Cub 021: But Now Zao Zao Is Not Alone Anymore

So you’re saying that when you run into problems you can’t solve, you curl up into a ball… is that it?

Meilun silently looked at this ‘ball’.

This shouldn’t be the case—even if he wasn’t raised by the Crown Clan, just considering the clan’s stubbornness in their bones, there’s no way such a ‘little coward’ could appear.

Meilun thought for a bit, trying to correct the little cub’s mentality—although these two remaining generations of the Crown Clan had gone through a lot of troubles, they still always resisted fate. Such avoidance couldn’t be tolerated…

But Little Chu Zao shifted, his golden little halo flying out. This white little fluffball lifted his tiny head, ears twitching, dewy eyes looking at him.

Meilun stared at this furball, a thousand words stuck in his throat in an instant.

—Zao Zao was just a five-year-old cub! How could he have done anything wrong?!

“Awoo!”

Why did Grandpa Meilun ask this?

The little ball still hugged his own little tail, a bit puzzled as he babbled in a soft baby voice.

This was the only cub the Crown Clan had produced after hundreds of years—and he was the Dwight family’s cub.

Meilun was struck by an overwhelming wave of cuteness, covering his face with one hand. The strand of snowy white hair at the back of his head, tied with a black ribbon, curled and trembled gently with his movements, as if an elegant gentleman had been struck by something beyond his comprehension.

“It’s really nothing serious. Zao Zao is still too little. You can learn slowly in the future. For now, you just need to listen a bit. As the Crown Clan, we bear the responsibility and glory of the Empire. Even when facing insurmountable trouble, we would still, without hesitation—‘take up the sword’.”

Meanwhile, up in the sky above Holy Cas Star, Amos, wings spread wide, holding a spiritual weapon, looked coolly upon the surging tide of alien beasts bursting forth from spatial ripples.

Compared to these massive, violent beasts, Amos seemed rather small, but as he swung his weapon, it was almost impossible to track his movements. That overwhelming, terrifying spiritual force instantly shattered hordes of alien beasts assaulting the Holy Cas Star’s defensive lines, breaking them into showers of blood and powder.

At that moment, the communicator on his waist rang, but only the chime sounded, bringing no useful news.

Amos frowned, calmly and decisively issuing the next pursuit order. Then he changed direction, his wings slicing across the sky, heading back toward the royal court.

Within the royal court, Meilun’s expression gradually turned cold after finishing his ‘take up the sword’ speech.

He raised his hand, his spiritual energy transforming into countless long diamond-shaped glowing objects, gripped within his palm, like boomerangs ready to be thrown. Over his head, only a broken circular base of his coronet and halo remained, slowly surfacing, carrying a sense of finality.

He glanced toward his room’s door and took a step forward. The formerly smiling face in front of the little cub had completely lost its warmth, scarlet eyes narrowing slightly. As spiritual power surged and the halo above his head continued to shatter, the whites of his eyes, which had just begun to return to normal, flushed red again. Yet his posture remained relaxed, still bearing the Crown Clan’s unique arrogance even in such extremity.

The little white fluffball was sheltered behind him, and Little Chu Zao sensed a shift in atmosphere.

“Awoo?”

Grandpa Meilun?

From the window of Meilun’s room, Little Chu Zao could see the darkening, overcast sky flashing now and then with light. The snow, once drifting through the storm, had turned red, and the bodies of giant beasts were falling from the sky, shattered to powder by the last line of military defense.

Aside from this strange red snow, everything seemed under the control of the Crown Clan and the Holy Cas military—the number of Crown Clan members with combat ability who remained on Holy Cas Star wasn’t large, but it was far from few.

Everything seemed so reliable.

From the start, the Crown Clan hadn’t panicked—this should have been an invasion posing no threat at all to the Holy Cas Empire.

Some time had already passed since this bizarre invasion; all seemed to be going smoothly.

But outside, it was very quiet—unusually so.

“Zao Zao, stay inside, don’t move around.”

The battle-hardened Crown Clan had noticed this.

He gripped his spiritual weapon tightly, and the door was swept open by Meilun’s power.

Outside—the royal court guards still appeared to be at their posts, unmoving.

But it was just too strange; even with the door opening, none turned their heads—

Their heartbeats and breathing had already stopped. Standing rigidly, they had quietly lost their lives, and the last one to sense the danger had only managed to press the alarm on his communicator with difficulty, but no message was sent out.

Meilun’s coronet and halo had been reduced to a tiny ring, the very lowest layer, about to shatter at any moment. At this time, Crown Clan members always exercised great restraint, not wishing their departure to bring any catastrophic blow to Holy Cas at large. Many would, at the desperate end, in the final moment before their coronet shattered, end their own lives—putting the ‘nuclear bomb’ on safe.

At this stage, a Crown Clan member would still have fighting power, but perception of the outside world had dropped dramatically. They became dull, they became paranoid.

So much so that Meilun, who had reached this state, only now sensed that something was wrong.

A little too late.

Not far away, a stranger stood there, adjusting a tiny camera at his collar.

Hearing the door open, he looked up, locking eyes with Meilun’s blood-red, frenzied, yet calm pupils.

He smiled—

“Hello, Crown Clan. This new drug works really well. Let’s see… Meilun, right? I wonder if you still remember me? Took quite some effort to track you here.”

He lowered his head, bowing with a gentlemanly air. But in his eyes—that deep, bone-chilling hatred.

“…Who are you?”

The spiritual weapon in Meilun’s hand had already been thrown. His movements looked careless, but he was alert within, blocking the door tightly. There was a boom, and the house behind the youth came crashing down.

Given the choice, Meilun really didn’t want to fight in the royal court.

Repairs would be a hassle—to say nothing of breaking another Crown Clan’s things, which would surely lead to internal strife.

But this guy was just too strange, who knew how he’d gotten in or what he wanted to do? For the cub’s safety behind him, it was best to handle things quickly.

The little cub was startled, little Chu Zao instinctively curling up into a ball in the corner, soft and low—“Awoo?”

Grandpa Meilun, what’s happened?

Meilun didn’t answer, his face grave. A bizarre spatial distortion appeared in front of the enemy, swallowing up his spiritual power—or rather, someone had acquired a rare, space-distorting mineral. Such stones were extremely uncommon and always appeared in pairs, imbued with energy capable of opening spatial passages on both sides. It was like the space-jump technology now commonly used on starships, but much more scarce, and with limited uses.

But this almost perfectly countered his long-range, small-area spiritual weapons, and also helped the other side infiltrate Holy Cas and enter the royal court.

Was this aimed at him?

Meilun pondered, gripping his spiritual weapon tighter.

If so, having him care for the cub was a critical move.

The enemy failed to notice Meilun still guarded the door behind him. He was immersed in his own hatred.

“I was just a minor drifter who lost his nation and planet during your Holy Cas expansion. Meilun, when you crushed my homeland, you surely never expected this day—I simply gained the aid of some sympathizers, and they allowed me to witness the Crown Clan’s extinction with my own eyes.”

Before the enemy could finish, Meilun closed the door. He moved swiftly. Countless spiritual weapons streaked from his hands.

If they could suppress him—then he’d push the limits.

That space stone was now starting to lose control. The other’s own abilities were weak. Under fierce attack, Meilun closed in quickly. The fight actually ended very fast. When he halted, Meilun already had a spiritual weapon in hand, piercing through the enemy’s chest. Glancing sideways, he got a clear look at the man.

Seeming to recognize him: “Oh, you’re the royal from that small planet, the one who tried to seize my Empire’s territory, attacking our starships again and again, actively declaring war?”

Someone survived after all?

That Meilun could even recall, well, that provocation over twenty years ago had been outrageous; maybe they thought the Crown Clan was at the end of its rope and couldn’t wait to grab a share—believing they’d be tolerated for taking a nibble. In the end, while handling nearby alien beasts, Meilun had wiped them out almost as an afterthought.

Meilun withdrew his arm, his clothes already stained with blood. He brushed the blood away absent-mindedly, watching as the young man collapsed, blood bubbling from mouth and nose, yet still smiling eerily.

What was he smiling at?

Everything seemed to have gone a bit too easily.

A soft sound came from behind.

Meilun turned.

He saw that the door he’d shut had been pried open a crack. The little white furball was clawing at the doorway, awooing.

Grandpa Meilun… are, are you all right?

Actually, everything had happened so quickly that Little Chu Zao had no idea what was going on outside. He only heard the violent noise, and by the time he’d pitter-pattered to the door, it was all over. Pushing the door open, he suddenly saw that red, which froze the little cub on the spot.

Meilun had no time to speak.

The moment the young man’s heart stopped, a faint beeping sounded; a small canister connected to his chest rolled loose.

It was a container locked by his heartbeat; once his heart stopped, the canister opened.

Seeing what was inside, Meilun’s pupils contracted sharply. He reacted instantly, slashing down to powder the contents, but the substance still drifted free. He was closest, thus affected the most, his coronet above his head immediately beginning to tremble violently.

—‘Want to see the Crown Clan destroyed? There’s a way—let them come into closer contact with corruption, push them towards total collapse.’

It was a quarantine jar, containing the most concentrated source of corruption gathered from the deepest taint, the very substance that had brought ruin to Crown Clan habitats, harming the entire clan. At close range, especially for a Crown Clan member whose coronet was already unstable, contact would shatter their coronet, their spiritual power collapsing. Of course, it was deadly to ordinary people too—this guy had never planned to survive.

Meilun could already feel Amos approaching at high speed, and others, hearing the sounds, were closing in fast.

But it was too late.

His coronet—was about to shatter.

And not far away, the space stone on the corpse, its load maxed out, was about to explode.

Meilun staggered two steps back, barely managing to reach the door before collapsing.

He reached out, and before the little cub could truly figure out what was happening, slammed the door shut.

Everything happened too quickly. The little cub only saw Grandpa Meilun’s halo shatter from the center, breaking bit by bit to either side. Then he was pushed away by the door, rolled once on the ground, and instantly flapped back, pounding on the door.

“Awoo awoo! Awoo!”

Grandpa Meilun! Grandpa Meilun! Let Zao Zao out!! Grandpa Meilun!!

Zao Zao—wants to come out!!

The little cub pushed at the door with all his might, his little body bouncing and crashing against it inside.

In the past, when faced with such trouble, the little cub would rarely take such drastic action. Just like he’d shown before—when encountering problems he couldn’t overcome, Zao Zao would curl into a ball.

But now—Zao Zao was not alone anymore.

It was as if Little Chu Zao heard the gentle voice that had brought him to this world, telling him—‘Don’t be afraid, Zao Zao. You can do it; only you can.’

Meilun leaned against the door, gazing up at the sky, looking just like a fallen gentleman. The halo atop his head shattered like falling black petals, his voice broken: “Zao Zao, don’t be afraid. His Majesty… will be here very soon… just wait a little more… it’s still very dangerous outside…”

Destruction was the fate of the Crown Clan—

Every time their spiritual power spiraled out of control, the Crown Clan seemed to hear such a voice—Just give up; this is the destiny that cannot be changed…

Compared to his kin, he was already lucky.

Meilun slowly closed his eyes.

“If only I could see just one more snowfall… with Zao Zao…”

Too short, the time fate had given him was… far too short.

He hoped His Majesty would arrive in time, sparing their once-in-centuries little one from seeing his most pitiful side and leaving a psychological scar.

With his coronet already split in two, the Crown Clan aimed the blade at his own throat, ready to end his life, to pull the ‘safety pin’ before his coronet went fully out of control and exploded.

No one could save them…

No one—

“Grandpa Meilun, don’t be like this!”

That childish, unfamiliar yet somehow familiar tender voice boomed as if thunder struck his ear.

The distant habitat planet resonated faintly, as if affirming the little cub’s connection to this world, and for a moment, even the other Crown Clan members seemed dazed.

Golden brilliance suddenly interrupted Meilun’s action, warm golden power enveloping him, and finally—the door was opened.