that. so instead of telling the truth, he asked, ¡°what entertainment?¡± chu yan¡¯s eyes brightened. he took out his photon computer and opened an official website. he said in a puzzled voice, ¡°here¡¯s the thing, i have a¡­ something to kill a little time. remember what i told you before, only by understanding the battle style of a mecha warrior can you properly customize the best optimal mecha for them. now, the chance has come for you to do exactly that!¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s gaze moved to that registration form, and he was silent for two seconds, before reminding his friend: ¡°chu yan, i only passed the intermediate mecha driving course in the virtual world. i have never touched a mecha in reality.¡± simply put, his mecha driving skill is noob-level. ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter!¡± chu yan waved his hand and held down his shoulder, lowering his voice even more, and said, ¡°you only need to sign up with me. the previous competition was held on the internet, and we can compete together. let¡¯s play a couple rounds together, alright?¡± qiao zhiya immediately caught the point and asked, ¡°you want me to be with you so much, is it because chu rong and others won¡¯t allow you to participate in this competition?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± chu yan withdrew his hand in guilty conscience. he gritted his teeth, then took a deep breath before nodding. then, he explained his point of view: ¡°this competition is held every four years, and the minimum age requirement is 18 years old. the preliminary competition is held on the internet. despite that, each match is fairly realistic. as for the round-robin and finals, they¡¯re held offline in the real world, so there¡¯s a real danger of injury. you know, in a mecha-fighting competition, such injuries are normal! but my big brothers, they¡­¡± qiao zhiya tensed his face and looked at him disapprovingly ¨C if it was just about the injury, it would be impossible for chu huai, who did pamper chu yan, to disagree with his wants like this. chu yan must¡¯ve omitted a couple facts. chu yan couldn¡¯t stand qiao zhiya¡¯s doubtful stare at him. in the end, he collapsed, and told him honestly, ¡°well, actually¡­ it¡¯s very likely for injuries to occur. because the final¡­ is a survival, battle-royale style kind of competition. so, the last one standing wins. everyone will fight each other on a separate planet. so¡­¡± qiao zhiya began to bury his head in piecing together the parts, signaling his refusal with his actions. ¡°don¡¯t ah, you are my last hope¡­¡± chu yan started wailing, reached out to cover qiao zhiya¡¯s parts, and whined pitifully, ¡°qiao, i have a sense of measure, i swear! dage also participated in this game, but erge didn¡¯t have the opportunity to participate because of the war, and when he had the time, he already became a marshal. otherwise, i bet he¡¯ll participate! and this competition does not limit the strength and age of the players. beginners can participate, but advanced mecha fighters can also participate. with my current strength, it¡¯s absolutely impossible for me to advance to the finals, so i can¡¯t be injured! the next competition will be four years later, and at that time, i will be busy with my internship in the military, so i definitely can¡¯t participate. please, qiao, this is really my last chance to participate. can you bear to live with the knowledge that this will be a regret for the rest of my life?¡± qiao zhiya stopped moving again, looked at him with a frown, then asked with a palpable hesitation in his voice, ¡°can¡¯t you participate in the next competition after the next then? didn¡¯t you say there¡¯s no upper limit on age?¡± ¡°the next term is eight years from now. at that time, i will be 27 years old. look at the age and current position of dage and erge. when i reach the age of 27, my position in the federation should only be a little lower than them. at the very least, i¡¯m confident i¡¯ll be colonel by then. look at xiang hui, do you think it¡¯s appropriate for a man in his rank to participate in this amateur mecha-driving competition?¡± chu yan continued to look pitiful. putting things that way, it does make sense. it seems that this time is really the last chance for chu yan. with family support and ability, chu yan¡¯s future achievements will certainly not be low. the older he is, the higher his position will be. in the future, there is really no chance to participate in this kind of competition. qiao zhiya listened more and he grew even more biased towards chu yan¡¯s pleadings. the feeling of missing such a monumental competition must be very bad. it may become a lifelong regret, but in the case he can get injured badly¡­ seeing his hesitation, chu yan knew he had already hooked qiao zhiya. he continued, ¡°i promise i¡¯ll protect myself! i swear! i just want to experience this for myself! really, i can¡¯t make it to the finals with my strength. so, i¡¯ll only be fighting on the internet, and there¡¯s no way for me to get physically injured there!¡± ¡°if you only enter the preliminary rounds, will you really not be hurt?¡± qiao zhiya finally acquiesced with a sigh. then, he remembered one thing, so he asked, ¡°can someone used their own custom mecha to participate?¡± chu yan immediately understood his implication. knowing that there¡¯s a gap to exploit, he nodded vigorously, saying ¡°yes, of course! the competition acknowledges that it¡¯s also a strength for you to be able to procure a custom mecha of your own!¡± qiao zhiya listened to his explanation. if he can use his own mecha to enter the competition, then he may be able to test drive ¡°rongtian¡±, so that he can make changes in reality after discovering the problem. after all, this kind of debugging with actual combat is the most effective. plus, he won¡¯t make it to the offline competition. it¡¯s a win-win situation all around. ¡°fine, i can accompany you to sign up.¡± he nodded and immediately added. ¡°but this thing can¡¯t be hidden from chu rong and chu huai, you must tell them.¡± after all, he¡¯s still worried that someone will use this opportunity to hurt chu yan, especially with the current political climate so unstable. it¡¯s better safe than sorry. CH 81.2 chu yan¡¯s lifted heart completely fell back into the stomach, but he still nodded fervently. he won¡¯t go back on his previous words, he¡¯ll tell his guardians honestly and frankly! anyway, as long as qiao also wanted to participate, it actually means that he had passed half of the hurdle. the registration time for the competition was about to expire. after persuading qiao zhiya, chu yan pulled him to find chu huai first, and carefully made his request. ¡°mecha driving competition? the one that takes place every four years?¡± chu huai said, frowning, and then he refused. without wasting any more time, chu yan busily pulled qiao zhiya¡¯s sleeve. qiao zhiya was instructed to take a step forward to suppress the guilty conscience of tricking his guardian, and said, ¡°dage, i also want to participate in this competition and experience it.¡± chu huai refused to swallow his previous decision and looked back at him, his frown tightened. he asked again, ¡°do you really want to go?¡± qiao zhiya nodded. chu huai stopped talking and gave chu yan a vague glance. after a moment of consideration, he said, ¡°my personal suggestion is not to participate. if you really want to go¡­ then, go and ask for xiao rong¡¯s permission. as long as he lets you, i will agree.¡± ¡°thank you, dage, for allowing me! dage, you really love me!¡± chu yan immediately began to misunderstand his words, took qiao zhiya and slipped out the door, saying, ¡°dage, i know you are busy with many matters, so i won¡¯t bother you anymore. i¡¯ll go find erge by myself. bye!¡± chu huai looked at him silently, and cursed, ¡°i think you¡¯ve been too audacious lately¡­¡± chu yan pulled qiao zhiya out. after getting chu huai¡¯s ¡°approval¡±, the two turned to chu rong¡¯s study. chu yan hesitated for a long time and didn¡¯t dare to come in. finally, it was qiao zhiya who came inside, photon computer in hand. ¡°you want to test drive the mecha in the competition?¡± chu rong put down the file. qiao zhiya nodded, still feeling a tad guilty by his dishonesty. chu rong looked at him deeply and said, ¡°no need to participate, i¡¯ll help you with the test drive. the mecha is made for me. i can better know where the fault lies.¡± ¡°¡­¡± chu rong makes good sense and cannot be refuted. qiao zhiya hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth: ¡°in fact¡­ i don¡¯t only want to test drive the mecha, but also want to see if i can get a set of combat systems that are more suitable for manually-piloted mecha, as the current ones are all built with a spiritual driving system in mind, so they might not be suitable. you and i are in a different situation, i haven¡¯t been exposed to the conventional combat systems, and the ones i know are all on the ancient martial arts side, so it¡¯s more appropriate for me to try.¡± ¨Cand it¡¯s true that the changes made when the maker understood the underlying reason will be better. chu rong suddenly remembered the youth¡¯s dazzling appearance when he ran in the wild forest last year. he indeed had sufficient self-defense capabilities, and was able to fight with all kinds of beasts. he also remembered that he was locked in the laboratory all day during this time. his heart softened as he reached out to him. ¡°come here.¡± his tone was very gentle. qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t guess whether it was because he was persuaded, or because he felt pity despite his unconvinced status. qiao zhiya stumbled over, and wanted to stand a step away from him, but was directly held by him, sitting on his lap. then, at the next moment, chu rong tenderly kissed his forehead. ¡°you can participate in the competition.¡± chu rong said, leaning his arm around his back to hold him closer. with his other hand, he gently tucked his bangs behind his ears as he said, ¡°but you have to diligently train every day. you also have to attend a proper mecha-driving course on the internet. you can¡¯t be stuck in the lab all day. so, can you do that?¡± chu rong suddenly became so nice? qiao zhiya felt a bit of disbelief. ¡°yes!¡± he nodded quickly, his eyes lit up, happily hugged him and buried his head on the crook of the taller man¡¯s neck. excitedly, he said, ¡°chu rong, you are the best! i will debug the mecha properly!¡± chu rong bowed his head and kissed him with an affectionate look. ¡°in the future, ask anything directly, no need to beat around the bush.¡± he raised qiao zhiya¡¯s head, stretched his finger and gently traced the youth¡¯s face. he continued in a whisper, ¡°and how did you know about this competition, hm?¡± qiao zhiya froze, remembering chu yan who was still waiting outside, his heart shook. he buried his head like an ostrich, struggling hard not to be perceived. in the end, chu rong knew it was chu yan¡¯s doing. as for their training plan, chu rong made sure to supervise both of them every day. of course, chu yan¡¯s training was particularly ¡°hardcore¡±. chu yan felt sore all over his body, yet he was still happy. again, he sighed at this humbling status in the family ¨C he knew he was near the bottom now. a few days later, reporting time was over, military school was officially in session, and qiao zhiya¡¯s application to skip a grade came through. after the story spread, all the students were in a mess. it¡¯s been a long time since there¡¯s a student who is capable of skipping grades in the federal military academy. not to mention, it was the mecha manufacturing major, who is famous for its difficult course and passing grade. is qiao zhiya going to fly to heaven at this rate? but they remembered that qiao zhiya won the championship with his special-grade mecha. they all silently agree ¡ª if qiao zhiya can¡¯t skip a grade with a qualification like that, then he¡¯ll just waste his time in the classroom. soon, the grade-skipping exam started. the exam is transparent and open to students who want to see it. the exam questions for this exam were created by master shang together with some of the most authoritative teachers of the mecha manufacturing major. the content of the exam is very comprehensive and difficult, and the requirements are very demanding. for qiao zhiya to be declared passing, he must score at least 90 in all subjects. the ¡°backdoor¡± gossip that had faintly flowed out after the news of qiao zhiya¡¯s skipping grade quickly disappeared. with a requirement like that, only fools would believe that qiao zhiya got special treatment. the theory test is conducted in a large classroom. many people went to watch from the sidelines. qiao zhiya sat on the podium alone, but he wasn¡¯t flustered even under everyone¡¯s watch. thanks to the competition, he was used to being watched during high-stress situations. he completed his theory test with little pause. in the final test paper, he got a full score. after finishing the exam, he got up and thanked the crowd as if he was still participating in the competition. then he promptly left, looking all cool and chic. the melon-eating students looked at the 100-point score still floating on the podium, and then mourned after being shocked ¨C such a difficult question, qiao zhiya actually got a full mark. ah, they¡¯re finished. qiao zhiya will now be used by every parents¡¯ and teachers¡¯ ¡°other people¡¯s children¡± as a comparison to them. as for the practical exams, they¡¯re conducted in the large laboratory in the practice building. this time, more people came in and watched, even luo li came to watch the fun. the practical exams were all advanced parts, and none of them were a part that qiao zhiya had assembled during the competition. at first glance at the content of the exam, qiao zhiya knew that this question must have been given by master shang. cocking his head, he reached out and started the exam from the nearest parts. probably because he had completed making a mecha, his understanding of part assembly was really thorough. his learning speed was much faster than before. chu yan estimated he needed two months to catch up his knowledge, but he knew that he could do it in a month and a half. like now, all the parts he needed to assemble in this exam were the parts he had been studying lately. students who have watched the star network game find that qiao zhiya¡¯s operation was as pleasing as ever. in fact, his real-life operation was even more shocking. among the students who were watching from below, there were some senior students. they looked at qiao zhiya¡¯s skillful and precise methods when assembling parts, and compared them to their own. the gap was too big for any semblance of jealousy to form. there¡¯s only admiration left. sure enough, there¡¯s a sky beyond the sky, and some people really are born with endless talent. no need to compare, they cannot be compared to begin with. in the first row of the seat, xiang kun watched qiao zhiya¡¯s assembly method carefully. subconsciously, his fingers moved also. finally, he even pulled out a part model to practice by himself. his sheer focus clearly denotes that his days of being an impudent brat have long passed. chu yan, who was also sitting in the first row, noticed his movement far away and froze. then after a moment, he dropped his gaze. with a snort, he forced himself not to look at his archnemesis. yuan xiu next saw him so glance over, seeing that xiang kun was not paying attention to the outside world, and was instead concentrating on practicing the assembly parts, and his mood became complicated for a moment. everyone has grown up. they¡¯re no longer at the age when they can fight just because of a petty reason. thinking of this, he glanced back again, glancing over the acquaintances scattered in various corners one by one. all of them had matured in one way or another. he sighed, full of emotion, then moved his gaze back at qiao zhiya, hand resting on his chin. ¡®it¡¯s great, ah. only qiao zhiya stays the same as when i first met him. he hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡¯ as soon as qiao zhiya put the last assembled part on the console, the system immediately graded it. he got full marks. the watching students were once again shocked, and at some point xiang kun, who had already finished his own practice, suddenly took the lead in applauding. then chu yan, who glanced at him, unwillingly applauded as well. spurned by this, the crowd erupted in a thunderous applause. ¡ª¡ªit¡¯s great. qiao zhiya¡¯s assembly method is clean and neat. it is a perfect model for them to imitate. after watching the process, they felt touched. master shang of the teacher¡¯s seat smiled and said, ¡°congratulations, the grade-skip is successful.¡± ¡°thank you.¡± qiao zhiya smiled at him, turned around and thanked the students who applauded. he stopped and looked at xiang kun, then waved his hand, turned away from the classroom, and went to the administration area to go through the formalities of skipping grades. after all the work was completed, qiao zhiya invited a few friends to come out and have a good meal in the trade area to celebrate his success. both jian and ning kongran didn¡¯t come ¨C the former cited that he had to help a teacher with a historical document, and later said that he¡¯s busy studying. qiao zhiya knows these are excuses, and although regretful, he understands their reason. the relationship between the empire and the federation was messy. during this time, the ning family and the chu family were directly in opposing positions. jian and ning kongran had their own concerns, and no contact was the best for all of them. after dinner, everyone went back to their bedrooms. qiao zhiya and sang bu drove a hover car slowly around the campus and talked about some schoolwork. when walking to the garden area with many lanes, sang bu suddenly stopped talking. he gestured to the side. qiao zhiya looked at where sang bu pointed at, and saw another hover car driving side-by-side. ning kongran, who had just come over, turned his head and smiled at him, and suddenly got closer to his car. he reached over and knocked on the window. qiao zhiya suddenly opened the window. ning kongran moved his hand, and a metal ball the size of a fingernail fell on him. after that, the older youth retracted his hand, then immediately left as if nothing had happened. ¡°what is this?¡± sang bu¡¯s gaze moved to the small ball on qiao zhiya¡¯s body. qiao zhiya shook his head and picked up the metal ball. seeing that it could be opened, he twisted it carefully, and then a scent of withered grass and branched pomegranate flower wafted out. he stared in shock, busy twisting the metal ball, and glanced at the direction in which ning kongran left. his expression became serious, but his ears fell down ¨C he had hoped that chu rong¡¯s investigation around the ning family¡¯s shady drug wouldn¡¯t involve ning kongran. he liked ning kongran, as he was his friend, and he didn¡¯t want this to affect his life. then, out of nowhere, it was ning kongran who sent him such a crucial item. helping outsiders investigate his own family. just what was ning kongran think when he did this? what does he feel? was he sad? sang bu also smelled the concoction, and he didn¡¯t like it very much. he asked, ¡°what is that?¡± ¡°nothing, he just gave me something.¡± he replied, clenching his grip on the metal ball tightly. as his mind drifted, he looked at sang bu from the corner of his eyes, instructing him: ¡°don¡¯t buy the ning family¡¯s spiritual power booster. you have a health issue, let¡¯s not aggravate it.¡± ¡°i didn¡¯t buy that inexplicable thing.¡± sang bu frowned, seeing that he was not in a good mood, and stopped asking anymore questions despite his curiosity. after receiving the drug, qiao zhiya did not study immediately, but was prepared to wait until he came home. the dose of the medicine was too small. he was afraid to use the qiuqiu to test it directly, as the plant might accidentally drink the whole thing like last time. the next day, he went to master shang¡¯s laboratory and went through the procedure to legalize his position as a researcher in the lab. then he filed several patents under the leadership of luo li, and completed a five-month suspension procedure due to his patents and status ¨C he owned all the patents of the modified mechas and parts he made during the competition. submitting them for formal review was just a trivial matter. after finishing it all, he bid farewell to his school friends, like sang bu, and took out the brown suspension car that chu rong had prepared for him to go home. chu rong won¡¯t be able to get home until after work in the afternoon. when he got home, he first went to zhuang yu, and took out the medicine and gave her half. after that, he returned to the room with the remaining medicine and took qiuqiu out. ¡°qiuqiu, try it for me. this is not a good thing. you should be careful not to ingest too much of it.¡± qiuqiu rolled obediently, then carefully divided its thinnest vine and drilled towards the inside of the metal ball. when it touched the potion, its body shook, and it shrank all its vine into a ball, rolling a little farther away from the metal ball. ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± qiao zhiya looked at its weird movement and became worried. qiuqiu waved its vine and began to ask for magic power. qiao zhiya¡¯s expression became serious, and he gave it some magic power. he stared at the metal ball with a frown, and ended up putting qiuqiu away. with his finger, he scooped up a tiny amount, then licked it. immediately after contacting the human body, the potion turned into a warm current and rushed straight towards the brain. a soothing and relaxed feeling spread out. his magic seemed to come alive for a moment as his small face tightened, and then he busied himself with a bottle of the soothing potion, his grip on the metal ball tightening. there really is something wrong with this thing, and it¡¯s a big problem. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 81.3 after receiving qiao zhiya¡¯s news, chu rong hurried back at the fastest speed. seeing that zhuang yu and qiao zhiya were both sitting in the living room with an ugly expression, he asked with a frown, ¡°what happened?¡± zhuang yu answered by dropping a stack of test data on the coffee table. she then explained, ¡°qiao¡¯s verdict on the drug is that the composition is very complicated and the effect is unstable. i think it should be only a semi-finished product. the possible drug effect may temporarily improve the spiritual strength and allow the user to feel pleasure. but then¡­ there¡¯s a big chance of spiritual paralysis, power overdraft¡­ none of them is a positive effect. the main thing is that this medicine can cause addiction, and long-term use will cause permanent damage to the brain.¡± even counting its main effect of boosting one¡¯s spiritual power, its drawback is the worst kind! when she first got the test results, she almost thought that she had read it wrong. hearing this, chu rong¡¯s chilling gaze emerged. he glanced at qiao zhiya, who had been holding his face but did not speak. he wondered what he was thinking when he had an epiphany. he asked with a black face, ¡°you tasted this drug?¡± qiao zhiya, who was thinking about many things, shook his head once he heard chu rong¡¯s question. he further explained, ¡°i only tried a little bit to determine its effect. after that, i immediately neutralize the effect with my own potion. i¡¯m okay, don¡¯t worry. zhuang yu-jie had already checked it for me too.¡± chu rong immediately turned at zhuang yu, and the doctor could only helplessly nod her head. in fact, she had to force qiao zhiya to agree to the physical inspection. she was scared to death after she learned that qiao zhiya actually drank the drug blindly. chu rong¡¯s expression got better. he sat next to the youth and rubbed the top of his head, and asked, ¡°why that long look? what did you find out?¡± qiao zhiya automatically tilted his head once he felt chu rong¡¯s palm. remembering his discovery, his frown only deepened. ¡°i analyzed the effect of this drug and found that it also has a hidden effect, that is, hypnosis. zhuang yu-jie is right, this potion is a semi-finished product. i think, there should be another semi-finished drug like this one. and once you mix both of them together, it should make one finished drug.¡± hypnosis? mind control? chu rong and zhuang yu looked at each other and realized the seriousness of the matter. mind control, a study and pharmacy that has long been forbidden! at the welcome banquet last year, the xiang family only dared to let high-level spiritualists control long baorou nearby, and did not dare to really damage her spiritual sea. now the ning family wanted to secretly launch a drug that can mind-control someone? what does the ning family want to do! ¡°the ning family must be prevented from distributing pre-order drugs.¡± zhuang yu said, biting her lips with hate. ¡°what family of medicine? what kind of healer are they? it turns out they¡¯re just a bunch of vicious wolves in sheep¡¯s clothes! i thought that the ning family¡¯s push for special lineage spiritual power research back then was a momentary ghostly obsession, but now it seems that the ning family is simply rotten to the core!¡± in the past few years, the ning family¡¯s entire pharmaceutical industry has given them a lot of respect. during wartime, the ning family provided a lot of medicines for free. they might look benevolent, but in actuality, the ning family took the largest part in terms of benefits in the long run. they didn¡¯t expect the ning family¡¯s greed to be this endless. they are really thinking about making mind-controlling drugs, likely mediated via spiritual power control. at this time, there weren¡¯t many days left until the ning family¡¯s one-month pre-order period for the drug. without further delay, chu rong got up and walked towards the study. zhuang yu saw this and hurriedly followed, and qiao zhiya also followed after a moment. chu huai and gu yan¡¯an quickly rushed home. gu ke, gu yan¡¯an¡¯s father and the current head of the gu family was also invited. they all had a meeting in the study until midnight. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t understand these matters concerning the federation¡¯s situation and arrangements, so after just listening for a while, he consciously went out and went into his laboratory. he still remembers that many people who had sampled the drug for free before. regardless of who those people were, they couldn¡¯t find them later. it was crucial for him to make an antidote that can neutralize the drug effects. time passed briskly during this busy period. a few days later, a new month dawned, and it was the day when the ning family¡¯s new drugs were scheduled to be launched. all of the ning family¡¯s pharmacy stores opened bright and early. however, a branch of the pharmaceutical supervision department broke through the distribution site of the new drug, and directly confiscated the pharmacy box of the ning family, indicating that this new drug did not pass the legal review process, and the proper procedures must be completed before it can be sold. the people waiting for the drug were stunned, and then they descended into a small riot ¨C the ning family wanted to sell the new drug without being reviewed first? isn¡¯t this an illegal drug, then? the ning family dared to sell illegal drugs? the ning family was caught off guard by this move, and when they saw that the people were reacting negatively, they immediately began to try to clarify the matter. but as a result, the government officials didn¡¯t even give them a chance to go through their connections to use their power to pressure the officials. they carried up the drugs in boxes and ran away, also leaving behind a blockade alarm device to remind the people who came after them not to buy unapproved drugs. they¡¯re like a quick-footed thief, running away at a moment¡¯s notice. the ning family never got the chance to explain. and since the alarm device was put by the government agent, the ning family, as a private entity, aren¡¯t allowed to dismantle it. this only upset the public even more, as this only proved to them that the ning family did sell illegal drugs. elder ning patted the armrest of the chair vigorously, and said, ¡°what in the world did you do wrong! how can you let the department you¡¯re holding turn around and screw yourselves over, how do you all run things!¡± ¡°at that time, it was only the grunt workers that came over, that is, newcomers or temporary workers. now that they found out that the confiscation was not right they have all already fled to other planets. which means, this matter is obviously someone who is deliberately targeting us. most likely, this is the doing of the chu family.¡± ning tianya explained, and his expression did not look good. this recent series of actions to push the drug was originally a helpless move, and now that it had come to this, when his big brother returned from the empire, he knew he would be blamed for this matter! ¡®the chu family¡­¡¯ elder ning calmly thought for a while, his expression eased again, and said, ¡°but fortunately, we are prepared. the drug distributed this time is an improved version. even if the chu family took it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find anything wrong with it. let¡¯s prepare for the aftermath. remember to guide the public¡¯s opinion. the president¡¯s election is in sight. this year¡¯s policy theme is ours. we have an advantage. don¡¯t mess it up. ¡± ¡°i understand.¡± ning tianya nodded, his grave expression had eased. in the upstairs room, ning kongran took off his headphones, squinted at the ceiling for a while, and turned over to find a custom communicator under the pillow. two days after the drug was confiscated, the ning family held a press conference to explain their side, saying that the new drug was not illegal, but there was a small procedure that hadn¡¯t to be done. in addition, in order to compensate for the lack of stocks this time, the ning family decided to return their deposit, give them this drug for free, and also gave them various discounts of their other products. afterwards, the ning family also said that in order to thank everyone for their understanding and support in this incident, they decided to set up a medical fund to help people with disabilities and train talents, and give back to the community. ¡°understanding and support? is the ning family talking out of their ass now? heh, i know in a short while nobody will understand and support them.¡± zhuang yu sneered, kicked the drugs at her feet, and said mockingly, ¡°changing the ingredients of a spiritual soothing drug and selling it as a new product? tch, the ning family¡¯s tactic of selling a dog¡¯s meat with a sheep¡¯s head is really well-done.¡± qiao zhiya glanced at the boxes that were casually piled up like trash at her feet, and said, ¡°this ¡®new¡¯ drug is still advisable. long-term use can really speed up the cultivation of spiritual strength.¡± but it is only slightly possible. direct promotion is impossible. ¡°but this is definitely not the drug that the ning family used to distribute for free during the festival.¡± zhuang yu scratched her hair anxiously. she really wanted to kill all those ning family scoundrels with her mind. qiao zhiya understood her feelings very well. in fact, he also wanted to go and beat up the ning family right now ¨C this method of harming people with medicines and drugs was just too underhanded. the two were relatively depressed when the door to the medical room was suddenly pushed open, and fan xiangnan poked his way in and said, ¡°get ready, sir will bring a group of people who drank the free drug over for an examination in a while.¡± the moment zhuang yu digested fan xiangnan¡¯s news, she became ecstatic. she asked, ¡°the people who drank the free drug? you actually found them? where did you find them?¡± ¡°we didn¡¯t find them.¡± fan xiangnan shook his head and explained, ¡°the yun family sent them to us.¡± zhuang yu wondered out loud, ¡°the yun family? which yun family?¡± ¡°the yun family of the ore-hunting business. they were rescued by the marshal once.¡± fan xiangnan elaborated. he then glanced at his communicator, and said no more. he turned around and left to help chu rong to pick up someone. qiao zhiya watched him leave, remembering the small transformational ship that he saw when he was looking for star sands. as his ears twitched, he thought, ¡®why is this drug-related matter helped by an ore-hunting family?¡¯ ten minutes later, chu rong returned with a few people who looked very haggard. these people were of mixed sexes, various ages, and widely differing appearances. however, all of their eyes looked haunted, and they all moved in a sluggish manner. as soon as they approached, qiao zhiya immediately noticed their unstable, fluttering spiritual power. he glanced at chu rong. ¡°aftereffects of the drug.¡± chu rong explained, pulled him to his side, looked at zhuang yu and said, ¡°get them a detailed examination and give them proper treatment. quick.¡± zhuang yu couldn¡¯t wait anymore. once she got her assignment, she immediately ordered her assistants to help her set the infirmary up. she immediately stuffed these people, who seemed to be out of the world, into the prepared testing equipments. waiting for the results, qiao zhiya poured a glass of water for chu rong and asked, ¡°who are they?¡± ¡°they¡¯re slaves that the yun family got from the empire. they usually stayed on the planet where the yun family grows herbal medicines.¡± chu rong explained, remembering what the yun family had said when they sent someone over, his eyes sank and he didn¡¯t continue. if the ning family really dabbled in things like human experimentation, then it would be better for the ning family to disappear into the federation. CH 82.1 the detailed inspection took a long time, and everyone waited for several hours to get the results. zhuang yu¡¯s expression was dignified yet full of grief. after sending the results to them, she said, ¡°out of five people, the most serious is the oldest patient. he no longer has a clear and complete consciousness, and his body is very weak. his external response is also the most dull, and his spiritual strength is almost disappearing. ¡° the disappearance of spiritual power can occur in two situations. one is when the spiritual sea is injured, leading to a gradual decline in spiritual power. the worst outcome is becoming a ¡°disabled¡± person without spiritual power. the other situation is when spiritual power slowly dissipates with the passage of life. the more weakened the body, the faster the dissipation of spiritual power, until it completely disappears, resulting in the death of the individual. the old patient¡¯s body was very weak, and his spiritual strength was almost disappearing. coupled with zhuang yu¡¯s unpleasant expression, everyone instantly understood that the oldest patient was running out of time. qiao zhiya¡¯s ears flattened. although he didn¡¯t know who the old patient was, he still felt very sad. chu rong raised his hand and patted his head, looking at zhuang yu to signal her to continue. ¡°the patient with the mildest symptoms is a young man with the highest level of spiritual strength and the best physical fitness among the five. he said his name is eddie, 25 years old this year, and he has a b-level spiritual power. after our emergency treatment, his consciousness has been restored. however, his spiritual strength is still somewhat unstable, and this needs to be treated slowly. ¡° zhuang yu flipped through the inspection data and presented some of the recorded information to them. she continued, ¡°i took some time to inquire about his background. it seems he comes from a family that has been slaves to a certain imperial noble lineage for generations. his parents, upon seeing his high spiritual power level, wanted to help him break free from their slave status. his master was also lenient. upon learning about his desires, the master paved the way for him to attend school, with the condition that he could be emancipated and become a regular person once he achieved merits. however, a few years ago, his master was suddenly slandered and imprisoned, leading to his death. his educational path was cut off, and along with his family, he was sent back to the slave market. later, he was bought and sent to the yun family, where he has been working on a planet that the yun family owns. this is the first time he has come out in all these years.¡± ¡°how many times has he taken the drug?¡± chu rong asked. ¡°one time,¡± zhuang yu replied, adding, ¡°each of them only drank it once, but eddie was smarter. when they were arranged to drink the drug, eddie tricked them. he only drank a little, while the rest was poured out into his sleeves. he also pretended to have a confused mental state as he ¡®accidentally¡¯ spilled the drug.¡± fan xiangnan, who had been watching, suddenly asked, ¡°if eddie was bought for the yun family, who bought him? the slaves from the empire are forbidden to be traded in the federation.¡± chu rong had thought of this problem when he learned that the identity of the testers were imperial slaves. hearing this, he reminded, ¡°a woman from the ning family married an imperial prince.¡± he never believed that the ning family¡¯s daughter who was married off to the empire really had no connection with her natal family. in recent years, the ning family has been pretending to be low-key and neutral, free from the struggle of the rest of the big families, and always shows an indisputable attitude to the outside world. harmless appearance, never involved with their wayward daughter¡­ however, was that the truth? as soon as the president¡¯s election arrived, as soon as the old emperor had a problem, the ning family began to make small moves and reconnected with the empire. considering the dynamics of the previous changes in the federal situation and including the ning family¡¯s role in the play, the empire arranging students to come for education, the sudden deterioration of the old emperor¡¯s health, and the increasingly inappropriate behavior of the president¡­ they might all be caused by the ning family, the true shadow mastermind behind the scene. as chu rong¡¯s thoughts wandered further, the long ears covered by his hand suddenly twitched. chu rong snapped back to reality, glanced at the still unenthusiastic qiao zhiya. he pinched his ears again, then waved his hand to signal zhuang yu to continue. zhuang yu saw them finish talking and continued her report. ¡°furthermore, qiao¡¯s previous guess was correct. there are indeed two semi-finished products, which become one finished product when combined. among these five people, the old man and the woman drank the semi-finished product qiao brought back. eddie probably drank the finished product, which had a less intense effect. the remaining two drank another type of the semi-finished product. therefore, the situations of these individuals need to be analyzed separately.¡± as she spoke, she projected the three sets of inspection results into the air and explained them in detail, ¡°the aftereffects of the semi-finished drug that the old man and the woman drank are the most severe, and the effects are also the most significant. in other words, their spiritual power experienced a rapid surge within a short period after drinking the drug. next is eddie; he drank too little of the drug, so we can¡¯t deduce its effects. however, he specifically emphasized that he couldn¡¯t forget about this drug for several days after drinking it. i speculate that the finished product weakened the effect of spiritual power boosting, but its addictive properties were enhanced. the situations of the other two people are completely opposite to those of the old man and the woman. they showed no reaction in spiritual power after drinking the potion, and there was no addiction. however, their consciousness became the most chaotic ¨C they also experienced severe memory issues.¡± memory issues? chu rong frowned, and looked at qiao zhiya next to him, feeling unhappy. if the ning family did secretly perform human experiments, would those in qiao zhiya¡¯s memory also be related to the ning family? if it really was¡­ qiao zhiya noticed that chu rong¡¯s breathing pattern suddenly became a lot heavier. his glance darted over him, while he tilted his head, nuzzling into the taller man¡¯s palm in an attempt to soothe his chaotic mind. chu rong noticed this. he looked back, his expression eased, and he stretched out his arms to embrace the youth as a means to calm himself. when talking about the matter, chu rong never made any intimate moves in front of him. but now, qiao zhiya was hugged. seeing zhuang yu and fan xiangnan had no special response to this, he only hesitated a bit before leaning in obediently. ¡®maybe chu rong was in a bad mood¡­¡¯ he thought about it, and then appeased chu rong by nuzzling his chest. in chu rong¡¯s mind, qiao zhiya¡¯s action was caused by his fear over the report. he tightened his hold. the two men appeased each other in misunderstanding, while zhuang yu talked to fan xiangnan over other topics. ¡°the ning family is mixing drugs like this to create a situation where those with low spiritual power will experience a significant increase after drinking, while those with high spiritual power will experience only a slight enhancement, and some may even have no effect?¡± fan xiangnan frowned as he speculated. zhuang yu nodded. she explained her thoughts about this matter: ¡°this is called the sample effect. the purpose is to pave the way for the situation where ¡®some people¡¯ will drink the drug publicly after it is officially sold, but it will have no effect. the ning family never intended to actually sell these semi-finished products from the beginning. they just wanted to use them as a spectacle to suppress the popularity of our stone grass potion. the drugs they plan to sell later are all fake, but ultimately, harmless.¡± with this in mind, fan xiangnan had another speculation: ¡°if it weren¡¯t for the chief¡¯s plan to promote the stone grass potion, which posed a threat to the ning family¡¯s position in the pharmaceutical industry, the ning family probably wouldn¡¯t have exposed these drugs so carelessly like that. therefore, the ning family didn¡¯t make these drugs for profit¡¯s sake ¨C they must have another purpose¡­¡± ¡°for human experiments.¡± zhuang yu continued with a stern expression, flipping the projection to the next page. she glanced at chu rong, who no longer held qiao zhiya so tightly in his arms, before continuing, ¡°now, we can confirm that the finished drugs cause addiction and gradual spiritual confusion. these are means used to control the subjects during human experiments. in addition, based on the temporary increase in spiritual power, i speculate that the ning family is conducting human research related to spiritual power. these slaves bought by the empire are just ¡®reserve provisions¡¯ for them.¡± chu rong did not expect that the final inference actually pointed directly at human experiments. his hands covered qiao zhiya¡¯s ears reflexively, not wanting him to hear such dark sides of humanity. qiao zhiya looked up at him in confusion, ears perking up. chu rong frowned, slowly released his hand, touched his head, and said, ¡°give them treatment first, i¡¯ll send someone to investigate the ning family.¡± zhuang yu nodded and turned off the holographic projection. ¡°i¡¯m here to help, too.¡± qiao zhiya suddenly jumped out of his arms and said, ¡°the three drug combinations have different effects, so they also need different ¨C and probably targeted ¨C treatment. i can try to give them some of my new calming potions.¡± once zhuang yu heard this, her expression relaxed a little. with a hopeful smile on her face, she said, ¡°it¡¯s great that you can help. because of the soothing potions you made in advance, the old man with the worst condition can survive. otherwise¡­¡± the atmosphere fell again. chu rong squeezed qiao zhiya¡¯s ears again, acquiescing his help for his matter. the crowds separated, as everyone was busy with their own work. as for qiao zhiya, he went to his lab. soon, the ning family realized they were targeted. first, their spies in various federal departments suddenly were involved in scandals or had their mistakes exposed. they were gradually replaced one after another. at the same time, all the drugs they had submitted for approval were withheld, and they couldn¡¯t obtain the authorization to sell. all their business activities were restricted in various aspects. on the other hand, the gu family that has only been developing outside of the capital planet suddenly announced that they would participate in the capital planet¡¯s market. the first thing to do was to buy a building opposite the ning family¡¯s pharmacy city and open their own pharmacy city. at the same time, they put a lot of cheap basic medicines on the shelves, one of which was a popular medicine they sold during the festival. in addition, when the gu family sold drugs, they deliberately projected the sales permit and testing certificates next to them, ensuring that the public could buy with ease and confidence. this move seemed like a deliberate mockery of the ning family¡¯s previous sale of unauthorized drugs. in government affairs, chu huai also began to challenge ning tianya. he openly opposed the proposals put forward by ning tianya, repeatedly arguing against him. he called for the revival of basic medicine, emphasizing that drugs are just a tool for licensed healthcare experts to treat diseases. they are not a cure-all, and the health of the entire federation should not be entrusted to these fixed-effect drugs. he criticized the overly mythical status of the ning family¡¯s promotions. beyond the capital planet, the gu family began to cooperate with chu huai, and first raised the banner of reviving basic medicine. a medical revolution was in sight, and the ning family, which once represented ¡°good health and good medicine¡±, was the object that needed to be changed. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 82.2 the political landscape of the federation became lively again thanks to the open hostility between the chu and the ning family. on the surface, the public only thought that the chu and ning families were in disagreement because of their differing views in the pharmacy industry. in secret, all families knew that the chu family wanted to crush the ning family to dust. chu rong became busy, and so was qiao zhiya. he was in the laboratory every day, concocting potions and remedies for the five patients. thankfully, his efforts bore fruit before the five patients¡¯ condition worsened. after taking this new potion, eddie recovered quickly, while the situation of the other three people began to improve slowly. only the old man ¨C who claimed to be named rick ¨C who didn¡¯t seem to improve. although his consciousness returned to normal under the influence of the medicine, his physical body seemed incurable. if qiao zhiya did not use his wood-elemental magic to help him maintain his health everyday, it¡¯s no exaggeration that he would have died. ¡°the sun feels really good today.¡± the gray-haired old man was sitting on a rattan chair in the courtyard, basking in the sun with a serene smile on his face. seeing qiao zhiya looking at him worriedly, he went over to pat his head, and at the same time, lamented at the poor condition of the skin of his hand. the old man then quietly dismissed his thought and turned his attention to the rabbits who bounced around in the courtyard. in a nostalgic tone, he recalled, ¡°i also liked rabbits very much when i was a kid. unfortunately, my parents didn¡¯t allow me to raise them back now¡­ now, i saw that my life was almost over. ¡­ ¡° ¡°grandpa rick.¡± qiao zhiya called him anxiously. the old man looked back, smiled at him, and stopped talking. qiao zhiya became more worried when he saw this. after thinking about it, he got up, carried a little rabbit, and put it in the old man¡¯s arms. he said, ¡°butler grandpa is very busy these days. he can¡¯t take care of the rabbit alone. so, grandpa rick, can you help me take care of them? just for a few days.¡± the rabbit, fluffy and lively, was not shy at all. its mouth and nose moved, making it look very cute. the old man smiled, reached out, and gathered the rabbit into his arms. he looked at it with affection, nodded, and said, ¡°alright, grandpa will definitely raise it until they¡¯re plump.¡± qiao zhiya replied with a bright smile. ¡°that ning family¡­¡± the old man said suddenly. as soon as that mumble reached qiao zhiya¡¯s ears, the smile on his face disappeared and his expression tightened. ¡°has the tv series ¡®your home my home¡¯ finished airing? what was the ending? i can¡¯t seem to remember.¡± the old man suddenly changed the subject, looking very distressed and confused. qiao zhiya¡¯s straight ears fell down, and a smile appeared on his face again. he took out his photon computer and said, ¡°i don¡¯t remember it either. grandpa, how about you accompany me to watch the ending again?¡± the old man quickly smiled and nodded. the smile on his face lightened when he went to look at the photon computer, and a little regret flashed in his eyes. ¡®such a good day, i really want to live like this forever, ah.¡¯ ¨C the mecha piloting competition was about to start. after spending a few days with grandpa rick, qiao zhiya had to stay on the internet for a long time to change the driving system for rongtian. at first, in order to cope with the mecha manufacturing competition, he installed rongtian with a spiritually-piloted system. now that he wants to bring it for a test drive, he naturally has to change the system first. the alien beast-based materials on the internet were very complete, and they were all made from data. there was no psychological burden on using them. qiao zhiya¡¯s research has gone smoothly. then, when the entire manually-piloted system was about to take shape, he encountered a difficult problem. in reality, he could use his magic power to draw the perceptual magic array on the water-elemental magic stones to complete the core of the system. but he couldn¡¯t do that ¨C the jades on the internet were just minerals, they didn¡¯t have an ounce of magical power. there was also another problem. the manually-piloted system relied on the synchronization between the pilot¡¯s movement and the mecha. but in this vr world, everyone¡¯s ¡°body¡± was a projection of the owner¡¯s spiritual power. there was no physical movement at all ¨C everything was just a simulation. in other words, there was no such thing as a manually-piloted system on the internet. no matter how he sliced it, every mecha was piloted by spiritual power here. essentially, every mecha battle in the vr world was just a spiritual power battle with extra steps. in reality, people without spiritual strength couldn¡¯t log in at all. all in all, it was completely unrealistic to test drive a manually-piloted system online. after thinking about this, qiao zhiya completely withered, and almost wanted to withdraw from the competition. chu yan quickly stopped him and gave him a reason to continue to participate in the competition. ¡°while you can¡¯t test the piloting system, you can still test the mecha performance in general. don¡¯t forget, your mecha is completely made from remodeled parts that you invented. how do you know which ones are good and which ones are unnecessary without an actual test drive? ¡± this statement woke him up. qiao zhiya cheered up again. yes, the test drive was not only for the piloting system, but also to see the performance and coordination of the various parts of the mecha. after cheering up, he immediately removed half of the failed manually-piloted system installed on rongtian, ??and replaced it with the previous spiritually-piloted system. then, in order to thank chu yan for his reminder, he also made a handful of weapons for him. a few days later, the rules and schedule of the mecha piloting competition came out. this game is different from the previous star network mecha manufacturing competition. each game was scheduled from 2pm to 5pm every weekend. the whole competition itself was separated into 3 big rounds: the preliminary, the semifinals, and the finals. in the preliminary round, each round will select the top 10 winners to move to the next round. the game itself is a point-based randomized match, with the minimum point requirement being 100, and this goes on until the top 1000 of each division are decided. qiao zhiya and chu yan both belong to the federation division, and because their registration time was close, they were actually assigned to the same stadium for their first game. ¡°it¡¯s okay, we can definitely squeeze into the top 10. it¡¯s a point-based match. if we¡¯re lucky enough, we won¡¯t ever confront each other. we can win this.¡± chu yan was comforted, and his mood was very good. qiao zhiya nodded, waved his hand at the countdown, and teleported into his waiting room. the points rules for this mecha piloting competition were the same as the rules for the finals of the intermediate college that chu yan originally participated in. each win will net them 1 point, and each loss will lose them 1 point. however, the rules for this competition were more cut-throat. as long as the players lose three games in a row, then no matter how good their previous performance is, they will be eliminated. ¡®i can¡¯t lose three games in a row¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya patted his face, encouraged himself, and set a goal in his heart ¨C he must not lose in the first round, he must at least be competent in this preliminary round! at 2 o¡¯clock, the game started and the system began to match them with their opponent. qiao zhiya finally confirmed rongtian¡¯s status and chose to log in to mecha. the matching finished. after the countdown ended, he was teleported into the battle room, standing opposite a strange cyan mecha. a countdown to the start of the battle was hanging directly above the room. qiao zhiya breathed a sigh of relief. ¡®a cyan mecha, definitely not chu yan.¡¯ in order to prevent cheating, players are prohibited from communicating in the battle room. so after the countdown ended, qiao zhiya eliminated his friendly greeting procedures, and without hesitation, took out a hammer that was as big as the rule allowed, and rushed aggressively towards the opponent. he was still decent at driving a purely spiritually-piloted mecha. after familiarizing himself with the basic operation, he could make it move according to his will, even if it meant he couldn¡¯t do those high-level mecha operations that needed many hours of practice. the cyan mecha¡¯s pilot saw the black tall mecha holding a large hammer, rushing over at a speed that did not match its height and shape. it was so fast its movement looked like a blur. it swung its giant hammer in a single, decisive blow. ¡°boom!¡± the cyan mecha¡¯s shoulder was crushed. the system determined that the cyan mech was too damaged to continue fighting, automatically making qiao zhiya win the game. qiao zhiya froze. he looked strangely at the cyan mecha, who didn¡¯t even attempt to resist or evade his moment. ¡®so weird, why didn¡¯t they hide? are they a novice? are they scared?¡¯ at the end of the game, the players were teleported back to the waiting room. the damage gained and energy used during the game were automatically restored, and the system began to match him for his next game. qiao zhiya quickly put his doubts behind him. he was a little excited and happily looking forward to the next game. it was so simple to win a game. if everyone was just at the level of cyan mecha in the preliminary round, he was still confident to survive this round. on the other side, the cyan mecha pilot, who was also teleported back to their own waiting room, finally regained their composure. they stood blankly for a few seconds, then finally came back with a yell. that¡¯s right! the black mecha was definitely made by the popular qiao zhiya, for his fiance marshal chu! the pictures of that mecha were going viral on the forum for quite a while after the competition ended. he wouldn¡¯t be mistaken! moreover, that mecha¡¯s design was patented, and qiao zhiya didn¡¯t let anyone buy the rights to use it. so there¡¯s only one mecha like that in the entire whole world! oh my god, they actually encountered this kind of popular figure in their first match. because of sheer shock, they froze in place even when qiao zhiya attacked them! shame! too shameful! ¡®if the person in that mecha is marshal chu¡­ wait! it is absolutely impossible for marshal chu to participate in this kind of competition. so¡­ who¡¯s piloting that mecha?¡¯ that wild attack movements, distinctive weapons, and the unique driving style¡­ could it be that third young master chu borrowed marshal chu¡¯s mecha for the competition? but that doesn¡¯t make sense. they heard that third young master chu had a swift and elusive combat style, not this kind of brute force approach. before they could figure it out, their next opponent had been matched, and they were teleported into the battle room. in front of them, a familiar silver-gray speedster mecha appeared. ¡®wait, wait, why does this mecha look a little familiar? isn¡¯t this third young master c¨C¡¯ at the end of the countdown, he watched the silver-gray mecha rushing forward. it was fast, its pathing was erratic, and instinctively he wanted to operate his mecha to avoid it. however, it was useless. his mecha shoulder was attacked again. it was badly damaged and the system judged him unable to fight ¨C he lost again. he was teleported back to the player¡¯s waiting room again. he stared numbly at the ceiling and was utterly numb. ¡®the combat style of that mecha just now was definitely third young master chu. so¡­ who was driving that black mecha before? it must not be qiao zhiya, hahahaha, how could a weak mech maker like qiao zhiya come to participate¡­¡¯ he suddenly remembered the small hammer that qiao zhiya skillfully used during the competition, then the massive hammer in the black mecha¡¯s hand. the numb smile on his face vanished, replaced by sheer shock of realization. he remembered that the black mecha¡¯s original weapon was a black dagger. not a hammer, like in his previous game¡­ qiao zhiya loves using a hammer¡­ ¡®it can¡¯t be, right?¡¯ if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 82.3 t/w: suicide, and using suicide as a method of revenge. chairman ning aka ning tianya: ning family¡¯s head. ning tianxing: ning kongran¡¯s father, ning tianya¡¯s older brother. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. qiao zhiya found that there seemed to be a lot of novices participating in this game. they were always a bit unresponsive at the beginning of the game. most of them waited for him to move first before they thought of a counterattack or dodge. however, by then, it was often too late. the combination of a hammer and an advanced-level mecha was something that ordinary mechas couldn¡¯t withstand. soon the first round of the game ended, he and chu yan were both promoted smoothly. when the final players gathered to announce the points, he saw that the cyan mecha lost to him in the first game was also standing in the area, signaling that they had got promoted also. he felt pleasantly surprised, moving towards them in a friendly manner, thinking that it¡¯s only proper to be gentle and friendly toward novices. the reaction of the cyan mecha was very strange. first, they froze as qiao zhiya patted their mecha¡¯s shoulder. finally, after a brief pause, they waved back in a stiff, mechanical manner. after the game, qiao zhiya hurriedly prepared star network to share this good news with chu rong, but found that chu rong, who was currently in the study office at this point, actually waited beside the star network cabin with a heavy expression. at first, qiao zhiya chuckled in his heart. then, after registering on how gloomy the atmosphere was, the smile on his face froze, and he realized something faintly. he asked, ¡°w-what happened?¡± ¡°rick passed away.¡± chu rong replied, reaching out to take him into his arms, touching the back of his head. ¡°let¡¯s go to pick him up.¡± qiao zhiya was a little hesitant, thinking that he heard it wrong. he abruptly asked, ¡°pick him up? why? isn¡¯t grandpa rick just at home?¡± when mentioning this, chu rong¡¯s expression became heavier. he shook his head and replied, ¡°no, rick stole a suspension car and ran out of chu family¡¯s house after lunch. he¡­ went to the ning family¡¯s pharmacy city and died in the gate of the building.¡± rick¡¯s move was unexpected to everyone. prior to this, chu rong did think about using this batch of rescued testers to attack ning¡¯s family, but the person he chose was eddie. plus, the method he planned was a more roundabout way, prodding from the ¡°they are illegal empire slaves¡± angle. such actions needed many detailed arrangements ¨C that¡¯s why rick¡¯s action was very shocking. he directly used his death to personally retaliate against the ning family. he personally was the first person who tore off the ning family¡¯s amiable mask, exposing their rotten face underneath. ¡°he¡¯s a hero.¡± chu rong held qiao zhiya, who was shocked and listless. he patted the youth¡¯s trembling shoulders, then kissed his forehead in an effort to comfort him. ¡°he won¡¯t die in vain, believe me. i¡¯ll make sure of it.¡± rick not only died at the entrance of the ning family¡¯s pharmacy city but also, before his death, cut his own wrist, spreading blood all over the steps leading to the main gate of the building. he scattered numerous copies of a confession he had written himself around the area, using every method he could think of to maximize the impact of his death this time. when the ning family found something was wrong with him, they tried to take him away, citing ¡°treating him¡± as their reason. the gu family who heard the news arrived in a timely manner to stop them, and set up a temporary emergency room on the roadside. under the gaze of all the onlookers, efforts were made to treat rick. but unfortunately, rick was too weak and had lost too much blood, and was ultimately unable to be rescued. in the end, rick got his wish ¨C the impact of his death was enormous. the news of his action spread quickly throughout the upper-echelon of the federation. the confession that he had scattered before his death was also passed on. in the starry sky forum, his news made several headlines, accompanied by the picture of the steps at the gate of ning family¡¯s pharmacy city, all stained in blood. soon after, the eagle-eyed netizens found rick¡¯s figure in the festival video in celebration square, confirming that he was indeed one of the people who tested the ning family¡¯s newest drug. public opinion was in a massive uproar. rick¡¯s confession was spread wildly. his written confession was not long, only about ten lines or so. there, rick gave a brief introduction to his identity, and then explained when he was bought by the ning family as a slave, and how he was transported to the federation. he was then forced to be the test subject of an unknown drug, and finally, the tale of how he was rescued on the way to his death. he made it clear that the ning family¡¯s so-called spiritual power booster was just a stimulant drug. in order to ensure that what he said was true, he was willing to donate his body for research and let the public find out the truth. rick has been a slave for a lifetime, and his literacy level was not high. this confession was not well written. it was riddled with many grammatical errors, but that didn¡¯t stop people from crying when they read it. just what kind of despair and hatred that pushed him to resolutely choose to use death to reveal the truth after being rescued? after this incident broke out, the image of the ning family in the hearts of the people collapsed completely. by the time qiao zhiya and chu rong arrived at the gu family¡¯s pharmacy city, rick had been placed in a medical coffin. his expression wasn¡¯t peaceful, and his complexion had turned pale due to excessive bleeding. lying inside, he didn¡¯t look like a corpse, but a dummy instead. the man who greeted and chatted with him in the morning was gone in a blink of an eye. qiao zhiya had never experienced such a loss of life before ¨C he didn¡¯t know how to react properly. instead of grieving, soothing the throbbing ache in his heart, he forced himself into a guise of calm. he went forward, and volunteered himself to help clean up rick¡¯s body. he changed rick¡¯s clothes, and put a rabbit plushie beside his body ¨C it was something he made just this morning, he planned to give it to him later, but it seemed he was too late. chu rong accompanied him throughout all of this; and only after qiao zhiya had finished, did he step forward to place rick¡¯s coffin into a dedicated medical space ¡ª per rick¡¯s will, his body would be used for research, and he wouldn¡¯t be laid to rest for the time being. after the coffin was taken away, qiao zhiya finally let his emotion spill. he cried, but he still quickly wiped his tears away when he glanced at the looming building of the ning family¡¯s pharmacy city. his eyes were filled with clear disgust. ¡°they will pay the price.¡± chu rong held him in his arms and patted him on the back. ¡°soon, the ning family will be finished.¡± meanwhile, with the ning family. ning tianxing leaned on the sofa. he looked at ning tianya, who was in a very bad mood. ¡°i was visiting the empire, and such a thing happened here. why didn¡¯t you discuss it with me before you made such a drastic decision?¡± ¡°dage, i ¡­¡± ning tianya opened his mouth to justify himself, but found that he didn¡¯t know where to start. finally, he said in a hurry, ¡°dage, what should we do now? the chu family holds the evidence of our test. this matter has been completely exposed, the situation is very unfavorable to us!¡± ¡°of course i know we are at a severe disadvantage. in fact, the moment the chu family was watching, the situation had already tipped in their scale. with chu rong¡¯s aggressive style of attack, the ning family was basically halved.¡± ning tianxing¡¯s tone was calm ¨C it¡¯s as if he was merely discussing other people¡¯s affairs. he even picked up his tea in a calm manner. ning tianya became overcome with anxiety the more he thought about it. ¡°i haven¡¯t told our father about this. dage, you have to think of a way, the president¡¯s reelection is now in front of us. now the situation is¨C¡± ¡°you don¡¯t have to think about the election. it¡¯s clear that the new president will be chu huai.¡± ning tianxing waved his hand to interrupt him, turned the tea cup around, and said, ¡°as i said earlier, we have to put our heads down for now, and show some weakness at the right time. tianya, i elevated you to the position of the chairman, a position even slightly higher than chu huai¡¯s. after so many years of influence, why haven¡¯t you grown at all? if the chu family wants to clear the pharmaceutical industry, let them do it. these are just minor losses. even if you cooperate with them once, exchanging a bit of public favor for interests, it would still be a worthwhile deal. your mistake is being too impulsive.¡± now ning tianya also felt that he was confused at the time to insist on going against the chu family. however, since things had come to this point, talking about it was meaningless. the most urgent task now was to stabilize the situation of the ning family first! ¡°dage!¡± he was so anxious that he could only say this. he frowned a little, hoping that ning tianxing could give an idea on how to salvage the situation. ning tianxing was displeased with his impulsive demeanor and scolded him, ¡°look at yourself. you¡¯re getting anxious over such a small situation. how can the ning family rely on you in the future? the current situation may indeed deal a heavy blow to the ning family, but it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s over. however, if you continue to act impulsively, revealing more flaws for the chu family to investigate, then the ning family will truly be finished. what you need to do now is quickly identify the mole. just admit the things happening outside; the more you try to conceal, the worse it gets when exposed.¡± when ning tianya heard this, he was shocked. ¡°the mole? dage, you mean¡­¡± ning tianxing set down the teacup, shook his head, and said, ¡°although you were prone to impatience in the past, you were never foolish. yet this time, your foolishness is unbelievably clear, even to me. think carefully. who was it that whispered in your ear, urging you to launch the so-called new drug and deliver the evidence to the chu family? remember it. who gave you the confidence to believe that testing the drug on those slaves was a good idea? good enough idea to execute without consulting my opinion. think about it deeply, remember every bit of it.¡± ¡®who was it again¡­¡¯ in his mind, the first face that flashed was elder ning¡¯s. but he quickly shook his head to deny this possibility. he thought about it again, and finally remembered someone. ¡°kong¡¯an?¡± he exclaimed, and shook his head again. ¡°it can¡¯t be him. although he always accompanied the old man some time ago, he always inquired about the new drug, but it should not¨C¡± ¡°it¡¯s him.¡± ning tianxing interrupted him, waved his hand and said, ¡°go take him for a check and see if he¡¯s had any strange things recently, or if he has come in contact with any strange people. you¡¯d better check yourself also.¡± ¡®check myself? what does it mean?¡¯ ning tianya became more confused. ¡°aren¡¯t you a researcher in this field?¡± ning tianxing was genuinely irritated by his stupidity. he snorted and said, ¡°mind control, using your own tricks against you. this mole is somewhat interesting.¡± ning tianya finally understood and was shocked. what his brother implied that he, ning kong¡¯an, or even elder ning, was under control of the mole¡¯s spiritual power unknowingly? ¡®if this speculation is true, then¡­¡¯ he felt a chill down his spine. the next day after the death of rick, ning tianya stepped forward and held a press conference. he simply acknowledged the trial of the drug, sincerely apologized, and said he would bear the consequences of rick¡¯s death. he announced the temporary closure of the ning family¡¯s pharmacy for reorganization. he eventually resigned from his post as the parliament¡¯s chairman, leaving the political scene of the federation. the ning family offered a straightforward and decisive apology, and the price they were willing to pay exceeded the public¡¯s imagination. the crowd, originally prepared to criticize them, was momentarily stunned. their attention to the testing incident itself was unconsciously shifted to a different direction. the press conference ended briefly. following that, news about the ning family shutting down their pharmacy city kept surfacing. after ning tianya resigned, news about chu huai possibly taking over his position emerged. shortly after, rumors started circulating about the ning family¡¯s testing incident being a ploy by rival families to plant a spy in the ning family. after this rumor emerged, some people on star network suddenly began to recall the various contributions ning had made to the federation. some people analyzed the reasons why the ning family had been entangled with negative news for several months despite their usual neutrality. they were all alluding to the suspicion that someone was behind the ning family¡¯s downfall. public opinion gradually took a turn, and the ning family, by strategically retreating, strangely managed to regain some public favor. they transformed from the perpetrators to the victims. subsequently, public discourse veered towards conspiracy theories, eventually implicating the xiang family. rumors suggested that the xiang family orchestrated these events to incite conflict between the ning and chu families, benefiting from their fight, fishing in muddy waters. hearing this nonsensical gossip, chu yan was baffled. he whispered to qiao zhiya, ¡°these people really dare to think so wildly, ah. i suddenly have some sympathy for the xiang family. the ning family obviously did not dare to fight hard with our family anymore, so they are ready to stir the muddy water and escape.¡± qiao zhiya frowned. he only felt utter disgust when he heard about the ning family¡¯s actions. looking at the list of ning family¡¯s existing pharmaceutical patents he got from zhuang yu, his eyes became firmer and he walked towards the laboratory. he still remembered chu yan¡¯s analysis of the four great families. knowing that public opinion alone couldn¡¯t destroy a genuine such a massive conglomerate. he didn¡¯t have any convoluted plans or overwhelming power to execute grandiose actions. his idea was simple: since the ning family relied on pharmaceuticals, he aimed to pull the ning family down in the field of pharmaceuticals! CH 83.1 the ning family was able to secure its position as the number one pharmaceutical company in the federation because its achievements in pharmacy are truly unparalleled. the establishment of pharmacy as a distinct discipline, along with the evolution of the profession of pharmacists, owes much to the initiatives driven by the ning family. it can be said that in the field of pharmacy, no one can shake the status of the ning family. qiao zhiya flipped through the long drug patent list in his hand, and suddenly understood the reason why ning family¡¯s apology was so readily accepted by the public. with these patents in hand, closing stores for rectification was no big deal. it¡¯s not their real money-maker ¨C alongside taxes, their real source of income was these drug patents. ¡®how many of these patents are derived from human experiments?¡¯ he wondered. his grip tightened, then he shook his head and shook off these thoughts. starting directly from the patent of the first article, he opened his photon computer to buy this drug from an official channel. after buying, his expression was even more gloomy ¨C sure enough, those stores that were closed were just snacks. he bought from a government-affiliated store, and the ning family took a cut because they own the formulation of the drug. this showed that the ning family¡¯s bottom line wasn¡¯t threatened in the slightest. the ning family really did control the drugs of the federation¡­ how terrifying this was ¨C countless people purchase pharmaceuticals from them every day, firmly believing in the efficacy of the drugs they bring home. if the ning family wanted to cause harm, it would indeed be incredibly convenient and straightforward. after a continuous fall of his mood, he finally cheered up a bit, and even was more vigorous than before. ¡®never mind! the drugs are all here. with so many of them, there¡¯s no way none of them aren¡¯t problematic. as long as there¡¯s a problem, chu rong should have a way to shut down this area for rectification!¡¯ it was imperative to change the citizen¡¯s blind faith towards the pharmaceutical industry first. when he thought about it, he simply ordered all the thousands of drugs listed in the patent list. he had nothing to do in the meantime, so he might as well concentrate on studying these. he vowed to shut down all the ning family¡¯s drug distribution channels! boxes of medicine were transported to qiao zhiya¡¯s laboratory. the old butler reported this to chu rong anxiously. when chu rong learned that, he tapped on the table and waved his hand to indicate that he would go with him, and let qiao zhiya focus on what he wanted. his idea is simple ¨C so long qiao zhiya was busy with this, he wouldn¡¯t have time to mull over his loss. after the first batch of drugs was delivered, qiao zhiya took out qiuqiu and set aside a pile of purifying potions he made. before this, all of the drugs he got were provided by zhuang yu. he hasn¡¯t really touched them. now, he wants to make good contact with the ning family¡¯s drugs from the inside out. a week passed quickly. the online public opinion rapidly shifted from outright criticism of the ning family, to one-sided conspiracy theories, and then to intense condemnation of the xiang family. finally, it reached a chaotic stage where various opinions coexisted¡ªsome criticized the ning family, some defended them, others discussed conspiracy theories, and some engaged in unrelated topics. in essence, the public¡¯s focus had drifted far away from the original incident. among others, the news of qiao zhiya¡¯s suspected participation in the four-year mecha piloting competition took a head start, but it was a small splash compared to the giant gossip around the ning family. the heat quickly subsided. on the weekend, chu yan went home to prepare for the game, while qiao zhiya finally came out of his lab. ¡°i¡¯m telling you, the atmosphere at school is extremely strange right now. most people keep their distance from the ning family, but there¡¯s a small group acting like they¡¯ve gone mad, defending the ning family at every turn. they¡¯re like those braindead fans¡ªyes, that term fits perfectly, braindead fans! especially among the pharmacy students, it¡¯s like they¡¯ve taken the wrong medication. i suspect there¡¯s some influence from the ning family within the pharmacy department, manipulating the students.¡± chu yan went to gossip as soon as he saw qiao zhiya, and his expression was filled with bewilderment mixed with disgust. after saying that, he added, ¡°but they can¡¯t keep this pace for a long time. the school¡¯s managing body is ready to rectify the atmosphere. master shang takes the lead. thank god he¡¯s on our side.¡± qiao zhiya had dark circles under his eyes. he didn¡¯t respond to him. he sat down next to him with a low shoulder and drooping ears, and whispered, ¡°chu yan, how can i open a live broadcast account on star network? also, i want to open a social media account.¡± ¡°huh? it¡¯s very simple, you can set it up from the system page. wait, why do you want to do this?¡± chu yan turned his head and finally saw the dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn¡¯t slept for ten days. surprised, he asked, ¡°what¡¯s going on with you? how long has it been since you slept? did erge actually allow you to stay up late?¡± ¡°i didn¡¯t stay up late.¡± qiao zhiya shook his head, not dwelling on that topic. he lowered his head, took out an electronic notebook from his storage ring, and said, ¡°i want to open a live broadcast to discuss this. in the government¡¯s pharmaceutical area, there are a total of 238 problematic drugs. there are 52 drugs with actual effects that don¡¯t match the label, 178 that mislead the public via marketing, 7 with unwritten severe side effects, and 2 with special effects that are not suitable for general use¡­ these problematic drugs are concentrated from the ning family¡¯s patents in recent years. in addition, the drugs the ning family provided to the military for free during the war also have issues. this needs a separate explanation. i¡¯m really tired; i¡¯ll take a nap. call me when chu rong finishes the meeting or the competition is about to start.¡± after his explanation, he threw the electronic notebook into chu yan¡¯s arms and fell asleep on the sofa. he didn¡¯t stay up late these days. yesterday, chu rong. fan xiangnan, and others went to the meeting all night, so he sneaked out of his bedroom and ran to the laboratory to complete the last research on ning family¡¯s drugs. technically, he didn¡¯t stay up all night, he just woke up extra early in the morning. after listening to his detailed explanation with a stunned expression, chu yan kept his head down to look at the electronic book in his hand. after a momentary lapse in thoughts, he jolted up. he didn¡¯t care that chu rong was in a meeting ¨C he rushed up there immediately. qiao zhiya heard his mother¡¯s voice again vaguely and wanted to respond, but because he was too tired, his consciousness fell into the darkness uncontrollably. when he woke up, he found that he had returned to his room, his clothes were changed to pajamas, and a familiar person was lying beside him. the room was dark. he froze, thinking that he was late for the afternoon competition. reflexively, he sat up in panic. chu rong noticed his movement and immediately woke up from his own light sleep. he opened his eyes and took a look at the time. he also sat up, kissed the groggy youth¡¯s forehead, then frowned. ¡°have lunch first. this time, i¡¯ll let you go from pulling an all-nighter.¡± after they woke up, the night mode set in the room was lifted immediately, and the sunlight poured in from the cracks between the curtains. qiao zhiya looked back at chu rong, who had also been too busy to sleep peacefully recently. he moved his lips, but no words spilled out. instead, he hugged him. ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± chu rong hugged him back, touched the back of his head, still with a frown on his face. he tried to push down his soft-hearted feelings, and instead gently scolded the blond youth. ¡°i can let you act spoiled to get away from many things, but not disregard your health by staying up all night. there¡¯s no next time.¡± ¡®but you stayed up all night, and for so many days¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya swallowed this sentence, tilted his head and nuzzled his neck, carefully releasing his healing magic, hoping to relieve his fatigue. the two kept silent for a while, before washing up and eating lunch. chu rong did not mention anything about the ning family, and qiao zhiya also did not mention it. the atmosphere was warm and cozy. ¡°everything will be discussed after the afternoon competition.¡± chu rong escorted georgia to the star network cabin, bent down to kiss his forehead, and said, ¡°do your best in the competition. sorry, i don¡¯t have time to go up and watch.¡± qiao zhiya shook his head, hugged him, and laid in the star net cabin. chu yan had already logged in before him. when he saw him online, he immediately teleported to his side. he first taught him to open a social media account, and how to open a live broadcast from there. after that, they both waited together until the competition started. when a chatterbox became unusually quiet, qiao zhiya immediately noticed something¡¯s wrong. he asked, ¡°xiao yan, you¡­¡± ¡°shhh, no need to talk about things that may or may not be true.¡± chu yan interrupted him, raised his arm to slung it over his shoulder, and said, ¡°i know you and erge have been busy with important matters lately. i can¡¯t help much, so i¡¯ll just be more sensible. good luck in the competition.¡± qiao zhiya froze, his lips cocked, and nodded strongly, ¡°hmm! jiayou!¡± with the experience of the first round of competition, qiao zhiya was no longer nervous in the second round of competition. his fighting rhythm became more flexible and natural. in this round, the players he met were stronger. he could no longer one-hit-kill them like before. there were several games that became drawn-up before he won. he even lost a couple of times. and the reason for his loss¡­ he completely treated mecha combat as a hand-to-hand fight, considering the mecha¡¯s body as his own. however, since the mecha¡¯s body was not customized according to his body proportions, the lengths of the limbs and torso were somewhat different. this caused him to fail to accurately grasp the attack angle many times when he attacked, and in the end, someone took advantage of this and counteracted his moves. to be more specific, there is a significant difference in body proportions between adult human males and dwarf males. even if their arms and legs have a golden ratio and are equally long when proportionally stretched, differences in shoulder width and upper body length still lead to variations in the proportions of hands and feet. while he successfully advanced to the next round, qiao zhiya was unhappy, although he would not admit it. he silently noted in his notebook: [manually-piloted mecha has strict requirements on the body size of the mecha] he held the space button containing rongtian with drooping ears. after remaining silent for a period of time, he went offline. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 83.2 chairman ning aka ning tianya: ning family¡¯s head. ning tianxing: ning kongran¡¯s father, ning tianya¡¯s older brother. ning kongran: ning family current heir. studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. chu yan¡¯s group progressed faster. he had logged off 30 minutes before qiao zhiya. seeing the blond youth finally coming out of the cabin, he rushed over and handed him a glass of water. ¡°in the morning, you said that there¡¯s a problem with the drugs the ning family provided during the war. what is the problem? both dage and erge drank them¡­¡± in order not to affect qiao¡¯s game, he kept himself from asking this question. now that this round was finished, he finally couldn¡¯t help asking it. qiao zhiya¡¯s thoughts were drawn away from the modifications to the mecha. he turned to see zhuang yu and chu rong sitting on the side, waiting for him. zhuang yu held his electronic book, and the slightly elevated mood due to the competition sank once again. chu rong frowned, glanced at the impatient chu yan, got up, and led georgia to sit on the sofa. he soothingly rubbed qiao zhiya¡¯s ears and asked, ¡°how was the competition?¡± ¡°i got promoted.¡± qiao zhiya sorted out his emotions first before answering. he put down the water cup on the coffee table, and saw zhuang yu. without further delay, he explained first, ¡°the drugs provided by the ning family in the war are no longer sold. however, i reverse-engineered it from the formula i got.¡± zhuang yu frowned, and asked, ¡°where did you get the formula? there¡¯s no mention of this on the patent list.¡± qiao zhiya yanked his pants with his fingers and replied, ¡°ning kongran gave it to me. he gave it to my roommate sang bu, who forwarded it to me.¡± ning kongran again. chu rong squinted, holding qiao zhiya¡¯s hand that was still subconsciously pulling the frayed thread of his pants, then said, ¡°the war lasted a long time. the ning family began to provide free medicine to the army in the later period. the main recipient of the medicine was the chu family, because we were in the frontlines. of course, that also means our medicine consumption was the largest. ¡° hearing this explanation, qiao zhiya¡¯s body went stiff. he looked at chu rong with sad eyes. ¡°it¡¯s okay, you can say it directly.¡± chu rong touched his head, his eyes flashed. ¡°i wanted to check the medicines after the war, but ning family moved too quickly, and they found a reason to cut off the supply of medicine in advance. later, they claimed that the formulation of the medicines was destroyed in the war, and the researchers who developed them were also killed, so i did not find anything useful. at that time, i felt that the ning family had done something strange, but there was no doubt that those medicines hid something sinister. i thought the ning family simply wanted to protect their trade secrets and profits.¡± later, the ning family also launched an improved version of that medicine, making a lot of contributions for the federation, so he put his suspicion down. qiao zhiya, hearing this, squeezed his hand back and then took out a vial of medicine from his storage ring. he said, ¡°this is the medicine i made according to the formula ning kongran gave to me.. back then, it¡¯s called ¡®boosting replenishment1it¡¯s more accurate to translate it as ¡°supplement¡± (²¹³ä¼Á ¨C ²¹³ä ¡°to supplement/to complement¡± + ¼Á ¡°dose/medicine¡±) but there¡¯s already nutrient supplement¡­ (ÓªÑø¼Á ¨C ÓªÑø ¡°nutrient¡± + ¼Á ¡°dose/medicine¡±). to avoid confusion, i¡¯m calling it boosting replenishment. as in, something to replenish what you lost, but also can boost your performance¡­ something like that.¡¯, and the current nutrient supplements are an improved version of it.¡± boosting replenishment, a term that feels very distant nowadays. in the years when the nutrients were scarce in the frontline, the army¡¯s dietary needs during the war became a logistical nightmare. in order to protect the majority of the planet and its inhabitants, the war zone between humans and zergs is mostly in space, and supplies need to be sent up regularly. however, since the zergs may emerge from all corners at that time, and all transportation routes were unsafe. the army often faced situations where food supplies were not timely. the emergence of boosting replenishment perfectly solves this problem. at that time, the ¡°boosting replenishment¡± were different from the current nutritional supplements ¨C they were more like a medicine, rather than purely a meal substitute. besides providing calories and nutrients needed by the body, they also replenished the spiritual energy consumed. that also means they could help restore physical strength. under the circumstances at that time, the emergence of this medicament greatly reduced the burden of the army. the public¡¯s gratitude and support for the ning family instantly rose to a fever-pitch, laying a very solid foundation for the later ning family¡¯s good reputation. ¡°what¡¯s wrong with this medicine?¡± zhuang yu couldn¡¯t help asking. qiao zhiya opened the vial, added a bit of powdered herb, and the color of the medicine quickly became murky. a pungent smell filled the air, causing everyone¡¯s spiritual powers to stir anxiously at the mere scent. ¡°this is exactly why.¡± seeing them all showing discomfort, qiao zhiya immediately covered the vial and continued, ¡°this medicine can indeed replenish the body¡¯s energy in a short period of time, but the side effects are also very serious. moreover, these side effects have a latent period, meaning that the body will only show discomfort after a certain period following the consumption of the medicine.¡± chu rong recalled his situation that year, and asked, ¡°how long is the incubation period?¡± ¡°anytime between 3 months to 5 years, depends on the body¡¯s fitness level. in addition, this medicine can get passed via the placenta. the toxic compound is hard to digest by the body, and if there¡¯s still a trace of the medicine available during pregnancy, it will be passed on to the child, and it could wreck their spiritual sea. in short, they might be born without spiritual power, or their spiritual power will be low and unable to grow, or incredibly unstable and prone to riots.¡± zhuang yu¡¯s expression got worse the more she heard it. she looked at chu rong in horror as she said, ¡°sir, the inexplicable spiritual riot of five years ago ¡­¡± ¡°at that time, dage¡¯s spiritual power had a sudden lapse of instability¡­ oh my god, fortunately, dage hasn¡¯t had any children in these years, otherwise¡­¡± chu yan was also shocked, looking at the vial of medicine on the table, thinking, ¡®what a poison.¡¯ chu rong frowned, his expression was very heavy. ¡°the group of children born after the war did have a high rate of birth defects, but everyone thought it was affected by the zerg¡¯s radiation¡­ not caused by the ning family¡¯s medicines.¡± in some kind of sick twist, the ning family actually specially launched a soothing agent for babies, and once again earned the goodwill of the masses. ning tianya¡¯s rise to his position as the chairman was based on these boosting replenishments and baby soothing agents. it was also from that time that the federation¡¯s government pharmaceutical area began to be taken over by the ning family. prior to this, that area had been managed by the federation¡¯s official association of medicines. the ning family was only a consultant. ¡°there¡¯s one more thing.¡± the topic being discussed now made qiao zhiya feel a bit breathless. he forced himself to project the two formulas using his communicator, saying, ¡°rather than saying the widely-used nutrient supplements nowadays are an improved version of supplements, it¡¯s more accurate to say that supplements are the improved version of nutrient supplements. this is the formula given to me by kongran, and this is the formula for the existing nutrient supplements. the two formulas are almost identical, with the only difference being that supplements have added a few unconventional stimulating herbs. some of the miraculous effects and terrifying side effects¡­ are thanks to these additional herbs. in addition, the forbidden herb northtalk grass is added to the potion now.¡± northtalk grass2±±Óï²Ý; literally: north/northern; language; grass. it¡¯s not a real plant (from my googling/google efforts). clearly i need to apply some creative liberty in naming them. ¨C it¡¯s a spiritually-sensitive herb that was forbidden because it can disrupt the work of detectors. in short, drugs with this herb are impossible to be evaluated. it¡¯s a sharp weapon of conspiracy designed to harm people. zhuang yu frowned, at the same time a little confused about his determination, and asked, ¡°qiao, why are you so sure of your conjectures?¡± ¡°because nutritional supplements were actually developed by kongran¡¯s mother¡¯s natal family at the beginning of the outbreak of the great war,¡± qiao zhiya answered. he then took out a handwritten note from his storage ring and handed it to chu rong, saying, ¡°this was sent to me by sang bu along with the formula. there¡¯s a communication number on it. i couldn¡¯t get through, so i guess this number is meant for you.¡± chu rong looked down at the note, and tried dialing directly with his communicator in front of everyone. soon, the call was picked up in mere seconds after the call was dialed. ¡°marshal chu.¡± ning kongran¡¯s voice came from the other side, with a seriousness and sophistication that was completely different from his usual one. ¡°i don¡¯t know if my gift that the yun family sent over is enough to show you my sincerity in this cooperation.¡± the moment he heard his voice, qiao zhiya¡¯s ears flattened, and his spirits fell rock bottom. ¡®sure enough, this communication number was for chu rong.¡¯ sensing this, chu rong stretched his arms to half-hug him while he responded to ning kongran. ¡°enough, what do you want to do?¡± ¡°i want the ning family to never be seen again from the federation.¡± ning kongran¡¯s answer was simple and straightforward. he paused, his voice softened, as gentle as his usual from the past. ¡°qiao, thank you. and sorry¡­ for me, you are my friend forever. i¡¯m glad to be your friend.¡± chu rong directly hung up the call. he pressed qiao zhiya, whose emotions seemed to be off, into his arms. he vigorously rubbed his head and scolded, ¡°you are so meek at times, what wild thoughts have you been entertaining again?¡± ¡°i¡¯m sorry.¡± qiao zhiya lifted his hand, clutching onto his clothes, trying to control the sudden surge of emotions but couldn¡¯t. he could only apologize in a muffled voice. he didn¡¯t know what had overcome him. although he logically understood that his friendship with ning kongran had developed naturally ¨C their interactions were genuine, and ning kongran had genuinely helped him many times ¨C the discovery of the formula and the note with the number inevitably brought a bit of a dreadful thought into his mind: ¡®is this person using me all along?¡¯ he knew that thinking of that was wrong, and he felt guilty of that. but he couldn¡¯t control this stifling feeling of being ¡°betrayed¡±. it¡¯s as if, it was no coincidence that just as they were studying about the ning family, this secret drug formula was delivered in a timely manner. was ning kongran monitoring his movements all these times? this person, who qiao zhiya considered a close friend, actually used him? it left an awfully bitter taste in his tongue. now ning kongran¡¯s explanation ¨C which is not an explanation ¨C is like an exposed wire, igniting the deeply depressed emotions during this period. both chu yan and zhuang yu¡¯s were worried, especially since qiao zhiya¡¯s mood has been wrong since the death of rick. this was the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. qiao zhiya¡¯s emotions bursted out. ¡°let¡¯s rest first.¡± chu rong carried qiao zhiya up, and dismissed both chu yan and zhuang yu with a gesture. he brought qiao zhiya out. zhuang yu and chu yan stared at each other, sighed in sync, and tacitly dispersed. after returning to their room, chu rong hugged qiao zhiya and leaned on the bed, letting him cry for a while. then, he gave the youth a hot bath, fed him dinner, and coaxed him to sleep. dimming the lights in the room, chu rong frowned and looked at the corners of qiao zhiya¡¯s red eyes. he assumed that qiao zhiya had been too busy to feel sad or upset, forgetting that when emotions were bottled up, it would explode out in a more severe manner. during this period, qiao zhiya had been exposed to a lot of heavy information, and now his friend suddenly revealed his secret side ¨C it was not a surprise that he couldn¡¯t handle it all. ¡°sorry.¡± he bent down and kissed qiao zhiya¡¯s forehead, letting out a long sigh. ¡°sorry.¡± it was his fault that brought this youth, who was supposed to enjoy his campus life, into this whirlpool of messy politics and conspiracies. CH 83.3 in the morning, as the sun rose up, qiao zhiya slowly opened his eyes. he raised his hand in confusion, touching his faintly buzzing head. ¡®strange, why did it seem like i heard mom¡¯s voice¡­?¡¯ ¡°woke up?¡± chu rong¡¯s voice sounded above his head, prompting him to look up. then, his wrist was gripped, as his body was gently pushed down. a familiar whiff of smell pressed against him. chu rong¡¯s eyes were filled with a sense of intimacy ¨C his gaze was dark and hungry. the taller man then kissed him, separating his legs with his own knees. chu rong used his much-larger hand to slowly move down from his shoulder, to his waist, lifting his crumpled pajama up. ¡°huh? mhm¡­¡± he stared ahead, mind still buzzing. after gaining some clarity, his body stiffened, but it quickly softened as he enjoyed the kiss. his cheeks slowly turned red, while his mind was consumed by the simmering lust. the two lingered in bed for a long time before getting up. by then, chu rong took qiao zhiya for breakfast, then went to practice. after the practice, they played with the rabbits until lunchtime. chu rong, in a rare case of not being busy, accompanied qiao zhiya to enjoy a weekend holiday. after lunch, chu rong took qiao zhiya to the side of the star net cabin. ¡°just try your best.¡± chu rong squeezed his ears, bent down, and kissed him. ¡°go, i¡¯ll take you out for dinner.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s heart was warmed, knowing that chu rong was trying to cheer him up. he shook his head and replied, ¡°no, i want to cook for you for today¡¯s dinner instead.¡± ¡°okay.¡± chu rong¡¯s mouth faintly upturned. he patted his head again. ¡°i¡¯ll help you.¡± qiao zhiya gave a smile in return and happily logged in. maybe, it was because his sullen mood was uplifted, but qiao zhiya played extremely well in this round of the game, and did not make any mistakes. it was the first time that he won all his games. he was still in the player¡¯s waiting room when he was finished, and it was still rather early. since there was nothing to do, he simply logged in to his social media account and studied how to open a live broadcast. he definitely wanted to talk about the ning family¡¯s dubious drugs, but he didn¡¯t want to speak on the chu family¡¯s behalf, nor he wanted chu rong to say in his stead ¨C he wanted to say it himself, in his own name. he had his considerations for this decision: first, should he act on behalf of the chu family to intervene in the pharmaceuticals, it might lead to some negative reactions. he didn¡¯t understand family struggles nor the political landscape that well, but he knew that rashly meddling with something involving the interests of the entire population, even if he was in the right, the process would definitely not go smoothly. with the upcoming presidential change, he didn¡¯t want to affect the chu family because of this. second, the issues with some pharmaceuticals that couldn¡¯t be detected by existing instruments. he could detect those harmful substances because he has qiuqiu and his own unique powers. therefore, the points he brought up might not be very convincing and weren¡¯t suitable for official channels. third, and most importantly, in case criticizing the existing pharmaceuticals led to some adverse consequences, he could also sever his connection to chu rong to save chu rong¡¯s reputation. of course, he did not dare to confess to the last one with chu rong. in addition, he was not prepared to simply ask questions ¨C he also wanted to solve the problems. over the past year, he has successively developed many kinds of potions for various ailments, some could only be done by himself, and others could be mass produced thanks to zhuang yu¡¯s efforts. he hopes that these potions can help more people, especially those who have inadvertently been poisoned by the ning family¡¯s drugs. after his account was successfully applied before, chu yan immediately linked his account with his own social account, so he now has a lot of followers, saving him to think about how to attract viewers. after confirming his decision, he logged out, and unexpectedly found that chu rong was waiting beside him while pouring over a file in his hand. a smile bloomed in his lips, and the youth rushed at him. chu rong put down the file to catch him, then kissed his forehead. the two made dinner together, and during the meal qiao zhiya carefully articulated his idea of ??wanting to talk about the drugs during a live broadcast. chu rong looked at him as he talked. after qiao zhiya finished, reached out and patted his head, saying, ¡°just do what you want, i¡¯m here.¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s ears fluttered happily. he leaned in on chu rong¡¯s palm, then nuzzled it. after dinner, they walked around the house to aid their digestion. then chu rong sent qiao zhiya to the laboratory, before going to his study and took out a custom helmet. chu rong used that to log in to his anonymous side account to enter qiao zhiya¡¯s live broadcast channel just opened. the title of qiao zhiya¡¯s live room is very simple and clear: ¡°pharmacy class¡±. because this is a stream that opened via his social media, there¡¯s a prefix of his username before the title. reading them together, it became ¡°qiao¡¯s pharmacy class¡±. all the fans who received the live broadcast notification were stunned for a moment before realizing who ¡°qiao¡± was referring to. what the ¡°qiao¡¯s pharmacy class is live¡± reminder represented, after coming to their senses, they hurriedly flooded into the live broadcast room. the comment section has already been opened, so early viewers had already conveyed their confusions: [why isn¡¯t this a ¡°qiao¡¯s mecha-making class¡±? why is this a pharmacy class? is the title wrong?] the comment area could be seen as a holographic projection for qiao zhiya. he was packing up the operating platform to prepare for a pharmacy demonstration, and had just seen this question. he looked at the live broadcast equipment flying directly in front of him and seriously replied, ¡°because today, i¡¯m making potions and drugs, not mechas.¡± after saying that, he paused a bit before adding, ¡°if you want to learn mecha manufacturing, i will teach you some tips when i have time.¡± then, he smiled at the camera. he has watched the live broadcast tutorial. in that tutorial, they suggested that the streamer should be friendly towards their audience. he agreed with that, so he followed it. the audience who had just entered the stream was instantly taken by his smile. many commenters feel embarrassed by such an obvious answer. as a star network celebrity and the fiance of a marshal, qiao zhiya¡¯s popularity was terrifyingly high. soon, there was an announcement on the starry sky forum that qiao zhiya was going live, and fans even spent money to buy reminders from the entire star network. so, while qiao zhiya was organizing the control panel, the number of people in his stream had already exceeded a billion. the system had to open comment dilution for his live stream, otherwise, the comment section simply couldn¡¯t handle the flood of people posting comments at the same time. after feeling ready, qiao zhiya clicked on the camera, so the indoor picture changed. except for the area where he was standing, all the walls changed into an appropriate virtual background, this time an auditorium like the one in the mecha manufacturing competition. the audience would be ¡°seated¡± in the seating area, while qiao zhiya, the streamer, stood in front of the hall. ¡°good evening everyone.¡± he greeted everyone and introduced himself, ¡°i am qiao zhiya, the creator of the stone grass potion.¡± in order to increase the persuasiveness and authority of his discourse, after consulting chu rong¡¯s opinion, he decided to tell everyone his identity. otherwise, everyone would doubt his credentials and thought that his conjectures were just baseless bullshits. the audience fell silent for a moment, before exploding into a cacophony of exclamations. from the holiday to the present, the stone grass potion has been officially released for several months. because of its cheap price and excellent efficacy, it has officially become one of the people¡¯s go-to choice for spiritual soothing. there is no way that people could ever mishear that name. today qiao zhiya suddenly went live with such a title, and everyone thought it was just a bored kid wanting to come up and play with the fans for a while. however, little did they expect that even before the live broadcast began, they would learn about such explosive news. ¡°this is the patent certificate and the trial certificate of the stone grass potion.¡± qiao zhiya did not wait for them to respond. he moved his finger to project the documents he said, then took out a few medicines and put them on the table, pointing to what he previously prepared.¡±now, i¡¯ll demonstrate and explain the basic process of drug-making for everyone.¡± in this first lesson, he was going to start with the most basic and simple substances, and at most, only expose some problems that won¡¯t shake the foundation of the ning family. it was enough to shake everyone¡¯s blind trust towards such drugs. this included discussing potions that were mislabeled and shouldn¡¯t be considered as such due to marketing manipulation. he took out several types of materials, explaining while using various instruments to process them. he then placed the refined medicine into a reaction apparatus. during the process of creating the medicine, he continued speaking, ¡°just like what you saw a moment ago, the energy-boosting drug that people often drink and commonly purchase is made this way ¨C very simple, with no technical difficulty. its raw materials include refined baby¡¯s snare1¡­sorry for the weird names, none of them are real plants (i think, i google¡¯d them all to make sure). Ó¤ÂÞ (yingluo), which means ¡°suffer, fall into a trap, metaphor for suffering¡±. separately, Ó¤ means baby, so i combined them into baby¡¯s snare (so it sounds similar to baby¡¯s breath). of course i didn¡¯t use baby¡¯s trap because baby trapping is a thing., field grain2ÌïºÌ (tianhe), which does composed of the word ¡°field¡± and ¡°grain¡±. i¡¯m not creative., and earth-sitting grass3ÍÁ×ø²Ý (tuzuo cao), i also translate this literally.. you should be familiar with these herbs because they are commonly used ingredients in confectionery.¡± the audience only blankly stared ahead. qiao zhiya actually made medicines and potions. he also looked quite proficient with them, but this is not the point. the point is that¡­ this is a very highly-praised medicine, the holy grail of energy boosting drugs. it¡¯s actually made from these kinds of confectionery materials? why does it sound funny? ¡°ding¡± the reaction apparatus closed, and the drug was ready. qiao zhiya took the liquid, poured it into a vial, and placed it next to the unopened commercial energy-boosting drug bought earlier. comparing the two, he said, ¡°you can take a look. this is the commercial product, and this is what i just made. they look the same on the outside. if anyone wants to taste it, i can randomly select someone here and mail it to them.¡± the audience was still a bit lost. the two liquids looked identical visually. they felt deceived! seeing that the audience did not want to test them themselves, qiao zhiya paused and continued, ¡°as we all know, baby¡¯s snare is a herb that is suitable as a houseplant. it releases a cool substance that makes people feel refreshed. as food ingredients, field grain and earth-sitting grass can enhance this ¡°refreshing¡± feeling. of course, they also contain many sugars and can enhance the sweetness, so they are widely used for candy-making.¡± the audience looked like they were gaining new knowledge. ¡°a lot of people are used to drinking a dose of energy-boosting drugs when they are feeling tired. i personally recommend that you try to stop this habit and save some money instead. if you feel tired, you can pluck a couple of baby¡¯s snare leaves, wash them, then chew on them.¡± qiao zhiya suggested sincerely and took out a set of kitchen utensils. ¡°or, if you don¡¯t like the taste, you can make them into a snack. not only can you relieve your fatigue, it will taste good, and you can save money on top of that! now, i will teach everyone my recipe of baby¡¯s snare snack.¡± the audience: ¡°???¡± how did the topic get here? qiao zhiya carefully made a snack with the leaves of baby¡¯s snare. he also added a handful of field grain and earth-sitting grass to improve the taste, then put the finished snack on top of a saucer, next to the two vials of drugs. he asked, ¡°now tell me: if you are tired, which refreshment will you choose? ¡° presentation matters. compared to the cold feeling of the vial of drugs, a warm, tasty snack is much preferable. many of the audience sent qiao zhiya monetary gifts as a sign of gratitude. ¡°i will post the detailed recipe later on my social media accounts. if anyone is interested, you can learn; it¡¯s quite simple.¡± qiao zhiya was very satisfied with their reactions and projected a list, saying, ¡°these are other herbs with refreshing effects without toxic compounds in them. if you don¡¯t like the taste of baby¡¯s snare, you can try these.¡± even the taste has been taken into consideration, is there a more intimate and conscious streamer? the audience excitedly sent another wave of gifts. qiao zhiya didn¡¯t even know what those gifts were. he only knew that the special effects looked pretty. he thanked the audience, and quickly ended the live broadcast after giving a closing remark. he then logged in to his social media account via his photon computer, and posted the promised recipe. after doing all this, he stumbled stupidly for a while, and then went to the starry sky forum to see the public opinion towards the ning family. he found that the scandal had cooled over, and not many people were interested in discussing it. sure enough, public opinion alone couldn¡¯t shake the status of the ning family. at present, the ning family was still one of the four great families, although its reputation has slightly deteriorated. but he knew that the ning family could rise again. this was a really depressing fact. he wanted to open everyone¡¯s eyes about the tight grip the ning family had in the pharmaceutical area, even fooling the government. he wanted everyone to know that there are many problematic drugs. but he knew that currently, those are not possible. he can¡¯t kill them in one hit. he had administered a slow-acting poison to them. then, his lab door suddenly opened. chu rong strode in, and immediately went to hug him. he snapped back to reality, wrapping his arms around chu rong¡¯s neck and leaning against him. ¡°don¡¯t worry, the ning family has already paid the price. the position of the federal president is permanently out of reach for them, and the shops they closed won¡¯t ever reopen. i will make sure they can never launch a new drug either.¡± chu rong reassured him in a low voice, as if he knew what was on his mind. qiao zhiya straightened up, looked at him, nodded, and closed his eyes, leaning in to give him a kiss. on the other side, the ning family, who wasn¡¯t paying much attention to the live broadcast, strangely noticed a significant drop in the sales of energy-boosting drugs. however, as these drugs were just one of the most basic and lowest-priced pharmaceuticals, the ning family didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. they currently had no energy to focus on the sales of such low-level products. soon after, they found that things were not right. another night, qiao zhiya started a live broadcast. he greeted the viewers who had come early, then, as usual, took out several drugs and a pile of materials, placing them on the table. after scanning the audience, he earnestly said, ¡®today, let¡¯s get to know an intermediate potion ¨C stamina conversion agent. and this will be the first time, after so many broadcasts on basic drugs, that he will touch upon a type of drug with severe side effects. a psa: this is a work of fiction, and the author never claimed to be someone with the knowledge of medicines! the translator is also not a pharmacy student nor a doctor, so take me with a grain of salt. even if a drug¡¯s composition sounds funny, please remember that they can react with other substances/your body and thus, change the properties of the substances (or even become a wholly different one). for rl modern medicines, i would suggest that you mostly trust them (never blindly trust anything), especially if they have gone through clinical trials. they¡¯re very safe. it¡¯s just in this novel world, the pharma is very, very corrupt and mired in conspiracy, so it can¡¯t be trusted. also, many substances are destroyed by heat, so let¡¯s just say that the energy-boosting compounds in those plants are thermostable so qiao zhiya can make them into snacks without lowering its efficacy. also, many compounds can only be effective in a very specific condition, and can easily be destroyed during the digestion process. that¡¯s why drug-delivery is a very finicky thing. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 84.1 intermediate medicine? energy conversion agent? the audience was shocked, and their expectations grew stronger. during this time, they watched qiao zhiya¡¯s live broadcast religiously, learning various tips and tricks for using and substituting basic medicines in their daily lives. it greatly broadened their knowledge and saved them a considerable amount of money. they had been hoping that qiao zhiya would eventually help them upgrade to intermediate medicines, as the price difference between those two was quite substantial. little did they expect that it would happen so soon! the energy conversion agent, as the name suggests, was a kind of drug that can convert the energy in the body, which made it very popular with mecha pilots. this is an emergency drug that can help them continue to fight by turning part of their physical energy into spiritual power when their spiritual power is about to run out. this drug clearly states that it should be used with caution on the packaging. it also stated several side effects, which were uncontrollable muscle twitching, soreness, and tiredness over a period of time. in the mind of the citizens, such side effects were no big deal ¨C they could be cured by a good night¡¯s rest, so they didn¡¯t think much of it. but this was not the case at all. a person¡¯s physical strength and spiritual strength are completely two things. how can it be ¡°converted¡±? how can the side effect be as simple as muscle soreness? qiao zhiye knew that with prolonged use, the consumer could be paralyzed for life! qiao zhiya was shocked when he first knew of this drug. then, he was overcome with blistering hot anger. it¡¯s terrible. he never thought that human beings could be so vicious to their own kind. his perception of the ning family became worse. the ning family was cunning, and they knew what they¡¯re doing. while they did label the side-effects, they only listed the light and obvious ones. they never listed the serious side effects. they also omitted a lot of ingredients of the drug. the pharmacy patent protection law, which the ning family promoted and established many years ago, stipulates that certain individuals or enterprises¡¯ unique drugs are not required to be fully disclosed to the masses, that is, the label does not need to state all the ingredients used, or the amount of each ingredient. they are allowed to only list the ingredients they wanted, and the rest can be listed as the type of the materials, or written to be as vague as possible. all of this is allowed in the name of ¡°protecting trade secrets¡± over the drug¡¯s formulation. of course, the premise is that the drugs must pass a safety audit to ensure that it is safe for its intended use. however, the ning family controlled the federation¡¯s pharmaceutical industry and the government sector of it. they have people who worked in the drug¡¯s safety audit. with that, why would the ning family worry about whether or not their product passes the review? before the festival, before the chu-ning family was still ¡°amicable¡± to each other, chu rong wanted to review the stone grass potion in other planets, where the ning family¡¯s grip over the pharmaceutical industry was rather lax, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to purposefully sabotage the safety review. one can imagine the strength of the ning family in the pharmaceutical industry at that time. now, chu rong¡¯s ability to counteract in the review process was due to his swift action in replacing a group of ning family employees in the government¡¯s pharmaceutical department during this period. he placed his own people in those positions. meanwhile, ning tianya resigned from the position of the chairman, and the ning family lost its biggest umbrella of protection in the federation¡¯s political sphere. the audience watched qiao zhiya¡¯s action of organizing herbs behind his working table, and their emotions became more and more intense. especially the mecha pilots who frequently used energy conversion agent ¨C they were already speculating whether qiao zhiya was going to share other methods for energy conversion with them. after making sure all the herbs were sorted out, qiao zhiya looked at the audience and said directly, ¡°there is no harmless method of energy conversion in this world. physical strength and spiritual strength are specifically listed as two separate items for testing during qualification evaluation for a reason. they are completely different things, however, they are each other¡¯s complement. good physical fitness may give birth to higher spiritual strength. advanced spiritual strength can relieve physical fatigue and make you recover faster. also, it is widely known that the higher the spiritual strength, the slower the aging, and the longer the stipulated life span will be. in return, overexhausting one aspect can lead to collapse to the other ¨C exhausting your spiritual strength can make you sick, and your control over your spiritual power will go haywire if you do it while you¡¯re physically tired.¡± the audience was awoken by his explanation. he made sense. and so, many began to think: ¡®is there a harmless method of physical fitness conversion to spiritual power? then that drug¡­¡¯ qiao zhiya observed their reactions and saw that they didn¡¯t immediately start questioning the drug¡¯s negative effects. he reached out, picked up a herb, and said, ¡°now, i¡¯ll demonstrate the process of making this so-called energy conversion agent. due to certain limitations in the patent protection law, i can¡¯t fully reveal the formula. therefore, i¡¯ve already pre-processed some of the herbs for you, and these are their extracts.¡± he pointed to a few metal sealed boxes on his hand, and threw the herbs in the processing instrument, and continued, ¡°i¡¯m starting, let¡¯s take a closer look.¡± leaving aside other things, qiao zhiya¡¯s method of making drugs was very smooth and pleasing. the audience¡¯s attention was immediately drawn to his hands, forgetting their numerous questions. after processing all the herbs from the publicly disclosed formula, qiao zhiya paused and pointed to the metal boxes, saying, ¡°now, i¡¯m going to mix them with the pre-prepared herbal extracts. once the reaction is complete, the final product will be the energy conversion agent you¡¯re familiar with. during the reaction, let¡¯s first test the composition of the liquids in these metal boxes and observe their components.¡± it¡¯s almost done! the audience is getting excited, and their favorite part is the various unveiling segments during qiao zhiya¡¯s live broadcasts. what is the formulation of this medicine? in actuality, many of those high-sounding ingredients are just the scientific names of many common plant extracts. those impressive-sounding ¡°twenty-four processing steps¡± are just filtering the ingredients through instruments twenty-four times. some drugs are essentially just fancy water with extra sugar, and many of them have higher packaging cost compared to the production cost1this is real for many rl drugs btw. the most famous example is insulin, which costs like, 1 usd to produce.! these are the little secrets revealed during this segment, and overall, this part is the most exciting part of the stream! after putting the remaining medicinal solution in the metal box into the detection instrument, qiao zhiya looked down at the data spat out from the instrument. his grip tightened. due to patent laws, he couldn¡¯t directly disclose the formula of the energy conversion agent. however, he wanted everyone to intuitively understand why this drug was harmful based on the effects of the ingredient2just a side note, even if a compound is incredibly toxic and dangerous, it may become harmless after it reacts to something. natrium is a very reactive element, and it can burn when it comes into contact with water. chlorine is a very toxic gas. combined, they make table salt.. so, he came up with this method ¨C by only testing the efficacy of a certain ¡°unknown¡± liquid, and so it did not involve patent infringement. ¡°ping!¡± and the test results are out. he zoomed in on the results and let the audience see it. he began to explain the meaning of the various test data one by one. then, when he pointed to a complex-sounding component, he paused and raised his voice. ¡°here, this ingredient is called xx3-type hormone. it is a very special compound, and it¡¯s a newly discovered ingredient. in nature, it is only found in a very few animals and herbs, and the most common one is the well-known scaredy grass.¡± ¡®scaredy grass? isn¡¯t that a kind of nasty plant that you can¡¯t touch? it can swell if it perceives danger, then repel its aggressor with toxic gas?¡¯ immediately, the audience remembered the appearance of the scaredy grass. and overall, they did not have a pleasant association with it ¨C in fact, many of them doubted if this kind of trashy plant can be used as a medicine at all. ¡°now, let me explain the principle of the scaredy grass¡¯ defense mechanism of swelling and releasing toxic gas.¡± qiao zhiya changed the topic and brought up a video showing scaredy grass wilting after being touched. while playing the video, he explained, ¡°when the scaredy grass is ¡®frightened¡¯, it instinctively squeezes all the energy in its body, causing its death and sudden size expansion. this swelling can scare enemies away by appearing larger, and it can protect the seeds hidden in its root. to ensure that enemies do not approach after its swelling and subsequent death, its body will immediately undergo a physiological change and release a pungent odor to drive away enemies.¡± the disgust on the audience¡¯s faces was much shallower, and suddenly they felt a little sympathetic ¨C alas, this is just a plant that is so small that it can only use this extreme method to protect its future progeny. quite pitiful. ¡°what allows it to swell rapidly and immediately release the toxic, pungent gas is the abundant presence of xx3-type hormone in its system. when this xx3-type hormone is applied to the human body, the muscles in the human body will quickly accumulate strength, instinctively sending a message to the brain, ¡®i am in danger, i¡¯m about to die, please release power to protect me or drive away enemies.¡¯ at the same time, the muscles, under the influence of the xx3-type hormone, release all life energy accumulation to the brain. combining with the brain that received the danger signal, it squeezes the potential of the human body, rapidly replenishing spiritual strength.¡± qiao zhiya continued to explain, and projected an animation of the human response prepared in advance. the audience, who was still sympathetic to the scaredy grass, turned their attention to digesting this easy-to-understand animation. what does that mean? that damned xx3-type hormone will turn them into a scaredy grass? is ¡°squeezing potential¡± the meaning they understand? then, what happens to them after they forcefully ¡°squeeze out¡± their life energy¡­ qiao zhiya took a look at their reactions and was pleased. he finally talked about the highlights of this issue, explaining in detail. ¡°after repeatedly experiencing such ¡®death¡¯ fraud, the muscles and brains will gradually become insensitive to this danger reminder. as a result, the human body¡¯s ability to cope with crises will greatly decrease, and at the same time, the muscles will gradually age and become damaged after this repeated overworking of their capabilities. this phenomenon manifested in those soreness or uncontrollable twitching, which can be cured by rest, yes, but that only if it happened once or twice. with prolonged use, the muscle can be severely damaged, atrophied, or even become permanently paralyzed.¡± one after another, terrible words spilled out of qiao zhiya¡¯s mouth, shocking the audience, leading them into internal panic. the atmosphere in the live broadcast room became a little disturbed. qiao zhiya was aware of their uneasiness, but did not stop explaining. ¡°the damage and aging of muscles can also cause a problem, that is, it causes them to become weak and fragile. this is why some mecha pilots are famously physically weak despite their high spiritual power. for mecha pilots in this live broadcast, you must pay more attention to your body if you use this drug many times in the past. i suggest that you go to a hospital for a detailed physical inspection.¡± the comment area of ??the live broadcast was flooded with questions. many such mecha pilots felt their situation matched what qiao zhiya said, and they posted a lot of questions and anxieties. of course, some people also doubt that the test data and the medicinal solution in the metal box were not the hidden components in the existing energy conversion agents on the market. after all, it was a patented medicine, and qiao zhiya¡¯s formulation might not be correct. qiao zhiya knew that without definitive evidence, some people wouldn¡¯t be swayed. he immediately replaced the tested liquid in the detector with several others and quickly pointed out the various components. then the audience was shocked to discover that all the liquids in the metal boxes actually contained xx3-type hormones, and some even had other harmful substances to the human body. ¡°ding.¡± the reaction apparatus stopped working and the drug was successfully synthesized. qiao zhiya took out the drug, bottled them, and placed them next to the purchased ones. he said, ¡°now let¡¯s test these two drugs. number one is the one i just made, and number two is the one i bought. here is the purchase record and certificate for the number two drug, complete with the code on the label. take a look. also, i haven¡¯t opened this packaging; it¡¯s sealed. now i¡¯ll open it.¡± in front of the audience, the drug was taken apart. qiao zhiya put the two drugs together and showed them to the audience. then he put them together in the testing equipment. soon, the test results spat out, and qiao zhiya projected them into the air. ¡°everyone can take a look. the final detection data of the drug i made and the bought one are statistically identical. now we will test the finished product separately.¡± in order to make everyone more visually aware of the harm of energy conversion agents, qiao zhiya went through the trouble of testing the purchased energy conversion agent again. then, pointing to the very clear data of xx3-type hormone on it, facing the audience, he said, ¡°i emphasize once again, there is no harmless and safe method of energy conversion in this world. the human body is a whole, interconnected system. if it is made to forcefully ¡®squeeze¡¯ one part to replenish another part, it will ultimately result in the complete loss of function of the squeezed part.¡± the audience rarely saw him look this grim and serious. some were shocked by the momentum he showed at this time. ¡°this time i won¡¯t send out the finished product to you. i don¡¯t want to send this thing out.¡± qiao zhiya quickly calmed down and just prepared to end the live broadcast. but then, he remembered something, so he added, ¡°i don¡¯t recommend the usage of this energy conversion agent, but i acknowledge that it has several use cases. should you face a critical battle that threatened your life, then using this drug as a last ditch effort definitely will help. but remember, go to the hospital afterwards to ensure your body is still healthy. the doctors also may give you a complete treatment plan. as for daily usage, please don¡¯t use them.¡± after saying that and being assured he had said all he wanted to convey, he let out a sigh. facing the audience, he gave a smile and a wave. ¡°today¡¯s live broadcast is over, thank you for watching, good night.¡± after speaking, he turned off the live broadcast equipment. CH 84.2 in the live broadcast room, viewers gradually recovered and quickly took action. some went offline to check, others engaged in gossip, and some who remained skeptical of qiao zhiya¡¯s statements went out to buy energy conversion agents for testing. in the laboratory, qiao zhiya threw the energy conversion agent into the trash can, turned and opened the laboratory door, and unsurprisingly saw chu rong waiting outside. ¡°did i make my statements clear?¡± he asked. chu rong nodded, raised his hand and patted his hair, then replied, ¡°you did. in several hours from now, the federal citizens will know that there is a problem with this drug, and no one will use it anymore. you did well. ¡° ¡°that¡¯s good.¡± he tilted his head and nuzzled into chu rong¡¯s palm. then he raised his head and smiled at him. he hoped things would flow like that. even if this could become a scandal, he¡¯ll accept it with open hands. that night, large and small hospitals were flooded with panicked mecha pilots. at the same time, the forums were filled with discussions about xx3-type hormones and energy conversion agent. in a short amount of time, qiao zhiya¡¯s video became viral. when the ning family discovered something wrong the next day, the matter had been thoroughly fermented. ¡°damn it!¡± ning tianya banged the armrest, anger brimming in his chest. he wished to rip apart qiao zhiya for what he had said. the xx3-type hormone was first discovered and applied for drugs used by the ning family. qiao zhiya¡¯s live broadcast was obviously aimed at the ning family! ning tianxing fast-forwarded all of qiao zhiya¡¯s vods, while cross-referencing the ning family¡¯s pharmaceutical income for related drugs. with a squint, he said, ¡°this qiao zhiya is a bit interesting.¡± ¡°dage, i¨C¡± ning tianxing waved his hand, signaling him to halt his speech. he commanded, ¡°at the moment, the citizens don¡¯t know yet that the pharmacy zone is controlled by us and the patent is in our hands. we must first think of a way to transfer all the patents of problematic drugs to other parties. then, we will instigate the public to do a smear campaign to tarnish qiao zhiya¡¯s reputation, so nobody will trust his claim ever again.¡± ning tianya hesitated and fell into thought. then, he meekly said, ¡°but qiao zhiya is chu rong¡¯s fiance ¡­¡± ¡°the smear campaign is done by the citizens.¡± ning tianxing raised his tea cup and said meaningfully: ¡°the chu family won¡¯t have issues against the public.¡± ning tianya froze, immediately understood what he meant, then got up to do it. one day after public opinion fermentation, qiao zhiya was berated. the pharmacy industry has been under the control of the ning family for many years. the ning family¡¯s influence has long seeped into its core. for example, make the composition of the drug more complicated so that the public couldn¡¯t understand it. even though everyone knew that certain compounds may cause harm to the human body, if everyone was using it, and it showed good results by making a lot of money, some people would take the lead. after that, others would follow, pretending not to know its detrimental effects. for instance, when someone deviates from the norm to reveal the truth, everyone would come out to criticize them, portraying them as spreading disinformation1spreading misinformation: unknowingly spreading wrong info; spreading disinformation: purposefully spreading wrong info to mislead the public. under normal circumstances, the minority couldn¡¯t compete with the majority, newcomers couldn¡¯t surpass authorities, so many people who revealed the truth eventually disappear without a trace, leaving behind those who are praised, mostly sycophants and scoundrels. it¡¯s like raising a gu. when a jar is filled with venomous insects, the whole ecosystem becomes a toxic world. then, should someone want to clean up the jar, there¡¯s no need for the gu master to take care of it themselves. those venomous insects will jump up and attack the person attempting to clean it up. before, when qiao zhiya started his livestream, exposing some tricks of basic medicines, those in the industry making money this way were already discontented. however, considering qiao zhiya¡¯s identity and that he only revealed basic things, and the leading ning family didn¡¯t show any reaction, the ¡°gu insects¡± kept silent. besides, there¡¯s many ways to raise money even though those cheap medicines sales have declined. there¡¯s no need to give more effort for such minuscule gain. but now, qiao zhiya actually started to go after intermediate medicines, which they couldn¡¯t bear. some pharmacists who discovered xx3-type hormones in the ning family and started using it in drug-making also stepped forward. they cursed qiao zhiya, saying that a person without even a pharmacy qualification dared to come out and spread alarmist statements, misleading the public. they tried to whitewash xx3-type hormones, acknowledging that it indeed had the potential to cause paralysis and disability but arguing that as long as the dosage was not exceeded, using xx3-type hormones was completely legal and safe. they also claimed that one couldn¡¯t just focus on the effects of a specific element in the drug; the entire drug had to be considered, and certain herbs could mitigate the side effects of xx3-type hormones. after that, it seemed like they heard some rumors. a large group of pharmacy experts rushed out to criticize qiao zhiya¡¯s recent livestream. since he was an exoplanet native who had been in the federation for less than two years and was still a mecha manufacturing student, he had no credentials to speak about drugs. they also accuse him of being a half-baked amateur seeking attention by talking nonsense. after this wave of reasonable criticisms, the citizen¡¯s focus was successfully shifted. then, a large number of people came to nitpick qiao zhiya¡¯s characters and non-related things. it eventually escalated into a personal attack. at the same time, a plethora of ¡°black materials¡± about qiao zhiya suddenly appeared on the star network. it claimed that an exoplanet native like him couldn¡¯t possibly rise to the position of the marshal¡¯s fianc¨¦ in such a short time without having ulterior motives. his rescue by chu rong was not a coincidence; instead, he deliberately approached chu rong, even subtly hinting that he was a spy sent by the empire. according to the rumors, he got close to chu rong with the intention of stirring up trouble in the federation. the recent conflict between the chu and ning families was attributed to qiao zhiya¡¯s behind-the-scenes manipulation, with accusations that he aimed to divide the four major families and create an opportunity for the empire to intervene. all sorts of messy speculations were flying around, qiao zhiya was discredited left and right. many undecided citizens were swayed under this intense bombardment. then, qiao zhiya fans couldn¡¯t sit still and started to tear up with the anti-fans. and so, a war of words began. the online atmosphere became very terrible, with insults flying at every corner. on the contrary, no one paid attention to the fuse that ignited the public opinion¡ªthe energy conversion agent and the xx3-type hormone. qiao zhiya, who had been expected to be slandered, ignored the various accusations and tightened his face. he only paid attention to those who did find physical problems after going to the hospital for examination, or had already had problems but did not react until now. he appealed to those mecha pilots, the true victim of this wack of a drug. since he could only be cooped inside in this kind of environment, he developed a physical repair fluid in the laboratory and gave it to the gu family. then, he went out to get himself a pharmacist qualification. the pharmacist qualification examination department also belongs to the ning family. the arrival of qiao zhiya was not welcomed. the staff who had received instructions from the superiors long ago wanted to find an excuse to drive him away, but they were quickly scared off by chu rong, who came out of nowhere. ¡°why did you come alone?¡± chu rong raised his hand and touched qiao zhiya¡¯s ear, all the while glaring at the staff members with his harshest glare. qiao zhiya did not expect that he would follow him. after a moment of surprise, he said, ¡°everyone is busy, so i went here by myself. aren¡¯t you going to the military?¡± ¡°the meeting was canceled at the last minute, so i thought i¡¯d accompany you.¡± chu rong explained, then turned his gaze back toward the staff, making a suggestive remark, ¡°i heard there¡¯s an issue with the examination system here. well, i¡¯ve informed the maintenance department, and they should be here shortly.¡± marshal chu personally intervened; their system couldn¡¯t possibly have any issues. the excuses that were about to be uttered were silenced, and the hall fell silent for a moment. ¡°¡­marshal, you¡¯ve bothered yourself unnecessarily. the system just had a minor issue, and it has been resolved. the exam can start anytime.¡± the staff, frightened, dared not look at him and nervously provided an answer. they then gestured for qiao zhiya to follow them to complete the exam procedures. qiao zhiya wanted to keep up, but was dragged back by chu rong. ¡°i haven¡¯t had lunch yet, accompany me for a bit.¡± chu rong replied, glancing at the staff with a mysterious look. he then coldly said, ¡°after lunch, the maintenance department should have arrived.¡± after that, he left with qiao zhiya in tow. the staff was so frightened by his tone that their heart stopped beating. when he left, they immediately contacted their superiors and stopped thinking about tampering with the examination system. after a simple lunch, the overhaul of the system has been completed. after confirming that there was no problem, chu rong declined the staff to arrange a separate examination room specially for qiao zhiya, insisting that qiao zhiya had no problem completing his examinations with other candidates. qiao zhiya quickly completed the junior exam, leaving those in the same exam room astonished by his skillful and rapid techniques. the staff had no choice but to reluctantly hand the junior pharmacist certificate to qiao zhiya. then, they immediately prepared to escort them out when qiao zhiya pushed the certificate back and said, ¡°now that i am a junior pharmacist and have the qualification to apply for the intermediate pharmacist exam, i would like to apply for today¡¯s intermediate pharmacist qualification exam. please help me with the procedures.¡± the staff froze, but when they saw chu rong¡¯s murderous look, their heart felt like it¡¯s about to stop beating. they then rushed out a reluctant smile, and began to help him to take the pharmacist intermediate qualification examination. still waiting for others to take the intermediate qualification exam before allowing qiao zhiya and the others to enter together, half an hour later, qiao zhiya obtained the certificate for the intermediate pharmacist. he immediately applied for the advanced pharmacist qualification exam. the staff member was unable to react normally. however, they helped him to go through the examination procedure of advanced pharmacist qualification, body and mind stiff with shock and disbelief. in the end, qiao zhiya left with three certificates in hand. the staff in the entire pharmacy hall were all baffled beyond words. the people who took the same exam as qiao zhiya were also the same. the ning family¡¯s people all suddenly returned to their heads and ran towards the superior office. everyone did not expect that qiao zhiya really has the strength to obtain an advanced pharmacist qualification certificate, including the ning family. after receiving the news, ning tianya was shocked, while ning tianxing only gave a deep frown. ¡°dage, what are we going to do now?¡± ning tianxing waved his hand and said, ¡°chu rong personally accompanied him to the exam and made various arrangements. we cannot continue releasing qiao zhiya¡¯s black materials. we must give up the xx3-type hormones in response to chu rong¡¯s future counterattack.¡± they have to give up again? the ning family has given up enough things during this time. if they continue to give up, will the ning family eventually be forced to a dead end? ¡°not yet.¡± ning tianxing stared at him harshly. ning tianya swallowed his question and got up to leave the study. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 84.3 after being slandered for a full week, qiao zhiya finally started broadcasting again. the anti-fans rushed in for the first time, and the comment area was no longer as harmonious as before. the cursing and rebutting comments were mixed, and the entire comment area was full of hostility. qiao zhiya quickly glanced at the swearing remarks, still looking all casual and rather indifferent, took out the three pharmacist qualification certificates. he put them all on display as he said, ¡°a lot of criticism aimed at me hinged on the fact that i¡¯m unqualified. i understand that sentiment, so i took the qualification certification last week. you can go to the official website to see my publicly available test record. so, am i qualified to speak in pharmaceutical matters now?¡± as soon as he said that, the comment area became silent. the anti-fans stared at the certificate on display, feeling at loss of words. ¡°i will not respond to the other ¡®black materials¡¯, chu rong will deal with it. i hosted a livestream of a pharmacy class, so today we will talk about pharmaceuticals.¡± he set the certificate aside and projected a form. the form listed several names, and beneath each name were various names of drugs recorded. ¡°this is a list of pharmacists who have spoken out in favor of xx3-type hormone in the past few days. they challenged me with their real names, so i am responding directly here.¡± qiao zhiya looked at the camera and said word by word, ¡°yes, the poison is in the dose, but for xx3-type hormone, if the dosage is too low to be dangerous, then it will have no effect on the body ¨C simply put, all the xx3-type hormone found in available drugs exceeds this ¡®safe¡¯ dosage. furthermore, the amount absorbed by the human body directly correlates with the extent of damage caused. the more absorbed, the greater the damage. xx3-type hormone. while yes, the damage from this hormone can indeed be partially mitigated by some active ingredients found in several herbs, but the degree of mitigation cannot compare to the degree of the damage it caused. the seniors are correct in saying that discussing effects without considering dosage is a disingenuous move. similarly, emphasizing the degree of mitigation without specifying the extent is also disingenuous. after this live broadcast, i will post a video on my social media account demonstrating the mitigation of xx3-type hormone. in the video, i will provide detailed explanations and demonstrations of various characteristics of xx3-type hormone.¡± ning tianxing, who watched the live broadcast in person, completely understood what qiao zhiya implied. his gaze was getting colder. ¡®this exoplanet native isn¡¯t as harmless as his appearance suggested. he was no rabbit, he has a trace of the chu family¡¯s eagle-like attitude.¡¯ the audience was shocked by qiao zhiya¡¯s grim and stern look. the comment area was still as quiet as a mouse. ¡°the patient¡¯s body will not lie. all the damages caused by this hormone will not disappear, you can and will see it by yourself.¡± qiao zhiya took out some sealed drug vials and said, ¡°now let us analyze and test the representative works of these pharmacist seniors.¡± he took these purchased drugs one by one and opened them into the instrument for testing, and projected all the test results into the air, highlighting some of the ingredients inside. the audience looked at all the drugs containing the xx3-type hormone. there were so many of them, shocking them to the core. many of them asked: why are there so many medicines on the market containing such harmful things? no wonder those whack pharmacists want to whitewash the xx3-type hormone! they all used this thing! having finished the explanations and demonstrations, without paying attention to how the audience might react, qiao zhiya turned off the holographic projections. he tidied up the disassembled drugs on the workbench, and took out an intermediate-grade drug. looking as if he had not experienced the recent criticism and questioning, he scanned the audience below calmly and said, ¡°today, let¡¯s get to know a new drug¡ªpotential inducer.¡± the audience, who were busy discussing amongst themselves about the shocking truth behind xx3-type hormone, once again were taken aback by qiao zhiya¡¯s announcement. after watching so many live broadcasts, they have understood qiao zhiya¡¯s live broadcast routine. all the drugs that he singled out did have problems, be it small or large. but now¡­ he wanted to highlight the potential inducers? how could there be any issues with this well-established infant and toddler potion produced by the ning family? they all grew up drinking this! ning tianxing¡¯s expression changed abruptly, losing his calm for the first time. ¡°this drug is excellent, with minimal side effects. it can indeed induce a certain extent of the latent power in infants and toddlers, making their strength clearer. this allows for targeted stabilization and consolidation of their abilities earlier than normally possible.¡± qiao zhiya spoke, first affirmed the effect of the drug, and then turned the topic, saying, ¡°however, this drug has a hidden danger, a very low probability of occurrence for sure, but a real risk. besides inducing the spiritual power of infants and toddlers, it can also induce recessive familial genetic disorders that may not actually develop into a real illness without the consumption of this drug. it may also induce certain mutations in parts that have gradually evolved away in human evolution.¡± the audience exploded, and the anti-fans who reacted immediately began to bombard the comment area, saying that he was alarmist and tried to shake the federal foundation. potential inducers have long become ¡°necessary¡± to use. it is not an exaggeration to say that qiao zhiya¡¯s current behavior can be suspected of shaking the foundations of the federation. ning tianxing clenched his fist, and the look in his eyes towards qiao zhiya seemed to be laced with poison. facing the sudden outcry, qiao zhiya¡¯s lips thineed. he tried to beat away the pressure of being unfairly scolded by people. he took a deep breath, then posted a birth examination report, saying, ¡°the most typical example is chu rong¡¯s congenital white hair.¡± that statement instantly quieted the turbulent comment area. the audience stared at him, wondering if they heard something wrong. why is chu rong involved once again? ning tianxing froze. his expression became grim, then he went offline. ¡°the chu family does not have a precedent for white hair. from a genetic perspective, it is impossible for chu rong to have natural white hair. chu rong was born with black hair, and with each month passing, alongside the ingestion of potential inducer, his hair color became lighter and lighter until it became completely white. at this time, no one thought this was a problem ¨C everyone thought that the change in his hair color was caused by his excessively high spiritual strength level. however, once he got older and got a thorough check-up, they found out that it was actually an induced mutation, fortunately not a severe one. otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t see the chu rong you see today.¡± qiao zhiya also took out some herbs and said, ¡°the formula of the potential inducer is public, and these are the materials. each of their effects is specified in the pharmaceutical encyclopedia, so i won¡¯t go into detail. what i want to highlight is this¡ªrattan grass1ÌÙ²Ý. it¡¯s an old herbal medicine, but precisely because it¡¯s old, when it was discovered and tested for its medicinal value back then, using the identification methods of that time, it did not detect any potential problems. on top of that, once the technology advances, they do not retroactively check the safe old herbs, and therefore, it escapes scrutiny.¡± the audience became flustered ¨C it turned out that marshal chu wasn¡¯t born with white hair? qiao zhiya stated that marshal chu¡¯s white hair was caused by the harmful compounds in rattan grass that wasn¡¯t discovered due to the screening system? ¡°as for what problems exist with rattan grass, i welcome everyone to personally inspect and verify. it¡¯s important to note that the issues with rattan grass can only be detected using precision testing equipment of class a or higher. additionally, after the invention of each drug, the patent holder has the obligation to conduct regular reviews and confirm that the drug is harmless and can continue to be used. this regulation is in place to prevent harmful potions, undetectable in the past, from circulating in the market continuously. still, potential inducers escape from scrutiny, once again.¡± qiao zhiya put down the rattan grass, and continued with palpable tiredness in his eyes. ¡°this is the live broadcast for today, thank you for watching. good night.¡± after that, he turned off the live broadcast equipment. he returned to reality. the calmness he had forcefully maintained gradually disappeared from his face. he crouched down, recalling the various insults, doubts, and unreasonable comments about him and his parents that had appeared in the comments section just now. a wave of sadness and grievance surfaced, and his ears drooped. the power of words is formidable. despite being mentally prepared, the onslaught of so much malice still made him feel upset. the door was pushed open, and his body was stiff. he raised his hands and rubbed his eyes. he tried to look at the door normally, and said, ¡°you¡¯re done now. you dropped something just now, so¡­¡± chu rong strode forward and immediately hugged him. the youth¡¯s head pressed against his chest, as the marshal¡¯s hand ran soothingly across the youth¡¯s back. he whispered, ¡°thank you for your hard work. leave the rest for me to handle, you¡¯ve done more than enough.¡± all the words he wanted to utter were blocked, swallowed back down to be digested by his heart. qiao zhiya¡¯s nose tingled, and he rubbed against the other¡¯s chest twice before hugging him back. his voice, though somewhat muffled, carried a resolute tone as he said, ¡°no, not enough. we can¡¯t stop. we can¡¯t give the ning family time to react. absolutely not.¡± he has just taken the first step to fight the ning family. he must complete the next step as soon as possible. chu rong tightened his hug, glancing at the drugs and herbs on the workbench. his spiritual strength stirred, but he quickly restrained it, just as he had locked down his emotions when almost losing control after reading those abusive comments. just as the ning family had just sorted out the matter of the energy conversion agent, they were forced to figure out a solution for the potential inducer scandal. qiao zhiya had firmly affixed the ning family¡¯s brand on the drug he had highlighted this time, leaving them with no way to deflect blame. then without giving them time to respond, qiao zhiya started to speed up the rate he ¡°reviewed¡± various drugs and medicines ¨C currently, he highlighted two drugs every day. some of the things exposed were things that even the ning family hadn¡¯t noticed, and the criticism almost covered the entire pharmaceutical sector of the federation. faced with the constantly evolving public opinion and the random revelations of drug issues by qiao zhiya, the ning family found it increasingly difficult to explain and maintain their reputation. ning tianxing¡¯s calm composure breaks down a bit by the upcoming days. after that, chu rong took action. he first went after those who were paid to intentionally defame and slandered qiao zhiya. after calculating the accounts, he provided evidence and sent legal letters to all of them, and then subjected them to a bit of ideological education. following that, he opened a free assistance channel to help all those who had been harmed by those harmful legal drugs. two birds, one stone. besides guiding the public opinion, he also tightened restrictions on the ning family. gradually, fewer people scolded qiao zhiya and raised more questions about the entire pharmaceutical industry. those who had been harmed by the legal drugs came first. those people came up to help qiao zhiya speak, and then someone ¨C an ex-pharmacist ¨C who had been suppressed for daring to tell the truth came to qiao zhiya. finally, some still-practicing pharmacist stepped forward, clearly finally able to soothe their blaring conscience. the ¡°den of gu¡± of the pharmaceutical industry finally showed cracks. once again, the ning family found themselves in the midst of a storm. just at this time, chu huai suddenly took action. he suppressed the pharmaceutical department, closed the government¡¯s pharmaceutical sector, announced external measures to rectify the situation, and internally initiated a major reshuffling of their power structure. with the closure of the government¡¯s pharmaceutical sector, public opinion suddenly erupted. what had initially been a squabble among the public now received official feedback, and it was evident that the official stance was aligned with qiao zhiya¡¯s. panic spread among the public. ¨Cwhat was qiao zhiya saying again? many drugs and medicines alike ¨C which they had been drinking all their life ¨C actually have problems. ¡°crash!¡± after receiving the shutdown notice of the pharmaceutical sector, ning tianxing dropped the teacup from his hand. CH 85.1 the pharmaceutical industry has begun a real reshuffle. as more and more shutdowns were revealed, the ning family¡¯s reputation has reached rock bottom. although most of the medicines patented by the ning family were beneficial and harmless, the citizens still spontaneously boycotted all the drugs made by the ning family. subsequently, many people organize various protests at the gate of the ning family¡¯s pharmaceutical city. on the second day of the closure of the pharmacy sector, qiao zhiya posted an announcement, targeted to those who experienced physical issues thanks to the drugs. it¡¯s best for them to go to hospital for a thorough check-up. from now on, they should not take medicines by themselves, and instead only take them under doctor¡¯s order, barring very common ailments like colds. another weekend came, and qiao zhiya successfully advanced another round in the mecha piloting competition with his trustworthy sledgehammer in hand. unbeknownst to him, he had already surged into the top 10,000 in the capital planet competition zone, entering the ranks of ordinary junior experts. as long as he could endure through another round of point matches, he would advance to the finals. after the game, he got out of the star net cabin, and was immediately hugged by chu rong, who was outside. the taller man took him directly to a large laboratorium near the training hall. the laboratory was clearly new. it had a complete set of mecha-making equipment and tools in it. ¡°this is¡­¡± his ears fluttered as he looked back at chu rong. chu rong put him down, took out a space button and handed it to him, and said, ¡°the materials are ready. starting today, this belongs to you.¡± after digesting those words for a moment, qiao zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up, brimming with excitement. he glanced at the pile of materials inside the space button, then ran over to inspect all the instruments in the room. they are all clearly modified according to his size and habits. he looked back at chu rong. chu rong¡¯s lips curved up. he instructed: ¡°however, you must eat on time and sleep on time. no all-nighters.¡± does that mean as long as he ensures these two points, he can do whatever he wants in the laboratory the rest of the time? ¡°chu rong!¡± qiao zhiya¡¯s ears perked up as he called him. ¡°what is it?¡± chu rong responded, stretching his arms towards him. qiao zhiya hurled himself forward without hesitation. after the outbreak of the ning family¡¯s pharmacy scandal, this was the first time he felt this happy. he hugged him tight and tilted his neck excitedly. ¡°you are so good! thank you!¡± ¡®no, how could someone who let their loved one be criticized for so long without being able to do anything about it be considered good?¡¯ chu rong hugged back, feeling a desire to sigh bubbling up. he bowed his head and kissed the top of his head, and gently touched his spine without speaking. detecting that he wasn¡¯t in the right mood, qiao zhiya¡¯s excitement diminished. he worriedly looked up and asked, ¡°what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°it¡¯s nothing.¡± chu rong shook his head, pressing the back of his head to prevent him from tilting it up to see the sudden vulnerability on his face. he deliberately tugged his ear and said, ¡°just suddenly felt like eating the food you cook.¡± qiao zhiya shook his ears reflexively in protest of his ¡°teasing¡±. he buried his face into the crook of chu rong¡¯s neck, still clearly very exuberant. ¡°alright, i¡¯ll cook for you tonight. what do you want? pork chops? soup?¡± looking back, it seems that he hasn¡¯t cooked for chu rong for a long time, and hasn¡¯t had a good meal with chu rong together too. last time they ate together was¡­ ah yeah, the day he found out that there was something wrong with the ning family¡¯s medicine¡­ ah, right, the ning family. ¡°both.¡± chu rong kissed his ears, when he found that his raised ears collapsed a little. he frowned, loosened his grip, and rubbed his hair. ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± qiao zhiya looked up at him, with anxiety in his eyes, and asked, ¡°is it really okay to stop the live broadcast? and what about the ning family now¡­ mmh¨C.¡± chu rong reached out and squeezed his lips, staring at him with squinted eyes. qiao zhiya somehow suddenly felt guilty. his ears fluttered in disappointment. but he still took a step forward, hugging chu rong¡¯s waist again. ¡°you¡¯ve done everything you can, and you¡¯ve done it well. leave the rest to me and dage. focus on what you love to do, and no more wandering thoughts, can you do that?¡± chu rong spoke, leaning down to touch foreheads with him, his hand still pinching his mouth. qiao zhiya nodded quickly, knowing that chu rong said this out of worry and love for him. chu rong was satisfied, gently moved his hand, freeing his lips, then touched his own. he snorted softly. qiao zhiya¡¯s gaze followed his lips. he remembered that the two of them hadn¡¯t played this ¡°kiss it when you touch the lips¡± game for a long time. his face blushed slightly, obediently letting go of thoughts about the ning family. his ears curled in shyness, he closed his eyes, tilted his head, and leaned in. chu rong¡¯s lips hooked in satisfaction. he hugged the youth close, then began to respond in earnest. a few days later, the pharmaceutical sector suddenly posted a list, listing all the problematic drugs sold there. the names of these drugs were detailed along with their respective harms and the names of the patent holders. the ning family¡­ was almost in all those lists. the turmoil in the pharmaceutical industry continues. the ning family was dying, while the chu family continued their suppression. qiao zhiya, with chu rong¡¯s intentional connivance, avoided these disturbances and happily continued his mecha manufacturing fun. after three days of processing all the materials, qiao zhiya squatted in the laboratory and officially started making rongtian. unlike the order in the star network mecha manufacturing competition, where they started building mechas from basic components, rongtian began to be built from its skeletal frame. because the manual-piloting system required perfect synchronization, qiao zhiya decided to start from here, meticulously layering the alien beast veins onto the mecha, ensuring that the first manually-piloted mecha would never encounter synchronization issues. a few days passed in a hurry, the weekend came, and the final round of the mecha piloting competition¡¯s preliminary round was about to begin. chu yan rushed to the large laboratory to find qiao zhiya, ready to share with him the experience of the game. as soon as he entered the door, he was taken aback by a ¡°human skeleton¡± standing in the middle, dozens of meters high. ¡°wh-what is this?¡± he covered his chest, feeling that the jumpscares he experienced in his own home were getting more extreme as of lately. qiao zhiya heard this exclamation just as he was probing the skeletal frame¡¯s knee joints. when he saw chu yan coming, he waved at him with a smile and said, ¡°xiao yan, you came at just the right time. i helped you design several mecha firearms. come pick them.¡± mecha firearms? chu yan¡¯s eyes narrowed and he immediately threw the ¡°giant human skeleton¡± terror behind his head and ran over happily. as the final preliminary round of the mecha piloting competition approached, his mecha still lacked a proper ranged weapon, and he was getting anxious. to his surprise, qiao zhiya had already thought about this for him. the firearms qiao zhiya designed for chu yan were also rather simple and neat. in order to match chu yan¡¯s qiao zhiya¡¯s speedster fighting style, he ensured that all the weapons he designed were light, small, and convenient to carry. chu yan flipped through the design drawings, finding each one appealing and struggling to make a decision. in the midst of his hesitation, his fingers accidentally pulled out a few pages, and then he froze. after skimming through a few pages of drafts that he couldn¡¯t understand, a design for a ¡°firearm¡± clearly modified from a bow and arrow caught his eye. the design was a work in progress, outlining the general shape of the weapon and providing some disassembly schematics. however, it was evident that the creator of this bow and arrow had put a lot of thought and care into the design. even in the draft, intricate patterns and details adorned the weapon. ¡°qiao.¡± he poked at qiao zhiya, who was rummaging through materials behind him. qiao zhiya glanced back at him, then looked at the design in his hand. his face flushed, he reached out and snatched the electronic book, not daring to look at chu yan in the eyes. there was something wrong with this expression. ¡°qiao, is this the mecha weapon you designed for yourself?¡± chu yan moved forward in a hurry, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his good friend. he rubbed his chin, and asked, ¡°did you design this as a preparation for your match?¡± his careful thoughts were pried open. qiao zhiya scratched his electronic book immediately. with no more concealment, he looked at him and asked, ¡°is it a bit overestimating myself doing this?¡± obviously, he was a rookie who has not even driven a mecha in reality. there was also the final and cruelest round in the preliminary round, but he was thinking about designing a set of mecha weapons to participate in the finals. actually, he was already quite satisfied to have come this far. rongtian had already been debugged after fighting many rounds during the competition. even if he couldn¡¯t make it through the final round of the preliminaries, it wouldn¡¯t matter much. but¡­ well, dwarves, apart from craftsmanship, also enjoy the thrill of battle. if he really made it to the finals¡­ he lowered his head to look at the semi-finished design in his hand, his face turning even redder, but his ears perking up energetically. seeing his anticipation for the finals, chu yan gave a sly laugh, then patted his shoulder firmly and intentionally raised his voice, saying, ¡°how could it be considered overestimating yourself? you were personally taught by erge. entering the finals is just normal, right! come on, be more confident. i think this bow and arrow suits you well! by the way, for the finals, you¡¯ll need your own mecha. today is the last round of the preliminaries. if you pass, how do you plan to handle the mecha issue? buy one or ask master ren?¡± qiao zhiya silently turned the electronic book one more page, revealing the design of a small green mecha. chu yan fell quiet and stared at his face. qiao zhiya became even more embarrassed. he bowed his head down, saying, ¡°i think this small mecha is more suitable for me. rongtian is too tall, i can not fully exert its strength¡­ do you think this mecha looks good? ¡°he raised his eyes and looked at him with bright eyes, full of expectation. ¡°¡­it looks very good!¡± chu yan avoided his eyes and dropped his gaze on the mecha design, which was obviously designed according to qiao zhiya¡¯s body shape. the corner of mouth curved up, he didn¡¯t have the heart to say what was against him. instead, he boasted even louder. ¡°it looks especially beautiful! so you have to work harder to reach the finals!¡± with the affirmation of his peer, qiao zhiya finally became more confident and nodded seriously. ¡°i will work hard! i will give my best in the final round of today!¡± ¡®so, have you been holding back your true strength in the previous matches?¡¯ chu yan thought. glancing at the brilliantly designed small green mecha, chu yan considered the time gap between the preliminaries and the finals, and contemplated the time required to manufacture a mecha. chu yan silently withdrew his hand and wiped his face. he began to think about how to secretly approach master ren and prepare a mecha for qiao zhiya in advance. even if he really made it to the finals, with such a short preparation time and the need to work on both rongtian and weapons, qiao zhiya probably wouldn¡¯t have time to prepare a mecha for himself. moreover, even if he managed to prepare one, the color¡­ it¡¯s really too eye-catching, ah. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 85.2 xiang kun: chu yan¡¯s mortal enemy. xiang hui¡¯s younger brother. mecha manufacturing student. xiang hui: a colonel. the xiang family¡¯s current heir. xiang kun¡¯s older brother. liu hongzi: one of chu yan¡¯s enemy. a mecha piloting student. xiang lingyun: xiang family¡¯s head. xiang kun and xiang hui¡¯s father. after lunch, qiao zhiya lay down in the star net cabin with arrogance. chu yan waited for his star net cabin to close and sighed helplessly. he looked at chu rong, who was sitting on the sofa, turning over the documents. ¡°even if you win the preliminary round, there will be no rewards. if you lose, there will be punishment. go to the game.¡± chu rong didn¡¯t raise his head, and blocked his words without mercy. ¡°¡­¡­¡± chu yan laid angrily into the cabin and decided not to tell chu rong that qiao zhiya was going to build an all-green mecha to participate in the final of the entire live broadcast! such an eccentric erge, he¡¯s looking forward to seeing him find out about qiao zhiya¡¯s all-green mecha!1clarity: ¡°green¡± is slang for being cheated on. the full phrase is ¡°wearing a green hat¡±, but nowadays, green or saying someone¡¯s head is green is enough. also, this joke is a paraphrase from the og chinese so it would flow better. it was still quite early, so qiao zhiya simply went to the player¡¯s waiting room to adjust a new weapon for rong tian, ??and then opened a training room to familiarize himself with it. at two o¡¯clock, the game started. he was inside the training room, and the system directly teleported him to the battle arena, matching him to his new opponent. opposite of him, stood a slightly familiar golden mecha. qiao zhiya froze for a moment, then immediately recognized that this golden mecha was liu hongzi¡¯s mecha ¨C he used this mecha during his fight against chu yan back on their intermediate college¡¯s final. even if he hadn¡¯t seen him for so long, his mecha was rather unique looking, it¡¯s hard to forget. the opposite golden mecha also seemed to recognize him, he suddenly moved in the battle arena. the countdown soon ended, and qiao zhiya returned to his thoughts and hesitated. instead of pulling out a new weapon, he took out his hammer. on the opposite side, the golden mecha, without the same sense of camaraderie, unhesitatingly drew out firearms and fired directly at him. he seemed to anticipate that with qiao zhiya¡¯s skills, the blond youth couldn¡¯t escape such a widespread bombardment. qiao zhiya frowned. he threw his hammer into the air, and flew directly. after avoiding the attack, he caught the hammer, then smashed down with a huge momentum directly towards the golden mecha. the golden mecha also responded quickly, retreating from the side immediately after missing his hit. he once again aimed at qiao zhiya, who was still flying up in the air. in the previous games, qiao zhiya only used one weapon ¨C precisely this giant hammer. players who have paid a little attention to his game would know that all his winning was due to his close combat skills. he looked like he had zero ranged attack capability. the golden mecha pilot obviously had studied his battle style. after that opening attack, he didn¡¯t give qiao zhiya a chance to counterattack. he flew back, opening up their distance, and kited2kiting: mostly a game term, referring to putting a distance, but just barely in reach for the shorter-ranged attacker, making them wanting to keep attacking. qiao zhiya, forcing him to follow his battle rhythm. ¡°boom¡ª¡± another shot exploded next to him. qiao zhiya¡¯s last trace of camaraderie vanished, his face tightened up as he put away his hammer. he was now sure that the person opposite was liu hongzi. his brutal battle style was too easy to recognize. seeing that he put away the hammer, the bombardment of the golden mecha immediately became more intensive, and each shot was aimed at his cockpit, seemingly mocking and provoking him. qiao zhiya was indeed irritated. he maneuvered his mecha to avoid this series of intensive bombardment, seized the opportunity to fly into the air, and quickly pulled out a bow-like weapon. he pulled the bow, and fired it directly into liu hongzi¡¯s cockpit. alas. as the arrow shot, a sound of wind breaking echoed. the bombardment stopped, as the system judged that the golden mecha lost its combat capability and thus, lost the game. qiao zhiya withdrew the bow and arrow to his space button on the side of the mecha and landed on the ground. in the cockpit of the golden mech, liu hongzi could only dumbfoundedly watch as the arrow went straight from his mecha¡¯s protective shell, driving through the cockpit, and its sharp tip only stopped right into his ¨C the pilot¡¯s ¨C protective helmet. he sat with a pale face as the system teleported him back to the waiting room. he could only slowly recover. unlike his ranged attack, qiao zhiya actually restrained him with only one move. if this battle was done in real life, if qiao zhiya pulled his bowstring a little harder, if the arrow burrowed just a bit forward¡­. his heart beats a mile a minute, as his fist slammed hard on the seat. ¡®no, qiao zhiya couldn¡¯t have this kind of strength. although not many people paid attention to this competition due to the ning family¡¯s affair, almost all the participants in the capital planet zone knew that the pilot of the mecha rong tian was qiao zhiya, a newcomer in mecha piloting, primarily specializing in mecha manufacturing!¡¯ before the start of today¡¯s round, he guessed that he might meet qiao zhiya or chu yan. to this end, he studied the video of qiao zhiya and chu yan¡¯s game, and scoffed at qiao zhiya¡¯s barbaric battle style, pure brute force without any skill. he felt that as long as he met him, he could kite qiao zhiya into victory. but reality gave him a slap, he actually lost to a newcomer mecha pilot! he lost to his opponent¡¯s sudden long-range weapon! on top of that, he was killed in one shot! he suddenly froze, then his expression relaxed again, accompanied by a hint of disdain. yes, he didn¡¯t lose to qiao zhiya, but to his special mecha and his new weapon, the one he never saw before. truly, it was thanks to his privilege, gained by hugging the chu family¡¯s thigh. a mere civilian without backing like him could never catch up with that sheer difference. this world was really unfair. why are good things taken up by those who have money but no strength? in the subsequent games, qiao zhiya did not show any sympathy. since the beginning of each game, he has used his bow and arrow combo. when he got the chance, he maximized his attack until he could one-shot kill his opponent. more than an hour later, he was successfully promoted again, standing with the other nine players in this group. coincidentally, the golden mecha actually stood next to him. qiao zhiya looked at him, and the golden mecha did the same. their gaze met in the middle. after chu yan completed the competition, he noticed that qiao zhiya had already logged off. he hesitated for a moment, worried that qiao zhiya might have been eliminated, and quickly logged off as well. ¡°can¡¯t i use all green?¡± he heard qiao zhiya¡¯s voice as soon as he stepped out of the cabin. he found our that things seemed different from what he had imagined. ¡°no, brown or black is okay, all green is not okay.¡± chu rong frowned, picked up the electronic pen and scratched the electronic book before handing it back to qiao zhiya. ¡°later, i¡¯ll ask xiang nan to send you another set of mecha materials. no need to rush finishing rong tian; you can start working on your own mecha first. as for master ren, i¡¯ll have him prepare a mecha just in case. also, the weapon for xia yan, you can give the design to master re¡ª¡± ¡°wait!¡± chu yan couldn¡¯t hear anymore, he got out of the star net cabin, jumped decisively to chu rong, who still has a deep frown on his face. he set his sight on qiao zhiya, and asked pitifully, ¡°qiao, you will still help me by making my weapon, right?¡± although it felt a bit unfair to master ren, in all honesty, qiao zhiya¡¯s weapons were just a bit better. why would he settle for the good when he can get the best? his erge is really bad. this dear younger brother of his feels absolutely wronged. qiao zhiya hurriedly pressed chu rong¡¯s leg, gesturing for him not to speak, and nodded, saying, ¡°sure, i¡¯ll start working on it tomorrow. so long i can work without delay, i can finish making it in two days tops.¡± the last sentence was directed at chu rong. chu rong frowned and acquiesced. however, he still left a reminder for chu yan: ¡°you participate in the game to exercise yourself, so, you cannot use super-class weapons, otherwise, it will be too disruptive to the game balance.¡± ¡°okay, no problem, no problem.¡± chu yan responded with a sigh of relief. so what if it¡¯s not super-class? as long as it was made by qiao himself, the weapon would still be stellar! qiao zhiya also understood chu rong¡¯s concerns. he nodded obediently, his eyes fell on the mecha design on his electronic book, and his lips curved up in happiness. for the preliminary¡¯s final round, he could make a mecha that is completely his own. chu rong looked at his happy expression, relieved that his worries were dispelled. he reached out and rubbed his ears affectionately. after a half-month reorganization, the pharmaceutical section reopened with a major overhaul. all problematic drugs were taken off the shelves, and some with special effects were allocated to the limited section. the drugs available for unrestricted purchase were limited to harmless daily use ones, such as nutritional supplements, mild medications, vitamins, and such. at the same time, new drug purchase regulations have been legalized. if people want to buy drugs in a limited area, they must first go to the hospital to check their health, making sure the usage of the said drug was needed to cure their ailments. then, the doctors would issue a purchase allowance. on top of that, each allowance was bound to their id, so they could never buy them in a larger quantity than needed. as soon as the new regulations came out, some people supported and objected to it. some pharmaceutical companies, whose interests were touched, began to fan the flames. seeing that public opinion was about to become turbulent again, the government took swift action by arresting a group of pharmacists and shops that were illegally selling limited drugs. they also closed down over a dozen companies producing and selling harmful drugs, leading to several prominent figures in the pharmaceutical industry, who were previously protected by the ning family, being imprisoned. seeing that the wind was not in their favor and realizing that even the ning family couldn¡¯t withstand the storm in the pharmaceutical industry this time, those who had been stirring up trouble began to back off and behave. they dared not cause further trouble and, with their tails tucked between their legs, started the painful process of self-reform. since then, the government has successively launched a series of measures to revitalize basic medicines. the reform of the pharmaceutical industry has really begun, and the regulation of pharmaceutical prices has finally begun after the ning family¡¯s monopoly was dismissed. this chapter: contains quite a lot mecha battle scenes me: i did not sign up for this (future chapters: have even more battle scenes) CH 85.3 in the xiang family¡­ xiang lingyun leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. xiang hui sat across from him with a black face, and said with some disapproval, ¡°father, why did you help the chu family to promote those proposals this time? now, the chu family successfully used the ning family to elevate themselves. wouldn¡¯t they attack our xiang family next?¡± xiang lingyun glanced at him, shook his head, and said, ¡°xiao hui, why don¡¯t you understand? the chu family isn¡¯t aiming at the other three great families; they¡¯re targeting the problematic aspects of the federation. this time, the ning family just happened to be in the crossfire. our xiang family has been diligently developing mecha manufacturing over the years. even though there are some criticisms regarding patents, our overall direction is correct. we are leading the federation in the right direction. so, as long as the xiang family doesn¡¯t make mistakes, the chu family won¡¯t target us.¡± he verbally placed the chu family higher than the xiang family, making xiang hui very uncomfortable. despite his unwillingness, he asked, ¡°father, where is your determination?¡± xiang lingyun¡¯s expression became complicated, and he sighed again. ¡°xiao hui, it¡¯s not that father is weak, but it¡¯s that the situation has reached this point. from now on, the xiang family must keep a low profile. we don¡¯t have the capital to contend with the chu family anymore.¡± xiang hui understood his implication. with widened eyes, he asked, ¡°what do you mean? then, the new president¡­¡± ¡°¨Ccan only be chu huai.¡± xiang lingyun interrupted his words. suddenly, his expression turned serious, and he looked at him earnestly, saying in a deep voice, ¡°xiao hui, while it¡¯s true that the tradition of the four great families not seeking the position of the president was broken by our xiang family, it doesn¡¯t mean that the xiang family currently has an advantage! the chu family has already broken the balance and restrained the rest of the great families. the fall of the ning family is only a matter of time. the presidential election is just a few months away. with the popularity and advantages the chu family has gained, chu huai¡¯s ascension is inevitable. and when chu huai takes office, do you think the xiang family will still enjoy any benefits from going against the chu family?¡± ¡°father!¡± xiang hui couldn¡¯t help but stand up, his pride made him unable to bear this statement. ¡°i ask you, xiang family has been in conflict with the chu family for many years, what was it for?¡± xiang lingyun suddenly asked. xiang hui froze, suffocated with stagnation, and some blankness appeared on his face. ¡°it¡¯s for the sake of interest. everything we do has only one purpose¡ªto secure more benefits, be it power or capital, while ensuring our own safety. it¡¯s not about defeating any particular family,¡± xiang lingyun answered his question and then analyzed further, ¡°in the past, the xiang family and the chu family were competitors. we fought each other to get a bigger slice of the pie. now, with the ning family in decline, it¡¯s only a matter of time before chu huai becomes the first federal president in history with real power and a strong military backing him up. if the xiang family wants to continue reaping benefits, we must align ourselves with the chu family. the ways to gain benefits are not fixed; you need to learn to be flexible. xiao hui, you are the xiang family¡¯s heir. this family will be handed over to you sooner or later. if you can¡¯t see this, then the xiang family will become the second coming of the ning family.¡± xiang hui was shocked. for the first time, he clearly understood the deviation of his thoughts. his mind became jumbled and confused. seeing him like this, xiang lingyun rubbed his eyebrows tiredly and waved his hand and said, ¡°go and see xiao kun. all that child does lately is holing himself up in his lab every weekend. go and see what happened to him. i¡¯m afraid he was bullied outside.¡± upon hearing this, xiang hui snapped back to attention. he glanced over at his father, whose face seemed to have aged a bit. he tightened his fists and turned to walk away. xiang kun¡¯s laboratory was located in the largest and most central building within the xiang family. on the way to xiang kun¡¯s lab, xiang hui recalled the last time he saw xiang kun ¨C he found his mind filled with images of the family gathering for a celebration several months ago. he didn¡¯t know exactly when his sticky younger brother suddenly became quiet. he never came to xiang hui again. he froze. at this moment, he just arrived at the door of xiang kun¡¯s laboratory. his footsteps suddenly hesitated, and he was afraid to push the door in front of him. then, there was a muffled sound of footsteps. the door was opened from the inside, and xiang kun¡¯s face peeked behind the door. seeing xiang hui, xiang kun was also stunned. before he could reflexively call him ¡°ge¡±, he caught himself and swallowed his greeting. after waiting for a while and finding xiang hui didn¡¯t say anything, he asked first, ¡°ge, what are you doing here?¡± xiang hui looked at his younger brother, who unknowingly had grown almost to his own height. after a moment of hesitation, he reached out and patted him on the shoulder, squeezing it for a few ephemeral seconds. his mind was muddled. all he could say was: ¡°xiao kun. if you become the head of the xiang family now, what will you do after chu huai becomes the president?¡± his shoulder was pinched a bit painfully. xiang kun looked at xiang hui with a hint of confusion in his eyes. lowering his gaze, he nodded affirmatively and said, ¡°i will take the initiative to show goodwill to the chu family.¡± xiang hui¡¯s expression changed, his palms tightened further as he asked, ¡°why?¡± ¡°because the chu family is very strong now. among the four federation marshals, the old man from the you family is going to retire soon, and the most likely person to get his position is yuan lie, yuan xiu¡¯s father. this means that three out of the four federation marshals will be on the chu family¡¯s side. in terms of family influence, the emerging fan family, which has developed the best in recent years, has already cooperated with the chu family. the ning family has been pulled down by qiao zhiya and chu rong, and chu huai¡¯s wife¡¯s natal family, the gu family, is also on the rise. they will likely replace the ning family in the future, especially if they manage to occupy the pharmaceutical sector after this vacuum. regarding resources, the chu family already has an advantage in energy and minerals. even in mecha manufacturing, if the xiang family doesn¡¯t work hard, being surpassed by the chu family is just a waiting game, especially since the chu family has qiao zhiya in the picture.¡± xiang kun spoke calmly, lifting his hand to gently pull away xiang hui¡¯s hand, looking into his eyes as he continued, ¡°dage, chu rong is the youngest and most formidable marshal currently in the federation. chu huai is poised to become the youngest and most admired president in the federation. in the past two years, all breakthroughs in the federation, be it in pharmaceutical, weaponry, or even mecha technology, have come from the chu family. even the old emperor is very courteous to chu rong. the situation has long changed. if the chu family is willing, they could even turn the federation into a second empire.¡± he has always regarded chu yan as his nemesis, so he understood clearly the changes and development of chu yan and the chu family had undergone in the past two years. the people who had once started from the same point had already arrived at different positions. xiang hui didn¡¯t know how he left the laboratory. the sun was very warm in the early summer, but he felt cold and burdened in his heart, weighted down by a sense of heavy void, abandoned by everyone. it was like everyone had been working on the same masterpiece, and then suddenly, everyone else woke up, leaving him alone still trapped in the dream. on the surface, there were fewer and fewer updates about the ning family. the public also gradually accepted the new drug purchase system. people began to appreciate the feeling of going to the hospital for a detailed checkup, getting explanations of their illness and a clear plan of recovery. apart from minor ailments, where they could easily cure it by over-the-counter medications, getting a real treatment with doctors felt more humane and comfortable. the first victims of the toxic drug rescued by the chu family were discharged from hospital. although some people¡¯s physical injuries could not be repaired, most people felt better and their life seemed to have hope again. then starting with the victims who had been discharged from the hospital, the starnet was flooded by a wave of apology to qiao zhiya. this innocent exoplanet native youth faced a lot of criticism and slander during his pharmaceutical reform. the people who had once joined in the criticism felt deeply guilty. those who had begun to enjoy the benefits of the healthcare reform now understood how great and courageous qiao zhiya¡¯s initiative to expose the dark side of the pharma industry had been. the statements accusing him of wanting to damage the federation were simply a big joke. if it weren¡¯t for his positive feelings towards the public and the federation, why would he personally step forward to do something that was destined to be criticized, especially after becoming a marshal¡¯s fianc¨¦? qiao zhiya¡¯s name was frequently mentioned again, and his social media¡¯s fan base skyrocketed. his last notification ¨C the suspension of his pharmacy class live broadcast ¨C was filled to the brim with comments. every day, a new wave of people would go in, be it to apologize to him or to thank him. the public, who had been waiting for qiao zhiya to come online again, couldn¡¯t help but start speculating. was qiao zhiya completely heartbroken, no longer planning to go live? had this wave of cyber violence really scared him off? just as their theory became even more pessimistic, they were shocked by the list of top 1,000 players of the capital planet division of the mecha piloting competition. there, qiao zhiya¡¯s online id, was among those names. the public was momentarily bewildered, then suddenly realized that there had been rumors circulating when qiao zhiya was heavily criticized during the pharmaceutical scandal. it was said that he had participated in the current mecha piloting competition. but everyone¡¯s attention was on the pharma industry at that time, so hardly anyone paid attention to this. now that the dust had settled, and the ning family had fallen off, the public and fans finally had the energy to pay attention to the other matters. one day, the video of ¡¯s battle was collected and edited separately and uploaded to starnet. the tall, menacing all-black mecha, the simple-looking giant hammer, the brutish battle style, the terrifying attack power of the bow¡­ the citizens were stunned silly, while his fans were having a party. fuck! so handsome! they seemed to have found the feeling when they watched qiao zhiya running in the forest. this rushing excitement, making them all giddy. they were sad that they missed the wonderful moment of their little cutie. the majority of mecha pilots, who already considered qiao zhiya their savior, were astonished and couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration after watching qiao zhiya¡¯s battle recordings. it¡¯s terrifying. from the initial unfamiliarity in the first match to the wild and confident performance in the latest match, qiao zhiya¡¯s progress was evident. his battle style, clearly honed by instinct, was incredibly awe-inspiring and dazzling. they vaguely remembered that when qiao zhiya first appeared on the internet, he had a record of all losses against chu yan. how much time has passed since then? now, he could actually participate in this competition alongside chu yan. then they remembered qiao zhiya¡¯s rich resume ¨C from his senior pharmacist qualification and his mecha manufacturing achievement. they were no longer jealous, just purely filled with admiration. qiao zhiya was not only a genius and an all-around talent ¨C his progress was all rapid! everyone is looking forward to the preliminary¡¯s final of the mecha piloting competition, eager to support the young man who has been wronged recently. meanwhile, qiao zhiya, who was concurrently working on two mechas, was hoping for the final to be delayed a bit, giving him more preparation time. although chu rong said that he could suspend rong tian¡¯s production, he did not want to do so. rong tian will be the first mecha made by him, and this will never change. a smaller skeleton was erected next to the large skeleton, and qiao zhiya became busier than ever. the production of mecha parts was always the fastest, followed by joints, engines, and finally, the piloting system. carefully completing the last runes of the magic array, qiao zhiya quickly connected all the circuitry containing the water-elemental magic stones. finally, he powered the array. a wave of magic power fluctuations, only perceivable by him, immediately spread from the formation along the veins made of alien beast muscles, spreading throughout the mecha¡¯s body. holding his breath, he sat in the mecha¡¯s cockpit, reaching out to activate it. [hello, my maker, please give me a name.] it¡¯s done. he sighed briefly and said, ¡°rong tian, ??your name, rong tian.¡± [naming successful. initializing system, please wait.] the progress bar started moving on the screen, and all the buttons on the control panel lit up in sequence, then, it flashes together. the mechanical electronic sound followed, [initialization complete. please select the piloting mode.] two options popped up ¨C one for keyboard operation combined with synchronous control and the other for pure synchronous control. without hesitation, qiao zhiya chose the latter. the system lit up, and a connecting line automatically attached to the back of his specially made driving suit. at the same time, a slot containing water-elemental magic stones lit up, displaying an energy bar. [syncing, please wait.] a system prompt appeared, and he waited nervously, feeling the cooling sensation brought by the special driving clothes slowly disappearing, turning warmer by the second. after his body felt completely warm, the seat under him was folded up, then tucked neatly into the floor. he stood up, and the cockpit motherboard also changed, becoming a proportional projection of the outside scene. [syncing complete, piloting system is on.] the last electronic reminder disappeared, and qiao zhiya turned his gaze, looking at the lab roof almost in front of him. he subconsciously tried to take a step. ¡°crack!¡± the mecha accidentally stepped on a piece of material on the ground, grounded it until it became a powder. he froze, and then found that the black mecha on the small screen ¨C showing the mecha¡¯s action ¨C stiffen, appearing inexplicably apprehensive. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡®it seems¡­ the mecha is a little too synchronized.¡¯ he thought guilty, continued the novelty step, then tried to squat down. he reached out and touched the door of the laboratory, which looked extra tiny. the door swung open. before he touched it, chu rong¡¯s tall figure already appeared at the opened door. the two were frozen. chu rong immediately tightened his muscles and stared sharply ahead. qiao zhiya was frightened. he took a step back and wanted to make room for him to come in, but he made a mistake, and accidentally tripped on his own feet. for a moment, the black mecha with a mighty appearance also stunned, sitting on the ground with a loud bang, looking foolish. chu rong: ¡°¡­ qiao?¡± qiao zhiya regained his composure, hastily stood up, but miscalculated his current height and body size. he lifted his foot and nearly kicked the nearby small mecha skeleton. quickly retracting his foot, he awkwardly paused in place. then, with a helpless look, he shrunk himself and looked pitifully at chu rong, saying, ¡°it¡¯s too narrow in here.¡± despite his initial intention to appear majestic and imposing in front of chu ran, things didn¡¯t go as planned. he¡­ really wanted to dig a hole and bury himself. chu rong looked up at this ¡°shy¡± tall mecha in silence. my favorite scene of this chapter is actually the xiang family stuff, because i just had an epiphany ¨C that scene is just an exposition dump, but thanks to the xiang family¡¯s tension (+xiang kun¡¯s character growth! baby is mellowing up now!!), it became infinitely more interesting. if you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ for every 2 ko-fis, i¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 86.1 Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Ning Kongran: Ning family current heir. Studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. Elder Ning: Ning Kongran¡¯s (generation¡¯s) grandfather. Ning Tianwu: An Xei¡¯s wife, Ning Tianxing¡¯s younger sister. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. 19 years old. Ning Konghua: Ning Kongran¡¯s male cousin. 21 years old. Finally, Chu Rong jumped into the mecha himself and took Qiao Zhiya out. ¡°Do you think the laboratory door is wide enough for the mecha to pass through?¡± Chu Rong, after putting on the specially tailored pilot suit, carefully placed Qiao Zhiya, whose figure was clearly defined by the suit, on the ground. He frowned, scanning him from top to bottom, then took off his coat and draped it over him. ¡®The pilot suit should be made as a double layer: a close-fitting layer underneath, and then an outer layer,¡¯ he thought with a stern expression. Qiao Zhiya had also realized his impractical fantasy. Thinking about himself piloting the mecha, crouching to open the door, and eventually falling, he blushed. Waving his hand, he took out a mecha storage button, retracting the black mecha inside. Then, he threw herself into Chu Rong¡¯s arms, hiding his face. ¡°Nothing.¡± Chu Rong said, but his hands were very gentle. He rubbed the youth¡¯s hair first, then hugged him directly. Turning around and walking out, he said, ¡°In the future, if you want to try the mecha, go to the mecha battle hall, where the protective measures are more complete.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently, the enthusiasm on his face went down a little, but he was still excited regardless. He raised his head and extended the mecha space button in front of Chu Rong, his eyes bright. ¡°It was a preliminary success. The cockpit was developed by Master Ren and it¡¯s very easy to use. The piloting action itself is very smooth and intuitive to use.¡± During the period of collecting materials for the mecha, Master Ren had not been idle. He helped him solve many problems and designed a lot of things, such as the modified cockpit and matching special piloting suit. He had been looking forward to looking at the finished product for years, there¡¯s no way Chu Rong wasn¡¯t excited. Especially when the gift was given to him by his lover. ¡°Thank you.¡± He stopped, and took the space button with his empty hand. Remembering Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hope-filled look, he bowed his head to kiss at the youth¡¯s forehead, letting out a fleeting sigh, ¡°Thank you, you worked hard.¡± Hearing the gratitude in those two thank-yous, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart trembled. Unable to resist, he tightened her arms, nuzzling affectionately at his neck and revealing a happy smile. He likes Chu Rong¡¯s current appearance. He likes it very much. The two of them openly displayed their affection in the yard, making the passerby Chu Yan¡¯s mouth twitch. He wished he could turn around and go back to school immediately. However, when he thought about the chaotic atmosphere at school, he silently dismissed that idea. As soon as he was about to bypass them without much interest, he saw Qiao Zhiya jump off Chu Rong, and then happily dragged Chu Rong to the mecha battle hall. ¡®Wait, mecha battle hall? Qiao rarely goes there. Every time he goes, something new is made and he wants to experiment. Huh, so Qiao has made something new today? Is it a weapon?¡¯ After that momentary thought, Chu Yan stepped back. He immediately threw out the idea of ¡°those who interfere with lovers will be bitten by a dog¡± and trotted towards the mecha battle hall. Chu Rong went to the training room with the highest-level protective barrier. He then handed Qiao Zhiya the mecha space button. Qiao Zhiya wondered, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you the one trying it out?¡± Didn¡¯t Chu Rong like it? ¡°Practice with me.¡± Chu Rong started, raised his hand and touched his head, the corner of his mouth upturned to reveal a smile. ¡°We have never officially sparred with mechas in real life.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned by his smile, his heartbeat speeded up a bit, and he took the space button and nodded, and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s practice it first.¡± Two black mechs were standing on each side of the room, both in black and gold, but one was slightly shorter and the other was more powerful and domineering. Both were empty-handed, ready for a mecha hand-to-hand combat. ¡°Should I attack first?¡± Qiao Zhiya inquired nervously, subconsciously clenching his fist, and his mecha followed suit. Compared to the shorter mecha who was silent, he looked like a squirmy child. The opposite mecha waved at him, beckoning him to start, just like the two usually do during practice. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s nervousness eased a bit as he adapted to the feeling of facing another mecha on equal terms in real life. Taking a deep breath, he cast aside the basic tutorial moves he learned on the Internet and, just like in their usual sparring, he focused all his energy and charged at Chu Rong. ¡°Boom!¡± The fist of the two mechas clashed, making a dull metal impact sound. Missing his first strike, Qiao Zhiya immediately crouched to attack again. Unfortunately, he once again underestimated his mecha¡¯s height and body size. Failing to manage the crouching angle properly, Chu Rong easily restrained him, attacking him in an over-the-shoulder throw. Qiao Zhiya froze for a moment, then got up very quickly. He adapted to the mismatched body proportions and size between his own body and the mecha¡¯s, then continued to attack Chu Rong. ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± As Chu Yan opened the door to the combat room, he immediately heard the familiar sound of mechas engaging in battle. He was momentarily surprised, then quickly raised his head to look at the scene. Upon seeing two mechas, both in black-gold coloring, fiercely battling each other, he was so startled that he took a step back. Fuck! What did he just witness? Two Erges? No way, no way, no way. There couldn¡¯t be a more terrifying sight than this! He raised his hand and scratched his head, forcing himself to calm down and look more carefully, only to find that although the two mechas on the field looked similar, they were very different. For example, one of them clearly was more proficient in battle, why the other moved more awkwardly. Fortunately, there is no such thing as two Erges. The end of the world has not come. ¡°Boom!¡± The taller mecha fell to the ground again, and Chu Yan, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, was attracted by this noise. He looked away, glanced up and down, as his eyes slowly widened in shock. ¡®Wait a minute, where did this black and gold mecha that look like Rong Tian on the Internet come from? Could it be made by Qiao Zhiya? That¡¯s impossible. Last week, when I returned, only the skeletal frame had been built. In just this short time, a complete mech was formed? So quickly?¡¯ Perhaps sensing his gaze, the smaller black and gold mecha standing in the arena suddenly turned its head and looked directly at him. The familiar cold and imposing aura surged towards him. Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± This mecha is definitely his Erge. Qiao Zhiya found that Chu Rong was not moving. After he got up, he followed Chu Rong¡¯s line of sight and looked at Chu Yan. He waved his hand happily at him, then turned on his external speaker. ¡°Xiao Yan, you¡¯re back! Come on, look, Rong Tian is finished. Chu Rong and I are trying it out!¡± Chu Yan watched helplessly as the mighty-looking black and gold mecha, adopting the stature of his Erge, performed the cute and soft movements typical of Qiao Zhiya. His throat tightened, and he silently glanced at his real Erge standing beside him, who was wiping his eyes and raised his hand stiffly to give an awkward wave. With some difficulty, he said, ¡°This mecha¡­ is amazing.¡± So amazing that it shattered all the domineering fantasies he had once harbored about this manually-piloted mecha. Is every manually-piloted mecha¡­ resembling its pilot? Chu Rong heard the perfunctory tone in his words. Seeing Qiao Zhiya still shyly giggling at his hesitant praise, a glint appeared in Chu Rong¡¯s eyes. He approached and knocked on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s cockpit, saying, ¡°Come down, let me take over. Chu Yan, get into your mecha. Let¡¯s have a practice session.¡± After saying this, he disembarked from his mecha and walked over to Qiao Zhiya. Chu Yan again: ¡°¡­¡± He really shouldn¡¯t have come to see the excitement. Qiao Zhiya thought Chu Rong wanted to spar with Chu Yan, and he was eagerly looking forward to seeing how Chu Rong handled Rong Tian. Obediently, he disembarked from the mecha, took out a set of pilot suits tailored to Chu Rong¡¯s size, and instructed him, ¡°During the first piloting session, there will be a synchronization process with the system, about thirty seconds or so. Just wait a moment.¡± Chu Rong nodded in understanding, picked up the pilot suit, took a glance at it, and found it was also a form-fitting one. His face darkened slightly, reinforcing his determination to have Master Ren modify the pilot suits. ¡°Xiao Yan, jiayou!¡± While Chu Rong went to change into the pilot suit, Chu Yan entered the arena. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly moved to the spectator seat, and waved to encourage Chu Yan. Chu Yan gave him a somewhat dry smile and glanced at the black and towering mecha still standing in its original position. Suddenly, he felt a bit uneasy. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s skilled maneuvers, guided by Chu Rong, were difficult to distinguish from the full potential of this manually-piloted mech. If this mecha was slightly weaker than a purely spiritually-piloted one, it would be acceptable. But if it was more powerful¡­ he suddenly felt the inevitable aches all over his body. A few minutes later, Chu Rong changed into the new pilot suit and came out. Qiao Zhiya wondered, ¡®Why did Chu Rong put a layer of regular pilot suit on the outside of the special pilot suit, wouldn¡¯t it be hot?¡¯ After Chu Rong came out, he first looked at Qiao Zhiya on the spectator seat, determined that he had opened the protective cover, and walked straight to Rong Tian. He needed several jumps until he reached the cockpit. Once the hatch was closed, Rong Tian remained motionless for a while. As Qiao Zhiya began to worry, the mecha¡¯s eyes lightened ¡ª this was a sign that the mecha was active. He held his breath subconsciously, and Chu Yan, who had boarded his mecha on the opposite side, also held his breath. The black mecha moved. It started by flexing its wrists, with both hands clasped together. Then, it took two steps in place before turning its head to face Chu Yan¡¯s silver mecha. It gestured with a gentle wave, signaling him to attack. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face turned red quickly, his eyes flickered, and he couldn¡¯t help raising his voice and shouting, ¡°Chu Rong, jiayou!¡± The black mecha heard his voice and looked at the spectator area, his posture seemed to relax a little, and his aura seemed gentler than before. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but cover his heart, too excited to utter a word. ¡®Identical, absolutely identical. This is Chu Rong, an enlarged version of Chu Rong. Even if there were numerous mechs standing here, I can still recognize Chu Rong at a glance.¡¯ Chu Yan was stunned. This black mecha, which looked so dazzling when piloted by Qiao Zhiya, now changed. Even at a glance¡­ ¡®This is exactly like a giant Erge standing in front of me aaaaahhh!¡¯ His mind helpfully supplied him with numerous images of him getting murderized in their spars. He shuddered, suddenly wanting to escape. He and he also want to participate in the finals in a safe and healthy manner, without having any psychological shadow. ¡°Attack.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s cold voice came from the opposite side. He regained his spirits, swallowed, knowing that he couldn¡¯t escape today. With a shiver, he reminded his brother, ¡°Erge, please don¡¯t damage my mecha, I¡­ I still have to compete.¡± In response to his pleas, the black mecha raised both empty hands, indicating that it wasn¡¯t carrying any weapons. Chu Yan felt a little more reassured. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was staring fixedly at Rong Tian. Suddenly, he felt a trace of a heroic and tragic sentiment. He launched his attack towards Chu Rong. ¡°Boom!¡± With a single blow, Chu Yan was defeated, face-down and rubbed into the ground. CH 86.2 ¡°Ah!¡± Qiao Zhiya exclaimed, he was baffled. He didn¡¯t see how Chu Rong moved ¨C it felt like a dark blur flashed over, and then Chu Yan fell to the ground. Chu Yan turned his head in disbelief to look at the black mecha towering at him, feeling stunned and amazed. ¡®What kind of speed was this? Why did it feel much faster than before?¡¯ ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s perfectly synchronized.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice came out of the mecha again, with a slightly different tone than usual, sounding more excited than usual. He reached out and patted Chu Yan¡¯s silver mecha, saying, ¡°Get up, continue to attack. Attack me with your full strength.¡± Regaining his senses, Chu Yan angrily got up, wanting to withdraw and give up¡ªhe had already exerted all his strength! In front of Chu Rong, how could he dare to hold back and go easy on him? Was he asking for death? The two mechs clashed again. This time, the black mecha visibly restrained itself, slowing down its speed. At least, Qiao Zhiya could now see its attack trajectory clearly, and Chu Yan could finally exchange more blows with it. The sound of bangs kept coming, and the movement of the black mecha became more and more flexible. As Qiao Zhiya looked at the black mecha moved just like Chu Rong, his heart was surging. In the past, the manually-piloted mecha battle style was all fixed, even if it was piloted by Chu Rong. After all, moving the mecha required him to press the operation panel to issue a command. This mecha was different, as long as it can be done by one¡¯s body, the mecha could move the same way. Another familiar leg sweeping action appeared, the arc and strength were exactly the same as the one Chu Rong showed him. He couldn¡¯t help leaning over, and his ears were fluttering with excitement. ¡ªSure enough, his decision to refine the joints and all movable parts of the mecha, allowing it to approach the human body more closely, was correct. Such modifications allowed the pilot to better unleash the mecha¡¯s potential! Inside the silver mecha, Chu Yan became even more shocked. His expression became more serious in tandem. Too strong! He has always known that his Erge was very strong, be it in mecha-piloting or real life combat. But he never knew that when his Erge applied the strong synchronous reaction he displayed in real sparring to the mecha, it would result in such a stunning and amazing effect! His next move was completely unpredictable, his attack speed was inhumane, and all kinds of small movements only enhanced the lethality of each action. Even the mecha seemed to be enveloped in this living, murderous aura! This was not just a mecha; it was like a living person clad in armor, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with him! He had to intentionally broaden the advantage of the spiritually-piloted system, performing various complex and sophisticated maneuvers that would be impossible to be done by a human body. However, the usually invincible attack methods now seemed cumbersome and powerless. The black mecha always quickly found gaps in his high-end maneuvers, launching powerful counterattacks, breaking through, and delivering fatal blows, leaving him with no chance of successfully executing his maneuvers. He had to distance himself. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he began piloting his mecha backward. The black mecha seemed to sense his intention and suddenly retreated as well. The distance between the two mechs quickly widened. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking he had escaped the oppressive atmosphere of the black mecha, a black short dagger suddenly rushed straight towards his cockpit. There was no way to evade this move. Instinctively, he raised his arm to protect the cockpit, closed his eyes, and awaited the impact of the short dagger. However, the expected impact did not come. Confused, he opened his eyes and moved his hand away, only to be shocked by the scene before him, almost dropping to his knees. The black mecha had somehow moved to a position almost face-to-face with him. Its eyes were directly aligned with his cockpit, and it still held the short dagger that was about to pierce into his cockpit. Judging from the posture, it seemed that the black mecha had taken advantage of his distraction with the short dagger to rapidly close the distance and promptly seized the opportunity. In other words, even if he avoided the short dagger attack, he could not avoid the following attack. It was terrifying¡ªnot only in terms of speed and the intensity of its attacks but also in terms of its presence and psychological impact. Unlike purely spiritually-piloted mechas, manually-piloted mechas were noticeably more ¡°barbaric¡± and ¡°imposing¡±. Their attack patterns were also more diverse. ¡°The next time you encounter such an attack, you can defend it with a counterattack instead.¡± The black mecha retracted its aggressive stance, took a step back after gripping the short dagger, and suddenly patted Chu Yan¡¯s mecha on the shoulder. In a rare moment of praise, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve improved. Take a break, and later, you can spar with Qiao Zhiya.¡± Chu Yan was momentarily stunned by the pat but nodded. The tense strings in his heart finally relaxed¡ªno more sparring with Erge. That was great. He knew Qiao Zhiya¡¯s skill level. Sparring with him would be much easier. Then soon, reality gave him a slap. The black mecha descended from the sky with an overwhelming force like Mount Tai. It came crashing down, and Chu Yan dodged in a disheveled manner, swiftly executing several high-end maneuvers to evade Qiao Zhiya¡¯s subsequent attacks. Then, he attempted to create distance between them. However, Qiao Zhiya showed no sign of letting him run away. Like a predator locked on into its prey, he pursued Chu Yan. Chu Yan¡¯s heart is full of tears of vicissitude. Was all manually-piloted mecha this poisonous? Why is it so ¡°barbaric¡± no matter who piloted it? Especially Qiao, who looked like a strange switch had been flipped inside of him, his combat style was even wilder and barbaric than usual. Although he could still handle it, the constant vigilance against unexpected attacks from all directions was truly exhausting. Moreover, Qiao Zhiya was strong, and he couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that if he got his hands on his mech, his mecha would be scrapped. After a full hour, Qiao Zhiya finally jumped out of the mech, his forehead covered in sweat but her eyes shining with excitement. Happily, he said, ¡°The flexibility in the joint areas can be improved a bit more. The piloting system is completely fine. The speed control device on the pedal can be adjusted further too.¡± After all, legs couldn¡¯t compete with machines. There was still room for improvement in terms of mobility and flight in the manually-piloted mechas. ¡°Mn.¡± Chu Rong nodded, took out a towel and stepped forward to wipe his sweat. ¡°This piece can be studied by Master Ren. According to my estimation, only individuals with at least an intermediate level of physical fitness can pilot it. Otherwise, they won¡¯t be able to withstand the combat intensity of mecha battles.¡± ¡°They also need some level of martial arts skill. This is non-negotiable.¡± Qiao Zhiya added that when he brought the towel over. His fluttering ears intentionally and made it worse. He was very excited and livelier than usual. Chu Rong¡¯s eyes calmed down. He nodded as he squeezed the youth¡¯s ears. On the other side, Chu Yan, descending from his silver mecha, watched the sweet scene unfold. He covered his head and squatted in a corner. ¡®This is bad. Not only is my family status inferior, but my mecha piloting skills are also at the bottom in this family.¡¯ ¡®No, no¡­ Dasao and the old butler are still weaker than me¡­. Ah, I want to run away from home again.¡¯ A shadow suddenly covered from behind. He froze, and turned to look behind him. He didn¡¯t know when Chu Rong walked over. When Chu Yan saw him, the older man suddenly bent down to pat his head. Then, he turned and walked back to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side, retracting the black mecha. He said, ¡°We¡¯ll continue in the afternoon. Let¡¯s go eat first.¡± Chu Yan raised his hand and touched his head, his mouth narrowed, then suddenly took a deep breath, stood up, and raised his voice, saying, ¡°Alright! We¡¯ll continue in the afternoon!¡± He could still fight! He could fight 10,000 more rounds! Qiao Zhiya noticed his brief moment of loss of composure, narrowed his eyes, and smiled. Although Chu Rong had always wanted to make Chu Yan mature and strong as soon as possible, occasionally he couldn¡¯t help but want to pamper the youngest brother. At such times, Xiao Yan¡¯s reactions were always cute. After lunch, Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen both arrived at the Chu family¡¯s house. Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an also spared their time in the afternoon. All of them gathered in the mech battle hall to see Chu Rong¡¯s new mecha. In the afternoon, Chu Yan still had a turn, but the time was not long. He only fought for a while before stepping down. For the next few hours, Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen took turns going up to spar with Chu Rong. When sparring with his two subordinates, Chu Rong no longer restrained his strength. His movements became more fierce, and his speed was so fast that it was almost invisible to the naked eye. The intensity of the battle was far beyond the playful sparing of the morning. After a test drive in the afternoon, Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya discovered several subtle bugs in Rong Tian. Qiao Zhiya took note of them separately. In the next few days, they helped Rong Tian get debugged. Rong Tian¡¯s success gave him a lot of new inspiration, and he wanted to try to make his own smalle mecha. Time passed in a flash. After almost a month of preparation for the preliminary¡¯s final, the competition schedule was finally out. At this moment, there were faint rumors about the Elder Ning family preparing to retire to the Empire to be with his daughter. After such a long time, Qiao Zhiya was no longer depressed because he heard the news of the Ning family. Chu Yan now had no qualms about pulling him into such gossip. ¡°I heard that not only Elder Ning, but also Ning Kongting, Ning Konghua, and even Ning Kong¡¯an are all planning to go together,¡± Chu Yan dramatically sigh, smacking his lips. Thinking about the current situation of the Ning family, he felt a bit melancholic and continued, ¡°After the summer vacation, the presidential election will begin. It seems like their family wants to avoid the public scrutiny. The public¡¯s resentment towards the Ning family is too great now. After this incident, most of the Ning family¡¯s industries have collapsed. They also dare not introduce new drugs temporarily. Without sufficient financial support, their private army will definitely shrink. It¡¯s a chain reaction, one problem leading to another¡­ Well, it¡¯s a case of reaping what you sow.¡± Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya thought of Ning Kongran, whom he hadn¡¯t contacted in a long time. Putting down the parts in his hands, he asked, ¡°Is everyone from the Ning family going? Aren¡¯t they interested in the affairs here in the Federation?¡± Although the Ning family¡¯s pharmaceutical influence was severely damaged, they were not completely uprooted. They only lost the problematic drugs, but they also put out a lot of real, helpful drugs. The Ning family would not be left in that desperate of a situation. ¡°Not at all. Ning Tianya and Ning Tianxing will stay behind. Only the elder and younger generations are going, bar Ning Kongran, I think, since he¡¯s the heir. The Ning family cannot abandon the Federation¡¯s stronghold. Even though their situation is dire now, they still have significant strength that other emerging families can¡¯t match.¡± Chu Yan explained. Then, remembering something, he added, ¡°Final exams are about to begin. Remember to take your exams. Don¡¯t forget.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, thinking of Ning Kongran, his frown slightly twisted. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 86.3 Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Liu Hongzi: One of Chu Yan¡¯s enemy. A Mecha piloting student. Sang Bu: MC¡¯s roommate. Transferred from Information System to Mecha Manufacturing. Ning Kongran: Ning family current heir. Studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. Bearded Teacher aka Master Shang: Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. Chu Rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. Is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. Luo Li: Qiao Zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. He won the online Mecha Manufacturing Contest. Now Qiao Zhiya¡¯s (and Sang Bu¡¯s) homeroom teacher. Ning Kongting: Ning Kongran¡¯s female cousin. Ning Konghua: Ning Kongran¡¯s male cousin. Ning Kongting¡¯s older brother. From the outbreak of the pharmacy scandal, to now, when many of the younger Ning family members were preparing to go to the Empire, time had actually flashed by for almost half a year. Qiao Zhiya stepped out of the hover car and looked at the familiar and unfamiliar Federal Military Academy gate, and suddenly a moment of emotion erupted in his heart. ¡°Qiao.¡± Sang Bu turned out from behind the door and casually waved at him, as if the two hadn¡¯t seen each other for months. Qiao Zhiya turned back, and was surprised to find that he was walking much faster. He was no longer as ¡°clumsy¡± as he used to be. He was very happy when he greeted him and asked, ¡°How are you?¡± He remembered that Sang Bu¡¯s dyspraxia was caused by psychological reasons. Since he had gone better, it might be because his psychological state has been better too. ¡°Mn, I¡¯m good, thank you.¡± Sang Bu smiled at him. He suddenly stretched his arms and hugged him, saying, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± If he hadn¡¯t encountered this simple and brave Native boy, he might still be unable to overcome his psychological obstacle that has existed since childhood. Qiao Zhiya gave him the courage and belief that things could become better. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time.¡± Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed by him, but he was really happy for him. He hugged him hard in return. ¡°Can you keep up with the morning exercises every day?¡± Sang Bu nodded. He took out his hover car and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, the third grade exam is about to begin.¡± The exam room for the third grade was next to the first grade teaching building. The two got out of the car in front of the building and agreed to temporarily separate for now and meet at lunch. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arrival once again caused a commotion among the students. Even the proctor couldn¡¯t help looking at Qiao Zhiya a few times. Qiao Zhiya smiled friendly at them and found his seat. The exam started on time, Qiao Zhiya immersed himself in the questions. As usual, he completed the theoretical exam in the morning with a full mark, and then left the exam room early. He walked around and circled outside Sang Bu¡¯s classroom. Seeing that Sang Bu hadn¡¯t finished his exam, he went to the classroom next door. The students in the next class were having a practical lesson. He searched inside but didn¡¯t find the figure of Ning Kongran. Just as he was puzzled, the window in front suddenly pushed open from the inside, and Xiang Kun¡¯s head popped out. ¡°Are you looking for Ning Kongran?¡± Qiao Zhiya hesitated for a moment before reacting. He was actively talking to himself. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes, did he not come to class? Also, you just come out like this, your exam¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± Xiang Kun showed him the molded parts in his hand, took a set of parts out and showed him, and asked, ¡°I haven¡¯t installed the modified part here. Can you tell me what¡¯s wrong with this?¡± Qiao Zhiya froze again, glanced over the part in his hand, and saw that he had made a modification on it. Some strange feelings bloomed in his heart, but his hands were not slow, he picked up the part and said, ¡°Th-this tooth should be thinner. When you install it, you must move it with the part next to it, otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be able to fit it in. You¨C¡± ¡°I understand, thanks.¡± Xiang Kun interrupted him, collected the parts, stared at him for a few seconds, suddenly raised his fist and tapped him on the eye, saying, ¡°We¡¯re even now. Don¡¯t let Chu Yan, that idiot, beat me again, or I¡¯ll make him a eunuch. Also, as an exchange for your help just now, I¡¯ll give you a hint: Ning Kongran was called away by Ning Kongting before class. He went in the direction of the Campus A¡¯s cafeteria.¡± After saying that, he closed the window and returned to his workstation. Qiao Zhiya looked at his serious face through the glass. He raised his hand and touched his eyes, squinted and smiled, then turned around, leaving in a good mood. After saying hello to Sang Bu, Qiao Zhiya came out of the teaching building and tried to dial a communication for Ning Kongran. The call wasn¡¯t picked up. So, he simply turned to go to the bedroom-since he couldn¡¯t find him, he went to leave a note for Ning Kongran in his room. He then went to visit Jian, who he hasn¡¯t seen for a long time. When he returned to the dormitory, he heard a vaguely familiar female voice. He pricked his ears and turned his head towards the flowerbed and rockery by the roadside, furrowing his brows, and walked over. ¡°Ning Kongran! Why do you get to stay? What gives you the right? Is it you? Are you the traitor of the Ning family? Don¡¯t think just because Dad and Grandpa like you, you can act recklessly. Let me tell you, the Ning family belongs to my older brother, even if it collapses, it¡¯s still my brother¡¯s!¡± Over the artificial hill, Ning Kongting shouted uncontrollably. She was still elegantly dressed, but her hair seemed a bit dull, indicating that she hadn¡¯t taken care of it recently. Ning Kongran, who was standing opposite her, still looked as usual. He was elegant and graceful. He wore an overall, typical of a mecha manufacturing student. He calmly listened to Ning Kongting¡¯s scream, and then asked back gently, ¡°Are you finished? It¡¯s time for me to prepare for the afternoon exam.¡± ¡°You!¡± Ning Kongting was choked by his words. Probably because she had been shouting, her voice was now weak and scratchy. She raised her hand. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression changed. Without thinking, he rushed forward. Noticing the commotion, Ning Kongran initially appeared wary. However, upon seeing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unmistakable youthful figure, his gaze softened. He reached out to block Ning Kongting¡¯s hand and deliberately pushed her in a direction where Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t be seen. He calmly stated, ¡°A lady shouldn¡¯t resort to violence easily. If you have any suspicions, feel free to discuss them with Grandfather and the others. I never intended to claim the Ning family. Leave now, and don¡¯t come looking for me again. I despise you.¡± This is the first time he has clearly stated his disgust for a person. Ning Kongting¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. She felt strangely hurt. Her chest heaved a few times before she shouted, ¡°Who cares about who you like!¡± After saying this, she turned around and walked away, disappearing from sight in no time. After confirming that she had left, Ning Kongran looked sideways at the position of the hill and said, ¡°Come out, I have driven away the nasty ghost.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked around, his lips twitched. He suddenly didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Ning Kongran spoke first, smiling apologetically at him. However, he never stepped closer to Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Last time, I found from your drug purchase records that you were investigating the Ning family¡¯s pharmacy. I have offended you, I¡¯m sorry. ¡° Perceiving the distance he deliberately kept, Qiao Zhiya pursed his lips. He walked forward, only stopping one meter away from the taller man. He shook his head and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I forgive you¡­ Will you stay?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ning Kongran smiled again the moment he saw Qiao Zhiya approached him. He seemed to be in a good mood. He honestly replied, ¡°The Ning family hasn¡¯t completely collapsed yet, so I¡¯ll be staying. I want to watch the moment it all breaks down with my own two eyes.¡± Qiao Zhiya was shocked by his honesty. He looked up at him, observing the expression on his face as he spoke those words with a smile. His lips pressed tightly together. ¡°Are you afraid of me?¡± Ning Kongran asked, his voice lowered, seemingly noting his cautiousness. Qiao Zhiya shook his head, pulled out a mechanical metal doll from his storage button. He handed it to him, saying, ¡°This is for you¡­ let¡¯s have dinner together when we have time.¡± Ning Kongran took a moment before taking over the doll ¨C it was obviously made according to his image ¨C and suddenly stepped forward to hug him. He whispered, ¡°Thank you¡±, then turned and walked quickly, without turning back. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave, and suddenly felt a little sad. Everyone around him is no longer carefree. He hated it. Jian is not in the dormitory, and he missed him. He tried to send a message but couldn¡¯t get through. He became even more listless. It was until lunch with Sang Bu that felt a little better. In the afternoon, he got full marks for the practical exam. After that, he accompanied Sang Bu to a class, and talked to Luo Li on the way. Finally, he went to Master Shang¡¯s laboratory until it got dark. By then, he went back to the Chu family¡¯s house. The next day is the weekend, and the final¡¯s second round of the Mecha Piloting Competition will begin at 10 AM. It¡¯s a knockout round. A total of 1,000 players were ranked according to their preliminary match¡¯s total points. The first place is compared with the last place, the second place is ranked with the second-to-last place, and so on. Almost half of them were eliminated. The player will then proceed to the round. Probably due to the influence of the pharmaceutical incident, the number of players who advanced in the Capital Planet¡¯s final round was not top-notch. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya actually mixed into the top 500, avoiding the brutal situation they encountered together. At 8:30 the next day, Chu Rong personally took two youths and set off towards the place where the final was located. ¡°I heard that the most formidable batch of participants withdrew from the competition to undergo a health check.¡± Chu Yan sighed as he looked at the match schedule, rubbing his face. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t know who my opponent will be; I hope they¡¯re not too strong.¡± Chu Rong glanced at him indifferently, his eyes clearly expressing that he had ¡°no backbone.¡± Chu Yan rubbed his face with a stiff hand, his mouth twitched, and he looked decisively at Qiao Zhiya, who was also a bit nervous next to him. He shifted the topic and asked, ¡°How long will it take for your own mecha to be ready?¡± ¡°It should be completed before the start of the next round,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, adding silently, ¡°If I make it to the next round, that is.¡± Despite his best efforts, his small mecha was still not completed before the start of today¡¯s match. He could only use Rong Tian again today. The weapon he made for himself was made in accordance with the proportions of the small mecha, so it wasn¡¯t as effective when he used it with Rong Tian. He needed to overcome this. If his opponent today is too strong, his winning chance isn¡¯t great. Chu Yan was very confident in him. ¡°You can definitely make it to the next round. As long as you pass the knockout round safely, it doesn¡¯t matter if you lose one or two matches. the following points. You can adjust your mecha while competing.¡± ¡°Mn, I¡¯ll do my best.¡± Qiao Zhiya also cheered himself up, clenching his fists. Chu Rong looked at him, who was clearly nervous but pretended to be confident. He furrowed his brows, raised his hand, and rubbed his ear. He felt both soft and distressed inside ¡ª If it weren¡¯t for helping him quickly debug Rong Tian, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s own mecha would have been ready long ago. At 9:40, the players entered the player room and waited, and the audience began to enter. At 9:50, the first round of the quarter-final matches was officially released. It was a coincidence that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s opponent was Liu Hongzi again, and the two positions just corresponded. With a moment of stun in Qiao Zhiya, there was much less nervousness ¨C if it was Liu Hongzi, he could still win with confidence. Liu Hongzi, who saw his opponent¡¯s identity, frowned deeply and clenched his fists. The competition was divided into batches. Chu Yan was in the second batch and Qiao Zhiya was in the fourth batch. Before their turn, the players could only wait patiently. The duration of each match was thirty minutes. After waiting for more than an hour, Qiao Zhiya finally waited for the system to call his number. On the other side, Liu Hongzi, who made some minor changes to his mecha, took advantage of this time to stand up with confidence. As soon as Qiao Zhiya appeared, he was overwhelmed by the sudden burst of cheers from the audience. He was startled, glanced up at the auditorium, and saw many cheering banners with his name floating above the auditorium. ¡°Little Cutie, jiayou!¡± The enthusiastic cheers of the mecha warriors in the audience echoed through the competition venue. The competitors in the same group as Qiao Zhiya had peculiar expressions, all looking towards the so-called ¡°Little Cutie¡± at the same time. Qiao Zhiya blushed, gesturing towards the audience, and then smiled apologetically at the competitors who looked around. Their attitude was kind, and they nodded in response and then looked back. The cheering in the auditorium became a bit weaker. Qiao Zhiya speeded up to his own match area, greeted the referee and entered the playing field separated by a protective barrier. Liu Hongzi, who had walked one step ahead, was already sitting in his mecha. Seeing him come in, he turned and walked into the initial waiting area on the court. When Qiao Zhiya saw this, he also took out the black mecha and jumped on the ground, and then the audience burst into a round of cheers again, as if his movement was a very remarkable thing. He was embarrassed, quickly entered the cockpit and closed the door, took off his jacket, revealing a tight-fitting sportswear. He put on the specially designed driving suit inside and sat in the pilot¡¯s seat. CH 87.1 The preparation time was three minutes. Qiao Zhiya lit up the mecha and first took out his hammer to try it out. Then he took out the modified bow and a small crossbow, hung the bow on the waist while the crossbow was buckled on the wrist. His bow was very large, and it looked very conspicuous when hanging from the mecha¡¯s waist. However, the audience couldn¡¯t find where his arrows were. Was that bow just a decoration? But that felt wrong, as Qiao also used bow and arrows during his VR matches. But then, where is his arrow? Did he forget to bring them? And that little crossbow? It looked so small, is it a toy? On top of that, the action of this black mecha felt a bit weird¡­ it felt¡­ too human-like? The audience was puzzled, and his opponent Liu Hongzi was also very puzzled, but he quickly left his extra thoughts behind. He took two more steps in place, and took out the weapon he was the most proficient at, a set of advanced artillery. The advanced artillery system was a commonly used weapon with the advantages of a wide attack range, significant power, and a short charging time. However, it has notable drawbacks such as strong recoil, insufficient endurance, and the necessity for dual-handed operation. The audience¡¯s eyes swept back and forth between Liu Hongzi, who carried a huge cannon on his shoulder, and Qiao Zhiya, who was standing empty-handed. Many of them wondered: ¡®Why is Qiao Zhiya not readying his weapon? Is he even ready to battle?¡¯ The three minutes passed by in a flash. The countdown appeared in the center of the field, and the partition wall outside the initial area flashed. Once the countdown reaches zero, it disappears. Liu Hongzi moved at the moment when the partition wall disappeared. He first stepped down to prevent a possible Qiao Zhiya attack, and then aimed the gun directly at Qiao Zhiya, firing continuously. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s response was also very fast, and he immediately left his initial place and lifted his wrist as he approached Liu Hongzi to make a slight twisting motion. However, unexpectedly, the sound of the artillery explosion did not occur. Instead, there was a strange swishing sound, accompanied by gasps from the audience. Liu Hongzi was propelled into the air after the projectile was launched. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s throwing action paused, sensing that something was wrong. He immediately looked at the small screen and noticed that the projectile, instead of exploding upon landing, transformed into a massive net. The net touched the ground and turned it into sand, spreading rapidly. Unnoticed, it had already reached his feet and adhered to the armor of his mecha. The sand began climbing and penetrating the mecha¡¯s surface, creating significant resistance in the legs, substantially slowing down his movement. ¡°It¡¯s gravity-altering powder! Liu Hongzi actually changed the projectiles before the match and replaced them with so many of these! This gravity powder leaves some residual traces in the barrel during launch, significantly affecting the weapon¡¯s power. Is he crazy?¡± As his match had finished, Chu Yan, who climbed to the special VIP seats and was watching the match with Chu Rong, couldn¡¯t help but get anxious. He exclaimed more nervously than when he was competing on the field himself. ¡°Qiao has too little experience in real mecha battles. Usually, he practices with us, completely lacking experience in dealing with such tricks. It¡¯s over now, completely over. As the mecha gets more and more stuck with gravity powder, his movements will become slower until he can¡¯t move anymore. He won¡¯t be able to ascend, and Qiao will become a sitting duck.¡± Chu Rong watched Qiao Zhiya move slowly, and finally stopped, Qiao Zhiya frowned deeply. The audience quickly noticed the situation, first in confusion and then nervously cheering for Qiao Zhiya. Their expressions showed concern¡ªbeing at a disadvantage right from the start, it seemed like this match might be in jeopardy. Liu Hongzi flew to midair long before the gravity powder spread across the court. At this time, seeing that Qiao Zhiya was trapped and unable to move, he smiled with satisfaction and began to fire off his guns. After losing last time, he carefully studied Qiao Zhiya¡¯s match recordings and discovered that not only was his battle style wild and primitive, but his thinking was also quite primitive. Despite being in a mecha battle, Qiao Zhiya rarely utilized the mecha¡¯s flight capabilities. Instead of using aerial maneuvers to evade, he preferred ground movements, as if he were engaging in a real-person battle. The occasional instances of taking to the air seemed to be a last resort when pressured by opponents. Just now he deliberately fired the ammunition very low and fired it in order to force Qiao Zhiya to move forward, ignoring the strangeness of the ammunition. Qiao Zhiya, just as he predicted, ran straight forward without even thinking of flying. ¡°Foolish.¡± He sneered, a hint of pleasure flashed in his eyes. Exoplanet Natives are indeed just that ¨C even if they¡¯re geniuses, they couldn¡¯t change their nature. The limitations of their minds cannot be changed in a lifetime. As Liu Hongzi changed his ammunition, Qiao Zhiya in the audience surprisingly remained quiet, as if he had already given up the struggle. Enjoying the moment, Liu Hongzi took the opportunity to savor the sight of the black mecha being slaughtered at his mercy, and gleefully aimed the cannon at him. ¡®Such arrogance. Didn¡¯t even prepare arrows, thinking you¡¯ve got an easy win? Goodbye, disgusting Native.¡¯ He said in his heart and pressed the launch button. The audience didn¡¯t expect Qiao Zhiya to lose so quickly and passively. The cheers dwindled, and some couldn¡¯t bear to watch the black mecha being hit by the shells. Chu Yan was also extremely anxious, scratching his head and face, unable to sit still. Only Chu Rong¡¯s eyes flickered suddenly, and his frown deepened. The projectile with its flame tail rushed straight towards Qiao Zhiya, exploding! The audience sighed with regret, Chu Yan pulled at his hair in despair, Chu Rong raised an eyebrow calmly, and Liu Hongzi smiled, ready to welcome the victory determined by the system. ¡°Don¡¯t daydream, move your target.¡± The system¡¯s judgment did not sound, but Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice first came out from the smoke and dust formed after the explosion. Liu Hongzi froze, the audience froze, and then looked down unbelievably. In the central area of the field, amidst the residual sparks from the explosion, the black mecha stood firmly. The gravity-altering powder surrounding him, centered on his position, had disappeared at some point, revealing a safe zone just enough for the black mecha to stand and move. He held a bow, aiming directly at Liao Hongzi. What happened? The audience was all stupid and then got excited. ¡°Little Cutie you are the best!¡± Cheers and applause reappeared, Qiao¡¯s fans couldn¡¯t wait to jump up in joy. He didn¡¯t lose! He also reversed the situation! It¡¯s unclear how Qiao Zhiya managed it, but at the moment, except for the area where the black mecha was standing, the rest of the field was covered with gravity-altering powder. In other words, Liu Hongzi couldn¡¯t touch the ground! He could only float in mid-air, helplessly enduring the attacks! And with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s scarily accurate aim, it¡¯s only a matter of time before Liu Hongzi got shot down ¨C wait, Qiao Zhiya had no arrow. What¡¯s the use of only aiming an empty bow! Audience fans began to worry again, and Liu Hongzi¡¯s expression calmed down after a moment of hesitation. A sneer of pride was revealed, his gun barrel was directed at Qiao Zhiya again. ¡®Die, stupid Native!¡¯ Facing the muzzle again, Qiao Zhiya did not escape, but began to pull the bowstring. The audience gasped the moment a white flame slowly formed in his hand, seated nicely on the bowstring. This was actually an energy bow! Seeing this arrow glowing white, it must be the most advanced concentrated energy arrow! Goodness, how did he manage that? These non-physical energy weapons usually require compression to take shape, but it seems this bow doesn¡¯t have an energy reservoir. ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no energy reservoir because the entire bow is the energy reservoir.¡± Chu Yan, who witnessed Qiao Zhiya crafted the weapon, boasted. Hearing the faint commotion and discussions from the audience, he couldn¡¯t help but comment. Then, leaning back in his chair, he sighed, ¡°Victory, victory. Liu Hongzi is such a dumbass, he actually gave such a huge advantage to Qiao.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s biggest weakness lies in the lack of coordination between his mecha and himself, making him unsuitable for prolonged battles. Now, Liu Hongzi has turned the situation into a stand-off, highlighting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s advantages. It can only be said that Liu Hongzi is indeed a considerate opponent. Chu Rong gave him a faint look and asked, ¡°Do you see how Qiao avoided the first shot?¡± Chu Yan froze and sat up silently. He really didn¡¯t know this. ¡°Boom¨C¡± Liu Hongzi¡¯s ammunition hit the energy arrow. The two collided in mid-air, blowing up into a dazzling ¡°firework¡±. Then, a faint flash of light passed through the ¡°firework¡± and flew straight towards the golden mecha, still hovering mid-air. Suddenly, an announcement popped up, declaring Qiao Zhiya as the winner. ¡°Did you just see what happened again?¡± Chu Rong continued to ask, squinting to hide the pride and joy in his eyes. Chu Yan was stunned in place. ¡°Wasn¡¯t he hit? Why did Liu Hongzi fall to the ground, he¨C¡± The explosion of smoke dispersed, and Liu Hongzi¡¯s mecha was exposed. A flaming arrow jutted straight at the leg-waist linkage area, and before long, the arrow exploded. It left a small crater in the mecha, rendering it immobile. ¡°¡ª¡ªHe shot another one immediately after the first arrow was knocked off?¡± Chu Yan finally woke up and raised his hand to cover his face. ¡°Oh my God, what a terrible firing speed. No wonder Qiao never practiced using firearms, there¡¯s no ammunition of the same level that can achieve such firing speed ¡­ ¡° After a moment of shock, the audience burst into shouting cheers. Although they didn¡¯t know how Qiao Zhiya won, it¡¯s his victory. He only needed three minutes to win! Awesome! Chu Rong, watching the black mecha in the arena retracting the bow, smiled and looked at Chu Yan. He said, ¡°You got the second question right. Have you figured out how Qiao avoided the first shot?¡± Without waiting for his answer, he walked straight towards the exit. Chu Yan watched him leave, and he couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes. ¡®Don¡¯t think that I can¡¯t see that Erge was just bragging! Is he an adult? So shameless!¡¯ But still, he didn¡¯t know what happened to the first shot. He frowned, wondering how. ¡°First shot?¡± During lunch, Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but ask this question. Qiao Zhiya put down his spoon and replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t dodge. I needed to use the thermal energy after its explosion to disperse the gravity powder. So, I just used a hammer to hit it and make it explode. However, my hammer got broken as a result. I¡¯ll have to see if it can be repaired when I go back. If not, I¡¯ll have to make a new one.¡± ¡®Hi-hit it?¡¯ Chu Yan was stunned. ¡®Can such a thing even be possible?¡¯ ¡°Eat.¡± Chu Rong squeezed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears that had flattened because he thought the hammer was broken. He gestured at the soup in his hand. Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses, feeling happy about winning the match. He shook his ears, lowered his head, and focused on drinking his soup. Chu Yan was still baffled. He rewinded Qiao Zhiya¡¯s match in his mind again and again. ¡®So, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t stand still because of resignation or not knowing how to respond. Instead, he waited patiently for the gravity powder to spread completely. Then, he enticed Liu Hongzi to shoot at him. He utilized the high-intensity heat generated by the explosion to blow away and dissipate the gravity powder. Qiao had planned this solution from the moment he was stuck?¡¯ He turned his head and looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s well-behaved manner of drinking soup. His face was drawn, and he silently prayed that he would not be in the same group with Qiao in the subsequent matches. At that time, Qiao¡¯s own mecha must have been done. He doesn¡¯t want to fight against Qiao¡­ If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 87.2 T/L: Sorry for being so inconsistent in translating the structure of this competition. In my defense, I¡¯m also confused because the author uses so much ¡°final¡± round QAQ It should be like this: Qualifying round (they¡¯re currently here) -> goal: to be a Top 5 player in their own district. QZY and CY are in the Capital Planet district. There¡¯s two divisions: the Federation and the Empire. Each division consists of many districts. -> consists of several rounds, with each round having different rules, but they are all real-life. -> Chu Rong and Chu Huai forbids them from winning the qualifying round, so they can¡¯t place in top 5. Play-offs/final round -> battle royale, survival style. -> Top 5 players of each district will battle on a separate planet. While Chu Yan resolved his doubts about the first shot by asking Qiao Zhiya in person, questions still lingered in the minds of the audience and the defeated contestant, Liu Hongzi. After all the matches of the day concluded, discussions about the competition heated up on the forum. On the other hand, Liu Hongzi applied for an official review of the match, seeking to accept the defeat graciously. Some keen-eyed spectators, upon studying the official match footage, discovered the extreme actions of Qiao Zhiya swinging his hammer to combat the ammunition. They enthusiastically rushed to the forum to share this discovery with others. Later, Liu Hongzi also learned about the process of losing the match from the referees at the monitoring site. It was a hammer, a quaint-looking hammer¡­ Everyone who knew the truth was stunned, and then was amazed. A hammer that could withstand that kind of shots, its specs must be super-grade. This weapon must also be made by Qiao Zhiya himself¡­ RESPECT, with capital letters! With the help of this news, the Mecha Piloting Competition ¨C which should have been very popular but appeared very low-key because of the pharmacy incident ¨C finally got the attention it should have. On the Starry Sky Forum, posts about the competition appeared in every corner. A few days later, just before the second round began, another piece of heavy news came ¨C the Empire¡¯s Third Prince actually participated in this match, and he had already won the first round of the first qualifying round. Of course, he¡¯s in the Empire Division. So the people became more and more excited. They cheered at the players, leaving the task to bring glory by defeating the Third Prince to them! During the break between the two qualifying rounds, first-year student Chu Yan finished his final exams and officially welcomed the summer vacation. And just the day after that, the private ships of the Ning family set sail silently in the early morning, all heading to the Empire. After listening to the gossip brought by Chu Yan, Qiao Zhiya remembered the message sent by Ning Kongran before, but didn¡¯t reply. Instead, he continued to immerse himself in the making of his small mecha. Because he wanted to try something new, the production of the small mecha was a bit slower. When it was finally finished, it was 10 PM the day before the second round. After Qiao Zhiya was done, he was immediately taken by Chu Rong for a quick shower and tucked into bed. He had no time to test drive it. On the day of the competition, on the way to the arena, Chu Yan said worriedly, ¡°You should use Rong Tian today. Your Elf1С¾«Áé; xiaojingling hasn¡¯t been tested. What if something goes wrong during the match?¡± ¡°I actually had driven it a bit in secret.¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, suppressing the guilty conscience he felt when Chu Rong saw him. ¡°Besides, I didn¡¯t bring Rong Tian with me. Master Ren is still cleaning off the gravity-altering powder stuck on the mecha.¡± ¡°What! You did not bring Rong Tian!¡± Chu Yan could not help but scream. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly tugged at him, then turned to look at Chu Rong. Chu Rong frowned, saw him come up and fixed his bangs, saying, ¡°I brought Master Ren¡¯s spare mecha for you. Don¡¯t worry.¡± When Qiao Zhiya saw that he was not angry, he pursed his lips and smiled, tilting his head and nuzzling into his palm. Chu Yan, who found himself worried: ¡°¡­¡± The rules of the second qualifying round were the same as the preliminary round ¨C +1 point for each win, -1 point for each loss, and 3 losses means you¡¯re eliminated. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s grouping was still the same as the last game. Chu Yan was in Group 2, and Qiao Zhiya was in Group 4. ¡°Jiayou!¡± ¡°Jiayou!¡± After entering the competition arena, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya encouraged each other, then bid farewell to Chu Rong, and each entered the waiting area of ??their respective group. Upon entering the waiting area for his group, Qiao Zhiya was immediately met with the gazes of other participants. He paused, smiled friendly at everyone as a greeting, then found his designated spot marked with his participant number and walked over to sit down. ¡°Humph.¡± The player, who was also a teenager around his age, suddenly snorted. He looked over at him, but was given a stink eye by the other party. After narrowing his eyes, he silently retracted his gaze, and politely stopped looking around. ¡°Your previous match was wonderful.¡± The participant sitting on the other side suddenly spoke up, extending a friendly hand and introducing herself: ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Irene2her name is °¬ÁÕ ¡°¨¤i L¨ªn¡±, which can also be Aileen/Erin/Eileen., a fourth-year student at the Federal Military Academy. Thank you and the Chu family for helping my father. Good luck in the competition.¡± A distinctly feminine hand reached out in front of him, prompting Qiao Zhiya to follow its direction and meet the friendly gaze of the long-haired female participant beside him. Irene saw him come over and smiled at him again, inching closer. Qiao Zhiya shook her hand politely, then began to introduce himself. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Qiao Zhiya. Your father¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s a mecha warrior. Thank you for revealing the matter of the Energy Conversion Agent.¡± Irene explained. Qiao Zhiya suddenly realized and a smile spread across his face. He engaged in conversation with her, expressing concern about her father¡¯s situation. The teenager sitting on the other side frowned, clearly displaying his disgust. At 10 AM, the match began. A large screen was lowered in the middle of the waiting area, displaying ten blank match tables. Then, the numbers of the participants in the tables started flashing continuously until they finally stopped. The indicator light on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s seat lit up, showing the number ¡°5¡±. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to fight in the first match. You can go to the arena via Channel 5. Just go out from there.¡± Irene, who was more familiar with this kind of game, whispered and pointed to the other side of the waiting area, 10 channels connected to the match arena. Qiao Zhiya thanked her, got up and walked toward Channel 5. However, he did not expect the teenager sitting on the other side of him to follow up, and went in the same direction as him. ¡°Don¡¯t block the way.¡± The boy deliberately walked two steps and bumped him on the shoulder, taking the lead to enter Channel 5. Qiao Zhiya frowned, raising his hands and rubbing his shoulders. Once again, as soon as he stepped out, Qiao Zhiya was engulfed by the cheers of the audience. He waved to his supporters and then made his way to the arena connected directly to Channel 5. After greeting the overseeing referee, he entered the competition area. The teenager player on the opposite side had already taken out his mecha and boarded it. It was actually a small mecha, and its level was not low. Qiao Zhiya glanced only briefly before averting his gaze, retrieving the button containing his Elf mecha from its compartment. With slightly trembling fingers, he pressed it forward. Then, a small earthy brown mecha with green markings appeared. It resembled a large humanoid metal doll. The cheers in the auditorium suddenly disappeared, and the small mecha driven by his opponent paused for a moment. It¡¯s not Rong Tian? Where is that towering, imposing black mecha? What¡¯s with this strange humanoid metal doll-like thing standing in front of Qiao Zhiya now? What¡¯s going on? Is he going to compete passively again? The same questions arose in everyone¡¯s minds, including the referee. ¡°Player Qiao Zhiya, do you want to use this¡­ uh, mecha, for the match?¡± The referee couldn¡¯t help but ask. He couldn¡¯t be blamed, the mecha in front of him was unlike other mecha he had seen. Because Qiao Zhiya was unable to completely replicate the human proportions, the joints at the shoulders and neck had to be smoothly contoured. As a result, the mecha was more like a big metallic humanoid figure. Traditional mecha had a protective shell-like armor. Even Rong Tian, which Qiao Zhiya himself designed, followed this trend. But this brown-green mecha was a whole different thing. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m using this. Its name is Elf.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, and introduced the strange mecha¡¯s name like a proud parent. He then jumped up sharply, opened the mecha¡¯s cockpit and tucked himself in. ¡®There¡¯s really a cockpit? It¡¯s really a mecha?¡¯ many people questioned.3T/L: I would imagine that traditional mecha looked like a giant robot a la Gundam, while QZY¡¯s Elf is more¡­ biomechanical(?). More human-like. I would say like the mechas in EVA or Darling in the Franxx. The audience and referees couldn¡¯t shake off the surreal feeling of witnessing something magical. As the three-minute preparation time was nearing its end, the referee snapped back to reality, casting another glance at the brown mecha with its glowing startup lights before stiffly returning to the referee stand. The teenager who drove the small white mecha also snapped back to reality as well. Scornfully, he surveyed the Elf across the room once more as he began readying his weapon, secretly on guard. Formally lighting up his own mecha, Qiao Zhiya was a little excited. He first tried to move his body, and determined that there was nothing wrong before starting to debug the weapon. The audience was stunned again. How could this strange mech move so, so¡­ flexibly? It¡¯s like it¡¯s a real person walking back and forth. Its movement of lowering its head and torso were very free, without any hint of rigidity that a normal mecha should have. To achieve this effect, to what extent did Qiao Zhiya refine the joints of this strange mecha? There was also a very obvious odd body proportion of this mecha. Is having such thin limbs appropriate for combat? ¡°Ding!¡± The countdown ended, and the opposing white small mecha brandished a long knife, aggressively lunging forward, opting for close combat to evade Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unpredictable long-range bow and arrow attacks. Qiao Zhiya immediately took out his hammer to meet his opponent in the middle. The two weapons clashed together, making a loud metal impact. ¡®What an amazing strength!¡¯ The two youths thought about it at the same time. They both backed at the same time and lunged forward again! So fast! The audience gasped in amazement, stunned by the combat prowess displayed by the two players. However, they soon noticed something peculiar about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mecha ¡ª it seemed to move as if it were a living being engaged in combat! Despite its slender limbs compared to typical mechas¡¯, its movements were powerful and aggressive, whether it was the flexing of its arms or the intensity of its retreats. Its slender arms could casually swung around a giant hammer. The contrast made a great visual impact! The white mecha opposite of him was also very good. Despite its high frequency attacks, each strike was very beautiful. At the very least, the player¡¯s basic skills were rock solid. On one side, there was textbook-like precision and sophisticated maneuvers, while on the other, there were wild and primal counterattacks. Both fighters moved swiftly, but it was evident that Qiao Zhiya was more agile and adept at handling the situation. The slender form of his mecha proved to be a significant advantage in close combat! Even more impressive! The audience was exhilarated. After switching to the small-sized mecha, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s prowess seemed even greater! ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± The sound of metal clashing continued incessantly as the two battled from the center of the arena to its edges and back again. Throughout the fight, neither of them took to the skies, used any firearms, or attempted to create distance. It was all about close combat! The audience was completely mobilized, and the sound of cheering almost overturned the roof of the stadium. After a round of grappling, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression turned serious, sweat beading on his forehead. Just as he suspected, not test-driving it properly led to issues. There was a joint in the mecha¡¯s waist that wasn¡¯t properly calibrated and needed some adjustment. So, he must finish the match quickly. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze hardened, and his movements intensified. The teenager noticed the change and increased the intensity of his attack. ¡°Boom!¡± The two weapons clashed again, but this time, instead of retreating or launching another attack, Qiao Zhiya suddenly crouched down. With a sweeping motion, he forced the white mecha to step back. Then, with a quick step, he appeared behind the white mech, retracted his hammer, reached out his arm, and grabbed the white mecha¡¯s waist. With a twist of his body, he forcefully flung it away. The audience¡¯s eyes nearly popped out¡ªcan a mecha even perform such actions? Twisting its body to fling another mecha away? How did he do it? What kind of controls enable such ¡°twisting¡± movement? Could a mecha¡¯s waist connection even allow for such ¡°twisting¡±? As the white mecha was flung, the pilot reacted in time, using its flight capabilities and trying to stabilize himself mid-air. But then, Qiao Zhiya pulled out his bow, pointing it at him. Because of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s throw, the white mecha¡¯s joints were a bit rattled, hindering its movement. The teenager knew he must resolve this matter as soon as possible! The arrow came swiftly, startling the teenager, who quickly swung his sword to block. Unfortunately for him, a second arrow followed suit, flying in the same trajectory as the first. He soon realized that he had become the target of the other party at the moment when he flew. He opened the mecha¡¯s shield, and at the same time took out a long-ranged firearm, trying to counterattack and pry open an opportunity. ¡°Whoosh¡ª¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t give him a chance to fight back. He fired off several arrows in succession, aiming it at all possible directions the teenager could retreat. He aimed the last arrow right at his opponent¡¯s cockpit area, forcing him to forfeit. This round of the game was only one match of many. Even if he lost 1 point, it wouldn¡¯t doom him. In this kind of situation, his utmost priority is to minimize any damages to his mecha so he can still compete. Despite his unwillingness, knowing the destructive power of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arrow, the teenager bit his lip and forfeited. ¡ª¡ªHis ranged weapon destroyed and his melee weapon slipping from his grasp, even if he landed, he would still be an easy target for Qiao Zhiya. There was no possibility of winning. It was better to admit defeat and prepare for the next round. CH 87.3 The referee announced that Qiao Zhiya had won the match. Qiao Zhiya was relieved, put away his bow, then jumped out of his mecha. He asked the referee to apply for a permit to use the repair room. The young man who had just jumped down from his mecha was momentarily stunned by the words, then widened his eyes and carefully observed the mecha in front of Qiao Zhiya. After noticing a slight looseness at the waist joints, he regretfully hit his forehead ¡ª Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mecha was actually damaged! If he just persisted a little longer, and engaged in close combat for a while longer, he should be able to win! He shouldn¡¯t have given up! The audience and the referee were also stunned. They did not expect that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mecha was damaged during the battle. After entering the repair room, Qiao Zhiya refused the help of the official Mecha Maker staff. He took out his own tools and climbed to his mecha, burying his head against the joints of the waist, then quickly recalibrating it and preventing it from loosening again. The official staff looked at the young man¡¯s movements, which were much more skilled and rapid than his own, then glanced at the strange mecha in front of him. He silently took a step back ¡ª before a genius, it was better for him, an ordinary person, to just watch the show obediently. When returning to the waiting area, the second match has already begun. Irene¡¯s seat was empty, so she should be playing. Qiao Zhiya sat back in his seat, when suddenly, the teenager who had returned earlier grabbed his shoulder. ¡°Where is your mecha damaged? Which of my attacks caused it?¡± The teenager asked aggressively, his eyes fixed. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t appreciate his attitude. He shrugged off his hand and replied, ¡°I just haven¡¯t calibrated the mecha properly before the match. You didn¡¯t actually land a hit on me. In fact, if your mecha¡¯s armor wasn¡¯t so high and your weapons weren¡¯t top-tier, you would have lost already.¡± The young man must come from a wealthy family, using only super-class weapon and armor. Judging by the force he applied on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder earlier, his own strength was likely only at the level of an average A-rank physique. However, his performance in the match far exceeded this level, indicating that his strength was greatly enhanced by the quality of his mecha and weapons. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one using super-class weapons, don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know!¡± The teenager retorted, his expression becoming even more unpleasant. ¡°My weapon is not super-class.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t want to talk to him anymore. After retorting back, he retracted his gaze and opened a rest mode on his seat, separating him from the outside area with a soundproofed, isolation barrier. He couldn¡¯t do much about the mecha, as he always aimed for the best and never intentionally did poorly. However, when it came to making weapons, he listened closely to Chu Rong¡¯s advice and didn¡¯t make them super-calls. He even sacrificed the better secondary-mutated red tine ore for an inferior mineral. If his weapon were super-class, the teenager wouldn¡¯t have been able to engage in so many clashes with him. His weapon would have broken upon their first collision. The teenager stared at the isolation shield in front of him, pounding the armrest of the chair in frustration. No! He refused to believe it! Qiao Zhiya¡¯s weapons must also be super-class! Otherwise, how could it have such tremendous force? For this qualifying round, each match was allocated 10 minutes each, with 10 small rounds in total, involving 100 participants. Thus, an hour and a half easily passes by without notice. Qiao Zhiya contemplated the timing of the matches during lunch and felt puzzled. In reality, organizing a competition with such a format would indeed be time-consuming. Could they really determine the results in just one day? ¡°Definitely,¡± replied Chu Yan, swallowing his food before responding to his question. ¡°Real-life competitions are different from those on the Internet. You have to take into account the wear and tear on the mechas. Today, we¡¯ll probably have enough time for all the participants to compete in five rounds. Some competitors might even have to drop out before the end of the competition due to significant damage to their mechas. This competition tests not only your piloting skills but also your ability to preserve your equipment.¡± Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya suddenly understood the reason why that teenager asked him in the morning. The competition resumed at 1:00 PM, and Qiao Zhiya was matched against a middle-aged competitor in his second match, narrowly winning. Surprisingly, sitting next to him, Irene encountered the rude teenager and ultimately emerged victorious. Losing two matches in a row, the teenager¡¯s face has turned black. When he went to play his next match, he stared at Qiao Zhiya fiercely. Qiao Zhiya frowned as he didn¡¯t understand why he was so hostile towards him. The teenager won his third match. When he came back, his face looked much better, but his opponent looked gloomy. He went directly to the repair room and never came out. He dropped-out, as his mecha was too damaged to be repaired and he didn¡¯t have spare mecha. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t continue competing. Qiao Zhiya noticed this, his eyebrows tightened. Once again, he opened his isolation shield before the teenager could approach him. In the subsequent matches, Qiao Zhiya won two matches and lost one. The person who defeated him was Ling Yingxu, a strong contender for the championship in the Capital Planet district. Ling Yingxu was a veteran mecha warrior who had started from scratch and established several large chain mecha training centers in the Capital Planet, earning a certain reputation. Qiao Zhiya lost him convincingly, especially because his opponent¡¯s battle experience was very rich, which was not comparable to him as a novice. At the end of the day, in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s group, 12 mechas were too damaged and its pilot had to drop out. In total, there were about 30 players who failed because they lost three times. About 20 players lost two times, and only a handful of them lost only once. In Group 4, only Ling Yingxu had a clean record of victories. The rude teenager was eliminated, while Qiao Zhiya and Irene both qualified for the next round. In Group 2, Chu Yan smoothly qualified. Both of them could proceed in the final qualifying round before the play-offs. The final qualifying round was still a point match, but it spanned 5 days, with all the remaining 50 participants competing. During the competition, if the player¡¯s main and spare mecha was too broken to compete, they could still play using the official¡¯s spare mecha. The top 5 contestants would then be selected for the play-offs, where they will be competing with other top 5 from all districts, both divisions. There will be 10 rounds of matches every day, with 4 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon, each having 30 minutes allocated. Facing this style of competition, physical and energy consumption was huge. Chu Rong frowned at the game schedule, glanced sideways at the spare mecha that Qiao Zhiya was tinkering. Holding down his irritability, he stepped forward and hugged Qiao Zhiya, who was about to climb up to his mecha. Chu Rong carried him back to the main house. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled and looked back at him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s face was dark as he took the tools from his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s time to sleep.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s only 9 now¨C mph!¡± Chu Rong covered his mouth, and took him back to their bedroom, sending him to the bathroom first. After a week of rest, the final qualifying round began. On the way to the arena, Chu Yan was fiddling with his photon computer, gossiping: ¡°Hey, Qiao, the guy who lost to you in the first match was bad-mouthing you on the Starnet. He said you used special-grade weapons to disrupt the balance of the competition. Then he got backlash from others and was heavily criticized. It turns out his family runs a pharmaceutical company, and they lost half of their stores due to the pharmaceutical reform this time. That¡¯s a huge loss.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t speak. Chu Rong first reached out and held his shoulder, and asked quietly, ¡°Are you sure you won¡¯t get into the top 5?¡± Chu Yan froze for a moment, looked at him, and noticed his unusually heavy mood. He instantly knew that his Erge was exhibiting his protective instincts towards his fianc¨¦ again. Quickly, he put away his photon computer and said with a laugh, ¡°Getting into the top 5? Impossible. With our strength, how could Qiao and I possibly make it into the top five? Only first place in each group stands a chance. Qiao and I are just here to join in the fun. Besides, the play-off is a survival match, so dangerous. Qiao and I won¡¯t go.¡± Qiao Zhiya had discovered that Chu Yan had been off for several days, understanding his concern for him. Upon hearing his words, he quickly nodded in agreement and said, ¡°Yes, Chu Yan and I are just here to have some fun. Although everyone says that the contestants in this round are relatively weak, I think everyone is actually very talented. For example, there¡¯s Irene sitting next to me. She handles details exceptionally well, balancing close combat and ranged attacks perfectly, and her weapon usage is also very¡ª¡±. The atmosphere in the car grew noticeably heavier by a few degrees. Chu Rong reached out and grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, squinting his eyes and sneering, ¡°Are you very interested in that Irene?¡± Qiao Zhiya shut his mouth, attempting to pull his ear away but failing, and replied, ¡°No, no, I¡¯m just interested because she also uses a small-sized mech, so I wanted to learn from her. I watched her match recordings.¡± ¡°How many videos have you watched?¡± Chu Rong continued to inquire, curling his finger around the tip of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. Qiao Zhiya was tickled, his ears trembling in return. He honestly replied, ¡°Watched it all, including her preliminary matches video.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Chu Rong sneered, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan shuddered together. ¡®It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over for me¡­ Chu Rong/Erge seems going crazy.¡¯ Both of them thought in unison. ¡°Have a good game.¡± After Chu Rong laughed, he let go of his ears mercifully, and he helped fix his appearance. Tidying his bangs, with an inscrutable expression, Chu Rong said, ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you from the sidelines.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart skipped a beat, his danger radar activated. He quickly threw himself into Chu Rong¡¯s arms, frantically rubbing his chest, trying to bring him back to his usual self. Chu Rong stretched his arms back and hugged him. He raised his hand to hold the back of his head, his expression was still unfathomable. Chu Yan who was regarded as air: ¡°¡­¡± It turned out that his Erge was just jealous. He¡¯s still too naive. At 9 AM in the morning, the competition started on time. The first match of the round appeared. Chu Yan¡¯s and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s seats lit up together, both showing the number ¡°2¡±. The two of them, who happened to be facing each other, paused for a moment, exchanged a glance, and suddenly burst into laughter. With unspoken agreement, they got up together and walked towards Channel 2. Chu Yan even casually draped his arm over Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder and asked, ¡°Are we still going to practice according to our usual routine at home?¡± ¡°Mn.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded and added, ¡°No mercy.¡± Chu Yan snapped his fingers in his ear and answered, ¡°But of course.¡± As soon as Qiao Zhiya exited the channel, cheers rang out. But after seeing who the two competitors were, the cheers immediately weakened, and then the sound of doubts sounded. Why did Qiao Zhiya come out with Chu Yan? Are they fighting during this match? Soon enough, the answer was provided to them. On the second arena, a silver and a brown mecha stood on opposite sides of the field. As the countdown reached zero, in perfect harmony, they both only wielded their cold weapons and swiftly engaged in combat! If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 88.1 A silver mecha and a brown mecha moved freely in the arena, dancing in a deadly tune. If one attacked, the other would dodge; a well-matched play. The audience found that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s combat style changed after encountering Chu Yan. Instead of his usual wild and aggressive style, he had a touch of wariness and slyness. On the opposite end, the usually fast and erratic Chu Yan becomes more ¡°solid¡± and ¡°tactical¡±. Rather than a tense fight, the two youths looked very much enjoying this duel, as if the result of the battle was no longer important. The audience was affected by them, and they no longer paid attention to winning or losing. They began to look at the game with extra appreciation, and focused on their skillset as they cheered. The atmosphere in the arena became warm and friendly, as smiles bloomed in every corner. ¡°Boom!¡± The giant hammer and the energy blade clashed again. Suddenly, Chu Yan suddenly retracted his blade, flexed his side and threw a punch towards Qiao Zhiya. In return, Qiao Zhiya ducked on time, readying to swing his hammer in a counter-attack. Chu Yan saw this move. He expertly dodged, pushing his mecha¡¯s movement to the limit by squatting and letting out a sweeping leg motion, hoping to trip Qiao Zhiya. The giant hammer smashed to the ground, causing the special protective barrier of the ground to shake. The brown mecha failed to escape the silver mecha¡¯s low kick, throwing its body out of balance and plummeting to the ground. Chu Yan immediately turned over, took out his energy blade, and stood in a higher position than the Qiao Zhiya¡¯s cockpit. ¡°I won.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s voice came out. ¡°You won.¡± Qiao Zhiya echoed with a smile. The brown mecha raised his hand in forfeit. After a brief moment of confusion, the audience erupted into an even more enthusiastic cheer. The entertainment value of this match was incredibly high, with both players showcasing their unique and impressive skills. In particular, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s moves were so agile and captivating that it felt as if he were truly battling in person. It was simply unbelievable and incredibly captivating! In the rounds, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s matches were very quick, either in his win or loss. He rarely had this close-combat duel that spanned a long time, especially because he had that bow. He usually used his bow to end the match pretty quickly, so his audience quickly grew used to this routine. After witnessing such a high-profile battle today, they finally cast aside their prejudice against the brown-colored mecha¡¯s appearance and shifted their attention from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s archery skills to the capabilities of the mecha itself. They truly discovered its remarkable strengths¡ªits high agility and freedom of movement. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s peculiar-looking mecha was definitely more than just its odd appearance. Before, he piloted Rong Tian, and now, this mecha called Elf. Even under the same pilot, these two mechas showed a completely different flexibility than ordinary mechas. How did this happen? Clearly, Rong Tian wasn¡¯t this ¡°human-like¡± when it was built on the Internet. Could it be that Qiao Zhiya, the genius Mecha Maker, has tried some new modifications? If that¡¯s true, when this level of agility becomes widespread among all mechas¡­ Wow, the scene is so beautiful that they¡¯re almost immediately filled with excitement and passion. They really wanted to drive a mecha like Rong Tian or Elf, and experience what it¡¯s like to ride the wind! Discussions about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s new mecha gradually popped up in the audience. During the match, the referee had declared Chu Yan¡¯s victory. The brown mecha stood up with the help of the silver mecha. The two gathered their weapons and went out of the arena. ¡°That is a good warm-up.¡± Chu Yan shook his head and was very happy. Qiao Zhiya was also very happy. His small face was red because of the exhilarating exercise just now. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes, yes, I feel my body can move freely now. Let¡¯s do our best for our next matches!¡± ¡°Jiayou, I believe you can win.¡± Chu Yan patted his shoulder vigorously as encouragement. Neither of them expected to advance into the top 5, so they weren¡¯t pressured by crushing expectations. Of course, it is good to win, and it doesn¡¯t matter if they lose. The smile on their faces makes the other players in the waiting area feel very complicated. That¡¯s the life of the rich, isn¡¯t it? Every opportunity they fight tooth and nail for is just a game to them. After a short break, the second round began. The number ¡°7¡± was lit on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s chair. Ling Yingxu, who was sitting diagonally across from him, stood up and nodded politely to him. With a kind tone, he said, ¡°We meet again. I¡¯ll give it my all.¡± The greatest respect a warrior can give to their opponent is to promise to give it their all. Qiao Zhiyaalso stood up, smiled at him, and said, ¡°So will I.¡± The two walked towards the channel one after the other. Qiao Zhiya smiled at him cheerfully as he passed Chu Yan. Chu Yan couldn¡¯t laugh, his expression was stiff as if he swallowed a stone. Although winning or losing doesn¡¯t matter, it wouldn¡¯t be great if Qiao Zhiya lost two matches in the beginning. It¡¯s not that he doesn¡¯t believe in Qiao, but Ling Yingxu was really strong. Qiao¡¯s chance of winning was quite small. Sure enough, by the end of his second match, Qiao Zhiya was defeated and returned to his seat. ¡°How¡¯s it?¡± He rushed over to ask. Qiao Zhiya shook his head with a smile on his face, looking relaxed, and asked back, ¡°How about yours, did you win the second match?¡± ¡°I won.¡± Chu Yan frowned as he answered, ¡°This round of the points game is also the same, you¡¯ll be eliminated after losing three matches in a row. You have already lost two. If you lose one more¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, my purpose of test-driving my mecha has been achieved.¡± Qiao Zhiya patted his shoulders to reassure Chu Yan. He took a glance at the other youth¡¯s expression and continued, ¡°Plus, I aimed to only test-driving one mecha in the first place. Now, I can do two of them, isn¡¯t that great?¡± Chu Yan knew he was trying to reassure himself. After a pause, he couldn¡¯t bear to say anything else. He mustered up his spirits and smiled back, responding, ¡°You¡¯re super amazing! There will definitely be tons of posts about your mecha on the forums! Rong Tian and Elf are both one of a kind!¡± Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s smile brightened even more. Seeing that the third round of the competition was about to begin, he hurriedly urged Chu Yan to return to his seat and rest for a while. The second round had been quite difficult, lasting the full thirty minutes, so Chu Yan must be very tired now. Chu Yan was afraid that saying more would increase his psychological pressure, so he obediently sat back down. One minute later, the list for the third round of matches was announced. The number ¡°4¡± lit up on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s chair. Irene, who was sitting behind him, stood up, leaned over, patted his shoulder, and smiled. ¡°Jiayou.¡± With that, she turned and walked towards the Channel 4. After a momentary stun, Qiao Zhiya greeted Chu Yan and walked towards Channel 4. Chu Yan stared as Irene walked away, too preoccupied to even check who his opponent was. He was fuming inside at the tournament system. ¡®What kind of ridiculous matchmaking was this? It seemed like they were deliberately targeting Qiao. How could all three opponents be familiar faces, and with decent skills too? Were they intentionally trying to eliminate him? Something must be wrong with the system, maybe it got infected by a virus!¡¯ Passing by, Ling Yingxu noticed that he was sitting still and kindly reminded him. It was only then that he snapped out of it, furrowing his brow determinedly as he rushed into the competition area. This time, he was determined to end the match quickly so he could go watch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s match! Irene also drove a small mecha. It was iron-grey, with a thicker skeleton than the usual small mechas. Standing next to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slender Elf, it looked particularly oppressive. Having lost two matches in a row, it was a lie when he said that he wasn¡¯t nervous. However, his nervousness was only mild. As he had just mentioned to Chu Yan, his purpose of participating in the competition had already been achieved. Every match he fought was a gain, so he just needed to do his best. This time, when Qiao Zhiya appeared, the audience, instead of the previous enthusiastic cheers, fell into a quiet, supportive silence after a round of encouragement. All of them nervously stared at the countdown timer in the arena. His elimination or not depended on this match! Three, two, one ¡­ The game starts! The barrier disappeared, and Qiao Zhiya lifted his bow, shooting at Irene who immediately rushed forward. Irene sidestepped, raising her handgun and firing a shot at him. She then swiftly changed her position, taking advantage of the handgun¡¯s ability to fire continuously, and unleashed several shots in rapid succession toward him. Qiao Zhiya dodged each shot, closing the distance while evading. When he was only about ten meters away from Irene, he suddenly put away his bow, pulling out a hammer and swiftly closing in on her. Irene was busy putting away her handgun and hadn¡¯t reloaded its energy bullets. She could only take out twin knives to defend herself. The match began with intense long-range attacks from both sides, but after some probing, they quickly switched to close combat. All of this happened in less than a minute, with a very fast pace that immediately captured the audience¡¯s attention. Their hearts raced as they followed the movements of the two contestants, not daring to divert their attention for a moment. One clash, two clashes, three clashes¡­ then it followed by an arc. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind flashed the recorded footage of Erin¡¯s previous battles. He accurately dodged her rapid attacks and then suddenly jumped up. Stepping on the blade she swung at him, he swiftly ascended into the air. On his wrist, there was a small crossbow. He pointed his finger down and pulled the trigger. With a barely perceptible sound of breaking through the air, a tiny crossbow bolt, minuscule compared to the mecha, flew directly towards the iron-grey mecha. His movements were so subtle, and he was ascending rapidly. After firing the crossbow bolt, he immediately swung his hammer downwards towards Irene. The crossbow bolt seemed to have little effect, and no one, not even the audience or Irene, noticed this covert attack. Irene immediately retracted her blade when her attack missed, rolling on the ground to evade the hammer strike. Suddenly, she pulled out her handgun and fired at Qiao Zhiya as he landed on the ground. Unbeknownst to anyone, she had already recharged her handgun¡¯s energy. Their distance was too close. Although Qiao Zhiya tried to avoid it, he still was shot. Fortunately, his mecha¡¯s armor was strong enough, so despite being shot at such a close range, it didn¡¯t leave much damage. He pulled away quickly at the moment he was shot, then turned around and pulled his bowstring, releasing it in one go. Irene narrowly dodged to the side, but the arrow still grazed her, visibly chipping away at the protective armor on her mecha¡¯s arm. ¡ª¡ªThe heat energy of the arrow was too high. In this series of attacks, they managed to hurt the other, but the damage wasn¡¯t significant. So, they continue their barrages of attack, closing their distance. The game was stuck in a stalemate ¨C neither of them could hurt, nor could they find the weakness of the other. CH 88.2 The audience watched as they exchanged wave after wave of potentially decisive attacks, only to have each one narrowly avoided by the other, leaving only minor damage. They were on edge, feeling trapped in a state of suspense, their faces turning blue from holding their breath. After more than twenty minutes of intense competition, Chu Yan finally finished his own battle and rushed over. Seeing that Qiao Zhiya was still in the midst of his match, and the situation was still tense, he became anxious and began cheering for Qiao Zhiya from the sidelines, injecting a bit of liveliness into the tense atmosphere of the match. In the twenty-eighth minute, Qiao Zhiya escaped a barrage of attacks from Irene. In the twenty-ninth minute, Qiao Zhiya tried to fight back, but was interrupted by Irene. The audience subconsciously held their breath, and Chu Yan was so anxious he wanted to rush in to help Qiao Zhiya fight. If thirty minutes of the countdown finished before a winner was announced, then the system will determine the final victory based on the total damage inflicted and the degree of damages suffered. The current situation is that neither of their mechas has suffered significant damage, which isn¡¯t enough to determine a winner. Therefore, the final decision will likely be based on the amount of damage inflicted. However, due to the nature of their weapons and attack frequencies, Irene¡¯s use of the rapid-fire handgun would likely result in higher damage overall. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arrows were all dodged by Irene in the end, each shot only scratching the outer armor of the mecha, so it wouldn¡¯t be counted as much damage! But Qiao Zhiya was cleanly shot several times, so despite it not causing much damage, it would be counted higher! Come on, come on, come on! Chu Yan lay down on the protective barrier of the waiting area, and his face was a little distorted because of tension. In the final ten seconds, Qiao Zhiya finally managed to evade Irene¡¯s entanglement and shot out the last arrow. However, the audience couldn¡¯t help but cry out in despair. Whether it was due to nervousness or a slip of the hand, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shot was clearly off-target. He hadn¡¯t anticipated his opponent¡¯s movement trajectory properly, causing the arrow to miss its mark! ¡°Swish!¡± The arrow flew swiftly towards Irene¡¯s side. Seeing this, she deftly dodged to the other side, but her mecha suddenly paused in a strange manner. Then, it toppled over directly towards the direction where the arrow was headed. ¡°Pss¡ªst!¡± The sound of the arrow piercing through the mecha¡¯s protective armor echoed, and at the same time, the system displayed the result: Irene¡¯s mecha lost its mobility, and Qiao Zhiya emerged victorious. The audience was stunned, and so was Chu Yan. The youth quickly snapped out of it, and jumped happily in place, while the audience looked at each other in astonishment. ¡®What¡¯s going on? Why did Qiao Zhiya win?¡¯ Although they were somewhat biased towards him, the situation just now was too strange, as if Irene deliberately let the arrow hit her, losing the match. And why did it result in a loss of mobility? It was just a shot to the shoulder; damage should have been calculated. Irene¡¯s mecha shouldn¡¯t lose mobility just from being hit in the shoulder; it¡¯s not like it was struck in the power core area. After the iron-grey mech fell, it remained motionless, giving the impression that it had indeed lost mobility. As speculation about possible ¡°foul play¡± began to circulate among the audience, the cockpit of the iron-grey mech opened, and Irene stepped out. She looked towards the brown mecha, which had just retracted its bow, and raised her voice in frustration, asking, ¡°Qiao, what did you shoot into my mech? It can¡¯t move anymore.¡± Upon hearing this, the brown mecha took two steps towards them, and then its cockpit opened. Qiao Zhiyajumped out from inside and replied apologetically, ¡°It was a crossbow bolt. It seems to have slipped into your power core area. Is your mech¡¯s structure different from usual? The crossbow bolt entered slower than I estimated.¡± ¡°It¡¯s different from the norm, I did modify it a bit.¡± Irene shook her head as she answered, then continued with a smile, ¡°Can you help me take out the bolt? Otherwise I will have to use a spare mech for my next match.¡± Without hesitation, Qiao Zhiya approached and quickly climbed onto the iron-grey mech, taking out tools and swiftly removing its outer armor in front of the audience. From the power core area, Qiao Zhiya extracted a crossbow bolt, which was also deep brown and only slightly larger than a human palm. The audience suddenly realized why the iron-grey mech really lost its mobility. That small bolt really burrowed its way to the power core, causing it to shut-down. But then, they got confused again. When did Qiao Zhiya shoot this bolt? They didn¡¯t remember Qiao Zhiya launching this kind of attack. No one seemed to have the answer to this question. After removing the bolt, Qiao Zhiya and Irene hugged each other amiably. Then he retracted his mecha and went to talk to Chu Yan outside, while Irene turned back to speak to the referees. Afterwards, the three of them walked through the tunnel back to the waiting area. ¡°Huh, that Irene asked you to take out that bolt on the spot on purpose. She probably did that to prevent people accusing you on the forum.¡± Chu Yan put his arm around Georgia¡¯s shoulder, speaking in a mischievous tone, suggesting a speculation, ¡°She¡¯s so caring towards you, could it be that she¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya wiped the sweat from his forehead because of the long fight, and looked back at him with a simple look, asking, ¡°She what?¡± ¡°¡­No, it¡¯s nothing, she¡¯s just a really good person.¡± Chu Yan swallowed his suspicion, and felt that it was better not to teach this kind of bad joke to a pure guy like Qiao. Qiao Zhiya thought he was really praising Irene, and he nodded in response. ¡°Mn, Irene is really great, she is a good opponent.¡± After a few minutes of rest, the fourth round began. The system finally regained its conscience and matched Qiao Zhiya with a less capable opponent. Chu Yan felt relieved. The morning half of the round ended successfully. Chu Yan scored 4 points and ranked in the top spots. Qiao Zhiya lost 2 matches and won 2. He scored an overall 0, placing him in the middle ranking. During lunch, Chu Rong¡¯s expression looked extremely unpleasant. He reluctantly let Qiao Zhiya help him change into a pilot suit, but didn¡¯t say much. He simply accompanied them quietly for a meal. At 1 PM, the afternoon session of the round began. Qiao Zhiya seemed to get into the groove. While he didn¡¯t manage to OHKO his opponents, he succeeded in making sure all his shots landed. Moreover, he picked up a trick or two, realizing the need to inflict damage on the mechas, and began to use the small crossbow-like device on his wrist more often, despite it looking like a toy. The questions raised by the audience after watching Irene¡¯s match were finally answered in the later matches. Unlike when he kept his hand in the face of Irene, Qiao Zhiya used the crossbow more boldly in the following matches. ¡ª¡ªThe seemingly decorative small crossbow on his wrist turned out to be a hidden weapon. Moreover, the bolts appeared to be specially made, capable of easily penetrating the weak points of the mecha¡¯s armor and infiltrating its interior. Once inside the mecha, the arrow would move slowly as the mecha operated until it reached a critical power zone, causing disruption. During the afternoon matches, Qiao Zhiya used the small crossbow on his wrist to quietly sabotage the power structures of opponents¡¯ mechs in the first 4 matches, whether it was blocking the limbs or the central position, leaving opponents helpless in defeat. However, in the latter 2 matches, it seemed that his attacking methods were revealed, and his opponents paid more attention to protecting the weak spots of their mechas, preventing Qiao Zhiya from using the small crossbow. Therefore, he resorted to a combination of wild close combat and precise long-range attacks, seizing the opportunity for a decisive strike and winning the matches. At the end of the day, he scored a full 6 points, the same score as Chu Yan, who lost 2 matches in the afternoon session. They actually tied for 3rd ranking, entering the realm of legibility for the play-offs. After the competition ended that day, Qiao Zhiya was extremely excited, seeming to have come up with some new ideas. He went home, had dinner, and then locked himself in the laboratory, working until bedtime. He only reluctantly came out when Chu Rong personally went to fetch him. On the second day of the round, the audience was surprised to find that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s giant hammer had changed. The originally integrated grip became retractable. When he pulled it, it revealed a slender long sword. The opponent, who was originally planning to retreat after failing to land a hit, was suddenly stabbed by Qiao Zhiyasword, hitting a key joint area of the mecha¡¯s waist. As a result, the opponent lost balance, and the mecha tilted back, meeting the subsequent blow of the giant hammer. Victory, victory, victory¡­it was a series of continuous victories. In that day¡¯s last match, Qiao Zhiya finally met a very strong opponent ¨C a veteran player who was ranked first on the scoreboard at the time and was known for his cunning tactics. The opponent used cunning tactics against Qiao Zhiya, but he still had an ace up his sleeve. His giant hammer, aside from the long sword, could be further extended at the end of the grip, revealing a hidden short dagger inside! The opponent obviously did not anticipate this, and was accidentally stabbed in the chest-abdomen area, specifically the connector between the cockpit¡¯s input and the mecha. As a result, the spiritual connection snapped, and the mecha fell limply to the ground. The battle resulted in another victory. That day, Qiao Zhiya cleanly won all his matches, all thanks to his brand new two weapons! After the match, on the forum, there were one post after another discussing his hammer. After the mecha warriors analyzed and exclaimed, they came to the conclusion: Don¡¯t mess with a mecha warrior who is originally a mecha maker, because they know all the hidden weaknesses of mechas that you don¡¯t. Looking at all of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s performances in the qualifying round, they found that his attacks were particularly tricky. He wouldn¡¯t destroy your mecha outright, but he would disable it in various ingenious ways, making it a sitting duck for him to finish off. For example, in today¡¯s last match, who would have expected Qiao Zhiya to suddenly draw a dagger and attack the connection between the cockpit and the mecha? He managed to hit such a hidden and hard-to-find spot with a single strike, showcasing his terrifying insight and accuracy. They couldn¡¯t match him. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s victories were not based on overwhelming strength, but rather on his cleverness and deep understanding of mechas. The feeling of not being able to predict the opponent¡¯s fatal weaknesses was truly terrifying. Then came the third day, the fourth day¡­ Qiao Zhiya actually broke into the top 5 of the total points as he kept winning more than losing. Even Chu Yan was two places lower than him, only staying in 6th. Moreover, this is already a good result that others have never imagined! The audience is becoming more and more amazed and gradually realizing that this high-intensity combat seems to bring out Qiao Zhiya¡¯s potential even more. His progress is evident, and everyone who has fought against him has become his teacher. He instinctively absorbs the strengths of his opponents and then incorporates them, further enhancing his own abilities. T/L: do you think QZY and/or CY can get into top 5? CH 88.3 Happy Valentine~ Also, thank you Paprika for your generous support! In total, there will be 8 updates (but only 5 updates today), and I¡¯ll spread it into 2 DITF (4 chapters)+ 3 SVWL + 3 DPPM. Enjoy these updates, dear! ¡°Boom!¡± The mecha let out a spin attack, the one Irere used before, but in a much more flexible and domineering way. Then, he let out a clear Chu-style leg sweep, tripping his opponent until they fell to the ground. The brown mecha then pulled a sword, much longer than the opponent¡¯s own sword, and pointed it to the power core area. ¡°Forfeit, else I¡¯ll stab it through. Then, you can only use your spare mecha for your next game.¡± The gentle youth¡¯s voice came out from the brown mecha, faintly tinged with a hint of disdain typical of the strong. His opponent moved reluctantly, realizing that the tip of the sword was already pressed against the mecha¡¯s armor and their weapon had slipped from their grasp. With a resigned gesture, they raised his hands in surrender. The referee immediately announced Qiao Zhiya¡¯s victory, and the audience cheered. Qiao Zhiya folded his sword, bent over to lift his opponent, and whispered, ¡°Sorry.¡± Being pressured and forced to forfeit like that would definitely not sit well with them. His opponent patted his shoulder very kindly and said, ¡°Thank you.¡± So the audience cheers even more intensely. This was one of the reasons why they like Qiao Zhiya very much. If possible, Qiao Zhiya would try not to damage his opponent¡¯s mecha too much, so they could continue to fight with their main mecha. It¡¯s very different from many others, who usually went out their way to destroy their opponent¡¯s mecha. Ending the fourth day of the game with victory, Qiao Zhiya was firmly in 4th place in the rankings. Chu Yan climbed to 5th because of the previous 5th place¡¯s drop in rankings. Both of them actually steadily occupied play-offs placements. In the auditorium, Chu Rong frowned, his expression was a bit ugly. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s progress was too obvious. High-intensity learning or fighting could always prompt him to grow faster. Chu Yan has also improved a lot in the game, but the results of both of their progress have made it difficult for Chu Rong and Chu Huai to feel happy. The finals were survival-style battle royale. If they really enter, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya will not face such a dignified battle, but various terrible insidious traps. Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan were very excited at dinner, but the adults were a little silent. But all they did was to remain silent. The current achievements were earned by the children through their own efforts. They couldn¡¯t forcefully erase them just because of their own worries. It depends on tomorrow¡¯s game. Chu Rong and Chu Huai looked at each other, and they saw the implicit message in the other¡¯s eyes. The next day, this round was about to yield its results. There were many people who watched the competition on this day. Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an took a leave to watch in real-time. In fact, many people from big families also came to watch the competition. Wei Yu of the Wei family sat in the corner and looked at the stadium with envy. In fact, he really wanted to participate in this competition, but because his parents forbade him, he could only give up. Every time at moments like this, he couldn¡¯t help but envy Chu Yan. Children from large families all had their own constraints, but Chu Yan, he always lived freely and boldly. The morning game started, and the players started their final struggle. Chu Yan had a bad start, losing 2 matches in a row, falling out of the top 5 and placing 7th. Qiao Zhiya lost 1 match and won 1 match, his rankings stayed the same, but if he was to lose 1 match, he would be on 5th. After that, both of them won their next 2 matches, but the rankings weren¡¯t changed. The match continued in the afternoon. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s first two opponents were not strong. After winning 2 points, the ranking remained the same. At the same time, a player named Cao Xia emerged suddenly, winning 4 matches in the morning and 4 matches in the afternoon. This surge in points leap-frogged him to 6th place, very close to the current 5th place. In the next 2 matches, Chu Yan played well. He scored 2 points in a row. Qiao Zhiya lost 1 and won 1, so his total points remained the same. Cao Xia encountered Chu Yan, losing the match and failing to earn any points. As a result, the rankings shifted again, with Chu Yan securing the top position, firmly holding onto 5th place. The scores of the 5th and 6th place were too close, and the last finals place was contested, and everyone¡¯s attention shifted. In his second-to-last match, Chu Yan encountered a weaker player and easily won. Qiao Zhiya and Cao Xia also each scored 1 point, but the 4th ranker and 3rd ranker both lost their game, losing them 1 point ¨C the 4th ranker lost their position, while the 3rd remained unchanged. Chu Yan became 4th, while the former 4th ranker tied with Qiao Zhiya for 5th place, while Cao Xia was 6th place. Gu Yan¡¯an felt her heart couldn¡¯t take it anymore and dared not look at the rankings. She had initially thought the worst outcome would be only one of the two children making it to the play-offs. Now, seeing that both of them were likely to advance, she didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡°There¡¯s still one more match. If they lose, there¡¯s a chance neither of them will advance,¡± Chu Huai frowned, trying to reassure Gu Yan¡¯an. Having participated in this competition before, he didn¡¯t want both of children to make it to the finals. On the other hand, Chu Rong frowned upon hearing this, his gaze falling on the name ¡°Cao Xia¡±, the current 6th ranker. If his expectations were correct, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s final opponent should be this person, and most likely, he would lose. In their last match, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s opponent turned out to be the dark-horse Cao Xia. After a close match, Qiao Zhiya lost. As for Chu Yan, his last opponent was Ling Yingxu, and the match ended in his loss. But unexpectedly, the 3rd ranker and the 5th ranker (tied with Qiao Zhiya) both lost their matches. As a result, Cao Xia, who had only earned 1 point previously, climbed to 3rd place, pushing the former 3rd to 4th , Chu Yan to 5th, and Qiao Zhiya to a regrettable 6th place. Chu Huai sighed and patted Gu Yan¡¯an to assure her, saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay, only Xiao Yan goes to play-offs. We can let him compete so he can exercise more.¡± As the two were conversing, the referee suddenly issued a ban to the 3rd ranker. The reason being, the 3rd ranker resorted to unethical means in the last two matches, fearing loss, and recklessly used banned psychostimulants. This was detected during the system¡¯s performance review, resulting in their disqualification. After learning this news, the expressions of the audience turned somewhat peculiar. The ex-3rd ranker¡¯s actions were seen as an attempt to gain an unfair advantage, but it backfired spectacularly. By resorting to stimulants, not only did they fail to win the matches, but they also lost the position they had earned, making their actions seem rather foolish. So all the 4th rankers advanced one place ¨C Qiao Zhiya became 5th, although he was still tied with another contestant. ¡°Oh my God.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an covered her face, her heart beats irregularly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s a tie , maybe¨C¡± Chu Huai¡¯s comforting words were cut short as the top 5 positions didn¡¯t allow for ties. Therefore, the system automatically began its analysis and judgment. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mecha was intact, while the competitor tied with him had both their main and spare mechas damaged. As the last two matches were played using official mechas provided by the organizers, the system ultimately judged Qiao Zhiya to have better overall strength, placing him 5h. The tied competitor was pushed down to 6th place, and the rankings of the subsequent competitors were adjusted accordingly. The audience was left bewildered by the twists and turns of the rankings. After a moment of silence, they erupted into joyous cheers. Fireworks celebrating the occasion lit up from various corners, but the expressions of the Chu family parents became increasingly grim. Qiao Zhiya was also bewildered. He watched himself become 5th place and asked stupidly, ¡°Why am I 5th? Is the system wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible for the system to have messed up.¡± Chu Yan raised his arm and draped it over his friend¡¯s shoulder, looking at the ranking board. He imitated Chu Rong¡¯s enigmatic expression and said, ¡°Qiao, can you believe it? We made it to the finals.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head. In fact, he felt like this was a dream. ¡°But we made it in!¡± Chu Uan glanced at him, boldly tugged at his ear, and his lips slowly curled upward, unable to contain his excitement as he hugged him tightly and began to shake him vigorously, exclaiming, ¡°We made it to the play-offs! Can you believe it? We¡¯re in the final round!¡± Qiao Zhiya was shaken silly by him, but his emotions were infected by Chu Yan, and he also wore a smile. This state remained until Qiao Zhiya¡¯s qualifying round award ceremony. He was with Chu Rong, who seemed quite normal, and they returned home for dinner, took a shower, and obediently lay down in bed. With a sudden weight beside him, he perked up his ears and moved to embrace, but his body was preemptively pressed down onto the bed. Chu Rong hovered above him, chillingly asking, ¡°Are you happy to have made it to the play-offs?¡± As if a cold wind swept through, dispersing the fog in his mind, Qiao Zhiya suddenly became clear-headed. He stared wide-eyed at the seemingly dangerous Chu Rong, feeling a tightening in his chest. He shook his head slowly and began to inch backward, stuttering, ¡°N-no¡­ w-we should sleep now.¡± Chu Rong pulled him back, pinning him down with his legs. His hand traced along Qiao Zhiya¡¯s cheek to his ear, giving it a gentle pinch before sliding down behind his ear, brushing against his neck, then following the contours of his chest down to his waist. With a slight pressure, he slotted their hips together. Chu Rong lowered his head and said deeply, ¡°No rush. It¡¯s only 9 PM. Weren¡¯t you always eager to help me before? Today, let me teach you.¡± Feeling the intimate closeness of their bodies, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened even more, and his heart rate began to accelerate rapidly. Remembering how Chu Rong used to endure so patiently before, he closed his eyes, blushing, and reached out his hand to explore further down. Chu Rong¡¯s body became stiff, his eyes darkened, and he stopped talking nonsense. He held down the youth¡¯s hand and kissed it. The next day, Qiao Zhiya did not go to the laboratory or study. Instead, he obediently stayed in the yard to play with his rabbits, his face flushed throughout. Chu Yan, who had been tortured by Chu Huai, sneaked out of the house and saw him still sunbathing outside in the hot summer, with his face all red from the sun but still continuing to sunbathe. He walked over in confusion and asked, ¡°What are you doing? Aren¡¯t you hot?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, his face still very red and not talking. Chu Yan became even more puzzled and simply sat down across from him, slouching on the table, and asked, ¡°Did Erge scold you yesterday? Last night after dinner, Dasao talked my ear off. She almost cried at the end. Is the play-offs really that scary?¡± The word ¡°yesterday¡± seemed to trigger a strange switch in Qiao Zhiya. Now, not only his face but also his neck and ears turned red. Finally, he face-planted onto the table, using his arms to cover his face. Shocked by his reaction, Chu Yan was worried that Qiao Zhiya might have heatstroke. He quickly sat up, opened a protective cover to shield them both, and lowered the temperature. Then, he cautiously poked Qiao Zhiyawith his finger, asking with concern, ¡°Qiao, are you feeling dizzy? Do you need to go see Zhuang-jie?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, his voice muffled out of his arm, vaguely saying, ¡°Male rabbit and male rabbit¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± His voice was too low, Chu Yan couldn¡¯t hear him clearly. Qiao Zhiya however, seemed embarrassed by his own words. Suddenly sitting up, he waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I¡¯m going to the lab. Chu Rong said the finals are too dangerous, so we can improve the performance of our weapons. I¡­ I¡¯m going to work on a new weapon.¡± With that, he quickly got up and dashed off at a fast pace. Chu Yan watched as he smashed through his protective cover and ran away, as if he hadn¡¯t seen the cover and felt no pain. His eyes widened almost to the point of popping out, and hesitating for a moment, he got up and tentatively bumped his head against the shield, puzzled, ¡°It¡¯s so easy to break through. Could it be a counterfeit product?¡± ¡°Bam!¡± He squatted to the ground with tears in his eyes. Rubbing his sore head, he felt that either Qiao or him were crazy. In the laboratory, Qiao Zhiya held two homemade mecha models. At first, he diligently studied the installation of new weapons and designed proportions. However, as he continued his research, his thoughts began to wander. His gaze gradually fell on the buttocks of the mecha models, and he even tried to adjust the legs of the mecha. ¡®Last night Chu Rong seemed to be trying to prod around this place¡­ though, he immediately retracted his finger, his hand really went to this place¡­¡¯ Fair and tender fingers poked slowly at the mecha¡¯s buttocks. He suddenly woke up and threw the mecha model to the workbench. His left hand slapped his own right hand, which had just touched something improper, then guiltily covered the model mecha with a piece of cloth. ¡®No, it¡¯s impossible. How could that place be used like that? That¡¯s not how it works¡­ But, there are some animals in the forest¡­ Hmm¡­ No, no, no, it¡¯s still impossible. The model is clearly wrong, it couldn¡¯t happen!¡¯ ¡®But, but, if Chu Rong wants to use that place¡­¡¯ He paused, turned his head, and looked at his own butt in the mirror. He tentatively reached out and touched his¡­ ¡°Creak¡ª¡± The sound of the door being twisted open suddenly echoed, startling him. He quickly withdrew his hand and glanced blurry at the figure of Chu Rong appearing at the doorway. His heart pounded, too flustered to wonder why Chu Rong, who was supposed to be having a meeting in the study, had suddenly come over. He looked around in a panic and then hurriedly crawled into Elf¡¯s cockpit, hiding himself. Chu Rong frowned at the sight, recalling what Chu Yan had said about Qiao Zhiya foolishly sunbathing and possibly getting heatstroke. His expression grew more serious, and he strode over to the Elf, leaping up with the support of its arm to stop in front of the cockpit. He knocked on the door and said, ¡°Qiao, come out.¡± There was no movement in the cockpit, as if no one was inside. Chu Rong became increasingly concerned and directly used his spiritual power to unlock the cockpit, pushing the door open. Qiao Zhiya watched as the door was opened, regretting not having disabled Chu Rong¡¯s access to the Elf¡¯s cockpit. Feeling extremely embarrassed, his face flushed with heat. He lunged forward, solemnly retrieving a small branch from the storage compartment and throwing it to the ground. With a serious tone, he declared, ¡°Chu Rong, let¡¯s duel!¡± The rules of the forest: the strong conquer the weak! If Chu Rong really wants to t-top him, then¡­ he had to defeat him! Chu Rong frowned as he locked eyes with him, squinting. Suddenly, he bent down, hoisted him onto his shoulders, and then jumped down from the Elf, striding purposefully towards the medical room. ¡® Chu Yan is right, this Bald Chicken really got a heatstroke and became stupid from it.¡¯ CH 89.1 Despite being hoisted up, Qiao Zhiya frantically kicked and struggled, determined to uphold the dignity of his duel challenge. Chu Rong exerted his dominance, patting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s butt as a warning. ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± he cautioned. So Qiao Zhiya immediately gave up, his ears and face turning even redder. He softened his body, grabbing onto Chu Rong¡¯s shirt hem and burying his face in it. ¡®H-how dare he spanked me! Th-that¡¯s too much! Foul!¡¯ Feeling the tug on his shirt, Chu Rong became concerned that the position might be uncomfortable for Qiao Zhiya, so he quickly turned him around and held him close, face to face, in his arms. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, staring at him with a pouting expression, resembling that of a sulking monkey. Chu Rong frowned even more, raised his hand and placed it on his forehead. ¡®Ah, it¡¯s really heatstroke, that¡¯s why his face is so red.¡¯ Bah. Qiao Zhiya suddenly leaned forward and took a bite out of him. Chu Rong stopped and looked down at him. ¡°I want to duel!¡± Qiao Zhiya solemnly emphasized. Chu Rong¡¯s expression became even grimmer. He sped up his steps towards the infirmary. The training hall was not far from the infirmary, and by the time they exchanged these few words, they had already arrived. Seeing Chu Rong holding Qiao Zhiya with a grim expression, Zhuang Yu thought something serious had happened and quickly dropped what she was doing to greet them. Half an hour later, she held a stack of test results, smiling on the outside but cursing inwardly as she escorted both of them out of the infirmary, cutting short any further examinations. She also slipped a few candies to Qiao Zhiya and, with a half-smile, half-frown, said, ¡°Sir, I¡¯m very busy, very busy indeed. Do you understand what I mean? Because of the pharmaceutical reform, I¡¯ll be busy this year, maybe even until next year.¡± She had zero time to waste! After saying this, she closed the door to the medical room, clearly demonstrating a ¡°top-down¡± approach for the first time. Qiao Zhiya looked very confused. ¡°Chu Rong, what¡¯s wrong with Zhuang Yu? Also, why did you take me here to check?¡± Chu Rong glanced at him, noticing his normal complexion, and furrowed his brows. He took his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s almost noon, let¡¯s go have lunch first.¡± The two went back to the main house and ate lunch. The atmosphere was normal during the meal. When Chu Rong arranged for Qiao Zhiya to take a nap, he still insisted: ¡°Chu Rong, we still haven¡¯t dueled! ¡° Chu Rong silently watched him, knowing that he was actually fine physically. With his intelligence finally coming back online, he leaned forward suddenly and gave him a kiss. Qiao Zhiya, who was attacked suddenly, was taken aback. His eyes widened, his ears straightened, then he looked at Chu Rong blankly. After a while, his face flushed crimson, then he grabbed the quilt and hid himself, but he was still calling for a duel despite his voice being muffled. ¡®It turned out not to be a heatstroke. He¡¯s just stupid.¡¯ Chu Rong narrowed his eyes, grabbed the quilt, pulled him over, and lifted him up, heading towards the mecha combat arena. ¡®It seems the Bald Chicken¡¯s tantrum was probably due to being spoiled too much, and a good scolding would likely solve it.¡¯ The two of them each climbed into their respective manually-piloted mechas. This time, Chu Rong showed no mercy, relentlessly controlling his mecha to pin down Elf repeatedly, delivering fatal blows whenever possible without any sentimentality. He even, for the first time, brought out weapons. Qiao Zhiya finally got a real taste of Chu Rong¡¯s terrifying skills in mecha piloting. Despite his short reach of his weapons, he just couldn¡¯t seem to grasp Chu Rong¡¯s vulnerabilities and was repeatedly subdued by the black dagger he had crafted for Chu Rong. It¡¯s like a cat teasing a mouse. He is the mouse while Chu Rong is the cat. No matter where he attacks, there¡¯s always a dagger waiting for him. With each defeat, the pink bubbles in his mind disappeared entirely, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression grew increasingly tense. His attacks became fiercer, and the battle genes buried deep within his blood were triggered. Elf the mecha began to resemble a real-life elf, its movements evolving from mere ferocity to something more delicate and graceful. ¡®¡ª¡ªWithout finesse, I¡¯ll lose even more miserably!¡¯ The sound of the mechas battling echoed throughout the entire afternoon, and in the end, it was Chu Rong who carried Qiao Zhiya out of the mech arena. Early the next morning, Chu Rong refused to give Qiao Zhiya a chance to get sick again. He immediately took him to the mecha battle hall. For four days in a row, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to the Mech Battle Hall early in the morning. Then after a tyrannical training session, he gave Qiao Zhiya a bath and a massage. Then, while laying down on bed, Chu Rong helped Qiao Zhiya via a thorough analysis of his mistakes. On the fifth day, Chu Rong reduced the time spent battling with Qiao Zhiya, allowing him more time to work on new weapons and helping him analyze previous matches. Qiao Zhiya was fully absorbed in the process, as the battles and analysis of the past few days provided him with plenty of inspiration. He needed to make the most of his time to create new weapons and modify his mecha. After getting Qiao Zhiya busy, Chu Rong dragged Chu Yan to the mecha battle hall and replicated the situation from the previous days. However, Chu Yan didn¡¯t receive the same loving treatment as Qiao Zhiya. After being defeated, he had to return to the main residence to tidy up himself. Massages were done using massage machines, and he had to reflect on the battles and analyze them on his own. Only then would Chu Rong provide guidance based on the feedback he provided. Half a month flashed in a hurry, and soon the play-offs arrived. Chu Rong took leave and personally accompanied them to the final competition venue on the border planet F90, where the final survival match would take place. ¡°Is it really okay for you to take a leave?¡± Qiao Zhiya expressed some concern and self-blame, feeling that he had delayed Chu Rong¡¯s important tasks, saying, ¡°The presidential election is about to start, and Dage also needs help.¡± Today when they set off, he thought that it would be Dasao accompanying them to the competition, and Chu Rong was just there to see them off. However, he didn¡¯t expect that in the end, Chu Rong also boarded the spaceship with them, while Gu Yan¡¯an stayed outside. Chu Rong patted his head and reassured, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I transferred Fan Xiangnan to Dage¡¯s side to help. The competition was only half a month, and by then, the presidential election wouldn¡¯t be over. I can come back then and help with the most important tasks.¡± In fact, the real competition only took about 2 days. The rest of the time was actually for the return journey, and some extra buffer times if things went south. If things went well, they would return much earlier. Qiao Zhiya listened to the explanation with a furrowed brow. Seeing his reaction, Chu Yan quickly took out the light brain and raised his voice, saying, ¡°This final match will be broadcasted on the Starnet, not only for the Federation but also for the Empire¡¯s audience. Qiao Zhiya, there are a hundred participants in total. What rank do you think we can achieve?¡± For the past half month, Qiao Zhiya has been focused on making weapons and hasn¡¯t paid much attention to the details of the finals. So, he didn¡¯t know there would be a hundred participants. He expressed his surprise, saying, ¡°A hundred people? That many?¡± He had thought there would be at most fifty participants. ¡°Not too many. There are 10 districts for both the Federation and the Empire, with the top 5 of each district participating. Considering the number of planets in the entire Blue Galaxy, this competition only divides the districts on some A-level and B-level planets. It¡¯s already considered a proper reduction in scale.¡± Chu Yan, noticing his attention shift, pulled out another sheet of paper containing the list of finalists. He pointed to several names that were circled in advance and said, ¡°There are quite a few familiar faces in this competition. For example, this one, Jexiu, the son of General Neitaxi of the Empire. He used to be one of my defeated opponents when he studied in the Federation. I didn¡¯t expect him to make it to the finals. And this one, Fan Qi, the young master of the Fan family, also a military academy student. However, he didn¡¯t register in the Capital Planet district like us; instead, he signed up on the A03 planet where the Fan family¡¯s headquarters are located, so we didn¡¯t cross paths with him. There are also a few familiar classmates from the military academy scattered in the other regions. They probably thought the competition in the Capital Planet district would be fierce, so they all registered in other regions.¡± Qiao Zhiya spends little time at school, so he didn¡¯t know many people Chu Yan had pointed out. He only knew about Jexiu, and he only heard about Fan Qi in the passing and never saw the real person. Chu Yan saw that he was confused, stopped the topic in time, and said, ¡°I heard that the Third Prince of the Empire also reached the final. Now the Empire has high expectations for him. It is said that old Emperor even interested in making him the heir of the throne¡ª¡± Chu Rong gave him a slight glance, and reached out and squeezed the spiritual power simulator on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. The sharp spiritual energy circled around the group, and Chu Yan immediately fell silent, knowing that gossip about the Empire was not suitable for discussion in such a public setting like a spaceship. His Erge was reminding him. Qiao Zhiya looked back at Chu Rong in confusion, shaking his ears while wearing the simulator, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Just giving you some spiritual strength.¡± Chu Rong replied, rubbing his hair again, and continued, ¡°The test of this game is survival. If you can¡¯t keep going, forfeit immediately. Safety is more important.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at Chu Yan who suddenly began to bury himself in his fruit plate, nodded obediently, and said, ¡°Okay.¡± If Xiao Yan is eliminated, he will certainly forfeit immediately. But if Xiao Yan is still playing, then he¡¯ll stay by his side until the competition is over. He could sense some of their worries, and as he considered himself older than Chu Yan, he felt the need to protect his younger brother. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 89.2 Dwarf¡¯s bonus update starts from this chapter~ Five days later, the advanced civilian spaceship carrying the group landed on the closest planet to F90, B45. All participants from the Federation would gather here before boarding the official spaceship provided by the competition organizers to travel to the official flagship hovering above the competition venue on F90. They arrived not too early nor too late. Several Federal participants had already arrived and boarded in the official spaceship. Fan Qi was one of them. ¡°Marshal Chu.¡± As soon as they boarded the spaceship, a handsome young man, who appeared to be around the same age as Chu Yan but exuded a much more composed demeanor, approached them. He greeted Chu Rong first and then turned to Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, nodding at each of them in turn. ¡°He is Fan Qi.¡± Chu Yan whispered near Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, and then nodded to Fan Qi. He toned down his usual exuberant mannerism, appearing much more mature and serious. Obviously, the ship¡¯s doorway was not the place to speak. Chu Rong responded to Fan Qi¡¯s greetings, and then asked the staff to give Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan¡¯s room card to signal Fan Qi to follow them to the room to speak. Fan Qi nodded and took the initiative to help them lead the way. After entering the room, they all took their seats respectively. Fan Qi took out a space button and looked at Chu Rong. ¡°5 of the 5 level-ten materials required by Marshal Chu have been collected. However, we¡¯re completely stumped on the last one, the Yellow Leaf Wood1literal translation. OG: »ÆҶľ. The information we have suggests that the planet where Yellow Leaf Wood originated from was completely wiped out of its vegetation, including the Yellow Leaf Wood, due to radiation damage caused by the Zerg ten years ago.¡± Yellow Leaf Wood? Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, recalling the Red Leaf Rock he had received as a reward for participating in the last Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition, feeling puzzled. The material encyclopedia of mecha manufacturing he had reviewed didn¡¯t include the name ¡°Yellow Leaf Wood.¡± Was it already extinct and forgotten? Now that Fan Qi mentioned both ¡°Yellow Leaf Wood¡± and ¡°Red Leaf Rock,¡± and they both seemed to be grade ten materials, what was the connection between the two? Chu Rong frowned, took the space button and looked back, and said, ¡°Thank you for your hard work. I¡¯ll arrange for the material funds to be transferred to you later, and I¡¯ll also send someone to search for information about Yellow Leaf Wood.¡± Fan Qi hesitated for a moment when he heard this, then suggested, ¡°Marshal, Yellow Leaf Wood disappeared many years before the war, and now even its native habitat is lost. Perhaps¡­ maybe you can try to find other new materials that can replace Yellow Leaf Wood? That might be more promising.¡± In the year and more that followed, the Fan family had scoured the Blue Galaxy to help Fan Qi collect most of these mostly extinct level-ten materials for Chu Rong. If Yellow Leaf Wood truly still existed, it couldn¡¯t have gone unnoticed. Now that the Fan family has sided with the Chu family, he naturally hoped that the Chu family¡¯s affairs would go smoothly. Everyone knew the reason for Chu Rong¡¯s move towards collecting various level-ten materials ¨C it must be to repair Chu family¡¯s damaged flagship. The presidential election was now in front of them. If the flagship could be repaired at this juncture, then Chu Huai¡¯s position as president would be truly secure. ¡°We have searched for alternative materials.¡± How can Chu Rong never thought about this previously? The Marshal¡¯s frown tightened, and simply continued, ¡°However, it has yet to bore fruit.¡± Fan Qi was taken aback at first, then frowned. Finally, he sighed inwardly and didn¡¯t say much more, politely taking his leave. Anything he could think of, Chu Rong would have considered. It was he who had been foolish to think he could outthink Chu Rong in any way. After Fan Qi left, Chu Yan immediately inched closer, appearing worried and asked, ¡°Erge, you didn¡¯t find Yellow Leaf Wood then?¡± He thought that the Fan family would have a solution. Qiao Zhiya followed, and frowned slightly. Chu Rong shook his head and stretched out his hands to pinch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears. He didn¡¯t want them to worry about them either, so he changed the topic and took them to lunch. At noon the next day, all the participants in the Federation arrived, and the official spaceship set sail and flew towards the official flagship parked above the F90 planet. At about 6 PM, the spaceship arrived, and everyone got off the ship and rested. Probably to prevent any conflicts among the participants before the competition, the officials have specially arranged for the Federation and Empire participants to reside in separate areas on the flagship. Unless the participants actively go out of their way to find each other, they won¡¯t even come across each other. The competition officials already knew that Chu Rong had accompanied his brother and fiance this time, so they arranged Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan for a three-room suite in a quiet corner, so as not to disturb others and catering towards Chu Rong¡¯s need. Chu Rong was satisfied with the arrangement, while Chu Yan wanted to vomit blood. Out of nowhere, when it was this close to the competition, he had to watch his Erge and Qiao Zhiya being all lovey-dovey up close. This is inhumane treatment! In order to avoid dog food, he immediately went to Fan Qi¡¯s room after settling down, using the excuse of bonding to engage in a lengthy conversation with him. He lingered until about 10 PM, when Qiao Zhiya fell asleep, before returning to his room to rest. At 8 AM the next day, all the participants of the Federation gathered and started to draw lots. In order to prevent the participants from forming a team at the beginning of the game, all of them will be spawned in different coordinates at the start. After getting their coordinates, the live broadcast of the competition officially began. At the same time, all external communication equipment of the participants would be suspended. ¡°Remember, safety comes first.¡± Chu Rong tousled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair, then glanced at Chu Yan. After confirming that both nodded in understanding, he frowned and allowed them to enter the waiting area for the participants. Other relatives and friends accompanying other participants saw that his expression was quite grim. They stopped their chit-chats, and silently walked away from him. After entering the waiting area, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan were led by the staff into an area with many passages, and then arranged to connect the communicator to the lottery equipment with other participants. Once the devices were connected, the main screen of the communicator changed, displaying a constantly changing set of coordinate information. Within half a minute, participants could detach the communicator at any time. At the moment of detachment, the coordinates displayed on the communicator would indicate the initial coordinates where the participant would be deployed into the arena. Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan glanced at each other after understanding the rules, and detached the communicator. The screen paused ¨C two flowers appeared on Chu Yan¡¯s screen, while two balloons in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. ¡°It seems they¡¯re hiding the coordinates display temporarily to prevent participants from reporting coordinates to each other in advance,¡± remarked Chu Yan, with a slight smirk. He set down the communicator and gave a smile to Qiao Zhiya, saying, ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have to meet in the arena. Have you memorized your participant number? Remember to contact me as soon as you land.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, took the initiative and hugged him, and instructed him, ¡°Safety is the most important thing, and I will meet you as soon as possible.¡± Chu Yan hesitated, and clasped his back and patted him on the back, answering: ¡°Understand, me too.¡± ¡°Ding.¡± After half a minute, the lottery was over, the live broadcast on the Star Network platform started on time, and the mysterious final venue was finally unveiled. All the relatives and friends of the participants took a deep breath. A complex terrain map spanning hundreds of square meters appeared on the live broadcast screen, featuring forests, mountains, and virtually every possible landform. What was most terrifying, however, was the dense array of various levels of alien beasts roaming inside. Rather than a competition venue, this was more like an alien beast¡¯s paradise! Chu Rong frowned, tapping his finger on his armchair restlessly. Worried that his emotions would affect other people, he simply put on his seat¡¯s isolation shield. The participants who couldn¡¯t see the live broadcast had no idea what awaited them. After the draw, they followed the staff into their respective passages, then boarded the small spacecraft at the exit. Once inside their mechas, they awaited the drop from the spacecraft. Qiao Zhiya sat inside his Elf, reciting Chu Yan¡¯s number in his mind. Then, when the participant-to-participant communication channel appeared, he readied it in advance, ready to contact Chu Yan immediately after landing. The spacecraft descended steadily towards the F90 planet. After passing through the atmosphere, an opening appeared at the bottom of the spacecraft, and the mechas parked above began to drop straight down. Qiao Zhiya was startled but reacted quickly. He activated the mecha¡¯s levitation and scanning functions, slowing down as he observed the terrain below. At the same time, he entered Chu Yan¡¯s number into the communication channel and sent out a message. In the live broadcast, tiny figures, each the size of a sesame seed, descended from different locations into the competition arena. Chu Rong¡¯s gaze shifted, quickly locating the figures of Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan among the dots. He immediately switched to their channel, zoomed in on the feed, and selected the mode to follow their movements. The live broadcast of this competition was different from previous holiday broadcasts. Instead of assigning each participant a separate channel, the broadcast showed the entire competition arena. Viewers could freely manipulate the live feed according to their preferences, choosing whether to watch the overall competition or to follow and focus on the performance of a specific participant. After the message was sent out, the call application from Chu Yan immediately rang, and Qiao Zhiya connected it. ¡°Qiao, did you land yet?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s voice sounded a little eager, laced with a hint of tension. It seemed that his situation wasn¡¯t ideal. Qiao Zhiya immediately became nervous. ¡°Not yet, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Then land quickly!¡± urged Chu Yan, speaking rapidly. ¡°After landing, the officials will send you the complete terrain map and competition requirements. In any case, hurry up. I¡¯ve already received the first task, which is to kill the alien beasts. It should be the same for you. There¡¯s a time limit for this task. If you don¡¯t complete it within the specified time, your coordinates will be synchronized to all participants¡¯ communicators, making you a target for everyone! Damn it! Why are there so many alien beasts in this place?¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned upon hearing this, guessing that Chu Yan might be in the midst of battle. He responded crisply before cutting off the communication, not wanting to disturb him further. Then, he found a place with fewer alien beasts to land. The moment the mech touched down on the ground, a screen popped up on his communicator, displaying the details of the first round of the finals and the time limit. Subsequently, a file popped up on the interface where his mecha connected with the official channel. He quickly accepted it. Then, the complete map of the arena appeared on the mecha¡¯s small screen, with a green dot clearly indicating his coordinates. There was a task countdown on the screen ¨C he had 60 minutes, but it had counted down to 50 minutes left. In other words, the countdown did not start from the moment each participant landed to accept the task, it should start from the moment they were dropped. His expression tightened immediately after noticing this. If a participant, like him before, chose to hover for a while out of caution, he might miss receiving the requirements of the first task. Consequently, he would lag behind others in receiving tasks, then inadvertently waste time during the competition. Eventually, he might be exposed due to failing to complete the task, leading to his coordinates being revealed. Sure enough, this was a survival game. The competition environment was really harsh. No longer delaying, he quickly drove towards the crowd of beasts he had observed while hovering. It took him half of the countdown timer for the first round for him to finish. Just as Qiao Zhiya was preparing to take a break before contacting Chu Yan again, another screen suddenly appeared in front of him. It displayed a new countdown timer and new competition task. The new game task was still to kill alien beasts, but now, there¡¯s the restriction of the beast¡¯s minimum level. The countdown was 2 hours, and now he only had 1 hour and 40 minutes. He froze, staring at the countdown bar for a moment, and a terrible suspicion erupted in his mind. It seemed that the countdown timer wasn¡¯t based on the time when the participants were initially dropped into the arena, as Qiao Zhiya had speculated, but rather on the time when the first landed participant received the task. The countdown for the second round would likely start from the moment the first participant completed the first-round task and immediately began the second-round task. So if there was a strong participant, then the weak ones would definitely lag behind and be eliminated shortly, unable to catch up with the fast pace. He didn¡¯t believe that the officials would keep the contestants killing alien beasts indefinitely. When the weaker contestants¡¯ coordinates were almost exposed, it would likely mark the arrival of the real finals. At that point, the officials would probably orchestrate the contestants to eliminate each other. If that were indeed the case, whether or not one¡¯s coordinates were exposed would become a significant factor in determining the final victory of the contestants. Qiao Zhiya frowned deeply, rushing towards the second alien beasts gathering place. CH 89.3 Throughout the whole day, the tasks remained focused on killing alien beasts. From the third round onward, the coordinates of some contestants were gradually exposed, appearing on the map as red dots. Some contestants were unlucky and were directly eliminated by alien beasts, without even encountering other contestants. By the time the fourth round arrived, Qiao Zhiya noticed that his task countdown had already started with just 1 hour remaining, whereas the original time limit for the task was 2 hours and 30 minutes. This meant that the strongest contestant had a time lead over him by a full hour and a half. During this period, Chu Yan had not contacted him, presumably because he was concentrating and was too busy otherwise. His expression remained tense as he hastened to complete the fourth round. Once done, he swiftly immersed himself in the fifth round. As the sky gradually darkened, Qiao Zhiya initiated the sixth round. By this time, over 60 red dots had appeared on the map, indicating that more than 60 individuals had failed to complete the task of killing the alien beasts within the designated time, resulting in their coordinates being exposed involuntarily. It¡¯s almost there. If they continue killing, excluding those already eliminated, everyone¡¯s coordinates will be exposed, rendering the competition rules meaningless. Qiao Zhiya killed the tenth high-ranking alien beast, and the countdown jumped to the last second. With his task completed, he sighed in relief. Looking at the corpse of the nearby alien beasts with a less than pleasant mood, he stored them in the storage space of his mecha. He hated the act of killing living creatures just to complete some kind of entertainment, but Chu Yan was still on the field, so he had to continue onwards. To avoid wiping out entire species of these alien beasts, he specifically targeted those with larger numbers and relatively fierce temperaments, ensuring not to exterminate too many individuals from each group to prevent disrupting their reproduction. ¡®I¡¯m participating in this kind of competition again,¡¯ he thought to himself with a tense expression, ears drooping as he looked at the competition screen, preparing to see the content of the seventh round. However, unexpectedly, the screen displayed the words ¡°waiting¡± instead. Chu Yan¡¯s call request arrived timely. Qiao Zhiya sounded tired as he asked, ¡°How are you over there?¡± ¡°I managed to keep my coordinates safe. How about you?¡± He was relieved when he heard about Chu Yan¡¯s situation. He left the blood-stained battlefield and found a place to rest. He said, ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Does ¡®waiting¡¯ mean we get to rest tonight?¡± That¡¯s surprisingly humane. ¡°You¡¯re giving the officials too much credit,¡± said Chu Yan, exaggeratingly sighing. ¡°Considering the past competition information I¡¯ve gathered and today¡¯s tasks, I speculate that this ¡®waiting¡¯ from the officials is just a stall tactic. They¡¯re probably waiting for all the contestants to complete the sixth round of the competition before officially starting the next round. And! I guarantee the next round won¡¯t involve killing alien beasts anymore; it¡¯s definitely related to those exposed coordinates.¡± The result of this rule is that the stronger ones, who finish the competition earlier, have more rest time, while the weaker ones, who take longer to complete the tasks, end up with even less time to rest. The survival of the fittest principle is vividly demonstrated in this competition. Suppressing the heavy psychological burden after killing the alien beast, Qiao Zhiya pursed his lips and suddenly understood why Chu Huai and Chu Rong were so unwilling to let them participate in the play-offs. The constant cycle of killing and then engaging in combat among the participants makes the content of this competition excessively oppressive and heavy. It¡¯s not healthy at all, and it completely lacks the joy of sportsmanship. ¡°I¡¯ll never participate in this kind of competition again¡­¡± Chu Yan exclaimed suddenly. Then, as if afraid his emotions might affect Qiao Zhiya, he quickly continued, ¡°No wonder previous editions of this competition weren¡¯t broadcasted. The scenes are just too bloody and cruel. If they were aired, the public would probably condemn them! I don¡¯t know what the organizers of this edition were thinking, actually broadcasting it. Right now, those kids on the Starnet are probably on the verge of tears.¡± Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya grew quieter. After a while, he asked, ¡°What are your coordinates?¡± Chu Yan didn¡¯t answer for a while, probably because he was sleepy. He then replied, ¡°How come you¡¯re asking that? I¡¯m nestled in a small hill, ready to take a good rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come find you,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, his tone leaving no room for refusal. ¡°Based on the countdown for each round of the competition, the latest the seventh round will start is 6 AM tomorrow. There will definitely be new tasks then. Now that we finally have some free time, it¡¯s better to regroup.¡± As soon as Chu Yan was reminded by him, he woke up and reported his coordinates. After getting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s coordinate as well, they agreed to meet in the middle. On the flagship, three screens appeared in front of Chu Rong. After noticing that Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan were starting to approach each other, he shifted his gaze to the third screen, which showed a grayish mecha resting in a secluded spot. The color of this mecha had obviously been redone, with the grayish hue perfectly suited for concealment. However, judging by its appearance, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, the pilot of this mecha should be Cao Xia, the 3rd-place winner from the Capital Planet district. This participant lost to Chu Yan but won against Qiao Zhiya. However, he was the first to complete all six rounds of tasks. Based on his performance today, it¡¯s clear he had hidden his strength during his previous matches. Chu Rong tapped his fingers on the armchair, thoughts running a mile a minute. Given Cao Xia¡¯s performance today, achieving an undefeated record to secure first place in the Capital Planet district would have been extremely easy for him. However, he chose not to do so. Instead, he only exerted his full strength on the last day, coincidentally encountering both Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya on the same day. He won one match and lost another, ensuring Chu Yan¡¯s smooth advancement into the top 5 while Qiao Zhiya ended up in 6th place. This approach seemed¡­ to ensure Chu Yan advanced and Qiao Zhiya eliminated. With this in mind, he paused with his hand on the armrest of the chair, furrowing his brows deeply. He took out his communicator and dialed for Fan Xiangnan. When the call connected, he instructed directly, ¡°Investigate the former 3rd-place participant in the Capital Planet district who was disqualified due to doping, and also look into the contestant named Cao Xia. Do it as soon as possible.¡± In the competition venue, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan tried to bypass those participants whose coordinates were exposed, and successfully reconvene somewhere near the valley in the early hours of the morning. Chu Yan¡¯s mecha had a few obvious damages, it looked quite pitiful. ¡°Find a place to rest first.¡± Chu Yan said, his voice exhausted. Qiao Zhiya nodded and quickly found a secluded resting spot. He first helped check and maintain the mecha for Chu Yan, then insisted that Chu Yan should sleep first while he stayed behind to keep watch. Two hours later, Chu Yan was awakened by his alarm clock. He washed his face, got up, turned on the mecha, and sent Qiao Zhiya, who was still prepared to continue keeping watch, off to rest. Chu Yan then stood guard outside the resting area. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s secret plan to persuade him to rest a bit longer shattered. He frowned, leaned back in the mecha, and began to rest with his eyes closed, ears alert and tuned in to the sounds from outside via the mecha¡¯s audio receiver. About an hour later, a piercing alarm suddenly rang out, and the official screen displayed the disappearance of the words ¡°waiting,¡± replaced by new instructions: [Survive and obtain the fire seed. The more surviving participants in the arena, the faster the fire seed moves.] At the same time, a fire icon appeared on the map, and the icon was moving and fast. A new countdown also appeared ¨C they had time until 6 PM. Qiao Zhiya immediately sat up and stared at the silver-grey mecha. ¡°Approach the fire seed first, then we should guard against attacks from other participants.¡± Chu Yan immediately suggested. Qiao Zhiya nodded. After a pause, he said, ¡°We should eat breakfast first before going.¡± Chu Yan realized that the two hadn¡¯t eaten dinner yesterday. He touched his empty stomach and nodded. The official still had a conscience. After taking away their space buttons, they were given enough dry rations to fill their stomachs. Despite having better food in his secret storage bracelet, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan silently ate dry rations and drank water together for the sake of fairness in the competition. After resting for a while, they set out towards the fire seed. More than an hour later, as the sky slowly brightened, Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya watched as the fire seed flew towards the next location. They stopped in unison and exchanged a knowing glance. ¡°The fire seed is moving too fast. Our mecha speed can¡¯t keep up.¡± Chu Yan first spoke. Qiao Zhiya nodded, unwilling to say his guesses. ¡°We must eliminate most of the other participants first to slow down the fire seed; otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to complete this task,¡± Chu Yan said, pausing for a moment before continuing, ¡°The official elimination criteria are either the complete destruction of the participant¡¯s mecha or the participant being severely injured and unable to continue fighting. We¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯ll destroy their mechas then.¡± Qiao Zhiya interrupted him, his face tense as he shared the map. After drawing a circle on the coordinates of the two participants they just bypassed, he said, ¡°Start with them.¡± He didn¡¯t want to harm anyone, nor could they continue avoiding conflict. Otherwise, their ¡°cowardly¡± behavior would undoubtedly affect the public¡¯s perception of the Chu family, especially since Chu Huai was about to run for the election. They needed to be more cautious. So, since they had no choice, they might as well take the initiative and try to eliminate opponents using non-lethal methods, or gracefully accept defeat if they were bested in combat. After hearing him, Chu Yan took out his weapon and said, ¡°Okay, start with them!¡± The audience watching the live broadcast of Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan found that their trajectory had suddenly changed. Instead of rushing to avoid other participants, they rushed towards the other participants together. The fans who have been waiting for them for a while were immediately energized and started watching the live broadcast attentively. Previously, these two second-generation elites from the Federation had been constantly avoiding confrontations, which made them appear particularly timid compared to other enthusiastic participants. Negative comments had already begun to surface on forums. Now that they were finally starting to take the initiative, their fans could finally breathe a sigh of relief. On the flagship, Chu Rong furrowed his brow and glanced at Cao Xia, who was slowly approaching the Third Imperial Prince and his entourage on the No. 3 screen. He fidgeted with the communicator in his hand, which had remained silent, before getting up and leaving the viewing room. Qiao Zhiya removed the arrows lodged in the green mecha¡¯s power core, making sure that the red dot representing his opponent¡¯s coordinates disappeared completely from the map. He then stood up straight, gestured apologetically to the opponent who had just exited the mecha cockpit, and proceeded with Chu Yan towards the next contestant. The eliminated contestant watched with wide eyes as the brown and silver mechas swiftly departed. He turned back to glance at the small hole in the mech¡¯s power core area, still emitting smoke, and rubbed his tired face in frustration. Where did these two come from? He had confirmed that there was no one around. ¡°Whoosh¡ª¡± Another mecha fell to the ground, and Qiao Zhiya drew his bow. This time he didn¡¯t even reveal his face. Only after confirming that the participant who had been attacked by him had been eliminated, he nodded his head towards Chu Yan who was guarding him. Chu Yan jumped down from the tree where he had been keeping watch and said, ¡°A few other waves of people are also eliminating the red dots. The number of exposed coordinates on the field is decreasing.¡± Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya also glanced at the map and said, ¡°I remember there were about 70 coordinates exposed at the end of the sixth round.¡± ¡°Excluding those eliminated while fighting the alien beasts, there are probably only about a dozen participants left who haven¡¯t had their coordinates exposed. Let¡¯s gather near the fire seed.¡± Chu Yan guessed, glancing at the moving fire seed, he continued, ¡°Let¡¯s keep going. I estimate that once the participants with exposed coordinates are cleared out, the fire seed will be within reach of the mechas.¡± Another half hour passed, and only the 3 red dots appeared on the map, and those 3 people were actually approaching the fire seed that had slowed down. They were about to reach their destination. ¡°Go to the fire seed now.¡± Chu Yan stretched his arms. Qiao Zhiya filled the energy for his arrows and replied, ¡°Okay.¡± On the other side, the gray mecha crouched on the mountain wall, waiting for the platinum-colored mecha below, surrounded by its entourage, to leave. Then, it silently followed. If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 90.2 Caution: if you read this as it updates (so, 15 Feb 2024), this chapter ends with a cliffhanger. Starnet audiences found that Cao Xia, who had been following the Third Imperial Prince, finally moved. He directly took out one of his most lethal artillery and fired at the platinum mecha protected by the other three mechas. The hearts of the Federal audience were all on edge, while the Imperial audience first exclaimed in shock, then turned to anger¡ªhow could someone dare to blatantly target the Imperial Prince in such a high-profile broadcasted competition, following and ambushing him all the way! This was truly unreasonable! Although this competition requires participants to attack and eliminate each other, it was too outrageous for Cao Xia to clearly target the Third Imperial Prince from the beginning! This must be foul play! Something¡¯s afoot! Conspiracy! This is a plot against the Third Imperial Prince! The Star Network was in an uproar, with all the dignitaries who were following this competition showing subtle changes in expression. Fortunately, the Third Imperial Prince was alert and quick to react. Upon sensing the attack targeting himself, he immediately evaded it. Meanwhile, the three mechas guarding him also took action. Two of them swiftly moved to protect the Prince, while the remaining one unexpectedly aimed its weapons at its companions. At close range, it fired a shot that brutally eliminated one of the Third Prince¡¯s guards, targeting the cockpit directly. Oh my God! The audience widened their eyes and shouted in shock ¨C this is indeed a conspiracy against the Third Prince! The Third Imperial Prince inside the platinum mecha seemed caught off guard by the betrayal of his guard. After a momentary pause, he turned and swiftly fled into the distance. Meanwhile, the remaining mecha that hadn¡¯t been attacked reacted quickly and engaged with the traitor, attempting to subdue them. Cao Xia missed a shot and put away his weapon and chased the Third Prince who fled. The audience subconsciously leaned forward, staring closely at the movement between these mechas. Qiao Zhiya, halfway through channeling his magic, sensed the sudden movement coming from the forest and turned his head to look diagonally ahead. Ah! A platinum-colored mech emerged from behind a cluster of trees, followed by a low, warm voice emanating from the mecha¡¯s speaker, colored with a hint of urgency: ¡°I am Imperial Prince An Mhu! Get away quickly! There¡¯s an assassination attempt! A traitor has already injured one of my subordinates severely!¡± Assassination? Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan were startled by the revelation, then they saw the gray mech emerging behind the platinum-colored one. Having battled with Cao Xia before, they immediately recognized the identity of the opponent, frowned, and hurried to protect the platinum-colored mech. ¡ª¡ªThe situation was currently being broadcasted live, and the Imperial Third Prince has already called for help. If they remain indifferent, public opinion will surely turn against them! Moreover, this Cao Xia was a participant from the Federation. If the other side is indeed an assassin, the situation will become even more complicated! The two cooperated tacitly, Qiao Zhiya went to protect the Imperial Third Prince, while Chu Yan engaged with the enemy. As Chu Yan and Cao Xia fought, another three mechas emerged in the forest. THey raised their artillery and indifferently bombed them, no words were exchanged beforehand. This is disastrous! The loud noise from the battle has attracted the attention of other hidden participants, prompting them to take action. Qiao Zhiya pulled back the platinum mecha, and stared at Chu Yan, who was fighting with Cao Xia, with a tense expression. The Imperial Third Prince, who was being pulled along, was deeply shaken inwardly ¡ª could this famed fianc¨¦ of the Marshal be a monster? He was able to drag his medium-sized mecha easily like this, preventing him from getting close to help Chu Yan in his scenario. ¡°Bam bam bam!!¡± The noise of explosions surged and ebbed, overpowering the standoff, and the situation dissolved into chaos as the melee began. Some took advantage of the chaos to rush out and engage with Ling Yingxu and his group, attempting to seize advantageous positions. Others circled around to the vicinity of Chu Yan and Cao Xia, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Some simply charged out, vigorously stirring the muddy waters. Various forces clashed in the forest, including the spiritual energies of the participants. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magical detection became chaotic, and seeing Chu Yan increasingly embroiled in a precarious struggle with Cao Xia while dodging bombardments, Qiao Zhiya felt urgency. With a quick glance at the Imperial Third Prince standing dumbfounded, Qiao Zhiya immediately erected a protective barrier around him. Firing several arrows to drive away assailants taking advantage of the chaos, Qiao Zhiya then moved towards Chu Yan. The Third Prince was both angry and anxious at the scene. ¡®What are these participants up to? They¡¯re just a bunch of lowly commoners causing trouble!¡¯ The audience watched in shock as the chaotic scene unfolded on the live broadcast. They were bewildered by how the situation had escalated to this point. And those who were taking advantage of the chaos to launch sneak attacks left them questioning whether this was still a competition or something far more dangerous. ¡°Boom!¡± Qiao Zhiya swung his giant hammer to intercept the fatal blow aimed at Cao Xia from behind, forcing him back, then swiftly triggered his small crossbow to block his escape route. With his sword drawn, he moved in quickly for the attack. Cao Xia agilely evaded the hidden weapons and attacks, attempting to retreat. But Chu Yan had somehow maneuvered to his other side, sandwiching him together with Qiao Zhiya. On the other side, Ling Yingsu and his group finished off the two assailants and, upon seeing Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan¡¯s figures, immediately rushed over to help. The Imperial Third Prince also finally reacted, turning off the protective shield and joining the counterattack against the other assailants. As a result, the situation evolved into a cooperation between the Imperial Third Prince, Chu Yan, Ling Yingxu, and their side, as they worked together to confront the remaining participants. The fire seed lay nearby, forgotten and unattended. Cao Xia¡¯s strength was indeed formidable, and Chu Yan narrowly avoided being injured in the cockpit once again. It was Qiao Zhiya who intervened at a critical moment, pushing Cao Xia aside and taking the brunt of the attack for him. Then, wielding his giant hammer, he launched a counterattack on Cao Xia, forcing him to retreat further away from Chu Yan. ¡°Qiao!¡± Chu Yan screamed, clearly very upset. ¡°Look for a chance to attack!¡± Qiao Zhiya reminded him, keeping Cao Xia stuck in the air. On the other side, the muzzle of a sneak attacker suddenly aimed at Qiao Zhiya in midair. All the audience were tense, their gaze darting back and forth between the various fights, unsure of which one to focus on. Their palms were sweaty with nervousness¡ªthis was exactly the kind of intensity they expected from a competition! Fight on! Fight on without cease! ¡°Ss¡ª¡± Amidst the sounds of mecha battling and weapons firing, there was a faint, strange noise. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched, and the unease he had suppressed due to the battle suddenly intensified. ¡°Ss sst¡ª¡± Ling Yingxu promptly halted the attack of the assailant, delivering a fierce kick that severely injured the assailant¡¯s waist power zone, eliminating them from the competition and securely guarding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s flank. ¡°Ss ss sst¡ª¡± The sound of the wind suddenly intensified, swirling up dust and smoke. The movements of Cao Xia¡¯s mech faltered strangely, its body swaying as it narrowly avoided being struck by the giant hammer. The communication channel fell silent abruptly, with no more reminders from Chu Yan. A piercing ringing sound erupted suddenly, accompanied by a vaguely oppressive atmosphere. A whirlwind materialized out of nowhere, descending from the sky to the ground. It swept through all the trees, carrying with it a mournful howling sound, before dissipating into the surroundings and swiftly converging back into the sky. The sound of mecha fighting ceased, and the artillery fire also came to a halt. Cao Xia¡¯s mecha, after a slight tremor, crashed heavily to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. The wind swept in, carrying leaves and pressing down, the light dimming imperceptibly. Above, clouds billowed and everything seemed like the harbinger of an impending storm. Qiao Zhiya maintained his posture, hammer raised for attack, his heart slowly quickening its pace. The previously lurking sense of unease expanded rapidly, like a balloon being inflated to its limit before suddenly bursting. A suppressed memory surged fiercely back into his consciousness. The same ominous wind, like an omen, like a harbinger of a storm. What followed closely behind was¡ª His eyelashes trembled, his arms clenched tightly, and he looked up at the sky. On the Starnet, a terrifying oppressive atmosphere that hadn¡¯t been felt in a decade quickly spread. Everyone stared fixedly at the live broadcast where suddenly all the participants collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling, moving their gaze slowly like stiff puppets, looking up towards the gathering clouds and mist where the hurricane was converging. No, no, this is just a bad weather, no¨C ¡°Ss ss sst¡ª¡± At the gathering point of the clouds and mist, a black dot slowly appeared, then rapidly expanded. It seemed like in the blink of an eye, a massive black hole emerged amidst the swirling edge of the clouds and mist, devoid of any light in the center. A newly adult dwarf, while seeking shelter from the storm, collided with the suddenly appearing black hole in the forest, and then, the space itself twisted, revealing an unfamiliar world before his eyes. The terrifying scene from memory tore through the fa?ade of warmth and reappeared before Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes. He stared wide-eyed at the familiar yet incredibly unfamiliar black hole, and for the first time since a long while, he felt a bone-chilling fear spread to all the veins in his body. Why does this appear? Is it coming to take him home? Is it¡­ about to come and expose his origins in public? The brown mecha involuntarily took a step forward, as if the paused scene suddenly resumed. At the edge of the black hole, a thin, elongated insect-like segmented body suddenly popped out, firmly gripping the rolling mist, followed by two long tentacles-like feelers extending out. ¡°Ah-! It¡¯s the Zerg!¡± On the Starnet, a sharp, trembling scream shattered the tense atmosphere. Bang! Like fuel into a fire, moments ago enjoying the fun of the match, the audience panicked and began to scramble like headless flies. The system sensed their instability and immediately launched an emergency plan to force them offline. On the flagship, the friends and relatives of the participants stirred with fear, all turning to rush towards the organizers to seek help for the trapped participants. However, they found that the room where they were watching the broadcast was locked behind a protective barrier. Outside the flagship, a black-gold mecha was rapidly descending towards the competition arena. ¡°Swish swish swish!¡± The black hole expanded for a moment, and then suddenly, a horde of grotesque and massive figures burst out of the hole, carrying with them a terrifying hunger that had been pent up for ages. They rushed towards the motionless brown mecha in midair as if it were frozen in place. Below, Chu Yan struggled to free him from this spiritual pressure that paralyzed his mecha. He tried to scream, but only could gasped out: ¡°Qiao¡­ run¡­¡± If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I¡¯ll release an additional chapter ^^ CH 90.3 Next week, I¡¯ll be subjecting myself with overtimes to ensure I can get my leave without worrying much of my work (I¡¯m going to a con!). So, I¡¯ll be off next week! See you on the 28th~ Qiao Zhiya suddenly looked back, suppressing his fear, while dodging quickly to avoid the attack of the ugly Zerg. He spread his magic to form a barrier to protect the participants below. At the same time, he took out his bow, aimed at the head of the nearest Zerg, and let out the arrow flew. ¡°Woosh¡ª¡± The arrow, flying with extra forward force, penetrated the hard shell of the Zerg, and burrow its way straight through its brain. The giant insect-like creature plummeted to the ground below. However, he¡¯ss too late ¨C there were too many Zergs, while the participants were too scattered. In the blink of an eye, a participant¡¯s mecha was bitten by a landing Zerg. Terrible crunching sounds echoed, as the armor of the mecha was slowly ¨C but surely ¨C eaten, until it reached the cockpit area. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya flew back to rescue them. But to his left, another wave of Zergs were about to land, one of them swooping towards him without hesitation. ¡°No!¡± The mother of one of the participants trapped on the flagship covered her face in despair and fell to the ground. The last participant who had the ability to fight back was also attacked. The remaining participants would sooner or later become lambs for slaughter in front of the Zergs. Many of them had vivid memories of Zergs plundering the land, wantonly killing and eating humans. A sense of dread hung heavily in the air. ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± However, what they thought was inevitable ¨C the Zerg eating the fallen participant ¨C did not happen. Instead, the battlefield was filled with sounds of heavy artillery firing. ¡®This is¡­¡¯ The mother of the participant who fell to the ground looked up at the live broadcast. The light of hope in her eyes lit once again when she saw the familiar black-gold mecha flying. She murmured, ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s Marshal Chu!¡± Someone shouted, and that sound pulled many of them from hopelessness. One by one, they all looked at the live broadcast, as if they were seeing a savior descending to earth. When the black-gold mecha appeared near the participants, it immediately killed the several Zergs that were about to attack the brown mecha. This black-gold color! This familiar double-barreled gun! He¡¯s really Chu Rong, the Marshal Chu Rong who killed the Zerg Queen! They¡¯re saved! The participants have been saved! Everyone stared at the black-gold mecha, who was raining down attacks towards the incoming Zerg. Light of hope bloomed inside their hearts. Qiao Zhiya knew that some Zergs were attacking him from behind. But the Zerg below had already bitten the participant¡¯s cockpit, and he had to save them first. He accurately shot the Zerg¡¯s head. After the attack, he immediately wanted to dodge to avoid the sneak attack, but he found that the attacking Zergs were unexpectedly fast. But then, something caught him from behind, so quick that he couldn¡¯t react in time. That thing instantly vacated him from the attacking Zerg¡¯s way. ¡®Wait, caught me?¡¯ His heart skipped beats. Not long after, his magic sensed a familiar aura. He turned his head to look at his back. ¡°Wait here and protect yourself.¡± The familiar deep voice came from the black-gold mecha. He then was taken away from the center of the Zerg wave. Moments after he landed, a protective barrier was erected. Then the black-gold mecha returned to the battlefield and rushed to the participants who were targeted by the Zergs. The Zerg seemed to be aware of the threat. They collectively rushed towards the black-gold mecha, moving more aggressively than before. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s joy at seeing Chu Rong immediately dissipated. He stepped forward with concern, only to be stopped by the protective barrier before realizing it. Quickly suppressing other emotions, he deactivated the barrier and took out his bow and arrows ¡ª there was no way he would just stand by; this wasn¡¯t Chu Rong¡¯s fight alone. There was a whistling sound behind him. Chu Rong¡¯s heart stirred. He moved with the shot, quickly taking out the approaching Zergs. He glanced sideways to see one Zerg falling to the ground with an arrow stuck in its body. His heavy heart eased slightly. With a brief glance at the brown mecha standing in the distance with a bow, he continued charging towards the participants. The two of them cooperated seamlessly: one maneuvered within the Zerg ranks while the other provided long-range support with arrows, quickly creating an opening. Chu Rong swiftly approached the spot where the participants had fallen, driving away the nearby Zergs with a few shots. After precisely deploying several protective barriers, he raised his voice to remind them, ¡°To those still conscious, immediately lock your spiritual energy. These fake Zergs emit spiritual power waves to exert pressure on your mind.¡± The remaining conscious participants immediately locked back their spiritual energy upon hearing this command. They quickly realized that the overwhelming sense of threat that had rendered them immobile and in agony earlier had disappeared. Their bodies regained their freedom of movement, although they could no longer operate their mechas. ¡°Those with keyboard-piloting method installed on their mechas, use them to move to the side of other participants. Those without, exit your mechas and take cover inside the protective barrier.¡± Chu Rong continued issuing orders, then turned around to once again stand in front of the second wave of oncoming Zergs. The news of the reappearance of the Zerg quickly spread throughout the Federation. Chu Huai stared intently at the live broadcast until he saw Chu Rong appear, which slightly eased his tense nerves. Ignoring the continuous communication requests from the President, he ordered, ¡°Something¡¯s off with the competition. Cease attempts to contact Chu Rong. Deploy the military, including the teams currently stationed on nearby mining planets. Send them all over!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fan Xiangnan immediately responded and turned to walk outside. Meanwhile in the Empire, upon learning of the reappearance of the Zerg, the old Emperor trembled, his face quickly flushing red, then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground. Screams abound, as the Imperial Palace descended into panic. In the battlefield, the black holes in the air began to shrink, and the number of incoming Zerg was getting smaller and smaller. The participants gathered together, the awake ones guarding the unconscious ones. They huddled inside several layers of protective barriers, watching as the black-gold mecha continued to battle the Zergs in the sky. Fear and the relief of surviving a disaster intertwined, and their voices began to tremble. ¡°Why can they still pilot their mechas?¡± The asker of this question was one of the guards of the Third Prince. Neither he nor the Third Prince¡¯s mechas were equipped with keyboard controls, so they had retracted from their mechas and were now standing inside the protective barrier. His words were audible to everyone present. As soon as the black hole appeared, the air was filled with a plethora of spiritual energy-suppressing entities. Everyone was shaken and disconnected from their mechas, collapsing weakly on the ground. Only Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong, who suddenly emerged, remained stable in their mechas and could continue to fight with ease. This naturally aroused curiosity among the others. Upon hearing this, An Mhu, the Third Imperial Prince, glanced thoughtfully towards Chu Yan, who was still sitting in his mecha, guarding them. Not only Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong but also this young master from the Chu family could still operate a mecha. Although he could only perform basic movements and not engage in combat, it was still much better than the others. Having some understanding of what the Chu family was researching, Fan Qi turned his head towards the guard mentioned, giving him a casual glance. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, Marshal Chu was still able to pilot a mecha even when his spiritual powers hadn¡¯t fully recovered years ago. He even defeated your Empire¡¯s top warrior.¡± With those words, both the guard and the Third Prince¡¯s expressions changed, frowning as they looked towards Fan Qi. Fan Qi ignored their stares, his hands busy fiddling with the communicator as he continued trying to establish contact with the outside world. With his bow and arrows depleted of energy and no more supplies left, Qiao Zhiya stowed away his bow and leaped high with his giant hammer. He charged towards a Zerg behind Chu Rong and forcefully brought down the hammer, smashing the insectoid creature¡¯s head into a pulp,the force enough to make its bodily, viscous fluid sprayed everywhere. ¡°Uhm¡­¡­¡± A certain participant who had just regained consciousness opened their eyes to witness such a scene. Their eyes widened, their head tilted, and they promptly passed out again. The attention of the other participants was drawn to the scene, allowing An Mhu to discreetly glance towards the corner of the protective barrier where a man with long hair lay. He lightly tapped the communicator in his hand. The man with long hair heard the sound and opened his eyes. He exchanged a glance with An Mhu, then quietly got up and slipped away from the protective barrier, heading towards a distant location away from the scene. Beside Fan Qi, Ling Yingxu turned his head upon hearing the movement, but all he saw was An Mhu retracting the communicator. He frowned, becoming even more vigilant. Half an hour later, the black hole completely sealed shut, and the sky returned to normal. The last remaining Zergs were swiftly taken care of by Chu Rong. The black-gold mecha and the brown mecha landed together and approached the participants. Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up, and he quickly manipulated his mecha to meet them halfway. Seeing this, the other participants also got up and followed suit. The audience who were still watching the live stream on the Starnet couldn¡¯t help but cheer when they saw this¡ªthey were relieved. Wonderful! Their savior, Chu Rong, once again eradicated the Zergs and saved everyone! As if to mock their naivety, the live stream suddenly started flickering, and the familiar hurricane rose again. All the cheers died down as everyone stared wide-eyed at the sky, which suddenly changed color on the live broadcast. The brown and black-gold mechas came to a halt simultaneously. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears perked up in alert, then his expression drastically changed. Without hesitation, he took out his bow and arrow dispenser and threw it at Chu Yan¡¯s silver-gray mech. At the same time, his vision darkened, and the familiar black-gold mech suddenly embraced him. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Darkness descended, accompanied by a hissing sound that seemed to fill the entire sky. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the image of Chu Yan¡¯s mecha being hit by the bow as he attempted to charge forward, the sudden change in expressions of the participants, and the appearance of dense black holes and ominous black limbs. The sound of birdsong echoed in his ears as Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyelashes fluttered. Slowly, he opened his eyes, initially feeling groggy. Then, as he remembered what had happened before he lost consciousness, he suddenly sat up, feeling dizzy. His body went limp, and he fell back onto the bed made of leaves. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± The familiar voice sounded above his head, followed by his forehead being rubbed. Then, his body fell into a familiar embrace. His mood immediately settled, and once the dizziness in his mind subsided, he quickly turned his head to look at the person holding him. His gaze met Chu Rong¡¯s furrowed, worried face. He pursed his lips and opened his arms, embracing him back tightly. Chu Rong quickly set down the water cup in his hand and returned the embrace, soothingly running his hand along his back. The anxiety that had been hanging over him all day finally lifted. He comforted him, saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay now, you¡¯re safe. Everything¡¯s fine.¡± Qiao Zhiya tilted his head and nuzzled against his neck, exerting some pressure to ensure that his body temperature and pulse were normal. Finally calming down, he released him slightly and looked around at the unfamiliar forest scenery. Furrowing his brow, he asked, ¡°Where are we? And what about those sudden dark things that appeared before I passed out?¡± He only vaguely remembered that the fluctuations in the air suddenly felt wrong. Then, he was engulfed by darkness. After that, he knew nothing. ¡°It¡¯s a small black hole. When the new black hole suddenly appeared, we were sucked into it,¡± Chu Rong answered, furrowing his brow. He soothingly rubbed his ears and placed some food in front of him. ¡°It seems like we¡¯ve been brought to a primitive planet that hasn¡¯t been discovered by humans. Communication devices are completely ineffective here, and we can¡¯t determine our location. Let¡¯s start by eating something to fill our stomachs. I¡¯ll figure out a way to get us home, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Qiao Zhiya was momentarily stunned by his words but quickly processed them. Suddenly, a bold guess popped into his mind. He always wondered if he had been brought to Chu Rong¡¯s world by the black hole. Now that had crossed through the black hole to here, where communication devices were ineffective. Could it be¡­ that ineffectiveness was caused because they¡¯re currently in his world, in the magic continent? His ears perked up as he immediately tuned into the magic. Soon enough, he detected magical fluctuations in the air here! There is magic! On this strange primitive planet! Where the communication devices are ineffective! With widened eyes, he didn¡¯t waste any time talking. He quickly knelt down, concentrating to gather magic and began drawing a bloodline-search magic array. With the help of magic elements in the air, the array quickly took shape. It even emitted a strong white soft light that even Chu Rong could see. As soon as the light appeared, Chu Rong¡¯s muscles tensed up, and protectively, he wrapped his hand around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder. However, upon realizing that the soft white light was emanating from his fingertips, Chu Rong furrowed his brow, and his tense muscles relaxed. He watched his movements attentively. After the array was completed, Qiao Zhiya plucked a hair and threw it into the array. He also bit his finger and dripped a drop of blood into it for assurance. Chu Rong¡¯s expression darkened. Without time to express his surprise, the blood was absorbed into the array while the hair began to spin. Grabbing his hand, Chu Rong took out a medical kit and started dressing his wound. The hair spun rapidly for a few seconds, then with a soft pop, it self-ignited without fire, turning into a wisp of ash. ¡°How could this¡­¡± Hope froze in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes as he touched the ashes incredulously. He then sensed the magical elements in the air once again, furrowing his brow. Without hesitation, he began drawing the same magic array once more. When he wanted to bite his finger again, Chu Rong held his shoulder and held him in his arms. Despite his deep frown, his tone was rather calming. ¡°Qiao, calm down, I will take you back, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± The back of his head was held down. His nostrils were filled with Chu Rong¡¯s familiar scent. As the familiar scent wafted over, the hope in his eyes gradually extinguished. His body went limp, and he buried his face in Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, letting his ears droop down. He¡­ didn¡¯t return to his home world? Then¡­ why is the air here filled with magical fluctuations? CH 91.1 After calming down, Qiao Zhiya seemed a bit dejected, which only deepened the furrow in Chu Rong¡¯s brows. He thought Qiao Zhiya might have been frightened by the events of the past few days. So, he simply lifted him up and settled him on his lap, comforting him with his spiritual energy while personally feeding him. ¡°The hot food will be served to you in a minute. Qiao Zhiya obediently ate whatever Chu Rong fed him, but Chu Rong couldn¡¯t help feeling sorry for him. Since keeping Qiao Zhiya by his side, when has Chu Rong ever let Qiao Zhiya fall into such peril? These past few days have been filled with battles against monsters and continuous fighting, culminating in encountering the fake Zerg and witnessing the black hole. Qiao Zhiya himself isn¡¯t particularly brave, and he doesn¡¯t even know how afraid he might be feeling right now. ¡°Drink the water.¡± The crease on his brows only deepened, Chu Rong pushed down his restless self-blaming thoughts. He gently ruffled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair and picked up the water cup, offering it to him. Qiao Zhiya took a sip of water from the cup and noticed that it tasted sweet. His wandering thoughts finally returned, and he glanced around at the unfamiliar forest scenery. He noticed a small spring not far away and asked, ¡°Is it spring water from there?¡± Seeing that he finally spoke up, Chu Rong felt a little relieved. He leaned down and kissed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead, replying, ¡°Yes, the food and water in my space button were all contaminated by radioactive debris1the og is ¡°irradiated¡±, which doesn¡¯t make sense, so I used my creative liberties to change it. Food getting irradiated is fine to eat, in fact, many industries sterilize foodstuffs and other things via radiation, as it¡¯s a very effective way to clean them from pathogens. On the other hand, if the food is contaminated by radioactive material¡­ then yeah. You¡¯re dead if you consume too many of them. If there¡¯s an explosion from a radioactive thing, for example, it definitely can become radioactive debris and contaminate a lot of stuff. when we passed through the black hole, so we¡¯re drinking this water. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve tested it, the water is fine.¡± ¡®Of course there would be no problem. The magic element in this water is a good thing.¡¯ Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears slowly perked up as he regained his spirits. He turned to look carefully at Chu Rong¡¯s complexion, noticing the bloodshot eyes, a clear sign of inadequate rest. Frowning with concern, he asked, ¡°Did I sleep for a long time? You should rest for a while. I¡¯ll guard you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Chu Rong kissed his ears again and calmed him down. ¡°I¡¯m not sleepy. Is there anything wrong with you?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head and nestled into Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, affectionately nuzzling against him. Suddenly, he remembered something and sat up abruptly, his expression anxious. ¡°Oh no! Before I passed out, I saw many black holes and many Zergs appearing. Chu Yan and the others can¡¯t fight, and we¡¯re not there. What if¡­¡± Seeing him becoming anxious again, Chu Rong quickly hugged him once more, gently patting his back as he explained, ¡°The protective barrier I left behind is enough to hold off the Zergs for a while. Chu Yan is very clever; he knows how to take care of himself. Besides, the competition is being broadcast live, so our Dage and the others will surely know about the appearance of the fake Zergs as soon as possible. The Chu family has stationed troops near the F90 planet, and there are several mining planets soldiers as well. They can rush over in time. Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Fake Zerg?¡± Qiao Zhiya wondered. ¡°Yes, exactly. They¡¯re fake, and there must be something else behind the black holes. The real Zergs wouldn¡¯t have such fragile shells,¡± Chu Rong explained, continuing to reassure him. ¡°So it¡¯s not an unknown dangerous situation, but rather a man-made trap. As long as we hold out until the army arrives, Chu Yan and the others will be safe.¡± Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya relaxed and looked up, seeking confirmation. ¡°Can the army really arrive in time?¡± he asked. ¡°They definitely can.¡± Chu Rong rubbed the back of his head, and made him lie down again. He stretched his arms and hugged him in his arms, and said, ¡°Just rest for a while, it¡¯s still only after dawn. ¡° ¡®Only after dawn?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya froze, frowning, thinking about the time. They were sucked into the black hole in the afternoon. Setting aside the temporal distortions caused by the black hole, conservatively estimating, Chu Rong hadn¡¯t slept for at least one whole night. Before that, he had just escorted Qiao Zhiya through the black hole and fought against the Zergs, expending a lot of energy. He looked up at Chu Rong again, noticing the bloodshot yet gentle and reassuring eyes. Qiao Zhiya sat up slightly, reaching into his storage bracelet to retrieve Qiuqiu. He tossed the sphere-shaped ball of vines, and it immediately inflated into a space covered by tangled vines. ¡°This is completely safe. Plus, Qiuqiu will remind us if there¡¯s any danger nearby.¡± He nestled back into Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, tilting his head up to kiss him on the cheek before obediently closing his eyes. As Qiuqiu enveloped them, Chu Rong¡¯s body noticeably relaxed. He reached his arm around Qiao Zhiya, soothingly rubbing his hair to lull him to sleep. While his eyes were closed to rest, his spiritual energy remained vigilant outside, guarding against potential dangers. Qiao Zhiya noticed his movement, and with a flick of his finger, he sneaked out his wood-elemental magic to slowly surround them. About ten minutes later, Chu Rong, who had initially closed his eyes to rest, gradually fell asleep under the soothing lull of the healing magic. Qiao Zhiya sat up gently and noticed Chu Rong furrowing his brow as if about to awaken. Quickly, he conjured a bit of magic at his fingertips and waved it in front of him. Chu Rong was completely asleep. Qiao Zhiya covered him with a blanket, sat beside him for a while, gazing at him blankly. Then, suddenly regaining awareness, he gently slipped out. Everywhere were unfamiliar trees, and the feedback from the earth after infusing it with earth magic felt equally foreign. Qiao Zhiya finally confirmed that this place was indeed not his magic continent, his home. Feeling a bit disappointed for a moment, he quickly rallied himself. First, he hunted a plump unfamiliar small animal in the forest, then he began gathering wild fruits and vegetables. As Qiao Zhiya returned with his findings, Chu Rong was still peacefully asleep inside the protective cover. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears happily twitched, feeling a subtle sense of satisfaction about being the breadwinner to support his family. With excitement, he dashed into the coverand planted a kiss on Chu Rong¡¯s cheek before deftly taking the space button from Chu Rong¡¯s person and darting back out. Chu Rong¡¯s space button had no restrictions for his access. After taking it out, Qiao Zhiya immediately glanced inside and indeed found some contaminated food that couldn¡¯t be eaten, along with two damaged mechas. He paused for a moment, then furrowed his brow. The mechs were in such bad shape that they couldn¡¯t be used for the time being. He needed to figure out a way to repair them first. But that is not his priority. He knew that Chu Rong hadn¡¯t eaten anything, he had to fill their stomachs first. He skipped past the mechas and retrieved the contaminated food. Drawing a magic circle, he placed a fire magic stone inside and set the food ablaze, preventing the radiation from affecting the surrounding environment2this wouldn¡¯t be effective, btw. But the total amount of contaminants is probably low enough it wouldn¡¯t pollute the environment much.. Then, he stuffed most of the potions from his storage bracelet outside. After that, he returned the space button to Chu Rong inside the cover and then came out again, taking out cooking utensils to start cooking. With the replenishment of magical elements in the air, his magic became continuously abundant, instantly replenishing with just a touch. The feeling of being unafraid of depletion was so wonderful that he couldn¡¯t help but feel happy. His ears perked up lively, and with a wave of his arm, he skipped the step of gathering firewood and luxuriously drew a magic circle to cook soup. The aroma of the vegetable soup slowly wafted out, and he grew worried about attracting animals from the forest. Hastily, he erected another protective barrier around himself to isolate the scent. Then, he took out a forge, cleaned it up, and ignited the fire magic circle on top to start frying the butchered meat. Chu Rong gradually emerged from deep slumber after about an hour, surrounded by the familiar scent of grass and wood. He instinctively attempted to pull the source of the scent into his embrace, but his arms found only emptiness. Instead, he felt the softness of a blanket draped over him. This realization startled him, and he immediately opened his eyes and sat up. Inside the protective cover was dim, as Qiuqiu diligently blocked all the light from outside, so the environment inside was suitable for rest. But Qiao Zhiya was gone. His eyebrows frowned quickly, as he used his spiritual power to detect his surroundings. Then, he rushed out of the plant protective cover. ¡°Are you awake?¡± As Qiao Zhiya, who was placing the cooked meat onto a plate, heard the commotion, he turned and saw Chu Rong rushing out with a grim expression. Perplexed for a moment, he then happily pounced over, digging into the toiletry supplies as he spoke, ¡°The food is ready. You can eat after washing up. After eating, you can continue resting. I¡ª¡± Chu Rong stretched out his arms and pulled him into his arms, his head tightly buried in his neck and taking a deep breath, his eyes closed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Qiao Zhiya hugged him back and gently rubbed his back, asking with concern, ¡°Did you not rest well? Eat something first, and then you can continue sleeping. I¡¯ll watch over you.¡± The restless spirit gradually calmed down, and Chu Rong kissed his neck gently, opening his eyes slowly as he released him. He glanced at the strange little stove covered in the other protective cover and the plates on the forge table, his expression softening. He lowered his head to rub his ears and asked, ¡°Did you make these?¡± ¡°Yeah! Go wash up already, you just woke up.¡± Qiao Zhiya said as his ears moved in a lively manner. The smile on his face was bright. Chu Rong was infected by his joy. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised. The two of them had a hearty breakfast together, and then Chu Rong held Qiao Zhiya again for a rest. After they both regained their spirits, they began to discuss the situation and analyze the current circumstances. ¡°The mecha needs to be repaired. I have tools and materials in my storage bracelet, but my mecha energy is almost used during the competition.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned, a little discouraged. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m always carrying emergency supplies.¡± Chu Rong raised his hands and gently pinched his ears. He took out his space button, and found out its content had changed a bit. He glanced at the youth. ¡°I helped you get rid of the contaminated food.¡± Qiao Zhiya explained as his ears twitched. Chu Rong nodded, pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, then took out all the useful items like the supply box and medical kit and pushed them in front of him, keeping only some basic necessities for himself, saying, ¡°Keep these.¡± Qiao Zhiya stared, and quickly waved his hand away, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t want it. You keep it, I¨C¡° ¡°Your storage bracelet is safer,¡± Chu Rong interrupted, emphasizing, ¡°And we¡¯ll always be together.¡± Because they were always together, it didn¡¯t matter who held onto the items. Qiao Zhiya swallowed the refusal and obediently collected all the items. Silently, he resolved to make sure Chu Rong was well-fed and healthy before they returned home, ensuring he didn¡¯t endure any hardships. The forest is his home field. Normally, it¡¯s Chu Rong who always took care of him. Now it is time for him to take care of Chu Rong instead! CH 91.2 Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Long Xuyang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. The President¡¯s youngest child. Long Ruizhang: The President¡¯s younger brother. After counting the things in their hands, the two found that the situation was slightly better than they originally expected. Although their mecha was broken, it was not too bad. All the repair tools and materials were available. It was only a matter of time until it¡¯s functional again. They also had asic medical supplies, so safety could be guaranteed. All they had to consider now was how to figure out their own coordinates and find the way home. Chu Rong¡¯s mecha has limited energy supply. If they had no precise direction to go and could only fly around the universe like headless flies, they would more likely run out of energy. So first and foremost, they had to locate themselves. They got no signal response here, so modern positioning methods were useless. Qiao Zhiya had the idea of using his bloodline traction magic array, but this was not urgent for now. He needs to take care of their state first. The two then explored the surrounding environment to ensure the safety of their current resting area. Previously, Chu Rong, because of worrying about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s situation ¨C furthermore, it was rather inconvenient also ¨C only roughly determined the environment nearby and did not explore it carefully. Now that Qiao Zhiya has woken up, it was natural to carefully confirm it again. For lunch, they used the nutrient solution from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s storage ring to get by, and then they ended their exploration of the surrounding environment as night fell, returning to the spring. ¡°Our surroundings is an ordinary forest terrain, and there are no signs of humanoids or alien beast activity.¡± Qiao Zhiya summarized the situation, not forgetting to pick the ingredients for dinner. (technically ¡°human¡±, but since other human-like races exist, I¡¯m using ¡°humanoids¡±) Chu Rong was washing the dishes and chopsticks by the spring, his movements a bit clumsy but very serious and steady. Upon hearing this, he said, ¡°The indigenous inhabitants of primitive planets usually harbor hostility towards outsiders. If we encounter other humanoids, it¡¯s best to temporarily avoid them.¡± Qiao Zhiya remembered the magic elements floating in the air here, and worried that the humanoids living here could use them like back in the Magic Continent. If that¡¯s the case, then Chu Rong¡¯s ¡°exotic features¡± would be a little dangerous. So he nodded, no longer talking about making connections with the indigenous humanoids here. After a simple yet cozy dinner, the two of them retired into the protective barrier to rest. Qiao Zhiya specially drew another protective magic array outside the shield, adding another powerful layer of insurance for their safety. The two slept peacefully that night, but the Federation and Empire were all in chaos. When Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya were swallowed by the black hole, the live broadcast was still running ¨C the news of their disappearance or possible death spread immediately. In addition, the Zerg also reappeared, making people all over the Blue Galaxy panic. Both the Federation and the Empire have launched emergency plans, and all planets have begun enforcing martial law to prevent people from traveling freely. On the F90 planet, the Chu family¡¯s army arrived in time to destroy the Zerg and rescued the participants. Then, they stationed directly on the planet, looking for the tracks of Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya while investigating the Zerg¡¯s reemergence. The competition¡¯s official flagship was also taken over by the Chu family¡¯s army. The participants were sent to reunite with their loved ones, while the officials were collected and supervised. An investigation inside the flagship immediately began. ¡°The Third Prince demanded to return to the Empire.¡± Tan Shengwei walked into the conference room, his brows frowning deeply, and he looked breathless. Now that the Marshal and Qiao have been swallowed by the black hole together, their fate is uncertain. Everyone¡¯s emotions are already in a terrible state, and now the Imperial Third Prince wants to cause trouble. His request to return to the Empire is just a matter of opening his mouth. However, he outright demanded the Chu family¡¯s precious manpower escort him. Right now, everyone just wanted to stay on the F90 planet all day searching for their commander and Qiao. Who the hell has the time to escort him! Upon hearing this, Lin Zhen, who usually has no expression, also frowned. Just as he was about to refuse, Chu Yan, who had been silent with his head down, suddenly stood up and said, ¡°Just refuse directly. Say that the person who tried to assassinate him hasn¡¯t been found yet, so it¡¯s not safe to return to the Empire. Then arrange for someone to contact the Empire and have them send people over to take their precious Third Prince back!¡± Everyone in the conference room looked at him with a strange gaze. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Yan frowned and looked back. His eyes were red, but he tried to maintain a calm expression. He clenched his fists tightly and said, ¡°If my arrangement is not appropriate, you can¡ª¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s very appropriate.¡± Lin Zhen cut off his words. He looked a little relieved. He got up, walked over to him, and patted the youth on his shoulder. Have a good rest, you haven¡¯t slept for a day.¡± Chu Yan paused upon hearing this, then surprisingly nodded obediently. He walked towards the meeting room on his own accord, without further demanding to help find people on F90 planet, nor did he erupt into emotional frenzy again. As everyone watched him leave, their suspended hearts eased slightly. Now everyone is very busy, and if this third young master continues to wreak havoc with his madness, the situation will only get worse. The people within the Chu family, from top to bottom, all refuse to believe that Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya are dead, and they continue to search diligently for their whereabouts. However, the public who have watched the live broadcast don¡¯t share the same sentiment. After all, it¡¯s a black hole, a black hole that spat out many Zergs. No matter how formidable Marshal Chu is, it¡¯s unlikely he could survive. As for the higher-ups of the Federation and the Empire, they also shared the same beliefs with the public. However, some of them were pleased, while the others were worrying about it. The originally stable political landscape began to surge again. Chu Huai hung up the ¡°condolence¡± call from the President once again and asked in a deep voice, ¡°How much longer until we reach F90 planet?¡± As soon as the incident occurred, he immediately ordered the warships to set sail on a special course. Now, he is not only worried about Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya, but also concerned about Chu Yan, who witnessed his family members being swallowed by the black hole with his own eyes. Although Chu Yan was usually an optimistic youth who wasn¡¯t afraid of anything, deep down he was very sensitive and reliant on his family. Now, witnessing his loved ones in danger with his own eyes, he was concerned that Chu Yan might collapse under the pressure. ¡°At most eight hours,¡± Fan Xiangnan replied, casting a glance at his tired expression. He opened his mouth to offer reassurances but couldn¡¯t find the proper words. Everyone¡¯s mood was the same, and he couldn¡¯t deceive himself or others with empty words of comfort. The sound of the communicator suddenly rang out, and Chu Huai¡¯s personal assistant, Zuma, quickly stepped aside to answer it. After listening for a moment, he paused, then hurried over to Chu Huai¡¯s side and quickly said, ¡°Chairman, it¡¯s a communication from the Imperial High Advisor. He says he can confirm that Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya are safe.¡± Upon hearing this, both Chu Huai and Fan Xiangnan looked over. Chu Huai, in an unusual display of agitation, quickly took the communicator and immediately initiated a video call and broadcasted it publicly. He urgently asked, ¡°Can you really confirm it? Are they okay?¡± The figure of the Imperial High Advisor appeared in mid-air. His complexion seemed somewhat pale, and his voice sounded a bit weak, but his tone remained calm as he nodded and replied, ¡°Confirmed. After Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya encountered the incident, I immediately started calculating. I have just obtained the results. They are currently safe and not in any mortal danger.¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Huai breathed a huge sigh of relief, finally releasing the tension in his nerves. Chu Rong had previously communicated with him about the Imperial High Advisor, and he knew the unpredictability of his power. He immediately believed his words and hastily asked, ¡°Can you determine their location?¡± The Imperial High Advisor shook his head and replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can only confirm that they are no longer on the F90 planet. I¡¯m limited in my ability to determine their exact location. Additionally, the happenstance in this competition may be related to the Imperial Third Prince.¡± The Imperial Third Prince? Chu Huai frowned. After hanging up the communication, his relaxed expression immediately twisted into a sneer. Once again, it¡¯s the Empire. He thought to himself how coincidental it was that Xiao Yan and Qiao managed to both reach the finals with their abilities. Whether it was misplaced anger or irrationality, he was determined to hold the Third Prince accountable for Xiao Rong and Qiao¡¯s disappearance this time! He usually has a gentle temper, and rarely shows such a vicious expression. Fan Xiangnan and Zuma exchanged a glance upon seeing this, feeling relieved and calming down themselves. Now that Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya have been determined to be safe, it¡¯s up to them to clean up this mess. In the Xiang family, Xiang Lingyun put down his communicator, his expression wasn¡¯t good. ¡°Father.¡± Xiang Hui greeted him, clearly implying something with his eyes. Xiang Lingyun gave him a warning look and said, ¡°Don¡¯t act recklessly. Seeing is believing ¨C you need to see the corpse to believe he¡¯s dead. Chu Rong managed to crawl out of the black hole last time, so there¡¯s a chance he can do it again. And even if he¡¯s dead, he¡¯s still hailed as a hero. Chu Huai is still here. We can¡¯t snatch the presidential seat.¡± Xiang Hui had an unwilling emotion in his eyes, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Xiang Lingyun glanced at him and sighed in his heart ¨C even after saying so much, his eldest son still didn¡¯t know what to do, alas. CH 91.3 On the primitive planet, Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya awakened from sleep, and began to think about repairing the mecha. ¡°Rongtian has suffered more damage,¡± Qiao Zhiya said, looking at the clearly visible impact marks on the black-gold mecha¡¯s back. He then glanced at the brown mecha beside it, whose shell was mostly intact, feeling a twinge of heartache. If it wasn¡¯t for protecting him, Rongtian¡¯s condition wouldn¡¯t be this bad. As if reading his thoughts, Chu Rong reached out and pinched his ear, and deliberately said, ¡°I¡¯m going to burden you for repairing all the damages, sorry.¡± ¡°No, no!¡± Qiao Zhiya was immediately distracted, turning around and leaning his head against his palm, anxiously comforting him, ¡°You¡¯re not a burden. Thanks to your effort back on the F90 planet, we were all saved. You¡¯re really amazing! Super amazing!¡± Chu Rong deliberately revealed his low mood and asked, ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded eagerly, his head swiveling around. He hurried over to bring a piece of ore and handed him a small hammer, saying, ¡°I can¡¯t repair the mech alone. I need your help, like with this ore. Can you help me remove the outer hard shell? This layer is just waste material, and I hate dealing with it.¡± Chu Rong looked at the mini-hammer the size of his own palm, and was amused by his clumsy coaxing method. His lips upturned and he said, ¡°Okay, I can help with this.¡± Seeing him smile, Qiao Zhiya was relieved, and smiled back at him. He then turned around and went to inspect the damaged parts of the mecha. It was truly a bit serious. It took them two full days to prepare the replacement parts needed for the mecha. Then, it took half a day to replace the old parts with the new ones, and they spent some time thoroughly debugging the mech after lighting it up. By the time it was finally repaired, they had spent four whole days on this strange planet. ¡°I wonder how Xiao Yan and the others are doing,¡± Qiao Zhiya said as he stored away the repaired mecha. He glanced at the beautiful stars in the sky, then turned his head to Chu Rong beside him and asked, ¡°Are you ready?¡± Chu Rong nodded and reached out his hand reassuringly. Qiao Zhiya held his hand and smiled reassuringly at him, then knelt down on the ground to begin drawing the bloodline traction magic array. The mecha had been repaired, and it was time to locate the way home. He and Chu Huai did not have a direct blood relationship, so this time the array needed to use Chu Rong¡¯s hair and blood as the focal point. The array quickly took shape. At Qiao Zhiya¡¯s instruction, Chu Rong plucked a strand of hair and handed it to him. Qiao Zhiya took it and placed it in the center of the array. Then, with a furrowed brow and a pained expression, he used a small knife to cut his finger and dripped a few drops of blood onto the hair. After finishing, he immediately began to bandage it up, afraid that even a drop more might spill. Chu Rong was amused by his look. He raised his other hand and patted the youth¡¯s head. After being wrapped in blood, the white hair transformed into a straight red line. The red line began to rotate frantically, while the array started flashing intermittently, as if sensing something. Subconsciously, Qiao Zhiya held his breath, not even paying attention to the large hand resting on his head. In the past two years, he has drawn countless bloodline traction magic arrays, and he has failed in all of them. It was to the point he subconsciously no longer trusted the validity of the array. But fortunately, the reaction of this array was finally normal for once. After several flashes of white light, the hair in the array suddenly stood upright, pointing diagonally towards the sky. Then, the array transformed into a beam of white light converging onto the hair, gradually elongating the red line. Finally, with a flash, the red line wrapped around Chu Rong¡¯s wrist. ¡°It worked!¡± Qiao Zhiya was ecstatic, pulling up Chu Rong¡¯s hand to look at the red line, eagerly asking, ¡°Do you feel anything? Like a subtle and mysterious feeling emerging in your heart, or a particular direction that feels especially familiar¡­¡± Chu Rong followed and looked at the red line on his wrist and felt it carefully. He turned his head towards the sky, nodded, and said, ¡°Yes, southwest.¡± ¡°That means Dage or Xiao Yan are on some planet to our southwest!¡± Qiao Zhiya became even more excited, rushing over to hug him. He exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s great! We¡¯re still in the same space as the Capital Planet, we can go back!¡± Chu Rong hugged him back, a smile appeared on his face, and said, ¡°Have a good rest tonight. We will leave tomorrow morning.¡± He hadn¡¯t held too much hope for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mysterious method, and he had already planned other ways to locate them. But he hadn¡¯t expected this method to actually work. Just now, he indeed felt a faint connection within his bloodline. ¡®Qiao Zhiya is truly a treasure,¡¯ he thought with a smile, hugging him even tighter. ¨C On the second day after Chu Huai¡¯s arrival on the F90 planet, all the troops from the Chu family suddenly withdrew from the planet. They generously handed over the official flagship of the competition to the subsequent personnel sent by the President for takeover, transferring the authority of the investigation. At the same time, the personnel sent by the Empire to pick up the Third Prince had also arrived. Chu Huai came out to bid farewell, his face looking haggard. Occasionally, his spiritual power fluctuated, showing the signs of someone who had just suffered a major blow from losing a loved one. Seeing Chu Huai¡¯s condition, the Imperial Third Prince kindly comforted him and expressed his gratitude. He also promised to fully repay the debt of gratitude for the rescue by Chu Rong and Chu Yan. Chu Huai quickly expressed that it was unnecessary, but his eyes carried a hint of resentment as he mentioned that all the personnel on the official flagship of the competition suddenly fell into a coma. Although the preliminary investigation results indicated that it was due to the influence of the black hole, he believed that things were definitely not that simple. He was certain that someone was scheming behind the scenes, and he would definitely investigate it thoroughly! Hearing this, the Imperial Third Prince had a stiff expression, feeling both uneasy and suspicious. He quickly made his excuses and left, not daring to continue the charade any longer. While he was absolutely not responsible for everyone passing out on the official flagship and the communication signals being blocked; should Chu Huai investigate the competition, it was highly likely that he would uncover other small actions he had taken, such as manipulating the results of the competition or ensuring Chu Yan¡¯s entry into the finals. Now that Chu Huai was in a state of emotional distress and lack of rationality, there¡¯s no guarantee he wouldn¡¯t blame him for the incidents on the flagship after uncovering this matter. He must hurry back to the Empire and prepare early. ¡°Prince¡­.¡± His guard saw him with a bad expression and called him with some anxiety and said, ¡°About Cao Xia ¡­¡± The Third Prince regained his composure and frowned. He replied, ¡°Find an opportunity to silence him permanently, and make sure to do it cleanly. Don¡¯t let anyone find out.¡± Upon hearing this, the guard was stunned, recalling the comrade who was forced to play the role of a traitor this time and was later secretly dealt with by the Prince. He clenched his fists tightly and replied in a low voice, ¡°Understood.¡± On the Chu family¡¯s warship, Chu Huai held back the deliberately released spiritual power and asked, ¡°How is the situation in the Capital?¡± Zuma stepped forward and replied, ¡°The Xiang and Wei families haven¡¯t made any major moves. They¡¯re just obediently cooperating with the President¡¯s orders to strengthen the defense of each planet. The Ning family has started distributing medicine for free, but only outside the Capital Planet. The President attempted to win over the You family but was blocked by the You family¡¯s patriarch. However, Long Ruizhang and Long Xuyang secretly met once.¡± ¡°Xiang Lingyun has suddenly become smarter,¡± Chu Huai sighed suddenly, then turned and walked back into the warship. He ordered, ¡°Prepare to set sail back. Starting today, the Chu family will shut its doors to visitors. Meanwhile, increase surveillance on various space stations and jump points. If Chu Rong appears, notify me immediately.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Zuma and Fan Xiangnan answered in unison. On the primitive planet, Qiao Zhiya erased the traces of himself and Chu Rong moving around in the forest. Then, obediently, he walked to Chu Rong¡¯s side and let the taller man hold him, accompanying him into the cockpit of Rongtian. He settled himself in the resting area in the corner, voluntarily opting to conserve energy. They decided to return with only one mecha to save energy. Help him fasten his security measures, Chu Rong bent over and kissed his forehead, and said, ¡°We will go home soon.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded and smiled at him. Chu Rong patted his head again, then stood up and took his place at the pilot¡¯s seat. Instead of initiating synchronized operation, he opted for keyboard control. After starting the mecha, they ascended directly into the sky and flew towards the southwest. As the scenery beneath them gradually shrank, they finally could see the landscape beyond the forest. However, with their minds set on returning home, they didn¡¯t have the time to pay attention to these surroundings. Most of their attention was focused on the distant horizon. The mecha quickly broke through the stratosphere and entered the universe, heading in the direction indicated by the red line. After traveling for about three hours, Chu Rong suddenly slowed down the speed of the mecha. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked quickly. ¡°The energy readings ahead are not right,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression turned serious. He activated the mecha¡¯s protective shield, moved forward for a distance, then came to a complete halt. He said, ¡°It¡¯s a chaotic asteroid belt. We can¡¯t pass through.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at the densely twinkling stars on the detection map. With a frown, he suggested, ¡°Try to go around it?¡± Chu Rong nodded and once again set the mecha in motion. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try.¡± The black-gold mecha turned around and fly upward. Qiao Zhiya nervously stared at the image displayed on the small map. Then, to his shock, he noticed that the number of stars on the map was increasing as they moved, and even the color of the map changed. It turned into a light red, indicating that the temperature ahead exceeded the mecha¡¯s tolerance level. ¡°No good.¡± Chu Rong stopped the mecha again, his brows furrowing even tighter. He vaguely guessed what might have happened. ¡°There¡¯s a border dividing line made up of an asteroid belt between the Federation and the Empire. The F90 planet is very close to this border. We might have been transported by the black hole to the center of the asteroid belt, completely surrounded by it.¡± The mecha definitely couldn¡¯t pass through the asteroid belt unless someone had cleared a passage in a weak spot ahead of time. Qiao Zhiya frowned, utterly worried. If the situation was really like what Chu Rong guessed, then wouldn¡¯t this mean that they can¡¯t return back to the Capital Planet? ¡°This is a guess, though, I¡¯ll try again.¡± Chu Rong calmed him and started the mecha to start the detour in another direction. Another hour later, the stars on the small map became denser and the red color became darker. Facts have proved that Chu Rong¡¯s initial guess was correct. They were indeed in the middle of an asteroid belt. No matter where they went around, they were still surrounded by dense asteroids. With the limited energy of the mecha, they couldn¡¯t stay suspended indefinitely. After three failed attempts to detour, Chu Rong decisively chose to return along the original path, heading back towards the planet they had left that morning. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears flattened and his heart was heavy. So, were they now trapped in this cage made of the asteroid belt? This situation was simply too dire. Who would have thought that within an asteroid belt, there would still be a safe primitive planet? Noticing his despondency, Chu Rong set the landing procedure and reached out to ruffle his head, comforting him, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Now that we know our location, we can find a way back.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up at him, tilting his head to nuzzle him back. He obediently nodded and echoed, ¡°Mn, we can find a way back.¡± Since the mecha wasn¡¯t feasible, they could build a spaceship that could do the job! There was a set of instructional materials for building a small spaceship in his storage ring. If he started learning now, he should be able to master it in no more than three months. The primitive planet seemed sizable, and there would undoubtedly be plenty of advanced materials available. With some effort, there was indeed hope for them to return. It would just take a bit longer. Qiao Zhiya hoped that Chu Yan and the others wouldn¡¯t worry too much. At dark, they landed back on the primitive planet again. It¡¯s just that the place where they landed this time is not in the forest, but on the river between two mountains. After stabilizing the mech, Chu Rong stood up and walked to Qiao Zhiya. He bent down, reaching out to lift him up, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s rest here tonight. If you prefer the forest area, we¡¯ll go back there tomorrow.¡± ¡°Mn.¡± Qiao Zhiya obediently wrapped his arms around Chu Rong¡¯s neck, allowing him to bring him down from the mecha. As soon as they exited the cockpit, however, he immediately froze in place. Realizing his stiffness, Chu Rong frowned, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s gone¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya turned his head dumbfoundedly to look at him, then extended his magic power to confirm once again, staring at his surroundings incredulously, his eyes widening in disbelief. He struggled to get down to the ground and carefully sensed again, feeling bewildered. ¡°How could it be gone? How is that possible? This¡­¡± Chu Rong stepped forward and held his head to keep him from turning around, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s gone?¡± ¡°Magic elements! The magic elements in the air are gone. Do you remember the explanation I gave you before? It was clear that in the forest¡ªright, the forest! Chu Rong, we need to go back to the forest! Right now!¡± Qiao Zhiya, after his initial panic and confusion, suddenly remembered a possibility. He urgently exclaimed, ¡°If the magic elements weren¡¯t naturally present here, then the dense concentration of magic elements in the forest must have been due to something nearby rich in magic elements! Usually, such things are treasures! We can go and find it to build a spaceship!¡± He had overlooked it before. Since this place wasn¡¯t in another realm ¨C like his hometown ¨C there was no reason for there to be magic elements on this planet! ¡®Build a spaceship?¡¯ Chu Rong raised an eyebrow at his words, giving him a peculiar look. Suddenly, he bent down slightly, kissed him proudly, and then lifted him up again, jumping back onto the mecha. Qiao Zhiya was stunned by his kiss ¡ª a bit confused, anxious, eager, yet shy all the same time. With these contradictory emotions mixed, he didn¡¯t know how to react for a brief moment. The black-gold mecha once again took off to the sky. Qiao Zhiya snapped back to attention and quickly extended his magic, carefully sensing his surroundings. As they approached the forest, the magical elements reappeared in the air. Qiao Zhiya was pleased and said, ¡°Sure enough, don¡¯t stop, keep moving forward.¡± Chu Rong increased the speed of the mecha. The two of them soon arrived at the location of the spring, but Chu Rong didn¡¯t stop; he continued flying forward. After about another half an hour of flying, the magic elements in the air suddenly became denser once again. It continued to increase, and eventually, there were even some places where the magic was so thick, it condensed into visible balls of lights. Qiao Zhiya had never seen magic so dense before. Excited, his cheeks flushed red, and he couldn¡¯t help but lean in close to the screen of Chu Rong¡¯s mecha. Chu Rong glanced at him, then reached out his arm to pull him close, slowing down the mecha¡¯s forward speed. After another five minutes of travel, a mountain wall appeared in front of them. Chu Rong maneuvered the mecha around it, revealing a vast forest of giant golden trees illuminated by green magical lights. The scene was so beautiful it seemed almost unreal. Qiao Zhiya took a sharp breath, speechless with amazement. With such dense clusters of magical light and such rich magical reactions, what treasures could possibly be hidden within this forest? Chu Rong also paused for a moment, then piloted the mecha to land. He carefully observed the golden trees around him, whose branches were much thicker than the mecha, and asked, ¡°Yellow Leaf trees?¡± Yellow Leaf tree? Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched. He turned to look, his mouth slightly agape. Could it be that this entire area consists of the Yellow Leaf Tree that Chu Rong has been searching for but never found? The legendary grade ten material that was removed from the material encyclopedia due to its extinction? ¡°Qiao, I have to ask you something.¡± Chu Rong turned his head suddenly, solemnly speaking. Qiao Zhiya snapped back, his expression subconsciously became as serious as Chu Rong¡¯s. He nodded. ¡°Ask it.¡± ¡°This.¡± Chu Rong took out a black-gold spatial device from the safe of Rongtian and placed it in his palm. Then, he pointed to the distant expanse of golden trees outside, his lips curling up slightly. ¡°The materials are all gathered. Could you please help me repair the flagship? Then, I¡¯ll take you home. How does that sound?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the spate button containing the Chu family flagship in his hand, then glanced at the vast expanse of Yellow Leaf trees outside. A dreamlike sense of joy welled up in his heart. Suddenly, he tightened his grip on the button, rushed happily towards Chu Rong, and nodded vigorously. ¡°Good! I¡¯ll help you repair the flagship! Let¡¯s go back!¡± They found a way out! Yellow Leaf Wood! It¡¯s actually the legendary tree! It¡¯s great! They actually found such a pleasant surprise in this primitive planet. CH 92.1 After the excitement, the two took a closer look at the huge golden trees for insurance purposes, and finally Chu Rong determined that these trees were indeed the Yellow Leaf Trees, and not only that, it¡¯s probably about a thousand years old. ¡°A thousand years old¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was in awe . All living beings possess a soul. And in this kind of environment, where the magic particles were rich, these millennium-old trees may have cultivated sapience. Glancing into the depths of the giant tree forest, Chu Rong held Qiao Zhiya in his arms as he involuntarily circled around the trees. He gathered up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s twitching ears and said, ¡°It¡¯s very late now. Time to sleep.¡± ¡°Mm, sleeping now.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently, but his eyes were still glued to the giant trees. His arms were still hovering as if he wanted to hug it. Chu Rong frowned and let go. Qiao Zhiya immediately and decisively broke free from his embrace, darting to the side of a tree with a swish. In no time, he climbed up onto a large and sturdy branch, looking down with a flushed face. ¡°Chu Rong, let¡¯s sleep in the trees tonight. I can ask Qiuqiu to weave us a vine bed.¡± Chu Rong watched him clinging tightly to the tree, feeling a strange sourness in his heart. He lowered his head and followed suit, jumping onto the tree. After Qiuqiu finished weaving the bed, Chu Rong lay down with Qiao Zhiya in his arms, feeding him a nutritional supplement to fill his stomach. Perhaps it was because they had hope of returning home, or perhaps it was because the atmosphere in the giant tree forest was too comfortable, but soon both of them fell asleep. Even Qiuqiu felt a bit tipsy, as if drunk. The green magical light dots floated leisurely around the group, then suddenly, as if sensing something, they slowly drifted towards Qiao Zhiya in Chu Rong¡¯s arms and gradually merged into his body. Capital Planet. Chu Huai turned the galaxy map and rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache forming. ¡°Still no news?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an approached, clearly worried. She released her spiritual power to help her husband relax. Chu Huai turned to her, his expression relaxing a bit. He reached out and held her hand, shaking his head. ¡°Most of the border planets belong to our family. We¡¯ve searched them all, but found no trace of Xiao Rong or the black hole. What I fear most now is that Xiao Rong and Qiao were actually in the Empire¡¯s territory.¡± With this mention of the Empire, Gu Yan¡¯an frowned, and asked, ¡°Is the old Emperor really going to die?¡± The news of the reappearance of the Zergs a few days ago caused a stir in the Imperial Palace. Physicians and pharmacists rushed to the palace overnight and guarded it all night. As of now, there is still no accurate information coming out. It¡¯s feared that the old Emperor may be in a bad situation. ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Chu Huai replied, remembering the news from the Imperial High Advisor before, saying, ¡°This time, the old Emperor¡¯s reaction was very strange. It seems that the reappearance of the Zerg really scared him, despite the scale being smaller than last time.¡± Gu Yanan suppressed the worry in her heart. She leaned forward, helping Chu Huai to massage his brows, trying to help him relax. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it now. Take a break first, you haven¡¯t taken a good rest for many days.¡± Knowing that she was worried, Chu Huai glanced at the messy holographic documents strewn haphazardly about and waved them all away. He obediently got up, shifted the topic while walking with her and asked, ¡°What happened to Xiao Yan?¡± ¡°He¡¯s obedient,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an replied, unable to stop sighing, ¡°A little¡­ too obedient.¡± Chu Yan has always been a lively and noisy boy, when did he become so obedient? He eats and sleeps on time every day, trains at the training hall by himself when he¡¯s free, doesn¡¯t go out to play or demand anything, and even takes the initiative to help with household chores. He¡¯s so sensible, it¡¯s heartwarming. Chu Huai¡¯s eyes were filled with complicated emotions. But after a while, he shook his head and said, ¡°Let him go. He¡¯s just grown up. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an nodded and said nothing more. Chu Yan¡¯s room, a video call interface was suspended in mid-air. Yuan Xiu, in the holographic picture, quickly said, ¡°It seems like something¡¯s going on with the You family. My dad has been going to the military department to clash with the You family every day these days. When he comes home, he¡¯s angry and sulking. My mom tries to persuade him, but he just says the You family is up to no good. Chu Yan, now that the presidential election has been postponed due to the emergence of the Zerg, your second brother is missing, and your eldest brother is ill, everyone thinks the Chu family is done for. What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t believe those rumors, Dage is not sick.¡± Chu Yan explained with a frown, paused, then added, ¡°Erge and Qiao will come back safely. Absolutely.¡± Seeing him like this, Yuan Xiu¡¯s mouth opened and closed, hesitating to bring up the topic again. He changed the subject and said, ¡°Originally, the military academy would arrange a training session for us before school starts, but now it seems it might be canceled. I received news that if the second wave of the Zerg doesn¡¯t appear, then martial law will gradually be lifted, and the military academy will still start classes as usual. You¡­¡± ¡°I will report on time.¡± Chu Yan said for sure, touched the communicator, said, ¡°Thank you for sending me the message, and I will contact you when I have time.¡± After speaking, he hung up the call. On the opposite end of the call, Yuan Xiu looked at the empty space, looking in disbelief. ¡°Oh my god, Chu Yan would actually say thank you¡­¡± In his room, Chu Yan closed his eyes, leaning back on the sofa, while his mind spun with the power dynamics of various families in the Federation, analyzing them bit by bit. Suddenly, a flash of the scene where the black and gold mecha was sucked into the black hole along with the brown mecha crossed his mind. At the same time, a dull pain akin to being pushed by an arrow radiated from his abdomen. His eyes narrowed as he sat up. He put his hand on his abdomen, then suddenly punched the sofa with a fist. When an arrow hit a mecha, the pilot wouldn¡¯t feel any pain from it. He knew the pain he felt were all just hallucinations from his guilt. But he couldn¡¯t escape from it. ¡®If only I was a bit stronger, if only I had reacted faster at that moment, if only I had listened to Erge and started familiarizing myself with manual mecha piloting earlier¡­ If only I hadn¡¯t dragged Qiao into this lousy competition¡­¡¯ His thoughts spiraled increasingly towards the negative. He reached up, grabbing at his hair, then suddenly stood up and strode quickly towards the door. ¡®I can¡¯t dwell on this anymore. I can¡¯t let Dage and Dasao worry. If I¡¯m weak, I¡¯ll train. Erge defeated the Zerg Queen at the age of eighteen. Compared to him, I¡¯m far behind.¡¯ Qiao Zhiya found himself standing in a pitch-black space again. After a moment of confusion, he immediately became happy, looking around excitedly and calling out softly, ¡°Dad? Mom? Are you there?¡± Every time he dreams of this place, familiar dots of light appear around him. Though he doesn¡¯t know why it happens, he likes this place and the feeling of connecting with his parents¡¯ power. As he called, the light dots slowly formed a shapeless green shape, surrounding him. As soon as he was about to hug it, he stopped moving in doubt. This feeling¡­ Although the wood-elemental magic felt very gentle, he was sure that this wasn¡¯t his father. ¡°Child, can you help me?¡± A gentle old voice suddenly sounded in his ear. He froze, his gaze fell on the gently floating light blob, tentatively reached out and asked, ¡°Are you talking to me?¡± The light responded to his touch by dimming for a moment and then bouncing back, as if playing with him. Then, a gentle voice spoke again, ¡°Yes, you are the only living being I¡¯ve been able to communicate with through thoughts in these years. Please, come to the center of the forest to find me.¡± ¡°The center of the forest?¡± Qiao Zhiya repeated in confusion. He was about to ask in detail again, but the light suddenly rushed at him, and then the picture flashed in front of him. Finally, his consciousness returned to reality. The warm light filtered through the golden leaves, casting a gentle glow around him. The space was empty except for the swaying vines of Qiuqiu above, creating a serene atmosphere. He was momentarily stunned before coming to his senses, quickly sitting up and looking around. The magical points of light that had floated through the forest last night were nowhere to be seen now. Instead, all he could see were the golden leaves of the towering trees swaying gently in the breeze. ¡°Woke up?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice came from under the tree. He froze and looked down on the vine bed. Below, Chu Rong was tending to a small magic stove, cooking something. Beside him on a wooden stool sat a plate of colorful wild fruits. Nearby, the two children of Qiuqiu were rolling around, making the scene very heartwarming. Qiao Zhiya froze for a moment, and suddenly remembered the scene of being gently awakened by his parents in the morning while still on the Magic Continent, his heart was warm. ¡°What are you staring at? Come down.¡± Chu Rong stood up, looking up at him with open arms. Ears fluttering happily, lips curved into a big smile. Qiao Zhiya flung himself towards Chu Rong¡¯s open arms. During breakfast, Qiao Zhiya mentioned to Chu Rong the dream he had last night. ¡°You said someone was asking for help?¡± Chu Rong frowned, glancing deep into the giant Yellow Leaf Tree forest, his original relaxed posture tightening. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. The other side means no harm, and I can feel that this forest is very safe.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurried to reassure him, then gestured around and said, ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed? Here, including the area where we first stopped, there have been no signs of large fierce beasts around.¡± These are symbols of safety. Hearing that, Chu Rong¡¯s frown loosened up. He glanced at Qiuqiu¡¯s two children, who were still rolling around. He asked, ¡°You wanted to go to the center of the forest?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded quickly, then looked forward to asking, ¡°Can I go?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Chu Rong reached out and squeezed his ears, his eyes softened. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± The forest was huge, so Chu Rong once again took out Rong Tian. As they walked deeper into the forest, the Yellow Leaf Trees grew taller and taller, and the concentration of wood-element magic in the air became denser. Eventually, they even saw a magnificent scene of ¡°a lone tree in the forest¡±. ¡°This tree should have been at least five thousand years¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, his whole body looked like it was stuck on the mecha¡¯s display screen, stars twinkling in his eyes. ¡°This planet must be peaceful, there has never been a serious natural disaster, Otherwise, there will not be such a large area of ??ancient trees gathering. ¡° Chu Rong raised his hand to his ears, and agreed with him very much. This primitive planet was hidden within an asteroid belt, characterized by a stable and uniform environment, suggesting a high probability of being a high-security planet. If not for these asteroid belts, this planet could have become the next target for colonization, as it was particularly habitable, just like the Capital Planet. After about another half an hour of walking, a faintly discernible golden ¡°wall¡± blocking half the sky appeared ahead. Qiao Zhiya looked up in awe at this towering ¡°wall¡± of golden trees, murmuring to himself, ¡°Is this also a Yellow Leaf Tree? At this level, the trees must be at least tens of thousands of years old¡­¡± Chu Rong was also a bit shocked. Although the Yellow Leaf Tree was indeed a very tall tree with a relatively straight trunk, just how old is this tree for its trunk to reach the sky, until he couldn¡¯t see the top? He had never seen such a massive tree in his life. After snapping out of his reverie, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly urged Chu Rong to land, his face full of impatience. His magic was also eagerly swaying, eager to communicate with this ¡°old gentleman¡±. He was now sure that the ¡°person¡± who contacted him in a dream last night must be this ancient tree. It was tens of thousands of years old, and even if it didn¡¯t grow in a superior environment like the Magic Continent, this tree should already have reached sapience. CH 92.2 The mecha landed, and Qiao Zhiya rushed out of the cockpit, heading straight for the trunk as thick as a wall. Fearless of pain, he rubbed his face against the rough bark, then placed his hands on the tree and closed his eyes. Chu Rong stepped down after him, his face dark as he stood guard by his side. His gaze fell on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slightly flushed cheeks, and he reached out to touch them, only to be swatted away by the closed-eyed Qiao Zhiya, which made his face even darker. The wood-elemental magic gradually penetrated into the trunk of the tree. Soon, a gentle magic responded to him, wrapping him tenderly and carrying his power towards the bottom of the tree, passing through the roots and seeping into the soil. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears happily twitched. He obediently followed the power until he touched the ground. The root system of the ancient tree was very developed, and it stretched freely under the ground, interweaving into a web of net. He tried to pour his magic into the ancient tree. As a feedback, he was bombarded by many wonderful ¡°sights¡±. Everything on this planet was laid out before him without any concealment: the small animals making nests at the roots, the birds flying through the woods, the breeze blowing leaves, the ripe fruits falling, the tender shoots emerging after the rain, the clear streams flowing after the ice thaw¡­ He could even see the cute little animals digging holes on the other side of the planet. It¡¯s amazing, it feels like he has become the planet itself, and he can clearly know the trajectory of all the living creatures on the planet. Then he found himself seeing himself and Chu Rong. He ¡°saw¡± his body closing his eyes, one hand raised against the trunk. Chu Rong stood beside him with a frown, raising his hands in the air, looking distressed. The sensation was too novel for him to resist. He couldn¡¯t help but approach and circle around Chu Rong¡¯s hand raised in mid-air. Then, Chu Rong suddenly clenched his fist and turned his head to look accurately at him. Surprised, the scene vanished, and he found himself back in the underground landscape. ¡®Was that the scenery that the ancient tree could see?¡¯ He wondered. Just as he pondered, the power guiding him suddenly halted, swirling around a section of roots. He snapped out of it, quickly focusing his attention in that direction, and then froze. Green. All he could see was swaths of green. The location where the ancient tree¡¯s power lingered turned out to be a vast expanse of naturally formed wood-elemental magic stones. They were settled together, almost completely occupying the underground, obstructing the ancient tree¡¯s roots from extending and absorbing nutrients. ¡°Their growth is too vigorous,¡± a blurry, elderly voice sounded, carrying a hint of helplessness and indulgent affection, as if dealing with mischievous children. ¡°I nurtured them, but they have begun to affect the lives of other children. Please help me clean them up, if you would.¡± A gentle breeze brushed his face, and Qiao Zhiya suddenly snapped out of his daze. He blinked for a few seconds, then turned to Chu Rong, who was frowning at his palm, and threw himself into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. Looking up at him with shining eyes, he said, ¡°Chu Rong, if I¡¯m going to repair the flagship, I¡¯ll need to learn the basic structure of a flagship first. It might take some time¡­¡± Chu Rong came back to himself, suppressing the strange familiar feeling he had just experienced, and reassured him, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I have repair plans from the flagship repair team here. There are detailed diagrams for the fabrication and installation of all the parts that need to be replaced. It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. We just couldn¡¯t repair the flagship before because we couldn¡¯t find the materials. I¡¯ll help you too, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Qiao Zhiya hesitated for a moment, glanced around nervously, and then softly requested, ¡°Um, could we spare some time to help Elder Tree-xiansheng solve a little problem before I get familiar with those installation diagrams?¡± Chu Rong squinted, reached out to grab his ear, and replied, ¡°Helping out is fine. Repairing a flagship is a big project and not urgent for the moment, but¡­ no beating around the bush. Speak honestly.¡± ¡°There are a lot of emerald jades under Elder Tree-xiansheng! Super many! It should have formed into a vein by now! They¡¯re blocking his root growth. Let¡¯s dig them out!¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately confessed, nearly jumping for joy. ¡°There really are so many emerald jades! So many! Elder Tree-xiansheng said he could give them to me, so you won¡¯t have to spend money buying jades for me anymore!¡± He wouldn¡¯t have to bankrupt Chu Rong¡¯s family again! Jade? After hearing his explanation, Chu Rong glanced at the ground under his feet, and looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s vivid joy, and nodded. In the Federation. With no further appearances of the Zergs, the public¡¯s panic gradually subsided. Instead, more attention was directed towards the missing Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya, and messages praying for their safety flooded the Starnet. It was probably Chu Huai¡¯s behavior of claiming illness and avoiding visitors, along with the Chu family¡¯s frantic search for Chu Rong, that gave the President a false impression. Suddenly, he became high-profile again, ostensibly under the guise of helping the Chu family but actually aiming to undermine Chu Rong¡¯s military power. In this matter, the Xiang and Wei families, along with another neutral marshal, showed a high degree of consistency by jointly rejecting his ¡°well-intentioned¡± proposal. The You family remained neutral and did not take a stance. Finally, Yuan Xiu¡¯s father Yuan Lie stepped forward to temporarily take over Chu Rong¡¯s daily work, while military authority was left to Chu Rong¡¯s subordinates such as Fan Xiangnan. The other families could only oversee matters without intervening. So, after a few more days passed, the Zerg still hadn¡¯t appeared, and the populace gradually set aside their worries. Some even began to speculate optimistically that perhaps the next peaceful decade was about to arrive. At the latest session of the parliamentary meeting, Xiang Lingyun suddenly stood up, stating that the presidential election could not be indefinitely postponed. Since the Zerg hadn¡¯t reappeared, he argued that the matter should be put back on the agenda. Seated at the upper dais, Long Ruifeng¡¯s face darkened at his proposal, but he managed to maintain his composure. He acknowledged that it was indeed necessary to address the issue but emphasized the importance of extending martial law for the sake of public safety. Xiang Lingyun didn¡¯t budge. He immediately asked him how long he was going to impose martial law. The vassals of the Xiang family immediately followed his inquiries, and so was the Wei family. Eventually, some other scattered forces began to urge Long Ruifeng with the same proposal. In the end, Long Ruifeng reluctantly agreed to a one-week deadline, stipulating that if the Zerg did not reappear within that time frame, martial law would be lifted, and the presidential election would resume its schedule. After learning about this, Chu Huai sneered. He still planned to not cancel his sick leave. He just watched the show from the side. Previously, the Xiang family had struck a deal with the Chu family regarding military authority. Now, since they want to capitalize on Chu Rong¡¯s disappearance and his ¡°illness¡± to vie for the presidential position, let them go ahead. He wanted to see what kind of situation Xiang Lingyun and Long Ruifeng, who suddenly became outspoken and dared to reach out to the Chu family, would stir up. On the other side, on the primitive planet, Qiao Zhiya multitasked, familiarizing himself with the repair schematics of the flagship while directing Chu Rong to operate the mecha for digging underground. Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, they approached the emerald jade vein that troubled the roots of the ancient tree. He immediately signaled for Chu Rong to stop the mecha and climbed out of the cockpit to retrieve a small hammer to personally investigate the situation. The ancient tree had grown for too long, and its roots were intricately tangled. They had to be extremely careful to avoid harming the roots of the ancient tree. Chu Rong stepped forward with a frown. He glanced up at the top of the dim pit, pressed down his worry about the situation back home, and stepped forward to help. A week flashed by, and a new parliamentary meeting was held. Xiang Lingyun was smiling and well-informed. Long Ruifeng¡¯s expression actually looked pretty good, and his composure was pretty calm, too. ¡°That¡¯s settled then, let¡¯s resume the presidential elections. Hopefully, Chairman Chu¡¯s health has improved.¡± Long Ruifeng decisively hammered down on the matter, feigning concern for Chu Huai¡¯s well-being and subtly challenging Xiang Lingyun. He waved his hand, about to adjourn the meeting, when an urgent communication interrupted. The expressions of all the members present changed instantly. A communication that could directly dial in like this, with such an urgent tone, could only mean one thing. ¡°President! The Zerg have appeared near the D18 planet border! A lot of them! They¡¯ve formed a Zerg tide! They are approaching the first line of the space defense fortress of the planet! Requesting reinforcements!¡± The urgent and fearful report echoed through the entire conference room like a roaring shout. Long Ruifeng quickly responded, standing up and saying, ¡°Immediately activate Level 1 Alert! Notify the public not to wander the streets! I¡¯ll arrange for reinforcements right away!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The communication ended, and Long Ruifeng glanced at everyone in the conference room again, asking, ¡°Now, I request that the presidential election be further postponed. Any objections?¡± Everyone looked at each other, all of them remained silent. Xiang Lingyun frowned and didn¡¯t speak. This Zerg tide is not like others; it must be treated with extra caution. Seeing them silent, Long Ruifeng turned and left, and began to contact the troops stationed near the planet D18. This Zerg tide seems to be a signal of impending crisis. Soon, news of the Zerg tide¡¯s appearance also came from the Empire, and panic began to spread. All planets once again imposed martial law, and this time, the measures were even more stringent than before. The first wave, the second wave, the third wave¡­ Zerg appeared like bamboo shoots after the rain. They formed a tide that directly threatened the outer planets of the two civilizations. The battle lines were quickly drawn, and then, soon after, another dreadful piece of news came through. ¡°Some of the Zergs can release a neural wave that interferes with spiritual powers, similar to what happened to those competitors that day. Anyone exposed to the Zerg neural wave will be unable to use their spiritual power; furthermore, they¡¯ll suffer from severe headaches and physical paralysis if they try to move. Right now, the military can only engage the Zerg from afar while staying inside a battleship. Patrol teams on the planets can only carry firearms that don¡¯t require spiritual power to use for self-defense. Mechas are completely ineffective.¡± Fan Xiangnan reported, lips drawn into a tight frown. They were all aware of the truth: the Zergs appearing this time were all artificial monsters, completely fake. He couldn¡¯t fathom the level of madness required for someone to artificially create such creatures and even devise neural waves specifically targeting human spiritual powers. Chu Huai¡¯s expression was grim as he asked, ¡°Can this neural waves attack be blocked?¡± ¡°It can be blocked, but it¡¯s unstable, so it¡¯s not advisable to use,¡± replied Fan Xiangnan, shaking his head. After a pause, he suddenly added, ¡°Master Ren passed me a message a couple of days ago, saying that the research on the artificial cultivation of alien beasts tendons has yielded results and we can proceed to the next stage of research anytime. Also, there¡¯s a preliminary draft for a new type of mecha designed based on Qiao¡¯s ¡°Elf¡±. Once we finalize some details, we can start producing the first batch of manually-piloted mechas.¡± This was what Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya have been working hard on, and now it seemed that the results were about to be achieved. Moreover, these results happen to be able to counter the fake Zergs with harmful neural waves, but the outcome¡­ The atmosphere in the study became heavier. It had been over half a month, and there was still no news from Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya. The stable emotions everyone had maintained began to turn anxious. ¡°Go and invite Master Shang. Ask him to assist Master Ren in finalizing the initial version of the manually-piloted mechas, and begin production of the artificial alien beast tendon and veins as well. It¡¯s better to be prepared. Also, those squads that were previously reassigned to familiarize themselves with ancient martial combat should intensify their training again.¡± Chu Huai quickly shifted his focus from turbulent emotions and issued these instructions. After a moment of thought, he added, ¡°Arrange for someone to investigate Long Ruifeng. The timing of this recent appearance of this Zerg tide is too coincidental. He must be involved somehow.¡± First, the Zerg appeared during a live broadcast event on the entire Starnet. On top of that, they appeared in an event with many people with special identities, such as the Imperial Third Prince, the fianc¨¦ of the Federation¡¯s Marshal, and the Marshal¡¯s younger brother, which only exacerbated the panic-stricken atmosphere. Then Chu Rong and Qiao coincidentally disappeared in public. The Chu family was immediately hit. Then, with their ¡°protector¡± disappeared, the public would certainly be more panicked and their confidence in the Chu family would be greatly reduced. After that, the presidential election was suspended indefinitely, trying to divide the Chu family¡¯s military power. After the Xiang family finally able to put the election back on agenda, the Zergs oh-so-coincidentally reappeared. Moreover, the current wave of Zerg appeared near the D18 planet where the forces of the You family were stationed, and the nearest planet to D18 ¨C that is, planet D05 ¨C was where the forces of the Ning family were stationed. The Chu family had no chance to intervene, and the situation was interconnected. ¡®¡ªWait a moment, the Ning family?¡¯ CH 93.1 Yellow Leaf Wood was one of the parts needed in the second page of the blueprint. Qiao Zhiya ran to Elder Tree-xiansheng with a blushing face, and put his hands on it, pouring out a little magic. The ancient tree quickly responded to him, and immediately after he received a request, the root system arched, and a large piece of dark wood flew out from the pit they dug when getting the jades. With a delighted exclamation, Qiao Zhiya leaned in to nuzzle the trunk, then happily ran over to lift the black wooden piece, which was twice his size. He trotted over to the purification array on the side and placed the wood inside. As soon as Chu Rong came out of the pit, his eyes glued to that piece of black wood, and suddenly felt that he was not even as good as a piece of wood. He frowned and dragged the youth into his arms, asking, ¡°What is this? It doesn¡¯t seem to be the stuff I gave you. ¡° ¡°This is a mutant Yellow Leaf Wood, a gift from Elder Tree-xiansheng,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied excitedly, gesturing with his fingers still on the wood. ¡°These are the most essential parts of the tree, accidentally broken off and left in the soil by Elder Tree-xiansheng. Don¡¯t be fooled by its dull appearance; the power it contains is definitely much greater than other grade ten materials! At least double! Hmm, maybe even triple.¡± Chu Rong likes the color black very much, but now he has decided not to like this black piece of wood for the time being. Suppressing the inexplicable sourness in his heart, he dragged Qiao Zhiya away from the array and brought him up onto the mecha, flying towards the edge of the forest. It was time to find some food to feed this silly Bald Chicken who forgets to eat even when engrossed in his studies. In the Federation, the Zerg tide surged again after a short retreat. Long Ruifeng was playing the battle of public opinion, and the pressure on the Chu family was increasing. Everywhere, he fueled the fire, provoking the worry of the public. Just when the boiling public opinion almost spilling over into resentment towards the Chu Family, Chu Huai finally stepped forward and held a press conference, his face pale, expressing his sickness, stating that due to his prolonged coma, there was no one from the Chu Family to take charge, which led to a delay in responding to the President¡¯s ¡°thoughtful suggestions.¡± He expressed deep regret for this. Immediately after, he stated that the military indeed couldn¡¯t remain unmanaged indefinitely. Therefore, after consultation and seeking the opinions of the soldiers, he decided to divide the Chu Family¡¯s military into three parts: one part would remain stationed on major planets to guard their basic security; another part would be placed under the command of Yuan Lie, temporarily assuming the position of Marshal in place of Chu Rong, to guard the border defenses; and the remaining part would be placed under the command of one of the four Marshals, He Hongjun, to safeguard the security of the central planet together with Marshal He Hongjun. After saying all this, his complexion visibly worsened, appearing as if he could barely hold on. However, he still managed to straighten his back and finish the press conference. Towards the end, he even bowed deeply for an extended period, expressing profound self-blame for suddenly collapsing before the impending war. The little resentment brewing in the hearts of the people immediately dissipated as they looked at his pale complexion, and they all felt a sense of discomfort and self-blame. The Chu family is not like other families; only Chu Huai and Chu Rong are capable of taking charge. Now that Chu Rong has disappeared in public to protect the people, the situation looks grim. Chu Huai fell ill because of this, and although he was already feeling distressed, he was pressured by the President as soon as he woke up to deal with the situation. It¡¯s really pitiful. And the Chu family had clearly fulfilled its duties. Even when Chu Huai fell ill and lapsed into a coma, the planets where the Chu family¡¯s army was stationed immediately implemented the strongest defenses when the Zerg tide erupted, effectively safeguarding the safety of the people even in the absence of their commander. The public opinion, under the control of the President, gradually turned biased, and criticisms of the President¡¯s lack of empathy began to emerge. Just as Long Ruifeng was eagerly trying to stir up more trouble, another piece of news broke out ¡ª Chu Yan, on behalf of his second brother, went to the front line! He is currently on Lieutenant Admiral Yuan Lie¡¯s spacecraft, serving as a new recruit soldier! The hearts of the people immediately became even more sympathetic, and some emotional people even couldn¡¯t help but cry. More than a decade ago, the Chu family fought to the end for the Federation, for the safety of the people, until only the three brothers remained to support each other. Now history repeats itself: first, Chu Rong and his fianc¨¦ were sucked into a black hole while protecting the people, their fate unknown. Then Chu Huai, enduring illness and the grief of his missing loved ones, stepped forward to oversee the situation and protect the Federation. And now, even the youngest, Chu Yan, has personally gone to the front lines to confront the terrifying swarm of Zergs. Time and time again, the Chu family has done enough. Is it true that everyone is forcing the Chu family into a corner until they can only die? Must the Federation¡¯s security be exchanged for the blood of the Chu family? ¡°Damn it!¡± Long Ruifeng slammed the table in frustration, his once amiable demeanor now completely vanished in private. Long Ruizhang looked at him with concern and helplessness, sighing deeply before speaking, ¡°Dage, let it go. The Zergs are approaching, and now is not the time for internal strife. Even Chu Yan has gone to the front line. If you continue to press on, it may provoke a backlash from the people.¡± Chu Huai played the sympathy card perfectly this time, striking a chord with the public. The people wouldn¡¯t delve into the intricacies of power struggles; they would only see the ¡°tyrants¡± forcing the newly adult Chu Yan into desperate combat. In this round of public opinion warfare, it was ultimately a victory for Chu Huai. ¡°What step have they taken? The Chu family hasn¡¯t suffered any losses at all!¡± Long Ruifeng refused to listen to his brother¡¯s advice, his expression contorted as he said, ¡°Dividing the military power into thirds might seem like a significant concession, but look at how Chu Huai distributed it! The troops stationed on the planets haven¡¯t budged at all, and the ones that can be mobilized have been partly given to Yuan Lie, significantly boosting his status and granting him a quasi-Marshal position, enhancing his authority! The remaining portion was given to He Hongjun, who always playing the fool! And it was explicitly stated that they would help He Hongjun safeguard the safety of the Capital Planet! How is this safeguarding the safety of the Capital Planet? This is clearly aimed at me! He openly and transparently created a military force to hang over my head, over all the major families¡¯ heads! Who forced him into this situation? He¡¯s the one forcing me!¡±1Just a reminder, there are four Marshals in the Federation: Chu Rong, one marshal from the You family, one marshal from the Xiang-Wei coalition, and one ¡°neutral¡± marshal, who is originally a civilian. He Hongjun in this neutral marshal. Long Ruizhang couldn¡¯t help but sigh again at his words, saying, ¡°But the people won¡¯t understand these things, Dage. Once the news of Chu Yan going to the frontlines spreads, the Chu family really can¡¯t make any moves. You need to stop now. Dealing with the Zergs is urgent. If you handle this situation well, the people might start leaning towards you. After the war, when the presidential election restarts, you might even be able to¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible!¡± Long Ruifeng interrupted him, his face darkening, ¡°Those foolish people will never lean towards me. With the Four Great Families in power, no one will ever lean towards me!¡± Long Ruizhang was almost going crazy with his paranoid stubbornness and frowned, ¡°But Dage, have you forgotten the help from the Ning family this time?¡± ¡°Ning family?¡± Long Ruifeng sneered, then with an ironic tone, he added, ¡°Ning family is not helping me, he is helping himself2Long Ruifeng is using the pronoun ¡°Ëû¡±, so it¡¯s singular male (can be gender neutral though)! The people who really help me are¨C¡° With that, he suddenly looked startled, closed his mouth, and glanced at Long Ruizhang with apprehension. Then, he suddenly looked weary, waved his hand, and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯m feeling a bit tired. I¡¯ll consider the matters concerning the Chu family later. You¡¯re right, dealing with the Zergs is the priority for now.¡± Long Ruizhang thought he was finally willing to listen to his persuasion. Feeling relieved, he nodded, ¡°You have a good rest, Dage, I will come to see you tomorrow.¡± After Long Ruizhang left, Long Ruifeng immediately got up and went into the inner room. He activated all the security measures and then carefully took out a communicator. He dialed a number through a special channel. After a while, the communication was connected, and an elegant figure appeared, leaning on a sofa. Long Ruifeng involuntarily straightened his back, and a slightly ingratiating smile appeared on his face as he spoke, ¡°Prince An Xei, sorry to disturb you at this late hour. The thing is, recently there have been some developments in the Chuo family¡ª¡± ¡°No need to explain,¡± Prince An Xei waved his hand lightly, dismissively saying, ¡°I will increase the investment. You handle it yourself. Also, I¡¯ve been quite busy lately, so don¡¯t keep bothering me. If you have any issues, call the Ning family first. I¡¯m hanging up.¡± The call interface disappeared. An Xei didn¡¯t have a good expression. The smile on Long Ruifeng¡¯s face disappeared, replaced by a grim expression. He stood there for a moment, then suddenly snorted coldly and threw the communicator away. Chu family. Both Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an were stunned by Chu Yan¡¯s sudden enlistment, and even Yuan Lie didn¡¯t know when Chu Yan was mixed up with his solder. But then, Yuan Xiu took the initiative to confess their schemes. So it¡¯s not just Chu Yan who sneaked onto the warship as a new recruit, but also Yuan Xiu. The rapid spread of the news was also their doing in secret. ¡°Nonsense!¡± Chu Huai and Yuan Lie simultaneously scolded over the communication, while Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu, standing in front of Yuan Lie, remained silent and listened to the reprimand. One had a calm expression but exuded stubbornness, while the other wore a guilty look but surprisingly maintained a defiant attitude. Chu Huai and Yuan Lie looked at each other and both got headaches. Just a while ago, they were saying that these two young ones had grown up, become sensible, and wouldn¡¯t cause trouble for the family anymore. But now¡­ it seems that boasting too soon is never a good idea! ¡°Chu Yan, go back to your room and make a private call to me. We need to talk,¡± Finally, Chu Huai spoke, not saying anything in public. He still had some sense of propriety; disciplining children should be done in private. Chu Yan immediately gave Yuan Lie a standard military salute, calling him Lieutenant General properly, then turned and left. Seeing this, both Yuan Lie and Chu Huai became increasingly worried. If even Yuan Lie couldn¡¯t intervene, it meant that Chu Yan was truly determined to go to the front lines. After returning to his room, Chu Yan immediately initiated a communication request. Chu Huai answered the call and found himself face to face with his youngest brother, who stood in the new recruits¡¯ room, dressed in military attire with his hair cut short, appearing somewhat unfamiliar. Countless words flooded Chu Huai¡¯s mind, but suddenly, he found himself unable to speak. ¡°Dage.¡± Chu Yan opened his mouth first, his back straight and his eyes firm, and said earnestly, ¡°I have grown up and know what I want to do.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Chu Huai began, trying to say something to discourage him but couldn¡¯t say it. He suddenly felt frustrated. More than a decade ago, Chu Rong helped carry the burden of the Chu family, and now, more than a decade later, Chu Yan has taken the first step forward. As the oldest brother, does he always fail to protect the safety and stability of his younger brothers? ¡°Dage, you are already stretched very thin,¡± Chu Yan tightened his grip on the military cap and said, ¡°The responsibility of the Chu family does not rest solely on your shoulders. The President is pressuring you, and other families are watching the show. Erge hasn¡¯t returned yet, so I¡¯m just doing what I can do at the moment, and what I must do.¡± Chu Huai was speechless. Indeed, Chu Yan going to the frontline was really a good political maneuver ¨C with this one move, he was able to block everyone¡¯s criticism instantly. ¡®However¡­¡¯ he looked at Chu Yan¡¯s mature and steady demeanor, and suddenly felt a bit dizzy. His vision doubled, as if the figure of Chu Rong standing stubbornly superimposed with Chu Yan¡¯s figure. His throat tightened, and after a long silence, he spoke gently, ¡°Come back safely. Please.¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes softened at his brother¡¯s words, and he nodded firmly, showing a hint of reliance on Chu Huai as he used to at home. He replied, ¡°I will.¡± CH 93.2 Thank you Ery for your donation! I¡¯ll upload the bonus update today, please be patient~ T/L: alright, a confession of sin. I translated ¡°Master Shang¡± and ¡°Master Ren¡± with the same title, but in Chinese, they¡¯re actually different! Master Shang is Éдóʦ, literally Shang ¡°Great Teacher¡±, but rather than teacher, it¡¯s more like, he¡¯s a respected master in his profession. One of the best. As for Master Ren, he¡¯s referred as ÈÎÀÏ, literally ¡°Ren Lao¡±. I usually translate such appellation as ¡°Elder Ren¡±, but¡­ that¡¯s usually referring to a family setting? Like, I used that translation when referring to Elder Ning, who¡¯s quite literally an Elder of a family. So, in the beginning, I used ¡°Master Ren¡± as a translation because I think it¡¯s more appropriate ¨C he¡¯s a respected senior professional, so calling him a ¡°Master¡± is suitable in English translation. And I thought that Chu Rong and the others call him ¡°Ren Lao¡± because he¡¯s quite close to them also. But now, I made it as if both of them have the same ¡°status¡±¡­ Well, since I¡¯ve translated things this far, I¡¯m going to continue to translate them as both ¡°Master Shang¡± and ¡°Master Ren¡±. Forgive me for my inadequacies. Qiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML¡¯s army. Chu Yan: ML¡¯s younger brother. Is the same age as MC. Chu Huai: ML¡¯s older brother, he¡¯s in politics. Gu Yan¡¯an: Chu Huai¡¯s wife. She¡¯s a doctor. Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Yuan Lie: Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, a Lieutenant General. Bearded Teacher aka Master Shang: Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. Chu Rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. Is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Long Ruifeng: the President. Long Ruizhang: The President¡¯s younger brother. =The Empire= An Xei: The Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. Married to Ning Tianwu. An Mhu: Third Imperial Prince. Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. On the primitive planet, Chu Rong¡¯s wrist suddenly flashed with the red thread, accompanied by a wave of warmth. He busily raised his hand, gripping his own wrist, and looked up at the sky to the southwest. There was an inexplicable heaviness in his heart. It wasn¡¯t until he heard the approaching footsteps of Qiao Zhiya that he snapped out of it. Quickly reigning in his emotions, he turned around to see Qiao Zhiya walking over with the newly made forge. He immediately stepped forward to help. As they progressed to the repair blueprints of the flagship, they became increasingly complex. Perhaps sensing Chu Rong¡¯s anxiety, Qiao Zhiya gradually stopped wandering in the forest to relax and instead devoted his days to studying the blueprints and making parts. He worked tirelessly, almost to the point of neglecting proper rest and food. Chu Rong frowned as he watched, fearing that if Qiao Zhiya continued to push himself like this, his health would deteriorate. So, in addition to helping as much as possible, Chu Rong often forcibly made Qiao Zhiya take breaks. Every day, he also tried various ways to prepare delicious food for him, ensuring that he didn¡¯t solely rely on nutrient solution for his meals. In the blink of an eye, one month had passed. The most difficult part of repairing the flagship, the production of the complex components, was finally completed. Only the final steps remained¡ªinstalling the new parts, repairing the damaged hull, and the final debugging and test-drive. The venerable ancient tree generously provided a branch to serve as a mooring spot for their enormous flagship. Qiao Zhiya crawled into the damaged interior of the flagship and proceeded to install the new components one by one according to the blueprint requirements. Thankfully, he had great strength, and Chu Rong continuously piloted the mecha to assist. Without their combined efforts, and without suitable tools or equipment at hand, the installation process wouldn¡¯t have been possible with just the two of them. It took a full two days to install all the components. Qiao Zhiya temporarily didn¡¯t touch the damaged outer shell of the flagship and instead had Chu Rong proceed with the startup debugging to check if the new components had any issues. After twelve years, the long-dormant flagship finally lit up its navigation lights again. The sound of the ship¡¯s power system coming to life was incredibly beautiful and exhilarating at that moment. Ten minutes later, Chu Rong turned off the flagship and jumped down, embracing Qiao Zhiya tightly and giving him a passionate kiss. Success! All the components passed inspection, and the power system ran smoothly without any hesitation. The flagship was truly repaired. Qiao Zhiya squinted his eyes in a smile, hugged Chu Rong back, and nuzzled against him before immediately diving into the repair work of the flagship¡¯s outer shell with full enthusiasm. In the Federation, the news from the frontline has been quickly updating. After arriving at the front lines, Yuan Lie developed a combat mode that involved using small combat ships to launch long-range attacks in teams. This tactic effectively halted the advance of the Zergs and firmly held the defense line. The performance of Chu Yan¡¯s squad was particularly outstanding. Chu Yan¡¯s unpredictable tactical arrangements caused the less agile-minded Zergs to suffer numerous heavy losses. On the other hand, with the support of neural wave resistance medicines, the Ning family army and the You family army have been continuously exterminating the Zergs using the powerful and agile nature of their mechas, forcing the Zergs to retreat a considerable distance. Although the Xiang family still adopts a conservative approach, primarily conducting long-range attacks from within their ships, they have developed numerous new weapons for their vessels, significantly enhancing the combat capabilities of their fleet. Everything was progressing in a positive direction, and the martial law on various planets has slightly relaxed. This was because everyone has noticed something: unlike the random appearances of the Zerg tides over a decade ago, this time, although the Zergs appeared in large numbers, they mainly concentrated in outer space rather than randomly appearing on planets. Therefore, as long as the military holds the front lines, the civilians protected on the planets are generally safe from danger. On top of that, this time, the Zergs had no apparent leader, and all their attacks were done purely from instinct. Without a ¡°commander¡± to lead them, they have become much easier to deal with. After about half a month of relative stability, a major event occurred in the Empire ¡ª the Emperor passed away. As soon as the news came out, the Empire was in chaos. In the palace, the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince, who had never gotten along, started a fierce conflict. They schemed against each other, exposing each other¡¯s weaknesses. The nobles who supported them also attacked and schemed against each other, further plunging the Empire into chaos. Unable to tolerate the ruthless behavior of his brothers, the Third Prince, in anger, departed for the front lines. He led his personal guards to join the resistance against the Zerg tides, displaying a blatant disregard for the throne. The citizens of the Empire immediately expressed their enthusiasm for the Third Prince, in contrast, they silently harbored disdain for the Second Prince and Fourth Prince. Several days later, during the funeral of the old Emperor, the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince unexpectedly got into another altercation, escalating to the point of physical confrontation. Unable to tolerate the situation any longer, the people and other neutral courtiers joined forces to condemn the Second and Fourth Princes. Through various maneuvers, they managed to discredit both of them, citing their lack of filial piety and suitability as heirs to the throne. Unilaterally, they declared the Third Prince, who was currently fighting on the front lines, as the new Emperor. Upon receiving the news, the Third Prince hurried back to the capital. In a public declaration, he expressed that he didn¡¯t consider himself to be sufficiently qualified and capable to shoulder such a heavy responsibility. Both the courtiers and the citizens had the psychology of ¡°the more the Third Prince refused the throne, the more suitable he actually is¡±. So, they persisted in pushing him forward. They were determined not to let the two short-sighted Second and Fourth Princes rule the Empire. Amidst the stalemate, Prince An Xei, who had slightly recovered from his injuries, personally sought out the Third Prince. He reasoned with him and appealed to his emotions. Eventually, Prince An Xei managed to persuade the Third Prince, urging him to endure the pain of losing his father and the heartache of his brothers¡¯ discord. With the support of the people, the Third Prince reluctantly ascended to the throne, becoming the new Emperor1a reminder, Prince An Xei is not the first prince. The first prince has long been disposed because he attempted a coup during the time when the Emperor was missing (the Emperor is actually with Chu Rong and the Imperial High Advisor The Second and Fourth Princes, unwilling to accept the situation, hired someone to assassinate the Third Prince. However, their plot was discovered and exposed. Prince An Xei, usually gentle, showed his rare anger at them. He used his authority as a prince and his senior status to demote both of them to commoners and imprisoned them. The people of the Empire expressed great relief, and even the sense of panic caused by the attacks of the Zergs diminished significantly. It seemed that so long as the Third Prince ascended to the throne, the Empire could overcome the Zergs threat and restore its former prosperity and peace. ¡°They¡¯re quite adept at guiding the public opinion,¡± Chu Huai closed the news about the Empire and turned to face Fan Xiangnan. He asked, ¡°Have we figured out the patterns of the appearances of the Zergs and the black holes?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got some clues,¡± Fan Xiangnan replied with a hint of weariness on his face, but his demeanor remained as reliable as ever. ¡°Through our investigations during this period, we¡¯ve found that black holes only appear in areas far from the Federation¡¯s detection range. They never approach regions with a higher concentration of humans, nor have they ever appeared within the human defense line. So, we speculate that the opening of the black hole channels requires time to arrange, and it¡¯s not feasible to do so in densely populated human areas without being detected.¡± This speculation aligns closely with Chu Huai¡¯s previous conjecture. He lowered his gaze, pondered for a moment, and then said, ¡°The current situation where neither the Zergs nor black holes have appeared within our defense lines could be due to either An Xei still having some tricks up his sleeve or because the speed of the martial law enforcement on various planets was too fast, and the Empire¡¯s people didn¡¯t have time to arrange beforehand. This move against the Chu family clearly indicates long-term planning, so I¡¯m inclined to the latter. Instruct them to maintain the defense levels on each stationed planet, increase patrol troops, and conduct a population census. Anyone suspicious should be secretly monitored, keeping disturbances to a minimum to avoid causing panic among the populace.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Fan Xiangnan nodded in agreement. As he turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something and added, ¡°Master Ren sent a message earlier, mentioning that there¡¯s been a problem in the research, and he needs you to take a look.¡± Chu Huai frowned, and immediately got up. For the sake of convenience in research, Master Ren had already moved back to his own personal laboratory, which was better equipped. Upon receiving the message, Chu Huai swiftly made his way there. However, unexpectedly, it wasn¡¯t Master Ren who encountered the problem in the research, but Master Shang, who volunteered to help. ¡°Xiao Huai, you¡¯ve arrived just in time,¡± Master Shang said, frowning deeply as he held a magic array pattern in his hand. ¡°The first version of the manually-piloted mecha has been finalized, but we¡¯ve encountered a problem with the system¡¯s implementation. This is the framework system template left by Qiao. The most crucial part is this thing called a magic array and the energy slot made of sapphire. We¡¯ve dissected this section, but we can¡¯t seem to understand the principles behind it.¡± Chu Huai followed his gaze towards the miniaturized driving system on the platform, sighing helplessly. Seeing his expression, Master Shang felt that something was amiss and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t understand it either? Qiao never told you?¡± Chu Huai shook his head and replied, ¡°Qiao always conducts his research alone, taking his time to figure things out. He shares the results with Xiao Rong, who then handles the detailed arrangements for promotion. We don¡¯t usually inquire about the details of his findings.¡± ¡°I told you, calling him here would be useless. What can he handle?¡± Master Ren emerged from the inner room, not mincing his words as he jabbed at Chu Huai. ¡°Qiao once mentioned that the pattern is actually an alternative energy traction method. If we can¡¯t understand it, then we should stop trying and find alternatives. Spiritual power is affected by neural waves and cannot be used. Mechanical methods should suffice. Coupled with the unique biological sensitivity of the alien beast tendons, perfect synchronization isn¡¯t achievable, but we can manage around 80% of what Qiao achieved.¡± Master Shang frowned upon hearing this but reluctantly glanced at the pattern in his hand. However, he knew that now wasn¡¯t the time to indulge in research. He said, ¡°Let¡¯s change our approach. Qiao has already established the overall framework for the piloting system. It¡¯s just a matter of finding an alternative for one connecting part. I don¡¯t believe that between the two of us, we can¡¯t come up with a solution.¡± So Chu Huai made a futile trip and returned home after being scolded, feeling helpless. Unexpectedly, as Chu Huai¡¯s hover car approached his residence, a black hole suddenly materialized out of nowhere, nearly sucking his hover car into its vortex. Fortunately, the security personnel left behind by Fan Xiangnan were quick to react. They immediately deployed a silver net from behind to shield Chu Huai¡¯s car and pulled it back to safety. Although Chu Huai safely made it home without any accidents, the news of the incident spread quickly, causing panic among the populace once again. The fact that the Zergs had reappeared from within the planet¡¯s interior reignited fears of a return to the chaotic scenes of all-out war from over a decade ago. Chu Huai¡¯s encounter was just the beginning. Soon after, black holes began appearing within the defense lines of other planets in the Federation, one after another. The atmosphere of panic continued to escalate. It reached the peak, once the news that the Zerg Queen reemerged in the Empire. After the Zerg Queen appeared, all the Zergs seemed to go mad, launching relentless assaults on the borders of various planets. The frequency of the Zergs¡¯ appearances within the planetary defense lines also increased. Apart from the planets where the Chu family stationed their troops, casualties began to occur on other planets as well. As the battle intensified, even the Xiang family eventually compromised and started using the medication provided by the Ning family. However, somehow news spread about the Chu family¡¯s military forces receiving the medication but refusing to use it. Rumors even suggested that they encouraged Yuan Lie and He Hongjun to refrain from using the Ning family¡¯s medication as well. Public opinion erupted once again. At the brink of a major crisis, cracks began to appear in the sympathy and trust the populace held towards the Chu family. With the increasing number of the Zergs¡¯ assaults, the visible weaknesses of their conservative approach and the small-scale attacks by their warships, along with the continuous retreat of their defense lines, doubts about the Chu family¡¯s statements gradually grew. Everyone still remembered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s revelation about the Ning family¡¯s drugs. But still, they unanimously criticized the Chu family for being too stubborn, clinging to old impressions at such a crucial moment, and playing with the lives of officers and civilians ¨C blind stubbornness on what they believed to be right. The Chu family found themselves at the center of controversy once again. Finally, when news spread that Chu Yan¡¯s small warship had nearly been sucked into a black hole, public opinion reached its peak. The populace became agitated, questioning fervently: Why not use the medicines? Why waste the resources and energy of the military and soldiers for no reason? Is the Chu family going to push itself to the brink just because of past biases against the Ning family? While the Ning family may have been wrong in the past, they are heroes in this matter! How much longer will the Chu family remain stubborn? ¡°Long Ruifeng has gone mad! He actually wants to target Xiao Yan!¡± Gu Yan¡¯an trembled with anger, hatred flickering in his eyes. She exclaimed, ¡°First it was Xiao Rong and Qiao, then you, and now Xiao Yan! Is he trying to wipe out the entire Chu family?¡± Chu Huai frowned, holding her hand, trying to offer her comfort. ¡°And those who have been criticizing you¡­ I really want to reveal the whole truth to them and show them what terrifying things they¡¯ve chosen to believe in now!¡± Gu Yan¡¯an said, then broke down, covering her face as tears streamed down uncontrollably. The unjust accusations from the public were the most hurtful ¨C especially since the Chu family has tried every means to protect them. ¡°They were just fanned by our opponents. In fact, only a small portion of them are actually this extreme, most of them are normal, rational people.¡± Chu Huai stood up and hugged her. His heart ached once he saw how pale her complexion had become. He also wanted to reveal all the truth to the public directly, but it was not feasible. Without absolute power, tearing these truths apart would only lead to one result ¨C the Chu family would be scapegoated, and then swiftly eradicated by enemies who would stop at nothing. ¡°Where are Xiao Rong and Qiao¡­¡± Gu Yan¡¯an held him tightly, feeling somewhat hopeless. ¡°Please bring Xiao Yan back, even if it means death. If we can only die, then we should die together. Ah Huai, bring Xiao Yan back¡­¡± ¡°Everything will be solved, believe me.¡± Chu Huai gently stroked her hair. He felt that her erratic heart beat slowed down, little by little. ¡®It¡¯s been nearly two months, and there¡¯s still no news of Xiao Rong and Qiao. Could it be¡­ No, it can¡¯t be.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t allow himself to think like that. If even he became uncertain, then this family would truly be finished. CH 93.3 On the primitive planet, Qiao Zhiya finally finished the repair of the entire flagship. Chu Rong first arranged for him to rest, then used the reserve energy stored on the flagship to fully replenish its energy. He spent the afternoon cautiously fine-tuning and making various preparations for departure. That evening, bidding a reluctant farewell to Elder Tree-xiansheng, the two stood in the control room, facing the asteroid belt shrouding the primitive planet, setting off with the gifts brought by the small animals sent by the venerable ancient tree. Outside the asteroid belt. The new Emperor of the Empire, despite opposition from the people, personally went to the frontlines to oversee the troops after the appearance of the Zerg Queen. A few days later, probably unable to bear seeing his soldiers suffer any longer, the new Emperor, who outwardly appeared very benevolent, surprisingly extended an olive branch to the Federation. He invited both the Federation and the Empire to join forces and confront humanity¡¯s common enemy ¨C the Zerg Queen! And he expressed that if they wanted to resolve the conflict as quickly as possible, they must first kill the Zerg Queen. Otherwise, the new peace would not arrive. As long as the Zerg Queen existed, the Zergs would keep emerging endlessly, much like indestructible cockroaches. After receiving the invitation, Long Ruifeng felt that the new Emperor was quite logical. He immediately responded to his invitation. Both the citizens of the Empire and the Federation showed support for this cooperation. Amidst the collective anticipation, the You and Ning families from the Federation were the first to step forward, expressing their support for the President and the new Emperor¡¯s decision. They were willing to organize their armies to join forces and eradicate the Zerg Queen. The Xiang-Wei family also expressed support after a few days of silence. However, the Chu family never expressed their stand. After learning about this development, the public¡¯s feelings towards the Chu family became increasingly complex. Firstly, there¡¯s no doubt that the Chu family has saved humanity. Secondly, the disappearance of Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya while protecting others can be seen as a heroic sacrifice. Thirdly, with only Chu Huai left as the head of the family, and Chu Yan having gone to the frontlines and recently faced danger, the situation within the family is precarious. In summary, the Chu family has already made significant and substantial contributions to the Federation and humanity. People should be grateful to them. However, the current behavior of the Chu family, encouraging Yuan Lie and He Hongjun not to use medication for the soldiers, was indeed irrational. Given the situation of the Chu family, even if they don¡¯t participate directly in the joint operation to besiege the Zerg Queen, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. However, their continuous delay in making a statement, and even influencing Yuan Lie and He Hongjun not to express their stance, was somewhat concerning. ¡°I¡¯m going. Dage, you should stay.¡± Chu Yan said in the call, his attitude unflinching. Chu Huai firmly refused, saying, ¡°No way! This is a trap! Long Ruifeng and Prince An Xei are obviously unable to deal with the Chu family directly, so they¡¯re planning to seize an opportunity to weaken the military strength of the Chu family. If you go, it¡¯s just walking into a death trap! Everyone going is walking into a deathtrap! I won¡¯t allow it!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I should go!¡± Chu Yan insisted, eyes reddening, ¡°Only I can go!¡± ¡°Bullshit!¡± Chu Huai was so angry that he really lost his temper with him for the first time in forever. He continued to shout, ¡°You come back right now! Don¡¯t force me to tie you up!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s expression tensed, and he suddenly glanced at the bowed figure of Gu Yan¡¯an sitting behind Chu Huai. He clenched his fists tightly and said, ¡°Dage, you must stay. The Chu family will rely on you for support in the future. You have to think about Dasao.¡± ¡°There¡¯s only me and Yan¡¯an in the Chu family. I¡ª¡± ¡°Dage!¡± Chu Yan interrupted him, took a deep breath, and suddenly changed the subject, saying, ¡°Zhuang-jie contacted me this morning. She said she saw Dasao sneak back to her parents¡¯ home yesterday while you were away. She seemed a bit absent-minded. I was worried, so I contacted the Gu family to ask about it. Dasao, she¡ª¡± ¡°Xiao Yan!¡± Gu Yan¡¯an stood up in alarm, raising her voice to interrupt him, then stepped forward to pull Chu Huai, soothingly saying, ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s not argue. Let¡¯s both calm down. This time, the Xiang and Wei families have obviously also seen the President¡¯s intentions. Let¡¯s see how they are going to respond first. Both of you, don¡¯t be hasty.¡± Chu Huai was immediately soothed. However, after a brief pause, Chu Yan continued, ¡°Dage, Dasao is pregnant. So you must stay.¡± Upon hearing this, Gu Yan¡¯an stiffened for a moment, then quickly reached out to turn off the communication device. She forced a smile at Chu Huai and said, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to Xiao Yan¡¯s nonsense. He¡¯s still a child, what does he know? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll talk to him again. He¡¯s just being stubborn for the moment.¡± Seeing this, Chu Huai, still reeling from the bomb dropped by Chu Yan, instinctively put his hand on her shoulder. His gaze fell on her still-flat abdomen, and he reached for the communicator to dial his in-laws¡¯ number. ¡°Stop.¡± Ge Yan¡¯an hurriedly pressed his hand, knowing that she couldn¡¯t hide it any longer. She stepped forward and hugged him, saying, ¡°Ah Huai, it¡¯s okay. This child came at an inconvenient time. I can, I can¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t finish her sentence. Chu Huai tightly hugged her, his eyes slightly reddened. His Adam¡¯s apple bobbed up and down, and in a hoarse voice, he said, ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not inconvenient, I assure you.¡± He patted Gu Yanan¡¯s hair, but he couldn¡¯t say anything more than this sentence. The next day, Chu Yan posted an announcement on his social media account stating that the Chu family fully supports the operation to surround and exterminate the Zerg Queen. He personally commits to accompany the army to the forefront. The online discussion about the Chu family disappeared immediately after this announcement dropped. For a brief moment, the Starnet was eerily quiet. Chu Yan, not even twenty years old this year, is representing the Chu family to battle against the Zerg queen. This inevitably brings back memories of Chu Rong from over a decade ago. Once again, regardless of the mistrust and skepticism from the public, the Chu family was doing everything within their power to contribute. As for the matter of the Chu family¡¯s military refusing to use the medication, perhaps the Chu family has some other considerations. In the midst of a great war, at the very least, they should not doubt the Chu family¡¯s desire to protect the people and the Federation. After Chu Yan¡¯s announcement, which was not formal, was issued, both the Xiang and the Wei family also made a statement, saying that they would send soldiers to go to the frontline. The joint operation to besiege the Zerg Queen by the two countries has been completely finalized, and preparations for the siege operation are proceeding rapidly. The Empire seemed prepared as if they had been ready for a while, immediately deploying a well-equipped army. The Ning and You families also quickly mobilized their elite forces. However, the Xiang-Wei delayed for two days before ostensibly presenting their respective main forces. In the end, it was Yuan Lie and He Hongjun who represented the Chu family. Yuan Lie temporarily assumed the position of marshal in place of Chu Rong and, along with Chu Yan, led the army personally trained by Chu Rong to the front lines. He Hongjun followed suit after Yuan Lie¡¯s actions and also organized his strongest army to join the effort. Three days later, the most powerful army in the entire Blue Galaxy gathered together and set off towards the Zerg Queen. Chu Huai sat silently in his study, gazing at the beautiful star map of the Blue Galaxy. After a moment of contemplation, he took a deep breath and picked up the communicator, dialing his assistant¡¯s number. He ordered, ¡°Increase surveillance on all planets, implement the highest level of alertness across the board. Our elite forces are already at the forefront, we cannot afford any issues in the rear.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a reply before hanging up. He then looked at Gu Yan¡¯an, who just pushed open the study¡¯s door, waiting quietly for the result. The Zerg Queen was hunkered down above a border planet of the Empire, where a black hole roughly the size of three large spaceships was slowly spinning in space. At its center, the Queen¡¯s tentacles could be seen swaying back and forth. Around the black hole, densely packed small Zergs kept circling it, protecting the center. After arriving at their destination, everyone gathered for a meeting aboard the Imperial Royal Flagship. Next to the gleaming platinum-colored imperial vessel were the family flagships of the Ning, Xiang, and Wei families. The Chu family¡¯s slightly less imposing warship was arranged alongside the ships of the You, Yuan, and He families, subtly indicating a lower status. ¡°To defeat the Zerg Queen, we must first eliminate the surrounding swarm. Let Lieutenant General Yuan and Marshal He lead the vanguard forces, while the task of dealing with the Zerg Queen can be left to those of us with flagships,¡± Ning Tianya proposed, displaying a spirit of selflessness. Yuan Lie immediately voiced his opposition, but Emperor An Mhu disregarded his objection and voiced support for Ning Tianya¡¯s proposal. Following suit, the You Family also expressed their support for Ning Tianya¡¯s suggestion. As for the Xiang and Wei families, after some hesitation, they remained neutral. Looking every bit like a scholarly military strategist despite his rank as a marshal, He Hongjun finally spoke up, saying, ¡°It¡¯s no problem for me and Lao Yuan to lead the charge together. But the Empire¡¯s side can¡¯t just sit back and watch. We need someone to lead the charge there as well. I¡¯ve heard that His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire enjoys the feeling of being on the front lines. How about he joins us this time?¡± As soon as this remark was made, the conference room was quiet. Finally, Long Ruifeng immediately uttered and yelled, ¡°Marshal He! Pay attention to your words.¡± ¡°I merely offered a suggestion, much like Ning-xiansheng did. Is there something wrong with that?¡± He Hongjun retorted calmly, then seemed to suddenly remember something as he looked at Ning Tianya, asking with a hint of puzzlement, ¡°Strange, if Marshal Chu¡¯s younger brother Chu Yan wasn¡¯t allowed into this meeting due to his low position, then how did Ning-xiansheng manage to get in?¡± Ning Tianya, who was targeted and ridiculed, shuddered. He appeared speechless. Long Ruifeng frowned, and said again, ¡°The Ning family¡¯s contribution is huge. Ning-xiansheng was invited by me. What¡¯s your opinion, Marshal He?¡± ¡°No objections,¡± He Hongjun said with a smile, getting up. ¡°Let¡¯s forget about it. If you want to bully someone, just do it directly. What¡¯s with the theatrics here? Old Yuan, let¡¯s go and deal with the Zergs. Ah, I wonder if some people will be scared to death by the innocent souls coming to haunt them in their dreams at night.¡± Upon hearing this, Yuan Lie got up without a word and left the meeting room with him, leaving the rest of the people in silence with various expressions on their faces. CH 94.1 Enjoy this bonus update! Chu Yan stayed in his room, carefully examining what he should bring to the battlefield. The communicator suddenly rang, and he paused in his movements, looking sideways for a moment before realizing who the ¡°Xiang Circle1og: ÏîȦ. The word itself means necklace/collar. But the Ïî is also the same as the Xiang in the Xiang family.¡± nickname is in his contact list. Unusually hesitant, he reached out to pick up the communicator and accepted the incoming video call request. Xiang Kun¡¯s holographic figure slowly appeared in midair. Chu Yan looked at him silently, not speaking in the slightest. Having known each other for over a decade, this was the first time he didn¡¯t know what attitude to adopt towards this archnemesis he¡¯d grown up with. The memories of their petty fights in the past now seemed strangely precious, highlighting the heaviness of the present situation even more. After taking in the current appearance of Chu Yan, Xiang Kun visibly paused, his gaze scanning up and down the military uniform Chu Yan wore. Finally, his eyes settled on Chu Yan¡¯s face, which now seemed somewhat unfamiliar without its usual provocative expression. His lips moved slightly before he spoke, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it. Your family and Marshal He¡¯s troops are going to take the lead.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Chu Yan nodded, and touched the long blade in his hand, and asked, ¡°Are you still in the capital?¡± Xiang Kun¡¯s gaze moved to Chu Yan¡¯s hand again. He then nodded, suddenly adding: ¡°I wanted to go, but my father locked me up.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t come,¡± Chu Yan tightened his grip on the long blade, his expression finally showing some change. With a hint of urgency in his voice, he spoke before falling silent again. He lowered his head, flipping the long blade as he spoke. ¡°In a battlefield like this, your presence will only be a hindrance. Your father did the right thing.¡± His tone finally became similar to his usual tone when facing Xiang Kun before. Xiang Kun watched him with his head bowed, and suddenly a thought flashed through his mind: ¡®If this person were no longer in the world in the future¡­¡¯ His heart inexplicably trembled at the thought. He subconsciously turned his head slightly and said, ¡°I¡­ I had someone send you something. Remember to open the ship¡¯s passage and receive it¡­ Come back safely.¡± Chu Yan heard him and looked up to see him face-to-face. Xiang Kun, feeling inexplicably guilty, avoided his gaze and deliberately said, ¡°After all these years of fighting, I haven¡¯t won against you once¡­ Chu San, you can¡¯t bully people and run away without facing the consequences.¡± With that, he raised his hand and ended the call. Then, as if he had done something wrong, he closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, feeling a bit restless. The air hung quietly as Chu Yan gradually snapped out of his reverie. His mind replayed Xiang Kun¡¯s expression, obscured by shadows from his hair, as he uttered the last sentence. Suddenly, Chu Yan clenched his fist and held it up in front of him, his eyebrows lifting momentarily before quickly returning to their usual position. He then got up and walked out of the room. Asteroid belt. Chu Rong frowned at the detailed star map scanned by the flagship, and suddenly suspended navigation. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Qiao Zhiya stepped forward, puzzled. He had been studying the star maps intensively over the past few days, trying to analyze the situation ahead. ¡°Is it because the asteroids are too dense? The flagship¡¯s protective shell should be strong enough to pass through this asteroid belt. I reinforced it with a magic array during repairs.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± Chu Rong shook his head and pointed to two directions on the star map that happened to be opposite each other. ¡°Starting from here, the star map has a familiar look. This direction leads to the border of the Federation, very close to Chu Family¡¯s mining planet. If we want to return home sooner, taking this route would be the safest option. After we pass through the asteroid belt, we can temporarily rest on the mining planet and arrange for someone from home to meet us. But on this side¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this?¡± Qiao Zhiya became more puzzled. He traced a direction on the star map, continuing onto the other side. ¡°If it goes on¡­ it goes to¡­ the Empire?¡± ¡°Indeed, the Empire.¡± Chu Rong nodded, raised his hand, showing the red line. His frown deepened. ¡°This red line is guiding me to the Empire.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression changed, and he quickly reached out to grasp his wrist, sensing the magical energy. After a moment, he furrowed his brow and said, ¡°The formation¡¯s effect is still active, and the bloodline traction formation shouldn¡¯t have any issues¡­¡± ¡°I know, I trust you,¡± Chu Rong said, holding his hand in return. His gaze shifted between the two directions on the star map as he continued, ¡°So I speculate that either my Dage or Chu Yan, one of them must have gone to the Empire. We left just before the fake Zergs¡¯ appearance, and now it¡¯s been two months. The situation outside must have changed drastically. At such a sensitive time with the appearance of the Zergs, whoever among them appears in the Empire¡­ it doesn¡¯t signify something good.¡± As Qiao Zhiya understood Chu Rong¡¯s analysis, he became worried immediately. He had some kindling about what Chu Rong is not saying. ¡°Do you want to pilot the flagship directly to the Empire?¡± Chu Rong nodded, adding, ¡°However, if it¡¯s Dage who¡¯s in the Empire for some formal outing, then me directly piloting the flagship towards the Empire will count as a war provocation. It will have a very bad impact on the Chu family. ¡° Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but glance at the communication equipment on the flagship and fiddle with the communicator on his wrist. His ears drooped as he said, ¡°Still can¡¯t contact the outside world¡­¡± If only they could make contact and inquire about the situation. ¡°It¡¯s no use. Unless we leave the asteroid belt or get close to the navigable channels cleared by the cooperation between the two civilizations, we won¡¯t have any signal,¡± Chu Rong replied. Suddenly, he touched the red line on his wrist, feeling a vague sense of unease. Finally, without hesitation, he changed the flagship¡¯s course directly towards the direction of the Empire. Qiao Zhiya casted a sidelong glance at him. Chu Rong reached up and cupped his ear, as if persuading himself, but also seeking strength from him. He said, ¡°No matter what, I can¡¯t leave my family in the enemy¡¯s stronghold.¡± Above the Empire¡¯s border planet, the Chu family¡¯s army and General He Hongjun¡¯s army, under the watchful eyes of the other families, were the first to advance towards the small-scale Zerg tides gathering around the Zerg Queen. They still weren¡¯t planning to use the medicine provided by the Ning family; with the Zerg Queen present, conservative combat was deemed most appropriate. Chu Yan got on the small battleship his squad was stationed at. He touched the Chu family crest on hand, and waited quietly for orders. At the forefront, the squad led by Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen took the lead. Above their heads floated numerous battlefield monitoring devices¡ªthese were tools used by the other families and the Empire to observe the Chu family¡¯s activities. However, it was mandated by battlefield regulations that they couldn¡¯t simply destroy these devices. ¡°Before, just the thought of our Chief monitoring the battlefield with these monitoring devices and caring about our safety made me feel incredibly reassured, but now¡­¡± Zhuang Yu sighed over the squad¡¯s general frequency channel, then quickly fell silent. She rallied her spirits and encouraged, ¡°But as usual, if we win, I¡¯ll treat you all to a big feast, and if we lose, we¡¯ll clean the ships!¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Fan Xiangnan answered. He stared at the dense cluster of Zergs surrounding the black hole, asking, ¡°Are you all ready?¡± ¡°Ready!¡± All the squad members who had been quiet answered in unison. They were all soldiers brought out by Chu Rong himself, and they would never flinch even if they knew the death or trap waiting for them ahead. Because they believe they can win! In the Chu family¡¯s army dictionary, there was no failure! Fan Xiangnan¡¯s face revealed a slight smile, he took a deep breath, and then exhaled, saying, ¡°Onboard your mechas!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Amidst the incredulous gazes from the other factions in the rear, the elite squad of the Chu family, which always led the charge in every battle, simultaneously opened the top hatches of their warships and efficiently donned their mechas before boarding them. The second echelon immediately stepped forward to assist them in stowing away the warships, forming a protective formation behind them as they advanced. Rows of grey mechs stood steadily in the forefront of the army, presenting an imposing sight. Unlike the standard mechs used by other armies, these mechas varied in size and had smoother joint designs. At first glance, it seemed as though the soldiers had transformed into giants leading the vanguard. ¡°First, use the warships to disperse the gathered Zergs. Then, according to the previous plan, divide into groups, surround, and attack. Let¡¯s move out!¡± Yuan Lie commanded solemnly from the command post of the Chu Family¡¯s warship, replacing Chu Rong, with eyes full of determination and fighting spirit. ¡°Understood!¡± Responding to the command, the mecha squad, accompanied by the fleet of small warships behind them, descended together. Meanwhile, the cannons of the warships in the rear all aimed at the direction of the black hole and opened fire simultaneously. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± It was as if Mars had fallen into a hornet¡¯s nest. The disturbance caused the Zerg Queen to stick its head out of the black hole, while the surrounding small Zergs, after a moment of agitation, fiercely charged towards the attacking warships. ¡°Kill it!¡± ¡°Kill it!¡± The same cries echoed from different channels as the descending gray mechs, accompanied by the small warship fleet, charged towards the swarming Zergs from various directions. Meanwhile, the warships ascended once again, their cannons aimed at the black hole, prepared for any sudden attack from the Zerg Queen. On the other side, He Hongjun also waved his hand and issued orders. The He family army dispersed around the perimeter of the Chu family army, enclosing the entire battlefield. This action effectively separated the Imperial Royal Flagship and the flagships of the other families from the rest of the fleet. The battle finally kicked off. Meanwhile, Long Ruifeng turned back and couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in disbelief, ¡°The Chu family¡¯s army is operating mechas? But they didn¡¯t drink the medicine, right? And the medicines provided by the Ning family¡ª¡± Ning Tianya also snapped out of his shock, and upon hearing this, he quickly summoned his spiritual strength and fiercely jabbed at him, visibly furious at his unfiltered remarks. Members of the Xiang and Wei families, upon hearing this, were intrigued. They glanced at Ning Tianya simultaneously, then exchanged looks with each other. Showing no interest in further pretense, they immediately dialed their own military channels using their communication devices and ordered, ¡°Seal all the medicine provided by the Ning family, conduct detailed research, and prepare for a press conference.¡± If the Ning family has indeed tampered with the medicine, then there¡¯s no need to fight this battle. They would rather betray their country than let the Ning family escape punishment on this battlefield! They actually would do something horrendous despite a calamity at this scale! Absolutely shameless! Upon hearing this, Ning Tianya had a bad feeling instinctively. He couldn¡¯t help but glare at Long Ruifeng again and then approached the representatives sent by the Xiang and Wei families this time. He reassured them, saying, ¡°Please calm down, both of you. The medicine provided by the Ning family is absolutely fine. We cannot afford infighting now, especially in the midst of such a crucial battle.¡± ¡°Seems like your Ning family is also aware that we are in the midst of a crucial battle!¡± The representative from the Xiang family didn¡¯t listen to any explanation, maintaining his angry demeanor. Without giving Ning Tianya a chance to respond, he turned around and left. ¡°For the second wave, it¡¯s up to your Ning family to catch up. We from the Wei family need to conduct a detailed inspection on the soldiers who have taken Ning family¡¯s medicine. We¡¯re out of time!¡± The representative from the Wei family followed suit, coldly leaving after dropping his remark. ¡°They are clearly trying to use this as an excuse to delay their time on the battlefield!¡± Long Ruifeng immediately expressed his anger after the spiritual power pain disappeared, perfectly embodying what it means to be a ¡°mindless fool.¡± Ning Tianya was beginning to suspect that what An Xei implanted in Long Ruifeng¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t a mental lock, but rather some kind of drug that makes people foolish! Of course, he knew that the actions of the Xiang and Wei families were a pretext to delay their time on the battlefield. But if it weren¡¯t for Long Ruifeng¡¯s incredibly foolish remark, how could the Xiang and Wei families have found this ¡°pretext¡± to begin with? ¡°Shut up for me! You fool!¡± After the representatives of the Xiang and Wei families left, Ning Tianya didn¡¯t hesitate to rebuke Long Ruifeng, speaking with a heavy tone, ¡°Now, the Chu family¡¯s army suddenly has the ability to operate mechas, and He Hongjun, that old fox, intentionally separated the battlefield from us to guard against any tricks we might play. The Xiang and Wei families seized the opportunity because of your stupid remark, turning the situation in our favor into this mess. If this plan fails, don¡¯t bother being the President anymore. Go be an underground ghost instead!¡± Long Ruifeng, who had been suppressed by Ning Tianya for a while, was already dissatisfied with him. Upon hearing this, he refused to back down and retorted, ¡°It was clearly your Ning family¡¯s foolish actions, trying to tamper with the medicines and actually leave behind evidence. And you still dare to push the blame onto me? The Xiang and Wei families would find excuses to delay the battle anyway. The fact that the Chu family¡¯s army can operate mechas is not my fault. What right do you have to criticize me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t argue,¡± Emperor An Mhu, who had been quietly sitting in the rear, spoke up suddenly in annoyance. Shaking the communicator in his hand. He said, ¡°It¡¯s a call from Uncle Wang2og ÍõÊå, Íõ is a surname, but it can also means ¡°king¡±.¡± CH 94.2 Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Long Ruifeng: the President. An Xei: The Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. Married to Ning Tianwu. An Mhu: ex-Third Imperial Prince. Now the current Emperor. Ning Tianya and Long Ruifeng fell into silence, calmed down their anger, and looked at the video call interface that appeared in mid-air. In the corner, Elder You, the head of the You family, sat quietly with a blank expression. He appeared as if he didn¡¯t hear any of these disputes, immersed in his own world. In the battlefield, mechas coordinated with small warships, and the impulsive and mindless Zergs were soon bewildered by the ever-changing formations of the Chu family army, gradually being annihilated one by one. ¡°This manually-piloted mecha is really easy to use. Sadly, the response speed is a tad slower than I would like.¡± After the situation stabilized, any more lively member of Fan Xiangnan¡¯s squadron commented as they sigh. ¡°It¡¯s really easy to use.¡± A deep voice echoed, his tone implying excitement. He was one of the fighters without spiritual power cultivated by Chu Rong. After years of hard work, he finally drove a mecha to the battlefield, making his dream come true. He has no regrets in this life. Fan Xiangnan didn¡¯t stop them from chatting during this war ¨C the war that shouldn¡¯t have happened in the first place. He felt slightly relaxed. These manually-piloted mechas were hastily constructed from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s research under the supervision of Master Ren after several sleepless nights, once the encirclement operation was nearing finalization. At that time, Chu Huai delayed responding to the encirclement invitation precisely for this reason. With time running short, the allocation and test-driving of the mechas were completed en route to the Empire. The soldiers only had a brief familiarization with the mechas on the training ground before heading into battle. Fortunately, the system framework provided by Qiao and the tailored configurations of the mechas were very effective. Although the synchronization system was slightly delayed, as long as everyone was careful and quick to react, basic combat was still manageable. The Goddess of Fortune still smiles upon them, it seems. He swung his weapon again, killing another incoming Zerg, and was about to command everyone to change formation to provide support elsewhere when he heard several team members couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in shock. His intuition told him something was wrong. He quickly expanded his field of vision to observe the battlefield, and the relaxed mindset he had just emerged with immediately vanished, replaced by a sense of gravity and despair that settled over him. In the conference room of the Imperial Royal flagship, the figure of An Xei appeared in mid-air, casually stating, ¡°The Chu family only has a small, insignificant mecha squad. Why are you all in such a hurry? So what if the Xiang and Wei families discover issues with the medicine? Once they¡¯re all dead, who will know the truth? Didn¡¯t I tell you to cut off external communication to the battlefield in advance? With no news leaking out, can¡¯t you be more mature and calm?¡± ¡®Once they¡¯re all dead?¡¯ Long Ruifeng¡¯s eyes widened, initially finding the suggestion terrifying. After all, those were still the members of the Four Great Families; it wouldn¡¯t be so easy to suppress them. However, soon a sense of satisfaction, tinged with a bloody anticipation, rose from within him, rapidly expanding. Yeah, if those pesky people are all dead, won¡¯t this world become more beautiful? What is the fragile human being in front of the powerful Zerg? Just let the Zerg kill all those pests, kill those who have been belittling him¡­ Thinking of this, he couldn¡¯t help but glance at Ning Tianya, his gaze momentarily distorted before quickly suppressing it, striving to maintain a normal tone as he said, ¡°But the Xiang and Wei families have taken precautions early. The team they sent this time is obviously not elite. Even the person in charge is just a loyal follower they cultivated. Even if we eliminate them, it won¡¯t cause too much damage to the strength of the Xiang and Wei families. And there¡¯s Chu Huai from the Chu family¡ª¡± ¡°Grind them down slowly. A game is only fun if the pace is right. Haste makes waste, remember that.¡± An Xei interrupted him, looking visibly disgusted by Long Ruifeng¡¯s impatience. He glanced at Ning Tianya and the newly-crowned Emperor and said, ¡°Do you know what to do?¡± Ning Tianya gave a dismissive glance at Long Ruifeng, nodded, and got up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go back to the Ning family¡¯s flagship to arrange the medicines.¡± The new Emperor blanked for a moment. After An Xei hung up the communication, he collapsed and fell to the chair. His eyes closed shut, clearly passing out. ¡°What is that?¡± One of the squadron members asked. ¡°That¡¯s a Zerg.¡± Fan Xiangnan answered, watching the black hole that suddenly appeared from the periphery of the He family¡¯s army. His heart felt cold. ¡°Is the Ning family and the Empire crazy?¡± With so many Zerg, all of the human beings here wouldn¡¯t be able to escape its encirclement. Do the Empire and the Ning family want to die together? ¡°Look! The black hole where the Zerg Queen is located is expanding! It¡¯s about to release another wave of Zergs!¡± exclaimed another squad member closer to the black hole. Yuan Lie in the warship quickly realized that the situation was wrong. He discovered that the Empire flagship suddenly cut off communication with them, and all external communications suddenly malfunctioned. ¡°Signal blockade,¡± came the voice of He Hongjun, cold and sharp like the edge of a blade sliding across a surface. ¡°They want to wipe us out in one fell swoop.¡± The situation took a turn for the worse as a dense horde of Zergs, seemingly endless, surged from the outskirts of the battlefield towards the center. Meanwhile, on the other side, the black hole where the Zerg Queen was located had fully expanded, spewing out a massive pile of new Zergs, enveloping the battlefield in an ominous darkness. The soldiers fighting in outer space had no time to return to the warship. They were surrounded by the dense Zergs. Some of the Zergs even reached the warships, beginning to gnaw at their hulls. They showed no fear of death; as soon as the first batch was killed by gunfire, the second batch immediately took their place, behaving like a group of manipulated fanatics. ¡°Members, gather! Don¡¯t disperse! Protect each other! Hurry!¡± The captains of the various squads roared and tried to protect their comrades. ¡°Look! The Ning, You, and the Empire¡¯s flagship aren¡¯t targeted by the Zerg! What the fuck is happening!¡± Some soldiers found something wrong and exclaimed. Chu Yan ordered the warship to ram into a Zerg that was about to attack a teammate, his eyes filled with resentment¡ªwhy else would these Zergs be here if not for the efforts of the Ning family and the Empire? They must have a way to prevent these ugly creatures from attacking themselves! Cursing inwardly, he didn¡¯t say anything on the communication channel. He only upped the frequency of his attacks towards the horde of Zergs. ¡°We must open the warship hatches and let everyone come back in! Otherwise, they¡¯ll all die out there!¡± Zhuang Yu, who was allowed to stay in the command room as an exception, exclaimed anxiously. Yuan Lie didn¡¯t blame her for speaking up suddenly. With clenched teeth and a tense expression, he said, ¡°No! The Zergs are tearing at the hull of the warship. Once we open the hatches, all the non-combat personnel in the ship who have no means of self-defense will be killed.¡± Zhuang Yu was stunned as she looked at the comrades surrounded by the dense swarm of Zergs, only occasionally glimpsed through the detection instruments. Fear and despair welled up from the depths of her heart, and she shook her head in disbelief, ¡°No, we¡¯ve already rushed to produce the mechas, we¡¯ve already¡­¡± ¡®There are too many Zergs.¡¯ The same thought echoed in the minds of all the soldiers, but they didn¡¯t falter. They fought on, continuing the battle. The more Zergs they killed, the greater the hope that their comrades would survive. So they couldn¡¯t stop. They absolutely could not stop. ¡°Kill them!¡± Someone suddenly screamed, adrenaline pumping in their blood. The soldiers suddenly feel encouraged, shooting their weapons even more fiercely towards the Zergs. The black flagship halted in midair, finally breaking free from the asteroid belt¡¯s range. After moving forward for a while, the previously extinguished signal system suddenly lit up again. Chu Rong immediately dialed the Chu family¡¯s communication number, while Qiao Zhiya dialed Chu Yan¡¯s number. At the Chu residence, Chu Huai was initially puzzled when he saw the emergency communication light in the study, which hadn¡¯t lit up for over a decade, suddenly flash. Then, he abruptly realized something and rushed over, almost frantically answering the communication. The video call interface popped up, and Chu Rong¡¯s figure appeared in the air. After holding his breath for over two months, Chu Huai suddenly released it all, causing his body to wobble unsteadily, nearly falling to the ground. Chu Rong looked at Chu Huai, who appeared visibly distressed, and Gu Yan¡¯an, who sat beside him with a pale face and a distant look in her eyes. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly asked, ¡°Dage, what¡¯s going on at home?¡± Before Chu Huai could reply, the old butler suddenly pushed the door open and stumbled in, saying, ¡°Eldest Young Master, we¡¯ve lost contact. We can¡¯t reach Lieutenant General Yuan Lie, nor Young Master Xiangnan, nor Third Young Master. We can¡¯t reach any of them.¡± Chu Huai and Gu Yanan¡¯s expressions changed greatly. At the same time, a message saying ¡°the other party could not be reached¡± came out of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s communicator. Chu Rong glanced back and forth at their expressions and then at the communicator in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, suddenly realizing what was happening. He immediately reached out and shut off the communication, while attempting to contact Fan Xiangnan and the others. At the same time, he changed the flagship¡¯s direction, illuminating the first-level red alert lights, and charged towards the direction indicated by the red line! ¡°Ah!¡± Hearing the teammates¡¯ exclamations over the channel, Chu Yan immediately looked towards the direction where they were located. He saw their small warship had been damaged in the power area by the Zergs, and he felt a surge of alarm. He rushed forward, but suddenly, a gray mecha darted out from the side, stabilizing the small warship just in time1clarity: the gray mecha isn¡¯t Chu Yan. It¡¯s one of the manually-piloted mecha soldiers, as all of them are colored the standard gray. Chu Yan¡¯s mecha is silver-gray. Chu Yan felt relieved and said quickly, ¡°No. 9034, abandon your vessel and come to me.¡± The rescued team member breathed a sigh of relief and quickly responded, swiftly donning protective gear and activating the protective shield. With the protection of their comrades, they boarded Chu Yan¡¯s warship. With the relentless waves of attacks from the Zergs, more and more soldiers on the battlefield began to get injured. Fan Xiangnan glanced at the overwhelmed warships, his brow furrowed. He ordered, ¡°Everyone, assemble at the coordinates I¡¯ve marked! Gather together to form the secondary defense formation, quickly!¡± All of the members heard the command and reacted immediately. They gathered together toward the coordinates according to the formation they had practiced before. Soon, all the soldiers in the field gathered together, the wounded soldiers were at the center, the mecha soldiers were at the outer periphery, the small warships were stationed at the rear, opening fire from afar. They moved towards the Chu family¡¯s central warship while they were fighting, trying to help the warship clean up part of the Zerg and find a chance to return to the ship. ¡°Damn it, are the soldiers of the Chu family all monsters? How can they still hold on like this?¡± Long Ruifeng couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious again as he watched the situation being stabilized once more by the Chu family¡¯s forces. On the communication channel, Ning Tianya, who had already returned to the Ning family flagship, had a face as calm as water. He glanced at the Xiang and Wei family flagships, which were being harassed by the Zergs and could only focus on self-defense, and then at the warships that were trying to cooperate with the Chu family¡¯s forces for a retreat, coordinated by He Hongjun. He pressed a special button beside him. ¡®¡ª¡ªIt seems we must resort to drastic measures.¡¯ ¡°Hiss hiss hiss¡ª¡± A particularly eerie screech from the Zergs suddenly echoed out, and at the same time, the Zerg Queen, who had been lurking within the black hole, slowly extended its head outward. ¡°Fuck! The Zerg Queen is coming out!¡± Yuan Lie¡¯s expression became more grim. The Zerg Queen¡¯s body was about two to three times the size of a normal warship. If it really emerged out, then all of the soldiers fighting over there would be killed! ¡°The Ning family and the Empire are so determined to kill us.¡± He Hongjun hummed coldly and said, ¡°Lao Yuan, open the black box.¡± Yuan Lie trembled at the words, glancing at the Imperial Royal flagship and the Ning and You families¡¯ flagships completely avoided by the Zergs behind him. He knew this was the last resort they could take. With gritted teeth, he pressed the black box recording device. If they could use their sacrifice to reveal the truth to the people, to ensure the safety of those in the rear, then all of this would be worth it. They only hoped that after this battle, the Federation could usher in true peace after eliminating the traitors. Inside the command room, Zhuang Yu had collapsed to the ground, blankly staring at the continuous Zerg in the display screen, tears dripping continuously. The Zerg Queen already breached halfway through, revealing its bloated and grotesque appearance. The neural wave suppression became stronger. Except for the Imperial Royal flagship and the Ning and You families¡¯ flagships, the ships from all other families aimed their cannons at the black hole from which the Zerg Queen was about to emerge. They ignored the attacks from the small Zergs, preparing for the final battle. The soldiers gathered outside also activated their remaining personal protective shields, looking towards the emerging Zerg Queen, all holding their breaths. They all knew that the final battle was finally coming. Sitting calmly on their cushy flagships, Long Ruifeng and Ning Tianya both had triumphant smiles. CH 94.3 ¡°Boom¡ª!¡± A platinum-colored shell, trailing flames like a miniature meteor, suddenly swept past the Chu family¡¯s forces gathered just in front of the warships, clearing away the small Zergs in front of them. Then, it slammed directly into the Zerg Queen¡¯s body from the side. ¡°Boom boom boom¡ª!¡± Something exploded, causing the Zerg Queen to writhe in pain, twisting its body. It slowly retracted back into the black hole. Everyone froze. What¡¯s going on? Who fired first? The direction of this shell seems a bit off. And only the flagship of the Four Great Families should have the firepower to launch such a projectile. Could it be the Xiang and Wei families? ¡°Execute Plan 3 Retreat! Everyone move towards direction N03, I¡¯ll open the hatch and wait for you!¡± A familiar cold and solemn voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield, and then a massive, pure black flagship, as if it had already merged into the universe, suddenly appeared on the side of the battlefield. Its arrogant hatch swung wide open, completely undaunted by the small Zergs closely following its assault. The cannons on board aimed directly at the platinum-colored flagship in the rear after repelling the Zerg Queen, while the cold and solemn voice continued to resonate: ¡°Leave the Zerg Queen to me. Traitors and the remaining vermin are yours. Move out!¡± The soldiers gathered outside the circle, and Chu Yan stared blankly at the familiar yet unfamiliar flagship. His lips trembled, his eyes suddenly reddened, and then he raised his hand to wipe his eyes vigorously. In a departure from his previous quiet obedience to orders, he shouted loudly on the general channel, ¡°Retreat! Head to Marshal Chu¡¯s location!¡± As if awakening from a dream, after a brief moment of silence, a frenzy erupted on the general channel, as if victory in the war had already been achieved. Everyone raised their weapons high, swiftly dispersing according to the requirements of Plan 3 Retreat, and then cooperated with each other as they headed towards the hatch of the black flagship. At the same time, the Chu family warship on the other side also responded and began to help the soldiers. ¡°It¡¯s Marshal Chu!¡± After issuing the final command, Yuan Lie couldn¡¯t help but slam his fist against the console. The burly man, normally so stoic, choked up for a moment, but his tone was particularly impassioned as he roared, ¡°Obey the Marshal¡¯s orders! Kill the traitors!¡± With that, he quickly redirected the cannons at the rear of the warship, aiming at the Ning and You families¡¯ flagships. The person in charge of the Xiang and Wei families stared in disbelief at the suddenly appearing black flagship, hesitantly asking, ¡°Is that¡­ the Chu family¡¯s flagship? It¡¯s¡­ repaired? When did this happen?¡± ¡°The person who issued that command just now is Chu Rong?¡± The other voice followed in confusion. The two exchanged a glance, then both shuddered involuntarily, their minds filled with disbelief. For the second time, the Chu family, this sinister deity, emerged from the black hole, this time bringing along their even more sinister flagship! Without giving them a chance to continue their shock, a forced communication suddenly broke through the defenses of both families¡¯ flagships and intruded. Chu Rong¡¯s icy voice resounded, ¡°Traitors or heroes who kill the traitors; two choices, you have ten seconds to decide.¡± With that, the communication was abruptly terminated. The leaders of both families felt as if Chu Rong¡¯s voice was a sharp blade grazing their necks. After stiffening for a few seconds, they both snapped back to reality. They quickly pressed the communication devices and shouted loudly to their subordinates, ¡°Fully cooperate with Marshal Chu¡¯s orders! Redirect the cannons! Redirect the cannons!¡± ¡°Swish swish swish.¡± The previously silent flagships of the Xiang and Wei families suddenly sprang into action, their cannons all redirecting to aim at the Ning family flagship behind them. The battlefield situation turned sharply. The confident expressions on Long Ruifeng and Ning Tianya¡¯s faces froze, their eyes widened as they gazed at the massive flagship that posed such a threat that even the Zerg Queen dared not emerge from the black hole. While their smiles remained, expressions of shock and fear crept onto their faces, distorting them into a terrifying visage. ¡°How is it possible!¡± Long Ruifeng roared incredulously, his eyes cracked wide open. ¡°No! Chu Rong is dead! How could he show up! Why¨C¡° The Ning family¡¯s flagship commander suddenly spoke, panicking and said, ¡°Second Master! Communication is blocked! We can¡¯t reach the outside world!¡± Ning Tianya trembled upon hearing this, hastily retrieving his communicator to dial An Xei¡¯s communication, but of course, it couldn¡¯t connect. His hand shook as he glared at the black flagship, his gaze almost ablaze with hatred. Through gritted teeth, he said, ¡°It¡¯s Chu Rong again! It¡¯s the Chu family again! Keep stimulating the Zergs! Kill Chu Rong! Kill them all!¡± The commander trembled at his distorted tone, quickly obeying orders and operating the console in front of him. On the Chu family flagship, Qiao Zhiya wore protective gear and stood at the hatch, his feet on a magic circle, with Qiuqiu and its two children by its side. He nervously commanded Qiuqiu to pull out any Zerg attempting to charge in, while tightly gripping a small crossbow in his hand, occasionally striking down with it. Soon, the first wave of retreating soldiers rushed over, and his eyes lit up. He quickly extended his magic to guard the position of the hatch, vigorously waving towards them and shouting, ¡°Quick! This way! This way! We have a magic circle protecting us here! Come quickly!¡± The first group to arrive was Fan Xiangnan¡¯s squad. They didn¡¯t have time to talk to Qiao Zhiya upon landing, immediately pitching in to assist the others. However, Qiao Zhiya swiftly approached them, pulling Fan Xiangnan aside and saying, ¡°Go to the command room and help with the flagship. Chu Rong is going to kill the Zerg Queen. Hurry.¡± Upon hearing this, Fan Xiangnan paused his weapon action, then suddenly turned to rub his head and ears. He then pointed out two members of his team and hurriedly led them towards the command room. Qiao Zhiya felt awkward petted like this. And before he had recovered, his body was hugged by a taller man from behind. ¡°Xiao Yan?¡± He suddenly smelled someone familiar. He struggled and turned to look up at the other. Chu Yan held onto him tightly as if afraid he would disappear again. His eyes were red, and his expression was very serious. He carried a cold and stern demeanor from the battlefield, making him seem rigid all over. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart softened as he quickly comforted him, patting him gently and pushing him towards the command room. He said, ¡°Go on, Chu Rong is in the command room. He probably hasn¡¯t gotten into the mecha yet. You can go talk to him.¡± Chu Yan stood firm, glaring at him with narrowed eyes for a few seconds. Suddenly, he reached out and gave his ear a hard tug, then turned around and walked to the hatch, pulling out his weapon and joining the ranks of the support troops. Qiao Zhiya was once again taken aback. He rubbed his ear, which had been ¡°abused¡± repeatedly today, and his gaze swept over Chu Yan¡¯s thinner figure and shortened hair. A hint of pity flashed in his eyes, and he quickly stepped forward to help. The elite troops brought by Yuan Lie, who were trained by Chu Rong himself, executed Chu Rong¡¯s orders with great efficiency. In no time, everyone had retreated into the flagship, and then the airlocks closed, blocking all attacks from the outside by the Zergs. Lin Zhen stayed behind to count the number of people and make further arrangements, while Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan hurriedly went to the command center. After Chu Rong explained to Fan Xiangnan that he was going to take his mecha out after the follow-up, he saw Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan return. He paused, his gaze falling on Chu Yan in military uniform. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he stepped forward and patted his shoulder, saying, ¡°Well done. You¡¯ll be rewarded when we get back home.¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Yan, who had been holding back tears all along, trembled slightly. Suddenly, he stepped forward and hugged him tightly, resting his forehead on his shoulder. His shoulders shook, and he let out a muffled sob, whispering softly, ¡°Erge.¡± Chu Rong immediately hugged him, and his voice sounded a little lost. He patted his back hard and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine, everyone will be safe. We are all fine.¡± Qiao Zhiya was affected by Chu Yan¡¯s crying, and a feeling of heartache arose again. He sniffled and also lowered his head, silently shedding tears, afraid of being noticed. He pretended to wipe his nose to discreetly wipe away his tears. Fan Xiangnan looked at the scene with helplessness and warmth, feeling that the weight he had been carrying for over two months had finally lifted. The leader had returned, the backbone of the team was restored, and they no longer had to live in fear. ¡°Sir, the Zerg Queen emerged again!¡± The soldier staring at the detection screen suddenly made a noise. The sentimental atmosphere of the reunion was broken. Wiping away his tears, Chu Yan looked at the screen, while Chu Rong turned his head to see the fearless return of the Zerg Queen, furrowing his brow. He quickly exchanged a few words with Fan Xiangnan, patted Chu Yan on the shoulder, then grabbed his mecha and strode purposefully towards the exit of the control room. Qiao Zhiya stared back and forth, busy following in the footsteps of Chu Rong. Chu Rong heard his footsteps and looked back at him. He touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s reddened eyelid, slightly frowning. ¡°I can help you,¡± Qiao Zhiya thought Chu Rong might not want him to follow, so he quickly assured, ¡°I won¡¯t get close, just provide long-range support for you. I¡¯ve made a new bow and arrow with the grade ten materials given by Elder Tree-xiansheng. It has great destructive power.¡± Chu Rong remained silent for a few seconds before finally nodding his head and holding his hand. On the battlefield, the flagships of the Ning, You, and Empire¡¯s were all held at gunpoint by the ships of the Chu, Xiang, Wei families, along with those of Yuan Lie and He Hongjun. They dared not make any move, leaving only the swarm of Zergs to continue their rampage. The Zerg Queen attempted to extend its body again, and the scattered small Zergs outside became even more frenzied. Just at this moment, a black-gold mecha suddenly flew out from the black flagship, directly raised its double-barreled gun, and fired towards the Zerg Queen. He aimed it at the Zerg Queen¡¯s eyes. ¡°Boom¨C!¡± The glow of the cannonball was even more dazzling, hitting the Zerg Queen directly in the eye. The Zerg Queen writhed in pain once again, retracting its body towards the black hole. The black mecha immediately followed. Ning Tianya widened his eyes in shock once again¡ªwas that a double-barreled gun? No! It couldn¡¯t be! He had seen Chu Rong¡¯s double-barreled gun before, and it definitely didn¡¯t have that kind of power! No, now is not the time to worry about that! Only one Zerg Queen has been nurtured, and if Chu Rong kills it, then all their plans will be ruined! Moreover, there are some absolutely confidential secrets hidden in that black hole! ¡°Set fire! Set fire on that black-gold mecha! Never let him near the black hole!¡± He lost his temper and shouted loudly, but the commander dared not move at all, trembling as he said, ¡°B-but we are already surrounded. Once we open fire¡­¡± they would surely be blasted into pieces by the surrounding mechas and warships! Behind the black-gold mecha, within the brown mecha, Qiao Zhiya enveloped himself in magic, disguising himself as a member of the Zergs and followed behind the black mecha. His cheeks were flushed red ¡ª finally, Chu Rong had used the double-barreled gun he personally made. Previously, Chu Rong had never used it, and Qiao Zhiya had thought that Chu Rong didn¡¯t like his creation. For victory! He clenched his fist, and so did the brown mecha, moving agilely towards the Zerg Queen hidden within the black hole. T/L: Chu-cockroach-Rong, who will Not Die despite various attempted murders: Surprise bitch, I bet you¡¯ve thought you seen the last of me CH 95.1 I¡¯m finally healthy! Sorry it took so long! Thank you Yue and Vera for the donations~ Since it took me this long to deliver, I¡¯ll give you and extra chapter update! Today, there will be 3 chapters. Tomorrow is Tuesday, so it will be the normal updates as usual. Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Ning Kongran: Ning family current heir. Studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. Long Ruifeng: the President. An Mhu: ex-Third Imperial Prince. Now the current Emperor. Jian: The Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. The hissing of the Zerg came from all directions, and various black insect-like creatures waved before Chu Rong¡¯s eyes. Qiao Zhiya remained calm, and the small Zerg were taken down one by one. Soon, a path leading closer to the Zerg Queen was cleared. Chu Rong raised his gun once again, aimed it at the Zerg Queen whose body had mostly retreated into the black hole, and attacked. ¡°Boom!¡± The Zerg Queen was hit again. Hissing furiously, it turned its head to look at Chu Rong, and suddenly spit out a large glob of disgusting mucus. Following behind Chu Rong, Qiao Zhiya quickly sensed the situation and extended his magic to surround the black-gold mecha. At the same time, the black-gold mecha swiftly activated its protective shield, avoiding the mucus as it crouched and flew beneath the Zerg Queen. It then aimed its attack towards the vulnerable abdomen, which lacked the protection of an exoskeleton. ¡°Hss hshhh!!¡± The ear-piercing sound and the neural wave came together. Qiao Zhiya frowned, took out a golden bow, shot a few arrows to kill a few small Zergs near Chu Rong, and then pointed the arrows at the Zerg Queen¡¯s head. Sensing the threat, the Zerg Queen suddenly turned its head menacingly towards Qiao Zhiya. Without warning, the hidden limbs beneath it sprung out and swiftly closed in on the brown mecha. Meanwhile, the surrounding small Zerg also flew towards the brown mecha in unison. Chu Rong¡¯s expression sank. He shot a couple rounds aimed at the joint of the Zerg Queen¡¯s limbs, then rushed towards the location of the brown mecha. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice came through the communication channel, followed by a sizzling sound as if something was burning. The Zerg clustered around the brown mecha suddenly froze, then scattered away with a clattering noise. Through the black peeling space, a streak of golden light broke through the encirclement and shot towards the Zerg Queen¡¯s other eye. Seeing the situation, Chu Rong¡¯s heart sank. He raised his hand and threw out a gigantic silver net, connecting himself and the brown mecha together. Then, he turned around once more and charged towards the panicked Zerg Queen, who was dodging arrows but couldn¡¯t avoid being injured in the head, causing it to screech in pain incessantly. On the Chu family flagship, Fan Xiangnan and Chu Yan nervously watched the two mechs maneuvering around the massive Zerg Queen. Seizing the opportunity, they suddenly aimed their cannons at the Zerg Queen¡¯s back, which was focused on dealing with Chu Rong, and fired three consecutive shots together! ¡°Boom boom boom!¡± After the explosion, the smoke and dust rose, as the fire spread on its body. After the Zerg Queen¡¯s screech abruptly heightened, it suddenly subsided. Some blackened areas appeared on its hardened exoskeleton, and its movements seemed to slow down significantly. Seizing this opportunity, the brown mecha moved forward and extended its arm, grabbing one of the Zerg Queen¡¯s flailing limbs and forcefully pulling it backward! The black-gold mecha then accurately fired a shot towards the area where the Zerg Queen¡¯s abdomen connected to the limb. ¡°Hss! Hiss hsshhh!!¡± After a piercing screech from the Zerg, there came a dreadful tearing sound as the arthropod limbs were forcibly ripped from its body. Occasionally, the sound of cannons could be heard amidst this chaos. The entire battlefield seemed to freeze in that moment. ¡°Oh my God¡­¡± Inside the control room of the Chu family flagship, members of the Fan Xiangnan squad widened their eyes as they watched the brown mecha casually tear off a limb from the Zerg Queen and prepare to tear off another. They swallowed hard, feeling a strong urge to move. ¡°The Marshal¡¯s fiance is really, really fierce¡­¡± Fan Xiangnan and Chu Yan fell into silence and did not know how to respond to their sighs. Before that, they thought that Chu Rong was the main force in this battle against the Zergs, but seeing what¡¯s happening now¡­ On the battlefield, Qiao Zhiya somewhat disdainfully stuffed the Zerg Queen¡¯s severed limb into his mecha¡¯s space button. Then, as if discovering something amusing, raised his bow and arrow to attack the Zerg Queen¡¯s head while eagerly attempting to approach another limb beneath the Zerg Queen. The black-gold mecha paused for a moment, stopped his attack on the Zerg Queen¡¯s abdomen, and turned its gun¡¯s muzzle towards what the brown mecha was attacking. ¡°Hss! Hiss hsshhh!!¡± Another round of screeching hiss echoed out. Inside the Chu family flagship, the soldiers watched as another limb was torn from the Zerg Queen. Suddenly, as if feeling the pain themselves, they instinctively touched their own arms and said, ¡°Th¡­the second one¡­¡± It must hurt so much. Fan Xiangnan, no longer silent at last, commanded, ¡°Concentrate the artillery fire on the small Zergs, and clear the battlefield for our Chief.¡± The soldiers were no longer watching, and immediately aimed. The sound of intense artillery erupted. After noticing their activity, the warships where Yuan Lie and He Hongjun were stationed also began bombarding the small Zerg in the field. Previously, they hesitated to bombard continuously, opting to have soldiers clear out the Zerg, fearing that consecutive gunfire would draw out the Zerg Queen. Now that the Zerg Queen was preoccupied, they no longer needed to be concerned. Seeing both sides starting to clear out the small Zerg, the flagship of the Xiang and Wei families hesitated for a moment before joining in the action. Several warships exerted their forces together. In no time, the darkness in the field significantly diminished, making the situation appear less daunting. Long Ruifeng felt increasingly agitated by the sudden turn of events. He glanced back at the still unconscious Emperor and shouted anxiously into the communicator towards Ning Tianya, ¡°What do we do now?! At this rate, they¡¯re going to wipe out the Zergs!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Ning Tianya¡¯s eyes reddened as he stared fixedly at the brown mecha pulling the Zerg Queen¡¯s third limb near the black hole. Suddenly, he realized something and his expression changed drastically. He exclaimed, ¡°No! Chu Rong intends to capture the Zerg Queen alive!¡± Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t refrain from attacking the vital points and would instead gradually weaken the Zerg Queen¡¯s strength! Ning Tianya couldn¡¯t believe that Chu Rong, who had defeated the even more formidable Zerg Queen before, would struggle to defeat this slightly weaker one! ¡°What? Capturing it alive?¡± Long Ruifeng¡¯s face was full of disbelief. Suddenly, he recalled Chu Rong¡¯s imposing appearance after returning from the battlefield over a decade ago. He stared at the black mecha fiercely attacking the Zerg Queen in the field, his body trembling. He said, ¡°W¡­we should retreat. We can¡¯t win. We can¡¯t defeat Chu Rong! He¡¯s too terrifying. We¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up! Useless piece of shit!¡± Unable to tolerate Long Ruifeng¡¯s cowardice, Ning Tianya stopped him once again and quickly took out a strange device, rapidly activating it. He said, ¡°N¡­no, we must not let Chu Rong capture the Zerg Queen, absolutely not! We must kill him, we must kill him today! Order all soldiers to engage!¡± Both the commander beside him and Long Ruifeng on the other end of the communication line were stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then they were equally shocked. Order all soldiers to engage? Now, with the battlefield full of bombardments towards the Zerg, they wanted the soldiers to engage against them? Isn¡¯t that just letting the soldiers die in vain? ¡°Hurry! Do it! The Chu family loves to pretend to be righteous! They won¡¯t directly attack soldiers! Go! Order the soldiers to engage! Stop their gunfire! Then seize the opportunity to get close to that brown mecha. Once we control that brown mecha, Chu Rong will be at our mercy! Go quickly!¡± Ning Tianya roared ferociously, his spiritual energy unstable as it surged outward, menacingly hovering behind the commander¡¯s mind. At the same time, Long Ruifeng¡¯s head suddenly throbbed with pain. Behind him, the Emperor, who had been unconscious, abruptly woke up and sat up as if he had never been unconscious at all. He took out his communicator and ordered his subordinates, ¡°Order the soldiers to engage and kill the enemies targeting the Empire!¡± After tearing off another limb from the Zerg Queen, Qiao Zhiya suddenly noticed that the bombardments in the field had ceased. He turned his head in confusion and saw the vague outlines of a large number of mechas behind the swarm of Zerg. His eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed, ¡°W¡­why is everyone coming out again?¡± Shouldn¡¯t they wait until the little Zergs are cleaned up first? Otherwise, they might get caught in the crossfire. ¡°Sir, the Ning family and Imperial Royal flagship suddenly opened their hatch and released the soldiers!¡± Fan Xiangnan¡¯s voice came from the communication channel, and his tone was a bit harried. Upon hearing this, Chu Rong furrowed his brow. He quickly linked the communication channels of his and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mechas with all military channels. Then, he directly activated the silver net, pulling the bewildered brown mecha beside him. While leading the brown mecha around to the unseen rear of the Zerg Queen, he instructed, ¡°Prepare everyone for battle. We¡¯re coming out.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Qiao Zhiya finally realized his misunderstanding and asked, ¡°Are those people from the Ning family and the Empire?¡± Chu Rong nodded, his eyes were heavy. The traitors are from the Ning family and Long Ruifeng, while the soldiers are innocent. Moreover, these soldiers are likely controlled by ¡°medicines¡± provided by the Ning family and never intended to betray their nation. Sacrificing innocent lives to achieve their goals, the Ning family deserves condemnation! ¡°Be careful not to kill anyone. Try to capture them alive. Let Yuan Lie and the others surround the flagships of the Ning family and the Empire. Seize the opportunity to board their ships and capture Ning Tianya and Long Ruifeng. Don¡¯t let them cause any more chaos,¡± Chu Rong added, glancing at the Zerg Queen, which still had half of its body concealed within the black hole, before raising his double-barreled gun once again. Upon seeing this, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly drew his bow once again, aiming at the Zerg Queen¡¯s eye that he hadn¡¯t hit before. This Zerg Queen had a tough exoskeleton, comparable in hardness to a grade ten material. Although his bow and arrow could easily penetrate this layer of shell, he couldn¡¯t harm the Zerg Queen¡¯s inner organs, as most of the arrow¡¯s piercing power was blocked by the Zerg Queen¡¯s outer shell. Moreover, compared to the massive size of the Zerg Queen, the wounds caused by the arrows were too small. Sure enough, he must find the Zerg Queen¡¯s weakness first. ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Woosh¡ª¡ª¡± The artillery fire and arrows flew towards the Zerg Queen together. One shot hit the relatively weaker central area of the Zerg Queen¡¯s facial shell, while the arrow sharply pierced through the Zerg Queen¡¯s eye, astonishingly piercing through the eyeball that had protruded! ¡°Hss! Hiss hsshhh!!¡± The Zerg Queen¡¯s screeching grew louder and it began to thrash about wildly, as if it went crazy. Harmful neural waves surged higher and higher, its limbs flailing and spraying mucus indiscriminately, driving the surrounding small Zerg into even greater madness. ¡°Marshal Chu! The warships are being affected by the Zerg Queen¡¯s neural waves and are starting to malfunction. There¡¯s also a risk of the Zerg breaching the hull!¡± Yuan Lie¡¯s voice shouted through the channel, his anxiety seeped through every word. ¡®The neural waves can actually penetrate the warship¡¯s protective layers and affect them,¡¯ Chu Rong thought with a frown, then he gave a decisive order, ¡°Head to the flagship! All logistics personnel, evacuate immediately!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± CH 95.2 While they were speaking, soldiers from the Ning family and the Empire had already rushed over, bearing the irrational attacks of the frenzied Zerg. They were attempting to approach the brown mecha but were first thrown into disarray by the Zerg Queen¡¯s erratic mucus spraying. Then, Fan Xiangnan arrived with his troops just in time to surround them tightly. ¡°Put a hypnotic wave!¡± Fan Xiangnan shouted a command. All soldiers responded in unison and retrieved specially designed barrels, aiming them at the mechas from the Ning family and the Empire, and started spraying indiscriminately. Strangely, these barrels didn¡¯t seem to eject any substantial material. Instead, there was a strange fluctuation in the air, which seemed to be growing increasingly ominous. Qiao Zhiya noticed this and glanced over there in confusion. ¡°It¡¯s a hypnotic wave that only affects the spiritual sea. You can resist it as long as you lock your spiritual power, but the soldiers of the Ning family and the Empire are currently not right in their mind, so they won¡¯t do that.¡± Chu Rong explained when he noticed that Qiao Zhiya was confused, then he tugged at the silver net, continuing, ¡°Focus your attention and beware of ambush.¡± Qiao Zhiya, feeling a bit embarrassed, snapped back to attention and tugged at the silver net in acknowledgment of Chu Rong¡¯s warning. Then, he prepared to draw his bow again to continue attacking the abdomen and limbs of the Zerg Queen. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. His ears twitched, and he glanced at the black-gold mecha engaged in front of the Zerg Queen. Stealthily, he extended his magic power. An invisible wave of wood elemental magic slowly spread across the battlefield, growing denser and more soothing over time. The hypnotic effect became stronger and stronger. The Zerg covered by this magic seemed to be hypnotized, their attacks slowing down as if they were under some kind of spell. The soldiers of the Chu family, who had to deal with both the Zerg and the forces of the Ning family and the Empire, immediately felt a significant reduction in pressure. Initially, they were somewhat puzzled, but then they looked proudly at Chu Rong, who was battling the Zerg Queen. Their fighting spirit soared even higher ¡ª it must be Marshal Chu¡¯s threat to the Zerg Queen that weakened its control over these smaller Zerg! This alleviated the pressure on them! Marshal Chu is mighty! Chu Rong, the only one who had sensed this power through their close companionship, glanced back at the seemingly distracted brown mecha. He first fired a few shots to fend off an attack from the Zerg Queen, then tugged at the silver net and switched to a separate channel for communication. He said, ¡°Go back. No messing around.¡± Qiao Zhiya snapped out of his reverie and quickly prepared to draw his bow again, explaining, ¡°I won¡¯t mess around. My magic can induce forced sleep, and it¡¯s effective on animals as well. While the Zergs aren¡¯t exactly animals, they¡¯re still a form of life. So, I decided to give it a try, and it turned out to be effective. Don¡¯t worry, I know my limits. I¡¯m just lending a helping hand to everyone.¡± Chu Rong relaxed his furrowed brow upon hearing this and glanced back at the Chu family¡¯s army, which had noticeably lightened up. After a moment of consideration, he said, ¡°Act within your limits. Once the Zergs are reduced in number, retract your power immediately. This isn¡¯t like the primitive planet; your power reserves are limited here.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly complied obediently and then skillfully shot an arrow into the joint of the Zerg Queen¡¯s limb. He swiftly approached and adeptly grabbed hold of the limb, exerting force to pull it! ¡°Hss! Hiss hsshhh!!¡± As the Zerg Queen¡¯s pained screech rang through the battlefield, Ning Tianya gritted his teeth hard. ¡°The number of Zergs in the field is decreasing, and those soldiers whose minds are controlled are also useless. Let¡¯s retreat!¡± Long Ruifeng had lost his previous confidence and arrogance. The sense of humility, once suppressed by the four major families, surged back, and he was single-mindedly thinking about escaping. ¡°Keep shouting like that, and I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Ning Tianya couldn¡¯t bear it any longer and angrily turned off the communication video. His eyes darted back and forth, observing the sluggish movements of the Zergs in the field, his fists clenched. ¡°Something¡¯s not right. There must be something wrong. The Zerg¡¯s attacks shouldn¡¯t be this weak and slow. What has Chu Rong done again? What has he done?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but angrily pound the control panel, startling the commander. Suddenly, the commander noticed something and exclaimed urgently, ¡°Oh no! Marshal He¡¯s army is starting to approach us! Wh¡­what are they trying to do?¡± Upon hearing this, Ning Tianya quickly turned his head to look in that direction. Sure enough, he saw several dark blue warships representing Marshal He¡¯s army approaching this side while clearing out the Zerg. Furrowing his brow, he thought of something and hurriedly looked towards the Imperial Royal flagship, where he just caught a glimpse of a squadron of gray mechas approaching the entrance of the Imperial flagship¡¯s hangar. This is bad! Chu Rong not only wanted to catch the Zerg Queen alive, but also wanted to catch the Emperor and himself! Ning Tianya¡¯s alarm bells rang loudly in his mind. He quickly commanded, ¡°Fire! Open fire on them! Don¡¯t let them get any closer!¡± The commander¡¯s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He knew the Chu family¡¯s relationship with the Ning family had deteriorated to the point where there was no turning back. If they were captured, there would be dire consequences. Hastily, he redirected the flagship¡¯s cannons to target the approaching dark blue warships. Before they could even launch their attack, there was a deafening roar. Suddenly, the warships of the Xiang and Wei families launched a surprise attack, aiming their cannons directly at them. Each shot targeted their cannons, attempting to disable their flagship¡¯s firepower. ¡°Damn it! Xiang-Wei, these two dogs! Fuck them!¡± Ning Tianya was angered. On the other side, the Chu family flagship abruptly ceased its occasional attacks on the Zerg Queen. Instead, it redirected its cannons and opened fire directly at the Imperial flagship. The true dogfight began as the elite soldiers of the Chu family clashed with those of the Ning family and the Empire in the field, occasionally having to deal with the increasingly sluggish Zerg. On the sidelines, the flagships of the Chu, Xiang, and Wei families began bombarding the Ning family¡¯s and the Imperial flagships. The warships commanded by Yuan Lie and He Hongjun lost control due to the Zerg Queen¡¯s neural waves. Consequently, all combat personnel disembarked and engaged in battle. The forces of the He family charged towards the Ning family flagship, while a detachment from the Chu family rushed towards the Imperial flagship. Meanwhile, logistical personnel began transferring to the Chu family flagship. In the midst of the chaos, the flagship of the You family remained eerily quiet, resembling an unmanned floating island, detached from the battlefield. At the edge of the black hole, Qiao Zhiya once again tore off a limb from the Zerg Queen, only to find that half of the magic in his mana pool had been depleted. Glancing back at the battlefield, he noticed that after the Chu family had dispatched a team to the Imperial flagship, this side seemed to be struggling even more. Hesitating for a moment, he increased his magic output. ¡°Let¡¯s finish it now!¡± Suddenly, Chu Rong¡¯s voice echoed through the channel. Without hesitation, Qiao Zhiya regained focus, swiftly drew his bowstring, aimed at the Zerg Queen¡¯s slightly expanded mandibles after it grimaced in pain, and released the arrow. The golden-compressed arrow, infused with a heat that seemed to scorch everything in its path, surged towards the Zerg Queen¡¯s relatively small mandibles. Sensing the threat, the Zerg Queen attempted to evade, but Chu Rong immediately fired several shots at its abdomen, forcing it to maintain an upward posture. In this vulnerable position, it involuntarily swallowed the golden arrow. ¡°Hss! Hiss hsshhh!!¡± The Zerg Queen stiffened for a moment before writhing in agony, as if something dreadful was wreaking havoc inside its body. Simultaneously, a nauseating slime began oozing from the wound where its limb had been ripped off, filling the battlefield with a foul stench. Chu Rong immediately stepped forward and unleashed several shots at the Zerg Queen¡¯s abdomen. With a loud bang, the heavily assaulted abdomen of the Zerg Queen finally ruptured, revealing a gaping hole. A large pile of unborn Zerg larvae spilled out from within ¨C it was a densely packed white cluster huddling together, and seeing it was enough to send shivers down the spines of onlookers. Enduring his disgust, Qiao Zhiya stepped forward and picked up several of the Zerg larvae, stuffing them into the compartment of his mecha. With its shell breached, the eventual demise or capture of the Zerg Queen was inevitable. Seeing this scene, Ning Tianya gritted his teeth in frustration, realizing he couldn¡¯t stubbornly drag on any longer. Today¡¯s battle was lost the moment Chu Rong appeared. Eyes blazing red, he fiercely slammed the center button of the strange device and roared, ¡°Retreat!¡± The commander, harried by the bombardment from the Xiang and Wei fleets, breathed a sigh of relief at the order and promptly began executing the retreat command. On the battlefield, the wounded Zerg Queen, pierced through the abdomen, was repeatedly shot with arrows. Its struggles grew weaker and weaker, and just when everyone thought it was nearly dead, it suddenly rose up again with a deafening screech, as if it were a last-ditch effort. Using its remaining limbs, it pressed against the edge of the black hole, and its body, which had been huddled in the hole all along, suddenly sprang out, heading straight for the black flagship! ¡°I-it came out!¡± Qiao Zhiya was shocked. Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed, and while chasing after the Zerg Queen, he commanded, ¡°Lift off the flagship! Immediately!¡± Upon receiving the order, the Chu family¡¯s black flagship immediately ascended, narrowly avoiding a collision with the Zerg Queen. However, the formation of the Chu family¡¯s army, which had been holding steady, was disrupted by the aftermath of the Zerg Queen¡¯s charge. ¡°Soldiers, gather! Don¡¯t disperse, but still avoid the Zergs!¡± Chu Rong continued to command, suddenly releasing the silver net from his mecha¡¯s waist. With a flick of his hand, he hurled the brown mecha, tethered to the other end of the silver net, in the direction of the Chu family¡¯s army. Then, he faced the Zerg Queen alone, ready to confront it head-on even after its failed attempt to ram into him. Qiao Zhiya was caught off guard and was steadied by Fan Xiangnan before he could regain his balance. Upon seeing this, he immediately wanted to follow and help, but he noticed that the drowsy Zergs ¨C that were affected by his magic ¨C began to stir again after the emergence of the Zerg Queen. Additionally, the Chu family¡¯s army was struggling to cope as they had to deal with the burden of escorting the hypnotized prisoners back to their ship. He hesitated for a moment but decided to stay, tossing out Qiuqiu and instructing it to expand and weave into a huge cage. Grasping one of the prisoners who had lost their ability to resist, he tossed them into the cage and loudly announced over the general channel, ¡°We can put the prisoners in this cage! Split into two teams: one team to fight the Zergs, and one team to handle the prisoners!¡± Upon hearing this, the soldiers of the Chu family were momentarily stunned. After a brief silence, they loudly responded in acknowledgment. Then, they quickly divided into two teams according to the Marshal¡¯s command. Qiao Zhiya was startled by the enthusiastic response of the burly soldiers, and his ears pricked up in surprise. The brown mecha visibly stiffened, making Fan Xiangnan chuckled, shaking his head as he approached and gave his mecha a gentle push, positioning him in the inner circle. Meanwhile, he faced the Zergs head-on and opened fire. The giant Zerg Queen loomed. Its exoskeleton was as tough as grade ten materials. Allowing it to collide with the flagship at full force would result in unimaginable consequences. With a fierce aura, Chu Rong continued to fire his double-barreled gun without pause, each shot hitting the injured parts of the Zerg Queen¡¯s body. This forced the creature to slow down, providing him with ample opportunity to leap onto its back. Drawing his short dagger, he pierced through the Zerg Queen¡¯s hard shell. Guiding his mecha, he tore across its shell as if cutting through fabric, ruthlessly tracing a pattern of cracks left by the cannon fires. ¡°Hisss-sha-sha¡ª¡ª¡± A series of blade strikes against the metallic shell echoed out, accompanied by the splatter of viscous fluid from the Zerg Queen¡¯s back as it was slashed open. This attack, resembling the peeling of metal, provoked the Zerg Queen into a frenzy. Unable to bear it any longer, it twisted its bulky body around and aimed directly at Chu Rong, abandoning the flagship, and unleashed a ferocious screech. ¡°Look! The black hole where the Zerg Queen stayed is shrinking!¡± ¡°Oh God! There are new black holes over the Ning family¡¯s and the Imperial flagships!¡± Two completely different messages were shouted out simultaneously by the team members on the general frequency channel. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by the news and turned to look at the black hole where the Zerg Queen had been. Sure enough, he saw the black hole shrinking at a visible speed. Now, it had shrunk to a size that the Zerg Queen could never squeeze back into. He suddenly remembered Chu Rong¡¯s speculation about the ¡°black hole¡± being an artificially created cosmic passage rather than a true black hole. He also recalled his own origins and desire to return home. With just a moment of hesitation, he swiftly grabbed one of the Qiuqiu¡¯s vines and wrapped it around his waist. Then, without further ado, he charged straight towards the black hole! CH 95.3 ¡°Qiao!¡± Fan Xiangnan shouted, his voice was full of fright, as he hurried forward to chase after the youth. Chu Rong noticed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s movement out of the corner of his eye, causing his heart to skip a beat. He intensified his actions, maneuvering closer to that direction while issuing orders, ¡°All soldiers near the Ning and Imperial flagships, retreat immediately! Beware of being sucked into the black hole! All fleets, continue bombardment!¡± Yuan Lie, who had entered the Chu family¡¯s flagship control room, heard this, and he quickly issued an order. The armies began to retreat, but at that moment, both the Ning family and Imperial flagships suddenly turned towards the newly appeared black hole, accelerating rapidly. Simultaneously, the Zerg Queen, previously following Chu Rong, also changed direction and headed towards the new black hole near the Ning family flagship, seemingly attempting to escape. ¡°What do they want to do? Are they aiming for a suicide!¡± Yuan Lie couldn¡¯t believe what he saw. Chu Rong¡¯s face remained as calm as water. Ignoring the Zerg Queen, he continued to charge towards the direction where Qiao Zhiya was located, saying, ¡°No, they¡¯re trying to escape. Keep bombing them, don¡¯t let them enter the black hole!¡± The brown mecha was too fast; in just a few sentences, it crashed directly into the black hole where the Zerg Queen had been before. Fan Xiangnan was unable to stop it in time, hurriedly trying to pull the vine that was exposed outside, attempting to pull the brown mecha out. The black-gold mecha arrived just behind, grabbing the vine and pulling it backward with force. At the same time, as if with a consciousness of its own, the vine suddenly retracted backward with a swish. The brown mecha, holding onto something strange, was flung out backwards. Then, with a movement of his hand, the strange object disappeared. The black hole collapsed unto itself almost the instant the brown mecha came out. Chu Rong caught the brown mecha and placed it steadily beside Fan Xiangnan. He wanted to scold him, but couldn¡¯t find the words in the heat of the moment. Finally, he restrained his temper and sternly ordered, ¡°Stay put!¡± With that, he immediately turned around and chased after the Zerg Queen. Qiao Zhiya lowered his head without saying a word. After Chu Rong turned around and left, he suddenly threw out two plant balls and said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, Da Qiu1Small Ball and Big Ball; two of Qiuqiu¡¯s plant babies, hurry up and help Chu Rong intercept that Zerg Queen.¡± The two little balls, receiving their task from him for the first time, were ecstatic. Upon hearing the command, they immediately began to expand and grow larger, with countless vines reaching out and rushing towards the bulky body of the Zerg Queen. They managed to bind the creature tightly before Chu Rong could take another step! Chu Rong made a move and glanced back. Qiao Zhiya guiltyly hid behind Fan Xiangnan. Chu Rong¡¯s brow twitched as he withdrew his gaze, his heart still beat erratically in panic. Seeing the Zerg about to break free from the control of the two little plant balls, He quickly focused his mind, ascending into the air and flying above the Zerg Queen. With precision, he fired a shot directly at the center of its head, then descended and thrust his dagger fiercely into its skull. Afterwards, he swiftly retrieved a transparent sphere filled with liquid medicine from the mecha¡¯s storage compartment and stuffed it into the skull cavity before swiftly retreating. The moment the sphere entered the Zerg Queen¡¯s brain area, it exploded, and a kind of corrosive liquid poured out. As it burned everything it touched, a sizzle and a burnt stench wafted out. ¡°Hss! Hiss hsshhh!!¡± The Zerg Queen began to twitch violently, its hiss and neural waves were even stronger as it writhe about. Then, it gradually weakened, and finally stopped altogether. ¡°Not good! The black hole behind the Ning family and the Imperial flagship has expanded, and they are going to be sucked in!¡± Yuan Lie¡¯s voice echoed over the channel. Qiao Zhiya remembered the object he had just retrieved from the black hole and furrowed his brow. He peeked behind Fan Xiangnan towards the direction of the Ning family and the Imperial flagships. Seeing them being rapidly sucked into the enlarging black hole, he wasted no time, ascended into the air, and began to prepare his bow. Fan Xiangnan initially thought that Qiao Zhiya was about to flee again and reached out to stop him. However, when he saw Qiao Zhiya ascending into the air and preparing his bow, he withdrew his hand. To be cautious, he quickly deployed a silver net to tether their mechas together. Then, he instructed the others, ¡°Coordinate with the flagship to attack the Ning family flagship. Regardless of whether the Imperial Royal flagship can stay or not, the Ning Family flagship must be prevented from leaving.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t notice the additional ¡°rope¡± around his waist and focused entirely on channeling the remaining magic into his bow and arrow. He pulled the bowstring slowly, allowing the magic and the energy inside the arrow to circulate, gradually forming a faint golden glowing arrow. This was his first attempt at such a feat, and his magic was somewhat unstable due to the inherent energy on the arrow. He took a deep breath to steady himself, waiting until the power reached its peak. Then, with a gentle release, the slightly thicker golden arrow shot straight towards the power area on the side of the Ning family flagship. Above the unconscious Zerg Queen, Chu Rong mirrored the same action. Seizing the moment while the Zerg Queen was incapacitated and the neural waves in the air weakened due to the chaos among the Zergs, he unleashed his own spiritual power to wrap around his double-barreled gun. Then, expending all his energy, he fired off one final shot, imbued with his spiritual power, sending it straight towards the Ning family flagship! Two streaks, one red and one golden, shot towards the Ning family flagship like intertwined twin shooting stars. The flagship itself had already halfway submerged into the black hole. One pierced through the flagship¡¯s protective shell and plunged into the power core, while the other grazed the edge of the Ning family flagship and disappeared into the black hole, resulting in a thunderous explosion. After the deafening explosion came a series of intense muffled sounds. The Ning family flagship halted, smoke puffing out from its power core. Simultaneously, violent turbulence caused by the explosive force surged from behind, unexpectedly propelling the flagship out of the black hole! Subsequently, the black hole behind the Ning family flagship distorted for a moment before suddenly collapsing, just like the one where the Zerg Queen had stayed before, disappearing in an instant. Chu Rong reacted swiftly to the situation, quickly regaining his composure. He holstered his depleted double-barreled gun and loudly ordered, ¡°Surround them, board their ship, capture everyone alive!¡± With that, he turned and rushed towards the Imperial Royal flagship, which was similarly half-engulfed by a different black hole. Seeing the situation, Qiao Zhiya wanted to rush forward to help, but he was suddenly pulled back by a force. Turning around, he saw the gray mecha piloted by Fan Xiangnan, staring at him with a hint of protective intensity, holding a silver net in his hand. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°The Chief told you that you are not allowed to follow him. Stay here obediently.¡± Fan Xiangnan dragged him back. Qiao Zhiya glanced at the bow and arrow in his hand, sensing the faint warmth from his magic pool, a hint that it has been depleted. He then glanced at the other soldiers who were still ¡°loading¡± prisoners and killing the remaining Zergs, feeling reluctant to leave. Reluctantly, he obediently descended, casting one last glance in the direction of Chu Rong. Fan Xiangnan was finally reassured. He stuffed the youth inside the army¡¯s protection circle again. After the collapse of the black hole behind the Ning Family flagship, the black hole where the Imperial Royal flagship was located seemed to be stimulated somehow, suddenly expanding by a circle. With force, it pulled the Imperial Royal flagship inward, swallowing a large portion of it, leaving only a tip outside. Feeling the pull of the black hole as he approached, Chu Rong quickly stopped and retreated. He immediately ordered others not to approach the area, frowned, and cast a cold glance at the tip of the Imperial Royal flagship left behind. He decisively abandoned them and turned around, flying towards the direction of the Ning family flagship. ¡ª¡ªFirst and foremost, he must stop the traitors. After that, he could clean up the scums of the Empire. ¡°Marshal Chu, wait!¡± A somewhat familiar sound suddenly called, causing Chu Rong to pause and turn around to look back. There, he saw a small platinum-colored warship flying awkwardly from the direction of the Imperial Royal flagship, appearing quite inexperienced in its flight. ¡°Marshal Chu, I¡¯m Ning Kongran. Long Ruifeng and Elder You are on my warship!¡± When the battleship approached, the voice called again. Then, the small warship suddenly fell, as if it were about to go out. Chu Rong stepped forward to help stabilize the small warship. Still frowning, he guided it towards the Chu family flagship. The black holes in the battlefield quickly disappeared, and the Imperial Royal flagship ultimately couldn¡¯t remain, but fortunately, all the criminals from the Federation were captured. Ning Tianya had attempted to play hide and seek on the flagship to evade capture, but was easily caught by He Hongjun in the end. With the Zerg Queen unconscious and the smaller Zergs lacking leadership, they were quickly eradicated by the joint efforts of the various military forces. The battle finally came to an end, and everyone returned to their respective flagships to rest and attend to the wounded, as well as to clean up the battlefield. Qiao Zhiya was scolded by Chu Rong and confined to his room for his reckless action of charging into the black hole. He was forbidden from participating in the subsequent battlefield cleanup and was ordered to eat dinner and rest immediately, with no more staying up late. After quickly settling Qiao Zhiya, Chu Rong left to attend to the many other tasks that still needed to be done. Qiao Zhiya obediently sat on the bed and watched him leave. As soon as the door closed, his brows furrowed, then he clutched his head in pain and rolled on the bed uncomfortably. He then took out a piece of jade and began absorbing its energy to alleviate his discomfort. During the previous battle, he didn¡¯t feel it; but now, after relaxing, his magic pool felt like it¡¯s about to explode ¨C hot and painful, very uncomfortable. This feeling was somewhat similar to the last time during the Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition when his magic was depleted, but the symptoms are much more severe than that time. ¡®How did I recover last time¡­?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya thought drowsily as he absorbed the jade. Flashes of Jian¡¯s face crossed his mind, and then he groaned as he pulled the blanket around himself. ¡®No, even after absorbing the jade, it still feels uncomfortable. My magic pool is so hot.¡¯ After finishing several pieces of jade, the intense heat and pain didn¡¯t alleviate at all. He instinctively reached for the box that Jian had given him during his engagement party. He opened it, took out a capsule, unscrewed it, and poured the liquid into his mouth. The liquid tasted sweet as it entered his mouth. Then a warm, comforting sensation spread rapidly throughout his body, finally gathering at the location of his magic pool, bringing a wave of relief. ¡®So comfortable¡­¡¯ His limbs finally relaxed, and he felt a little drowsy. However, not long after that, the feeling of comfort disappeared. His magic pool felt like its burning again. ¡®Then, one is not enough.¡¯ His consciousness became somewhat blurry, and instinctively, he reached for the crystal balls, one after another. In the blink of an eye, he had used up everything in the box, yet the stabbing sensation in his mind persisted. In the end, he simply took out a large piece of jade and lay on it, then he took out many vials of potions made from Yellow Leaf Tree¡¯s leaves and drank them all. Various pure energies surged into his magic pool, rapidly refilling the previously depleted reservoir. The heat sensation finally subsided somewhat, and the stabbing pain also diminished slightly. Just as he was about to relax, the energy in the magic pool suddenly boiled and churned, while his body involuntarily began absorbing the energy from the jade again, completely disregarding the fact that the magic pool was already full. ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Clutching his throbbing head, he curled up on the jade, reaching for the communicator to call for Chu Rong. Suddenly, there was an explosion in his magic pool, and his blurred consciousness finally succumbed to the impact, plunging into darkness. Chu Rong, who was listening to Fan Xiangnan¡¯s report, suddenly felt a jolt in his heart. Frowning, he paused for a moment, then got up and strode out. ¡°Sir?¡± Fan Xiangnan and the others wondered. Chu Rong waved his hand to signal them to take a break, then walked out of the control room without looking back and entered the nearest resting room. He pushed open the door and glanced around. His expression changed when he saw Qiao Zhiya lying on a gray-white stone on the bed. He hurried over, ¡°Qiao!¡± Zhuang Yu hadn¡¯t recovered from the joy of the victory in the battle and the safety of everyone, when she was startled by Chu Rong¡¯s urgent communication, almost losing her composure. After hearing the news, everyone rushed to the infirmary. Chu Rong placed the unconscious Qiao Zhiya into the repair chamber that Zhuang Yu had prepared, anxiously waiting by his side with a solemn expression. Zhuang Yu wasted no time and swiftly conducted a comprehensive examination on Qiao Zhiya. Upon receiving the results, she paused for a moment and then said, ¡°Sir, Qiao is just asleep.¡± ¡°Just asleep?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s brows furrowed even tighter. Remembering the room filled with jade stones, he couldn¡¯t shake off his worries. ¡°Double-check, please. He doesn¡¯t usually sleep this deeply.¡± Zhuang Yu also thought it¡¯s strange. Looking at Qiao Zhiya in the repair chamber, she started a more detailed inspection. However, the result still indicated that there¡¯s no problem ¨CQiao Zhiya is just asleep. Chu Rong¡¯s agitation was palpable, and the atmosphere in the infirmary became tense. The examination results showed that Qiao Zhiya was indeed just asleep, but it was unusual for a sleeping person not to respond to calls. ¡°Could it be because of upgrading his spiritual power? Occasionally, during the advancement to high-level mental power, there are cases of falling into a deep sleep,¡± Ning Kongran, who had also entered the infirmary at some point, suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the room. Zhuang Yu¡¯s eyes lit up at his guess, and she clenched her fist and hit her palm excitedly. ¡°I think so too! Chief, do you remember the time when your spiritual power healed? Qiao slept for a long time then too! And afterward, his power increased! Maybe it¡¯s the same this time too!¡± But last time, Qiao Zhiya fell asleep because he exhausted his power to help Chu Rong recover, and he was also contaminated by the radiation. After waking up, he was confused for a long time! Chu Rong tightened his fists, looking at Qiao Zhiya inside the repair chamber. He recalled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s actions on the battlefield, where he dispersed his magic to pacify the Zergs and risked entering the black hole. Feeling increasingly uneasy, he stepped forward, opened the repair chamber, and lifted Qiao Zhiya out. ¡°The rest of you, continue cleaning up the battlefield. Zhuang Yu, come with me.¡± Upon hearing Chu Rong¡¯s words, everyone looked worriedly at Qiao Zhiya in his arms before leaving as instructed. Zhuang Yu, on the other hand, swiftly began gathering instruments and preparing various tools. Finally, Qiao Zhiya was arranged to sleep in a room, but the mattress under him was replaced with top-grade jade. After Zhuang Yu finished installing various monitoring devices, Chu Rong dismissed her and sat by the bed, watching Qiao Zhiya, who was sound asleep under the covers. After a moment of silence, he leaned down and kissed his forehead, then gently brushed his slightly overgrown bangs that hadn¡¯t been trimmed in two months. In a soft voice, he whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Qiao Zhiya hasn¡¯t really rested properly in these two months. His sudden collapse is definitely related to the excessive depletion of his energy during this time. Chu Rong blames himself for neglecting and failing to notice Qiao Zhiya¡¯s condition. In his dream, Qiao Zhiya seemed to hear his voice, his eyelashes fluttered, but he couldn¡¯t open his eyes. His consciousness sank into a deeper, more peaceful darkness. CH 96.1 Yuan Lie: Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, a Lieutenant General. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Lieutenant General. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. He Hongjun: one of the four Marshal from the Federation. Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Long Ruifeng: the President. Long Xuyang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. The President¡¯s youngest child. Long Ruizhang: The President¡¯s younger brother. An Mhu: ex-Third Imperial Prince. Now the current Emperor. Qiao Zhiya was aware that he had returned to that pitch-black space. He felt the presence of his parents¡¯ power around him, but he couldn¡¯t open his eyes or gather his consciousness. He felt as if he were enveloped in a cloud of mist, vaguely aware of and sensing what was happening outside, but everything was too blurry to distinguish clearly. ¡°Baby, wake up.¡± His mother¡¯s voice sounded in his ears, as if she were beside him. ¡°Baby, hold on.¡± ¡°Qiaoqiao, soon ¡­¡± The familiar wood elemental magic suddenly became intense. For the first time in a long while, he heard his father¡¯s voice in his dream. His hazy consciousness struggled to awaken, but the weight of the magic pool and the heavy sensation in his brain pressed down on him, preventing him from breaking free. As if sensing his plight, the wood elemental magic suddenly surged towards his forehead. His eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes slightly, catching a glimpse of his father¡¯s exquisite white elven robe before warmth spread across his forehead, and darkness enveloped him once again. In the early hours of the morning, Chu Rong noticed the person in his arms suddenly becoming feverish and restless. He was jolted awake from a light sleep. He saw that Qiao Zhiya was looking flushed, and seemed to be writhing. He became so nervous that he immediately called for Zhuang Yu to come over. Then, he sat up and held the person in his arms, releasing his spiritual power to soothe him as much as possible. Zhuang Yu quickly arrived and conducted a simple examination, but still couldn¡¯t find anything abnormal. She could only administer some basic fever-reducing treatment for Qiao Zhiya. Helplessly, she said, ¡°We can only rely on Qiao to pull through on his own. Additionally, when high-level spiritual power users undergo power advancement, they may experience frequent discharge until it¡¯s overdrawn and reabsorption of power. Although Qiao¡¯s power is different from ours, he may still go through this process. Therefore, it¡¯s essential for you, Chief, to ensure that he has sufficient power around him for absorption at all times. Also, considering that Qiao previously simulated a spiritual power level of SS, this time he might be upgrading to SSS. As you know, the release of SSS-level spiritual power is extremely powerful. We need to isolate Qiao as soon as possible, just like when you experienced spiritual power outbursts in the past.¡± Hearing this, Chu Rong frowned deeply. He glanced down at Qiao Zhiya in his arms, who looked slightly better after applying the fever-reducing patch. Tightening his embrace, he pondered for a moment before asking, ¡°How many days until we reach the Capital Planet?¡± ¡°The flagship has left the Empire¡¯s territory. If we take a special channel, it will take up to three days.¡± Zhuang Yu answered, thinking of it, and asked, ¡°Sir, the Empire ¡­¡± ¡°The news on the battlefield has been blocked. We will wait until we return to Capital Planet.¡± Chu Rong settled Qiao Zhiya on the bed then sat next to him, still frowning deeply. ¡°After the flagship arrives near Capital Planet, don¡¯t land. Wait for until QIao has been stabilized before we will land.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s power was special. If the power release during his upgrade was too conspicuous, it may cause people to spy on him. For the sake of insurance, it was better to stay on the flagship, where the security was guaranteed. Zhuang Yu also agreed that this would be the better choice. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current situation was not suitable for moving, so she nodded in response. After a last, anxious glance at Chu Rong, she left without making much sound. After the door was closed, Chu Rong gently put Qiao Zhiya back on the bed, and touched his face, and found the temperature had dropped. After making sure he slept soundly, he stood up, walked to the side and covered himself with a soundproof protective cover. Finally, he dialed Chu Huai. Three days later, the Xiang family, the Wei family, and the Chu family¡¯s flagships all reached the Capital Planet. The Xiang-Wei both went down to land first, while the Chu family¡¯s flagship deliberately lagged behind and maintained a distance behind them. Chu Huai, Xiang Lingyun, Wei Xiongchang, and others who received the news early were already waiting at the port, accompanied by the media, to do a live broadcast. They were prepared to welcome the soldiers¡¯ triumphant return and simultaneously inform the public of the victory in the war. Previously, when the coalition forces went to the Empire and suddenly lost contact, major families had a rough idea of ??what might have happened. However, they refrained from disclosing details of the high-level conflict to the public to avoid causing greater panic. Instead, they tacitly agreed to use reasons like ¡°real-time updates on the battlefield situation might affect the morale of the troops¡± to downplay the war¡¯s circumstances. They only directed the public¡¯s attention towards praying for the victory of the war to divert their focus. Among the Four Great Families, the Xiang and Wei families initially believed that this battle would be a long-lasting, protracted conflict like the one over a decade ago, or perhaps a brutal one-sided slaughter. However, they were taken by surprise when, after about a day of silence from the battlefield, unexpected news reached them from the front lines. The Zerg Queen was actually captured alive! Chu Rong unexpectedly appeared in the flagship of the Chu family! They knew full well but had to take the initiative to intercept the conspiracy behind the suspicious medicines, but unexpectedly, Chu Rong suddenly appeared and directly thwarted it. Moreover, Chu Rong also captured Ning Tianya, Long Ruifeng, and their party! The Empire didn¡¯t dare to do anything until now. It¡¯s also known that the new Emperor was beaten and had to run away! The Xiang and Wei families¡¯ mood became very mixed. There is a sense of unexpected realization that ¡°ah, so it can be done this way¡± and ¡°they really went to do things this way.¡± The situation, which had been passive since Chu Rong¡¯s disappearance and the appearance of the Zergs, suddenly reversed. The Xiang and Wei families knew that this time it was the Chu family who won, and they won decisively. The Ning family and Long Ruifeng were completely finished, and the two other families no longer had the possibility of overpowering the Chu family. So after the news of the victory of this live broadcast campaign started today, they consciously gave Chu Huai the first honor. The major families had already settled their minds and were prepared to accept the outcome, but the people of the Federation were still clueless. When they suddenly saw the official announcement from the Federal government broadcasting across the entire Starnet, their hearts skipped a beat, and they all started guessing in a pessimistic direction ¡ª now, less than ten days had passed since the coalition forces set off. Subtracting the time for the round trip, the military could have only stayed on the battlefield for at most two days, and that was the maximum! They¡¯re fighting the Zerg Queen! More than a decade ago, Chu Rong fought against the Zerg Queen and was almost killed! But now, the army has returned so quickly, and they¡¯re broadcasting it live. Chu Huai¡¯s face looked so terrible during the broadcast, and Chairman Xiang and Lieutenant General Wei both looked gloomy. This situation looks really wrong no matter how you look at it! Could it be that the entire army was wiped out? Could it be that they were all taken down by the Zerg Queen as soon as they arrived? The President¡¯s brother, Long Ruizhang, and his son, Long Xuyang, didn¡¯t appear in the broadcast. Could it be that even the President has sacrificed? No, no way¡­ could it be that, without Marshal Chu, the war between humanity and the Zergs was doomed to fail? There¡¯s also no news from the Empire¡­ As the tension among the public reached its breaking point, the broadcast screen suddenly displayed the silhouette of three flagships. Chu Huai and the others, who had been quietly waiting, immediately looked up, and the official broadcasting equipment also quickly shifted its focus. The frightened public, unable to discern the colors of the warships for the moment, turned pale. At the time of the coalition army¡¯s departure, it was a joint expedition with the flagship of the Ning, Wei, and Xiang families, along with the warships of the Chu and He families. Now, only the flagships are returning, with no sign of the warships. So, it¡¯s indeed¡­ But soon, someone found something wrong. ¡°Wait! Although there are three flagships that returned, why is one of them black-colored? Isn¡¯t only the Chu family¡¯s flagship black?¡± ¡°But hasn¡¯t Chu¡¯s flagship been broken for more than a decade?¡± ¡°Wait, where¡¯s the Ning family¡¯s flagship?¡± Similar sentiments echoed across different corners of the Starnet. The people were stunned, their gazes shifting unanimously from the white flagship of the Xiang family and the deep blue flagship of the Wei family to the black flagship obstructed in the rear. With this ray of hope, everyone started to stir up. It turned out to be black! Throughout the Federation, there was only one black flagship, and that was¡­ that was¡­ Everyone held their breath, their eyes ignited with a hidden glimmer of anticipation. As the fleet reached the designated altitude, the flagships of the Xiang and Wei families descended in order, and finally, the silhouette of the black flagship was fully revealed, eliciting gasps from the public in every corner of the Starnet. It had the emblem of the Chu family! The black flagship bore the Chu family emblem! It¡¯s really the flagship of the Chu family! It¡¯s clear that when the coalition army set sail, there were no flagships from the Chu family¡¯s, as their flagship was already damaged in the battle over a decade ago. Moreover, this time, the Chu family¡¯s military was led by Yuan Lie, and he certainly did not possess such a flagship! Is it, is it ¡­ The excitement surged in their chests, a secret hope clamoring to burst forth. With eyes brimming with tears, the crowd watched the slow descent of the black flagship, collectively yearning for a miracle to unfold. Cheers were on the verge of erupting from their throats, as long as the person they hoped for could descend from that flagship, as long as that person could once again emerge from the darkness with the light of victory, as long as¡ª The black flagship halted abruptly upon reaching the designated altitude, and then the voice of Chu Rong resounded throughout the entire military port, ¡°The Zerg Queen and the traitors have been captured alive. In response to the conspiracy orchestrated by the Empire and traitors such as Long Ruifeng and Ning Tianya to annihilate Federation soldiers, I, representing the Chu Family, hereby declare that from today onwards, the Chu Family and the Empire are irreconcilable enemies. The crime of creating fake Zergs is unforgivable!¡± The Starnet and the military port fell into complete silence. After more than ten seconds passed, the first suppressed scream suddenly erupted, and then it was as if sparks had fallen into a frying pan, with cheers and screams erupting everywhere. Countless people were forcibly disconnected from the Starnet due to excessive excitement. Then, as they continued to scream, they couldn¡¯t help but burst into tears. It¡¯s Chu Rong! It¡¯s really Chu Rong! Their hero has returned! Truly returned! They no longer need to fear or worry! The ever-reliable God of War who always protects them and the Federation has returned from the black hole once again! ¡°Thank you to all the soldiers for your dedication in this battle, you are the heroes of the Federation.¡± After hastily finishing his statement, Chu Rong quickly ended the external call and delegated the remaining matters to Fan Xiangnan and others. As he turned to leave, he anxiously asked, ¡°How is Qiao doing?¡± ¡°Just absorbed the second batch of emerald jade and about to start a new round of power release.¡± Zhuang Yu frowned as he followed Chu Rong, quickly saying, ¡°The high fever hasn¡¯t subsided, we must forcibly reduce it, but no one can enter the isolation room now, the completely unfamiliar power inside is too powerful.¡± Before the final space jump, Qiao Zhiya indeed began the repeated release of power and frantic absorption. Fortunately, Chu Rong had enough jade reserves, otherwise, given the current frenzy of absorption by Qiao Zhiya, the situation would likely have spun out of control. Chu Rong originally didn¡¯t plan to show up at the military port, intending instead to park the flagship outside the Capital Planet to guard Qiao Zhiya. However, Chu Huai, Fan Xiangnan, and others kept advising him to show his face, to inform the public about the basic situation firsthand, lest rumors spread and cause instability among the people. In the end, considering that Chu Huai had been single-handedly supporting the Chu family for so long and that the Federal situation couldn¡¯t withstand further turmoil, Chu Rong compromised and agreed to dock the flagship at the port for a while. However, to their surprise, shortly after the flagship landed, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s condition became unstable again. Upon hearing this, Chu Rong¡¯s expression grew even more solemn. He quickened his pace and ordered, ¡°Raise the flagship and move it to a location beyond the detection range of Capital Planet¡¯s defense. Ignore all communications except for our own people, and no one else is allowed on board!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zhuang Yu responded quickly, and took out the communicator to notify Fan Xiangnan. She watched anxiously as Chu Rong strode back, worried. After listening to Chu Rong¡¯s words, the citizens became anxious and roared in their hearts: ¡®No! You are the hero! You are the most powerful hero of the Federation! Please don¡¯t leave!¡¯ However, before they could finish shouting and prepare for a warm welcome to the hero¡¯s return, the majestic black flagship suddenly lit up its departure lights again and ascended into the sky, disappearing from the live broadcast screen. The cheers of the people choked in their throats, their eyes widening in surprise. What happened? Why did the flagship lift off again? Why didn¡¯t it land? They stared in horror into the sky, hoping they were mistaken, speculating that the flagship would descend again. But one minute passed, then two, then five¡­ The doors of the flagship of the Xiang and Wei families opened, soldiers emerged, greeted by Chu Huai and others. Interviews began, and the official announcement of victory in the war was broadcasted¡­ As the livestream was nearing its end, there was still no sign of the black flagship in the sky. Meanwhile, the people at the military port proceeded with the announcement of the victory in the war as if the non-landing of the black flagship was entirely normal. They completed the broadcast according to the procedure and promptly ended it on schedule. The people were stunned, staring at the ended live broadcast. Their hearts were filled with confusion, and various speculations popped into their heads. The speculation and confusion among the people were rampant. Was Marshal Chu really not landing? Why? Was he not returning to the Federation? Could it be that he was going to dock at another port? But that didn¡¯t make sense¡ª the military port was large enough to accommodate ten flagships, and there was no need to go to another port. Moreover, the military port was evidently safer and closer to home. Wait, home? The public recalled Marshal Chu¡¯s troubled expression during the broadcast and his visibly exhausted appearance, and they were suddenly filled with unease. Their hearts raced with apprehension¡ª his beloved oldest brother was waiting below, looking worn out, yet Marshal Chu chose not to land. Could it be that something had happened to Marshal Chu? Perhaps Marshal Chu was seriously injured and unable to show himself, hence only transmitting his voice? Or something happened to Qiao Zhiya? At that time, the two were sucked into the black hole together, but only Chu Rong¡¯s voice appeared. After speculating, some members of the public turned their attention back to the words spoken by Marshal Chu. In hindsight, they were once again shocked ¡ª traitors? Ning Tianya and Long Ruifeng? What was going on? And the Empire¡¯s conspiracy, the crime of creating the fake Zergs ¡ª each statement was loaded with information, yet when combined, they seemed incomprehensible. Wasn¡¯t Ning Tianya a hero for providing the neural waves-resisting medicines? How did he become a traitor? As the public opinion on the Starnet slowly fermented, members of the Chu family didn¡¯t have time to deal with it. After the broadcast ended, Chu Huai immediately boarded a small Chu family warship that had been waiting nearby. Along with Gu Yan¡¯an, who had been waiting on board, they set off in pursuit of the flagship. Xiang Lingyun and Wei Xiongchang watched the Chu family¡¯s warship flying with complex emotions brewing in their eyes. They then silently looked at each other, then calmed down their emotions ¨C the loyal ones managed to return to their homes safely. ¡°What happened to the Ning family traitors?¡± Three days ago, after the Imperial Royal flagship and the Ning family flagship respectively left and were destroyed, external communication on the battlefield immediately resumed. At that time, they received the message transmitted back from the front line. However, the news was too sensational and unbelievable. It took them several days to digest it, and even now, they still feel somewhat bewildered. After all, who could have imagined that this outbreak of the Zergs was actually artificially created? Previously, at most, they thought it was the Ning family and the President betraying the Federation, and then, taking advantage of the reappearance of the Zergs and the disappearance of Chu Rong, they attempted to eliminate the remaining Three Great Families together with the Empire. The two loyal survivors, upon seeing their trusted individuals at this moment, finally let go of their suspended hearts. After confirming that there were no others around, the person in charge from the Xiang family took out an encrypted electronic book and handed it over, saying, ¡°Marshal Chu asked me to pass this on to you and Lieutenant General Wei. It contains all the truths of this battle. He said you and Lieutenant General Wei will understand once you¡¯ve read it.¡± What did Chu Rong give them? Xiang Lingyun frowned, looked at Wei Xiongchang again, and reached for the electronic notebook. CH 96.2 On the Chu family flagship, after Chu Rong diverted to the floor where the isolation room was located, he found the situation somewhat different from what Zhuang Yu described. There was no chaotic rushing of energy in the air; instead, the corridors were filled with vines and hard soil clumps, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, covering the floor, walls, and ceiling. At the end of the line of sight, a large boulder had even materialized out of thin air, blocking the passage. ¡°S-sir.¡± A team of disheveled medical assistants emerged from the other side of the giant boulder, looking helpless and embarrassed. One of them reported, ¡°About ten minutes ago, the chaotic energy in the air suddenly disappeared, and then these things started emerging from the isolation room. They quickly spread across the walls and floor, and we can¡¯t seem to clear them all. While these vines won¡¯t actively attack people, if we use too much force to clear them, they¡¯ll coil around us and throw us out.¡± It was like dealing with a petulant child. ¡°And there¡¯s this big rock too. It was originally just a small piece, but now¡­¡± Another assistant, a young lady, added tearfully, pointing at the large stone. She then poked the stone, and as if provoked, the boulder rolled in place and even jumped angrily, sending a cloud of dust flying. ¡°¡­That¡¯s how it is. This boulder has quite the temper,¡± the assistant girl said, dodging the vines that were entwining her, unsure of what expression to wear next. They¡¯ve seen the commanding officer¡¯s mental breakdown before, especially how brutal and terrifying it can be. How did it come to Qiao Zhiya, and why does the method of releasing power become so¡­ uh, unconventional? Zhuang Yu caught up and was startled by the appearance of the corridor. Wide-eyed, she exclaimed, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did someone renovate this place? Huh, why is the chaotic energy in the air gone?¡± Her assistants all looked at her speechlessly¡ªwas the boss so busy day and night that she lacked sleep, causing her brain to malfunction? Who in their right mind would renovate a flagship to look like this? Upon seeing the scene, the solemn expression on Chu Rong¡¯s face softened slightly. Almost indulgently, he reached out and gently touched the vines clinging to the wall, as if comforting Qiao Zhiya himself. In a gentle tone, she said, ¡°Be good, let me in.¡± Then magically, the vine on the wall actually responded, wrapping his wrist around, seemingly understanding what he said. All of them were no longer disturbed. The boulder rolled as far as possible, leaving the corridor empty. There was a passage through which one could pass. The assistant girl could only stand silently in surprise, before tentatively stepping in. ¡°Boom!¡± The boulder suddenly trembled with even greater anger, while the nearby vines began to coil menacingly towards her, seemingly ready to throw her out again. ¡°Wait, wait, wait! I¡¯m not going in there! Please don¡¯t throw me out! I, I¡¯m scared of pain, I¡¯m really, really scared of pain.¡± The young woman squealed in fear, quickly retracting her legs and hiding behind her colleague. The vines abruptly stopped moving and surprisingly didn¡¯t coil around her, instead angrily whipping against the wall, threatening to prevent her from getting any closer. ¡°Pfft¨C¡± Someone couldn¡¯t help but to laugh. The manifestation of power release comes in various forms, but the one they are witnessing now is the least threatening, which is truly¡­ quite funny. With a cold glance at the male assistant who was struggling to hold back laughter, Chu Rong waved his hand to signal everyone to leave. He then approached the giant rock blocking the passage. It probably noticed that the one approaching closer had a familiar aura. The boulder obediently rolled aside, letting him enter the passage unhindered. Chu Rong¡¯s expression softened as he reached out and touched the rock. Then, he turned to look at Zhuang Yu, who was being restrained by the vines around her waist, and instructed, ¡°Seal off this area. If there¡¯s anything, contact me.¡± Without looking back, he turned and entered the passage left by the giant boulder. Zhuang Yu stared angrily at the vines around her waist, feeling quite miffed about the situation. Why can the Marshal go in safely, but she can¡¯t? The reaction of power is an expression of people¡¯s subconscious. This is blatant favoritism! Even though the vines only wrapped around her without hurting her, this situation is still very infuriating! Don¡¯t think she didn¡¯t catch the smug tone in the Marshal¡¯s voice just now! People in love are really scary! Even in such a situation, they can still show off! Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unique way of releasing power did indeed relax Chu Rong¡¯s mood a lot, but when he discovered that the doors of the isolation rooms were also sealed with vines and a layer of hard soil, his relaxed mood disappeared. ¡°Let me in.¡± He spoke, but the vines on the door moved slightly without opening, instead tightening even more, showing no intention of opening the door. They even pushed him from the outside, attempting to drive him away. Chu Rong frowned, unmoved, as he reached out and grabbed the vines pushing him, releasing his spiritual power and saying, ¡°I¡¯m not leaving. Let me in.¡± The vine began to pretend to be dead, limply paralyzed in his hands and pretended that it was just a harmless rope. Chu Rong squinted, took out a short dagger, and raised his hand to slash at the vines and soil blocking the door. However, he saw the vines shrinking pitifully, and in his mind flashed the image of Qiao Zhiya, sick and curled up in a blanket. He furrowed his brow, retracted the dagger, and instead concentrated his spiritual power on the vines around the door. As the familiar aura approached, the vines, which were only responsive to their master, immediately became foolishly happy. Without any guard, they all leaned towards the source, causing the door to lose its defense. Chu Rong quickly pushed the door open, simultaneously using his power to entice the vines away, and strode into the room. The scene inside the room was similar to the outside; it was also filled with vines and soil. Even the soil had been artistically arranged to form a magic circle on the ground, although it was haphazardly drawn and messy. Chu Rong looked towards the bed, which was also covered in vines. His brow furrowed, and as he stepped closer, he accidentally kicked something. Bending down to take a look, he saw a roughly made clay doll lying on the vines. Faintly, it resembled Rong Tian. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡®Very good, he didn¡¯t forget to play even when this sick.¡¯ He quickly approached, pulling aside the vines to look at the bed. There, he saw Qiao Zhiya peacefully sleeping, his face flushed with fever, indeed showing signs of high temperature. Yet, there was a hint of joy in his expression, as if he were enjoying himself in his dreams. ¡®¡­forget it.¡¯ He pulled aside the vines and sat on the edge of the bed. First, he applied a cooling patch to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead, then fed him a bit of the fever-reducing medicine given by Zhuang Yu. Afterward, he lay down on the bed, wrapping himself, the blanket, and the vines around Qiao Zhiya. He gently surrounded him with his spiritual power. He¡¯ll let Qiao Zhiya play as long as it¡¯s not dangerous. When Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an arrived on the flagship, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s power release had temporarily ceased. However, the vines and boulders in the corridor remained, as did Chu Rong¡¯s sealing command, preventing anyone else from entering. Chu Huai stood on the side of the sealed door, watching the situation inside through the monitors, his expression somewhat strange. He turned to Zhuang Yu and asked, ¡°Is Qiao really okay?¡± ¡°He¡¯s okay,¡± Zhuang Yu replied helplessly. To add credibility, she took out a recording device and said, ¡°Here is the data from the various monitoring instruments in the isolation room. Qiao¡¯s temperature is just a bit high; all other bodily functions are normal.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an, also a doctor, immediately leaned in to take a look. Her relieved heart slightly eased as she said, ¡°That¡¯s good. It means Qiao¡¯s condition is relatively stable.¡± ¡°So, you two don¡¯t need to worry too much,¡± Zhuang Yu smiled. Her gaze fell on Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s abdomen, and she stepped forward to give her a hug. ¡°Congratulations. You¡¯ve been working too hard recently, and your emotions have been unstable, which isn¡¯t good for the baby¡¯s development. It¡¯s best to rest for a while during this period.¡± Zhuang Yu and Gu Yan¡¯an, both medical practitioners, had always had a good relationship. Gu Yan¡¯an received her friend¡¯s concern warmly, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face. She hugged Zhuang Yu back and nodded, saying, ¡°Thank you, I will.¡± Standing quietly in the background, Chu Yan stepped forward at the right moment and said, ¡°Dasao, let me take you to rest first. It¡¯s getting late.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an turned back to look at him again, seeing him still in his military uniform, seemingly not intending to take it off again. He looked even thinner. Her heart felt a pang, and her eyes reddened once more. She fought back the tears and instead forced a smile, stepping forward to hug him. When she married Chu Huai, Chu Yan was still just a child of less than ten years old. Over the years, she watched Chu Yan grow little by little. In her heart, Chu Yan was almost like her own child. Now that the child had safely returned, grown sensible and mature, it should have been a comforting thing. Yet, she couldn¡¯t help but wish that Chu Yan would always remain the same as he was before, carefree and mischievous, the carefree Third Young Master of the Chu family, never having to worry about anything for the rest of his life. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you worry,¡± Chu Yan hugged her back, patting her back to comfort her. Then, he looked at Chu Huai, wanting to smile reassuringly but feeling a lump forming in his throat. So, he quickly lowered his head. Chu Huai stepped forward and hugged his wife and younger brother. He both patted them back, silently soothing both of them. In the dead of night, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s power once again erupted violently, even more fiercely than before. This time, the vines and rocks managed to break through the sealed door, quickly spreading throughout the area where the isolation room was located. Then, as if knowing the location of the people he cared about, he headed straight for the rest area where the Chu family resided. Chu Huai was awakened by the knocking at the door in the middle of the night. Seeing Gu Yan¡¯an still asleep, he worried about her being disturbed and quickly opened the soundproof shield of their bed before getting up to open the door. After opening the door, the warm yellow light from the corridor spilled in. There was no one at the door, just a few vines and some small clay dolls tied to the vines. Upon seeing Chu Huai, the vines seemed to greet him by curling slightly, then swiftly bypassed him and entered the room. They climbed onto the soundproof shield of the bed, nudging it a few times, then dropped the dolls and swiftly retreated. Next, they moved to Chu Yan¡¯s door, politely ¡°knocking¡± with a stone tied to a vine. ¡°Clunk.¡± A few seconds later, Chu Yan¡¯s door opened, and his figure appeared behind it. Then, a vine wrapped around a clay sword struck his foot. Chu Huai & Chu Yan: ¡°¡­¡± They exchanged a glance, then looked at the vines happily crawling around the corridor after delivering their gifts, falling into silence. From the looks of it, Qiao seemed quite spirited. That night, it wasn¡¯t just them who got ¡°knocked¡± on their doors; it was also Fan Xiangnan, Lin Zhen, Zhuang Yu, and even Tan Shengwei. In short, everyone Qiao Zhiya felt familiar with received the warm and caring attention from the vines and clay dolls. The next morning, when Gu Yan¡¯an learned about what had happened, she glared at Chu Huai accusingly. Then, she tenderly touched those ugly clay dolls and specially sought out the vines that had retreated after releasing their power, speaking softly to them in a soothing manner. At noon, Qiao¡¯s power began another round of rampage. The door to the flagship¡¯s dining hall was broken through by the vines, and the table around which the Chu family sat was covered with vines, as if trying to provide them with an additional meal. The vines even generously bloomed a few flowers, leaving them within reach of the family¡¯s hands. Gu Yan¡¯an couldn¡¯t help but smile. She reached out and gently touched the vine that had just bloomed flowers, whispering softly, ¡°Thank you.¡± Chu Yan fell silent for a few seconds, then decisively picked up one of the flowers and put it in his mouth, completely unconcerned about whether the flower was clean or not. This action delighted the vine next to him, which eagerly rubbed against his wrist. Chu Huai: ¡°¡­¡± CH 96.3 Yuan Lie: Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, a Lieutenant General. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Long Ruifeng: the President. Long Xuyang: Long Baorou¡¯s younger brother. The President¡¯s youngest child. Long Ruizhang: The President¡¯s younger brother. An Xei: The Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s rampage lasted for a long time this time, and the Chu family was followed by the vines for a long time as well. It was like having a clingy little pet; wherever they went, the vines followed, obedient and well-behaved. The scene was too bizarre and not suitable for others to see, so the Chu family voluntarily confined their activities to the two floors where the isolation rooms were located. The soldiers who remained on board and were unaware of the situation were all arranged to rest on other floors, with Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen managing them. They had no authority to enter this area. Actually, according to Chu Rong¡¯s idea, he hoped that only their own people would remain on the ship, without leaving a single soldier. However, just in case, Fan Xiangnan insisted on keeping an elite team on standby. Although the Zerg Queen has been caught alive, the Zergs have not been cleaned up, so it was better to keep some people around to ensure their safety. The Chu family members on the flagship were playing with the vines cheerfully, while the citizens of the Federation were on the verge of collapse. After the livestream ended, the authorities did not provide any further detailed explanations, leaving people to speculate wildly. While they understood that the post-war government would undoubtedly be busy and need time to handle various matters, especially in the absence of a president in charge of affairs in the Federation, they were impatient! The Chu family flagship never landed at the Capital Planet, with Chu Rong only speaking but not showing up in person. Later, Chu Huai also never appeared in subsequent official news. Additionally, the whereabouts of Qiao Zhiya, who had been missing since the battle, and Chu Yan, who hadn¡¯t been seen since joining the fight, were unknown. This series of events made them extremely uneasy! The war may have been victorious, but the Chu family members seemed to be avoiding the public eye, all disappearing from public view as if they were hiding. They no longer appeared immediately after events to explain the situation and reassure the people as they used to. Then, faintly, there arose a speculation online: Has the Chu family grown cold? Are they unwilling to remain in the Federation any longer? After Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya went missing, Chu Huai immediately fell ill. At that time, instead of showing concern for the Chu family, everyone was led by the President to continuously criticize and question them, forcing Chu Yan, despite his young age, to personally go to the front lines to quell public opinion. Looking back, the Chu family has been almost constantly pushed by the public in the past two months towards worse outcomes, especially Chu Yan, who was even forced to confront the Zerg Queen at the frontlines. If they put themselves in their shoes¡ª Should they be in Chu Rong¡¯s position and just returned from a perilous situation to find their older brother critically ill and their younger brother forced to the frontlines, while the public, whom they have tirelessly protected, continues to question and criticize their family, nearly pushing their only remaining family members to collapse, they would certainly feel disheartened. Many citizens felt they were too easily swayed by the public opinion at that time, making themselves too harsh, not listening to their own conscience. This speculation initially appeared in a small circle, but when Lieutenant General Yuan Lie mentioned in a routine interview after completing the battle report that Chu Huai had also boarded the Chu family flagship and was not on the Capital Planet, temporarily unable to take charge, the speculation quickly spread across the entire Starnet and became a fact believed by the public. ¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s over! The Chu family is leaving the Federation! They don¡¯t want to protect the Federation ever again! Public opinion exploded once again, with countless people rushing to the Chu family¡¯s official website and the social media accounts of Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya to apologize and express gratitude. Those who had previously followed the trend in questioning the Chu family felt deeply guilty, while those who had remained rational but refrained from speaking out due to the public opinion environment finally felt vindicated. They began to recall the contributions the Chu family had made to the federation over the years and criticized those who had been wavering. People¡¯s hearts began to favor the Chu family, and the Starnet was filled with the Chu family¡¯s past glory and record. Xiang Lingyun turned off his photon computer, sighed, and said, ¡°If a presidential election were held now, Chu Huai¡¯s approval rating among the public might exceed 80%. The war has deeply affected public sentiment, and the Yuan family has managed the situation well.¡± On the other side, Wei Xiongchang remained silent, furrowing his brow in contemplation for a while before hesitantly asking, ¡°Do you think Chu Huai and Chu Rong really don¡¯t intend to return to the Federation? With so many planets under their name, they could easily establish their own independence.¡± Upon hearing this, Xiang Lingyun was momentarily stunned, then looked at him with some speechlessness before saying, ¡°Lao Wei, how could you be confused? Anyone could potentially betray their country, but not the Chu family. It¡¯s one thing for normal citizens to believe the current speculation, but how could you believe it too?¡± Wei Xiongchang, upon hearing his words, belatedly realized that his own thinking had also been led astray. He raised his hand, tapped his forehead, and then asked, ¡°So, what do you think the Chu family is doing? Are they just stopping up there, admiring the view?¡± What scenery could they see from above? The more he tried to guess, the wilder it got. Xiang Lingyun waved his hand, indicating he didn¡¯t want to speculate randomly with him. He also didn¡¯t have the inclination to do so. He just pointed at the electronic document that they had scrutinized numerous times and said, ¡°The focus now isn¡¯t why the Chu family is hovering over the Capital Planet, but rather how to resolve this.¡± Wei Xiongchang¡¯s attention was drawn back to the electronic document. His brows furrowed, his expression turning cold. With a snort, he said, ¡°The Empire dares to create the Zerg! Once we¡¯ve recuperated, let¡¯s just take our flagship and crush the Empire!¡± Alright, they couldn¡¯t discuss this matter today. Xiang Lingyun poured a glass of water in front of him, motioned him to drink it and calm down. Wei Xiongchang saw his expression freeze like that, suppressed his temper, picked up his tea cup and took a sip of water, furrowing his brows as he asked, ¡°So what exactly do you want to do? We can¡¯t fight, the Chu family is all holed up in the sky, and the Federation is currently like a headless dragon. Are you suggesting¡­¡± He gestured upwards as he spoke. ¡°In the current situation, which family dares to aspire to take that position? Aren¡¯t you afraid the people will drown you in spittle?¡± Xiang Lingyun finally gave up trying to make him understand his point and said directly, ¡°Chu Rong definitely holds more truths about the Zerg in his hands. By giving us this, he¡¯s bluntly telling us to stop internal strife and focus on the real enemy, the Empire. The stability of the Federation now relies on the Chu family, and the subsequent game with the Empire also relies on the Chu family. All the important information is in the hands of the Chu family. We only have one path to take: to support Chu Huai and Chu Rong.¡± What he implied was too obvious. Wei Xiongchang lowered his tea cup to sit upright and asked in surprise, ¡°You want to push Chu Huai as the president?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about aligning with public sentiment and showing goodwill to the Chu family by supporting Chu Huai¡¯s ascent,¡± Xiang Lingyun corrected him, suppressing his lingering discontent from years of conflict with the Chu family yet ending up with this outcome. He shook his head and continued, ¡°Yuan Lie has already hinted that even if we don¡¯t push for it, Yuan Lie and He Hongjun will start pushing. So, it¡¯s better for us to take the initiative. Lao Wei, the situation in the Federation has changed.¡± He gestured towards the electronic document beside him as he spoke. Wei Xiongchang frowned silently, remembering the truths written in this document. He knew the atmosphere of the Federation and the unknown situation on the side of the Empire. Indeed, the situation has completely changed. CH 97.1 The internet was full of the citizen¡¯s fears that the Chu family really left the Federation, and the atmosphere was getting worse by the minute. At this time, the higher-ups held an official broadcast again. The livestream was broadcasted from the Presidential Palace, where officials from various levels of government and the military, led by the Xiang and Wei families, gathered in the conference room. Xiang Lingyun spoke as their representative, stating that the Federation couldn¡¯t continue in such chaos. With the Zerg threat largely dealt with, traitors needed to face due process, and the Federation needed to embark on a new chapter. The position of the president couldn¡¯t remain vacant indefinitely. Therefore, after deliberation among officials at all levels, it was decided to reopen the presidential election. As soon as this decision was announced, all the people watching the live broadcast were stunned. Reopening the presidential election? The official livestream¡¯s purpose this time wasn¡¯t to explain the specific details of the war or why the Chu family hadn¡¯t returned to the Federation, but to announce this? It seems like the officials¡¯ focus might be a bit misplaced. Then the next second, their eyes lit up ¨C because the presidential candidate projected by Xiang Lingyun had Chu Huai¡¯s name! What does this mean? It means that Chu Huai was not leaving the Federation! The Chu family did not give up the Federation! They will continue to stay here, protect the Federation, protect the citizens, and fight those who have hurt the Chu family! Sentimental people couldn¡¯t help shedding tears when looking at the pictures of Chu Huai on the candidate list, but their eyes were full of joy. Great, the Chu family didn¡¯t have to leave! They still had the opportunity to express their guilt and heartfelt gratitude towards the Chu family! ¡®¡ªWe must keep the Chu family here! The members of the Chu family, who have endured so much for the Federation, deserve a presidential seat!¡¯ After shedding tears, the people were uplifted, almost simultaneously forming a thought ¨C they clenched the communicators on their wrists, representing their rights to vote, and in their hearts, they had already cast their votes for the Chu family, for Chu Huai! After the livestream ended, Xiang Lingyun and the officials exchanged pleasantries before leaving the now empty Presidential Palace accompanied by the staff. Waiting inside the hover car, Xiang Hui called out to his father in a low voice. Then he kept his head down and remained silent, appearing rather subdued in mood. Xiang Lingyun closed the door, glanced at his expression, and asked gently, ¡°Do you know why I brought you here today?¡± ¡°To make me witness how far the Xiang family has fallen,¡± Xiang Hui replied through gritted teeth, his tone strained with a fragile calmness that seemed ready to shatter at any moment. ¡°I want you to see what kind of path the Xiang family should take in the future!¡± Xiang Lingyun suddenly erupted, his voice deep and stern. He said, ¡°Xiang Hui, don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve been up to. You actually intended to tamper with the batch of new weapons that Xiao Kun sent to Chu Yan. That¡¯s the war frontline! Are you trying to get Chu Yan killed? I¡¯ve told you before, in the face of a major crisis, there must be no internal strife! And we must not harm the lives of the younger generation! All disputes should revolve around interests, not with the aim of suppressing a particular family. Have you completely disregarded what I¡¯ve told you?¡± As a father, Xiang Lingyun had always been gentle and accommodating. Although he might occasionally be a bit stern, he had never erupted in anger like this before. He usually offered advice and guidance with gravitas, and even if he spoke harshly, he would quickly soften his tone and offer explanations to soothe the situation. Therefore, Xiang Hui was completely taken aback by his father¡¯s sudden shift from aloofness to outburst. Seeing him like this, Xiang Lingyun felt both angry and anxious. He said, ¡°Xiang Hui, let me be frank with you. I deeply regret it now! I regret not actively seeking cooperation with the Chu family when I first discovered signs of treason from the Ning family! At that time, I was also blinded by petty interests. I thought that with the internal strife between the Ning and Chu families, perhaps the Wei family and us could come out unscathed, reaping the benefits! But as you¡¯ve seen, the result speaks for itself. The Xiang and Wei families¡¯ armies have been forced to the frontline to face death! This is the outcome of shortsightedness! This is the outcome of only caring about immediate gains! Chu Rong saved countless soldiers from our family and the Wei family in this war. Based on this alone, what right do you have to blame the Chu family for you, Xiang Hui, tasting the bitterness of failure today? If it weren¡¯t for him, perhaps the Xiang family wouldn¡¯t even exist now! And you wouldn¡¯t be a young master anymore! With your current means, cunning, and narrow-mindedness, without the Xiang family backing you, you might even be inferior to Chu Yan! At least he knows to personally go to the frontline to defend the family and the nation in times of crisis! And you¡­ it¡¯s better not to mention!¡± Xiang Hui trembled, his hands on his knees clenched fists, raised his eyes and looked at Xiang Lingyun, who was getting even angrier. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me for being ruthless today, because I¡¯m worried that if you continue down this stubborn path, the Xiang family will eventually be dragged down by you! Think about Long Xuyang now, think about the You family. With only one person¡¯s mistake ¨C Long Ruifeng;s ¡ª it¡¯s enough to bring these two families to complete ruin. When you become the leader of the Xiang family in the future, as long as you are not clear-headed for just one or two seconds, Xiao Kun will be the second Long Xuyang! And now, all the Xiang family members who pamper you, hold you up, and trust you will be the second coming of You family members! Think about it carefully! Is this the result you want?¡± After Xiang Lingyun finished shouting this long string of words and saw Xiang Hui looking bewildered and lost, he took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said no more. He called for the hover car to stop and got off, boarding another empty car that was following behind, leaving the space in the first car for Xiang Hui. Inside the car, it was complete silence. Xiang Lingyun¡¯s words seemed to be still ringing in his ears, the confusion in Xiang Hui¡¯s eyes slowly faded, and he looked down at his palm with a tense expression. Thinking about the current situations of Long Xuyang, the You family, Xiao Kun, and his family¡­ Xiang Hui suddenly remembered the day when ke suddenly approached Xiang Kun and silently observed him for a long time. He was startled. Could it be that at that time, Xiao Kun had already discovered his tampering with the weapons? He froze once again, his tense shoulders slowly slumping down. Since when had the carefree ¨C even at times, brainless ¡ª Xiao Kun become so calm and collected? Was he really in the wrong? Due to the exceptional circumstances, the presidential election, which should have taken a long time, was streamlined by the joint efforts of officials from the political and military sectors of the Federation, omitting most of the procedures. The preliminary election ended long ago, and the candidate list announced by Xiang Lingyun in the live broadcast was the result of the preliminary election. With the major families dominating the Federation, the National Congress, which followed the preliminary elections, ended hastily as well. Moreover, with Chu Huai absent from the Capital Planet after the war, the Federation had little energy to organize events like candidate speeches. As a result, the entire presidential election skipped the time-consuming initial steps and jumped directly to the final stage of national voter polling with rocket-like speed. Almost 80% of the population, who had long awaited this day, didn¡¯t hesitate to cast their votes for Chu Huai. Even some families that had traditionally supported the Xiang and Wei families generously voted for Chu Huai. Chu Huai¡¯s superiority can be said to be expected. In the Xiang family, Xiang Kun was sitting in a small living room. He casted his choice in his communicator, voting for Chu Huai. ¡°Why not vote for people supported by the Xiang family?¡± Xiang Hui¡¯s voice suddenly sounded from behind, startling Xiang Kun. He turned around to see Xiang Hui standing behind him, looking at his communicator with a curious expression, his gaze somewhat strange. Xiang Kun fell silent for a moment, choosing not to answer the question. Instead, he reached out and took Xiang Hui¡¯s hand, retrieving a space button from his pocket and placing it in his hand. ¡°Dage, you once wanted to learn about mecha manufacturing, but later you chose to enroll in the command department at the military academy because of the burden of being the heir of the Xiang family. Inside here are some materials for mecha manufacturing. There are tools in my lab. Go and try making a mecha to relax.¡± Xiang Hui¡¯s hand shook, and then he squeezed the space button firmly. He gave Xiang Kun one final deep look, then turned to leave the living room. Xiang Kun watched him leave, propping himself up on the back of the sofa. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but it quickly faded. He then slowly slid down onto the sofa, lifting his hand to cover his overly long bangs. About a week later, the voting results from various planets in the Federation were announced. Chu Huai won the next presidency with a significant majority of votes. However, he still hadn¡¯t come down from the flagship, and others were unable to contact him. ¡ª¡ªThe Chu family¡¯s flagship blocked external communication. With a heavy heart, Xiang Lingyun mustered up his courage and first sought out Yuan Lie. Then, he went to find people from the Gu family, hoping that they could pass on a message to the Chu family flagship, urging Chu Huai to come down and complete the inauguration procedures as soon as possible. The situation waited for no one, and matters couldn¡¯t be delayed indefinitely. Moreover, the specifics of the situation with the Empire were still unclear. The state of being headless cannot continue indefinitely. The Gu family received him politely, saying they would try to contact Chu Huai as far as possible, and then sent him out politely. Xiang Lingyun felt helpless, as if he was facing retribution for his past actions. He could only try to handle what he could while closely monitoring the situation on the Chu family flagship. He considered whether he should personally go to the flagship to pick up Chu Huai in person. In fact, Chu Huai on the flagship was not ignorant of the recent news. Although Chu Rong broke the external communication of the flagship, he still had a channel to understand what happened in the Federation. In recent days, the reason Chu Huai stayed on the flagship without descending was threefold: Firstly, with Yuan Lie and He Hongjun present, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the Federation¡¯s situation for the time being. Secondly, he wanted to spend more time with his family, particularly with Qiao Zhiya and his two brothers, out of personal desire. Thirdly, knowing that Chu Rong was a prudent person, and considering the internal situation of the Federation could be gradually sorted out, their main concern was the Empire. Staying on the flagship made it easier for him to gather information about the Empire¡¯s situation. However, he did not expect that Xiang Lingyun would take the initiative to do this sort of maneuver. He suddenly reopened the presidential election and pushed him up very generously. With the message from the Gu family now in hand, Chu Huai lowered his gaze, pondered for a moment, then looked at Fan Xiangnan opposite him and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation with the Empire?¡± ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any major movement for now. The Imperial Royal flagship still hasn¡¯t returned to the Empire. Currently, the Imperial Royal Family hasn¡¯t officially announced the disappearance of the new Emperor. They¡¯ve only announced the victory over the Zerg Queen. Right now, Prince An Xei is in charge, but his intentions are unclear.¡± Fan Xiangnan reported with a slight furrow of his brow, adding, ¡°I suspect he¡¯s waiting for our reaction. At that time, when Marshal Chu arrived at the battlefield, he immediately cut off external communication. An Xei is located in the rear and doesn¡¯t know the specifics of what happened on the battlefield. With the Imperial Royal flagship still not returning, he must be feeling uncertain.¡± Moreover, even the announcement of the victory in the war was made by the Empire shortly after the official announcement was made here in the Federation. At that time, Chu Rong directly pointed out the Imperial involvement with the fake Zerg in public. An Xei, without understanding how much truth Chu Rong actually knew, wouldn¡¯t dare to act recklessly. The Empire¡¯s citizens, completely unaware that their new Emperor is missing, were celebrating the victory in the war joyously, eagerly awaiting the triumphant return of the Imperial Royal flagship. ¡°That means even An Xei himself doesn¡¯t know where exactly the Imperial flagship has been sent by that black hole¡­¡± Chu Huai pondered for a moment, swiftly assessing the network of relationships around An Xei, then asked, ¡°Has Ning Tianxing been captured? Is Long Ruifeng still in a coma, along with the Patriarch of the You family?¡± Speaking of which, Fan Xiangnan¡¯s brow furrowed even tighter. He nodded and replied, ¡°Ning Tianxing was captured by the Yun family when he attempted to flee to the border. He¡¯s currently being escorted back to the Capital Planet. Long Ruifeng and Elder You are still unconscious, with their spiritual power disturbed by a mental blocker in their brain. Additionally, there are signs that other members of the You and Long family have been controlled by medicines provided by the Ning family, including Long Xuyang. The only one who remains clear-headed is Long Ruizhang. He was manipulated by Long Ruifeng the whole time and has no idea that he¡¯s been aiding Long Ruifeng and the Ning family in their treason.¡± Chu Huai furrowed his brow as well and said, ¡°It seems we need to awaken those who have been controlled by the medicines provided by the Ning family first. Otherwise, the trial can¡¯t proceed. In that case, I¡¯ll make time to go down there. But first¡ª¡± ¡°Dage,¡± Chu Yan burst in suddenly and recklessly, and said quickly, ¡°Qiao Zhiya is awake, but the situation is not right.¡± Upon hearing Chu Huai¡¯s words, both Chu Huai and Fan Xiangnan stood up without a word and headed towards the isolation room downstairs. Qiao Zhiya did wake up, he was completely muddle-headed. In addition, a green vine pattern appeared on the wrist somehow. CH 97.2 ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Chu Rong frowned and hugged Qiao Zhiya, who was foolishly trying to escape. Holding his vine-patterned wrist, his anxiety was clear to all. Zhuang Yu, who also had no clue, hurriedly conducted a simple check on Qiao Zhiya and then glanced at the various data displayed on the body monitoring equipment in the room. After a moment of surprise, she replied, ¡°The results show that Qiao Zhiya is completely fine now and is in a deep sleep state.¡± Deep sleep? Chu Rong lowered his head and looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s silly and struggling appearance with wide-open eyes. Gritting his teeth, he said, ¡°Is he sleepwalking now?¡± Zhuang Yu froze for a moment, glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s obviously uncomfortable appearance, and pondered before guessing, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because the power upgrade in his body is too powerful, and his body is not yet accustomed to it, causing him to instinctively, uh, want to move around a bit¡­ Probably when he expends the excess energy, he¡¯ll be able to sleep peacefully.¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened directly. The constant uncertainty was pushing his patience to the brink of collapse. Qiao Zhiya was still struggling, and because Chu Rong had been holding onto him, he began to squirm in his arms, even biting his neck with some force. Zhuang Yu suddenly felt like she should disappear from the room. The Marshal¡¯s current aura of the superior was too frightening. Taking a deep breath to relax his involuntarily tense body, Chu Rong frowned and pressed down on the back of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to look at Zhuang Yu, asking, ¡°Is it just a matter of expelling energy?¡± Zhuang Yu was forced to take a step back by his gaze, afraid to say that it was just her speculation. She hesitated and nodded, explaining, ¡°Theoretically, yes, bu-but Qiao¡¯s situation is special. Perhaps we should observe him for a while longer¡­¡± ¡°Go out.¡± Chu Rong interrupted her suddenly in a cold voice. Zhuang Yu was stunned and asked, ¡°What?¡± The patient wasn¡¯t well yet, so why was the doctor being asked to leave? Has the Marshal gone crazy? ¡°Get out, seal off this area again, quickly!¡± Chu Rong suddenly erupted, causing Zhuang Yu to tremble. Without further delay, she turned around and immediately left. She thought she might find Chairman Chu or Gu Yan¡¯an to come and calm Chu Rong down. They couldn¡¯t afford to have the Marshal fall ill again while Qiao wasn¡¯t yet better. After closing the door, Chu Rong immediately released his spiritual power to add another lock to the door. Then, he looked at Qiao Zhiya, who was looking silly after sensing his power. With narrowed eyes, Chu Rong carried him to the bedside. After setting him down, he pressed down on the youth directly. Isn¡¯t this just a matter of expelling excess energy? Then he has a way. Qiao Zhiya moved with confusion, thinking that Chu Rong was playing a game with him. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around Chu Rong¡¯s neck. When Chu Rong kissed him, Qiao Zhiya closed his eyes and responded by nibbling back. He really did nibble, just like nibbling on fruit. Chu Rong paused for a moment, then intensified the kiss with Qiao Zhiya, who was trying to escape. At the same time, his hands moved all over the youth¡¯s body. By the time Chu Huai and the others arrived, the area near the isolation room was once again overrun by vines and stones. What¡¯s worse, this time there was also a hint of Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power fluctuations in the air. Zhuang Yu stood outside helplessly and briefly explained to them the situation inside the isolation room before she left. After listening to her explanation, Chu Huai, a married man, showed a strange expression for a moment. He carefully sensed the restless energy of Chu Rong in the air, and glanced at the seemingly calmed vines. His mouth twitched. He then cleared his throat, trying to maintain a serious and solemn demeanor. He reassured her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Xiao Rong knows what to do. Let¡¯s all disperse and rest. Also, contact the military port and prepare for landing.¡± The attention of everyone was suddenly drawn to his last sentence. Fan Xiangnan asked, ¡°Chairman, is it appropriate to land now when Qiao is not yet recovered?¡± ¡°Now it¡¯s about 6 PM. At the latest, Qiao should be fine by tomorrow morning. He just needs time for his body and powers to make some final adjustments. If he¡¯s still not well by tomorrow morning, then I¡¯ll go down alone.¡± After finishing his words, Chu Huai waved his hand to dismiss everyone, saying, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s all disperse. Attend to your own tasks and after you¡¯re done, make sure to rest well.¡± With the leader¡¯s orders given, everyone reluctantly suppressed their concerns about Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya, and turned to leave. In the dead of night, all the vines and stones near the isolation room suddenly disappeared, and the erratic spiritual power of Chu Rong also vanished. Having been monitoring the situation here all along, Zhuang Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she turned to Chu Yan, who had slipped over to observe the situation at some point, smiled, and handed him a sleep aid, gesturing for him to go rest. Chu Yan¡¯s expression also relaxed a lot. He thanked her in a low voice and turned to leave. In the isolation room, Qiao Zhiya, covered with kiss marks, finally expelled his energy and collapsed to sleep peacefully on the bed. Chu Rong sat naked beside the bed, tracing a line on the youth¡¯s spine, then caressing his fluffy hair. He calmly observed the numerous bite marks over his body. Purely on instinct, he gave Qiao Zhiya¡¯s buttocks a pat. Qiao Zhiya, touched in his sleep, kicked his legs impatiently. He then rolled over inside the quilt, turning into a burrito. Chu Rong quickly withdrew his hand, waiting until Qiao Zhiya had settled back into a peaceful sleep before leaning in to look at him again. He gazed at his serene sleeping face for a long time, then bowed his head and gently placed a kiss on his forehead. The next morning, after confirming that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s condition had stabilized completely, the Chu family gathered for a small meeting and decided to immediately land at the military port. The presidential election had already concluded, and it was not suitable for Chu Huai to delay his departure any longer. After receiving the landing request from the Chu family flagship, the military port immediately excitedly spread the news. In less than ten minutes, all the top officials of the Federation knew about the news that the Chu family flagship was going to land at the port this morning. Xiang Lingyun immediately put aside what he was dealing with and contacted the Wei family and the media. He also notified Yuan Lie and He Hongjun, rallying officials, and rushed to the port with the fastest speed, organizing a grand welcome ceremony. The hastily arrived official media also quickly prepared for live broadcasting, ready to start broadcasting as soon as the Chu family flagship appeared in the sky. At 10 AM, the shadow of the black flagship faintly appeared in the sky. Xiang Lingyun immediately took a few steps forward and positioned himself at the spot where he could quickly rush to greet the arrivals after the flagship landed. The media immediately activated their broadcasting equipment, and the official live broadcast screen reappeared on the Starnet. The people wandering on the Starnet were initially puzzled, but upon seeing the silhouette of the black flagship in the live broadcast screen, they quickly became excited. They paused what they were doing and looked up at the live broadcast screen. It¡¯s the Chu family flagship! It¡¯s landing! It¡¯s about to land! The Chu family is coming back! Their new President and Marshal Chu are coming back! Amidst the anticipation of everyone, the flagship of the Chu family gently settled at the center of the military port ten minutes later. The people holding their breaths were cheering immediately, expressing their joy with excited screams. ¡°Indeed, the Xiang family has come again.¡± Fan Xiangnan handed the live broadcast image from his photon computer to Chu Rong, who was holding Qiao Zhiya, and asked, ¡°Sir, do you want to postpone the departure time?¡± Chu Rong glanced at the annoying live broadcast image with a dark expression, tightened his grip on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s arm, and shook his head. ¡°No need, if I don¡¯t show up, the public will probably cause another commotion.¡± After speaking, he took out a blanket from the spatial button and wrapped Qiao Zhiya, who was still unconscious, tightly, making sure not a single hair was exposed. Fan Xiangnan silently turned off the photon computer, refraining from expressing any opinion on Chu Rong¡¯s decision to disembark in this manner. He simply looked at Chu Huai ahead, waiting for his confirmation. Once Chu Huai nodded in agreement, Fan Xiangnan gestured for his subordinate by the cabin door to open it. In the live broadcast, the hatch of the Chu family flagship slowly opened after a moment of silence. Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an walked out first, coincidentally meeting with Xiang Lingyun and the other officials who had come to greet them. Immediately, both sides engaged in friendly exchanges and greetings. The public¡¯s attention shifted to Chu Huai, confirming that he seemed in good spirits and health, which relieved them slightly. Then, their gaze shifted to behind him, anxiously waiting for what was to come next. After such a long absence, how would Marshal Chu appear? Would he have any injuries? Did he lose weight? Or would he maintain his usual demeanor, with a faintly annoyed expression, straightforward and reliable as always? The public was still making speculations. Then, the figure of Chu Rong finally appeared at the door. He was still clad in military uniform, exuding a strong and reliable aura, and his steps were steady. As expected by the public, he had a slightly annoyed expression on his face, but he held someone wrapped in a blanket in his arms, his arms steady, showing a visible hint of caution and care. The public and the officials waiting at the door were stunned for a moment. Then, Xiang Lingyun was the first to regain his composure. He glanced at Chu Rong¡¯s grim expression and tactfully refrained from further pleasantries. After a brief greeting, he immediately led them towards the inner harbor, while signaling the media to shut down the live broadcast as soon as possible. The media acted promptly, following the hint to shift the focus to Fan Xiangnan and others who came out behind Chu Rong. Then, they zoomed out to capture the appearance of the Chu family flagship, highlighting the traces of gunfire on it. Finally, the camera panned to capture the backs of the national leaders as they walked towards the distance, accompanied by a stirring speech about the prospects of the Federation. With a click, today¡¯s live broadcast came to an end. The public finally regained their senses, and then they became angry¡ªIs that all? Did Marshal Chu get even ten seconds of screen time from start to finish? And what about that tall, thin figure behind Marshal Chu that seemed to be Third Young Master Chu? The camera cut away before we could even see his face. What¡¯s going on? Is this the quality of the official media? What a shitty quality! After their anger, their attention focused on the person wrapped in a blanket by Chu Rong. They began to worry. All of Chu¡¯s family members appeared in the live broadcast. Only Qiao Zhiya, who disappeared alongside Marshal Chu, was not seen. But someone who could be carried so carefully by Marshal Chu must be Qiao Zhiya. What¡¯s up with him? Why was he carried like that? He couldn¡¯t even show his face. Was he hurt? Everyone thought of the simple and beautiful Exoplanet Native boy who involuntarily poured all his positive emotions on the Chu family. They were worrying about his condition. T/L: after re-reading this¡­ isn¡¯t what Chu Rong did (most likely a heavy make-out session) with Qiao Zhiya was technically non-consensual? QZY isn¡¯t sober (?) to consent, I think?? Whatever it is, this is still fiction. If that happens in real life, don¡¯t do that, yeah. CH 97.3 Qiao Zhiya felt like he had slept for a very long time, dreaming of many strange things. Then suddenly, the dream faded away, and he woke up. Before him was darkness, and beside him was a familiar presence. If he listened closely, he could hear the other person¡¯s heartbeat. It felt like he was being carried and moved by someone. Where is he? He widened his eyes, staring at the sunlight filtering through the prickly fibers of the blanket. Unable to resist, he reached out to touch it, but suddenly, his movement halted. His back and buttocks were being dragged, and the blanket in front of him was lifted by a familiar hand. Sunlight poured in, and Chu Rong¡¯s voice echoed around him. ¡°Woke up?¡± He squinted, adjusting to the light, and slowly made out Chu Rong¡¯s features. His gaze swept around his face, his eyes brightened, and he happily pounced forward. He called out, ¡°Chu Rong, Chu Rong, Chu Rong! I dreamed about you!¡± Even though the content of the dream was rather embarrassing, the Chu Rong in the dream was so gentle, and he liked it a lot! As Chu Huai and Xiang Lingyun walked ahead, they heard his voice stop and both turned their heads to look. The surrounding officials also followed suit and looked over. Qiao Zhiya hugged Chu Rong¡¯s neck, resting his head on his shoulder. His ears were perked up, ready to nuzzle him, when suddenly he was met with the gazes of Fan Xiangnan and others behind Chuhuai, completely unexpected. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°It seems that Young Master Qiao Zhiya has not been too badly injured, this is really a blessing.¡± Xiang Lingyun said suddenly, breaking the quiet atmosphere at this time with a kind attitude. Chu Huai turned his head, nodded his head and said, ¡°He has been healing a while ago, and he is only slightly better today.¡± ¡°So it is.¡± Xiang Lingyun nodded and turned his head back. The officials who received their hint also tactfully turned their heads back. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, completely dumbfounded. His gaze slowly shifted from the grinning Fan Xiangnan to the perplexed expression of Chu Yan, then gradually moved to the group of unfamiliar staff behind them. His face turned crimson with embarrassment, and he quickly ducked his head back under the blanket, covering himself entirely. Chu Yan did not resist rolling his eyes, but a smile appeared on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t move around.¡± Chu Rong gently patted him on the back, frowned, and then glanced back at the officials who were still sneaking glances at them. He wrapped Qiao Zhiya back up in the blanket, hurriedly exchanged greetings with Chu Huai, and then left with Qiao Zhiya in his arms ahead of schedule. Now everyone was tactfully supporting the Chu family, so naturally, no one would object to their early departure. They all bid them farewell with smiles on their faces, then turned to converse amicably with Chu Huai who remained behind. After getting on the hover car, Chu Rong pulled Qiao Zhiya out from the blanket and sat him facing him on his lap, squinting at him without saying a word. Qiao Zhiya blushed and looked around. Seeing that there were only two of them in the car, his tense relaxed a bit. As he wanted to reach out and hug Chu Rong, he glanced at the vines on his wrists. He asked, ¡°What is this?¡± He tried to rub it off forcefully but found that the vines were like the leaf imprints left behind by an elven blessing, growing on his skin. Rubbing only resulted in reddening his skin, without removing anything. Chu Rong then firmly grabbed his wrist and admonished, ¡°No more fooling around like this in the future.¡± Qiao Zhiya was brought back to his senses by his admonition, remembering what had happened before he ¡°fell asleep.¡± He quickly raised his hand to touch his forehead, then was shocked to discover that the magic pool had expanded three times its previous size, and the magic inside had become even richer. His mouth fell open in astonishment. A-Archmage? Did he actually ascend to Archmage? Just one step away from Magister Mage, and two steps away from Holy Magister? Oh my God, his village¡¯s chieftain was only a Magister Mage, and his father was merely an Archmage. But he actually ascended to Archmage1I¡¯ll be real, I don¡¯t remember the magician ranks I translated before¡­ too. Th-this¡­¡­ He tried to condense a bit of magic at his fingertips, and visibly, a thin veil of green light floated out, gently wrapping around his fingers. Then, he attempted to make it feel like a spiritual power. It caused the green veil to vanish, replaced by a noticeable soothing and healing pulse of power spreading throughout the carriage. Initially letting him play around, Chu Rong noticed the unusual energy fluctuation in the carriage and quickly surrounded him with his spiritual power. He reached out and grabbed his raised fingers, frowning as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t release it recklessly. Be careful not to attract attention.¡± Ning Kongran told him about this before ¨C Qiao Zhiya¡¯s special powers were even more unsuitable for public discovery. Qiao Zhiya snapped back to reality, staring at him for a moment before suddenly rushing towards him with excitement. His ears perked up and wiggled as he exclaimed, ¡°Chu Rong! I¡¯ve become even stronger! I can protect you better now!¡± Chu Rong hugged him tightly, reaching up to rub the back of his head. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know how to respond. He looked towards the slowly emerging silhouette of the Chu family villa outside the window and said softly, ¡°Qiao, we¡¯re home.¡± Fearing that Chu Huai might run away or change his mind, on the second day of the live broadcast, Xiang Lingyun urged various departments to begin preparations for the presidential inauguration ceremony. Chu Huai also knew that the Federation couldn¡¯t afford to remain chaotic for long, so all the ceremonies were kept simple. After completing the formalities, only an official announcement was issued, followed by a brief press conference, and then he quietly took office. After officially taking office, he immediately announced detailed information about the war, listing the charges against traitors such as Ning Tianya, Ning Tianxing, and Long Ruifeng. He condemned the Empire for inciting war for mankind by creating fake Zergs. Then, he released some footage from the battlefield, openly discussing the possibility of going to war with the Empire. After providing explanations to the public, he began the subsequent efforts to comfort and compensate the injured soldiers from the battle. He conducted a thorough inspection of the population and officials at all levels of the Federation, upgraded the defenses of all planets, deployed the military to contain the remaining Zerg, and officially scheduled trials for the traitors. Due to the severity of the matter, the trials were conducted publicly, and the proceedings were broadcasted live for the public to gain detailed insights into the truth behind the battle. The long-stagnant Federal government finally resumed its normal operation, bringing relief to the people who had been concerned about the future since the appearance of the Zergs. With the restoration of confidence, attention shifted back to the war itself. The battlefield footage clearly and vividly displayed the situation where soldiers from the Ning family and the Empire took advantage of the cleanup operation led by the Chu, Xiang, and Wei families to launch attacks. The spectacular and terrifying scenes of the ensuing clashes between the flagship vessels solidified the evidence, escalating the public¡¯s hatred towards the Ning family and the Empire to its peak! The joint military expedition turned out to be nothing but a conspiracy! After inviting the Federal army, the Empire unexpectedly turned their cannons on the Federal soldiers while they were engaged in eradicating the Zergs. Meanwhile, the Ning family shamelessly assisted the Empire in bombarding their own compatriots! If it weren¡¯t for the sudden appearance of the Chu family¡¯s flagship, if it weren¡¯t for Chu Rong holding back the Zerg Queen, the Federal army could have been wiped out by the fake Zergs and the traitors! Unforgivable! Treason is unforgivable! The Empire¡¯s despicable deception is unforgivable! The public became furious, with some continuously protesting at the gates of the Ning family¡¯s pharmaceutical city, which had long been sealed off by the government. People voluntarily boycotted the medicines produced by the Ning family, and on planets guarded by Ning family troops, there were even incidents of crowds gathering to storm military areas. Chu Huai promptly stepped forward to appease the public¡¯s emotions and then instructed Yuan Lie to lead troops to the planet where the Ning family troops were stationed. They aimed to assimilate and calm down the soldiers who were unaware of the situation, removing all insignia representing the Ning family. Additionally, he dispatched He Hongjun to reclaim all private planets owned by the Ning family. The true cleaning of the Ning family began, and everything that could support a large family was swiftly uprooted at a speed akin to an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Apart from Patriarch Ning and other Ning family members who had fled to the Empire, everyone associated with the Ning family was temporarily detained and placed under custody, awaiting further interrogation and investigation. Chu Rong and Chu Huai got busy again, so only Chu Yan, Gu Yan¡¯an, and Qiao Zhiya were left at home. But Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy because he discovered something even more concerning than his own magic upgrade and Chu Rong. ¡ª¡ªGu Yan¡¯an is pregnant! The Chu family has a little baby! After hearing this news from Chu Yan, Qiao Zhiya was so excited that he couldn¡¯t even speak. He immediately left Chu Yan and rushed back to the main residence, where he found Gu Yan¡¯an in the kitchen cutting fruit. When his eyes fell on the knife in her hand, he froze in fear, his ears stiffening. He quickly stepped forward, snatched the knife, and put it away in the storage ring. Then, with a tense expression, he pushed her out, his whole body exuding nervousness. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an turned her head in confusion as she was pushed out by him. She smiled and asked, ¡°Are you hungry? Or do you not want to eat this fruit? I can get you something else.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head vigorously, his face flushed red, still not saying a word. He carefully settled Gu Yan¡¯an on the sofa, poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in her hand. Then, with a sparkling gaze, he sat next to her, occasionally glancing at her flat abdomen. He shuffled closer but hesitated, his hands fidgeting restlessly. Eventually, he restrained himself and clasped his hands together, his face turning as red as if it were about to bleed. Seeing his reaction, Gu Yan¡¯an became even more puzzled. She thought he might want something but was too shy to ask for it. So, she set down her tea cup, moved over to him, and took his hand in hers. Patting it soothingly, she said in a gentle voice, ¡°Is there something you want to tell me? It¡¯s okay, just say it. Dasao will help you sort it out.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up at her words, and he obediently held her hand without moving. He glanced at her belly and asked cautiously, ¡°Really? Can you arrange anything?¡± ¡°Of course I can,¡± Ge Yan¡¯an nodded, looking at his beautiful face, with some ¡°superstitious¡± thoughts swirling in her mind. She heard that looking at beautiful people during pregnancy can make the baby look better. The facial features of the Chu family are too stern, while the Gu family have a more generous appearance. ¡®It would be great if the child could be as beautiful as Qiao Zhiya,¡¯ she thought. Qiao Zhiya looked at her with a hopeful look. The more he looked at her still-flat belly, the bigger his courage became. The moment the itchiness in his heart became unbearable, he blurted, ¡°Well, can I sleep with the baby tonight?¡± As soon as they stepped into the house, both Chu Huai and Chu Rong heard this rather unfortunate statement upon entering the living room. Chu Huai knew Qiao Zhiya¡¯s personality well and guessed that he must have done something silly again, so he couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Chu Rong, on the other hand, had a dark expression on his face. He strode forward, bypassed the sofa, and pulled Qiao Zhiya away from Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s side, saying coldly, ¡°No, Dage and Dasao are moving to the Presidential Palace. You can only sleep with me.¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Yan, who had just finished cutting the fruit in place of Gu Yan¡¯an, was taken aback and asked, ¡°Dage and Dasao are moving to the Presidential Palace?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an also looked surprised and glanced at Chu Huai. Chu Huai nodded helplessly and said, ¡°It¡¯s customary. We can¡¯t be the exceptions.¡± Feeling the pull from Chu Rong, Qiao Zhiya recalled the cold and impersonal atmosphere of the Presidential Palace, devoid of any family warmth. Glancing at Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly, his ears drooped, and a clear expression of unhappiness spread across his face. No, he didn¡¯t want the baby to be born in such a place. The baby would surely be unhappy too. CH 98.1 The atmosphere of the Chu family was dull because of the fact that Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an had to move into the Presidential Palace. Chu Yan stepped forward and placed the fruit tray on the coffee table, saying, ¡°Can we postpone it a bit and wait until Dasao¡¯s health improves?¡± Zhuang Yu made it clear that Gu Yan¡¯an now needs to rest. During the first two months of pregnancy, Gu Yan¡¯an was constantly stressed. Then, for another month, she couldn¡¯t rest properly due to the war situation. Essentially, she didn¡¯t have a single peaceful day during the three months when pregnancy was most vulnerable. Now that things have finally settled down and everyone has returned home, she can finally take care of herself and recuperate. However, having to move again is really too much of a hassle. Moreover, the environment at the Presidential Palace really didn¡¯t feel like home. It¡¯s large and spacious, with some buildings serving specific purposes. There were constant reminders of security and the presence of presidential staff and security personnel everywhere. Occasionally, officials pass by, and the overall atmosphere was tense and serious. It¡¯s really not suitable for pregnant women to live in such surroundings. The main thing was that the Presidential Palace only allowed the immediate family members of the President ¨C that is to say, only their spouse and children. ¡°Yes, yes, Dasao and the little baby need to be taken care of properly. The Presidential Palace isn¡¯t suitable at all,¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly agreed, nodding vigorously with worry and concern written all over his face as his eyes remained fixed on Gu Yan¡¯an. Chu Rong¡¯s face became darker. He reached for his ears to keep him from moving, and raised his hands to cover his eyes. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly arched, struggling, silently protesting. Seeing Chu Rong¡¯s silence, Chu Huai guessed that his thoughts were similar to those of the two younger ones. He glanced at Gu Yan¡¯an, whose eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and stepped forward to comfort her by patting her shoulder gently, saying, ¡°If we delay it a bit, it should be fine¡­¡± Everyone heard the words and looked at him. Qiao Zhiya also pulled out Chu Rong¡¯s hand and looked forward with anticipation. Chu Huai paused and explained, ¡°Currently, it¡¯s wartime, and the former president was a traitor. We can temporarily block the Presidential Palace under the pretext of investigation to delay moving in. But this isn¡¯t a long-term solution. At most, we can delay for a few months. By then, when Yan¡¯an is further along in her pregnancy, it may be even more uncomfortable for her to move back and forth.¡± This is why he didn¡¯t mention this at first. If he had to move, it would be better to adapt to the environment earlier. This is also a problem. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya both frowned, looking very tangled. Seeing everyone feeling troubled for her sake, especially the two younger ones, their unhappiness and worries written all over their faces, Gu Yan¡¯an felt touched. She reached out and held Chu Huai¡¯s hand that was resting on her shoulder, comforting, ¡°It¡¯s okay, if we can delay it as much as possible, let¡¯s do that. At least we¡¯ll get through this year. When it¡¯s time to move, you won¡¯t make me do much, and it¡¯s just a change of place for me. I won¡¯t feel uncomfortable. Don¡¯t worry, everyone.¡± ¡°No, the living environment has a great influence on your emotions¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya muttered quietly, looking at Chu Rong, who was also frowning behind him, and gently pulled his hand, asking for help silently. Chu Rong immediately squeezed his hand back, glanced at the expressions of the other family members, and thought for a moment before saying, ¡°It is not impossible to delay it a bit longer.¡± Everyone turned to look at him, even Chu Huai was no exception. Obviously, if possible, he also didn¡¯t want to move to the Presidential Palace and make his pregnant wife suffer. Compared to the Chu family home, the Presidential Palace seemed more like a place for official duties and lacked the atmosphere of a home. It wasn¡¯t suitable for recuperation. ¡°We can follow Dasao¡¯s suggestion and delay the move until after the New Year under the pretext of an investigation,¡± Chu Rong spoke up, explaining in detail, ¡°This year¡¯s situation is special, and the holiday themes at the end of the year will likely be related to words like ¡®peace¡¯. We can find a reason to renovate the Presidential Palace, adding symbols or buildings representing ¡®peace¡¯ and ¡®stability¡¯, or making some minor, harmless changes. There have been several renovations of the Presidential Palace in history, so the President has had to reside elsewhere during those times. We can go through this procedure. Typically, a renovation of the Presidential Palace takes about two to three years. By then, Dasao¡¯s condition should have stabilized, and moving won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Two to three years was already quite a long time. Although they eventually have to move, it¡¯s still better than having to deal with it while Gu Yan¡¯an was heavily pregnant. Chu Yan¡¯s furrowed brow relaxed. Although Qiao Zhiya was still a bit unhappy, he also understood that life wasn¡¯t a fairy tale and couldn¡¯t always go according to everyone¡¯s wishes. So he obediently didn¡¯t say anything further. On the contrary, Gu Yan¡¯an furrowed her brows, hesitating as she said, ¡°Will renovating the Presidential Palace be too costly and burdensome? We¡¯ve just ended a war, which has already incurred huge expenses. Moreover, if the feedback from the Empire isn¡¯t favorable, there¡¯s still a possibility of the two countries going to war again. Renovating the Presidential Palace at this time might lead to public dissatisfaction.¡± ¡°No, there won¡¯t be a war, and the Federation¡¯s finances are also not a problem,¡± Chu Rong reassured Gu Yan¡¯an before Chu Huai could speak, his tone firm. ¡°An Xei won¡¯t have the chance to start a war. He will become a pariah to humanity, forever nailed to the pillar of shame, and the people of the Empire have the right to know the truth.¡± Perceiving his chilling aura, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears moved and he turned his head to look at him. Chu Rong immediately collected himself, gently squeezing his hand in reassurance, then softened his tone as he spoke a few more words to Gu Yan¡¯an. After that, he and Chu Huai turned to the study together, continuing their discussion on the matters they hadn¡¯t finished before. The matter of moving to the Presidential Palace was indeed indefinitely postponed by Chu Huai, citing the need to seal off the presidential palace for an investigation into the former president¡¯s treason. The Xiang and Wei families didn¡¯t say much about it, and officials at all levels chose to turn a blind eye to this obviously perfunctory reason. The Presidential Palace has been investigated long after Long Ruifeng was arrested. There was nothing to investigate now, but since Chu Huai wanted to investigate, they would let him do that. After resting for a few more days, Chu Yan returned to school to report. Due to the battle, he hadn¡¯t been to school since the beginning of the second year, only asking the old butler to request a leave from school on his behalf. Now that things had settled down, he could finally resume his role as the third young master of the Chu family and continue his studies. Qiao Zhiya also needs to go through the reporting procedures for the fourth grade, so he went to school with him. The start of the semester at the military academy coincided with the most intense period of the frontline onslaught by the Zerg. Many students from other planets were unable to report to school on time due to martial law restrictions. Considering this situation, the military academy made appropriate adjustments to the curriculum after the start of the semester. They significantly increased physical training and combat classes for students, while postponing all theoretical classes. The Zerg were now almost cleaned up. The situation in the Federation has greatly stabilized because of Chu Huai¡¯s presidency. Martial law has been cancelled. Students from other planets have begun to return to school, so this school was very packed. Upon arriving at the school, both of them directly contacted their major¡¯s respective dean and completed the registration procedures through special channels to avoid causing a stir. Afterwards, Chu Yan stayed behind to attend classes as usual, while Qiao Zhiya once again processed the procedures for suspending classes, then hastily returned home. ¡ªNow that Chu Yan is staying in the dormitory, Chu Huai and Chu Rong are busy until late every day. At home, there were only him, the old butler, and Gu Yan¡¯an. The old butler was getting old and couldn¡¯t be too tired, so he had to take on the responsibility of taking care of Gu Yan¡¯an! He returned home with determination, and as soon as he stepped through the door, he saw Gu Yan¡¯an studying the recipe for dinner on her electronic tablet. There were also some newly arrived ingredients piled up in front of her. He hurriedly took the things away, first carefully settled Gu Yan¡¯an on the soft sofa in the living room, then prepared a pot of milk tea made with Yellow Leaf Tree¡¯s leaves and milk for her, placed it in front of her, and finally found the home entertainment remote control and put it by her side. After confirming everything multiple times and feeling satisfied, he reluctantly glanced at her belly, then turned and happily trotted off to the kitchen. Gu Yan¡¯an smiled good-naturedly, feeling nestled by his care. She watched his ears move around subconsciously as he left. She touched her belly, the smile on her face deepening. She hoped her baby would be a girl, with a pure heart and a kind attitude like Qiao Zhiya. On the other hand, Chu Rong realized that he was being neglected by his lover, and it was a serious neglect. Every morning, Qiao Zhiya always found a way to quietly get up before Chu Rong to prepare a nutritious breakfast for Gu Yan¡¯an. By the time Chu Rong finished washing up and came out, the usual scene of the two of them having breakfast together as a pair of husbands would not happen. Instead, Qiao Zhiya would be busy caring for Gu Yan¡¯an, asking her if she liked the breakfast and if she had any morning sickness symptoms. The scene of ¡°lover reluctantly seeing him off to work with a farewell hug¡± after breakfast also did not exist, because Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze was always glued to Gu Yan¡¯an. Every time, he would obediently and briskly see Chu Rong off, not as clingy as before. Throughout the busy day at the military base, he would definitely not receive any messages of care from his lover, as Qiao Zhiya was preoccupied with taking care of Gu Yan¡¯an. When he finally managed to finish his busy day and return home in the evening, he certainly wouldn¡¯t see Qiao Zhiya around. At that time, Qiao Zhiya would likely be either playing prenatal education games with Gu Yan¡¯an or engrossed in the laboratory researching things suitable for the baby. As for goodnight kisses and bedtime cuddles¡­ they just don¡¯t exist. Qiao Zhiya would be very disciplined about going to bed on time because he wants to set a good example for the baby by getting enough rest and waking up early. God knows why a baby who hasn¡¯t been born yet in his Dasao¡¯s belly would need such an example! The child isn¡¯t even in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s belly!1just a note¡­¡­. And spoiler warning!! QZY and CR ends up having two biological children together in the end~ Chu Rong thought with a black face, his patience was about to run out. In the room, it was obvious that more and more toys were being prepared for the baby. At first, there were just some small toys like tambourines and musical dolls, but later it became more and more exaggerated, with rocking horses, small mecha models, toy boats, cars, dolls, walkers, cribs¡­ And finally, one day when Chu Rong pushed open the door, he saw a handcrafted toddler slide appear in the center of the room. The person who had already filled the laboratory and began to move the work stage into the room was sitting on the floor beside the slide, knitting a mermaid blanket. Yes, he was knitting the blanket himself! And he was planning to knit two! Because he didn¡¯t know whether the baby in Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly was a boy or a girl, so he needed to prepare double just in case. Chu Rong¡¯s brow twitched, gripping the door handle tightly, silently taking a deep breath. One second, two seconds¡­ one minute, two minutes¡­ five minutes passed, and the person knitting the blanket was completely unaware that someone was standing at the door. His hands were moving rapidly with the knitting needles, and his two pointed ears were annoyingly lively, excitedly twitching back and forth! Chu Rong stepped forward and grip the door handle a little harder. Startled by the sudden movement, Qiao Zhiya, who was winding the yarn, jerked upright with perked ears. His body stiffened, as he stared wide-eyed towards the door. The ball of yarn in his hand slipped and rolled to Chu Rong¡¯s feet, making a noise. CH 98.2 Chu Rong froze mid-motion, his foot hovering above the ground, as he observed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s obvious startle. His gaze shifted to the vine pattern revealed on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wrist after rolling up his sleeves. The sourness that had been accumulating in his heart for a long time dissipated in an instant. Softening his expression, he bent down to pick up the ball of yarn and walked over to Qiao Zhiya. Bending down, he soothingly rubbed his head and whispered, ¡°Sorry for startling you. I¡¯ll be gentler with the door next time.¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Qiao Zhiya snapped out of his daze, looking at Chu Rong¡¯s weary expression with a pang in his heart. Quickly setting aside the half-finished blanket in his hands, he stood up and hugged him, nestling against his chest and rubbing gently. Concern filled his voice as he asked, ¡°Why are you back so early today? Are you done with work? Are you tired? Have you eaten yet? Do you have a meeting with Dage in the study later?¡± ¡°I¡¯m busy, I¡¯ve eaten. Today, Dage is going to accompany Dasao. He doesn¡¯t have to go to the study.¡± Chu Rong responded with a contented smile, returning the embrace and gently rubbing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair. Without a word, he lifted the youth up and settled onto the single couch by the bed, holding him close and facing each other. They sat in silence, Chu Rong cradling Qiao Zhiya in his arms, softly tracing his spine, cherishing this rare moment of quiet embrace. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body also softened, leaning in his arms obediently, nuzzling him as a silent company. The two of them returned to their usual way of being together that night. After taking turns to freshen up, they leaned against the headboard and shared intimate conversations for a while. They even comforted each other physically, and eventually, Qiao Zhiya fell asleep in Chu Rong¡¯s soothing kisses, after a night of slightly too much excitement. Chu Rong had thought that they had reached an understanding and that Qiao Zhiya wouldn¡¯t ¡°ignore¡± him like before. However, the next day, reality dealt him a cruel blow¡ªQiao Zhiya secretly got up early again, and the situation showed no improvement. His good mood plummeted back to rock bottom in an instant. Not only was their time together as a couple being squeezed, but also work-related matters were extremely challenging. Ning Tianxing, who just got escorted back to the Capital Planet, seized an opportunity to damage his vocal cords, expressing his unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation through his actions. Ning Tianya also refused to cooperate with the investigation. No matter how they questioned him, they couldn¡¯t get him to talk. If it weren¡¯t for the preemptive use of a spiritual suppression device on him, he might have caused some trouble like Ning Tianxing did. Public trials were different from regular trials. If these criminals weren¡¯t dealt with properly, it¡¯s bound to cause trouble during the live broadcast of the trial. But both members of the Ning family were tough nuts to crack. Chu Rong still wanted to extract more truths about the fake Zerg and the war from them, so he had to slowly grind them down. On the other hand, while Long Ruifeng and the Patriarch You had shown signs of recovery, their conditions suddenly deteriorated. Their spiritual powers went berserk. At the same time, the soldiers and members of the You family who had been controlled by the Ning family¡¯s medicines also experienced varying degrees of spiritual instability. The investigation into the traitors stalled, and the Empire delayed giving any response to the condemnation from the Federation. The situation remained at a standstill. ¡°Sir, there is still no news about the Imperial Royal flagship.¡± Fan Xiangnan reported with clear signs of fatigue on his face. Chu Rong snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at his expression, furrowed his brow, and said, ¡°Take two days off to rest properly. I¡¯ll find someone else to keep an eye on the situation with the Empire.¡± Fan Xiangnan hurriedly asked, ¡°Will you need to go through the vacation formalities too, Sir?¡± In fact, given Chu Rong¡¯s position and the busyness of recent times, he could easily take two days off directly. His question was just a subtle suggestion for Chu Rong to take a break as well. Chu Rong initially wanted to wave it off and say it wasn¡¯t necessary, but considering the situation at home, he held back the words. After a moment of contemplation, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll take a day and a half off. I¡¯ll start this afternoon. If you need anything, you can reach me by communication. You can go now.¡± Although it was only a day and a half, it was still a rest. Feeling relieved, Fan Xiangnan nodded, then turned to leave. Hastily finishing up what he was working on, he then asked Yuan Lie and He Hongjun to keep an eye on Ning Tianya and the others for two days. Chu Rong didn¡¯t even have time to eat lunch; he hurriedly rushed back home. When he arrived home, there was no one in the courtyard, so he assumed they were all having their meal. He remembered how Qiao Zhiya had fallen asleep in his arms the previous night, and he almost couldn¡¯t wait to head towards the main dining room. ¡°Is this soup too spicy?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just right. It¡¯s delicious.¡± Qiao Zhiya and Gu Yan¡¯an were sitting at the table for lunch. The old butler was nowhere to be seen. As soon as Chu Rong appeared, Gu Yan¡¯an noticed him. She was briefly taken aback, then subtly gestured for him not to speak. She shifted her gaze back to Qiao Zhiya, who was unaware of Chu Rong¡¯s return as he was facing away from the dining room door. Gu Yan¡¯an set down her spoon and asked, ¡°Qiao Zhiya, why haven¡¯t you been sticking to Xiao Rong recently? Are you mad at him because he¡¯s been too busy to accompany you?¡± Chu Rong heard her words and immediately looked back at Qiao Zhiya, who wasn¡¯t facing him. Qiao Zhiya was initially taken aback by Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s sudden change of topic, then he quickly shook his head and replied, ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not it. How could I be mad at Chu Rong? He¡¯s already tired from work. I just want him to relax more at home, I¡¯m not mad at him. Dasao, please don¡¯t misunderstand. He hasn¡¯t been neglecting me.¡± As Chu Rong listened, he softly took another step forward. Seeing this, Gu Yan¡¯an quickly spoke up, saying, ¡°So, you wake up early every day to make breakfast and spend your evenings in the lab making toys for the baby, all to take care of Chu Rong and not disturb him? I¡¯ve noticed. You make Chu Rong¡¯s breakfast especially nutritious.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s foot that had stepped out was withdrawn again. Now it was Qiao Zhiya¡¯s turn to feel shy rather than anxious. His ears twitched with embarrassment, and his face turned slightly red as he replied, ¡°N-No, everyone has the same breakfast, and I also enjoy making toys for the baby¡­¡± Although there was a slight thought of trying not to trouble Chu Rong too much. Gu Yan¡¯an looked at him with a clear look and sighed deliberately. Caught in her little scheme, Qiao Zhiya became even more embarrassed. He lowered his head, avoiding further discussion, and awkwardly changed the subject, urging her to eat quickly before the soup and dishes got cold. ¡°Second Young Master, what are you doing here?¡± The voice of the butler suddenly came from behind, causing Chu Rong, who was just about to step in, to pause. Qiao Zhiya, at the dining table, was startled for a moment, then the spoon in his hand clattered into the bowl, and he turned around with wide eyes to look. Gu Yan¡¯an couldn¡¯t help but laugh, leaving the butler, who was entering with a rabbit, completely puzzled. Chu Rong no longer restrained himself. He nodded at the butler and Gu Yan¡¯an before striding forward to lift the rigid Qiao Zhiya from his chair and into his arms. Placing a hand on the back of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, he walked quickly towards the room. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why did the Second Young Master suddenly come back?¡± The old butler was very confused. Gu Yan¡¯an waved her hand with a smile, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them. Come and eat, or the food will be cold for a while.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt a bit flustered, although he wasn¡¯t sure why. As he was being carried, his mind was a bit scattered, desperately trying to recall if he had said anything particularly embarrassing just now. Yet, his arms instinctively tightened around Chu Rong¡¯s neck. Chu Rong¡¯s long strides quickly brought them back to their room. Then, turning around, he pressed Qiao Zhiya against the door, towering over him and looking down at him. Qiao Zhiya looked up to meet Chu Rong¡¯s gaze, feeling a hint of danger in his eyes. His heart raced wildly for a moment, and his mind got jumbled. Suddenly, he blurted out, ¡°I-I¡¯m not mad at you, really. I¡¯m not mad at you. Are you mad at me?¡± After asking, he looked at him with some trepidation. Seeing that he remained silent, his anxiety grew. He continued to explain hastily, ¡°I¡¯ve been obedient, haven¡¯t been working on the mecha, nor have I used magic recklessly. I haven¡¯t even contacted Grandpa Ren much. And, um, there hasn¡¯t been any issue with the vine tattoo. The toys for the baby are all handmade, so no magic is needed. I¡¯ve been taking good naps while you¡¯re at work, and also¡ª¡± Chu Rong listened to his ramble, watched his anxious explanations, felt a softness in his heart, leaned down to touch foreheads with him, and cleared his throat, asking, ¡°When did I come back yesterday?¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t understand why he suddenly asked this, but he sensed some turbulence in his mood. He quickly hugged him to reassure, and honestly replied, ¡°A little past 8:30¡­ I¡¯m sorry, you didn¡¯t startle me yesterday, really, the closing sound was already very soft, it¡¯s my own problem.¡± He¡¯s gotten stupid. Chu Rong¡¯s heart softened even more, he gently rubbed his forehead, and continued, ¡°What about the day before yesterday, when did I come home?¡± ¡°9:40.¡± ¡°The day before that?¡± ¡°Around 9, but after you came back, you spent a long time in the study with Dage¡­ Chu Rong, what¡¯s wrong with you? Did I do something wrong?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked nervously, his face full of anxiety. ¡°No.¡± Chu Rong hugged him, kissed his side, kissed his side in a soothing manner, shook his head and replied, ¡°No, you¡¯re fine. I¡¯m the wrong one.¡± Qiao Zhiya remembered his return time for each day so clearly, indicating that he had been waiting for him all along. It wasn¡¯t Qiao Zhiya who had been neglecting him during this time; it was quite the opposite, he had been neglecting Qiao Zhiya. After getting off the flagship, he and Chu Huai became very busy. Even if they returned late, most of the time they would have to work in the study even if they returned home. During this time, Qiao Zhiya woke up early every day to make breakfast for the whole family, then spent the day accompanying Gu Yan¡¯an. In the evenings, he tried his best to be understanding and not clingy, allowing him to focus on work and rest properly. He had already been very obedient and considerate; it was he who had misunderstood the situation. And those toys¡­ Qiao Zhiya, who was worried about the vine tattoo pattern and was not allowed to use magic, what can he do besides making toys that do not need to use magic? Qiao Zhiya had even gotten so bored that he brought out all the small toys that could have been stored away and filled the lab with them, transforming it into a baby playroom. If it were not for Gu Yanan¡¯s intentional reminder today, he would probably be sulking for a long time because of this. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He tightened his arms around the youth in his embrace, lowered his head to kiss the ears that had drooped at some point, and said, ¡°You¡¯ve taken care of Dasao and the house so well. You¡¯ve worked hard. I haven¡¯t been able to spend time with you properly during this time. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head quickly, feeling the anxiety in his heart slowly dissipating. He leaned into Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, nuzzling against him affectionately, showing with actions that it was okay. Chu Rong bowed his head and kissed him again. He then picked him up, and walked towards the single sofa by the window. The two lingered in the room for a while, exhausting each other. After that, Qiao Zhiya, with a flushed face and a happy expression, dashed out and excitedly entered the kitchen to prepare lunch for Chu Rong. Chu Rong followed closely behind, his expression gentle and his gaze tender as he entered the kitchen to assist Qiao Zhiya and occasionally pinched his ear affectionately. CH 98.3 AAAAAAAA sorry for the sudden hiatus TT_TT. I¡¯ll upload DITF Wednesday update + Sick villain Thursday update today, then DITF Saturday update + DPPM Friday update tomorrow! Next week is the usual update schedule, don¡¯t worry. After eating, Gu Yan¡¯an, who was eating in the dining room, smiled. She exchanged a look with the old butler, and went to the lounge upstairs with interest. Chu Rong talked about his vacation during lunch. Qiao Zhiya was so happy that he ate an extra bowl. After the meal, the two went for a walk in the yard to aid digestion. Then they went back to the living room to watch a movie with Gu Yan¡¯an, and finally returned to the yard to play with the rabbits while chatting. Chu Rong, feeling unusually relaxed, noticed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s curiosity and briefly mentioned the current situation in the Federation, explaining what he and Chu Huai had been busy with these days. After listening for a moment, Qiao Zhiya asked in wonder, ¡°Long Ruifeng and the others hadn¡¯t woken up?¡± ¡°No.¡± Chu Rong said with a slight frown, then continued, ¡°Zhuang Yu¡¯s previous treatment plan failed, and now she is working on the second treatment plan.¡± Qiao Zhiya had an inkling on what Zhuang Yu¡¯s first treatment could be. She probably used the Yellow Leaf Tree¡¯s potions he made earlier. It¡¯s a potion made from the leaves of the Elder Tree-xiansheng. It contains a large amount of wood-elemental magical particles, even better than those special-grade potions for spiritual purification. If this potion doesn¡¯t work, then it¡¯s likely that other treatment options won¡¯t be effective either. He glanced at the vine pattern on his wrist, hesitated for a moment, then walked over to Chu Rong¡¯s side and tentatively said, ¡°How about¡­ let me give it a try? If the investigation ends sooner, the trial can start earlier, and you and Dage can finish your work sooner. Although Dasao doesn¡¯t say it, she surely hopes that Dage can spend more time with her.¡± Chu Rong frowned, reaching out to grasp his wrist and gently rubbing the vine pattern on it, remaining silent. ¡°Actually, I think this pattern is harmless. Although none of my clansmen have it, my parents¡­ Well, my situation is a bit special, and my physique is somewhat different from theirs. The appearance of this pattern should be due to the increase in my power, and it¡¯s okay to use magic.¡± Qiao Zhiya comforted him, holding his hand, and added in a slightly appeasing tone, ¡°And I¡¯ll just give it a try. If it works, yo-you¡­ Actually, I also want you to finish your work earlier and spend more time with me¡­¡± His voice trailed off, becoming softer, and his face turned red. Chu Rong¡¯s expression softened as he reached up to touch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face. After a moment, he nodded reluctantly and said, ¡°You can try, but don¡¯t force it. If it doesn¡¯t work, stop immediately. Rest well tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, I¡¯ll take you to the military headquarters.¡± With a bright smile on his face, Qiao Zhiya nodded vigorously and threw himself into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. Chu Rong couldn¡¯t help but feel the urge to sigh. He had wanted to keep these matters separate from Qiao Zhiya, but as a result¡­ He felt Qiao Zhiya¡¯s soft ears rubbing against his neck and bent down to kiss the top of his head. The two of them rested well on the second day, and on the third day in the morning, after breakfast, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to the military base. They walked through the secure passage and entered the most strictly guarded area of the military base, where the most dangerous criminals were held. ¡°No pushing yourself. If there¡¯s any problem, stop immediately. Understand?¡± Before entering Long Ruifeng¡¯s ward, Chu Rong couldn¡¯t help but remind Qiao Zhiya again. After Qiao Zhiya nodded to assure him once more, Chu Rong used his own authorization to open the door and led him in. Having received advance notice, Zhuang Yu had already cleared the ward. Although Long Ruifeng lay unconscious on the bed, his body was wrapped in safety harnesses and his eyes were covered, ensuring the safety and confidentiality of the treatment giver. After ensuring that all surveillance within the room had been turned off, Chu Rong used his spiritual power to seal the room and gestured for Qiao Zhiya to approach closer. Qiao Zhiya first glanced at the unconscious Long Ruifeng on the bed, then exhaled as he slowly condensed his wood-elemental magic, directing it towards Long Ruifeng on the bed. He immediately sensed a chaotic spiritual force feedback, accompanied by some strange sensations. Frowning, he swiftly sealed off the magic, then followed the scattered spiritual power, infiltrating into Long Ruifeng¡¯s spiritual sea. After his power got upgraded again, he has already reached the level equivalent to SSS-level spiritual power. Dealing with someone with only S-level spiritual power like Long Ruifeng was as easy as flipping his hand. Soon, he penetrated the blockade and entered Long Ruifeng¡¯s spiritual sea. Different from the vast and magnificent spiritual sea of Chu Rong, Long Ruifeng¡¯s spiritual sea, although also extensive, was chaotic and disorderly, constantly undulating and turbulent. This was indeed a symptom of a spiritual power being stimulated. With a clear understanding, he hurriedly tried to calm Long Ruifeng¡¯s spiritual sea step by step, following the procedure he used when helping Chu Rong treat his spiritual power. Long Ruifeng¡¯s aura quickly stabilized, and the data on the testing equipment began to rise steadily. Chu Rong noticed that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression was relatively relaxed, so he eased up slightly. Then, soon after, there was a change in the situation. The previously stable aura around Long Ruifeng became restless again, and the instruments started alarming frantically. Qiao Zhiya frowned slightly, his face showing a troubled expression. Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed immediately. He swiftly mobilized his spiritual power to surround Long Ruifeng¡¯s body, while his gaze turned hostile as he looked towards Long Ruifeng lying on the bed. With Chu Rong¡¯s protection, Qiao Zhiya felt much better. He quickly condensed his magic power and chased after the strange force trying to delve into Long Ruifeng¡¯s spiritual sea. By surrounding, chasing, and intercepting, Qiao Zhiya forcibly pushed that force into a corner. Then, he wrapped it with magic power and removed it from Long Ruifeng¡¯s brain. The alarm from the instruments abruptly ceased, and the violent aura around Long Ruifeng quickly dispersed after a moment of solidification. Qiao Zhiya also opened his eyes, then retrieved a transparent radiation isolation sphere from the storage bag. He locked the foreign power trapped by magic inside it. ¡°How are you?¡± Chu Rong stepped forward and hugged him, his expression turned into a frown. Qiao Zhiya shook his head to indicate that he was fine. Then, he looked puzzled as he turned the isolation sphere in his hand, and looked up at him, saying, ¡°The first treatment plan actually succeeded, but something hidden in Long Ruifeng¡¯s spiritual sea immediately disrupted his power again, preventing him from regaining consciousness. This thing is a bit strange, it seems like spiritual power, yet not quite the same¡­¡± After the removal of the source of the stimulation, Long Ruifeng showed signs of awakening. Chu Rong, fearing that Long Ruifeng might recognize Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice, quickly signaled Qiao Zhiya to remain silent and reached out to press the bedside call button. He then escorted Qiao Zhiya out of the ward. Unable to figure out what was inside the isolation sphere, Qiao Zhiya decided to stop dwelling on it for the time being. He let Chu Rong take him to the next ward. Chu Rong frowned, still remembering what happened just now. While he was reluctant, he was unable to resist Qiao Zhiya¡¯s insistence and assurance, so he still took him to Patriarch You¡¯s ward. Patriarch You¡¯s spiritual power level was higher, reaching SS grade. This time, Qiao Zhiya, who had extra experience, stabilized Patriarch You¡¯s condition and then delved deep into his spiritual sea. As expected, he found a strange power there as well. Qiao Zhiya kept one of them, trapped inside the radiation isolation spheres, for his own research. He handed the other one to Chu Rong to be investigated. With the issue of the important witnesses being unconscious resolved, and after discussing the situation with the other members of the You family through Zhuang Yu, Qiao Zhiya immediately immersed himself in the large-scale production of a potion using the Yellow Leaf Tree for use. Long Xuyang and the other members of the You family were merely affected by the medication from the Ning family, which influenced their consciousness. There was no strange power meddling their brains. The reason Zhuang Yu couldn¡¯t cure them before was because the medication used by the Ning family contained the Zerg¡¯s secretion. She had been unable to find an effective ingredient to counteract this secretion¡¯s effects. She also considered using the Yellow Leaf Tree potion, but most of the supply provided by Chu Rong had been used on Long Ruifeng and others. A small portion was used on soldiers who were severely injured on the battlefield. This left her with very limited resources for research, and the scarcity of raw materials hindered her progress. As a result, she hadn¡¯t been able to make any breakthroughs. Qiao Zhiya was completely unaware of these investigative difficulties. The supply of that potion taken by Chu Rong was their reserve stock made on the primitive planet. After the appearance of the vine pattern, Chu Rong instructed Qiao Zhiya to use magic as sparingly as possible and observe his physical condition for a while, so he obediently refrained from making another potion afterwards. If he had known that the situation had deteriorated here, he would definitely have come to help early. After rushing to produce a batch of the potion, Chu Rong forcibly took him to the rest area. Along the way, Qiao Zhiya carefully expressed his willingness to help with research and his eagerness to assist Chu Rong. Chu Rong frowned, touching Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head gently before replying, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want you to help, but without a military position, your involvement in the investigation regarding the Ning family and others isn¡¯t just a matter for the Chu family anymore. It¡¯s now part of the formal procedures of the Federation. If you participate in the research, it will surely leave traces. Besides, I don¡¯t want Zhuang Yu and the others to become too reliant on you. From researching manually-piloted mechas to making special potions, you¡¯ve already done enough. I¡¯ve already arranged for another team to research the Yellow Leaf Tree project separately. We should have results in a while. This time was an urgent thing ¨C so, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want you to take on unnecessary risks.¡± Understanding the situation, Qiao Zhiya felt warmth in his heart. He leaned his head and gently rubbed Chu Rong¡¯s palm with his own. Chu Rong¡¯s expression eased and he kissed the top of his head, full of gratitude. The next day, Long Ruifeng and Patriarch You began to awaken one after another. The locks on their spiritual power in their minds disappeared, and their thoughts and consciousness returned to normal. However, Patriarch You¡¯s memory was completely chaotic; he couldn¡¯t remember anything at all. Although Long Ruifeng remembered many details, he firmly closed his mouth and said nothing, exactly the same reaction as Ning Tianya and Ning Tianxing. With his patience worn thin, Chu Rong no longer wished to delay matters. He directly submitted an application for allowing using mental search for these traitors. Upon receiving the application, Chu Huai immediately convened a public press conference, explaining the situation where the traitors refused to cooperate with the investigation. He opened the floor to the public for their opinions on whether mental searches should be conducted on these criminals. Mental searches are a highly invasive and detrimental means of investigation, violating personal health and privacy. Federal law stipulates that even for criminals, this investigative method cannot be easily employed unless under exceptional circumstances. What Chu Rong is currently doing was seeking to apply for such a legal exception under special circumstances. After watching the press conference, the public was almost outraged. They couldn¡¯t believe that even after the war had ended for so long and the Zergs threat was nearly eradicated, these traitorous criminals still stubbornly resisted and refused to confess. In light of this, the sentiment was clear: conduct the mental searches! Search until concrete evidence of their crimes is found! It would be best to uncover all the dirty secrets of their collusion with the Empire! With a large proportion of support from the public in the opinion poll, the search application was approved. Three days later, Chu Rong stepped into Long Ruifeng¡¯s ward once again. This time, he didn¡¯t ask any questions. Instead, he gestured for the staff behind him to approach and help Long Ruifeng put on special protective clothing, while also setting up video recording equipment. As soon as Long Ruifeng saw the situation, he knew something was amiss. He immediately attempted to self-destruct his spiritual power to evade the search, but it was too late. The helmet designed to suppress his spiritual power had already been placed on his head. The search process was supervised by two representatives each from the political, military, and judicial sectors. The actual search was conducted by a retired elder with SSS-level spiritual power, known for his neutrality, integrity, and reputation. After the search began, Long Ruifeng¡¯s memory was played out as a mental screen projection. Several hours later, after roughly examining Long Ruifeng¡¯s memories, officials from various sectors were all outraged. They couldn¡¯t believe what a terrible president he was ¡ª completely self-centered, caring only about his own interests, and disregarding the lives of the people. He was utter trash! Those who voted for him as president must have been blind! Next was Patriarch You¡¯s turn. However, this time, they didn¡¯t find anything, because Patriarch You¡¯s memory stopped at the scene where Long Xuyang entered and brought him a fresh cup of tea after dinner one evening. After that, everything became a blur. The investigation team members immediately found the investigation data related to the You family, stating that the can of tea used indeed showed abnormalities during previous tests. With Long Ruifeng and Patriarch You dealt with, the mental search finally reached its most crucial phase: Ning Tianya and Ning Tianxing. Whether this search could completely expose Prince An Xei of the Empire and uncover more clues about the fake Zergs depended on what was inside their minds. CH 99.1 CW: particularly gory description of human experimentation Ning Tianxing and Ning Tianya both had lower spiritual power levels than the elder, and Ning Tianya, with a less steadfast personality, seemed to be the easier target for the search. Therefore, Chu Rong and others decided to start with him. This time, Chu Rong didn¡¯t give Ning Tianya the chance to know what he was about to face. Before entering the room, he used sleep gas to render Ning Tianya unconscious. Then the team entered and began the standard search procedure. Chu Rong sat in front of the mental projection device and nodded at the elder when he was ready, indicating that he could begin. The search commenced, with the elder¡¯s spiritual power fluctuating in the air. After a few flickers, images began to appear on the screen of the device. In the image, there was a large laboratory. A younger Ning Tianxing was walking out from the door, dressed in a white lab coat. Ning Tianya seemed curious about the laboratory and glanced inside as Ning Tianxing emerged. It was this glance that made all the officials gasp in shock. What a terrible scene! In the massive nutrient tanks against the wall, various corpses of organisms were soaking. On the central examination table lay a dissected human subject. In cages in the corner were some emaciated creatures with lifeless eyes, resembling neither humans nor animals. Further away were numerous Zergs specimens. The floor was littered with a mixture of unidentified liquids and blood. Although they could only see one glance, it was a horrible sight they couldn¡¯t forget once they saw it! Ning Tianya was clearly startled by the scene inside. He only took a quick glance before immediately retracting his gaze. The impact of this image on him must have been significant, as it was the first thing that came to his mind during the mental search. The Ning family was really doing human experiments. Chu Rong¡¯s eyes became heavier and he sat up slightly. The elder who was conducting the search on Ning Tianya¡¯s memories showed a look of discomfort on his face. He, being a gentle and kind-hearted man, had never witnessed such scenes of evil before. In the scene, Ning Tianya reported some information about the Ning family¡¯s medications to Ning Tianxing. Then, he turned around, preparing to leave. As he turned, one tightly arranged laboratory door after another came into view, extending into the distance seemingly without end. Some of these doors were closed tightly, while others were half-open. The scientists with masks ¨C their faces weren¡¯t seen ¨C were busy entering and exiting. They were holding various strange human specimens in their hands. Were there many similar laboratories? The officials couldn¡¯t help but turn away, unable to bear the impact of this scene. The elder who searched also seemed unable to withstand the impact of such a picture, his power shook, and the mental projection suddenly fizzled out. ¡°Sorry.¡± The elder apologized immediately, his face clearly showed signs of discomfort. Chu Rong shook his head to express that it was all right. He stood up, poured a glass of water for the elder, and handed him a vial of Yellow Leaf Tree potion, comforting him, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. Take a break.¡± The elder nodded appreciatively, took a sip of water, and sat down. He curiously examined the vial of golden liquid in his hand and tried to unscrew the cap. A soothing and healing scent emanated from the vial. Upon smelling it, the elder felt a surge of vitality. He glanced at Chu Rong, who was speaking with the investigators, then sensed the comforting power once again. Trusting it completely, he tilted his head back and drank the potion with full confidence. After a short break, the search continues. The subsequent scenes finally returned to normal. It seemed that Ning Tianya intentionally avoided focusing on anything related to the laboratory and instead concentrated on the Ning family¡¯s external affairs. Memories mostly revolved around the decisions and clandestine plans of the Ning family over the years, all of which were laid bare. As the memory search reached the incident involving the pharmaceutical scandal during last year¡¯s festival, the other officials couldn¡¯t help but look sympathetically towards Chu Rong, who was seated at the front. Ning Tianya¡¯s memories were filled with animosity towards Chu Huai and Chu Rong. Even during times when the Ning family appeared most neutral and harmless, they were secretly plotting against the Chu family. For instance, some of the special medicines Chu Rong received when his spiritual power was polluted had been tampered with by the Ning family. Chu Rong didn¡¯t appreciate being looked at with sympathetic eyes. He frowned and said, ¡°All the medicines I use come from Chu family pharmacists. Except for the spiritual purification solution provided by the Federation, all the other medicines I used are sealed and stored in our warehouse.¡± Even the spiritual power purification solution undergoes thorough inspection by Zhuang Yu before it reaches his hands. It is indeed Marshal Chu ¨C his work is thorough. The official investigators looked back, sighing inside. The investigator from the judicial team approached Chu Rong and requested to take possession of the batch of medications for detailed investigation. Chu Rong nodded and provided him with Zhuang Yu¡¯s contact information. Several hours later, the search concluded, and everyone¡¯s expressions were grim. Although there was some incriminating evidence regarding treason and the Ning family¡¯s schemes against other Great Families in Ning Tianya¡¯s memories, they were not very clear. He was actually just a pawn, a puppet who had not been in contact with the true core of the conspiracy. Ning Tianya only knew the surface of the Ning family¡¯s major crimes, such as human experimentation, the production of harmful medicines and drugs, the creation of fake Zergs, and collusion with the Empire. Throughout, he passively obeyed Ning Tianxing¡¯s orders and was not involved in the planning of the conspiracies. From his memories, it appears that the Ning family¡¯s main center for human experimentation was located on a remote, obscure planet. Surprisingly, Ning Tianya didn¡¯t even know the detailed location. Additionally, all the harmful medications produced by the Ning family originated from Ning Tianxing. Each time a new medication was introduced, Ning Tianxing would roughly explain its effects, where it should be used, and how to use it, and then Ning Tianya would obediently follow his orders. He was completely unaware of the details of the fake Zergs creations. He solely relied on Ning Tianxing¡¯s coordination and operation. Ning Tianya only knew how to use specially crafted medications to avoid the attacks of the Zergs and control them. In regards to the crucial collaboration with the Empire, although Ning Tianya had contacted An Xei before, he always remained in a subordinate position. His situation was only slightly better than Long Ruifeng, who was treated purely as a tool. The only one who could engage in equal dialogue with An Xei was Ning Tianxing. For these past years, it seemed that Ning Tianya held the highest position in the Ning family while Ning Tianxing remained in the background, appearing to be merely a simple pharmaceutical researcher without any real authority. However, in reality, every decision and action of Ning Tianya was shadowed by the manipulation of Ning Tianxing. Ning Tianya himself was nothing but a puppet who couldn¡¯t think for himself. ¡°First, investigate the human experimentation laboratory from Ning Tianya¡¯s memories. There should be one on this planet. Send people to thoroughly search all of the industries under the Ning family¡¯s name,¡± Chu Rong ordered. Then, he stood up and turned to the elder, saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to trouble you again, but please continue searching Ning Tianxing¡¯s memories to prevent any unforeseen complications.¡± The eldery man looked dignified. He readily nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go on. I only can¡¯t stand it if I have to stay up all night.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be troubling you.¡± Chu Rong expressed his gratitude and handed over another vial of medication. Then, he gestured for the team to secure Ning Tianya¡¯s mental projection and proceeded to Ning Tianxing¡¯s confinement room. It was already midnight, and Ning Tianxing had been forcibly sedated earlier. However, for added security, Chu Rong had someone release the sleep gas once more. After confirming that all the monitoring devices indicated Ning Tianxing was in a state of deep sleep, he led the team inside. With the procedure repeated three times, everyone had become proficient at it. Moreover, now that they likely knew Ning Tianxing was the mastermind behind everything, the team¡¯s actions became particularly efficient. After the equipment was set up, the elder immediately started searching. Ning Tianya¡¯s spiritual level was high, reaching SS level, and his spiritual power reserves were substantial. The elder had been working tirelessly all day, and even with SSS level spiritual power, penetrating his spiritual sea still required considerable effort. The projection screen flickered for a long time, but it was grey. The officials were initially puzzled, but when they noticed the instability in the elder¡¯s spiritual power, their expressions changed, realizing that something was amiss. Chu Rong acted swiftly, moving forward to forcibly sever the spiritual connection between the elder and Ning Tianxing. Then, he used his own spiritual energy to block Ning Tianxing¡¯s involuntary spiritual power lashing. Afterward, he retrieved a vial of Yellow Leaf Tree potion and administered it to the elder. The elder¡¯s complexion turned somewhat pale. After drinking the medication, he regained a bit of composure, albeit with a hint of fear and disbelief in his voice. He quickly spoke, ¡°It¡¯s a mental lock, a very powerful one. The person who placed it has a higher spiritual level than me. I can¡¯t break it.¡± Higher than SSS-level? It could only be¡­ SSSS-level ¨C something of which never appeared in the history of the Federation.1T/L: psst. In the previous chapters, Chu Rong¡¯s mother¡¯s dying message (written in blood) is¡­ SSSS The officials began to stir, while Chu Rong furrowed his brows deeply, gesturing for others to support the elder. He then approached the unconscious Ning Tianxing and projected his spiritual energy towards his spiritual sea. He was young and much more aggressive than the elder, with a sharper and more offensive power. Also, due to consuming the Flesh of the Stone and his relatively young age, his spiritual energy reserves were higher than that of an ordinary SSS-level. Although he refrained from acting previously to ensure the fairness of the investigation, the current situation was too dire for him to consider such concerns. After his spiritual energy entered Ning Tianxing¡¯s spiritual sea, it indeed became increasingly difficult to proceed. An invisible barrier obstructed his search, and as he attempted to penetrate it, a surge of formidable spiritual energy immediately counterattacked. He immediately increased his spiritual energy output, relentlessly engaging in the confrontation. The two streams of spiritual energy began a fierce struggle. On the bed, Ning Tianxing¡¯s face contorted in agony, but at this moment, nobody cared about how he felt, and in fact, everyone wanted him to suffer and die. They only want to know the truth! As Chu Rong¡¯s attack intensified, some fragmented images finally appeared on the projection device. Blood, severed human and Zerg limbs, various grotesque artificial creatures, and densely packed eggs of small Zergs. Then the image gradually stabilized, revealing a young boy lying on an operating table. The boy was struggling in pain, and what¡¯s even more horrifying is that half of his skull had been opened, with some wire-like objects connected to it. Then a slight noise suddenly came from outside the door. Ning Tianxing, who was experimenting on the young boy, immediately turned to look, then quickly stepped out and caught a slightly older boy who was standing in shock outside the door. ¡°Kongran, why are you he¡ª¡± ¡°Click.¡± The image disappeared, and the officials were left with an image of the boy called Kongran¡¯s fearful and hateful gaze. Unable to withstand the psychological pressure, some people couldn¡¯t help but turn their heads and retch a few times. Others clenched their fists in anger, and one particularly hot-headed official even attempted to rush forward to attack the prone figure of Ning Tianxing on the bed, only to be restrained by others. ¡°This scum of earth! He didn¡¯t even spare his own children!¡± These normally composed officials couldn¡¯t help but burst into angry curses, their rage making them sound like irrational lunatics. As long as someone still possesses a shred of humanity, they wouldn¡¯t harbor evil intentions towards children! Ning Tianxing simply isn¡¯t worthy of being called a human being! He¡¯s nothing but a beast! Chu Rong, with a stern expression, withdrew his spiritual power and also took a dose of Yellow Leaf Wood potion. He commanded, ¡°Let him remain unconscious, don¡¯t let him wake up. The mental lock in his mind has become powerful enough to control some of the host¡¯s thoughts. It was to the extent that when I attacked it tonight, it might provoke Ning Tianxing into self-harm.¡± It could control the spiritual power and people¡¯s thoughts? The agitated officials were shaken by this statement and immediately calmed down, feeling a shiver run down their spines. His thoughts were under the control of another person. Is ¡°he¡± still ¡°himself¡±? ¡°It¡¯s late. Go and rest.¡± Chu Rong waved his hand, indicating for them to leave, and then turned around and walked away himself. T/L: Fun fact! in earlier chapters, Ning Kongran did state that he stayed in the Ning family (despite his hatred towards them) to retrieve what ¡°remains of his younger brother¡±. CH 99.2 Thank you Esme for the ko-fi donations! I¡¯ll upload the 3 bonus chapters tomorrow at Monday~ As they came back to their senses, they frowned and glanced at Ning Tianxing, who was unconscious on the bed, before leaving together. After they left, everyone noticed that Chu Rong didn¡¯t seem ready to leave work yet. They hesitated for a moment, and then the elder, who had been taken care of by Chu Rong several times that day, spoke up, ¡°Marshal Chu, aren¡¯t you going home to rest? You were just stimulated by mental lock earlier. You need some rest.¡± Chu Rong stopped and explained, ¡°I¡¯ll go back after seeing one more witness. Thank you for your concern, and sorry for the trouble.¡± The elder waved his hand, indicating there was no need to be polite, and didn¡¯t ask further. He followed the guidance of the staff and left. Other officials also bid farewell, expressing admiration and respect for Chu Rong¡¯s conscientiousness in working late into the night. Chu Rong listened to their flattery with a cold expression, then turned and headed to the area where the suspects with lower security levels were being held. After greeting the person in charge, he walked up to a slightly better-maintained holding cell and knocked on the door. Indeed, he knocked on the door. The person inside this holding cell was actually free to leave, but he chose to stay of his own accord. A few seconds later, the door was opened from the inside, and Ning Kongran¡¯s figure appeared behind it. He was wearing pajamas, obviously having been awakened, but upon seeing that it was Chu Rong outside, he greeted him with a faint smile as if he had been waiting for him for a long time. He said calmly, ¡°Marshal Chu, my younger brother, Ning Kongze, died at the hands of my father, Ning Tianxing, when he was five years old. That same year, my mother was killed by my father while fleeing. Now, I request to undergo a mental search on myself to bring the culprit to justice using my memories.¡± Chu Rong frowned, surprised that he would bring this up voluntarily. After scrutinizing his expression for a moment, he didn¡¯t say much but simply asked, ¡°Do you have any requests?¡± Mental searches could potentially lead to degradation or damage of the spiritual power of the person being searched. It wouldn¡¯t be a pleasant experience. By saying this, Ning Kongran had likely calculated that Ning Tianxing wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with and wanted to use self-sacrifice as a means to pin Ning Tianxing for the crime of killing his own son. Faced with Ning Kongran¡¯s stance, it was difficult for Chu Rong to remain strictly professional. ¡°Request¡­¡± Ning Kongran lowered his eyes, quietly contemplating for a long time. Then, he looked up at Chu Rong and said, ¡°I want to see Qiao Zhiya after the mental search is finished.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s breath immediately tensed up, but he quickly relaxed. He looked at Ning Kongran deeply, then nodded and said, ¡°Alright, after the mental search, I will bring Qiao to see you.¡± After that, he turned around and left directly. Ning Kongran watched him leave, then closed the door and leaned against it, exhaling a relieved sigh. ¡®The Ning family is finally finished. Ning Tianxing is also finished. It¡¯s really good¡­ it¡¯s really¡­ good.¡¯ ¡ª That night, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t wait for Chu Rong to come home. Instead, he received a message from Fan Xiangnan, informing him that Chu Rong might be busy all night. He fell asleep with worry, dreaming all night. During that, he felt that the vines pattern on his wrist burned hot. As sunlight spilled over his eyelids, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyelashes twitched as he slowly opened his eyes. He found someone lying beside him and turned his head to see Chu Rong sleeping peacefully, facing towards him. His eyes brightened, and he was about to snuggle closer when he noticed Chu Rong¡¯s dark eyebags. His brows furrowed, he restrained himself and withdrew his body, releasing the wood-elemental magic to gently surround Chu Rong. A soothing aura filled the room, and Chu Rong¡¯s expression relaxed considerably. He curled his lips slightly, then carefully got out of bed from the other side, moving quietly. Suddenly feeling a tightness around his waist, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body was pulled sideways and fell into a familiar embrace. Then, a familiar scent and a familiar voice reached him, accompanied by a gentle bite on his ear. ¡°So, this is how you sneak out of bed every day. Didn¡¯t you say you will behave and won¡¯t use magic?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up. He was met with Chu Rong¡¯s lazy look ¨C he clearly just woke up. His face inexplicably reddened, and he struggled to sit up, but Chu Rong insisted on keeping him in his arms. So, he gave up and explained, ¡°I only used a little bit. It¡¯s okay. Did I wake you up?¡± ¡°No,¡± Chu Rong leaned back against the pillow, stretched out his arm to tuck him back into the blanket, hugged him tightly with satisfaction, and said, ¡°I had just laid down not long ago.¡± ¡®Just laid down not long ago?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya glanced at the bright sky outside, furrowing his brows, and quickly said, ¡°Then you should rest now. I won¡¯t disturb you.¡± Chu Rong bowed his head and kissed him directly. ¡°Mhhhm¡ª mn¡­.¡± Chu Rong rubbed his ears as he grabbed the back of the youth¡¯s head. Then, he rolled over, pressing Qiao Zhiya under him. On this day, Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t get up to make breakfast. Gu Yan¡¯an, who rarely had the chance to enter the kitchen, prepared breakfast under the disapproving gaze of the old butler. She chuckled and said, ¡°How come you¡¯ve been influenced by Qiao? I¡¯m just pregnant, not disabled. There¡¯s nothing wrong with making breakfast.¡± ¡°The smell of oil fumes and smoke might make you uncomfortable,¡± the old butler corrected with a stern face, spraying some air purifier in his hand again. ¡°Nonsense, I don¡¯t have morning sickness anymore, so you can rest assured,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an said. ¡°And the kitchen utensils in the Chu family are top-notch. There won¡¯t be any excess smoke or oil fumes. If anything, what drifts out is the aroma of food.¡± The old butler glanced at her slightly rounded abdomen and stepped forward to help her carry the breakfast, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of breakfast from now on. Huh? Why did you put these two servings of breakfast in the thermos?¡± ¡°Xiao Rong and Qiao probably need to stay in bed a little longer,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an explained, glancing in the direction of Chu Rong¡¯s room and sighing inwardly. She hoped after these busy days, her family could finally settle down and rest. Qiao Zhiya was dragged to sleep by Chu Rong. The Marshal was afraid that Qiao Zhiya would get hungry soon, so he thoughtfully fed him a nutrient solution. By lunchtime, the two finally emerged from their rooms. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face was very red, while Chu Rong looked refreshed. Afterwards, they had lunch with Gu Yan¡¯an, and then Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya out. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked in wonder, before he knew where Chu Rong was going to take him out. ¡°The military headquarters,¡± Chu Rong set the route for the hover car and then sat back, pinching Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear. ¡°Ning Kongran wants to see you.¡± Qiao Zhiya sniffed, then nodded, and didn¡¯t ask anything further. Although Ning Kongran was a member of the Ning family, he hasn¡¯t been involved in his family ¡°affairs¡±. He even helped catch Long Ruifeng and the Patriarch You, which was a great achievement. So technically, he didn¡¯t have to cooperate with this investigation. However, after coming down from the battlefield, he insisted on being treated the same as the other members of the Ning family and voluntarily requested to be detained. During this time, Qiao Zhiya tried to contact him, but all the communications he sent were blocked by the information isolation device in the military suspect detention area. Now that Ning Kongran was requesting to see him, he might know about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s attempts to contact him. After arriving at the military headquarters, Chu Rong first arranged for Qiao Zhiya to rest in an empty room next to Ning Kongran¡¯s detention room. Then, he led the investigation team into Ning Kongran¡¯s room. ¡°Qiao is next door.¡± Chu Rong looked at Ning Kongran, who was sitting at the bedside desk. Ning Kongran glanced at the room next door and stood up, saying, ¡°I want you to conduct a mental search on me.¡± Chu Rong nodded and motioned for the team members behind to help Ning Kongran wear protection. In fact, even if Ning Kongran didn¡¯t ask for it, he would¡¯ve asked him to do the same eventually. The experience of being subjected to a mental search wouldn¡¯t be pleasant at all. Ning Kongran wasn¡¯t a criminal; on the contrary, he was one of the heroes who captured traitors. Therefore, the operator conducting the search must be extremely cautious, ensuring not to harm Ning Kongran¡¯s spiritual sea as much as possible. After the protection was sufficient, the investigation team voluntarily left. Throughout the search process, only one recording device would be present, capturing the footage for documentation. No one else would be allowed to observe, ensuring maximum privacy for Ning Kongran. Once the search concluded, Chu Rong would carefully edit out any memories that weren¡¯t suitable as evidence, extracting only the relevant portions. Before officially beginning, Chu Rong handed Ning Kongran a vial of Yellow Leaf Tree potion, indicating for him to drink it. Ning Kongran thought this was part of the normal procedure and obediently drank it. Then, he relaxed his control over his spiritual sea, lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes. Chu Rong stepped forward, trying to calm down as much as possible as he explored forwards using his own spiritual power. Crying. Pleading for help. Various attempts to escape. Feigning serious injury and amnesia. Careful efforts to please others, persisting until he was smoothly brought back to the Ning family and became the legitimate young master of the Ning family. Step by step, he established his position within the Ning family, gradually building his own power and protecting his mother¡¯s natal family. Ning Kongran¡¯s memory spread unreservedly, and Chu Rong tried not to touch most of the things unrelated to the investigation, but focused on searching for the parts related to Ning Tianxing¡¯s human experiments. The memories related to human experiments were very old, but they were crystal clear. It seemed that the owner of the memory was repeatedly recalling them so that he wouldn¡¯t ever forget. Before the age of ten, Ning Kongran¡¯s memories were pale and fragmented ¡ª memories of his mother being imprisoned, the cold and clinical environment of being treated as a subject for experimentation, and regular examinations and experiments. Perhaps Ning Tianxing didn¡¯t find what he was looking for in him, which allowed Ning Kongran to grow up safely. Then his brother Ning Kongze was born, and this gifted baby was immediately the main research subject of Ning Tianxing. He was a very pure and transparent child, with a gentle and kind nature. Even in the face of painful experiments, he always smiled innocently when facing his family, being considerate and adorable. When Chu Rong met the gaze of that child, his heart trembled fiercely. He was too similar. Those pure eyes were almost identical to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. Before Ning Kongze was four years old, Ning Tianxing was more restrained in his research. After four years old, he probably felt that the boy was grown enough to have stronger tolerance. Ning Tianxing finally started to do crueler experiments on the small child. At first, Ning Kongran didn¡¯t know about this. He thought his younger brother went through the same experiences as himself. It wasn¡¯t until one day when he broke free from the control and witnessed the horrific scenes of his younger brother being tortured. After that came death ¡ª his brother¡¯s death, his mother¡¯s death, and the terrifying leftover bodies of the experiment subjects released everywhere. He ran, got caught, pretended to have amnesia after being seriously injured, appeased the devil-like Ning Tianxing to seek survival, and slowly sought opportunities for revenge. In the final scene, in a corner of the dormitory building at the Intermediate College, a reckless teenager with partially damp hair rushed over. As he apologized, he glanced hurriedly in the direction of another person. The youth¡¯s pure, clear eyes shone through. His pointed ears were revealed while he was running ¨C together, they formed into a fresh splash of green in his dull life. Chu Rong retracted his hand and watched Ning Kongran, who was quietly asleep under the influence of drugs on the bed. Finally, he reached out and turned off the recording equipment. CH 99.3 About half an hour later, Qiao Zhiya, who had been playing alone for a while, was picked up by Chu Rong and taken to the door of Ning Kongran¡¯s room. ¡°I just conducted a mental search on him, and he requested it voluntarily,¡± Chu Rong said as he raised his hand to brush Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs. He didn¡¯t hide what he had just done, looking at the pure eyes that had remained unchanged since they first met. He leaned down to kiss his forehead gently and said, ¡°Go on, accompany him for a good meal.¡± Qiao Zhiya knew what a mental search entailed. He felt a tightness in his heart. Without asking further questions, he hurriedly pushed the door and entered Ning Kongran¡¯s room. Chu Rong thoughtfully opened the door for him and stayed outside. Ning Kongran, who was already awake in the room, was sitting quietly at a table filled with steaming hot food, waiting calmly. When he saw Qiao Zhiya enter, he quickly smiled, as if the two of them were simply meeting for a meal in a normal restaurant. He waved and said, ¡°Come on, the food¡¯s getting cold.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at Ning Kongran¡¯s pale complexion, furrowing his brows. Without mentioning that he had already eaten, he approached and sat opposite him. With a serious expression, he directly held Ning Kongran¡¯s hand as he was about to pick up the utensils, and sent his wood-elemental magic into him for exploration. Ning Kongran paused for a moment, looking at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s serious and worried expression. His heart softened. He relaxed his arm and allowed the blond youth to explore with his power. After using magic to confirm Ning Kongran¡¯s physical condition and ensuring he wasn¡¯t injured by the mental search, Qiao Zhiya breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a small box containing twelve vials of Yellow Leaf Tree from his storage ring and pushed it over, saying, ¡°This, one vial per day. Finish them all.¡± Ning Kongran smiled and readily accepted the gift. ¡°Thank you.¡± Seeing him like this, Qiao Zhiya opened his mouth, hesitating on what to say. After furrowing his brows for a while, he finally managed to say, ¡°You should take care of yourself.¡± It was clear that Ning Kongran could have left the Ning family early and lived his own life, so why did he choose to stay and suffer alongside those guilty Ning family members? It was just not fair. Ning Kongran saw his concern. His smile got deeper, then he nodded and said, ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just some potion, no need to keep thanking me¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya replied somewhat gloomily. He stood up and ladled a bowl of soup for Ning Kongran, saying, ¡°Have some soup first, warm your stomach. You need to learn to take care of yourself properly, don¡¯t treat your body as a child¡¯s plaything.¡± Like, for example, requesting a mental search. Ning Kongran reached for the soup without speaking. He didn¡¯t just thank him for the potion, but for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s presence. The hermit¡¯s prophecy was indeed accurate ¡ª Qiao Zhiya was the one who could save his clan. Without him, the Ning family wouldn¡¯t have fallen, and those other recluses and Exoplanet Natives who were secretly tortured and experimented on would never have escaped the clutches of the Ning family. So, he wanted to thank Qiao Zhiya for making his road to revenge smooth. After finishing their meal, Ning Kongran walked to the door in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s puzzled gaze and invited Chu Rong in. He then gestured for Chu Rong to take a seat and handed him an address, saying, ¡°The people living here are all victims of Ning Tianxing¡¯s human experiments. If there¡¯s a need for witnesses in a public trial, Marshal can go to them. They will cooperate fully.¡± The victim of human experiments? Chu Rong immediately realized the weight of the evidence and frowned. ¡°Please also ensure their safety, Marshal,¡± Ning Kongran said, looking at the two figures sitting side by side, looking particularly harmonious. He smiled suddenly and continued, ¡°Next, I¡¯d like to share some of my speculations.¡± The more Qiao Zhiya looked at Ning Kongran¡¯s smile, the more he felt uneasy in his heart. He wanted to comfort him but didn¡¯t know how to start. Feeling at a loss, he poured a cup of hot tea and placed it by Ning Kongran¡¯s side. Chu Rong looked at him from the side, and took his hand in order to comfort him. Ning Kongran glanced at their clasped hands, picked up the tea cup to warm his hands, and continued, ¡°The history of human experiments in the Ning family is definitely much longer than we thought. In fact, everyone in the Ning family is a special type of spiritual power user. Some are more prominent, while others are weaker. Ning Tianxing is among the most outstanding.¡± When Chu Rong heard that, his frown deepened. ¡°They deceived everyone. They, who once advocated for the persecution of special spiritual power users, are actually the largest family of special spiritual power users,¡± Ning Kongran revealed this secret, feeling a sudden relief in his heart, unable to help but sigh. Great, he doesn¡¯t have to hide these dirty things anymore. At the beginning of the establishment of the Federation, the Ning family was not one of the four. At that time, the only real Great Family was the Chu family and the Xiang family. The Ning family and Wei family developed later. The Wei family members might lack in strategy, but they were talented, so the Wei family has been firmly standing by the Xiang family¡¯s side for a long time, seeking development. The Ning family, on the other hand, was different. They climbed to one of the Four Great Families¡¯ positions by continuously producing new drugs and quickly seizing resources in several major wars. The reason why the Ning family has been able to continuously produce new drugs was precisely because of the special spiritual power users of the Ning family members. They have a unique advantage in apothecary. In the beginning, the Ning family members were just ordinary high-level spiritual power users. At that time, the concept of special spiritual power was not very clear, and there was no term like ¡°hermits¡± or ¡°recluses¡±. They¡¯re only classified as Exoplanet Natives, and there were many of them. At that time, a high-level spiritual power user from the Ning family happened to marry an Exoplanet Native with unique abilities. A year later, they gave birth to a child with exceptional special spiritual power. The Ning family members quickly realized this and began to use these special spiritual power people to create wealth. After tasting the sweetness of success, members of the Ning family began consciously pairing with special spiritual power users to artificially increase the number of special spiritual power users in the family. Moreover, to ensure absolute authority within marital relationships, many of them married Exoplanet Natives with naive personalities, in order to easily control them. As generations passed, the Ning family grew stronger and stronger. Gradually, others also discovered the uniqueness of special spiritual power users and began to explore their potential, admiring them. Influenced by these changes, the Exoplanet Natives controlled by the Ning family began to rebel against their control. Fearing the situation would spiral out of control, the Ning family instigated a campaign to persecute special spiritual power users. They demonized their abilities, exaggerated their distinctive appearances, and dispatched people to hunt them down. In secret, they captured them for research purposes. With wars raging and no one to restrain the Ning family¡¯s atrocities, the number of special spiritual power users dwindled rapidly. Those who survived went into hiding, seeking refuge from persecution ¨C and such, they became known as ¡°hermits¡± or ¡°recluse¡±. After the wars ended, the attention of other Great Families shifted back from the frontlines to domestic affairs. At this opportune moment, the Ning family ceased their persecution and diverted attention by producing a large quantity of new medicines. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s karma, or maybe it¡¯s because there are no longer any Exoplanet Native people providing excellent genes to the despicable Ning family. Over these generations, the number of special spiritual power users in the Ning family has decreased significantly,¡± Ning Kongran sneered, glancing at Qiao Zhiya, who looked worried, before quickly regaining his composure and continuing calmly, ¡°Fearing the loss of the Ning family¡¯s advantage, Ning Tianxing went mad and devised his own way to conduct research by having children. Because in this generation, his special spiritual power is the strongest.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t expect the truth to be so cruel. He frowned deeply. ¡°Therefore, the history of Ning family¡¯s human experiments must be very long, and there must be more than one human experimentation lab under Ning Tianxing¡¯s command. If possible, Marshal, it would be best to also capture Elder Ningand interrogate him. He must have been involved in these matters,¡± Ning Kongran concluded. Chu Rong squeezed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand, trying to comfort the blond youth. He nodded to indicate his understanding, then said, ¡°I will have someone take care of these matters. Additionally, although I can¡¯t disclose the details of the investigation, there¡¯s something I believe you have the right to know. There¡¯s a mental lock inside Ning Tianxing¡¯s mind, and it has been there for a long time. The person who placed this lock has a spiritual power level of SSS or above.¡± According to Ning Tianya¡¯s memory, Prince An Xei joined forces with the Ning family about twenty years ago. An Xei¡¯s spiritual power level was only SS, so it¡¯s impossible for him to be the one who placed the mental lock. This meant that behind the Ning family¡¯s human experiments, there was still someone lurking in the shadows. This plot of Zerg and human experiments was far more complicated than what they originally thought. What they have uncovered might just be a piece of a big puzzle. Ning Kongran was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then his expression changed drastically. He stood up abruptly and said, ¡°Are you suggesting that the person who harmed my mother and brother is not just Ning Tianxing? Was he just an accomplice?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, but not certain,¡± Chu Rong said as he stood up, helping Qiao Zhiya to his feet. ¡°So, you have a lot to do. Someone will come to take you to witness protection in half an hour, to a safe place where you can rest and do what you want. You are free.¡± After he finished speaking, Chu Rong left with Qiao Zhiya, who was reluctant to leave. Ning Kongran looked at the closed door, then sat down heavily on the bed. His expression was a mix of confusion as he pondered various matters. Gradually, the deep-seated desolation in his eyes disappeared. He quickly took out his communicator and began to contact the outside world. On the way back, Qiao Zhiya kept frowning. He then asked, ¡°What you just said, is it true? Is there really a bigger conspiracy?¡± Chu Rong snapped out of his reverie and nodded, replying, ¡°Although it¡¯s currently just speculation, as far as I know, there are no people with SSSS-level spiritual power in the Federation. If we want to know more, we¡¯ll have to capture both Elder Ning and An Xei and conduct a thorough mental search.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt a heavy weight in his heart and said, ¡°But An Xei is an Imperial Prince. How can we capture him? And as for Elder Ning, he¡¯s in the Empire. There¡¯s no way we can get our hands on him¡­¡± ¡°So I have to ask for your help.¡± Chu Rong patted his head, squinting to hide the coldness in his eyes, and said, ¡°An Xei is now hesitant to make any moves because the Imperial Royal flagship has yet to return to the Empire, leaving him uncertain. When the black hole behind the Ning family¡¯s flagship disappeared, the black hole behind the Imperial Royal flagship suddenly expanded, sucking it in. I suspect that the shot I fired damaged some kind of teleportation device inside the black hole behind the Ning family¡¯s flagship, inadvertently affecting the black hole behind the Imperial Royal flagship, causing it to deviate from its original direction and end up in some unknown location, such as a meteorite belt. Without your guidance technique, it would be extremely difficult to navigate out of an undefined meteorite belt.¡± Now, as long as they find the Imperial Royal flagship before An Xei does, he¡¯ll have a way to pin An Xei down as a criminal of the Empire, and have him transported to the Federation for a joint trial between the two civilizations. Qiao Zhiya immediately understood what he meant and said, ¡°You want me to use the bloodline tracing array to find the Imperial Royal flagship? But to use this method, we must obtain blood from someone related to the Third Imperial Prince, and all those who meet the criteria are now in the Empire.¡± So it¡¯s still a dead end. ¡°No, there is one more person not in the Empire that can help us.¡± Qiao Zhiya froze and asked, ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Jian.¡± Chu Rong replied, holding his hand. Although not born to the same parents, Jian and the Third Imperial Prince ¨C now Emperor ¨C were both from the Royal Family. They are quite closely blood-related. That night, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to the Chu family flagship. Jian also secretly entered the flagship under the protection of Fan Xiangnan and other soldiers. In the darkest hour of the night, the Chu family flagship set sail silently. In the central area of the ship, Qiao Zhiya completed the magic array. He glanced apologetically at Jian and carefully cut his finger with a small knife. After Jian¡¯s hair was enveloped by the blood, it began to spin rapidly, eventually pointing straight towards the location of the border between the two civilizations. However, unlike when it happened to Chu Rong, the hair did not transform into a red line wrapping around Jian¡¯s wrist; instead, it turned into ashes. ¡°The blood relation is not close enough, so the effect cannot be sustained. After reaching the border, I¡¯ll need to draw a few more times to determine the precise location,¡± Qiao Zhiya explained, looking at Jian, whose finger was bleeding, with a hint of apology in his eyes. The array required fresh blood, which meant Jian will have to repeatedly reopen the wound and bleed over the next few days. Just thinking about it felt painful. CH 100.1 Bonus chapters sponsored by Esme! Sorry it¡¯s a bit late¡­ On another note: DITF is finally reaching 3 digits! 32 chapters to go~ looking back, this series¡¯ chapters are meaty (>6k) and I always cut them into 3, so¡­ since I picked this up from chapter 30 until now, I have posted 70 x 3 parts¡­ 210 updates. That¡¯s a lot lol An Leen: Imperial Princess. An Tyn: Imperial Prince, An Leen¡¯s twin brother (He¡¯s technically the Fifth Imperial Prince) An Xei: The Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. An Mhu: ex-Third Imperial Prince. Now the current Emperor. Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Jian: the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. Meeting his gaze, Jian quickly waved his hand to indicate that he didn¡¯t mind, then casually grabbed a medical tape to wrap around his finger. He looked at Chu Rong and said, ¡°Thank you, Marshal, for taking care of my father. Prince An Tyn has already contacted my father, and they will fully cooperate with your actions from now on.¡± Prince An Tyn? Qiao Zhiya froze and looked at Chu Rong in doubt. Chu Rong noticed his gaze, raised his hand to ruffle his hair, then turned to Jian and said, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. Your room is ready. Take a rest for now, we¡¯ll talk more tomorrow if something happens.¡± Jian glanced at Qiao Zhiya, nodded, and followed Fan Xiangnan to his room. After Jian left, Chu Rong escorted Qiao Zhiya back to his room to rest. Then, he went to the control room with Lin Zhen and others to double-check the flight path. He also contacted Chu Huai for further coordination. Qiao Zhiya laid in bed with his eyes closed for a while, unable to fall asleep. Eventually, he sat up and took out a baby toy he hadn¡¯t finished making earlier. He worked on it while waiting for Chu Rong to return. He didn¡¯t know how long he fiddled with the toy. At some point, he finally heard a familiar footstep from the corridor outside the door. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hands twitched. He hurriedly hid the toy in the quilt. As soon as Chu Rong entered the door, he found that Qiao Zhiya was pretending to be asleep. His poor skills of pretending to be asleep have always been too easy to see through. He squinted but didn¡¯t catch him just yet. He turned to the bathroom for a quick wash, then changed into his pajamas, walked back to the bed, and opened the quilt to lie down as usual. The youth who had been pretending to sleep immediately moved over naturally. With a smirk on his lips, he reached out and hugged the blond youth, his hands mischievously wandering under his pajamas. The youth¡¯s body visibly stiffened for a moment, and Qiao Zhiya, who had been obediently nestled against them, actually had twitchy ears in response. However, he stubbornly kept his eyes closed, refusing to drop his pretense of sleep. So Chu Rong became even more bold in his actions, causing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face to grow increasingly red. His body couldn¡¯t help but tremble, and finally, when Chu Rong¡¯s fingers began to explore a particularly sensitive area, he couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. With a quick motion, he opened his eyes and sat up, grabbing Chu Rong¡¯s wandering hand. Blushing furiously, he stammered, ¡°Y-you¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m what?¡± Chu Rong leisurely inquired, pulling him back under the covers and retracting his hand to gently pinch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s waist. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you sleeping?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s attention was immediately diverted, and he nervously replied, ¡°I-I tried to sleep, but I couldn¡¯t¡­ What¡¯s the deal with Prince An Tyn that Jian mentioned earlier? What kind of arrangements did you make?¡± Although he didn¡¯t quite understand the intricacies between these major powers, An Tyn was someone he knew, so when Jian mentioned him earlier, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit curious. Unable to resist any longer, he finally asked. Chu Rong didn¡¯t expect that Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t sleep because of this. Feeling a little jealous, he pulled him closer and rubbed his back, suppressing the sourness in his heart as he replied, ¡°An Tyn came to see me before returning to the Empire last year. He asked me to protect him and his sister, and seeing his sincerity, I helped them out by arranging the old Emperor to send them to a planet outside the Empire¡¯s jurisdiction. They¡¯ve hidden themselves well, not even appearing when the old Emperor passed away. Now that An Xei has shown his true colors ¨C meanwhile, the whereabouts of the new Emperor is unknown, and the Second and Fourth Princes are likely in dire straits after being exiled. To properly hold An Xei accountable, we need a legitimate member of the royal family to step forward. An Tyn is the best candidate for that.¡± Qiao Zhiya frowned, worriedly asking, ¡°Will he be in danger?¡± ¡°Rest assured, Jian¡¯s father will help him, and General Neitaxi will too,¡± Chu Rong reassured, leaning down to kiss his forehead gently. He then covered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes with his hand and said, ¡°Alright, bedtime story is over. It¡¯s time for you to sleep.¡± Even if this was a bedtime story, it obviously wasn¡¯t finished. Qiao Zhiya slumped, trying to avoid his hand, and continued to ask, ¡°What about General Neitaxi ? You ¡­ eh.¡± Chu Rong silenced his questions with a gentle kiss, then released his hand and brushed his bangs aside. ¡°Neitaxi has been suspicious of An Tyn for a while. During the previous joint military expedition, An Tyn did everything to prevent Neitaxi from joining the army, which confirmed his suspicions. After the incident broke out, Neitaxi found a way to contact me, and I shared some information with him. Now he¡¯s considered an ally of the Chu family. So, can you sleep now?¡± he added playfully, his hand threatening to tickle him. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears froze, and he dared not ask again. He put his head into Chu Rong¡¯s open embrace and closed his eyes. Three days later, the flagship arrived at the Federation border through a special passage. Qiao Zhiya once again drew the blood traction magic array, but this time he learned to be more gentle. Instead of using a sharp knife, he condensed his magic to break open a small cut on Jian¡¯s fingertip, allowing him to drip enough blood onto the array. Afterward, he immediately sealed the wound with magic and carefully bandaged it. Jian narrowed his eyes as he saw Qiao Zhiya¡¯s serious and nervous appearance. The black-haired youth¡¯s face was pale, but he had a better parlor than yesterday. The magic array worked again, and the direction was pointed at somewhere in the asteroid belt. Chu Rong contacted Chu Huai again, arranged some things, and then ordered the flagship to drive towards the asteroid belt. Fan Xiangnan and the others were entering this vast asteroid belt for the first time, all carefully observing their surroundings and attempting to draw a map of their route. Jian, on the other hand, was bursting with curiosity, eagerly pulling Qiao Zhiya aside to tell the ¡°adventure¡± story of his two-month disappearance. With good friends by his side, Qiao Zhiya appeared much livelier. Seeing this, Chu Rong relaxed and shifted his gaze away, instructing Fan Xiangnan to increase the speed of their journey. Their voyage this time was secret and should not be delayed too long. About a week later, after a fourth space jump, the array pointed in a slightly different direction ¨C this time, it pointed somewhere lower than their current position. ¡°Back, go down.¡± Chu Rong commanded, and Fan Xiangnan immediately changed the flagship course. After traveling for about half a day, they finally found the Imperial Royal flagship in a ruinous section of the asteroid belt, where the debris was swirling at an unusually high speed. This time, the Imperial Royal flagship was in a dilapidated state, lying there like a heap of scrap metal. It likely had to endure a chaotic journey through the asteroid belt for a long time. Its hull was pockmarked with craters caused by impacts from asteroids. Some areas were even damaged, and the navigation lights were all broken. The once pristine platinum color was now covered in dust, and the Imperial flag was torn to shreds, giving it a particularly dismal appearance. From the end of the battle against the Zergs until now, it was about a month ¨C it was quite impressive for the new Emperor to have managed to put the flagship in such a state. It¡¯s important to note that this flagship was not just any warship or civilian vessel; it could function as a temporary base. In the asteroid belt, there was no signal, making it impossible to contact the people on the Imperial Royal flagship. Chu Rong didn¡¯t bother with that and instead instructed Fan Xiangnan to bring the flagship closer to the platinum-colored vessel, forcefully connecting the two ships with a passageway. ¡°Lin Zhen¡¯s team stayed in the main control room. Others came with me with weapons.¡± Chu Rong commanded, and the soldiers turned around and walked out. Qiao Zhiya, who had looked obedient in the back, immediately followed. Chu Rong stopped and looked back at him. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes darted around, and he reached out to grasp Chu Rong¡¯s hand. With his other hand, he pulled out his small hammer, indicating that he was armed and ready for battle at any moment. ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fan Xiangnan, who was behind, wanted to laugh. But he managed to turn his head and coughed, stopping it just in time. Chu Rong frowned, but ultimately he held onto Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand in return. He said, ¡°Later, don¡¯t wander off. Stay close to me. The situation on the Imperial Royal flagship is unknown, and we don¡¯t know if the people inside will resist. Your safety is the most important thing. Understand?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded quickly, and honestly took out a protective barrier and buckled it on his wrist. Chu Rong¡¯s brow relaxed, and he raised his hand to affectionately pat Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, leading him towards the docking port. The group cautiously approached the docking port, carefully opened the sealed hatch, activated the military investigation recording, and then blasted open the door of the flagship on the opposite side. However, they found that the situation inside the flagship was completely different from what they had imagined. There was no resistance; instead, they saw Imperial soldiers wandering around like the living dead. Their faces were pale, with sunken cheeks, as if they hadn¡¯t eaten properly for a long time. Their eyes were lifeless, lacking focus, and their movements were slow and stiff, resembling a dead body. Qiao Zhiya was so frightened by this weird sight that his ears fluttered madly. He subconsciously grasped Chu Rong¡¯s hand. Chu Rong quickly blocked his view, glanced at the soldiers¡¯ expressions, and said, ¡°Notify Zhuang Yu to bring the medical team over. These people seem to have had their minds clouded by the medication from the Ning family.¡± Fan Xiangnan nodded. Then he selected one soldier to contact Zhuang Yu. The crowd bypassed the imperial soldiers who seemed to be unaware. Chu Rong spread his spiritual power, while Qiao Zhiya released his magic power. As they moved further inside, there were fewer and fewer soldiers. Considering the massive number of soldiers on the Imperial Royal flagship before entering the black hole, the current number of people on the flagship seemed normal. When they reached near the control room, the two of them stopped simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and then silently headed towards the adjacent rest area. After reaching the lounge door, Chu Rong positioned himself in front of Qiao Zhiya, then extended his hand and pushed open the partially closed door of the lounge. The warm yellow light spread out, finally adding a little warm color to this quiet and weird flagship that looked like a tomb of the living dead. The figure curled up on the sofa in the lounge stirred at the sound, then turned its head, revealing a face with sunken eye sockets and scruffy beard. His vacant eyes moved slightly until they locked onto Chu Rong¡¯s face at the door. Suddenly, a terrifying gleam flashed in his eyes, and he lunged forward, hoarsely pleading, ¡°Save me, save me! Take me out, I don¡¯t want to be trapped in these rocks! Take me out, I¡¯ll be obedient, take me out, don¡¯t kill me, don¡¯t kill me¡­¡± Although the tone of the voice was embarrassing, Chu Rong quickly recognized this man as the new Emperor ¨C the previously Third Imperial Prince, An Mhu. The once handsome and dignified new Emperor had turned into a disheveled and emaciated madman, his expression frantic as he pleaded for help. His mind was unstable, drifting erratically, with hints of underlying aggression. In other words, his spiritual strength may have gone berserk. Chu Rong stepped forward to stun him, bent over and threw him to the bed, leaving him for Fan Xiangnan and other soldiers to handle. He then took Qiao Zhiya and turned to the main control room. The situation in the control room wasn¡¯t any better. Senior officers and crew members were sprawled on the ground, bearing injuries, their expressions vacant. Signs of deliberate damage were evident on the control panel, with several monitors shattered, as if someone had furiously smashed them in a fit of rage. It was unclear what they had gone through, but everyone aboard the ship had lost their senses. If it weren¡¯t for the emergency protocol of the flagship, which automatically released nutrient solution sprays at regular intervals, these individuals would likely have died from dehydration long ago. ¡°Put them together to look after them, and search the flagship carefully.¡± After making this arrangement, Chu Rong turned around to see Qiao Zhiya kneeling beside the unconscious An Mhu, reaching towards his chest. Chu Rong¡¯s expression darkened, and he quickly approached, grabbing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head and asking coldly, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body stiffened. He immediately tilted his head and nuzzled Chu Rong¡¯s palm. He then handed him something in his hand and tried to appease Chu Rong. ¡°Here, I feel there¡¯s a strange energy fluctuation from this.¡± CH 100.2 Chu Rong furrowed his brow and glanced at the remote-like device in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. He attempted to sense it with his spiritual power but felt nothing. Remembering the peculiar nature of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s abilities, he grew concerned and quickly retrieved an isolation barrier, enclosing the device within it. ¡°Actually, I still have one on this kind of energy fluctuation device.¡± Qiao Zhiya said, then sensed that Chu Rong¡¯s expression grew even more grim. He felt guilty, and immediately confessed, explaining in detail about a device he had just remembered, ¡°When I hit the Zerg Queen, didn¡¯t I retrieve something from the black hole? But then, I slept for a long time, and when I woke up, I completely forgot about it¡­.¡± And after he woke up, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the baby inside Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s stomach. Additionally, Chu Rong¡¯s concern about the vines pattern on his wrist had prevented him from engaging in investigative matters. As a result, Qiao Zhiya had not recalled the incident until he detected a familiar fluctuation from An Mhu just now. Chu Rong¡¯s demeanor turned cold in an instant. He reached out and grasped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears, his voice almost gritted through clenched teeth as he said, ¡°You actually brought something out from the black hole back then? What if it was something dangerous or highly radioactive? And don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve been keeping such strange objects with other power fluctuations in your storage ring tied to your body.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, and he nuzzled more vigorously, his whole body language expressing his guilt. Qiao Zhiya stammered, admitting that he had indeed kept that thing in his storage ring all along. He explained that when they emerged from the black hole, the mechanism for his mecha¡¯s spatial button was affected and temporarily unusable. In his haste, he immediately stored the object in his storage ring without much thought. The response was nothing short of a slap in the face! In that moment, Chu Rong¡¯s mind raced with thoughts. He recalled Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bouts of uncontrollable power and the persistent fever he experienced during those times. He remembered the vine patterns on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wrist and his restless nights filled with frequent dreams. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that all these chaotic and negative symptoms were caused by that unidentified object with strange energy fluctuations. Unable to contain his frustration, he tightened his grip on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, taking a deep breath in an attempt to suppress his rising temper. However, he couldn¡¯t resist giving his ear a tug, then bent down to pick him up, striding quickly towards their own flagship. Qiao Zhiya knew he was truly angry, so he didn¡¯t dare to resist. He obediently let him hold him, burying his head on his shoulder to avoid the curious glances from Fan Xiangnan and others. His ears drooped with guilt. Chu Rong directly carried Qiao Zhiya into the isolation room of the Chu family flagship, which had already been repaired. After setting him down, he took out an isolation barrier and gestured for him to take out the object quickly. Qiao Zhiya glanced at the hood and whispered, ¡°This is too small¡­¡± The strange object he carried out was a bit big. Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened even more upon hearing this. After estimating the size of his mecha, he directly took out the largest isolation barrier and placed it on the ground, gesturing for him to put the object inside. Qiao Zhiya quickly complied. In the next moment, an oval-shaped device, entirely black with strange red patterns all over it, appeared inside the isolation hood. Chu Rong felt uneasy at the sight of this color and hurriedly closed the isolation barrier. With a grim expression, he first used his spiritual power to encircle Qiao Zhiya, then took out a dose of Yellow Leaf Tree potion and fed it to his mouth. Feeling unsure, he then took out several doses of spiritual power purification medicine and fed them all to Qiao Zhiya, not stopping until his lips were rosy and healthy-looking before finally stopping. Having consumed a bellyful of pure energy source, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face was slightly flushed, a sense of warmth rising from his magic pool. He hurriedly reassured Chu Rong, gripping his hand soothingly, saying, ¡°I¡¯m fine, really. The power fluctuations of this thing aren¡¯t as intense as the mutated red tin ore.¡± This statement completely stirred up another hornet¡¯s nest. Chu Rong squinted, looking at him with inscrutable eyes, the curve of his lips appearing somewhat dangerous. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears stiffened, sensing that his days of freely using secondary mutated red tin ore might be coming to an end. He swallowed nervously, attempting to salvage the situation, ¡°I haven¡¯t touched those ores in a long time, I swear. The processing method had long been automated, you know, so I only used the processed ones, the ones without any sort of radiation¡­¡± This explanation seemed to have some effect. Chu Rong eased his expression and tugged at his ear, no longer dwelling on these matters. He turned his head to look at the strange device inside the isolation barrier, furrowing his brow in contemplation for a moment before reaching out to collect it himself. While they were dealing with this, the Imperial Royal flagship on the other side had already been efficiently organized by Fan Xiangnan and the soldiers. There were over two hundred surviving Imperial soldiers, with over a dozen deaths due to various reasons. In the control room, there were a dozen surviving members of the Imperial command team, with two casualties. The new Emperor remained in a coma, but the instability of his spiritual power had been brought under control. Hundreds of valuable classified documents were found through the search, along with over a dozen sealed safes. There were also many scattered items that required further organization. After listening to the report, Chu Rong ordered all these items to be sealed and stored away. Then, he instructed personnel to transfer all surviving Imperial soldiers onto the Chu family flagship for closed-door supervision. High-ranking individuals like the new Emperor were to be kept separately under close watch. Once the Imperial Royal flagship was secured, they announced the return journey. They have been away from the Federation for ten days. Making the trip too long would draw suspicion. For the return journey, Chu Rong needed to provide blood for directional location. Qiao Zhiya had become quite proficient using his magic to draw blood, but perhaps out of fear of hurting Chu Rong, his hand shook when he made the move, accidentally cutting his own finger instead. Frowning, Chu Rong immediately caught his hand after dripping his blood into the array, helping him stop the bleeding and bandaging his finger. Qiao Zhiya felt that his performance in the past few days had been quite poor. He hung his head obediently, letting Chu Rong take care of him, while discreetly soothing him without leaving any traces. ¡°What is it?,¡± Chu Rong brushed his bangs aside, thinking he had scared him. His expression softened as he said, ¡°Pay more attention next time. I didn¡¯t mean to frighten you.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head quickly, refraining from speaking aloud due to the presence of others. Instead, he discreetly squeezed his hand in response. The array quickly worked, pointing out the direction before the hair once again transformed into a red thread wrapped around Chu Rong¡¯s wrist. Qiao Zhiya suddenly felt a warmth on the vine pattern on his wrist, but upon closer sensing, he didn¡¯t detect anything unusual. Thinking it might be his imagination, he shrugged it off without much concern, pushing the matter to the back of his mind. There was no need to find anyone. They have come out of the asteroid belt much faster. It took only three and a half days to leave the asteroid belt and return to the Federation¡¯s border. Chu Rong immediately contacted Chu Huai. Upon learning that the situation in the Federation was relatively stable and arrangements for the public trial were underway, he felt relieved. He then contacted the Imperial Neitaxi, informing him to send someone to the border to escort An Mhu and made subsequent plans. Neitaxi was very excited when he heard the news, and he promised to send reliable envoys for the plans. The next day at noon, everyone met one of the envoy sent by Neitaxi ¨C the Imperial High Advisor, Feng. They met at a mining planet near the border owned by the Chu family. Jian, who was standing behind the crowd, was first stunned, then immediately rushed over and called out, ¡°Dad!¡± Qiao Zhiya was somewhat surprised that the one sent to pick them up was the Imperial High Advisor. He had complex feelings towards him. Although he knew he harbored no ill intention and was even quite friendly, he couldn¡¯t help but instinctively feel distant from him. Chu Rong frowned, stepping forward and asking, ¡°Why are you here?¡± According to the original plan, the Imperial High Advisor should still be at the Empire¡¯s Capital Planet. ¡°I escaped here,¡± the Imperial High Advisor said as he released Jian and nodded towards Qiao Zhiya as a greeting. Then, he turned to Chu Rong and explained, ¡°After the disappearance of the Emperor, An Xei behaved himself for a while, using the news of our victory in the war to pacify the public. However, as the Imperial Royal flagship remained absent, the effectiveness of this pacification dwindled, and doubts began to arise among the citizens.¡± What unsettled the citizens wasn¡¯t just the absence of the new Emperor¡¯s triumphant return but also the domestic news blockade. All star stations that once facilitated friendly exchanges with the Federation have been unilaterally closed off. Any trace of news about the Federation vanished overnight, and even the Starnet, which used to facilitate unrestricted communication, has been forcibly isolated. Unlike the Federation, where martial law had been lifted off, it was still strictly enforced in the Empire. The people couldn¡¯t gather any information about the war from the Federation themselves, nor could they move around freely. All their sources of information came solely from the upper echelons, which only left them deeply unsettled. It even caused them to doubt whether the victory in the war was just a facade, and whether their new Emperor might have died. At the same time, officials within the Empire have initiated a highly secretive purge. An Xei, as if afraid that the situation might spiral out of control, had suddenly intensified control over various aspects of the Empire, purging dissenters and strictly employing only those loyal to him. Figures like the Imperial High Advisor, belonging to the old Emperor¡¯s trusted circle, naturally found themselves at the forefront of this purge. In fact, Neitaxi would have been purged also ¨C however, since he held massive military power and his popularity among the citizens was too high, he was safe. He also kept inspecting the safety of the planets of the Empire and insisted not to return to the Capital Planet. ¡°Now, in the eyes of the outside world, I¡¯m probably already labeled a traitor to the Empire,¡± the Imperial High Advisor scoffed. Seeing Jian¡¯s worried expression, he quickly patted him reassuringly and continued, ¡°An Tyn and An Leen have been sent to General Neitaxi¡¯s care by me. Before I left, An Xei was already preparing to select a puppet between the Second and Fourth Princes. Additionally, I suspect An Xei may be considering war with the Federation, seeking a pretext to shift blame for the disappearance of the new Emperor and the Imperial Royal flagship onto the Federation. His internal purge over the past month has been in preparation for war.¡± ¡®War again?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya frowned. The citizens are innocent. The foot soldiers and citizens were the ones to suffer the most should a war erupted. An Xei was just too evil. ¡°He really has no idea about the situation on the battlefield. He managed to keep his composure for a month,¡± Chu Rong spoke coldly, pondering for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll accompany you to the Empire. An Xei is too cunning, and we¡¯re unsure of how much leverage he still holds. You have too few chips, and acting on your own is too risky.¡± The Imperial High Advisor was relieved and nodded in gratitude. It¡¯s naturally the best if it could be done this way. An Tyn was too young, and he had expended too much of his own power. Neitaxi can only protect the citizens. Compared to An Xei, their strength was indeed insufficient. With Chu Rong willing to offer assistance proactively, the likelihood of success in this campaign against An Xei would significantly increase. Qiao Zhiya understood this. He grasped Chu Rong¡¯s hand. After confirming the next steps of the journey, Chu Rong contacted Chu Huai again to discuss the arrangements for the follow-up. Then, he reached out to Neitaxi to have a detailed discussion with the Imperial High Advisor on how to proceed with the campaign against An Xei. Since Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t understand the details of the campaign and couldn¡¯t contribute much, he took it upon himself to find Zhuang Yu and immersed himself in treating the Imperial soldiers and An Mhu. These individuals had been close to the center of the conspiracy and might know something useful. With his assistance, Zhuang Yu found it much easier to handle the situation. As the Chu family flagship set sail towards the Empire once again, they finally managed to clear the clouded consciousness of An Mhu. However, not surprisingly, he turned out to be just like Ning Tianxing, remaining silent and tight-lipped. With increasing knowledge of the truth, Chu Rong¡¯s patience wore thin. Unwilling to waste time with the new Emperor, who was clearly a pawn, he conducted a mental search on him, only to unsurprisingly discover a mental lock in his mind as well. ¡°The lock is most likely placed by An Xei. It should be very easy to break, but I can¡¯t. Out of that locked section, I found nothing. He¡¯s likely just purely a pawn. Chu Rong frowned and retracted his hand, with a hint of frustration on his frown. Having just witnessed the search, he knew that An Mhu had arranged for someone to manipulate Chu Yan¡¯s entry into the final of the mecha piloting competition. Chu Rong¡¯s restraint in not harming An Mhu could be considered quite humane. Subsequently, other high-ranking personnel aboard the Imperial Royal flagship also began to regain consciousness. However, similarly, these individuals were all like empty-headed puppets. Two days later, Chu Rong and Neitaxi converged on a small planet at the Empire¡¯s border. All the people from the Chu family flagship were transferred to Neitaxi¡¯s warship. Subsequently, the warship set sail. As planned, they sent a message to An Xei stating that they had successfully exterminated the straggler Zergs in the border and requested to return. However, they deviated from the provided route and approached the Capital Planet from another direction. An Xei¡¯s response came swiftly. He first thanked Neitaxi for his efforts in a polite manner, then expressed his intention to hold a grand welcoming ceremony for the triumphant soldiers. Upon receiving the message, Chu Rong immediately boarded a small Chu family-customized warship with An Tyn, the Imperial High Advisor, and others, bidding farewell to General Neitaxi. They then set course for the Imperial capital at full speed with the rest of the Chu family members. CH 100.3 After another day of expedited voyages, the Capital Planet finally appeared before them. ¡°The patrols have been strengthened again. These are all private troops raised by An Xei, and I reckon they¡¯ve all been controlled by the Ning family¡¯s medicines,¡± Imperial High Advisor said, frowning as he looked at the tightly guarded perimeter on the star map. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect An Xei to be this cautious. Sneaking in unnoticed is going to be incredibly difficult.¡± Chu Rong also frowned. Of course, he understood what the red marks on the star map represented. ¡°Do you mean we should avoid these detection devices?¡± Qiao Zhiya suddenly spoke up. When Chu Rong looked over, he extended a finger and gathered a bit of magic, saying, ¡°Perhaps I can give it a try.¡± He had leveled up and had ample magic reserves. It should not be too difficult to protect this small warship from detection. Chu Rong¡¯s face turned black and he took his hand. Imperial High Advisor¡¯s eyes flickered as he carefully sensed the soothing energy Qiao Zhiya had just released. He felt a vague sense of confusion, but excitement couldn¡¯t be concealed. Such an affable energy ¨C Qiao Zhiya was indeed of the same kin as him. ¡°Let me give it a try,¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong and assured him, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. You can stand by my side. You don¡¯t want An Xei to keep causing trouble, do you?¡± Chu Rong tightened his grip on his hand, glanced at the others in the control room, then, with a serious expression, bent down and lifted him up, carrying him to the lounge next door. Fifteen minutes later, Chu Rong returned with an even more grim expression. Qiao Zhiya smiled apologetically to everyone, then sat down in a corner, drank a dose of Yellow Leaf Tree potion, and closed his eyes, silently spreading his power. Chu Rong sat next to him, and surrounded him with his own spiritual power, his expression was still as grim as ever. The crowd noticed the situation and did not want to disturb them. They turned their attention to the star map. The wood-elemental magic slowly spread out and wrapped the warship whole. At the same time, the icon representing the warship on the star map suddenly disappeared. Fan Xiangnan and the others realized that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s actions must be very energy-consuming. They quickly suppressed their astonishment and brought the Imperial High Advisor back to focus. Following his guidance, they directed the warship towards a weakly defended area of the Imperial army. Passing through several layers of tight security without incident, they then followed occasional guidance from Qiao Zhiya to circumvent all hidden checkpoints. The warship eventually landed safely in a remote valley on the Capital Planet. After confirming that there was nobody around, Qiao Zhiya slowly withdrew his strength and then obediently fell into Chu Rong¡¯s arms. Chu Rong realized that Qiao Zhiya must be nearing exhaustion, so he quickly carried him back to the lounge. He first brought out a large pile of emerald jades to help replenish his magic power, then fed him a dose of medicine, and finally settled him down to rest. In the Capital Planet, it was nearing dawn. Fan Xiangnan contacted Neitaxi, and confirmed that the General would need another two days to reach the Capital Planet. Seeing the situation, they decided to take a rest for the day. At night, after everyone had rested and recovered their spirits, they stowed away the warship. Under cover of darkness, they brought out hover cars and headed towards the administrative center where the Imperial Palace was located. Their first destination was An Xei¡¯s prince estate, where they planned to capture Elder Ning to prevent him from escaping at the first sign of trouble the next day. Chu Rong was only accompanied by Fan Xiangnan, Qiao Zhiya, and a soldier specializing in disguise. Although he didn¡¯t want Qiao Zhiya to take risks, reason told him that taking Qiao Zhiya along was the right choice. The youth had special powers, and moreover, Qiao Zhiya wasn¡¯t as weak as he appeared on the surface. On the contrary, he was powerful and capable of protecting others well. Relying on the power of Qiao Zhiya to help them avoid any detection, they all sneaked into the An Xei¡¯s prince estate, and approached the villa where the Ning family lived. Worried that the Ning family¡¯s special spiritual power users might detect Qiao Zhiya¡¯s abilities, Chu Rong instructed Fan Xiangnan to stay with Qiao Zhiya in a secluded corner while he, accompanied by the disguise specialist, entered the villa. Qiao Zhiya, who was undertaking such a task for the first time, appeared somewhat nervous. Fan Xiangnan initially thought he might make mistakes but was surprised by his unexpected calmness and composure. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ability to conceal his presence was even faster than that of someone trained like Fan Xiangnan. About half an hour later, Chu Rong emerged, carrying the unconscious Elder Ning on his back. The disguise specialist didn¡¯t follow him out; he would remain behind to pose as Elder Ning and stabilize the situation. When the task was completed, the people left the prince estate in the same way and went to the security base arranged by the Imperial High Advisor. Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace, An Xei waved his subordinates and connected a communication from a special channel. ¡°Still haven¡¯t found that puppet?¡± A strange, elderly voice came through the communicator, accompanied by the background noise of Zergs¡¯ hisses and eerie howls, creating a chilling atmosphere. Upon hearing this voice, An Xei immediately straightened up. Even though he knew the other party couldn¡¯t see him, he still showed a respectful demeanor as he replied, ¡°Yes, according to my speculation, that puppet should have gotten lost in the asteroid belt. But rest assured, the situation is still under control. I will quickly find another puppet to serve you.¡± ¡°Good.¡± The elderly voice chuckled mysteriously, then fell silent for a while before continuing, ¡°I¡¯ve given you so many little pets, created so many helpers for you, yet you¡¯re still such a waste¡­ The Ning family is, and so are you. Perhaps I chose the wrong servant from the beginning.¡± Although the words were casually spoken, An Xei¡¯s face showed a pained expression, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Yet he dared not touch it, only managing to say, ¡°I apologize. Please, give me another chance.¡± There was no reply for a while. But then, the elderly voice suddenly eased, sighing, ¡°No more.¡± The pain in An Xei¡¯s face abated immediately. ¡°Over the years, I¡¯ve watched you grow up since your childhood, so I have some attachment to you¡­ I need new food supplies, send some over. As for those people from the Ning family, kill them all. They¡¯re all useless. I¡¯ll find you other helpers.¡± The communication ended, and An Xei slumped in his chair, taking some time to calm the fear and oppression he felt from contacting the Elder1original: ÀÏÈË/laoren. . He raised his hand to his forehead, rubbing it, before standing up again. He quickly regained his usual demeanor and dialed a number, ordering, ¡°Dispose of the third batch of experimental subjects.¡± After arranging what the Elder told him to, he looked around the golden but empty palace hall with a satisfied smile on his face. After tomorrow, the last annoying pests of the Empire will also disappear. He will slowly catch those escaped insects and crush them all. Then, it will be the turn of those self-righteous fools from the Federation. Everyone will pay the price for their past disdain towards him. In the end, the Blue Galaxy will have only one king to rule them all. At 8 AM of the next day, anxious Imperial citizens finally learned the only confirmed good news in the past month from the morning news: General Neitaxi had returned triumphantly. He had successfully eradicated all the Zergs infesting the Empire. Martial law would likely be canceled as the Empire would be safe. Although the new Emperor still has not returned, the situation was not too bad. Of course, the Empire wouldn¡¯t resort to something like live broadcasts to pacify the populace, as the Federation might. In a society where the supremacy of the monarchy reigns, the words of the royal family serve as the best form of reassurance. The citizens have no right to demand anything else. At the Imperial military port, An Xei sat in the command room with the newly appointed ministers and dignitaries, waiting for Neitaxi¡¯s arrival with his troops. At exactly 9 AM on the dot, the shadow of Neitaxi¡¯s warship finally appeared in the sky. Unexpectedly, the General didn¡¯t attempt to concentrate the soldiers on the warship for landing, as he had done in the past. Instead, he adopted a regular battle formation. Seeing this, An Xei immediately understood his cautious approach. He smirked mockingly and waved to the people behind him, saying, ¡°General Neitaxi has worked hard on this expedition. Let¡¯s give him a welcome salute with the artillery.¡± The newly-appointed head of the port immediately opened all the defensive turrets of the port, aimed at the warships hovering in midair, and fired intensively. Neitaxi, who was already prepared, immediately ordered the warship to ascend and evade the artillery fire. Simultaneously, the troops, already in battle formation, brandished their weapons towards the port, assuming a defensive stance. ¡°Stubborn and foolish, pitiful general,¡± An Xei sneered, picking up the external communicator. He said, ¡°Traitor Neitaxi, you conspired with the Federation to assassinate the Emperor first, and now you¡¯re turning your guns against me and your fellow Imperials. This is a heinous crime. If you surrender now, I can spare your life. But if you resist, don¡¯t blame me for not giving you mercy.¡± Upon hearing this, Neitaxi¡¯s expression darkened. He hadn¡¯t expected An Xei to attempt to frame him and made it as if he colluded with the Federation. He activated the external communicator and spoke in a stern voice, ¡°Who the real traitor is will be judged by the people. An Xei, there¡¯s no need for your words! Soldiers at the port, listen carefully. The Emperor has been rescued, and An Xei¡¯s conspiracy has been exposed. Don¡¯t continue to aid that tyrant. Lay down your weapons immediately!¡± ¡®The Emperor has been rescued?¡¯ The soldiers on the main star, under An Xei¡¯s brainwashing control, momentarily looked bewildered. An Xei, however, quickly regained his composure after frowning, asserting confidently, ¡°Neitaxi, spare us your nonsense. The Emperor has already died at the hands of the Federation due to your betrayal. There¡¯s no need for theatrics here, and your deceitful words won¡¯t fool anyone.¡± Neitaxi no longer wastes saliva on him. He signaled his troops to turn on the information interference. Almost immediately, everyone¡¯s communication devices at the port received a video clip. The content depicted the scene of the Imperial Royal flagship being sucked into a black hole, with an additional frame showing the rescue of the Emperor from the flagship. An Xei also received this video. Although the picture was edited at some places, he could immediately see that the rescuer of the Emperor was wearing a very distinctive black military uniform. He suddenly realized what was happening, his expression changed dramatically, and he hurried to get up to leave, but it was too late. The people around him had already fallen, and a black dagger was pressed against the back of his neck. ¡°Prince An Xei, where do you want to go?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice rang out from behind, and a sharp spiritual power surrounded him like a dagger, hovering next to his brain. His spiritual sea was scrutinized menacingly, leaving him completely immobile. An Xei¡¯s body stiffened, and the communicator in his hand fell to the ground. He turned to look at Chu Rong, his expression cold and filled with murderous intent. Gone was the previous gentle facade, replaced by a chilling tone as he said, ¡°Chu Rong, it¡¯s you again.¡± Time and time again, just when success seemed within reach, that damned interference from the Chu family always emerged to spoil things. He should have found a way to eliminate this unpredictable variable long ago, instead of hesitating out of fear. CH 101.1 An Leen: Imperial Princess. An Tyn: Imperial Prince, An Leen¡¯s twin brother. The Fifth Imperial Prince. An Xei: The Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. Ning Tianwu: An Xei¡¯s wife, Ning Tianxing¡¯s younger sister. An Mhu: ex-Third Imperial Prince. Now the current Emperor. Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Chu Rong also looked at him coldly. Without even giving him any reply, he just directly pierced An Xei¡¯s brain using his spiritual energy, instantly knocking him out. After ensuring that the command room was secure, he tied up the unconscious An Xei with a silver mesh and tossed him aside. He also enclosed him in an isolation barrier. Then, he bound the remaining individuals together and initiated a communication request to the outside. Upon receiving the message, Prince An Tyn and the Imperial High Advisor hurried over under the protection of Fan Xiangnan and the soldiers. Seeing that the situation was indeed under the control of Chu Rong alone, they felt a great sense of relief. They quickly expressed their gratitude to him and began to arrange external communications according to the plan. General Neitaxi on the port also received the message. He sighed as he looked down at the chaos among the Imperial soldiers caused by the video. During this civil strife, the Empire still hurt its vitality. Indeed, the restoration of the Empire¡¯s stability and morale after the damage inflicted by An Xei¡¯s actions will likely take a considerable amount of time. Chu Rong, having completed what he could, exited the command room and found Qiao Zhiya waiting outside. He embraced him and said, ¡°We can go home now.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, and hugged him back. Prince An Tyn quickly took control of the command room with the assistance of the Imperial High Advisor, stabilizing the situation. Subsequently, General Neitaxi landed and escorted Prince An Tyn all the way to the palace, openly displaying their movements without concealing their armed forces, which caused various speculations among the people along the route. After assisting Prince An Tyn in gaining control of the palace, Neitaxi immediately dispatched troops to arrest the private soldiers scattered around by An Xei, swiftly eliminating the influence of Prince An Xei with utmost efficiency. After gaining basic control of the situation, Prince An Tyn, accompanied by Neitaxi, held a royal meeting with the public, disclosing all the truths to the citizens and announcing the charges against An Xei. The manipulation of the royal family, framing the Second and Fourth Princes, imposing mental locks on the new Emperor, maintaining private armies, conspiring with the Ning family to overthrow both the Empire and the Federation, and using harmful drugs to mind control soldiers¡­ A series of charges shocked the Imperial citizens, completely shattering the once amiable and kind image of An Xei. The imperial citizens, who had been deceived by An Xei for over a month, finally saw the long-lost new Emperor during this royal meeting. However, the sight of the vacant, emaciated, and pale young man completely overturned their previous impression of the new Emperor. Throughout the meeting, they couldn¡¯t even hear a complete sentence from the new Emperor! The revelation of the truth about the war, the collapse of the royal image, and the destruction of the Emperor¡¯s reputation all hit the imperial citizens like a ton of bricks. After the initial shock, came panic. Yes, the war against the Zerg Queen was indeed victorious, but the Imperial Royal Family was now in tatters, and the new Emperor has become like this. What should they do? What should the Empire do? An Xei has committed such heinous acts against the Federation and humanity. What if the Federation is unwilling to forgive An Xei¡¯s actions and decides to wage war against the Empire? While the citizens were worried about the future of the Empire, General Neitaxi, along with a group of surviving loyalists, stepped forward. They announced that considering the current physical and mental condition of the new king, they had decided to endorse Prince An Tyn, the Fifth Prince, to ascend the throne, replacing the Third Prince as the new Emperor. Additionally, the Empire would collaborate with the Federation to conduct a joint trial against the Ning family and An Xei for their crimes, holding them accountable and providing an explanation to all citizens. This decision was widely accepted by the Imperial citizens. They were relieved. Thankfully, they still had a healthy adult prince, so the continuation of the royal family still had hope. Prince An Tyn, the Fifth Prince, might be young, but with General Neitaxi¡¯s support, he would surely mature into a competent Emperor. As for the joint trial, it seems that the Federation has not blamed the entire Empire for An Xei¡¯s actions, and instead, sensibly prepared to cooperate with the Empire in punishing those traitors. ¡ªIt¡¯s great, it¡¯s great to not have to go through war again. After pacifying the populace, An Tyn, with the assistance of the Imperial High Advisor and Neitaxi, began a deeper purge of the Empire¡¯s upper echelons. It¡¯s estimated that the clandestine turmoil would continue for quite some time. Beyond the Empire¡¯s territory, the Chu family flagship sailed. Chu Rong withdrew his hand and looked at the unconscious Elder Ning on the bed, frowning as he said, ¡°He also has a mental lock in his mind, and the fluctuations are the same as those in Ning Tianxing¡¯s brain. It¡¯s the work of the same person.¡± The mission to find An Mhu had already gone for too long, and there were still matters waiting for them to handle on the Federation. So, immediately after stabilizing the situation with An Tyn, they secretly returned home, taking all the Ning family members and An Xei with them. The An Xei awaiting trial in the Empire now was just a placeholder. Upon hearing this, Fan Xiangnan was stunned for a moment, furrowing his brow as he asked, ¡°The same spiritual fluctuations? There¡¯s a difference of several decades in age between Elder Ning and Ning Tianxing. Could it be that the person behind the scenes started manipulating the affairs of both the Federation and the Empire decades ago?¡± ¡°Not only that,¡± Chu Rong shook his head, recalling the similarly long-standing mental lock in the former Emperor¡¯s mind, and said, ¡°The person behind the scenes has been manipulating the situation for even longer than we thought. The Federation has a decentralized power structure, limiting the influence of the Ning family. However, power in the Empire is centralized in the royal family, first with the old Emperor and then with an Xei. It¡¯s evident that the focus of the person behind the scenes is there, with the Federation being only a secondary concern.¡± In his generation, the former Emperor wasn¡¯t the best candidate between his brothers. But he ended up on the throne, which was quite suspicious. As for the reaction of the former Emperor upon learning of the reappearance of the Zergs¡­ Chu Rong initially guessed that the resurgence of the Zergs was a result of infighting among the former Emperor and his allies. He thought his allies were warning him back then. But now, it seems that the situation was more akin to the former Emperor realizing he had become a discarded pawn after the reappearance of the fake Zergs. The people who once helped him ascend to power had shifted their support to someone else, hence his fear. So there were never really any allies, and the former Emperor was merely a tool who could only obey commands without question. Fan Xiangnan estimated the age of the former king and the duration of his reign, then estimated the age of Elder Ning. He was shocked and said, ¡°The person behind the scenes must have been hiding for at least a hundred years. This¡­¡± Thanks to spiritual powers, human lifespan has greatly increased. If the person behind the scenes has indeed been hiding for such a long time, it¡¯s truly terrifying. The intricacies of this centuries-old conspiracy made their scalp numb just by thinking about it. ¡°We might need to reconsider the roles of Ning Tianxing and An Xei in this fake Zergs conspiracy,¡± Chu Rong said, with a solemn expression. After a pause, he added, ¡°Go and check on An Xei.¡± Fan Xiangnan¡¯s mood also became heavy. Upon hearing this, he nodded and re-enclosed Elder Ning with a restraining protective barrier before following Chu Rong to the adjacent room. An Xei was still in a coma, which was specially arranged by Chu Rong. Dealing with someone who held unknown power in their hands, rendering them unconscious was the safest way to guard against them. After opening the protective barrier, Chu Rong extended his spiritual power toward An Xei¡¯s brain, only to encounter a feedback force much stronger than the lock in Elder Ning¡¯s mind. Sensing the intrusion, the force not only resisted but also attempted to penetrate Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual sea along the path of his released spiritual power, displaying a fierce hostility. ¡°Sir!¡± Fan Xiangnan was shocked. Even he could feel the violent spiritual power just now. Chu Rong immediately severed the external spiritual connection and waved his hand to indicate that he was fine. However, his gaze towards An Xei grew colder, as he said, ¡°An Xei is indeed the key. The person behind the scenes has an exceptionally deep control over him, even intentionally protecting him. He must have a direct way of communicating with the person behind the scenes. Contact Neitaxi and have him thoroughly investigate everything under An Xei¡¯s name¡ªcommunication devices, residences, networks of relationships. Search everything that can be searched meticulously. We must uncover any clues linking An Xei to the mastermind.¡± Fan Xiangnan hurriedly acknowledged and turned to make arrangements, but he was stopped by Chu Rong¡¯s call. ¡°The Ning family daughter who married An Xei¡­ Ning Tianwu, wasn¡¯t it? She¡¯s Ning Tianxing¡¯s younger sister, too. Did she wake up already?¡± Upon hearing this, Fan Xiangnan nodded and replied, ¡°Awake. Except for Elder Ning, everyone else in the Ning family has regained consciousness. They are currently being detained separately.¡± Chu Rong nodded and understood, seeing that it was already late in the evening, he turned and walked out. Qiao Zhiya was currently preparing potions, and his mood was very low. This journey to the Empire has shown him the terrifying consequences of soldiers controlled by the Ning family¡¯s medications if left untreated for a long time. The medications made by the Ning family using Zergs secretions were too domineering. Even after treatment, those soldiers will never be able to return to their former selves in their lifetime. He could only do his best to find ways to make potions for recovery¡­ He worked quickly and efficiently, completely unaware of Chu Rong¡¯s entrance due to his intense focus on research. Chu Rong walked up behind him, observing his serious study of various herbs and tools on the table. His expression softened, and he reached his arms around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s waist from behind, leaning in to plant a kiss on his perked-up ear. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, and the extracts he just got almost spilled. ¡°Scared you?¡± Chu Rong reached out to steady the potion Qiao Zhiya was working on, then decided to take everything from his hands and place it on the table. He then lifted Qiao Zhiya into his arms and carried him to the single-person sofa in the room. He sat down and pulled Qiao Zhiya to lean against him, gently stroking his back. Seeing Chu Rong like this, Qiao Zhiya knew that he must be feeling upset again. He obediently leaned against him and shook his head while nodding at the same time, replying, ¡°Just a little scared, but it¡¯s fine now.¡± Then, he kissed Chu Rong on the lips and even tried to gently nibble on his lip. Between the two, Chu Rong has always been the one to initiate intimacy, while Qiao Zhiya, being shy, rarely expresses affection through kissing. Typically, it¡¯s more about hugs and cuddles. So, instances like this, with Qiao Zhiya initiating kisses and flirting, are extremely rare occurrences. Chu Rong held his hand tightly and looked down at him with deep eyes. Qiao Zhiya shyly looked at him back. He then pecked Chu Rong¡¯s cheek once more, then asked in a soft voice, ¡°Is the investigation unsuccessful, is there anything I can help?¡± Faced with such a caring lover, any heavy-heartedness would dissipate. Chu Rong didn¡¯t say anything but simply held him tightly, pressing his head gently against his chest and softly rubbing it, then leaning down to kiss his ear. Qiao Zhiya nestled quietly in his chest, calming Chu Rong down. The two hugged each other for a while. Finally, it was Chu Rong who broke the silence. ¡°It¡¯s not going well,¡± he confessed. Qiao Zhiya looked up at him. ¡°All the clues point to a mastermind who has never appeared before. Anyone who has had contact with this mysterious person has been locked with mental locks in their minds. We can¡¯t extract any clues from them.¡± Chu Rong began slowly, as if he was speaking to Qiao Zhiya as a way to organize his own thoughts. ¡°Based on the information we have now, considering the ages of Elder Ning and the former Emperor, as well as the timing of the former Emperor¡¯s ascension, Elder Ning should have been the first person controlled by that mastermind, followed by the former Emperor. Whether they have any connection between them or know about each other, that is still unclear.¡± This was speculation about the previous generation. Moving on to this generation, over twenty years ago, Prince An Xei and Ning Tianwu met, and the two were married. An Xei became connected with the Ning family through this. Based on this, it could be deduced that An Xei became the puppet of the mastermind before marrying Ning Tianwu. Based on the current situation, it seems that in the Federation, after Elder Ning grew too old, either the mastermind or Elder Ning himself chose Ning Tianxing as the successor to continue serving the mastermind. On the Empire¡¯s side, the mastermind chose An Xei, and it was done without informing the former Emperor, directly abandoning him in favor of An Xei. From this, it could be concluded that the mastermind has deeper control over the Empire and could manipulate the Empire more freely. So the conspiracy didn¡¯t start from the appearance of the real Zergs over a decade ago; rather, it originated from much further back in time. The appearance of the Zergs over a decade ago was just a concentrated outbreak of the conspiracy. Since Elder Ning and the former Emperor were controlled, for almost a hundred years, there was relative peace between the Federation and the Empire. However, in the last twenty years or so, there have been frequent actions. This situation seems more like the mastermind becoming impatient and no longer being as cautious as before. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have suddenly allowed such an obvious connection, like arranging a marriage between individuals from the Federation and the Empire. And as for what made the mastermind become impatient¡­ According to the age of Elder Ning, the mysterious person should not be young anymore. An ancient person, one who lurks in the shadows and spreads their web into the upper echelons of the Federation and the Empire, what could he be exerting all this effort for? The Ning family seeks profit, An Xei seeks power, and this mastermind can even summon the Zergs, indicating considerable strength. For someone with such power, acquiring wealth and authority shouldn¡¯t be difficult. So, what do they really want? Is it simply revenge against society? Chu Rong stopped analyzing the situation and thought about it. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t reply either. He only looked at Chu Rong back, leaning against his chest as he soothe his emotions with his wood-elemental magic. ¡°The Zergs.¡± After some time passed, Chu Rong¡¯s demeanor suddenly grew heavy. Furrowing his brow, he whispered something under his breath before rising to his feet. He settled Qiao Zhiya on the sofa, kissed his forehead, and quickly said, ¡°You rest early. I¡¯ll go check on something and be back soon.¡± With that, he swiftly left the room. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave, raised his hand and touched his forehead, his ears drooping down. CH 101.2 Upon leaving the room, Chu Rong first went to the detention room where Ning Tianwu was held and probed into her spiritual sea. As expected, he found a mental lock inside, which was particularly unique. He even discovered that within this lock, there were two distinct fluctuations intertwined together. This meant that the lock was placed by two people working together. Chu Rong could not help but sneer. Elder Ning was indeed ruthless. In order to establish a stable connection with An Xei, he was willing to stoop so low as to collaborate with An Xei to place a mental lock on his own biological daughter. He¡¯s really cold-blooded! The placement of a mental lock requires the consent of the individual. The Ning family must have extensively researched drugs capable of controlling human thoughts, and the initial test subjects were likely members of the Ning family themselves! The person who was controlled by the mental lock was definitely more than just Ning Tianwu. After realizing this, he went on to probe the minds of several other younger members of the Ning family. To his surprise, he found that all of their minds were also locked, and all the locks were placed by Elder Ning himself. The locks were quite new, indicating that they were recently set. Chu Rong thought of Ning Kongran, someone who had no mental lock in his mind. A guess came out in his heart. After the pharmaceutical scandal last time, the Ning family sent all the younger members to the Empire, leaving only Ning Kongran behind. Although it appeared that Ning Kongran chose to stay on his own, upon closer examination, it might have been orchestrated by Ning Tianxing. Ning Tianxing likely began grooming the next puppet successor, and Ning Kongran was possibly the most promising candidate. Ning Kongran once said that he had a special spiritual power. This might be the reason he was selected by Ning Tianxing. Over twenty years ago, the Ning family formed a connection with An Xei. Similarly, over twenty years ago, Ning Kongran was born. About eight years later, Ning Kongran was brought back to the Capital Planet by Ning Tianxing, and almost at that time, the real Zergs appeared and the peace of the Blue Galaxy was broken. Considering Ning Kongran¡¯s memories of the sudden mass escape of test subjects from Ning Tianxing¡¯s laboratory, it¡¯s possible that the appearance of the real Zergs is a result of Ning Tianxing¡¯s research. Furthermore, aside from the medications used for profit, all of Ning Tianxing¡¯s experiments should be related to the mastermind¡¯s goals. Perhaps the mastermind chose members of the Ning family as puppets precisely because of their focus on human experimentation. Furthermore, delving deeper, it¡¯s possible that the shadow of the mastermind had lurked behind various decisions made by members of the Ning family in the past To conduct human experimentation, one must have test subjects. In recent decades, the Federation has tightened population control, while the Empire allows for the buying and selling of slaves. This was likely why the mysterious figure brought members of the Ning family into contact with An Xei. As Chu Rong¡¯s speculations grew, his demeanor became heavier. Suddenly, he realized something, turned and walked out of the detention room. He looked at Fan Xiangnan, who was waiting outside, and instructed, ¡°Investigate the coordinates where the first wave of real Zergs appeared over a decade ago. There must be Ning Tianxing¡¯s laboratory nearby!¡± Fan Xiangnan was taken aback by the sudden heaviness in Chu Rong¡¯s aura, realizing that there might be a breakthrough in the investigation. He quickly acknowledged and turned to carry out the task. The black flagship quickly crossed the Empire border and returned to the Federation, but instead of returning to the Capital Planet directly as planned, it went straight to a very remote little planet. A day later, the flagship stopped above a small garbage planet that had been abandoned. The term ¡°garbage planet¡± refers to those whose planetary cores have died, rendering them unable to support life. These planets were essentially ¡°dead¡±, incapable of nurturing life anymore. They can even be considered not as planets but rather as celestial bodies on the verge of disintegration, ready to break apart and become cosmic dust at any moment. They pose extremely high risks and are no longer suitable for human habitation. ¡°This is it, the location where the first wave of Zergs appeared years ago.¡± Fan Xiangnan looked at the gray planet symbol on the star map, representing ¡°no life present,¡± recalling the events from back then, still unable to hide his frown. The first wave of Zergs appeared suddenly, wandering from an unknown origin. They waved their limbs at a passing civilian ship, causing the ¡°destruction of the civilian ship¡± incident that shocked both the Federation and the Empire at the time. It was the first time humans learned of the existence of such terrifying creatures as the Zergs. Since then, a new regulation has been added to the layout of interstellar routes: it¡¯s not permitted for routes to pass by planets without military presence in the vicinity to prevent situations where dangers arise without the possibility of timely rescue. This planet below didn¡¯t attract much attention during the Zerg incident back then because, at the time, it had already been a garbage planet for many years. No one could have imagined it would be related to the emergence of the Zergs. Even if humans later saw the Zerg drilled out of the black hole, everyone thought that the Zerg had drilled out from somewhere in the universe, not from this garbage planet. ¡°Placing a laboratory on a garbage planet¡­ that¡¯s something the Ning family would do.¡± Chu Rong tapped on the flagship¡¯s console, then glanced at the star map again. He noticed several Ning family pharmaceutical plant planets nearby. His expression grew colder, and he gestured for Fan Xiangnan to land. Fan Xiangnan hesitated after receiving the order, saying, ¡°This garbage planet may disintegrate at any time, and it would not be too dangerous to land directly.¡± ¡°This planet has remained intact for so many years, most likely it¡¯s not truly a ¡®dead¡¯ planet.¡± Chu Rong replied, his gaze shifting to Qiao Zhiya behind him. After a pause, he compromised, saying, ¡°First, have the flagship hover at a safe distance. Get a small team ready. We¡¯ll go down together in mechas to investigate.¡± Upon hearing this, Fan Xiangnan felt relieved and began to busy himself with the arrangements. The flagship began to land. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched, then he sneaked out of the main control room, and ran towards the team lounge where the soldiers on stand-by were. After a quarter of an hour, the flagship hovered a few hundred meters above the garbage planet. Looking down from above, the planet¡¯s bare ground could be clearly seen. Chu Rong took his mecha to the exit hatch, counted the number of people, and glanced backward. Not seeing Qiao Zhiya, he furrowed his brow, suspecting that he might have returned to his room to research potions. Without dwelling on it, he instructed everyone to get into the mechas and then asked Lin Zhen, in the control room, to open the exit hatch. The black-gold mecha flew outwards with a row of grey mechas. At the end, a brown mecha suddenly burst out and fell behind the grey mechs. The members of the second team who were seeing them off were stunned, too shocked to warn them. Before they could react, the control room had already closed the hatch, cutting off their shouts. A member at the rear of the first team quickly noticed a small tail behind them and promptly reported it to Chu Rong at the front. Upon receiving the message, Chu Rong glanced backward and spotted the brown mecha timidly trailing behind. His face darkened, and he signaled the team to pause before beckoning the brown mecha over with a wave of his hand. The brown mecha became visibly stiff, and then flew obediently to him, hovering honestly. Chu Rong opened a private channel with the brown mecha. Seeing the mecha hanging its head in readiness to listen to orders, Chu Rong found it difficult to scold. In the end, he just said in a low voice, ¡°Keep up and don¡¯t wander off.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears happily perked up, and a busy response followed him. The team continued forward, with a member of the first team looking at the two mechas flying ahead of them. They were filled with jokes they wanted to say, but the words were stuck in their throat, unable to be uttered, leaving them feeling choked up. Chu Rong led the team out this time just to explore the basic situation of the planet, to confirm if it was truly ¡°dead¡±. Therefore, the team members didn¡¯t land; instead, they dispersed in formation, each carrying a detection device, to conduct their exploration. Qiao Zhiya had no instruments, so he spread his magic and pretended that he had a device in hand. Soon, the instruments transmitted the results back: the area they surveyed showed no signs of life whatsoever, confirming that it was indeed ¡°dead¡±. Chu Rong frowned. Just as he was about to lead them to another area for further testing, he noticed the brown mecha involuntarily descending bit by bit. Worried, he hurried forward to support it and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qiao Zhiya snapped out of it, sounding extremely excited. He exclaimed, ¡°Underground, there¡¯s a very strong energy fluctuation! It¡¯s some really potent ore!¡± CH 101.3 Ore? Chu Rong glanced at his own device, which had shown no readings, decisively stowed it away, and signaled the team members and Qiao Zhiya to step back. He then took out his double-barreled gun, aimed it at the ground, and fired. After the sound of explosion and the smoke dispersed, a large pit appeared in front of it. The pit was very deep, but all he could see was the bleak and hard ground. ¡°A bit deeper,¡± Qiao Zhiya reminded. Upon hearing this, Chu Rong raised his gun once again. This time, he infused it with his spiritual power and aimed it at the deep pit before firing once more. ¡°Boom!¡± A louder explosion resounded, causing the ground to tremble as if shaken by the immense power of the blast. Dust and debris flew everywhere, and after the smoke cleared, a dull black hue could be seen faintly beneath the lackluster gray-brown soil. ¡°That¡¯s it! The fluctuations are strong!¡± Qiao Zhiya replied excitedly, and immediately wanted to jump down to mine, and was quickly stopped by Chu Rong¡¯s eyes. ¡°But I didn¡¯t feel any fluctuations.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression grew solemn as he gazed at the black stones below. His gaze then extended towards the vast expanse of the planet¡¯s surface in the distance. He added, ¡°And don¡¯t you find it familiar? If we were to add some strange red patterns to these ores, what do you think they would resemble?¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, and in his mind flashed the image of the peculiar device he had retrieved from the black hole. His mouth slightly agape, he said in a dazed manner, ¡°But the feeling this ore gives me is completely different from that strange device. The energy fluctuation of this ore is gentle, just like a jade.¡± This was definitely a good ore, otherwise he would not be so excited. So, the real issue should be with those patterns. This unfamiliar ore was just a vessel for the power. Chu Rong concluded that he didn¡¯t stay any longer and pulled Qiao Zhiya, who wanted to continue mining, to return to the flagship. Bombing the ground was naturally easier to do by the flagship. After some intensive bombing, Chu Rong flew out of the flagship again with the team members, and then they saw more black ores. After being blasted out of the ground, the ores revealed its true appearance ¨C it¡¯s clear they were all deliberately cut to shape by someone. In other words, these ores were intentionally laid beneath the surface of the planet by someone, and the purpose of laying them there¡­ Excitedly picking up the ores, Qiao Zhiya suddenly froze, looking up at the black-gold mecha hovering above his head. He exclaimed loudly, ¡°Chu Rong, beneath these ores is the true surface of this planet. I can sense the power feedback.¡± Chu Rong frowned and contacted Fan Xiangnan to let him lower the flagship. Since it was a planet with life fluctuations, this planet wasn¡¯t a ¡°dead¡± one. There¡¯s no danger of sudden disintegration and they could safely land here. In order to expose more ground for easy detection, the flagship bombarded the nearby ground again after landing. Afterwards, everyone got off the ship to pick up ores together. Within a few hours, they cleared out the real ground, and then took out the device to test, and a big ¡°F¡± came out. ¡°F-class planet.¡± Lin Zhen spoke first. Although the F-class was not high, if it was transformed, it could still be cultivated into a safe planet suitable for human habitation. ¡°Someone artificially made this planet a garbage planet using these black ores.¡± Fan Xiangnan frowned as he estimated the surface area of this small planet. Covering an entire planet¡¯s original land with ores would be a massive undertaking, but it was surprising that no one had noticed any activity on this garbage planet in recent years. ¡°Notify the teams and military stationed on the border mining planet to come and help clean up this planet,¡± Chu Rong ordered, pulling out the brown mecha that had been picking up stones absentmindedly. He scanned the chaotic ground around him and said, ¡°The Ning family¡¯s laboratory must be here. Rest for now, and we¡¯ll start searching for the lab¡¯s location tomorrow.¡± After that, everyone went back. Chu Rong carried Qiao Zhiya back to the flagship. Qiao Zhiya was very excited. After touching the black ores with his hands, he found that the power fluctuations on the black ores were much gentler and more comfortable than he had previously felt. He also took out a piece of earth-elemental magic stone ¨C the ink jade ¨C and compared it to the ore in his hand. Afterward, he concluded: the black ore in his hand resembled a variant of jadeite, fundamentally belonging to the wood-element. Its fluctuations were completely different from those of the earth-elemental magic stone. He suddenly remembered the black-colored roots that the Elder Tree-xiansheng had given him. A conjecture emerged in his mind ¡ª could this black ore actually be not ore, but a variant of some precious tree? Or perhaps it evolved from the Yellow Leaf Tree into some material? To verify this conjecture, he attempted to extract the essence from this black ore again, and eventually obtained a bottle of deep green liquid! It was so deep that it almost turned into black-green liquid! Unlike ink jade¡¯s pure black, this black ore also carried a little green! Chu Rong, who had been frowning at him, suddenly changed his expression after he extracted the liquid from the ore, saying, ¡°I feel a power fluctuation from this.¡± Qiao Zhiya, who had just remembered he was still beside him, blinked for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He held the extracted liquid and approached, asking, ¡°How does it feel? Do you feel like this ore might taste good?¡± Taste good? Chu Rong glanced at his mouth and warned solemnly, ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to eat it.¡± Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiya shifted his gaze nervously, then continued to ask about how he felt about the liquid. Chu Rong frowned at him suspiciously, and answered, ¡°It¡¯s a very soothing sensation. It¡¯s similar to the breath of spiritual power purification fluid, but it should be milder.¡± Similar to spiritual power purification fluid? Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears were raised and his eyes were even brighter. In the Blue Galaxy, the effect of the spiritual power purification fluid on the human spiritual sea was similar to the effect of magic stones on his magical pool. They were both forms of energy that could be directly absorbed by the human body, with some enhancing effects during absorption. The enhancing effect of the spiritual power purification fluid was purification, while magic stones of various elements have different effects on the magical pool depending on their inherent magical properties. For example, his favorite wood-elemental magic could make the healing aura in his magical pool stronger. An ore similar to the spiritual power purification fluid¡­ wouldn¡¯t that count as a ¡°spiritual stone¡± on the same ilk of ¡°magic stone¡±? A type of stone that could be directly absorbed by humans and acted on the spiritual sea? ¡°Eat this!¡± He got excited and handed the extracted liquid to Chu Rong without hesitation, then picked up a piece of ore ¨C or more accurately, a stone ¨C and placed it in his palm, urging, ¡°Try to probe your spiritual power into this stone. Hurry, give it a try, and see how it feels.¡± Chu Rong furrowed his brows even tighter, staring at the liquid Qiao Zhiya handed him, but he didn¡¯t move ¡ª although he trusted Qiao Zhiya, he didn¡¯t think it was something he could just ingest without knowing its specific composition. Qiao Zhiya was anxious and thought of something. He was busy pulling out Qiuqiu and pouring out some liquid to let Qiuqiu try. Upon touching the liquid, the vines on Qiuqiu¡¯s body straightened up, and the plant-like scent emanating from him grew stronger. Its tendrils even seemed to twitch as they reached towards the remaining liquid in Chu Rong¡¯s hand, seemingly eager for another sip. Qiao Zhiya stopped Qiuqiu from its greedy track, coaxed it with his magic, then put Qiuqiu back. He looked at Chu Rong brightly, silently urging. Feeling the gaze of Qiao Zhiya upon him, Chu Rong hesitated for a moment before tilting his head back and drinking the bottle of liquid, which emitted a pleasant aroma. Almost immediately, a gentle power spread from his stomach to other parts of his body, bringing a wave of warmth. After circulating through his body, the warmth converged towards his spiritual sea. At the same time, the ore in his palm began to emit a slight warmth, followed by a gentle force seeping out and slowly penetrating into his body. The sensation was remarkable, as if a power inherent to his body had ventured out and returned after a brief journey, leaving behind a feeling of excitement and comfort. His spirit sea fluctuated slowly, and Chu Rong instinctively began to enjoy this surge of power, and subconsciously closed his eyes. Not knowing how long it took and everything calmed down, he opened his eyes and saw Qiao Zhiya looking down at him with an excited look at the ore in his hand. He followed to look at it, and saw that the dark black stone in his hand had faded all colors, and turned into a gray-brown like dead wood fossil. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya came back to himself, meeting Chu Rong¡¯s gaze with excitement before throwing himself into his arms. ¡°Amazing! Now you have your own energy stone too! Soon, very soon, this world will usher in a true era of power and breakthroughs!¡± Just like in the Magic Continent, as more magic stones appeared, magic elements gradually appeared in the air. These magic elements then drove the development of the entire world, leading all creatures to evolve towards greater strength and power! Chu Rong hugged him back, listening to his incoherent words, looking at the gray-brown ore in his hand, feeling that he seemed to touch the truth of the conspiracy. The mastermind behind these spiritual stones, which can be absorbed by humans, clearly controls this incredible power, yet they do not use it to perform miracles. Instead, they choose to cover an entire planet with it, allowing the Ning family to focus on human experiments. He even used this stone to create a cosmic passage like a black hole, which attracted the true Zergs and allowed the fake Zergs to come and go freely in it. Perhaps that mastermind no longer needs these stones, or perhaps these stones have become ineffective for him. Moreover, he probably cannot move them on his own and can only rely on puppets to do his bidding. His previous speculation was wrong; An Xei is indeed important to the mastermind because An Xei likely has a direct method of contacting them. To avoid exposure, the mastermind must ensure the safety of An Xei¡¯s mind. But what really matters is the human experiment of the Ning family. The mastermind creates channels to attract the Zergs, nurtures fake Zergs, probably aiming to obtain something different from humans for research purposes. Before developing channels to attract the Zergs, the Ning family¡¯s research focused entirely on individuals with special spiritual abilities. The mastermind must be looking for a special power different from human spiritual power, through the hand of the Ning family, through the hand of An Xei. And as for those fake Zergs, they aren¡¯t just tools like An Xei. He suddenly remembered something that had been neglected before, so he took out the communicator and called someone. Qiao Zhiya, still in excitement, looked at him with confusion in his eyes. He wondered why Chu Rong¡¯s aura suddenly became scary. The communication was quickly connected, and Ning Kongran¡¯s voice sounded. Chu Rong raised his hand to cover Qiao Zhiya¡¯s doubtful eyes, and asked, ¡°Your younger brother Ning Kongze, what¡¯s so special about his spiritual strength? Why does Ning Tianxing care about him so much?¡± Ning Kongran was quiet for a while. His voice was clearly weak, but he still replied, ¡°Because¡­ symbiosis, my younger brother¡¯s spiritual ability is symbiosis.¡± Symbiosis, a unique spiritual ability that has only occurred once in history, is incredibly powerful. Legend has it that the bearer of this power could coexist with all things in the world, granting them life and power. The individual who manifested this symbiotic ability was said to have perished during a turmoil, but perhaps not. It¡¯s possible that person was captured by the Ning family and became a provider of genetic material for their research. Chu Rong ended the communication, feeling the ticklish sensation of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyelashes brushing against his palm. He extended his arm and pulled him into an embrace, concealing from him the cold, murderous gaze that currently occupied his eyes. The mastermind was really not into wealth ¨C what they wanted is supreme power, and¡­ eternal life. CH 102.1 The Chu family¡¯s army stationed at the nearby mining planet rushed over the next morning, and several professional mining teams also arrived one after another. After preliminary exploration, the head of the mining team expressed that cleaning the entire planet would be a massive project. Even if they only excavated the surface and mobilized all available manpower to work overtime, it would still take at least ten days to half a month to complete the cleanup of this small planet. This news made Chu Rong frown. In the end, he decided to go back to Capital Planet first to finish the public trial and then return to this planet for further investigation. In the afternoon of the same day, after storing enough stones for Qiao Zhiya to experiment, the flagship set sail and flew towards the Capital Planet. Qiao Zhiya laid on the table, staring distressedly at the two black stones in front of him, puzzled. ¡°What happened?¡± Chu Rong did not go out to work, but changed into casual clothes to accompany him to rest in the room. Qiao Zhiya returned to his thoughts, and once again placed his hands on one of the black stones , and asked with anticipation, ¡°Do you feel it?¡± Chu Rong thought Qiao Zhiya wanted him to absorb the stone¡¯s power again, so he pulled out his spiritual strength and drilled into the stone. ¡°No, no.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurriedly opened his hand, and put an ink jade next to him, and asked, ¡°What about this one, you still don¡¯t feel any power fluctuations?¡± Chu Rong glanced at the ink jade in his hand, moved to hold his hand, and shook his head: ¡°No, the ink jade is just a stone to me.¡± After learning that Qiao Zhiya could replenish his energy with emerald jades and ink jades, he had researchers study all types of jade stones. Ultimately, they concluded that while these jade stones might indeed contain some mysterious natural forces, humans couldn¡¯t sense or absorb them. To them, jade was just pure stone, and Qiao Zhiya was the only special one. Back on the primitive planet, Qiao Zhiya was persistent and once asked him to try to touch the green dots floating in the Yellow Leaf Tree forest at night, claiming that they were the things that gave birth to jadeite. Unfortunately, he still couldn¡¯t sense them. Those green dots were like some mysterious and beautiful natural phenomenon to him, devoid of any practical significance. All the power related to jadeite, he could only sense what emanated from Qiao Zhiya, and that was likely due to their long-term companionship, where their powers unknowingly blended, becoming increasingly familiar with each other. ¡°How could this be?¡± Qiao Zhiya grew more distressed, holding two different stones, frowning and muttering, ¡°Can¡¯t sense this one, can¡¯t sense that one, but you can absorb this one, and not that one. It¡¯s impossible. These stones belong to you humans. How could you not sense them¡­¡± ¡°Not ¡®you humans¡¯, it¡¯s us.¡± Chu Rong corrected his notion of excluding himself from the human race, pinching his ear gently and comforting him, ¡°The current state of this ¡®spiritual stone¡¯ may not be its original form. The fact that the mastermind confidently placed it under the noses of the Ning family suggests that they have likely tampered with these stones long ago and are very confident that no one will discover the secrets hidden within.¡± The Ning family hasn¡¯t produced anyone with a spiritual power level exceeding SS-grade in recent years. In fact, there hasn¡¯t even been anyone surpassing S-grade in this generation. This indicates that they are unaware of and haven¡¯t utilized these stones. Those who seek power dread the possibility of their puppets becoming more powerful than themselves one day. These stones are too extraordinary. Even if the mastermind doesn¡¯t need them, they would never generously offer them to others. In any case, the mysterious person is very cunning and selfish. They exploit the Ning family while also guarding against them. ¡°Is it not its original form?¡± Qiao Zhiya questioned. Then, his expression changed as he grabbed his hand in a hurry, his face straining as he used his magic power to poke into the black stone. Chu Rong allowed him to move, raised his hand to his perked-up ears, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I made you absorb this stone yesterday. If it has indeed been tampered with, then haven¡¯t I harmed you?¡± Qiao Zhiya explained anxiously while driving the magic to circulate within him, eager to explore his spiritual sea with the burgeoning power. Blending their powers in the intimate setting of the spiritual sea, while both parties were conscious, produced sensations akin to engaging in intimate activities under the covers at night. Chu Rong looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s anxious look, fully oblivious to this aspect of spiritual power blending. He opened his spiritual sea access to let his magical power in, and then wrapped him with his spiritual energy for a moment. ¡°Well¡­¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but let out a soft moan, finally realizing what he had done. His face flushed crimson, and he quickly withdrew his power, avoiding eye contact with Chu Rong. As he awkwardly withdrew his hand and shuffled backward, he stammered, ¡°N-No problem, it¡¯s just¡­ strange. Surprisingly, there weren¡¯t any issues¡­¡± ¡°Because what you gave me to absorb yesterday was the essence extracted from the stone, and the stone you absorbed afterward was also scanned by your power,¡± Chu Rong chuckled, pulling him back into his arms and gently touching his slightly warm ear. With an amused smile, he planted a kiss and continued, ¡°Did you forget? The impurities in the stone that were scanned by your power would be partially cleaned out, and I only absorbed the energy inside, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Qiao Zhiya then remembered the details of yesterday. His face became redder, and he proceeded to bury it in his arms with embarrassment. After understanding why Chu Rong couldn¡¯t sense the stone, Qiao Zhiya began to think of ways to strip out possible impurities in the stone. The stone Chu Rong absorbed yesterday was only preliminary cleaned up, and there should be some left-over impurities inside. Using the comprehensive purification array that was originally used to create the secondary mutated red tin ore, Qiao Zhiya requested an isolation room from Chu Rong. After setting up the array, he dumped a pile of stones into the center of the array with a clatter, then squatted down to observe the reaction of the stones. The array quickly started to operate. In the first ten minutes, there was no reaction from the pile of stones, leaving Qiao Zhiya puzzled. Just as he was about to step forward to check if there was a problem with the array, a more pronounced power fluctuation emanated from the center of the array. His eyes lit up, and he rushed forward. The black color on the stones within the array gradually faded away, wisps of black smoke released by the array. These were then collected by a supplementary collection array set up behind it. The power fluctuations, akin to spiritual energy, in the air grew increasingly intense. In just five minutes, the color of the black stones in the array was lightened. It became a clear dark green, while a small collection of black powder was separated. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened. It¡¯s actually green! And judging by the patterns revealed on the stones after the impurities disappeared, these stones are indeed a type of material evolved from trees. In essence, they are wood, not stone! Suppressing his excitement, he waited for a few more minutes, but the stones in the array showed no further changes. He carefully removed them and then tossed a bunch of new stones into the array for further purification. Meanwhile, he cradled the purified stones in his hands and began to study them carefully. The deep green color, along with its strong yet gentle fluctuations reminiscent of spiritual energy, differentiated it from the pure energy essence nurtured by trees like jade. This mineral, neither wood nor stone but something in between, seemed to have evolved and accumulated through the power of certain types of trees. Thinking of this, he frowned again. There were so many humans, but the source of energy stones that could be used by humans was so limited. This felt not in line with the law of nature. Something that could be absorbed as an energy stone must be sustainable, healthy, and widely accessible to the public. However, this stone in hand doesn¡¯t meet any of these criteria. It relied on some unknown trees for its formation and is bound to become a luxury item in the future. He held the stone and examined it for a while, unable to resist his curiosity. Eventually, he cautiously tried to absorb some of its energy by placing his palm on it. Unlike typical human inability to absorb magic, he found himself capable of absorbing this spiritual power-like energy. A gentle force, distinct from magic, seeped into him. It felt like a curious child exploring a foreign world within him. After a brief exploration, it seamlessly melded with the native energies within him. The sensation was even more pleasant than when he drank the spiritual purifying fluid. He shook his ears, confirming that this energy was gentle and wouldn¡¯t cause any adverse reactions with his magic. Feeling reassured, he abandoned his reservations and pressed his entire body against the stone, absorbing its energy with abandon. His face flushed, resembling a drunk alcoholic. Chu Rong hurried over after finishing his work and was met with the sight of Qiao Zhiya looking dazed, as if he had overdosed on some drug. His face darkened, and he stepped forward to lift him off the now-faded stone. Pinching his ear, he chided, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to eat random stuff?¡± Qiao Zhiya snapped back to reality, turning to Chu Rong with wide eyes and a smile that bordered on foolishness, brimming with excitement. ¡°I¡¯ve figured it out! This mineral is formed from the Yellow Leaf Tree! And it¡¯s a variant of Yellow Leaf Tree. I can try to cultivate it! The energy it contains should be a reaction between the inherent power of Yellow Leaf Tree and the magical energy, gradually evolving away the parts of magic that humans can¡¯t perceive, leaving only the spiritual power-like energy we see now! It¡¯s an evolution, an evolution of trees, an evolution towards humanity!¡± And if his guess was correct, this evolution should be gradual, spreading from Yellow Leaf Tree to other trees, then to minerals, soil, and eventually to all things in the world! In short, they were about to witness the evolution of the Blue Galaxy! ¡°Right, the impurities extracted from the minerals should be things from the Zerg, which have a suppressing effect on spiritual power reactions, just like their terrible neural waves,¡± Qiao Zhiya added excitedly, not forgetting to mention his subsequent discovery. Upon Hearing this, Chu Rong¡¯s face only grew darker. Qiao Zhiya was obviously ¡°drunk¡± now. He frowned at the comprehensive purification array, picked up Qiao Zhiya, who was still talking nonsense, turned around and walked back to the room, forced him into a quilt, and put a lot of jade to his pillow. ¡°Sleep, tell me if there is something uncomfortable.¡± He instructed, and touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead with his hand, only a little relief after confirming that the temperature was normal. After feeling excited, Qiao Zhiya felt a little sleepy, so he nodded obediently and closed his eyes, his body buried in the quilt. Chu Rong waited until he fell asleep before retracting his hand, sitting on the bed and thinking carefully about what Qiao Zhiya had just said. The fact that the minerals are formed from Yellow Leaf Tree suggests that the premature extinction of the said tree might not be the result of natural selection or caused by the Zerg, but rather the intentional actions of the mastermind long before the appearance of the Zerg. Perhaps the purpose was to prevent others from discovering the special properties of this tree. Then this mastermind must have lived in the Federation or the Empire before the extinction of the Yellow Leaf Tree. Such a large quantity of minerals requires an astronomical number of Yellow Leaf Trees, and then there are those fake Zergs. Before they were released, they definitely needed a spacious and secretive place for cultivation. And to avoid attracting attention while producing these, a secret base that ensures it won¡¯t be discovered by anyone was necessary. The mastermind should have their own planet. He nodded at himself. Then, he patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sleeping face before walking towards the isolation room. Qiao Zhiya felt that his magic pool was a bit hot ¨C the heat was not uncomfortable, but warm and comfortable. His consciousness floated in and out like drifting off to sleep, yet not quite. The newly absorbed power, unable to fill the magic pool, circulated around his body instead. In a daze, the vine pattern on his wrist suddenly grew warm again, and then the warmth extended up the arm, reaching all the way to the brow. From there, it moved to the forehead, lingering there. Gradually, the warmth on the wrist disappeared. Only the warmth on the forehead remained unrelenting, and his magic pool fluctuated slightly. The sound of his own beating heart echoed loudly in his ears. And under the intensifying heat, he could even feel the movement of the blood flowing inside his veins. A faint, lingering roar echoed in his ears, reminiscent of a call from the Magic Continent to his bloodline. Then, all the strange sensations suddenly vanished, and his consciousness plunged into true darkness. CH 102.2 Ning Tianya: Ning family¡¯s head. Former Chairman. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Ning Kongran: Ning family current heir. Studying mecha manufacturing, unlike his family. Bearded Teacher aka Master Shang: Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. Chu Rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. Is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. Long Ruifeng: the ex-President. An Tyn: An Leen¡¯s twin brother. The Fifth Imperial Prince, now the Emperor. An Xei: The former Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. An Mhu: Third Imperial Prince. Used to be the puppet Emperor after his father (former/old Emperor). Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. At this moment, Qiao Zhiya was fully asleep, but Chu Rong frowned. It seems Qiao Zhiya slept the whole afternoon after lunch, brought back to the room for a nap by Chu Rong around 1:30 PM. If it weren¡¯t for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s normal vital signs, Chu Rong would almost have thought Qiao Zhiya had fainted. After sleeping for so long in the afternoon, Chu Rong originally thought that Qiao Zhiya might not be able to sleep at night. But he guessed wrong ¨C around before 10 PM, Qiao Zhiya showed signs of drowsiness, and before he was urged, he already climbed into the bed and rolled into the quilt, falling asleep. ¨CThis is wrong, Qiao Zhiya shouldn¡¯t be this sleepy. Chu Rong grew more and more aware of the possible problem stemming from the newly-found stones. He called Zhuang Yu over to do a simple check on Qiao Zhiya. The results of the check were normal, and Qiao Zhiya really just fell asleep. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s just too tired. He¡¯s running around with you during this time, and the pressure is heavy. Now that he¡¯s going home, he relaxed and it all crashed at once. It¡¯s normal for him to sleep a bit longer after being relaxed.¡± Zhuang Yu explained softly and put away the check-up instrument. Chu Rong thought about the busy schedule during this time. He sat on the bed and patted Qiao Zhiya. The youth¡¯s face did look thinner lately¡­ The realization made Chu Rong frown. In the early hours of the morning, the flagship landed at Chu family¡¯s private port. Chu Rong returned home with Qiao Zhiya still asleep. Qiao Zhiya slept so deeply that he had no idea he had been moved while he slept. When he woke up in the morning and saw the familiar bed and ceiling, he felt a bit confused, thinking he was still dreaming. It wasn¡¯t until Chu Rong pushed the door open and entered that he snapped out of it. His eyes lit up instantly, and he threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, not even bothering to put on his shoes before rushing past Chu Rong and out the door. Thinking that Qiao Zhiya was about to rush over for a morning hug, Chu Rong, who had already romantically extended his arms¡­ did not get a hug. Then, he silently retracted them, turned, and walked out the door. He froze upon hearing the surprised yet amused shouts from outside, his expression stiffening. ¡°Is the baby already moving?¡± Qiao Zhiya leaned in front of Gu Yan¡¯an, watching her slightly swollen belly. His fingers hover over her abdomen, afraid of touching it. Gu Yan¡¯an looked at him with amusement, took his hand and placed it on her own abdomen, and replied, ¡°The baby doesn¡¯t move much yet, but in another month, the fetal movements will be more noticeable. By then, the baby can greet you.¡± It¡¯s already winter now. Although the house was heated, Gu Yan¡¯an still wore a thin sweater for warmth. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand was pressed against her belly through the sweater, his ears perked up and his eyes wide open, his body stiff and motionless, as if someone pressed the pause button. Gu Yan¡¯an was amused by his appearance. She let out a soft giggle, and it caused her body to shake. So, her belly seemed to move. ¡°It moved! Baby said hello to me!¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly retracts his hand, nearly jumping with excitement. He spun in place, glancing at Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly, wanting to reach out but hesitating. He then paced a bit, his face and ears turning red, exuding an excited energy, unsure of what to do next. Gu Yanan couldn¡¯t bear to tell him the truth, so she only smiled and looked at him, motioning him to sit on the sofa, not step on the ground barefoot. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t sit still at all. He catches a glimpse of Chu Rong approaching with a grim expression while holding plush slippers. Startled, he quickly skirts around the sofa, avoiding Chu Rong¡¯s direction, and scurries back into the room. Chu Rong£º¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Breakfast is almost ready.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an stood up and looked at Chu Rong with a smile, said gently, ¡°I cooked porridge for you. Your Dage did not come back for a busy night yesterday and should be home at noon.¡± Chu Rong looked back at Qiao Zhiya, bent over and put the slippers aside. He then supported the youth, nodded, and asked about what¡¯s happening in the Chu family. Before they got home, the Empire had already submitted an application for joint trial. Chu Huai has been busy with this for the past few days. Before lunch, Chu Huai returned home, and Chu Yan also rushed back from school. The family gathered together and enjoyed a warm lunch. After the meal, Chu Huai went to rest, while Chu Rong took Fan Xiangnan to the military compound. With her morning sickness subsided, Gu Yan¡¯an began to feel drowsy. Not long after lunch, she also went for a nap. So, the only ones left awake in the house were Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan. The two youths hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time. They both looked at each other in tacit agreement, then immediately walked towards the mecha battle hall. After Qiao Zhiya logged into his mecha, he noticed that the one Chu Yan was piloting was not his usual silver-gray small-sized mecha, but a gray mecha produced by the Chu family¡¯s military. He was surprised and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your mecha?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve put it away. I want to get used to manually-piloted mecha first,¡± Chu Yan¡¯s voice came from the other side, and then the gray mecha moved, attacking at a much slower speed than before. Qiao Zhiya ducked easily. He then counter-attacked, slamming his weapon over the gray mecha. The gray mecha easily fell down without much resistance. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Once more!¡± Chu Yan immediately got up and attacked again. Suppressing his surprise at easily defeating Chu Yan, Qiao Zhiya counterattacked with renewed vigor. The gray mecha, unable to react in time, took a full hit and collapsed. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Carry on!¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t continue, so he stopped attacking and disembarked from his mecha. Looking up at the mecha Chu Yan was piloting, he tactfully said, ¡°Xiao Yan, this mecha doesn¡¯t suit you. Why don¡¯t you come down first? I want to take a look at it.¡± Since the battle until now, he hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to thoroughly study the mass-produced manually-piloted mechas developed by Master Shang and Master Ren. He had seen Chu Rong¡¯s subordinates adapt to these mechas quite well, and had secretly looked at the mecha blueprints, thinking there were no issues. He assumed that this batch of mechas was probably successful. However, judging from Chu Yan¡¯s performance just now, the reality seemed quite different. The gray mech moved closer, the cockpit opened, and Chu Yan jumped out of it, looking slightly discouraged. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t know how to comfort him. He just patted his shoulder lightly, then boarded the gray mech. The cockpit structure of the gray mecha was identical to that of his ¡°Elf,¡± with only some minor alterations made to the placement of the sapphire energy slot. Since he couldn¡¯t dismantle it to take a closer look, Qiao Zhiya only glanced at it briefly before shifting his gaze away, then sat down in the pilot¡¯s seat. After the routine synchronization procedure, the mecha was activated. Qiao Zhiya tried to stretch his leg, and the mecha responded by doing the same about half a second later. He frowned and finally understood why Chu Yan was so weak today. Chu Yan¡¯s advantage lies in speed and his versatile tactics. However, this manually-piloted mecha significantly weakens the pilot¡¯s speed due to the nature of the mecha itself, restricting the pilot¡¯s performance in terms of speed. This effectively countered Chu Yan¡¯s strengths. Afterward, he tried several maneuvers, gradually getting accustomed to the half-second delay in this slower rhythm. Ten minutes later, he signaled for Chu Yan to board his own Elf. Hearing this, Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up. He could not wait to log in to the cockpit of the Elf. He had long been drooling over Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ¡°Elf¡±, but he had never found the courage to ask to pilot it, nor had he found the opportunity to do so. The two of them clashed again, and Chu Yan quickly regained his composure. After becoming familiar with the basic operations of manually-piloted mechas, his attack speed increased, his movements became more fierce, and he even exuded a sense of solemnity that he hadn¡¯t shown before. While the war undoubtedly forever marked him, it also greatly enhanced Chu Yan¡¯s strength. Qiao Zhiya could barely fight for one minute before being beaten down, and then he got up and motioned for Chu Yan to continue. The two of them fought for the entire afternoon. In the end, Qiao Zhiya returned with the ¡°corpse¡± of the gray mecha, as Chu Yan accidentally unleashed too much force during his attacks, causing the gray mecha to be completely destroyed, relying on the excellent performance of the ¡°Elf.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Chu Yan was very embarrassed. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears fluttered as he appeased him, ¡°The bad thing is your mecha, no need to apologize to me.¡± Chu Yan looked at him with his usual considerate demeanor, paused for a moment, then suddenly flashed a brilliant smile. He reached out and put his arm around his shoulder, and the two of them, like old friends, said, ¡°Qiao, you seem to have some free time now. Um, I don¡¯t know when you might¡­ you know.¡± Qiao Zhiya liked to see Chu Yan¡¯s long-lost mischievous liveliness. He gave him a return smile, then nodded and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make a mecha for you.¡± Chu Yan was waiting for this sentence. He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder to express his gratitude. That night, when Chu Rong returned, Qiao Zhiya said that he wanted to help Master Ren, and on the way, design a custom mecha for Chu Yan. After the war, when his powers had just upgraded, Chu Rong was worried about any issues with the vine pattern on his wrist and forbade him from worrying about anything else. At that time, the fake Zerg Queen had already been captured, and the war situation was no longer so urgent. His attention was fully focused on Gu Yan¡¯an and the Ning family¡¯s conspiracy, so he obediently didn¡¯t touch the mecha. Now, before he knew it, more than two months have passed, and his powers have remained stable. It¡¯s time for him to attend to the things he should be busy with, and Master Ren¡¯s side must be getting anxious as well. After hearing his plans, Chu Rong rubbed the vine pattern on his wrist, but did not stop the youth. He agreed to his request. The next day, Qiao Zhiya, accompanied by Chu Yan, went to Master Ren¡¯s personal laboratory with a large batch of materials and jade that Chu Rong had stuffed over. During this period, Master Ren had been cursing Chu Rong every day in the laboratory, accusing him of disregarding the overall situation and being too biased, scolding him for restricting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s freedom. He was so angry that he smashed several sets of tools. Now that he finally had Qiao Zhiya here, he hurriedly contacted Master Shang and then presented Qiao Zhiya with the artificially cultivated beast tendons and substitute cores, pulling him and refusing to let him leave. After seeing the artificial beast tendons, Qiao Zhiya could no longer turn his attention away and didn¡¯t want to leave. Chu Yan was left on the sidelines, glancing at the group of research maniacs gathered together. He scratched his face, walked to the side, found a place to sit down, took out a textbook on command studies, and waited for Qiao Zhiya to ¡°get off work¡± so they could go home together. CH 102.3 As time slipped away unnoticed, the first snowfall of winter arrived, marking the beginning of the joint trial against figures such as the Ning family, Long Ruifeng, Prince An Xei, and others. Today was a rare day when Qiao Zhiya did not go to the laboratory. Instead, he nestled on the sofa with Chu Yan and Gu Yan¡¯an, waiting for the trial to begin. ¡°Maybe watching this isn¡¯t suitable for the baby¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya expressed concern as he placed the steaming hot snacks on the coffee table using a heat-insulated tray. ¡°It¡¯s okay, the baby is asleep and can¡¯t hear anything,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an reassured, leaning comfortably against the cushion arranged by Chu Yan. She smiled and reached out to gently pat Chu Yan¡¯s head, silently thanking him. Feeling a bit embarrassed by her touch, Chu Yan, who had gradually regained his vitality, stretched out his long legs, grabbed a cushion, and slumped onto the sofa, adopting a posture as if he were about to watch a movie with popcorn. Seeing everyone so relaxed, Qiao Zhiya set aside his worries about the little baby and sat down as well. At 1 PM, the trial started on time. The screen flickered on. Qiao Zhiya quickly located Chu Huai, representing the Federation, and An Tyn, representing the Empire, at the plaintiff¡¯s table. Then, he scanned the room and found Chu Rong¡¯s figure sitting in the back among the spectators. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect An Tyn would come here in person. Right¨C now we should refer to him as Emperor.¡± Chu Yan muttered, stuffing a snack into his mouth. Qiao Zhiya heard his commentary. He turned his attention back to An Tyn, his mind was slightly distracted. Just one year had passed, yet An Tyn had completely transformed. He had grown significantly taller, his features had sharpened, and he had matured into a composed young man, no longer resembling his youthful self but rather exuding a sense of maturity. With these thoughts in mind, he turned his head to look at Chu Yan beside him. His gaze lingered on the mature features that Chu Yan shared with Chu Rong, and he compared their significant height difference to his own unchanged slender arms and legs. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. In a flash, everyone around him had grown from simple teenagers into full-fledged young adults. It¡¯s been two years¡­ No, it¡¯s been two and a half years. He¡¯s been in the world for two and a half years without even realizing it. He then looked up at the screen displaying the trial scene, his gaze falling on the slightly furrowed brow of Chu Rong¡¯s profile. He clenched his fists ¡ª after more than two years, he had found someone he cared about, and finally touched upon a hint of truth about why he had come here. Chu Rong had analyzed with him that the Zerg was attracted by someone, and the passage was artificially created. So, if he was also attracted artificially ¡ª wait a minute! If he was also brought here artificially, did that mean that there was a teleportation passage on the Chu family¡¯s mining planet where he first arrived in this world? No, that¡¯s not right. He shouldn¡¯t have been intentionally brought here by the Ning family or the mastermind. His arrival was probably just an accident; otherwise, the Ning family wouldn¡¯t have failed to capture him. His face tensed as he quickly pondered the situation. Then, he suddenly remembered something ¡ª there seemed to be an Imperial warship buried beneath the place where he was transported! According to Chu Rong, that warship belonged to Jian¡¯s father, who was the lover of the Imperial High Advisor, the late Prince An Lunn. He was killed by the former Emperor when he found an opportunity to investigate the secrets behind the Zergs¡­ So it¡¯s highly possible that An Lunn had already discovered something back then, perhaps even obtained a device capable of creating teleportation passages! However, for some reason, An Lunn¡¯s warship ended up being destroyed on the Chu family¡¯s mining planet. ¡­¡­It was very likely that there was a black hole transmission device on the warship that really brought him here! His thoughts instantly cleared. He was immediately excited. He currently has the device from the Zerg Queen¡¯s transmission black hole and the raw material, black stone, for making the device. If he can find the teleportation device that brought him here in the first place, then there¡¯s hope of going back home! As long as he thoroughly studies that device, analyzes its specific usage methods, and determines the correct direction¡­ he needs to ask Chu Rong to obtain An Lunn¡¯s warship and thoroughly search it! At that time, his magic power had just been activated, it was relatively weak, and many important clues might have been missed! So he must search again! Maybe there will be new discoveries this time! The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He couldn¡¯t sit still any longer and was about to contact Chu Rong, when suddenly he heard exclamations from Chu Yan and Gu Yan¡¯an beside him. It snapped him back to reality, making him realize that Chu Rong was currently participating in a public trial and wouldn¡¯t be available to take his call. He paused, lowered his communicator and looked up at the screen. Immediately, he almost let out an exclamation. While he was lost in thought, he didn¡¯t know which stage the trial had reached. Currently, evidence was being presented in court. Behind a large stack of classified documents and testing reports on harmful drugs from the Ning family, a video was playing. The content of the video is very familiar ¨C it was of the Zerg Queen whose limbs he tore off brutally before. In the video, the Zerg Queen was trapped in a sealed environment, already awake but only able to struggle meaninglessly. Its appearance had changed from before; it was covered in unsightly slime, with a large hole in its head. It made one wonder how it could still be alive with such injuries. The prosecution zoomed in on the video and then produced a device resembling a remote control. They explained in detail, saying, ¡°This is the tool used by Ning Tianya to control the Zerg Queen. There¡¯s a sensor device inside the Zerg Queen¡¯s brain that can release different types of neurotransmitter, affecting the queen¡¯s actions. For example, this button¡­¡± The prosecution pressed a button, and the writhing Zerg Queen immediately stopped still. And then, it began to crazily ram its body to the wall. ¡°That cage must be made of Grade 10 materials. It didn¡¯t even break despite the impact,¡± Chu Yan sighed, his face creased with concern. He even shielded Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s view with a pillow, and didn¡¯t touch the snacks. ¡°Dasao, Qiao is right. Watching this isn¡¯t good for prenatal education.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an also felt that the scene was too grotesque. She took the pillow from Chu Yan and covered her own view. The people watching the trial on Starnet were all shocked and disgusted ¨C the Zerg Queen was really hard to look at. The prosecution probably realized that the footage could cause discomfort to viewers, so they quickly turned off the video. They then presented some potions and analysis reports, continuing, ¡°The substances used by the Ning family to control soldiers are made from this kind of secretion found on the Zergs. This slimy substance can corrode the human mind, and prolonged use causes physical stiffness, turning people into mindless zombies.¡± The public frowned, and their hatred against the Ning family was raised again ¨C they couldn¡¯t believe that the Ning family would slip this kind of substance into their medicines and drugs. Truly abhorrent! After discussing these major crimes, the prosecution presented another video recording, revealing the Ning family¡¯s involvement in human experimentation and Ning Tianxing¡¯s use of his own son for research purposes. The public froze, and then exploded into discussion. What did they hear? Human experiment? Experimented on his own son? Creating Zerg was inhumane enough, but the Ning family just straight up was doing human experiments? Using their own blood-related family members?? Everyone remembered Ning Kongran and was confused again. But that¡¯s not right. Ning Tianxing¡¯s son Ning Kongran looked normal ¨C he was healthy, didn¡¯t look like he was experimented on. As if sensing their doubts, the prosecution showed the evidence ¡ª a small boy, probably not older than 10, lying on a cold table, struggling in pain. Although the picture was censored, the people were shocked. Then, they finally realized that Ning Tianxing had another son besides Ning Kongran. Ning Kongran actually has a younger brother! After that, there were various terrible experimental pictures. The public¡¯s exclamations of shock never stopped. The pillow that Gu Yan¡¯an used to cover her eyes has never been taken off. After the end of this part, all the Ning family¡¯s crimes were all laid out. It¡¯s finally time for Long Ruifeng and An Xei¡¯s trial. Long Ruifeng¡¯s charges were straightforward: treason and the use of drugs to harm and manipulate members of the You family. His case was quickly summarized. Finally, it was An Xei¡¯s turn. At this point, the prosecution team from the Federation stepped down, and the prosecution team from the Empire took over. The charges against An Xei were listed from most severe to least severe: slaughtering members of the royal family, colluding with the Ning family in an attempt to overthrow the governments of both the Federation and the Empire, and attempting to provoke war. Among these charges, the most egregious to the public was the one involving providing human test subjects to the Ning family for their experiments. All the evidence was too solid. There¡¯s no way to justify their crimes. The public¡¯s anger continued to rise. The trial proceeded according to the process, with witnesses coming forward one by one to recount their experiences as victims. Among them, a group of Hermits with distinctive appearances attracted the most attention. As the day darkened, the public trial finally reached the last stage: the sentencing. All the defendants were brought forward. They were separated and locked in transparent containment booths, their limbs restrained, and their heads fitted with spiritual power suppressors. Some were even in a state of unconsciousness. But there was no sympathy for them. After learning about the atrocities they had committed, the public was eager to see them punished without mercy. ¡°The verdict¡­ Ning Tianxing is to be sentenced to a spiritual execution.¡± Hearing the judge¡¯s sentence, Qiao Zhiya looked puzzled. He looked at Chu Yan, then asked, ¡°What is a spiritual execution?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s relaxed mood these days was once again weighed down by this trial. He frowned and replied, ¡°It¡¯s just a means to prevent them from dying so easily. Spiritual execution, or spiritual death penalty, is the cruelest punishment in the Federation, something that hasn¡¯t been used for hundreds of years. The specific procedure involves slowly disturbing and stimulating a person¡¯s spiritual power, making the prisoner gradually experience the process of spiritual power dissolution and physical death, which is much more painful than simply injecting a poison needle to kill them. And throughout this process, the prisoner remains fully conscious.¡± Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but think about the soldiers who had been poisoned by the Ning family¡¯s ¡°medicine¡±. He silently suppressed the unbearable feelings in his heart. Chu Yan knew he might not be able to handle something like this, so he raised his arm and put it on his shoulder, changing the subject, saying, ¡°I¡¯ve eaten a ton of snacks, I probably won¡¯t be able to eat dinner later¡­ By the way, final exams are coming up soon, have you prepared? Don¡¯t mess up the exams.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at the time upon hearing this, thinking of the baby in Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly. His attention was immediately diverted, and as he got up, he said, ¡°I¡¯m prepared, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t mess up. I¡¯ll go check if dinner is ready¡ª¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an made a sudden noise, with a hint of panic in her voice. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya looked at each other then at the screen. In the middle of the screen, after the judge pronounced the verdict on each of the convicts, a small black hole about the size of a human head appeared inside the containment booth of An Xei. An Xei, who was originally unconscious, was now involuntarily moving his head, looking extremely eerie. ¡°Ah! Black hole!¡± The screams echoed across the Starnet, causing panic among the populace who, having felt a sense of relief upon seeing the convicts sentenced, were once again thrown into a state of fear and chaos, shouting in alarm. The soldier standing behind An Xei was shocked for a moment, then immediately moved to pull An Xei out. Chu Rong, seated in the spectator¡¯s area, swiftly approached, first using his spiritual power to push the soldier away, then using it to firmly surround An Xei¡¯s containment booth. He then ordered in a commanding tone to the surrounding area, ¡°Evacuate the area! Nobody get close here, be cautious, the black hole is expanding!¡± Everyone woke up from their panicked state. The soldiers waiting in the corner of the field started to act and began to protect everyone, leading a swift evacuation. As Chu Rong reached out towards the containment booth to pull An Xei out and dispel the black hole, before he could touch the barrier, An Xei, who had been struggling meaninglessly, suddenly opened his eyes wide and lunged forward. At the same time, a powerful force erupted, forcibly pushing Chu Rong¡¯s hand away. ¡°It¡¯s you¡­¡± An Xei¡¯s eyes flickered as he coldly fixed them on Chu Rong, who stood composed in front of him. His tone was eerie as he said, ¡°It¡¯s you¡­ who destroyed my little pet.¡± The voice was still An Xei¡¯s, but the viscous, slippery tone¡­ Chu Rong¡¯s eyes flickered, retracting his hand. He squinted back, a cold smirk playing on his lips as he said, ¡°Finally daring to show yourself, you coward.¡± ¡°An Xei¡± was visibly provoked by his words, his expression shifting rapidly, but then he quickly laughed, murmuring, ¡°I¡¯ll remember you.¡± With those words, he suddenly extended his arm and leaned his body into the now half-person-sized black hole, fixing a gaze filled with murderous intent on Chu Rong. He then twisted his neck and said, ¡°Chu family¡­ Hahaha, Chu family, you¡¯re doomed.¡± The black hole expanded sharply, engulfing An Xei¡¯s body, before suddenly collapsing. All the violent force vanished in an instant, and Chu Rong looked at the now empty containment booth with a deep, intense gaze, his eyes filled with killing intent. Finally showing their face, this damned monster. CH 103.1 Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Yuan Lie: Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, a Lieutenant General. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Xiang Jing: Xiang Kun¡¯s paternal female cousin. He Hongjun: one of the four Marshal from the Federation. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Long Baorou: the ex-President¡¯s daughter. An Tyn: An Leen¡¯s twin brother. The Fifth Imperial Prince, now the Emperor. An Xei: The former Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. After the live broadcast hastily ended, Chu Huai and An Tyn agreed to hold a short press conference to calm the people who were scared by the black hole. At the press conference, they repeatedly emphasized the fact that the Zerg Queen had been caught and that the straggler Zergs were no longer a threat. They intentionally avoided the part related to the mastermind. The official statement was that An Xei was rescued by his companion using an artificial black hole. There are no Zergs and no casualties, and the Federation and Empire will hurry to pursue the fugitives, so the citizens could rest assured. At that moment, Chu Rong quickly arrived by An Xei¡¯s side, unleashing his power to surround him. Subsequently, An Xei retaliated with a burst of power, resulting in a clash that disrupted the live broadcast briefly. However, the public did not witness An Xei¡¯s eerie side, so they were quickly reassured by the explanations provided by Chu Huai and An Tyn. ¡°Take Ning Tianxing and the others for a thorough inspection, especially focusing on whether there¡¯s anything strange inside their bodies!¡± Chu Rong ordered in a deep voice as he strode purposefully towards the meeting room, his expression as dark as a trench. He was certain that there was absolutely no possibility of a black hole teleportation device on An Xei¡¯s person. So, the only possibility for An Xei¡¯s escape today was that he had a black hole teleportation device implanted inside his body! And this device was hidden very deeply, so deep that it had completely evaded detection in previous inspections! Fan Xiangnan hurriedly responded and asked with a worried frown, ¡°Should we send people to reinforce security at the Chu family¡¯s house?¡± He was standing not far from Chu Rong at the time and had also heard the threatening words spoken by An Xei. Chu Rong paused, his demeanor growing even colder. He said, ¡°Inform the old butler that starting today, the highest level of protection at the house must be active 24/7. Also, conduct another sweep of all the buildings, and deploy a team to patrol regularly.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As the meeting room was now within sight, Fan Xiangnan stopped in his tracks, while Chu Rong pushed open the door and strode in. He looked at Yuan Lie and He Hongjun, who were discussing something with serious expressions, and said, ¡°Enhance the alert on all planets. Conduct another population census and planetary sweep. Notify the high-ranking officials of the Federation and members of all major families to gather at the Presidential Palace. I want to check if they have any mental locks in their minds! Also, deploy several more military units. Starting today, thoroughly inspect all the garbage planets in the Federation!¡± Yuan Lie and He Hongjun hadn¡¯t seen him this visibly irritable in a long time, realizing that his mood must be really bad right now. Without asking further questions, they got up, each attending to their tasks before dispersing. Qiao Zhiya, who was still at home, and the members of the major families soon received a notice to go to the Presidential Palace for inspection. Qiao Zhiya was a bit worried. He asked Gu Yan¡¯an to take a coat and asked, ¡°Are you sure you also want to participate?¡± He knew that there were more things for human females to be cautious about during pregnancy, especially regarding spiritual abilities. Checking for mental locks requires allowing someone else¡¯s spiritual energy to enter one¡¯s own spiritual sea, which carries certain risks. Chu Yan furrowed his brow, packing the meal that hadn¡¯t been eaten yet into a portion and placing it in thermos boxes. Shaking his head, he said, ¡°Everyone has to undergo the check. Our family can¡¯t make special arrangements. Let¡¯s see how Dage and Erge arrange it; they have a sense of propriety.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything will be fine. The Federation has policies to protect pregnant women.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an finished putting on her coat and scarf, gently patting her stomach to reassure them, although her eyes also held a hint of concern. Immediately after the trial, all governmental officials and extended family members of the major families were summoned, and the situation seemed less optimistic than expected. After packing up, they hurriedly made their way to the Presidential Palace under the protection of Lin Zhen¡¯s team. In the car, with the persuasion of Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan, Gu Yan¡¯an managed to eat a bit. However, her mood was still not good, so she ate very little. On the way, they could see soldiers conducting emergency patrols in densely populated areas. Qiao Zhiya felt a bit uneasy seeing this and worried that Gu Yan¡¯an might be anxious. However, he didn¡¯t dare to show it, so he sat quietly, fidgeting with the thermos box, his expression tense. The hover cars, each bearing the emblem of a major family, gradually arrived at the Presidential Palace. Their group arrived relatively late. When they entered the hall, it was already filled with people, and members from the Xiang and Wei families had almost all arrived. The Presidential Palace had elevated its security to the highest level, and everyone entering underwent a thorough search of their belongings. Perhaps to prevent any potential hidden threats among them, people from all families were separated and placed under protection by soldiers according to their family units. This measure ensured that even if someone posed a threat, it wouldn¡¯t lead to widespread turmoil. As a pregnant woman, Gu Yan¡¯an was escorted to a quieter second-floor lounge upon arrival, along with other pregnant women from different families. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya were worried and wanted to follow, but Gu Yan¡¯an persuaded them to stay downstairs. ¡ª¡ªThey are counted as family members of the President. In this case, it was better not to do anything special, just go to the prescribed area and wait for the check. The two returned to the lobby again. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but dial a communication to Chu Rong, but the call was transferred to Fan Xiangnan. ¡°Sir is in a meeting and can only come out later,¡± Fan Xiangnan explained with a whisper. The situation was not convenient to chat with. Qiao Zhiya understood, and told him a summary of his current situation. He mentioned that Gu Yan¡¯an was separated and stayed alone in the lounge. Upon hearing this, Fan Xiangnan seemed to check something and then replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the President and the Chief have already made arrangements. Zhuang Yu will come over to the lounge later to accompany the pregnant women, and Tan Shengwei¡¯s squad has already rushed over to provide separate protection for them.¡± Qiao Zhiya was relieved, and Chu Yan, who was listening to their conversation, also felt relieved. They sat comfortably in their seats waiting for the inspection to begin. Compared to the bustling areas of other families with larger populations, the scene with just the two of them stood out conspicuously empty. Occasionally, people glanced at them with sympathetic and pitying looks, but the two of them paid no attention, engrossed in their own conversation. In the sparsely populated area of the Yuan family, Yuan Xiu noticed Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya as soon as he entered. He stepped forward to join them, eager to join in the conversation, but someone beat him to it¡ªsomeone whose identity was quite surprising. ¡°Xiang Kun?¡± He exclaimed in surprise, staring at the young man who had naturally sat down next to Chu Yan. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets ¡ª Chu Yan actually didn¡¯t reject Xiang Kun¡¯s approach! After glancing at Xiang Kun, he actually tacitly allowed him to sit beside him! There were no angry glares! No rolling up of sleeves in preparation for confrontation! No direct confrontation at all! Actually, Xiang Kun sat beside him so peacefully, and spoke a few words in harmony with Xiang Kun! Dear God! He raised his hand and covered his head, feeling that he probably ate something weird. He must be having some real vivid hallucinations right now. Even in the most bizarre dreams he had ever had, Chu Yan had never been this close to Xiang Kun. What was happening today? Had the Zergs eaten Chu Yan¡¯s brain? Or had Yuan Xiu missed some crucial plot points of this ¡°enemies to friends¡± drama? When Xiang Kun stood up and walked towards their direction, Chu Yan noticed him. It was inevitable, given that the Chu and Xiang family areas were directly opposite each other. Plus, Xiang Kun wasn¡¯t short and didn¡¯t have a forgettable face. On the contrary, his appearance was quite deceptive and striking. But he quickly looked away, pretending not to notice anything. Since the war until now, he and Xiang Kun had never directly spoken or contacted each other. He wasn¡¯t sure how to interact with the current Xiang Kun. He felt their relationship was neither that of enemies nor friends, making things awkward between them. ¡°The weapons I gave you last time were taken secretly from my home. In total, you owe me about 1 million.¡± Xiang Kun didn¡¯t know the twists and turns in his heart. After sitting next to him, he opened his mouth and called debts. His face turned ¡°ugly¡±. Chu Yan, who had been talking to Qiao Zhiya with his head slightly tilted, paused upon hearing this, unable to maintain his calm demeanor. He turned his head, furrowing his brow as he glanced at the attire of Xiang Kun, who now looked like a professional Mecha Manufacturer in his work clothes. He grumbled, ¡°You still want to collect money from me? Wasn¡¯t that supposed to be your gift to me?¡± He was so touched at the time too! ¡°When did I ever say that it was a gift for you? Even close friends keep accounts clear. Are we even friends?¡± Xiang Kun frowned as he retorted, his expression filled with unreasonable stubbornness and rogue-like demeanor, completely contrasting with the gentle aura he had gradually cultivated over the past year. Chu Yan froze, and suddenly became angry. He shouted, ¡°No! No money!¡± ¡°Your eldest brother is the president, and your second brother is a marshal. Are you really telling me you don¡¯t have money?¡± Xiang Kun didn¡¯t back down, pulling his hand out of his pocket and extending it towards Chu Yan with a debtor¡¯s annoying expression on his face. He frowned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to dodge the issue, pay up!¡± Chu Yan hit his palms with anger, raised his leg, and like a gangster uncle, lightly stomped Xiang Kun¡¯s foot. He then turned his head, pretending not to hear anything, so he wouldn¡¯t have to give anything. Xiang Kun was angry, and stretched his leg to step on him. He stomped hard, making Chu Yan¡¯s expression twist in pain. He turned to look at Xiang Kun, unable to believe it, and accused him, ¡°I only used a fraction of my strength when I hit you, but you almost crushed me! Do we have some sort of grudge between us?!¡± ¡°Since when did we not!¡± Xiang Kun retracted his feet and glared harshly at Chu Yan. ¡°¡­Fuck you!¡± Chu Yan exploded, the first time since a long while. Xiang Kun thought he was scolding himself and wanted to step on him again. Chu Yan reached out and held his leg, glaring at him, ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s overdoing it here? Huh, want to fight? Don¡¯t forget, your eldest brother is the president now. If you fight, you¡¯ll be tarnishing his reputation! Tarnishing the Federation¡¯s reputation!¡± Xiang Kun refused to back down, deliberately bringing his face closer, adopting a rogue-like demeanor as if to say, ¡°Hit me, and watch how I¡¯ll report you later.¡± Qiao Zhiya watched in disbelief as the two grown-up, mature individuals suddenly regressed to childish bickering, almost on the verge of a fight. His gaze shifted back and forth between the two faces, and then, silently, he reached out and gently pushed Chu Yan forward. Caught off guard by the sudden ¡°attack¡± from behind, Chu Yan stumbled forward, lunging straight at Xiang Kun. The two of them then ended up embracing each other, face-to-face, horizontally. Both were wide-eyed and surprised. ¡°Boom!¡± On the other side, Yuan Xiu, who had been sneakily eavesdropping, was shocked, his mouth gaping open, nearly falling off his chair. Then, Mrs. Yuan, who had long been displeased with his unruly behavior, smacked the back of his head, dragging him back and firmly pressing him back into his seat. ¡°Now you are good friends.¡± Qiao Zhiya watched with satisfaction as the two of them stood there awkwardly embracing each other. He gently reached out and pulled Chu Yan up, then encouraged Chu Yan to help Xiang Kun to his feet. Then, he took out a box of snacks and said, ¡°Stop fighting, let¡¯s have some snacks together. Let¡¯s all get along.¡± Chu Yan awkwardly pulled Xiang Kun up, holding the snacks. His gaze inexplicably swept over Xiang Kun¡¯s work clothes, feeling uncomfortable for a moment. He cleared his throat and extended his wrist, wearing the communicator. ¡°How much did you say earlier? I¡¯ll transfer it to you¡­ You¡¯re grown-up now, still picking fights with people. Your temper is really¡­¡± ¡°Slap!¡± Xiang Kun suddenly slapped away Chu Yan¡¯s extended hand and threw the snacks into his arms. Standing up abruptly, he declared, ¡°I don¡¯t want it! Who needs your stinky money?¡± With that, he strode away with long strides. Chu Yan glanced at his hand that had been slapped away and then at Xiang Kun¡¯s retreating figure. The anger that had just subsided rushed back, and he felt the impulse to chase after him and beat him up like he used to. However, for some reason, his legs wouldn¡¯t move. In the end, he angrily tore open the box of snacks and took a big bite, muttering, ¡°What kind of person is he? Thinks he¡¯s above everyone after a little success! With such a bad temper, no wonder he has no friends at school!¡± ¡°He had no friends at school?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked curiously. Chu Yan rolled his eyes, completely losing his appetite due to anger. He spat out some crumbs of the snack while venting, ¡°Before, he was surrounded by a bunch of sycophants from the Xiang family. Now, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s gotten into him, he went everywhere by himself now. Those friends of his are not real!¡± Qiao Zhiya silently estimated the distance between their school¡¯s mecha manufacturing department to the mecha piloting department. With a gaze that seemed to say, ¡°You poor thing.¡± he looked at Chu Yan, who was seething with anger. Then, he kindly handed him a bottle of water and signaled for a cleaning robot to come and sweep away the crumbs of the snack. ¡®The two departments were in different buildings, and were quite far away from each other. But still, he could pay attention to Xiang Kun¡¯s friendship situation. Xiao Yan and Xiang Kun really have a good relationship, ah.¡¯ Feeling quite content, Chu Yan¡¯s lips curled upwards slightly. He glanced towards Xiang Kun, who had already returned to the Xiang family¡¯s area and sat back next to Xiang Jing. His expression had reverted to the emotionless demeanor that had been common over the past year. Furrowing his brow, Qiao Zhiya was about to divert his attention back to Chu Yan and suggest he go and check on Xiang Kun again, when he noticed Xiang Hui sitting alone in the corner with his head bowed. In memory, Xiang Hui always maintained the facade of the perfect heir of a Great Family, carrying himself with poise and ensuring he appeared flawless in the eyes of others, never making mistakes. However, today, he seemed peculiar. In this gathering of federal elites and members of various major families, he not only refrained from engaging with others but also sat alone in the corner, head bowed, appearing as though he had no desire to interact with anyone. Quite odd. ¡°What happened?¡± Chu Yan went on a long tirade about Xiang Kun¡¯s faults but received no response. He turned his head to find Qiao Zhiya seemingly lost in thought, following his gaze in confusion. Just then, he caught Xiang Kun¡¯s gaze, prompting him to glare back with fury. Xiang Kun saw this. After a momentary hesitation, he averted his gaze. ¡®How dare you provoke me with your eyes?¡¯ Chu Yan grinded his teeth, and wanted to roll up his sleeve. Qiao Zhiya was evoked by Chu Yan¡¯s words, glanced at Xiang Hui again, shook his head and said nothing, but left a little attention there. CH 103.2 About 15 minutes later, Chu Huai returned with the Xiang and Wei¡¯s families¡¯ representatives and heads of various departments to start scheduling inspections. As attendees were all high-ranking members of the federation, they likely had some insight into undisclosed matters. Considering their own safety and the security of the federation, they cooperated fully with the inspection. Examination of the mental force lock needed some level of penetration of the spiritual sea. In order not to cause damage to everyone, the inspectors arranged by Chu Huai were all people with a doctor¡¯s certificate and a mental strength level of SS level or above. Of course, these doctors have been confirmed by Chu Rong¡¯s inspection in advance to ensure the safety of the inspection process. During the inspection, Chu Rong¡¯s soldiers would also be on the side to prevent accidents during the inspection. The Chu family was called the first to go to the examination room on the second floor because it had the least number of people and also played a leading role in reassuring the safety of the process. Qiao Zhiya was a little hesitant. His power was different from that of humans, and his brain was not the same. He didn¡¯t know if this would be noticed during the inspection. Chu Yan assumed he was nervous and hurriedly reassured him, saying, ¡°Your spiritual power is SSS-level. Doctors of SS-level wouldn¡¯t dare to tamper with your mind, and besides, you can trust that Erge won¡¯t let anything happen to you.¡± Thinking of Chu Rong, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s nervousness subsided a bit. He nodded. The two entered different examination rooms under the guidance of soldiers. As soon as Qiao Zhiya stepped in, he spotted Chu Rong¡¯s figure. His eyes lit up, disregarding the presence of an elderly man beside him. He joyfully rushed over and called out, ¡°Chu Rong!¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Rong turned his head, his previously stern expression softening. He opened his arms and embraced Qiao Zhiya, patting the back of his head gently. Then, he turned to the elderly man beside him and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of his examination. Why don¡¯t you go rest for a bit?¡± The elderly man¡¯s gaze swept over Chu Rong¡¯s rarely gentle eyes and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slightly shy expression. A kind smile appeared on his face as he nodded in understanding, then turned towards the inner room, giving them privacy. Chu Rong guided Qiao Zhiya to sit on the nearby sofa, holding his hand gently. ¡°Even though I¡¯m the one conducting the examination now, we still need to go through the detailed process. Just relax and don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart finally calmed. He quickly nodded, trusting himself to him. With their similar levels of strength and mutual trust, the process went smoothly. Qiao Zhiya resisted the urge to lean into the familiar sensation of power and obediently locked his power in the magic pool, allowing Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual energy to circulate in his mind. ¡°Alright.¡± Chu Rong had already known about the unusual power structure in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind from their previous exploration, so the inspection was quickly completed. He gently touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead and, after he opened his eyes, spoke softly, ¡°Dage and I will be back later today. Take care of Dasao and make sure to get enough rest.¡± Qiao Zhiya just felt that the inspection was over before it even started. He felt reluctant to leave Chu Rong¡¯s side. He nuzzled his palm, nodded obediently, knowing that there must be something else going on behind him. Finally, he stood up and prepared to go out. Seeing this, Chu Rong¡¯s eyes soften even more. He hugged the youth, kissed his forehead, and sent him out in person. About five minutes later, Chu Yan stepped out of the examination room next door, and the two exchanged information. Instead of going downstairs, they turned towards the lounge where the pregnant women were. Halfway through, they happened to encounter the next wave of the Xiang family members coming up for inspection. The relaxed smile on Chu Yan¡¯s face faded, replaced by a glare at Xiang Kun. Xiang Kun didn¡¯t even acknowledge him, looking straight ahead and simply ¡°passed by¡± them. ¡°This brat..¡± Chu Yan wanted to roll up his sleeves. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly held him back, his gaze shifting to Xiang Hui walking ahead of Xiang Kun. Seeing Xiang Hui¡¯s indifferent demeanor, he became more convinced of his strangeness. Remembering Chu Rong, who was still in the examination room assisting the doctor, he silently set aside his worries and pulled Chu Yan along towards the pregnant women¡¯s lounge area. ¡°Madam?¡± Tan Shengwei, who was guarding outside the pregnant women¡¯s lounge room, hesitated for a moment when he heard their inquiry, then replied, ¡°Didn¡¯t the Madam go to find you two? Someone just came up and said that the Third Young Master and Second Young Master Xiang were fighting downstairs. Madam got worried, so she took Zhuang Yu with her and went down to look for them.¡± Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya heard this and had the same expression. Chu Yan quickly took out his communicator and dialed Zhuang Yu¡¯s number, while Qiao Zhiya quickly spread his magic towards the surroundings. ¡°No one answered!¡± Chu Yan hung up immediately, then turned around and ran towards the third-floor conference room where Chu Huai was. Qiao Zhiya turned around and ran towards Chu Rong¡¯s examination room. Tan Shengwei realized that the situation was not right, and he took out his communicator and started to contact Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen, who was controlling the security of the Presidential Palace outside. ¡®None, none, none¡­¡¯ The magic power quickly searched the first and second floors of the Presidential Palace, but he couldn¡¯t detect any trace of Gu Yan¡¯an. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead broke out in a cold sweat in just that short moment of time, and his pace quickened, almost like a gust of wind sweeping through the second-floor corridor. He dashed straight into the examination room where Chu Rong was located. Inside the room, the eldery man was conducting the examination on Xiang Jing. Chu Rong likely sensed his power fluctuation and was striding out to greet him. They collided at the doorway, and Chu Rong quickly caught him, helping steady his body. Qiao Zhiya, unable to care about almost falling, grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s sleeve and urgently said, ¡°Dasao and Zhuang Yu are missing! Someone lied to them about Xiao Yan and Xiang Kun fighting, and Dasao was worried, saying she was going to find us, but Xiao Yan and I didn¡¯t see her at all! Also, I just used magic to search the first and second floors of the Presidential Palace, but I didn¡¯t find her anywhere.¡± Hearing this, Chu Rong¡¯s expression rapidly darkened. As his breath quickened, he hurriedly asked him to stay here and not walk away, striding out of the examination room. Qiao Zhiya rushed forward to keep up, but was blocked by Xiang Hui, who just came in. They collided and he almost fell. Xiang Hui ignored him and went straight into the inner room. Seeing this, Xiang Kun, who came later, frowned and reached out to support Qiao Zhiya, asking, ¡°Are you okay? I just saw Marshal Chu hurriedly leaving. What happened?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head. After thanking him, he wanted to leave. Then, he noticed something, and glanced back at Xiang Hui again. But at this moment, there was no sign of Xiang Hui inside, nor of Xiang Jing and the elderly man. The military stationed inside and outside the Presidential Palace sprung into action, conducting a thorough search of the premises. All personnel present were placed under tight security and no longer allowed to move freely. But after a detailed search, let alone Gu Yan¡¯an and Zhuang Yu, even Xiang Hui and Xiang Jing who disappeared later were also vanished. ¡°Damn!¡± Chu Yan raised his hand and punched the wall hard. Once again, right next to him, his relatives were missing. Qiao Zhiya also appeared anxious and worried, leaning against the wall with drooping ears. His magic still spread outward as he attempted to locate the two familiar spiritual powers. ¡°The soldier who reported the false information has been found. Traces of the Ning family¡¯s medicines were detected in his body. Based on the absorption rate, it appears he had recently ingested it. His spiritual power is highly unstable, showing signs of manipulation.¡± Fan Xiangnan reported. Despite his calm face, his cadence was over the place, showing his anxiety. Chu Rong nodded in understanding. He saw Lin Zhen hastily entering with a photon computer, and knew that surveillance footage had been retrieved. He quickly took it and started playing the recording. The first footage showed the moment when Xiang Hui went missing. In the recording, Qiao Zhiya and Xiang Kun were supporting each other, speaking with lowered heads. Suddenly, Xiang Hui, who was walking into the room, turned back to glance at them, then reached out his hand towards Qiao Zhiya. Seeing this scene, Chu Rong¡¯s expression was even scarier, while Xiang Kun frowned deeper. ¡°Dage isn¡¯t looking right. This isn¡¯t his usual self. He must be manipulated.¡± Xiang Kun offered his opinion, his expression still solemn. The scene continued to unfold. Just as Xiang Hui reached out his hand, the elderly man finished his inspection on Xiang Jing. Xiang Jing opened her eyes first and saw Xiang Hui standing in front of her. She rose with a puzzled expression and placed her hand on his shoulder. Meanwhile, the elderly man sensed something amiss and rushed towards Xiang Hui. Xiang Hui, startled, turned around. In that instant, a black hole appeared where Xiang Hui had reached out his hand. The black hole rapidly expanded, sucking in the three of them, and then quickly dissipated. Everyone held their breaths as the room descended in silence. Chu Huai, who had not spoken in the corner, clenched his fists. Lin Zhen immediately played the second video. Inside the pregnant women¡¯s lounge area, Gu Yan¡¯an was talking to Zhuang Yu. Then a soldier came in and said something. Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s expression immediately turned anxious. She got up to leave, and although Zhuang Yu tried to persuade her, she couldn¡¯t. So, Zhuang Yu accompanied her out. The scene then shifts to the corridor, where Zhuang Yu was helping Gu Yan¡¯an walk. Then, at a corner, a female figure rushed out, suddenly approaching them. Soon after, a black hole appears, sucking them in. ¡°Bang.¡± There was a crack in the wall of the room. Chu Huai couldn¡¯t control his power and punched the wall. ¡°Continue to search the Presidential Palace, and close all entrances and exits. No one is allowed in or out. Check out the trajectory of Xiang Hui after entering the Presidential Palace to see who he has contacted.¡± Chu Rong issued decisive orders, calmly analyzing the situation, ¡°Everyone¡¯s personal belongings were checked before entering, so it¡¯s unlikely that Xiang Hui had a black hole teleportation device on him. The items he had must have been given to him by someone else after entering the Presidential Palace. The black holes appeared briefly in the surveillance footage, indicating that the victims must have been very close to the perpetrators. It¡¯s likely that Xiang Hui and the woman had unstable teleportation devices, unable to transport them far. With the palace under lockdown, it¡¯s highly probable they are still inside.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Long Baorou!¡± Chu Yan said suddenly, not knowing when he had forced himself to calm down. His eyes stuck on the suspended holographic screen, as he continued, ¡°That figure, it must be her! All the members of the Long family have been arrested, she¡¯s the only one still out there! And only she would be so familiar with the layout of the Presidential Palace!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears suddenly perked up, and he said quickly, ¡°Underground! I detected a weak spiritual power feedback from the underground area! There¡¯s a huge room down there!¡± Chu Rong immediately connected the puzzle. ¡®Underground, Long Baorou¡­¡¯ ¡°There must be a secret passage in this place.¡± Chu Huai suddenly said, then got up and walked straight out. Chu Rong busied himself directing the search team to assemble at the entrance to the Presidential Palace¡¯s secret passage, while Qiao Zhiya had already turned and ran towards the location where the fluctuations were coming from. As he ran, he retracted his wood-elemental magic and increased the output of his earth-elemental magic, heading directly underground for exploration. Everyone quickly followed. The members of other families within the Presidential Palace were still unaware of what had happened. They only knew that the military had suddenly tightened security around everyone. The members of the Chu and Xiang families were all missing without a trace, and even Chu Rong¡¯s subordinates who occasionally appeared all wore expressions suggesting something significant had occurred. While everyone was still puzzled and uneasy, the new president and his entourage suddenly walked out of a room on the third floor with stern faces. Then they all turned a corner together and disappeared from sight. Everyone started to mutter more and more, and whispered to guess what was going on. CH 103.3 The military quickly secured all the entrances and exits of the secret passages. Members of the Chu family entered one after another, but when Xiang Kun tried to follow, he was intercepted by Xiang Lingyun, who had rushed over after receiving the news. ¡°Don¡¯t go. Xiao Hui has made such a mistake, and the Chu family is now most suspicious of us. They won¡¯t let you follow,¡± Xiang Lingyun said anxiously and angrily. But at least his reason remained, knowing that the Chu family would never want to see any members of the Xiang family involved in the rescue. Xiang Kun thought of the image of Xiang Hui being sucked into the black hole and the expression of Chu Yan when he rushed into the tunnel. He reluctantly stopped. The reality did indeed align with what Xiang Lingyun said. Fan Xiangnan guarded the entrance after the Chu family entered the tunnel, not allowing anyone else to enter, demonstrating a distrust toward anyone other than the Chu family. The Presidential Palace, as the residence of a nation¡¯s leader, has an extremely complex underground network of secret passages, with very well-designed security measures. If used by the host to evade pursuit during wartime, it would indeed be very effective. However, if the roles were reversed and the host had to search for someone within these passages, the situation would become quite challenging and not at all enjoyable. Everyone spread out their spiritual powers to orient themselves in the underground tunnel, making the power in the air a little messy for a while. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears remained alert, standing on end. His expression had been tense since entering the secret passage. After pausing for a moment, he purposefully ran towards a certain direction. Chu Rong was busy gathering his strength, while holding down Chu Huai and Chu Yan who were too anxious to maintain their sensibility, motioned them to put away their strength and keep up with Qiao Zhiya. Layer by layer, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s earth-elemental magic dispersed, carefully capturing the familiar fluctuations in the air, sometimes faint, sometimes absent. Unable to resist, Qiao Zhiya quickened his pace until he came upon a wall in front of him. ¡ª¡ªThis tunnel lead to a dead end. To pass, they must detour. Qiao Zhiya became increasingly anxious because he noticed that the faint spiritual power fluctuations were also moving, and at a fast pace. Realizing he couldn¡¯t afford to delay any longer, he immediately took out a small hammer and struck the wall with all his strength. ¡°Boom!¡± The wall, made of some kind of alloy, instantly shattered and broke open, sending tremors through the entire passage. Qiao Zhiya agilely slipped through the hole in the wall, reaching another secret passage, and continued to move forward swiftly. Chu Rong and others followed. Passing through one wall after another, one layer after another, Qiao Zhiya lost track of time. Finally, the faint fluctuations became clearer. Qiao Zhiya accelerated even more and once again raised his hammer towards another wall. After a bang, the terrible Zerg hissing came across his head and covered his face, and numerous arthropods squeezed out of the hole and came here. There were actually Zerg here! Qiao Zhiya froze in fear, but Chu Rong quickly reached out, pulling him back and standing in front to shield him. Chu Rong then took out a handheld double-barreled gun and fired directly towards the opening. Following closely behind was Chu Yan, while Chu Huai, rarely revealing the ferocity typical of the Chu family, drew a long knife and aimed it at the approaching Zerg creature, slashing at it. After cleaning up these Zergs at the fastest speed, everyone was in a deep mood, and speeded up their pace. ¡°Look ahead!¡± Chu Yan suddenly spoke, prompting Chu Huai to hasten his pace towards the faint light ahead. After dispatching the Zergs surrounding something, he rushed in only to find his hope turning into disappointment at what lay before him. ¡°It¡¯s the old senior doctor and Xiang Jing,¡± he replied, his grip tightening on the long knife. His black suit had become disheveled, stained with some Zerg blood and mucus, making him look both disheveled and formidable. Chu Rong also spotted the old doctor and Xiang Jing lying unconscious in the protective shield in the corner. He speculated that the old doctor had used the shield to protect himself and Xiang Jing in the moment of crisis. He said, ¡°Xiang Hui and the others must be nearby.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched suddenly. He swiftly dashed forward, taking out his small crossbow. The others were momentarily stunned but quickly followed suit. Chu Rong then sent a location signal to Fan Xiangnan outside, instructing him to send someone in to evacuate the old doctor and Xiang Jing. After breaking through several more walls, Chu Rong¡¯s expression suddenly changed. He reached out and stopped Qiao Zhiya, who wanted to continue charging forward, while also halting Chu Huai and Chu Yan. Ahead of them, the Zergs were nowhere to be seen, and an exit of the secret passage, obviously recently dug out by hand, was revealed. However, a massive black hole suddenly appeared, rapidly expanding and occupying the entire passage. If Chu Rong hadn¡¯t stopped in time, they might have been sucked into this huge black hole that suddenly appeared at this time. ¡°Such a pity, we didn¡¯t catch you. Your concern for Gu Yan¡¯an is only superficial,¡± came Long Baorou¡¯s voice, distorted and eerie through the black hole, tinged with a mocking smile. ¡°Chu Rong, you ruined my life. I want you to live in pain for the rest of your life! And that Native bitch¡­ you¡ª¡± The villain doth speak too much. Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya suddenly raised their hands together, one lifting a double-barreled gun and the other a crossbow. Spiritual power and magic surged simultaneously as bullets and arrows, carrying immense waves of force, shot straight towards the black hole and exploded with a deafening roar. The black hole fizzled silently a few times, and suddenly collapsed and disappeared, revealing the figure of Long Baorou covered by a black robe. She probably didn¡¯t expect them to be so cruel. Long Baorou flinched, then quickly raised her hands as if she wanted to make another black hole. But it was already too late. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wood-elemental magic had silently wrapped around her from behind, instantly forming vines that entangled her neck and limbs, then rapidly spreading until she was bound into a ball of plants. On the other side, Chu Huai and Chu Yan had already rushed to the entrance of the passage. They found Gu Yan¡¯an and Zhuang Yu lying inside a peculiar black device, covered by a specially made Chu family protective shield. They moved forward to take them out. Seizing the moment, Xiang Hui, hidden in the shadows, suddenly rushed out. A strange faint red light emanated from the device beneath Gu Yan¡¯an and Zhuang Yu, and then a larger black hole appeared, threatening to engulf Chu Huai and Chu Yan. Chu Rong¡¯s eyes were sharp. He rushed forward, and raised his gun again. Qiao Zhiya then threw out Qiuqiu and its two children, while using his magic to stimulate Xiang Hui¡¯s brain. He urgently exclaimed, ¡°Qiuqiu, go! Bring them back!¡± The vines surged madly in the passage. As Chu Huai and the others were involuntarily pulled backward by the black hole, the vines swiftly wrapped around their waists. With a powerful swing, they were flung far back into the passage. Meanwhile, Qiuqiu¡¯s children enveloped Gu Yan¡¯an and Zhuang Yu along with the protective shield around them, carrying them away to a safe distance from the black hole. Chu Rong arrived just in time, aiming at the black hole and unleashing a barrage of shots. Meanwhile, Qiao Zhiya swiftly approached and grabbed Xiang Hui, who had been immobilized by the stimulated spiritual power, before swiftly retreating. ¡°Boom boom boom!¡± ¡°Hss hsss shh!¡± After the explosions, the black hole didn¡¯t dissipate; instead, it spewed forth a horde of Zergs. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly instructed Qiuqiu to use its vines to cover everyone, while Chu Rong swiftly retreated to evade the first wave of Zerg attacks. He fought off the Zergs while seeking an opportunity to continue attacking the black hole. Chu Yan and Chu Huai also quickly snapped out of their bewilderment. They no longer approached the black hole, and only took out long-range weapons to attack the black hole. The screeches of the Zergs and the thunderous sound of gunfire echoed through the underground. The secret passage, already damaged by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s destruction of numerous walls, finally succumbed to the onslaught of the Zergs and sustained artillery fire, leading to the sound of collapsing walls and ruptures. ¡°Get out of that exit and inform the people above to evacuate! Hurry!¡± Chu Rong took the time to order. After setting Xiang Hui down and anxiously checking on Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s condition, Qiao Zhiya quickly took out a communicator and began contacting Fan Xiangnan, who was still waiting above. Meanwhile, Chu Huai and Chu Yan intensified their bombardment of the black hole. When the black hole disappeared, they charged forward, drawing the Zergs away from the area, creating space for Qiao Zhiya and Qiuqiu to leave. Above ground, some buildings within the Presidential Palace began to shake. Fan Xiangnan, upon receiving the orders, quickly arranged for the evacuation of all personnel and personally entered the secret passage to assist the team members in bringing out the old doctor and Xiang Jing. When Xiang Lingyun saw this, he quickly turned to help. Xiang Kun, meanwhile, immediately turned around and ran towards the most violent place. Just as he dashed out of the main building of the Presidential Palace, a building at the corner, along with the nearby garden, suddenly collapsed with a loud crash. Then, a chilling screech of Zergs reverberated, and a large swarm of Zergs surged out from the ground. ¡°Ah-! It¡¯s the Zerg!¡± Someone screamed in panic. Xiang Kun noticed this and ran towards it at an even hurried pace. After the collapse of the building, the ground tremors intensified. He stumbled and fell, then as he got back up, he witnessed a black and gold mecha rising from the rubble and charging towards the Zergs in the air. Before he could react, another brown mecha ascended alongside the black and gold one. Not far away, Chu Yan and Chu Huai were charging forward, each carrying a person on their backs. Behind them trailed a massive ball of vegetation. The ball of vegetation noticed his presence and suddenly shot out a humanoid object towards him. He reflexively went forward to pick it up, but miscalculated the volume of the humanoid object, and was hit straight, and fell to the ground. ¡°Come on! The Presidential Palace is going to collapse!¡± Chu Yan and Xiang Kun¡¯s eyes met for a moment, the former anxiously reminded him aloud. Xiang Kun snapped back to reality, only to realize that the humanoid object thrown by the ball of vegetation was none other than the unconscious Xiang Hui. He quickly stood up, carrying Xiang Hui on his back, and amidst the increasingly violent ground tremors, he turned and ran towards a safer location. After a chaotic scramble, everyone was promptly evacuated by the responsive military into a large hovercraft, which stopped in midair. On the other side, the black-gold mecha and the brown mecha coordinated to kill the last Zergs before returning. The crowd couldn¡¯t help but embrace each other, cheering and crying in relief for surviving the ordeal. Then, as if to add to their celebration, the unstable ground suddenly rumbled loudly. The Presidential Palace, with all the evils brought by its previous occupants, collapsed into ruins. CH 104.1 Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya got off the mecha and immediately boarded the hovercraft. They looked at Chu Huai and others who were surrounded by many people in the corner. ¡°How is Dasao?¡± Qiao Zhiya rushed to ask anxiously. The situation was too critical in the secret passage before, and he did not have time to conduct a detailed inspection of Gu Yan¡¯an. ¡°Not optimistic.¡± The doctor, called urgently to examine Gu Yan¡¯an, looked sympathetically at the newly appointed young president, who held Gu Yan¡¯an tightly with slightly reddened eyes. With a sigh, he said, ¡°During the early stages of pregnancy, pregnant women are most averse to mental stress and vigorous activity. However, the First Lady has been frequently subjected to trauma today, and all the necessary emergency treatments have been administered, yet there has been no response. The fetus may already¡­¡± In fact, if it weren¡¯t for the protective shield, the First Lady might have been severely injured by now. The doctor didn¡¯t finish his words, but everyone understood. The condition of the fetus in Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s womb wasn¡¯t¡­ good. The members of the major family in the car fell silent upon hearing these words. The atmosphere of celebrating survival after the ordeal slowly dissipated, replaced by a heavy silence. The birth of a child was a wonderful occasion. But if the situation was reversed ¡­ alas. Chu Huai was also aware that the situation with Gu Yan¡¯an might not be good. As a couple with a deep connection, he and Gu Yan¡¯an were spiritually linked, and he could feel all of her current pain and unease as if it were his own. He blamed himself for not protecting his wife and child. The communicator suddenly rang, signaling that the hovercar arranged by Fan Xiangnan had arrived. The members of the Gu family who had been guarding here had also departed for the nearest Gu family hospital, preparing in advance for Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s treatment. Chu Huai switched off the communicator and tossed it to Chu Yan. He gently touched Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s slightly pale face, carefully lifting her up. Suppressing his emotions, he looked around at the others and said, ¡°It¡¯s getting late. We¡¯ll continue the examination tomorrow. I apologize for not considering and preparing adequately, which put everyone at risk today.¡± The others in the car hurriedly expressed that it was okay, wanting to offer comfort but not knowing how to start. The Chu family had always been small in number, and it took Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an more than ten years of marriage to finally have a child. Now, to lose the baby, it was heartbreaking to even think about. Chu Huai then looked at his two younger brothers, who were standing silently in front of him. He tried to muster a comforting smile for them, but he couldn¡¯t manage it. Instead, he suppressed his emotions again and quietly instructed, ¡°Xiao Rong, I¡¯ll leave things here to you. I¡¯m taking your sister-in-law to the hospital.¡± Without further delay, he walked briskly towards the exit. It¡¯s truly a pity that his child was gone, but he had to prioritize the living now. Upon hearing the doctor¡¯s response, Qiao Zhiya was stunned. Seeing Chu Huai about to take Gu Yan¡¯an away, his gaze swept over her slightly bulging belly. His heart clenched, and he wiped away the tears that had unconsciously welled up. He tightened his face and followed along¡ªno, the baby would be fine! Chu Yan, with red eyes, followed suit. Xiang Kun opened his mouth to offer some comfort, but his gaze fell on the soldiers guarding the unconscious Xiang Hui nearby. His lips moved, but then he fell silent. Now everyone was qualified to comfort the Chu family, but the Xiang family did not. After this incident, the recently eased relationship between the Xiang and Chu families was likely to freeze again, perhaps even deteriorating further than before. As for him and Chu Yan¡­ He glanced at Chu Yan¡¯s figure boarding the Chu family¡¯s exclusive hovercar outside, lowered his head, and a wry smile formed at the corner of his mouth. ¡®What nonsense am I thinking? When did my relationship with that bastard Chu San ever get better? It¡¯s just gotten worse. What¡¯s the point¡­¡¯ He raised his hand and buried his face in the shadows. Chu Rong also wanted to leave with his family, but couldn¡¯t, he still had to stay for the follow-ups. Everyone could see how terrible and terrifying the Marshal¡¯s mood was at this moment, and the sharp spiritual energy lingering in the air had never dissipated. Everyone fell silent, unlike the relaxed and natural atmosphere in front of Chu Huai, they didn¡¯t even dare to make eye contact with him. ¡°Xiangnan,¡± Chu Rong finally spoke, and the coldness in his voice made everyone shiver. Fan Xiangnan, who had stood silently by the side, stepped forward. He responded in a low voice. ¡°Take Xiang Hui¡­¡± Chu Rong began, glancing at Xiang Hui being watched by the soldiers, then looking outside at Long Baorou, who was firmly locked at the center by Qiuqiu. He ordered, ¡°And take Long Baorou to the military headquarters. I want to interrogate them overnight!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Fan Xiangnan responded, ignoring the presence of Xiang Lingyun and others on the side. He gestured to the soldiers to tie up Xiang Hui, his attitude cold, rough, and unapologetic, not hiding the hatred the Chu family currently held towards Xiang Hui. Xiang Lingyun couldn¡¯t bear to show his face, but he didn¡¯t stop. He just watched silently, and clenched his fists. The crowd inside the car was in an uproar and looked at each other. They just heard whose name? Long Baorou? Is she the daughter of the traitorous president Long Ruifeng? Hasn¡¯t she been missing for a long time? Where did she come from again? And Chu Rong¡¯s current attitude, is it true that the Chu family and Xiang family are going to break up? The door closed, the hovercar started, and quickly headed towards the nearest Gu family¡¯s hospital. Originally sitting quietly opposite Chu Huai, Qiao Zhiya suddenly stepped forward and knelt down, placing his hand on Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s abdomen. A green light emerged from his hand, gradually growing stronger as it penetrated into Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s body. Still immersed in grief, Chu Huai and Chu Yan were stunned when they saw this. Remembering his special power, they suddenly snapped out of it, and a glimmer of hope lit up in their eyes as they looked up at him. The green light fluctuated gently, and a healing power spread inside the car. ¡°¡­Qiao?¡± Chu Huai¡¯s heart raced, his grip on Gu Yan¡¯an tightening. His tone was uneasy, his voice hoarse, tinged with a certain hope, yet he couldn¡¯t bring himself to ask directly, afraid it might be false hope. Qiao Zhiya, however, was too preoccupied to respond to his cautious inquiry. His focus was entirely on Gu Yan¡¯an, his magical energy infused with healing properties gently circulating around her body after entering it, slowly making its way towards her abdomen. A silence fell. Where there should have been another heartbeat, he could only hear a heartbreaking silence. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand trembled for a moment, but quickly steadied himself. Taking a deep breath to suppress the urge to cry, he increased the output of his magic, allowing it to circulate continuously within Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s body. At the same time, he gently transmitted strength to the seemingly peacefully sleeping baby, soothing its tiny body with care. There¡¯s hope, there must be hope. Last time he managed to save Jian, this time he can definitely save the baby too. He convinced himself, pouring out his magic as if it cost nothing. The wood-elemental magic inside the car grew denser and denser, green light dots converged to form a green sphere that enveloped Gu Yan¡¯an entirely. Qiao Zhiya shifted from a kneeling position to sitting on the ground, finally pressing his forehead against Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s abdomen. Holding Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s arm, Chu Huai¡¯s muscles had stiffened, but he dared not move recklessly. His gaze fell on the green lights around Gu Yan¡¯an, and he unconsciously relaxed his breath. Chu Yan accompanied Qiao Zhiya to the ground and secretly held Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s hand on his side. As one circle followed another, and one layer followed the next, just as the magic within him was about to be depleted, amidst the steady beat of a single heartbeat in his ears, there slowly emerged another, extremely faint sound, as if it were just an illusion. The baby! Qiao Zhiya sat up abruptly, his pointed ears twitching, eyes glowing with hope. While continuing to channel magic, he took out the last bit of Tree of Life sap from his storage bracelet and fed it to the corner of Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s mouth. Chu Huai saw that his posture was awkward, and he reached out to help. The gentle power of the Tree of Life sap spread throughout Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s body as soon as it entered, and Qiao Zhiya quickly focused his energy to guide it towards the limbs, directing it towards the baby in the womb, where the heartbeat was sometimes faint, sometimes strong. Before this, he had only used the Tree of Life sap on babies who had already been born and hadn¡¯t tried it in this situation before. But the baby was too weak to withstand a powerful force, so he had to try this option. The magic, infused with the power of the sap, circulated layer by layer within the baby¡¯s body. It seemed that Gu Yan¡¯an was slowly regaining consciousness, or perhaps it was simply the instinctual response of a mother. The spiritual power within her body suddenly became active, surrounding the fetus protectively. Sensing the fluctuations in Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s power, Chu Huai quickly set down the small pot with engraved leaves, which was now empty, and began channeling his own spiritual energy into her body. With the combined power of its parents and the potent healing aura of the wood-element magic, the faint heartbeat of the baby finally became clear and stable. Qiao Zhiya grew even more excited, wanting to increase the flow of magic, only to find that the magic pool was nearly empty. Pausing for a moment, he quickly took out a piece of jade and held it in their hand, absorbing and releasing its energy, pushing themselves to his limits. The hovercar had already stopped at the emergency entrance of the Gu family hospital. The Gu family members, who had arrived earlier to prepare, gathered outside, anxiously and worriedly approaching the hovercar when they noticed the door remained closed, knocking on it in urgency. Three minutes later, the door of the hovercar finally opened. A force that cleared one¡¯s mind rushed out. Chu Huai carried Gu Yan¡¯an down from the vehicle, followed by Chu Yan, who was supporting a sweaty Qiao Zhiya. Their expressions were filled with anxiety. ¡°Prepare a healing chamber for Qiao, quickly!¡± Chu Huai urgently instructed as he placed Gu Yan¡¯an on a mobile sickbed. The members of the Gu family who had already approached to examine Gu Yan¡¯an were stunned at his words. They were just about to express their discontent about how he seemed to care more about his younger brother¡¯s fiance than his own wife when the results on the diagnostic instrument startled them. The mother and the fetus are both perfectly fine, with all vital signs even approaching optimal levels. How¡­ how is this possible? Just before Gu Yan¡¯an returned, the preliminary examination results for her were quite unfavorable. Qiao Zhiya also saw the results and knew that his sister-in-law and the baby were safe now. With a sense of relief flooding his mind, his consciousness, which had been holding on tightly, finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. In the sudden rush of heat from the magic pool, his strength faltered, and he passed out with closed eyes. Chu Yan was so anxious that he hugged his unconscious falling body, screaming, ¡°Qiao!¡± CH 104.3 Chu Rong¡¯s keen senses alerted him to the unusual energy in the air. With a quick movement, he opened his eyes and sat up, only to be astonished by the sight of a complex magic circle made of vines appearing beneath Qiao Zhiya. His brow furrowed in concern as he reached out to pull Qiao Zhiya out of the magic circle, only to find his hand passing straight through Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body. The scene was too horrifying, his heart squeezed in his chest, and he quickly reached out again, only to pass through Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body once more. At the same time, the magic circle began to rotate slowly, a faint green light rising to envelop Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body, which then started to become eerily transparent bit by bit. ¡°No!¡± He furrowed his brows, his body tense, a surge of killing intent and spiritual power bursting forth as he attacked the magic array beneath Qiao Zhiya. He firmly held onto Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body, his expression stern and icy, veins bulging on his forehead as he spoke in a deep, resolute voice, ¡°No one can take him away from me, no one!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The sharp spiritual power fiercely spread out, causing the jade beneath Qiao Zhiya to instantly shatter into powder and scatter. However, Qiao Zhiya remained lying peacefully, his body still transparent. The magic array beneath him suspended him steadily, emitting waves of gentle green light. Chu Rong, upon seeing the jade shatter, stood firmly on the ground, his heart sinking even further. He continued to attack the magic array with his mental power while enveloping both himself and Qiao Zhiya with his spiritual strength, substituting his body with his mind. Once again, he attempted to reach out and embrace Qiao Zhiya. This time, he finally touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body, but he couldn¡¯t feel any warmth emanating from him. It was as if he was embracing not a living person, but an illusory projection. Ignoring everything else, he quickly tightened his embrace and bent down to lift Qiao Zhiya again. However, the magic array, which had previously been rotating slowly, seemed to sense the threat and suddenly accelerated its speed. A gentle but extremely dominant force surged towards him, while the green light around Qiao Zhiya intensified, firmly trapping him within the array. ¡°Go away!¡± Like a wild beast whose territory had been invaded, he grunted heavily, resisting the oppressive force with all his might, inching Qiao Zhiya slowly towards the edge of the array. The rotation of the magic array accelerated once more, and the light surrounding Qiao Zhiya turned into bands, wrestling away all control over Qiao Zhiya from Chu Rong. The power within the magic array was too overwhelming. Chu Rong grunted, his eyes turning red. His rage matched the ferocity of the unleashed spiritual power, which raged through the room, relentlessly attacking the magic array and shattering everything in its path. A sharp piece of jadeite flew towards him. It cut through his wrist ¨C which was holding Qiao Zhiya ¨C causing his blood to drip. Qiao Zhiya within the array seemed to sense something. His eyelashes fluttered slightly, and at the same time, the green light, as if wary of something, suddenly dimmed a bit, beginning to coil back around Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body, soothingly swirling around him. Chu Rong keenly noticed this subtle change, his gaze sweeping over his own wrist, which was bleeding. Without hesitation, he took out a short dagger and fiercely slashed at his arm. Blood splattered and fell in the array. The green light suddenly dimmed, and Qiao Zhiya began to struggle anxiously. Chu Rong seized the opportunity to increase his spiritual power output and forcefully pulled Qiao Zhiya outwards. The magic array spun uselessly for a few seconds, then the green light suddenly brightened before dispersing and disappearing into the air. The sudden power struggle began and ended abruptly. Chu Rong, due to inertia, fell back against the ground, causing a shower of jade powder to scatter throughout the room. With his arms outstretched and blood dripping from his wrist, his white hair disheveled, and his entire demeanor emanating a terrifying aura as if he were a messenger from hell, he held Qiao Zhiya tightly in his arms, who had once again fallen into a peaceful coma. Chu Huai and the others, who had been unable to enter despite sensing the commotion, finally burst through the door and rushed in. Seeing Chu Rong in this terrifying state, covered in blood, their hearts skipped a beat. They quickly approached, wanting to take Qiao Zhiya and help Chu Rong bandage his wounds. ¡°Don¡¯t touch him!¡± With a sudden surge of killing intent, Chu Rong glared fiercely at the approaching medical staff. Despite his bleeding arm, he held onto Qiao Zhiya tightly, his spiritual energy fluctuating unstably, repelling anyone who tried to come near. The medical staff were frightened stiff, taking several steps back in a very timid manner, avoiding his threatening spiritual energy. Chu Huai also sensed Chu Rong¡¯s very unstable spiritual power. He took a glance at the chaotic scene in the room as if a major battle had just taken place, gestured for the medical staff to leave, then instructed Chu Yan to close the door. Once only the members of the Chu family remained in the room, he cautiously approached and gently advised in a soothing tone, ¡°Lao Er, Qiao may not be comfortable sleeping like this. Ease up on your power for now. Let¡¯s discuss this again when we get home.¡± ¡®Home?¡¯ Chu Rong¡¯s overheated brain finally calmed down a bit. He lowered his head to look at Qiao Zhiya, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms, gently kissed his forehead, felt the normal temperature returning to his body, bent down to cradle him horizontally, and strode out. ¡®¡ª¡ªYes, go home. Only home is safe.¡¯ In the asteroid belt, a primitive planet, in a forest of giant trees. The slender man with long blond hair suddenly shuddered, and the magic array under his feet suddenly collapsed. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he leaned against the ancient tree behind him. ¡°Qiao Yi!¡± A brown-haired woman in green robe, who was waiting nearby, was startled and quickly rushed over, anxiously supporting him. She looked up and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± The man referred to as Qiao Yi raised a hand to wipe away the blood from the corner of his mouth. His thin lips moved slightly as his beautiful phoenix-like eyes lifted to gaze at the seemingly normal sky. His emerald green eyes, identical to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, gently turned, meeting the worried gaze of the stocky woman. He reached out to comfortingly embrace her, his voice soft and graceful but with a hint of icy elegance, as he replied, ¡°Someone has tainted my array with their blood¡­ But it¡¯s okay, they will pay the price. Anyone who tries to control Qiaoqiao deserves to die.¡± The breeze blew through his long hair, covering his delicate and gentle eyebrows, as well as the cold killing intent in his eyes. Gu Yan¡¯an woke up refreshed before lunch, looking rosy-cheeked and full of energy, with no signs of injury whatsoever, as if she had just woken up from a normal nap. However, back at the Chu residence, Qiao Zhiya experienced another spike in fever, and his powers suddenly became violent, with emerald-colored vines almost covering the entire main house. Zhuang Yu hurried over earlier to check on Qiao Zhiya, but she soon realized that the one who needed to be examined wasn¡¯t Qiao Zhiya. It was Chu Rong, who was unwilling to leave Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side for even a moment. ¡°Sir, just addressing the wound on your arm like this won¡¯t be sufficient; it needs to be stitched. Also, your mental state is quite unstable and requires systematic treatment. Qiao¡¯s examination can¡¯t be this simple either. You¡ª¡± ¡°Get out.¡± Chu Rong interrupted Zhuang Yu¡¯s words. Since he was with Qiao Zhiya, he has gradually improved, and he has no patience for his illness to rise again, and he is totally unwilling to listen to the advice of others. Zhuang Yu was clueless on what to do. She glanced at Chu Huai on the other side, pleading for help. Chu Huai frowned and stepped forward, but before he could speak, Chu Rong forced them out of the room with his spiritual power, then slamming the door shut. Now that both individuals in the room were injured, Chu Huai and Zhuang Yu dare not insist, so they can only reluctantly be ¡°driven away.¡± Upon returning home in haste after receiving the news, Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s first sight was of them standing amidst the vines strewn across the floor, being pushed out of the room. Holding her belly, she hurriedly approached and asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s going on? What happened to Qiao? And Xiao Rong, how come I heard he got injured too?¡± Startled by her hurried approach, both Chu Huai and Zhuang Yu were taken aback. Chu Huai quickly moved forward to support her, while Zhuang Yu hurriedly fetched a calming device. After ensuring that she stood steadily without showing signs of discomfort, they relaxed a bit. Chu Huai replied, ¡°No one knows exactly what happened last night. The surveillance in the ward was damaged. Marshal Chu¡¯s condition is indeed worrying. As for Qiao, you can see from these vines; his power has become uncontrollable again.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an frowned, patting Chu Huai reassuringly, then stepped forward to knock on the door, raising her voice to say, ¡°Xiao Rong, are you there? How¡¯s Qiao now? I want to see him.¡± The room was quiet for a moment, and then Chu Rong allowed her to enter with a mild tone. Chu Huai breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to go in with Gu Yan¡¯an, but she refused. She insisted on going in alone, closing the door behind her, blocking Chu Huai¡¯s view. Chu Huai could only sigh in resignation, standing guard outside with Zhuang Yu. Inside the room, everyone assumed that Chu Rong had lost his composure, but in reality, he was incredibly calm. He knew that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s condition had stabilized, and what was happening now was just a normal release of power. He was simply feeling a bit anxious and didn¡¯t want anyone else to come in and disturb Qiao Zhiya¡¯s rest. After entering, Gu Yan¡¯an immediately sensed that Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power, intentionally restrained but not fully suppressed, lingered in the air. Her worry deepened, though she didn¡¯t show it on her face. She approached to inspect Qiao Zhiya¡¯s condition, finding him with a good complexion and sleeping soundly, which eased her concern a bit. Her gaze swept over Chu Rong¡¯s hastily bandaged arm, but she didn¡¯t touch him. Instead, she cautiously reached out to hold Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand lying beside him. Chu Rong paused. He didn¡¯t stop her, but moved his body backwards, so his unstable power wouldn¡¯t touch her. With a gentle gaze, Gu Yan¡¯an drew closer and placed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand on her own belly. She bent down to stroke Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead and softly said, ¡°Qiao, thank you for protecting the baby. Please wake up soon. The baby is waiting to say hello to you.¡± In his slumber, Qiao Zhiya seemed to hear her voice. Though his body remained still, a vine that had been hanging down on the ground suddenly extended, gently brushing against her belly, expressing a joyful and expectant demeanor. Gu Yanan couldn¡¯t help but show a smile and touched the vine. Chu Rong saw that the aura on the youth¡¯s body eased slightly. He bent down and kissed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead. ¡°Xiao Rong, Qiao will be worried if he wakes up and sees your unstable condition. Besides, your state might affect his rest,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an took the opportunity to speak gently, offering comforting advice. Chu Rong frowned, and touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead again. He glanced at her, then nodded. Seeing him take heed of her advice, Gu Yan¡¯an felt relieved and didn¡¯t linger any longer. She turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Then, she waved dismissively at Chu Huai and said, ¡°Go do what you need to do. You have me at home. Don¡¯t burden Xiao Rong with everything. He¡¯s under a lot of pressure, and you, as his older brother, are really not helpful at all.¡± In handling this incident, Chu Huai did feel that he was completely useless. He listened to her honestly, and followed her to drive them both to their home. Seeing this, Zhuang Yu widened her eyes in surprise, glanced at the closed door, hesitated for a moment, and then left as well. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bout of uncontrollable power only occurred once and then subsided. Afterwards, the high fever decreased, and his condition gradually stabilized. Finally, the next morning, he woke up at his usual time as if nothing had happened. Chu Rong, who had been guarding him, relaxed his tight body. He leaned down and kissed the sleepy-looking youth, holding him in his arms. Qiao Zhiya was held tightly by Chu Rong, his arms and legs almost immobilized, making it difficult to breathe. Just as he was about to raise his hand to struggle, he caught a whiff of blood. His ears twitched, and his magic spread out as he asked, ¡°Are you injured? Why do I smell blood?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s reaction was even more intense than his. He immediately raised his hand and pressed it against Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead, using his spiritual power to suppress Qiao Zhiya¡¯s strength, preventing him from releasing it. Then, without hesitation, he stood up and swiftly removed the roughly wrapped bandage from the wound, unhesitatingly reopening it and smearing a bit of blood onto Qiao Zhiya¡¯s body. The scent of blood became even more pronounced, leaving Qiao Zhiya stunned by this strange turn of events. His instinct prompted him to reach out and grasp Chu Rong¡¯s injured wrist, his mind racing to grab the medical kit to bandage him. However, his body stiffened, immobilized, and he stammered, ¡°What¡­ what are you doing? You¡­ you¡­¡± Due to his extreme shock, he found himself unable to articulate properly. Chu Rong, however, disregarded his own injury completely. He clasped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand tightly, while his other hand cupped his face, forcing him to look into his eyes. He spoke earnestly, ¡°Qiao, starting from today, don¡¯t use your magic, and don¡¯t draw any magic circles. Promise me.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned by his fierce expression. He was baffled for a few seconds before saying, ¡°But ¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s no ¡®but¡¯,¡± Chu Rong leaned in closer, his hands enclosing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears, his tone carrying a hint of madness even he hadn¡¯t realized, and said heavily, ¡°If there¡¯s another time, I¡¯m afraid I will have to lock you up.¡± He was willing to pay any price. His tone was too frightening, his gaze serious enough to scare Qiao Zhiya, who trembled involuntarily. Suddenly, his forehead heated up, and with a pop, a small bump formed. CH 105.1 Time seemed to pause for a few seconds. Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed, and he reached out to touch the strange little bump on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead. The wound on Chu Rong¡¯s arm, still oozing blood, came directly in front of him. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened, and he reached out to touch it, but suddenly felt an itch on his forehead. The itch spread throughout his body, causing him to shudder involuntarily. Reflexively, he raised his hand to cover the spot where he had just been touched, then froze when he felt a hard little bump. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± he asked foolishly. Chu Rong tightened his grip, his rationality almost crumbling under the torment of the strange things that had been happening these past few days. He spoke with a heavy tone, ¡°Damn it, I want to know what this is too!¡± First, the strange magic array, and now this. The constant unknown made him feel extremely irritable! Qiao Zhiya hadn¡¯t seen him this visibly angry in a long time. He was scared stiff, his ears frozen in place. He hurriedly leaned over and rubbed against him, comforting him while saying, ¡°This is probably something I bumped into. Don¡¯t worry, let me bandage your wound first, okay?¡± Chu Rong didn¡¯t respond, but instead hugged him tightly. Feeling his real body warmth, he took a deep breath, suppressing his increasingly uncontrollable emotions after his spiritual ordeal. He held Qiao Zhiya¡¯s startled ears, then lifted him up and strode out of the room. Qiao Zhiya also sensed the obvious turmoil in his spirit and felt extremely worried. He wanted to use magic to calm him down, but remembered his earlier words and hesitated. So, he obediently nestled in his arms, stabilizing his emotions with his actions. What¡¯s going on? He was very puzzled. He had only slept for a while, how did Chu Rong become like this? Unstable spiritual state, injured arm, volatile emotions, as if he had experienced some huge shock. Could it be from before, at the presidential palace¡­ Wait! The presidential palace! The baby! He struggled to shake his ears, which were being held down, and anxiously asked, ¡°How is Dasao and the baby? I¡ª¡± Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Gu Yan¡¯an, who emerged from the kitchen upon hearing movement. Seeing her flushed complexion and stable breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief and was about to greet her with a smile. However, his head was suddenly grabbed from behind, and Chu Rong forcibly pressed it back against his chest. ¡°No peeking,¡± Chu Rong ordered gruffly. Qiao Zhiya shook his ears and obediently retreated, not moving. ¡ªChu Rong seemed even more unreasonable after falling ill. Chu Rong hurried Qiao Zhiya to the medical room, sitting with a frozen face as he watched Zhuang Yu give Qiao Zhiya a detailed examination. He kept holding one of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hands, his spiritual power constantly swirling around Qiao Zhiya, scaring the assistants in the medical room so much that they dared not approach. ¡°How is he?¡± Chu Rong immediately asked when Zhuang Yu withdrew her instruments. ¡°No problem with his body. As for this bump on his forehead¡­ it seems to be bone,¡± Zhuang Yu replied conscientiously, ignoring her own terrifying aura. Chu Rong frowned and asked, ¡°Bone? How could a piece of bone protrude from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead? Could it be from his brain¡­¡± ¡°No, no, no, that¡¯s too scary. There¡¯s nothing wrong with Qiao¡¯s skull.¡± Zhuang Yu hurriedly interrupted her boss¡¯s terrifying speculation. She pulled out Qiao Zhiya¡¯s brain scan and showed it to him, explaining, ¡°Qiao Zhiya¡¯s skull is normal, and bones from the brain wouldn¡¯t protrude through the skin like this. His current condition is more like¡­ er, growing a horn.¡± With no damage to the skull, the appearance of a bone protruding from the forehead to the top of the head, visible through the skin, could only be likened to the phenomenon of animals growing horns. And judging from the current appearance of this small bump on Qiao Zhiya, it should be a pair, but only one had emerged for now. Just like how animals with horns would grow one at a time in their childhood, Qiao Zhiya felt itchy because the bump behind this one would probably continue to grow. ¡°A horn?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression became even more terrifying. He looked at Qiao Zhiya, only to find that the latter was tinkering with something, and his bangs conveniently covered the still very mini bump. He couldn¡¯t help but reach out to lift Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs, but his other arm suddenly ached. He lowered his head and saw that Qiao Zhiya had deftly bandaged his wound while he was talking to Zhuang Yu. During this time, he hadn¡¯t felt any pain except for the moment when the bandage was wrapped around. ¡°You used magic?¡± His face darkened, and he stopped lifting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair, instead holding his forehead and supporting his head. Qiao Zhiya stiffened, not expecting to be caught so quickly. His ears trembled with guilt, and he avoided eye contact, pretending to be casual as he reached for the medical kit Zhuang Yu had put aside. At the same time, he slowly pulled Chu Rong¡¯s hand towards himself, nonchalantly staring at Zhuang Yu, and replied, ¡°Chu Rong, I¡¯m hungry¡­¡± Chu Rong frowned at his words, recalling how Qiao Zhiya had been unconscious for so long without eating anything. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to scold him, so he stood up, ready to carry him away. However, he paused and turned to Zhuang Yu, asking, ¡°Is this bone growth harmful?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a normal, healthy bone. Sir, I don¡¯t think you need to be so nervous. Exoplanet Natives often have appearances different from ordinary people, and horns are not unheard of. Perhaps Qiao Zhiya¡¯s case is just a normal developspiritual phenomenon,¡± Zhuang Yu quickly replied. Her gaze briefly met Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, who was peeking out from Chu Rong¡¯s arms, exchanging a tacit understanding before both of them averted their eyes. Chu Rong also recalled the Exoplanet Natives he had seen with horns on their foreheads, and his slightly furrowed brows relaxed. He nodded at Zhuang Yu and then turned to leave. Zhuang Yu watched them go, glanced at the medical kit left beside Qiao Zhiya¡¯s seat, and waved the examination report in her hand with a smile and a shake of her head ¡ª indeed, Qiao Zhiya knew how to handle the boss¡¯s bad temper. ¡®But this horn¡­¡¯ she raised the report again and sighed slightly, feeling a headache coming on. Whenever the boss had issues with his spiritual power, his temper would become super bad. It was tough. In the main house¡¯s living room, Chu Huai and Chu Yan had all gathered upon receiving Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s notification. They were about to go to the medical room together when they saw Chu Rong coming back with Qiao Zhiya, who had already had his wound bandaged. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Chu Yan couldn¡¯t help but rush forward and ask, ¡°Erge, what did Zhuang say? Is Qiao okay?¡± Chu Rong shook his head, his expression grim. However, Qiao Zhiya, nestled in Chu Rong¡¯s arms, vigorously nodded and softly reassured, ¡°I¡¯m fine, everyone, don¡¯t worry.¡± After speaking, his gaze shifted to Gu Yan¡¯an standing behind Chu Yan, then to her belly, his ears twitching as he flashed a smile. Seeing him like this, Gu Yan¡¯an finally let go of her worries. Ignoring Chu Rong¡¯s sour face, she just smiled and greeted Qiao Zhiya, ¡°As long as you¡¯re better. Breakfast is ready. Come and eat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go freshen up first.¡± Qiao Zhiya replied bashfully, then patted Chu Rong, who was about to head to the dining room, signaling him to return to the bedroom. Chu Rong stopped in his tracks, nodded to his family, and carried the youth towards their room. The three of them watched them walk away. Chu Huai, who had been observing Chu Rong¡¯s expression closely, frowned and said, ¡°Lao Er¡¯s condition still doesn¡¯t seem right. His spiritual power is all over the place, and there¡¯s still blood on Qiao¡¯s pajamas.¡± ¡°Qiao must have noticed something off with Erge too. He¡¯s usually so thin-skinned, but he didn¡¯t leave Erge¡¯s arms just now.¡± Chu Yan agreed, also frowning. ¡°What really happened that night in the ward? Erge is clearly in a state of excessive nervousness regarding Qiao.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an sighed quietly as she reached out to touch her belly, feeling troubled. It¡¯s all her fault. If she hadn¡¯t been so gullible, Qiao Zhiya wouldn¡¯t have gotten injured trying to save the baby, and Xiao Rong wouldn¡¯t have¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s have breakfast first.¡± Seeing her self-blame, Chu Huai quickly changed the subject, stepping forward to embrace her shoulders and divert her attention. Then, he glanced at Chu Yan, giving him a look that said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk alone later.¡± Chu Yan scratched his head, closed his mouth, rubbed his face with a troubled expression, and then followed them. Once back in their bedroom, Qiao Zhiya immediately jumped off the ground, retrieved a vial of Yellow Leaf Tree potion from his storage bracelet, drank it himself, and then immediately took out another vial, offering it to Chu Rong¡¯s lips, indicating for him to drink it. Chu Rong glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s lips, which looked very moist after drinking the potion, and obediently drank the potion offered by him. After he finished, Qiao Zhiya quickly took out another homemade spiritual soothing potion and fed it to him again, leaning into his embrace. Chu Rong paused for a moment, extended his arm to hold him, and continued to drink. Qiao Zhiya smiled with narrowed eyes, rewarding him with a kiss on the cheek, and then buried his head in the storage bracelet, searching. He found a piece of jade carved with magic arrays that he hadn¡¯t used in a long time, tied it to his spatial button, then grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s hand, blushing slightly as he said, ¡°I want to have breakfast in the bedroom, just the two of us. Is that okay?¡± With several potions consumed and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s intentional soothing, Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power and emotions gradually stabilized. He gently brushed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair aside, glanced at the small bump on his forehead hidden by his hair, nodded, and then bent down to cup his face and kissed him. Qiao Zhiya obediently closed his eyes, responded with a kiss, and continued to affectionately stroke Chu Rong¡¯s back with his hand, comforting him. After washing up, Chu Rong had the old butler bring breakfast to the room. The two of them sat by the window table, filled their stomachs under the warm sunlight, and then Qiao Zhiya pulled Chu Rong into the bathroom to help him shower. Upon waking up, he noticed that he was dry and wearing soft pajamas, obviously being taken care of carefully. Chu Rong, on the other hand, looked very disheveled, still wearing his outdoor clothes, wrinkled and stained with blood. ¡°Your stubble is growing out.¡± Qiao Zhiya helped Chu Rong waterproof his injured arm, then helped him take off his shirt. He reached up to touch Chu Rong¡¯s face, furrowing his brows, then touched his own face, sighing, ¡°Why can¡¯t I grow a beard¡­¡± Dwarves, after all, were famous for their facial hair. Thinking of this, he remembered his own father¡¯s face, who also couldn¡¯t grow a beard. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he stood on tiptoe to rub Chu Rong¡¯s chin with stubble, hanging onto him and cooing, ¡°I¡¯ve always envied other kids who could rub their dad¡¯s beard, but I couldn¡¯t¡­ Chu Rong, you¡¯re so kind.¡± Feeling his intimate nuzzling, Chu Rong¡¯s heart, which had been tightly clenched since the appearance of the magic array, gradually relaxed as if a dry sponge had been soaked in warm water. He hugged his cute and considerate lover tightly, let out a long sigh, and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t leave me¡­¡± As he moved, his arm accidentally brushed against the shower¡¯s sensor, and warm water sprayed down, quickly wetting both of them. He closed his eyes, his disheveled white hair hanging down, water droplets sliding down his cheeks, momentarily resembling tears. Qiao Zhiya was stunned. Although he knew that crying was just his own illusion ¨C Chu Rong couldn¡¯t possibly cry at this time ¨C his heart still clenched fiercely. He leaned his head against Chu Rong¡¯s wet cheek, gently rubbing it, and replied, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m sorry, I won¡¯t be so reckless in the future. I¡¯m fine now, really. Don¡¯t worry, and don¡¯t be sad. It¡¯s my fault.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t remember the ¡°dream¡± about the magic array, so he thought Chu Rong¡¯s discomfort was because of his own coma last night. Now that he saw Chu Rong finally relax his emotions, he quickly comforted him. Chu Rong didn¡¯t say much in response, just leaned his head down to kiss his forehead, his gaze sweeping over the small bump on his forehead that was revealed after his hair got wet, his eyes darkening, and his arms tightening even more. The two of them lingered in the bathroom for a long time before coming out. Afterwards, Qiao Zhiya imitated the way Chu Rong used to take care of himself and pushed him onto the bed, lying down beside him with his head on his chest, letting him listen to his steady heartbeat, coaxing, ¡°Sleep, you need to get better soon. Everyone is very worried about you.¡± Chu Rong had never been in such a protective posture with him before. Listening to his steady heartbeat, he extended his arm to hold his waist. After his emotions relaxed, exhaustion washed over him, and he slowly closed his eyes. Qiao Zhiya continued to gently stroke his hair, occasionally leaning down to kiss his forehead. After making sure that Chu Rong had fallen asleep, he gently withdrew his hand, first touching the bump on his own head, then subconsciously scratching his neck, feeling unbearably itchy. He frowned for a few seconds, but quickly pushed this aside after hearing Chu Rong¡¯s steady breathing, burying his head in the storage bracelet and taking out a bottle of homemade sleep aid potion. After waving it in the air, he tentatively moved it towards Chu Rong, who showed no reaction. He then carefully surrounded Chu Rong with magic. In his dream, Chu Rong seemed to sense something, frowning as if he wanted to wake up. Qiao Zhiya quickly waved the bottle of sleep aid potion again and gently nudged it downwards a bit, continuing to gently stroke his hair and rub his forehead. Feeling the gentle aura of his lover, Chu Rong¡¯s furrowed brows gradually relaxed as he fell asleep again. The healing aura of the wood-elemental magic permeated the room. Chu Rong¡¯s breath became increasingly gentle. His unstable spiritual power also obediently subsided. Then, one stream of spiritual power drifted over protectively, intertwining with the magic. Qiao Zhiya was also affected by the sleep aid potion and couldn¡¯t help but yawn, gradually falling asleep as well. In their dreams, both of them longed for each other, so their powers entangled in the air, reluctant to separate. CH 105.2 In the primitive forest, Qiao Yi¡¯s magic array collapsed again. He coughed twice, his face slightly pale, surrounded by swirling wood-elemental magic, looking somewhat unstable. ¡°Still can¡¯t contact him?¡± The brown-haired ¡°young woman¡± supported him, first feeding him a magic potion, then holding his hand, trying to transfer some energy to him. ¡°Don¡¯t, your magic pool is damaged, you can¡¯t exhaust your energy too much.¡± Qiao Yi held her hand, shook his head, and replied, ¡°Qiaoqiao¡¯s power seems a bit strange, as if something bad has mixed in. I can¡¯t sense him independently, and this barrier is blocking our magic array information.¡± The brown-haired ¡°young woman¡± looked up at the seemingly normal sky above her head, her brows deeply furrowed. Her eyes, very similar to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, stared slightly, appearing fierce, and said, ¡°The world where our baby arrived is more complicated than we imagined. We must first find a way to get out of this barrier.¡± Qiao Yi also looked up at the blue sky, reaching over to hold the young woman¡¯s hand, gently opening her clenched fingers, and interlocking their fingers, comforting, ¡°Mi Lai, wait a little longer. It¡¯ll be soon. When I recover from my injuries, I¡¯ll take you out of this barrier and find Qiaoqiao.¡± Mi Lai1since both QZY and his dad¡¯s name are romanized hanzi, I chose to tl¡¯d Mi Lai like that as well. A more western version of Qiao Yi would be Joey, while Mi Lai would be Miller or Mire. held his hand back, looking at him sideways, her eyes softened. Thinking of the efforts her husband had made over the past two years to find their son, her nose felt sour, and she turned around and threw herself into his arms. In the following days, Qiao Zhiya stuck to Chu Rong, never leaving his side. Whenever there was a chance, he would feed him potions and medicines, and he would also pull him to play with toys and the rabbits. Chu Rong patiently accompanied him, even setting up a children¡¯s playground in the area of the yard with the best lighting, much to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s delight, who ate an extra bowl of food happily. While Chu Rong rested and recovered from his injuries, Chu Huai took charge of all the work in the political and military sectors. Contrary to speculation, there was no falling out with the Xiang family. Instead, he heavily relied on Xiang Lingyun, delegating many important tasks to him. The upper echelons of the Federation were relieved to see this, and their admiration for Chu Huai grew even stronger. With such generosity and ability, this young new president was even more reliable and excellent than they had imagined. The collapse of the Presidential Palace was quickly closed under the pretext of ¡°the final counterattack of the Zergs,¡± an explanation that was relatively easy for the public to accept. All subsequent investigations and inquiries were conducted secretly, and the public remained unaware. The matter of Chu Huai moving into the Presidential Palace was naturally postponed, and he didn¡¯t need to find any more excuses for it. Officials who sought to curry favor with Chu Huai proposed that relevant departments work overtime to rebuild the Presidential Palace, arguing that a national symbol should not be left in ruins. However, Chu Huai firmly rejected this request, stating that the nation¡¯s resources should not be wasted on non-essential matters, especially so soon after the end of the war. The national symbol of the Federation was never the Presidential Palace, but the safety and stability of all Federation citizens! With these words, Chu Huai once again gained the favor of countless neutral officials and citizens. Xiang Lingyun immediately understood Chu Huai¡¯s intentions and discreetly intervened to indefinitely prolong the reconstruction project of the Presidential Palace, significantly extending the duration of its reconstruction. About a week later, it was time for the final exams at the Federal Military Academy. Qiao Zhiya hinted that he wanted to go to school with Chu Yan. Chu Rong¡¯s relaxed expression immediately tensed up upon hearing this, and his hand instinctively grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wrist. ¡°Xiao Yan will accompany me.¡± Qiao Zhiya acted as if he hadn¡¯t noticed anything wrong, holding his hand and touching the scabbed-over wound on his arm. Seeing him twitch from the itch, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s lips curled up, and he leaned in to rub his chest, saying, ¡°After the exam, let¡¯s go to that garbage planet. Tan-ge2he¡¯s referring to Tan Shengwei said it¡¯s been cleaned up.¡± Chu Rong hugged him, nuzzling his forehead with his chin and then reaching up to touch the small bump on his head that hadn¡¯t fully healed. His furrowed brows relaxed slightly as he agreed to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s request to visit the garbage planet. ¡ªAfter resting for so many days, they couldn¡¯t delay important matters any longer. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya took the opportunity to continue, ¡°Also, next year when school starts, I want to skip a grade again and go directly to fifth grade. That way, I can graduate in the middle of next year. Do you¡­ do you remember what you said to me before?¡± Chu Rong looked down at him, gently stroking his slightly flushed face with his hand, asking, ¡°What did I say?¡± He had said so many things, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s question was vague, making it difficult for him to understand what he was referring to. Qiao Zhiya became even more shy, burying his face back into Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, clutching his clothes with his fingers, and murmuring, ¡°It¡¯s about when we got engaged. You said you would be with me¡­ uhm¡­ you didn¡¯t change your mind, did you? I¡¯ve been sticking to you these past few days, do you find me annoying¡­¡± His ears drooped again, looking very upset. ¡°Nom¡± Chu Rong was taken aback, immediately hugging him tightly. He then understood that Qiao Zhiya was referring to his promise to marry him as soon as he graduated. His melancholy mood immediately lifted, and he leaned down to kiss his ear gently, sighing, ¡°We¡¯ll get married. After you graduate, we¡¯ll get married and be together forever.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched, and he smiled with narrowed eyes, happily rubbing against him. Then he looked up and said, ¡°Will you take me to the exam? You can accompany me. It¡¯s been a while since Xiao Yan and I had a good chat with you.¡± Chu Rong looked at him with trusting and affectionate eyes, his lips curving up, nodding, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll accompany you.¡± Like any ordinary school day, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan on the hovercar to the military academy. ¡°Erge, next semester I want to take some command major¡¯s courses. What do you think?¡± Chu Yan eagerly leaned over as soon as he got in the hover car, full of energy and seeking approval, just as lively as ever. Chu Rong¡¯s gaze swept over his face, then glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was clearly listening in with his ears raised but pretending to be engrossed in organizing notes. Feeling soft-hearted, he looked back at Chu Yan and gently asked, ¡°Can you keep up with the courses?¡± ¡°I can! I find the command courses very easy to handle. I¡¯ve been self-studying them for several months already.¡± Chu Yan slapped his chest, brimming with confidence and seeking praise. Chu Rong nodded, advising, ¡°If you¡¯ve chosen, then stick with it. Don¡¯t give up halfway. I¡¯ll have Xiangnan prepare some command course materials for you later. Study hard, and if there¡¯s anything you don¡¯t understand, just ask.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Chu Yan nodded eagerly, then gave Qiao Zhiya a look that said ¡°Mission accomplished.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s lips curled up, and his ears perked up, putting away his notes and leaning against Chu Rong while playing some games on his photon computer with Chu Yan. Chu Rong allowed him to lean on him, watching his beloved and his younger brother playing happily together. He reached up to rub Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears as they twitched with the game¡¯s movements, feeling the crazy emotions stirred up by the magic array incident finally subsiding. When the hovercar arrived at the school gate, both Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan were on high alert, though they tried to appear normal. Their movements when getting off the car were stiff, secretly prepared for Chu Rong¡¯s potential outburst. But unexpectedly, Chu Rong didn¡¯t exhibit his usual ¡°over-anxious¡± behavior. He calmly watched them get off the car, then reached out to touch the spiritual energy simulator on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear and handed him a blood-red pendant to wear. He pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear and instructed, ¡°After the exam, don¡¯t wander around. Go home with Xiao Yan. Don¡¯t use magic recklessly during the exam. I have to go to the military department and might be home late. Be good and have your meal.¡± He only cautioned against using magic recklessly, rather than forbidding it altogether. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly, then leaned his head against Chu Rong¡¯s palm. Stepping back, he stood beside Chu Yan, watching as Chu Rong closed the car door and left. ¡°Finally sorted it out¡­¡± Chu Yan let out a long sigh of relief after Chu Rong left, exaggeratedly leaning on Qiao Zhiya and sighing, ¡°Erge is really scary. The atmosphere at home these days has been unbearable. It¡¯s all thanks to you. Last time when he went crazy like this, it was because of Mom and Dad¡­ Oh well, forget it. Let¡¯s focus on the exam. Afterward, let¡¯s go home and have a big meal. Dasao has been eating a lot lately, making the butler bring tons of food home. I feel like I¡¯m getting fat.¡± Qiao Zhiya remembered Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s increasingly bulging belly, and he reached up to touch the blood-red pendant around his neck, which seemed to carry body heat. He shook his head happily and entered the campus with him. During the exam, neither of them used any privileges as members of the Presidential family. They followed the other students throughout the entire exam. Chu Yan was okay. Most of the time, he was at school, so everyone often saw him. It wasn¡¯t surprising anymore. But Qiao Zhiya was different. He skipped grades quickly, only showing up for midterm and final exams every year. Sometimes he didn¡¯t even show up for midterm exams, making him both impressive and mysterious. His appearance during exams always caused a sensation in the Mecha Manufacturing Department. The war footage released by Chu Huai had been scrutinized by the public over the past few months. The gray manually-piloted mechas from the Chu family, including ¡°Rong Tian3I forgor on whether I tl¡¯d it as Rongtian or Rong Tian¡­ sorry if it¡¯s wrong¡± and ¡°Elf¡±, had left a deep impression on them. Especially Rongtian and Elf, as most of the students at the military academy had seen the Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition and the following Mecha Piloting Competition. They could say they had witnessed the birth of these two mechas. However, they had never known that these two mechas were manually-piloted. While they had heard of the concept of manually-piloted mechs before and knew that Chu Rong had used one after his spiritual power injury, and had even defeated General Neitaxi of the Empire with it, Chu Rong¡¯s high status meant they had never had the chance to see him use a mech. So manually-piloted mechas were like a distant legend to them. But now, this legend appeared before their eyes, in the form of a savior. And the creator of this savior was actually a young man under twenty years old! Their classmate! An Exoplanet Native! They had long known that Qiao Zhiya was a genius, but they never knew he could become such a genius. While they were still struggling with their studies and feeling anxious about the war, he was already piloting the mecha he designed to save the world! How could they not be excited to see Qiao Zhiya after all this! Qiao Zhiya felt the burning gaze of his classmates around him, making him involuntarily nervous, and the small bump on his forehead suddenly started itching. Feeling uneasy, he quickly took out a hat and put it on to cover the bump that was only partially hidden by his bangs. Then he hurried to finish the exam, not even bothering to check the scores given by the system, and rushed out of the exam room. At this moment, not even half of the exam time had passed. The fourth-year students in the same exam room looked at the perfect score that popped up on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s desk from the system, then glanced at their own papers, which they had only partially completed. They withdrew their gaze with bloodshot faces. Comparison indeed brought frustration! Also, did Qiao Zhiya suddenly put on his hat because he felt embarrassed by everyone¡¯s gaze? Ah, what a cute little genius, but unfortunately, he¡¯s taken. CH 106.1 After the call was connected, Qiao Zhiya briefly told Chu Huai about the situation in the military academy where a student was also being controlled by the Ning family¡¯s drug, then hung up. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to call Chu Rong as well. Although he was worried that this ¡°he got into danger as soon as he¡¯s out of Chu Rong¡¯s sight¡± situation might cause Chu Rong to lose control of his emotions again, saving people was more important. While Chu Huai could quickly dispatch people to stabilize the situation at the academy, Chu Rong, with his military resources, would be more efficient in rescuing Ling Yi¡¯s father. Chu Rong¡¯s call was almost immediately answered the moment he dialed, and the older man¡¯s voice, which still sounded relatively calm, came through: ¡°After the exam¡­ why is it so noisy on your end? What¡¯s going on?¡± The calm only lasted less than two seconds. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I¡¯m very safe,¡± Qiao Zhiya first reassured him about his situation to ease his mind, then briefly explained what was happening on his side, and then said, ¡°Ling Yi said his father is in danger. He has now fainted. I don¡¯t know who his father is, you¡­¡± ¡°I will send someone to rescue him,¡± Chu Rong interrupted, his tone turning serious, followed by the faint sound of footsteps, ¡°Don¡¯t run around, stay with your teachers. Wait for Xiao Yan to come find you, I¡¯ll be there soon.¡± The call ended. Chu Rong¡¯s tone remained rational and calm throughout, which made Qiao Zhiya breathe a sigh of relief. After putting down the communicator, he saw that Xiang Kun had fully woken up. Although he seemed somewhat dazed, probably from the pain, Qiao Zhiya frowned, lifted him onto his back, and turned to follow the teacher who was taking Ling Yi to the infirmary. Chu Huai acted quickly. By the time they arrived at the infirmary, the school¡¯s higher-ups had already received orders and responded efficiently. They first cleared the infirmary to prevent panic from spreading due to Ling Yi¡¯s condition, then increased patrols and security around the school, and sent people to guard all of Ling Yi¡¯s personal belongings in his dorm room for further investigation. After taking the potion, Ling Yi remained unconscious, and his mental state was unstable. Although Xiang Kun, who was also injured, was now conscious, the situation didn¡¯t look good ¨C his chest, a vital area, was hit by a heavy mecha manufacturing tool, resulting in a large bruise and possibly internal injuries. The doctor swiftly examined and treated both of them. The school authorities soon arrived, gathered information from the teachers on the scene, and arranged to keep the news under wraps to stabilize the emotions of the witnessing students. Perhaps worried about Qiao Zhiya being frightened, they did not approach him for details but instead arranged for him to sit and rest on the side, even handing him a cup of hot water. A few minutes later, Chu Yan hurriedly arrived. As soon as he entered, he saw the large bruise on Xiang Kun¡¯s chest on the bed near the door, gasping in shock. He didn¡¯t even notice Qiao Zhiya sitting on the side, and quickly walked over to the doctor examining Xiang Kun, asking, ¡°How is he? Are his bones or internal organs hurt?¡± The doctor, aware of the special status of these students, quickly reassured him, ¡°His bones are not injured. His internal organs took a bit of a hit, but it¡¯s not a major problem. He just needs a few days of rest. The bruise will take some time to heal.¡± Chu Yan, however, did not believe it. Pointing to the bruise on Xiang Kun¡¯s chest, he said, ¡°Such a large bruise, how can it not be a major problem? Are you sure the bones aren¡¯t injured? If his internal organs are affected, how can the bones be fine? Please check again. What if there¡¯s something you missed¡ª ouch!¡± Xiang Kun, who had been lying with his eyes closed, couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. He raised his leg and kicked Chu Yan hard in the chest, frowning and glaring at him, saying, ¡°You¡¯re the one with injured bones! I think your brain is damaged! Did it hurt when I just kicked you? Are your bones broken? Are your internal organs affected? If you don¡¯t trust the doctor, why are you seeing one? Every bruise you gave me before was this big, shut up and get lost!¡± Qiao Zhiya, sitting on the side, was shocked, his eyes wide open. He hadn¡¯t expected Xiang Kun to suddenly explode with such ferocity. He turned his head to look at Chu Yan, who was clutching his chest and rubbing it furiously, then looked at the seemingly frightened doctor. Silently, he got up and led the innocent doctor away. This kick immediately enraged Chu Yan. He was about to retort angrily but, upon seeing Xiang Kun lying pitifully on the bed with his clothes disheveled and his blanket askew, swallowed back all the harsh words. After a moment of stewing, he just walked over, yanked the blanket up, and covered Xiang Kun¡¯s head with it forcefully, exclaiming angrily, ¡°You really are a one-in-a-millenia disaster!!¡± Hearing this, Xiang Kun¡¯s body stiffened. He took a deep breath, threw off the blanket, and wanted to kick him again, cursing, ¡°Who¡¯s the disaster! Who are you calling a disaster! Clearly, you are the disaster! Your whole Chu family is a disaster! Chu San, why didn¡¯t I just beat you to death back then!¡± As he spoke, for some reason, his eyes suddenly turned red. He quickly blinked hard, unwilling to look at Chu Yan¡¯s irritating face any longer. He pulled up the blanket to cover himself and turned his back on Chu Yan, cursing, ¡°Get lost! You¡¯re goddamn annoying!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s dynamic vision was excellent, and Xiang Kun¡¯s attempt to hide his emotions was too clumsy, so he immediately noticed Xiang Kun¡¯s reddened eyes. He was stunned for a moment and then became a bit flustered. After hesitating, he stepped forward and tugged at the blanket, carefully asking, ¡°Are you crying? No way, you¡¯re an adult¡­ I used to beat you so badly, and you never cried. Now I just scold you once¡­ Okay, okay, stop moving, I give up. Don¡¯t lie on your side, you¡¯ll hurt your chest.¡± Seeing him pulling back the blanket, Chu Yan, afraid that his movements might aggravate his wound, quickly raised his hands in surrender and let go of the blanket, frowning deeply in frustration. He knew how to deal with the tough and stubborn Xiang Kun, but he had no idea how to handle this suddenly fragile Xiang Kun who cried at a mere scolding. Qiao Zhiya silently stepped forward, handing Chu Yan all the oral and topical medications the doctor had prescribed for Xiang Kun. He pushed Chu Yan gently and whispered, ¡°Xiang Kun got hurt saving me.¡± Chu Yan was stunned, looking at the medicine in his hand, then at Xiang Kun¡¯s back turned towards him. With a bit of frustration, he scratched his head, dragged a chair over to sit by the bed, and poked Xiang Kun¡¯s exposed back, saying, ¡°I was wrong, I shouldn¡¯t have scolded you. Thank you for saving Qiao¡­ Don¡¯t cry anymore, take your medicine first, otherwise, your wound won¡¯t heal. Didn¡¯t you say to trust the doctor? The doctor says you need to take your medicine now.¡± Xiang Kun moved a bit, threw off the blanket, turned his head, and cursed, ¡°You¡¯re the one crying, you¡ª mmpfff!!!¡± Chu Yan seized the opportunity to stuff the medicine into his mouth, then covered his mouth with his hand. He climbed onto the bed to pin down Xiang Kun¡¯s legs, making him lie flat. Using his teeth, he tore open the packet of the topical medicine, poured it directly onto Xiang Kun¡¯s bare chest, and started massaging it in with firm strokes, saying seriously, ¡°Better to endure short-term pain for long-term gain. Let me help you spread out the medicine, it will heal faster this way!¡± Finally free to speak, Xiang Kun pounded the bed in rage, gasping frequently from the pain, and struggled to kick Chu Yan off, but couldn¡¯t. Looking at Chu Yan¡¯s infuriating face above him, he choked up and cursed, ¡°Chu San! You¡¯ll die a terrible death! You dare to do this to me, I¡¯ll kill your whole family!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s mood inexplicably soared. He massaged Xiang Kun¡¯s chest harder, but when he saw Xiang Kun stiffen in pain, he guiltily softened his touch and earnestly advised, ¡°You can¡¯t kill anyone. With your weak body, who in my family could you possibly beat? Don¡¯t move, don¡¯t move, I can¡¯t use my strength properly.¡± ¡°Chu San, I¡¯ll fucking %&@!!!¡± Chu Rong walked in just in time to hear Xiang Kun¡¯s long string of extremely colorful curses. Frowning, he strode over, first pulling the wide-eyed and shocked Qiao Zhiya to stand behind him, then stepped forward and slapped the back of Chu Yan¡¯s head forcefully, scolding, ¡°What nonsense are you up to? Get down!¡± Xiang Kun¡¯s cursing stopped. Chu Yan¡¯s head was knocked forward, nearly hitting Xiang Kun¡¯s face. His hand slipped while massaging the bruise, sliding down Xiang Kun¡¯s chest to his collarbone and then gripping his neck. Xiang Kun rolled his eyes. ¡°Cough, cough, Chu¡­ San¡­ I¡¯ll kill¡ª cough, cough¡­¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry, my bad, my bad,¡± Chu Yan quickly pulled his hand back and patted his chest to soothe him. He glanced at Xiang Kun¡¯s flushed and tear-streaked face turned to the side, and then at his own hand resting on Xiang Kun¡¯s bare, reddened chest. Suddenly, he felt something was off about the scene. But before he could figure out what, Chu Rong, unable to tolerate his younger brother¡¯s antics any longer, yanked him off Xiang Kun and thoughtfully pulled the blanket up to cover Xiang Kun¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with you later.¡± Chu Rong scolded him with a frown, signaling the stunned doctor to check on Xiang Kun. He then stepped forward to block Qiao Zhiya¡¯s view and led him towards the bed where Ling Yi was lying. ¡°Hey, Erge¡­¡± Chu Yan took two steps forward, wanting to follow. He glanced at Xiang Kun on the bed, hesitated, and then stopped, frowning as he walked back to the bedside. He pulled the blanket to cover Xiang Kun¡¯s exposed legs and said, ¡°Look at you, what else can you do besides cursing? We¡¯re all adults now, you can¡¯t just throw punches whenever you feel like it.¡± Xiang Kun couldn¡¯t stand his nagging. He lifted his leg and kicked him again, furious enough to want to kill him on the spot! Living for twenty years, there was one thing he had always known for sure: he and this bastard Chu San were destined to clash! Compared to the bustling scene there, the atmosphere around Ling Yi¡¯s hospital bed was much heavier. Most of the school¡¯s leaders and teachers were gathered there, frowning and discussing the situation seriously. When Chu Rong entered, a senior leader who was familiar with him immediately approached and said worriedly, ¡°Marshal, now that there are victims of the Ning family¡¯s drugs even in the Federal Military Academy, I¡¯m concerned there may be more Ning family remnants hiding here. This might not be the only affected student. Should we arrange a comprehensive health check for all the students? The winter break is approaching, and if we¡­¡± ¡°Rest assured, I will arrange it. The military¡¯s inspection team will arrive soon, and a thorough check will quickly be carried out across the entire Federation,¡± Chu Rong reassured him. He then walked over to check on Ling Yi¡¯s condition. Seeing that his complexion was stable, he asked the doctor standing by, ¡°How is he doing?¡± ¡°After taking the potion provided by Qiao Zhiya, his condition has stabilized. The level of poisoning from the medication wasn¡¯t deep, and he has a very strong will. He has been actively resisting the effects of the medication,¡± the doctor replied simply, looking pleased¡ªthis was the quality expected of a student of the Federal Military Academy. Chu Rong nodded, then went over to discuss the upcoming student health checks with the school leaders. After leaving Lin Zhen to coordinate with the follow-up team, he took Qiao Zhiya out of the infirmary and directly boarded a hover car. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked in confusion. ¡°To the hospital. Xiangnan has already rescued Ling Yi¡¯s father. You know his father too, he¡¯s Ling Yingxu, who competed with you in the mecha piloting finals,¡± Chu Rong replied. He reached out to touch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hair, only to find he was wearing a hat. ¡°Why are you suddenly wearing a hat, are you cold?¡± he asked, holding his hand to check his temperature and finding it normal, he felt slightly relieved. Qiao Zhiya was taken aback, focusing entirely on Chu Rong¡¯s first sentence. Shaking his head to indicate he wasn¡¯t cold, he hurriedly asked, ¡°How is Ling Yingxu? Why is he in the hospital? Is he injured? Before fainting, Ling Yi mentioned the Ning family. What exactly happened?¡± ¡°The specifics are unclear. He was just rescued and is currently undergoing emergency treatment. The initial guess is that the Ning family remnants kidnapped Ling Yingxu and forced Ling Yi to approach and attack you. We¡¯ll have to wait until Ling Yi and his father wake up to confirm everything,¡± Chu Rong explained, squeezing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand to comfort him. Seeing his anxiety, Chu Rong accelerated the hover car further. Ling Yingxu lived on the Capital Planet, very close to the Federal Military Academy. He was injured at home, and as soon as Fan Xiangnan received the news, he quickly found Ling Yingxu, who was severely injured and unconscious. He then sent him to the nearest hospital for treatment. T/L: kinda spoilery i guess? Chu Yan and Xiang Kun are¡­. getting along well, huh¡­. hmmmmmmm what does this mean? CH 106.2 Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family¡¯s current heir. Xiang Kun¡¯s older brother. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Long Ruifeng: the ex-President. Long Baorou: the ex-President¡¯s daughter. ¡°Elder¡±: the mastermind of the conspiracy. An Xei: The former Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. Ten minutes later, the hover car stopped in front of a general hospital. Fan Xiangnan was already waiting for them at the entrance. Upon their arrival, he immediately, along with the hospital director who had rushed over, escorted them through a special passageway to the already secured emergency floor. While walking, he quickly explained, ¡°The attack on Ling Yingxu was extremely bold. The assailant attacked him right at his residence, located above his own mecha combat training center. By the time we arrived, only Ling Yingxu was there. He had a deep wound on his left chest, nearly hitting his heart. If we had been a little later, he might have been in real danger.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s expression grew increasingly tense upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, ¡°Did you catch the assailant?¡± ¡°No,¡± Fan Xiangnan shook his head, then dismissed the hospital director. He took an isolation shield from his spatial button and handed it to them, frowning as he said, ¡°We found this at the scene.¡± Chu Rong looked over and frowned deeply. Black background, red patterns, oval-shaped ¨C it was a mini version of a black hole generator. He had just seen something similar today at the military department; it had been extracted from Long Baorou¡¯s body. However, the one inside Long Baorou was much larger than this one. Qiao Zhiya also frowned. He had secretly researched this thing before, but unfortunately, he had never been able to figure it out. Now, seeing this object, it would remind him of the night of the Presidential Palace collapse, almost like a shadow. Moreover, if the perpetrator used a black hole to escape, it would be extremely difficult to catch them. ¡°The final exams of the Federal Military Academy are fixed, so the other party must have planned this in advance,¡± Fan Xiangnan continued with his speculation when he saw them remain silent. ¡°They were able to find out about the relationship between Ling Yingxu and Ling Yi, knew that Ling Yi had interactions with Qiao, and even knew the location of the fourth-year mecha manufacturing major exam. The person planning this should have had access to the military academy¡¯s student records system.¡± However, Chu Rong shook his head and replied, ¡°No, the other party doesn¡¯t have that much power. Using the tactic of kidnapping parents to threaten their children seems more like something a brainless young person would do recklessly. The other party is likely someone Ling Yi knows and had a good relationship with Long Baorou. They obtained this teleportation device from her, considering these two conditions together.¡± Initially, Long Baorou couldn¡¯t have hidden in the Presidential Palace without help, aside from Xiang Hui. After the collapse of the Presidential Palace, his attention had been entirely focused on Qiao Zhiya, and he hadn¡¯t had the chance to thoroughly clear Long Baorou¡¯s network of connections. He hadn¡¯t expected that before he could make a move, the other party would show up first. Upon hearing this, Fan Xiangnan realized that he had overcomplicated things again and quickly complied with his orders before turning to arrange them. Qiao Zhiya, however, was puzzled and asked, ¡°Why Long Baorou?¡± Chu Rong glanced at him, lifted his hand to touch his face, and replied, ¡°Because her memories betrayed her.¡± Among the fragmented memories extracted, there was a scene of Long Baorou providing this device. Over an hour later, Ling Yi, who had regained consciousness, arrived at the hospital under Lin Zhen¡¯s protection. Just as Ling Yingxu was being pushed out of the operating room after the rescue operation, father and son, both out of danger, were arranged by Chu Rong to stay in the same hospital room. ¡°I received a communication from my father in the morning,¡± Ling Yi recalled, glancing at his father lying on the other side. He paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°A person wearing a black robe was holding my father hostage, forbidding me to call the police or inform anyone else. They instructed me to go to locker B in the school cafeteria to retrieve a bottle of medicine and drink it, then put on the mental induction device inside, and then ordered me to harm Qiao Zhiya.¡± ¡°I tried to seek help from a passing teacher, but that person immediately fed my father a strange drug. I had no choice but to make up an excuse to fool the teacher. Later, I followed the commands of the person in the black robe and approached the fourth year exam room. Then my consciousness suddenly became blurry. I regained consciousness briefly when I saw Qiao Zhiya, and then I tried to knock myself out by hitting the wall to avoid being manipulated further, but I failed. You know the rest.¡± Chu Rong frowned and pondered for a few seconds before asking, ¡°You mentioned the Ning family before you passed out. Why?¡± ¡°I was in a hurry, and I saw the person in the black robe feeding my father a drug. The drug they made me drink before was also strange, so¡­¡± Ling Yi explained apologetically. Having seen the public trial, he immediately associated the situation with the Ning family after realizing that the person in the black robe was targeting Qiao Zhiya and using drugs to threaten people. It was just an instinctual response. Qiao Zhiya felt extremely guilty and apologized, saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve implicated you and your father.¡± ¡°No need to apologize. It¡¯s the bad guys¡¯ fault,¡± Ling Yi turned to look at him, his expression gentle with gratitude. He continued, ¡°I never had the chance to thank you in person for saving my father during the finals on that planet. Thank you.¡± Qiao Zhiya hurriedly waved his hand to indicate there was no need for thanks. Seeing him like this, his low spirits lifted slightly. Later in the evening, Ling Yingxu also regained consciousness. He recalled the events before he passed out, only remembering a black hole suddenly appearing at home, followed by something rushing out of the black hole and attacking him. During the brief moment of clarity, he saw a knife swinging down in a daze and instinctively exerted all his strength to dodge aside before passing out in pain. ¡°It¡¯s likely that the problematic drug fed to you by the person in the black robe stimulated your mental consciousness, causing you to briefly regain consciousness,¡± Fan Xiangnan speculated. Suddenly, the communicator rang. It was a message from the investigation team left at the school, stating that after reviewing the surveillance footage from locker B of the cafeteria, they found that the person who placed the drug was a freshman. He didn¡¯t know what he was doing, and delivering items to the cafeteria was just part of his part-time job as a campus runner. ¡°Continue the investigation. The perpetrator¡¯s actions weren¡¯t very careful, so there should be clues left behind,¡± Chu Rong ordered. Seeing that it was already late, he nodded at Ling Yingxu and his son, then took Qiao Zhiya home directly. The next day at noon, the mastermind behind the incident was caught. It turned out to be a former admirer of Long Baorou, now an assistant instructor at the military academy. Long Baorou had contacted him after secretly returning to the Federation, using him to contact Xiang Hui, and then seizing the opportunity to control Xiang Hui. This admirer was just a member of a small family. Unable to rescue Long Baorou upon hearing the news of her capture, he was furious and sought revenge, using some ¡°toys¡± left by Long Baorou. He was an advisor to a club that Ling Yi participated in, and had seen Ling Yingxu come to pick Ling Yi up and had also seen Ling Yi and Jian making contact. Knowing that Ling Yi had connections with Qiao Zhiya, he focused his attention on him. This incident seemed to have no major conspiracy, just a minor aftermath of the Long Baorou incident. But Chu Rong felt that something was amiss. While Long Baorou and Long Ruifeng were father and daughter, they occupied drastically different positions within the entire conspiracy chain. Long Ruifeng was merely a tool of the lowest rank, unaware that behind An Xei stood the real mastermind. Meanwhile, Long Baorou was deeply entrenched in the center of the conspiracy. Not only was she personally mentally locked by the mastermind¡¯s spiritual power, but she could also freely manipulate those black hole devices. This was all very strange. Moreover, the mastermind had just mentioned through Long Baorou that this was only the beginning, and then trouble ensued on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side. Chu Rong sat on the sofa, lost in thought, playing with the black hole teleportation device taken from Ling Yingxu¡¯s home. Suddenly, his hand stopped, and he sat up. Sometimes, the human subconscious remembers things that the brain ignores. The word ¡°Ning family¡± that Ling Yi mentioned at the critical moment may not be just an association caused by the drug used, but a genuine discovery of something. And those intermittent memories in Long Baorou¡¯s mind, contacting someone¡­ No, besides Long Baorou, there were others manipulating events targeting the Chu family. He took out his communicator and dialed Fan Xiangnan¡¯s number, instructing him as soon as the call connected, ¡°Communicate with Ling Yi, calm his mental state, and ask him to try to vividly recall the scene when he contacted the person in the black robe.¡± Fan Xiangnan was taken aback but quickly agreed. That afternoon, Chu Rong received a projection video. Ling Yi couldn¡¯t remember the details of the incident, so at Ling Yingxu¡¯s suggestion, he voluntarily agreed on using spiritual power for a mental search. Qiao Zhiya slipped into the study and sat next to Chu Rong, grabbing his arm. Chu Rong glanced at him and silently consented to his company, then clicked play. The video began from Ling Yi¡¯s perspective, starting with the scene of Ling Yingxu being kidnapped in a video call. The first half of the video matched Ling Yi¡¯s account, up until he drank the drug. However, as Ling Yi¡¯s consciousness began to blur, another video call screen faintly appeared behind the person in the black robe facing him. And the person on the screen¡­ ¡°Ning Tianxing?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s vision was much better than Chu Rong¡¯s, and he immediately recognized the vague figure. His eyes widened in shock ¡ª if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, Ning Tianxing should be undergoing interrogation, awaiting death in the most tightly guarded prison in the military headquarters! But what was this video about? Chu Rong¡¯s expression also changed, and he stood up, ready to rush to the military headquarters. Qiao Zhiya glanced at the video, which was still playing normally but didn¡¯t show the additional call screen, and hurriedly followed. The two of them hastily boarded the hover car and headed towards the military headquarters. Upon arrival, Chu Rong, utilizing his authority, unlocked the prison blockade along with Qiao Zhiya and made their way to the highest security cell in the advanced containment area. They stood outside the observation screen and looked in. Inside, Ning Tianxing lay with his eyes closed, seemingly lifeless. To prevent his spiritual power from destroying his brain once he regained consciousness, the military had been trying to keep him in this comatose state. Even though he was currently undergoing interrogation and awaiting death, the military had not allowed him to wake up. Perhaps he was conscious at the moment and could sense external events, but his thoughts were extremely disjointed, unable to control his brain. He was essentially a living dead with his eyes closed. The monitoring data on the screen confirmed that the figure lying inside was definitely a living person, and definitely Ning Tianxing. It couldn¡¯t be a puppet. Frowning, Chu Rong turned off the external screen, gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to stay outside, then entered the cell alone and closed the door, blocking Qiao Zhiya¡¯s view. Qiao Zhiya had a vague sense of what Chu Rong was about to do, and his heart tightened anxiously as he obediently waited outside. Ten minutes later, Chu Rong emerged from the cell, his spiritual power unstable, his expression cold and filled with killing intent. Qiao Zhiya stole a glance inside as Chu Rong exited and caught sight of Ning Tianxing lying on the bed, blood flowing from his seven orifices. His heart pounded heavily, and he was left stunned. Chu Rong quickly covered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes and pulled him into his arms, then turned to the guards who were alerted by Ning Tianxing¡¯s death alarm. He said solemnly, ¡°The one inside is just a replica of Ning Tianxing. After breaking the mental lock, his brain only holds a few fragmented memories, and his spiritual sea is damaged. The real Ning Tianxing is still out there. Starting today, lock down the entire Capital Planet and conduct a thorough search!¡± The soldiers were shocked by his words, nearly scared out of their wits. The high-ranking officials of the Federation, who had just enjoyed a brief respite, were thrown into disarray by the news Chu Rong had revealed. Political and military officials abandoned their current tasks and gathered urgently at the military headquarters for an emergency meeting. Meanwhile, the Capital Planet was locked down, and the operation to investigate the Federation¡¯s population and clean up all the planets under its control, proposed by Chu Rong on the day of the Presidential Palace collapse, was accelerated. That night, Chu Rong secretly boarded the Chu family flagship with Qiao Zhiya and set course for the garbage planet. ¡°First An Xei, then Ning Tianxing. The mastermind found a way to protect his two most important tools. I should have realized it earlier. Ning Tianxing, that old fox, how could he be easily caught and be without any resistance? The mastermind deliberately threatened and frequently made small moves harmful to the Chu family¡¯s safety, forcing us to not dare to act rashly, only able to stay in the safe area of the Capital Planet. They are delaying our time to go to the garbage planet!¡± Chu Rong explained, his spiritual power in turmoil due to breaking the mental lock, showing how bad his emotions were at the moment. Fan Xiangnan finally straightened out his thoughts and hastened the flagship¡¯s speed once more. He glanced at Chu Rong¡¯s distressed expression and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worried face beside him, furrowing his brow. If everything was as the commander said, then the Ning family laboratory on the garbage planet was likely destroyed by Ning Tianxing during the time he delayed them. Ning Tianxing would definitely target key points, knowing that Qiao Zhiya was Chu Rong¡¯s weak spot, and would burst upon touch. The enemy was much more cunning than they had imagined. CH 106.3 They took a special passage this time, arriving over the garbage planet in just a day and a half. To avoid alerting the enemy, they didn¡¯t descend directly upon arrival but quietly landed their mechas from high altitude. The garbage planet has been completely swept clean. Now only half of the military and mining teams remain on the planet to continue searching for the laboratory¡¯s whereabouts, but so far, their harvest has been zero, and there are no signs of anyone else landing on the planet. Fan Xiangnan looked at the normal brown ground revealed after the sweep and said, ¡°If Ning Tianxing and the others are here, they should have used the black hole transmission device to come and go.¡± Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have remained undetected. Chu Rong also looked at the vast expanse of the planet¡¯s surface, his brow furrowed. The laboratory must be underground, but the military has already roughly traversed the entire planet during the sweep, yet they haven¡¯t found anything, making the situation a bit tricky. Qiao Zhiya, who had been quietly standing by Chu Rong¡¯s side since landing, reached out at the right moment and grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s hand, shaking his head. Chu Rong turned to look at him. ¡°I¡¯m very good at detecting things underground,¡± he cautiously proposed, conjuring a bit of earth magic and explaining, ¡°The laboratory should be deep underground. I can give it a try.¡± Chu Rong immediately clasped his hand, his spiritual energy becoming even more unstable. Qiao Zhiya quickly took out a vial of potion and fed it to him. Leaning against him obediently, he said, ¡°You accompany me to search. This time, I won¡¯t overextend my abilities. If I get tired, I¡¯ll rest immediately, and if I get sleepy, I¡¯ll sleep right away, okay?¡± Chu Rong shook his head, reaching out his arm to embrace him tightly, replying, ¡°No, that¡¯s not allowed.¡± Qiao Zhiya nestled obediently in his arms, returning the embrace and gently running his hand down Chu Rong¡¯s back, continuing softly, ¡°But time really can¡¯t be wasted anymore. Ning Tianxing and the others have gone to great lengths to delay us, surely because whatever is in the laboratory is very important and absolutely must not be discovered by us. Chu Rong, it¡¯s almost New Year¡¯s. We¡¯ve all suffered a lot this year. Let¡¯s have a relaxing New Year, okay?¡± Chu Rong, of course, understood all this even better than Qiao Zhiya did. He, who used to be extremely rational, was now frustratingly hesitant. ¡°Chu Rong, I want to protect you too,¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up, gently nuzzling his face, his eyes filled with worry. ¡°What happened to you during this time? I¡¯m really worried.¡± Chu Rong rarely saw him with such eyes, and his heart tightened. The erratic spiritual energy abruptly stopped, and he swallowed hard before slowly releasing him, saying, ¡°Magic array.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked puzzled. ¡°What?¡± ¡°After you exhausted your strength, there was a magic array that appeared around you. It almost took you away.¡± Chu Rong touched his forehead, his finger moving to a small bump on his forehead, gently pressing it. ¡°Then the next day after you woke up, this appeared on your forehead.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Qiao Zhiya was dumbfounded, completely not expecting the truth to be like this. He raised his hand to feel the small horn on his forehead, frowning slowly. ¡°Could it really be atavism?¡± ¡°Atavism?¡± Chu Rong frowned, feeling like he had heard some awful term. He asked with a furrowed brow, ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°It means awakening the power of one¡¯s ancestors within the body, manifested through the bloodline.¡± Qiao Zhiya explained, looking very distressed. ¡°During atavism, the body¡¯s strength can be unstable, and occasionally strange things can happen. But why would I experience atavism? It shouldn¡¯t be, my father¡¯s bloodline is very pure. Could it be my mother?¡± Although his mother was a descendant of wandering dwarves and was taller than average for a dwarf, she still had distinct dwarf features. There were no features of other races apparent. Unstable strength? Chu Rong suddenly remembered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s subconscious doodling of magic arrays in the mud when his powers went berserk before. His face darkened as he felt he might have discovered the truth. He asked, ¡°Are there any magic arrays that lose their effect when others¡¯ blood splashes onto them?¡± ¡°Many, um, you and I¡­ well, our power compositions are different. Human blood has a certain contaminating effect on pure magical energy.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt inexplicably guilty under his gaze, stuttering a bit before asking, ¡°W-why are you looking at me like that? D-did I make a mistake again?¡± He made a big mistake! ¡°You really are¡­¡± Chu Rong reached out and pulled him closer. Seeing him shrink back, too afraid to move, and feeling unable to continue scolding him, he recalled the various terrifying imaginings he had had about that magic array during this time. He felt like his chest was about to explode. Finally, he took a deep breath and asked, ¡°Then, are there any magic arrays that would make your body transparent and almost disappear?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched, and he instinctively replied, ¡°Teleportation array? I was just studying it recently¡­ um¡­¡± He noticed Chu Rong¡¯s expression becoming even more serious, so he promptly shut his mouth and snuggled into the other¡¯s embrace. Ever since he discovered that the main factor for the black hole device to function was the red patterns on it, he had been secretly studying them, speculating whether those patterns were similar to teleportation arrays. During his free time, he occasionally drew and analyzed the power transmission methods of teleportation arrays. Now it seemed that he had subconsciously drawn a teleportation array during his atavism, and it had succeeded, frightening Chu Rong. This was really unfortunate. Although he had upgraded his powers, he didn¡¯t have much knowledge of array studies and wasn¡¯t very adept at drawing advanced arrays like teleportation arrays. He had never succeeded in drawing one before¡­ cough. Feeling increasingly guilty, he hurriedly rubbed against Chu Rong¡¯s chest to try to appease him, soothingly saying, ¡°There¡¯s no magic in the air here, and even if a high-level teleportation array is formed, it can¡¯t teleport too far. Don¡¯t worry, I¡­ I promise not to recklessly exhaust my powers again in the future!¡± Chu Rong almost gritted his teeth as he forcefully rubbed his head and then, unwilling to let it go, tugged at his guilty ears. He almost wished he could shrink him down and put him in a cage so he wouldn¡¯t unintentionally cause trouble again! After this ordeal, the knot in Chu Rong¡¯s heart finally loosened. He agreed to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s request to use magic to search for the laboratory, but with one condition: absolutely no power exhaustion allowed! Qiao Zhiya vigorously nodded, taking out a piece of jade and holding it, replenishing his power as he used it. Chu Rong disguised himself as a member of the mining team, piloting a standard gray mech, pretending to be engaged in normal operations as he slowly moved across the planet with Qiao Zhiya. Inside the cockpit, Qiao Zhiya closed his eyes and gradually released his earth-elemental magic, seeping into the ground. The earth, now able to breathe freely once more, warmly responded to his exploration. The gentle power flowed back to him with each layer he delved deeper, causing him to subconsciously smile and relax his features. Chu Rong kept a close eye on him, noticing his joyful expression, slightly flushed cheeks, and apparent relaxation, which eased his heightened concerns somewhat. Unbeknownst to them, more than an hour had passed, and they had searched a large area without any significant findings. Chu Rong was about to suggest a break for Qiao Zhiya when he suddenly moved his ears and then crouched down in the cockpit. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Rong quickly slowed down the mech¡¯s speed and asked with concern. ¡°I hear something,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied briefly, signaling for him to be quiet as he directed his power towards the source of the sound. ¡°Hsss¡­.¡± After penetrating several hundred meters deeper into the ground, a faint sound resembling the rustling of wind reached their ears. Wind underground? Qiao Zhiya was puzzled and shook his ears. How could there be wind underground? A cave? As he increased the intensity of his power and focused more on listening to the feedback from the earth, the sound of wind became clearer. It seemed to be mixed with a vague ¡°swishing¡± noise, which he vaguely recognized. He adjusted his position and concentrated his power into a thread, drilling towards the source of the sound. With a swish, as if puncturing a thin membrane that had been covering the sound, the deafening chirps of the Zergs and the roar of some kind of beast echoed, almost deafening him. Startled, he froze, his power cut off. He straightened up and turned to look at Chu Rong, wide-eyed, quickly saying, ¡°It¡¯s deep, very deep! There are Zergs down there!¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression darkened. He immediately transmitted the coordinates of the location back to the military base and the flagship hovering above the planet, then piloted the mecha to swiftly ascend, waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements. CH 107.1 Chapter 107 is relatively short, only at 6k, so I separated it into 2 parts instead of the usual 3. Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC. Chu Rong: Marshal ML. Fan Xiangnan: ML¡¯s second-in-command. Tan Shengwei: A captain in ML¡¯s army. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. An Xei: The former Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. Ning Tianwu: An Xei¡¯s wife, Ning Tianxing¡¯s younger sister. An Mhu: Third Imperial Prince. Used to be the puppet Emperor after his father (former/old Emperor). Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire. Jexiu: Neitaxi¡¯s son, studying mecha piloting. Charmmi: The Imperial Royal Mecha Master Brendan¡¯s granddaughter. Studies mecha manufacturing. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Jian: the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. An Lunn: Feng¡¯s dead boyfriend. Jian¡¯s biological father, the old Emperor¡¯s second younger brother. The flagship was first to arrive, descending from above to pick up Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Should we start digging directly?¡± Fan Xiangnan asked. ¡°No, Ning Tianxing is hiding underground and probably can¡¯t accurately monitor the surface. Bomb another area to distract him, then we can dig here quietly,¡± Chu Rong replied, pointing to another coordinate. ¡°Bomb this area, and once the team arrives, start digging here.¡± Fan Xiangnan nodded and rushed off with the map to make the arrangements. Qiao Zhiya stepped forward, taking Chu Rong¡¯s hand. ¡°I can help you.¡± Digging and tunneling were dwarven specialties, and he was definitely faster than the military. Chu Rong glanced at him, squeezing his hand back. He frowned slightly but did not object and nodded. After everything was arranged, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong disembarked from the flagship and joined the arriving mining team. Fan Xiangnan piloted the flagship to the area Chu Rong had designated for a meaningless bombing to distract the people underground, while Qiao Zhiya, under Chu Rong¡¯s protection, once again spread his magic power. After roughly gauging the depth from the sound, Qiao Zhiya tried to detect the underground laboratory¡¯s boundaries. However, when he extended his magic power fully, he realized that this time the detection was meaningless. ¡°The lab is too large. I can¡¯t pinpoint its exact range. We need to get closer,¡± he said, looking up with a frown. Even with his current magic pool, he couldn¡¯t detect the lab¡¯s boundaries, indicating its massive size. Since Ning Tianxing conducted human experiments, the larger the lab, the more victims there were. Chu Rong bent down, helping him up and soothingly patting his head. ¡°Let¡¯s start digging. I¡¯ll help you.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, took out his hammer, and infused it with earth magic. Once the hammer was fully activated, he struck it heavily against the ground. The mining team, unable to see the magic activation or sense Qiao Zhiya¡¯s power, saw him suddenly pull out a small hammer and swing it downward into the air. Then, the ground silently shook, cracks appeared in the earth before him, and the soil began to arch and roll to the sides. After a series of tremors, a trench at least ten meters deep was revealed. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± Someone couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, quickly covering their mouth when they noticed Chu Rong¡¯s cold gaze. They stared wide-eyed at Qiao Zhiya and the ground before him, filled with shock. Although they knew the Second Young Master¡¯s fianc¨¦ was a genius, they had no idea he possessed such an extraordinary power. What had just happened? With one swing of his hand, the ground automatically cracked open and made way? A single strike created a trench more than ten meters deep. This efficiency was far superior to specialized digging machines! Moreover, this method was almost silent, making it an environmentally friendly and efficient operation! Qiao Zhiya measured the depth of the trench, turned back, and saw the mining team members staring at him with wide eyes. He shyly shuffled and tugged on Chu Rong¡¯s hand, whispering, ¡°The ground on this planet is quite easy to dig. Initially, it¡¯s best if only the two of us go down. The others can follow and clear the area. Otherwise, I might not be able to control my strength and hurt them.¡± Chu Rong nodded, called over the mining team leader, and gave a few instructions. Then, he directly jumped into the trench with Qiao Zhiya in his arms. The team leader couldn¡¯t resist stepping forward to peek into the trench, glimpsing Qiao Zhiya standing at the bottom, vaguely raising his hammer. He quickly stepped back, and the ground indeed trembled again as more soil rolled out, covering his face with dirt. ¡°¡­¡± He brushed off the dirt, feeling the increasingly regular tremors beneath his feet. Turning to his team, he silently waved and said, ¡°Start helping with the cleanup. The soil is also an important planetary resource and should be treated with care, understood?¡± The team members: ¡°¡­¡± No, saying this does not alleviate the awkwardness at all. Deep underground, Ning Tianxing hurried into the next laboratory, rapidly destroying various experimental data. Suddenly, a slime-covered hand reached out from behind him, aiming straight for his neck. Upon hearing the sound, Ning Tianxing¡¯s face darkened. He immediately drew his weapon and fired a shot behind him. Blood splattered, and the attacking experimental subject fell to the ground. Without even sparing it a glance, Ning Tianxing wiped the blood off his face and continued gathering the experimental data, muttering through gritted teeth, ¡°That damned An Xei! Always a hindrance! He destroyed my most important experimental subject! I¡¯ll deal with him after this!¡± Another hand reached out from behind. Annoyed, Ning Tianxing prepared to shoot again when a panicked male voice quickly said, ¡°Wait, wait, wait, Laoshi, it¡¯s me, not an experiment subject. I¡¯ve already gathered the data from Area D. Do we really have to abandon those subjects?¡± Only then did Ning Tianxing realize it was his assistant. He frowned and scolded, ¡°Don¡¯t you know to announce yourself first? What¡¯s the use of you being so reckless! If it weren¡¯t for¡­ forget it. Once Area D is cleaned up, prepare the timed explosives. Do I have to teach you such simple things?¡± The tall, hulking young man, who seemed particularly timid and bizarrely wore a hood covering his entire head, leaving only his eyes visible, shrank under the scolding. He nodded hastily and cautiously asked, ¡°What about Area D¡­¡± Ning Tianxing frowned, thinking about the mature experimental subjects in Area D. He hesitated for a moment before reluctantly saying, ¡°Abandon it! We don¡¯t have enough transport devices to move them all. Chu Rong could arrive at any moment. Destroy the experimental data first!¡± ¡°Okay, okay,¡± the young man nodded quickly and turned to leave, continuing to clean up the experimental data. Ning Tianxing called him back, looking upward briefly before saying darkly, ¡°The experimental subjects shouldn¡¯t go to waste. Find a passage and release them to create trouble for those Chu family pests on the surface.¡± The young man seemed frightened by his tone, shrinking his shoulders again. He nodded submissively, then stumbled as he hurried away. ¡°Useless fool!¡± Ning Tianxing despised his assistant¡¯s clumsy behavior but had no choice under the current circumstances. The Chu family¡¯s thorough cleanup had cost him a significant number of useful personnel. Now, this was the only reliable person left by his side. ¡°Damn it!¡± He cursed under his breath and resumed collecting data, angrily deciding that once this lab was cleared and a new one established, he would cultivate a few more competent assistants and dispose of the useless one. As he was thinking this, his portable alarm suddenly went off. He paused, his expression changing drastically. He quickly pulled out the device and saw the alarm for Area E flashing. He glared in that direction, angrily pounding the table before speeding up his efforts. ¡®These Chu family flies were relentless! Even though Chu Rong wasn¡¯t here, they kept digging and bombing the surface! And that Chu Rong, how did he even manage to track them to this dump of a planet?¡¯ His expression grew darker with each thought. Hearing footsteps behind him, he instinctively drew his weapon and fired another shot. ¡°Bang!¡± An escaping experimental subject fell to the ground, glaring at him with hateful eyes as if trying to tear him apart with its gaze. Ning Tianxing¡¯s face twisted into a sinister smile. He fired another shot into the subject¡¯s face, feeling a sense of relief as the pent-up anger dissipated. He scoffed and decided not to bother with this frustrating lab anymore, heading toward the next one. ¡°Thud.¡± Another hammer strike sent soil flying as the ground split open, and their bodies, wrapped in magic, sank lower. Chu Rong wiped the sweat off Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead. Noticing Qiao Zhiya shiver, his hand froze, realizing he had accidentally touched the small horn on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead again. He gently brushed aside Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs, lightly touching the area before taking his hand. Qiao Zhiya looked at him, puzzled. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break and replenish your energy.¡± Chu Rong handed Qiao Zhiya a piece of jade, then steadied his head and took out a small black string. He lifted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s bangs, awkwardly tying them into a small braid to keep them from constantly brushing against his forehead and little horn. Feeling the coolness on his forehead, Qiao Zhiya shook his head to test the braid, his eyes shining as he looked at Chu Rong. ¡°This way, the horn on your forehead won¡¯t get brushed so often.¡± Chu Rong patted his head, stepped forward to position himself protectively, and took out a mining hammer, saying, ¡°You rest and recharge your energy. I¡¯ll take over for a bit.¡± He then imitated Qiao Zhiya, concentrating his spiritual power into the hammer and striking the slanted ground. ¡°Boom!¡± A nearly deafening noise followed, causing the ground to shake. The earth cracked, and their bodies sank a little, but the broken ground stayed stable, with no soil blocks flipping out to make a path. Chu Rong froze, looking at the ground in silence. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears perked up, and he quickly stepped forward to grab the hammer from Chu Rong, awkwardly trying to comfort him, ¡°You¡¯re amazing! You dug really deep! Uh, I, I¡¯m hungry. Can you warm up some food for me? I don¡¯t want to drink a nutrient solution.¡± Chu Rong turned to look at him, frowning and visibly agitated. Suddenly, he bent down and kissed Qiao Zhiya forcefully, then obediently walked to the side, taking out a simple meal and a portable heater. He activated the heater and placed the meal inside to warm it. Qiao Zhiya touched his forehead, watching Chu Rong¡¯s ¡°domestic¡± appearance, and squinted his eyes with a smile. Above ground. Fan Xiangnan continued bombing the area Chu Rong had designated. A deep crater had already formed. Just as he was about to switch directions and bomb other areas as a distraction, the flagship¡¯s scanner detected something unusual. ¡°This marker¡­ it indicates a large group of creatures approaching?¡± Tan Shengwei examined the scan, trying to decipher what the markers represented. Fan Xiangnan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He immediately zoomed in on the area, and within seconds, a huge black hole appeared on the ground under his watchful eye. The black hole expanded, and countless Zergs surged out. ¡°It¡¯s the Zerg!¡± Tan Shengwei was initially shocked but then elated. ¡°The lab must be below this area!¡± Fan Xiangnan felt a sense of relief. He aimed the cannons at the black hole and contacted Chu Rong underground while ordering nearby soldiers and the mining team to prepare for combat. He then fired the cannons. Chu Rong ended the communication and looked at Qiao Zhiya, who had just finished eating. ¡°Ning Tianxing is angered by the bombing and has released the Zergs. He must be here.¡± Qiao Zhiya swallowed the last bite of food, stood up energetically, and raised his hammer. ¡°Then let¡¯s dig him out quickly!¡± In the lab, Ning Tianxing noticed the alarm in Area E had stopped. He glanced at the ground, snorted coldly, and walked briskly to the next lab area. About half an hour later, Qiao Zhiya put down his hammer, wiping sweat from his face. With two smudges of dirt on his face, he seriously said, ¡°The lab is right below us. Just a few more strikes and we¡¯ll reach it.¡± Chu Rong carefully wiped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face with a handkerchief, then took out his communicator to contact the team above, urging them to expedite the cleanup and come down quickly. In the flagship, Fan Xiangnan, after receiving the message, no longer engaged slowly with the emerging Zerg. He directly bombarded the black hole on the ground, dispersing it. He then sped up, clearing the Zerg outside, landed the flagship, and gathered the team to descend into the tunnel Qiao Zhiya had dug. ¡°Bang!¡± The dull sound of dirt hitting metal echoed, causing Qiao Zhiya to pause and look towards Chu Rong. Chu Rong stepped forward, first handing him some jade for his magic pool replenishment. Then, he climbed into his mecha, using tools to clear away the soil in the area, revealing a metal wall. He drew his twin daggers and inserted them into the dark golden metal surface, slicing through it as if it were tofu. While replenishing his energy, Qiao Zhiya noticed the daggers in Chu Rong¡¯s hands and realized they were the ones he had previously crafted using secondary-mutated red tin ore and star sand. His ears twitched as he looked up at the black-gold mecha. Chu Rong¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he finished cutting the metal surface. He quickly stowed the knives, grabbed Qiao Zhiya into the mech¡¯s hand for protection, then used his other hand to grip the sliced metal and forcefully lift it up! ¡°Hiss! Hss hss¡ª!!¡± A dense swarm of insectoid creatures hissed, and as the metal surface broke open, a small Zerg emerged, its limbs flailing as it attacked the black-gold mecha. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes widened in fear, and his magic power began to leak out unconsciously. Chu Rong immediately drew a short dagger and stabbed the small Zerg in the head. The creature convulsed violently before ceasing its struggle and slipping back into the metal cavity, only to be quickly replaced by more insectoids from below, blocking the opening. ¡°Crunch, crunch¡± The dreadful sound of chewing came, and the insectoid corpses blocking the hole began to deflate. Another ferocious Zerg surged out, and Chu Rong, with a frown, struck it down with another swing of his dagger. He quickly opened the mecha¡¯s cockpit, placed Qiao Zhiya inside. After ensuring he was secure, he pulled out the Zerg corpses blocking the hole, attacking the next emerging Zerg while saying, ¡°It looks like we¡¯ve dug into Ning Tianxing¡¯s storage area for these creatures.¡± Qiao Zhiya observed the scene outside, his brows furrowed and not relaxing. They took advantage of their strategic position and the Zergs¡¯ lack of intelligence, guarding the hole and killing the creatures one by one. When no more Zergs emerged, they jumped out of the mech, donned their protective suits, activated their shields, and followed the opening down. CH 107.2 ¡°Squelch.¡± Their boots made a sticky, unpleasant sound as they stepped on the ground. The space beneath the metal surface was pitch dark, but Qiao Zhiya, with his excellent night vision, quickly took in their surroundings. It was a vast, empty room with metal walls and sticky Zerg secretions. In the corners, there were clusters of white eggs, smaller than those within the Zerg Queen, encased in the fluid. On one side, a thick metal door served as the room¡¯s only exit. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face scrunched up, clearly distressed by the strong, unpleasant odor permeating the room. Chu Rong took out a floating light, switched it on, and let it hover above them, scanning the room¡¯s environment with a frown. He grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand and headed straight for the metal door. The squelching sound of their boots on the sticky ground made their skin crawl. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears were tense, and his steps were mechanical. If Chu Rong hadn¡¯t been holding his hand, he would have bolted out of this uncomfortable place. Sensing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s stiffness, Chu Rong stopped at the door, gently squeezed his hand in reassurance, then touched the spiritual power simulator on his ears, enveloping him with his own energy. Once Qiao Zhiya relaxed a bit, Chu Rong turned his attention to the door. The door was plain, with only a lock that required spiritual power to open. Chu Rong examined the lock¡¯s structure, frowning. The lock turned out to be linked, meaning if one was broken, the alarm devices at other linked positions would immediately be triggered. This couldn¡¯t be tampered with. He decisively abandoned the idea of forcefully unlocking it, returning to the previously broken metal wall to observe. After confirming that there was no energy reaction inside the wall, he took out his daggers again, walked to a corner beside the door, first using his spiritual power to isolate the area, then directly cutting into the wall. The metallic cutting sound echoed ominously in the darkness, causing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears to tremble as he clutched onto Chu Rong¡¯s clothes. Chu Rong paused, raising his hand to gently pat his head before turning back to continue cutting the wall. Soon, he created an opening large enough for one person to pass through. After a brief inspection, he used his spiritual power to destroy the alarm system installed inside the wall before stepping out first. Outside the room was a corridor, equally dark, with rooms on both sides, each fitted with linked locks, making it impossible to guess what was inside. ¡°This must be a Zerg breeding facility,¡± Chu Rong concluded after observing for a while, holding Qiao Zhiya¡¯s hand. ¡°Ning Tianxing is definitely not in this area. Let¡¯s leave here first.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, keeping pace with him. The two proceeded down the corridor, leaving markers for the follow-up troops along the way. A few minutes later, they reached a corner and saw a lift. There were eight buttons on the platform, indicating that this laboratory had a total of eight floors, and they were on the topmost one. ¡°About five floors have biological reactions, and the laboratory gets larger as you go down,¡± Qiao Zhiya spoke up timely, retracting his deployed magic. Chu Rong observed the various settings on the lift and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the 6th underground floor first.¡± Biological reactions indicated the presence of the Zergs. The area they arrived in was just a breeding ground for them. The important research data definitely wouldn¡¯t be here; they needed to check places without Zergs. Without knowing where the stairs were, Chu Rong decisively chose to use the lift. However, a new problem arose ¡ª the lift required spiritual power signature permission to operate. He frowned, considering the possibility of forcibly breaking the permission intrusion system. However, Qiao Zhiya had an idea. He handed Chu Rong a ¡°spirit stone¡± and indicated for him to release a gentle spiritual power wave using it. Meanwhile, Qiao Zhiya took out a toolbox and swiftly dismantled the spiritual power signature identification device on the lift. After some complex modifications, Qiao Zhiya drew a magic circle on the modified identification device and inserted a water-type magic stone into it. Activating the array with a ¡°bang,¡± the array started working. The lift detected Chu Rong¡¯s gentle spiritual power released by the ¡°spirit stone,¡± and then a green light indicating clearance lit up. The lift was now usable. ¡°That should do it,¡± Qiao Zhiya turned to look at Chu Rong, his ears lively as he moved, making his little braids on top of his head even cuter. Chu Rong¡¯s expression softened, and he leaned down to kiss Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, putting away the spirit stone and pressing the button for the 6th underground floor. The lift descended slowly, with the windows flashing past the conditions of each level along the way. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s night vision came in handy at this moment, but when he saw the countless metal doors on floors one to five, he wished he didn¡¯t have night vision. With a beep, the lift stopped, and the door opened, revealing the scene of the 6th underground floor. To their surprise, instead of a laboratory as they imagined, the 6th underground floor was entirely composed of corridors extending outward from the lift, seemingly leading to nowhere, like a maze. Chu Rong frowned, closing the lift again, and proceeded to the 7th and 8th floors. The 7th floor was similar to the 6th, with complex passages with unknown destinations. The 8th floor was a closed, vast space, empty and seemingly of no use. ¡°We need to find a way to infiltrate the laboratory¡¯s system to get the map of the facility; otherwise, we might be trapped here,¡± Chu Rong said, leading Qiao Zhiya back to the lift. After observing the assimilated spiritual power identification device for a while, he quickly connected a complex device from the spatial button to the lift and started operating it. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled but didn¡¯t want to disturb him, so he obediently stood aside without speaking, silently deploying magic to detect his surroundings. Thanks to the spiritual power assimilation Qiao Zhiya did earlier, Chu Rong soon traced the center of the blockade system for the entire area using this identification device. Following the military¡¯s code habits, he began to attempt to crack the closed data of this area. After a quarter of an hour, he stopped, taking out a map projected by the device. ¡°Ning Tianxing indeed used the Federal Military¡¯s blockade method,¡± he recorded the map and raised the lift back to the 6th floor. Then, he pressed a few buttons on the device. A sound of metal movement came, and the intricate passages on the 6th floor suddenly began to automatically retract and move, making way for a straight passage. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes brightened, turning to look at Chu Rong admiringly. ¡°It¡¯s just some simple system cracking. Ning Tianxing is too arrogant,¡± Chu Rong patted his head and held his hand, walking towards the passage. After passing through the passage, they saw light ahead. Chu Rong reached out and turned off the floating lamp, gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to tread lightly as he led him towards the brightness. A few minutes later, a row of adjacent laboratory doors appeared before them. The two glanced at each other. Chu Rong walked up to the nearest laboratory door and gently pushed it open. Inside, a scene of chaos greeted them, with instruments scattered and drugs spilled all over the floor. There were several corpses of both experimental subjects and researchers in white coats, surrounded by bloodstains. The researchers¡¯ deaths were all extremely tragic, some even missing limbs, seemingly torn apart alive by the experimental subjects. Chu Rong quickly turned back to block Qiao Zhiya¡¯s view, but Qiao Zhiya had already glimpsed a bit. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s clothes and shook his head, saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I-I can help them by offering prayers.¡± In the traditions of the Magical Continent, when encountering unattended deceased, it¡¯s best to give them as dignified a resting place as possible. Chu Rong furrowed his brow and soothingly patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head before stepping into the laboratory. Qiao Zhiya closed and opened his eyes forcefully, calming his breath, embracing reverence for the deceased. He tiptoed into the laboratory. Once inside, the scene became even more horrifying. Blood covered the ground, and grotesque experimental subjects lay sprawled, some with humanoid features, while others were unrecognizable. Some had scales, others had exoskeletons covering their bodies, a bizarre amalgamation of human and animal traits, eerie and unsettling. Yet, without exception, their expressions were filled with pain and hatred. Even in death, their eyes were wide open, exuding a deep crimson aura of vengeance. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears drooped, and he pursed his lips, gently releasing a touch of wood-elemental magic to tenderly stroke their faces, causing them to close their eyes. He then gently wrapped them with vines, creating small vine graves for each. ¡°I will make sure to have them properly laid to rest,¡± Chu Rong assured, having confirmed that all important data in the laboratory had been wiped clean. He reached out to touch Qiao Zhiya, comforting him in a low voice. Qiao Zhiya nodded, obediently allowing himself to be led out of the laboratory by Chu Rong. One laboratory after another, some spacious, some filled with the stench of blood and sin. Various deceased experimental subjects appeared before them, and vine graves were erected one after another. However, as expected, all the data inside had been wiped clean. At last, seeing that Chu Rong didn¡¯t linger any longer, they followed the traces of the cleaned laboratories towards the possible location of Ning Tianxing. But even after traversing the entire area, they didn¡¯t catch a glimpse of Ning Tianxing or any living creature. After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the end of this area ¡ª a row of lifts with the letter ¡°D¡± inscribed on them. Approaching cautiously, Chu Rong found that unlike the other lifts in the laboratories, this one had additional options besides floor numbers ¡ª it had the letters A to E. ¡°These letters represent different zones. We are currently on the 6th floor of Area D,¡± Chu Rong explained, taking out the previously cracked Area D map and choosing to go to Area A with Qiao Zhiya. [Ding. Area A is the highest-level restricted area. Please undergo identity verification first.] ¡°The highest-level restricted area?¡± Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya exchanged glances. Qiao Zhiya immediately stepped forward with his toolbox to assimilate the lift, while Chu Rong took out the ¡°spirit stone¡± to release his spiritual power. After a few minutes, the indicator light on the lift turned green, indicating that it was ready for use. Chu Rong put away the spirit stone and pressed for Area A again. This lift had no windows for external viewing. They could only watch the indicator lights on the control panel as they passed Areas C and B before gradually coming to a stop after passing several detection and blockade lines. Before the lift door opened, Chu Rong shielded Qiao Zhiya behind him. Once the door opened, a straight passage appeared before them, lined with laboratory doors on either side. However, unlike Area D, there were fewer laboratory doors here, but each laboratory was larger in size. Chu Rong extended his mental power, ensuring that there was no one nearby, before swiftly leading Qiao Zhiya into the passage. They pushed open the door of the first laboratory they came across. Compared to the laboratories in Area D, this laboratory was much more high-end and spacious, but similarly cluttered with scattered instruments. There were no deceased experimental subjects or researchers on the ground, only some hurried footprints stained with mucus. ¡°It¡¯s Ning Tianxing.¡± Chu Rong estimated the size of the footprints, not lingering for long. He immediately took Qiao Zhiya to a few other laboratories. ¡°They¡¯ve all been cleaned out.¡± After a search, Chu Rong¡¯s expression remained calm as he spoke, then he took Qiao Zhiya to check the remaining floors of the laboratories in Area A. However, without exception, they all seemed to have been thoroughly cleaned out. Consequently, they didn¡¯t linger any longer and returned, taking the lift to the next level, Area B. Area B was similar to Area A, with the laboratories near the 6th floor entrance all open and showing signs of being rummaged through. Chu Rong promptly led Qiao Zhiya to Area C. This time, there was finally a change. As soon as the lift door opened, a large group of bizarre experimental subjects rushed towards them, emitting sounds resembling animalistic roars. These were the first living experimental subjects Qiao Zhiya had seen, having previously only encountered deceased ones. Before he could react, Chu Rong swiftly hugged him, blocking his line of sight. Chu Rong kicked away several experimental subjects that lunged towards them, closed the lift, and pressed the button for Area B. ¡°Area C hasn¡¯t been cleared out yet. Ning Tianxing must still be in Area B,¡± Chu Rong said, rubbing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s stiffened ears. He took out his communicator to inform Fan Xiangnan and the army units following them to seal off and search all the laboratories in each zone. Meanwhile, he retrieved his weapon and held it firmly in his hand. Qiao Zhiya regained his composure, remembering the humanoid experimental subjects emitting animalistic roars and the scales he had seen on the arms of the Imperial High Advisor. A sense of dread crept over him as he felt like he had discovered something terrifying. Upon reaching Area B, Chu Rong didn¡¯t hesitate. He swiftly and silently followed the open laboratory doors, tracking towards the possible location of Ning Tianxing. Qiao Zhiya, using the agility granted by his elf and dwarf heritage, effortlessly trailed behind him. ¡°Bang!¡± As they reached the 4th floor, the sound of a weapon attack suddenly echoed from a corner. The two halted their steps, exchanged glances, and moved swiftly towards the source of the sound. ¡°Laoshi, the teleportation device has been destroyed, and only half of the Zergs were released,¡± the young man said nervously, looking very flustered. Ning Tianxing kicked away an experimental subject attempting to ambush him, disdainfully glanced at the young man, and waved his hand, saying, ¡°You¡¯re utterly useless! Is the timed explosives set up? There¡¯s nothing crucial in Area C, just blow it up. Get ready, we¡¯re leaving immediately.¡± The young man¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of leaving. He nodded hastily and ran out. Chu Rong, lurking around the corner, appeared soundlessly. He ambushed the young man from behind, trapping his body and covering his mouth with one hand while injecting a syringe directly into his neck with the other. The young man¡¯s eyes widened in shock, unable to struggle. His body stiffened, then slumped to the ground. Qiao Zhiya quickly approached, using vines to securely bind him. He curiously examined the strange headgear on the young man¡¯s head, hesitating to touch it. Chu Rong pulled him over, deactivated the protective shield on the young man¡¯s wrist, and then gestured for him to stay outside. He proceeded alone, cautiously heading towards the laboratory where Ning Tianxing was located. Inside the room, Ning Tianxing was extracting the last bit of data. He regretted setting up the system that required data retrieval from each laboratory one by one to prevent collusion and leaks among the researchers. If he had known it would come to this, he would have set up a central system instead. All he would need to do then was wipe out the data with a single keystroke during evacuation. ¡°Damn Chu Rong!¡± He cursed under his breath once again, his expression filled with malice and anger. If it weren¡¯t for Chu Rong discovering this garbage planet and swiftly eliminating the Ning family¡¯s influence, capturing An Xei, how could he have ended up in a situation where he had to abandon the laboratory he had meticulously prepared for years! Thinking of An Xei only fueled his anger, his eyes filled with murderous intent. That useless waste had no use in staying alive. He might as well kill him! He would only cause trouble alive! ¡°Beep.¡± As the data transfer finally completed, he quickly disconnected the devices and turned to rush to the next laboratory. However, his eyes met a sharp dagger, and then everything went black as a fierce wave of killing intent swept over him. He stared wide-eyed, watching the dagger plunge towards his fatal point, unable to dodge. All he could see was a pair of icy black pupils staring at him. ¡°Chu¡­ Chu¡­¡± He stuttered like a duck being strangled, unable to speak a complete sentence. He watched helplessly as he was about to meet his end, but suddenly, his body heated up. His spiritual power surged uncontrollably with the heat, and his blood seemed to flow faster, making him feel like his body was about to explode. The dagger was deflected by the force of the outburst, but his skin was inevitably scratched. Finally coming to his senses amidst the horror of suddenly seeing Chu Rong and feeling the killing intent emanating from him, he reached for his chest without thinking, activating a black hole and jumping in without hesitation. Chu Rong furrowed his brow, blocking the violent force, and watched as the black hole dissipated. He then bent down to pick up the data transfer device that Ning Tianxing had dropped while fleeing. Squinting, he turned and walked away. Outside, Qiao Zhiya was surreptitiously reaching for the young man¡¯s headgear when he saw Chu Rong emerge. He quickly withdrew his hand, glanced at Chu Rong¡¯s back, and then frowned, asking, ¡°Where¡¯s Ning Tianxing?¡± ¡°He escaped,¡± Chu Rong replied, lifting the young man and gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to follow. He quickly said, ¡°Go to the underground 8th floor of Area D. That spacious area is likely where Ning Tianxing retreated to!¡± Based on their current search results, this comprehensive experimental building only had that area whose function was unclear. The upper two floors were intentionally turned into a maze-like structure, while the remaining five floors were filled with Zergs, suitable for escaping and hindering pursuers. On the way there, Chu Rong contacted Fan Xiangnan via communicator, instructing him to lead people back to the 8th floor of Area D to wait. He also ordered several teams to guard all the elevator entrances and exits of the laboratories on each floor, conducting a thorough search to locate the bombs Ning Tianxing had previously planted and dismantle them as soon as possible. As Chu Rong had speculated, the black hole had indeed transported Ning Tianxing to the 8th floor of Area D. After being expelled from the black hole, he lay on the ground gasping for breath, gradually calming down. He knew that Chu Rong had already seen through his delaying tactics. Propping himself up with the palpitations he felt after the emergency teleportation, he found the hidden teleportation device in the wall, activated it, and then brought out a small spaceship for retreat, placing it in the center of the area. As the device activated, he systematically switched off all the switches next to the device and located the bombs he had previously set up to detonate the device. After making all preparations, he held the bomb detonator and boarded the small ship, anxiously waiting for the teleporter to activate while closely watching the elevator. With his mouth wide open, he gasped for air, suddenly feeling a splitting headache. Something wasn¡¯t right. He raised his hand to cover his slowly stabilizing heartbeat, then pressed his forehead, trying to muster his spiritual energy. Shockingly, he realized that there was an extra sharp force in his brain that didn¡¯t belong to him, widening his eyes in horror. This was Chu Rong¡¯s power, he wouldn¡¯t mistake it! Chu Rong had somehow injected a strand of spiritual energy into his brain when he attacked him just now, and he hadn¡¯t noticed it at all! ¡®No, how did Chu Rong do it? Th-this was clearly something only an SSSS -level expert could accomplish. Could it be that Chu Rong¡­¡¯ Before he could fully grasp this point, a dense sound of footsteps suddenly came from the elevator. He was shocked, quickly looking outside through the ship¡¯s detection screen, only to see Fan Xiangnan suddenly leading a large group of soldiers out of the elevator, startling him almost to the point of collapse. This was impossible, how could they have arrived here from Area B so quickly? He was horrified to see that only half of the red lines on the ground were lit up, knowing that the device still needed time to fully activate. He gritted his teeth and glanced at the detonator, unable to care about it anymore, and pressed it directly. However, the expected explosion did not come. He was stunned, remembering the utterly useless Assistant No. 09, he angrily discarding the device. Seeing Fan Xiangnan and the others almost reaching the ship, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Suddenly, he thought of something, turned around, and rushed to another exit of the ship, then to the control panel of the teleporter, where he found a red lever and pulled it hard. ¡°Die, all of you!¡± he shouted loudly, looking at Fan Xiangnan and the others approaching, smiling coldly: ¡°I won¡¯t live, so neither will any of you!¡± As his words fell, the thunderous sound of metal movement came. Fan Xiangnan keenly sensed that something was wrong and quickly ordered the soldiers to stop and activate the protective shield, looking up towards the source of the sound. The next second, the metal roof above suddenly slid open from the middle to both sides, the sound of the Zergs¡¯ roar echoed, and countless small Zergs that had broken free from their restraints rushed towards them from below, directly engulfing them. CH 108.2 Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. ¡°Elder¡±: the mastermind of the conspiracy. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Jian: the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. An Lunn: Feng¡¯s dead boyfriend. Jian¡¯s biological father, the old Emperor¡¯s second younger brother. Chu Rong led Qiao Zhiya onto the lift, selecting level eight of Area D. His spiritual energy was fluctuating slightly, which Qiao Zhiya immediately noticed, causing him to become worried and anxious. During this period, Chu Rong¡¯s power had been frequently impacted, and just before coming here, he had forcefully broken the mental lock in Ning Tianxing body-double¡¯s brain. With his spiritual energy injured, he hadn¡¯t had time to rest properly and had only taken some potions to temporarily stabilize himself. Now that Chu Rong¡¯s power was suddenly fluctuating, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but worry. Chu Rong gently touched him, shaking his head and replied, ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± while trying to gather his spiritual energy back as much as possible, his brow furrowed slightly. In fact, he was feeling somewhat strange right now¡­ but now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about that. However, Qiao Zhiya still worriedly took out a vial of potion from his storage bag, opened it, and reached out to feed Chu Rong. Chu Rong glanced at him and drank the potion from his hand, then ruffled his hair affectionately. By the time they finished talking, the lift had stopped, the door opened, and the overwhelming sound of insect cries and the waving of limbs filled the air. Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed immediately, and he quickly pushed Qiao Zhiya behind him, taking out his weapon to shoot down the approaching Zergs. Then, he summoned his mecha and blocked the elevator door. Qiao Zhiya also quickly regained his senses. Seeing the situation outside, he swiftly dodged out of Chu Rong¡¯s mecha¡¯s range. He then summoned his own mecha and rushed towards the trapped soldiers in the field. Seeing them arrive, Fan Xiangnan quickly connected to Chu Rong¡¯s mech communication and said, ¡°This area is a large-scale black hole teleportation device, and these red lines on the ground are exactly the same as the ones we found on those devices! Ning Tianxing released the Zergs and then ran back to the spaceship during the chaos. He¡¯s trying to escape!¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Rong immediately looked down at the ground and indeed saw traces of red lines amidst the writhing mass of Zergs and dim light. His expression darkened, and without hesitation, he took off into the air and aimed a powerful shot at the ground. ¡°Boom!¡± The Zergs were blasted away, but the ground remained intact, and the red lines continued to spread at a stable pace, threatening to cover the entire space. ¡°Die! Die!¡± Suddenly, Ning Tianxing¡¯s voice came from the spaceship, tinged with pain and distortion. His spaceship, strangely, was not harassed by the Zergs and remained calm in the center of the field, looking out of place. Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual energy became even more unstable upon hearing this, and he immediately threw out a silver net towards the spaceship. ¡°Ah!¡± Ning Tianxing, who had just finished his threatening words inside the spaceship, suddenly clutched his head and fell to the ground. Then, his body uncontrollably climbed up and took a few steps outward, before his mind cleared up for a moment. He was terrified, binding himself to the captain¡¯s seat of the spaceship, his eyes filled with fear. What just happened? How did he unconsciously walk out on his own, as if his spiritual energy and consciousness were being controlled? Could it be that Chu Rong¡¯s residual spiritual energy left in his brain was causing this? ¡®No! Impossible!¡¯ He shook his head, denying this terrifying speculation. Chu Rong had only injected a trace of power into his brain, how could he control his consciousness? This was something that even an SSS-level spiritual power couldn¡¯t achieve! ¡®Remember, I still had a protective lock left by the Elder! Yes, the Elder¡­ the Elder¡­¡¯ ¡°Ah!¡± He once again clutched his forehead as intense pain surged through him. It felt like someone was repeatedly cutting into his brain with a knife, making it impossible for his thoughts to connect. ¡°Sir! The red lines are spreading!¡± Fan Xiangnan¡¯s voice sounded urgent over the communication. Chu Rong frowned, continuing to use the silver net to cover the spaceship as he approached it. He ordered, ¡°Those who haven¡¯t boarded mecha, hurry up. Those who have, cover your companions. Everyone retreat to the lift! Those who can¡¯t retreat, try to ascend as high as possible, activate the protective shields, bind and fix each other to avoid being sucked into the black hole!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Upon receiving the order, the soldiers engaged in combat with the Zergs began to retreat efficiently. Some returned to the lift, surrounding the young people entangled by vines, while others, led by Fan Xiangnan, quickly ascended into the air, drawing the attention of the insects. The black and gold mecha had already approached the spaceship and was trying to pull Ning Tianxing out from inside. At this moment, a voice like flowing blood suddenly sounded, and the ground glowed red, with a black hole slowly appearing around the spaceship. ¡°Chu Rong!¡± Qiao Zhiya was shocked to see this and piloted his mecha to approach. ¡°You go up first!¡± Feeling the suction force of the black hole, Chu Rong turned around and pushed the brown mecha upward with a silver net from afar. He then turned back, grabbed onto the protective armor of the spaceship, found the control room, tore open the armor directly, and found Ning Tianxing, who had already passed out inside. He grabbed him along with the chair, then stomped on the spaceship and used the force to ascend into the air, chasing after the brown mecha. ¡°Whoosh!¡± The black hole suddenly expanded, sucking the spaceship in. The Zergs that were relatively close couldn¡¯t withstand the suction force and were thrown into the black hole, disappearing without a trace. The black and gold mecha, which had already ascended some distance, was caught by the suction force of the black hole, unable to ascend any further. In fact, it was pulled back slightly, and the black hole below rotated like a greedy beast, trying to devour all the prey in the sky. ¡°Qiuqiu, go!¡± Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya was anxious and quickly threw out Qiuqiu to bind himself and Chu Rong together, preventing the black and gold mecha from falling further. Then, gritting his teeth, he exerted more force and flew upwards, trying to pull the black and gold mecha out of the range of the black hole¡¯s indiscriminate devouring. The high-performance mecha engines roared, and seeing something was wrong, Fan Xiangnan quickly descended to help. ¡°Boom!¡± One of Qiuqiu¡¯s vines couldn¡¯t withstand the sudden suction force and broke. The black and gold mecha, which had just ascended a bit, sank down a bit, bringing the brown mecha along with it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, go up first!¡± Seeing this, Chu Rong decisively tied Ning Tianxing to one of Qiuqiu¡¯s vines, then took out a short dagger, cutting off all the vines entwined around himself, and pushed them upward, pushing the brown mecha out of danger. Then, as he passively descended, he twisted his body to the limit and pulled out his double-barreled gun, aiming it at the black hole and fired! However, this black hole, supported by the entire device, was completely different from those created by portable devices and couldn¡¯t be dispersed at all. ¡°Chu Rong£¡¡± Seeing the black and gold mecha about to be sucked into the black hole, Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t care less about anything else. Anxiously, he followed suit and dove down, while his magical power spread wildly. A large pile of vines instantly filled the entire space, layer after layer pouring towards the black hole. The thickest vine directly wrapped around the black and gold mecha, attempting to pull it back. With other things filling the void, the suction force of the black hole immediately weakened significantly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya diving down, Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed. He quickly launched a powerful blow towards the device he had observed within the wall, then all his spiritual power surged out. Using the force of this blow, he ascended, extending his arm to grab the brown mech that was descending. Stepping on the layers of vines spread out below, he leaped high into the sky. ¡°Boom!¡± The metal wall was destroyed, and all the devices turned into ashes. The black hole on the ground twisted for a moment as if its power supply had been cut off, and the suction force suddenly weakened. Then, with the vines filling the void, it slowly dissipated. Affected by the suction force of the black hole, all the Zergs inside lost their combat capabilities. After the black hole disappeared, they all fell to the ground, so the vines were piled with Zergs, along with the ruins, making the scene here look like some kind of bizarre hell. ¡°Crack.¡± A strange sound rang out. Chu Rong, who had just escaped danger, immediately looked towards the source of the sound. Qiao Zhiya, relying on his much better hearing and vision than humans, quickly caught sight of the scene where the sound came from. His expression changed, and he quickly said, ¡°Oh no! This area is collapsing!¡± This was the underground 8th floor. Chu Rong had just blasted down the entire load-bearing wall of the 8th floor, and Ning Tianxing had removed most of the ground between the 8th and 6th floors. Without effective support, this area was like a box with one side removed, about to collapse! There was only one lift on the 8th floor. The laboratory areas on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn¡¯t had the ground removed, probably had more than a dozen lifts each. The first five floors were already empty. Chu Rong quickly went through the distribution map of this area in his mind and decisively ordered, ¡°Disperse and retreat to the lifts on the 6th and 7th floors. Everyone evacuate from Area A immediately!¡± After that, he led Qiao Zhiya towards the soldiers who were staying on the 8th floor lift. Fan Xiangnan was stunned for a moment but didn¡¯t have time to think much. He quickly arranged for the soldiers to descend to the eighth floor. ¡°Crack crack crack, whoosh¡ª¡± As they descended, a clearer sound of collapse suddenly came. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears pricked up, and he quickly grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s arm, saying urgently, ¡°We can¡¯t make it! Let everyone gather together, quickly!¡± Chu Rong frowned and chose to trust his judgment directly, commanding, ¡°Stop the retreat, everyone gather near the 8th floor lift, quickly!¡± Fan Xiangnan responded quickly, arranging for the soldiers to land near the 8th floor. The ground was already gone, and everyone landed quickly. After landing, Qiao Zhiya first took out Qiuqiu¡¯s two children to protect the soldiers who were already in the 8th-floor lift. Then, he signaled for Qiuqiu to spread its vines and waited for the soldiers from above to land. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, and broken walls and rubble fell from above. This area was on the verge of collapsing. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t delay any longer ¡ª there was still a group of soldiers who hadn¡¯t landed in Qiuqiu¡¯s protective circle! Chu Rong frowned and started using the silver net to pull people. Qiao Zhiya was reminded by his actions and quickly joined in pulling people, urging, ¡°Faster! Everyone come over here!¡± The last soldier was almost dragged in by Qiuqiu¡¯s vines. Large pieces of metal wall were falling from above, and the laboratories on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn¡¯t had their ground removed, began to collapse and break. Qiao Zhiya dared not delay any longer. He jumped out of the mecha, hugged Qiuqiu¡¯s vines, and his earth magic surged violently, layering hard soil blocks on the vines, creating a sturdy fortress, protecting everyone underneath. ¡°Rumble!¡± The ground shook violently, and everyone staggered and fell to the ground. The sound of giant objects hitting the protective shield above their heads could be heard. The trembling vines dropped bits of earth, and the hearts of all the soldiers tightened as they stared at the vines and soil walls above their heads. Once this shield was broken, they would be smashed into meat patties. ¡°Use the mechas to support the protective shield!¡± Chu Rong instructed as he operated his black and gold mecha to support this sealed space. Then, he jumped out of the mecha and walked to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s side. He took out some jade and placed it around him, while his spiritual strength surged upwards, starting to slow down the momentum of the falling objects from above. As if waking from a dream, everyone quickly got busy, each lending a hand. In a place unseen by them, the red lines on the ground seemed to sense some strange force, suddenly flickered, then completely lost their color, turning into the same dense black as the ground. The collapse and tremors took a long time to stop. After confirming that the vibrations had completely ceased, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground, raising his hand to cover his forehead. Seeing his condition, Chu Rong knew it wasn¡¯t good. He quickly picked him up, fed him some medicine, and handed him the jade while looking towards Fan Xiangnan nearby, instructing, ¡°Let everyone rest in place, count the number of people, and prepare to evacuate from here.¡± Fan Xiangnan looked worriedly at Qiao Zhiya, nodding in agreement. After replenishing some strength, Qiao Zhiya felt a bit better, although his forehead was still hot. He should be able to move around without any problems. He comfortingly squeezed Chu Rong¡¯s hand, intending to help everyone, but Chu Rong stopped him. ¡°You rest well. They¡¯ve all received training and know how to take care of themselves.¡± Chu Rong frowned, instructing, and a soldier nearby who was tidying up hurried over, vigorously nodding and agreeing, ¡°Yes, yes, the Marshal is right. Sir, uh¡­ Young Master Qiao Zhiya, you just rest. We¡¯ll take care of you next. Haha.¡± Qiao Zhiya felt a bit embarrassed by the kindness and the gaze that seemed to regard him as some precious treasure. He glanced at Chu Rong¡¯s worried expression, obediently nodded, and stopped pretending to be strong. The headcount was quickly completed, and everyone was accounted for. Although some were injured, everyone was still safe. Chu Rong took out the map of Area D and, together with Fan Xiangnan and the leaders of each squad, studied the retreat route. The remaining people all guarded around the unconscious Ning Tianxing and the assistant young man to prevent them from waking up suddenly and running away. Qiao Zhiya was placed lying on a soft sleeping bag, and after relaxing his mind, he felt his forehead getting hotter and hotter, and the voices of Chu Rong and the others became increasingly distant until he finally couldn¡¯t resist closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep. CH 108.3 A day later, the safe passage from the ground to this place was finally cleared by the remaining troops on the flagship. Detailed searches of the entire laboratory quickly began, and both Ning Tianxing and the young man were pulled out by Chu Rong for separate interrogations after they regained consciousness. Ning Tianxing remained silent as a clam in the face of questioning, just like his clone. Chu Rong had no patience to waste on him, nor did he have the energy to break through his mental barrier again, so he simply knocked him out again. The young man, on the other hand, was very cooperative in questioning, but he claimed ignorance about everything, with very little useful information in his head. The follow-up investigation team from the Chu family also quickly arrived. This once neglected garbage planet quickly became lively as the long-buried laboratory was exposed to the sun. Qiao Zhiya huddled in the flagship, confirming that Chu Rong was busy with the search and wouldn¡¯t return for the time being. He took out the communicator and dialed the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s communication again, getting straight to the point and asking, ¡°Where are you from, and what is your true form?¡± There was a long silence on the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s end, then he replied honestly, ¡°My hometown is called Seaguard, as for my true form¡­ Qiao Zhiya, after I take revenge for An Lunn, I plan to go home. Would you like to come with me?¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Qiao Zhiya stood up in shock, knocking over the chair directly. Astonished, he asked, ¡°Do you have a way to go back to your hometown?¡± ¡°If I exhaust my current power, then yes,¡± the Imperial High Advisor replied confidently. Suddenly, there was a hint of relief in his voice, as if sighing, he said, ¡°Qiao, I won¡¯t let any child of my kind live alone in this dirty Blue Galaxy for the rest of his life. You saved An Lunn and are of my kind. As a reward, I am willing to take you back to my hometown. It¡¯s a beautiful place, and you will like it.¡± Footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Qiao Zhiya reflexively hung up the communication and looked towards the door. Chu Rong pushed open the door, and seeing him standing stiffly in front of the fallen chair, his brows furrowed. He stepped forward, pulled him into his arms, and asked with concern, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?¡± ¡°N-nothing¡­ I just accidentally fell asleep lying down and had a nightmare¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, feeling a bit disoriented after lying, then buried himself in Chu Rong¡¯s arms, clutching his clothes. His heartbeat gradually stabilized, but his thoughts were still chaotic. The Imperial High Advisor kept mentioning that they¡¯re of the same ¡°kind¡±. Those scales, and his current atavism¡­ Could he eventually turn into a terrifying creature like that young man? What would happen to Chu Rong then¡­ His heart suddenly clenched, and he hugged Chu Rong tightly. Opening his mouth to say something, he suddenly felt his forehead heat up again. Then, with a pop, another bulge appeared opposite to the small horn from before. Chu Rong, who had been watching him anxiously, immediately noticed the protrusion and his expression changed. He reached out and touched it. ¡°Itchy.¡± Qiao Zhiya cringed and then realized something, reaching up to his forehead. The two stared at each other wide-eyed. Qiao Zhiya felt dumbfounded and at a loss, saying, ¡°Chu Rong, I¡¯m turning into a monster¡­¡± Chu Rong¡¯s heart clenched, and he hugged him tightly, lowering his head to gently kiss his forehead and soothe him, saying, ¡°No, you¡¯re just growing up. Don¡¯t be afraid, you¡¯ll be fine. Nothing will happen to you.¡± Being comforted by him, Qiao Zhiya touched the two horns on his forehead, feeling overwhelmed, and buried himself in Chu Rong¡¯s arms. Two weeks later, the detailed cleaning of the laboratory finally came to an end. Except for Area D, which collapsed and couldn¡¯t be restored, all the data and experimental subjects from Area A, B, C, and E were dug out and transported to the flagship for systematic research by the Federation. The real Ning Tianxing was once again kept in a coma and guarded. His assistant, the experimental subject, was assigned to a separate room and guarded, awaiting further interrogation. That night, under the urging of his family, Chu Rong set sail back to the Federation Capital Planet. ¡ª¡ª To celebrate the victory of the war, the Federation and the Empire were preparing to celebrate the New Year together this year. Due to the greater contribution of the Federation in the battle against the Zerg Queen, the festive celebrations were to be held in the Federation. In any case, the Chu family was about to get busy again. Upon learning that the Imperial High Advisor would also come for the New Year celebration, Qiao Zhiya, who had been feeling low-spirited during this period, finally perked up. He longed to go home and hoped to have a good talk with the Imperial High Advisor when he came for the festival. Chu Rong thought that he had been demoralized by the appearance of those experimental subjects, but now seeing him finally spirited up because of going home, he felt even more guilty. So during the return voyage, he deliberately pushed aside all matters and accompanied him for two days. Two days later, the flagship landed, and Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya back home. Then Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spirits were completely lifted ¡ª for nearly half a month, the baby in Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly finally kicked! Perhaps because of being nurtured by wood-elemental magic power, the baby was particularly sensitive to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s aura. Every time he approached, the baby would excitedly stretch out their little arms and legs, leaving Gu Yan¡¯an amused and exasperated. ¡°This family is no good, even the baby is biased!¡± Chu Yan grumbled and complained, then looked at Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly, couldn¡¯t help but grab the cushion and rub it vigorously, affirming, ¡°It¡¯s a boy! It must be a boy! So lively, it must be a boy! Zhuang-jie definitely knows the baby¡¯s gender, but she refuses to say. It¡¯s so annoying!¡± Qiao Zhiya sat blushing on the other side of Gu Yan¡¯an, staring at her swollen belly with shining eyes, leaning forward with his ears up, focused on observing the baby¡¯s movements. The smile on his face looked a bit silly. ¡®Whether it was a boy or a girl, as long as it was a healthy baby¡­¡¯ His ears twitched, feeling a mixture of joy and anticipation, thinking that as long as it was a healthy baby, everyone would be happy. Gu Yan¡¯an couldn¡¯t help but laugh, reaching out to pat her belly gently and patting Chu Yan on the shoulder, saying, ¡°I actually think it¡¯s a girl. There¡¯s enough commotion with you boys around, we don¡¯t need another one.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already an adult, what¡¯s with all this talk about kids¡­¡± Chu Yan grumbled, just about to say something more when he felt a slight hit on the back of his head. ¡°Every time I come home, all I hear is you complaining. You¡¯re already grown-up, stop making such a fuss every day,¡± Chu Huai scolded him with a smile, then bent down to kiss Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s cheek affectionately and asked, ¡°How was your day?¡± ¡°Pretty good,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an replied with a smile, then looked at Chu Huai, who had just walked in from behind, and asked, ¡°How about things with the military department?¡± At the mention of this, the smiles on Chu Huai and Chu Rong¡¯s faces faded slightly. Seeing this, Gu Yan¡¯an frowned with concern and asked, ¡°Not going well?¡± ¡°Not exactly, just encountered a little difficulty,¡± Chu Huai replied simply. Changing the subject when the butler walked out of the dining room, he smiled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this for now, let¡¯s eat.¡± Qiao Zhiya turned his head to look at Chu Rong, who had walked up to him, opened his mouth to ask, but was stopped by Chu Rong, who pinched his ear. ¡°Let¡¯s eat first.¡± Chu Rong pulled him up, tousled his hair again, covering the small horns with his bangs, took his hand, and led him to the dining room. Chu Yan watched them enter the dining room one by one, leaving him alone on the sofa, and after a moment of stupor, he picked up a cushion and buried himself in it in frustration. He couldn¡¯t stay in this family any longer!! After dinner, Chu Rong and Chu Huai went to the study to discuss matters. Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya turned and went to the laboratory, busy with the mecha-related matters for Chu Yan. When it was almost time to sleep, he tidied up and returned to his room. Seeing that Chu Rong hadn¡¯t returned yet, he obediently took a shower, then crawled into bed and waited. Chu Rong didn¡¯t return to the room until almost 10 PM. Seeing the small bump on the bed, his eyes softened, and he quietly approached, washing up in the bathroom before coming to bed. Qiao Zhiya, who was about to fall asleep, immediately woke up when he saw him return. Seeing that he was back, he quickly stretched out his arms and nestled in his embrace, affectionately rubbing against his chest and neck, subconsciously releasing his magic power. ¡°Did I wake you up?¡± Chu Rong hugged him tightly, lowered his head to kiss his forehead. Qiao Zhiya shook his head, remembering the purpose of waiting for him, and quickly said before he fell asleep, ¡°Do you remember when I told you about my origins? When the black hole suddenly appeared in my hometown, I was then transported to that mining planet. Recently, I suddenly thought that since black holes don¡¯t randomly appear but are artificially created, maybe the Imperial ship you found on that mining planet also has a black hole transmission device? Perhaps Jian¡¯s father discovered something back then. I want to go see that Imperial ship. Is that okay?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s breathing suddenly stagnated at the mention of this, sensing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s stiffness. He quickly suppressed his emotions, slowed down his breath, pressed his forehead to prevent him from seeing his expression, and gently replied, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take you to see it tomorrow.¡± Seeing his agreement, Qiao Zhiya immediately forgot about the momentary discomfort and replied softly, yawning and curling up in his arms, falling asleep. Chu Rong gently stroked his back, waiting for him to fall asleep before lowering his head to push aside his bangs and look at the two small horns on his forehead. Thinking of the beast-like traits on those experimental subjects, he frowned deeply, gently tucked him in with the blanket, and then got up. ¨C Zhuang Yu met her commanding officer in the house¡¯s infirmary room. It was a sudden summon, and she was still in his pajamas, with dark circles under her eyes. She had been busy researching the experimental subjects brought back recently, working day and night ¨C feeling really tired, super-duper tired, and seriously sleep-deprived. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that she could mooch food, drinks, and rides at the Chu family¡¯s residence and didn¡¯t have to worry about starving to death in her own apartment without anyone knowing, she would have moved out long ago. ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that Qiao still firmly believes that he was transported here by a black hole, the phenomenon of memory confusion has reappeared, and he has even made some reasonable speculations about this confused phenomenon?¡± Zhuang Yu asked, rubbing her face. Seeing the Marshal nod, she opened her mouth, sighed, and replied, ¡°This may be a stress response. He saw so many experimental subjects and his body instinctively rejected them, so his body fabricated memories as a self-defense mechanism. Of course, there is also a possibility that he really was transported here by a black hole, and it¡¯s your memory that¡¯s the problem.¡± The last sentence was somewhat petulant, as memory searches were basically impossible to go wrong, but she couldn¡¯t help it; sleep deprivation made people irritable, and she occasionally wanted to rebel a little. Chu Rong frowned, skipped over that part, and went straight to the point, ¡°Are Qiao¡¯s horns really harmless?¡± Zhuang Yu hesitated, thinking of the appearance of those experimental subjects, and said, ¡°The test results show that there¡¯s no problem¡­ Sir, you can¡¯t just jump to the conclusion that Qiao has undergone a similar mutation to those experimental subjects just because of a horn. Perhaps that horn is really just a natural developmental phenomenon for his species?¡± Although it developed a bit late. Chu Rong pondered for a few seconds, said nothing, thanked her, and then turned and left. Zhuang Yu watched him leave, sighed heavily, and collapsed onto the table. After seeing so many experimental subjects, she couldn¡¯t help but suspect that there was something wrong with the horns on Qiao¡¯s head now. The Ning family was truly sinful. Early the next morning, Chu Rong took Qiao Zhiya to the military department, retrieved the Imperial ship stored in the military department archives, and went into a sealed room with Qiao Zhiya to search it again. The ship had been searched countless times by Chu Rong¡¯s investigative team before. Qiao Zhiya walked around inside, naturally finding nothing. ¡°Let¡¯s go eat,¡± Chu Rong said at the right time after Qiao Zhiya left the ship, reaching out to pat his head, not wanting him to worry too much about it. However, Qiao Zhiya was not willing to give up. He always felt like he had missed something. He shook his head, stubbornly pressed his hand against the ship, and spread his magic power over it. Layer by layer, his magic power enveloped the ship, almost covering every corner of it. The once impenetrable outer shell of the ship now seemed like paper in front of him, easily penetrated. ¡®Nothing, nothing, nothing¡­¡¯ as his magic power swept from bow to stern without finding anything suspicious, just as he was about to give up, he felt a strange fluctuation. ¡®Huh?¡¯ His ears pricked up, immediately spreading his magic power toward that direction. Then his eyes lit up, and after pinpointing the location, he jumped onto the ship, found the power axis device outside the highest command room of the ship, and took out his toolbox to dismantle it. Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed, and he quickly followed suit. After the outer shell and outer parts of the command room were removed, the core components of the power axis were exposed. Qiao Zhiya confirmed that the power fluctuation did indeed come from here. His heart leaped for joy. He touched the core component and tried to twist a protrusion that shouldn¡¯t exist. Then, with a click, the power axis suddenly opened, and a small box fell out from inside the component. CH 109.1 As Chu Rong took a step forward, his expression changed upon seeing the small box that had fallen out ¡ª it was engraved with the Chu family¡¯s crest! Qiao Zhiya was also stunned. He picked up the small box and looked over at the approaching Chu Rong, momentarily at a loss for words ¡ª how could there be an item with the Chu family crest hidden on an Imperial ship? ¡°This is a sealed box used by the Chu family to transfer confidential items. It carries the spiritual power imprint of a Chu family member, and once it¡¯s sealed, no one but a Chu family member can open it,¡± Chu Rong explained. He bent down, picked up the box, and examined it. As his spiritual power brushed over the surface, a series of numbers appeared. Chu Rong¡¯s expression grew even more serious as he said, ¡°It¡¯s numbered. This box is genuine.¡± Qiao Zhiya stood up and moved closer to look at the number on the box. Just as he was about to say something, his scattered magic detected another strange fluctuation. His ears twitched, and he quickly turned to another part of the power shaft, toolbox in hand. Chu Rong frowned and followed. After another round of quick dismantling, another black box fell out from the core component of the power shaft. Qiao Zhiya glanced back at Chu Rong, realizing there might be more than one or two such boxes hidden on this ship. Without further delay, he spread his magic again, this time more carefully and slowly, focusing on the internal components of the ship. An hour later, the protective covers and components around the upper command room and main control room of the ship were almost completely dismantled by Qiao Zhiya. On the ground lay seven boxes, all engraved with the Chu family crest, identical in color and size. ¡°They form a circle on the ship, each about the same distance from the others,¡± Qiao Zhiya explained softly, estimating the positions and distances of the boxes. Chu Rong had already recorded all the box numbers and had the old butler check them against the Chu family¡¯s archives. The results came back quickly: ¡°These boxes were taken by my mother years ago, and the seals were made with my father¡¯s spiritual power.¡± This only meant one thing: back then, An Lunn and Chu Rong¡¯s parents were connected, and his parents were likely involved in investigating the black hole. But in the end, they all died, and the items representing their investigation results were buried deep within the ship¡¯s power mechanisms, unknown to anyone. When An Lunn abandoned the ship and fled, he might have intended to retrieve these items later, but he ultimately met his demise. If it weren¡¯t for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s persistence today, these items might never have seen the light of day. Chu Rong suddenly remembered the ¡°SSSS¡± letters written with spiritual power on the electronic book his mother left behind. His heart sank. He quickly gathered the boxes, picked up Qiao Zhiya, and jumped off the ship, heading straight out. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Qiao Zhiya obediently wrapped his arms around Chu Rong¡¯s neck, asking softly. ¡°To check the flagship,¡± Chu Rong replied. Qiao Zhiya immediately understood his meaning and nodded, staying silent. They hurried to a large military port, where Chu Rong cleared the area and brought out the flagship, which had been prepared for maintenance upon their return to the main star. He and Qiao Zhiya boarded the ship. Once inside, Qiao Zhiya immediately spread his magic, intending to search the flagship as he had the Imperial ship. ¡°No need,¡± Chu Rong stopped him, placing a hand on his head. Leading him towards the central area of the flagship, he explained, ¡°If my mother left anything, it would be in a place she could frequently access, not hidden in the ship¡¯s components like An Lunn did.¡± Qiao Zhiya followed, obediently retracting his magic, concerned about Chu Rong¡¯s current state. Upon reaching the central area, Chu Rong didn¡¯t let Qiao Zhiya use his magic to search. Instead, he spread out his own spiritual power. Given that the boxes bearing the Chu family¡¯s spiritual power imprints should be more easily detectable by the Chu family, it was logical for Chu Rong to take over the search. Previously, when the Imperial ship was discovered, Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power was still polluted, preventing him from conducting the search himself. Now that Qiao Zhiya had made a good start, Chu Rong could continue. Qiao Zhiya was seated on a nearby sofa, watching Chu Rong, who stood in the center with a serious expression. The familiar aura of Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power filled the air, layer by layer. Qiao Zhiya suppressed the urge to get closer, his ears twitching slightly in confusion ¡ª was it his imagination, or did Chu Rong¡¯s power seem thicker and stronger than before? After a few minutes, the floating power in the air suddenly paused and then retracted entirely. Qiao Zhiya quickly sat up and asked, ¡°Did you find something?¡± Chu Rong nodded and purposefully walked towards the outer corridor where his mother¡¯s study used to be, stopping in front of a family portrait hanging on the wall. He reached out and removed the picture. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly followed, standing beside him. Behind the photo was a wall, seamless and showing no signs of any hidden mechanism. Qiao Zhiya tried probing it with his magic but found nothing, and he turned to look at Chu Rong. Chu Rong placed his hand on the wall, confidently channeling his spiritual power across the surface. With a clicking sound, the wall seemed to react, slowly sliding aside to reveal a dark space about one square meter in size. Inside the space was another box engraved with the Chu family crest, but this one was much larger, about half a person¡¯s height. Chu Rong stepped forward, retrieved the box, and after ensuring there was nothing else inside, he carefully closed the mechanism and rehung the family portrait. He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head and said, ¡°You rest for a while. I¡¯ll search the other areas.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded obediently and handed him a potion. Chu Rong accepted the potion, bent down, and kissed the top of his head. After thoroughly searching the central area of the flagship and finding nothing else, Chu Rong noted the late hour and led Qiao Zhiya out of the flagship. As they walked back to his office, he contacted Chu Huai and Chu Yan, instructing them to come to the military base. Back in the office, although Chu Rong didn¡¯t have much appetite, he still sat down to eat a meal with Qiao Zhiya. Shortly after, Chu Huai and Chu Yan arrived. Chu Rong led them into the private conference room behind his office. After putting up the highest-level security protection, he brought out the boxes. ¡°These were found by Qiao on the Imperial ship,¡± Chu Rong explained the origin of the boxes and continued, ¡°All these boxes have father¡¯s spiritual power imprint, but they were used by mother. She was the first to be killed in the war, and she left the clue ¡®SSSS¡¯. Based on the current evidence, the mastermind controlling Ning Tianxing and An Xei has at least SSS-level spiritual power. Anyone sealed by his spiritual power could be under his control at any time.¡± Chu Huai frowned deeply, glancing at the boxes on the table. ¡°You mean the person who killed mother may not have betrayed the Chu family willingly but was controlled by the mysterious person? Mother might have discovered the existence of this person before she died?¡± After discovering the truth about their mother¡¯s murder, they had investigated everyone on the flagship at that time and found a long-time assistant of their mother highly suspicious. However, since that assistant also died in the war, the investigation had stalled. They had even scrutinized and reformed the military based on that assistant and her descendants. ¡°It¡¯s just a hypothesis for now,¡± Chu Rong replied, moving his hand towards the largest box as his spiritual power surged. ¡°The truth depends on what¡¯s inside these boxes.¡± Everyone¡¯s attention shifted to the box, the atmosphere in the room becoming tense. Qiao Zhiya felt his own nervousness rising. As Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power infiltrated the lock, the long-sealed black box opened with a click, revealing its contents. The box was large, but there weren¡¯t many items inside: several printed documents, a letter recording device, two large books, and some strange liquids contained in transparent bottles. ¡°It¡¯s Zerg¡¯s secretion,¡± Chu Rong immediately identified the substance in the bottles. He picked one up, turning it over in his hands, his expression growing graver. He explained in detail, ¡°This is real Zerg mucus secretion. It¡¯s darker in color and more viscous than what we¡¯ve extracted from fake Zerg. It¡¯s far more dangerous. If multiple layers are sprayed on, it can gradually corrode even the strongest mechs and flagship defenses. When it comes into contact with the human body, it is highly poisonous.¡± Chu Yan looked at the strange-colored mucus, frowning. Indeed, the real Zerg were much more formidable than the fake ones they faced now. Setting the mucus aside, Chu Rong took out the remaining items. Qiao Zhiya, sitting beside him, glanced at the odd covers of the two books. He suddenly remembered something and quickly pulled out a metal box from his storage ring. Seeing Chu Rong look over, he explained, ¡°This was given to me by Ning Kongran through Xiao Chu when I went to school for my final exams. It also contains a book, but the writing is unfamiliar to me.¡± Chu Rong frowned, picked up the two books, and flipped through them. He then handed them over and asked, ¡°Is the writing the same as in these books?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded vigorously and replied, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the same.¡± The patterns on the covers were also similar. ¡°This isn¡¯t writing,¡± Chu Rong responded, his eyes scanning the book¡¯s title page. ¡°It¡¯s an old cipher system once used by the Federation military. It was eventually abandoned because it was too complex, used only briefly in a limited scope.¡± ¡°A cipher?¡± Qiao Zhiya was surprised. He flipped through the book in his hands, clearly puzzled. ¡°But how did Kongran get hold of this?¡± ¡°Perhaps he got it from Ning Tianxing. He¡¯s been persistently investigating the Ning family¡¯s human experiments over the years,¡± Chu Rong speculated, although his mind was racing with other thoughts. Why would Ning Kongran give such a book to Qiao instead of directly handing it over to the military? While they were talking, Chu Huai had picked up the documents and started reading them. As he read further, he became increasingly shocked and, in a rare display of emotion, raised his voice, ¡°Lao Er, Mother had already suspected the connection between the Empire and the Ning family back then. Look at this!¡± Upon hearing this, Chu Rong quickly put down the book and took the documents Chu Huai handed over. As he read through them, his grip tightened, and he said heavily, ¡°No wonder the war suddenly intensified back then. The Empire started using excuses like insufficient military strength to shift all the war pressure onto the Federation and the Chu family. They were afraid Mother would continue her investigation.¡± And the sudden communication instability during critical war times ¡ª now it seemed it was all to prevent the Chu family from leaking what they had found! Chu Yan, meanwhile, was flipping through the letters recorded in the letter recording device. He said quickly, ¡°These record all the correspondence between An Lunn and Mother. She recorded everything!¡± ¡°Correspondence?¡± Chu Rong and Chu Huai immediately turned their attention to the letters and began reading them together with Chu Yan. As they pored over the letters, they discovered more and more evidence of the secret investigations and suspicions Chu Rong¡¯s mother had harbored about the Empire and the Ning family. The records included detailed exchanges and plans that shed light on the clandestine activities during the war. The room fell silent as they absorbed the gravity of what they were uncovering. The atmosphere grew tense with the weight of these revelations, the significance of their mother¡¯s findings, and the lengths to which the enemy had gone to conceal the truth. Chu Rong¡¯s gaze softened as he looked at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s determined expression. He placed his hand over Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, giving it a gentle squeeze. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, his voice filled with a mix of admiration and concern. ¡°You can give a try on deciphering it. But if it gets too overwhelming, promise me you¡¯ll stop and ask for help.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded firmly, his ears twitching with resolve. ¡°I promise.¡± Chu Huai and Chu Yan exchanged a glance, then turned their attention back to the open boxes and documents. Chu Huai spoke up, ¡°Let¡¯s make sure we have backups of everything. This information is too valuable to risk losing.¡± Chu Yan agreed, ¡°I¡¯ll get started on that right away. We should also encrypt the digital copies to ensure they don¡¯t fall into the wrong hands.¡± Chu Rong nodded in agreement and turned back to Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Let¡¯s get you set up in the study. We¡¯ll gather all the materials you might need. If you find anything significant, let us know immediately.¡± Qiao Zhiya smiled, feeling a mix of anticipation and nerves. ¡°I will. Thank you for trusting me.¡± As the room bustled with activity, Qiao Zhiya felt a renewed sense of purpose. He carefully gathered the three books and the relevant documents, following Chu Rong to a quieter, more private space where he could focus on the daunting task ahead. Once settled in the study, Qiao Zhiya spread out the materials on a large desk. Chu Rong stayed by his side, offering silent support and occasionally providing insights into the context of the documents. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mind raced as he began to decipher the ancient codes, his eyes scanning the pages for patterns and clues. CH 109.2 Hours turned into days, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s dedication never wavered. He meticulously worked through the cipher, his magical abilities subtly enhancing his cognitive processes. He discovered that the key to cracking the code lay in understanding the unique syntax and structure of the old Federation military ciphers. Chu Rong checked in on him regularly, bringing food and offering words of encouragement. Despite the challenges, Qiao Zhiya made steady progress, his natural aptitude for learning and problem-solving proving invaluable. One evening, as Qiao Zhiya pored over a particularly intricate passage, a breakthrough occurred. He gasped, his eyes widening as the encrypted text began to make sense. He quickly scribbled down his findings, his heart pounding with excitement. ¡°Chu Rong!¡± he called out, his voice echoing through the study. Chu Rong rushed in, concern etched on his face. ¡°What is it? Did you find something?¡± Qiao Zhiya held up the deciphered passage, his hands trembling with a mix of excitement and apprehension. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found a reference to the identity of the mastermind orchestrating all of this.¡± Chu Rong took the paper, his eyes scanning the decoded text. As he read, his expression grew darker, the implications of the information sinking in. He looked up at Qiao Zhiya, a mixture of pride and urgency in his gaze. ¡°We need to share this with the others immediately,¡± Chu Rong said, his voice resolute. ¡°This could change everything.¡± With the crucial piece of the puzzle in hand, they hurried to the conference room where Chu Huai and Chu Yan were waiting. The atmosphere was tense as Qiao Zhiya explained his findings, the gravity of the situation becoming increasingly clear. Chu Huai and Chu Yan listened intently, their expressions reflecting the shock and determination that mirrored Chu Rong¡¯s. The truth was finally within reach, and they were ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy. As they prepared to take the next steps, Qiao Zhiya felt a profound sense of accomplishment. He had proven his worth and played a pivotal role in uncovering the truth. And with Chu Rong and his brothers by his side, he knew they would stop at nothing to bring justice and restore peace. Chu Rong¡¯s mind was a storm of questions and concerns as he held Qiao Zhiya close. The revelation about the black hole transmitters and the possibility of Qiao Zhiya being from another dimension or universe was overwhelming. It meant that his previous understanding and memories might have been manipulated or incomplete. The idea that Qiao Zhiya¡¯s home existed in another realm or time was both fascinating and terrifying. Qiao Zhiya nestled into Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, feeling the tension in his body. He sensed the weight of the revelations and uncertainties they were facing. Despite the complexity of their situation, he felt a deep sense of comfort and security in Chu Rong¡¯s arms. ¡°Chu Rong,¡± he whispered, looking up into his eyes, ¡°I know this is a lot to take in. But I promise you, I will do everything I can to uncover the truth. I need to understand where I came from and what all of this means. And I want you by my side as we do this.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s gaze softened, and he nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead. ¡°We¡¯ll figure this out together. No matter what, I won¡¯t let anything happen to you. We¡¯ll uncover the truth, piece by piece.¡± As they prepared to leave, Chu Rong ensured that all the sensitive materials were securely stored and transported back to their residence. He coordinated with his brothers, instructing them to enhance security measures and keep a close eye on any further developments. Back at their home, Qiao Zhiya immediately set up a workspace in one of the quieter rooms. He spread out the books, notes, and the replicated drawings of the red patterns from the black hole transmitters. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts as he cross-referenced the patterns, looking for connections and insights. Chu Rong stayed close, offering assistance whenever needed and providing a comforting presence. He watched Qiao Zhiya work with a mix of admiration and concern. He could see the determination in his eyes, the drive to uncover the truth about his origins and the mysterious black hole technology. Days turned into weeks as Qiao Zhiya delved deeper into his research. He found himself engrossed in the complexities of the ancient codes and the intricate designs of the transmitters. Despite the challenges, his magical abilities and sharp intellect allowed him to make significant progress. One evening, as the sun set and the room was bathed in a warm, golden light, Qiao Zhiya made a breakthrough. He had discovered a crucial link between the patterns on the transmitters and the codes in the books. It was a key that could potentially unlock the secrets of the black hole technology and reveal more about his origins. ¡°Chu Rong!¡± Qiao Zhiya called out, excitement evident in his voice. Chu Rong, who had been working in an adjacent room, rushed in. ¡°What is it? Did you find something?¡± Qiao Zhiya pointed to his notes, his eyes shining with excitement. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found a way to decode the patterns and understand how these transmitters work. It might lead us to more information about my home and the people who created this technology.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s eyes widened in surprise and pride. He placed a reassuring hand on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s incredible, Qiao. Let¡¯s take this to the next step. We¡¯ll gather all the resources we need and consult with experts if necessary. We¡¯re getting closer to the truth.¡± With renewed determination, they continued their research, inching ever closer to the answers they sought. The journey was far from over, but together, they were ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead, united in their quest for truth and understanding. If his memory wasn¡¯t wrong, and everything really was just a coincidence, would Qiao Zhiya¡¯s memory confusion become worse after this almost invisible ¡°memory confirmation¡±? Would it eventually harm his brain? And those two horns on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head, what if they were really caused by human experiments¡­ Qiao Zhiya leaned against him, noticing a slight unease in his demeanor, he looked up at him with a puzzled expression and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Rong came back to his senses, slowly releasing him, he lowered his head to look into Qiao Zhiya¡¯s innocent and concerned eyes, couldn¡¯t help but reach out and touch him, his Adam¡¯s apple bobbing slightly, he asked in a low voice, ¡°Qiao¡­ Regardless of anything, after you graduate, let¡¯s get married.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned at his words, then his face slowly blushed, nodding vigorously, unable to help but throw himself back into his arms, filled with joy, he replied, ¡°Okay!¡± ¡®When I find a way back home, I must take Chu Rong to meet my parents. Maybe then, we can have a wedding witnessed by my parents¡­¡¯ He thought happily, a silly smile subconsciously appearing on his face, his mood, long influenced by conspiracy, rarely felt so relaxed and cheerful. The decryption of the password and the investigation of the Ning Tianxing laboratory proceeded simultaneously. About a week later, the collapsed ground of Area D on the 8th floor of the laboratory was completely cleared, and the dark red patterns, similar in color to the ground, were carefully drawn and sent to the military for research. After learning about this, Qiao Zhiya also asked Chu Rong for a copy of the pattern. The public was completely unaware of the busy activities of the upper echelons of the Federation and the Empire. They didn¡¯t even know that Ning Tianxing, who had been tried before, was just a clone. In their eyes, the war had ended with the trial, and their attention was focused entirely on this year¡¯s festival theme. Because of the war, the theme of this year¡¯s festival was decided early on, it was ¡°Peace¡±. Everyone was happily preparing to welcome this special New Year, eagerly anticipating the ¡°Joy with the People¡± event jointly organized by the Federation and the Empire to start as soon as possible. The Chu household also began preparations for the festival, but because of Chu Huai and Chu Rong¡¯s special status, this year¡¯s festival for the Chu family was destined to be anything but easy. ¡°Does Dasao really have to go?¡± Qiao Zhiya stared at Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s growing belly, his eyebrows furrowing, he muttered, ¡°The banquet, the plaza celebration, and the live broadcast fireworks show at night, the whole process takes several hours, it¡¯s exhausting.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an patted him reassuringly, handing him the dress catalog, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can sit through the entire banquet, just need to show up briefly at the celebration, and I can¡¯t stand for long during the live fireworks show, it¡¯s okay. But you, stuck in the lab all day, helping Xiao Yan with the mechas, researching all sorts of messy stuff, occasionally going to see Master Ren to check on the manually-piloted mechas. You¡¯re so busy your face has gotten thinner. This time for the festival, you mustn¡¯t be busy again, take a good rest.¡± Qiao Zhiya was still worried, but didn¡¯t want her to worry too much, so he tactfully stopped talking about it. Looking at the dress catalog in his hand, he found a military uniform inside and asked in confusion, ¡°Why is there still a military uniform? I¡¯m not a soldier yet, I shouldn¡¯t be able to wear this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a military uniform, it¡¯s a formal dress made from the modified uniforms of the military academy students. You¡¯ll have to wear this during the fireworks show and stand with Xiao Rong to receive the gratitude and blessings of the people.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an explained with a smile, slightly teasing him as she glanced at him, saying, ¡°You and Xiao Rong are truly deserving of credit for defeating the Zerg Queen. The festival organizers originally planned to make statues of your mechas and place them on the square, but unfortunately, they had to give up because the deadline couldn¡¯t be met.¡± Sta-statue? A real one? Qiao Zhiya was dumbfounded. Imagining himself and Chu Rong standing in front of everyone, receiving the public¡¯s blessings alongside the statues of two mechas, his face turned red in an instant. He quickly chose a suit, not caring anymore about the event that Gu Yan¡¯an would attend while pregnant, and rushed back to the laboratory, making Gu Yan¡¯an laugh with squinted eyes. CH 109.3 At the military department. Chu Rong stood in front of the experimental subject pods, frowning as he asked, ¡°Still can¡¯t open it?¡± Fan Xiangnan shook his head and replied, ¡°The spiritual power identification device on it is the highest level. Forcing it open would cause the experimental subjects inside to self-destruct. That young assistant, No. 09, had never seen these before and only knew that Ning Tianxing treasured them greatly, never allowing others to see them. He doesn¡¯t know how to open them.¡± ¡°What about the Empire?¡± Chu Rong asked as he glanced at the various containment pods. ¡°Based on the data retrieved from Ning Tianxing¡¯s space button, the team has found the place where An Xei and Ning Tianxing secretly communicated and traded. Additionally, they discovered a facility resembling an experimental subject farm on a garbage planet near An Xei¡¯s private planet. It was full of live experimental subjects, and there was a black hole transmission device whose destination is unknown. The team is currently mapping the patterns,¡± Fan Xiangnan answered in detail. He hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°The protection system of this pod is entirely geared towards spiritual power. To preserve the experimental subjects inside and continue the investigation, I think maybe Qiao could¡­¡± Chu Rong waved his hand, signaling him to stop. Thinking about the speculations that had been troubling him recently, he instructed, ¡°Try again. If it still doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll ask Qiao to come over and help.¡± Fan Xiangnan didn¡¯t understand what he was worried about and sighed inwardly, refraining from persuading him further. In the blink of an eye, a few more days passed. The royal family members from the Empire were ready to depart for the Federation to celebrate the festival. Qiao Zhiya finally worked overtime to finish the mecha for Chu Yan. Researching codes and patterns left him mentally exhausted, but making mechas became a way to relax. It was another small mecha, the same silver-gray color. The mecha he made for Chu Yan was almost a replica of the one Chu Yan currently used, except the body proportions were infinitely closer to Chu Yan¡¯s real body proportions, giving it a more aggressive appearance that most small mechas lacked. On this mecha, he tried something new by combining the spiritual power piloting system with the manual piloting system, creating a hybrid mecha that could switch piloting modes at will. Chu Yan¡¯s battle style was better suited for spiritual power piloting, and Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t want him to give up his advantage. Moreover, a mecha limited to a single piloting mode was too restrictive. He didn¡¯t want a future where manual and spiritual power piloting mechas split into two camps, despising and looking down on each other. Manually-pilotee mechas served a group without spiritual power ¡ª the ¡°disabled¡±¡ªand ordinary people whose spiritual power was too low to drive spiritual power mechas. Not all mecha warriors should be limited by pure manually-piloted mechas. The genius of spiritual power piloting shouldn¡¯t be constrained by the other piloting method¡¯s limitations. Joint development was the healthiest and most sustainable approach. When the research on manual piloting mechas matured, the integration of the two methods could officially begin. He hoped that in the future, everyone could freely choose the type of mecha they wanted to drive based on their own circumstances, rather than being forced to adapt by what¡¯s available. Moreover, during the process of making the mecha for Chu Yan, he had an unexpected surprise. Previously, he had been unable to find a suitable substitute for the magic array to localize and popularize the core synchronization system of manually operated mechas. However, in his research on those red patterns, he discovered a breakthrough. The power source of the red patterns was a spirit stone, which was closer to human power. Both humans and alien beasts were native to the Blue Galaxy. Compared to magic stones, spirit stones should be better at synchronizing with the artificially cultivated veins of alien beasts. Therefore, a combination of spirit stones and a matching spiritual power induction system might replace the combination of magic stones and magic arrays, becoming the new core of the manually operated mecha system. ¡°Click.¡± The sensor light in the eyes of the mecha model on the table lit up. Qiao Zhiya held his breath and carefully put on the synchronization gloves beside him, tentatively moving his fingers. The mecha model, connected to the gloves with alien beast veins, immediately responded, moving almost without pause and perfectly synchronized. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up, and he tried moving his fingers again. ¡°Thud.¡± There seemed to be a problem with the sensor system, and the mecha model, unstable in its movements, fell face-first. He sighed, quickly took off the gloves, propped up the mecha model, and opened its shell to look at the core spirit stone that had been cut, frowning in frustration. Adjustments were still necessary. Although spirit stones could replace magic stones, the current spiritual power induction device couldn¡¯t replace the magic array. Humans had a complete set of spiritual power induction concepts and devices, but his power was magic, after all. He had always struggled with this area, unable to find the key point. The existing basic spiritual power induction devices were still insufficient. A specialized induction device for the entire manual driving system needed to be developed. It seemed he would have to trouble Master Ren again. He carefully disassembled the system, recorded his ideas, and stored them in an experimental data box, intending to take it to Master Ren¡¯s personal laboratory next time. Suddenly, there was a knock on the lab door, and then Chu Rong pushed it open and walked in. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes lit up. He quickly put the storage box into his storage ring and happily rushed over, saying, ¡°Why are you back so early today? Have you eaten?¡± Chu Rong opened his arms to hug him, kissed his ear, and replied, ¡°I¡¯m not busy today. I haven¡¯t eaten, so I came back to spend time with you.¡± As he spoke, his gaze moved to the small silver-gray mecha in the center of the lab, raising an eyebrow. ¡°I made it for Xiao Yan. It¡¯s called ¡®Knight,¡¯ a hybrid mecha that combines spiritual power and manual piloting methods. But the core synchronization system of this mecha still uses a magic array. For the localized version, we need Master Ren to develop a matching spiritual power induction device to replace the magic¡ª mmph.¡± Chu Rong cut him off with a kiss and pinched one of his ears. Qiao Zhiya stared at him, dumbfounded. ¡°It¡¯s time to eat.¡± Chu Rong pulled back slightly, brushed his lips, and directly picked him up, turning to walk out. Qiao Zhiya wrapped his arms around Chu Rong¡¯s neck, looking at his usual expression, his ears twitching and his eyes sparkling ¡ª had Chu Rong just been jealous because he made a mecha for Xiao Yan? The two had a rare, warm dinner together. Gu Yan¡¯an and Chu Yan tactfully found excuses to avoid eating with them, giving them some time alone. After dinner, Chu Rong didn¡¯t go to the study but stayed in the room with Qiao Zhiya, helping him research the cipher and those red patterns. ¡°According to the language habits of that era and the existing half-cracked cipher system, I found that the remaining part of the code has a certain connection with an ancient tribal civilization.¡± Qiao Zhiya wrote a row of strange characters on an electronic notebook, his ears moving lively. Researching these seemed to make him very happy. He continued, ¡°Also, the inventor of this code, Nan Suo, is quite interesting. He originally wanted to study medicine but ended up in the military by accident. Probably out of resentment, he incorporated some content from old, obscure medical books into this code. Look at this, this isn¡¯t actually a letter but an abstract drawing of an extinct plant. Its real shape is like this.¡± He quickly sketched the rough outline of the plant on the electronic notebook. Chu Rong listened attentively, his hand constantly touching Qiao Zhiya ¡ª sometimes patting his head, sometimes smoothing his back, and finally, slowly moving to his ears to gently rub them. Suddenly, he asked, ¡°Qiao, does your father also have pointed ears?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, a bit surprised, thinking Chu Rong wanted to chat casually. He wiggled his ear being pinched and added, ¡°But my father¡¯s ears are longer and more pointy than mine, much more beautiful.¡± Chu Rong recalled the long-haired man he had seen in his memories, squinting his eyes before continuing, ¡°And where did you go after you and your parents moved?¡± ¡°We went to the place where I grew up, the Pariet Valley, which is my mother¡¯s hometown,¡± Qiao Zhiya answered without hesitation, thinking Chu Rong had seen his memories. He even started sketching his home, saying, ¡°Look, this is my home. It¡¯s a treehouse built by my father according to my mother¡¯s preferences. I lived on this floor, with a small bow my father made for me hanging on the door, though I preferred using a crossbow.¡± His drawing skills were excellent, romantic and warm. With just a few strokes, a treehouse built among giant forest trees appeared on the electronic notebook. The treehouse had two floors, surrounded by vines and blooming flowers, looking like a fairy tale setting rather than a human dwelling. Chu Rong watched Qiao Zhiya happily sketching and describing the treehouse, unable to help clenching his fist. Afraid Qiao Zhiya might notice, he quickly moved his hand down to his back. Humans could indeed experience memory confusion and false memories for self-protection, but such false memories were often fragmented, incomplete, and piecemeal. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s memories, however, were different. They were complete and clear¡ªwhen they moved, where their home was, its appearance, life details, even the color of the flowers at the top of the treehouse. In the memories Chu Rong had seen, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s father had not successfully moved, continuing to live in the forest where Qiao Zhiya was born until a black hole appeared and a spaceship emerged, completely different from what Qiao Zhiya was now describing. ¡°This is where I raised rabbits. Later, it became empty¡­ but it¡¯s okay. When I take you home, we can bring the little rabbits along, and it will be full again. But my room will need some adjustments; you¡¯re too tall to live in it comfortably.¡± Qiao Zhiya continued to speak, envisioning a beautiful future for them. Chu Rong¡¯s heart tightened as he listened. He couldn¡¯t help but hug Qiao Zhiya tightly, pulling him into his arms and softly asking, ¡°You want to take me home?¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned by the sudden embrace, dropping the electronic pen on the table. He looked up at Chu Rong and nodded matter-of-factly, replying, ¡°Of course. Are you worried my parents won¡¯t like you? They will, you¡¯re wonderful, they¡¯ll definitely like you.¡± ¡®No.¡¯ Chu Rong couldn¡¯t speak, tightening his arms and pressing his forehead to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. It felt like a weight was pressing on his heart. He wasn¡¯t wonderful at all. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s love was honest and pure, while he was stubborn and proud. Memories could indeed be false, but the falsehood wasn¡¯t with Qiao Zhiya ¡ª it was with himself. Something must have gone wrong. The memory search from that day had been a mistake from the start¡­ He cupped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ear, his Adam¡¯s apple moving. Someone had tampered with Qiao¡¯s memories, and he had fully believed in these altered memories. Suddenly, he remembered the Imperial High Advisor who had stayed at the Chu residence during that time and Qiao¡¯s unusual behavior then. His grip on Qiao Zhiya tightened even more. CH 110.1 Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan¡¯s bestfriend. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s (ex-)mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Sang Bu: MC¡¯s roommate. Transferred from Information System to Mecha Manufacturing. Bearded Teacher aka Master Shang: Qiao Zhiya¡¯s Mecha teacher in VR. Chu Rong¡¯s mother¡¯s teacher. Is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher. Luo Li: Qiao Zhiya¡¯s senior older brother. He won the online Mecha Manufacturing Contest. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Jian: the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. Qiao Zhiya noticed that Chu Rong suddenly developed a liking for reminiscing about the past and often dragged him into it whenever they had some free time. With the combination of military matters and upcoming holidays piling up, Chu Rong¡¯s workload had become terrifyingly immense. He was leaving early and coming home late every day, undoubtedly exhausted. Qiao Zhiya figured that Chu Rong might be under too much pressure and wanted to use chatting as a way to relax his emotions. Thinking about being considerate of his lover, Qiao Zhiya actively engaged in Chu Rong¡¯s conversations about the past. He even took the time to prepare a large amount of potions in the gaps between researching codes and red patterns, keeping them on standby. Whenever he had the chance, he would feed Chu Rong the potions to help alleviate his physical and spiritual fatigue. Apart from being quite busy, life seemed to have briefly returned to peace and stability. The Zergs hadn¡¯t appeared again, the investigations on various planets had concluded, and those contaminated by the Ning family¡¯s drugs were all gathered for centralized treatment. Locations where the Zergs had previously appeared and places potentially containing black hole teleportation devices were thoroughly searched. Chu Rong personally led the military to meticulously inspect the entire Capital Planet, ensuring absolute safety. If one were to ignore the prisoners held by the military and the piles of investigation materials being sent from various places, and only focus on the lives of ordinary people outside, it seemed that peace had truly returned after the war. ¡°Is the size just right? Does it feel tight on the shoulders?¡± Gu Yan¡¯an, with her pregnant belly, adjusted the small tie on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s formal military uniform and took a step back to admire the overall look. Satisfied, she nodded and said, ¡°Not bad. This color suits you well.¡± Blushing, Qiao Zhiya touched the black and gold military uniform he was wearing and shyly replied, ¡°The shoulders are just right.¡± He couldn¡¯t think of anything more to say. Such occasions of trying on clothes always made him feel a bit awkward. Knowing that he was thin-skinned, Gu Yan¡¯an didn¡¯t say much more. She sat down on the sofa, supporting her belly, and glanced at Chu Yan, who was eagerly waiting beside her. With a smile, she said, ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as it fits. Alright, go and have fun. You can¡¯t even sit still while trying on clothes.¡± As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Yan jumped up, approached Qiao Zhiya, and pushed him back to the room while trying to please Gu Yan¡¯an. ¡°How could that be, Dasao? Your taste is definitely impeccable. Besides, Qiao looks good no matter what he wears, just like you, Dasao.¡± ¡°You smooth talker,¡± Gu Yan¡¯an pretended to scold him, but her smile grew even stronger. Chu Yan made a face at her, then hurriedly pushed Qiao Zhiya back into the room, saying quickly, ¡°After you change, head straight to the mecha combat arena. I¡¯ll go pick up Yuan Xiu, he¡¯s waiting at the entrance.¡± Seeing him eager to leave after saying this, Qiao Zhiya raised his voice to stop him. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ve also invited a friend who¡¯s also a mecha manufacturer. When you go to pick up Yuan Xiu, also pick him up.¡± ¡°A friend who¡¯s also a mecha manufacturer?¡± Chu Yan stopped in his tracks, looking at him in confusion. ¡°Did you call Sang Bu?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯sears twitched, just smiling without answering. In a hurry to try out the new mecha, Chu Yan thought he had obtained Qiao Zhiya¡¯s consent, so he didn¡¯t ask further questions and left quickly to welcome the helper who would be testing the mecha today. Qiao Zhiya watched him leave, deliberately taking his time to change clothes. After making sure everyone had been picked up, he calmly took the space button for the mecha and headed to the mecha combat arena. Inside the arena, Chu Yan sat in the stands with an expression of deep resentment, to his left was the expressionless Xiang Kun, and to his right was the curious and gossip-loving Yuan Xiu. None of them spoke, and the atmosphere was extremely strange. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze swept across the faces of the three young men, then stepped forward, smiling as he waved to Xiang Kun. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you today.¡± ¡°No problem, it¡¯s my pleasure,¡± Xiang Kun said as his expression softened upon seeing him, taking the initiative to get up and greet him. Chu Yan and Yuan Xiu stared dumbfoundedly at the ¡°friendly interaction¡± and ¡°pleasant conversation¡± between the two, feeling like they hadn¡¯t fully woken up yet. ¡°When did Qiao become so close to Xiang Kun?¡± Yuan Xiu was the first to regain his senses, grabbing Chu Yan¡¯s arm and squeezing it hard. Chu Yan was lucky he didn¡¯t cry out in pain. He quickly shook off Yuan Xiu¡¯s hand, his face contorted in discomfort as he said, ¡°How would I know? Qiao never told me, and neither did Xiang Kun. How was I supposed to know when their relationship became so good?¡± Yuan Xiu turned his head to look at him suspiciously, sniffing, ¡°Strange, why do I feel like you¡¯re dripping with sarcasm? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re trying to compete with your Erge¡ª ah!¡± Before Yuan Xiu could finish his unreliable speculation, Chu Yan slapped it away, scolding him without patience. He gave him a stern look and said, ¡°Keep those messy thoughts in your head to yourself. If my Erge hears that, Laozi will go gray overnight.¡± Yuan Xiu rubbed his arm, remembering Chu Rong, and quickly shut his mouth, not daring to blabber anymore. However, his curious gaze kept wandering between Qiao Zhiya and Xiang Kun. ¡°How is Teacher Ronny?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked as he handed the list of notes for piloting the Knight he had prepared earlier to Xiang Kun. He also took out detailed blueprints of ¡°Knight¡±, his attitude open and trusting. Seeing this, Xiang Kun visibly relaxed and replied, ¡°Master is doing well. I asked about you before I came here.¡± He addressed his master with such respect and sincerity that Qiao Zhiya smiled and nodded in response. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. Everyone else is busy, and I have some other matters to attend to. Xiaoyan is eager to try out the mecha, so I had to ask for your help.¡± Fate was indeed a mysterious thing. Over a year had passed, and Luo Li and Xiang Kun, who had previously been complete strangers, had somehow come to admire each other. Eventually, they even became master and disciple. What¡¯s more surprising was that Luo Li had taken the initiative in this relationship. According to Master Shang, Luo Li was moved by Xiang Kun¡¯s stubbornness and had insisted on becoming his disciple. One was a young master who once firmly believed that his own mecha-making techniques were the best and refused to learn any ¡°trash¡± from the outside world. The other was an unconventional uncle who had his own methods of designing and making mechas and teaching them. Their collaboration seemed a bit strange, but it seemed to be working out well. The collision of tradition and the unconventional was bound to produce something new and eye-catching. Hearing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s words, Xiang Kun glanced at him and replied softly without elaborating. After becoming Luo Li¡¯s disciple, he had gained a deeper understanding of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s efforts. He had tried Luo Li¡¯s rapid learning system after becoming his disciple, but he eventually had to give up because he couldn¡¯t keep up with the curriculum. After discarding his prejudices and gaining a deeper understanding, he now only felt admiration for Qiao Zhiya. His previous cautiousness and suspicions were like nightmares from his youth, fading away with time. As soon as Chu Yan arrived, he heard Qiao Zhiya¡¯s seemingly thunderous ¡°handing over¡± remark, and he was shocked, jumping up in surprise. ¡°What are you doing, Qiao? Aren¡¯t you supposed to help me test the mecha? Xiang Kun has only finished second-year courses, and he¡ª¡± Seeing Xiang Kun¡¯s expression darken beside him, Chu Yan¡¯s words choked off, and he hurriedly explained, ¡°No, it¡¯s not that I think you¡¯re not good enough, I¡ª¡± ¡°I know.¡± Xiang Kun interrupted him, tightening his grip on the materials and taking a deep breath to suppress his emotions. ¡°I know my skills aren¡¯t up to par, but I¡¯ll do my best. Plus, today I¡¯ll only be doing some basic adjustments for you. You don¡¯t need to worry. I¡¯ve done this many times with Master, so there won¡¯t be any problems.¡± Not hearing any retort but receiving such an almost self-deprecating explanation instead, Chu Yan began to scratch his head in confusion, unable to come up with anything to say for a while. Without their usual way of interacting, he really didn¡¯t know how to deal with Xiang Kun anymore. Qiao Zhiya timely pulled the confused Chu Yan aside, saying, ¡°Xiao Kun grew up with you, so he understands your attack routines better than I do. His mecha manufacturing skills are also quite mature, and he¡¯s already self-taught how to assemble mechas. There¡¯s absolutely no problem with him testing his mecha for you. I have to go to the military department for a bit. You and Xiao Kun should get along well. I¡¯ll leave first.¡± With that, he smiled at Xiang Kun and waved to Yuan Xiu, then turned and left with light steps. ¡°Hey, Qiao¡­¡± Chu Yan was too late to stop him. His neck stiffened as he turned away, not daring to look in Xiang Kun¡¯s direction, feeling completely twisted up inside. Xiang Kun hadn¡¯t expected Qiao Zhiya to know about his progress in self-study. After a moment of bewilderment, he regained his senses. Reflecting on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slightly affectionate address, his previously sour mood, stirred up by Chu Yan, subsided once again. He cast a faint glance at Chu Yan, who appeared exceptionally foolish at the moment. Furrowing his brow, Xiang Kun shoved the space button containing the mecha into Chu Yan¡¯s hand, almost commanding him, ¡°Get into the mecha and power it up.¡± As Chu Yan reflexively grasped the space button, his stiffened neck finally turned, his gaze quickly scanning Xiang Kun¡¯s expression. Seeing Xiang Kun¡¯s serious demeanor, he suddenly felt a bit suffocated. He twisted his neck, finding Xiang Kun oddly handsome in this state. His mouth moved, and in the end, he obediently responded, ¡°Mn.¡± In the observation stand, Yuan Xiu watched in disbelief as Chu Yan and Xiang Kun, who had just finished their harmonious interaction, began to debug the mecha. He rubbed his eyes, swallowing hard after confirming it wasn¡¯t an illusion. Rolling his eyes, he slumped back in his chair, deciding not to force himself to figure out the psychological activities of these ¡°naughty¡± children any longer. After leaving the mecha arena, Qiao Zhiya contacted Fan Xiangnan to make sure he had arrived at Chu¡¯s residence before heading straight to the front gate. Sitting in the hovercar, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on with the military department? Is something wrong?¡± He had originally planned to help Chu Yan debug the mecha all afternoon, but before lunch, Chu Rong suddenly called and asked Fan Xiangnan to take him to the military department for something urgent. However, he didn¡¯t specify what it was, as they seemed to be very busy and didn¡¯t have time to explain in detail. ¡°It¡¯s an issue with the containment pod for the experimental subjects,¡± Fan Xiangnan explained after closing the hovercar door, his tone relatively calm but with a hint of urgency. He elaborated, ¡°This morning, there were strange noises coming from some of the containment pods, and then a timed self-destruct program was activated on top of one of the pods. The military personnel couldn¡¯t open the containment pod to see what was inside, so they had to ask you to come over.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned at the news and asked in surprise, ¡°The containment pod still hasn¡¯t been opened?¡± It had been almost a month since the containment pods were discovered, and he had assumed they had been opened by now. Fan Xiangnan shook his head helplessly at his question, remembering the rare hesitation of the Marshal in this matter. Giving Qiao Zhiya a glance, he sighed inwardly. If it weren¡¯t for the sudden problem with the containment pod, and everyone¡¯s persuasion, Chu Rong probably wouldn¡¯t have bothered Qiao to come over. Moreover, the Marshal¡¯s thoughts had become increasingly unpredictable lately, and his spiritual power was often unstable. He even forbade them from telling Qiao Zhiya and Chu Huai, always taking the stabilizing potion secretly. Seeing his expression, Qiao Zhiya felt a bit worried and very puzzled. It had been a month, and the containment pod still couldn¡¯t be opened. Why hadn¡¯t Chu Rong come to ask him for help, or even mentioned this matter at home? With the assimilation magic array in place, opening the containment pod should have been a simple task for him. CH 110.2 The hovercar sped to the military department at the fastest speed. With Chu Rong¡¯s authorization, Fan Xiangnan escorted Qiao Zhiya all the way to the research base at the center of the military department, descending three levels underground and entering the most secluded room. As soon as Qiao Zhiya entered, he saw Chu Rong standing in front of a row of containment pods, along with several unfamiliar researchers. ¡°Sir,¡± Fan Xiangnan called out. Chu Rong, who was talking to the researchers, turned his head and looked over. His gaze settled on Qiao Zhiya after scanning the room, and he gestured for the researchers to leave, then stepped forward and hugged Qiao Zhiya tightly. Seeing this, Fan Xiangnan was momentarily stunned. He tactfully exited the room, closing the door behind him. ¡°Chu Rong?¡± Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by the sudden embrace. Sensing Chu Rong¡¯s unstable breath, he quickly raised his hand to return the hug, comforting him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help you unlock it. Just relax.¡± Smelling the familiar scent, hearing the familiar voice, and feeling the familiar warmth, the restless spiritual energy in Chu Rong¡¯s mind finally began to calm down. Chu Rong subtly rubbed his forehead and suppressed the increasingly uncontrollable emotions. Slowly releasing him, he lowered his head and kissed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead, whispering, ¡°Sorry for troubling you again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a trouble. I¡¯m happy to help.¡± ¡°Something inside has awakened and has been moving since this morning,¡± Chu Rong embraced him, soothingly rubbing his stiffened ears. He continued, ¡°First, let¡¯s change into protective suits. Before unlocking, the researchers will fill this room with sleeping gas to prevent any harm from the experimental subjects inside.¡± Qiao Zhiya came to his senses and glanced again at the containment pod. He nodded obediently and followed Chu Rong to the adjacent room to change clothes. Once everything was ready, Chu Rong took out the spiritual stone, while Qiao Zhiya squatted in front of the containment pod, beginning to draw the Assimilation Magic Array. Perhaps due to fatigue from earlier movements, there was no more activity coming from inside the containment pod as Qiao Zhiya drew the magic array, allowing him to complete it smoothly without any further scares. At the moment Qiao Zhiya finished drawing the magic array, Chu Rong stepped forward and enveloped him with spiritual energy. Then, he activated the power within the spiritual stone and spread it towards the containment pod. Sensing the spiritual energy, the red light indicating the locked state was suddenly flashing, changing to green. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but hold his breath, wanting to get closer to see. Chu Rong stopped him for a moment, but the next second, a deafening roar, almost piercing eardrums, echoed through the room. The door of the containment pod was violently pushed open, and a nimble black figure, the size of an adult man, rushed out towards them at lightning speed. Simultaneously, a strange force spread rapidly throughout the room. Fan Xiangnan, who was observing the situation outside the room, was shocked and quickly increased the release of the hypnotic gas. The black figure moved too fast, and Chu Rong couldn¡¯t avoid it. He quickly extended his arm to push Qiao Zhiya far away. Just as he prepared to confront the black figure, he realized that the figure was heading straight for Qiao Zhiya, completely ignoring him. ¡°Be careful!¡± His expression changed drastically as he hurriedly chased after them. Pushed back by the force, Qiao Zhiya barely stabilized himself when the black figure came rushing towards him again. Their eyes met, and he saw the grotesque and eerie face covered in black scales, devoid of any emotion, resembling the eyes of a cold-blooded creature. His heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively stepped back, while his magic spread out unconsciously, vines suddenly appearing and entangling the black figure. The black figure was momentarily immobilized by the vines, giving Chu Rong the opportunity to approach and shield Qiao Zhiya behind him. Then, he took out a tranquilizer gun and aimed it at the head of the black figure, firing a shot. ¡°Bang!¡± With the tranquilizer gun and the sleeping gas combined, the black figure staggered and fell into a heap on the ground. The strange force that filled the room also dissipated. Chu Rong kissed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead reassuringly, then approached to cover the black figure with an isolation barrier. He looked towards Fan Xiangnan, who had rushed in, and ordered in a deep voice, ¡°Call the researchers over.¡± Qiao Zhiya slowly regained his senses, his gaze shifting to the black figure covered in black scales on the ground. However, the eerie feeling he experienced when he saw the red marks resurfaced. His heartbeat raced faster than ever before, and his thoughts were in disarray. The strange force that appeared in the room just now was clearly a combination of Zerg neural waves and the power of the Imperial High Advisor, but it combined the worst aspects of the two ¡ª suppression of spiritual power and paralysis. Perhaps there was something else, but the appearance of that force was too short-lived for him to sense it more clearly. There was a faint smell of blood in the air, and he took a deep breath to calm himself, trying to clear his mind of the chaotic thoughts. His gaze shifted to the bloodstain on the head of the black figure. A speculation arose in his mind ¡ª could those red marks be drawn with the blood of these ¡°monsters¡±? As he pondered, his magic, floating in the air, couldn¡¯t help but drift towards the isolation barrier, uncontrollably piercing into it and targeting the drop of blood inside. ¡°Boom!¡± A severe burning sensation suddenly rushed back along the force that had penetrated the blood, quickly returning to his magic pool in his brain. The power began to boil, blood flow accelerated, and a call from his bloodline surged vigorously. ¡°Ah!¡± He clutched his head, his two small horns suddenly heating up. ¡°Qiao!¡± Chu Rong extended his arm to hold him, noticing his painful expression. His face darkened, and he quickly lifted Qiao Zhiya out of the sealed room. The scent of blood disappeared, replaced by Chu Rong¡¯s aura. The burning sensation in his mind also subsided somewhat. Clutching Chu Rong¡¯s clothes tightly, he buried his head in his chest, absorbing his warmth and aura. Sensing his discomfort, Chu Rong halted his steps, fed him a dose of medication, and enveloped him with spiritual energy as they walked. ¡°Bear with it for a moment. I¡¯ll take you to the medical room.¡± ¡°No,¡± Qiao Zhiya protested weakly as the burning sensation quickly dissipated after the medication entered his body. He shook his head, took a deep breath to steady himself, and reluctantly pushed himself away from Chu Rong¡¯s embrace. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was just accidentally affected by the power of that experimental subject. Let¡¯s continue unlocking the containment pod.¡± He had a strong intuition now ¡ª whether they could obtain results from the red marks and if he could return home depended on that blood. In any case, he couldn¡¯t let those experimental subjects self-destruct. He had to find a way to preserve them. Chu Rong frowned, touching his slightly pale face, and lifted him up again, continuing to walk out. He rejected Qiao Zhiya¡¯s request with his actions. Qiao Zhiya looked at him resolutely, reassuring, ¡°This time I¡¯ll be more careful. Really, the countdown on the containment pod won¡¯t last long. Let me unlock it. Research needs more samples.¡± ¡°No,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice was firm, his expression like still water. His embrace was too tight, and Qiao Zhiya felt uncomfortable. He couldn¡¯t help but pat Chu Rong and said, ¡°Chu Rong, loosen up a bit. I feel suffocated¡­¡± Chu Rong abruptly stopped and looked down at his distressed appearance. He reluctantly loosened his arms and gently patted his back for comfort, then took a deep breath to suppress his restless mind. He frowned and turned back, leading him back to the sealed room. The researchers had already removed the unconscious experimental subject. Qiao Zhiya glanced at the remaining dozen or so containment pods, knowing that Chu Rong¡¯s decision to bring him back should be tacit approval of his unlocking request. He tentatively jumped out of his embrace. Seeing that Chu Rong didn¡¯t stop him, he felt a little relieved. He approached and comforted him by rubbing his chest, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be careful.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed, suppressing his desire to take Qiao Zhiya away directly. He lowered his head and kissed his forehead, whispering, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I know you didn¡¯t mean it,¡± Qiao Zhiya rubbed against him again before turning to face the containment pod. He squatted down again and began to gather his magic. Chu Rong stood behind him, taking a dose of medication while Qiao Zhiya wasn¡¯t looking, stabilizing his restless mind, and then stepped forward to stand beside him. This time, he didn¡¯t take out the spiritual stone, intending to wait for Qiao Zhiya to finish drawing the magic array and move to a safe place before using the spiritual stone to unlock the containment pod. After several arrays were drawn, Qiao Zhiya noticed that Chu Rong still hadn¡¯t taken out the spiritual stone. He guessed his thoughts and hesitated for a moment. He turned his head to look at him and then walked to several large containment pods that hadn¡¯t started the countdown yet, continuing to draw the arrays. Chu Rong¡¯s frown deepened when he saw this, but he didn¡¯t stop him. When Qiao Zhiya assimilated all the locks on the containment pods, Chu Rong immediately stepped forward to lift him up and send him out of the room, asking Fan Xiangnan to take care of him. Then, he returned alone to the sealed room, closed the door, and took out the spiritual stone. Qiao Zhiya frowned as he watched from outside the room. He turned to Fan Xiangnan, hesitating, and asked, ¡°Is Chu Rong okay¡­?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s emotions just now were really off. Fan Xiangnan sighed when he finally noticed and shook his head without saying a word. Chu Rong stood in the middle of the sealed room and activated the spiritual stone directly. The moment the power spread out, the doors of the four containment pods with countdowns were immediately pushed open. Four black figures rushed out in succession, and a much denser strange force swept over them. Chu Rong, who was prepared in advance, immediately activated the protective barrier to cover himself, gathered all his spiritual energy to avoid being harmed, then took out the tranquilizer gun and aimed at their heads. He swiftly shot each one, rendering them unconscious, before turning his gaze to the large containment pods. After a few minutes of waiting without any movement from the large containment pods, Chu Rong frowned. Without waiting any longer, he approached and opened the nearest large containment pod. After lifting the lid, a large white block resembling ice was revealed, with something frozen inside. Vague black silhouettes could be seen, resembling the experimental subjects in the smaller containment pods. Qiao Zhiya, seeing this, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Chu Rong¡¯s tense body also relaxed slightly. He closed the hatch, turned to the door, and waved to summon the researchers inside. After a flurry of activity, the experimental subjects were safely transferred to heavily guarded military containment pods. Qiao Zhiya timely requested to take some blood and scales of the experimental subjects back for research. Chu Rong looked down at him, bending over to kiss his forehead and gently rubbing his ears. His brow furrowed, but he still nodded. CH 110.3 Qiao Zhiya returned home with the blood and scales, but as soon as the hovercar was out of Fan Xiangnan¡¯s sight, his expression immediately fell, and his ears drooped. He remembered how Chu Rong had initially intended to personally accompany him but ended up staying in the office with a furrowed brow. He felt a sense of melancholy. Chu Rong was off, very off. It wasn¡¯t just his emotions but also his spiritual energy, and he had been suppressing and disguising this imbalance, unwilling to let Qiao Zhiya notice. Why? Was he afraid of worrying him? He also recalled Chu Rong¡¯s behavior, how despite his unstable emotions and reluctance, he had still complied with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s requests as much as possible. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head drooped lower, feeling utterly dejected. He should have noticed sooner. Chu Rong had been trying to make time to come home and spend time with him lately, and they had been together for quite a while. But how could he be so foolish and not notice Chu Rong¡¯s distress? He slapped his forehead in frustration, berating himself for a while before quickly rallying. Thinking about the blood and scales brought back his determination, and he walked briskly towards the main residence ¡ª he had to be faster! Once he resolved the issues troubling Chu Rong, he wouldn¡¯t be so tired anymore! As long as he tried a little harder! That night, Chu Rong returned home late again, and Qiao Zhiya was already asleep. He quietly washed up, took a dose of potion to stabilize his spiritual energy, then climbed into bed and pulled the sleeping Qiao Zhiya into his arms, closing his eyes contentedly. Half an hour later, just when Qiao Zhiya should have been sound asleep, he stirred and adjusted his sleeping position, gradually enveloping both of them in magic. Time passed quickly for Qiao Zhiya, who was immersed in his research, and for Chu Rong, who became increasingly busy. Suddenly, the holiday arrived, and a spaceship from the Empire slowly arrived at the Federation¡¯s Capital Planet. Chu Rong frowned as he carried Qiao Zhiya out of the laboratory after a few days of confinement. After changing into a fresh set of clothes, he took Qiao Zhiya by the hand and led him out. After boarding the hovercar, Qiao Zhiya yawned, lazily snuggling into Chu Rong¡¯s embrace. Sensing his fatigue, Chu Rong gently tugged at his ear, asking, ¡°What time did you go to bed last night?¡± Qiao Zhiya twisted in his arms, leaning back into his embrace, and replied, ¡°9:30.¡± 9:30? Chu Rong paused in his ear-pinching and asked, ¡°And what time did you wake up today?¡± ¡°6 AM. I had lean meat congee and buns for breakfast, meat chops and salad for lunch, and took a nap in the afternoon. I only went to the lab right before you came back,¡± Qiao Zhiya lazily recounted his day¡¯s schedule, hanging limply on Chu Rong. It was a very healthy routine and diet. Chu Rong frowned, reaching up to touch his head, and asked in confusion, ¡°Then why are you¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya lifted his head at the opportune moment, his face no longer showing signs of sleepiness. With a slight blush, he leaned in to kiss Chu Rong on the cheek, then wrapped his arm around Chu Rong¡¯s neck, nuzzling against his neck, and complained, ¡°You haven¡¯t been coming home on time for several days¡­¡± ¡®Ah, so, he was looking for an excuse to act spoiled.¡¯ Chu Rong¡¯s expression softened, tightening his arms around him. He turned his head to kiss Qiao Zhiya¡¯s cheek gently and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. After this period, I¡¯ll take a break and spend time with you.¡± Qiao Zhiya then released his magic, snuggling closer. Chu Rong hesitated for a moment but ultimately accepted his affectionate gestures, allowing himself to be comforted. Qiao Zhiya succeeded in making him smile, nuzzling Chu Rong¡¯s neck contentedly, pointy ears fluttering. As the symbol of the nation, the Presidential Palace was still in ruins. Therefore, the reception for the Imperial visitors was arranged at the military¡¯s reception building. The Imperial delegation had arrived in the morning, and Chu Rong had already officially entertained them with Chu Huai. Now, he was taking Qiao Zhiya there for a private meeting. And the reason for arranging this private meeting in such a hurry and personally coming back to pick him up¡­ ¡°Imperial High Advisor is sick?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s smile disappeared as he listened to Chu Rong¡¯s explanation. He looked up and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is it serious?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. The doctor only said he¡¯s physically weak, but they couldn¡¯t find the cause.¡± Chu Rong comfortingly pinched his drooping ears and added, ¡°All his physical indicators are above normal values, but he¡¯s been in a coma, and Jian is very worried. He hopes you can go take a look.¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worry intensified upon hearing this, especially recalling his recent research on the blood and scales. His relaxed attitude when leaving home completely dissipated. When the hovercar arrived at the military headquarters, it stopped directly in front of the reception building. Chu Rong led Qiao Zhiya out of the car, bypassing the main building and heading towards a nearby annex. ¡°Jian has refused all requests to visit the Imperial High Advisor, including mine. He insists on staying in this annex with the Imperial High Advisor,¡± Chu Rong explained as he led Qiao Zhiya to the master bedroom on the second floor of the annex. He smoothed out Qiao Zhiya¡¯s furrowed brow and said, ¡°So far, all examinations of the Imperial High Advisor have been done by Jian under the guidance of doctors. Jian has requested to see you, so I brought you here. But if you don¡¯t want to go in, I can take you away now.¡± During this time, he had been learning to listen more to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice, trusting his every word and action. Although he was very reluctant for Qiao Zhiya to make this trip, because the memory tampering incident was likely related to the Imperial High Advisor, he couldn¡¯t rest assured letting Qiao confront him while the Imperial High Advisor was unconscious. But Jian was Qiao¡¯s friend, and the Imperial High Advisor was someone Qiao knew. Given Qiao¡¯s character, he would definitely worry and try to help when he found out someone he knew was in trouble. This was Qiao¡¯s nature, and Chu Rong didn¡¯t want Qiao to have any regrets in the future, so he brought him here. As expected, after listening to his words, Qiao Zhiya almost immediately chose to enter, his eyes filled with anxiety. Chu Rong carefully examined his expression, hesitated for a moment, then reached out to knock on the door, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you outside.¡± The door opened quickly, and Jian appeared at the doorway. At the same time, a gentle force that Qiao Zhiya had felt from the Imperial High Advisor before emanated from the room. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart tightened, and without exchanging greetings with Jian, he hurried into the room. Chu Rong and Jian locked eyes. Chu Rong furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Ensure his safety.¡± Jian was momentarily stunned, guessing that Chu Rong might have discovered something. He nodded and replied, ¡°I will.¡± As the door closed, Chu Rong stood outside, his spiritual energy, which had already stabilized considerably, beginning to fluctuate again. He furrowed his brow, rubbed his temples, and took out another dose of medication, swallowing it. Upon entering the room, the presence of that force in the air became even more apparent. Qiao Zhiya walked a few steps to the bedside and gasped in shock when he saw the appearance of the Imperial High Advisor. The Imperial High Advisor was indeed unconscious, looking surprisingly healthy, but there were some scales on the side of his face that closely matched his skin tone. It wasn¡¯t ugly, but it appeared extremely eerie and strange. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Although Qiao Zhiya had guessed that the Imperial High Advisor might belong to an alien race related to beasts, seeing the ¡°non-human¡± appearance so directly still shocked him. Jian stepped forward to tidy the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s hair and gently took out his hand from under the blanket, pulling up the loose sleeve of his pajamas. Turning to Qiao Zhiya, he said, ¡°This is it. Father has ¡®beastified.''¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s gaze shifted to the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s arm, seeing that it was covered with scales, and his nails had turned into claws. His small face tightened immediately, leaning closer with a serious expression, and asked, ¡°How did this happen? Beasts that can take human form only do so when their powers decline or when they are seriously injured. Could it be that the Imperial High Advisor¡­¡± ¡°No, Father¡¯s powers may not be as strong as before, but it¡¯s related to his self-sealing from years ago. Father has been very cautious in the use of his powers over the years, and there is no sign of decline. These symptoms appeared slowly after boarding the ship,¡± Jian explained, putting the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s arm back under the blanket. He turned to Qiao Zhiya, his eyes filled with pleading, and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t inherited this part of Father¡¯s bloodline, so I can¡¯t help him. But you are of the same race as Father, and you can save him, right?¡± Qiao Zhiya sensed Jian¡¯s helplessness, and he also wanted to help, but¡­ hesitating for a moment, he honestly replied, ¡°Actually¡­ I don¡¯t even know what species of beast your father is, nor do I understand why he always said I am of his kin. Apart from the recent atavism phenomenon, I had no idea there were beast genes in my body before.¡± Last time he contacted the Imperial High Advisor, the Imperial High Advisor didn¡¯t provide a direct answer either, so he had been in a rather confused state regarding this matter. Jian was stunned by his words and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t know what species my father is?¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, then looked at him and whispered, ¡°So, if I may ask, your father¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± Jian interrupted him, and the two of them stared at each other, completely dumbfounded. Jian explained, ¡°Father said the more you know, the greater the risk of harm. To prevent tragedies from recurring, he has kept many things from me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± This sounded somewhat familiar, as Chu Rong sometimes did the same. After a few seconds of frozen silence, the two naive children who had been deceived and kept in the dark by the adults were at a loss. Finally, Qiao Zhiya tentatively reached out, conjuring a bit of magic, and said, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll try using magic first. In theory, magic should have a calming effect on beasts as well.¡± Jian quickly got up and gestured for him to sit on the bed. The wood-element magic slowly spread out. Qiao Zhiya tightened his grip on his palm, gently holding the hand of the Imperial High Advisor, whose scales and strange nails covered it. Suppressing the discomfort brought by the strange sensation of the scales, once the magic enveloped the Imperial High Advisor completely, he began to direct the magic into the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body. The sound of blood flowing, the beating of the heart, the sound of breathing, the sound of power surging through the body¡­ The wood-element magic spread smoothly throughout the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body, digging into all the secrets within him. Subconsciously, Qiao Zhiya closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and directed his power towards the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s brain. However, to his surprise, he found nothing there. Unlike the human mind and his magic pool, the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s brain was empty. His power core was not in his brain. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyelashes fluttered, he tightened his grip on the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s hand, and once again spread the wood-element magic throughout the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body. ¡®Where could it be¡­¡¯ he searched while nourishing the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body with his magic, searching for his power core, his breathing slowing down. CH 111.1 ¡®Since it¡¯s not the brain, could it be the heart?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya thought of this possibility as his power began to concentrate, surging to the heart. The Imperial High Advisor¡¯s heart was beating regularly, very healthy and strong, showing no signs of weakness. But similarly, there was no strong fluctuation of power, so this wasn¡¯t the power core. Qiao Zhiya was puzzled, furrowing his brow slightly. If not in the most important parts of the human body like the brain and the heart, then where could the power core be? The magical power traversed through the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body again, but still found nothing. Qiao Zhiya became more puzzled and couldn¡¯t help but open his eyes to glance at the Imperial High Advisor. He noticed that under the nourishment of magic, the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s complexion had become much rosier, and the gentle power floating in the air had stabilized. Feeling a slight relief, his gaze swept over the scales on the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s face, which seemed to have lightened a bit, sparking a sudden speculation. ¡®If the Imperial High Advisor wasn¡¯t regarded as a human but as a beast¡­¡¯ He closed his eyes again and let the power flow. Beasts and humans were different. Besides the potential presence of magic, beasts also had something called a ¡°power core,¡± another vital ¡°heart¡± for beasts. The power core generally grew in the chest or abdomen of a beast, and damaging it would result in death. He had just searched through the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body and hadn¡¯t seen anything like a power core, so there was only one possibility left. Some powerful beasts were born strong, and they didn¡¯t need to cultivate a power core like the ones that appeared later in life. Because their entire bodies were the ¡°power core,¡± the essence of their power. Previously, the Imperial High Advisor had effortlessly transformed his power into scales, so perhaps in his concept, his body was the most direct manifestation of power. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magic penetrated deep into the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s flesh and blood. Suddenly, the sound of blood flowing in his ears became louder, and a comforting warmth, along with a faint feeling of kinship from encountering a member of the same kin, flowed back along with the magic power that had penetrated deeper into him. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but let out a comfortable sigh, knowing he had found the right place. He concentrated his mind and fused the power into the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s blood. Gradually, he noticed that the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s blood seemed to be too ¡°excited.¡± During this time, he had been studying the blood of those experimental subjects and found that their blood ¡°activity¡± was particularly high. If this type of active blood was introduced into the human body, the human body would definitely explode due to being unable to withstand such activity. And now, the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s blood suddenly seemed to be following suit with those monsters. This was abnormal. When beasts transformed into humans, all their physical characteristics tended to converge towards those of humans. The current excitement of the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s blood was definitely abnormal. Furrowing his brow, he gently soothed and calmed the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body with the healing wood-elemental magic, while searching more carefully. There must be a reason for this abnormality. The blood of a human body couldn¡¯t change without cause. An hour passed in a blink. The scales on the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s face began to fade, and his nails slowly retracted, while his skin gradually returned to normal. Jian watched with undisguised joy from the side, speaking more softly, not daring to disturb Qiao Zhiya sitting by the bedside with closed eyes. A few minutes later, Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes with a troubled expression and held the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s hand, examining it repeatedly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jian hurriedly asked. Qiao Zhiya looked up at him and shook his head, saying, ¡°Although I know where the problem lies with the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body, I can¡¯t find the reason. Based on what I just searched, there¡¯s nothing wrong with the Imperial High Advisor himself. His condition is likely caused by an external factor.¡± ¡°External factor?¡± Jian was taken aback, immediately looking around cautiously. After realizing that everything around was arranged by himself, his caution turned into confusion, and he asked, ¡°Qiao, can you find that external factor?¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head. He had already used magic to search the room once, but found nothing. Jian¡¯s shoulders drooped, his gaze sweeping over his father¡¯s restored appearance on the bed. He then straightened up again, grateful, and said, ¡°This is already very good. Thank you for helping my father, Qiao. You¡¯re really amazing!¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, looking at the Imperial High Advisor who was still asleep, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted. Could the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s beastification be related to the awakening of those strange experimental subjects? But the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s symptoms had appeared long ago, and the two events were separated by such a long time, so it couldn¡¯t possibly be related. Frustrated with no answers, Qiao Zhiya, for safety reasons, tactfully suggested to Jian that they move the Imperial High Advisor to the Chu residence. The military compound was crowded with people and had a complex environment. If the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s beastification were to be discovered, it would be very troublesome. It would be safer to go to the Chu residence. After some hesitation, Jian accepted his suggestion. Qiao Zhiya went out to discuss with Chu Rong about bringing the Imperial High Advisor to the Chu family¡¯s residence. Without any hesitation, Chu Rong agreed immediately and promptly arranged a team to come and pick him up. Externally, they would say that the Imperial High Advisor was taking Jian to visit the Chu family. For the next two days, Qiao Zhiya would use magic every day to stabilize the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s condition. There were no further instances of beastification, but he still didn¡¯t wake up, causing Jian to worry incessantly. Chu Rong didn¡¯t inquire much about what had happened to the Imperial High Advisor. Qiao Zhiya regarded the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s beastification as his privacy and didn¡¯t mention it to him. The two tacitly ignored this matter and focused on the upcoming festival. On the day of the festival, the Chu residence was bustling early in the morning. ¡°Is Jian really not coming?¡± Chu Yan adjusted his tie, turning to ask Qiao Zhiya, who was having the old butler help him with his tie. ¡°He said he wants to stay with the Imperial High Advisor,¡± Qiao Zhiya replied, smiling gratefully at the old butler after his tie was fixed. The old butler smiled kindly in return, then turned to see Chu Yan¡¯s tie unraveling into a mess. With a swift motion, he pulled it down, saying, ¡°Third Young Master, you represent the image of the Chu family and the Federation. You should always pay attention to your appearance.¡± ¡®Here we go again¡­¡¯ Chu Yan rubbed his temples, preemptively fixing his tie before the old butler could continue. Then he grabbed Qiao Zhiya and quickly said to the old butler, ¡°The banquet is at the central square this time, quite far away. Qiao and I are going to check if Dasao is ready. We need to leave now.¡± With that, he dragged Qiao Zhiya and ran off. The old butler, now even more exasperated, chased after them, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t go rushing searching Madam, it¡¯s still early! Third Young Master? Third Young Master!¡± After a chaotic moment, Gu Yan¡¯an arrived to suppress Chu Yan¡¯s sudden burst of energy. After instructing the old butler to take good care of Jian and Imperial High Advisor, she brought Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya onto a hovercar and, escorted by Lin Zhen and his squad, headed towards the central square. On the way, Chu Huai and Chu Rong, who had gone out earlier to arrange the celebration activities, called separately to confirm that they had set off. After quickly hanging up once they confirmed the departure, they began arranging special entrances for them. ¡°When the banquet starts, the media will come to take a short video for the news. They¡¯ll also take footage during the celebration. The fireworks display will be live-streamed. You¡¯ll need to change into three different outfits in total, don¡¯t forget.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an instructed them carefully, paying special attention to Chu Yan, who didn¡¯t like these kinds of events, and said seriously, ¡°Especially you, Xiao Yan. You must change your clothes. Wearing the wrong outfit will only invite ridicule. You¡¯re already twenty. In a few years, you¡¯ll need to find a partner. Don¡¯t mess around with your appearance outside, or else no one will take you seriously in the future.¡± Chu Yan, in agony, covered his face, murmuring softly, ¡°Dasao, I¡¯m only twenty¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re already twenty-one in lunar years, you¡¯re not young anymore! Take your hand down, stop covering your face, and fix your hair.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an pulled his hand down, tapped his forehead, then looked at Qiao Zhiya, scanning his bangs with some concern. Worriedly, she asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you wear a hat to prevent your horns from itching?¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly shook his head, reaching up to touch his bangs that he had trimmed just yesterday, knowing she was concerned about the small horns on his forehead. He reassured her, ¡°It won¡¯t itch. Wearing a hat at today¡¯s event would be too disrespectful.¡± After the appearance of the second horn, these two small horns on his head never grew again, nor did they itch anymore after the first encounter with the blood of the experimental subjects. It seemed that those blood samples no longer had any effect on him. He had gradually gotten used to the existence of these two small horns, although he occasionally felt extremely embarrassed when accidentally poking Chu Rong¡¯s chest while nuzzling him1lbr, probably one of QZY¡¯s favorite loving gestures.. Gu Yan¡¯an felt that what he said made sense and reached out to tidy his bangs. Looking at his lovely and pleasing appearance, then glancing at Chu Yan¡¯s bear-like expression next to him, she sighed inwardly. At the same age, Qiao was about to get married, but Chu Yan still acted like a child. It was truly distressing. CH 111.2 Upon arrival at the square, the three were guided by Fan Xiangnan through a special passage to the lounge at the rear of the main banquet hall, where they settled down to await the start of the evening¡¯s banquet. The lounge was equipped with various entertainment facilities and several large screens connecting to various celebration screens in the square outside, allowing them to see the festive scenes of the people celebrating the holiday, which was very convenient. The room was filled with soothing, light-hearted music, and everyone¡¯s mood relaxed as they each found something they liked to pass the time. The atmosphere was very harmonious and pleasant. Later, members of other families began to arrive, and family members from each family would come over specifically to greet Gu Yan¡¯an upon learning of her arrival. Following tradition, Gu Yan¡¯an stayed to chat with several ladies from prominent families to foster relationships. Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya felt out of place among the group of men and women, so they quickly found an excuse to leave the lounge and headed to the partially open activity room outside. The young children from the other families also couldn¡¯t bear the ¡°plastic diplomacy¡± atmosphere in the lounges and ran out one after another to find some peace and quiet. Qiao Zhiya immediately spotted Xiang Kun, dressed in a white suit, sitting alone in a corner flipping through an electronic book, so he walked over. Chu Yan, of course, also noticed Xiang Kun sitting in the corner. Seeing Qiao Zhiya naturally walking over, he hesitated for a moment before diverting his steps to join Yuan Xiu, who was chatting with others. ¡°What are you reading?¡± Qiao Zhiya asked softly as he sat down next to Xiang Kun. Xiang Kun snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Qiao Zhiya approaching. He naturally handed over the electronic book, saying, ¡°I¡¯m studying the spiritual power induction device. Master mentioned your idea to me, and I remembered that we had some books on this topic at home, so I exported them to take a look.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at the electronic book, which contained some research notes and the like. He knew that this should be internal study material of the Xiang family, so he politely didn¡¯t look much and shifted his gaze to Xiang Kun¡¯s face, smiling as he asked, ¡°Have you made any progress? This isn¡¯t my strong suit.¡± ¡°Rare to see you struggle with something,¡± Xiang Kun teased, taking back the electronic book and flipping through a few pages, saying, ¡°I have a bit of a clue now, but it¡¯s not certain yet. I need to look into it further.¡± As he moved, the communicator on his wrist slipped out of his jacket sleeve, revealing a large Xiang family crest that gleamed with a discreet and luxurious light in the lamplight. Qiao Zhiya paused for a moment, then looked up at Xiang Kun¡¯s face. There were some unwritten rules among the Four Great Families, such as that the personal items used by the next generation¡¯s heirs would be the best among their peers. The criteria for judging the quality of these items were the size and color of the family crest on them. The Chu family scoffed at this rule, but the Xiang, Wei, and Ning families strictly adhered to it. He remembered that previously, only Xiang Hui could wear the family crest with a golden shimmer like this, but now Xiang Hui was still in the military detention center, so Xiang Kun¡­ Sensing his gaze, Xiang Kun raised his wrist and turned his communicator, then smiled at him, saying, ¡°Even if Dage recovers, he won¡¯t be able to reclaim his position as the heir. So I have to take that position, or else how will Dage live in the Xiang family in the future?¡± Internal struggles within large families always existed, even between the united previous generation, there would still be some competition for family interests. In this generation, besides him, whoever inherited the Xiang family, Xiang Hui, this ¡°criminal¡± who brought disgrace to the family, would not have a good result. So Xiang Kun had to take that position, a position he once admired but now felt extremely stifling. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes showed some sadness. He could tell that Xiang Kun didn¡¯t like the heavy burden of being the heir. ¡°But the situation isn¡¯t so bad. Now the Xiang family doesn¡¯t need to compete with the Chu family anymore. We just need to focus on our own development, and managing it should be much easier.¡± Xiang Kun changed the subject, his tone lightening up. He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s shoulder with a light touch and said, ¡°So thank you.¡± Although it was just a light pat, Qiao Zhiya suddenly felt his heart pounding, and then the power in the magic pool began to boil faintly. He frowned, placing his hand on his forehead. Xiang Kun quickly withdrew his hand, frowning and asking, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°Nothing¡­ Sorry for the inconvenience. I¡¯ll go to the restroom for a moment.¡± Qiao Zhiya shook his head, secretly taking a deep breath to suppress the sudden palpitation, then hurriedly got up and walked towards the restroom. Xiang Kun watched him leave, still somewhat worried. He looked around the activity room and then got up to go to Chu Yan. After washing his face with cold water, he felt his heartbeat calmed down, and the boiling feeling of his magic pool also subsided. Still, his body temperature seemed a little high. Qiao Zhiya looked up at himself in the mirror, feeling something was wrong, but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint what. He then shook his head, took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. ¡°What happened?¡± A familiar voice suddenly sounded from the door. Chu Rong stepped in, wearing a suit similar to his style. However, his hair was rather messy ¨C he probably hurried over. Qiao Zhiya froze, busy shaking his head to indicate that he was okay. Then, he turned to meet the taller man¡¯s eye and asked, ¡°How did you find me? Aren¡¯t you busy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not busy for the time being. Plus, Fan Xiangnan will help me deal with them.¡± Chu Rong replied. Seeing that his face was red, he raised his hand and touched it, and found that it was hot. With a frown, he bent over, putting his forehead against Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. ¡°You¡¯re feverish,¡± he commented. ¡°The heating is way too high here.¡± Qiao Zhiya made a random excuse and tip-toed to reach Chu Rong¡¯s head, tidying it up. He spread his magic, but it was too thin to be detected. With a smile, he asked, ¡°Can you stay with me until dinner? ¡° Chu Rong reached out and held his hand, glancing at his outfit. Although his clothes were similar in style to Chu Rong¡¯s, they were a three-piece suit with a vest. Chu Rong slightly relaxed his furrowed brows, nodding in agreement, ¡°I¡¯ll accompany you. Let¡¯s go back to the lounge.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded happily and obediently followed him outside. Back in the lounge, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s flushed face gradually subsided, finally putting Chu Rong¡¯s worries to rest. Concerned that he might still feel warm, Chu Rong had him take off the small vest, then stayed by his side, chatting and having snacks, waiting for the formal start of the banquet. However, the tranquility was short-lived. Lin Zhen suddenly came over, saying there was a problem with the patrol arrangement on the square. Chu Rong frowned and had to get up, apologizing and giving Qiao Zhiya a quick kiss before hurriedly leaving to attend to the matter. Once he left, Qiao Zhiya immediately put the small vest back on and rubbed his hands. Oddly, after the sudden fever, he now felt a faint chill creeping in. Was the heating system unstable? He glanced doubtfully at the thermostat on the ceiling, then moved his ears. Considering that everyone was busy today, he silently suppressed this doubt. Chu Rong remained busy until just before the start of the banquet. In the meantime, Lin Zhen sent a message saying there was a conflict among the crowd on the square, delaying Chu Rong further. At six o¡¯clock, the banquet in the central hall of the square began as scheduled. Qiao Zhiya finally saw Chu Rong again, as well as the busier Chu Huai and the now-Emperor An Tyn and accompanying Princess An Leen. Not having seen her for over a year, An Leen had changed significantly. She exuded a much calmer and gentler aura, with her hair down and dressed simply and elegantly, like a polished gem radiating a comforting and amiable beauty. Noticing his gaze, An Leen turned her head and gave him a friendly smile, nodding gently at him. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears twitched as he returned her smile, but his view was suddenly blocked as Chu Rong stepped forward. On the other side, Chu Yan, who had witnessed the scene, couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes. Then, Gu Yan¡¯an lightly poked him, indicating the media filming, so Chu Yan reluctantly adjusted his mood, putting on a social smile, which caused Xiang Kun behind him to furrow his brows slightly, showing his disdain. The banquet proceeded smoothly in a harmonious and courteous atmosphere. Qiao Zhiya, following Chu Rong and the guests of the Empire, drank a little wine. The lingering cold sensation quickly disappeared, replaced by increasing warmth. ¡°Not feeling well?¡± Chu Rong noticed his constant adjustment of his tie, glanced at the vest he was wearing but didn¡¯t have on before, and held his hand, finding his palm sweaty. He frowned, asking, ¡°Feeling very hot?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face was already red, and his eyes were moist. He nodded slightly at Chu Rong¡¯s question and gestured to the glass of wine in front of him, saying softly, ¡°I¡¯m not good at drinking¡­¡± Dwarves were known for their love of alcohol, but he was an exception. He had never been accustomed to the taste of alcohol, just like his elven father. Chu Rong hadn¡¯t expected him to be unable to handle even the lowest-alcohol fruit wine. He took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then retrieved a box of green fruit from the spatial button and opened it, saying, ¡°Have some of this. It helps with hangovers.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded and obediently ate the green fruit. The warmth came in waves. After the green fruit was swallowed, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s complexion returned to normal in no time. Chu Rong relaxed his furrowed brows, called a waiter to replace his wine with water, and unbuttoned his jacket. An Leen, who was directly facing them, saw their interaction, and suddenly let out a shallow sigh. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Anton noticed her expression and asked softly. An Leen shook her head, looking at her increasingly stable brother. She replied, ¡°Just feeling a bit emotional¡­ Ge, thank you for giving me the right to choose my marriage.¡± After experiencing true love, a simple political marriage was absolute torture for her. An Tyn also glanced at Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya opposite them, pausing his gaze on Chu Rong¡¯s completely different, gentle expression than usual. He reached under the table, holding An Leen¡¯s hand, and smiled, saying, ¡°You deserve the best.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± An Leen replied with a gentle smile, squeezing his hand gently in return. The evening banquet ended smoothly at seven o¡¯clock. After chatting and digesting for a while in the rest area, everyone changed their clothes. Once the staff arranged the venue for the celebration activities, the leaders and dignitaries moved to the square outside the banquet hall to give official speeches and mingle with the people. During this segment, Qiao Zhiya was originally supposed to stand by Chu Rong¡¯s side as a background figure. However, his mind was preoccupied with Gu Yan¡¯an, who was heavily pregnant. His fidgeting and small gestures went unnoticed, completely ignoring the official news cameras that approached them. On the screens of the Star Network and various linked event squares, the people watched with amusement as Qiao Zhiya, who stood beside Chu Rong, occasionally glanced at Gu Yan¡¯an. He was busy handing over shawls or water, seeming to enjoy himself immensely. Among the solemn and serious dignitaries, having such an ¡°oddity¡± mixed in brought a festive atmosphere almost instantly. Marshal Chu, who kept holding his hand to prevent him from running over to Gu Yan¡¯an, had a dark expression throughout, somewhat disrupting the atmosphere. With the starry sky overhead, cheerful music, and the laughter of the people, the festival atmosphere enveloped everyone. Colorful ribbons and hot air balloons filled every corner of the square. The leaders of the two countries stood on the platform at the highest level of the square, facing the people and expressing hopes for the coming year. Everything was as beautiful as a dream, and everyone was intoxicated by it, momentarily forgetting the dirty schemes hidden beneath the peace. On a mining planet outside the asteroid belt, Qiao Yi completed the last stroke of the teleportation array, with a slight furrow between his eyebrows. Despite his protests, Mi Lai held his hand and sent her magic over. ¡°Mi Lai,¡± Qiao Yi tried to stop her by reaching for her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t move. I don¡¯t want our baby to be left behind. You first,¡± Mi Lai insisted, forcefully sending her magic over. She looked at the barren environment of the asteroid, her eyes slightly red. ¡°Did our baby live in a place like this when he first came over? Without magic, proper food, or water, how could he survive, especially when he¡¯s just come of age?¡± They had followed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s aura to teleport out, but the asteroid belt was too long, and they had spent considerable effort to escape. However, they hadn¡¯t anticipated the difficulties beyond that. There was no magic outside the ¡°boundary,¡± and they had very few magic stones with them. Without magical replenishment, they were almost at a dead end. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure you all return home safely,¡± Qiao Yi hugged her, gently stroking her hair. Mi Lai nodded, took a deep breath to suppress her weakness, and looked at the magic array on the ground. ¡°Is it ready?¡± Qiao Yi nodded and walked into the array first. Mi Lai was determined as she also stepped into the array and activated it, inputting her magic. Meanwhile, Qiao Yi didn¡¯t even blink as he cut his wrist and drew a blood teleportation array in the air with his blood. The night breeze blew, causing the stone grass in the corner to sway. Sensing a faintly familiar gentle aura, it tentatively extended its influence. Inside the array, Qiao Yi gently closed his eyes, his long hair fluttering in the night breeze, and the pattern on his flowing robe seemed to emit a faint glow. CH 111.3 After Chu Huai and An Tyn finished their speeches together, the crowd cheered, and then the salute cannons roared, marking the first climax of the celebration. In the moment when the salute cannons went off, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s vision suddenly blacked out for a moment. His magic pool started boiling again, his body alternating between feeling cold and hot. All sounds seemed to fade away from his ears, and the small horn on his forehead began itching again. ¡°Qiao?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s worried voice sounded in his ears, and then his body was embraced. His ears twitched as he lowered his head as if there were sand in his eyes, gently rubbing them. Once his vision and hearing returned to normal, he looked up, smiling at Chu Rong, and said, ¡°Some sand got into my eyes. How much longer is the event? Dasao must be tired standing.¡± Chu Rong carefully examined his expression, then reached out to touch his forehead, finding his temperature normal. He lowered his head to kiss his ear gently, reassuring him, ¡°It¡¯ll be over soon. Once the salute is done, we can go back to the lounge.¡± ¡°Roar¡ª¡± Suddenly, a roar of a wild beast echoed in the distance. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s ears perked up, and he turned to look in the direction of the sound. At that moment, a volley of fireworks soared into the sky, exploding gently, accompanied by ribbons and fireworks, drawing another round of cheers from the crowd. Was it just his imagination? He withdrew his gaze and glanced at the friends and family who were safe around him, touching the small horn on his forehead, which had returned to normal. Frowning, he swept his body with magic but found nothing wrong. Shaking his head, he pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. After the fireworks ended, the festival performances began. The heads of state and their families sat on the high In the unseen sky above them, a faint green light appeared above Qiao Zhiya, then quickly merged with the darkness of the night. In the military department, the ¡°ice blocks¡± in the seven large containment pods had melted at some point. The creatures inside, seemingly asleep with closed eyes, suddenly opened them, emitting silent roars. At Chu family¡¯s residence, the eyelashes of the unconscious Imperial High Advisor flickered, and the scales on his hand reappeared. Jian, who was watching the celebration performance with a photon computer beside him, was completely unaware of this, humming along to the music with a good mood. In a distant dark place, a massive ¡°monster¡± that seemed more than human slowly opened its eyes and looked towards the quiet, head-hanging figure of An Xei. They spoke softly, ¡°Go, bring my food back.¡± An Xei stirred, got up, and a black hole appeared, swallowing him silently. After he left, the ¡°monster¡± closed their eyes again. At the same time, in the detention room of the military department, Ning Tianxing¡¯s mental lock fluctuate slightly, his eyeballs rolled, and he slowly opened his eyes. Chu Rong suddenly raised his hand to his forehead. ¡°Are you feeling too tired?¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly leaned over, took out a vial of potion and offered it to him, while sending magic over, saying, ¡°Dage is here with you, do you want to rest in the lounge for a while?¡± Chu Rong, as a Marshal, didn¡¯t need to accompany the whole crowd to watch the performance. Chu Rong frowned, suppressing the discomfort, shook his head to indicate that he was fine, drank the potion to ease Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worry, then soothingly touched his forehead, casually found an excuse to get up, instructed Chu Yan beside him to pay more attention to Qiao Zhiya, and walked to a corner to make a communication call to He Hongjun who was stationed at the military department. The center of the square was bustling with performances, cheers from the crowd rang out intermittently, and time passed unnoticed. Qiao Zhiya, whose routine was disrupted, started to feel drowsy. Chu Rong finished his call and came back, reaching out to pull him into his arms when he saw him. ¡°Roar¡ª¡± In a half-dreamy state, the cheers of the crowd and the music of the performance suddenly disappeared from his ears, leaving only a deafening roar. Qiao Zhiya opened his eyes abruptly, dispelling the dream, returning to reality, and the festive atmosphere enveloped him once again. Surrounded by familiar scents, Chu Huai and Gu Yan¡¯an were sitting not far away chatting, while Chu Yan was sitting on the sofa on the other side, watching the performance attentively. Everyone was there, everything seemed normal. ¡°Did the noise wake you up?¡± Chu Rong pinched his ear, kissed him, and said, ¡°The fireworks display is about to start, it¡¯s time to change clothes.¡± Qiao Zhiya came back to his senses, his mind, disturbed by the roar in the dream, slowly stabilized. He rubbed his eyes, obediently followed Chu Rong as they headed towards the lounge. Half an hour later, everyone changed into a new set of clothes and stood at the highest point of the square¡¯s tower, ready for the New Year countdown and the subsequent fireworks display broadcast. ¡°Will it be cold?¡± Qiao Zhiya worriedly stood by Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s side, holding a piece of woolen shawl. Gu Yan¡¯an smiled and shook her head, saying, ¡°This top floor is equipped with a protective shield and is temperature-controlled, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up at the sky, unable to see the protective shield, and felt a bit relieved. He then turned his head to look around but couldn¡¯t see Chu Rong¡¯s figure. Puzzled, he walked over to Chu Yan and tugged at him, asking, ¡°Where did Chu Rong go?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Chu Yan looked around when he heard the question, muttering, ¡°I just saw him a moment ago, how come he¡¯s gone now¡­ maybe he went to the restroom.¡± Qiao Zhiya nodded, glanced at the time, and felt an inexplicable unease creeping up. Although his body didn¡¯t show any signs of discomfort, and his magic scan revealed no issues around, he couldn¡¯t shake off the growing anxiety that he might have missed something important. Two minutes later, Chu Rong returned, emitting a strong scent of potion. By now, the countdown to midnight had begun, and the live broadcast had started. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t want to ask in front of everyone, so he just held Chu Rong¡¯s hand tenderly, sending a worried look to him. Chu Rong squeezed his hand back, shaking his head to indicate that everything was fine. All the citizens of the Federation and the Empire were watching the open broadcast screen at this moment, following the countdown and the music, ready to release their enthusiasm for the upcoming New Year. Ten, nine¡­. three, two, one! The new year arrived, and the fireworks, which had been prepared in advance, ascended together, bursting in unison, illuminating this lively winter night with dazzling light. ¡°Roar!¡± ¡°Thump.¡± The beating of the heart suddenly intensified. Qiao Zhiya widened his eyes and vaguely saw some winged shadows swiftly approaching amidst the light of the fireworks. He wanted to alert Chu Rong beside him, but his body suddenly heated up as if it was about to explode, and his magic pool began to surge frantically. ¡®No, something¡¯s wrong.¡¯ As the fireworks disappeared, the next wave immediately rose, and the cheers of the crowd grew louder. However, in the moment when the second wave of fireworks disappeared, more than a dozen black shadows suddenly rushed into the sky. The night breeze seemed to fluctuate for a moment, then there was a loud bang. Among them, five smaller black shadows gathered together and exploded, forming a ¡°firework¡± made of flesh that filled the sky, with a bloody smell pervading the air. A huge and incomparable black hole suddenly appeared in midair, sucking in the third wave of fireworks. It¡¯s blood! Since the power source of the black hole teleportation device is those red marks, and the red marks are made from blood, does that mean that those winged creatures also have the ability to create black holes? Qiao Zhiya suddenly realized what he had overlooked, but before he could say anything, it was already too late. The black hole appeared, and the small angle that was thought to no longer be affected by the creature¡¯s blood suddenly began to heat up frantically, followed by intense pain spreading from inside out. Subconsciously, he touched his forehead, but he felt a dense layer of scales. ¡®No!¡¯ His eyes widened suddenly, and he suddenly felt it difficult to breathe. The music continued, and the broadcast continued, but the smiles on everyone¡¯s faces froze. ¡°Roar!¡± The remaining seven larger black shadows quickly approached while everyone was stunned, diving towards the top of the tower. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s a black hole! New monsters have appeared!¡± Screams suddenly rang out, shattering the festive atmosphere like fragile glass, revealing the dirty and terrifying truth inside. The crowd cried and fled in chaos, as if doomsday had arrived. ¡°Arrange for the military to evacuate the civilians, quickly! Stay away from the black hole, everyone retreat! Women and children leave first! Military personnel stay!¡± When everyone was stunned, Chu Rong¡¯s calm and heavy voice seemed to shatter the witch¡¯s curse like a heavy hammer, waking everyone up. They immediately acted according to his orders. Chu Rong handed the ¡°stunned¡± Qiao Zhiya over to Chu Yan, then took out the mech and flew towards the experimental subject that had been blocked by the protective shield with a single blow. ¡°Qiao, go downstairs first, hurry!¡± Chu Yan¡¯s expression was solemn as he helped Qiao Zhiya walk downstairs. Qiao Zhiya, who was feeling extremely uncomfortable, caught a glimpse of Gu Yan¡¯an being supported by Chu Huai as she staggered back, so he pushed Chu Yan and gestured for him to go help Gu Huai, indicating that he was fine. Chu Yan also saw Gu Yan¡¯an, who was pregnant and having difficulty moving, hesitated for a moment, let go of his arm, and quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll take my Dasao to a safe place first. There are several Marshals and Generals holding the line here, it¡¯s still safe for now. You follow the crowd downstairs, I¡¯ll be back soon to pick you up.¡± His body was getting more and more painful, and the scales on his face seemed to increase. Qiao Zhiya quickly covered his forehead with his bangs, nodding to indicate that Chu Yan should hurry. In the sky, Chu Rong and several others who piloted mechs had already taken off and were fighting the monsters. Below, military officers who couldn¡¯t pilot mechs were assisting with long-range weapons. A special fireworks display began, but the live broadcast was intermittently interrupted by the strange power released by the monsters. The people vaguely saw that the situation seemed to be stabilized by Chu Rong, and the chaotic emotions gradually calmed down. It¡¯s okay, no matter how big the crisis is, it¡¯s okay. Their hero is still here, Chu Rong is still here. Just a few monsters and an incredibly huge black hole, it seems much easier to deal with than a large-scale Zerg swarm. Qiao Zhiya also glanced at the live broadcast equipment above his head, feeling panicked and helpless ¡ª he must go to a place where the live broadcast equipment couldn¡¯t see, he must leave this top floor, he must. His instinct was shouting at him to leave, but his body was getting more and more painful, his steps became unsteady, and worse still, he felt his nails slowly lengthening, a clear sign of beastification. ¡®No, beastification is not allowed, it¡¯s not allowed.¡¯ He felt helpless to the extreme, and the vine pattern on his wrist suddenly heated up, causing him to gasp for breath and collapse to the ground. His consciousness alternated between blurry and clear, and every roar and bloodshed of the monsters in the sky made him lose control of his emotions. Not far behind him, a small black hole suddenly appeared, and a figure rushed out towards him. Chu Yan came back and saw this scene, his heart almost stopped in shock. He quickly rushed over and shouted loudly, ¡°Qiao! Get out of the way!¡± In the high altitude, Chu Rong heard the shout and looked down, just in time to see the figure rushing towards Qiao Zhiya. Without caring about the approaching experimental subject, he aimed the cannon at the figure and fired. But obviously, it was too late. The figure was too close to Qiao Zhiya, and its speed was too fast. Afraid of hurting Qiao Zhiya, he restrained himself very much when firing, and the shot was easily dodged by the other party. ¡°Hiss!¡± At a critical moment, a huge white shadow suddenly approached like a meteor, fiercely knocking away the figure approaching Qiao Zhiya. Then it opened its mouth, grabbed Qiao Zhiya, and flew straight into the sky, taking Qiao Zhiya out of the range of the figure¡¯s capture. The figure was knocked back, and the hood fell off, revealing An Xei¡¯s face. His body hit the railing heavily, but An Xei immediately stabilized his body as if he couldn¡¯t feel the pain. He looked up at the white shadow with a strange light in his eyes. With a movement of his finger, a black hole appeared again and swallowed him up, making Chu Yan miss him. Everyone on the high platform was overturned by the hurricane brought by the huge white shadow approaching. Chu Yan missed his strike and lay on the ground, looking up at the beautiful white creature with huge wings and a long tail, which carried Qiao Zhiya straight into the sky. He roared, ¡°Qiao!¡± Chu Rong¡¯s expression changed drastically after seeing the scene of Qiao Zhiya being ¡°swallowed¡± by the white shadow. His spiritual power, which had been unstable for some time, surged violently and forcibly suppressed the strange fluctuations of the experimental body. He operated his mecha and chased after the white shadow directly. After seeing the white shadow, the other monsters also suddenly stopped fighting and flapped their wings, chasing after the white shadow. The black hole in midair also began to expand rapidly and rotate, and the familiar insect dropping program appeared. ¡°Hiss hs hsss!¡± The Zergs appeared overwhelmingly, blocking the view of the people below chasing after the white shadow and the black mecha. In the high altitude, Qiao Zhiya only felt his body getting more and more painful, and the fluctuations in his magic pool became more and more intense. He felt so uncomfortable that he wished he could die immediately, without any consciousness left. ¡°Hold on, you must not faint during your first transformation.¡± The voice of the Imperial High Advisor sounded in his ear, and his dim consciousness recovered a bit. He opened his eyes and just happened to see the scene of the experimental body pouncing over from the side. He took a deep breath, suppressed the pain in his body, and suddenly broke free from the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s protection. At the same time, the black hole sucked him away, completely unleashing his magic power, turning it into a green light band and surrounding the Imperial High Advisor and the black mecha that was rushing towards them despite the black hole¡¯s suction, firmly entangling them and throwing them outwards. ¡°Qiao!¡± The shout of the Imperial High Advisor and the severe pain after emptying his magic power came simultaneously. Qiao Zhiya groaned, and in his distorted vision caused by the black hole, Chu Rong¡¯s figure suddenly appeared. He widened his eyes, saw Chu Rong actually abandoning the mecha and rushing over with only a personal floating device, and his heart trembled. He immediately exerted his strength again to entangle them, shook his head with difficulty, and said, ¡°Go quickly¡­¡± ¡°The suction of the black hole was too strong.¡± went unheard. ¡°No,¡± Chu Rong understood his lip movements, gritted his teeth and answered with a stern face. Unable to bear the slow speed of the floating device, he simply took out a silver net and threw it over, entangling his body before pulling him forcefully. ¡°This black hole is starting to shrink and close in. Hurry!¡± The Imperial High Advisor flew over, opened his mouth, and grabbed Chu Rong¡¯s body, helping him pull Qiao Zhiya, whose half of his body was already trapped in the black hole, outwards. ¡°Ahh!!¡± The sensation of pain intensified under the influence of the black hole, and Qiao Zhiya groaned in pain as power surged wildly, surrounded by a green light, his figure suddenly becoming blurred. Chu Rong felt the silver net in his hand loosen slightly, his heart pounding in urgency. With a burst of chaotic energy erupting in his mind, it surged outwards, rushing towards the black hole along with his will, unexpectedly stimulating a momentary halt in the rotation of the black hole. The Imperial High Advisor was thrown out by the force bursting from him, then as the force subsided, he lost control of his body, being flung out of the range of the green light entwining him. Seizing the momentary pause of the black hole, Chu Rong exerted force to pull back the silver net. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s figure appeared from within the green light, just as he was about to be pulled over, a smaller black hole suddenly appeared beside Qiao Zhiya, and An Xei¡¯s figure emerged from it, reaching out towards the unconscious Qiao Zhiya. ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Chu Rong¡¯s eyes widened in fury as power surged towards An Xei. However, An Xei remained unaffected, continuing to reach for the unconscious Qiao Zhiya. Just as An Xei was about to touch Qiao Zhiya, the green light surrounding Qiao Zhiya suddenly expanded. It grew brighter and brighter, a green vine pattern suddenly appearing, swiftly coiling and forming a complex circular pattern. The pattern rotated, a powerful and domineering force spreading out, forcibly pushing An Xei¡¯s hand away, shielding Qiao Zhiya at the center. An Xei¡¯s expression changed drastically, wanting to charge again but was repelled by Chu Rong¡¯s mental power. Seeing the magic array, Chu Rong knew it was bad news. He quickly increased his spiritual power output to drive An Xei away, wanting to rush over and grab Qiao Zhiya. However, just as Qiao Zhiya was about to be touched by An Xei, the green light around him suddenly flashed, his figure disappeared, a golden light quietly passing by. Then the figure of a long-haired man appeared within the array, turning his head to coldly look in their direction. With a wave of his long sleeve, as if in a silent movie, the magic array disappeared, the green light vanished, the long-haired man also disappeared, leaving only the despairing darkness of the black hole around. ¡°No!¡± Chu Rong finally approached, only managing to catch a customized communicator with a vine pattern that fell from the air after the magic array disappeared. CH 112.1 This chapter is quite short (5.8k¡­ cough cough) so I only split it into 2 parts. Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran¡¯s father, Ning Tianya¡¯s older brother. Long Baorou: the ex-President¡¯s daughter. ¡°Elder¡±: the mastermind of the conspiracy. An Xei: The former Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. An Tyn: An Leen¡¯s twin brother. The Fifth Imperial Prince, now the Emperor. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Jian: the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. When the group finished dealing with the Zerg and followed the traces to find Chu Rong, the black hole belt had already disappeared. The black-gold mecha had lost control and was lying on the ground. Chu Rong was sitting beside it, his head lowered, his foot on the blood-soaked An Xei. A terrifying force of spiritual power was swirling around, preventing anyone from approaching. ¡°Erge!¡± Chu Yan tried to rush forward but was flung back by the force. Chu Huai quickly caught him, sensed the power fluctuations in the air, and carefully searched around but did not see Qiao Zhiya. A bad suspicion arose in his mind. He stepped forward and asked, ¡°Xiao Rong, what¡¯s wrong? Where¡¯s Qiao?¡± ¡®Qiao?¡¯ Chu Rong finally lifted his lowered head. His tightly clenched left hand relaxed, revealing a communicator inside. ¡°This!¡± Yuan Lie and the others who followed were all shocked. The communicator is a proof of identity ¡ª once worn, it can only be removed by the person themselves or someone they have given permission to. It is rarely taken off under normal circumstances. Chu Rong was holding the communicator that Qiao Zhiya had worn for a long time. Most of them had seen it before. Now that this thing was in Chu Rong¡¯s hand and Qiao Zhiya was missing, they didn¡¯t dare to think about what it meant. While everyone was in shock and uncertainty, An Xei, who was lying at Chu Rong¡¯s feet, suddenly moved his fingers as if trying to do something secretly. Chu Rong, who was concentrating on the communicator, suddenly moved his other hand. A black short dagger appeared and directly stabbed An Xei¡¯s heart. Blood splattered, and An Xei¡¯s body convulsed and went limp before he could even cry out in pain. Everyone gasped. Chu Rong didn¡¯t stop. The tip of the dagger twisted in An Xei¡¯s heart, and after a gruesome sound of flesh being churned, a black and red device the size of two fingers was thrown out by Chu Rong. ¡°Ning Tianxing¡ª no, that monster tried to sabotage the military after releasing the experimental subjects. He is now in the vicinity of the control room in the V area of the military. Go and capture him.¡± Chu Rong took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood off the dagger. His voice was calm and normal, but the smell of blood in the air and the increasingly violent force honestly indicated his current instability. ¡°You are useless now.¡± After wiping the dagger, he kicked the unconscious An Xei, withdrew his spiritual power from An Xei¡¯s brain, and suddenly looked up. His blood-stained face was expressionless, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if he were just thinking normally. He murmured softly, ¡°Where¡­ where could Qiao be now¡­¡± Chu Yan tried to approach again, but the previously stable force in the air suddenly surged wildly, rolling up towards the sky, forcibly creating a storm in mid-air. Everyone was blown unsteady, and then with a bang, the storm exploded. Everyone was thrown to the ground. Chu Rong stood up, suddenly boarded the black-gold mecha, and shot through the night sky like a meteor, heading towards an unknown direction. An Xei died after Chu Rong piloted the mecha to an unknown destination. When Yuan Lie collected his body, he found it full of small holes dug out by the dagger. Scattered around him were many black and red teleportation devices, but these were not his fatal injuries. His actual cause of death was a spiritual power riot damaging his brain. The mental lock that had once securely protected his mental sea was long gone. A more powerful force had broken his brain¡¯s lock, scoured his memories, and sent him to the underworld. Yuan Lie recalled Chu Rong¡¯s dazed look when they arrived and felt greatly relieved¡ª fortunately, Chu Rong seemed not to have lost his mind as they feared. All the damage to An Xei was purposeful. The military and government emergency departments were fully mobilized. Some were responsible for calming and guiding the evacuated civilians on the central square, some were stabilizing external public opinion, and the rest carried out a new round of cleanup and search on the main star. Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen¡¯s teams began secretly searching for Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya. Soon, another bad news came: the Imperial High Advisor and Jian were also missing, and this happened while the Chu family¡¯s house had the highest level of protection activated! The situation that night was too chaotic. The guest house¡¯s surveillance somehow broke down, and the old butler discovered their disappearance only the next morning at around eight o¡¯clock. No one knew how or when the Imperial High Advisor and Jian disappeared, but it was undoubtedly a severe matter. The fact that guests from the Empire had disappeared quietly in the Chu family¡¯s main base was deeply unsettling. The Chu mansion was urgently closed, and a new round of internal cleanup began. The last two days of the year passed in this tense and serious atmosphere. It was finally determined that the monsters that came out to rampage were only the dozen or so experimental subjects that had escaped from the military. The identity of the white shadowy figure that appeared midway was unknown and temporarily classified as an accomplice of the monsters. The public gradually recovered from the terrifying scenes they had witnessed during the live broadcast that night. After two days of calm, public opinion suddenly erupted. ¡ªNew monsters have appeared! Qiao Zhiya has been captured by the monsters! The Zerg still exist! These explosive pieces of news quickly spread throughout the Blue Galaxy, with everyone discussing the black holes, monsters, and the white figure that appeared that night. People were worried about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s whereabouts and their own safety. Chu Huai and An Tyn promptly came forward to clarify the situation, stating that the monsters were merely human experiment products created by An Xei and Ning Tianxing, and had all self-destructed. As for the black holes, they assured that as long as people ensured there were no black and red devices around them, as previously explained by the government, black holes wouldn¡¯t appear. However, they were vague about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s whereabouts. Seeing this, the public¡¯s hearts sank, knowing that not denying it was tantamount to admitting it. The thought of that beautiful and kind-hearted boy being attacked by the black hole monsters again made them deeply saddened¡ªwhy is it that good people always suffer, and when will the shadow of the black hole finally be gone? Prayers and well-wishes filled the Starnet, with everyone hoping for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s safe return and for Chu Rong, who had always protected them, to once again defeat the monsters and bring peace and tranquility back to the Blue Galaxy. The entire Blue Galaxy was uneasy due to the appearance of the monsters, while on a primitive planet within the asteroid belt, Qiao Yi and Mi Lai experienced long-awaited peace¡­ and confusion. In Qiao Yi¡¯s arms, on a piece of soft cloth, lay a small creature about the length of Mi Lai¡¯s arm. It was covered in pale gold scales, had small wings on its back, a tail curled up in discomfort, and two small horns on its forehead. Its belly was round, making it look like a realistic toy animal¡­ or a baby version of one. ¡°This¡­¡± Mi Lai extended a finger, gently pinching one of the small wings and pulling it open. In the sunlight, the golden wings appeared almost translucent, shimmering with a beautiful soft light. ¡°Has Qiaoqiao turned into a dragon? But why is he so small?¡± She finally voiced the guess that had been running through her mind. Her hand itched to touch the small dragon¡¯s tiny horns, but Qiao Yi stopped her. ¡°Qiaoqiao is still digesting his power, don¡¯t disturb him.¡± Qiao Yi held her hand, looking at their son, who had not only disappeared for two years but had also changed species upon his return. As he continued to release magic to soothe him, he sent a portion of his power to probe Mi Lai¡¯s body. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mila obediently let him investigate, looking up at him with wide eyes that were identical to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. Magic naturally couldn¡¯t reveal someone¡¯s bloodline composition. Qiao Yi withdrew his power, looking at his wife¡¯s perpetually youthful and naive appearance, and suddenly felt a headache. Their son had turned into this, yet his wife seemed not the least bit surprised and even found it amusing. This was truly¡­ ¡°Nothing.¡± He shook his head, reached out to touch Mi Lai¡¯s face, and said, ¡°With Qiaoqiao¡¯s condition still unclear, the return home will have to be postponed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay!¡± Mi Lai, having regained her former carefree demeanor after finding their son, happily threw her arms around him. Qiao Yi, startled, quickly steadied himself and held their son tightly, which only made her laugh more joyfully. She said, ¡°As long as you are all here, anywhere is home!¡± Qiao Zhiya felt like he had slept for a long, comfortable time, but the only downside was that there was always a familiar hand in his dream disturbing him ¡ª pulling his wings, tugging his tail, and occasionally rubbing his forehead, constantly interrupting his rest. Just like now, the annoying fingers even lifted his tail, reaching towards a place that shouldn¡¯t be touched. He grimaced and flicked his tail, unable to bear it anymore, he opened his eyes and said, ¡°Mom, you¡ª¡± Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and a huge but very familiar face came into view, gradually becoming clear. Emerald green eyes met brown eyes, both round in shape. Mi Lai blinked, then blinked again, and then exclaimed in delight, turning her head to shout, ¡°Qiao Yi! Our baby is awake! Come quickly!¡± ¡°Qiaoqiao is awake?¡± Another familiar voice called out, followed by another familiar face appearing, eyes filled with gentle warmth as they greeted him softly, ¡°Good morning, Qiaoqiao.¡± ¡°Good¡­ morning.¡± He responded, only to realize that what came out was not Elvish, but a weak animal-like chirp. He froze, finally realizing something was off, and quickly looked down at his body. Scales, a round belly, and when he turned his head, a short, chubby tail stiffly held out behind him. He tried to move his ears, but instead, a weak breeze came from his back, and his body started to slowly rise. ¡°Wow, our baby is flying! Amazing!¡± Mila clapped her hands in delight. Fl-flying? Qiao Zhiya was stunned, his wings stiffening, causing his body to plummet. His eyes widened in alarm, but a familiar gentle power suddenly supported him, stabilizing his fall. Then, a pair of large hands gently cradled him. ¡°You¡¯re still too small to fly.¡± A soft pat on his head followed, and Qiao Zhiya looked up at his father, then turned to see his mother approaching with concern. He was dazed for a few seconds before his nose twitched, and tears began to gather in his eyes, which then started to fall. Even though he dreamt he had turned into a monster, his parents were here. He could clearly see their faces, feel their presence, instead of just sensing their power. This dream was so wonderful. As he cried, he tried to lift his hands to wipe his tears and take a good look at his parents, only to find that he could only raise a pair of claws. He froze again, feeling even more miserable, and curled up in distress. How could this be? After finally dreaming of his parents, he couldn¡¯t even hug them in this form. Why did even his dreams have to be so cruel? The pitiful whimper of the baby dragon reached Qiao Yi¡¯s ears, and it felt like rain was falling in his palm ¡ª warm tears dripping down, hitting his heart. He looked at his son, who had his head down, wings drooped, tail tucked in, hugging himself pitifully. Imagining the lonely and helpless life he must have led in this strange world for over two years, Qiao Yi¡¯s eyes reddened. He gently stroked his son¡¯s small body, comforting him, ¡°It¡¯s alright now. Dad will take you home, it¡¯s alright. You¡¯re just temporarily sick like this, don¡¯t worry. Dad will find a way to change you back, don¡¯t cry.¡± Before he could finish comforting him, Mi Lai, who had been smiling just a moment ago, suddenly straightened her face and burst into tears upon hearing her son¡¯s cries. Her shoulders shook as she cried harder and harder, eventually breaking into loud sobs. Both father and son froze and turned to look at her. ¡°Baby, waaah¡­¡± Mi Lai¡¯s tears flowed like a river. She reached out and grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s little paw, sobbing uncontrollably, ¡°It¡¯s Mom¡¯s fault, I shouldn¡¯t have dragged your dad around¡­ Waaah, baby, you can hit me, bite me if you want, sob sob sob¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned, then immediately panicked, whimpering in anxiety. Unable to speak, he was so desperate that his head felt hot, and he instinctively opened his mouth and bit her hand, gently gnawing at her fingers. He then clumsily took a few steps forward, trying to nuzzle her palm. Mi Lai¡¯s crying stopped. She looked tearfully at her considerate and obedient son, then at her husband, who was only capable of being dumbfounded at critical moments. Frowning, she grabbed her precious son, tucked him into her clothes, and then leapt towards a nearby yellow leaf tree. Qiao Yi felt his hand suddenly empty, and by the time he came to his senses, his wife had already ¡°kidnapped¡± their son and was perched on the tree. He first felt a headache, then a long-lost sense of peace and stability. Walking to the base of the tree, he looked up at his wife, who was nestled among the branches, hugging their son and kissing him while tearfully muttering something. He couldn¡¯t help but smile. Covered in kisses and recognizing the familiar yellow leaf tree, Qiao Zhiya finally realized ¡ª he wasn¡¯t dreaming. ¡°Baby, don¡¯t be afraid. Even though you¡¯ve turned into a dragon, Mom won¡¯t dislike you. You¡¯re still very cute! But finding a partner might be difficult since dragons haven¡¯t appeared for many years¡­ But that¡¯s okay, once we return to the Magic Continent, Mom will immediately start looking for a female dragon for you¡­ But why are you so small? Dragons are usually much larger. What will you do in the future¡­¡± Mi Lai¡¯s voice trailed off into more tears as she tugged on Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wings and stroked his tail. She even took a sly glance at a certain part of him, her sobs growing louder as she imagined her son living a lonely life. ¡°It must be because you¡¯ve had such a hard time these past two years. Look at you, so malnourished and thin¡­ It¡¯s all Mom¡¯s fault. We¡¯ll make it up to you from now on¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya snapped out of his shock and quickly wagged his tail to cover his private parts. He reached out with his claw to poke his mother¡¯s palm, feeling the soft, warm texture that was unmistakably real. His eyes widened, and he poked himself with his other claw. It felt ticklish, not painful. He looked around at his surroundings, spotting the marks left behind from when he and Chu Rong had dug up the jade vein. A sense of urgency hit him as he remembered the events leading up to his unconsciousness. He flapped his wings anxiously, and to his surprise, started to lift off again. Mi Lai reached out and grabbed him back, her tear-swollen eyes stern as she said, ¡°Baby, don¡¯t fly around. Your wings are so small. What if you fall and get hurt? If you want to do something, tell Mom, and I¡¯ll help you. Are you hungry? You¡¯ve been awake for a while and haven¡¯t eaten anything. You must be hungry¡­ Qiao Yi! Qiao Yi! Our baby is hungry! What do baby dragons eat? Meat or milk?¡± Ten minutes later, Qiao Zhiya found himself back in Qiao Yi¡¯s arms, with a wooden spoon holding some kind of animal milk in front of him, and Mi Lai eagerly watching. Qiao Zhiya looked from one to the other, then suddenly bit his own claw. Mi Lai and Qiao Yi were both startled. Mi Lai quickly put down the spoon and pried his mouth open, while Qiao Yi tried to pull his claw out, both of them speaking in a panic. ¡°Baby, if you want to eat meat, you can¡¯t bite yourself. Qiao Yi, is our baby stupid? Why isn¡¯t he talking? Does he not recognize us after turning into a dragon? Or has he regressed intellectually? Amnesia?¡± Qiao Yi shook his head, his brow furrowed as he gently stroked Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mouth after prying it open. ¡°Qiaoqiao, are you feeling unwell?¡± Although Qiao Zhiya¡¯s dragon form was that of a baby dragon, he still had all his teeth, which were very sharp. The bite he gave himself immediately brought a sharp pain, reinforcing the reality of his situation. He withdrew his claw and looked up at his parents¡¯ worried faces, their voices filled with concern. Overwhelmed by the joy and the surreal feeling of it all, he hesitantly infused a bit of his transformed magic into his voice. Looking first at Mila, he called out cautiously, as if afraid of shattering a beautiful dream, ¡°Mom?¡± Mi Lai was momentarily stunned by his call, her dreadful speculations halting as she grabbed his paw excitedly, ¡°Baby!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s heart fluttered as he then looked up at Qiao Yi, whose eyes were filled with hopeful anticipation. He took a deep breath and called, ¡°Dad?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Qiao Yi immediately responded, touching the small paw marked with teeth prints. As if understanding his thoughts, Qiao Yi bent down and kissed the tiny horn on his forehead, gently saying, ¡°You¡¯re not dreaming, Qiaoqiao. Dad and Mom have come to take you home.¡± Having waited over two years for this dream to come true, Qiao Zhiya instinctively flapped his wings, turning to burrow into Qiao Yi¡¯s large robe. His tail still clung tightly to Mila¡¯s fingers as he took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar, reassuring scent of his family. His eyes reddened again, this time with joy. The Magic Continent couldn¡¯t possibly have yellow leaf trees, and upon closer inspection, his parents¡¯ appearances were slightly different from his memory, seeming thinner and more worn. It was real, all of it was real! It wasn¡¯t a dream. His parents had truly come for him. Gripping his father¡¯s robe tightly, he let go of his restrained emotions and began to cry aloud. Mi Lai, hearing his cries, felt her nose tingle with emotion and quickly hugged them both. Qiao Yi, with reddened eyes, embraced his wife and son, sighing with contentment. CH 112.2 Federation Capital Planet. At midnight, the military headquarters were extremely quiet. A tall shadow suddenly appeared in the confinement area for important criminals, exuding an aura of killing intent and blood. The shadow smoothly passed through layer upon layer of strict defenses, stopped in front of the innermost detention room, and pushed the door open to enter. The prisoner, who had been unconscious, seemed to sense something and slowly opened his eyes. ¡°Ning Tianxing.¡± A cold, deep voice rang out as the shadow approached, revealing a face previously hidden in the darkness. A tremendous power that had been sealed within was also released. ¡°N09 planet, F61 planet, the Kongsuo Fortress, the garbage planets near the Yanhua Fortress, the 3E district of the Empire¡¯s Capital Planet¡¯s border defense¡­¡± Chu Rong moved closer, speaking as he slowly approached Ning Tianxing, grabbing him by the collar and saying heavily, ¡°and the already dead Long Baorou. Your secret laboratory, pet park, breeding ground, and the test subjects you were grooming to become the next Zerg Queen, all of these have been destroyed by me. What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for that monster to save you?¡± With each statement, Ning Tianxing¡¯s eyes widened further, eventually staring at him in almost utter terror, sensing the dreadful pressure emanating from him. His lips trembled: ¡°You, how do you know, your spiritual power¡­¡± ¡°An Xei is dead.¡± Chu Rong suddenly let go of him, moving his hand slowly to the top of Ning Tianxing¡¯s head, and said blandly, ¡°It¡¯s time for you to join him.¡± Ning Tianxing¡¯s body shook, and he struggled to retreat, saying, ¡°No! You won¡¯t kill me! You need the information in my head, you need me to give you clues, you won¡¯t kill me, I¡ª ah!¡± Violent spiritual power energy surged in, easily breaking the mental lock in his brain. Chu Rong searched his memories while coldly looking at him, saying, ¡°Yes, I need these¡­ now I utterly despise that I ever needed these!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Ning Tianxing¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, blood started to flow from his seven orifices, and his body began to twitch strangely. His spiritual power went berserk, causing the alloy walls of the detention room to show faint cracks. Chu Rong, standing at the center of the spiritual power storm, remained completely unaffected. He stared intently into Ning Tianxing¡¯s eyes, and when he saw the look in his eyes suddenly turn dark and calm, he curled his lips and said softly, ¡°Finally here. What do you want to say this time, that this is just the beginning?¡± ¡°Ning Tianxing¡± moved his eyes to look at him with a sinister, hateful gaze and said through gritted teeth, ¡°Again, you have destroyed my pets¡­¡± But Chu Rong didn¡¯t give him a chance to continue his rant. A dagger appeared in his right hand, and with a light slash, he cut open Ning Tianxing¡¯s throat, destroying his vocal cords. Looking into his eyes, he said, ¡°Vermin should always live in the dark. Rest assured, I will root you out.¡± With that, his spiritual power surged, rolling towards him fiercely. ¡°Ning Tianxing¡± sensed the spiritual power far surpassing SSS level, his eyes suddenly widened even more, his face turned rapidly pale, and his eyes were filled with disbelief. A sound like a broken bellows came from his throat. ¡°Heh¡­ no¡­ S¡­¡± ¡°Bang¡±, Ning Tianxing fell to the ground in unwillingness. The tightly closed door of the detention room was also forcibly opened from the outside. Yuan Lie led the charge inside and then stopped in shock upon seeing the scene in the room. Chu Rong turned around, wiped the blood splattered on his face, and ordered, ¡°Notify Fan Xiangnan to take the flagship to the Empire¡¯s border planet 56X, mining planet C58, the Federation border planet E47, and the garbage planet near Smith¡¯s defense line. There are teleportation devices connecting to the monster¡¯s nest there. Copy them and then destroy them. Also¡­¡± The air was still filled with the powerful spiritual energy emanating from Chu Rong. Yuan Lie felt his own spiritual sea undulating with Chu Rong¡¯s tone, so he quickly stepped back to distance himself from the center of the spiritual power, suppressing his shock at Chu Rong¡¯s appearance and Ning Tianxing¡¯s death. He calmed down swiftly and asked, ¡°What else?¡± ¡°Find the whereabouts of the Imperial High Advisor, Qiao might¡ª¡± Chu Rong suddenly swayed, and his spiritual power abruptly collapsed, causing him to fall to the ground. Yuan Lie was startled, hurried forward to support him, and called out, ¡°Marshal!¡± Chu Rong returned, but he was covered in injuries, his spiritual power exhausted, and his spiritual sea was in danger of collapsing. Lin Zhen found the almost completely destroyed ¡°Rong Tian¡± outside the confinement area. The movement tracker showed that Chu Rong had rapidly traveled back and forth between several planets of the Federation and the Empire in just a few days, stopping briefly before returning to the Federation and landing directly at the military headquarters. This was almost an impossible feat, pushing the mecha¡¯s speed to its limits. All the doctors at the military headquarters were summoned, and Chu Huai and Chu Yan hurried over as well. ¡°The spiritual power purification liquid is ineffective!¡± ¡°The sedative is not working!¡± ¡°The patient is resisting the effects of the hypnotic, he can¡¯t enter the recovery program of the repair cabin!¡± ¡°Crack.¡± A strange cracking sound echoed, and all the doctors were startled, then horrified to see cracks appearing on the floor, walls, and all the medical instruments. At the same time, faint spiritual fluctuations emanated from Chu Rong¡¯s body. ¡°Bad news! The Marshal¡¯s spiritual power is going berserk!¡± Experienced physician Zhuang Yu¡¯s expression changed drastically. She immediately assessed Chu Rong¡¯s condition and quickly opened the isolation shield on the hospital bed, urging, ¡°Quick, get out! Activate the safety defenses for the entire area! Hurry! The Marshal¡¯s spiritual power seems to have upgraded! We can¡¯t stay here any longer!¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± Chu Yan was anxious. ¡°No buts, leave now!¡± Zhuang Yu interrupted him, quickly activating all the calming and protective measures in the room and forcefully driving everyone out. Not long after everyone safely evacuated, a violent force spread rapidly from Chu Rong¡¯s ward, destroying all the furniture and facilities within range, even causing cracks to appear on the ground. The alarm in the military area blared crazily, and the newly activated protective shield began to tremble slightly, seemingly unable to withstand the surging violent force. ¡°This is the highest level of protective shield, capable of withstanding the full force of an attack from a flagship¡­¡± Yuan Lie was so shocked he was at a loss for words, both worried and excited. ¡°Is this the power of SSSS-level spiritual power?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll only have SSSS-level spiritual power if you survive this. If you don¡¯t, you¡¯ll just be a corpse!¡± Zhuang Yu¡¯s expression was very serious. As she put on her protective suit, she said, ¡°High-level spiritual power upgrades always have signs. The Marshal¡¯s spiritual power must have been unstable for a long time! But he recklessly held on and missed the best time for stabilization. Now he¡¯s overextending his power without any regard. He is the most reckless and willful patient in the entire Federation! I should just kill him myself!¡± Everyone looked at her, speechless. To dare to scold Chu Rong like this, this woman was truly brave and fierce. ¡°What are you all looking at! Shouldn¡¯t he be scolded? His terrible temperament of thinking he¡¯s the greatest in the world is all because of you people spoiling him!¡± Zhuang Yu shouted at the group of high-ranking officials, angrily securing her protective shield. She took out a loudspeaker and rushed to the edge of the area¡¯s protective shield, shouting toward the center of the spiritual storm, ¡°Hang in there! If you don¡¯t, Qiao will become someone else¡¯s sweetheart and marry someone else! Chu Rong, you¡¯re just a piece of trash who can¡¯t even protect your lover! Don¡¯t let the whole Federation look down on you!¡± ¡°Boom¡ª!¡± The ground cracks deepened, and the protective shield that had only been faintly shaking suddenly showed signs of breaking, hinting at an imminent collapse. Zhuang Yu jolted back a step, letting out a cold laugh as she put down the loudspeaker. She looked at the group of dumbfounded people behind her and said coolly, ¡°See, isn¡¯t that more energetic? A good doctor needs to know how to treat the patient according to their condition. Learn from this.¡± With that, she angrily threw the loudspeaker to the ground, stomping on it before walking away without looking back. Chu Yan watched her leave, his worry for Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong easing a bit. Holding his chest in fear, he said with difficulty, ¡°Are doctors such a terrifying profession¡­?¡± He thought that even gentle ladies could turn into fierce masters. ¡®No, it¡¯s just that Chu Rong is such a terrible patient.¡¯ Everyone wisely swallowed this thought and looked toward the protective shield ¡ª hoping that Chu Rong could get through this. The first SSSS-level genius, the Blue Galaxy needed this miracle. In the giant forest of the primitive planet. Qiao Zhiya suddenly woke up, immediately picked up by Qiao Yi, who gently petted him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you have a nightmare? You fell asleep crying earlier. Are you hungry?¡± Qiao Zhiya gradually came to his senses, looking up to meet his father¡¯s gentle gaze. His heartbeat slowly calmed down, and his tail twitched subconsciously. Suddenly thinking of something, he sat up abruptly and started humming and gesturing anxiously. ¡°Don¡¯t rush.¡± Qiao Yi smiled, patting his head gently. ¡°Relax, try to let the magic seep into your voice like before. You might have atavism. Once your bloodline stabilizes, you¡¯ll be able to speak properly again. Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡®So I will revert back¡­ No, no, that¡¯s not the point right now.¡¯ Previously, he was so overwhelmed by the surprise of seeing his parents that he had completely forgotten about Chu Rong. Before transforming into his current state, he had gone through numerous chaotic events, and everyone was in danger! The more anxious Qiao Zhiya became, the harder it was for him to speak properly. His tail straightened and his wings flapped chaotically. After a moment of panic, he suddenly thought of something and hurriedly started searching on his person. Then, he realized belatedly that since he had turned into this form, everything on him must have fallen off, including his communicator. He looked around at the primitive planet¡¯s surroundings and felt even more helpless. No communicator, no signal, not even a means of transportation. How was he supposed to contact Chu Rong? And considering the black hole scene he witnessed before passing out, along with Chu Rong being outside of his mecha¡­ ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Baby?¡± Mi Lai returned with a bowl of meat soup, seeing Qiao Zhiya foolishly searching himself while his tail and wings moved anxiously. She hurried over to comfort him, ¡°Did you have a nightmare? Don¡¯t worry, Mom and Dad are here; you¡¯re safe.¡± Qiao Yi also touched his small body with concern, surrounding him with magic, and asked, ¡°Qiaoqiao, what are you looking for?¡± Their gentle reassurance calmed Qiao Zhiya down. He looked at his parents, took a deep breath, and tried to speak, but only managed to make some animal sounds. He paused, then infused his magic into his voice and asked anxiously, ¡°Mom, Dad, how did you bring me here? Was there anyone around me before you came? Someone tall, with white hair, very handsome and powerful¡­¡± Parents who love their children can always notice subtle hints in their words. Qiao Zhiya was particularly bad at hiding his emotions ¨C whatever he felt, he showed. So¡­ Qiao Yi¡¯s worried expression vanished, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Mi Lai put down the meat soup, grabbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s tail threateningly. ¡°Baby,¡± Mi Lai leaned in, her expression tense. ¡°Qiaoqiao,¡± Qiao Yi held down his small body, his voice still gentle, but his aura becoming heavier. Both parents held their easily flustered son in their hands, asking in unison, ¡°That handsome white-haired man, what¡¯s your relationship with him?¡± Qiao Zhiya, pinned and with his tail grabbed, felt the weight of his parents¡¯ ¡°concerned¡± love. His voice choked up, and his chaotic thoughts suddenly condensed. Remembering Chu Rong, he suddenly felt a bit shy. Clenching his little paws, he replied softly, ¡°He, he¡¯s the one I like¡­ His name is Chu Rong, and I want to marry him. So, Mom and Dad, did you see him when you came for me? How is he now?¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Qiao Yi¡¯s robe and hair moved without wind, power swirling around him. Mi Lai stood up, pulled out a huge hammer, and smashed it on the ground. Flicking her hair back, she smiled sarcastically, ¡°Oh, so our darling has grown up and already has someone he likes.¡± This reaction seemed a bit off. Qiao Zhiya widened his eyes, frozen. ¡°Qiaoqiao,¡± Qiao Yi cupped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s stiff body, gently smoothing his back. Recalling the image of a certain man he saw when the magic circle activated, he looked into Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wide eyes and said softly, ¡°When you left us, you were just crossed into adulthood. There were some things I didn¡¯t get a chance to tell you. When choosing a partner, appearance is one criterion, but more importantly, you need to assess their character and abilities. I don¡¯t mind you liking boys, but that white-haired handsome guy, who is just a superficial show-off and a waste of power, is not someone I would recommend.¡± ¡®Superficial show-off, waste of power¡­¡¯ Qiao Zhiya had never heard his always elegant and gentle father use such harsh words. He was momentarily at a loss. Elves indeed love beauty, but Chu Rong¡¯s almost perfect appearance was only deemed ¡°superficial¡± by Qiao Yi. As for strength, true strength admires true strength, but Qiao Yi¡¯s assessment was that Chu Rong was someone who had power but didn¡¯t know how to use it. And the term ¡°waste¡± completely negated Chu Rong as a person. Was Chu Rong really that bad? Qiao Zhiya clenched his paws, quickly regaining his focus. He asked anxiously, ¡°So Dad, you really saw Chu Rong? How is he? Is he safe? Did those black holes hurt you? How did you and Mom get here? Did Chu Rong say anything when you took me away? Did he say anything about my current form¡­¡± His voice trailed off, his wings and tail drooping. Mi Lai frowned deeply, put away her hammer, and pinched his drooping wings, speaking somewhat angrily, ¡°Darling, even as a dragon, you¡¯re the most beautiful and adorable dragon in the world! If that white-haired¡­ white-haired ugly thing dares to dislike you, I¡¯ll beat him to death!¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s spirits lifted, and he turned to her, eyes bright, ¡°So, Mom, you agree with me marrying Chu Rong?¡± ¡°¡­In your dreams!¡± Mi Lai gritted her teeth, nearly exploding with anger. Their soft and cute son had suddenly gone missing, and they had searched for over two years to find him. When they finally did, not only had he transformed into a different species, but his heart had also changed! They were no longer the most loved in their son¡¯s heart! His heart had been stolen by some strange, unknown white-haired ugly thing! ¡®Despicable, vile human! How dare you seduce our innocent, freshly grown-up dwarf! Unforgivable!¡¯ Mi Lai, the temperamental dwarf mother, couldn¡¯t handle the shock. Power surged around her, causing the surrounding ground to tremble. Qiao Yi also frowned deeply. Though he was angry about their son being taken, he was more concerned about some details in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s words. He recalled the eerie black holes and the dangerous power feedback from the magic circle when they found Qiao Zhiya. His heart sank as he touched his son¡¯s now completely different appearance and asked, ¡°Qiaoqiao, did you encounter any danger in this world? Does your sudden atavism have anything to do with those dangers?¡± CH 113.1 The breeze blew gently, causing the leaves of the yellow-leaf tree to sway softly. Under Qiao Yi¡¯s detailed questioning, Qiao Zhiya recounted his life in the Federation and, in passing, tried to say a few good words about Chu Rong, attempting to salvage his father¡¯s impression of him. Qiao Yi and Mi Lai listened quietly. Their expressions softened slightly upon hearing that Chu Rong had taken care of Qiao Zhiya for over two years. However, when they learned that the two were already engaged and had been living in the same room, their auras flared up again. Coercing a recently-of-age dwarf to sleep together without a formal marriage contract, especially when the white-haired scoundrel was ten years older than Qiao Zhiya! The child might not understand, but how could an adult not? Mi Lai gripped her giant hammer tighter, her face stern and eyes filled with murderous intent, as cracks appeared in the ground beneath her feet. Qiao Yi¡¯s expression was not much better. His gaze was cold, and the wood-element magic around him surged, his aura spreading out. However, mindful of his son¡¯s feelings, he didn¡¯t let his emotions show. He gently patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small frame and asked, ¡°So, you¡¯ve already become a Grand Magic Magister1¡­I really don¡¯t remember the term I used before. Just know that he¡¯s only one step before reaching the peak?¡± ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya noticed his parents¡¯ off emotions, cautiously stopped talking, and nervously tightened his claws. Looking at the visibly angry Mi Lai, he hesitantly asked, ¡°Mom, did I make you angry? I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Mi Lai snapped back to reality, seeing that she had scared her son. She quickly put away her weapon, sat beside him, and picked up the meat soup that had been kept warm with a magic stove. Stirring it with a spoon, she fed him a spoonful and said with a smile, ¡°No, Mom was just too surprised. My baby has already become a Grand Magic Magister, that¡¯s amazing! And you¡¯re such a good boy, how could I be mad at you?¡± If anyone, she was mad at a certain kidnapper! Qiao Zhiya, easily pleased, felt embarrassed by the praise. He twiddled his claws, obediently drank the meat soup, and happily wagged his tail ¡ª he hadn¡¯t tasted his mother¡¯s cooking in so long; it still tasted so good! Watching his son¡¯s tail wag happily, Qiao Yi¡¯s gaze softened, and he fell into deep thought. ¡°Dad?¡± Qiao Zhiya, having finished his soup, noticed his father¡¯s unusual expression and stepped forward worriedly to ask. Seeing the pure and innocent look in his son¡¯s eyes, Qiao Yi felt a myriad of emotions. He reached out and touched his small horn, then took out a fresh wild fruit and held it to his lips. After swallowing his words, he finally smiled and softly said, ¡°Qiaoqiao, your atavism¡­ might have been artificially induced.¡± Both Qiao Zhiya and Mi Lai were stunned. Mi Lai immediately frowned and sternly called out, ¡°Qiao Yi.¡± Holding his wife¡¯s hand and gently stroking it, Qiao Yi organized his thoughts and explained, ¡°Dragons are different from other species. All their inheritance comes from their bloodline, and the essence of their power is also in their blood. Qiaoqiao must have some ancient dragon blood in him. Normally, this bit of bloodline is very thin, far from enough to cause atavism. But frequent absorption of dragon power and bloodline induction gradually activated that dragon gene in him. Coupled with his rapid magic advancement stimulating his body, he eventually transformed.¡± Frequent absorption of dragon power and bloodline induction? Qiao Zhiya was stunned, recalling the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s true form and the scales he was once made to absorb, and the power spheres later given to him. His eyes widened slightly. ¡°But if the Imperial High Advisor is really a dragon, then why was he captured back then¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s something you¡¯d need to ask him yourself.¡± Qiao Yi had no interest in this ¡°Imperial High Advisor¡± person and brushed off the question with a single sentence. He then continued, ¡°Those experimental subjects you mentioned must also have some traces of dragon blood in them. That¡¯s why they influenced you and why, upon awakening, they affected the bloodline provider far away in another country ¡ª the Imperial High Advisor.¡± ¡®So the Imperial High Advisor was indeed affected by those experimental subjects? And so was I?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya looked down at his claws, then at his father¡¯s Elven appearance, and finally turned his gaze to his mother ¡ª his father¡¯s bloodline was beyond doubt, so his dragon bloodline must have been inherited from his mother. If the mysterious person still had similar experimental subjects, they could continue to induce dragon bloodline in others, meaning his mother might¡­ His tail stiffened, and he anxiously flapped his wings, flying in front of Mi Lai. But before he could speak, Mi Lai pulled him down again. ¡°Baby, I told you not to fly around. You may seem longer, but it¡¯s all tail. Your body is still small, and your wings are too tiny to fly steadily. What if you fall?¡± Mi Lai advised him earnestly, too oblivious to notice her son¡¯s concern. Qiao Yi, noticing his son¡¯s unease, gently patted his head and reassured him, ¡°Your mother¡¯s dragon bloodline should have been fully passed on to you. Normally, elves and dwarves can¡¯t have children together, but you¡¯re still born. Qiaoqiao, you are a miracle.¡± Unlike elves, dwarves, or beastmen, dragons do not have reproductive isolation from other species because dragons can take human form, which makes their characteristics very close to those of humans. It is well known that humans have a highly inclusive bloodline, capable of interbreeding with almost any species with human-like forms. When dragons take human form, their physical traits become nearly identical to humans, allowing them to reproduce with other species. Most dragons enjoy forming unions with other species because the fertility rate among dragons themselves is very low. The dragon bloodline is dominant enough to ensure that the offspring born from these unions often transform into dragons upon reaching adulthood. Mi Lai, being a descendant of wandering dwarves, likely had ancestors who mingled with dragons. More reasonably speculating, Mi Lai might have had a human-dragon hybrid in her ancestry. ¡°Merely having dragon blood might not have been enough to conceive you. Your mother probably also has some human blood. The human reproductive system tends to pass on the best traits to their offspring, so Qiaoqiao, you are the best gift from heaven to us, a unique gift.¡± Back then, Qiao Yi only suspected his wife had some human blood. He hadn¡¯t expected that the reason for Qiaoqiao¡¯s birth included dragon blood as well. Mi Lai curiously touched her head and pinched her arms, trying to find some proof of her mixed heritage. Seeing this, Qiao Yi smiled, took her hand, and then gently lifted their confused son. He said with a smile, ¡°Qiaoqiao, Dad is very happy to be your father.¡± Mi Lai, not wanting to be outdone, leaned in and kissed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead, saying, ¡°Mom is also very happy to have given birth to you!¡± Feeling touched, Qiao Zhiya hugged them with his little claws and sniffed emotionally. Qiao Yi hugged him back, shielding his view, and his smile faded slightly. He looked at the clear blue sky and said softly, ¡°So those hiding in the shadows, who led you here and tried to steal your bloodline, Dad will deal with them for you.¡± Inducing the bloodline, seizing the opportunity to capture ¡ª those were the acts of the mastermind Qiao Zhiya mentioned, who likely discovered the special nature of his bloodline and would not give up on such a natural ¡°bloodline enhancer.¡± Therefore, they couldn¡¯t leave here just yet. The dangers needed to be resolved first. Otherwise, if Qiaoqiao could be taken once, it could happen again. As a father, he could not allow such threats to loom over his child. Mi Lai¡¯s face hardened upon hearing this. Seeing her husband¡¯s cold expression, she gently stroked her son¡¯s little horn and looked up at the blue sky, snorting coldly ¡ª anyone who tried to harm her baby would die! Federal Military Headquarters. One protective shield after another broke down. The ground in the center of the mental force storm was cracked beyond recognition, and worse still, the medical building where Chu Rong lay seemed about to collapse. ¡°What do we do? If it really collapses, won¡¯t Erge be buried inside?¡± Chu Yan was very worried. He hadn¡¯t eaten or slept well these past few days, constantly haunted by the image of Qiao Zhiya missing and Chu Rong falling. He had lost weight significantly. Chu Huai, who had just rushed over after finishing his work, shook his head and reassured him, ¡°Xiao Rong knows how to protect himself. With such a violent force, even if the building collapses, the rubble probably won¡¯t reach him.¡± Yuan Lie wiped his face and sighed, ¡°But this is already the fifteenth outburst¡­¡± The existing record for the violent transition from SS to SSS-level spiritual power was no more than five times. No one had ever upgraded from SSS to SSSS, but if the number of outbursts had doubled, it would have been about right. But now it had tripled. ¡°When Qiao advanced, he had about ten outbursts, which took several days,¡± Chu Yan suddenly said. Everyone looked at Chu Yan, then collectively sighed internally. ¡®Forget it, comparing the Marshal and his fiance¡¯s situation to others¡¯ is pointless.¡¯ ¡°We have news!¡± Lin Zhen¡¯s voice suddenly rang out. Everyone turned their heads to see Lin Zhen hurrying over with some documents in hand. Chu Huai¡¯s heart leaped at the news, and he quickly went to meet him, asking, ¡°What news? Is it about the Imperial High Advisor¡ª¡± ¡°Yes! Someone spotted Jian near a wilderness activity park on the main star. We¡¯ve already sent people to confirm it!¡± Lin Zhen handed over the documents, which included a surveillance photo with Jian¡¯s figure in the corner. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Chu Huai felt a weight lift off his shoulders and hurriedly said, ¡°Once confirmed, bring Jian and the Imperial High Advisor to the military headquarters immediately. Ensure their safety ¨C I have questions for the Imperial High Advisor!¡± Last time Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong went missing, the Imperial High Advisor had been able to assure everyone of their safety when all others were helpless. Now that Qiao Zhiya was missing again, having someone confirm his safety was crucial. ¡°Understood!¡± Lin Zhen replied, glancing at the central area where the building was. His brows furrowed in worry before he suppressed his emotions and quickly left. CH 113.2 In the giant forest, Qiao Zhiya, having understood his situation, finally got accurate information about Chu Rong from Qiao Yi. It turned out that his father had used a bloodline teleportation array to take him away just as he was about to fall into a black hole. At that time, Chu Rong was right beside him, his power violent and unstable, watching helplessly as Qiao Zhiya disappeared. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s little claws clenched unconsciously, his wings and tail drooping. His whole body exuded worry for Chu Rong. He clung to Qiao Yi¡¯s robes and asked, ¡°Dad, did he really see you? Are you sure he saw you?¡± Qiao Yi disliked his son¡¯s current state of being so worried about someone else, but he understood his feelings and didn¡¯t want him to remain anxious. He frowned slightly and hugged Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small body, nodding, ¡°To take you away, I had to teleport directly. He definitely saw me.¡± That¡¯s good¡­ Qiao Zhiya felt slightly relieved but still worried. Chu Rong had seen his family in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s memories. If he saw his father, he would know that Qiao Zhiya was taken by family and not captured by the mastermind, which would at least lessen his worry. After his disappearance, with Chu Rong¡¯s abilities, escaping from the black hole shouldn¡¯t be too difficult, and the military would have rushed to help. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s tail perked up a bit. He reached out to gently hold Qiao Yi¡¯s wrist, distressed by the hastily bandaged wounds, and said sadly, ¡°Dad, I¡¯m sorry for worrying you and Mom.¡± The bloodline teleportation array required a significant amount of power and a lot of kinship blood for the array to function. No wonder his father¡¯s face was pale ¡ª it was all to find him. Qiao Yi¡¯s expression softened, and he gently patted his head, speaking warmly, ¡°It¡¯s okay, as long as you¡¯re safe and back.¡± Qiao Zhiya still felt a pang of guilt as he looked around the temporary shelter his parents had set up in this forest. Remembering the vast asteroid belt and the air devoid of magical elements outside, he sniffled and started pulling items from his storage bracelet ¨C the only belonging left on him. Purified spiritual power liquid, yellow-leaf potion, top-grade wood-elemental magic stones, top-grade earth-elemental magic stones, advanced spiritual power calming agents, a pile of stone grass potions, and green fruits¡­ His claws hesitated, and he started pulling out various high-level herbs. The clearing beside them soon filled with items. Mi Lai, who had just stepped away to make a small nest for Qiao Zhiya, turned around and almost had her eyes blinded by the pile of top-grade earth-elemental magic stones, nearly as tall as a person. She rushed over to hug the magic stone, looking at her son, who was still pulling out items. Her eyes sparkled as she asked, ¡°Baby, did you get all these? Wow, you¡¯re amazing!¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed and replied shyly, ¡°These were all prepared by Chu Rong for me¡­¡± He glanced at his father, trying to gauge his reaction. Qiao Yi narrowed his eyes, scanning the obviously valuable items before looking down at his son, who gazed back with a mix of flattery and anticipation. He patted Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head without saying a word. Mi Lai quickly released the magic stone, her expression turning peculiar. She twisted and turned before grumbling in dissatisfaction, sitting down to pick up Qiao Zhiya and placing him in the small nest, muttering, ¡°I hate people who try to impress dwarves with money¡­ That white-haired scoundrel, how dare he take my son¡­ My baby is priceless, damn it¡­¡± Listening to his mother¡¯s disgruntled muttering, Qiao Zhiya glanced back at his father¡¯s indifferent expression, and his tail drooped again. But he quickly perked up, fluttering his wings to dive into his mother¡¯s arms. ¡®No worries, Mom and Dad don¡¯t like Chu Rong right now because they haven¡¯t met him yet. Once they meet him, they¡¯ll like him for sure. The immediate priority is to help Mom and Dad get well.¡¯ Qiao Yi watched his son trying to comfort his wife, then turned his head to look at the clear blue sky above. His son¡¯s affection for Chu Rong was obvious. After more than two years of living together day and night, with Qiaoqiao¡¯s simple and kind nature, the feelings he now poured into Chu Rong were undoubtedly deep. For his son¡¯s future, Qiao Yi had to talk to Chu Rong personally. Additionally, any threat to his son¡¯s safety had to be completely eradicated. ¡ªHe needed to get out of this ¡°barrier¡± again. Thinking this, he touched the wound on his wrist, sensing the faint cracks in the magic pool, and frowned slightly. ¡°Boom!¡± The medical building, which had been tottering for days, finally collapsed. Chu Yan, who was sleeping in a nearby temporary bedroom, was startled awake. Hearing the commotion outside, he quickly threw off the blanket and ran out. It was already late at night, and the basic infrastructure within the protective zone had long been destroyed by violent forces. It was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen. Soldiers and officers guarding the area rushed over at the noise, standing around the protective shield and discussing in bewilderment. ¡°The protective shield seems to have stopped moving.¡± ¡°The signal is back to normal. The interference signal from the violent force has disappeared!¡± ¡°Could it be that Marshal Chu¡¯s spiritual power upgrade is complete?¡± ¡°Damn, there aren¡¯t even many stars out tonight, we can¡¯t see anything.¡± Chu Yan had already reached the spot closest to the medical building¡¯s protective shield, leaning on it and peering inside as hard as he could. Just then, the clouds moved, and a bit of starlight shone down, revealing a tall, dark figure emerging from the ruins. His eyes lit up, and he called out loudly, ¡°Erge? Erge! I¡¯m here!¡± Everyone stopped their discussions at his words and looked in that direction. The dark figure paused slightly upon hearing Chu Yan¡¯s call, then strode towards them. ¡°It¡¯s the Marshal!¡± ¡°It really is the Marshal!¡± ¡°Crack.¡± As the figure approached, the protective shield in front of everyone shattered into powder and disappeared. The starlight grew brighter, allowing everyone to see Chu Rong¡¯s current state clearly. He was wearing a hospital gown, his hair slightly messy, but he looked healthy and walked steadily, not at all like a patient. Everyone¡¯s eyes brightened. The Marshal¡¯s condition seemed so good¡ªhad his spiritual power upgrade succeeded? However, Chu Yan frowned slightly, thinking, ¡®Erge¡¯s current state¡­¡¯ ¡°Where¡¯s Qiao?¡± Chu Rong approached, stopping two steps away from Chu Yan. His expression was cold and hard, with a slight frown and a hint of confusion in his eyes as he asked, ¡°Why can¡¯t I sense his presence? Where is he?¡± Seeing the genuine confusion on his Erge¡¯s face, Chu Yan¡¯s heart tightened, cold sweat breaking out instantly. His mind raced, and he stammered, ¡°Qiao, um, Qiao is sleeping somewhere else. Erge, you, your power suddenly upgraded, everyone was afraid you¡¯d hurt him, so they placed him somewhere else.¡± At Chu Yan¡¯s words, the gentle aura around Chu Rong suddenly changed. He looked at Chu Yan sharply, taking a step closer and said in a deep voice, ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± At the same time, a powerful spiritual power spread out around them, scaring the soldiers and officers nearby, making them retreat to a safe distance. ¡°I-I¡¯m not! Erge, when have I ever lied to you, um¡­ I-I definitely wouldn¡¯t lie to you this time!¡± Chu Yan, resisting the urge to collapse to his knees, forced a smile while explaining, gesturing frantically to the soldiers behind him to go get help. Despite recognizing that his brother was lying, Chu Rong, being his sibling, wouldn¡¯t harm him. Instead, he frowned even more, raising his wrist to activate his communicator and dialed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s number. The prompt that the call couldn¡¯t be connected came quickly, making Chu Yan hold his breath, reaching for the sedative in his space button ¡ª he felt his Erge needed to calm down, or everyone here would be in trouble! This communication failure seemed to trigger a memory switch in Chu Rong. His body stiffened momentarily, then he lowered his head, covering his forehead with his hand, silent for a while. Suddenly, he slowly lowered his hand and took out a small communicator with vine patterns from his space button. ¡®We¡¯re finished!¡¯ Chu Yan sensed the increasingly powerful spiritual power in the air, and alarms went off in his mind. He couldn¡¯t worry about anything else. He quickly lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Chu Rong, using his own body as a human shield to prevent him from going berserk, and said quickly, ¡°Erge, don¡¯t worry! The Imperial High Advisor has been found. Once he wakes up from his coma, we will be able to determine Qiao¡¯s safety! You need to stay calm, Qiao is waiting for you to rescue him, stay calm!¡± Chu Rong¡¯s slightly confused mind quickly cleared up as memories before his coma flashed through his brain. His gaze darkened, his grip tightened on the small communicator, and his eyes shifted as he looked at the star-filled night sky. He slowly pushed Chu Yan away, saying in a low voice, ¡°I am very calm.¡± There was no time more calm than now. What Federal Marshal, what SSS-level genius ¡ª Zhuang Yu was right. He was just trash who couldn¡¯t even protect his lover, trash who could only watch helplessly as his lover was taken away by others. Chu Yan had never seen such intense self-denial from him. Hesitantly, he called out, ¡°Erge? You¡­¡± Chu Rong came to his senses, quickly suppressing the rising negative emotions in his heart. He carefully put the small vine-patterned communicator back into his space button and asked, ¡°Has the flagship returned?¡± Chu Yan, cautiously observing his expression, saw no signs of him going mad, and the surrounding force was slowly retracting. He didn¡¯t dare relax, but after a few seconds, he realized Chu Rong was referring to the Chu family¡¯s flagship that Fan Xiangnan had taken out before Chu Rong fell into a coma. He replied, ¡°No, Erge, the coordinates you gave before you fell into a coma were too many and too vague. Xiangnan-ge has only found and destroyed two teleportation sites so far, and is on his way to the third.¡± Only two had been destroyed. Chu Rong squinted and looked at the night sky again, then suddenly strode towards the military port. Startled, Chu Yan quickly followed and asked, ¡°Erge, where are you going?¡± ¡°To cut off the filthy tentacles of the Zergs.¡± Chu Rong replied, his face cold as an icy pool of water. CH 113.3 Yuan Lie: Yuan Xiu¡¯s father, a Lieutenant General. Qiao Yi: MC¡¯s father. An elf. Mi Lai: MC¡¯s mother. A dwarf. Xiang Kun: Chu Yan¡¯s (ex-)mortal enemy. Xiang Hui¡¯s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student. Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Wei Xiongchang: Wei family¡¯s head. A Lieutenant General. He Hongjun: one of the four Marshal from the Federation. An Xei: The former Emperor¡¯s younger brother. A Prince and a scholar. The military port quickly became lively. High-ranking officials from the military and political circles gathered, and Xiang Lingyun and Wei Xiongchang even brought the flagships of the Xiang and Wei families. Yuan Lie and He Hongjun also brought their best warships after receiving Chu Rong¡¯s urgent notice. Everyone was bewildered. Chu Rong¡¯s awakening was undoubtedly great news, but what was going on now? Were they going to war? But there were no Zerg appearing right now. The Imperial High Advisor, who had been in a coma since being brought back, and Jian, who had been silent and unwilling to speak, were also packed up and sent over by Zhuang Yu, then taken into the Xiang family¡¯s flagship by Lin Zhen¡¯s team. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhuang Yu frowned, looking around for her superior¡¯s figure, and anxiously said, ¡°The Marshal woke up, why didn¡¯t you notify me? What¡¯s this nonsense? After a spiritual power upgrade, you need to rest ¡ª don¡¯t you know this common sense!¡± Lin Zhen shook his head and replied, ¡°Up till now, all the orders I¡¯ve received have been relayed through the communicator by the Marshal.¡± In other words, he hadn¡¯t even seen Chu Rong¡¯s face yet, let alone tried to dissuade him or understand the situation. Zhuang Yu was stunned by this and couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth, feeling like her head was about to explode with frustration. She said angrily, ¡°What a mess¡­ really!¡± As the two were worried and angry, another line of hovercars arrived at the port entrance. Even the people from the Empire had come. Xiang Lingyun and Wei Xiongchang exchanged glances, unable to find Chu Huai¡¯s figure anywhere, and frowned, hurrying over. The number of ships docked at the port increased by one more Imperial flagship. As everyone grew more puzzled and began to discuss among themselves, a familiar black hovercar finally arrived, invigorating everyone as they all moved forward to greet it. The hovercar, emblazoned with the Chu family crest, stopped and opened, revealing an old man with white hair stepping out. Everyone was stunned, and Zhuang Yu couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in surprise, ¡°Master Ren? Why are you here?¡± Master Ren glanced at her, did not answer, and instead looked back into the car. Everyone¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but shift back, and finally, Chu Rong¡¯s familiar figure appeared before them. He still wore that displeased frown, his uniform neatly pressed, looking as difficult to approach and unlikeable as ever, but seeing his familiar face brought immense relief to everyone, like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Chu Rong was truly fine. Thank goodness, they hadn¡¯t been fooled by someone using Chu Rong¡¯s communicator. Previously, Zhuang Yu had been angrily cursing Chu Rong, but seeing him now, she rushed forward two steps, carefully examining his appearance, and let out a big sigh of relief ¡ª he looked normal, his aura was stable, and he hadn¡¯t gone mad or become stupid; he was still his usual self. Chu Rong first received a small box from Master. Ren, then frowned and glanced around at everyone, saying, ¡°What are you all standing around for? Go count your troops. After counting, go to the Xiang family¡¯s flagship for a meeting to receive your tasks. We set sail in an hour. Hurry up.¡± It was the same familiar terrible attitude, but Yuan Lie and the others couldn¡¯t help but smile slightly, responding with a ¡°Yes, sir,¡± before turning to count their troops. The others followed suit, dispersing, leaving only Xiang Lingyun in front of Chu Rong, whose flagship had been forcibly requisitioned. ¡°Marshal Chu, you¡­¡± Xiang Lingyun stepped forward, wanting to ask what this sudden assembly was about, but Chu Rong waved him off, his eyes scanning the crowd and landing on Zhuang Yu. He asked, ¡°Where are the Imperial High Advisor and Jian?¡± Zhuang Yu, feeling guilty about her previous curses, pointed towards the Xiang family¡¯s flagship without daring to speak. Chu Rong nodded in understanding, spoke a few words with Master Ren, and then signaled Xiang Lingyun to follow as he strode towards the Xiang family¡¯s flagship. With Chu Rong¡¯s arrival, the previously chaotic port quickly became organized. An hour later, all the ships set sail under the cover of night. Chu Rong stood at the forefront of the meeting room on the Xiang family¡¯s flagship, marking over a dozen coordinates on a star map of the Blue Galaxy. He said, ¡°These are the fixed large-scale teleportation device coordinates I extracted from An Xei and Ning Tianxing¡¯s minds. They are all connected to the mastermind¡¯s hideout. Besides relying on randomly placed teleportation devices by puppets, the Zerg release also depends on these hidden fixed coordinates.¡± Everyone was stunned, speechless as they looked at the coordinates almost encircling the Blue Galaxy. They had thought that the laboratory on the garbage planet that Chu Rong had destroyed was Ning Tianxing and An Xei¡¯s last resort, but it turned out there were still so many hidden monster teleportation sites. ¡°In Ning Tianxing and An Xei¡¯s memories, I learned a term, ¡®food.''¡± Chu Rong¡¯s eyes turned cold as he too looked at the star map, saying, ¡°The monster they serve has a spiritual power level of at least SSSS. They might have once been human, but after countless human experiments and ¡®food¡¯ absorption, they have become a true monster. Regular food can no longer sustain them, they need a large supply of ¡®food¡¯ to survive.¡± Everyone fell silent, pondering what exactly this ¡®food¡¯ referred to, too afraid to ask. Finally, Chu Huai took the initiative to ask, ¡°What does ¡®food¡¯ mean?¡± ¡°Humans with high-level or special spiritual abilities, experimental subjects cultivated by Ning Tianxing, Zerg eggs, and¡­¡± He paused, omitting a certain term, then looked at the group and said, ¡°In short, as long as this monster is not eliminated, the Blue Galaxy will never achieve true peace and stability.¡± Everyone was shocked and then realized the severity of the situation, all adopting serious expressions. ¡°The coordinates of the monster teleportation sites obtained from An Xei have all been destroyed by me.¡± Chu Rong continued, pointing to the star map. Half of the coordinates around the Blue Galaxy dimmed, making the remaining coordinates stand out even more. Chu Rong withdrew his hand and tapped a few times on his communicator, and the leaders present received a planetary coordinate on their devices. ¡°The cunning monster regularly shifts between these coordinates using teleportation devices to avoid detection. He must have realized his hiding spots have been exposed and is likely to launch a counterattack soon. Therefore, it¡¯s crucial to destroy these coordinates quickly, cutting off all his escape routes and shutting down his channels for releasing evil into the Blue Galaxy. The mission details have been sent to your communicators. Master Ren will provide your troops with enough manually-piloted mecha to familiarize the soldiers as soon as possible. Meeting adjourned.¡± Manually-piloted mecha? Could they be the strange mechas that allowed the Chu family¡¯s troops to continue fighting under Zerg neural wave suppression? The Chu family was willing to equip them with these? The sole Imperial General, Neitaxi, who had been quietly awaiting orders, stood up excitedly at Chu Rong¡¯s words. He gave a formal Imperial military salute and said loudly, ¡°Marshal Chu, rest assured, for the peace of the Blue Galaxy, we will do our utmost!¡± Others followed suit, standing up and offering praise and gratitude for Chu Rong¡¯s generosity. Listening to their thanks, Chu Rong¡¯s hand gradually clenched, his eyes dark and brooding. Manually-piloted mecha had finally been widely implemented after Qiao Zhiya provided a perfect alternative solution. However, the person who developed them had gone missing, right before his eyes, mocking his incompetence and ridiculing his past arrogance and ignorance. After receiving their orders, the people left one by one, leaving the meeting room empty. Chu Rong¡¯s perpetually tense back slightly relaxed. He raised his hand to touch the jade pendant Qiao Zhiya had secretly hung on his space button not long ago, closed his eyes tightly, and then strode towards the room where the Imperial High Advisor was resting. Watching him intently, Chu Huai sighed and sensibly refrained from bothering him, also taking his leave. After the first space jump, the fleet split up in unison, heading quickly towards their respective mission coordinates. Under Chu Rong¡¯s command, Xiang family¡¯s flagship moved towards the third coordinate where Fan Xiangnan was located, near the remote Smith Defense Line on the Federation¡¯s border. In the infirmary, Jian, who had been resting by the bedside, immediately opened his eyes upon Chu Rong¡¯s entrance. He hurriedly positioned himself in front of the Imperial High Advisor, his eyes filled with anxiety and apprehension. ¡°I know your father is the white shadow.¡± Chu Rong stopped at the infirmary door, not entering, speaking plainly. Jian was shocked, lifting his head abruptly to look at him, his body trembling as he explained, ¡°M-my father didn¡¯t harm Qiao, really! He sensed danger and rushed over to save him. Qiao wasn¡¯t taken by my father! An-and please don¡¯t harm my father. He can help find Qiao, really, believe me!¡± That night, his father had suddenly awakened, transforming into a large white beast and taking him away from the Chu family¡¯s residence, leaving him in a safe place before flying off urgently. Jian was stunned by his father¡¯s transformation, filled with fear and uncertainty, waiting anxiously outside all night. Eventually, his father sent a communication, and when he reached the location, his father had reverted to human form, covered in scales, and had fallen unconscious. Frightened, Jian realized his father couldn¡¯t return to the Chu family¡¯s residence in his current state, so he secretly hid him outside, attempting to contact Qiao Zhiya, only to find Qiao¡¯s communicator unreachable. Then, the overwhelming news hit him ¡ª Qiao Zhiya was missing, and his father was the alleged culprit. Panic-stricken, he hid away, but a few days later, the military found them, capturing both him and his father. The only relief was that his father¡¯s scales had gradually disappeared, preventing suspicion. Now, with Chu Rong exposing his father¡¯s identity, Jian was utterly panicked. Chu Rong valued Qiao immensely, and with everyone accusing his father of abducting Qiao, he feared what Chu Rong might do to his father. Chu Rong saw his panic, his expression softening slightly, and responded warmly, ¡°I believe you.¡± Jian froze, eyes wide in surprise. ¡°Here are some yellow leaf wood potions, which might be useful for your father. Make sure he wakes up as soon as possible.¡± Chu Rong placed a box of potions on the ground, glanced at the Imperial High Advisor on the bed, then turned and left decisively. Jian stared blankly for a moment, then picked up the box, finding it filled with various potions. Replaying Chu Rong¡¯s words in his mind, he finally let out a huge sigh of relief, collapsing to the ground with the box in his arms. They were safe, right? With Chu Rong¡¯s attitude, he and his father should be safe. Closing the door to his room, Chu Rong stood in the darkness, the facade of calm and composure crumbling, revealing the inner torment and self-blame. He slid to the floor, pulling out Qiao Zhiya¡¯s communicator from the space button, leaning back against the door, staring at the dark ceiling, images of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s disappearance and the man from the magic circle flashing in his mind repeatedly. He slowly closed his eyes. He had seen that blond man in Qiao Zhiya¡¯s memories. ¡®Qiao Zhiya¡­¡¯ His throat moved, and he pressed a hand to his forehead, then clenched his fist and pounded the door hard. If he had paid more attention to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s situation, listened more to his words, realized the abnormality of the magic circle sooner, believed him earlier, and helped him find his family¡­ His spiritual sea began to stir again. He opened his eyes, looking at the small communicator in his hand. Slowly, he reined in his exposed emotions and stood up. ¡®No, now wasn¡¯t the time for self-blame and despair. Qiao might have been rescued by his relatives and could still be in the Blue Galaxy, or perhaps he had returned to his unreachable homeland.¡¯ ¡®If he was still in the Blue Galaxy, Qiao would find a way to contact me. If not¡­¡¯ He turned to look out at the vast universe, his expression hardening. ¡®If not, then I will find that monster, extract the secret of the teleportation device that brought Qiao here from their head, and go find Qiao myself.¡¯ As the darkest hour before dawn arrived, he sat by the bed, holding the communicator that seemed to still carry his lover¡¯s scent, sleepless. CH 114.1 At dawn, after being disconnected for several hours, the Chu family¡¯s flagship finally transmitted a message ¡ª they were suddenly attacked by a large group of Zergs after crossing the Smith Defense Line, and their communication signal was also interfered with by the Zergs¡¯ neural waves, making it impossible to contact the outside world. They have now cleared the Zergs and escaped, hovering above the target garbage planet to rest and prepare to land to find the location of the teleportation field. It wasn¡¯t until this moment that Xiang Lingyun learned that the Chu family flagship had actually been disconnected. He had previously thought that Chu Rong himself had not received the mission and only led the team close to the coordinates of the Chu family flagship because he did not trust the Xiang family and wanted to return to his own flagship first. But now it seems that Chu Rong actually trusted the Xiang family very much, which is why he was willing to let the Xiang family accompany him, rather than having Yuan Lie or He Hongjun accompany him. After realizing this point, he felt somewhat happy for some reason, and then quickly suppressed this happiness, self-reflecting ¡ª how could he develop such a servile attitude so quickly after becoming a subordinate of the Chu family? No, as the head of a Great Family, he must be steady. So, with a serious demeanor, he meticulously prepared a large amount of military supplies, thinking that the people on the Chu family flagship had just gone through a fierce battle, and their supplies might have been depleted, so they might need a little help. Chu Rong accepted his kindness without any politeness, and then politely replied with a thank you. Xiang Lingyun expressed his serious expression and said that it was unnecessary; mutual assistance in times of war was expected. But his back straightened a bit more, as if he were a junior academy student being praised by a teacher. The weirdly harmonious and relaxed atmosphere disappeared after crossing the Smith Defense Line ¡ª beyond the defense line, the bodies of the Zergs covered the ground, mixed with some wreckage of small warships. The scene didn¡¯t look anything like Fan Xiangnan¡¯s description of a relaxed situation in the report. Although the Chu family¡¯s military abilities had always been the best among all the military forces, they didn¡¯t even have time to clean up the battlefield now, indicating how bad the situation was at that time. It turned out that the ¡°escape¡± mentioned by Fan Xiangnan was just escaping from the predicament. ¡°Speed up and get closer, contact Fan Xiangnan again,¡± Chu Rong ordered with a frown, directly taking over the position of the Chu family flagship commander. The officers of the Xiang family in the command center immediately acted upon hearing the order, their efficiency much higher than that of their own commander, which made the nearby idle commander stare wide-eyed. Lin Zhen first dialed the communication of the Chu family flagship, but couldn¡¯t connect. He frowned, then dialed Fan Xiangnan¡¯s communication, still unable to connect. After that, he tried to dial the communication of Tan Shengwei, the captain of one of Fan Xiangnan¡¯s squads, but still couldn¡¯t connect. Feeling heavy-hearted, he looked sideways at Chu Rong and called out, ¡°Commander.¡± The two stood close together, and Chu Rong also heard the message of the failed connection. He frowned deeply, gesturing for him to continue dialing while urging the flagship to accelerate again. At the fastest speed, they rushed to the top of the garbage planet. The flagship¡¯s excellent scanning ability quickly fed back the scene below, but all they saw was darkness ¡ª the entire planet was shrouded in a thick, black cloud, and nothing could be seen. When the scanning image was magnified, and the composition of those ¡°clouds¡± was clear, they couldn¡¯t help but gasp in shock ¡ª Zergs, densely packed Zergs, the things enveloping the entire planet were not clouds at all, but swarms of Zergs clustered together! Seeing this, Chu Rong¡¯s heart moved, first gesturing for the flagship to hover, and then contacting the various military commanders who had dispersed after receiving the mission. The responses of the commanders came quickly. Except for General Neitaxi in the Empire, whose coordinates were far away, the other Federal military forces had all arrived near their respective coordinates, and some of them, who were faster, had already begun searching for the target location to launch an attack. They had all encountered varying degrees of Zergs attacks, but they were not large in scale. With enough manually operated mechas, the soldiers quickly broke through the Zerg defense line and seized the initiative in the war. Sure enough. Chu Rong looked at the junk planet surrounded by Zergs below, his eyes gleaming with a cold light ¡ª the monster was most likely hiding here. Before assigning tasks, he had analyzed the positions of each coordinate. Except for the garbage planet outside the Smith Defense Line and the Imperial border planet 56X where Neitaxi was located, there were more or less military forces stationed near the other coordinates, or there were other inhabited planets, making them less suitable for perfect concealment. This time, the monster was seizing the opportunity to capture Qiao Zhiya. It definitely needed a perfectly concealed place to receive ¡°food,¡± most likely within Federation territory. Setting aside the coordinates he had previously destroyed, this garbage planet outside the border line, which hadn¡¯t been visited by anyone for decades, was almost the most suitable place. ¡°Speed up the destruction of the other coordinates, cut off the monster¡¯s escape route!¡± he ordered, then closed communication with the other commanders, while spreading out his spiritual power directly downwards, breaking through the thick and sticky suppression of the Zergs¡¯ neural waves, quickly locating the position of the Chu family flagship, and issued a command, ¡°Everyone, prepare for battle and land at the target location!¡± The intense spiritual power intimidation that flashed by just now made everyone come to their senses. Suddenly feeling bold, they loudly responded, ¡°Yes!¡± After receiving the order, soldiers from all levels quickly assembled, bringing with them the manually-operated mechas that they had only hastily familiarize themselves with a few hours ago, and gathered at the exit of various flagships. Since the last battle, Chu Yan had not taken off his identity as a new recruit. At this moment, he also stood in the follow-up troops of the Chu family as a squad leader, waiting to disembark for battle. ¡°The Knight is very powerful. Don¡¯t waste its strength.¡± Suddenly, Xiang Kun¡¯s voice came from behind. Chu Yan was stunned, shocked, turned his head, and then, when he saw Xiang Kun, who was wearing a new recruit uniform of the Xiang family, he almost couldn¡¯t catch his breath. He nearly choked on air at the sight of the curious members of the squad around him. He hurriedly stepped forward, pulled Xiang Kun aside into a corner, raised his eyebrows, and said, ¡°What are you doing here? And dressed like this? You, you¡¯re not going to the battlefield too, are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a technician.¡± Xiang Kun pointed to his chest badge, looked at him as if he were an idiot, paused, and suddenly said, ¡°You only have S-level spiritual power. You can¡¯t directly resist the neural waves of the Zergs and fight with spiritual power like your second brother, so the Knight can only exert half of its power in your hands¡­ Chu San, use half of it, don¡¯t just use one-fourth or one-eighth, and waste the effort Qiao Zhiya spent on the Knight.¡± Chu Yan stared, his expression tensed into a knot, gritting his teeth. ¡°Are you trying to sound nice before dying?¡± Xiang Kun responded with a disdainful smirk, pointing to his eye sockets. ¡®¡­Damn!¡¯ Chu Yan was so angry that he wanted to punch him in the eye sockets, but it wasn¡¯t appropriate, and his hand couldn¡¯t lift, so he just glared at him fiercely, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with you when I come back from fighting the Zergs!¡± With that, he turned around and returned to the team, his expression flat, not looking over here again. While they were talking, the flagship had already landed at the designated height. After a round of bombardment, the Chu family flagship appeared not far away. The soldiers were almost ready to disembark. Everyone became solemn, standing silently, waiting for the hatch to open. Xiang Kun retreated to the position where the technicians should be, watching Chu Yan, who was obviously a little taller than the others in the crowd, with a gradually disappearing smirk on his face, returning to his expressionless state, lips pursed, appearing somewhat indifferent. With the childish expression of anger suppressed, the unrestrained behavior discarded, and a serious expression with lowered eyebrows and focused eyes, Chu Yan, who was watching ahead waiting for deployment, looked like a changed person. The military uniform fit him perfectly, and the sharp, murderous aura almost revealed itself the moment he straightened his back. The members of the Chu family were born soldiers. Even Chu Huai, who entered politics, exuded an imposing presence when he picked up weapons. And this youngest son of the Chu family had finally grown up, becoming more and more like his second brother who had shouldered the banner of the Federation¡¯s safety early on. The new sword had already been unsheathed, waiting to be honed in blood to become another legendary weapon that shook the world. The alert for battle readiness sounded, and all the soldiers scattered in unison, taking out their mechas and swiftly boarding them, then the flagship hatch opened with a rumble. Rows of mechas lit up with flashing lights as they started up, and then with a clatter, the hatch opened completely, and the steel giants floated in formation, one by one rushing into the sky occupied by the Zergs. Xiang Kun¡¯s gaze followed one of the small mechas, his hands subconsciously clenched, his brow slightly furrowed. As if sensing his gaze, the small mecha turned its head before rushing out of the hatch, glanced back in this direction, clenched its fist slightly, waved, then turned back and rushed into the floating ¡°clouds¡± outside. With a rumble, after the soldiers left, the hatch closed, cutting off Xiang Kun¡¯s somewhat dazed gaze. ¡°He¡¯s gone. It¡¯s time to go adjust the next batch of mechas. Sigh, tailoring the height and size parameters of these manually-operated mechas according to the soldiers¡¯ physical conditions is really exhausting.¡± A companion¡¯s hand slapped his shoulder, bringing Xiang Kun back to his senses. He slowly withdrew his gaze from the hatch, raised his hand to touch the chest badge representing the technician, and replied softly, then turned and walked briskly towards his ¡°battlefield.¡± CH 114.2 Fan Xiangnan, upon discovering the sudden appearance of a large number of Zergs surrounding the flagship and quickly besieging it, cleverly did not let the soldiers go into battle, but instead adopted a defensive stance using only artillery fire, while trying to ascend to a safe position to contact Chu Rong, who would arrive in the next step. However, the Zergs seemed to have seen through his intentions and forcibly trapped him in between two layers of ¡°clouds,¡± preventing him from moving at all. The longer time dragged on, the more unfavorable the situation became for them. Just as he was preparing to use the flagship¡¯s highest weapon to blast a way out and retreat directly, gunfire suddenly came from above. Tan Shengwei was the first to get excited and said, ¡°It¡¯s the Marshal! It must be the Marshal!¡± Fan Xiangnan relaxed his expression, immediately ordered his subordinates to turn the cannons, and raised his voice, ¡°Coordinate with the artillery fire above to sweep the Zergs and ascend! Try to dock with the allied ships!¡± The spirits of the people were lifted, and they hurriedly responded with excitement and began to act. The power of the flagship¡¯s bombardment was immense. The ¡°clouds¡± quickly thinned out, and the Xiang family flagship above took the lead in deploying soldiers, allowing them to clear out a safe area and then the two flagships took the opportunity to open their hatches for docking, formally merging. ¡°Bring the soldiers back together and continue the bombardment. Get ready to land.¡± Chu Rong ordered, then walked briskly outside. Xiang Lingyun was startled and quickly caught up, asking, ¡°Marshal Chu, where are you going?¡± ¡°Deep into battle,¡± Chu Rong replied without looking back, his figure disappearing quickly at the entrance of the command room. Lin Zhen and the others quickly gathered their belongings and followed, their actions swift and their momentum unstoppable, their efficiency impeccable. Half of the people in the room were gone in an instant. The confused and unsure commanding officer tentatively spoke, ¡°Um¡­ does that mean I¡¯m in charge next?¡± Xiang Lingyun snapped back to reality, glanced at this usually shrewd and stable but now inexplicably foolish commanding officer, couldn¡¯t help but glare at him, and said, ¡°Who else do you think would take over? Go quickly, don¡¯t delay!¡± The commanding officer also realized that he had asked a very foolish question and quickly cleared his throat to adjust his state, standing at the command seat where Chu Rong had just stood. The soldiers quickly regrouped, and the flagship continued its bombardment, purposefully clearing out only a portion of the Zergs in order to create a landing path. Fan Xiangnan welcomed Chu Rong and Lin Zhen, who arrived quickly, and immediately carefully assessed Chu Rong¡¯s situation. Seeing that his breath was normal, his aura stable, and his condition even better than before the incident, he completely relaxed, couldn¡¯t help but excitedly step forward, and called out, ¡°Commander!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard during this time,¡± Chu Rong nodded in response to his call, first taking out a few small boxes and handing them to him, then continuing to walk towards his own flagship, quickly saying, ¡°These contain the new generation of manually-operated mechas, with a synchronization rate of 100%. They have already been adjusted according to each soldiers¡¯ physical data in advance. Distribute them immediately according to the numbers on them, and mobilize all the squads familiar with manually operated mechas to prepare to land on the junk planet with me.¡± Fan Xiangnan quickly adjusted back to his state upon hearing this, and followed suit, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go take care of it.¡± With that, he left directly at the intersection and headed towards the area where the soldiers were gathering. Lin Zhen, who was following Chu Rong, frowned and said, ¡°Commander, now that the Zergs outside are so dense, wouldn¡¯t it be too dangerous to directly deploy soldiers to land?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Chu Rong replied, affirming, ¡°Those Zergs will behave.¡± Chu Rong quickly took over the command of the Chu family flagship, swiftly surveyed the situation inside the flagship, then contacted the Xiang family flagship, separated and docked, and was no longer worried about the Zergs¡¯ attacks. They directly plowed through them and descended towards the junk planet. They quickly counted the soldiers who would accompany him ashore and made preparations to disembark. As if sensing their intention to forcibly land, the Zergs¡¯ attacks became even more frenzied. The scattered Zergs around began to converge towards them, their numbers increasing and their density thickening, forcibly dragging the flagship into mid-air. The Zergs inside the flagship were all gnawing at the protection shell with all their might, while those outside were trying to find gaps to penetrate, as if they were preparing to dismantle the flagship. ¡°Marshal! If we keep this up, the protection shell of the flagship won¡¯t hold!¡± The Xiang family¡¯s commanding officer had never experienced such a brutal breakthrough tactic before, and was almost scared to the point of being unable to breathe by the sight of the Zergs swarming around them. Holding on to his composure for a while, he finally couldn¡¯t help but shout out in panic. Although the shell of the flagship was made of tenth-grade material, it couldn¡¯t withstand the biting of the Zergs. Moreover, with so many Zergs, it was possible to overturn the flagship. With so many ants, they could even kill an elephant! ¡°Soldiers, prepare to land.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice came over, still calm. The Xiang family¡¯s commanding officer glanced at the hellish scene outside, unable to contain his panic, and shouted in disbelief, ¡°Land? Marshal, are you trying to get us killed?¡± ¡°Open the hatch and land!¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice came again, and at the same time, the Chu family flagship in front opened its hatch first. The Xiang family¡¯s commanding officer was about to retort with words like ¡°treason¡± and ¡°unwelcome advice,¡± but saw that all the Zergs that had been attacking them suddenly stopped moving, as if frozen in place. ¡°Whoa?¡± He widened his eyes, all his words choked back in his throat. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± After the gunfire, the motionless Zergs around were easily swept away, revealing a clean space and the figures of the Chu family¡¯s mecha squad descending rapidly towards the ground after exiting the ship. ¡°After the soldiers safely land, the flagship will split into two sides, forming an encirclement. Aim at the central and surrounding areas and bombard to ensure the safety of this area,¡± Chu Rong¡¯s voice continued to come through. The voice, which had been somewhat blurred by the influence of the Zerg¡¯s neural waves, suddenly became extremely clear, as if even the signals in this area had returned to normal. The commanding officer of the Xiang family was dumbfounded. Before he could react, he saw the Chu family flagship quickly closing its hatches after deploying the soldiers and retreating. It began to bombard the area where the Zergs had been ¡°frozen,¡± quickly clearing out a safe space. The Zergs that could still move from the outer layer rushed in, but they were once again ¡°frozen¡± and easily pierced by the artillery fire. ¡°So this is SSSS-level spiritual power¡­¡± The commanding officer looked at the large area around him where all the Zergs were ¡°frozen¡± until they reached the ground, his palms sweating, speechless. ¡®This¡­ this is too strong.¡¯ Xiang Lingyun was brought back to his senses by his exclamation, hurriedly stepped forward, and slapped him hard, shouting, ¡°What are you standing there for, dumbfounded? Take action! Don¡¯t waste the safe area Chu Rong cleared out! Hurry up! Increase the firepower!¡± The commanding officer regained his senses and quickly took action. At this time, the two flagships were already very close to the ground, and soldiers were landing one after another. After clearing out the safe area, the flagships immediately deployed all the small warships stored inside, forming a scattered encirclement suspended above the soldiers landing on the ground, and continued to bombard the area where the Zergs were ¡°frozen¡± to ensure the ¡°cleanliness¡± and safety of this area. Chu Rong piloted a manually-operated mecha made by Master Ren himself. After landing on the ground, he restrained the Zergs with his spiritual power while directly aiming at the ground and launching a brutal bombardment. With the enhancement of his spiritual power, the power of his full-force attack increased even further. Soon, he blasted a large hole in the ground, revealing the true ground covered by spiritual stones underneath. Sure enough, it was the same old trick. He put away his weapon and commanded the soldiers to defend against any Zergs that attempted to charge in solo while diverting most of his spiritual power to infiltrate the interior of the planet. After finding what he wanted, he slowly compressed his spiritual power into a thin blade¡ª After upgrading his spiritual power, his strength had qualitatively improved, which was reflected in many aspects, such as his control over spiritual power. His spiritual power, transformed into a thin blade, penetrated into the interior of the planet at a terrifying speed, and then exploded after touching a structure deep underground. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± The ground began to shake, and there was a muffled thunder-like roar from underground. Then, a crack suddenly appeared, growing larger and larger, with rocks and soil splattering everywhere. A whirlwind spun out from the crack, forcefully clearing a passage to the underground. ¡°Enter by team, prepare for the flagship to land, and guard the crack!¡± Chu Rong commanded, then took the lead in flying towards the crack. At the same time, his spiritual power continued to spread out, firmly surrounding the detected building area underground, gradually infiltrating inside. ¡°Hiss, hsss shhh¡ª!¡± The screeching of the Zergs came from the crack and quickly approached. Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power trembled, accelerating his descent. When he saw the Zergs, he immediately aimed the cannon at them and fired several shots. The bodies of the Zergs exploded, clearing the path. Fan Xiangnan and Lin Zhen led the squad behind him, helping to clear out the remaining Zergs, excited and proud. ¡®The commander is already so powerful! This is¡­ this is victory! Our only goal is victory!¡¯ Chu Rong rushed forward with an unstoppable momentum, and the Zergs behind couldn¡¯t slow him down. The soldiers behind gradually couldn¡¯t keep up, and a long queue formed as they fell behind. ¡°Maintain formation, don¡¯t fall behind or get separated. I¡¯ll leave marks along the way for you,¡± Chu Rong commanded. Chu Rong¡¯s voice echoed through the public channel, followed by the distant sound of intense gunfire from deep below, gradually fading away until it was no longer audible. The soldiers couldn¡¯t believe it ¡ª they thought Marshal Chu¡¯s speed was already fast enough, but they never expected him to be even faster! In the depths of the crevice, at the forefront of the team, Chu Rong wanted to accelerate again, but when he found that the mecha seemed to have reached its limit, he frowned slightly. He had to slow down the downward momentum, only allowing his spiritual power to rapidly penetrate into the target area. Although the mecha he piloted was a special-grade one made by Master Ren and the Master Shang together, it was not like Rong Tian, not made with magic arrays and true alien beast tendons by Qiao Zhiya. Although this mecha was also made based on the concept of the Knights, with a combination of spiritual power and manual control mode, and its appearance was infinitely close to Rong Tian¡¯s, the feel was still far off, and the upper limit was too low, unable to allow him to unleash his full potential like Rong Tian. ¡®Qiao Zhiya¡­¡¯ Suddenly, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s exhausted appearance while working on the unfinished mecha frame flashed in his mind. His heart tightened, and his spiritual power surged, but his expression became colder ¡ª he needed to pull the monster out and dig out the secrets in his mind. The screechingof the Zergs and the sound of gunfire merged into one, and the darkness grew thicker. Despite sweeping out with his spiritual power, Chu Rong found no trace of the monster. He sneered, finally approaching the previously scanned building area, clearing out the incoming Zergs, and swiftly rushing into the exposed metallic structure¡ªit was here, the place where evil hid. Above ground, above the crevice, the two flagships firmly guarded on both sides. The protective shield of the flagships, which had not been used much, finally opened. It was as if they sensed their ability to protect themselves. The spiritual energy covering the sky was withdrawn, the frozen Zergs moved again, and they charged towards the flagships. ¡°Ah!¡± The commanding officer, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, couldn¡¯t help but exclaim, provoking Xiang Lingyun¡¯s glare of disappointment. He said, ¡°What kind of reaction is that! Once the battle distance is closed, can¡¯t you fight anymore? Hurry up and continue clearing out the Zergs! The shield consumes too much energy. The denser the Zergs, the faster the shield¡¯s energy will be depleted. Quickly stabilize the advantage that Chu Rong has cleared out!¡± The commanding officer came to his senses and felt that his previous reaction was too embarrassing. He quickly acted, and the sound of gunfire rang out above the crevice once again. In the deep underground, Chu Rong cleared one cage after another that housed the Zergs, and his spiritual power quickly mapped out the terrain of this Zerg breeding ground. With a clear target in mind, he rushed towards the largest, open room on the bottom floor. The height of the building inside was too low for the mecha to move forward comfortably, so he simply blasted a path through. He didn¡¯t worry at all that his bombardment might collapse this underground building, which was even larger than Ning Tianxing¡¯s laboratory. ¡°Boom!¡± Another wall blocking his path was directly broken through by Chu Rong. The area covered by his spiritual power trembled faintly for a moment. Then, within his scanning range, three more spacious rooms suitable for placing teleportation devices appeared. They were evenly distributed in different directions, perfectly occupying the four cardinal directions along with the initially scanned room. Chu Rong paused for a moment, then smirked. That monster was indeed here, and it was even trying to disrupt his spiritual reconnaissance. Ignoring the other three spacious rooms, Chu Rong walked straight towards the initially sensed room. ¡°Arrogant people from the Chu family.¡± A slick voice suddenly sounded from behind him. Chu Rong¡¯s eyes narrowed, but instead of turning around, he quickened his pace forward and aimed the cannon at the Zergs that had appeared again, blasting them away. Unlike Ning Tianxing¡¯s laboratory, this underground building was filled with nothing but Zergs and their eggs. ¡°In fact, the first Zerg that was lured here was just an accident.¡± The slick voice continued, and at the same time, the surrounding Zergs became more excited. The neural waves of the Zergs in the air suddenly became stronger, beginning to oppress his spiritual power scattered outside. ¡°Boom!¡± He blasted away the locking device on the platform and flew downwards. ¡°Later, the Zerg Queen was also lured here. Ah, what a delicious feast it was, but unfortunately, she was a bit disobedient.¡± The slick voice followed him like a shadow, and the Zergs closed in layer by layer, trying to trap his footsteps. ¡°Your mother is also too disobedient. Her mind is too sharp, so I had to let her rest forever.¡± As if a cold wind blew from behind, Chu Rong paused for a moment, then his attacks became even more ruthless. The mecha enveloped with killing intent and hostility quickly rushed downstairs. ¡°In fact, if it weren¡¯t for the first little crawler running away, we wouldn¡¯t have become enemies at all. I¡¯m not a terrible anti-human, on the contrary, I love your fresh and wonderful bodies.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The mecha once again blasted through the ground. Suddenly, a faint sound of wings flapping came, and then an experimental subject, protected by the Zergs, burst out diagonally and exploded, creating a black hole. The mecha, moving at extreme speed, was almost sucked in. Chu Rong promptly released his spiritual power to envelop the mecha, then fired a full blast at the black hole! The black hole dissipated, clearing the path once again. ¡°How does it feel to possess such terrifying power?¡± The slick voice suddenly grew louder, as if whispering right next to his ear, with a tempting tone, ¡°So, you and I are actually the same. We both only seek to become stronger¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Chu Rong finally spoke up. With the mecha about to reach the open room, he changed direction and accelerated towards the center of the underground building. His spiritual power formed into a sharp net, coldly saying, ¡°Your deception technique is not even as good as that of a newly trained recruit.¡± The slick voice abruptly stopped, then a piercing screech sounded as if directly in his mind. ¡°Boom!¡± The ground behind him, which had not been blasted through, was suddenly shattered by the Zergs. A large number of Zergs and several experimental subjects rushed towards him with bloodthirsty intent. The entire building became chaotic, as the massive spiritual power suppression and the contamination of Zerg neural waves pressed down on Chu Rong, seemingly trying to crush him into pieces! But Chu Rong¡¯s expression remained unchanged. He directly charged into the encirclement of Zergs and experimental subjects, then blasted them one by one. The experimental subjects exploded, creating one black hole after another, attempting to suck in the only anomaly ¡ª Chu Rong. CH 114.3 In the giant forest, Qiao Zhiya woke up from a nightmare, his eyes wide open, his tail tense. His body¡¯s reaction told him that he had just dreamt of something very scary, but his mind was very chaotic, and the only image he could recall was a dense blackness. ¡®Chu Rong¡­¡¯ He wrapped his tail around himself, looking around in confusion and helplessness, but he couldn¡¯t find any familiar scent. ¡°Qiao Yi, your current condition is not enough to support you to draw another bloodline teleportation array. This barrier is too strong, and there is no magical supply outside. I¡­¡± His mother¡¯s voice, along with the magic released by the yellow-leaf ree, came to him. Qiao Zhiya gradually regained his senses from the nightmare, realizing that there was a magic array rotating slowly to protect his safety under his sleeping nest. However, his parents, who had been guarding him before going to bed, were no longer by his side. He released his tail and sat up, sensing the fluctuating scent in the air. Soon, he saw his parents sitting together on the lower branch, talking softly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the magic concentration in this forest is very rich. Qiaoqiao has returned to us. There is no need to draw another bloodline teleportation array. It¡¯s just that for the high-level teleportation array, my magic power is still enough to support us out.¡± Qiao Yi placed his hand on his wife¡¯s shoulder, gently comforting her. But Mi Lai frowned, feeling upset, and said with a lowered voice, ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. If I hadn¡¯t rushed in and injured my magic pool, you wouldn¡¯t have to work so hard¡­ Qiao Yi, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not a good wife or mother¡­¡± Qiao Yi hugged her, gently stroking her head, and whispered, ¡°No, you¡¯ve done very well.¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡± Mi Lai shook her head vigorously, interrupting his comfort, and enumerated the places where she felt she had failed, ¡°I¡¯m greedy, I love to play, I¡¯m clumsy when taking care of our baby, I always need your help¡­ and I¡¯m very poor. I can¡¯t surround our baby with many good things like that white-haired¡­ like that Chu Rong. I must be the worst dwarf mother. Other dwarf babies are so lively, but our baby is so obedient. Isn¡¯t it said that children from poor families grow up early? We¡¯re too poor¡­ sob¡­¡± As she spoke, she couldn¡¯t help but cry, feeling that her precious son had lived a life of hardship before. She felt so sorry for him that she couldn¡¯t breathe. Qiao Yi was amused and helpless, patting her back to comfort her. He wanted to say something to console her, but watching her mutter and cry, he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle softly. ¡°You¡¯re laughing?¡± Mi Lai looked at him with tears in her eyes. Seeing him laugh so beautifully and tenderly, her face turned red. Unable to continue crying, she wiped her tears away and said angrily, ¡°Just wait, I¡¯ll become the richest dwarf mother. I¡¯ll bury our baby in gems! I¡¯ll build a house for him with gems! Definitely!¡± Then that white-haired ugly thing will be jealous! I won¡¯t let that white-haired ugly thing look down on our baby because of money! Thinking of this, she felt uncomfortable again, and threw herself back into her husband¡¯s arms, mumbling something incoherent. Qiao Yi understood his wife¡¯s dilemma but didn¡¯t know how to comfort her. Dwarves and elves were destined not to accumulate wealth and power like humans. Born and raised in nature, their understanding of wealth was mostly at the spiritual level. Moreover, both he and his wife were easily satisfied people. They had always lived a smooth and comfortable life, so they had never intentionally accumulated wealth. But if Qiaoqiao really wants to find a human companion and live in human society in the future, then money is an indispensable thing in order to make Qiao Qiao live more comfortably and freely. ¡­Maybe after this side of things is over, he should return to the elf territory for a visit. Qiao Zhiya peeked at the quiet and embracing parents below, his wings and tail drooping sadly, but soon perking up again. He obediently retreated into his nest, curled his tail, and closed his eyes. ¡°Bang!¡± A test subject preparing to self-destruct was blasted out by a cannonball, and then flames erupted, burning its flesh into ashes and smoke. The gray mecha rushed out, and behind it, the dense clusters of small black holes twisted and dissipated under the influence of the gunfire. The Zergs, influenced by spiritual power, froze in place, becoming easy prey. The mecha was covered in mucus and blood, but it didn¡¯t affect its forward speed at all. Chu Rong gazed firmly ahead, ignoring the increasingly loud screams in his mind. He raised his twin cannons, and his spiritual power merged into the fire magic array at the core of the twin cannons, accumulating energy, then fiercely bombarded the wall. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± The cannonballs, carrying flames that seemed to burn through everything, slammed into the wall, incinerating the Zergs gathered inside the room, and forcefully rushed toward the next wall! The building couldn¡¯t withstand such an attack, emitting the sound of cracking walls under unbearable pressure. After a brief disappearance, the slimy sound returned, this time coming from a distant place, with a frantic tone, ¡°Chu Rong! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Chu Rong¡¯s response to his shouting was another round of gunfire. Realizing that he couldn¡¯t confuse him anymore, the monster¡¯s voice didn¡¯t appear again, but the blockade of Zergs became even more intense. Another wall was pierced through, and Chu Rong finally reached the target location ¡ª a spacious room without a gathering of Zergs, but similarly, there was no trace of the monster here. He turned back to look, only to see that the Zergs chasing behind seemed to be afraid of something and didn¡¯t dare to advance anymore. He checked the internal communication device of the mech and found that the communication, which had been restored under his spiritual influence, had once again been cut off. ¡ªThe monster was nearby, manipulating the communication here with spiritual power, and even attempting to create a false impression that he had found the wrong location. He stood in the center of the room, spreading out his spiritual power, looked up for a moment, then down at his feet. Suddenly, he sneered, turned around, and aimed at the side wall, attacking again. Unexpected but reasonable, the side wall was quite sturdy, and his firepower couldn¡¯t break through. ¡®Sure enough.¡¯ He put away his weapons and directly condensed his spiritual power. Just now, when he used his spiritual power to search the entire building, he couldn¡¯t sense the monster¡¯s location. It wasn¡¯t because the monster¡¯s spiritual power level was higher than his, allowing it to hide itself under his search, but because the monster used something that could deceive spiritual power to hide itself. And the only thing that could deceive spiritual power and make it unable to detect anything was the enhanced spiritual stone used by the monster to cover the real ground of the planet. His spiritual power turned into a thin blade and violently swept toward the seemingly normal wall. A piercing and cracking sound that made one¡¯s teeth ache rang out, and the wall collapsed, revealing a small room behind it, covered with mucus and blood, with a bulky ¡°shadow¡± in the middle about the size of a small mech. As his spiritual power was involved, the room, covered in blood, suddenly shone brightly, and the space began to distort. The ¡°shadow¡± in the middle suddenly opened its eyes, cracked its already Zergified mouth, and said grimly, ¡°The game is over, little friend.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s eyes narrowed, he raised his weapon and charged forward. ¡°Swish! Swish! Swish!¡± Suddenly, more than a dozen test subjects rushed out from behind the ¡°shadow,¡± and the slimy sound resumed, full of malice, ¡°One of these pets has your beloved one¡¯s special ability in their bellies. Guess which pet your poor little lover is in?¡± Chu Rong¡¯s attacking motion paused, and the test subjects took the opportunity to surround him and self-destruct rapidly, creating a black hole, providing time for the complete activation of the transmission device under the ¡°shadow.¡± ¡°Bang!¡± A gap was blasted in the black hole, and the gray mecha rushed out, but there was no longer the disgusting body of the ¡°shadow¡± in place. ¡ªIt took too long, and the monster¡¯s transmission device finally succeeded in activating. Chu Rong stood in the pool of blood, looking at this dirty and smelly room with a face as calm as water, clenched his fists, and the aura of killing intent permeated ¡ª damn stinky bug, how dare he use Qiao as bait! He turned around, dispersed the lonely floating black hole belt in the air, and headed back the way he came. ¡ªSure enough, this wasn¡¯t the monster¡¯s true lair. Where would the real lair be, the place where the monster truly hid, the place of sin it relied on? CH 115.1 Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family¡¯s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui¡¯s father. Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire. Feng: The Imperial High Advisor. Jian: the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s son. Studies History. The aroma of mushroom soup and fried meat patties wafted over, and Qiao Zhiya sniffed gently, slowly opening his eyes. ¡°Good morning, Baby!¡± Mi Lai leaned on the branch beside his nest, excitedly leaning over to give him a vigorous kiss as he woke up. Then she picked him up and rubbed him affectionately, cheerfully saying, ¡°It¡¯s breakfast time! Your dad made meat patties for you today. Are you happy, Baby?¡± The confusion from just waking up quickly dissipated under her enthusiastic greeting. Qiao Zhiya looked up at his mother, who seemed completely carefree, and then glanced down at his father smiling under the tree. Remembering what he had heard last night, he curled his claws, flicked his tail lightly, and nodded vigorously, saying, ¡°Happy! Mom, I also want to eat those red wild berries from yesterday.¡± He was always obedient and rarely made explicit requests. Mi Lai was momentarily stunned at his words, but quickly became excited. The sense of fulfillment from being relied upon and needed by her son surged within her. She patted her chest boldly and said, ¡°No problem! Mom will go pick some for you!¡± After saying that, the stocky woman jumped down from the tree, kissed him again with force, then tucked him into her husband¡¯s arms and enthusiastically headed towards where the wild berries grew. The forest was very safe, and Qiao Yi trusted his wife¡¯s departure. He shifted his gaze to his son in his arms and gently asked, ¡°Qiaoqiao, why did you lie?¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced up at him, fluttered his wings to stand up from his embrace, and then flew to eye level with him. He gently leaned in, touching his forehead with his small head, exuding magical power. Qiao Yi was taken aback, then quickly understood his intention. He sighed softly in his heart and unlocked the seal on his magic pool, allowing his power to slowly seep in. After several days of rest, his depleted magic pool had already been replenished. However, this couldn¡¯t hide the fact that there were still cracks on its surface. Qiao Zhiya withdrew sadly, looking at him with distress, and sat back on his arm, feeling low ¡ª indeed, not only his mother but even his father was hurt, otherwise his mother wouldn¡¯t have said those things last night. Over the past two years, his father had advanced from a Grand Mage to a Grand Magister Mage, and was even not far from becoming a Saint Mage. This should have been a good thing, but perhaps due to rushing through space to find him as quickly as possible, his father¡¯s magic pool was unstable, and frequent mana consumption had affected his foundation. ¡°Qiaoqiao, it¡¯s just a minor injury. I¡¯ll be fine soon,¡± Qiao Yi comforted, patting his head gently like any loving father who didn¡¯t want his own pain to burden his child. Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t obediently accept the comfort but instead lifted his head. Once again, he flapped his wings to fly to eye level with his father, and firmly said, ¡°Dad, I¡¯ve been an adult for many years.¡± Qiao Yi looked into his earnest eyes, vaguely guessing what he wanted to say. His heart trembled, and he reached out to touch him, calling softly, ¡°Qiaoqiao.¡± ¡°I also want to protect you and mom.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t evade his hand but insisted on flying to meet his gaze, looking into his eyes. Then he directly released his magic, spreading it layer by layer around. Qiao Yi paused as he touched his hand, slowly withdrawing it. Magic release was something every elf child did upon reaching adulthood, to inform the entire clan that a young elf had grown up and could live independently, forming their own small family. Everyone who sensed this magic power fluctuation would come with gifts to bless the adult child. Having grown up in a dwarf village, the coming-of-age ritual for dwarves involved forging a weapon by hand and placing it in the village¡¯s arsenal. To adapt to local customs, and given Qiao Zhiya¡¯s weak magic power at the time, Qiao Yi had intentionally overlooked this traditional elven ceremony. But he hadn¡¯t expected Qiao Zhiya to initiate it today. The father and son looked at each other as equals for a long time. Eventually, Qiao Yi relented, extending his hand to Qiao Zhiya. Mana surged in his hand as he sighed, ¡°Bless you¡­ my grown-up child. May the gods protect you.¡± With this level of magic intensity, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s power spread almost immediately throughout the entire forest. Mi Lai, who was picking wild berries, sensed her son¡¯s power, paused in surprise, thinking her son was in danger. She hurriedly stuffed the berries into her embrace and quickly rushed back to their dwelling. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s wrong, Baby? Are you¡ª¡± She stopped, staring dumbfoundedly at her husband and son squatting beside the wooden table, bewilderedly asking, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes brightened when he saw her return. He joyfully flapped his wings and flew in front of her, pointing to the crystals on the table, saying, ¡°In this world, spars have another name ¡ª ice crystals. They¡¯re very rare and precious. The spars I have on hand have almost been used up in these two years. Dad was giving me pocket money.¡± Towards the end, he seemed to feel embarrassed as an adult still receiving pocket money, curling his tail shyly. Qiao Yi watched his son clumsily fibbing and couldn¡¯t help but smile with a hint of helplessness in his eyes. He then shifted his gaze to his wife, who was looking at them wide-eyed, and nodded, affirming, ¡°Qiaoqiao says that the value of items in this world and that on the Magic Continent are fundamentally different. Here, spars are rare gems, whereas magical stones of various elements are just decorative gems used frequently in daily life and are not expensive.¡± The more Mi Lai listened, the wider her eyes grew. Unable to resist, she reached out and pulled her son into her embrace, rushing to the small wooden table to confirm and ask, ¡°Really? This is very valuable? Do the humans here really like spars?¡± Qiao Yi looked at Qiao Zhiya in her arms, and Mi Lai followed his gaze. Qiao Zhiya met his mother¡¯s questioning gaze and hurriedly nodded vigorously, affirming with great enthusiasm. Receiving the affirmative answer, Mi Lai couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in joy, squatting down in front of the small table. She took out the wild berries and wiped one clean before handing it to Qiao Zhiya. Then, she buried her head in her magical storage tool and pulled out all the crystals, piling them on top. She said happily, ¡°All for you, Baby. Spend them all. When they¡¯re gone, Mom will bring more from home. There are plenty more at home!¡± Mixed in with the spars were some purple gold coins, which were a higher-level currency on the Magic Continent. Qiao Zhiya hadn¡¯t seen these in this world yet, so while he nibbled on the wild berries, he pointed to those purple gold coins and explained their significance in this world. Mi Lai¡¯s face flushed with excitement upon hearing this. She eagerly rummaged through various beautiful trinkets in her magical storage tool, trying to find some ¡°unappreciated¡± human items that her son might like, intending to fill his little treasure trove. Qiao Zhiya cooperated by explaining the potential value of various items from the Magic Continent in this world, happily flicking his tail, looking quite content. The mother and son were deeply entangled in a vortex of money and couldn¡¯t extricate themselves. Qiao Yi stood up, brought over the warm mushroom soup and meat patties. He fed a spoonful here and there, watching his son comforting his wife in his own way, a scene that brought great satisfaction to his wife, who smiled contentedly. Since that breakfast, the way the family of three interacted had subtly changed. With his father¡¯s tacit approval, Qiao Zhiya quietly changed his role at home from a cared-for object to one of the family pillars. Mi Lai, who was easygoing by nature, was oblivious to this, only noting that their son had become exceptionally capable now! After communicating with the giant tree, Qiao Zhiya once again obtained a mutated yellow leaf tree root. In front of his parents, he used the roots to make two potions from the yellow leaf tree, then handed one to each of them. ¡°This is beneficial for repairing mana pools,¡± he explained, then handed them spiritual purification liquid and green fruits, saying, ¡°These can be used as auxiliary medicines.¡± Mi Lai knew little about potion making; Qiao Yi, on the other hand, was quite skilled, but he couldn¡¯t quite understand some of the steps his son had just taken in making the potion. Moreover, they had no idea before this that the giant tree at the center of the forest had already gained sentience and could communicate. ¡°I¡¯ve been here before and helped the old tree grandfather a bit, so he recognizes me. I¡¯ve slightly modified the potion-making method, using some human techniques. Potions made from these roots are more effective than those made from branches and leaves that I used before. You should drink this first,¡± Qiao Zhiya answered their questions, then flew over to his mother first, saying carefully, ¡°Mom, I once absorbed the power of the Flesh of the Stone. The healing aura in my magic can maybe help repair the injuries in your magic pool. Can I try?¡± Without hesitation, Mi Lai leaned over and gave him her full trust. Qiao Zhiya happily wagged his tail and approached gently. Qiao Yi stood up on his own and guarded his wife and son¡¯s side. In the giant tree forest, the family of three busily healed their wounds. Outside the asteroid belt, after Chu Rong roughly cleared out the Zerg on the garbage planet, he left the battlefield cleanup to Xiang Lingyun, then took the Chu family flagship into the air again, speeding toward a planet on the border where the Neitaxi was located. A day later, the flagship arrived at its destination and met with Neitaxi. Neitaxi did not have Chu Rong¡¯s incredible abilities and couldn¡¯t quickly break open the underground structure and find the building below, so he used a roundabout way to obstruct, using a comprehensive energy disruptor covering the entire planet as much as possible, causing the magnetic field of the planet to influence the success of the monsters to come here. When Chu Rong arrived, the Empire¡¯s soldiers had just dug out the teleportation site hidden underground. ¡°There aren¡¯t many Zerg here, just this one.¡± Neitaxi pointed to a row of locked test body lockers in front of him, and then pointed to a similarly mucous and blood-filled space deep inside, saying, ¡°And that, Marshal, you¡¯re not wrong, there¡¯s also a teleportation site here, but it¡¯s not big, and it¡¯s supposed to be used to give food to the monster.¡± Chu Rong nodded, looked around the room, and said, ¡°Clean up the fake Zergs, then blow up here, the lockers sent to the flagship, and destroy the vault.¡± Neitaxi immediately responded, and called the man to come up. After spending a day clearing out the planet, the Chu family flagship flew again, returning to the Federation area. In the command room, Chu Rong sat on the action stand, listening to the reports from various Federal commanders and putting star map on display, carefully studying the search for another monster. He has not rested for several days in a row. He was working at high intensity every minute, but he couldn¡¯t stop ¨C as soon as he stopped, the suppressed thoughts about Qiao Zhiya in his mind would overflow and destroy the calmness he has maintained now. ¡°¡­Everything has been cleaned up!¡± The last commander¡¯s report ended. Chu Rong nodded, sent a series of coordinates obtained after research to their communicators in batches, and ordered, ¡°Set sail directly to the next planet. Possible coordinate points must be ensured that every corner of the Federation is clean.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± After the uniform command, all multi-party communications were cut off. The room became quiet. Chu Rong looked at the beautiful star map of the Blue Galaxy. His eyes subconsciously fell on the mining planet where he met Qiao Zhiya. His eyes drifted away for a while, then quickly condensed. He thought of something and stood up. But then, Fan Xiangnan strode in. ¡°Sir, something is wrong with the Imperial High Advisor!¡± Chu Rong paused after hearing this, frowned, and walked hastily towards the infirmary. CH 115.2 Inside the giant tree forest, warm light bathed the surroundings as Mi Lai, now fully healed, stood guard nearby, watching her husband and son leaning against each other, her expression tense. The potent healing aura gently soothed the depleted magic pool, causing the magic inside to rotate slowly. The powers of the yellow leaf tree and the spiritual purification liquid drifted over, further slowing the rotation of magic. They attracted these external energies, integrating them bit by bit into the magic pool, repairing its damage. Qiao Yi¡¯s expression relaxed, his hair and robes moving gently without wind. A vast, pure magic energy spread from him, extending throughout the entire giant tree forest. The animals in the forest were startled and looked over. Mi Lai¡¯s eyes brightened, and she moved closer. After releasing his power, it gradually receded. Qiao Yi¡¯s floating hair and robes gently settled down, and a small golden dragon clinging to his forehead also descended. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard,¡± Qiao Yi embraced his son, whose energy had been depleted, gently stroking his small body and infusing him with a bit of his magic power, his eyes filled with concern. Assisting in healing was still too challenging for his son, whose abilities were limited in his current reverted form. Qiao Zhiya responded happily by fluttering his wings, but the exhaustion from his depleted strength and the comforting feeling of being surrounded by his father¡¯s power made him feel drowsy. He struggled to speak, ¡°Dad, with this asteroid belt, I have a way to get out. Wait for me¡­ Wait for my magic to return¡­¡± Ultimately unable to resist exhaustion, he closed his eyes and fell asleep before finishing his sentence. ¡°Is our baby okay?¡± Mi Lai asked anxiously, affectionately moving closer to her husband, gently rubbing her son¡¯s belly, which rose and fell rhythmically after falling asleep. She felt that her son¡¯s scales seemed dimmer after his energy had been exhausted. Qiao Yi shook his head, extending his arm to embrace her as well, speaking softly, ¡°Let him sleep for a while longer.¡± Mi Lai nodded, unable to resist leaning over again to gently rub her son¡¯s small body. Comforted by his parents¡¯ gentle power, Qiao Zhiya slept deeply and comfortably. When he woke up, it was already the next morning. Energetically flying out of his small nest, he rushed towards Mi Lai standing under the tree, excitedly saying, ¡°Mom, I need your help with something!¡± Hearing his voice, Mi Lai joyfully raised her arms and hugged him. She adored his lively and spirited appearance, showering him with affectionate kisses and eagerly nodding, ¡°Help? Did my baby want to eat wild fruits again? Mom will go pick some for you! My baby is such a good eater!¡± Qiao Zhiya blushed shyly at always being praised by his mother, pushing her away with a small claw. He then pulled out a blueprint, saying, ¡°Not wild fruits, it¡¯s this¡­ Mom, I want you to help me make this.¡± In his current dragon form, it wasn¡¯t convenient for him to create things, so he had to ask his mom for help. A blueprint for a small spaceship unfolded before Mi Lai, who paused in surprise. She carefully examined it, her eyes lighting up. Clutching the blueprint eagerly, she nodded enthusiastically, ¡°So my baby wants a toy, no problem! Mom will help you make it!¡± Although the ¡°poor¡± dwarf mother didn¡¯t have much money, she had hoarded quite a few rare ores from the Magic Continent. Without needing Qiao Zhiya to explain, she quickly relied on the dwarf¡¯s excellent crafting intuition and talent. According to the blueprint of the small spaceship, she matched suitable magic ores for various parts of the spaceship. Finally, she even pulled out a large chunk of magic crystal, directly bypassing the spaceship¡¯s high-tech operational system, opting to localize it to the one she¡¯s familiar with. ¡°My clever baby, I should have thought of it earlier. Breaking through the barrier doesn¡¯t necessarily require a magic array, we can completely use tools to fly out!¡± Tying her long hair into a tidy bun, Mi Lai swiftly produced an enormous forging table with a clang. With a wave of her hand, the magic array on the table activated. Then, with a flash, a huge hammer appeared. The earth magic began to fluctuate around as she carefully examined the detailed dismantling blueprint, glanced briefly, and then placed a magic ore on the table. With a wave of her hand, she struck. Qiao Yi hurriedly pulled his son into a safe range, watching his wife¡¯s excited sweat-swinging appearance, and ¡°wisely¡± patted his son while asking, ¡°Qiaoqiao, what do you want for lunch? Dad will make it for you. Your mom shouldn¡¯t have time right now.¡± Finally remembering the fear of being dominated by his mother¡¯s ¡°craftsman¡¯s persistence,¡± Qiao Zhiya silently decided not to help and answered by squeezing his small claws, ¡°Just¡­just something that can quickly replenish my energy.¡± To forge an entire small spaceship, even with magical assistance, consumed tremendous physical strength. Qiao Yi looked down at his clever and considerate son, kissed his cute little horn on his head, and felt that while his wife was making ¡°toys,¡± he might find something else to do, like learning the common language used by humans here. The potion from the yellow leaf tree and the spiritual purification liquid flowed into the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s body as if there were no tomorrow. Zhuang Yu nervously monitored the feedback from the instruments. When she saw the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s condition slowly stabilize, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Chu Rong, saying, ¡°It¡¯s starting to take effect.¡± Chu Rong nodded, stepping forward to glance at the Imperial High Advisor, whose scales were gradually receding, returning to his normal human appearance. He turned back and asked, ¡°When do you think he will wake up?¡± ¡°By normal human standards, any time now,¡± Zhuang Yu replied, almost stating the obvious. But there was no helping it ¡ª in all her years, treating non-humans was a first. Chu Rong furrowed his brow, suppressing his anxiety, and said, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. Go rest for a while.¡± Rarely treated so ¡°gently¡± by her superior, Zhuang Yu hesitated for a moment before nodding in acknowledgment. She then methodically packed up various medicines, turned, and quietly walked out of the sealed and emptied ward. Once she left, Jian, who had been silent throughout the treatment process, suddenly looked up at Chu Rong standing with a furrowed brow nearby. He said, ¡°Last time Qiao treated my father, he woke up once that same night, though he was only awake briefly.¡± Chu Rong, who had been about to leave, halted at Jian¡¯s words. He glanced at him and decisively pulled over a chair, sitting beside the hospital bed. Time became agonizingly slow. Though there were three people in the ward, it felt as quiet as if no one were there at all. Jian watched Chu Rong, lost in thought with his eyes downcast. His gaze swept over the small communicator Chu Rong was carefully holding, recalling his concerns about Qiao Zhiya, who still hadn¡¯t sent any messages. Sighing inwardly, he grabbed his father¡¯s hand and leaned against the bed. In the deepest part of the night, Jian couldn¡¯t resist the drowsiness and fell asleep beside the bed. Chu Rong, who had been silently tapping the communicator, suddenly stopped. He looked towards the hospital bed. The Imperial High Advisor, just awakened, first looked confused for two seconds, then quickly turned his head towards Jian, who was sleeping beside the bed. Seeing him peacefully asleep, his visibly tense expression relaxed. He gently stroked Jian¡¯s hair with his hand, his gaze tender. ¡°Imperial High Advisor,¡± Chu Rong spoke, breaking the silence in the room. Only then did the Imperial High Advisor notice him standing nearby. He glanced at him, surveyed the ward, and probably guessed what had happened. He gestured for Chu Rong not to speak, then sat up, moved Jian onto the bed to lie down properly, and took the lead in walking towards the ward¡¯s exit. Chu Rong glanced at the still-sleeping Jian, then got up and followed. The two stopped in the empty corridor. The Imperial High Advisor turned and asked, ¡°Where is this?¡± ¡°The Chu family flagship,¡± Chu Rong replied, then asked, ¡°Where is Qiao?¡± The Imperial High Advisor furrowed his brow, closed his eyes to sense for a moment, then looked around and said, ¡°I need a larger enclosed room.¡± Chu Rong directly opened the door to the opposite ward ¡ª this entire area had been emptied in advance to protect the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s secrets. The spacious room was devoid of anything. The Imperial High Advisor paused, then walked towards the opposite ward. Fifteen minutes later, the Imperial High Advisor emerged from the ward, his face slightly pale, faint scales reappearing on his wrist. He looked at Chu Rong waiting outside and coughed softly before saying, ¡°Qiao is in a place filled with the same elemental power as himself. I¡¯m sorry, this is as much as I can sense.¡± Chu Rong straightened abruptly upon hearing this, hastily thanked him, then turned and strode away. As he walked, he took out his communicator, contacting the control room and ordering, ¡°Change course, head towards the asteroid belt! Quickly!¡± It seems there was progress. Watching Chu Rong hurriedly leave, the Imperial High Advisor pressed his forehead and pushed open his ward¡¯s door, meeting the worried gaze of Jian directly. He paused, smiled, and reached out to Jian, saying warmly, ¡°Soon, Dad will take you home.¡± Jian¡¯s eyes reddened. He rushed into his arms, his facade of strength crumbling as he tightened his grip and sobbed softly. A place filled with the same elemental power as Qiao Zhiya¡­ Elemental power, that means magic. Chu Rong stood in the command room, digesting the information from the Imperial High Advisor. His emotions churned as his gaze fixed firmly on the star map representing the asteroid belt, filled with both excitement and frustration. He had overlooked it ¡ª Qiao needed jade to replenish his power. So, Qiao¡¯s relatives should be in the same situation. Having recently arrived here, they likely had little jade reserves. Before they left, they would certainly seek a place to replenish their power, and within the entire Blue Galaxy, the only places with magical fluctuations were the primitive planets within the asteroid belt! Damn it! He clenched his fists, unable to hold back as he urged, ¡°Increase speed! Open a special channel and move closer!¡± Fan Xiangnan and the others understood that he must have received information about Qiao. Excitement surged within them, and without needing his orders, they steadily increased the speed of the flagship. Hearing the news, Chu Huai and Chu Yan hurried over, still dressed in their pajamas due to their urgency. But now, no one paid attention to their attire ¨C everyone¡¯s focus was on finding Qiao Zhiya. The flagship, which had only recently returned to the Federation, once again flew towards the border. CH 115.3 Sorry for not updating Dwarf this week according to schedule¡­ in return, I¡¯ll upload those 4 chapters in one go today! Inside the primitive planet, Mi Lai had also prepared the spaceship, happily placing her son on her newly made ¡°toy¡±. After her husband finished drawing protective arrays on this ship, designed with distinct characteristics of the Magic Continent, she infused magic into the control room¡¯s magic crystal. The navigation lights lit up, and the spaceship slowly ascended into the sky, heading towards the heavens. ¡°We did it!¡± Mi Lai withdrew her hand, excitedly tossed her son up and down, then kissed him firmly on the cheek, placing him beside the magic crystal and proudly said, ¡°Enjoy yourself, Baby. If you want anything, just tell Mom, and I¡¯ll make it for you!¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at her with starry eyes, his claws gripping tightly, his tail straightened with excitement, admiringly saying, ¡°Mom is amazing!¡± Success on the first try! Actually succeeded on the first try! Compared to his mom, who showed even more distinct dwarf features, he still had a long way to go. Praised by her son, Mi Lai felt happy and relieved. She couldn¡¯t help but hold her son again, rubbing his face with affection, laughing foolishly and completely losing the composed and reliable demeanor she had while making the spaceship. Qiao Zhiya was also very happy, obediently letting her rub him all over, his wings fluttering excitedly, magic swirling around. Qiao Yi smiled, walking up to the magic crystal controller, completely ignored by his wife and son, and took over the operation of the spaceship. With protective magic arrays clearing the way and Qiao Yi¡¯s magic enhancing it, Mi Lai¡¯s spaceship sailed at a rapid speed, completely breaking convention, almost like a shooting star tearing through the sky, deftly diving into the asteroid belt. Qiao Zhiya promptly regained his senses, flying to the magic crystal and concentrating magic to draw a traction magic circle. Then, from his storage ring, he carefully took out a ring made of ink jade and placed it within the circle, lifting his hand and pulling, pulling¡­ He hesitated, then remembered that he had no hair after transforming into a dragon. He dumbly searched his body for something similar to hair but found nothing. After a moment of hesitation, he finally fixed his gaze on the neat and beautiful scales on his body. His claws twitched, wanting to pluck at them. Mi Lai and Qiao Yi¡¯s good mood instantly turned to dust when they saw him about to harm himself to locate that ugly white-haired thing. Immediately, Mi Lai grabbed his tail and Qiao Yi pressed down on his body, threateningly saying, ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± Qiao Zhiya froze, glanced back and forth between his parents, and seeing their grim expressions, reluctantly withdrew his claws, mumbled, ¡°But¡­ but we need to locate the direction¡­ this asteroid belt is huge, we might get lost¡­¡± That was indeed a problem. Qiao Yi furrowed his brow, his gaze falling on the ring. He picked it up, then looked down at his son with a hesitant look in his eyes. Suppressing the impulse to turn the ring into dust, he raised his hand and drew an improved version of a traction magic circle in the air, saying, ¡°We only need a vague directional guide. Personal items carry the aura of their previous owners. This ring is enough.¡± After finishing, he activated the circle, flicked the ring into it, and Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes. When he saw the circle absorb and envelop the ring, he breathed a sigh of relief. Sensing his mother¡¯s gaze, he shyly and nervously lowered his head. After the circle enveloped the ring, it spun slowly for a few laps before turning into dots of light that entered Qiao Yi¡¯s forehead. The ring floated back to Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small claw. ¡°To the southwest,¡± Qiao Yi said, touching the magic crystal and adjusting the ship¡¯s course. In the Chu family flagship, Chu Rong suddenly felt a cold sensation in his chest, followed by a chill in the back of his neck. It seemed like a murderous aura was entwining around him. He frowned suspiciously, glanced around at the familiar faces in the room, shook his head to dispel the sudden chill, and asked, ¡°How much longer until we arrive?¡± ¡°Five hours. There¡¯s a malfunction at a teleportation point, so we have to detour,¡± Fan Xiangnan replied. Glancing at the recorded escape route through the asteroid belt on the flagship, he suggested, ¡°And conservatively estimating, retracing our original route back to the primitive planet you mentioned will take at least three days. Sir, you should rest first.¡± Three days was too long. Chu Rong frowned deeply, not hearing the latter part of Fan Xiangnan¡¯s words at all, and asked, ¡°Can we speed up?¡± The suggestion failed, and Fan Xiangnan sighed inwardly. He replied, ¡°The flagship is massive, and speeding through the asteroid belt isn¡¯t advisable. It could easily lead to collisions with active asteroids. Three days is already pushing the limits.¡± ¡°Then switch to smaller vessels,¡± Chu Rong immediately decided. ¡°In theory, smaller vessels are more maneuverable within the asteroid belt, and they would also be faster,¡± Fan Xiangnan answered. Seeing his commanding officer about to turn and order the deployment of smaller ships, he quickly added, ¡°But most small vessels have thin hulls and may not safely traverse the asteroid belt intact. There¡¯s a risk of damage midway.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s frown deepened. He turned back to the star chart, knowing that he was on the verge of losing his composure. He quickly pressed his forehead and suppressed his emotions, gripping the jade pendant on the space button, and said, ¡°Speed up as much as possible.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Fan Xiangnan responded. Not daring to persuade him to rest further, he focused on accelerating the flagship towards the escape point Chu Rong had left when entering the asteroid belt. Inside the asteroid belt, Qiao Yi frowned and suddenly adjusted the course. ¡°Dad?¡± Qiao Zhiya looked at him in confusion. ¡°The target point is moving,¡± Qiao Yi explained, reaching out to comfortingly pat his son¡¯s back. Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya became somewhat worried, recalling Chu Rong¡¯s terrible mental state before leaving and the situation with the experimental subjects. He clenched his claws together ¡ª moving? Could it be that Chu Rong hadn¡¯t rested and was still on a mission? But his spiritual power¡­ Mi Lai scowled, glaring with narrowed eyes at her son¡¯s worried expression, venting a breath of frustration through her nose. She reached out, pulling him into her arms, and muttered, ¡°You¡¯ve been fussing all night. Good children should be sleeping. Come, let Mommy sing you a lullaby.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced up at his mother¡¯s expression full of killing intent, paused for a moment, obediently nestled in her arms, closed his eyes, and suppressed his worries about Chu Rong deep in his heart. Initially, he had only intended to placate his mother¡¯s emotions, but feeling her presence and hearing her soft humming, the rarely sleep-deprived him gradually felt drowsy and actually fell asleep. He didn¡¯t know how long he had slept when suddenly he heard his mother gasp in surprise. His eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes. The densely packed asteroids had vanished from his blurry vision, replaced by the vast and beautiful cosmos. Faintly ahead, the familiar sight of the Chu family flagship appeared. He instantly woke up, instinctively calling out, ¡°Chu Rong!¡± ¡®Chu Rong?¡¯ Qiao Yi and Mi Lai both turned to look at him. Then, seeing the stunned expression at the sight of the colossal behemoth, Mi Lai gritted her teeth and suddenly pressed a red button next to the magic crystal console. Qiao Zhiya was now fully awake. He quickly sat up and called, ¡°Mom?¡± If he remembered correctly, that button seemed to be the ship¡¯s attack button. Mi Lai froze for a moment, turned her head to avoid his gaze, and casually brushed a strand of hair from her face. She hesitantly replied, ¡°Oh¡­ that¡­ oops, Baby, what did you just say? Oh dear, mommy was a bit startled seeing a big monster, didn¡¯t hear you.¡± ¡°¡­Nothing, Mom.¡± Qiao Zhiya tactfully pretended nothing had happened, turning his head to look at the projection of the Chu family flagship on the crystal screen. He fluttered his wings and nervously flicked his tail, anxious to contact them and fly over. But upon seeing his reflection on the crystal screen, his body stiffened. His excited and anxious mood froze into uncertainty and hesitation. In his current state, would Chu Rong even recognize him? Would he find him repulsive? Qiao Yi furrowed his brow, picked up his visibly disheartened son, and looked at the massive ship in front of him. In his mind, he raised Chu Rong¡¯s threat level by another notch, pressed the magic crystal, and activated magical interference. The Chu family flagship, which had just approached the edge of the asteroid belt, halted its course. Everyone in the command room looked at the scanning screen, staring at the object that suddenly emerged from within the asteroid belt, resembling a miniature ship. They were dumbfounded. ¡°What is that?¡± Chu Yan was the first to ask. Chu Huai frowned as he looked at the ship, which was smaller than regular small vessels, with a rounded shape that somehow gave it a toy-like appearance. He hesitated and speculated, ¡°Could it be a wandering traveler who accidentally entered the asteroid belt?¡± It was no wonder he guessed that way. The miniature ship looked nothing like a standard vessel and resembled more like something a wandering traveler might cobble together. However, Chu Rong suddenly realized something. He quickly reached out and tapped a few times on the console, then zoomed in on the scanning image. The overall shape of the miniature ship became clearer and more distinct on the screen. The patterns of magic circles slowly rotating on the ship¡¯s hull and the vine patterns on the edges also appeared clearly to everyone. ¡°Magic circle, vines¡­ Could it be Qiao?¡± Chu Yan¡¯s eyes lit up, and he quickly rushed to the control panel, urging, ¡°Quick! Establish communication with the ship opposite! Faster!¡± Fan Xiangnan snapped out of his daze and moved quickly. Beside him, Lin Zhen¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he said, ¡°Not good, there¡¯s an attack response!¡± Huh? An attack response? Everyone was stunned, looking back at the screen. Suddenly, a deep brown magic array appeared in front of the miniature ship, floating and rotating in the air. Then, the array glowed brightly, and a large stone almost the size of an asteroid materialized out of thin air. It was enveloped in a formidable gray-brown flame-like energy, heading straight for the flagship. ¡°Bang!¡± No one gave any orders to evade or counterattack against this assault, so the flagship took the hit head-on. Lin Zhen glanced at the feedback on the damage and solemnly reported, ¡°There¡¯s a large dent and cracks appearing on the protective shell, and the cracks are expanding.¡± In short, despite its small size, the miniature ship unexpectedly packed a powerful punch, showing no mercy. Everyone turned to look at Chu Rong with strange expressions¡ªmagic circles and vine patterns, emerging from the asteroid belt, and all signs pointed towards the miniature ship being Qiao¡¯s creation. However, Qiao¡¯s current response¡­ was truly intriguing. Fan Xiangnan halted his attempts to establish communication with the other side, breaking the silence in the room with a perplexed expression. ¡°Captain, it seems the ship opposite doesn¡¯t have a communication device installed. We can¡¯t establish contact.¡± Great, not even able to communicate. Chu Rong tightened his grip and suddenly turned, striding purposefully towards the exit. ¡°Erge, where are you going?¡± Chu Yan caught up, asking. Chu Rong didn¡¯t look back, his figure quickly disappearing into the distance as he faintly replied, ¡°To bring Qiao back.¡± The room fell silent again, the strange atmosphere lingering. Tan Shengwei, who had been quietly standing in the corner, weakly spoke up, ¡°But what if Chu Rong goes down there and they attack again¡­¡± Mechas weren¡¯t as sturdy as flagships. Silence fell over everyone. Chu Yan hesitated for a moment, about to turn and follow to fetch Qiao. Suddenly, the command room filled with a series of interference signals, and then a gentle, deep male voice spoke in a somewhat awkward lingua franca, ¡°Have Chu Rong come over. I¡¯m Qiao¡¯s father.¡± The interference signals vanished, restoring normalcy. It all seemed like a hallucination. Chu Huai and Chu Yan froze, then their expressions changed. They exchanged a glance, still in their hastily donned pajamas, before hurriedly rushing back towards their respective rooms ¡ª oh no, the in-laws were here, and they didn¡¯t even use ¡°ceremonial cannons¡± to announce their arrival. Lao Er/Erge was in for it now! CH 116.1 When Qiao Zhiya heard what his father said, he quickly looked up at him. ¡°Your current appearance isn¡¯t suitable for being exposed to more people directly,¡± Qiao Yi explained, patting his head. After a pause, he added, ¡°We also need to see Chu Rong¡¯s reaction to your current appearance. It¡¯s more convenient if he comes alone.¡± He didn¡¯t specify exactly how it was more convenient, but Qiao Zhiya looked at his own paws and could guess a bit. His father¡¯s implication was that if Chu Rong couldn¡¯t accept his current appearance and even considered him an alien to be eliminated, then in a three-to-one situation, they would have an easier time resisting and escaping. His tail and wings drooped down completely. He felt deeply upset, his longing for Chu Rong mixing with his anxiety about his appearance, weighing him down with fear. Rationally, he knew Chu Rong wouldn¡¯t abandon him just because of his appearance ¡ª the promises made during their engagement ceremony weren¡¯t fake. But emotionally, he was terrified, even starting to imagine Chu Rong looking at him with disgust. No, that would be too awful. If that happened, he¡¯d rather Chu Rong never knew about this form of his. He deceived himself with this thought, flapping his wings as if to hide somewhere Chu Rong couldn¡¯t see, but after two flaps, he stopped and buried his head in his father¡¯s embrace. No, as his partner, Chu Rong had the right to know everything about him. It would be okay. If Chu Rong really¡­ then at least he still had his parents by his side. Sensing his son¡¯s anxiety, Qiao Yi tightened his embrace. Mi Lai stepped forward, pinching his small wings to comfort him. ¡°Baby, you¡¯re the most beautiful little dragon in the world. Mommy loves you the most.¡± Qiao Zhiya flapped his wings in response but still felt downcast. Mi Lai touched his wings, exchanged a look with her husband, and took out a giant hammer, guarding the side of the command cabin door, her expression tense and her eyebrows raised. She had heard her husband¡¯s words clearly. If that white-haired ugly thing dared to show any negative emotion towards their baby¡¯s current appearance, for the sake of their baby¡¯s mental health, this white-haired ugly thing, who seemed very powerful in the human world, couldn¡¯t be allowed to stay. The couple shared a tacit understanding glance. Qiao Yi, holding his son, walked to the control crystal and touched it. In space, the massive black flagship and the small brown spaceship with vine patterns confronted each other. The black flagship¡¯s hatch opened, and a gray mecha flew out, quickly heading towards the small spaceship. Everyone in the flagship¡¯s command room watched the mecha approach the mini flagship without blinking. When they saw the mini spaceship retract its attack and open its hatch to welcome the mech in, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least the Marshal got in ¨C communication was possible. The mini spaceship was too small for the mecha to fit in, so Chu Rong jumped out of the mecha at the hatch and used his hover equipment to leap inside. As soon as he entered, the hatch closed behind him, and a gentle male voice sounded: ¡°Come to the control room.¡± Chu Rong¡¯s anxious heart paused. He remembered the man who had taken Qiao Zhiya, glanced at his still neatly dressed uniform, and strode towards the control room. Qiao Zhiya peeked out from his father¡¯s embrace, watching Chu Rong¡¯s rapidly approaching figure on the crystal screen. His heart beat faster as he greedily observed Chu Rong¡¯s current appearance, feeling heartache at his apparent weight loss. At the same time, he was nervous and anxious, his paws clenching together. Hearing the familiar footsteps growing clearer, he panicked and buried his head back into his father¡¯s embrace, his tail shrinking in a self-deceptive attempt to hide himself completely. Qiao Yi cooperatively raised his arm to cover him with his sleeve, looking towards the entrance of the control room. Mi Lai stared intently at the door, her grip on her weapon faintly glowing with magic power. The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. The moment Chu Rong entered the control room, he sensed a certain hostility directed at him. His muscles instinctively tensed, ready for action, and his spiritual power surged, ready to retaliate. However, he retained his rationality, knowing that these must be Qiao¡¯s family members, and he couldn¡¯t make a move. He hurriedly suppressed all his power, relaxed his posture, and looked towards the most prominent figure, Qiao Yi. Blond hair, pointed ears, the same fair skin as Qiao Zhiya, an exquisitely perfect appearance that didn¡¯t seem real, a strange intricate robe, the hem adorned with beautiful vine patterns¡­ This was the person who had taken Qiao away. Suppressing his emotions, Chu Rong tried to greet the others politely but couldn¡¯t help looking around the room, searching for that familiar figure. Mi Lai, standing guard by the door, had been waiting for this moment. She swung her hammer towards him. Her short stature and Chu Rong¡¯s focus on Qiao Yi since entering the room meant he hadn¡¯t noticed her. Realizing an attack was coming, his instinct was to raise his hand to counter, but he forcibly restrained himself, straightening his back to take the hit head-on. These were Qiao¡¯s parents ¨C it was only right that they were angry he hadn¡¯t protected Qiao properly. The giant hammer, full of wind and killing intent, aimed straight at Chu Rong¡¯s face. Qiao Zhiya sensed his mother¡¯s power fluctuations and remembered how she had ¡°accidentally¡± pressed the spaceship¡¯s attack button earlier. Panicking, he broke free from his father¡¯s embrace and flew out, only to freeze at the sight in front of him. His wings flapped helplessly as he tried to rush forward to stop her, but upon meeting Chu Rong¡¯s sudden gaze, he faltered and retreated back into his father¡¯s arms. ¡°Whoosh!¡± The hammer stopped half a meter from Chu Rong¡¯s face, the turbulence it created rushing at his face. Chu Rong didn¡¯t flinch, his eyes fixed on Qiao Yi¡¯s embrace. Remembering the flash of gold in the magic array before Qiao Zhiya was taken, his heart tightened, and he instinctively took a step forward, putting himself directly in the path of the hammer. ¡®Is my baby in love with an idiot?¡¯ Mi Lai frowned, glanced at her son who had retreated into his father¡¯s arms, and reluctantly retracted the hammer. She stood beside her husband, glaring at Chu Rong, ready to attack at any moment. Only then did Chu Rong notice the person who attacked him ¡ª a stocky young woman. But he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on that. His attention was on the glimpse of light blonde hair in Qiao Yi¡¯s arms. His heartbeat quickened as he took a big step forward. ¡°Stop.¡± Qiao Yi, speaking in an awkward lingua franca, blocked him with a surge of power. ¡°Your current state will scare him.¡± Chu Rong was forced to stop, his gaze still glued to that reluctant blonde head. His throat felt constricted, and he took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to rush over and grab Qiao. He shifted his gaze to Qiao Yi¡¯s face, meeting his cold, probing eyes. ¡°Uncle¡­ what¡¯s wrong with Qiao?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but glance back at the golden hair, his spiritual power eager to reach out. He knew it was Qiao hiding there. He had made eye contact with that golden little creature. Those green eyes, that gaze ¡ª it was undoubtedly Qiao. But why had Qiao changed like this? Why was he hiding? His mind flashed with images of the experimental subjects self-destructing and the Imperial High Advisor covered in scales. Panicked, he stepped forward again. ¡°Uncle, is Qiao injured?¡± Qiao Yi, not fully understanding the lingua franca, only caught the first part of Chu Rong¡¯s question. His son moved in his arms, seemingly wanting to come out. Qiao Yi observed Chu Rong¡¯s worried expression, seeing no inappropriate reaction to his son¡¯s current appearance. His expression softened slightly. After exchanging a look with his still displeased wife, he relaxed his blockade a bit and gently patted his anxious son, simply replying, ¡°Qiaoqiao has undergone an atavistic regression.¡± ¡®Atavistic regression?¡¯ Chu Rong remembered Qiao Zhiya¡¯s explanation about his small horn and the concept of atavism. Noticing the barrier relax slightly, he immediately stepped forward, focusing on Qiao Yi¡¯s embrace, softly calling out, ¡°Qiao?¡± Qiao Zhiya stirred, his anxiety shattered by Chu Rong¡¯s worried and cautious voice. His heart clenched, and he tugged at his father¡¯s clothes, signaling for him to let go. He carefully shifted, poking his head out from his father¡¯s arm to meet Chu Rong¡¯s gaze. Instinctively, he raised his paw to rush over but hesitated, thinking about his current form. He withdrew, lowering his head and replying softly. Chu Rong held his breath, watching the small golden figure move. The initial unfamiliarity he felt upon seeing the little dragon¡¯s head vanished when he saw the green eyes filled with unease and heard the low, almost whimpering response. He eagerly stepped forward to embrace him but was blocked by Mi Lai¡¯s force. ¡°Step back! Don¡¯t touch my baby!¡± Mi Lai was furious. Whether it was the sharp power and pressure Chu Rong emanated or his undisguised possessiveness and intentions towards her precious son, everything made her feel like her son was about to be taken away. Perhaps she should just smash this annoying human to death and immediately take her baby back to the Magical Continent! Her baby deserved a partner as gentle and accepting as Qiao Yi, not this dreadful human who seemed unapproachable in every way! So annoying, so annoying, so annoying! Mi Lai¡¯s power surged around her, her emotions even more intense than when she had attacked earlier. Noticing his wife¡¯s state, Qiao Yi quickly placed a calming hand on her shoulder, silently reassuring her. CH 116.2 Chu Rong, blocked for a moment, regained some of his composure. He glanced at Mi Lai but quickly returned his focus to the now more visible Qiao Zhiya in Qiao Yi¡¯s arms. Without advancing further, he knelt on one knee, placing himself in a non-threatening, supplicatory position, and tentatively reached out, his voice soft as he called, ¡°Qiao.¡± Qiao Zhiya peeked out, seeing every emotion in Chu Rong¡¯s eyes except disgust or rejection. His anxious heart slowly settled, and he responded softly, his wings fluttering slightly. Qiao Yi frowned, observing Chu Rong¡¯s entirely non-aggressive posture. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he slowly released his hold. The small, light golden dragon fully revealed himself, his wings flapping gently, his tail curling uncertainly. He inched towards Chu Rong but suddenly stopped, turning to look at his wide-eyed mother with a hint of tears. Changing direction, he flew over to her, nuzzling her neck and softly saying, ¡°Mom, I will always love you.¡± Mi Lai hugged him tightly, glaring fiercely at Chu Rong, who seemed ready to rush forward, and then she kissed his forehead, murmuring, ¡°Mommy will always love you too.¡± After exchanging a look with her husband, she reluctantly released her hold and withdrew her protective energy from Chu Rong. Qiao Zhiya then flew to his father¡¯s side, touching foreheads and receiving a gentle magic response before turning back to face Chu Rong, who was staring at him intently. Infusing his voice with magic, he cautiously asked in the common language, ¡°Chu Rong, now that I¡¯ve become like this, do you still want to be with me?¡± After two years together, Chu Rong had become quite adept at sensing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s magic and quickly understood his peculiar way of speaking. Almost immediately, Chu Rong extended his hand again. Despite his cold and stern expression, his tone was firm and gentle, as if suppressing some intense emotion. He hoarsely replied, ¡°Of course¡­ I love you.¡± It was the first time Chu Rong had so clearly and directly expressed his feelings. Qiao Zhiya was stunned, his eyes wide, and he forgot to flap his wings, causing him to fall. Mi Lai, not understanding the lingua franca, saw her son falling and thought Chu Rong had scared him. She screamed and started to rush forward to catch him, her power and killing intent flaring up again. Qiao Yi, understanding Chu Rong¡¯s words, swiftly moved to embrace his wife, preventing her from attacking. Chu Rong quickly caught the falling little dragon, holding him tightly. His suppressed mental energy enveloped Qiao Zhiya, and his long-tense nerves finally relaxed. He stroked the small body, almost sighing, ¡°Qiao.¡± Feeling the familiar embrace and energy, Qiao Zhiya looked up at Chu Rong¡¯s slightly haggard face. Overwhelmed by a mix of emotions ¡ª touched, worried, shy ¡ª he instinctively responded with a low cry, his magic power brushing against Chu Rong¡¯s spiritual power. The room filled with the low, excited chirps of the little dragon. Mi Lai, held by her husband, heard her son¡¯s sounds, and her charging emotions paused. She tugged on Qiao Yi¡¯s clothes, bumping her head against his chest. Qiao Yi comfortingly patted her shoulder and back. He glanced at his overjoyed son, wings flapping wildly, then lowered his gaze, suppressing his reluctance and concern. He forced himself to look away. Their son has grown up now. This was his life, and they shouldn¡¯t interfere too much. Compared to their worries, their son¡¯s happiness was more important. As long as he was happy, it was enough. But this touching, harmonious atmosphere lasted only a short while. As Chu Rong stood up, holding the now calmer Qiao Zhiya, a gust of wind rushed towards his face. Having just reunited with his lover, Chu Rong¡¯s nerves were on high alert. Detecting the wind, his body tensed, ready to counterattack, his expression turning cold and slightly murderous. Qiao Zhiya, held securely in his arms, widened his eyes and urgently flapped his wings, pulling at Chu Rong¡¯s chest, signaling him to stop. At the crucial moment, a burst of wood magic intervened, and Chu Rong, realizing that the only ones who could attack him in this room were Qiao Zhiya¡¯s parents, quickly dropped his guard. Taking advantage of the distraction, Mi Lai attacked Chu Rong¡¯s arm. Qiao Yi, secretly holding back, allowed the strike to connect. Chu Rong¡¯s arm went numb, and with a swirl of earth magic, Qiao Zhiya was snatched back into his mother¡¯s arms. Chu Rong instinctively stepped forward when his arms were suddenly empty, but Qiao Zhiya quickly chirped a reminder. Chu Rong stopped, looking at the little dragon nestled in the brown-haired woman¡¯s arms. He suppressed the urge to snatch him back, softening his expression as much as possible and calling out, ¡°Mom¡­¡± ¡°Do you even know how to hold him? You¡¯re squeezing his wings too tight, it must be uncomfortable! You white-haired ugly thing, kidnapper, so fierce¡­¡± Mi Lai glared at him, gently stroking Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small wings, full of heartache. Chu Rong¡¯s grip had indeed been too tight. Qiao Zhiya wriggled a bit, glanced at Chu Rong, then at his mother, his claws awkwardly clutching together. He nuzzled his mother¡¯s hand in reassurance before releasing his magic towards Chu Rong. Sensing the calming power, Chu Rong¡¯s nerves eased slightly. Not understanding Mi Lai¡¯s words, he was unaware that his earlier actions had inadvertently further tarnished his image. Qiao Yi felt he had shown enough leniency, stepping forward to partially shield his wife and child. Looking at Chu Rong, he said, ¡°Regarding Qiao¡¯s safety in this world and his life here these past two years, there are some things we need to discuss.¡± Though not fluent in the lingua franca, Qiao Yi¡¯s message was clear. With his beloved so close, Chu Rong managed to regain his nearly lost composure. He nodded, replying, ¡°I will give you an explanation.¡± Observing Chu Rong¡¯s expression, Qiao Yi¡¯s initially negative impression of him improved slightly. The mini spaceship began to approach the flagship. Chu Rong sent a message: ¡°Open the hatch, unrelated personnel retreat.¡± Everyone in the command room promptly opened the flagship¡¯s largest and most formal A-hatch, clearing unnecessary personnel. Chu Huai and Chu Yan, having quickly prepared themselves, awaited at the hatch, ready to greet Qiao Zhiya¡¯s relatives. The mini spaceship entered the flagship and landed. As the navigation lights dimmed and the hatch opened, Chu Rong emerged first, followed by Qiao Yi and Mi Lai, who clung tightly to Qiao Zhiya. Chu Huai and Chu Yan froze upon seeing Qiao Yi and Mi Lai¡¯s appearances. These two were Qiao Zhiya¡¯s relatives? His older brother and sister? But Qiao Zhiya had mentioned being an only child. Perhaps they were cousins? But the male voice had clearly said he was Qiao¡¯s father. Wait¡­ ¡°Dage, Xiao Yan, these are Qiao¡¯s parents, Mr. Qiao Yi and Mrs. Mi Lai,¡± Chu Rong explained, noticing his brothers¡¯ shock and confusion. ¡®What? Qiao¡¯s parents?¡¯ Chu Yan¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He quickly looked into the still-open mini spaceship, searching for Qiao Zhiya. With his parents here, where was he? Chu Huai quickly composed himself, suppressing his shock. He stepped forward, extending a hand towards Qiao Yi, introducing himself, ¡°Hello, Mr. Qiao Yi. I¡¯m Chu Rong¡¯s elder brother, Chu Huai. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± Unlike Chu Rong¡¯s sharp and stern demeanor, Chu Huai, having spent years in politics and being older, exuded a gentle and accommodating aura, appearing very friendly and stable. His formal and respectful attitude allowed Qiao Yi to sense the Chu family¡¯s regard for his son. His expression softened as he shook Chu Huai¡¯s hand, responding according to human etiquette he had learned from Qiao Zhiya. After shaking hands, he added an elven gesture, thoroughly covering all bases. ¡®Seems like not a difficult person¡­¡¯ Chu Huai thought, relieved, and returned the greeting with another gesture. He then turned to face Mi Lai, bowing slightly and performing a high-standard greeting for a lady, introducing himself once more. Though Mi Lai was angry with Chu Rong for taking her son, she didn¡¯t hold it against others. Chu Huai¡¯s impression was positive, so she returned a dwarven greeting, her expression slightly improved. With her movements, Qiao Zhiya, hidden snugly, finally had a chance to peek out. Seeing Chu Huai, he wagged his tail happily and chirped softly. After receiving reassurance and affirmation from his lover, he no longer felt anxious about his appearance. Chu Huai¡¯s attention was drawn, his gaze shifting. At first, he wondered why Mrs. Mi Lai was holding such a strange pet, but upon meeting Qiao Zhiya¡¯s eyes, he realized the situation and stared in shock. ¡°This¡­ Qiao?¡± ¡°What? Where¡¯s Qiao? I can¡¯t see him!¡± Chu Yan, increasingly puzzled by what he heard, reluctantly looked inside the mini spaceship again but still saw nothing. He turned and followed Chu Huai¡¯s gaze towards Mi Lai, and when he saw the little golden dragon poking its head out, his eyes widened. As the dragon¡¯s emerald-green eyes met his, he gasped and stammered, ¡°Oh my god, what is this? Is this¡­ Qiao? Am I still dreaming?¡± Qiao Zhiya was amused by his reaction. He flapped his wings and deliberately opened his mouth to let out a threatening growl. However, his small form and baby voice made the growl entirely non-threatening, instead giving off an adorable impression of a child pretending to be fierce. Mi Lai, trying to maintain a serious face, couldn¡¯t resist her son¡¯s cuteness. She lowered her head to kiss him forcefully and snuggled his little head, a smile reappearing on her face. Seeing this, Chu Rong¡¯s gaze deepened. He suppressed his jealousy and averted his eyes, nodding to confirm Chu Huai¡¯s guess and then placing a hand on the overly excited Chu Yan, signaling him to calm down. Chu Huai finally understood why Chu Rong insisted on clearing out unrelated personnel. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current form was indeed not suitable for many people to see. He stepped aside and invited Qiao Yi and Mi Lai to the flagship¡¯s central area. CH 116.3 Everyone settled in the dining area in the center. After a long, unrestful night, it seemed a relaxed meal would be a good start for the families¡¯ first meeting. As hot food was served, everyone visibly relaxed, beginning to engage in initial communication. Chu Huai soon discovered that Qiao Yi¡¯s proficiency in the lingua franca was very limited, and Mi Lai didn¡¯t understand it at all. The only potential translator, Qiao Zhiya, couldn¡¯t speak human language in his transformed state. Although Chu Rong could understand Qiao Zhiya¡¯s sounds, Qiao Yi and Mi Lai¡¯s attitude towards Chu Rong was far from friendly, not allowing him near Qiao Zhiya. The situation became somewhat awkward. Qiao Zhiya opened his mouth to volunteer as a translator with Chu Rong, but Mi Lai fed him a spoonful of meat porridge, blocking his attempt. ¡°Mm.¡± Qiao Zhiya wagged his tail and squinted his eyes in contentment ¡ª it was his favorite meat porridge, delicious! Chu Rong, always attentive to him, saw his happiness and slightly curved his lips. Well, it seemed discussing serious matters during the first meeting wasn¡¯t going to happen. Chu Huai adjusted the atmosphere subtly, starting to introduce the Chu family¡¯s situation with simple words, hoping to reassure the in-laws. Qiao Yi felt somewhat reassured now. Chu Huai¡¯s attitude was impeccable, and the Chu family¡¯s affection and importance for Qiao Zhiya were unmistakable, easing his worries a bit. After a relatively warm meal, Chu Huai immediately arranged rooms for Qiao Yi and Mi Lai to rest. However, the atmosphere grew tense again ¡ª normally, Qiao Zhiya would sleep with Chu Rong, but with his parents here, it seemed inappropriate. Yet Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya apparently hadn¡¯t realized this. Reunited after a brief separation, as soon as Chu Rong stood up, the now-satiated Qiao Zhiya flapped his wings and flew towards him, an instinctive, well-practiced motion. Mi Lai couldn¡¯t stop him in time, her face darkening. Qiao Yi¡¯s previously gentle demeanor started to waver. Chu Yan, always observant, felt alarm bells ringing and immediately intercepted the little golden dragon mid-flight, diligently returning him to Mi Lai. He flashed a bright smile and said, ¡°Please rest assured, it¡¯s safe here.¡± Mi Lai¡¯s expression softened, Qiao Zhiya was stunned, and when he realized what he had done, his face flushed red as he buried himself in his mother¡¯s arms. Chu Rong¡¯s face darkened as he glared menacingly at Chu Yan. ¡°¡­¡± Chu Yan felt bitter. Chu Huai quickly stepped forward, blocking Chu Rong¡¯s dark expression, and cheerfully guided Qiao Yi and Mi Lai to their rooms, praying they hadn¡¯t noticed Chu Rong¡¯s impression-damaging behavior. Qiao Yi, holding his wife and child, cooperated by turning away, pretending not to see Chu Rong¡¯s previous behavior, and followed Chu Huai to their resting quarters. After a brief stop at the edge of the asteroid belt, the flagship continued its journey towards the Federation Capital Planet. In a comfortable room in the central area, Qiao Zhiya peeked out of his little nest. Seeing his mother sleeping soundly against his father, he carefully began to crawl out. ¡°Make sure you¡¯re back before your mother wakes up.¡± His father¡¯s voice suddenly sounded, startling him. He looked back with wide eyes, meeting his father¡¯s alert gaze, feeling guilty as he softly explained, ¡°Xiao Yan said Chu Rong hasn¡¯t rested well for a long time. I¡¯m a bit worried¡­¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Qiao Yi enveloped his wife in magic to prevent their conversation from waking her. He sat up slightly and looked at his son¡¯s innocent, clear eyes, speaking gently, ¡°Your mother just needs some time. You know, she loves you very much.¡± Qiao Zhiya glanced at his sleeping mother, then back at his father, feeling touched. He flew over to give his father a light hug before turning to fly towards the door. Qiao Yi watched him leave, sensing his wife stirring. He leaned down to comfort her, kissing her forehead and softly soothing, ¡°Qiaoqiao has grown up¡­ it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll find a way to let you vent.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Mi Lai replied dully, eyes still closed but clutching his clothes tightly. They both understood and knew that Chu Rong must have put a lot of effort into protecting and caring for Qiao Zhiya, allowing him to maintain such a pure and kind demeanor even after being away from his parents for over two years. But still, they couldn¡¯t help but feel reluctant. Their beloved, precious son, whom they had raised with so much care ¡ª how could they easily hand him over to someone else? As Qiao Zhiya flew out the door, he was immediately scooped up by a pair of large hands and found himself in a familiar embrace. He was startled and looked up, meeting Chu Rong¡¯s quiet gaze. After a moment of daze, he frowned and asked, ¡°Have you been waiting at the door? Didn¡¯t you go rest?¡± Chu Rong gently patted his head without answering, instead holding him and walking down the corridor, his pace quickening until he reached his own room. He slowed down, opened the door, and after entering, closed it and leaned against the door, hugging Qiao Zhiya tightly. He kissed the top of his head, finally allowing his suppressed emotions to release, whispering, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Noticing the instability in Chu Rong¡¯s aura, Qiao Zhiya looked up in worry and called, ¡°Chu Rong.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not protecting you¡­ and for many other things.¡± Chu Rong stroked his back, holding him as he walked to the bed and sat down, placing him on his lap. He examined Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current form, suddenly smiling softly as he held one of his little claws, murmuring, ¡°You¡¯ve become so small¡­ I can keep you by my side all the time now.¡± This way, they would never have to be apart again. Despite the smile, it didn¡¯t seem happy. Qiao Zhiya shifted on his lap, wrapping his tail around Chu Rong¡¯s wrist. He looked up and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I¡¯m really worried about you.¡± He had never seen Chu Rong in such a state before. Though he seemed normal, there was something different, making Qiao Zhiya feel uneasy. For a human, the greatest failure might be being unable to provide their loved ones with peace of mind, whether emotionally or in life. Chu Rong raised his hand to touch Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worried eyes, gently rubbing his little horns and ears. Finally feeling a sense of reunion, he lifted Qiao Zhiya to face him, his gaze turning tender as he said contentedly, ¡°Qiao, you didn¡¯t leave me. I¡¯m so happy.¡± His greatest fear these days had been that Qiao Zhiya would leave with his family, returning to a place Chu Rong could never find, never to see him again. But thankfully, Qiao Zhiya stayed. He was still here. Sensing Chu Rong¡¯s sudden calm and warmth, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s worry eased a bit. He leaned in to touch his forehead, spreading his magic to soothe him, and reassured, ¡°I won¡¯t. I won¡¯t break my promise. Chu Rong, we¡¯re engaged now. You can trust me more.¡± These words were meant to comfort, emphasizing that he always kept his word and that they were engaged. He wouldn¡¯t leave without a word. But to Chu Rong, it reminded him of his past stubbornness and arrogant assumptions. The guilt and self-blame resurfaced, and looking at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s trusting and caring eyes, he felt his current self was pathetic and ridiculous. Even his arms seemed to lose strength in holding him. His lover was so wonderful, but how could someone as inadequate as him repay this love? ¡°Chu Rong?¡± Qiao Zhiya noticed Chu Rong¡¯s silent, expressionless gaze filled with overwhelming sadness. He anxiously fluttered his wings, feeling frustrated that he couldn¡¯t hug and comfort him in this form. He clasped his paws together, worried and at a loss. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Chu Rong lifted him down, gently squeezing his paws. Suddenly, he turned, pulled back the covers, and lay down on the bed, carefully encircling Qiao Zhiya in his arms. He patted his little wings and leaned in close, saying, ¡°Qiao¡­ stay with me for a while. I¡¯m a bit tired.¡± Qiao Zhiya was momentarily stunned, then quickly nodded. He snuggled closer to Chu Rong, releasing his magic. Chu Rong extended his spiritual power in response, a slight smile appearing on his lips as he held Qiao Zhiya¡¯s small body tightly and closed his eyes, feeling content. This was enough. As long as they were together, he could work on improving all the shortcomings bit by bit. Their energies slowly intertwined and merged in the air, mutually influencing each other. Although Qiao Zhiya hadn¡¯t been tired before, sleepiness gradually overcame him. His eyelids drooped, and his tail curled around his body as he closed his eyes. Chu Rong opened his eyes and watched Qiao Zhiya sleep soundly. He gently stroked his back. After lunch, Chu Rong returned the still-sleeping Qiao Zhiya to Qiao Yi and Mi Lai¡¯s room. Qiao Yi was surprised, while Mi Lai quickly grabbed their son, looking at Chu Rong suspiciously, as if not believing he could be so considerate. ¡°Uncle, Aunt, I¡¯m very sorry I couldn¡¯t protect Qiao properly.¡± After a few hours of rest, Chu Rong¡¯s aura had softened considerably. He had restrained all his sharp edges, trying to appear more friendly. He spoke slowly, ¡°Regarding the questions Uncle raised earlier about Qiao¡¯s life in the Chu family these past two years, I have something to show you.¡± Qiao Yi and Mi Lai exchanged glances, not commenting on his words since they didn¡¯t quite understand them. Chu Rong also realized the issue and directly took out a photon computer, quickly pulling up Qiao Zhiya¡¯s study records from the past few years. He opened a folder full of video files and started the first one. These were videos he had collected and compiled after getting engaged to Qiao Zhiya, initially intending to edit them into a wedding gift. Now that Qiao¡¯s parents were here and concerned about Qiao¡¯s life over the past two years, he decided to follow Chu Yan¡¯s suggestion and show them these videos to quickly bridge the gap. The screen lit up, showing a desolate mining star with distant blurry black mines. Then the perspective quickly dropped to the ground, revealing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s figure. He was disheveled, with his hair sticking out, looking skinny and pitiful, like a true refugee. Qiao Yi and Mi Lai immediately turned to look. Qiao Yi frowned, while Mi Lai¡¯s eyes widened. Her eyes reddened, and she covered her mouth with one hand to prevent herself from making noise and waking her sleeping son. The scene was like a knife to their hearts. They quickly forgot their hostility towards Chu Rong, letting him in. They first settled their sleeping son, surrounding him with layers of wood and earth magic to keep him from being disturbed, then turned their attention back to the screen. Chu Rong slyly positioned himself slightly behind them, close to the nest where Qiao Zhiya was sleeping, his belly rising and falling. He secretly touched the tip of his tail. The video, recorded by a mecha, was unstable and not continuous. They only heard a cold ¡°capture him,¡± and suddenly a net appeared, covering the frightened and pitiful Qiao Zhiya like an animal. ¡°Oh my god,¡± Mi Lai¡¯s tears flowed instantly. When had her carefully held child ever been treated like this? Qiao Yi¡¯s gaze turned icy as he reached out to hold his wife¡¯s hand. The scene changed to a small room, with Chu Rong and a black-haired man sitting in chairs while a disheveled Qiao Zhiya curled up on the floor, arms around his knees, looking weak, helpless, and pitiful. Qiao Yi and Mi Lai paused, then turned to look at Chu Rong behind them, their eyes filled with murderous intent. They had initially thought someone else had captured their son, only to realize it was Chu Rong! Just as Chu Rong was reaching out to try and hold Qiao Zhiya, he froze, silently withdrawing his hand, and looked at them with forced calmness, asking, ¡°Uncle, Aunt, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Unforgivable! Mi Lai stood up, eyebrows raised, pulling out a huge hammer. ¡°Bang!¡± The door slammed shut as Chu Rong was swept out, his clothes and hair slightly disheveled. Chu Yan, who had been sneaking around to check the situation, saw this and his heart skipped a beat. He cautiously approached and asked, ¡°Erge, what happened? Did my suggestion work?¡± Chu Rong turned his head, grabbed Chu Yan by the collar, and coldly said, ¡°You¡¯re just in time. I have a score to settle with you.¡± Chu Yan: ¡°????¡± CH 117.1 ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Chu Yan lay on the table, looking utterly despairing. ¡°Ugh.¡± Chu Huai slouched on the sofa, his expression troubled. ¡°Click.¡± Chu Rong cracked open another nut, carefully extracting the kernel and placing it in a small dish, his face devoid of expression. On the video call, Gu Yan¡¯an, rubbing her belly, looked from one to another with curiosity. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with all of you? It¡¯s good that you¡¯re back, but instead of welcoming Qiao¡¯s parents, you¡¯re all moping around here sighing.¡± Chu Huai and Chu Yan turned their heads towards Chu Rong at the mention. Chu Rong remained unmoved, squeezing open another nut, then transferring the kernel to the small dish. Once satisfied the dish was full, he placed it back into the food box, nodded at Gu Yan¡¯an, and then left. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Once he had left, Chu Huai and Chu Yan sighed again, one slumping further and the other rubbing his forehead in exasperation. Gu Yan¡¯an was getting extremely curious. Her eyebrows raised, she teased, ¡°If you keep sighing like this, don¡¯t bother going home. Qiaoqiao and I will just raise bunnies together for the rest of our lives to save ourselves the headache!¡± Seeing his wife genuinely annoyed, Chu Huai snapped out of his thoughts, leaned closer to the screen, and began to explain. However, recalling the situation on the ship, before he could say anything, he sighed again. ¡°Chu! Huai!¡± Gu Yan¡¯an was convinced he was doing this on purpose! ¡°Don¡¯t be upset, don¡¯t be upset. You¡¯re in your third trimester, getting angry will make you uncomfortable. I¡¯ll explain,¡± Chu Huai hurriedly comforted her. He wanted to start explaining from where he should, but suddenly sighed again. He then kicked Chu Yan, who was clearly acting dead, and said, ¡°Xiao Yan, tell your Dasao what happened.¡± Chu Yan rolled his eyes, feeling very disdainful towards his brother who shifted the responsibility to him. ¡°I think Qiao¡¯s parents are going ballistic¡­ No, I think they wanted to kill Erge.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an frowned, realizing the seriousness of the matter. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Didn¡¯t you say that everything¡¯s going fine yesterday? You said you all had breakfast together, and Qiao¡¯s parents weren¡¯t difficult people? Why things today¡­¡± Yeah, what a good situation yesterday! Qiao¡¯s dad and mom even let Qiao and his Erge sleep together! Although it was only for a short time, it was a big step! Unfortunately, the whole thing was ruined. Chu Yan suddenly felt that the place that had been ¡°educated by love¡± by Chu Rong was hurting again. He raised his hands and rubbed his face. He felt anxious, unsure how to tell Gu Yan¡¯an that his Erge was probably going to get killed. He then sighed deeply. ¡°We suggested showing Qiao¡¯s parents a video of Qiao¡¯s warm life in our house, so they will accept us quickly. But Erge actually showed a video of Qiao¡¯s life from the very start! When Erge and Qiao just met on that mining planet! Dasao, you also know how bad and difficult the Erge¡¯s character was. At that time, Qiao¡¯s origin was unknown, his appearance was unusual, and he had no spiritual power whatsoever. In any case, he was suspicious. With Erge¡¯s personality, there¡¯s no way he wouldn¡¯t be at least a bit doubtful of Qiao¡¯s identity.¡± In fact, it was Chu Rong¡¯s great tenderness that he didn¡¯t throw Qiao Zhiya directly to a cell for interrogation. Chu Yan got desperate again. He saw his eldest brother squeeze his brows with a headache, exaggeratedly sighing. He then continued, ¡°I told Erge to secretly stop the video and come back. After all, Qiao¡¯s parents don¡¯t know how to use a photon computer¡­¡± ¨CBut Chu Rong refused. He said that it was necessary to let Qiao¡¯s parents know his entire life in the Federation. ¡°As the consequence, Qiao¡¯s parents no longer allow Xiao Rong to get close to Qiao. They also do not come out to eat, yesterday they stayed in the room all day watching videos. Xiao Rong had sent food and snacks a couple of times, but all of them had been discarded by them.¡± Chu Huai added. Chu Huai then sighed again after speaking, and saw Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s thoughtful appearance, worried that she was overthinking, and quickly reassured her, ¡°But fortunately, Qiao¡¯s parents are still on the ship, and they haven¡¯t demanded to leave because of anger, there is still room for maneuver. I plan to find a time to talk to Qiao¡¯s father and see if I can¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t go and make trouble.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an regained her senses, interrupted him after saying this, glared at him, suddenly smiled, waved her hand and said, ¡°I think you¡¯re just worrying for nothing. Xiao Rong did the right thing! Alright, I should go prepare the guest room, let¡¯s hang up.¡± The video call disappeared, Chu Huai and Chu Yan were puzzled for two seconds, turned to look at each other, stared at each other, and were confused. ¡®Erge/Lao Er did things right? How? Why do we not understand?¡¯ Inside a room, the recording of the Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition was finished, and the picture was fixed on Qiao Zhiya winning the championship, smiling and standing on the platform to welcome the applause from the audience. Qiao Yi was proud, Mi Lai was even more excited and cried, hugged her son in her arms and kissed him wildly, excitedly said, ¡°Baby is great! Champion! Your first time participating in the competition and you become the champion! Baby is really amazing!¡± Qiao Zhiya was embarrassed by the praise, shyly curled his tail, stretched out his claws to hug his mother. He then glanced at his father who seemed to be in a very good mood beside his mother, and tentatively said, ¡°Actually, at that time, most people thought I would be eliminated early, but Chu Rong has always trusted me and supported me, so¡­ ¡° As he spoke, he carefully observed his parents¡¯ expressions, seeing that their smiles faded a bit, he paused in his words, quickly stopped talking, and vigorously rubbed his mother¡¯s face again, not daring to speak well of Chu Rong. Yesterday he woke up and saw his mother and father looking sad and crying softly after watching a video on a photon computer. He became directly confused. Before he could understand what was going on, his mother woke up and cried bitterly, wiping tears on her eyes. His father was also upset and constantly comforted him with magic power, sighing and apologizing. He was confused and anxious, and began to comfort his parents, but before he could say a few words, there was a knock on the door. At that time, his mother¡¯s expression changed immediately, and his father flew away with a magic power, shaking the door. The room was quiet, and then Chu Rong¡¯s voice sounded at the door. His mother held him tightly and didn¡¯t let him fly up, and his father got up to open the door, but didn¡¯t allow Chu Rong in. Instead, he waved his hand and did something, then closed the door again. At that time, his parents¡¯ aura was really terrible, and he was confused to the extreme. He was worried about Chu Rong outside the door for a while, then got worried about his parents inside the door. His brain tangled, thinking about what had happened. In the end, he wanted to ask, but was afraid of making his mother more sad, so he just secretly observed himself. As a result, he never dared to mention Chu Rong in front of his parents again. There was no other way. At that time, the photon computer screen was playing the video of Chu Rong¡¯s interrogation of him when he had just been rescued. Chu Rong was fierce and evil-looking in the video, looking extremely hateful. His parents had always loved him. Seeing this kind of video, it was no wonder that they had such expressions. He wanted to help Chu Rong explain, but he couldn¡¯t speak, because his parents immediately clicked to play the next video, and there was no intention to communicate. Later, he secretly used the internal communication of the room to contact Chu Rong, and finally knew what Chu Rong had done while he was asleep. Then he calmed down, stopped trying to explain, quietly accompanied his parents to watch the video, occasionally supplemented with some things that were not recorded in the video, so that his parents could understand more about his life during those two years. He vaguely understood Chu Rong¡¯s intentions and believed that his parents were not arbitrary people. The relationship between people is developmental, and the relationship between him and Chu Rong in the videos also gradually transformed. Chu Rong¡¯s attitude changed from initially cold and harsh to later being tolerant and caring. Many things happened in between that cannot be detailed in words. These videos can let parents understand his life over the past two years and also allow them to have a deeper understanding of Chu Rong¡¯s temperament. Currently, Qiao¡¯s parents dislike Chu Rong because they only see Chu Rong¡¯s initial shortcomings towards him. As they see later scenes of Chu Rong taking care of him, their perception of Chu Rong will naturally change. In fact, Qiao Yi and Mi Lai have indeed gradually changed their views on Chu Rong. After leaving that terrible mining planet, Chu Rong brought Qiao Zhiya home, first clarified his background, arranged for him to go to school, helped him adapt to life in the Federation, introduced him to the Chu family, unconditionally supported his hobbies, and learned to take care of him step by step. Setting aside Chu Rong¡¯s poor emotional management and expression of feelings, his care for Qiao Zhiya is impeccable. Many times Chu Rong¡¯s way of caring for people is tough and his attitude is very bad. Mi Lai was angry several times and almost went out to confront Chu Rong, but watching Qiao Zhiya gradually integrate into the Federation, facing Chu Rong¡¯s attitude changing from cautious to natural, with more and more smiles on his face, gradually forming his own social circle and achieving small successes, Mi Lai and Qiao Yi¡¯s tense hearts slowly relaxed, and then completely softened. Their son lived well under Chu Rong¡¯s protection, although there were some difficulties and disappointments, they all passed smoothly. It was completely different from the scenes they had worried about before. After arriving in this strange world, except for the first one or two months of adaptation, their son has been doing well. Qiao Yi and Mi Lai glanced at each other, looked at their son who stopped praising Chu Rong halfway, remained silent for a while, and Mi Lai reluctantly spoke first, touching her son¡¯s small wings, saying, ¡°That Chu Rong¡­ is okay.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned when he heard this, then his eyes lit up and he excitedly replied, ¡°Mom, Chu Rong is really good. Although he looks fierce, he is actually very gentle and kind. Besides Mom and Dad, he is the best person in the world!¡± Mi Lai frowned again, not feeling happy, holding down his small body, murmuring, ¡°Where is he gentle and kind? Baby, you are too easily trusting. This is not good¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya flapped his wings, just smiled and rubbed her hand, not saying anything ¡ª his mother¡¯s attitude obviously softened, and he was very happy. Qiao Yi patted his wife comfortingly, always concerned about the dangers Qiao Zhiya encountered in this world. His fingers were about to move to the next video when the door was knocked again. The three people in the room were all stunned, and then Qiao Zhiya looked up hopefully at his mother, and then gently hooked his father¡¯s wrist, carefully said, ¡°It should be Chu Rong coming to deliver dinner¡­¡± Qiao Yi looked down at him, picked him up, and walked towards the door. ¡®Huh?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya hurriedly grabbed his sleeve, looking expectantly towards the door ¡ª was Dad planning to let him meet Chu Rong? So Dad has gradually accepted Chu Rong? Mi Lai watched her husband carry their son towards the door, glanced at the screen, snorted, and did not stop them. ¡°Click¡± the door opened. CH 117.3 ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡± The power of a mother¡¯s love was formidable. Fueled by her overwhelming negative emotions towards Chu Rong, Mi Lai managed to surpass Chu Rong, delivering her most decisive and ruthless blows since birth, ending this trial and venting session with a heavy punch. ¡°Too weak. If you want to marry your sweetheart, wait until you can beat me and Qiao Yi.¡± Mi Lai pulled back her fist, mixing Dwarven language into her lingua franca, leaving a harsh remark. She pushed her long hair back, stomping heavily as she walked away from the training ground, leaving behind a large area of damaged ground and walls. Her departure was dignified and domineering, stunning everyone who witnessed her display of brutality. Chu Yan, awestruck by her revealed ferocity, quickly stepped aside as she approached, even sheepishly offering her a handkerchief as she passed by. Mi Lai halted, looking him up and down, snorting softly, and reached out to take the handkerchief. After watching her leave, everyone turned their heads back to Chu Rong, who was still sitting on the ground. Their expressions were strange, their gazes complex ¡ª this was the first time, the very first time they had seen their leader dodge and still be pressed down by someone else. Qiao¡¯s mother appeared delicate and youthful, but unexpectedly strong, especially in combat. She seemed like a natural-born fierce beast, her attacks tinged with a bloodthirsty taste. What was even more frightening was her short figure, making it difficult once she stuck to someone. Moreover, she was a woman. Chu Rong, in order to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor, hesitated slightly in his attacks, almost being completely dominated. Chu Yan recalled the painful days when he was rubbed into the ground by Chu Rong in the past, looking at Chu Rong now with bruised lips, messy hair, and tattered clothes. He couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit of schadenfreude rising in his heart. He approached eagerly, concerned, ¡°Erge, how are you? Do you need to go to the infirmary?¡± His tone unintentionally carried a hint of elation. Chu Rong turned his head slightly, giving him a faint glance. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up, still supporting himself on the ground, his back straight and his aura still strong. He frowned slightly, stretching his neck and wrists, saying, ¡°Come here, let¡¯s have a match.¡± ¡®¡­ What?¡¯ Chu Yan froze, meeting his cold gaze, his body trembling. Without hesitation, he turned around and ran. Chu Rong reached out, grabbing the back of his clothes. After beating Chu Rong, Mi Lai finally felt relieved. She joyfully returned to her room, hugging her son tightly, showering him with kisses. After smearing his face with saliva, she then pounced into her husband¡¯s arms for another snuggle. She then tidied up in her pajamas and refreshedly headed to the bathroom. Qiao Zhiya watched her disappear into the bathroom with a face full of saliva, then widened his eyes to look at his father. Qiao Yi chuckled, shaking his head. He took out a handkerchief and wiped Qiao Zhiya¡¯s face, saying, ¡°Looks like your mother has communicated well with Chu Rong. The result seems good.¡± ¡®Was that so?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya looked at the bathroom door again, listening to the faint hum of happiness from inside. His nervousness relaxed, and he wagged his tail a bit¡ª ¡®Mom was so happy, she must have communicated well with Chu Rong. I knew Mom was the best mom in the world!¡¯ The family of three finished washing up and happily continued watching videos. In the meantime, Zhuang Yu came over once to deliver snacks. Qiao Zhiya was initially puzzled by her arrival but quickly dismissed the thought, happily fluttering around Zhuang Yu, enjoying the reunion. Zhuang Yu, who had come over with a mission, soon forgot Chu Huai¡¯s instructions. Her eyes were full of curiosity and excitement over Qiao Zhiya¡¯s current appearance. At midnight, exhausted from the fight, Mi Lai fell asleep early. Qiao Zhiya, who usually kept regular hours, nestled next to her and fell into a deep slumber, his little belly rising and falling, looking very cute. Qiao Yi tucked them in, kissed each of their foreheads, then lowered the volume of the light brain and sat on the sofa by the window, watching the remaining videos. After lively videos of engagement and festival celebrations, a long series of live broadcast videos copied from Star Network followed, all titled ¡°Qiao¡¯s Pharmacy Classroom1I don¡¯t remember how I initially translated this. So if it¡¯s different, my apology.¡± Qiao Yi¡¯s gaze swept over the serious and restrained expression of Qiao Zhiya on the cover and frowned slightly. He reached out and tapped ¡°play¡±. At half past seven in the morning, the flagship landed at the Chu family¡¯s private port. Mi Lai and Qiao Zhiya, still asleep in bed, stirred and were about to wake up. Qiao Yi set down the photon computer, having finished playing all the videos, suppressing the chill that covered him. He walked to the bedside and looked at the golden young dragon almost buried in a small blanket. Bending down, he gently stroked his head. Beside him, Mi Lai sensed the movement, drowsily opened her eyes, saw her husband right beside her, happily stretched out her arm, and pounced over. Qiao Yi caught her, listened to her sleepy ¡°good morning¡± greeting, closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head, suppressing the intense turmoil of emotions within him. At half past eight, everyone disembarked, took floating cars in batches, and headed home separately. Qiao Zhiya was held in Qiao Yi¡¯s arms, looking at Chu Rong across from him. His gaze swept over the bruises around his mouth and eyes. He was about to secretly wag his tail and curl around his wrist when a large hand gently covered his head, and then Qiao Yi¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°Regarding those Zergs and the black hole teleportation device, I need more information.¡± Qiao Zhiya was momentarily stunned, looking up at his father. Chu Rong wasn¡¯t surprised that he brought this up. He took out a new light brain and handed it over, saying, ¡°Everything you want to know is here.¡± Taking the item, Qiao Yi continued, ¡°I also want to meet the Imperial High Advisor who activated the dragon genes in Qiaoqiao¡¯s body.¡± ¡°The Imperial High Advisor disembarked earlier for treatment. After settling in, I¡¯ll arrange for you to meet him,¡± Chu Rong explained slowly, then asked, ¡°Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± Qiao Yi glanced at his son and then at his wife, who no longer harbored hostility towards Chu Rong. He said, ¡°After meeting the Imperial High Advisor, I¡¯d like to talk to you alone.¡± Chu Rong also glanced at Qiao Zhiya and Mi Lai, nodded, ¡°Alright.¡± Afterward, there was silence on the way. Qiao Yi generously handed Qiao Zhiya over to Chu Rong, and Mi Lai glared but did not object, just hummed softly. Originally, Qiao Zhiya had a lot of questions to ask, but after sensing Chu Rong¡¯s aura, he immediately forgot all those questions. He secretly extended his claw to circulate magic in his body, and discovered that he actually had some internal injuries. He widened his eyes slightly, just about to turn his head to look at his mother, when Chu Rong gently pressed down on his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Chu Rong patted his body, soothingly whispered, then took out a pack of nut meat, took out a piece to feed him, and said, ¡°The Imperial High Advisor said that eating more nuts is good for the growth of your claws and scales.¡± Qiao Zhiya looked up at him, flapped his wings, obediently opened his mouth to eat the nut, then tilted his head to rub against his palm, once again infiltrating his body with magic to silently heal his internal injuries. The floating car drove all the way into the Chu family¡¯s residence, and Gu Yan¡¯an stood in the yard personally, waiting for the car to land and open the door immediately. She took a step forward, ignoring Chu Huai and Chu Yan from the first car, and fixed her gaze on a golden little figure flying out of the second car. A smile appeared on her face, but her eyes couldn¡¯t help but redden. She reached out and hugged the little dragon who rushed over, sighing, ¡°It¡¯s good to be back safely. Next time, let Xiao Rong take the risk. He¡¯s sturdy. You mustn¡¯t take such risks again.¡± She had already known Qiao Zhiya¡¯s situation from Chu Huai and Chu Yan, and had seen pictures of his current appearance, so she didn¡¯t feel unfamiliar at all at this moment, just relieved that her heart finally landed. The young dragon flapped his wings and rubbed against her, lowly echoing her words, then flew down carefully to stick to her belly, as if communicating with the baby. Sensing the familiar aura, the baby immediately moved, and Gu Yan¡¯an¡¯s belly clearly bulged a small area. ¡°The baby misses you too.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an smiled, supported her belly, touched the joyful call of the little dragon, and then fixed her gaze on Chu Rong, who came down a step later. Seeing his face full of color, she paused for a moment, then immediately pretended not to see it and shifted her gaze to Qiao Yi and Mi Lai. ¡°Welcome home.¡± Gu Yan¡¯an took a step forward, smiling warmly and releasing her kindness. She slowed down and introduced herself, ¡°I¡¯m Chu Rong¡¯s elder sister-in-law. You can call me Yan¡¯an.¡± Qiao Yi and Mi Lai had seen her in videos and knew she was very kind to Qiao Zhiya. They responded warmly to her greeting and introduction. Gu Yan¡¯an smiled, knowing they might not fully understand the lingua franca. Without further ado, she hurriedly led them into the main residence. Back home, Qiao Zhiya was very excited. Not wanting to stay in Chu Rong¡¯s arms, he happily flew around, playfully bounced on the old steward¡¯s shoulder, then settled into a basket with stuffed rabbits, rolling around joyfully with them. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but smile. Qiao Yi and Mi Lai also relaxed, exchanged a glance, and felt their hearts finally at ease. The atmosphere at the Chu family¡¯s residence was unexpectedly warm and friendly. Such a family atmosphere couldn¡¯t possibly raise bad children. They gathered for breakfast together. Afterwards, Chu Huai and Chu Rong went to the military department for official business, while Qiao Yi and Mi Lai, accompanied by Gu Yan¡¯an and Chu Yan, toured the Chu residence to familiarize themselves with the surroundings. Military Department. Upon arrival, Chu Rong immediately convened an urgent video conference with the generals stationed outside to assess their reconnaissance findings on several subsequent coordinates. ¡°No abnormalities on Planet C28.¡± ¡°A black obstruction slab was found on a garbage planet near Hero Memorial Planet, preliminary assessment indicates there may be a teleportation field or Zerg breeding ground underground.¡± ¡°No abnormalities on Planet F07.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The Empire¡¯s new round of cleansing has begun. All garbage planets have been fully sealed off and are under emergency search.¡± Neitaxi, the last to report, glanced at the bruises around Chu Rong¡¯s eyes and mouth, cleared his throat softly, and averted his gaze. His cough drew back the attention of others that had just been diverted from Chu Rong¡¯s face. They couldn¡¯t help but be curious, feeling a tingling sensation, as if scratched by a cat¡¯s claws. Chu Rong¡¯s strength was widely known, and in all these years, they had never seen him bruised. Now, a brave warrior had managed to injure Chu Rong! ¡°Truly talented¡­¡± they silently sighed, and somewhat rebelliously thought, ¡°I really want to recruit such bold talent into our army.¡± CH 118.2 Chapter 118 is only around 5.5k words in English, so I¡¯m splitting it into 2. After concluding a somewhat awkward video conference, Chu Rong, under the peculiar gazes of soldiers and officers, went to the top-secret archives room of the military department. He collected all the black hole teleportation devices and teleportation slabs before heading back home. When he arrived, Chu Huai had not yet returned, likely delayed by something. Lunch had just been served, and as soon as he neared the dining room, he heard the flutter of wings. His cold, stern expression immediately softened. He stepped into the dining room and extended his arms to catch the golden dragon that had flown towards him. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be busy all day,¡± Qiao Zhiya said, happily rubbing his face against Chu Rong¡¯s, his eyes bright with joy. Chu Rong stroked his body, kissed his forehead gently, and replied warmly, ¡°Yuan Lie and the others are handling things at the military department, so it¡¯s not too busy.¡± After greeting Qiao Yi and Mi Lai, who were watching from the dining table, he sat down opposite them with Qiao Zhiya. He took out a cushion, placed it on the table, and set Qiao Zhiya on it. Qiao Zhiya shifted slightly, looked down at the soft cushion beneath him, flapped his wings, and snuggled closer to Chu Rong¡¯s hand. Chu Rong gently patted his head, used his other hand to get the utensils, and then began cutting the meat. He forked a piece and fed it to Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya wagged his tail, obediently ate the meat, and squinted his eyes contentedly. Their actions were seamless and natural. Although Chu Rong maintained his usual stoic expression, his care was tender and meticulous. His gaze towards Qiao Zhiya was warm, a stark contrast to how he usually appeared in front of others. Qiao Yi and Mi Lai watched his series of actions and felt complicated emotions, recalling those videos. They knew Chu Rong wasn¡¯t pretending because someone trying to impress wouldn¡¯t immediately ignore the parents of the person they were trying to impress upon meeting them. In fact, they found Chu Rong a bit overly indulgent towards Qiao Zhiya. For example, in those videos, even though Qiao Zhiya was already an adult, Chu Rong often carried him around. If it were them, they would never treat their adult son like that. Moreover, the always independent and sensible Qiao Zhiya seemed very accustomed to being carried by Chu Rong, indicating that this was a common occurrence for them. Just like now, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s happiness with Chu Rong¡¯s care showed he was used to it rather than feeling out of place. Mi Lai puffed her cheeks, abandoning the idea of competing with Chu Rong for their son¡¯s attention. Still, she felt a bit unwilling to concede, inexplicably feeling like she had lost a round. She ate a piece of meat vigorously, as if she was chewing on someone¡¯s flesh. Qiao Yi glanced at his son¡¯s happily wagging tail, quietly withdrew his gaze, and handed a glass of juice to his wife, gently squeezing her hand. The atmosphere at the dining table was quiet yet harmonious. Gu Yan¡¯an observed Qiao Yi and Mi Lai¡¯s reactions, her tense nerves relaxed. She glanced at Chu Rong, who was focused on caring for Qiao Zhiya, and a faint smile appeared on her face. Genuine feelings can only be exchanged for genuine feelings. Deliberate flattery can sometimes have the opposite effect. In this regard, Xiao Rong understood this much better than Chu Huai and Chu Yan. Chu Yan, who had been keeping a low profile, glanced at each of them in turn, silently eating his meal and trying to minimize his presence ¡ª he didn¡¯t dare stand out anymore. His erge¡¯s growing tendency to take out his frustrations made him nervous. After lunch, everyone went to the yard to digest their food. Gu Yan¡¯an, being heavily pregnant, found it inconvenient to move around, so she only moved a little before returning indoors to rest. Mi Lai, not wanting to watch the sweet daily interactions between her son and Chu Rong, soon dragged Qiao Yi back to the living room, claiming she wanted to learn the lingua franca from the old butler. Chu Yan, sensing the tension, made a swift exit with a plausible excuse, leaving Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya alone in the courtyard. Qiao Zhiya flapped his wings and settled comfortably in Chu Rong¡¯s lap, gently pawing at his chest. ¡°Does it still hurt?¡± he asked, looking up at Chu Rong. Chu Rong shook his head and walked over to a rattan chair in the courtyard, sitting down and squeezing Qiao Zhiya¡¯s little paw. Suddenly, he said, ¡°I saw the mastermind¡¯s face.¡± Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment, then quickly sat up, asking, ¡°Really? Did you get hurt? Did he¡ª¡± A surge of powerful, sharp spiritual power suddenly enveloped them. It grew stronger and stronger before silently dissipating, gently brushing against him before vanishing into the air. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s words halted abruptly. He stared at Chu Rong with wide eyes, stammering, ¡°Y-you¡­¡± ¡°That time, my spiritual power was very unstable because I was about to upgrade. After your father rescued you, I successfully advanced to SSSS-level. Sorry for making you worry.¡± Chu Rong comforted him, recalling how Qiao Zhiya had thoughtfully refrained from asking questions and had discreetly taken care of him during that time. His eyes darkened, and he pressed his forehead against Qiao Zhiya¡¯s, gazing into his emerald green eyes. He whispered, ¡°Qiao, I¡¯ll learn to trust you more¡­ and rely on you more.¡± Qiao Zhiya didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind his gaze, but he instinctively felt shy and happy. His tail wrapped around Chu Rong¡¯s wrist, and he puffed out his small chest, boldly promising, ¡°I¡¯ll take good care of you! I¡¯ll also work hard to become stronger so you can rely on me for a lifetime! And¡­ you¡¯re great, no, you¡¯re the best.¡± His little paw reached out to touch Chu Rong¡¯s face. Chu Rong froze for a moment before breaking into a genuine smile. He kissed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s forehead again, feeling his love for him warming his entire being. Embarrassed by the kiss, Qiao Zhiya fluttered his wings and burrowed into Chu Rong¡¯s arms, nuzzling his neck. ¡°Damn kidnapper!¡± Mi Lai, spying from the window, angrily scratched at the glass, completely forgetting about learning the lingua franca. The old butler coughed lightly, turning his head to pretend he hadn¡¯t seen anything. Qiao Yi, helpless, raised a hand, and a vine suddenly appeared, gently wrapping around Mi Lai¡¯s waist and pulling her back to him. He tapped her forehead and called softly, ¡°Mi Lai.¡± Receiving her husband¡¯s gentle warning, Mi Lai huffed, picked up her tablet, and grumbled as she resumed her studies. After about two hours, news came from Zhuang Yu that the Imperial High Advisor had woken up and could receive visitors. Upon hearing this, Chu Rong immediately took Qiao Zhiya and his parents to the infirmary. Qiao Zhiya had wanted to visit the Imperial High Advisor and Jian ever since he learned they were on the flagship. Unfortunately, the Imperial High Advisor needed quiet for his treatment, and Qiao Zhiya had been preoccupied with his parents and Chu Rong, so he hadn¡¯t had the chance. Now, finally able to see his friend and the Imperial High Advisor who had helped him, he was excited and flew ahead eagerly. The Imperial High Advisor, leaning against the bed, heard the soft sound of wings flapping and paused, realizing who it might be. His eyes showed a hint of excitement as he turned towards the door. The pale-gold dragon flew in, and the Imperial High Advisor watched him for a few seconds before breaking into a loving smile. He extended his hand and said, ¡°Is that you, Qiao? Come here and let me see you.¡± Qiao Zhiya immediately flew over, landing in front of him and chirping softly, looking at him with concern. After going through this ordeal, any lingering resentment Qiao Zhiya had towards the Imperial High Advisor had vanished, replaced by heartfelt gratitude. Influenced perhaps by his bloodline, he now felt an extraordinary sense of closeness to the Imperial High Advisor, as if he were a dear family elder. There was no need for any magical probing ¨C the Imperial High Advisor could understand Qiao Zhiya¡¯s meaning just from his chirping. He gently patted the little horns on his head, examined his scales, claws, and teeth, and even measured the length of his tail. Satisfied, he said, ¡°Very healthy. Although your size is a bit small, you¡¯ll grow in time. I didn¡¯t expect you to be a metal-element dragon, they¡¯re quite rare.¡± Metal-element? Chu Rong and Qiao Yi, who had just entered the room, were taken aback, while Mi Lai, still unaware of the significance, curiously observed the still somewhat pale Imperial High Advisor. Qiao Zhiya was equally puzzled. He tried releasing a bit of magic, which remained wood-element, and looked up at the Imperial High Advisor in confusion. The Imperial High Advisor, amused by his adorable confusion, couldn¡¯t resist poking his chubby belly. He explained, ¡°I¡¯m not sure what dragon types your homeland has, but in my homeland, there are dragons of various elements. Fire is the most common, followed by lightning. Other elements are equally distributed, but healing and metal elements are the rarest. You have both. You¡¯ve only awakened your bloodline, not your full powers yet, so you can¡¯t sense it.¡± No wonder his magic felt a bit off after his transformation¡­ Qiao Zhiya looked at his paws and then at the Imperial High Advisor, curiously asking, ¡°What element are you?¡± He hadn¡¯t seen the Imperial High Advisor in battle and didn¡¯t know his powers. ¡°I¡­¡± The Imperial High Advisor¡¯s smile faded slightly as he stroked Qiao Zhiya¡¯s head again. ¡°My power is quite special. It¡¯s the rarest: divination and prophecy. It¡¯s not very strong in combat.¡± In his homeland, the Sea Country1I translated this quite literally. CN: º£¹ú, his family had a special status due to their powers. They didn¡¯t need to fight because the entire dragon clan would protect them. This was one reason he wanted to take Jian back home, where he could receive the best care and possibly awaken his bloodline. ¡®Not very strong in combat¡­ Could this be why the Imperial High Advisor, despite being a powerful dragon, was captured and harmed by the mastermind?¡¯ Qiao Zhiya pondered this before being scooped up by large hands and settled into a familiar embrace. He turned back, his tail instinctively swishing. Chu Rong patted his head and, noticing the Imperial High Advisor looking over, stepped aside to reveal Qiao Yi and Mi Lai. ¡°These are Qiao¡¯s parents,¡± he introduced. The Imperial High Advisor looked at Qiao Yi and Mi Lai, his gaze lingering on their unusually youthful and distinguished appearances before settling on Qiao Yi. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Qiao Zhiya¡¯s father, Qiao Yi. Thank you for protecting my child.¡± Qiao Yi bowed formally, expressing sincere gratitude. He spoke in Elvish, infused with magic. Although the Imperial High Advisor didn¡¯t understand the language, he strangely grasped the meaning. Startled briefly, he quickly expressed that there was no need for thanks and explained that protecting young kin was something any adult dragon would do ¨C he had simply done what was right. Qiao Yi¡¯s aura became even gentler upon hearing this. His gaze shifted from the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s pale face to Jian sitting quietly beside him. With a motion of his hand, he produced a bottle of clear green liquid and offered it, saying warmly, ¡°May the gods bless you.¡± Seeing this, Mi Lai rummaged through her belongings and handed over a piece of dark brown wood, muttering a Dwarvish blessing. These were clearly tokens of gratitude, but the Imperial High Advisor, feeling he hadn¡¯t done much and had even been helped by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s healing, felt embarrassed to accept them and politely declined. ¡°Uncle Feng, please take these. This is Wood Essence and Earth Essence, natural extracts refined by Elves and Dwarves using their magic. They are beneficial for both you and Jian,¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly explained. He then took out several potions made from the roots of a yellow leaf tree and flew over to place them in the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s hands, nuzzling his palm. The soft and delicate scales of the little dragon, combined with the heartwarming change in address, softened the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s gaze. He glanced at his frail-looking son beside him and, no longer refusing, accepted the gifts from Qiao Zhiya¡¯s family with a formal thank you. Having introduced themselves, Chu Rong had chairs brought in for Qiao Zhiya¡¯s parents, while he sat alone on one side, holding Qiao Zhiya in his arms, looking quite strategic. Unfortunately, Qiao Zhiya was not appreciative. As soon as Chu Rong sat down, he flew over to Jian, leaving Chu Rong alone with an ¡°empty chair.¡± Jian, who hadn¡¯t inherited the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s abilities and couldn¡¯t understand Qiao Zhiya¡¯s chirping, was nevertheless delighted to see his friend. He curiously touched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s wings and tail, eagerly engaging in a conversation that neither could understand. On the other side, Qiao Yi finally expressed his purpose for coming, asking about Qiao Zhiya¡¯s transformation and the mention of the metal attribute by the Imperial High Advisor. Before coming, Qiao Yi had reviewed dragon clan records and knew that dragons could freely switch between human and dragon forms. He initially thought Qiao Zhiya remained in his dragon form because his powers were unstable after his transformation. However, nearly half a month had passed, and Qiao Zhiya¡¯s mental and physical state was excellent, yet he was still in his dragon form, which was a bit concerning. Although the dragon form was cute, if his son wanted to live with Chu Rong in human society, it would be better for him to switch back to human form as soon as possible. The Imperial High Advisor glanced at Qiao Zhiya¡¯s fully-formed dragon shape, touched his tail, and assessed his condition. Seeing Qiao Zhiya looking back at him, he smiled reassuringly and then turned to Qiao Yi, replying, ¡°Generally, young dragons in their first transformation remain in their original form for a while due to unfamiliarity with their other shape and unstable powers. Qiao Zhiya¡¯s case is special ¨C his bloodline has awakened due to atavism, but his powers have not. To allow him to switch forms freely, he must first awaken his dragon powers.¡± He spoke in the dragon language and infused it with some power as a test. Surprisingly, Qiao Yi and Mi Lai both understood him, and even Qiao Zhiya turned his head again, leaving only Chu Rong and Jian in the dark. ¡°How can we awaken his dragon powers? Would eating more meat help?¡± Mi Lai asked straightforwardly. The Imperial High Advisor was momentarily taken aback by her simple question. He looked at her and, suppressing a smile, shook his head, ¡°The awakening of dragon powers is usually guided by the parents or a senior dragon of the same attribute. But as far as I can sense, neither of you possesses metal attributes, so it¡¯s up to Qiao Zhiya to figure it out on his own. I will teach him a set of dragon power cultivation techniques, hoping it will help. In fact, I recommend letting nature take its course. Rushing a young dragon¡¯s growth is not advisable.¡± Mi Lai immediately dropped the idea of hastening Qiao Zhiya¡¯s return to human form, tugging on Qiao Yi¡¯s sleeve, ¡°Our baby is fine as he is now. Let¡¯s keep it this way, okay?¡± CH 119.2 The hospital room had been left in a mess by the black hole and the magical array. After taking a moment to regroup, everyone moved to another secure room, where they all looked at the unconscious experimental creature that Mi Lai had knocked out. ¡°It¡¯s bigger than the previous two types we¡¯ve seen¡­¡± Qiao Zhiya began, eyeing the creature¡¯s dark scales that were similar in shape to his own but entirely black. He suddenly felt a tingling sensation on his skin and an unsettling anxiety gnawing at his heart, prompting him to bury his face in his mother¡¯s embrace. Sensing his unease, Mi Lai immediately hugged him tighter, filled with a burning desire to wake up the creature and pummel it again. However, she could feel her husband¡¯s power subtly surrounding her, making her feel guilty and causing her to stand still without making any rash moves. ¡°It¡¯s the purest bloodline experimental creature I¡¯ve sensed. Its bloodline is attracting me. The monster¡¯s target this time was me,¡± said the Imperial High Advisor, leaning back against the bed with Jian¡¯s help, his brow furrowing in self-reproach. ¡°My bloodline seal was broken on that holiday, and the monster has already discovered my presence. This time, he aimed to capture me, and Qiao was implicated because of me. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°You did nothing wrong,¡± Qiao Yi interjected, his gaze darkening. ¡°Today it was you; tomorrow it could be Qiaoqiao. You are both victims ¨C there is no such thing as implicating one another.¡± Qiao Zhiya quickly poked his head out to agree but couldn¡¯t shake off the nagging sense of unease. After saying just a few words, he couldn¡¯t help but retreat back into his mother¡¯s arms, instinctively seeking protection and comfort. Mi Lai, worried, encased him in her magical aura and stroked his slightly stiff body, asking anxiously, ¡°Baby, what¡¯s wrong?¡± With his mother¡¯s aura providing some comfort, Qiao Zhiya¡¯s unease diminished slightly. He glanced back at the experimental creature, feeling a bit embarrassed but still honestly expressed his feelings, ¡°This creature¡­ makes me uncomfortable.¡± Hearing this, Mi Lai immediately covered his eyes and took a few steps back, away from the creature. ¡°Then we won¡¯t look at it. It¡¯s too ugly. Just look at Mom.¡± Chu Rong, still only able to understand Qiao Zhiya¡¯s words, noticed his apparent fear and wanted to go over and hug him. However, the stern expressions of Qiao Zhiya¡¯s parents made him suppress the urge, instead focusing his gaze on the creature inside the isolation shield. This experimental creature was larger than any Chu Rong had seen before, its scales denser, with two horns growing on its forehead. Its hands no longer resembled human fingers but had transformed into animal-like claws, and its tail was long. If the previous creatures were 40% human, this one was barely 20%. ¡°The military research team confirmed that their scales contain Zerg genes,¡± he explained. So this was a hybrid of dragon, Zerg, and human genes. Hearing this, the Imperial High Advisor glanced at the creature with disgust before turning to Mi Lai. ¡°Qiao has just recently transformed and his bloodline is easily influenced by those of the same species. It¡¯s best not to let him stay near such a creature for too long.¡± Upon hearing this, Mi Lai immediately carried Qiao Zhiya out, kicking the isolation barrier harshly as they passed it. The creature inside trembled, its wings shifting as if it was about to wake up. Without warning, Qiao Yi acted, tapping his staff on the shield. A magical array appeared and began spinning rapidly, trapping the creature inside. It convulsed violently before suddenly deflating like a punctured balloon, releasing a foul, black-red mist that filled the isolation barrier, obscuring the creature from view. With the mist¡¯s release, the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s tense body relaxed, as did Qiao Zhiya¡¯s. Mi Lai paused, looking at her husband. Qiao Yi put away his staff, drew a magical array in the air, and threw a fire-elemental magic stone into it. With a loud boom, pure magical flames erupted, quickly engulfing the isolation barrier. The black-red mist writhed for a moment before silently dissipating, leaving behind a stench of rot. Chu Rong¡¯s isolation barrier lacked the ability to contain the stench. Everyone frowned, and with a wave of Qiao Yi¡¯s hand, wood-elemental magic spread through the room, replacing the foul odor with a faint, fresh scent of plants, easing everyone¡¯s nerves. As the magical flames gradually extinguished, the experimental creature within the isolation shield had been reduced to nothing but a pile of black ash. ¡°Such things should be destroyed as soon as possible,¡± Qiao Yi remarked, gently brushing his magic over the ashes and murmuring a prayer before addressing Chu Rong in the lingua franca. ¡°Find a place to bury it.¡± The experimental creature had once been an innocent human being, its transformation was against its will. With its sins now expunged, it deserved to find peace in death. Chu Rong nodded and stepped forward to collect the isolation shield. The atmosphere grew somber, and silence enveloped everyone. The Imperial High Advisor¡¯s expression of disgust gradually faded as he recalled the pitiful human experimental subjects he had seen in the past. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh softly. They were all victims, but he had been lucky enough to find salvation and release, whereas many experimental creatures remained under the monster¡¯s control, losing their consciousness in agony. Qiao Zhiya lay on Mi Lai¡¯s shoulder, his wings and tail drooping as he gazed at the now empty spot where the isolation barrier had been. He loathed those who disrespected life and harmed the innocent at will. The conversation ended in this heavy silence. Before leaving, Qiao Yi inscribed a protective magic array in the Imperial High Advisor¡¯s room to prevent any further black hole occurrences. Jian breathed a sigh of relief, expressing his gratitude to Qiao Yi. Affected by the presence of the experimental creature, Qiao Zhiya seemed dispirited and lethargic after leaving the room. Mi Lai, worried, took him back to their quarters. Qiao Yi and Chu Rong did not follow, instead heading to the study. ¡°I need the original pieces of those teleportation devices¡ªall of them,¡± Qiao Yi stated as they sat down. He had already mastered much of the basic lingua franca vocabulary. His aptitude for learning far surpassed that of Qiao Zhiya. Chu Rong, prepared, handed over a space button containing all the teleportation devices. ¡°Qiao has tried to study them before but never got any results.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because he was only working with blueprints,¡± Qiao Yi replied, recalling what Qiao Zhiya had told him. He fixed Chu Rong with a nearly severe gaze and said, ¡°Qiaoqiao has given you his complete trust and autonomy, but you haven¡¯t reciprocated equally. Chu Rong, you must understand that Qiaoqiao is an exceptional, capable adult dwarf and elf. His strength is sufficient to protect anyone. I appreciate your desire to protect him, but a healthy relationship requires mutual support. One-sided giving and receiving won¡¯t lead to a good outcome.¡± His words were fluent and free of errors, indicating he had carefully prepared them in advance. Chu Rong involuntarily clenched his fists, feelings of guilt and self-reproach stirring within him. ¡°I understand,¡± he said, meeting Qiao Yi¡¯s gaze seriously and firmly. ¡°Uncle1Chu Rong referred Qiao Yi with ²®¸¸ (Bofu), which can mean your father¡¯s older brother, or can be used to respectfully refer to older men around your father¡¯s age., I am trying to change.¡± Qiao Yi held his gaze for a few moments, his expression gradually softening. Without another word, he left the study. Back in their quarters, Qiao Zhiya had already fallen asleep under Mi Lai¡¯s soothing care. Qiao Yi checked him with his magic, relieved to find nothing amiss. He then turned to look at Mi Lai, who was sitting obediently. ¡°Qiao Yi¡­¡± Mi Lai tugged at his clothes, speaking softly in a placating tone, ¡°I promise I won¡¯t recklessly endanger myself anymore.¡± Facing his beloved, Qiao Yi¡¯s anger quickly dissipated. He embraced Mi Lai, gently stroking her hair to show his forgiveness. Mi Lai immediately closed her eyes and smiled, hugging his waist in return. That night, Qiao Zhiya slept in Qiao Yi and Mi Lai¡¯s room, while Chu Rong kept watch over the empty room, once again unable to sleep. Unlike the quarters on the flagship, every corner of the house was filled with Qiao Zhiya¡¯s presence ¡ª the pillows he slept on, his favorite pajamas, the toys he made, and the little trinkets he casually left on the bedside table. The familiar scent permeated the air, but he was conspicuously absent, intensifying Chu Rong¡¯s feelings of emptiness and longing in the late hours of the night, leaving him sleepless. On the other side, Qiao Zhiya went to bed early and woke up early. Having skipped dinner the previous day and fallen asleep, hunger woke him directly in the early hours of the morning. The room was dimly lit, and it took him a moment to remember what happened before bed. He turned his head to the bedside and saw his parents embracing each other peacefully asleep, which eased his mind. Thinking of his parents¡¯ magical exertion the day before, he carefully climbed out of bed, took out several large pieces of emerald jades and ink jades, placed them beside the bed, and waited for his parents to unconsciously replenish their strength before leaving with a comforting aura, flying out of the room. He was starving, feeling like he could eat an entire table of food right now. As he left, heading straight for the kitchen, he noticed light leaking from his laboratory on the first floor, with faint sounds coming from inside. ¡°Hmm? Is someone in there?¡± Curious, he fluttered his wings and flew over. The door was half-open, and as he approached, Chu Rong¡¯s figure in sleepwear came into view. His hair was slightly disheveled, sleeves rolled up, meticulously organizing scattered toys and small items on the workbench, looking serious and focused. ¡°Chu Rong?¡± Qiao Zhiya softly called out, glancing at the clock on the wall, feeling like he might still be half-asleep and experiencing an illusion. Seemingly absorbed but actually lost in thought, Chu Rong was brought back to reality by Qiao Zhiya¡¯s voice. He turned his head towards him, his eyes showing a hint of confusion and doubt, as if questioning whether he was imagining things. Then quickly, his gaze cleared, and he put down the toys in his hand, striding over to embrace him, furrowing his brow as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Can¡¯t sleep or had a nightmare?¡± Qiao Zhiya relaxed his fluttering wings as he landed in Chu Rong¡¯s embrace, shaking his head. He glanced at the faint shadows under Chu Rong¡¯s eyes, about to speak when a rumbling sound interrupted. ¡ªHis stomach protested from being hungry for too long. He shut his mouth, quickly placing a claw on his stomach, embarrassed and wishing he could disappear into a hole. Chu Rong paused for a moment, then his expression relaxed. He gently rubbed Qiao Zhiya¡¯s slightly sunken stomach, without asking further questions, and carried him out towards the kitchen. His lack of inquiry effectively eased Qiao Zhiya¡¯s embarrassment and awkwardness. Qiao Zhiya couldn¡¯t resist leaning his head against Chu Rong¡¯s chest, even daring to bury his head in Chu Rong¡¯s collar and nuzzle his firm, warm skin. Chu Rong allowed him to be affectionate, feeling quite content as he pinched Qiao Zhiya¡¯s tail, his lips subconsciously curving upwards.